xiao_nu

Wow, what a long trip. I’m glad to be almost home, but I wanted to take advantage of the laptop and the ride from Vegas to get you all updated on the trip.

We left last Saturday. There was a lot of activity involving suitcases in the living room. I know my human was trying to hide it from me, but I caught on. I’m normally a “cool” dog and I don’t like to my tail in a knot, but I was worried about her leaving. Every trip out to the car was making me more and more nuts, but then my human put my BED in the back seat—WHOO HOO, ROAD TRIP!!!
I jumped right in and refused to get out, even when human breakfast was being served inside. In a few minutes, one of our good friends came with her suitcase and we were ready to be off. My mom and the birds’ mom got settled in and we were off. My mom had set up my bed on a basket in the backseat and we figured out how to put my water right in front of me.

It was pretty cozy, but heading across the desert got warm. We stopped at state line and it was HOT!! My paws were pretty toasty on the hot blacktop, but I just pranced across and tried not to have more than 2 paws down at a time. It probably looked a little silly, but I didn’t care. The day consisted of sleeping while Mom and Birds’ Mom listened to things called “eye pods.” I never figured out why it wasn’t called an “ear pod” if you were listening to it, but mostly I was too tired to care. Riding in a car is VERY exhausting.

At night we stayed in Salt Lick City, but I never had the opportunity to lick anything. My mom had brought along my own kennel, but I didn’t have my regular bed in it. I was pretty tired after that long day, so we all went to bed pretty quickly.

The next day was more of the same. Riding, Riding, Riding. We stopped for lunch and at a coffee shop in West Yellowstone. It was nice sitting out by the tables and having children and adults come adore me. I hadn’t had much of that on the ride. When we got back in the car, we were on the home stretch. We went to the birds’ grandma’s house first and dropped off Birds’ Mom. I stretched my legs on the lawn, but everyone had to go inside to use the potty. I don’t get that. The lawn was fine and there was plenty of room, but I guess if it makes them happier, it’s OK.

Next, we went to a park and got to see Aunt Thea and her family. We also got to go SWIMMING and I got to show Nolan a few things. He was getting much better after I gave him some helpful hints, but he still wouldn’t chase the ball into the deeper water. After the swimming and greeting the family, I go in the car with mom and we went to…A KENNEL!! I wish Mom had told me I was going to be working with these humans to keep dogs in line. It was such a shock. I dutifully followed the humans around and tried to express to them the urgency of some of the dogs’ needs but they kept walking away and just left me with the dogs. I did the best I could, but it wasn’t easy.

The day after the HOWLIDAY where they explode lots of noisy things that hurt my ears, I got picked up by Mom and Aunt Thea. The car was packed and my bed was right where it belonged, so I knew it was time to RIDE!! I was a bit concerned that were were leaving Birds’ Mom, but was reassured that she was flying home. I was ready for the ride this time and was asleep before we left the city. We made a quick stop in West Yellowstone when I got to ride a buffalo and then we were off. Aunt Thea and Mom kept talking about keeping good time, but I didn’t know what they were talking about until we got to Salt Lick where we picked up AUNT KATIE!!! Now I had constant company in the back seat.

The next day we drove to a place called “Bryce Canyon” in Utah. They kept trying to point things out to me, but I didn’t think it was that big of deal. I mean, I had to stay near the car, so no hiking (which was fine b/c it was HOT), but when we looked at the canyon it was just rocks stacked on rocks. Pretty, but not so exciting that I needed to stop at EVERY lookout and see another view of the same rocks. I kept trying to nap, but the humans kept me awake the whole time we were there.

One funny thing that did happen was at the entrance sign for the park. We stopped to get a nice photo and there was a pedestal for me to sit on. I mean, HOW perfect…my own throne of sorts. I sat, I smile, I was photographed and by the time we were done, several other humans had gathered around and begun smiling at me with that she’s-just-so-stinkin’-cute smile on their faces. On our way back to the car a human said to us, “So you just took a picture of the best looking passenger, huh?” Hey, at least HE knows perfection when he sees it. I felt a bit bad for my humans, but I figure one of their kind had said it, so it was OK.

Well, we’re almost to Needles, home of Spike (cousin of the world famous Snoopy), so I guess it’s time to get this posted and go back to my nap. I need to be well-rested for my next adventure.

You get a challenge, you show up in best form, you win…BY FORFEIT!!!!

Sunday was my church’s annual birthday-party-dog-friendly-service-in-the-park. It’s my kind of day. Humans of all sizes eating (and spilling) in the park, some great music, good company, and HUGE amounts of praise and adoration–for ME!!

A couple days before the event, an email went out to the church listserve which said the following…”A surprise to many of us is this following announcement: Good Dog Contest during the potluck!!! Chao Neiu (sp?) and Gidget will compete against one another and any other dog present to see which dog is better behaved.” The challenge was on, posted for all to see.

Well, I showed up with my best (and only) game face on. I sat during the service, I had a stare down with Jason Smith (he was snacking during the service and I was hoping he would get distracted and drop something), I didn’t spin uncontrollably, and was just basically a GREAT dog. Afterwards, I hung out with many of my favorite humans, walking here and there, played nice with the other dogs. I got some super homemade treats from the O’Bryans.

We looked for Gidget and finally had to ask her human where she was. A no-show instead of best in show!!! Her human had some “I was too busy…” excuse, but then proceeded to tell my human that Gidget wasn’t staying in the backyard…hmmmm…sounds like he was afraid of the good dog challenge!!!!

There was a brief voting in which Uncle Cooper O’Bryan was dubbed “Best dog,” but I think it was a bit rigged because his MOM was the judge. I’m not saying Uncle Cooper isn’t great, I just know that I pawed up to the challenge and was left without my primary comPETition.

Until next year, Gidget!!

The church my mom goes to (and I visit occassionally) is Pasadena Mennonite Church (PMC). Every year they do a peace parade on Palm Sunday to walk from the margins of the city to the financial/actual city center. This is a reinactment of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Since the current war started, it’s also a demostration for peace on earth now.

I’ve gone the past 3 years. Last year was very exciting. I got to go to the Paseo with tons of my favorite PMCers and their parents. The-person-who-talks-funny took me because my mom was just exhausted from spending so much time at the hospital. We met at the church across the street from Aunt Thea’s house (also known as the-one-who-gives-me-treats-and-spoils-me-rotten:-) and got to sing some cool songs and hear about the reason we are doing this. I was so proud to be included. Well, we took off with noisemakers and other children and we marched our paws down to the Paseo. People honked horns, waved support, and asked what we were doing. This year I’m searching for a cool “Pugs for Peace” jacket because last year some OTHER dog ended up on the front cover of the Pasadena Star-News. Not that I’m jealous, I’ve been covered in the paper (with a picture) for chalk festivals and other events!

It’s a long walk for short legs, but it’s worth being involved.

Some of you may not know who I am (I can’t imagine WHY, but I think it’s possible.) so here is a brief introduction. I am Xiao Nu Huang. This may look confusing or difficult to say and, indeed, if you were going to be authentically Chinese it has some nuances. It is pronounce “Shou” (like “Shout” without the “t”), “New”, “Wha” (like “what” with out the “t”) As my primary human found out on a couple occasions this year, people who actually ARE Chinese, have several tones for “Nu” and often ask her which one it is. She, of course, speaks NO Chinese and doesn’t know. I have tried several times to tell them with a pug snort, but they never listen. My motto is what I’ve heard Aunt Thea say, “Call me whatever you want, but don’t call me late to dinner.” I seem to have a food theme.

My primary human is “mom” though human folks call her Kimberly. When I go to work with her, she is called “Ms. Medendorp” because she is in her 10th year as a middle school English teacher. She teaches human children to read and catch up in their skills. She also sometimes teaches me to read and thinks I only know the word “b-e-d” at this point. She spells stuff so I don’t know what she’s talking about. (But it’s usually about “t-r-e-a-t-s!”)

There are several stories to tell and I’ll use the pictures on the annual Christmas card to tell some of them. At the end of January, I had my 5th birthday!! It was GREAT. I had 6 other (human) pups over. We played games, had lunch (fire hydrant and bone-shaped jello, cookies, and grilled cheese sandwiches), and then invited over all my adults human friends for a great cake! It was a great time, but there were a lot of serious conversations because our friend Nancy had gotten sick. Nancy was living across the street, so I could see her coming whenever she would come across to say “hi.”

The next three months were FILLED with back to back company, even though they weren’t here to see me, I helped out as much as possible. My primary human and our AMAZING pack (Some folks call them “Urban Village”) took care of arranging meals for Nancy, caring for her family, organizing and running errands. It was great to have my pack because everyone pitched in to help, including taking me for walks. During that time (February), my primary human went with the-other-human-that-lives-with-us, Aunt Bea and Buster-the-cat’s-dad on a bike ride to raise money for The Wellness Community. (Christmas photo on the right) It was called “Breakaway from Cancer” and it was a moving event for all of them. In April, Nancy lost her fight with cancer and the community gathered for a memorial. I wasn’t invited, but I felt the sadness and spend as much lap time with my primary human as there was time for. The background photo of the Christmas picture is one example of how everyone did what they could. Buster-the-cat’s-dad came over to our lawn 5 minutes before we had a more private service to dedicate a TREE (great idea, but not mine) to Nancy. He mowed our lawn in RECORD time because he wanted it to look nice for everyone. The lawnmower drove me NUTS, but it was a nice gesture and the reason my human lives in community.

In June, I helped supervise the group chalk at the annual festival drawing. Most of my favorite humans were there. Cousin John (who calls me “doggie-dog”) actually took me over to supervise the work. It was great. I got there in time to be in all the pictures and help pick up our rewards. A couple years ago, I was the main subject of the drawing, so this year was much easier for me.
This summer, I was on my own a lot. Mom did some teaching and some traveling. She went to see Grandma in MI (photo second from the left) and they went for a day to Lake Michigan. In August, she went to see Molly in New York. She said it was VERY hot, but they did go to dinner at the famous Moosewood restaurant. I had lots of great time and treats with Aunt Bea and Aunt Thea. Aunt Bea calls out time together “fat camp” which means I do a lot of running for my food, but it’s exciting. I don’t understand why it’s a big deal. I’m always more fit and I drop a couple ounces.
Well, happy HOWLIDAYS to all of you. Let me know how you are and I’ll let my human know. I’ll post more when Mom lets me have the laptop again. (I wish she’d just leave it in my kennel!)

So there is this annual event that has GOT to be my new favorite event–it’s called Thanksgiving and the humans call it a howliday. It went on and on in my mind and boy did I need a two-day nap after.

On a Sunday a couple weeks before the howliday, my primary human cooked this HUGE turkey. She said it was for the church Thanksgiving potluck. Boy, did it smell delicious. She and Aunt Thea took all sorts of plates, tablecloths, etc and said they had to set and decorate a table. Guess what they chose for a theme? PUGS!!! Yes, I was the main attraction. There were many who said, “I want to sit at the pug table.” They made sugar cookies in the shape of bones and hydrants and made “puppy chow” for the humans. There were even pug salt and pepper shakers and a picture of me!! How great is that?

The day before the “real” Thanksgiving my human started cooking. She made homemade Chex Mix. got fruit ready, and made 2 big egg casseroles. Thanksgiving morning, she and Aunt Bea went with the-human-that-brings-good-things-to-drink-to-the-firepits on a bike ride. When they came back breakfast was almost cooked, thanks to my-secondary-local-human (she’s getting easier to understand, btw). Then EVERYONE came over for breakfast. Wow!! Most of my favorite people and lots and lots of options to help clean up!! I was pretty content, it had been a great day, but there was still more to come.

After brunch, there was a quick clean up and then the beginnings of more turkey. This time there were 2 turkeys in 2 different ovens. My-secondary-local-human had to go borrow that fire-dude’s oven because we were out of space!! Just after it got dark, we went over to Aunt Bea’s house–HOLY COW–even MORE food. I was going from one human to the next hoping they would be messy. Most of them did pretty good (bummer!), but I did get a couple tasty morsels.

After dinner the younger ones went outside for some sort of tradition–I couldn’t wait to see. It was like gifts from the Big Dog In the Sky, manna from heaven, you get the picture. They had a whipped cream fight, but they just left it ALL on the GROUND!!!! What a waste! Well, I’m not one to look a gift whipped cream can in the mouth–I’m just going to PUT it in my mouth. Every time there was a bit of room (one doesn’t want to get stepped on in some undignified manner) I ran right into the middle and began snacking. When they got to close, I’d retreat until the next safe moment. I tell you, I had doggy dreams about that for days and anytime someone let me out, I’d run down there hoping for more!! (We won’t talk about the doggy “time outs” I got for not listening about staying in my yard.)

I wish ALL howlidays were like that or that we just had Thanksgiving more than once a year!!!

My Friday Night routine entails hanging out at happy hour at McCormick & Schmicks. (www.mccormickandschmicks.com/) I love it, the waitresses and customers LOVE me, and everyone is at least a little messy. The tomatoes from the Cajon Fish Tacos are my favorite, but I’m willing to help clean up everything. We had a regular party this evening. Aunt Thea and Aunt Bea went out with my primary human and me. When we got there, we ran into the-person-who-watched-me-over-Christmas and some of his friends. Great evening, great company, great fun.

McCormick & Schmicks happy hour gets 3 paws up. They don’t cater to me, but they do love me—and that’s good!!!

There was even more this evening. Aunt Bea took both of us on a walk to Old Town Pasadena. We went to a place called Three Dog Bakery (http://www.threedog.com/ ) Oh, my trees—it was amazing. There were rows and rows of displays of wonderful treats. The best part was the man behind the counter who gave me my own spatula of frosting to lick. I hope the other humans were paying attention. This IS how an empress should be treated!!

On our way home we stopped by The Container Store. (containerstore.com/ ) There was a VERY friendly gentleman when we came it. He offered me my own carriage. I got to ride around in style with my human pushing it and everyone fawning over how darn cute I am!! This is the way it should always be.

After a very exciting morning of pug play and swimming, I chose a lunch spot for the humans. We went to my 4-paw rated California Skewers. Image my surprise when it was closed for the weekend!! My humans suggested that we take grandma to a place called Corner Bakery. Wow—the humans had GREAT food (some of it “dropped” right at my paws) and a wonderful iced tea (one of the primary criteria for my main human). The people at the restaurant served the humans the food AND brought me my own water on a super hot day. I liked the cool water, but I would only drink it when I was properly on someone’s lap and could drink off the table like other civilized beings. I also had an interaction with a white poodle and he was very nice.

Corner Bakery maybe should be called the Corner “Barkery” and I give it 4 paws up!!

My human decided we should go to the new doggie park in Pasadena on Saturday. It was the monthly “Pasadena Pug Meet Up.” My human said that there are 55 cities that have a pug meet up! Wow-there must be lots of pugs. I had quite an entourage for the event—my primary human, the human who says thing funny, and grandma. We got there and there were some great humans. They all spent time petting me and telling me how soft I was—I was proud. However, they expected me to play with the other DOGS!! I thought we were there so the humans could play with me.

I played with my fetchy toy, but sometime another pug would chase with me. I was a little nervous with him chasing me, so I would leave it sometimes and my human would get it. It got a little more friendly after a while. All the pugs were pretty nice. There were some black and some fawn pugs and even one that was speckled. There was a lot of sniffing and sharing water. It was a good time!

PUGS RULE!!

My human FINALLY took me to the Arroyo Seco casting pond. I had a great time swimming in the pond. I swam more than ½ way across to get my fetchy toy. I love going in there b/c I can walk in and walk out. The humans could barely get my harness off quick enough for me to get in!! It was great to cool down after the hot morning at the doggy park. My grandma was taking my picture and really excited about my swimming. (I didn’t bother to tell the humans that the water was so shallow that I could walk along the bottom through most of the pond!) The only downside to swimming in the pond is having to take a bath because I smell like pond. I don’t actually mind the bath, but I like to pretend that I do.

Last night we got to go to Baja Fresh on south Lake. It was a lovely summer night and we had the patio almost completely to ourselves. My human said they have a new combo plate that was very tasty–a salad and mini burrito. I agreed that the salsa was delicious (I love tomatoes!) It seems they’ve made some changes on the menu and pricing (in a good way) and my human said we might be going there more. This is fine with me. While they don’t cater to me, it was a great place to spend and evening.

I give Baja Fresh 3 paws up!

After dinner we went for a walk to Coldstone Creamery. While I wasn’t allowed in (always a serious flaw), we did see people my human knew–Tom and Aaron Oliver. The small human was telling me about his dog, but I was too busy trying to get sniffs of all the new smells on Lake. Sorry I was so preoccupied, Aaron.