Bridge ices before road

I would like to begin with a quick statement in my defense. Having grown up in SoCal and Vegas, roads icing over was not a major concern. Its not really something I think about on a day to day basis. So a couple of weeks ago when we were trying to decide if we were going to try making it to D&D Matt gave me quite the revelation. I had always thought the sign "bridge ices before road" meant something like the bridge ices in the area right before the road. What it should really say is "bridge ices before the road does". I guess that would be a little long for a road sign but it would make so much more sense. Sure, now that he explained it to me it's clear. Obviously due to the smaller volume the bridge would freeze first. Now when I see the sign I insert the extra words. I don't ever drive when the road would be freezing but its good to have that cleared up just in case.

We are making our first joint trip to Michigan this weekend. I'm super excited about it. I get to see Matt's friends and family, where he grew up, and eat at a bunch of restaurants he's told me about a million times. I also have a super cute dress and a cute shoe to wear at the wedding. It should be a great time. The only thing I don't like about the whole trip is that we have to leave our poor little Zelda behind. Her Aunts Steph and Linda have plans for this Valentine's weekend so we are leaving her at the vet's office. :( Not that I think they won't treat her well. The women there absolutely adore our little Zelda girl. Last time we left her  they had here up front hanging out with them the whole time. I guess another bonus from Zelda's point of view is that they also have a couple of cats that live there that just roam around. She gets so excited that she nearly wags herself apart anytime she gets within ten feet of a cat. Its hilarious. Every time we go to Petsmart she tries to convince us to adopt a kitteh for her. There, I feel a little bit better about leaving her behind.

Zelda's Snow Day

SNOW!!!! It snowed last night and this morning and is currently sleeting. Thats what Matt tells me at least. Not having had much experience with such things I'll have to take his word that that is what is falling from the sky. It actually snowed quite a bit, at least to my eyes. Enough that after consulting with the Sawyers we decided that it was probably a bad idea to drive to Apex today to play D&D. Which means we won't be able to take out the death cultists until next Saturday. *sigh* We were all really looking forward to trying out our new level four characters. Its probably for the best though. The weather channel is saying that it is supposed to turn into a heavier sleet and/or freezing rain as the afternoon progresses. So while it might be ok to drive over there it probably won't be so safe to drive back. Which means all the moms can breathe easier. We will be staying in today and having a snow day.

Since the last time it snowed we didn't take Zelda outside today was her very first romp in the snow. I am not so sure that she liked it very much. Somehow I don't think she's a snow dog. She did eat quite a bit of the snow. When she went off the sidewalk the snow reached past her belly. It was pretty cute. We only took her out for maybe three minutes tops so we didn't cover her up. As soon as we came back inside she ran some laps and is currently napping on my lap. I don't think the experience was too traumatic for her. Here are some pictures to document her time in the snow.

Zelda pictures

I take pictures of Zelda like people take pictures of their kids. I don't get around to posting them as often as I should. So here is a montage of Zelda pictures, in all her ridiculousness.

8th Annual Carrboro Weiner Dog Day

We made it back from Richond today just in time to take Zelda to meet up with lots of wiener dog friends. I didn't get a chance to finish her costume but oh well. It was pretty chilly outside so we put her in her jack-o-lantern sweatshirt. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't believe in putting dogs in clothes BUT, small dogs have a much higher surface to volume ratio. That means that when it gets cold, they lose body heat a lot quicker than big dogs. I will admit, Zelda does have a couple of frivolous outfits, but on the whole her clothes are for warmth. I almost wish I had put her coat on or a t-shirt underneath because by the time we left the festival she was shaking. Her parents are push-overs so she ended up being held in my sweatshirt. There were lots of contests and we entered Zelda in a few of them. It turns out that our puppy classes and diligent training sessions have paid off. They had a musical sit, its like musical chairs except when the music stops you have to have the dog sit. The last dog who sits is out. Well, Zelda kicked all the other dogs' butts. She is the 2009 Musical Sit Champion! She didn't do as well in the Doxie limbo contest, where they have a stick and they have to go under it. At the end they basically have to crawl to get under and a lot of them try to jump over instead. She got close to the end but no cigar. We'll have to work on that one for next year. Our friend Tangi was there with her two doxies. Her female won the bobbing for weinies contest. They put three hot dog pieces in a little plate of water and the dog that ate their three pieces first won that round. It was pretty adorable. It turns out that when they lived in Florida Tangi's dog didn't drink enough water so Tangi would put treats in water so that she would get water while eating. She was a pro. We all had a really good time and Zelda was all worn out when we got home. The pirate won the costume contest, I think the skunk should have won, but you can decide for yourselves.

Limbo

Costume contest winner

My choice for winner

Tangi's kids

The winning sit

Badgers are all around us

In german:
Dachs= badger
hund= dog

I urge all of you out there to be careful.  Before Zelda came into our lives I had no idea how prevalent badgers were in my life.  I still haven't seen an actual one but she assures us that they are to be found all over the house.  I trust her because she was bred to hunt badgers.  Her little body has been genetically engineered for hundreds of years to be a lean, mean, short legged, badger hunting machine.  When she starts digging it can only mean one thing, a badger has been found.  A list of where she has found their scent so far:

• our pillows
• our bed
• the corners of the carpet
• the nightstand (wood)
• Matt's lap
• any and every blanket
• the couch
• her crate
• her food bowl
• her water bowl
• my backpack
• paper

So see?  Be careful because if this list is any indication, your house may also be crawling with unseen badgers.

All about Zelda

You would think that not working would leave me lots of time to update the blog. However, I have chosen to clean and cook and nap instead. I have been told that I am sorely lacking in Zelda updates. I have lots to post but I'll start with that. Zelda is now 5 months old. My hands and arms were incredibly thankful that she had stopped biting for a while. Sadly, now that she's teething she has started biting again. *sigh* So I'm working all over again to break her of it. I think its starting to work. Her coat is coming along nicely, her little tail has a line of fur like a long flag. Zelda hasn't been eating much lately because of the whole teething thing. There is supposed to be an all natural version of baby orajel that I can give her but I can't seem to find it. In the mean time Matt figured out that if we give her one of her frozen teething toys to play with for a little while before meals she'll eat more. This past weekend we took her to the Durham dog park for a play date. We joined a meet-up group for owners of dachshunds. It was really cute to see them all playing together. It turns out that Zelda is very submissive. She didn't know what to do with the other dogs but she managed to have every person there rub her belly. Some of them picked her up and gave her kisses as well.
We've signed up for senior puppy classes at the local ASPCA and they start tonight. The first class is just an orientation for the puppy parents so Zelda is hanging out by herself tonight. But starting next week she's going to be socializing and professionally training once a week. They offer lots of different classes there so we'll see how we like this one first and then maybe continue on with some of their more advanced classes.
As I said in the beginning I've been doing a lot of cooking/baking lately. I've been making my own pizza. I started off just using the premade dough from Trader Joes but I decided to go more adventurous and make my own. Matt will tell you it wasn't the best consistancy but the flavor was fantastic. So I need to work on that. I want to experiment with some other toppings as well. I've been making BLTs too. Or FLTs for me. We used up the last of our home grown tomatoes so I'm back to using bought ones. I am making my own bread to make the sandwhiches, Matt loves the rosemary olive oil bread. I think he's right it goes really well with the other flavors. I've been making these restaurant quality salads too. Matt gets chicken with his, I get blue cheese, mmm cheese. I've been experimenting with that too. I think so far the best chicken I made was the tequila lime one. I make nachoes for us sometimes. I've been making the beans from scratch because not only is it like 50x cheaper that way, its also 50x better tasting. I'm making my own pasta this week too. Tomorrow actually. I'm kind of nervous but the internet and Nigella Lawson tell me that its no big deal. So I'm going for it. I'll let you know how it comes out. Last night's dinner was pumpkin pancakes with (f/b)acon and an egg scramble with sauteed mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. Pumpkin pancakes are one of the best things ever invented.
On the baking front, I've been into cakes lately. A couple of week's ago I made a modified version of Nigella's quadruple chocolate cake. Tasty. Last week I went with a chocolate stout cake and homemade frosting. Also delicious. Today I'm going to make what I'm calling a strawberry lemonade cake. Its going to be a twist on a recipe that my Tia Joann gave me a while ago. The regular cake is phenomenal so I'm hoping this will be too. You're probably thinking, "maybe you should be eating all those sweets" and you're probably right. So to keep that from happening Steph and I have started a weekly baking exchange. That way we don't have too much to eat. Steph has recently taken up baking in an attempt not to bug Linda while she's studying. The cookies she gave us last week were amazing so I fully encourage the new hobby. I'll try and do a craft update next time but I want to eat my lunch (leftovers, yum!) I'll post pictures too once I get my cord from upstairs, the layer of the beast.

We're almost there!

As I must these days, I'll start with a Zelda update. She gets her final parvo shot this weekend. That means that her exile from the outdoors and other dogs is almost over. YAY!!! This also means that we will be able to start taking her on walks. I've convinced myself that this will cut down on a lot of her biting Matt and I. She does it the most when she gets really excited and playful. If she's exhausted from walking she won't get like that, plus she gets more exercise than we can give her right now. I don't know if I mentioned it before but the medicine the vet gave her did it's job and her poop is now lovely and firm. Just what you wanted to know. She does this silly little dance when its feeding time that Matt just loves. I'm going to have to get a video of it this weekend because it is pretty cute.
Steph is out of town this week for a Ladies Family Weekend. Linda couldn't go because she started her new grad program this week (go Linda!). So we invited her over to watch So You Think You Can Dance. Its our favorite show, this also includes Matt who has learned quite a bit about critiqueing dances now. To go along with the show I made a delicious blueberry bread pudding with brown sugar rum sauce. It was divine. Linda brought some vanilla ice cream to go with it. mmmm, I love dessert. We had a great time and she might be joining us for the results show tonight if she gets all her work done. If you haven't seen the show let me break it down for you. Its kind of like American Idol, except with dancers, and way better. You can only do so much with singing but dancing can be completely different from one dance to the next. They start off with twenty people-- ten guys, ten girls. Each week they're assigned a random dance style and they get five hours with a choreographer that shows them what they'll be doing. Its pretty amazing. My favorite girl got voted off last week which was really sad but her partner, Brandon, is still on and going strong. Let me direct you to some of the dances from this season. Brandon/Janette tango (hot!!) Brandon/Janette jazz (seriously awsome) and let me warn you about this last one, it made everyone on the show cry, I cried, Jacob cried, its very touching and beautiful Ade/Melissa contemporary piece about breast cancer. Don't say I didn't warn you (I'm getting a little misty thinking about it).
I have two weeks of work left which is insane. Looking for a job sucks, especially in this economy. Nobody is hiring. Oh well, maybe I'll just get started on my Esty.com career sooner than I had dreamed of.

Finally more pictures

Sorry about the lack of pictures.  We've been taking them but I couldn't find my cable for the camera.  Matt says he thinks she's grown since we brought her home.  I can't tell.  Let's see.  We had to take Zelda back to the vet last Wednesday because she was having diarrhe.  Our vet didn't see anything in her poop sample but he thought it sounded like coccidiosis which is a type of bacteria thats usually found in the gut.  Sometimes when puppies get stressed the bacteria overgrows and causes intestinal problems.  He gave her some medicine that she loves, it kinda smells like minty white chocolate.  She's also started going through a biting phase, which I'm told could last a year.  Hopefully it won't.  She does seen to be getting better at understanding that we don't like it.  At least she's stopping faster than she was before.  We took her over to Jess and Jacob's a while ago and she got to meet their cats, Gandalf and Sauron.  Sauron wouldn't come by but Gandalf finally plucked up the courage and Gandalf and Zelda touched noses and then licked each other.  It was adorable.  Here are some pictures.  I think my favorite is the one of her in one of her t-shirts posing in front of her potty.  Enjoy!

 

  

  

  

 

Potty training success!

Its something we don't really have yet. But not for lack of trying. She did use her potty twice today all by herself, which is pretty impressive considering she's only been at it for two days. I think Zelda is getting more adorable by the day. Pretty soon she's going to be a cute overload. She's such a little cuddle bug too. We had her first vet appointment this morning. Our vet came with high recommendations from some of our friends, and they were right, he's awesome. Zelda appears to be in good health, we set up a schedule to finish her vaccines and take care of flea and heartworm medicines. He took a moment to weigh her for the records...she came in at a whopping 4lbs. Oh yeah! She's a big girl.

My defense is looming on the horizon. Less than 48hours are between me and what I hope will be victory. I went over my slides with Mark this afternoon and he said it looked really good. He changed a few things, told me to add some other stuff, but the overview was good. He also told me not to freak out (lol) that he knows I'm going to do great. Its weird when he says that, I'm not used to that many words of encouragement from him. I'm still super nervous, which is dumb because I know this material, its my work. Steph, Linda, and Matt are going to play the audience tomorrow night for a trial talk. I'm going to be home most of tomorrow practicing so hopefully I'll have it down by the evening.

**Matt says that someone might have accidentaly taught Zelda that when you make kissy noises near her head its time to roll over for someone to rub her belly. I'm sure it was completely inadvertant. It does remind of another doxie I know that still loves to be kissed on the side of his head the way he did when he was little. Maybe we shouldn't encourage it...but she has such a lovely tummy...

Happy Fourth of July!!

Yes, I know that was yesterday but we were a little preoccupied and I didn't get to the blog. Well, it has finally happened, Princess Zelda has come home. We picked her up a little before 1:30pm yesterday and drove her home. She was very confused and upset for most of the drive home but Mary had sent a blanket that smelled like Zelda's mom Summer so that seemed to help her quite a bit. She really didn't know what to do once we let her out of her carrier. The longer she's here though, the more comfortable she's become. **I had to run away on an emergency, someone pooped on her potty for the first time.** We've had a few accidents but we're doing better. We bought Zelda a potty for her so that we don't have to run her up and down the stairs every half hour. Plus then when she's alone she doesn't have to hold it, she can just go on her potty. She's not perfect at it yet but she's getting there. We make a huge deal of it when she gets it right and she has these amazing treats taht are only for potty training. They have no grain, no fillers, and are made of USDA beef. They actually just look and smell like jerkey. For some reason she hates her crate. We've tried to put her in there but she just freaks out. She is a great napper, although she fights it like a little kid. Her eyes get all heavey but she keeps struggling to keep them open. She also loves to give puppy kisses. She also loves her toys, especially the one her grandparents from Las Vegas sent her. She only figured out this morning that she can chew both ends. My absolute favorite things she does is run. I put in a video of it in case you wanted to see. Its too funny. She doesn't have very good control of her limbs still so when she runs she bounds around and sometimes her back legs catch up with her front and she ends up running forward while her body is sideways. Its hilarious.

We're sending out, a major love, and this is our message to you

Oh Michael.  Last week was a long one.  Matt was gone to a conference in Boone, NC, I finished up my thesis, and one of my childhood heroes died.  I know for people who weren't big Michael fans think its kind of weird that some of us are so upset by his death.  Matt doesn't understand it either.  I know he was weird but I still love the MJ I knew growing up.  His music was a huge part of my childhood.  I still remember when the music video for Thriller came out and I was not allowed to watch it but I hid behind the door and saw part of it and got freaked out.  (sometimes parents do know what they're talking about)  I had a red leather jacket when I was five or six that had all the zippers on it, I thought it was so cool.  I had a sweatshirt that had him on it in a yellow sweater vest and had matching clip on earrings.  I can't even tell you how many time I've seen Captain Eo.  I was incredibly upset when they decided to replace it at Disneyland.  It just feels like a part of my childhood died.  I always had this hope that Michael would make a comeback and be who he was when I was a kid.  Thats the Michael I'm going to remember anyways. 

Like I said, Matt is back which is wonderful.  I hate it when he's gone.  Its so boring and lonely.  We did a lot of cleaning/tidying yesterday.  I washed all of his clothes that he brought back from the conference while he went to do the grocery shopping.  I finally got around to vacuuming the living room.  I also put all of Zelda's things away in her very own drawer, hung up her clothes and set out her bed.  I think the closer it gets to her coming home the more nervous Matt and I get.  I'm sure there will be lots of pictures on Sunday of her first day at home.  I don't know how I'm going to make it through the week until then.

Finally, I finished writing my thesis.  Mark has okay'd it and I'm going to pass it out to my committee today.  Scarey!  Which means that I need to put together my talk this week.  I have my defense a week from Thursday, which is July 8th at 2pm.  Thats a scarey thought too.  I just want it to be over.  Its going to be a stressful week and a half.  Matt has to give joint lab meeting the day before my defense and he always gets stressed out before he has to do that.  Hopefully we won't start throwing things at each other before the end, lol. 

What's new pussycat?

Its Thursday and Dave has gone to the Wnt meeting in DC for the next four days.  Which means, I'm all alone in the Maroni Lab.  *sigh*  At least nobody is here to hear me talking to myself.  Its is 23 days until Zelda comes home.  I've been badgering her caretaker to send another picture because its been too long since we've seen her.  Scariely enough, I think we have gotten almost everything we'll need when she comes home and a couple that she doesn't *need*.  The main thing thats lacking is her food but we're waiting on that so it doesn't get funky before she gets here. The only really big job left is to get a list of questions that we want to ask the vet as first time parents and finish puppy proofing the house.  The upstairs minus spare 'oom is almost ready.  There are a few more tidying/blocking from puppy's reach things that still need to be done.  The downstairs is another matter altogether.  There are quite a few things that won't be able to be moved so we're going to have to watch her all the time.  Its not bad, we're supposed to be doing that so potty train her anyways.  Matt and I have decided that she's going to spend her first week or so only upstairs.  The puppy book and the messege boards I've read have said to keep the puppy confined to a small room or room for a while so she doesn't get overwhelmed.
On other non-puppy related news.  Matt is going out tonight with his lab.  They're celebrating a paper.  I'm going to drop him off and then go back home and watch So You Thing You Can Dance.  Its kind of a bummer because two nights in a row we won't hang out together.  Tomorrow is Doug's last day and we're going to He's Not to celebrate his time in the lab with a few blue cups.  Or if it rains, some fried pickles and garlic fries at PT's.  Matt won't be joining us because he's reviewing a paper and it needs to be finished by Monday.  Which brings me to my next topic.  Saturday is our first D&D game.  Yipee!!!!  My character was the last to be finished and she still needs a last name and I need to write out her background story.  She is a half-elf bard named Laeriel, which means "daughter of song" in Tolkein elvish.  Because I'm a nerd like that.

This is the end...

Or more like a beginning of the end and the soon the beginning of a new beginning. Or something like that, Mark and I looked over my figures today and we'll do it again tomorrow in detail. He actually liked the pictures that I chose which is crazy. We're still not sure about a date yet but we're emailing my committee tomorrow to see when they can meet. He also said I could stay until the end of the last summer session if I wanted to incase I didn't have something planned or lined-up or something. It was and continues to be a lot of thinking and I'm going to have to figure it out soon. *bleh* Being a grown-up sucks sometimes.
On a happier note, Matt and I decided on a date...for the puppy to come home. Yay! We're going to pick her up on July 5th. I even confirmed it with the breeder this morning. She also said, "She is the most loving little girl. I cannot seem to put her down. It's hard to resist all that lovin." teehee! She's going to be such a little cuddle bug, I can hardly wait. We also finalized her name and we ordered her tags today. Zelda. I think it'll be perfect. She already has a little pile of things waiting for her here. Most of them are essentials but there are a few frivolous things. We made her first vet appointment this morning. We have to make sure she's healthy when we bring her home. EEEEP! I'm getting a little nervous.
Finally, if you try to reach me I won't be able to answer as I lost my phone and am still in the process of getting a new one. email me or call Matt if you need something.

EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Well, we're back from Eastern North Carolina. It was a wonderous morning. Matt and I met our puppy this morning. So much to say about it. First, as I was hoping, Matt fell in love with her as soon as she came into the room. He liked her so much he let her knibble on his fingers. I knew she was tiny but I guess not having anything for a size reference I didn't realize just how small. As you can see in the pictures she's a tiny little thing. Don't let the pictures fool you either, she does not stay still for more than a couple of seconds at a time. She loved the taste of my shirt but she loved Matt's watch even more. At some point she figured out that she could "dig through" Matt's shirt and was trying to wiggle her way around his back. Mary (her surrogate mom) told us that she's the most rambuncious of her litter. Boy did she show it. Normally pups are a little shy and stay still for a couple of minutes with people they don't know but she took to us right away. She also has a little cowlick on the back of her head. It was worse a couple of weeks ago but apparently its gotten better, I think its pretty darn cute. I wish we could have brought her home today but she needs more time to grow before we can do that. We did manage to pick a date though, July 5th. Thats the day she'll come to her foever-home. I'm a little exhausted from all the excitement so I'm going to take a little nap but I leave you with a few pictures of our darling little girl. Enjoy.

Excited about tomorrow!

I'm super excited about tomorrow. We're driving to Washington, NC to meet our little girl in the morning. I should have a ton of pictures of her when we get home. Matt and I have been shopping and learning and getting things ready for when she comes home. I think we're going to wait until she's about eleven weeks old before we bring her home. That way she has more time to socialize and learn good puppy manners from her mom. Plus she so tiny its good for her to stay with the litter a little bit longer. Of course I wish I could bring her home right now. So far we have gotten her a collar, leash, toothbrush, two different puppy Kongs for teething puppies, two little dolls to cozy with, a little chew toy that can go in the freezer for soothing teething gums, a puppy gate (the one for large dogs since doxies can jump like nobody's business), and a set of puppy stairs so she learns early not to jump on and off the furniture. We don't want her to hurt her delicate back. She still needs a crate and some blankies, doxies LOVE blankies. According to the myirad of websites I've been to and the book we have, we're supposed to let her sleep in her crate for the first week so she gets used to her new surroundings and in case she has problems with her potty trips. I'm going to make a valient effort. I know Matt will not melt as quickly as I will once she starts crying. Of course, after the first week all bets are off. I've been trying to explain to Matt that we don't really have a choice about her sleeping with us. Its what they do. I haven't found a person yet on the tubes whose doxie hasn't managed to worm their way into the human's bed. It sure is lovely in the winter though, like having a hotwater bottle on your toes. Well, considering my eyes are still hurting from my idiotic escapde yesterday and the doctor said not to use my eyes too much today. (I'm an idiot and strained my eyes wearing my contacts, because I'm that cool) I should probably sign off. I'll leave you with a five week old photo.

Hullo!

Its been almost a month since my last post, oops. On the bright side, I have been getting loads done in the meantime. My thesis writing is going swimmingly, I'm now working on the figures and Mark and I are going to talk about pictures tomorrow.
My darling friends Archie and Keiko were here visiting for the weekend. We didn't do a whole lot but we did eat quite a bit. We took them to Buns and Mama Dip's this weekend. Then this morning they tagged along to a Maroni Lab breakfast at the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen. If Keiko doesn't gain weight from all that it is beyond me to help. We had a nice peaceful day yesterday. Lots of lounging around, lots of napping. This is the first time in three years that I've seen Archie. I'm sad to say that her accent is almost gone. No more "ber-gers" or "al-ooh-min-ium". I did fun have asking her opinion as a future doctor about all sorts of stuff. I made cheesecake for everyone on Saturday and while serving some yesterday Keiko cut her finger. I'm not really sure why she was using the giant knife to cut cheesecake but we've come to a consenus. The knife, now named Audry, has gotten a taste for blood and might be sentient. Just a warning to anyone who comes over and tries to cut stuff. The ladies were a big help this weekend with the cutting up bags. I've found that the rate limiting step to making the bag of bags is the making of the plastic yarn. They thought my giant plastic ball was very amusing.
Now, last but most certainly not least. I thought I would leave you with a picture. I should have lots more to put up on Saturday but until then you can adore this one.