Moment of Zen?

Nailed it!

Foxie Doxie loves her snuggie....and Mr. Snake

These photos were taken at least a week apart.  Can you say creature of habit?  That's the purple homemade snuggie (that's right HOMEMADE! Jealous much???) that she's laying on and of course that's not sufficient so she also gets a blanket that is nicer than the one her humans currently have to sleep under.   Many thanks to my sister in law Cameron for making the snuggie which turned Cassie into the the laziest wiener on the planet.  Totally wasn't the case beforehand - nope, no way.  

Update:  Mr. Snake has been replaced by an empty bottle of Gatorade now.   Fickle.

I like that you can actually see her wrinkly little chicken neck in this one.  Z likes to play with it and say "gobble, gobble" - she probably has developed a complex.

Best Jeepney sighting yet!

Our dog is famous!
Jeepney Cassie:

Wiener Cassie:

(TWOFER SATURDAY!!) Foxy Doxie: That lady is a tramp!

I was going through some old pics today and I realized, our dog has pretty much been a hussy from day one.  Don't believe me?  Check out this hot mess....

Even when she was just a pup, she'd spread her legs for a little back and belly scratch

or a ball...pun intended

Girl on girl action didn't seem out of the realm of possibility with her either.  This is when I started to worry, was Zach creating some sort of daddy issues with Cassie that would lead her to write her own sad memoir one day??

And then things went really downhill.  This little gem showed up on the interwebs.  I guess I don't have to tell you that this is a waist up shot for a reason....

I shudder to think how many times she found herself in the back seat of a sports car...no shame, no shame at all.

We should have never let her out of the house with that slutty midriff.

So I think it goes without saying that Cassie is a troubled little wiener dog with self-esteem issues and possibly a dependency on kibble that will land her in a puppy institution.  On the up side, maybe this means we'll get a call from Dr. Drew.  I've always thought he was sorta dreamy....

Cassie has always been a sucker for the bad boys

 

Can't take her anywhere

Dog Day Afternoon

Sometimes Cassie is scared of her own shadow but sometimes she channels her inner supermodel and rocks that mothagrubba!  :)  Here she is in Ayala Triangle (the park across the street from our hotel).

Um, seriously, are you gonna throw that thing or what?  Look at me!! LOOK AT ME!

Seriously, I have NO idea why we buy toys...ever.  This is an empty liter bottle of coke and she couldn't have been happier

Look at those crookedy little dachshund legs!

We call this the "lazy sit" - she is not fully committed but we have to give her credit anyway :)

And we're spent.

Trying to not take different cultural norms personally

I fancy myself an extremely tolerant person.  Although I've been told I don't always appear approachable, I think most people would say that once a conversation begins, I welcome most any opinion on any topic.  With a few notable exceptions, I'll even let you get out your whole thought before I interrupt with a counter point.  All of this falls apart when I am talking to my husband but that's beside the point. 

In some cases though, I'm never given the opportunity to understand.  I am instantly judged or deemed part of a certain set of people simply because of the way I dress or my blonde hair or the fact that I have a dog -- whatever it is, I can feel it when it's happening.  Perhaps it's the Texan in me that tends to wander around with a goofy smile on my face.  Maybe I'm just setting myself up for disappointment.  Then again, I feel like I balance that openness with a measured amount of skepticism and wariness simply because I'm female and well, not a complete horseface.  You only have to get in trouble being "too nice" once before you realize that there are people out there who will take advantage of a cute girl with a charming disposition.  So, dang...what is my point??  I think I've had too much coffee already this morning. 

Maybe I'm killing all this time talking about myself because part of me knows what I'm about to comment on may not be the most P.C. thing on the planet so I'll try to get right to the point.

I know there is a code of ethics that certain religions must follow when it comes to conversing with the opposite sex, especially if said person of the opposite sex appears to be under 80 years old.  The thing is, I think there has to be a way to not engage in conversation yet still remain polite.  Maybe I'm painting with a broad brush here but it sure seems like the vast majority of uber religious Muslim men in this hotel would rather have their fingernails ripped out than hold the door as I'm running in behind them or say "hello" or "good morning". 

Without getting too terribly mired in religious discussions here, it seems to me like laying down such strict rules about socializing is akin to living in a small town and being raised by strict parents.  What has happened to almost every sheltered teenager who is raised in this fashion??  They do EXACTLY the opposite of what they're told and they do it on a scale and level that ends up being far more shocking than the original rules would have implied. 

I suppose I should just feel blessed to have been raised in a country and by parents who allowed me to learn in my own way -- who established some boundaries but trusted that I would learn from my mistakes.  I won't stop saying good morning or smiling at strangers, no matter how many don't smile back.  I won't feel ashamed to walk my dog when I know some people find them filthy and their disgust with my sweet little Cassie is transferred to the person walking the dog.  I also will try my damnedest not to be so hurt or irritated when a grown ass man lets a door shut in my face while my hands are full and I can't reach the door.  Nope - I will take the higher ground.  'Cept I might just shout "Thank you and Good morning!" as he's walking away....that I might do. 

Cassie does Dallas...and Vegas

After three long months in Iraq, hubs and I decided to spend our first R&R visiting family with a sprinkle of Vegas for good measure.  Though I initially planned to lug Cassie along throughout, I decided she would probably be better off not stuffed under the seat in front of me for 5 flights.  If the logistics had just been a little better (read: had Vegas not been the stopover in the middle), it would have been great to have her along but it just didn't seem like the right thing to do.  Sadly, that meant a teary goodbye in Richmond before we headed off to Vegas.  Thankfully, my mother in law had given us some great pics of Cassie and one, in particular, that was just perfect for travel.  It's an embarrassing little photo of Cassie looking completely humiliated in some kind of bow contraption.  In an effort to make myself feel better, I "pretended" Cassie traveled with us to Vegas with onward travel to Texas.  What follows is a brief catalog of her adventures:

Cassie renting a car

Cassie checking into the hotel

Cassie cat-napping before a night on the town

Lush

Cassie ain't scared of no big cats!

Cassie admiring art by her ancestors

Cassie kicking it old school on Fremont street

Cassie killing a hangover with a bloody mary

Cassie likes the oldies but goodies

Cassie and her mom at the Peppermill

Cassie supports the performing arts.....

Cassie getting wined and dined at SW Steakhouse

Cassie at the best Mexican restaurant in Denton

What? Didn't you know wiener dogs like tea???

Most cat sounding dog I ever heard

So this is what I heard on the way home from work tonight.  Apparently, they're all over Iraq but until I laid eyes on the little guys, I thought the ruckus belonged to a herd of angry cats.  Seriously strange sound.  I've heard coyotes and wolves but this was a new one on me.  I definitely wasn't prepared for the noise to belong to a dog lookin' thing.  According to all of the super lame research I've done tonight, they aren't scared of people and are known to carry rabies.  Glad I got all my shots.  Too bad about Z :(  Guess I'll have to put him out of his misery if he starts foaming at the mouth.

Bad to the bone!

This WILL be my dog one day!  Cassie loooooves the motorcycles and ever since I saw a teeny chihuahua snuggled in her "travel crate" on the back of some woman's Harley, I have wanted to try this with my little dachshund!! Clearly I'm not the first one to have this notion, you know, from a safety perspective.  There are all sorts of ear/eye/head protection options for motorcycle-man's best friend. 

I think she would love it and I would certainly enjoy having her with us on our road trips.  We'd start small, obviously.   A couple of trips to the grocery store or the dog parks but honestly, I think she'd go wild for it!  Heck, every time she hears a Harley, she gets all excited and thinks it's daddy or mommy.  If we could make a contraption that would keep her comfy and safe back there, it'd be AWESOME!!

Cassie could make friends with this bitch and they could start a little club!

This isn't what I'd consider the safest option in terms of mounting and I'd prefer the pup have eye and noggin' protection but the bag is pretty cool. 

Even when she was a puppy, she wanted to be on the bikes

Shameless Wiener Plug

  Since I won't have my pup for this coming year and we sent her off on an extended vacation with the in-laws just yesterday, I feel justified in doing an entire post about my little wiener dog, Cassie. 

 

I love this dog.  I mean I love this dog in a really kind of obsessive ridiculous way and I always have.  I call her my Starbucks puppy because that's where I came across the family trying to sell her and her little brother.  Since then, that puppy breath, those floppy ears, and her sad little eyes have had a strangle hold on my helpless heart.  

 

And incidentally, her "daddy" adores her too!  How could he not?!?  She fetched tiny tennis balls at 8 weeks and was honestly the cutest freakin' thing on the planet.  We had to stop taking her out in crowds because it would take us hours to get home.  

 

Anyhow, here are a few of my favorite pics over the last 2 years.  I will miss her LOTS this year but I know she's in good hands and will be having fun playing with all her cousins!

 

LOVE YOU CASSIE!

 

 

 

 

Hussy!

Truly a vicious animal!

 

 

Have you no shame?!?!

 

 

Hey...whatever works.

 

 

This was just a couple of weeks ago.  She was hiding in a pile of towels while I was packing boxes around her.  I'm pretty sure this look says it all, "Please don't leave..."

 

 

Then again, maybe she was just pissed because I wouldn't turn the flash off. 

 (Sorry for the picture quality on some of these.  I was getting the pinwheel of death using iPhoto so I ended up just drag/dropping from Flikr.) 

Indulgence of the Day

DACHSHUND NECKLACE!!!

This is totally without justification but.....me want!!  Ok ok, I realize this might not qualify for EVERYONE's indulgence of the day list but it certainly does mine and occasionally this little blog is all about yours truly and I really love this little necklace.  

However, I think this little necklace is adorable and would look lovely on just about anyone's neck.  Of course, I think I'd have to have the gold one to match my Michael Kors watch. :)  Unfortunately, or fortunately if you're feeling flush, this little "puppy" will cost ya $105 in silver and $115 in gold.  eek.  Not to worry though, I KNOW you're worth it!!

In an effort to make peace with all non-dachshund owners, check out the designers look book.  All designs are from Brooklyn design house Odette New York and I think you'll approve.

Bull Pizzle

Today was a very special day in our house because we got a new shipment of Bully Sticks from Best Bully Sticks!!  Now, if you don't know what bully sticks are or don't have dogs, you may not know what I'm talking about and to be honest, until a couple months ago, if you'd uttered the words "bully stick", I'd have looked at you like you were from Mars too. 

Before I go into the dirty details, I'd like to kick my shouts out to Callie and Andrew.....and Jack, the wonder dog.  They are ALL responsible for Cassie's addiction.  It's really kind of sad to see her deteriorating like this.  It's possible we will have to stage some sort of intervention.

You see, these are BIG chewies...not intended for runt doggies like my Cassie but she doesn't know that.  She's thinks they're "baby bear"....which is, btw, my way of saying juuuuust right. 

Christmas for K9s!

 I should probably break the news now.  See that unassuming looking stick there?  It's actually the inside of a bull penis.  That's right people...my dog is chewing on a bull dong.  Awesome.  My husband has taken to calling them Bull Pizzle...thus the title of this post.   I suppose if you don't laugh you'll cry. 

Thankfully, these are the odor free variety and they're "natural"...whatever THAT means.  I mean how freakin' unnatural could a bull penis be?!?!

Can I have it????  puh puh puhlease?!? 

 Whatever though...they keep her entertained forever which is all I care about. 

Peace out mom!  Going to gnaw down on my bull pizzle!

Look at that thing!  It's as long as her and she's a wiener dog!

Look at that shiznit!  She's actually holding it with her paw.  Lord knows what she'd do with opposable thumbs!