My middle child, Tom

Tom is another guy that got overlooked this year as he came at a busy time.  Also, we didn't write/talk about him for awhile because we thought people would judge us for getting a new dog so slow close to my due date. 

Actually in September we came close to buying a little dog that was on sale but changed our minds because we thought it would be too much with the baby.  And then when we kind of changed our minds back and wanted to buy it, we looked online but the dog had been sold.  It was a maltese/dachund mix that was adorable and would have been a good size, but we weren't terribly crushed when it was sold.  Anyway, while looking online to see if the dog was still available we saw that there were four cairn terriers in Osaka.  A female for $1800 and three males for $1400.  That was definitely too much money, but we decided to check now and then in case the price went down.  At the beginning of October  the female was gone but the males were down to $1200.  Then $800.  Again, I was just looking.  My family had cairns almost my whole life and they are great dogs.  I never thought I would find one in Japan but here they were.  At the same time, it was mostly just dreaming on my part.

Then one Saturday Motoaki and I were on our way to Osaka to go to Costco and a big electronics store and I thought I would just check.  There was a male left and he was down to $400.  Since the store is close to Costco and since we needed dog food for Finn anyway, we thought we would go look.  We got there and he was asleep so we looked at some of the other dogs.  Motoaki asked if I wanted to get the cairn out of the cage, but I said we needed to think about it.  Motoaki was like, we wouldn't have come if we didn't think we were getting a dog.  This surprised me as I thought I was the only one who had been thinking about him.

Of course you can't hold a puppy and then say no.  Well, maybe some people can, but I can't.  So we got Tom Sawyer, a 5 month old cairn terrier.   We realized that this was a little dumb and that we were probably taking on too much.  But, he came potty trained for the pee sheet/litter box thing they have in Japan like Finn.  And living in the pet store he was crate trained as well.

Finn started out being absolutely terrified of Tom which was quite funny since Finn probably has 10 or 12 pounds on him.  We thought Finn would be growling and chasing him , but it was the opposite.  Tom wasn't growling at Finn at first but he wanted to play with him and so he followed Finn, but Finn would run away.  For the first week it stayed like this.  Then they started wrestling the second week.  By the third week they were full on playing together.  They still get angry at each other and can be competetive with food/toys/treats, but for the most part they get along.

Motoaki always says that Finn has a glass heart, and it's true.  He gets nervous easily and though he will kind of put up  a fight with Tom, he usually backs down pretty easily.  He likes to cuddle and gets upset if you leave him alone in a room.  As a puppy he was afraid of everything and it took him forever to get up the courage to jump up and down from furniture or to walk too far ahead of us on the leash.

Tom couldn't be more different.  He is very scrappy and couragous and was never really afraid of anything in the house.  He is actually pretty good with keeping himself occupied.  You can leave him in a room or in his cage with some chew toys and he will play happily for hours.  Unfortunately Finn always interupts this play.  He is pretty good at controlling his pee but does have a bad habit of chewing on things like the carpet or wires.  He doesn't really seem to notice Robin yet (while Finn loves to sniff her and will try to lick her head when I feed her).  I feel bad as he sometimes gets looked over when we are taking care of Robin's needs, but he doesn't seem to notice.  And I justify it (somewhat) by thinking that if we didn't have Robin I would be at work all day anyway.

I'm glad we got Tom as he definitely keeps Finn occupied.  And he is very sweet with me (Motoaki prefers Finn since he is easier to train).  I can't wait for two years to pass when all three of my babies are old enough to play together.  I can just imagine the three of them chasing each other in our big hallway or going for long walks.  I am so excited for Robin to have playmates in the dogs, and the same for Finn.  Even though he sometimes gets a little upset that I am paying attention to the other two, he also seems to be less bored than he was with Motoaki and I.

Puppy Love

No, this is not another post about Finn, though I do love the son of a bitch.  No, this is about another little dear that has been on my mind since last Saturday.

On Friday because it was raining, I gave my sister and dad directions to get to the big mall that is about an hour and a half from my house.  They had to take two trains and a bus to get there, but they enjoyed it so much that on the way home from noodle making on Saturday they asked to stop off to get some last minute things for people back at home.

The mall was quite packed but we didn't mind making our way to Muji, G.U. (discount UniQlo), Lupecia, and the 100 yen store (the dollar store).  And, since my family is nuts about dogs, we decided to take a quick peek at the new Pecos.

When I say peek I mean that my sister and dad wanted to show us which puppies they thought were the cutest.  And they were cute.  My sister liked a maltese pug and my dad liked a Japanese chin.  While they were both cute, all you had to do was look at the $2000 and $3000 price tag to overcome the appeal of a new puppy.  Although I did get excited when I saw a sign that says if you are looking for a certain breed, they will place orders for you.  This was because on the sign they offered all types of dogs including Cairn Terriers (the dogs I was raised with) and Wire Haired Fox Terriers (one of my dream dogs).  But then again I thought about how far Finn has come in losing a lot of his puppy behavior and I realized it wasn't time for a new puppy.

As we left the room with the puppies (the new shop is HUGE and has a section for clothes, grooming, a dog bakery for dog cakes and treats, etc), my sister told me that there was another section with bigger dogs.  Because she can't read Japanese, she didn't realize that this was in fact a rescue league part of the shop.  As in a section for dogs that, for whatever reason, have been given up by previous owners and who need homes.  Not only were these dogs older and calmer, but they were also FREE!

Next to the section where the dogs were housed in individual small rooms was a giant, brightly lit room labeled the, "Play Room."  In the play room one of the shop staff had one of the older dogs out and she was going through a series of commands and tricks with the dog.  And this is where I fell in love.

Suzu is a 6-7 year old Ame Shiba (a small version of the Japanese Shiba dog- Hachi was a Shiba).  I couldn't read the Japanese so I don't know her history, but as far as I could tell she was healthy and a good size.  Though she is bigger than the type of dogs I usually like, she is not a big dog.  She did all of the various commands with the shop staff and then played fetch.  She didn't bark once, although that doesn't mean she isn't yappy.

Anyway, I couldn't help but think about well she would fit in at our house.  We have a big yard and are right next to a bike trail that goes down to a river.  We already have a lot of dog stuff and have puppy proofed all of the rooms Finn plays in.  Finn is a lovely puppy but sometimes we just don't have the energy to keep up.  Not to mention there are just some moments when I can't stop everything for a game of fetch (when I am cooking dinner, doing laundry, etc).  Suzu looks like she has the energy to play with Finn and yet at the same time the obedience to be a good role model to Finn.  We have often talked about getting another dog so Finn would have someone to mess about with, but wanted to wait until he was older as two puppies would be too much.  I never thought about an older dog because up until now all of the pet adoption places had always seemed so far away.

Realistically, I'm too busy right at this moment to take on another dog.  We just finished hosting and now I am about to set off to Vietnam for a little over a week.  BUT when I get back I might just take Finn to the shop and see if it is possible to at least watch him and Suzu together.  Or one of the other similarly sized dogs. (I saw on the website that there are two dachshunds available for adoption...)

I also want to say that I am so happy to see the pet adoption in such a bright and cheerful place.  I think the idea of having a "play room" is brilliant.  If I had passed Suzu in a cage, I wouldn't have given her a second thought.  But seeing her move about you just had to fall in love with her.  I can just imagine Japanese families going in and getting all excited about the puppies.  I can also imagine dads thinking about how much money that is for one little dog and moms thinking about how much extra energy it will take to train those little dogs. And then I imagine those families walking a little further and seeing perfectly lovable dogs like Suzu.  Already trained.  Free.  Just as cute.  I am so happy these little dogs can get a second chance.

Here is the link to the dogs and Pecos, in case you live in Japan and are looking to adopt.  Suzu is スズ in Japanese if you wanted to check her out.
http://www.petcity.co.jp/lifehouse/parent.html

Maggie and Dad: Part Two

So the next few days were quite laid back with my sister gone and with me back at work.  My dad walked around town and hung out with my dog while I was at work, and we got dinner together at night.  Maggie came back from Korea and they spent the next day at the mall.  They were going to go to a park and different places, but it was pouring down rain all day.

That night we got dinner with Motoaki's family and then went to Karaoke.  That is always fun, although I feel bad because Maggie and I are such Mic Hogs.

The next morning we got up early and headed to Shikoku, an island of Japan that Maggie and Dad had never been to.  To get there we had to pass the Seto Ohashi, or a really long bridge.  Actually, I checked wiki and it is the world's largest two-tiered bridge.  I had been over it a lot of times but for some reason never realized how close it was to our house.

Shikoku is known for udon noodles, a thick noodle usually paired with tempura or a soy sauce-type broth.  We went to an "Udon Making School," where we made noodles and then ate them.  I had done this before and it is a lot of fun.  The presenters are very energetic and at one point you are made to "dance" on the noodles.  They play J-Pop and the whole room really gets into the art of stomping on dough that is in a plastic bag.

I didn't get pictures of us making the dough, but this is Maggie and Motoaki cooking the noodles.

The school is at the base of flights and flights of stone steps that take you up to a temple.  All along the steps are shops with all sorts of souvenirs.  I wish I remembered the name of it, but that is the problem of going around with my Japanese husband- I don't actually have to know where we are going.  We had a nice bit of exercise and enjoyed looking in the shops.

All of us climbing the stairs.

 I was very surprised when I ran into my coworker from my Jr high school.  I was surprised because we were a little far from home and because teachers are usually busy on weekends with club and things.  He was also surprised to see me, and we got a picture to document our meeting.

With my coworker and his family.

And, not to be mean, but Maggie and I were delighted to get a glimpse of this fashionable young Japanese boy.  Seriously, this boy has fabulous written all over him.  Can you tell which one I am talking about??

That is a boy and yes, his bag is rainbow and his BRIGHT blue jeans are tucked into his brown leather boots!  FABULOUS!!!  I am not really that big of a stalker so I refrained from taking the picture of him smiling, jutting his hip out, and throwing up peace signs while he posed for a picture taken by his mom.

After all of that we headed back to Okayama and made a quick stop at the mall for last minute souvenirs (tea and stuff from the dollar store as well as a quick stop at G.U.- the discount version of UniQlo).  We were going to try and make it back for Karaoke in Yubara, but Maggie and Dad still had to pack and they had to be up EARLY the next day to catch a train to Narita, so sadly our last night was kind of boring.  We visited Motoaki's family and then just went back to our house.

The next morning we went to the Okayama train station, and after getting tickets and a quick McDonald's breakfast (we didn't have time for anything else) they were off and the trip was over.  I might have been sad but a) they are coming again in June and then I am going home in August for my brother's wedding, and b) I get to go to Vietnam in two days!!!  I think Finn will miss them the most as he got a lot of attention and snacks from them.

Motoaki's sister, mother, father, my father, Motoaki, Maggie, and Finn

If you're wondering if he'll be a good father, get a dog...

This morning was one of those mornings...  We had a massive snowfall last night so I had set my phone alarm(s) to start going off every five minutes starting from 6:30, so that I would eventually be out of bed by 6:45 at the latest.  I am a morning person but the houses in Japan are FREEZING in the morning.  Literally had frost on the inside of the windows, but more on that in another post.

Added to this was Motoaki's alarm which was also going off every five minutes starting at 6:30.  He needed to be up early because he drives far to pick up people for work, but he was ignoring the alarm as usual.  Most people would be driven insane by this, but we both just kept hitting the off/snooze buttons.  Finn on the other hand was getting a bit restless.  He is actually a little angel when he sleeps with us- never barks, doesn't bite us, hasn't wet the bed, etc but he was definitely awake this morning.

Finally at 6:40 I decided I would get up and get a move on.  I stood up and went to grab Finn when I noticed he was hunched over and getting ready to throw up.  I called out to Motoaki who quickly picked up some kleenex to hold under Finn's mouth so that the puke wouldn't get on the bed.  Good dad move.  He caught the puke but unfortunately, when I pulled the cover up, we could see that Finn had already been sick earlier.

Motoaki is NOT a morning person.  I often have to nag/drag him out of bed.  I know he had wanted to sleep in for another 15 minutes, but being a good dad, he got up and helped me clean the bed without complaint.  I imagined a lot more swearing or groaning, but he was cheerful enough and even said soothing things to Finn.

So I started commenting on how what a good dad he would be and how this was such good practice for the future.  I also said that I was sorry about Finn throwing up, how I shouldn't have given him that greeney (a dog treat) before bed as it was probably what made him so sick.

Motoaki replied by saying, "Hey, it's not your fault.  He ate a lot of plastic before you got home last night."  To which I was like, "WHAT??  Why didn't you grab it out of his mouth?!?"  To which he said, matter of factly, "I don't want to put my hand in his mouth.  Gross!"

So much for being a good father...

Disclaimer- Motoaki didn't just sit and let him eat plastic.  It was already in his mouth and about to be swallowed when he saw.  But still, I would have gone and taken it out.  Guess we know who will be bad cop and who will be good cop...

He's growing up!! More on Finn...

So as much as we say, "I'll never be one of those mothers," we all eventually turn into "one of those mothers" and that is what has happened to me.  It isn't as bad as some mothers (cough cough Maggie cough cough) but I am guilty of taking a lot of photos of Finn, speculating on his poop, recounting his every move to Motoaki, etc  So I thought I would do a quick post on my baby and his growth.

He is now 6th months old and will be 7 months on the 25th.  For the most part he has his adult teeth (I think) and though he is not so nippy he sure still likes to chew.  He can demolish a small greenie in about two minutes and can tear jeans.  Though he is guilty of putting everything and anything into his mouth for a taste, he can be easily distracted and be kept busy with a work glove that Motoaki's labrador raising uncle suggested we get.

In just the past two weeks he has gotten over his fear of jumping on and off the white couch and can now also jump onto to our massive Ikea couch.  He can't get down from there yet, though, and is still afraid of our stairs and (for some odd reason) the stairs leading into the laundry room (even though these are shallower than the couch and are similar to the ones in  and out of the house).

Last night was a big win for him as he was allowed to sleep in our bed for the whole night and did so without accident or without trying to eat us.  I think this is due to the fact that it was seriously cold (no central heat in houses in Japan) and our down comforters are seriously warm.  He didn't even wake up early and I had to drag him out of bed at 7.  Note: further evidence he could be related to Lissie.

He can sit, lay down, and give his paw on command though he sometimes has selective hearing.  He also waits for me to say "ok" before approaching his food dish, though he does sometimes whine/growl about this.  If I turned around I am positive he would go over to it without a second's hesitation.  He also has no qualms about me taking his food away at any point which I sometimes do to make sure he doesn't ever get overly possessive.

He still stops what he is doing to occasionally watch TV and did so last night when I turned to CNN to watch coverage about Kim Jong-Il's death.

He has yet to show any signs of sexual activity and after seeing Oscar in action I hope to get him fixed as soon as possible so hopefully we can avoid the matter all together.   His potty training is sometimes weak as he is now interested in marking things but for the most part he does well in making it to his toilet or in waiting until we go outside.

It must be said that he is cuter than we ever hoped and could model if he ever learns how to stay.

OK, sorry about this, but just had to get it out of my system.  I'll try to go another month without posting updates...

Cultural Differences in Pets

Last weekend we went to the new super mall/outlet mall in Kurashiki with our friend Alexi.  We found amazing deals at Adidas, Banana Republic, and UniQlo.   We passed up the chance for Krispy Kreme, though, when we saw the hour long line.

Being animal lovers the lot of us we decided to check out the pet store.  Motoaki and I were both relieved to see that we in deed got a fabulous     deal on Finn.  The cheapest dog at this place was about 1200 US $.  Although they were all gorgeous puppies.

Anyway, what I quickly wanted to blog about was the fact that they were selling prairie dogs.  As in the little things you see in the badlands!! Who in the world would get a prairie dog?  How would you keep it?  Don't they need to dig???

I was excited to see guinea pigs.  A few years ago when I first came here they were pretty unknown around the town I live in and when I showed students pictures, they thought they were quite scary.  I don't know if we would be ready for another dog anytime soon, but a guinea pig would be a lovely addition to the family...

In one last side note, really must start taking pictures of these things...

Christmas Movies

So to further comment on my last post, I'm going to talk about some of my favorite holiday films.  My list is probably the same as everyone else's, but I thought I would share it just in case you are missing out on some great films.  Maybe it's sad that I associate the holiday so much with these films, but they are just as much of the holidays to me as anything else.  Especially now that I am in Japan and I can't participate in things like caroling and decorating our house in Stuart.  So in no particular order, here are my favorite Christmas Films...


1. Christmas Vacation
Plot: "It's Christmas time and the Griswolds are preparing for a family seasonal celebration, but things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen and their two kids. Clark's continual bad luck is worsened by his obnoxious family guests, but he manages to keep going knowing that his Christmas bonus is due soon." 


This movie is part of the National Lampoons Vacation series and to some it might be quite cheesy and overly slapstick, but for me it is the closest I have seen to what a real Christmas is caught on film.  Not that we've ever had a squirrel running through the house or had a crazy uncle kidnap my dad's boss, but we have had a lot of crazy mishaps.  Like the time we came home from midnight mass to find the fully decorated tree on the floor, half of our ornaments smashed.


I love this movie because it is purely about family and about accepting family no matter what.  So what if the crazy aunt brings you her cat wrapped in a box or if your cousin's wife ruins the turkey.  You carry on.  Despite the film's name and despite some drama about a Christmas bonus, we don't see any gifts open and the film ends not with everyone getting what they want, but with everyone dancing and singing together, generally enjoying each others company.  I feel this film truly captures the spirit of Christmas in that sense- the spirit that it's not getting what you ask for, but being thankful for what you get.


And despite all of that, there are some seriously funny lines.  Too many to name here, but I will say that my favorite is when Clark tells the children that he "heard" some people at the airport spotted Santa, and a bewildered Cousin Eddie asks, "Are you serious about that Clark?"  Seriously, if you haven't seen this movie, watch it.  And seriously, don't take it seriously- just enjoy.


2. A Christmas Story
Plot: "Ralphie has to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect gift for the 1940's."


Now I know that this move gets overplayed in the states and that most people are probably sick at the very mention of it, but I can't help but love it and watch it whenever I come across it on TV.  Like Christmas Vacation, I find this movie to be very relatable.  Not that I was ever a young boy in the 40s wanting a BBgun, but I was a young girl growing up in middle America, dreaming about the perfect gift and fretting over whether or not I would get it.  I also had a younger sister that trailed me around much likes Ralphie gets trailed by Randy.  And I also got weird gifts from relatives that would rival the bunny suit he gets.  Though this movie does eventually pay off with scenes of presents, the heart of it lies with the family.


Another movie with too many good lines to count, it is tough to pick one but I would have to say that I love the whole bit about putting on a snowsuit.  The mom wraps and wraps her younger son, Randy, up in all sorts of warm weather gear and he starts whimpering.  She "unwraps" him by taking off the scarf he has around his face and asks what's wrong.  He says, "I can't put my arms down."  This is because his snow suit is too packed.  His mother tries to force his arms down but they keep popping back up so that they are straight out.  She finally says, "You can put them down when you get to school," and re wraps him as he cries out.  Later on he falls in the snow and quickly realizes, "I can't get up!" without the use of his arms.  I love this because a) that's exactly how my mother would have treated the situation, b) that's exactly the type of thing that would have happened to my little sister.


3. Home Alone
Plot: "An eight year-old, who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas, has to defend his home against idiotic burglars."


I was the perfect age when this movie came out.  Similar to Kevin, I was 7 years old and often felt like everyone picked on me.  I wasn't the youngest of my siblings and my cousins, though, but instead was stuck right dab in the middle which, to my 7 year old mind, was just as bad or worse.  I was too little to get to do anything great and yet I was older than the babies so I was expected to mind my manners and be responsible.  I always had grand dreams of running away and living alone, and would have been in heaven if my family had "disappeared," leaving me to have run of the house.


I don't think I need to go into too much detail about why this film is a classic.  I will say that as I have gotten older and become more mature about "the spirit of Christmas," I really like how again, this film isn't about presents but rather about family.  The pay off at the end isn't about Kevin getting everything he dreamed of, but rather just his family being home with him.  


Of course, as I have gotten older I have become a little annoyed at how slapstick the whole booby-trapping of the house is, but all in all its a film I can watch over in over.  Highlights for me are definitely the whole "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" scene where Kevin manages to have a party with some mannequins, some cut-outs, and a train set as well as any scene with the crazy neighbor, Old Man Marley.  Like 
Kevin: I wish my grandparents did that. They always send me clothes. Last year I got a sweater with a big bird knitted on it. 
Old Man: That's nice. 
Kevin: Not for a guy in the second grade. You can get beat up for wearing something like that. Yeah, I had a friend who got nailed because there was a rumor he wore dinosaur pajamas  


Other favorite lines are, "Buzz, your girlfriend- Woof!" and "Look what you did you little jerk!"


4. The Ref
Plot: Denis Leary plays an unfortunate cat burglar, who is abandoned by his partner in the middle of a heist, and is forced to take an irritating Connecticut couple (Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis) hostage. He soon finds that he took more than he bargained for when the couple's blackmailing son and despicable in-laws step into the picture. Before long they're driving him nuts with their petty bickering and family problems. The only way for him to survive is to be their referee and resolve their differences, before he can be nabbed by the police.


Now this might be a movie that you haven't seen.  It was recommended to me by my Auntie Anne in Texas who has a wonderful eye for movies.  It stars Dennis Leary and Kevin Spacey and is similar to "Life is Beautiful," only happier and at Christmas.  As the plot summary says, Dennis Leary is a cat burglar fleeing the scene of a botched job.  He hijacks a couple on their way home from couples counseling and while at first they are put off guard by him, they soon put fear aside for the sake of their own arguing.  Add to this a bunch of crazy relatives and a lot of lovable but stupid town folk and you get a great comedy.  After awhile you get so caught up in the dialogue that you kind of forget what is going on in the first place.  And, to stick with my theme, the movie ends with everyone learning that family is what matters.  Although, in this movie, that doesn't include everyone in your family.  I think I relate to this movie in that since, in the past, some of my relatives have had some HUGE fights right in the middle of our holiday cheer.


Favorite scenes are 
*when a teenage girl, in talking about the then-unknown-to-her burglar says, "Maybe the police will catch him and then let him go in the spirit of Christmas."  To which her mother replies, "That's not the spirit of Christmas- either you are good and get rewarded or else you are punished and go to hell."
*Dennis Leary's character confronts the Grandma and says, "What is the matter with you? I thought Mothers were sweet and nice a-a-and Patient. I know loan sharks who are more forgiving than you. Your husband ain't dead, lady. He's hiding."


5. Love Actually
Plot: Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.


I was the right age when this movie came out, too.  I think if I had seen it when I was in elementary or high school it would have been ok, and if I were to see it for the first time today I would have found it good but not memorable.  But I saw this movie when I was in my second year of college (Uni) and when I was really trying to decide whether or not to date one of my first real boyfriends.  Though there isn't a particular character I especially related to, I thought all of the stories were very real and original.  I especially liked the whole bit about the Brit in Wisconsin.  Being from the midwest, I know what would happen if someone showed up with a British accent.  Girls would soon and an average guy would find himself an above average girl.


I also loved the us of music in this movie.  Its mixture of Christmas and love songs was well done.  And all of the colors, costumes, locations were beautifully put together.  I'm not really sure if I like the ending with everyone just happening to be at the airport at the same time, but I will forgive it that.


Again every character has a favorite moment for me, but at the top of the list has to be the interaction between Colin Firth's character and his love interest's family.


CF I am here to ask your daughter for her hands in marriage. 
Father You want to marry my daughter? 
CF Yes. 
Father [yelling toward the back of the house] Come here, there is a man at the door. He wants to marry you. 
[a large and confused woman emerges] 
Sister But I've never seen him before. 
Father Who cares? 
Sister You're going to sell me to a complete stranger? 
Father Sell? Who said 'sell?' I'll pay him. 
CF Pardon me. I'm meaning your other daughter - Aurelia. 


6. Elf
Plot: After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity.


So this movie probably has the weakest plot of all of the films on my list.  I don't really pull much of a message from it and I don't really relate to it.  But good lord is it funny.  I can't imagine anyone else being able to do what Will Ferrell does in this film by being so ridiculous without being annoying or obnoxious.  And I love Zoey Deschanel and thank this movie for getting me into her singing.  Her voice on "Baby It's Cold Outside" is one of my favorite holiday songs.


Favorite lines/scenes include how much Will Ferrell freaks when he hears Santa is coming, "Santa?  I know him!" and the whole confrontation with the fake santa, "You smell like beef and cheese.  You sit on a throne of lies."


Films that aren't Christmas movies but that I associate with Christmas...
Little Women (Winona Ryder version) You've Got Mail
So this post is too long as it is but I love these two movies and always watch them at Christmas despite them not being Christmas movies.  They both include great scenes and music that center around the holidays.  I will always be singing, "For the Beauty of the Earth," despite it not being a Christmas song thanks to Little Women and will always dream of Christmas in New York thanks to You've Got Mail.




SO THAT'S MY LIST!  If you read all that, you must have a lot of time on your hands!  If you really do have time, please comment below with your favorite Christmas films or your favorite line from one of the films I wrote about above.


And though I've already put it on Facebook, here is a shot of my little baby watching his favorite Christmas film.  Don't know why, but Finn totally stopped in his puppy tracks to watch Elf.  I think it is because Will Ferrell screams so much in it.

huckleberry FINN!!

So I have been MIA since July.  I wanted to do a sort of catch up but I am beyond that point.  Life for the past three months has been exciting but busy, as always.  As a Stalter I can't remember a time when I didn't have a million things going on at once, so things have been fine, but the blog has definitely been a victim of this.  I will try not to "fall off the wagon" again.

 

So anyway, thought I would write about at least one thing that has kept me off the computer.  A little over a month ago Motoaki and I went to Osaka/Kobe to do a major hunt for some household stuff.  We were in search of curtains, a sofa, a bed, and then a million little small things.  This is easier said and done because, a) we both wanted to make sure we were getting a good deal (and thus wanted to shop around) and b) we hadn't really decided on anything like color/size/shape, etc.  This was fine because it was a three day weekend and we had time.  We ended up staying two days and even went to two different Ikea's. 
After finally deciding on everything we made one last stop at Costco to stock up on cheese, Dr. Pepper, meat, sauces, and bagels.  Our car was overflowing but we decided to check out the Home Center (Lowe's/Home Depot) across from Costco to see if they had a hose (since we have a large yard).  It just so happened that this super Home Center also had a pet store (as they oddly often do- I am not sure why Japan sees pets as hardware...) and that the pet store was having a "Ko Inu Matsuri" or "Puppy Festival."

Even before we had the house and the ability to have a pet we would go and look whenever we happened to be somewhere that sold dogs.  This is partially because I am always on the look out for carin terriers in Japan.  I know they are out there (after looking online and on youtube) but I have yet to see one.  So when we got to the pet section I automatically did a quick lap of the place looking for a "Toto."

While I was doing that, Motoaki was busy falling in love with a Yorkshire Terrier/Shih Tzu "half" puppy that was on sale.  When I had seen to every cage and had given up on getting a "Lissie or Looe," Motoaki called me over to this dog.  Usually in Japan dogs are around $1000~1500.  On sale they go for $500.  This little guy was only $300.  He was cute, but I was concerned about why he was going for a bargain.  We called a staff member over and they explained that he was on sale because a) he was already 4 months (a bit old for puppies) and b) he had an under-bite (which we hadn't noticed and probably wouldn't have noticed til we had gotten him home).

This was when we started "thinking."  We had the house/money/want for the puppy.  We also "sort of" had the time (even though we are both busy with work, we don't go out too much at night and don't have kids).  My main hesitation was that the dog wasn't a girl (I have concerns about boy dogs being frisky and their desire to mark things) and the fact that we had JUST moved and had new furniture.  Not to mention tatami floors (a kind of bamboo mat that I doubt could handle a puppy accident).  BUT this was by far the cheapest dog we had seen in all of our "looking" over the past five years and also one of the cutest.

So we caved and got him (of course).  We named him Finn after Huckleberry Finn.  I was trying to think of good dog names but most of them were too hard or too weird for Motoaki to say (Elmer, Woodrow, Norman).  I had always said that I would have two dogs named Dexter and Stuart, after my hometown, but with the popularity of the show Dexter (about a serial killer named that) we decided against it.  I then started thinking of literary characters and thought about Tom Sawyer.  But because Finn is a mutt and kind of a "cast-off" (not to us but at the store that day), we thought Huckleberry was better.  Then Motoaki thought about how Finn can also refer to a surfboard fin or a Dol-phin and we just left it at Finn.

Things for the past month have been fairly good but also a bit of an education.  One amazing thing about Japan is that there is the trend of "potty training" dogs to go on little diaper pads.  And, one advantage of Finn being four months old was that the shop had trained him to do this already.  He still misses now and then but that is usually when he is excited and in a room where the pad isn't nearby.  As far as for when he is in the kitchen he is fine and also for when we are at work.  He also is smart enough to sit, lay down, and play fetch already. 

One bad thing about him having been in a crate for four months is that he isn't quite socialable yet.  He is fairly good when he is calm but when he is excited he is VERY nippy.  As in can't be stopped.  We are hoping that he will grow out of this (as others have assured us he will) but I am a bit worried.  Every thing I read says that the way to get him to stop is to scream whenever he bites and acts like he has hurt us.  Normally that would be enough for the dog to realize it is unacceptable to bite.  But that doesn't work for him.  We're hoping to get him to dog training too, but it has been hard finding someone in the area or a time that works for us.

He is also afraid of other dogs and strangers.  Not a bad thing really, but I worry.  I've had dogs before but they always had other dogs to relate to.  They also had five people in the house as apposed to just two.  Well, accept for Lissie.  Anyway, he has been fine when people have come over but he gets super scared on walks whenever we encounter another dog or even a lot of people.  Scared as in running home as fast as possible.  However we took him to a dairy farm/camping place one weekend and he was fine there.

Going to the vet in Japanese has been hard but they are very patient and nice to me.  Finn is also really good for them and never nips the staff (even when getting a thermometer put you know where).  He also did well at the groomers (except for getting upset when she was trying to clean/trim the inside of his ears, but that is no surprise considering it was his first time).

Anyway, sorry for writing so much.  Just wanted to give you a "backstory" so that when Finn comes up in future entries, you know what I am on about.  And of course, add some pictures...