Jenie and Frank dot com slash blog

In our last blog we mentioned that we’d given up trying to keep Kiya off the couch.  Accepting total defeat, we decided to give Kiya her own couch “mat.”  She knows the word “mat” as a place for her to lay down and hang out.

Here’s a picture of her enjoying her now-legal napping spot with her newest Loofa dog toy named (for obvious reasons) “Orange”:

She’s taken to her couch mat pretty well, huh?

On a side note, Kiya LOVES Loofa dog toys.  They are her absolute favorite!  She runs around with one in her mouth and shakes her head frantically back and forth.  It whips around and hits her in the head.  She loves it and it’s totally hilarious watching her!

She is building quite the collection of Loofa dogs.  First, we bought her “Red” and just last week, we bought her a value pack of them from PetSmart.  The value pack included 4 Loofa dogs, in various sizes and colors.

We picked “Orange” to come out of the value pack first, just to see if she could differentiate between the “Red” and “Orange.”  She totally can.  We tell her to “get Red” and she runs to find it.  Same thing when we tell her to “get Orange.”  She’s pretty darn smart!

“Blue,” “Green,” and another “Red” are safely tucked away in the closet, waiting for the others to be retired.

Months ago, I thought it would fun to invite Kiya up onto the couch, just to see what her reaction would be.  She was actually pretty confused and looked really uncomfortable because we had never allowed her on the couch before.  Every once in a while after that first time, we’d call her up while we were watching t.v. and she’d snuggle comfortably between us.   But she never attempted to get on the couch unless called.

Then one day, I came home from work and found the couch covered with incriminating evidence–we call it “Kiya fur.”  It was everywhere, and our black leather couch had a nice, round, and very warm indentation in one of the cushions.  She had apparently made herself very comfortable while we were away for the day!  We scolded her and figured that would be the end of it.

Well, we were very wrong!  Every other day or so, I’d come home and see Kiya on her bed, looking very guilty.  Then I’d find the ‘evidence’ all over the same couch cushion.  We decided to take action and put magazines all over the couch before leaving for work every morning.  That worked for a while, until she realized all she had to do to get her favorite napping spot back was to move the magazine aside.  Yes, she did.  She moved the magazine aside.

I concede defeat.  I’ve given up on trying to keep her off the couch while we’re away.  I figure she’s gotta be so completely bored, we might as well let her be cozy.   Dog wins.

We haven’t blogged in a long time!  We just celebrated our 2 month anniversary a few days ago and we marked the occasion by picking up our wedding photo proofs!  Looking through all the pictures has been a great way to relive the day!

Here’s a quick recap of some of our September activities:

Frank and I went to the 49ers opening day game against the Arizona Cardinals with my parents.  Had a great time even though our Niners lost.

Our Dream Dinners store had a booth at Newark Days.  We got a lot of good exposure for the store and signed people up for sessions.  Plus, I saw a LOT of Milani students, past and present, wandering around.  They thought it was pretty weird seeing me outside of “being a teacher.”  Some would say hi, and others would just walk by and stare.  Funny!

Frank and best man Alan played in a badminton tournament and won 3rd place.  Frank paid for it the next few days though.  He was so sore and looked hilarious walking up and down stairs!

We’ve spent most of our weekends cheering on the Cal and 49er football teams (at least one of our teams is doing pretty well!  GO BEARS!), putting wedding things away, and making room for our new kitchen items.

My goal of trying to keep to an earlier bedtime schedule so I’m not as tired as I was all of last school year has yet to be reached.  I’m getting closer to my target though, so I’m seeing this whole process as one of baby steps.  I’m working with a husband who is VERY much a night owl.  He always says he’s tired, but then he miraculously gets his “second wind.”  But he’s getting up much earlier in the morning than his pre-Dream Dinners days, so I think he’ll be on board with me sooner or later!

At 49er’s Opening Day, 9-7-08

Mom, Dad, and me at the “Bud Zone”–free food and drinks!

Frank and Dad, enjoying more food, even though we had just had dim sum in Millbrae

Just before kick-off

Our booth at Newark Days September 20-21, 2008

Our wedding photo proofs.  It was a great ‘present’ to open!

Our box of photos…LOVE the brown!