one more thing to add to the list of stuff porter has eaten.

porter begging for food. you'd think he never eats, but in reality he eats EVERYTHING, whether it's food or not. he's growing on me, even though he's the naughtiest pug i've ever met. last night he somehow grabbed jeremy's glass of sweet tea off the bedside table and spilled it right in the middle of our mattress. the whole thing. i'm not sure how he managed it without dropping it in the floor, but he was unapologetic.

list of things porter has eaten/chewed up that he shouldn't have:

an entire pound bag of chicken jerky dog treats (all in one setting)
a box of valentine's chocolate
a pack of bubble gum
(this was all in one night. the next day was not so pretty.)

two more packs of gum
a half bag of chewy sweet tarts
a bag of taco doritos
part of an avacado
a curry cheese torte (that thing was so gross i wouldn't even eat it)
various food items stolen off of our plates on the coffee table
about 10 ponytail holders (swallowed and digested, not just chewed)
a roll of film
my bookmark
a painting from a friend (sorry, kandi. i still hung up what was left of it. he dug it out of my plastic art tote, which was also covered in clothes and boxes and upstairs in the bedroom while he was baby-gated downstairs. he jumped the gate somehow, went upstairs, got all the stuff off the tote, found the painting, and brought it downstairs to shred it. i think he knows exactly what to get to push my buttons, much like when Nocci shredded his registration papers in front of me after i had been looking all over our apartment for them for WEEKS. he was hiding them, i swear.)
magnets off of the fridge
several books on the bookshelf
my new shoes
several nails and thumbtacks
the leash handles
tubes of dried up glue (luckily they were all dried up and no harm was done. he got it out of the trash.)
once i found him carrying a knife around. no joke.
god knows how many pounds of rocks (he eats rocks when we take him on walks. we "short leash" him as much as possible, but he swoops down and eats any pebble he comes across and we have no idea why.)

we're thinking of starting a blog called something like "Will Porter Chew That?" because we have yet to find anything that he WON'T chew.

and i'm not just a horrible slob who leaves things like knives and bags of sweet tarts in the floor, people. he is a tricky little dog who has even gotten things off of our kitchen bar, which is like four feet off the ground.

luckily, we're laid back people, he hasn't eaten anything that would kill him, and we're working harder to keep things strategically hidden from him. it's almost like a sitcom, and every day i come home wondering what he's destroyed that day.

but, really, he is growing on me. he and nocci are learning how to interact better, they've only had one or two REAL fights over treats, and they seem to be calming down some. yay!

This weekend we adopted a new pug, Porter. His name was Nick, but he told me his real name is Porter, so we're going with that. He's around 11 months old, and was found wandering the streets with a very messed up front leg. He's a very sweet boy who tries to do his best to please us. He and Nocci are still getting used to each other, but every day seems to be a little bit better. We're keeping them separated while we're at work so there won't be any huge scuffles, but hopefully in a week or so we won't have to do that. Nocci is obviously grumbled at having to share his bed, toys, parents, treats, etc., with a newcomer, but I think that eventually he'll be happy to have someone to play with.

It's funny because Porter and Nocci have completely different personalities. Nocci is shy and doesn't really care to play with other dogs at the dog park. Porter jumped right in and was chasing shephards, giant poodles, mastiff mixes and anyone else he could. Nocci refuses to eat crunchy treats or bones of any kind really, and Porter wolfed down an ENTIRE pork shin in about four minutes, which is crazy since he's so small. Nocci prefers to play with people over toys, and Porter seems to like playing with toys more than people. It's crazy how different they are, but hopefully that will work out and they'll have a lot to talk about. :)

I'll update as they reach new stages in their relationship, and hopefully all of those will be good developments.

sometimes i wish i were a pug. particularly on cloudy, rainy, sleepy days like today. at least there's coffee with hot chocolate mixed in to make it at least a little better. for some reason nocci was super excitable last night and this morning, so after a 1 a.m. walk and eventual 2 a.m. settle down, i was sadly awaken by a jumping, snorting, excited pug wanting a walk an hour earlier than usual this morning. a pug wanting a walk while you sleep is no easy thing to ignore. i literally got my head sat on and a wet puppy nose on my eyelid until i got up.

unfortunately, jeremy accidentally took the camera battery charger to florida with him in the laptop case, so i can't take pictures of my etsy stuff so i can list it. :( I did get this one bunny painting listed, but i had to take the photos super quick! i also have another mustachioed cupcake painting to list, and i'm working on some mixtape paintings.


Old Crow Medicine Show was great at the Orange Peel the other day. they always put on a great show, and they were filming this one for a dvd, so they probably played even harder than usual. i have a love/hate relationship with the Orange Peel. i love some of the acts that play there, but i feel like they sell more tickets than they should to fill the venue comfortably. i'm totally sick of going there and being smashed up against drunken frat boys and angsty, crying 16 year olds (that was the conor oberst show - go figure). i told myself i wasn't going there again because i always regret it once i get there, but how am i supposed to pass up seeing an artist i love? i just wish they'd all play the Grey Eagle instead.

Busy Week

This is a busy week. Last night we had homemade pizza dinner with friends, which was awesome; tonight we're getting our first Christmas tree; tomorrow is the Old Crow Medicine Show concert at the Orange Peel; Friday is one of my best friend's birthday parties, and I have no idea what's going on this weekend. I haven't even had a chance to clean up from last night's dinner.

I got some soap from etsy that I loved, but I think it was scented a little too strongly for me, so I gave it to a friend. It was delicious, but I'm super sensitive to scents so it didn't end up working out.

I've been doing a lot of Christmas shopping on Etsy. I think even if I can't get as much for people because it's more expensive, at least it will be handcrafted with love and something you can't find anywhere else, right?

Didn't get to work on the legwarmers last night. Maybe tonight? I was thinking of trying to knit some Christmas ornaments. I have some little knitted circular thingies that I was going to try to make into a scarf somehow, but maybe I'll just hang them on the tree.

Hanging out with other pugs over the holidays is making me want another pug friend for Nocci. I'll keep an eye on the MAPR site and maybe one will come along. Nocci would like to have a sister to share his treats with. Okay, maybe he wouldn't share, but he'd still like a sister.