Our Family is Together Again!

Hi everyone it's Sophie and we are back in Indy with our Momma and Daddy!!!! We were so happy when they picked us up we like were running around like maniacs!! The guy at our doggy hotel said to our parents "the yellow one tried to dig a hole under the fence and escape." Now I am not yellow so I am hoping Mommy and Daddy don't realize that in my imprisonment I tried to start a prison break!!! I'd be in tons of trouble!!!!

Speaking of trouble, I found some pictures on my Mom's camera that I disapprove of!!!! Check these out...

WHO IS THAT!??! That's not one of us and definitely not even a pug. (Mom: It's my friend Marissa's puppy, Rosie.)

That's Lauren, who is Dixie's doG-mother, but why is she posing with that tiny little runt and not us?!?!?!?! I thought dogs couldn't go to New Jersey!!!

And then I see this HUGE doggie. I was very mad that Momma would betray us like that. A big doggie laying comfortably by the fire? And not us? Very rude. (That's Blue, my uncle's ten-year-old pit bull. He is the best behaved dog and can even smile on command!)

I think they have some 'splaining to do! It snowed today so I'm sure we'll have to do some stupid photoshoot outside anyways. More later!

East Coast Road Trip

Thanks for all the lovely notes about our road trip! We had such a hard time leaving the pugs but Sandy has fun plans for them- lots of kids to play with and TURKEY on Thanksgiving! After we left this was our Garmin and clock. The Garmin says we'd arrive at 6:04 pm.

Our clock on the car says 7:45 am. YIKES! What time did we actually arrive though? 8:15 pm. Four rest stops mixed with one horrible being pulled over experience. I'll tell you more about that later though.... Here are a few pictures of the trip!

First state we drove into was Ohio... which I used to be a fan of... until the pulling over. They got our speed- barely over- by AIRCRAFT. And then a scary lady cop pulled us over by pointing at us. Along with a few other cars, and more as we pulled over. So it took about a half hour total!!!!! Boo Ohio!!!!!

We were in West Virginia (Wheeling area) for a few minutes too!

PA is the longest part of the ride. Most of it is very uneventful in terms of cities (our path doesn't take us through Pittsburgh or Philly) but GORGEOUS in terms of mountains and scenery.

Upon entering New Jersey, we realized the sign was on the left and I MISSED IT. Not happy. It was too snowy anyways. When we got to my mom's house we had real pizza and relaxed, and geared up for our trip to NYC the next day (Sunday.) We took the brief 30-minute bus ride to NYC to met up with my sister Melinda and her boyfriend Gabe on Bleecker street to see a show. She goes to school in the Bronx and her boyfriend lives in the city.

Here I am with Melinda- it was her 22nd birthday!!!! Yes we are only 20 months apart, she is 22 now and I am 23!!!! I am lucky to have two fabulous sisters and it was great to celebrate a little with Min (her nickname.) Rosie (my 18 year old sister) gets in tomorrow from the University of South Carolina where she goes to school, so we'll all be home for Thanksgiving!

Just in case any of you are in New York, I MUST tell you about the show we saw. Brian and I have been fans of Mike Birbiglia for a year or two now. His work is hilarious... the bits about Christian music that you don't realize is Christian music, the song about the "Guitar Guy," and anything he says about pizza... he definitely leaves us falling off our chairs laughing. Well imagine our excitement when we found out he was starting an off-broadway show in New York in November! The show is called Sleepwalk With Me. It was a tiny theatre, and when he walked out, we were literally feet away from him. Brian and I were both like, "THAT'S FREAKING MIKE BIRBIGLIA!!!!!" We couldn't believe it. I think we think he is more famous than he is, since he's like our favorite comedic celebrity. We get his "Secret Public Journal" by e-mail and Brian hears him on the radio all the time while he drives around for work. I know, I know, this is a pug blog... but I hope you will all buy either or both of Mike's CD's (Two Drink Mike and What I Should Have Said Was Nothing.) He has not made any pug jokes yet that I know of, but trust me, I'll let you all know if and when he does!

After the show went went to this tiny a slightly touristy but fantastic restaurant called S'MAC. Again, shameless, pugless promotions, but it was fantastic. A restaurant of only mac & cheese. How can you go wrong!?

Happy Thanksgiving early!

On The Road Again...

Believe it or not, in a little bit we're leaving, AGAIN! We are aiming to leave at 6 but I'm blogging right now so obviously that's not happening. Whatever- we're on VACATION! For NINE DAYS!!! And since we are driving to New Jersey for said vacation (about 12-13 hours) I'm fine with a flexible schedule and staying relaxed... I don't need any more stress!

I'm loading some crazy photoshoot pictures here- hopefully you've checked them out! I think Sophie did a post about them already. I tried to do some funny photo titles in the flickr album to keep you all entertained.

Rachel was quite the talented photographer and managed to get the pictures to me in time for my mom to see pictures of her grandpugs on Thanksgiving. What more could you want!

The pugs are off to their Doggie Hotel again!!!! I told Sandy there that Dixie could hang out with her Newfs.... this should be hilarious!

PHOTOSHOOT PICTURES ARE HERE!

Remember how we did a photoshoot? That Mommy won in the silent auction? Well we just got the pictures! Clearly I, Sophie, am the star of the show, but go see for yourself! Mommy is going to make Christmas cards.

Visit all the pictures here on our Mommy's flickr page! We hope you like them!

Tattletale Tuesday

My first Tattletale Tuesday! Remember, the pugs have their own room. A big screen TV. Toys. A bed. Blankets. Animal Planet. Is that enough?

Apparently not...

This is what they've done to our floors in "their" room over the past year. Thanks, puggies.

Additionally- Brian gets back tomorrow! And I CANNOT wait!!!! I just had to call him since Sophie threw up twice in a row. There went all her dinner... she had barely chewed it, if at all. I am now 100% sure she needs one of the bowls that slows her eating. My question to you all though- should I switch to regular sized food bites? They're currently eating small bites, the bits are about the size of a pencil eraser. I think that in any bowl, she might just swallow them because they're so small. However, do you think she'll swallow big ones? I don't think so but I wanted everyone's insight about it. It's not a problem to switch to "normal size" kibble bits because the brand and flavor they use comes in both sizes.

Boring Weekend

Wow is it boring without Brian! The pugs have found a better way of protesting than hostages... poop. The other night, I had the pugs in the backyard to go out before bed. Usually Brian and I walk the block, but it's just too dark and scary for me by myself. I see Dixie sniffing and figure she's looking for her spot. No... she was at the buffet. I see a pine-needle looking thing sticking out of her mouth and think she's eating grass. I reach in her mouth to get it out... no she was eating poop. Allllllll over my hands. I must have washed them fifty times. I also brushed Dixie's teeth. She was quite unhappy.

Then today, Sophie had a little bit of a loose dingleberry after she pooped. I got some off with a leaf and then rushed her back home. Well somewhere along the oh, 50 feet from there to our house, she bumped her bum into BOTH other pugs, smearing them each with a little stain her dingleberry poop. I had to bring out the heavy duty wipes to clean them up.

I would have had more fun with them this weekend, but it was uneventful in the fun department. I had to go into work a little because it was our national board's quarterly meeting. I also had to babysit. The only bit of fun? I got my hair done. Very, very brown.

I love it! I feel way less washed out. I've gone all over the hair color spectrum, but I haven't been BROWN brown since 2004-ish. It was about time. Blonde only seems to work on me if I'm tan. However, you don't read my blog to see my hair!!! You read it for pugs!!!

So, here is some pug fighting. Sorry folks, no pictures of the poop fiascos. This is Sophie and Dixie fighting over HARLEY's toy, by the way.

I made Harles feel better about losing his sharkie to the girls.

And her are the three pugmigos themselves! (Speaking of which, on Friday the movie Three Amigos was on! I sat down at 5 till 8:00, said to myself, I wonder if it will be on this weekend? I did a search and voila! It started in a few minutes. It was meant to be!)

Bugg Update

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the bugg "gooroo!" She had fun writing it. To elaborate on her thoughts about Harley, I have this adorable photo as proof that they are bestest buds:

To me this photo says "He's MAHHHH HARLEZ!" And, Harles seems just fine with it.

Speaking of the Bugg, here's an updated photo of her paw.

Looking better, no? There's still a bump, definitely, but it's slowly, slowly draining and decreasing in size. I'm so glad! I had to do a comparison between the last photo and this photo to prove to myself she's getting better.

And since this entry has been about the Bugg... here's an adorable photo of the crew this morning.

They don't necessarily like mornings in general; they hate them without their Daddy. Well, so do I!! Even though they look miserable, their little "more bars in more places" style photo made me smile. Hope you're all having a great day!

Ansirz Frum Dah Bugg Gooroo

I did dah tinkin an I iz bak wit dah ansirz. It wuz not hard wit mah spektaculz.

Mah momma tuk diz pik, itz blurree bekuz shez not waring hur spektaculz.

Mah Boyfrend asks, "Hey Sweet Butt, Nice to see you're back in action! Since you are the gooroo, can you tell me why my feet smell like corn chips?"

Murfee mah boyfrend... yoo iz so bizy starin at mah sweet but dat yoo miszed dah last bugg gooroo!!! I toldz mah Sofee's boyfrend dat it iz becuz of dah seekret Frito stompin.

Ruby Bleu asks, "How is your footie? Is it feeling better?? What did the V.E.T. say???"

Ruby, it iz likes, a bump, dat duz not hurtee, but itz got dah infekshun. No pus but itz owwee. Dah V.E.T. sez to eat penut budder an I willz be bettur. Sumtimez mah penut budder haz dah crunch but itz sooper tastee!

Coco asks, "First, why is it so hard to train my mother? She seems to understand my commands, but she is very slow doing them. For example: "give me all your food", "wake up! its 4 a.m. lazy woman!!" or "let's go eat that poop!". Stubborn! Second, why do I like toilet paper so much? I cant control myself... it's addicting! Third, I lick the air constantly. Is that normal, or am I going crazy?"

Coco, try fartun on yoor mama if she dusnt understund ur comandz. Dat wil teech hur. Also, toylet papur iz a nootrishush part uf a balunced pug diet. Yum! Last, mah bruthur Harlez he liks an liks hiz tung in dah air all dah tyme!!!! Maybee it iz fur flyun foodz?

Rachel asks, "Our question is about your new brother- Harley. What do you think about having a third dog? Do you think that your parents think it's much harder than having two? Is it nice to have another man in the house? Does he deflect some of Sophie's meanness from you to him?"

Rachel, Harlez he iz soooo nyce!!! I luvz him wez snuggul an sumtimez mah Sofee will not playz nice an mah Harlez he will snuggul an lik dah air next to me. Boyz r nice. So iz mah daddy! I lykes three pugz.

Pearl asks, "Someone has probably asked you this before, but I'm new and I need to know... What's the purpose of your nose-guard that you alwasy do? What ya guarding your little nosely from??"

Pearl, gud qwestshun. I iz afrayed mah Sofee will stik hur tung in der. She likz us EVRYWUR!!!!! Mah Harlez duz it too. Mah Sofee nevur duz dah noze gard she duznt needz to.

The Devil Dog asks, "Can you tell me why everyone thinks cats are so great when they don't come when you call and ignore you when you want them?"

Roxy, dah katz poop in dah box. We poopz aneewhur. I eetz mah poop. Katz win poop round.

Nevis asks, "Why is it that you're SO cute!? :)"

Mah Nevis, yoo iz too cyute too! Mahhhh biggust fan! I dunt tryz to be cyute but mah moma sez itz mah natrul beooouty.

Tankz fur dah qwestshuns mah fwendz. I 'preciate mah fwendz. More Bugg Gooroo sumtyme soon!

Dah Bugg Gooroo iz bak!

(I am only allowing this post because 1. Dixie is "injured" and 2. it was requested. Except for the gooroo entries, they're still grounded!)

Rememburz me? I iz dah bugg, dah gooroo fur all uf yur qwestshuns.

Mah mommuh gotz dah new spektaculz an so I sez I'z dah gooroo I anserz anee uf yoor qwestshuns with mah new spektaculz.

Alzo I haz an owweee on mah fut. Datz all.

What's worse?

What's worse than a pug hostage situation?

Unruly pugs. Anarchy. Dissent in the puggie ranks.

This used to be a box, empty luckily, from our doggie steps. Apparently, having their own room and a big screen TV is not enough. And this is only day one without their Daddy! This will be a long, long week....

Dixie is fine, naturally

Dixie is fine, we went to the vet and she thought it was just an infection. She then scared me to death because she seemed concerned that when she took a sample it wasn't pussy. She assured me that there can be non-pus infections, evidenced by the liquid being part blood and part clearish-liquid. I of course assume this means mast cells again. Well luckily, she came back eventually to say NO MAST CELLS!!! Yippeeee! It only took going at the Bugg three times with a needle, she definitely didn't like that. Our vet described this type of infection to me, essentially it's a slower-forming inflammatory infection as opposed to a crazy fast infection of pus. I'm sure it was a bug bite again that just slowly got infected and inflamed. She is on two meds for a while! The boyfriend left today for Florida though, so we spent last night hanging out and I didn't update anyone. I'll have more information tonight, as well as probably news about the impending multi-hostage situation this time. I wouldn't put it past Sophie.

Oh and send out your healing vibes that the medicines work and Bugg's bump goes down!

It's always something...

Yes, we are home! And that's about the only positive thing today. Dixie and I are both under the weather. I started feeling cruddy a few days before we left but pushed it off- it hit me full force Saturday. I couldn't eat anything, was coughing up a lung, and went to bed at 9pm! On VACATION! The flights were miserable, my sinuses felt like they'd explode. So I am home today to sleep and recover... we all know "sleep" isn't happening right now with these wild and crazy pugs. Dixie too is "sick," she's injured herself!

We noticed this last night. After picking them up from their hotel, the pugs all had a free-for-all around our coffee table and Dixie ran herself into it, leaving her with a small face bump. That went away quickly but we soon after noticed this bump between her toes. Here are some closer looks.

It's pretty solid, and I can't find any splinters or bite marks.

So on my day off to "rest" I will be taking her to the vet. I have no idea what it could be. I called the doggie hotel and they never noticed this... it's pretty noticeable by just looking at her (since she's black and it's pink) so I think it just popped up when we got home. It hasn't changed at all in size since we noticed it. Any ideas for what it could be??

Goodbye for now! Raleigh or bust!

This will be my second entry in a row with no pictures- YIKES! Sorry guys. I am very sad and PUGLESS right now! Brian and I just dropped off the crew about two hours ago. Harley's foster mama (Brutus' mom!) recommended a great doggy boarding place up north near her, Doggie Daycare and Hotel. It was a long drive but definitely worth it... they get their own HOUSE! Yea you know that Sophie liked that, right! It has a couch and TV and has heat and AC. Plus the owner just loves pugs. These puggers will be spoiled silly, I don't know if they'll even want to see us when we get back on Sunday!

Since I'm not sure I mentioned it, yes, we are going on vacation! A nice short trip to North Carolina. We'll be staying in Raleigh and hanging out there to see friends, but we'll also travel to my alma matter, Elon University, for their homecoming. I'll stop by my sorority house, tailgate, and visit my little sister (sorority little sis) who works at Elon now. It will be nice to see the campus again, and especially nice to go to my favorite restaurants! I love Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill, as well as Mellow Mushroom in Raleigh (they have that here, though!) We will be sure to post lots of pictures when we get back. Raleigh or bust!

MORE new friends! YAY!

Hey pugger friends, it's Sophie with good news! We have a NEW friend! PEARL!

Go visit Pearl on her blog at http://littlemisspearl.blogspot.com/. She seems like a really pug friend and you know we all love making new friends here in the dog-blogsphere! Plus we need more saucy girl pugs like me on here! BOL!

Yucky Day- and more AMIGOS

What a little imagination Sophie has, right? I'm not having the best of days but want to make sure you know we're still around! A few people have asked about which pug is which amigo? Well here are your answers....

Sophie is Lucky Day (Steve Martin), the de facto leader of the Amigos.

Clearly no one else takes the lead around here!

Dixie is Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), the dimmest of the three Amigos, and a pianist.

Well I would bet if we GAVE her a piano, that would work.

Harley as Ned Nederlander (Martin Short), a former child star and genuine quick-draw artist.

The fact that Harley can sit qualifies him as a child star!

Gotta love that movie! If you have any good vibes going right now, thanks for sending them my way, I sort of need it today! Oh and if you are a human in the USA and registered to vote- GO VOTE TOMORROW! (We are rePUGlicans and I don't think any other bloggers here are, but we are just proud of anyone who is politically active and investigates the candidates to find out what is right for THEM. YAY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!)

Photo Shoot!

Hi it's Sophie the model. After our win yesterday, clearly the press got wind of our fabulousness. Today we had a photoshoot. Mom swore that she actually won the photoshoot during a silent auction for the Alzheimer's Association, but I know the truth. It doesn't matter that our photographer, Rachel, is Mommy's co-worker, Llama's mama, and not even a member of the press. I am sure they'll get out somehow. We had to wear sweaters and some santa hats and stuff and Mommy and Daddy wore green and red. Oh and Dixie pooped on the floor. Typical. Sorry we have no pictures... I am told we'll get them in about three weeks... I guess that's when the story will break. I promise not to forget all our blog fans when we're famous!

SUPER-LONG Halloween/Meetup Entry!

Hi all! It's the pug mom here. This is going to be such a long/picture-heavy entry that I doubt the pugs have the stamina to even write a sentence. Last night on a whim I bought a pumpkin and carved it into a pug-kin! Check it out!

I used the pattern that April posted on her blog, Preppy Pugs. I am so grateful that she shared it with us!

Since no one guessed it, it's time for the big reveal... here is what the pugs went as!!!! THE THREE AMIGOS!!!!

It is a hilarious movie that I LOVE and that my dad used to love as well, so it was special to dress the pugs up as them. Here I am going to share a BUNCH of pictures from the meetup, since... WE WON THE COSTUME CONTEST!!! Go pug clan!!!! Picture captions are above each photo this time (I'm not very consistent with that from entry to entry... thought I'd help out this time!)

Below is one of the best pictures I got of them.

Even in "kids & pets" mode, my camera couldn't keep up with the "Three Pug-migos!"

"Ole!" It's Dixie and Sophie!

Laura has found a new obsession in Harles... how debonaire does he look here!?!

Salinger contemplates Sophie (and apparently, his sexuality, per Laura... uh oh Sophie!) when they first spy each other across the meetup!

This is the best picture I got of Apollo in his costume, the Frog Prince. He tied us for the costume prize, but we won by just a tiny bit in the tie-breaker. He was a great sport though! AND... all the proceeds (something like $83!) went to KPR!

The sombreros did not stay on the pugs for long... so I tried one on for size! PS- new glasses!!!!!! Thoughts?

Sophie... fail.

This is pretty much what the group looks like... lots of pug blurs. At least the cutie lobster stayed still for .5 seconds.

The cutest watchdog I've ever seen!!! CONGRATS ON 3RD PLACE IN PUNCHY'S CONTEST!!!!

My fave little ex-ottoman (she used to be a CHUNKER) Lilo dressed up as a "retired Hooter's girl!!!"

I brought my pug-kin carving to the meetup and actually gave it to Lilo's mama, since her mom's neighborhood does Trick-or-Treating tonight. Doesn't that little pirate-pug on the right resemble the pug in the carving!?

Sophie shakes it out after celebrating our big win!

Salinger's fam is just INSANE over Dixie. Here is his mom Laura with the bugg.

Next had to be Holden! Check out Dixie's crazy teeth! Holden was a mime for Halloween and even had a paddle to hold up that said "Trick or Treat!" on one side and "Thank you!" on the other! What a fun and creative idea!! That must be why Dixie likes him so much... trying to steal some of that brain power...

Of course Salinger's dad Kevin had to get in on the bugg action too...  who can resist that bugg-face!?!?!

Harley got super excited so he took a break with Brian... what a cutie!

I had to include this mystery-puggy because he or she is rocking the very same outfit that Pugsley would not wear!!!!

Here I am with the most adorable baby puppy pug. Her name was something like Lucy or LuLu... I am so bad with names (people and dogs) I just blank out and pay attention to the non-verbals... in this case, like HOW ADORABLE she was and how sassy and smart she was!!!

She already knew sit, down, and shake!!!!

Sophie, on the other hand, knows "beg." We don't even have to ask her to do it!

Here's Apollo and his momma!!!!! She brought us some pug treats to share and everyone really enjoyed them!

Salinger looks VERY happy to be out of his costume!

Harley and Dixie clearly see some pug consuming a pug treat across the park.

The lovely couple... Sophie and Salinger... aka "S-Girl" and "S-Dog!" Clearly they are holding hands!!!

Since it happens every time, here's a nose-guard picture of Dixie. I'd give this one an 8 out of 10.

Laura is in PUG HEAVEN!!!!!

Pippin here sure is cheezin' for the camera... he keeps saying that he's standing in the wings for when Salinger and Sophie's relationship doesn't work out... we're taking bets...

Dixie now joins the tired club... this was the longest meetup yet!

I am SO HAPPY we got to do this... this is a photoshoot of all the bloggers!!! It's Vikki of Pug Posse, me, and Laura of "Multum in Parvo" ...with a Cinnabon tail!

This is after I was tackled by all three of ours. Vikki clearly had the short end of the stick with 5 pugs to control. Laura, the mom of an only-pug, is helping by holding onto Jasmine.

Laura being a model!

Vikki is doing what we like to call "pug-wrangling!" Eli was all over her, giving her kisses the whole time!

This one is my favorite! Laughs all around! This is sort of like a mini blogger-meetup now that we all have blogs!

Dixie took the TOP OFF THE PUMPKIN!!!! It was hilarious!

When we got home, all the pugs passed out. This is our prize for winning- a PUGGY BANK!!! I was so excited since I had seen this online and just loved it. Thanks for voting for us, everyone at the meetup! We had a blast.

Now you guys are probably exhausted from this entry... go take a nap! And Happy Halloween once again! (Or, as the pugs say... Happy Halloweenie!)