Thursday, January 21, 2010

Can I ask you a favour?

It takes a village to raise a puppy.

I have been asking a lot of favours lately because 1) Mozart can't yet stay alone as long as we have to go to work and 2) I love the little dude, but I have no idea what I'm doing.

My lovely neighbour checks in on Mozart at 10:00 am and walks him at noon. Because of this, he can happily last from 8:30 to about 3:30, and I can concentrate at work without worrying. My sister, her boyfriend and my lovely friend A. have been checking in on him periodically and walking/chaperoning him for anywhere from an hour to half a day. While I sometimes worry about taking advantage of them, there is reciprocity in our relationships. I can pay them back.

But then we leave the zone of personal relationships and enter the zone of favours from strangers. The puppy class teacher is kind, and I try to emulate the calm, kind voice she uses. I have emailed her twice with questions that expand upon what we do in class. Her last reply was missing those tell-tale signs of intermediate intimacy, salutations. Can you email your puppy class teacher with questions, or should you be paying for that advice? I give heeps of advice to my students in emails, but it would be a conflict of interest for me to charge them for my tutoring services. Also, I'm A type.

Where I'm not sure that I'm A type, however, is with my dog. My boyfriend and I are just not routine people. Mozart is potty trained, sleeping through the night, not barking or biting, but I may have a pinched nerve in back from his pulling on the leash. How do I know that? A. is a physiotherapist. She hates giving advice. Now I owe her twice.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Books and Wine

I've been invited to be in a real live book club. We also drink wine. Here's our first pick:


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Floating Sushi Bar


Tasty sushi. That floats towards you. Immediately upon sitting down.
Close to shopping to avoid crashing.
Brilliant.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Lock up your shoes!


We have entered the team sport of puppy ownership. It is a collaborative effort that has us enlisting the direct assistance of friends, family and neighbours. I have used more paper towel in the last two weeks than I ever used in my entire life. I am too tired to shop for clothes, shoes or food, which makes the direct financial impact of the pup nil even considering the colossal amount of stuff that rotates around him. We take pictures of him in compromising positions, such as sleeping and bathing. We are trying extremely hard not to walk around carrying him or wake him up when he is sleeping - which is constantly - because we want to play with him. I am personally contemplating puppy daycare, but at least he still doesn't have a sweater.