Labor Day

I have been a work-a-holic lately. The Woman has been making me highlight all the words in the dictionary that she doesn't know so she can learn them and be all smart and stuff. Let me tell you - there are a lot of words she doesn't know! My jaws are aching from all the highlighting I have been doing!



Just when I get a break from highlighting, she has me digging potatoes and working hard in the garden.



Just when I think I'm finished for the day, she makes me do the yoga with her! Sure, I am good at the down-dog pose, but come on - I need some rest here.



So, I am glad to be getting a day off on Monday! All this hard work is really tough on a Pug. I need me some relaxing and lazing around. See you all next week!

Chopping Block

While we were camping, the menfolk started a great big fire over which to cook a giant leg of lamb. This leg of lamb thing cooked for over two hours and smelled so incredibly yummy that I almost wet my pants just thinking about it now. When the lamb was finally done, it was pretty late and had become very dark outside. I was not offered any lamb (big surprise), so I knew I would have to use the cover of darkness to get some on my own. I sniffed around, but the lamb was sitting up high on a counter. I could not reach the counter no matter how hard I jumped. Even my new mountain climbing skills were not enough to help me reach the yummy lamb. So, I had to resort to sneakiness, because you know people always underestimate my sneakiness.

Woman was out by the fire enjoying her lamb. She was too lazy to actually use a knife to cut it into bite-sized pieces, so she had a big hunk of it on a fork, and she was gnawing away at it. I snuck up beside her (it was really dark remember), and I totally stole the entire chunk from her fork as she was taking a bite! I took the whole thing! She was so mad at me. She chased me down and pried the lamb out of my mouth! She stole it back! And she ate it! Can you believe she ate something that had been in my mouth? That explains to you just how good this food was. I can't complain though, because I did snarf some of that lamb down while Woman was chasing me around to get it back, and she gave me a little piece of her second helping. Yeah, second helping! What a pig.

So anyway, the next morning I was put on the chopping block to pay for my crimes.



You can see I wasn't showing any signs of remorse though! Yeah, I done it. And I'll do it again!

Pay It Forward II

Good News Everyone! Page and Christine both have space in their Pay It Forward games for you! So, scoot on over to one of their websites and Pay It Forward! It's fun, and you get a prize!

Mini-Vacation

The People took a little mini-vacation this past weekend. They took Friday and Monday off from work, which was great for them, but bad for me. You see, when the People take "time off" it means time away from work. Since they both work from home, it means time away from home, and usually time away from the puggy. Although they did not get on a plane or drive away far, they still went many places without the Pug, like to Linville caverns, Blowing Rock and the Biltmore Estate, so I was bored most of the time. The Woman did expand my domain from the inner bathroom to the hall, full bathroom and spare room so I could look out the window, but I would rather be locked in a small closet with the Woman than given free run of the house without her. Thankfully, the People are back to work today and I can get back to blogging! Woo-hoo!

If anyone is looking for a "Pay it Forward" partner, please leave a comment in this blog. I see that some people have posted that they want to play Pay it Forward, but no one has responded to the post. If you leave a comment here, then people will know to come to your blog and sign up! BTW, Woman has started the Pay it Forward gifts for lmizzle, Gigg's mom and Roy & Gwen's mom. They should be done by October hopefully. LOL! Woman is slow.

Climbing Challenge

After we finished swimming in the pond, we hiked about 2 miles up a very steep mountain to get to our camp. Thankfully there were some streams along the way that Woman dunked me in to cool me off, and she and my new friend Amy took turns carrying me when I got tired. I can usually hike for miles with no problem, but after the day of swimming and chasing dogs, I was pooped out!

Here I am snarfing Amy at camp. You can see our cabin in the background. I turned Amy into an extreme Pug-lover!



After a drink of water and a nice rest, the People all decided to climb the super steep mountain slope beside camp. It is so steep that there is a rope to hold on to so you can pull yourself up. It's meant to be a team-building exercise of some sort.

Nate went up first, although Chloe beat him to the top, so she was the winner.



Woman, Amy and I were all sitting around the fire ring watching people and dogs climb up the mountain. I was hoping Woman wouldn't go up the mountain, because I knew I couldn't make it up, and I didn't want to be the only loser! I was sad when Woman and Amy started their way up the slope. Now everyone was up there except me. I jumped and jumped and tried and tried, but I couldn't make it over the steepest part of the climb.

Here is a blurry picture of me chickening out while Sarah and Buddy try to make their way up.



Eventually the People began to descend, but I was still intent on getting up that mountain!



Andy came down first, followed by Copper and Chloe, then Nate, then Woman. When I saw Woman, I went crazy and ran up the mountain full speed! I zoomed right by her! Everyone was so proud of me and were cheering me on! I was the champion of the mountain! Woo-hoo!



Woman almost broke her neck taking this picture of me, but she had to document my wonderful achievement.

Getting the dogs off the slope was a lot more difficult than getting us all up. We had to be air-lifted across the steepest part of the slope, because none of us had the nerve to jump! LOL!

I came, I climbed, I conquered. Now, give me one of those beers!

Wet Pug!

We went camping this weekend at Windy Gap. Windy Gap is a Young Life camp located in Weaverville (12 miles from Asheville). A friend of the Peoples' works there, and since there were no campers this weekend, she invited a bunch of people up to go camping. We did not actually camp at the Windy Gap camp, but the Plunge Mountain camp, which is about 2 miles up the mountain from Windy Gap. Plunge Mountain is a "pioneer" campsite. There is a big cabin, but there is no indoor plumbing or running water. It's "rustic." I bet it is where they send the kids that are being bad at the Windy Gap camp - LOL!

So, here I am after a dip in the pond.



No, I don't actually swim. I just stand in the water up to my shoulders and watch the other dogs swim. Woman tried to get me to swim, but I wasn't having it. She took me into the water a little deeper than I could touch to see how well I can swim. I can explain my swimming technique in one word - flailing. Yes, I flail about and panic. It isn't pretty.

Copper, Chloe and Buddy went camping too. They all LOVE to swim! Here I am watching Chloe swim.



I wish I could have joined in the fun, but I am just a bad swimmer. Woman says she is going to get me a life jacket, but I doubt I will like it. I foresee more flailing in my future.



The People played on the slide ...



... and a thing called "the blob" where one person stands at the end of a big air mattress thing and another person jumps onto the air mattress thing and launches the person on the end into the air! Andy hit the water face-first. It looked painful but made a hilarious photo.



Here is a view of the pond. It's really pretty.



They have a lot of horses at Windy Gap, but we did not get to ride them. I was bummed about that. Maybe if you have one of those children things you may want to send them to this camp next year. It looks as fun as anything I've ever seen!

I will post more about my camping trip later. I don't want to spoil all the fun in one long post!

Pay It Forward

Punchy has started a sort of web ring called Pay It Forward based on the movie of that name. I have not seen that movie, because Woman knows it ends sadly, and she cannot handle sad endings. So anyway, here are the rules to the game: I will send the first three people to comment on my blog a hand-made gift, and in return, you must make the same promise on your blog. The gift will actually be made by Woman, so don't be afraid to receive a Pug surprise in the mail - LOL!

OK now - Pay It Forward!

I Went Camping!

I went camping this weekend for the first time ever! I had such a great time!



I met a lot of new doggies, went hiking, climbed up a steep mountain, ate some lamb, went swimming and got to sleep in a big cabin. I will post more about all this later. I don't want to overload anyone with all this info at once.

I am just now recovering from the camping, because it was so intense! I hope we get to go again soon!

I'm sure you've read enough about this topic, but ...

I must mock these two quotes I have read about the Michael Vick case, because they make me so mad, I just have to do it:

"From a personal standpoint, he's doing the right thing," Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. "That's been my counsel to him some while ago, and publicly as well, to get this behind him as quickly as he can."

Yes, let's get the dog-killing behind him so people can forget about it as soon as possible, and Vick can go on collecting his 100mil+ a year and fans can resume their worshipping of him. Could this quote be more insensitive?

Fans at Playmakers Barber Shop in Midtown said they still support Vick, because they feel he is innocent, and that he is a victim of a racist judicial system.

Well duh, prosecutors across the nation have been framing non-white citizens for running dog fighting operations for centuries! Everyone knows of this common tactic to dethrone superstar athletes and ruin their careers. Of course he's innocent! Never mind how his friends ratted him out. They're in on the scam too, I'm sure. It sickens me that these people feel Vick is the victim in all this. Yeah, let's forget about all those poor defenseless animals that he helped hurt. Vick is the one who has suffered, because they're not letting him play with his football!

OK, how dumb can people be? Seriously... How do these people dress themselves in the morning?

I have tried to stay away from this topic, because in general, I don't really think someone should lose their job because they have committed a crime. Our judicial system is in place to assign a punishment for a crime, and once a person fulfills the punishment, they should really be free of the crime, I guess ... But, this case make my blood boil! Not only do I think he should lose his job, but I would like to see him boiled alive in a pot and fed to hungry animals. Yes, that's wrong I know. Now you see why I have stayed away from the topic.

Lori over at pugsplace advises people to email NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and ask that Vick be suspended indefinitely from the NFL. I guess this is the first step in seeing him boiled alive in a big pot over an open flame with carrots and potatoes. Mmmm ... stewalicious ...

Give it to me! Give it to me! Give it to me!

This is the face I make when I want something. Woman says it's the cutest Pug face ever, and it usually ends with me getting what I want. Ian is immune to this face, or so he says. I remember a certain Ian giving a certain Pug some popcorn last night after claiming he would give him none. Hahaha! I have super powers! And I use them for evil!

Woot Shirt!

Maybe you have heard of the website woot.com that offers one item for sale each day. Well, they have opened a new shop, shirt.woot.com, where they offer one new custom t-shirt each day. Today one of Ian's shirts is being offered for sale. It is only $10 including shipping. After today, it will be available for $15 including shipping at this link.

Watch Out All You Office Workers!

How does this picture be so blurry? I think Woman might have rushed this to print. She needs to take more pride in her work ...

Oh My Belly ...

I ate eightyteen tomatoes today. Ian says that isn't a real number, but I think it is such a big number that he just doesn't recognize it as a number, sort of like a gazillion. Woman was picking tomatoes in the garden this morning, and I kept munching on them when she wasn't looking. She kept yelling at me to stop eating the tomatoes and even tried to lock me out of the garden, but I ran away and wouldn't let her catch me. Finally, she left the garden so I would come in the house.

Oh! My belly! Eightyteen tomatoes! Why are you so cruel? I hear through the tomatoe vine that I am no longer allowed in the garden. Bah!

Quit Calling Here!

Since we moved into our new house almost two years ago, the People have had trouble with wrong number dialers. First, the lady who most recently had our phone number (a one Ms. Black) is wanted by numerous creditors. Ms. Black apparently doesn't like to pay her bills. The People used to get many calls a week looking for this woman. Some of the creditors would accuse Woman of being Ms. Black and lying about not being her. You can imagine this did not amuse my Woman and she fought back, usually ending the call with a loud slamming of the phone. Once she even reported the company to the BBB for their rude tactics. Finally, after two years, those calls have trickled down to just one every month or so. Woman suspects this lady is still giving out our telephone number as her own to throw creditors off her track.

About two weeks ago, Woman started getting calls in the early hours of the morning and late at night from a redneck who she thought was retarded at first, but now realizes was just really really drunk a couple times when he called. His calls have been relentless but kind of funny since the first words he usually speaks are not "hi" or "hello", but "where have you been all day" or "do you want to ride together this morning" in a very gruff voice. She has explained to him over and over that this is not the number of "William" or whoever he is trying to call, but he continues to dial the number, sometimes numerous times a day! Woman threatened him with a call to the police, but he called again! Now Woman answers the phone with a new greeting, "Quit calling here!"

The smart thing to do would be to call the phone company and report the number of the person making these calls, but the Peoples' caller ID display is all wonky, so they don't know the guy's number. It would also be smart to change our phone number, but Woman's work number is forwarded to this number, and there will be a hassle in getting it re-routed and getting her actual line at work set back up. I guess she prefers the prank-call headache to the work headache.

Maybe we should get a new phone with a caller ID that actually works. Do they make phones that electrocute the person on the other end of the line when you push a certain button? That would be useful for so many things. LOL!

Butt Munch Fever!

Ian says I was training for a butt munching marathon all night last night. LOL. I guess I was gnawing on my hind end pretty good, eh? Sometimes I chew my butt. Is that weird? Sometimes I lick the air for no good reason. Maybe I have some OCD issues having to do with my tongue and whatever happens to be in front of it. I also lick pillows, but mostly so I get them gooey and gross the Woman out. So anyway, I have a bad case of butt munch fever. It must be this awful heat. I can't even go out and take a pee without becoming out of breath. Geesh. Will I ever get to go for a walk again? I'm getting tired of staring at the Woman all day. I need some scenery changes!

I Gotta Get Checked for Lead ...

With the recent Mattell toy recalls of products made in China, Woman is concerned that since I am Chinese, I too may contain lead paint. So, I have to take a trip to get checked. Geesh. I wonder what will happen if I do contain lead paint? Will I get recalled? Will they ship me back to the motherland? I tried to explain to Woman that I come from Wilmur, Alabama, but she is set on getting me tested for lead ...

Atropine and Tomatine Make Puggies Sick

Some of my doggy friends are wondering why they shouldn't eat tomatoes. Woman couldn't remember exactly why, so I went out on the Internets to get some more information. This is what I found on lacetoleather.com (no, it isn't a naughty website):

Tomatoes (plant and fruit) contain tomatine, an alkaloid related to solanine. As the fruit ripens, the tomatine is metabolized. Therefore, ripe tomatoes are less likely to be problematic for animals. Clinical signs of poisoning include lethargy, drooling, difficulty breathing, colic, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, widely-dilated pupils, paralysis, cardiac effects, central nervous system signs (e.g., ataxia, muscle weakness, tremors, seizures), resulting from cholinesterase inhibition, coma and death. (This information comes from veterinarians, and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.) (All parts of the plant except the tomato itself are poisonous to humans, although some people are sensitive to the ripe fruit also.)

Tomatoes also contain atropine, which can cause dilated pupils, tremors, and heart arrhythmias. The highest concentration of atropine is found in the leaves and stems of tomato plants, with less in unripe (green) tomatoes, and even less in ripe (red) tomatoes.

I read this as, "Your puggie can eat all the tomatoes he wants as long as he doesn't eat the leaves or stems." Woman reads this as, "Your puggie can have a couple ripe tomatoes every now and then, but don't let him be a greedy Pete." I'll let you decide which of us is correct.

How Could You Deny This Face?

This morning Woman and I went up to the garden as usual to check things out. Woman picked a green bean off the vine, and of course I thought it was for me, so I ran over to her and looked up at her expectantly. But she told me that the green beans aren't for me, they're for Ian. What? Do you video Ian eating the green beans and then post it on the Internet? No! Does Ian look as cute as me munching down on a green bean? Do you know what she said? She said Yes! The nerve! Ian does NOT look as cute as me munching down on a green bean. I've seen him do it before, and it's not cute at all. People eating People food is not cute. It's normal. Now, if Ian would munch down on some dog biscuits, that would be cute, but I digress. Let's get back to the point of the story. So Woman continued to pick green beans and I went back to snarfing tomatoes. I snuck a couple in without her knowing about it! Hehehe!

Finally when she was done picking the beans, she offered me one, so I jumped up excitedly and got her jammy pants all muddy. It really ticked her off. That'll learn you Woman! That'll learn you...

I Eat Tomatoes Now!

Yes, I know, I know, tomatoes aren't good for Pugs to eat, but I can't help myself! They're so yummy! Woman only lets me eat one every now and then, but it's enough to keep me wanting more, and she thinks I'm so cute when I pick my own.

Check me out picking tomatoes and eating green beans in the garden.



I'm a farmer Pug!

New T-Shirt Up for Voting

Mr. Ian has a new t-shirt design up for voting over at Threadless. Please stop by and give it some love.



One of his other t-shirt designs I posted a couple weeks ago is getting printed. I won't ruin the surprise by telling you which one though ... You'll have to wait.

Snarf Snarf

Woman said I was making some sort of weird noise last night that made her think I had a stomach ache. Whenever I do something out of the ordinary (like not follow her into the bathroom), she thinks I have a stomach ache. I didn't have a stomach ache, I was just snarfing or peeping or whatever she said the noise sounded like. Sometimes a Pug just has to snarf ...

Woman and I slept on the couch a little bit, because she couldn't get to sleep. When she can't sleep, we snuggle on the couch, because I help her go to sleep, but I'm not allowed in the bed. It was pretty nice. She's a good snuggler too.

So I Guess It's August

Woman keeps telling me that it's August now, so hey everyone, it's August! Maybe she wanted me to pass that on to all of you in case you don't have calendars. I wonder what special thing happens in August? Maybe she's sad that it's August because gardening season is coming to a close here in NC. I'm not sure what her deal is with August. I guess I got my last MCT in August. Maybe that's what she's excited about. I haven't had a new MCT since last August, and that would make it one year ago. Yeah, that's probably it.

I wonder if we will get a vacation this year...

On another note, I have taken to chewing the ribless blanket the past couple of days. I want to keep that rib for as long as I can, so I take a dive and chew the blanket some throughout the day. Awe ... my rib out of a blanket is so great.

Rib OUT OF a Blanket!

The last time Copper and Chloe spent the weekend at our house Chloe devoured my rib in a blanket in what seemed like one swift bite, and it made me sad. A rib in a blanket is a dog treat you can buy at the store. It's like the human treat "pig in a blanket", except it's a real rib wrapped in a raw hide instead of a mini-weiner wrapped in a pillsbury dough boy croissant. So, since my rib in a blanket has been gone for a long time now, Woman finally remembered to get me a new one a couple days ago. I chewed it a little bit every now and then, you know, just enough to get it gooey so it grossed Woman out when she accidentally stepped on it. But the other night everything changed when I got the rib OUT of the blanket! Woo-hoo! Now I chew on it all day long, being careful not to chew too much off at a time, because I want to make it last. I never know when I'll get another one. Ian hates listening to me chew on things, so he puts his ear buds in. Haha! I hope this thing lasts a long time, because it keeps him quiet!

Here is a picture of Chloe, me and Copper at my house. Chloe is the one on the left. This is their bed. If you tell them to go to their bed, they do. What saps.



Chloe and Copper did not have much fun at our house, because I was pretty much mean to them the whole time. What do you expect when you waltz into my house and eat my rib in a blanket, eh?

Copper tromped around in Woman's perennial garden trying to get a vole. This really ticked Woman off. She had to construct a fence around the garden to keep him out. She says he can't be trusted.

Chloe escaped into the neighbor's yard twice trying to get at the squirrels. At first we thought she jumped the fence, but then we watched really closely and saw that she was rolling under the fence. There is a small gap between the fence and the yard, and she was able to wedge herself between the gap and roll right under the fence! She was so proud of herself whem she made her way into the neighbor's yard. She was prancing around like a giant poodle that just won the big dog show! Woman staked the fence down with some bamboo stakes and she was not able to do it again. What a clever little escape artist. I still hold a grudge about the rib in a blanket thing though.