OMG

Last night I took Rex to Petco to get his nails clipped, something I've done at least a hundred times in the 3 years we've had the mutt. They cut his nails and all I have to do is stand there and tell him he's a good boy and pay them 10 bucks. Totally worth it. So I take him, and the groomer's got this little Yorkie looking thing on the table. She tells me, no problem just give her 5 minutes or so. No problem, I say, we'll go walk around the store and come back. We walk out to the store, past a new display of collars and leashes, and Rex pulled me to a stop. To sniff I presume. I look down, and like an out of body experience, he lifts he leg as high as he can, and pees on a pillar in the center of the store. I looked around, thinking, this couldn't have just happened. There's no way Rex could have done this. Then the annoying cashier girl yells to me from 1oo feet away "There's paper towel and cleaner over there on the left." I can't believe he did that, I said. They all do, annoying cashier girl yelled. Not my dog! Not my Rex! Now, Penny, Penny does shit like that. Penny I would expect it from. But Rex? Not Rex. I was mortified to say the very least. I still am. And I just said to him, "Remember last night when you peed at Petco?" I swear he smirked at me. He's acting out. Its a cry for attention. He's learning bad habits from Penny. That must be it. Her devious ways are rubbing off on him. Cause Rex just would never do something like that.

Trash Burgler

So we've got this guy in our neighborhood who goes through everyone's trash on garbage night. We call him the Trash Burgler. Its like the Hamburgler, but way less cool.

I think it was during the summer that we first realized this. First, our friend's iPod was stolen out of her car. Then, Rex would start barking~ no~ howling in the middle of the night out of the big window. We would get up and look, and there he would be. Sometimes driving his car and stopping at every garbage can, sometimes walking with a flashlight. Initally we were more annoyed that our dog was waking us up at midnight or one am. So when we realized that he was only going through the recycle bin, we kept it up by the house and brought it down in the morning. Gordo actually called the police to inquire, because he was going through our stuff, and they said that once the garbage is at the curb, it isn't really ours anymore. I felt kind of bad for the guy, I mean, who goes through people's garbage? And I figured, we threw it away, we obviously didn't want it. So up by the house the recycle bin stayed, and we didn't hear from the Trash Burgler (or Rex) again.

Until last night. Having Penny means that we are getting up at all hours of the night to take her outside so that we don't have accidents in the house. At midnight I took her out to pee. And there he was. Flashlight in hand, pajamas on legs he went house to house. And then I saw it. He went to a house diagnol from ours that didn't have their garbage can at the end of the driveway. He walked straight up their driveway to where the garbage can was~ leaning against their house. Wow, that's balls, I thought. Penny peed and I went back inside. I yelled to Gordo that our friend had returned and he came to look out the window. Rex caught sight of him and started in with the howl. Rex alerted Penny and she began to bark and howl. Did this stop the Trash Burgler? No, of course not. We lost sight of him for a minute, but then we saw the bounce of the flashlight. Again, we saw him in a driveway, right at someone's house. OMG, my friends, OMG. All these months that we've had our recycle bin by our front door; was he walking right up to it? I mean, has he no shame? Is nothing sacred? Not even our garbage?

I'm trying to understand the Trash Burgler, put myself in his shoes. He's a forty-something guy who lives with his parents. Lives with his parents three houses away from us. I want to understand him and feel for him, but I just feel kind of weirded out.

At one thirty when we finally went back to sleep, I may have told Gordo that if I ever get to the point where I am going through people's garbage, to shoot me in the foot so that I can't.

The day we got him

So today's the day I've been waiting for all week. Saturday. Sat-ur-day!! And as I wait, with an anxiety induced stomach ache, for the moment to come when we leave the house to pick up the new addition to our family, I am thinking about the day when we got Rex. Two and a half years we've had this furry monster in our home, in our lives, in our hearts. I look at the pictures of the day we got him and can't believe he was ever that small. Hummm.. Do I sound like a mom? Thinking back to the days her child was an infant, as they now get ready to graduate kindergarten? *Sigh* I love my Rex.

This was his first picture. How could you not love that face?

I mean, seriously.

Seriously.

In a few hours you'll be a big brother, pup. I can't wait!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

First snow day!! Woot woot!!

You know what I hate about the winter? Dry skin. Every year I dream of soaking in a bath tub full of body lotion or body cream. (Oh how I love body cream!! So thick and creamy!!) I feel like I put lotion in places that really shouldn't even need to be lotioned. Every year I get bruises on my calves from constantly scratching at the same place over and over.

But you know what I love about winter? Snow days. While you know there's a storm coming (from both the forcasters and the way kids/dogs/adults behave) it is like an early holiday gift, waking up in the morning not knowing if you need to actually get out of bed or not. Oh how I love that little blue scroll at the bottom of the screen! I sit, wide eyed at 5:45am waiting for the W's to come up. (All those St.'s really piss me off) I feel like a little kid. The new NBC30 commercials are spot on. Kids sitting in front of the TV in their pj's, dramatic looks of anticipation on their faces (and in the music) and then~boom~ they jump up, they hug and rejoice! No school! No school!

I am loving this week. What a wonderful thing to be able to say, by the way. I feel like I haven't been loving very many weeks lately. Snow day today (did I mention how exciting this is?), tonight we are trying out a new sushi place, which is hopefully going to be as awesome, tomorrow is just regular and whatever, Friday is our 4th grade place which will finally (thank you!!) going to be over with. Imagine the stress of being asked by the principal to put on a holiday play along with your co-workers, but only two of us really do any of the work and preparation, but everyone will get credit. Grr. Just one of the many reasons I hate that F-ing place. But regardless, it will be performed on Friday and really I think they will do a decent job despite the stress of my partner in crime and I. Then Saturday! Oh Saturday how I am looking forward to you!

Saturday we are getting a new doggie!! She is coming to us via Tennessee and I couldn't be happier. I will certainly write more about this in the coming days, but basically the homeless animal situation in the South is devastating. Therefore, in many cases dogs (and cats I suppose) are brought up to the Northeast in mobile kennels to be adopted. In the South, dogs (and cats I suppose) are rarely spayed and neutered, and therefore run rampid. There isn't enough room in the shelters for all of these animals, so many are put to sleep within 72 hours. But wonderful, loving people will foster them and advertise them on sites such as Petfinder, where wonderful, loving people like Gordo and I will call and inquire, and adopt them. So while there are great pets to adopt here in Connecticut, the situation in the South is a dire one. Not to mention the fact that many of the dogs (and cats I suppose) that are here in the Northeast came from the South to begin with. Rex is actually from Tenn. originally too!

But back to our new pup! She is a dachshund/terrier mix. She is 6 months old. She is about 15 pounds right now. She is cute as the day is long. Now, I know what you are thinking~ A substitute for what we have not been able to acquire in our lives. Honestly? Probably to certain extent. But truly, we've been talking about getting a second dog for quite a while. And maybe current personal circumstances have pushed us to do it a bit sooner than we may have planned. So what! I am so excited about this!! And I haven't been excited about anything in a really long time. Now we know I love my Rex. Love him, love him, love him. But Rex is not a lover. Rex is not a cuddler. Rex is a "I want to be in room with you and know that you are there for me, but please don't put your hands on me and I definitely don't want to lay on the couch and cuddle with you." Oh how I long for a dog who will cuddle with me. Let me lay my face into the crook of their fuzzy little neck. The foster mom said she was a cuddler and I was sold. And the little face! How could you not fall in love with a little dachshund/terrier mix face? I'm in love and I haven't even met her yet.

Oh, her current name is Bella, but we will try our damnedest to get her to respond to a new name (I won't tell yet!). My brother's bipolar Kujo/sweetheart of a Jack Russell is named Bella, and my partner in crime has a Pug named Bella. Too many Bellas.

Did I mention how much I love this week??

Excited!

Exciting things are happening here at the Gordo house!!

I don't want to say too much, but something, or someone, might be coming here. I don't want to give anything away, but it might be wicked cute, it might be furry and it might have a Southern accent.

I've said too much already.

Tick tick go away

I love dogs, but ones thing that scares the bejezus out of me is scary dogs. Dogs that snarl. Dogs that growl.

Rex is a dog that doesn't like to be fussed with. He likes his space. I am a person who needs space, so I am understanding of this. When Rex isn't feeling well or has something that hurts him he *really* doesn't like to be fussed with. Like, get your hands off me you stupid person.

As stated in a previous post, Rex has a fondness for walking through, peeing on, and lately, pooping in, big piles of leaves. This is nothing new from previous years. What is new though is the amount of ticks he has picked up this year. Maybe he is extra sweet and juicy this year. He doesn't like to be fussed with, and he will growl and snarl as the tick is being removed. Growl and snarl to the point where I have to leave the room and Gordo does this on his own. He sounds so awful. Not the dog I love and adore. He becomes *like an animal*. Finally we realized that if I stayed out of the room with my bad energy (thanks, Cesar Milan) Rex would be fine and Gordo could get the tick out.

This morning Gordo found a tick on Rex's foot. The bottom of his foot. Did I mention that Rex doesn't like to be fussed with? Oh, and he doesn't like when you touch his feet. Bad combination. After what felt like forever, and Gordo getting his hand scratched and cut up, we did it. We went to Petco and bought a muzzle. He's such a good dog. Truly he is. Problem solved. No, problem not solved. He squirmed and growled and tried his damnedest to get that muzzle off. Dee and Bee said to sit on him, hold him down with our weight. Hard to do when he's already pissed and won't sit down, let alone lay down. The tick doesn't seem to bother him when he walks, he licks it a bit, but it doesn't seem bothersome. It is so hard to see my dear dog who I love so much growl and snarl and be so angry. I'm sorry Cesar Milan, I am not the pack leader. I am not the alpha dog.

Dear Rex

Dear Rex,

Your father and I love you very much, but we need to talk about a few things.

First, why is it, dear dog, that you are sound asleep at 6am during the week, but wide awake at 6am on the weekends? You wake up with your father at 5:45 to share oatmeal, and then you go back to sleep. During the week I *need* to leave the house by 7. You, my dear pup, stretch and yawn, and it seems to take all levels of effort to get you outside to pee and/or poop. You drag and look extra cute in your exhaustion. On the weekends though, dear dog who we love so much, you are beaming with life and energy at 6am. Barking, balls squeeking, paws pawing. Please explain, dear doggie, what the difference is between 6am Monday through Friday, and 6am on Saturday and Sunday.

Next, when your father and I are in bed and you are laying at the end of the bed, and we *accidently* kick you, forcing you off the bed, this is not a cue for you to jump back up, or bark, or paw at us. When we then close the door, this is not a cue for you scratch at the door, or cry outside of the door. While we know that you have never, and will never, know what sex is like, we on the other hand do, and therefore we pretend to kick you to get you off the bed and close the door on you. You'll get over it.

Why is it, my favorite dog in the world, that you can always *always* manage to get the ball stuck under the couch? Or the bed? Or anything it will go under rendering you unable to get at it?? Why can't you stick your paw under there and get it out, just the way I will with my arm? And when the ball gets stuck under said obstacle, why do you feel the need to bark at where the ball is? And bark and bark and bark. And bark. And then bark some more. Can we teach you to talk like a person? Things would be so much easier.

We love you very much, pup. When I say things like "I will end you" or "You smell", its all in love. Thanks for the talk. I feel much better now.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Huskies and hot dogs

On Saturday, Gordo and I went to the Pet Show at the CT Expo center. I was in heaven. HEAVEN. I could have stayed there all day. Big dogs, small dogs and dog lovers all around. HEAVEN. *Let it be known that I spent only about $30, not including the ticket and parking. Gordo was proud and shocked by this.*


The woman at the CT Dachshund Rescue let me hold her pup! My next dog will be either a rescued dachshund or a rescued greyhound.


Our very own Jonathan the Husky. He's so handsome in his new bandana. It was handmade by a woman who owns an internet company. I think I may be buying from her again.

How I know its Fall

**Going forward I am going to refer to my friends and family by using cute nicknames and not initials. Any concerns can be directed to managment**

How many times a year can you scrape ice of your windshield at 7am, and have it be 57 degrees at 4pm?? The leaves are so beautiful. The smells are so beautiful. The food is so tasty. Football is awesome and I love fall.


I love these F-ing things. The peanut butter to chocolate ratio on these is amazing. So creamy. So yummy. Luckily for my weight, you can only get these a few times a year, Halloween being one of those times. I heart them.


Newington does this thing where if you rake your leaves down to the curb and put them in a big pile, the will come around once or twice during the season to vacuum them up. An excellent idea, although I have no idea where the leaves end up going. I don't know what it is about those leaves, but something draws my Rex to them. Without fail, he pees on every pile of leaves. Every. Single. Pile. He does it every year. Nutcase.


My Rex is putting on his Winter Blubber, as Gordo calls it. We think he may have actually hit the 80 pound mark. He's become a bit of, well, a horse. This is the time of year when the grass is perpetually wet and muddy and Rex will inevidably track paw prints all over our cream colored carpeting. It also means that when you have something he wants he will do whatever he needs to, to get hold of his possesions, thusly leaving paw marks all over you. In this case I was holding his two favorites, red ball and squirrely.

In other news...

We got Rex a new harness yesterday. When I told the Debinator that it has a fleecyness on the inside, she laughed and told me I was cute. But seriously, the old harness rubbed on his side and his hair was beginning to chafe. Chafe I tell you! There is no way on this earth I will let my pup get a bald spot on his side. As added incentive, in the summer it would rub his "arm pits" and he would get like a rope burn. Listen, until we are blessed with human children, Rex will be treated as the spoiled child. And not for nothing, I think the new harness is quite stylish.

My boys.

This was taken in August at the West Hartford Reservoir, one of our favorite places to walk. Just over 3 miles, the hike goes around the entire reservoir. It is shaded in spots, sunny in others. Flat in some spots, hilly in others. We've seen turtles, snakes, birds, chipmunks. Its a beautiful walk. I love this picture.

He's a Jew

All he needs now is a Bar Mitzvah.

Operation Save Pup

Last night L went on a man-date to see a concert at the casino. I wasn't invited, so I went out for dinner with my sister and her boyfriend. Coupons for free cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory have been burning a hole in our pockets, so off we went. Dinner was good, dessert was good. They left to go home and I decided to take Rex for a walk while it wasn't hot and not too dark. We got halfway through our walk, and he stepped on something he shouldn't have and started to limp. It obviously hurt him to put his foot down, but he's too heavy for me to carry, so he limped back home. We got home and he laid down on the tile floor, licked and bit at his paw. He wouldn't let me go near it, even to look. I was afraid he had stepped on glass and I didn't want for him to get hurt more by licking and biting it. Not wanting to see my pup in pain, I called the emergency vet. I got the address and we drove out to the clinic on the West Hartford line. I pull in and there are at least a half dozen cop cars in the Home Depot/BJs parking lot next to the vet. Weird, I thought, but I was on a mission. We ring the bell and the tech takes us in and I explain the situation. He takes Rex and tells me that they'll check him out, see what's going on and report back to me. I suggested to the tech that he might want to muzzle my loving pup, as he doesn't like being fussed with when he doesn't feel well. I told Rex everything would be okay, and went to give the receptionist girl my information. Not even five minutes later, the tech came back with Rex and said "We don't see anything." "What do you mean?" I said. "I looked and the doctor looked and we don't see anything." I turned to Rex, who was now jumping up to the counter wanting to play with the receptionist girl, and said "Seriously?" The tech felt my pain and said, "I can muzzle him again and you can look for yourself if you'd like." So we did, and as predicted, I saw nothing. I looked at my pup again and said "Are you serious?" The tech said, "Don't worry it happens all the time. Happens with kids too." I still felt a bit stupid. So the receptionist girl gave him two biscuits and we went on our way. As we walked out, I mentioned something about all the cop cars, and both the tech and the receptionist girl just looked at me and didn't say much. Here's what NBC30 had to say about it...

West Hartford Police are searching for two suspects after a man was shot in the parking lot of BJ's Wholesale Club Thursday night.

The victim, 26, was wounded while he walked out of the New Park Avenue store with his girlfriend and their child. Two men drove up to the store entrance, according to police. One man shot the victim with a rifle, and both drove away in a blue Toyota pickup truck.

The victim was taken to the hospital, where he was initially listed in stable condition.

The victim and his girlfriend told police they were shopping, and did not know the gunman.

Police roped off the area for several hours to gather evidence.

Jealousy.

Sometimes I have an irrational fear that Rex doesn't like me as much as he likes L. While this could very well be true, I also know there's not a whole lot I can do about it as he is a dog. He perks right up whenever L is in the room or enters a room. Today for example, Rex laid around and slept all day long. Didn't play, didn't bark, just slept. As soon as L pulled in the driveway, he bounced up. Barking, jumping, craziness. I mean, I know Rex loves me. I feed him, I walk him, I play with him. He listens to me more than he does L. But it just never ceases to make my heart drop a bit when his eyes and ears perk up when L walks into the room. I know though that I need to get over this before a child enters our lives. Heaven help me, or us for that matter, if I am constantly worried that my child loves their father more than me.

I saw this sign on our way home from Maryland. I wonder if Barry Manilow ever thought his name would be on the same billboard as Beyonce's. Or maybe the better question is, did Beyonce ever think her name would be on the same billboard as Manilow?

A Ridiculous Purchase

This is a dog biscuit. I paid $2.50 for it. What's worse, Rex wouldn't even eat it.

Dogs and kids

In a lot of ways I think having a dog is good practice for having a child. If I'm tired, he still needs attention. If I don't feel well, he still needs to play. If I've had a long day, he doesn't know the difference and still needs my attention. Rain or shine, he needs exercise. He loves me and comforts me. He holds me together when I need it and leaves me alone when I need that. He makes me laugh and he makes me cry. Different than a child, he is the first real "thing" that L and I have had together. Nothing will change that. Everyday I see and experience the love that we pour into our friend. Our future children will be so loved. Not only by L and I, but by our wonderful Rex.