The Senakams | Corgi + 3

Of Parenting and Corgis

In the short 2.5 days in Seattle I managed to see quite a few college friends, most of whom are already parents (to real 2-legged offsprings) or will be in the next trimester. I never run out of slimy excuses when confronted with "when's your turn/aren't your ovaries getting old" question, but the truth is it all comes down to good old fear. What if we're incapable of putting someone elses' needs in front of ours? What if we tried to be good parents and we suck? Somebody else will have to pay for our incompetence, and that just doesn't seem right. I just can't make this reconcile in my head... And that's why we got Bryson! I know, I know, dogs are totally different from babies, but at least we get a taste of responsibility for something that lives and breathes other than us, right? If we could manage not to traumatize Bryson too badly, perhaps there will be hope.

One thing I guess I neglected to mention is what kind of dog Bryson is. In the past few days I've heard people describe him as a "stuffed animal", "midget", "that one with the weird tailess butt". Well, in case you're wondering too, he's a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. They belong to the herding group, are extremely intelligent (that's why the corgi in Cowboy Bebop is named "Ein"), and typically born tailess (as opposed to their cousin the Cardigan Welsh Corgi). They're bred to resemble a lowered truck so they can herd cattles efficiently while dodging their kicks.

 

His owner decided they didn't want to keep him despite of his dashing good looks since his kids (he's fathered 2 litters) tend to have big heads and "fluffy" (curly) hair that didn't meet show standards (though they'd make cute mascots). Plus they already have another 3 stud dogs, one of which will only breed with "approved bitches" (I'm not kidding, click on the weblink and read for yourself; he's actually Bryson's dad and apparently his genes are so good they don't want weird mongrel-looking kids and spoil the bloodline....geez)

I admit that despite of all the reading and Dog-Whisperer-ing I've done, when it comes to dog's behavior and habits, I'm totally clueless. I always thought that dogs curl up and sleep like Snoopy, but Bryson apparently prefers to sleep like this and can snore like a train:

We're going to try to start the New Year tomorrow by taking Bryson hiking, followed by a luxurious home spa bath; all to get him ready for the Big Day (Jan 2) when he's going to say goodbye forever to his testicles... 

Bryson... is that you?

Now I know what separation anxiety means... I swear I'll never laugh at women who couldn't stop calling home checking on their kids while dining at Masa's under candlelight.

I miss Bryson!!!

The funny thing is I was so overwhelmed with the rush this morning catching the flight (the airport line was more than an hour long), I didn't even had the time to think about what I'm going to do without him. Once settled in on the flight, a wave of sedation swept over me and I quickly entered a semi-conscious state, complete with a slight drool... then out of the corner of my eye, out emerged a shock of red hair peeking out 2 rows in front of me. Bryson! Is that you?? I swear it's the exact shade of red and I can even see the faint outline of the pair of foxy ears poking out from the top. Bryson! Mama is here!! I almost reached out a hand to stroke what I thought was my baby's forehead when I realized it was merely the fluffy do of a red-headed woman (probably a Weasley). That would have been an awkward inflight moment.

I couldn't help to call home as soon as I landed. According to Daddy, Bryson had done both a No. 1 and 2 at HOME today (separation anxiety?), but had gone up the stairs once without prompting. I've started to suspect that he is perfectly capable of negotiating steps of any sorts, but our singing, dancing and chanting was probably too much entertainment for him to pass up on. Come to think of it, he's always had this dodgy look on his face when we finally had to resort to picking him up/down the steps, I took it to mean he was slightly embarrassed, but now I realize that it was probably him saying, "ha ha, gotcha! I'll just continue to pretend to look remorseful, who'd want to take the stairs when you can be carried..."

It's sooooo cold here in Seattle, I had no idea the area around my sister's place is covered with a good 4-5-inch layer of snow. This is one thing I definitely don't miss about the Northwest. Look forward to seeing my friends tonight and at the wedding tomorrow, but definitely look forward to returning back to the relative warmth of the Bay Area (and home).

All Hail the Bryson

We brought him home! Yeah!!! Ah, hem... we proudly present our first born, Bryson Sunak Senakarn! (fanfare please!) In case you're wondering, Bill Bryson is one of our favorite writers of all times, and Sunak = "dog" in my husband's native Thai language (so he's Bryson the Dog Senakarn, in case anyone mistake him for a human baby).

Don't you just love that big goofy smile and those short little corgi legs? (feel free to swoon) This picture was taken when we first laid eyes on him at his previous residence this morning. Boy were we excited he's such a handsome boy! As expected he's quite well-mannered, although because of his life as a show dog, he knows pretty much every command except for "sit" and "down", as it was explained to us that proper show dogs like him aren't supposed to do these things in the ring... well, a bit of re-training will be in order as he's now happily retired and will live a life as a pampered house-pet (no more cheesy poses!)

Our trip home was uneventful, he traveled quite well in the crate. Just when we thought we had the most perfect little angel in the world, the first trouble began as we laid our first step inside our building, literally. There he was, trotting happily from the car to the front gate, but as soon as he saw the stairs ahead of him, he froze, and I swear his whole body shrank a size. We learned from Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, that we should be persistent in our training especially in overcoming phobias, so we dragged and dragged until he almost gagged, we got up to one flight of stairs and I swear by the time we got up he sounded like I might have cut off his airway (a scary moment, never will this move be attempted again). Big freight elevator was where we headed next.

Turns out he has issues with even a short flight of stairs, as you can see at left how we had to shamelessly entice him to come down the few steps with treats; we finally had to swallow our pride and resort to the repeated "All Hail the Bryson" chant (ala the Got Milk Alien commercial) in unison for about 10 minutes. That (and the irresistable treat) eventually appeased the Highness who came down, albeit a bit clumsily, successfully on his own after about an hour.

It took a while but it was a start and we were proud that he took this first step in overcoming his phobia. And we know that it was a long and tiring and confusing day for him, so despite of that (and peeing on the couch once, which was promptly denounced), he still got a gold star!

I'm dead tired and still need to pack for Seattle tomorrow, can't help but feel a little bit guilty for leaving him as soon as we got him... but Daddy will take good care of him (with help from Uncle Henning, whom we hope wouldn't play tricks on him)

Here are some miscellaneous first day pictures:

Our first walk around Marysville ("Whaddya looking at?")

Oohhhh yeah.... Right.. there

Does my nose look moist to you?

This ain't Oroville but it's growing on me

Let's strike a pose!

I like your Christmas tree, it's tasteful

A series of unfortunate events

Our series of unfortunate events continued...

Guess what's the latest mishap? With gale force winds up to 70 mph that hit the entire Bay Area, we were struck with a power outage that lasted from dawn to dusk. And it couldn't have picked a worse day to happen... today is one where we have one contractor working on our badly mangled bathroom, another assessing the damage to our windows from last week's earthquake, and the two of us racing in a mad dash trying to ready our humble abode for the arrival of the Highness Bryson the Great (aka the corgi) tomorrow. And all the while my car must have sensed the tension and thus decided to add to the drama by refusing to drive (adding item #59 "fix car" on our mile-long to-do list)... Well, at least we did not meet the fate of one poor Marin woman who was crushed and killed early this a.m. in her own bed by a 300 year-old oak tree fell by the gust... (Note to self: quit bitching and be glad we're still alive)

Anyway, we were both running around in a delirious state of mind most of the day. From sleep deprivation (excitement on the impending addition to our family + noises that may indicate our roof is flying off), to power-outage-induced damage control ("is this meat sitting in the lukewarm fridge x 12 hours still good?"), to pure elated joy taking in the bouquet emitting from the first bag of dog chow we ever purchased... We are like rubber bands that are about to snap!! But now the adrenaline is running low as power (and civilized life, aka the internet) has been restored, the dog bed fluffed and ready to receive a weary body, the food/water bowls ready to dispense its first tasty meal... we need to hit the sack and catch some quality snooze (read: Ambien) so we'll be ready for the 3.5-hr drive tomorrow to welcome the Highness home.

Hope our luck will turn tomorrow.

Let's start from the very beginning...

Wow, our first blog is officially born! Woo-hoo! BTW, it's not a misspell of Senakarn, you read it right, it's SENAKAM, as we've been called so many times we've actually grown to like it.

Why are we starting a blog, you ask? Well, several reasons: (you'll soon figure that you have an obsessive-compulsive list-maker here)

• Both sets of our parents have recently ditched us within a month of each others; Jacques' parents from close (45 min away) to far (Austin, TX), and Ivy's parents from far (Seattle, WA) to very, very far (Hong Kong), so we figured a blog can save everyone some long-distance $$$, and a few "why haven't you called" and "I don't know what you're up to anymore" type exchanges
• 2006 is a year that I'm very much looking forward to putting behind us. To name a few things that highlights the misfortune of 2006, there's the bathroom remodel that's likely to result in litigation (don't ask, will post update as they become available), the leaky roof/window in our new loft that turns my office into an indoor Niagara Falls, and purchasing our first home right before the bubble bursted (or deflated, whatever you want to call it). If you don't believe it, at a friend's X'mas party last week where we had to draw a number for white-elephant, out of 23 number, I got The Lucky Thirteen!! (a 4.3% chance). Now that has to be the definitive proof. OK, just to be fair, there are some good things that happened, both my sister and good friend Van got married, and I did not sprain my ankle (those of you who know me long enough will agree that this is a true blessing)
• Last but not least, we are anticipating a new addition to our family! No, no, wait, before you get too excited, there's no bun in the oven. After a long and exhaustive search, we are expecting to be proud parents of a retired champion corgi later this week! We'll post more about our new member(-to-be) and how it all came about in another post, but for now, we're just ecstatic about having this furry dude in our home rummaging through our garbage and chewing up our shoes! Aahhhhhh, the joy of dog-ownership, can't wait! (For a sneak preview, here's a link to his current owner's website w/ his handsome mug: www.faerieglencorgis.com/ben.htm)

Tomorrow will be a hectic day preparing our home for the arrival of our champ. According to the ASPCA Complete Guide to Dogs, we're supposed to remove all poisons from the household (hope chocolate doesn't count) and choose a "designated elimination area" (guess I should get started on the "Do NOT pee/poop here- courtesy of The SenaKam Family Management" sign).

To be continued...