Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had fun ringing in 2009. We certainly did! Well...Bryan had fun partying. Bean is always terrified by the fireworks and spent the night running from window to window growling and barking. Occasionally I was able to get her back into bed with me. Then just when she was about to fall asleep.... BOOM!! BOOM!! CRACK!! She was so scared. She was shaking and had her tail between her legs and everything. She seems to be more scared of fireworks and thunderstorms since she was stolen. I wonder if she was trapped outside during a storm during that week. Poor thing!

We are all catching up on sleep over here at Chez Bean, so no action photos today. Instead I present to you, My Very Sleepy Family.

Go Away. Just 10 more minutes....
(Yes, I do tuck Bean in under her covers when it's cold; and yes, I realize we need to have human children)

What could possibly be so important that you have to wake me up at 11:30 in the morning???

Meh, I'm not getting up unless there's bacon waiting for me.

"Good morning my love! Say hello to the internet!"
"........."
"Bryan? Angel?"
".........mmpph.....gaurrum......naamm....."
"OK, I'll come back later."

Well, there you have it. I guess I'll go entertain myself for few hours and try again this afternoon.

Bean is in The New Yorker!

A friend called us a few days ago to tell us that he saw Bean mentioned in the most recent issue of The New Yorker. Apparently there is an article about dog-napping, and they list some of the most famous victims of 2008:

There are no reliable statistics about dog thefts, either citywide or nationwide, but a couple of years ago Lisa Peterson, of the American Kennel Club, took it upon herself to begin monitoring what she saw as a disturbing trend. Her list of the disappeared includes not only Samantha, a Maltese from Brooklyn; Misha, a bichon frise from Flushing; and Enzo, a Yorkie from Chappaqua (later returned to his owner, former Miss America Vanessa Williams), but also LeeLoo, a poodle from Sugar Land, Texas; Bean, a pit bull from Durham, North Carolina; Pixie, a pug from Boling-brook, Illinois; and more than two hundred others in twenty-four states.

I am just glad they are getting the word out about this terrible crime, and putting dog owner's on the alert. It's a sad fact, but you really cannot assume that your dog will be safe (even for a minute!) in backseat of your car, or tethered to a lamp post outside Starbucks, or anywhere outside of your sight. We were unbelievably blessed to get our Bean back (and to have a whole army of volunteers out there looking for her!), but most aren't that lucky it seems.

Thanksgiving in VA

So....sorry about not posting in so long. I am in my third consecutive month of inpatient clerkships. If you are lucky enough not to know what that means, consider yourself blessed. Basically I have been crazy busy.

I had to make the time to write this though. I just want to say that I am so proud of our girl. Bean went with us to VA to spend part of Thanksgiving weekend at my in-law's place. I have to admit, I was nervous. Would she beg during the dinner? Would she knock Bryan's 90-something-year-old grandpa over? Would she bark constantly?

I am happy to report that Bean was a perfect little angel the whole trip, starting with the drive up (although she is always good in the car).

I'm not going to look at you, woman. Please get that camera out of my face.

OK, fine. Here you go. CHEESE. Happy now? Now can I go back to helping Dad drive?

When we needed to baby-gate her upstairs (for the fancy dinner), she did not cry. She kept watch over us for awhile and then went to sleep. Here she is at the top of the stairs, looking down at everyone else in the living room. She really likes being high up!

Hey! I can see everyone from here. This is the perfect spot for keeping tabs on all my humans at once.

She especially likes how the windows in that house go almost all the way to the floor, making it possible for her to look outside without standing up on her hind legs. She spent quite a bit of time at this window looking at the other dogs in the neighborhood and watching out for squirrels.

Dog...dog...another dog....SQUIRREL!!!...oh wait, just a Chihuahua....dog...dog...

And when she finally got tired, she rested quietly on her new turquoise dog bed (which is from bow wow beds and is awesome).

Whew! It sure is exhausting being such a good dog!

We hope your holiday was just as relaxing, and there are lots more photos to come. Only, not until after my shelf exam on the 19th. Speaking of which, I am off to go study. Bye bye!

The Scariest Basement Ever

I went to take a shower tonight, and was none too happy to discover there was no hot water. Apparently the pilot light went out on our gas water heater. In the interest of basic hygiene, we called the gas company and they are sending someone out to relight it.

This house has a basement. I have never lived in a house with a basement, and am sort of scared of them anyway. But this basement is the prototypical scary basement. It has cobwebs and creaky wooden stairs and a single bare light bulb. If I was an ax murderer, it's totally where I would hang out.

Someone had to go down there to confirm that the pilot light was indeed out. We drew straws and Bryan lost. Actually we didn't draw straws. I told him he had to go down there and Bean and I would wait upstairs with the phone ready to dial 911 if he screamed.

Bean was very disturbed by the sudden disappearance of her favorite parent, and stood with her head in the doorway until he was safely back upstairs.

"Dad? You OK down there?"

"Daaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad? Bark twice if you can hear me."

Bean has relocated!

Well, the move is over. We are...25% unpacked. Also we have painted 25% of the house. The rest will happen when it happens. Bean is loving all the space. This house has much more room for her to run around. You can go from the office to the hall to the dining room to the living room and back to the office in one big circle. When Bean gets a chew or a new toy, she she takes it in her mouth and runs a few laps around this circle to get out some of the excess joy before finally settling down on her bed to consume whatever it is. The number of laps she runs corresponds to her level of excitement over the treat. For a regular rawhide, she will do maybe 1 or 2 laps. I gave her a squeaky-stuffed hot dog toy yesterday and I thought she'd never stop running!

Here she is surveying her new (and much larger) backyard from our bed.

How the *&^%@ did those squirrels get my new address??

Bean visits the Burbs

As I mentioned in the last post, we spent the 4th of July weekend at Bryan's parents' house in VA. They live in a very nice house in a very polished subdivision. It is a very different place than where Bean has spent most of her life, and she really enjoyed investigating it. One of the most striking differences, from her perspective, had to be the immaculate condition of the sidewalks and lawns. She really loved her walks there!

"This is niiiiiice. Do you think they wash these sidewalks? I mean there is NO trash whatsoever! Although, I do miss the fun of looking for a stray chicken bone or an old piece of gum, like we do at home."

"Just look at that curb! It looks bleached. It's clean enough to eat off of. Of course, I also will eat out of the trash. I'm not really picky."

"The grass is still green here! It looks so comfy! I just want to roll around in it and scratch my back! Don't you?"

"Mom, we have GOT to do something about the landscaping situation at home. Seriously."

Sorry Bean! Until your Mom graduates and gets a J-O-B, we'll just have to live with weeds and dead leaves.

(By the way, we move into the new house this weekend. I will be sure to take pictures of Bean's first moments checking out her new digs!)

Well, I am so glad that's over!

I took the boards on Thursday! The entire ordeal was much, much worse than I had anticipated. But it's all behind me now! Now I just have to wait 6 weeks before I find out how I did...

As soon as I finished, we drove to VA to spend the holiday weekend with Bryan's parents. I took lots of photos. I think some of the best are a few that don't even have Bean in them. I'm sure you will agree that they are still cute, though.

We were all in the car on the way somewhere when the traffic stopped to let a rather large group of geese cross. They just went right out like they do this all the time. The leader made sure they all got across before they regrouped on the other side and waddled up the hill.

I wonder where they were going...

I would not dare post without including at least one photo of Bean. So here she is, completely worn out on the way home. As I have mentioned before, Bean finds it especially comfy when she can wedge her extra large head into an extra small space. She slept for about 45 minutes with her head wedged in between the car seats.

"This spot is taken. You'll have to find another place to wedge."

I especially like this photo because it shows how floppy her lips have gotten as she has grown up. Here her left lip is draped over Bryan's armrest. You can also see the crumbs of sleep in her eyes. Definitely not her most becoming photo, but I think it's so funny!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

The whole family (Me, Bryan and Bean) went to stay with Bryan's parents in Virgina over Mother's Day weekend. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about how it would go. Bean has only been to their house once, and that was when she was recovering from her surgery, and was therefore confined to a small pen. This time she would have the freedom to explore the whole house as she pleased. And it's a nice house. With nice things. I had visions of crystal vases, throw pillows, and floral arrangements scattered in shreds and pieces all over the nice wood floors.

Bryan had more faith in Bean's ability to "act right" when needed. In preparation for the visit, I took her to get a mani/pedi (nail trim) so that she would not leave claw marks on the wood floors. I bought half a dozen plush squeaky toys for emergency use, and we packed a Super Jumbo bag of rawhide chews. We were ready.

On the drive up, she was a perfect angel. She is very good on long car trips. She alternates between napping and checking for other dogs in the cars that pass by.

Clear...Clear...Clear...Cle-WAIT! Is that a CAT in that car??? Oh..It's just a Chihuahua...OK Clear... Clear...

Where'd Dad go? Oh, he's filling up the tank.

WHAT??? Gas costs HOW much??!!

Later on, after the sun set, she slept for the rest of the trip. When we slowed down to get on the exit ramp, I snapped this photo.

Huh? What? Are were there yet?

I'll have to split the rest of the trip into a different post. I really should at least pretend to study!
Stay tuned...

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

...because I am studying for the boards. I have 5 weeks left to study. It seems impossible!

Anyway, I may not be able to find much time for the blog. I will try to post photos at least. Bean is pissed. She is considering firing me and hiring a professional biographer to take over the site.

Wish me luck!

Mystery at the Friday Night Movie Fest

Last night we were watching the last few episodes of the final season of Gilmore Girls. (Fans of the show will understand how distracted and emotional we must have been...for those of you who don't like the show - where is your heart???)

After the last episode, when we were done crying about how inevitable it is that your children will grow up and stop needing you and break your heart (and how do you even begin to deal with that anyway?), Bryan got up to go pee. From the bathroom he yells, "Hey, did you shower today?"

Given that yesterday morning I took the last exam of my second year of medical school (Whoohooooo!) and have been very busy this week, this was a totally reasonable thing to ask. So reasonable, in fact, that it took a minute for me to recall when I had last showered. After a brief sniff of the pits (sorry, I'm gross), I responded "Yeah, why?"

Bryan: Um, ever hear of a towel?
Me: What are you talking about?
Bryan: The bathroom rug is still wet. Did you just stand here and drip-dry?

I get up to go see what he's talking about (yes, Bryan is still peeing during all of this. He is a World Champion peer.) and sure enough, there is a big wet spot smack dab in the middle of the rug.

Bryan looks up at the ceiling: Maybe there is a leak from upstairs.
Me: This is a single story house. How is that even possible?

Eventually, we pieced it all together. Somewhere during the episode where Luke takes Lorelei car-shopping, I noticed Bean sitting by the front door staring at me. Knowing that this means she wants to go out, and having no intention of getting up myself, I told Bryan to take her to pee. "Sure, just after this episode." Three episodes later, he found himself standing on a wet bathroom rug....

Yes that's right. Once she ascertained that we were not going to take her out to use her bathroom, she decided she'd just use ours.

I was actually impressed. She is clearly smart enough to have figured out that the bathroom is to us what the backyard is to her. That's pretty awesome. A lesser dog would have just peed by the front door. I'm not sure why she picked the rug. Maybe it reminded her somehow of grass? I can assure you she has never seen me take a leak on the rug (though, I can't speak for Bryan).

So, Bryan washed his feet in the tub and I hauled the rug off to the garage to wash it. Then we all snuggled in to watch The Heartbreak Kid. Looking over at Bean, who was wedged in between us snoring, I took Bryan's hand and said, "You know what? Bean will never grow up and leave us."

"Nope. I ain't going nowhere."

Bean is a Daddy's Girl

I took this photo on Saturday night, from my tiny corner of the bed. You can see my pink-pajama-covered knee in the picture. Why was I smooshed into a corner of my own bed? Because of this:





Aren't they precious? They were so cute I didn't have the heart to shove them over. Bean loves her daddy.

Bean Ignores Mom

Yay! Another video!




Here, you can see that I am making a fool out of myself trying to get Bean to do something (anything!) for the camera, while she is obviously just trying to go back to sleep. It's shocking how she can be perfectly still when I want her to move, but turns into a ball of pure energy when I want her to be still. If you look closely, you can see that she blinks her eyes once. Other than that, it is pretty much the most boring 17 seconds of your life.

I hate having to work with moody celebrities.

Bean Gets Comfy

On a recent ride in the car, Bean got tired pretty quickly of looking out the window and settled in for a quick nap. Or at least she tried to settle in. It took a little repositioning before she could find a comfy position.

"This won't do at all."

"This is even worse."

"Ah, yes. I forgot about the Dog Nose Holder. What a neat invention. How thoughtful of Toyota to put one of these in all their cars. All that shifting around wore me out. I'm...so...sleeepp....zzzzzzzz"

Just a note. #1 Yes, my car is filthy. Bean and I are the only ones who ride in it, though, and she doesn't mind. #2 She is still wearing her head-collar because it was a short trip. For longer trips, I take it off and let her get really comfy!

Once, Bean got to ride in her Grandma's SUV. She got the whole back section to herself, and she loved it! Windows on three sides, a nice carpeted area to stretch out on, and no chance of sliding onto the floor at stop lights! She is really lobbying hard for me to get an SUV when my car dies [Updated to Add: My car may be dead now. It stopped working yesterday. Rest in Peace, 1994 Toyota 2 door Camry with the paint falling off, RIP.]. I think the best I can do will be some sort of hybrid station wagon thing, though. She will just have to ride with Grandma when she wants to ride in style!

Bean is Busy

I took this yesterday. Bean and I are on the bed, waiting for the start of the Friday Night Movie Festival. Well, I'm waiting. Bean is busy concentrating on the window behind the bed, scanning the yard for squirrels. Those are her "concentration ears." Bryan is busy returning phone calls.

Can't pose now Mom. I'm busy.

I suppose I'm busy too. Busy watching them both and giggling.

Wake Up Sleepy Head!

This has been a rainy, lazy weekend. It's one of those rare weekends when I don't have an exam on Monday. It was so hard to get out of bed! Some of us (Bean) decided just not to try. When I attempted to wake Bean and get her out of the bed so I could make it, it went like this:

Me: Bean. Time to get up now!

I'm invisible. I'm invisible. If I can't see her, she can't see me. I'm invisible...

Me: Bean, I know you are in the bed. I am looking right at you.

Okay. I'm in bed. But I'm soooo sleeepy. And sooo cute. You don't really want to get me up, do you? Look at this face...

Me: If you get out of bed, I'll make you breakfast.

Breakfast!? Did you just say "breakfast"?? I love breakfast!

And then she got up to eat. Within ten minutes of breakfast, we were both back in the bed!

Baby Talk

Congratulations to Shelby the Pug, another dog-who-blogs, because she is getting a new (human) baby brother! Many blessings to Shelby and her family. It will be interesting to see how Shelby adjusts to having another baby in the house. I know she'll be a great big sister.

We have often wondered what kind of a big sister Bean will be. She hasn't really been around very many babies, simply because we don't know that many (aside from the ones I babysit for). Of course, we are years away from introducing a new little brother or sister to Bean, but I think it would be good for her to have some exposure to them beforehand.

Well you know what? It is surprisingly difficult to get anyone to let you borrow their child for use as a "practice baby" to see how your dog reacts. Can you believe that? I even asked the parents I babysit for. They said no! Some people are just selfish, I guess.

So, we will just have to practice with dolls for now. Although, considering the fate of Bean's other toys, that might end in a gruesome mess!

You know they just aren't as much fun after the stuffing is gone...{sigh}

Bean Goes Multimedia!

I got an awesome new camera for my birthday on Monday (thanks Mom and Dad!) and decided to play around with it after Bean and I got back from the vet on Wednesday. It has the ability to take short (1 min) videos, and thought "Finally! I get to show Bean in action!" So I taped the destruction of the fleece toy I gave Bean in reward for not killing any cats in the waiting room.

I taped it in three parts. Unfortunately, the last part (which is the most thrilling) is kind of blurry. I tried to get fancy and mess with the settings without actually reading the manual first. Oh well. There will be many more toys for Bean to destroy I am sure!

So without further ado, I present to you:

Bean vs. Squeaky Toy - Part I



Bean vs. Squeaky Toy - Part II




Bean vs. Squeaky Toy - Part III




Notice in that last clip that she is able to remove the stuffing and the squeaker in less than 60 seconds. Now that is impressive!

Close Call in the Cat Room

Yesterday we went to the vet for some routine blood work. Our vet, like many others, has separate waiting rooms for dogs and cats. In the dog waiting room, there is a selection of toys for sale. The proceeds go towards the clinic's Stray Fund. We always buy Bean a toy on the way out to reward her for being a good girl at the vet.

Well, yesterday, I stayed in the waiting room while they took her back (it was just a quick lab visit). I had already picked out a toy for her (a pink fleece squeaky horse, more on that later) and stashed it in my purse. I don't like to give it to her until we get home, because she tends to make a mess with her toys. Well, there I was, thumbing through the latest issue of Dog Fancy, when the door from the lab bursts open and Bean comes tearing out of it, dragging her leash along, and followed closely by a vet tech. She had gotten free from the tech on their journey back to the waiting room. And her destination?

The cat area.

Oh yes. Bean decided that instead of the usual plush toy, this time she wanted a living, breathing chew toy to take home. One that meows instead of squeaks. She was caught before she could make it there, and no cats were harmed during this ordeal, although there was some hissing and back-arching. When they brought her to me, I wasn't sure if she still deserved a toy. Should I reward this behavior?

OK. I know how that looked. But let me just say... the cats started it.

I ended up giving her the toy once we got home. How can I resist that face? Besides, she looks sorry, doesn't she? Man, I am a pushover.

Profile shot

Here is a nice shot of Bean in my back yard scanning for squirrels. She is lovely in profile, isn't she? As you can see, there is a huge old tree in the middle of the yard. There must be hundreds of squirrels that live in that tree. And every one of them has tormented Bean at one time or another. Their newest trick is to climb out to the end of a branch and fall. That's right. They just fall to the ground with a loud thud! and then tear off for the tree trunk as fast as they can.

Uhhh. Where'd he go? Where'd he go!!! Let me at 'em!!!

As you can imagine, this drives Bean absolutely insane. By the time she focuses on one of them, it is already too close to the tree for her to get it, and in the meantime, the next one has jumped. It's pretty much the craziest thing I've ever seen squirrels do. Kind of like a real-life version of Whac-A-Mole. Either they have a death wish, or they are confident in the knowledge that Bean is the Worst. Hunter. Ever.

She doesn't so much as glance at me during this, even when I open the gate. Like this past weekend, when I needed to go inside and grab a sweater. Nothing. I did not even exist to her. But when I came back? It was a whole different story.

Hi mom!! I missed you!!! Don't ever leave me again, OK?

Dog Years

I saw this posted on dooce yesterday, and just had to post it here. It is so funny, and so well done. I also kind of teared up at the end. It is surprisingly moving.

I give it 4 paws up, which is the equivalent of "2 thumbs up" in human, because you only use two of your paws correctly. Just one more reason why I pity you poor, confused creatures. But that is a topic for another day. You'll laugh. You'll cry. Just watch it.