The Senakams | Corgi + 3

Holiday Ups and Downs

Can you believe it's another year already? My magic 8 ball tells me that 2009 will bring some HUGE changes to our lives... hmm... but before that, let's do a brief recap of some up's and down's this holiday season:

Holiday Up's:

(1) Had fun with the boys, aka Bryson, Chorizo and Picasso at our friend's super-duper doggy-friendly X'mas party! Including us there were 7 doggies there :) And amazingly, everyone behaved, well, except that Chorizo invited himself to open a present under the tree, which turned out to be a bar of chocolate that he almost sunk his little hot doggie teeth in... thank goodness he's saved from this near-death experience!

(2) On Dec 28, we celebrated Bryson's 2-year anniversay with us! Yay!! It's hard to believe that we met Bryson for the first time just 2 years ago. I really can't remember what life was like before having him...

(3) Spent some quiet time at home, not doing much, which was relaxing.

Holiday Down's:

(1) Spent a little too much quiet time at home, because I caught a stupid cold :( It wasn't super severe, but combined with the cold and wet weather, rendered me debilitated and useless for days. Ugh.

(2) Bryson developed this strange flaky, crusty skin issue. We noticed since he got sick a couple weeks ago, that his hair started coming out in clumps. No, not the normal corgi shedsabalooza, which of course we're all familiar with, this is tufts of hair coming out with dead skin and scabs attached to it, ewwww....

This is just one little example, the other day I furminated him literally hundreds of these came out... *shudder* He didn't seem bothered by it at all, but we took him to the vet anyway, since you can start seeing "bald spots" on him and I'm afraid it's some weird infection. The vet examined him and did a skin-scraping, and said it's not mites/fleas (whew!), but probably a bacterial infection on top of some allergy issues.

Who knows what he's allergic to (we haven't changed anything except that his groomer moved to a new store). She prescribed oatmeal baths, an antibiotic and some antihistamine. We'll see how these work. In the meantime, I think we're gonna stop taking him to the groomer for now since we'll be giving him regular oatmeal baths anyway. We'll see if that helps.

(3) Hubby got laid off from work yesterday *sigggghhhh*. No notice, no nothing. At the end of his shift, the HR manager (not even his own manager) came to him, and said "Today's your last day. Goodbye." When he came home and told me (while I was busy blowing my Rudolph nose), my mind just went blank...

I hate to whine on the blog. This is supposed to be the sanctuary away from the woes of our daily lives. Which is why I didn't mention that this is actually the SECOND time he got laid off this year. But at these hard economic times, like it or not, this is our new reality. We still have each others, nobody died. I'm sure we'll pull through.

Enough downers already!!

OK, back to my magic 8 ball... It's telling us that something exciting will be happening in 2009... We can't wait to tell you about it, but since we're not officially in 2009 yet, that'll have to wait, for now. If you already know, don't spill the beans! A short announcement will follow shortly, promise!

Happy Christmas!

 

Bryson, Picasso and Chorizo wish you all a very grumpy sleepy Happy Christmas!

The Menagerie Keeper

This is one of those rare X'mas that we're staying put at home. Which for us means one thing- we're the designated pet sitter for all our friends and neighbors this holiday :)

Today we received our first guest, Tube Dog, who'll be with us for a week. Picasso will then check in on Christmas Eve, staying for about 2 weeks. And in the meantime, one of my other neighbor has to leave town on a family emergency, so we're also taking care of her 2 cats.

Yep, that's 3 dogs and 2 cats! I do feel like a Menagerie Keeper. Maybe I should dress them up in circus costumes, take them all out to Fisherman's Wharf, have them perform tricks for tourists and make a few bucks while we're at it (they could be the "Fantastic Five!", ha ha!)

But for now, we need to focus on taking care of our first guest, which has been made easy for us as he comes with his own Operator's Manual:

No joke! This's got to be the most technically-accurate and entertaining manual I've ever read! In fact, it was such a joy I read the entire thing at one sitting, almost splitting my side at several instances, like this one (I know the print is small and the photo is grainy, but do try to read it):

I say every dog owner need to hire Tube Dog's Human to draft up a user's manual for their pooches!

And of course, no guest could escape a stay with us without a mandatory picture in front of the infamous dog-poisoning X'mas tree:

We know how much our guests enjoy gourmet food, so first activity of the day is treat appreciation:

 
"Do they torture you like this every day?"  "Err, pretty much."

Followed by observing our world-renowned Chef de Cuisine prepare a gourmet dinner at the most-coveted table of the house:

And finally, gourmet dinner (he hem, peanut eh hem butter, eh hem) served by hand:

I'd say we have a pretty happy guest so far.

 

Mr. and Mr. January!

Just a quick note that Bryson and Picasso's "Hope Corgis" photo made the final cut in the mycorgi.com calendar! Yippee!

They're featured as Mr. and Mr. January :) I have a sneaky suspicion that it's the "Hope" rock which coincides with the theme around our new presidency that got them the January spot. It looks like we have a good looking bunch this year (with Gibson on the cover!), but sadly with the glaring omission of Theo :(

On a separate note, I got an e-mail from REphilosophy, a fellow Etsian from Milan, Italy that she had chosen to feature my "These Specs are Made for Reading" gocco card on her Treasury! I'm so psyched as this is the first time I make it on someone's Treasury, double-yippee!! And I have to say, this bunch is almost as good-looking as the corgis in the calendar ;)

By the way, a Treasury on etsy is basically a list of someone's "favorite things" on etsy, it gives the featured artist more exposure (especially if the treasury is chosen to be featured on the etsy's home page). I just feel so honored to have my little creation showcased among all these other great pieces (in fact I have purchased from the seller just below my "square"!). Thanks, Paola from Milan!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Believe it or not, it's SNOWING here in San Francisco today! We woke up to a huge hail storm which left everything white outside, I don't think I've ever seen anything like this since moving here 9 years ago. It was quite festive :)

But the cold weather's another story... We don't have central heat in our loft here. Instead, we have this:

The way this heater keeps part of the place feeling like the tropics while the rest (mainly my work desk where I'm sitting right now) feels like Antarctica makes me believe that it probably traces back to the days when our building was headquarters of the Doble Steams Motor Co in the 1920's. (Yes, steam-powered planes and cars were actually cranked out from our unit some 80 years ago, neat, eh?)

Anyway, now warmed by my little space heater, I can share with you more photos of our X'mas tree (yes, that X'mas tree) that help me feel festive despite of the inclement weather. 

   
I grew up with a 3-foot tinsel tree that's all the colors of the rainbow (and more). I used to think it was so cheesy and gaudy as a kid. So all the trees I've gotten as a grown-up has always been decorated in gold, silver, and white. No color, whatsoever.

But this year I thought, what the heck, what's Christmas if it's not gaudy and cheesy? So we went out an got all these candy-colored ornaments, oh what fun! Included is this nutcracker dude, isn't he so cute?

 
Of course there's our boy.

 
Now I can't quite decide if I like the tree more during the day (when you can see all the candied goodness) or at night (when the lights are all warm and glowing)...

   
I just can't resist! He's such a poser! And notice the "fake presents" under the tree. They're wrapped empty shoe boxes set up around the tree so that he couldn't get to those toxic water anymore (and we changed it to plain water as well, but you know, just in case).

Happy Holidays!

"Wheelchair" Bound

Thanks to all your concerns this past week for me and Bryson!

My back got a lot better over the rest of the weekend when I didn't do anything, but as the busy work week started, it hasn't been too happy... I have a lumbar pillow strapped onto my back (I'm like a camel), but it helps.

Bryson on the other hand is almost back to his usual self now. After we got all the test results back, it was apparent that he was having some sort of an infection. A doggy cold or something like that. Can you imagine just having ingested toxic X'mas tree water THEN having a cold on top of that? I might have to rearragne his furnitures to improve his feng shui.

Sunday was a tough day, as I was practically immobile, hubby was at work, and Bryson was so disoriented he could barely walk down the stairs. Thanks goodness my neighbor Tube Dog's Human was kind enough to walk Bryson along with Tube Dog that morning.

But since Bryson wouldn't walk down the stairs by himself (we live on the 3rd floor), we have to resort to a make-shift "wheelchair" for Bryson (this is taken from Tube Dog's "Daily Weiner" blog):

OK, Bryson and Tube Dog aren't turning homeless. There's an explanation.

We live in a converted warehouse loft, complete with a huge vintage hand-operated frieght elevator. There's also a Home Depot across the street. Over time, these Home Depot carts just show up in our elevator, and residents' been conveniently using them to transport stuff like groceries, garbage, and dogs who wouldn't walk (and their friends who just want a joy ride out of it).

My poor neighbor ran into just about everybody in the building that morning wheeling these 2 around, all of whom gave her the "What the...?!" look.  I think she just shook her head with a "Don't ask..." look in return. OK, we owe them another BIG one. :P

 

*Announcement*- I Won't be at Open House Today :(

Dear blog friends,

I know I have invited you all to come visit me at the Berkeley Open House today, so I'm bummed beyond words to tell you that I won't be able to make it to the event today... :(

Long story short, I threw my back badly yesterday trying to lift Bryson at the vet's office. I couldn't sleep all night, could barely walk today, and it pains me to even sit here to write this. And Bryson isn't doing too hot either, he's lethargic and not interested in food (for corgis you know that's a big deal). The vet ran a bunch of tests, and we're waiting for results today. In short, we're a pile of mess :(

If you still want to stop by the Open House and check out the stuff (my cards and collages as well as others' will still be there, just not me in person), please feel free to swing by. And if you do visit, make sure you leave your name and contact info with my friend Mitsuko at the cashier desk, I'll mail you the little free gift as promised on the blog as part of the giveaway.

Hope you all have a better weekend than we do, and if you're going to the Dixon Corgi Fair, have fun! 

 

Yours sincerely,

Ivy the Injured and Bryson the Ailed

 

New Holiday Cards are Here!

First off, may I remind you that the Open Studio in Berkeley is happening TOMORROW!

Remember, be one of the first 10 to come say hi to me to win free stuff! I'll be there from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. (For you corgi folks going to Dixon, swing by before or after, love to meet your corgis!)

I finally finished all the holiday goodies I'm going to put up for sale tomorrow. Now I just have to sort, package and label them all, which will probably take a whole day in itself. I also have to put them up on etsy, so my cyber friends don't feel slighted, hee!

Here's a sneak preview:

 

 

 

OK, I know these cards above may look familiar, it's a twist on an old design I had a while back. But this time I found a greater variety in feathers and couldn't help having more fun with them! The first photo almost reminds me of a science classroom project (match the bird to its feather), fun, eh? 

 

 

 

And these last 2 are part of the ever-growing Simple Life series, simply named "Simple Holiday" :)

This merry little lamb helps remind you what's truly important during the holidays. The rest is all background noise. 

The background is printed in silver ink on the gocco, and the lamb and text is letterpressed in 2 colors for a bit of holiday pizazz.

If you're interested, here's what the background noise says:

"Have you seen these doorbuster deals? Make sure you get in line before 3 a.m. to get that HDTV that also microwaves. But try not to get caught in a stampede. Oh, and be sure to get mom that GPS that can tell her where the nearest bathroom is that also rates it for cleanliness. And for Aunt Bertha, let’s get that theater-style popcorn maker that comes with a lifetime supply of butter and a free Richard Simmons video, she’ll be ecstatic.  I’m soooooo getting myself  that all-in-one fuzzy-logic washer and dryer that  automatically sorts clothes by color and material AND folds everything when it’s done. Dad probably has enough socks for the next century, I’m thinking of the Swiss Army Knife with an LED flash light and nose hair trimmer attachment. And are you going to re-gift  that rock  hard fruit cake you got from Cousin Vinny? Just change the  wrapping and  give it back to him, he’ll never notice.  And have you seen the  latest  Jack Lalanne commercial ?  Do you know that man is 94 years old?  Got  to get that juicer for grandpa.  Your nephew’s been begging for that  Destructive Lunatic video  game, make sure you get on the wait list for him.  Don’t forget to pick up that tempurpedic  temperature-regulated  dog bed with treat dispenser attachment for Bryson, I’m pretty sure he wants it in the microsuede finish in royal poo color."

Ho, ho ho! Hope you enjoyed it.

Holiday Hazards

It's December! Which means I have official license to play X'mas song all day and be in a jolly mood for no particular reason, yippee!

Adding to my holiday cheerful mood is the purchase of our X'mas tree today. I just love the smell of fresh pine around the house (which, I know, can also be achieved by mopping your floor with Pine Sol for a lot less).

Bryson, on the other hand, isn't too fond of the tree. I guess it just seems strange that all of a sudden there's a tree in the middle of the house. Plus it's not edible.

But then he wouldn't really be a corgi if he didn't try...

No, he didn't try to eat the tree, but he kept wanting to lap up some of that water in the tree stand (which has this tree preservative thingy added to it):

And we think while we weren't watching, he probably succeeded, coz 10 minutes later, he was retching and throwing up violently all over the car while we were driving on the freeway!! We had to pull over to check on him coz it just went on and on and on... I'm gonna save you from all the gory details, suffice to say that we almost drove straight to the vet.

But as suddenly as it came on, it just stopped after he's apparently emptied the content of his stomach after many nerve-wrecking minutes. We were so relieved that we didn't accidentally kill our dog!

We came home to check the label of the bottle, and this is what it says:

I wonder if it's the dextrose or fertilizer that attracted him in the first place. He seems fine now, but with all the iron, I wonder if we should call animal poison control anyway... Guess I have to research more into it. Anyone with experience to share?