enjoy my andy warhol depiction of jack? so fun!

as i've said previously, obsessed.  he's had a couple visits to other houses & held it together pretty well.

• visit #1 was to clint & conni's.  only obsticles there were the cat (daisy) & wide open spaces.  he cried for an extra 25 minutes each time he was kenneled, made the cat hiss more than necessary, & examined every corner of their mansion-like house.
• visit #2 was to lindsey & tony's house (friends).  obsticles here were enzo & jessie, who are two dogs more that 5 times his size.  he survived & ended up in the car for a time-out by the end of the night.  i'm pretty sure his heart rate was well above it's limit for the entire night.  one thing we did learn was that he loved the fenced in backyard -- or at least he prefered it over our current situation of a 3rd floor apartment.

one thing that i am going to focus on: focusing on other things.  he's becoming more comfortable, we are becoming more trusting, so i think the time has come that we can turn our attention to other things.  my focus: sewing adventures & cleaning.  a's focus: work & laundry. 

i'm sure you are all breathing out a sigh of relief that the jack-streak is coming to an end!  ha!

hobby #382

i'm not that big of an arts & crafts person.  by that, i mean that i don't have a million scrapbooks, calligraphy talents, 20 crocheting & knitting projects going on at the same time, etc.  but i decided that i would attempt some quilting/sewing endeavors. 

ione (mom) was one of those chosen few that was talented in this field.  because her sewing/craft room was located in the basement, the echoes of the machine "humming" could be heard through the entire family room -- so my little simple singer noise is somewhat nostalgic! halloween costumes, dress-up dresses, first day of school outfits, a handful of picture day dresses (usually the first day of school dress), holiday vests, & elastic-waisted cotton pants with crewneck cotton puff painted outfits (mostly adorned with cartoon characters) are some of the sewing projects that ione created when we were growing up.  i want to do this!  cute little first day of school skirts -- adorable! 

too bad 3/5 projects that i've worked on so far have been repairing jacks toys.  lame.

project #1: puppy quilt
    i mostly didn't want to try make a "full" quilt as my first attempt & i knew i wouldn't set up the sewing
    machine right the first time.  plus, binding & basting is kind of hard!

here's the halfways point.  i think half the issue was getting him to stop trying to sit on it as i went through the machine!

as long as you don't look at it close-up, it looks pretty snazzy!

project #2: hamburger pin cushin
    each layer is a different storage for pins -- genius!  andrew approved of my choice of object & it inspired
    us to go to red robin this afternoon, so i consider it a success!

again, genius!

it has multiple issues, such as the sesame seed pattern is on the bottom too & the top "bun" isn't shaped quite right.  details...

i'll let you know what my next project is when inspiration strikes!

husband homecoming & v-day surprises

andrew got back from skiing on sunday night & walked in looking ridiculous, as seen here:

notice the monkey-handle chops?  apparently, no one really questioned or stared at him at heavenly.  gross.

jack didn't seem to mind.

other than that, i've been sick with the flu for the past 24 hours, which put a damper on v-day celebrations.  we didn't have big plans, but andrew made an amazing pasta dinner & we traded gifts.  i got him tickets to explore the "body works exhibit" that's currently up at the tech museum & the sf academy of sciences.  (okay, so i got it for both of us...).  he got me a huge talking balloon, chocolates, a diet coke (he thought this would help with my flu symptoms), & made dinner.  jack was totally intrigued, scared of, & fascinated by andrew's balloon choice:

at first, he was running & trying to sneak attack on it from different angles.  it talks, so barking was a given.

the last ditch effort was using andrew as a shield -- can you find him?

overall, we had a nice evening as a family, which is better than the whole cheesy night out around here -- i saw too many sparkly hearts & pre-determined valentine's day menus for my taste. 

the last surprise of the night was from talia & gus -- a sweet dog bone card.  jack had an interesting time trying to bite into it & finally figured it out, but it was hard to watch!

like i said, hard to watch!

i hope you all had a lovely day!

obsessed.

it's all i can talk about on the phone with family & friends.
it's the only thing i've flipped the camera lense off for lately.
it's what i watch like a hawk in my waking hours.
it's what i spend my breaks in the day with.
it's what i've been building a love/hate relationship with for the past 2 weeks.  (mostly love.)
it's what i cuddle with on a nightly basis. 
it's why i've invested in multi-sized lint rollers.  poor couch.

need i go on? 
yes, it's = jack.

he lives in my car during the day. i crack the windows & let him wander around the spacious trunk space in the crv, so it's legal folks!  i would rather do this than run the risk of getting stuck in traffic & not getting home in a timely manner.  i'm not complaining about this fact, but i do feel guilty for making him operate on my schedule. 

andrew is skiing for the weekend, so jack & i are making the best of our weekend together.  currently we are bonding with a pre-night nap (for him) & blog reading/writing (for me).  action packed saturday night, huh?

pup has grown, i swear.  see for yourself.

the puppy-eye wrinkles haven't disappeared yet.  so cute!

he's not a fan of polka dots.  he bits & licks all in no apparent order.

love.

a hint of our newlywed life.

8 months is still considered to be newlyweds, right?  i hold the max at 1 year.  here's a hint at what goes on behind the scenes.  disclaimer:  andrew secretly appreciates the gesture.  i think it's hilarious!  plus, i've informed a few co-workers that complain of this problem, and they now use it!  not only to clean out the disheveled contents of their spouse's drawers, but also on their own!  everyone hates to find out that they have a hole in their sock when they walk out of the house, right?  okay, perhaps only a chosen few of us despise the uncomfortableness.

step 1: take note that your spouse has a gaping hole in the toe, bottom, top, heel, etc., of their sock.
step 2: sneak attack with a permanent marker.
step 3: draw huge X on the top or bottom of the sock.

step 3

step 4: once the tagged sock shows up in the laundry (andrew tries to sneak his in) throw it away.

the finished product primed for step 4

call if you need any sneak attack tips.  i'm a professional.

playing single parent.

not recommended: letting your husband leave in the middle of poddy training a puppy.

sure, jack is much better around me.  no joke!  & we started puppy classes today at petsmart -- i had a coupon, ha!  he was the class favorite.  again, no joke!  it was majorly due to the fact that he's so stinkin' cute -- i realized this immediately when people gave me the "sympathetic" eyes when she said that he was going to be the most energetic & unfocused due to his breed.  damn.

here are some phone shots from our day-to-day in the bay:

the bed in the passenger seat didn't last more than 2 hours.  i want to harness him to the seatbelt for his safety, but he's too ridiculous.  i'm hoping in the next couple weeks we can figure it out.

mid-day nap.  this was about a minute after he woke up barking -- intense dreams, huh?

yes.  that's him chewing on a peice of wood, while his nice dental chew toy sits untouched.  now i understand why parents are amazed when kids like the present box, instead of the new toy.

i already sent stu a warning that he'd better watch his lawn's back.  jack rips up park lawns.  i'm waiting for judgemental passer-by eyes to meet mine in the near future...

andrew comes back saturday night (he has to get a day of skiing in!) & then we're housesitting for clint & conni for the week.  jack can't wait to terrorize their poor, sweet cat.  it's going to be an experiment for sure.  i'm hoping to be at least confident in puppy's ability to not pee in the house when we go.  needless to say, he's going to be spending a lot of time outside next week!

meet jack.

jack is an interesting little creature that has landed in our laps with sharp teeth, stubborn walking tendencies, perfected whining abilities, and a short-tempered bladder -- & with all of these qualities he's already won our hearts.  sad, right?  is anyone surprised?  probably not.

most days he's with me on the road.  it's legal: i crack the windows.  but here are some snap shots of him & his bffs zeek (zebra-dog) and andrew:

we are all learning through this adventure, so there are plenty of "corrections."  i'm reading articles, andrew is experimenting, jack & i enrolled in puppy classes, and we are all trying our best.  cross your fingers we keep our cool!