New Addition

Saturday Amber, Gerti, and I met Mom and Aunt Lana at Unleashed. They were having their grand opening, so we wanted to check it out. It's a pretty neat place. It's not all finished yet, but soon there will be a cafe and an outdoor water park. There were so many dogs there. There were a bunch of breeds I had never seen before. And for the first time ever - I got to pet a Frenchie!! That just made my week. Here are a few pictures from the park.

Gertie in her sweater

A Frenchie!

Hello

After the dog park we all went to lunch at Posados. Then we brought Gertie to my place to introduce her to Riley. Of course Riley barked and growled, but then she seemed to like Gertie. Gertie tried to chase her around, but then she wanted to swat at her.

That night I went to a girls night with Kristin and Stacey. We went to Jessica's house and watched movie, ate pizza, and drank wine. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I went.

Sunday Mom and I went to go look at a dog we found online. The family was selling it because they didn't have the time to devote to it. It was a black and white shih tzu/poodle mix. When we went to see her, so wasn't very friendly to us. She seemed scared to come to us. But when we got her outside, she began to run around and play. She finally came to us to let us pet her. Mom decided to take her. So here is the newest member of our family:

She hadn't been groomed in a long time, so she kind of look like a Rastafarian dog. They named her Coco, but we changed it to Roxie. When Riley came over, they immediately started playing. It was so cute.

Yesterday I took her to the groomers. They didn't get to finish grooming her cause she got too angry. Apparently she hadn't been groomed before. But here is her new look!

Look at those teeth!

Best Buds

She is a really sweet girl and gets along great with Riley. Below are some of the latest pics of Riley.

Need a smile?

Then go here!

It's going to snow?!

Well, I've had more to write about this week than any other week since dooms day.

Last Friday Mom and I went for margaritas at Posados. I was a little nervous about running into Les, but he wasn't working that night. Saturday we went to see Knowing at the Studio Movie Grill. I had never been there before. It was neat eating at the movies. And it was a good movie too.

Sunday Kristin and I met for brunch at the Bronx. I ate migas and drank mimosas. After brunch, we decided to go see I Love You Man at Northpark. That was the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. I actually want to go see it again.

Tuesday I went crazy at Blockbuster. I rented 5 movies: Australia, Bolt, Pineapple Express, Role Models, and Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist. Australia was a good movie, but too long. But it had Hugh Jackman in it, so I'm not complaining. Bolt was pretty cute. It wasn't as funny as I imagined since they put all the funny parts in the commercials. I didn't think Pineapple Express was all that funny. Everyone kept telling me it was the funniest movie, but I'm not a pot head, so a lot of it just wasn't funny. Role Models was funny. I love Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott. My favorite movie was Nick & Nora. It was the best!

Thursday Mom and I met my Aunt Mina and my cousin Michelle for dinner at El Finex. It was nice to spend time with the family. After dinner, I met Amber at Good Records. Her friend's band, The King Bucks, were playing. I got to see Cheyenne, which is always nice. I also got to meet some of Amber's friends that I had only heard about. Later Philip and Holly came up there and we went out for pizza. I was glad I went.

Today was a total lazy day. I got home so late last night and I didn't want to get up at 8:30 when Riley woke me up. After I took her out and fed her, I went back to bed. Then I took her for a ride and we grabbed lunch. While we were out, it started pouring down rain. Mom came over later to see Riley. After she left, me, Riley and Chloe all took a nap. When I woke up to take the munchkin out, I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I had no idea it was like 30 degrees outside! And now the weather is saying that there is a chance of snow flurries. How crazy is that?!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. In the morning, Amber and I are going to Unleashed. It's a new indoor dog park that just opened up. Unfortunatley I can't take Riley. They have to be 4 months old to go. I'm so bummed about it. On Easter the dogs can get their picture taken with the Easter Bunny, and I really want Riley to do that. Hopefully I can find something similar for her.

So true....

Nothing much

Well, I haven't been up to much lately. My allergies have come to visit, so that's always fun.

Riley has been doing such a good job at potty training. Every time she goes to the bathroom outside or on her potty pad, she gets a treat. Giving her treats has really helped her learn that outside is where she needs to potty. She is so cute when she goes out. She will sniff around, squat, turn around and smell it, and before you can tell her "good job" she is jumping around all over the place. She loves her treats! As soon as I get the leash out, she gets all excited cause she knows she is going out. It's so adorable.

She is already getting bigger :( Her tail is longer now, and it curls more instead of just sitting on her back. Her color is also getting lighter. I think she will be real pretty when she grows up. (Not that she is not adorable now.) She is also learning to jump up on things. She can't get on the couch yet (no matter how hard she tries), but she has learned to jump on the bottom level of the coffee table. But she's not too sure how to get down. She usually growls and barks and then just kind of falls off.

Yesterday I got some cute pictures of her. She is getting braver with Chloe. Now she chases after her and tries to eat her tail. Chloe is becoming more acceptable of her. Here are some of the pics:

Sun Bathing

Hello

Look at that little tongue!

Getting closer

Awww

Today I decided to give her a bath. Guess who doesn't like baths?

I braved the splashing water to get this picture. She was none too happy. In fact, I think she is plotting her revenge. What do you think?

Oh well, at least she smells nice. Tomorrow is her first visit to the vet. Hopefully she won't be too scared. Here are some more pictures from our lazy days.

They take a lot of naps.

Puppy Class 101

So today has been a pretty good day. I had to wake up at 7am to call about my unemployment. I talked to someone and they said that I could receive benefits even if I'm receiving severance pay. So that was good news!

After getting off the phone, I took Riley out for potty time. It was cold and wet, and I just couldn't commit to staying out there long. Of course she pottied on the floor as soon as we came in. I wasn't able to get her to potty outside at all today. She was shivering cause it was so cold outside, so I felt so bad for her. Luckily I had potty training class tonight.

I had to go get my contacts, which is over in the Oak Lawn area. I decided to take Riley up to Christal Radio while I was in the neighborhood. She was a hit! Everyone wanted to hold her and play with her. We were there for about an hour. After all that play time, she was exhausted. But I still had to run by The Bronx.

Jess was there, so I was afraid that he would freak out of I brought a dog inside, but I didn't want to leave her in the car. So I stuffed her in an old purse and hoped he wouldn't notice. As luck would have it, he came up to talk to me. Riley kept moving around in the bag, trying to stick her head out. I was trying so hard not to laugh as I was trying to keep her in bag. Finally, she poked her head out of the bag. Jess wasn't mad at all. Instead he thought she was the cutest thing!

I took Riley home and then headed off to potty training class. There were only 4 other dogs in the class: a corgi/chow mix, 2 boxers, and a german shepard. All of them much bigger than Riley. Since I was only there for potty training, I didn't have to bring her. For potty training, this is what we learned:

*Take them out first thing in the morning.

*Only spend 10 minutes outside. If they potty, then reward them with a treat and play time. If they don't potty, put them in an enclosed area for 30 minutes, then repeat.

*An hour after they potty, they have to be taken out again.

It seems very tedious, but I really need to commit to doing it. I really want her to be potty trained.

We also learned to use the clicker. Every time you click the clicker, they get a treat. This will teach them to associate the click with a treat. So when I bought some treats to practice. (I'm not taking the rest of the classes till April, but I want to be prepared.) So I tried to click and then treat. But Riley is scared of the clicker! So that's something we have to work on. But she does like the treats. And you know who else likes the dog treats? CHLOE!! She knocks Riley out of the way trying to get them. And poor little Riley is scared of the big cat, so she just watches Chloe eat her treats. Yet another obstacle :)

I put down a pee pad for Riley to use in the house, but she has no interest in using it. But I still keep it out just in case. While I was cleaning the house tonight, I walked in the living room to discover that she had pooped on the pad. Of course she was trying to eat it, but that's not the point. I told her good job and gave her a treat. I was so happy! I was happy that it was on the pad and not floor. But I was even more happy at the fact that I didn't have to watch her and keep putting her on the pad to do it. She did it all on her own. It gives me hope.

Ups and Downs

The title says it all!


The last Friday of February I was laid off from my job at Christal Radio. In the back of my mind, I knew it was coming. I knew that they would probably let one assistant go since there were only 3 AE's. Luckily, I get 6 months severance pay. That is the only thing keeping me from freaking out.


I'm also trying to file for unemployment. I'm still waiting to hear back from them to see if I can receive benefits while also getting severance pay. If I do get unemployment, then I have to stop working at The Bronx for a while.


I have to get up early in the morning and try to talk to someone. I'm sure that will be fun.

Since I'm not working right now, I figured it might be a good time to finally get a puppy. I'd be home during the day, so I could potty train it. Also, I would get to spend time with the puppy while it's still a little baby. So last Monday I got Riley. She is a chocolate and white Shih Tzu. She was only 7 weeks old and probably about 2 pounds. She is the cutest thing ever! But she is definitely a handful.









We are working on potty training right now. Hopefully she will catch on soon. I'm going to a potty training class on Thursday. She went to the groomers for the first time today. I dropped her off at 12:30 and they had her for 3 hours. I tried to get as much cleaning done as I could while she was gone :) When I picked her up, she had a little red bow on top her head. Of course that didn't last long. But at least now you can see her pretty little face!



On Wednesday Amber and I headed to Austin for a little road trip. We had tickets to see Modest Mouse and we were going to stay with Lizeth. We got a late start and didn't get down there till 5pm. After visiting, we still had to get ready and grab a bite to eat. I knew we would be late to the concert, but I figured we would still be in time to see MM. We ate at Trudys for dinner. I had the chorizo stuffed chicken with queso sauce. It was so freakin good!


After dinner we rushed downtown. We ended up being later than we had planned. We only got to see about 4 or 5 songs. But on the way in, these two guys handed us their VIP passes and we took turns going up on the balcony and watching the concert from up there. I wasn't too upset about missing the concert since I've seen them before and I will see them again.


After the concert we picked up some bottles of wine and Scrabble.




Thursday we went to lunch at Docs and then walked around 6 Street. We decided to stay one more day, so Amber and I took a nap while Lizeth was at work. We were going to go look at the bats, but we didn't get up in time. Then we went to Trudys again for dinner. I love that place.


Friday we got up and went to breakfast. Then we did a little shopping and headed back to Lizeth's. Before we left town, Amber and I spent an hour at IKEA. I bought a dog bed, pillows, spice canisters, and a flower vase. On the way back home we stopped at the Czech Stop for some yummy goodness.



We also stopped at Willie's Place.

Breakfast anyone?

Here are some pictures from the trip:

The essentials of any road trip

Lizeth & Amber

Gerri (aka Henry, Gerri Boo)

Lunch @ Docs

The capital

The Brazos River

I really enjoyed the time away, but I was glad to get home. Mom watched Riley while I was away, so I was missing her. Saturday I spent the whole day in my pjs. Sunday I went to lunch with Chelsey. We went to Uncle Julios. It was nice spending time with her.


Monday was Mom's birthday. I made her some pistachio muffins and then I cooked her a pasta dinner. Since I didn't have the money to take her out, I thought I could cook her dinner.


Now that I have more free time, I will hopefully be updating my blog more often. But I'm not making any promises :)