Hawaiian Pup

One of the biggest ordeals for Azuki this past year was going on vacation. Do dogs need vacation?? You might ask. No, they do not. At least not this pup, whose everyday life consists of lots of naps, good food, long walks and romps in the park (which includes playdates with pup pal Lucy), and getting snuggled and loved up by humans.

But I had long dreamed of taking Azuki to Hawaii, where Matt's family lives. I had visions of a small, reddish brown stuffed-toy looking puppy frolicking on the sand and in the ocean, with sand between her toes and ears flopping to the wind. So I went through 6 months of paper work and waiting time to get her ready to travel to Hawaii without quarantine.
Well, we didn't get to go to the beach very much since the weather was dreary most of the time that we were there. The one time we got to take her to a beach park that was dog friendly, she didn't seem too taken with the sand, and preferred to run around on familiar grass. However, Azuki did discovered one new favorite thing to do that she never gets to do in New York---HANG HER WHOLE UPPER BODY OUTSIDE OF THE WINDOW AND FEEL THE WIND BLOW IN HER FACE.

She also got to play with our 2 year old neice and 8 months old nephew, whom the adults jokingly refer to as Azuki's "cousins". Although, this seems to be a concept that only the adults embraced. On the last day we were there I asked the two-year old whether or not she will miss her furry cousin when she is gone, she was absolutely indignant: "She is NOT my cousin!" she protests loudly. As if she was totally insulted that I would compare her, a HUMAN, so obviously genetically superior in every way, to a dog. I had to quickly apologize for my careless insults.

Having been put squarely back into the ANIMAL category aside, Azuki had a fantastic time in Hawaii. There was just so many people around all the time--so many people to bother, so many rooms to wonder, plus a yard to play ball and explore. She got to go to town with us and stop by parks and eat at an outdoor restaurant. She came with us on a drive half-way around the island which we stopped at 4 or 5 different places including a beachtown where we ate shave ice and roasted chicken, and she ate chicken bones left on the ground. She even attended a New Year's Eve party at the neighbor's house and witnessed firecrackers for the first time. By the time she got home, she was so exhausted from her long flight and two weeks of just not resting much, that she passed out immediately and really slept for 2 days afterwards, both day and night.

What a hard life!

Bedfellow

Haven't posted in awhile, but things have been busy and frankly, I have been lazy. The thing about moving to New York is that, I have a lot more things to do here, a lot more people to see, so the incentive to spend hours on posting the blog is low. Although, Azuki's life here is a happy one.
She pretty much does whatever she wants in the house, goes anywhere she pleases and sleeps on any type of surface she pleases. Up until very recently, however, the only off-limits area for her was our bed. I felt very strongly that there should be at least some space in the apartment that is for humans only. It was the ONLY rule that I insisted upon in the house, so I was a little bit confused one morning when I woke up from an unsettling dream. The morning conversation went like this:

me: "So weird. I dreamt that Azuki was in bed with us last night."
Matt: "What? But Azuki is not allowed in bed."
me: "I know. But I could have sworn you were trying to hide Azuki under the blankets last night."
Matt: ".......noooooo. [not making any eye contact] That would be like, so illegal."
me: "Yes it would be."

So that was how it all started. Before I knew it, this is what happened:

This is obviously in blantant violation of the no-dogs-in-bed law. But since the pup and the boy look so darn cute together, I have since then amended the law to no-dog-on-my-side-of-the-bed. Pup and peeps have abided by the law so far. Let's see how long before she sleeps on my pillow.