I started this blog to overcome writer's block, to actually start writing.
But, now I fear that the blog is a way for me to avoid writing that which I want to write most. That which is most difficult to start writing. So, I will start... offline. Even if I only write one paragraph. Here goes...!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Being a parent: or why is puppy becoming a terror?
No, I am not pregnant. Really. But I have a virtual toddler. I'm not sure what happened but this week puppy has become very disobedient. He's been called "Bad Dog" more than Pumpkin, Munchkin, or Cutie... none of which is his real name. During the week that hubby was away, puppy started going after the wires again. He destroyed a few cords. Bitter Apple has not been working for us!
Now, hubby's been back, but Little Terror has stayed. Is there something in the old faded floral wallpaper (it came with the house!) that beckons to LT's gustatory system? Does wallpaper, in fact, taste like chocolate or roast beef?
Hubby and my responses to LT's acting out are telling.
Him: "LT is being BAD. He needs to be disciplined." (Not to worry! Disciplining means simply placing him back in his pen and telling him firmly, "no.")
Me: "Why is LT being BAD? Is it because we're not exercising him enough? Maybe it's because we're not giving him enough affection?"
One of my dear childhood friends recommended this as the solution.
DCHF: "This is what you have to do. You have to get another puppy to keep Puppy company!"
Me: "Huh. There's an idea...."
Hubby: (Groan. Rolls eyes.)
We have no solutions yet. Maybe we need to call in the Dog Whisperer, since reading his books is not enough.
Now, hubby's been back, but Little Terror has stayed. Is there something in the old faded floral wallpaper (it came with the house!) that beckons to LT's gustatory system? Does wallpaper, in fact, taste like chocolate or roast beef?
Hubby and my responses to LT's acting out are telling.
Him: "LT is being BAD. He needs to be disciplined." (Not to worry! Disciplining means simply placing him back in his pen and telling him firmly, "no.")
Me: "Why is LT being BAD? Is it because we're not exercising him enough? Maybe it's because we're not giving him enough affection?"
One of my dear childhood friends recommended this as the solution.
DCHF: "This is what you have to do. You have to get another puppy to keep Puppy company!"
Me: "Huh. There's an idea...."
Hubby: (Groan. Rolls eyes.)
We have no solutions yet. Maybe we need to call in the Dog Whisperer, since reading his books is not enough.
becoming a writer
It's inconvenient to write. Why is it that the impulse to write always comes at 11:20 pm, when I should have been asleep by 11 pm to get my seven hours of sleep?
I finished "In Her Shoes," by Jennifer Weiner tonight. Saw the movie a few years ago, the one that starred Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz. Something prompted me to check out the author's website and she has a page that talks about how to become a published writer. I don't think most nonprofessional writers care about becoming published. We write because we feel the impulse. ha! "We." As if I've been writing much lately. Well, if what they say is true, "a writer is someone who writes," then I am a writer! :) They don't say anything about the quality of the writing.
Right now, I'd most like to write a short story or creative nonfiction. The audience would be my sister or my future kid, or really, anyone who I'd like to understand what has been going on internally. But mainly, the story would be my way of trying to communicate with my sister. I only hope that she understands the message. We communicate in different ways, and I'm not sure she's in a place right now to be able to hear me. Not through any fault of hers. One thing I've learned is that no one's journey can be forced.
I finished "In Her Shoes," by Jennifer Weiner tonight. Saw the movie a few years ago, the one that starred Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz. Something prompted me to check out the author's website and she has a page that talks about how to become a published writer. I don't think most nonprofessional writers care about becoming published. We write because we feel the impulse. ha! "We." As if I've been writing much lately. Well, if what they say is true, "a writer is someone who writes," then I am a writer! :) They don't say anything about the quality of the writing.
Right now, I'd most like to write a short story or creative nonfiction. The audience would be my sister or my future kid, or really, anyone who I'd like to understand what has been going on internally. But mainly, the story would be my way of trying to communicate with my sister. I only hope that she understands the message. We communicate in different ways, and I'm not sure she's in a place right now to be able to hear me. Not through any fault of hers. One thing I've learned is that no one's journey can be forced.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Stonehenge and calm-assertive energy
I woke up before my alarm at 7:00 am today, pulled on a sweatshirt and padded downstairs to the den to where Belly sleeps. (To maintain anononymity on this blog, I'll call our new puppy Belly.) "AAAIIIEEE!!" That scream was internal! On the outside, I maintained calm-assertive energy. Cesar Millan would have been proud. The truth was that I was still too deep in my pre-caffeinated sleep fog to be anything but calm.
We've had Belly for 6 weeks. As first time dog owners, we were determined to do everything right. We researched online, gobbled up Cesar Millan's teachings, and checked out several puppies of our desired breed (a mix) before bringing Belly home. During his first week with us, we took him to the vet, a nice lady with a great metal-tableside manner. Belly loved her, as he seems to love all humans!
(As a sidenote, we are lucky. Belly has a wonderful temperament and loves people and other dogs. He'll actually whine if strangers do not fawn over him... well, maybe he's an attention monger. I'll have to keep on eye on that. I'd also like to think that hubby and I are doing something right that he's not afraid of people.)
Back to the story. We asked the nice vet how much we should be feeding Belly, but forgot to ask her, "how much weight should he be gaining?" Hey, I didn't go to vet school, but apparently I forgot to bring my common sense, too!
During the next 5 weeks, we fed Belly 1/4 cup of nutritious puppy chow in the morning and 1/4 cup at night He wasn't gaining any weight, but he seemed to be a happy and well adjusted canine, so we didn't worry.
Finally, after not gaining any weight for 5 weeks, we asked a different vet how much we should be feeding him. We learned that we'd been lovingly starving Belly. New Vet told us that we should be feeding him TWICE as much as we had been and that he should be gaining a pound a week during this critical growth stage. Oh my! We'd messed up. But never to dwell on guilt and negative thoughts, 2 days ago, we immediately started feeding Belly more...
So, I woke up before my alarm at 7:00 am today, pulled on a sweatshirt and padded downstairs to the den to where Belly sleeps. "AAAIIIEEE!!" That scream was internal! On the outside, I maintained calm-assertive energy. Cesar Millan would have been proud. The truth was that I was still too deep in my pre-caffeinated sleep fog to be anything but calm. Poor Belly, unused to his new Input, had left me a creative present as his Output --- his own rendition of Stonehenge, in various size and consistency "rocks." He himself was curled up in his usual position on the loveseat's poufy pillows. I stepped over the doggie gate.
Tail thumping at a millions miles a hour, he stretched and stood up to greet me. He looked up at me with those liquidy eyes, floppy ears flipped inside-out. Sigh. All is forgiven.
Let the scrubbing begin! ZZZZzzzzzz....
We've had Belly for 6 weeks. As first time dog owners, we were determined to do everything right. We researched online, gobbled up Cesar Millan's teachings, and checked out several puppies of our desired breed (a mix) before bringing Belly home. During his first week with us, we took him to the vet, a nice lady with a great metal-tableside manner. Belly loved her, as he seems to love all humans!
(As a sidenote, we are lucky. Belly has a wonderful temperament and loves people and other dogs. He'll actually whine if strangers do not fawn over him... well, maybe he's an attention monger. I'll have to keep on eye on that. I'd also like to think that hubby and I are doing something right that he's not afraid of people.)
Back to the story. We asked the nice vet how much we should be feeding Belly, but forgot to ask her, "how much weight should he be gaining?" Hey, I didn't go to vet school, but apparently I forgot to bring my common sense, too!
During the next 5 weeks, we fed Belly 1/4 cup of nutritious puppy chow in the morning and 1/4 cup at night He wasn't gaining any weight, but he seemed to be a happy and well adjusted canine, so we didn't worry.
Finally, after not gaining any weight for 5 weeks, we asked a different vet how much we should be feeding him. We learned that we'd been lovingly starving Belly. New Vet told us that we should be feeding him TWICE as much as we had been and that he should be gaining a pound a week during this critical growth stage. Oh my! We'd messed up. But never to dwell on guilt and negative thoughts, 2 days ago, we immediately started feeding Belly more...
So, I woke up before my alarm at 7:00 am today, pulled on a sweatshirt and padded downstairs to the den to where Belly sleeps. "AAAIIIEEE!!" That scream was internal! On the outside, I maintained calm-assertive energy. Cesar Millan would have been proud. The truth was that I was still too deep in my pre-caffeinated sleep fog to be anything but calm. Poor Belly, unused to his new Input, had left me a creative present as his Output --- his own rendition of Stonehenge, in various size and consistency "rocks." He himself was curled up in his usual position on the loveseat's poufy pillows. I stepped over the doggie gate.
Tail thumping at a millions miles a hour, he stretched and stood up to greet me. He looked up at me with those liquidy eyes, floppy ears flipped inside-out. Sigh. All is forgiven.
Let the scrubbing begin! ZZZZzzzzzz....
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Survival technique
Puppy changes everything. Hubby and I got a puppy because we weren't quite ready for kids yet, and thought puppy would be an intermediary step. Well, that was my rationale. Cute as a button, but also a little terror when he hasn't gotten enough exercise. We are willing to send him out to do some of your house projects:
Do you need your carpet torn up to put in hardwood floors? Let Poncho (not his real name) be your man.
Do you need your kitchen floor corners cleaned? Let Poncho dig out those twisted up bundles of hair, dust, beetle legs, and cashew bit.
His survival technique, to ensure that we don't turn him out on the streets, is to curl up quietly and look adorable in the late hours of the night. This is why we put up with him. Also, in the long run, he will be a natural blood-pressure lowering agent. :)
I'm blogging at his expense. We're lucky. He has been really easy, just being a puppy. We are just lazy folk.
Do you need your carpet torn up to put in hardwood floors? Let Poncho (not his real name) be your man.
Do you need your kitchen floor corners cleaned? Let Poncho dig out those twisted up bundles of hair, dust, beetle legs, and cashew bit.
His survival technique, to ensure that we don't turn him out on the streets, is to curl up quietly and look adorable in the late hours of the night. This is why we put up with him. Also, in the long run, he will be a natural blood-pressure lowering agent. :)
I'm blogging at his expense. We're lucky. He has been really easy, just being a puppy. We are just lazy folk.
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