An Insincere Apology to Cat Owners Everywhere

So Jorge hates cats. This hatred goes all the way back to childhood, when the neighborhood street cats would tear open his family’s garbage bags and litter the remains outside their front gate.

In our current neighborhood, several of our neighbors have cats that they let roam free. We didn’t have a problem with this until they started pooping in our planter.

Tired of cleaning up cat poop (why does our life seem to center around animal feces?) and having a smelly front patio, Jorge came up with a Master Plan.

Chili powder.

Excited and with just a hint of crazy in his eyes, Jorge picked up a small bottle of chili powder at Walmart last night. It was time to put the Master Plan into effect.

He scattered a line of chili powder around all the edges of the planter so the cats would have no choice but to land in it if they wanted to poop in our dirt. I heard him mutter, “Espero que esos cabrones vengan HOY.” (“I hope those bastards come TONIGHT.”)

Dog Updates

Suki and Dolly have been progressing just fine after getting spayed last week. They are as active as normal, even though we try to keep them from moving around too much. They also still have their “cones of shame” to keep them from licking their wounds.

As I mentioned Thursday, Konan had some complications and had to have her wound re-opened and re-stitched. The vet came up with a snazzy little t-shirt corset device to keep her from scratching at the wound with her foot… and, I suspect, to keep Jorge and me from panicking constantly.

Konan is not very happy with the situation in general and has been very vocal about it. She spent the entire weekend glaring at me for ten-minute intervals. Moaning/howling/evil glares aside, her health seems to be great. Today she was able to go up and down the stairs on her own!

Jorge and I have kept ourselves busy pointing and laughing at them in their cones and misery.

Just Thursday

Outside my window.. 83 degrees and BEAUTIFUL! Unfortunately all this sun means I’ve had to water my plants for the first time since we moved in.

Today I feel.. happy and cheerful.

I am thankful.. for my coworkers

Tomorrow I am going.. to work, then the gym, then home to relax before a busy weekend.

I am wearing.. my work uniform.

I wish.. for nothing right now. Life is pretty good.

This weekend.. is my BIRTHDAY!!!!! I’ll work a half-day Saturday, then spend the afternoon with Jorge’s family, then go to Xel-Ha on Sunday.

I am reading.. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

I am working on.. getting the living room all fixed up! We painted a wall last weekend (turquoise!!), hung curtains and hung some artwork.

Yesterday I.. ordered sushi and watched Jersey Shore.

I am hoping.. to watch Survivor online tonight (no spoilers!). I’m still not sure who I want to win… Boston Rob probably deserves it.

I am hearing.. the clicking of keyboards at work.

I bet you didn’t know.. that my dogs are adorable. Here they are helping us paint:

One of my favorite.. drinks is the Passion Hibiscus Tea at Starbucks.

Dog Walking at Cancun’s Ciclopista

In the city of Merida, Yucatan (4 hours from Cancun), they shut down one of the city’s main streets every Sunday to open up a “ciclopista“. The road is closed off for biking, walking, rollerblading, etc. It’s a great family event.

A few months ago, Cancun started doing the same thing. The Andres Quintana Roo Avenue is shut down for a few hours every Sunday. I remember the first time I saw it, there was hardly anybody there. When we went yesterday, however, it was packed!

My friend Carlos owns a pet store and has tons of cool ideas for marketing his business. He’s started getting together a group of his friends and family to walk their dogs all together while wearing t-shirts for his store. It’s a great way to grab people’s attention, and he can hand out business cards to other dogwalkers. It seems to be great for business. They also walk some dogs that are up for adoption!

So yesterday Jorge and I took Suki, Dolly and Konan out to the ciclopista to do some promoting for Econopet. It was one of the first times Konan has been out in public. She does very well with humans… not so much with other dogs. Every time another dog walked by, she would bark at it with a horrible screech. I now understand how moms feel when their kids scream in the grocery store. Humiliating. Luckily after about 10 minutes she was able to calm down.

In general, our dogs were very overwhelmed, but it was a great opportunity for them to learn to socialize. By the end of the day, they were pretty calm! (Except for Dolly, who was calm and happy from the beginning. She lives her entire life as if under the influence of heavy sedatives.)

There were about 20 dogs in our group, and everyone behaved very well!

Some people from our group walking along the ciclopista (yes, that's a doggy stroller!)

Our friend Coyi walked Dolly, who is an instant hit everywhere she goes thanks to her calm and sweet disposition, plus her tiny size.

I walked Suki because she freaks out if I'm not walking with her. She was the most excited to be there, as always!

Jorge walked Konan, who seemed very overwhelmed by it all.

We saw this dog walking around with all his "gear". By far the most stylish dog at the ciclopista. (If I ever put goggles on one of my dogs, please intervene.)

There were tons of families!

Halfway through, our group stopped for some R&R and bowls of water in the shade.

Econopet also has a dog training class. After our walk, we enrolled Suki and Konan. Considering they've never had any training whatsoever, they didn't do so bad!

The dogs had to do some obstacles during the class.

In the end Konan was able to go through the obstacle course (with a little help from Jorge). I’m so proud!

We had such a good time, and we’ll definitely be back next week! I know the dogs loved it, too.

I’m really glad Cancun decided to open up the ciclopista. Locals are always complaining that Cancun has no culture and no sense of community (the city is only 40 years old), so I think this is a great step in that direction!

Life With Three Dogs

So this is what happens whenever I sit down in a chair at my house…

I guess it’s nice that all 3 dogs are so in love with me that they’re willing to endure extreme discomfort (and sit on top of eachother) just to jump into my lap.

So Adorable I Can’t Stand It

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Chabihau and Yobain was getting to see some newborn puppies! Jorge’s cousins have 3 dogs, and 2 of them had puppies together (again). They just so happen to be the brothers and sisters of my dog, Konan.

They’re 75% French poodle and 25% Maltese.

Prepare yourselves for cuteness…

And no, I didn’t take any home. 3 dogs is more than enough for me, thanks!

MishMash

I don’t have anything specific to blog about today, but there are some random things going on, so let’s get you guys caught up 🙂

First of all, I always get asked how married life is going. It’s great! Jorge cleans, we’re both learning to cook a bit (even though he’s happy eating Nesquik cereal every night), we watch a lot of Law and Order because it’s one of the few shows we can agree on, we rarely argue, when we DO argue it never lasts more than 5 minutes (living with someone is a big motivation to apologize quickly haha)… life is good! My only complaint is that Jorge has now gotten hooked on a new video game called Plants vs. Zombies. Plays this thing for 3 – 5 hours a day. Seriously.

The crate training with Konan is going well. She’ll usually go outside on her own now. We can go out at night with friends and leave her outside the crate and she won’t go inside. Last week, we left her outside the crate all day when we weren’t home. The first day was perfect. The second day… not so much. So back into the crate she went the next day. Still… we’re progressing!!

Easy Off Bam! should be kept far, far away from all clothing items. I lost a shirt yesterday 😦

Calorie counting isn’t going as well this time as it did last time. I haven’t gone over my limit yet, which is good, but most days it’s not as low as it should be. I’m learning, though! Most important lesson: Don’t drink your calories! There are 250 calories in 500 ml of Coke… that’s the same as a light lunch!!

This is an exciting week in my favorite shows! Big Bang Theory is having a HILARIOUS 4th season, Glee did a Rocky Horror episode last night, New Zealand’s Next Top Model has its finale this week (go Danielle!), the Project Runway finale is tomorrow, and Survivor… well, Survivor is always interesting. Don’t tell me anything! I can’t watch any of it until this weekend!

 

Doggy Makeovers!

I know three little puppies who got a makeover this weekend!

Suki

Before

After

Dolly

Before

After

Konan

Before

After

Bonus shots!

Pee Update!

First of all, thanks to everyone for all the comments yesterday on crate training Konan. I feel a lot better about the whole thing! Gracias 🙂

Soooo… Crate training went great yesterday! Konan was not upset.

She made it through from 9:30 am to 6 pm with no messes inside the crate! (roommate let Konan out for a pee break at 3 pm, but apparently she didn’t have to)

Last night she peed OUTSIDE (!!!!).

This morning Konan went back into the crate, and didn’t seemed bothered by the idea at all.

Yesterday I bought some spray that keeps dogs from peeing in certain areas, just in case.

Things are looking good 🙂

Konan the Pee Pee Queen

At Least I’ll Save on Paper Towels

I feel like the worst dog owner ever!

At my old house, I managed to get Konan housetrained after much frustration and trickery.

Once we moved into the new house, however, she seemed to forget that outside is the place to go.

Three months later… no progress.

I leave the back door open  all day so that the girls can go outside and do their business whenever they want while Jorge and I are gone. Konan still thinks the living room is the best place to go. (Luckily we have no living room furniture and the floor is all tile.)

We’ve tried many methods, and I’d been avoiding using this one for months.

Still, after everyone seemed to recommend it and ensure us it’s not torture… today we began crate training.

I'm sorry!!!

giant dog bone = guilt

The online experts think it’s good for Konan, so… we’ll see.

I still feel awful.