The Armadillo Tales

I Think It's Official

B-Dad and I can proudly say that the armadillo is potty-trained.    I don't want to jinx it by saying how easy it was, just that it was much easier than I anticipated.      Accidents are few and far in between.    In fact when we all went to Hawaii the armadillo did not have any accidents.    The armadillo will tell B-Dad and I when he has to go and this even includes going #2.   

The armadillo was hesitant at first with #2, but then again, who isn't?   But now he's going #1 all by himself.   We do not have to escort him and watch his every move.   It's such a relief.

Way to go armadillo!

One down and one more to go ...

Who You Calling Ugly

How can you not smile, just a little, after seeing this photo of Elwood, the Chinese crested-Chihuahua mix who was just recently crowned the World's Ugliest Dog.   Sweet ain't he?

Almost Pau Hana Time

Two weeks ago B-Dad and I were saying that wow, one week down, and now we have two weeks left on our vacation.   One week ago we were marveling at the fact that it felt weird that we are here for another week.   Normally our trips back home last for about two weeks.   Now we're down to a few more days.    How quickly time flies is so true.    

Dog

I have not seen him yet.   He may be out of town ... but then again, why would I be hanging around in places where fugitives, drug dealers, etc ... go?   

Lifetime Dog

I read an article today on SFGate.com in reagards to a "lifetime dog".   The author or the article describes a "lifetime dog" as a dog that you hold dear in your heart long after he/she is gone and others have staked their spot in your home.     Of course for me I know who my "lifetime dog" is.   Her name is Lucy and she unfortunately passed almost 2 years ago.  Wow, has it been that long?    She was the first dog that I was fortunate enough to share my life with.   We spent approximately 12 years together.   12 good years.    I think of her every now and then, especially when I see my boys growing up.  I get teary eyed every time I think about how I wish she was around so that the three of them could get to know each other.   Lucy would have been a fabulous companion to my boys.   I miss her.

A perfect example to show how much I love and miss my dear Lucy is to read this paragraph from the article.

That explains why I'm so fond of one particular "Twilight Zone" episode. Titled "The Hunt," it features a recently deceased man and his dog. As they amble down a country road in the hereafter, they come upon a gate. "Welcome to heaven!" the gatekeeper declares. Except for the dog, that is. "What kind of heaven won't allow dogs?" the old man asks. "If he can't come in, then I'll stay out with him. He's been my faithful companion all his life. I can't desert him now."

So the old man continues down the road with his dog. Later, they come upon another gate. "Welcome to heaven!" the gatekeeper greets both man and dog. When the old man inquires about the previous gatekeeper's proclamation, he learns it was the devil. "He gets people who are willing to give up a lifelong companion for a comfortable place to stay," the old man is told. "They soon find out their mistake, but then it's too late." And man and dog pass through the gates, toward the light. Toward heaven.

I would definitely not enter without my Lucy.   Now she, she is heaven.

Happy Father's Day B-Dad

Happy Father's Day B-Dad!

We LOVE you!

Take Out the Garbage

While we are in Oahu we are staying in a condo.  It's pretty nice ... 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, living room, etc ...      Decent amount of space and cheaper than renting two rooms in a hotel.   But there is a drawback.    There is no housekeeping service.    What am I going to do?   There is no one to pick up after us while we are on Oahu.    I know I am spoiled.   Back home we have a cleaning woman who comes once a week to vacuum, dust, take out the garbage, clean the toilets, etc ...   Here it's just us.   

Due to the fact that we have to rely on ourselves to clean I feel I'm becoming obsessive about certain things.    From the first day we were here I noticed the sumo baby's feet were becoming increasingly dirty.   His little chubby feet were starting to blacken underneath.   No where else was he barefoot than in this condo.   Yuck.   The armadillo's feet were also starting to look a bit filthy as well.   Double yuck.   That meant that the carpets and tile floors were dirty.   Therefore I nagged B-Dad to call the property management people to have the floors clean.  It took a day to schedule but they supposedly came and cleaned the floors.    Well that was two days ago and the bottoms of my new slippers are starting to blacken.   I have not worn those slippers outside so where the hell is the dirty coming from.   I think it's the tile but to me, the floors are still dirty.    

SInce there is no one to vacuum that means to food on the ground.    Pick this up, pick that up I tell the boys and B-Dad ... no leaving food around.   Especially since we are in cockroach heaven, unlike back home where a roach sighting is as frequent as seeing Brad Pitt sunning in my backyard.    All the crumbs are picked up and thrown away.  I heard B-Dad vacuuming this morning ... good job B-Dad.   

Garbage ... no one to throw that away.   So I'm constantly making sure that the garbage bins don't overflow and that we throw out our waste every couple of days.    I also don't want garbage in the condo sitting for more than a couple of days so that another factor for me to consider.   

I thought a vacation was supposed to be relaxing but making sure this place is clean is exhausting.  I'd much rather pay someone to come clean every few days.  Know anyone?

Top Chef Season 3

I loved the first season, liked the second season, so of course I was curious to see how season three of Top Chef will turn out.      I'm on vacation currently and that means no DVR/TIVO for me.   That left me with hotel cable and the inability to record or pause or rewind television.   Fortunately last night Bravo decided to replay the premiere episode a mulitude of times over the night.  I don't think I caught every minute of it but at least 80%, I think.    

The episode did not appear to introduce all of the contestants but from the ones that we did meet, I think this season is going to be filled with drama.   We have drama kings and drama queens it seems.   But I'm trying to hold off on quick judgements since it was only episode one.   Unfortunately we won't see more of Clay as he was eliminated last night.    I felt that his dismissal was an erroneous one.    I personally felt Howie should have been removed as he forgot an element in his final dish.   He failed to put out his second protein for the challenge.   I think it was frog legs.   Regardless of how his first protein tasted, displayed, what have you, Howie failed to complete the challenge.  But with Clay, he completed the challenge though from what the judges mentioned, it lacked in every way, but at least he finished the task correctly, Howie did not.     Ah, but we can't change the past so it's time to move on. 

I'm excited to learn more about the contestants and their backgrounds.  I am also eagerly anticipating the bitch-slapping drama that I'm sure was caught on film.

Photo credit: Bravo TV

Ocean Fear

Today we took the boys to the beach.   Seeing it is our last full day in Maui it was high time the boys could wiggle their toes in the sand.   It was a close walking distance to the beach from our room.   We didn't waste any time getting our feet wet.   After piling our stuff on the sand we all walked towards the water.   At first the armadillo and sumo baby were hesistant about the water.    Next it turned out to all out fear for the armadillo.   He stayed up higher on the sand for the first half hour we were there.    The armadillo definitely did not like the water rushing up to his feet and pulling the sand over it.   The sumo baby on the other hand was much more adventurous.   He fell down a couple times when the water came up the shore but he was a good sport.  The sumo baby also had a good time when B-Dad took him out into the ocean.  They even got to see a turtle who was swimming about 10 feet away from them!   

I hung out with the armadillo on the sand and tried to gently coax him to get his feet wet.   It took a bit of time but he finally got comfortable enough to stand next to me as the waves washed ashore.   Of course he really started having fun when he was jumping in the water as it came up higher on the sand.    In the ususal aramdillo way of doing things, he gets more comfortable with the water and we're preparing to go.   Of course he doesn't want to go and he fights it but oh well ...

On the way back to the room we ask the armadillo if he had a good time and he wholeheartedly says "yes!".    I'd say we're off to a good start today.

Can't Stop Sweating

Our family has been on the lovely island of Maui for the past five days and I've about almost stopped sweating.   With the heat and humidity here I feel as I've been dripping perspiration non-stop.     Yuck.    Thankfully our condo here as a washer and dryer inside so that I can change my outfits at least three times a day.   Aside from the sweating we've been having a blast since we got here.   Most of our time has been spent with my relatives, eating, hanging out, eating, etc ...     Both the armadillo and sumo baby love spending time at their great-grandma's house.   Which is a good thing as we only see them about once a year.   

Last night we had a belated birthday celebration for the armadillo.   I think that was probably his third or fourth birthday cake so far.    The armadillo's grandma picked up a yummy ice cream cake that just melted so quickly in this weather.      

We took the boys to the pool here at the resort and it was kind of rough in the beginning.   The sumo baby protested to being in his floatie for the first 10 minutes.   The armadillo slipped off a step and his face ended up in the water.   That mishap cause the armadillo to not want to venture into the pool unless he was strapped onto his daddy.   Even though the armadillo was wearing a floatie vest, he didn't want to try to float on his own.   In all we spent about an hour there which was good enough for me.   I'm hoping to get enough of a tan to cover my shirt sleeve tan lines.   Double yuck.   

I'm hoping to post photos soon because of course it is beautiful here.