Buddhafied

Dog poop

Happy New Year everyone! May this year be a happy and prosperous year for you and your love ones and your kids and your dog and your cat and your plants and your iPhone and if you are really nice to me, I will also wish your coffee be full of cream and sugar. Amen.

Anyway, talking about cats and dogs, have you ever have those moments in your life where you think you've bring your dog's poop to work? Well... I just had one of those.

See, my dog likes to do things her way, and her way usually means she just like to stand at the side of the road and stare at cars. When she was younger, I would force her to walk with me, which got me in trouble, but now she's a 77 year old lady, Scott and I let her get away with it sometimes. And because she refuse to walk around the block, we can't throw her freshly made presents to the dumpster. It means we sometimes have to carry her poop back into our apartment (yes, we are such well-educated classy gay couples. You'all should be ashame of yourself for not being more like us. u'hm). This morning, before I head out the door, I said goodbye to Scott and he mumbled in his sleep "don't forget your lunch in the fridge", I was like, "I don't have lunch in the fridge." "Oh... really? Well, don't forget Cleo's poop." Well, have a good day to you too Snuggle Muffin. I gave him a kiss and dash out the door with the bag of poop, which has been there probably since 5pm last night. I stepped into the elevator with dog poop in one hand and my Pepsi in the other. I swear the lady in the elevator thought that was my lunch. She kept on staring at the poop bag then at my Pepsi. Well, that would give a new meaning to the word "recycle" and make Al Gore proud.

When I finally got to work, I sat down and start checking my emails, all of a sudden I remember that bag of poop that I was carrying earlier. "Oh my god, where's the poop? I thought I had it on my hand, where is it now? Did I put it in my pocket? Oh my gosh I hope I didn't. Did I left it in the car?" After a few minutes of panicking thinking I've "lost" the poop, I remembered I put it in the garbage can in the garage long before I get into the car.

What I find it funny was that for a few seconds there, I was actually worried that I lost a bag of dog poop... who in the world will worry if they lost poop? We should all be happy that our hands are poop-free! What on earth has gotten to me. Either I really need some good night sleep or I need some counseling... probably both.

2009 New Year Resolution #1: No more panicking about losing dog poop.

Her Royal Highness

I took Cleo out this morning as usual. When we came back in, I needed to check a few emails before heading to work, so I just left her alone and let her do her thing. I check-in with her before leaving, and this is what I saw when I walked in to the bedroom.

I know, it looks like all the other millions of photos I took of her, but she's just too damn cute for me.

BTW, if you wonder why she's always lying down or sleeping in her photos, that's because it is all that she does. A freakin koala is probably more active than she is.

Lullaby

Lullaby
Dixie Chicks

They didn't have you where I come from
Never knew the best was yet to come
Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up

I slip in bed when you're asleep
To hold you close and feel your breath on me
Tomorrow there'll be so much to do
So tonight I'll drift in a dream with you

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up

As you wander through this troubled world
In search of all things beautiful
You can close your eyes when you're miles away
And hear my voice like a serenade

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up

The joy of canned food

We saw Cleo turning from just a regular food piglet to a crazy gluttony sloppy monster.

Since Cleo is getting older, I thought I’ll lift the ban of the rule “no wet food for the dog” that established by Michael long ago, and let her have some joy in her life with canned dog food. Of course, being the pig that she is (I literally – or according to viewfromthejeep, truly – had a Japanese exchange student came to me once and asked me whether she’s a pig on a leash) she ate the whole can within seconds, which is hardly a surprise. What shocking was the amount of mess she made when she eats. This morning after breakfast, she got dog food all over her face, all over the wall, and even on her back! Moreover, she wouldn’t stop hogging over the dog bowl even after her meal, as if she licks the bowl a bit more it will melt into more food for her.

Other parents are always proud of their kids, I just feel lucky that I haven’t got eaten alive by her.

Yes, all the brown dots on her face are dog food in the picture. It almost looks like little bruises for some reason.

Parenting

Cleo sleeping in the car. All pooped out after her vet visit.

---

It turned out Cleo is okay after all.

The vet said he couldn't find the initial cause of the diarrhea, but Cleo's current tummy problem is caused by the over populated bacteria which initiated from the bacteria that got her tummy to stir up at the first place. Does that make sense? Anyway, she's on antibiotics right now and she didn't poop in the house last night, so I think she's feeling a lot better.

This little incident has made me appreciate "parenting". I guess it is not that easy as it seems.

We all have seen the scenes before. Kids screaming and yelling on the top of their lungs at a supermarket. Whining on the floor until they get the things they want or get a whack in the head. It is so easy to think the kid's parents are useless and couldn't control their kids. But what we don't see might be the patients they have when their kid has a high fever, or having to wake up every hour to check on their baby's condition. Cleo is like a daughter to me, but after all, she's not a human child. It must be 100 times more paranoid for a parent when ones own child is sick. Not not mention the stress of worrying them with things other than health, like school, playtime and the future.

I really don't know how people can manage those kind of stress, but kudos to those who are brave enough to be parents.

Paranoid

Cleo is sick again.

She has been having diarrhea since Saturday night, and is not going away. She made a mess on the floor five time over Saturday night and puked once. I thought she was getting better as she only did it three times last night, but when I called Scott earlier, he said she did it again twice this morning. I have no choice but to take her to the vet this afternoon.

I hate it when she's sick. I get so paranoid and worried. I know she's getting old and one day I might hear the bad news, but I'm not sure whether I'm ready for that yet (or I'll ever be ready for that day). I can hardly concentrate on anying when knowing she's not feeling well. Maybe I'm too attached to her.

It's so easy to talk about being zen and indifference to external emotions, but in reality, we're humans and we can only contain our feelings so much.

Cleo's email

Scott was putting a checklist of to-do's before he left Hong Kong. I was checking it out when I found one item read "email Chris/Cleo", I thought it was funny so I teased him:

me: Bubba, what do you mean emailing Chris/Cleo, Cleo doesn't even have an email.

Scott: Yes, she does.

me: No she doesn't! What's her email address then.

Scott: humphrey-abandoned-me-at-hotmail-dot-com.

me: BUBBA!

Scott: En-ough!

So, just for fun, I'v signed up that email for Cleo! Email her sometimes, you might get dog treats sent to you.

I've also uploaded 165 photos of Scott's Hong Kong trip, look at them if you're bored.

Uh-oh

I just realized if you type "weird looking dog" as search term on google, this page of my blog will come up in third place of the search.

Oops! Sorry, Cleo. I've just made you famous for being weird looking...

Weird looking dog

I almost forgot how wonderfully weird looking my dog is:

Her majesty likes the snow

Apparently, my dog loves snow.

As you might know, my dog is among one of the laziest breed there could be. She sleeps closely to 20 hours per day, her favourite exercise is walking from the couch to her food bowl then make her way back to the couch again.

Not only she's lazy, she's also very picky with her environment. She doesn't like going outdoor on rainy or cold days. She would rather pee under the awning and on the cement so she doesn't need to get wet. Sometimes, she would test the grass by gently placing one of her front paws on the soil, if she finds it too wet for her, she will stand there looking at me as if she is saying "you must be out of your mind to think that I'm going to walk on this."

So I was talking to Scott yesterday and he said "it has been snowing the entire day yesterday, and guess who likes the snow?" Evidentially, Cleo loved the snow so much she actually walked the block willingly herself.

You have no idea how much of a miracle this is. I usually have to drag her at the corner of the street and using every method of incentive to make her walk with me. "Cleo, you want a cookie?" "Cleo, who's that? Is that a bear?" "Cleo, see that little puppy, he's laughing at you because you're fat and lazy" "Cleo, you better walk now or I'll eat all your dog food tonight and you'll starve" I get so used to people giggling at me when that happens. In fact, sometimes I just stand there and pose with her hoping people will think I'm doing a photo-shoot.

So, anyone wants to get me a snow-making machine so I can enjoy walking my dog like a regular dog owner could that will be great.

Update: just got off the phone with Scott and he said "it's pouring rain out there's mud everywhere. Cleo just ran out and ran back in, now's she's in bed." Glad she's back to her normal self again.