Small Town Survival

As promised! A photo of my little monster. At some point I also promised I would never make this website about my dog. In that case I guess I could make him his own. OR maybe I promised my dog wouldn't have his own website so I can just sprinkle this place with photos of him on occasion. I'll figure it out. Either way, this won't be ALL about Indie. That's his name by the way. Indie Riley Snood. There's a joke in there if you care to look for it. Of course, his name was almost Jazz. Anyway, here he is below doing what he does best. Ignoring his ball and checking out the scenery.. or maybe that's eating the scenery. It's okay if you want to pet him, just be careful - he bites! Good thing he's so damn cute.

That's right, my little monster attacked a two inch beatle this morning while we were gracing the outdoors with our ... well okay, he was gracing -- I was standing around wondering if the breeze could pick up a little. Anyway, this beatle was great fun until it latched onto his lip and he ran around pawing and rubbing his face on the ground trying to get it off. I could hardly stop laughing long enough to help him get it off. Of course by the time I got a hold of him to help he'd managed the job on his own. I distracted him for a minute or so while the big mean beetle made its way under the steps once again. Dog free. Not that it stopped Indie from charging around looking for the beetle once again. Apparently lip bitting doesn't stop him from wanting to play.

In other news I've started updating Coffee and Chocolate again.

The image that inspired this layout. If you don't see indie and leaves check it out.
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Last week Indie went to the vet for his last set of puppy vaccinations. He was well behaved as he always is at the vet and around new people. He loves those cookies and he loves to cuddle. Either that or he gets carsick and that's what makes him a little more calm. He weighed in at 26 lbs and I keep wondering how a four month old can weigh so much. He's all legs these days and looks a little like that awkward teenage. He's still crazy and likes to bite and chew on people but he's been spending calm days in the house with me. As long as he has a toy or something else to chew on he lies on his favourite pillow and stays relatively calm and quit.

He used to whine and bark and get agitated when someone would go down the stairs but this week he managed to go down all on his own. Of course now he's always trying to go downstairs and when he isn't creeping down them he's lying at the top barking at them. That's right, my dog barks at the stairs.

He doesn't like the horses or the electric fence but he loves sticks and tormenting the cat. He finally learned to go outside by himself and he will actually sit by the door when he needs to go out. He seems to leave the carpet alone (it used to be a chew toy) and he really likes tormenting the door stop. All in all he's turning out pretty well and we'll all love him a lot more when he stops his biting habit. At least he's getting his adult teeth so he should grow out of it soon. We hope.

As you might have noticed I am the proud owner of a crazy dog. He's cute, and it's a good thing because if he wasn't no one would want him. I've been saying this since day two when the biting started. It hasn't stopped. I've also never seen a family get so excited about anyone losing a tooth before but when I noticed that indie was missing one we all cheered. I think the neighbors heard and when they realized why we were cheering they cheered too. Really.

He likes to be a part of whatever we are doing so when we eat at the table he tries to jump up and see what we're doing. We're considering renaming him "no-down" because we say that to him more than anything else. When he was younger I thought about renaming him "ouch-dam -it" because he was biting a lot more and his teeth were a lot sharper. See, once again - cheering because they're falling out and praying that this will end the biting habit.

Sometimes these days he'll lie down while I'm checking my email or playing around on one of the many message boards I like to visit. Last night he curled up on the couch downstairs with my mom and actually fell asleep. Maybe this is a sign that he's getting older or maybe all the chewing he does while he's teething wears him out. I'm not certain but it's always a nice relief.

It's probably because of these brief respites that I didn't sell him. Apparently we had an offer but I really couldn't. He's my little fuzzball and I couldn't get rid of him. Besides with all the vet bills I bet he costs more than the offer would have been worth. And she'd probably have brought him back after one night of his biting. You would too. You think I'm kidding. Go ahead, come over, bring gloves.

When he's not sleeping (and he rarely sleeps) he's running around the house with a variety of toys or the frequent sock that he finds on the floor (or wherever he keeps finding them). As an aside if you need help keeping your house clean get a puppy, he'll get whatever you leave out. He thinks we should chase him when he has a sock like it's this great game. I try not to give in but I don't want him chewing on my socks either. Ew. He has a rope toy that he likes but it's a little too hard for him to swing around like he does. One of these days he's going to crack the glass or break something with that thing.

After that, his next favorite is a ball that's moderately deflated so he can almost chew on it. He loves to chase it around the basement while I'm working on the office space. He barks and growls at it and will pounce on it and run away from it. I think that's the way he plays because he does that with his treats too. You give him something you think he'll eat and he has to play with it first.

And the reason for this entry would be the photos below. I caught him sleeping in my room on the covers that were draped off my bed and managed to sneak out to get my camera without him noticing. Apparently John Mayer's newest release, Heavy Things, is as soothing to indie as it is to me. That and he loves my bed as much as I do. See, he's cute and we love him.

Also, stay tuned because I'm hoping to put together a progressive group of photos to show you how much bigger he's gotten. In the meantime, try not to get sick over how cute he is. :)

First I'd like to point out that I don't seem like much of a gift giver considering that I said I'd post all the days of December and then promptly left you hanging for three days. Suck. Anyway. I'm back for good this month and if you keep reading you'll see what sort of things have been keeping me away. In this case I have some thoughts on dogs and children. The rest is all a lie because I've been watching too much Alias (if there is such a thing) and specials on tv (dude, I was totally going to write last night but when CSI ended there was something on Lord of the Rings, do you really expect.... okay, shut up.)

And now that I'm hyped up on coffee and I've survived a strange day of subbing I'm ready to tell you why I think dogs are like children illustrated through the following examples:

Kid plays with glue gun. I say no. Kid plays with tape. I say what are you doing? Kid tapes book closed with tape. I say, what are you doing? I don't think so. Kid plays with box cutter. I say be careful. Kid tries cutting model house with box cutter. I say don't do that. Kid tries cutting book with box cutter. I say don't do that. Kid sharpens stick with box cutter. I say, what are you doing? Kid sands stick down with sand paper. I look on in amazement. Kid stabs cardboard box with sharpened stick. I say, don't do that.

Dog chews on pillow. I say no. Dog jumps on me. I say, what are you doing? Dog tries to eat plant. I say, what are you doing? Don't do that. Dog tries to play with cat. I say, be careful. Dog tries biting cat. I say, don't do that. Dog gets something out of the trash. I say don't do that. Dog tries to eat quarter. I say, what are you doing? Dog sleeps for five minutes. I look on in amazement. Dog tries to sleep on couch. I say, don't do that.

It's honestly the constant "what are you doing? Don't do that that." that reminds me of the dog. Or is it the dog that reminds me of the kids? Either way, it's the lack of an intelligent decision or real consideration for what the kid/dog is about to do that amaze me. Honest.

In other news I dealt with a rowdy group of 8th graders today who wouldn't listen to me, gave me a hard time and then expected me to do them some favors at the end of the day. I even warned them halfway through the class that they should settle down or I would leave a nasty note for the teacher (yeah, today I was *that* sub) and in reply I got a few "I'm ADD" or "we're always like this." Oh well. I left the note for the teacher and hope he actually grows a pair and gets these kids back in order.

So minus the killer headache this morning, the 6 am call, the way kids are like my 6 month old puppy and the obnoxious 8th graders my day was pretty damn good. I even got invited to the real teachers' Christmas/holiday party. Sweet, I get to see teachers I used to be.. uh, taught by getting wasted. Is that cool or what? Or ? er? is it? I'm pumped. Or at least I will be if they actually give me an invite like they said they would. PS. It was CuteTeacherGuy that specifically extended the invitation. This is totally appropriate for two reasons. He's young. He's married. Oh, and as a third he brings me coffee when I'm there. How can I not dig someone who brings me coffee? Exactly.

Brought to you by:

Is it Monday already? It must be. I slept until 8 this morning which means I didn't get that AM call to sub. I always have mixed feelings when I wake up after that magical time. On one side I really like sleeping in and on the other I really like making money and feeling like there's more to my day than playing with the dog and watching the commentary on the Alias DVD. Okay, that part isn't so bad but I can only spend so much time at the computer and in front of the TV.

Since I spent the day with him, I might as well give you the indie update. The last few days he's spent a lot of time outside with my mom. It seems to benefit us since it means that he spends the rest of the day sleeping and we can go about our lives without him trying to be in our laps or on our heads or whatever new form of closeness he's chosen at the moment. Yesterday he spent some time with Cody, the neighbor's German Shepard. Since Cody's a bit bigger indie tends to get quite the beating when they rough house and they spend a lot more of the time running around. Indie seemed a little sore this morning and hardly made it to the bed.

Mostly indie's gotten a lot bigger, is still really needy and likes to cuddle in the morning. Actually he's about 2 feet away from me at the bottom of the bed right now and I'm surprised that he's settled down considering earlier. He was in my lap every three seconds trying to get me to throw his little yellow football. I would and of course since it's fetch, he brings it back and we do it all over again. He's so cute and lovey when he's sleeping. Woo. Sadly for him he still doesn't get to spend the night in the house. I'd rather know where he is and while he's been good the two nights he's been in the house I don't really like it when he licks my face in the middle of the night. Speaking of sleeping, I think that's where I should be.

Brought to you by:

My dad came downstairs with the dog wondering if we had a serious situation on our hands, asking what happened to Indie. While I didn't know what the dog was up to I had to laugh when I saw him. His right front leg and left back leg were stained a strange red color. I explained to my dad that Indie had decided that lying in the chalk line on the floor was a good past time. It started with him licking the chalk off the floor. How quickly things progress. Eventually we sent him away, unaware of how red he actually was. [A week later he is still slightly pink - just in time for Valentine's Day.*]

The chalk on the floor marked a straight line for the walls Gordon and I were building. That's right, yours truly built a wall. It really doesn't get much more exciting than that unless I manage to charge the camera battery and get a photo of it. Right now it's not much, just the studs. There isn't any dry wall or paint, but I imagine that will come at some point. I did get to use the nail gun. I know, I was afraid too. No mistakes, no one got hurt.

Really? I thought maybe I should learn to do these things so I can manage on my own some day. Unlike my mom I won't always have 1-800-4Gordon in my life. I might want to move away or something and then I wouldn't know how to do anything. I guess building a wall might not have been the most practical place to start, but it was fun.

*backdating entries because I can. It's fun.

First, I would like to point out that I am still alive. Barely. And after this semester is over I will likely return. Instead of complaining about how much work I still have left to do and how little time to fit it into I'll just break down the last couple of weeks for you.

I've been working and going to school. A lot. Subbing has thankfully ended. It was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again but it added to the stress level this spring. Now I'm just doing the one job and the two classes and wondering how I ever thought I could take on so much work.

Indie is now a year old and a lot better behaved. He's pretty, but don't tell him I said that. He loves to play, go for walks and will actually settle down to cuddle with out all the biting. He also likes to look out the window CONSTANTLY, barks at stupid things, catches birds and attempts to catch squirrels.

My mom got a new horse some time ago. His name is King and he's fairly young, but really patient and beautiful.

The base of the deck is finished and there are some lovely plants around the edges but I still haven't taken photos. It doesn't have real steps yet, nor does it have railings. Those will happen at some point.

I own season one and two of Alias and at some point I gave in and bought an ipod mini. Blue. Took two stores to find the color I wanted, but I'm happy now. I use it every day and my cd player died so what choice did I have?

I've dealt with a lot of strange friendship issues, but none of them are really the sort you get into on your public journal. Or at least I don't on mine. Also, some of them are still going on. Email me, you know who you are. Maybe.

The madness ends on Tuesday so count me back by Thursday. In the mean time I have 3 major papers and essays to write, 2 minor writing logs to catch up on and a test to study for. Any luck you can spare would be appreciated and send me email just to know you're still there. Oh, and I have some kick ass recipes waiting to be published. I know you can hardly wait; neither can I.