Christmas Wish

Dear Santa:

Can you please make the temperature rise above 45 degrees - so that I can get on the airplane with my Mommy and Daddy and to fly to Germany for Christmas?

Keeping my paws crossed.

Love,

Denzel

Weihnachtsgeschenke

This year, we are ahead of the game, for a change. We are done with everybody on our shopping list (woo hoo!) - except for Denzel. We want to buy all of his presents in Germany. It's kind of a tradition. Whenever we spend Christmas in Germany, on the night before Christmas Eve, G and I head to the pet store near G's parents' home, and we take our time browsing the aisles, searching for special little presents for our favorite boy. We always buy too much and we always lose all will power and give him present after present on Christmas Day! I'm really looking forward to spending the holiday in Germany this year. I haven't been to my second home :) since February. In anticipation, we've already attended one Weihnachtsmarkt, sponsored by the German Armed Forces Command of Virginia, and tonight, we are headed to a Gluewein Party. YUMMY.

Happy 2nd Birthday Denzel!

Wir lieben dich!

Beef Tips, Potato Pancakes, & Ribs

We started last weekend off right - on Thursday night, we met up with our friend and fellow blogger Maria, for Denzel's first Doggy Happy Hour. Cute, right? We were impressed with the spacious outdoor set up and Denzel was ecstatic to meet so many friends. He also woofed down (ha ha) his appetizer of beef tips and peas. We had such a cool time hanging out and just catching up, I know we'll be back this summer.

On Saturday, we went to a DC United match. We took the train into the city for a change, so that G could enjoy himself. And he did. It was sponsored by Volkswagen and when we walked into the company suite, it was full of German beer, wine, and food. G was in heaven. But I was in rare form - I seriously ate about 40 Kartoffelpuffer. Good times.

Sunday evening, I made a soul food dinner for our friends from Leipzig. I made Baby Back Ribs, Macaroni and Cheese, Greens, Cornbread, and Peach Cobbler. It was my first attempt at ribs - I slow baked them for 4 1/2 hours. And I didn't even taste them - I've officially taken the plunge into vegetarian life but, according to G and our friends, they came our perfect. Yaaah!

Breaking News

I have a job.

Not just a j-o-b but my first teaching job! And I finish my yoga teacher training next weekend. There is a lot of excitement in our house right now. And I know I have a lot of blogging to do - we really need to catch up! In the mean time, I'd like to give a shout out to my biggest fan. He loves me no matter how well I do or if I totally suck. He's always there for a quick good luck kiss - and lately, it seems to be working every time.

Denzel

Save me!

Play Date Zuhause

For the first time, Denzel had a friend come over to our house for a play date. Bogey, a Pug puppy that lives in our building, and Denzel have been friends since the summer. His Mom and I decided that they both needed an outlet from being cooped up this week, due to the snowy and icy weather. So last night, when our friends arrived, I opened the door and instead of the crazy sniffing and licking and whining and falling all over each other with excitement greeting Denzel usually gives Bogey, Denzel turned into Mike Tyson. He immediately chased after Bogey, snapping at his face and barking. He was trying to bite Bogey. I could not believe my dog. Denzel has never even snapped at another dog, EVER. As I held Denzel back, Bogey, probably confused but overexcited all the same, ran around our house, jumping on the couch, playing with Denzel's scattered toys a bit, and even drinking from Denzel's water bowl. This only infuriated Denzel more. So, Bogey's Mom and I stopped, put the dogs on their leashes and asked ourselves, "What would Cesar do?" Yes, we are both fans. We decided that we totally messed up the introduction. We brought on the stress. First of all, Denzel has never had another dog in our house, his domain. So by bringing Bogey in and letting him have the run of the place while I held Denzel back, was really stupid. He was being aggressive because he was being territorial. And my shock and nervousness - negative energy - only made Denzel more agitated. So we needed to defuse the situation. Bogey's Mom took Bogey out of the house and into the hallway and waited. Then I followed out into the hallway with Denzel. We wanted to let them greet each other in a neutral place first and then allow them to come back into the house together. Denzel was still a little agitated but after 10 minutes in the hallway, the growling stopped and they were back to being buddies. We then allowed Denzel to enter the house first, kind of look back waiting for Bogey to come along, and then we let Bogey enter. It worked! They played nonstop for 3 hours.

Guess the Vomit

I know. It's sooooo gross. But when Denzel ate a bowl of ____ and immediately threw up, the throw up had formed into such interesting shapes, we couldn't help taking a picture!
Don't worry, we didn't let him eat it - even though you know he tried!

Frohes Halloween!

Last Minute Budget Conscious Costumes

Barack-o-Lantern
Dress in head-to-toe orange, write “change” or “hope” in black letters across your chest, and look really, really earnest while raising a lighter in the air.

Boo-Tooth
Wear a bed sheet, strap on your wireless communications device, and make no apologies for using it throughout the night.

Gossip Ghoul
Wear the most heinous mask you can find and a tartan mini. Say OMG and dramatically text message about other partygoers all night.

Henna Montana
Tattoo your palms and dress in western wear. It might help to sing a bit.

Palin Comparison
Grab a friend, fashion similar updos, wink a lot, and ask people to size you up.

Pirated DVD
Wear your best eye patch and glue on some favorite discs. Tell the requisite jokes about being rated aaarrrgh.

Walk of Shame
Wear oversize button-down boxers, and heels. Tease your hair, mess up your makeup, and walk furtively through the party.

-Daily Candy

Happy 1st Birthday Denzel!

Wir lieben dich!

Puggle Luvin!

Today, Denzel had a play date with his 5 month old girlfriend, Cashmere.

She's a Puggle too!
They ran.
They played.
They argued.
Good times.

Denzel's New Hiding Spot

Cherry Eye

The first time we heard of "cherry eye" was when we were living in Munich, when Denzel was about 4 months old. We took him out for his evening walk and on the way home, we noticed that the inside corner of his eye was swollen and bulging out of the socket. It was also bright pink. Of course, we totally freaked out. We ran home and I called the Vet on her emergency line, while G looked up all of the possible explanations online. Well, the Vet told us to calm down - we were more stressed out than Denzel - and to put a cool wet towel over his eye to help with the swelling. She also told us to get off the internet, trying to diagnose the problem on our own. We were 99% positive it was the "cherry eye", which is basically when the gland of a dog's third eyelid falls out of place and becomes extremely visible. It's like your tear duct being four times the normal size. Scary. And it requires surgery. So we put a cool towel over his eye, for as long as he would allow, and by the next morning, his eye was back to normal. Thank God! We took him to the Vet and she examined his eye. She said that he probably scratched his eye and irritated it or when he was roaming around in the bushes, he could have scratched his eye on a branch. She said it was definitely not the "cherry eye". We were so relieved that Denzel was back to normal with his eyesight and eyelid in tact. Fast forward to yesterday. We discovered a kick ass Doggy Park near our new house. Every dog must be legally licensed and vaccinated. Denzel has met so many cool dogs and to be honest, most of the parents we've met so far, seem very responsible and friendly. Well, last night, as Denzel wrestled with a Boston Terrier, I noticed the bulge in his eye again. This time, it wasn't bright pink but it was clearly swollen and protruding out from his eye socket. Can you tell in the photo? This time, we didn't freak out, we just scooped him up and drove home, put a cool wet towel over his eye and yup, just like the last time, his eye was back to normal in the morning. Thank God! But now we can't help wondering if this is going to be a recurring thing. I don't think our Vet in Munich was wrong because from my understanding of "cherry eye", when the bulge occurs, it doesn't go away. It has to be corrected with surgery to make it disappear. Denzel's eye issue went away twice, with only a cold compress. So what do we do? We decided to wait to see if it happens again and if it does, we are going to see a Vet in Virginia. Until then, the little fraggle is going to take a break from the kick ass Doggy Park, just to make sure his eyelid is back to normal.

Summer in Michigan