i know i said i wouldn't...

...but come on, he's a cutie patootie.  yeah, i said it.

Also, I picked up this rabbit toy for Simon this past weekend and he carries it around like his baby.  

date night, etc.

I think this Saturday counts as a pretty good one.  Even though Simon the Wise has quite turned into Simon the Whiner, mourning his captivity between the hours of 3 and 7 AM, we have still decided to keep him :).  This little guy sure is rearranging our schedules.  Around 11, I met with Rob's coworker/friend, Alyssa, and we went to the mall and got dresses for the Music Hall business next Saturday.  Then Rob and I spent the afternoon hanging out/cleaning/Simon entertaining and then my parents came over for dinner.  I decided to invite them over when I realized we hadn't had them over for anything besides house maintenance since we moved, and I thought that was kind of crappy.  I made chicken parmigiana and it was delish.  We need to have Rob's fam over sometime for the same.

After my family left, we decide to turn the remaining hours of Saturday into a date night, traveling up to West Chester to use our Rave passes and see Moneyball.  It was a pretty good movie and being at Union Centre was like old, pre-married times.

Now we are laying in bed, dreading the fact we have the alarm goes off in less than 4 hours for church business.  We are also experimenting letting Simon sleep in our room tonight.  So far he is staying on his pillow from his crate at the foot of the bed, so that's good.

Aaaand that's all she wrote.

Goodnight, blogpeople.

on updating.

I believe a few weeks back, I made some reference to my hopes of getting some kind of regular posting plan down, so all of my posts don't sound like rambling nonsense.  Well, I am here to report that I am nowhere near accomplishing that but after just reviewing my previous post, I can see something needs to be done.

Until next time.

things

Simon has gone through a relapse the past couple days.  Monday and Tuesday he whined ALL NIGHT.  I mean, like every hour.  The first night I felt really bad, and ended up waking up at 5 for him.  By Tuesday I was just getting pissed off, and luckily last night he slept (I think) soundly.  I/Rob closed the door to our room, anyway.  And he was getting better with people, like way better.  I took him to Eden Park to go on a walk with my friend Sara and her dog, Penny (Sara just moved back from North Carolina - yay!) and Simon was TOTALLY NORMAL.  He was even jumping up to Sara and wanting her to pet him and stuff and I thought we had reached a breakthrough.  However, on aforementioned days, during his walks, EVERYTHING terrified Simon, once again.  He violently through himself toward the street when we approached an abandoned toy truck on the sidewalk.  Every person we passed he obviously suspected as a dognapper/murderer.  And kids?  Nervous breakdowns.  He can't even handle them.

Has anybody had any similar experiences with their dog?   Specifically fear of people (especially children) that they have overcome?


In other news, I love my new schedule on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  I have 2 hours purely to myself in the morning and it is glorious.

Also, Rob and I will be attending some fundraising gala and whatnot at freakin' MUSIC HALL on October 1.  It is honoring composer Philip Glass and his induction into the American Classical Music hall of fame, but also trying to raise money for a unique project that Rob's company has been hired to do for them.  Rob is even presenting at the event.  Needless to say, I am terrified.  We are not classy and I have to go out and buy all new fancy clothes just so I don't look like a savage at this snooty event.

more about simon.

Simon is doing so, so great.  We officially adopted him this past Saturday and he is such a great dog.  There are noticeable improvements every single day and he wasn't a bad guy to start!  Love this little dog :)

P.S. I promise I'm not going to be posting about my dog all the time now.

research

We have been speculating as to possible breeds that Simon may be.  I wish that we could know his breeds and also his age, but alas it will only ever be speculation.  However, I personally believe that our little friend here is part wire-hair jack russell terrier.  Firstly, he looks like one!  Proof:

This is basically Simon's face, minus the white.

Also,

Simon's brother looked EXACTLY like this.  His ears were huge and stuck up.  And he was this color.  I mean, if I didn't now any better, I would believe that is Simon's brother.

Secondly, Simon has hops.  And abundant energy.  I can take him on an hour walk, that is largely uphill, and when we get inside he won't even need a drink of water.  Seriously, this happened.  I walked the little guy through the hills of Bellevue for an hour and about 30 minutes after being home he moseyed over to the water dish and took about a lap of water.  And then he was done.  

I have house sat for some family friends twice and they have a Jack Russell terrier and the little guy, though more on the hyper-active side than our little guy, reminds me so much of Simon.  He wasn't wire-haired or anything, but demeanor and things were similar.  

Anyway, I really should be getting ready for work as opposed to google image searching wire-haired Jack Russell terriers, so off I go.

But not before I say how awesomely Simon is adjusting to us.  The first couple nights he whined, yelped, and barked for 20-30 minutes after we put him in his crate at night.  Then Monday night he only whined for about 5 minutes, and last night he may have whimpered for about 30 seconds.  He is so good!

Simon the Wise, Escaper of Crates

Guess what guys.....

WE GOT A NEW DOG.

His name is Simon, a little dog recently brought to Ohio from Tennessee, where he and his brother were picked up by someone who saw them being tossed out of a moving car.  He is a sweet, kind of skittish, but pretty well-behaved.  Last night there was about 15 minutes of on-and-off whining/barking after being locked up in his crate, and then when we got back from church this morning Houdini here made his way out of the crate and was just hanging out.  He only mildly chewed up this basket/tray thing he pulled off the coffee table and I wasn't even mad about it.

So anyway, without further ado...meet Simon the Wise, Escaper of Crates:

The little booger doesn't hold still long enough to get a photo so hopefully he mellows out over the next few days and we'll have some better shots.