Halloween Costume Tip

Sunny and Rosy know what's the most important thing about Halloween - THE TREATS.

I've never been a fan of "sexy" Halloween costumes.  They often look ridiculous and uncomfortable.  And I'm all about comfort and what will let me eat as much as I want without a button or seam bursting.

My all-time favorite (and most comfortable) Halloween costume was when I dressed up as a Never Nude.  If you don't know what that is, Google "Arrested Development" "Tobias Funke" and "Never Nude."  I wore a Never Nude t-shirt (basically a regular white t-shirt with a Never Nude logo and motto that my friend got for me as a joke present) and cut-off denim shorts with sweatpants over them.  When I entered the party, I took off my coat and sweatpants.  This was during peak Arrested Development popularity and yet only one person at the party got what I was.  We were in a group chatting when he stopped talking and shouted out, "Are you a Never Nude?!  That's awesome!"

I hope that you all enjoy your Halloween, getting dressed up and going trick-or-treating or to parties, but remember the most important part of this holiday is to eat as much candy and treats as you can possibly stuff your face with.

Catch a Leaf on Your Tongue

The leaves from my maple trees are starting to change color and drop.  This is my favorite time of fall because the air is crisp, the foliage is beautiful, and there's nothing for me to do other than admire the change of seasons.  This will soon be followed by annoyance and rage at the massive amount of leaves that will fall and that I'll have to clean up and somehow get to my curb for the annual leaf vacuum by the county. 

I also love this time of the year because Sunny will often pick up a stray leaf on her tongue while we're out walking.  I can't believe I haven't managed to capture a photo of this!  But, every time I see it, I get distracted pointing and laughing at her and then by the time I remember to pull my phone out of my pocket (I love wearing coats in the fall - pockets!!), a breeze has carried the leaf away or she's slurped it and either dropped it or swallowed it.  One day, I promise you, I will get a photo of it! 

I mean look at this tongue.  It's always sticking out.  Of course things are going to get stuck on it!

I had some colored pens in my bag so I thought it would be fun to add a bit of color to the leaves.  They look a bit neon here because I always have to tweak my photos since the notebook's paper is slightly yellow.

Here's the maple tree in my front yard from this weekend.  It's just starting to change colors.  So pretty!  I have a love/hate relationship with my trees.

This was from last fall.  It looks pretty, but you can already see the leaves starting to pile up.

And some frolicking in the leaves last fall.  Both my pugs love running through the crunchy leaves, but Rosy especially loves it!

Ugh.  The leaves.  THE LEAVES.  So many.  I can't even.

Rain + Stubborn Pugs = Frowny Face

Ugh. Rain. So much rain. Such stubborn pugs. Bah!

This morning Sunny launched a poop strike. I expected it and thought I was prepared for it, but I'm no match for a stubborn pug.

After a few minutes outside, Rosy did her thang and so I let her back inside. But Sunny. Oh Sunny. We were outside for 30 minutes. 30 long minutes.

I was determined to outlast Sunny, to hold firm. But she won. I was already late to work and Sunny looked so pathetically sad with her head and tail hanging low. Plus she wouldn't move. At all. As soon as Sunny was inside, her tail curled up and she pranced about the house in victory. I'm sure she'll leave a consolation prize for me on the floor when I get back home.

Sigh.

I hope my neighbors didn't see my mini meltdown when I stomped my feet and shouted "JUST POO ALREADY!" But at least it inspired today's drawing. I forgot to draw shadows and actual ground but I didn't realize it until after I edited the photo, so *shrug*.

Ennui 2

 

Sometimes it hits suddenly - that feeling of wanting to curl up into a ball and do nothing as the rest of the world marches on. Even going to the basement to get more paper towels or sorting through the mail seems unfathomable.

Sometimes it vanishes as quickly as it arrived. Other times it lingers, weighing heavily on everything and requiring a Herculean effort to shake off.

Yay Friday!!!

It's Friiiiiddaaaaayyyy! TGIF! I say this as though I have big and exciting plans. You know what I have planned? I'm going to recaulk my bathroom. This will likely involve lots of cussing and a big mess that I'll have to pay someone to fix.

Being a grownup sucks sometimes. Being a homeowner grownup really sucks sometimes.

On that happy note, have a great weekend everyone!

Fountain of Youth

I always like to joke (and by joke, I mean say with a smile but deep down really really mean it) that if I ever found the Fountain of Youth I'd make sure Sunny & Rosy got some too.

Been thinking about how much older the girls look since I first got them. Sunny will be turning 11 and Rosy will be turning 6 in October. Why do they have to get old so quickly?! Stay young and live forever!

Summer (with pugs)

Summer! I shake my first at your hot & humid gross weather & mosquitoes!

I have probably over two dozen mosquito bites on my legs. My legs. That's not even counting the ones I've gotten on my arms, my neck, my back, and my ear (Ear?! Who does that?!).  I don't want to spray myself each time I walk the dogs (that's at least 3x a day) and the natural alternatives don't work (my mosquitoes laugh at citronella, lavender, lemongrass, etc.), so now I'm covered in bug bites.

People tell me to just keep moving all the time when I'm outside, but that's easier said than done with an extremely stubborn, lazy, easily distracted senior pug. Sometimes she even sits in the middle of the sidewalk, the street, or neighbors' yards. So frustrating. But she's old, sweet, and had such a rough first few years before I adopted her, so I let her get away with it. I just smile at her cute face and scratch my millions of big bites.

And They Called It Drumstick Love

"Hi. My name is Rosy and I'm a drumstick-aholic."

I don't know why Rosy is so obsessed with Sunny's drumstick, but it's her absolute favorite toy in the whole wide world. She loves it, adores it, treasures it. She loves both drumsticks, but tends to favor Sunny's left one. And Sunny, being a good sport and used to dealing with crazy puppies from her breeding past, lets Rosy play with it for a little bit until she gets so annoyed she nibbles on Rosy's neck roll like a corn cob. (Endless entertainment with these two!)

It's a love story for the ages.

Scarves

Now that we're approaching September, Sunny, Rosy, and I are really looking forward to the fall. Less bugs, cooler air, coats with pockets, comfort food, pumpkin everything, and holiday fun! But right now we're suffering the worst of both summer and fall - hot and humid weather, but with shorter days. Grrrrr.

Sunny and Rosy have been working all summer developing some nice and fluffy neck/face/shoulder rolls so that they have their built in scarves ready for the colder weather in the fall. See their glorious rolls/scarves?!

Flashdance Pugs

She's a maniac, maniac on the floor! And she's dancing like she's never danced before!

Last night something wonderful happened. My order of dog costumes arrived. Yes, I've become that crazy dog lady. There were a bunch on sale and that's how I justified the purchase. But, the problem with pugs is they have the most difficult measurements to clothe (#crazydogladyproblems). They have thick necks and sausagey barrely bodies but thin legs and short length. So of course none of them fit. I took off their too tight hats and was amused at the look of their lil leg warmers. As a child of the 80s (whose parents were lax about restricting what I watched) my mind immediately jumped to Flashdance. And thus, today's drawing.

To be perfectly honest, drawing underwear (don't you dare use the P word, rhymes with shanties) kinda disturbed me. I almost didn't post this because it weirded me out a bit. Like the sexy teddy bears you see around Valentine's Day (barf). But I'm justifying this as a dance outfit and staying true to the movie's dance practice scene (after which she guzzled soda - ah the 80s).

And here are the photos of how our costume testing devolved into a Flashdance flashback.  

And a video. 

Rosy Dreams of Drumstick

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr, you know that Rosy looooooves Sunny's drumsticks. I mean, who could blame her? Sunny's got some nice juicy drumsticks that she's always dangling in front of Rosy. So today's drawing is an homage to Rosy's love of Sunny's luscious  drumsticks.

Survival Skills

Rosy's been having a bit of an upset tummy lately and I'm wondering if she ate something bad for her.  She's always trying to snatch up every dropped piece of food and sometimes I catch her licking the walls and floor for even the tiniest of crumbs.  I have to step on pieces of onion and garlic that fall to the floor when I'm cooking to stop her from darting in and gobbling them up.  My pugs will try to eat anything (except for lettuce, spinach, and kale), even if it's toxic to dogs.

The alternative is that the excessive heat and humidity is affecting her.  It's crazy hot here and we're ready for summer to end.  Can't deal with all the hot humid weather (and the bugs -eek!- that come with it).

Got me thinking about how my two pugs could NEVER survive in the wild on their own.  Their current survival skills consist of making humans love them so they'll be taken care of and lead nice and pampered lives.

Love Pugs

When I first brought Rosy home and for the year that followed, I was so worried that Sunny and Rosy would never bond and that Sunny hated that I brought this hyper, crazed, drumstick-obsessed hunchback pug home. Since then, they've really bonded and I know I made the right choice in getting a second pug. But to me it always seems as though Rosy loves Sunny more than Sunny loves Rosy.

Lately I've been spying on the girls through an app called Camiocam and I was surprised to find that Sunny is almost always the snuggle aggressor! They have plenty of beds to choose from and a big ol couch with blankets, but Sunny always chooses to squeeze onto the same tiny bed as Rosy. Maybe she likes the extra body warmth, but I think the truth is that Sunny looooooves Rosy.

Sisters by chance, snuggle buddies by choice!

Hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

And here's some evidence of the snuggling. All of the drawings above are based on actual screenshots captured via the pugcam. True story.

Pug Tongues

One of the things I love about my two pugs is that they often have their tongues sticking out. Their silly lil and not so lil tongues provide tons of entertainment! This drawing applies to all dogs, but I'm titling it "Pug Tongues" since I'm using my two pugs to depict some of my favorite poses.

Back to Work :(

I took two glorious weeks off from work for the holidays and this pretty much sums up how I feel today.

Santa and His Reinpugs

This is my favorite time of the year! I've never really decorated my own place or gotten a tree since I always celebrate at my parents' and sister's places and I never felt the urge to do anything with my apartment. I'm known in my family as the "Holiday Nazi" and yet I'm also extremely lazy and never really cared about how my apartments looked.   Now that I have a house to call my own I've been slowly doing more, starting with my first Christmas tree (artificial, but hey, baby steps), lights and stockings. So despite all the stress of the season, family dramas, and work demands, I'm just sticking cotton in my ears and singing falalalala! So in the spirit of the season, here are some reinpugs guiding Santa's sleigh. I'm sure his bag is filled with tons of toys and treats for good lil boy dogs and girl dogs!

No Poopin' in the Rain

The recent combination of cold weather, rain, and fallen leaves everywhere has been making for some really unpleasant walks. Even with a yard of their own Sunny and Rosy continue to hold pee and poop strikes. They're actually worse in their yard than when I take them on walks! And I miss having a hallway for the girls to wipe their wet and dirty paws on before entering our home. How I wish for a good mud room!

One upside to the leaves everywhere is there have been times when I'm walking the girls and I turn to look at Sunny and she has a leaf on her ever present tongue. But it always manages to blow away before I can get my phone out for a picture! Leaf conspiracy.

New House

So I've been MIA for a while because work was crazy busy. While my big project ended recently (kinda) I'm still super swamped with other assignments. Plus I've been busy in my off hours with a big personal event. If you follow one of my social media accounts then you already will know that I bought my first house! We just moved in last week and Sunny and Rosy have been getting adjusted to the new house and neighborhood. They are loving their yard but are not fans of the hardwood floors and stairs. Homeownership is definitely rewarding and hard work, especially with an old house like ours! I'll do a longer post on Lil Smug Pug one day about my house search and the tweaks were making to help the house feel like home. But until then, you can look forward to some more regular postings here!

Stay

Every morning Sunny and Rosy try to train me to stay. I've managed to stay for up to a minute, but can never manage to stay as long as they'd like. Hopefully with more training sessions we'll get there.