around town and back again

joey joey joerstein

Confession: I am having a love affair with my dog.

Before adopting/rescuing Joey, I was wholly unprepared for how much I would love a dog. My dog. Our dog. My dog...he's totally a Mama's Boy.

Joey, just after we brought him home for the first time. November 2011

We've had Joey for about 14 months now, and we seem to have settled into a good routine. Brian gets up for work between 5:30 and 6:00 and takes Joey out. After they get back, Joey makes a bee-line for the rug in front of the stove and waits for his two cookies (Milk Bones). Joey sleeps in our room at night, not on our bed, but his cozy little nook with Rainbow Blanket and his menagerie of plush toys. The only time he gets to sleep on our bed is in the morning after his outside time. When Brian gets in the shower Joey will immediately conform his little body along mine and we'll sleep curled up together for another hour or so.

I crotched Rainbow Blanket hoping to ease some of his separation anxiety. It didn't work.

It's taken about four months, but Joey has finally become comfortable taking care of business in our backyard. When we first got him, we lived in an apartment and all of his outside time was on a leash, so when we moved into our house, he wasn't sure what to do outside when we weren't attached to him. He would just stand a foot or two away from us and stare like, 'What am I supposed to do?!' We still take a morning walk around the neighborhood each day, something we both look forward to, I'm sure.

Nope, this stick isn't too big. I got this.

If anyone bugged our house and listened in during the day, they'd hear a whole lotta 'You're a good boy, Joey' or 'You're my sweet boy and I love you' or 'You are SO CUTE' and be bored to tears. I talk to him all day long, whether it's a running commentary on what I'm doing, or just telling him he's a good boy, and if that makes me crazy, so be it.

This was a one-time experience, riding in the front seat. Usually he's in the back of either of our SUVs, behind the grate or in a crate. But sometime you have to move a craigslist find and hold your dog in your lap.

He has no particular loyalty to one toy over another. One day he'll only want to play with his Kong and the next it will be his rope (a length of climbing rope from REI - it lasts so much longer). He does, however, need to take a plush toy with him to the backdoor whenever we let him out. Maybe he likes a friend waiting for him? I don't know. After we've all had dinner and I'm cleaning up the kitchen, Joey has decided that that's the perfect time to play Chase. He'll gather as many toys in his mouth as he can and then stand in the kitchen, wagging his tail at me. He'll wait patiently for me to chase him through the kitchen into the living room into the dining room into the kitchen and round and round we go. He has no traction on our hardwood floors, so he just quick-steps it, looking over his shoulder to make sure I'm still there. The silliness of this game cracks me up every night.

Brian and Joey have a different relationship. They're more like wrestling/rough-housing buddies, while Joey is fiercely protective of me and just wants to be near me. Never is this more evident than at bed time. Brian will take Joey out right before bed; after they're back Joey grabs his backdoor-waiting friend and bolts for the bedroom, ready for Cookie Time. Cookie Time started when he was a puppy and would vomit in the morning from excess stomach acid. The vet suggested giving him a cookie or two before bed to alleviate the problem. So Joey waits for me at the foot of the bed on my side, waiting for his six cookies (it's actually two that I break into smaller pieces...he's not the brightest dog in the world). Then he'll sit outside our bathroom while I wash my face, etc. He won't settle into his bed until I'm in bed. It's kind of adorable.

My boys.

The mystery of Joey's origin still intrigues us. He was rescued on the beach in Ponce, Puerto Rico, by a wonderfully sweet woman who works with a rescue agency here in the DC Metro area. Once she'd nursed him back to health, he was shipped to the States for adoption. We've never really known for sure what mix of breeds he is, but we're pretty sure there's some Shepherd and Chinook (an American Sled Dog) milling about. A sled dog in Puerto Rico?! OK. He's definitely no bloodhound...once something falls on the ground it's lost to him forever. Whatever he is, I'm forever grateful to the woman that rescued him and so thankful that Joey picked us. I had no idea that I'd quickly become One of Those Dog People, but here I am.

laundry room redux

Anyone that follows me on Twitter* or Instagram* has seen and heard all about our fur baby, Joey. Joey, our year and a half old rescue, is...how you say...rambunctious. Maybe needy. Definitely has separation anxiety. Since moving in, when we've left Joey alone he's had free reign of the house and can bark and howl without upsetting our neighbors. This has unfortunately led to some fantastic messes upon our (usually MY) return, however. And with the exception of my poor Nalgene bottle, all of these messes had their genesis in the laundry room.

The open shelves were RIPE with mischievous opportunities. The bins of yard/dog walking shoes were frequently emptied and scattered around the house. The packs of Coke were routinely torn open and it was always a scavenger hunt to find all the cans, praying that they were all still unopened. Two weeks ago four cans went missing and had exploded in the kitchen, living room, TV room and our bedroom. Joey was WIRED FOR HOURS and it took two hours to get the mess cleaned up. Last week was the final straw when he turned my fleece boots into chew toys and tried to eat Brian's NOOK.

We had to come up with something else for the laundry/mud room. After a not-so-quick trip to IKEA, we came up with this solution.

The bottom half of the Billy bookcases hold all of the items Joey loves to destroy and/or play with, and now they're safely hidden behind doors that have been child-proofed. Brian installed those hooks that you have to press down before the door opens all the way, and unless Joey sprouts opposable thumbs, we're good. The rugs are actually bath mats that are soft and nubby and easily washed. Joey has already turned them into a cozy little nest.

The room still needs a fresh coat of paint and a new floor, but those will have to wait until we switch out the water heater (which won't happen until we install a natural gas line to the house). All in good time. I love this little room now, it's a bright and cheery welcome when we enter the house.

*@MrsSchil

watching joey in the snow

Joey LOVES the snow.

Christmas decor - photos!

Joey is quite taken with this ornament. I hear the little jingle bells jingle throughout the day

 

Santa band!

Joey tried to eat this one today.

various living room bits

It took me quite a while to figure out just what I wanted to put on the mantle, and below is the final result - at least for fall:

Clearly there needs to be SOMETHING above the fireplace, but I haven't found anything yet. 

The photo was take by Brian on a beach in San Diego the summer we met.

I found these Fiestaware bulb candle holders at my favorite antique mall, which is conveniently just down the street now. I've noticed that I like to stack books and put stuff on said stack.

My parents used to have this mirror in their apartment before I came along, and I've had it for...eight years? The tea light holder in front came from ZGallerie. It's a natural material, similar to quartz, but the name escapes me.

Cotton on the stem, acorn vase (from Target) and squirrel nutcracker (from World Market).

We switched out the fireplace grate and really love how this one looks.

Brian has amassed quite a large collection of challenge coins and we've been looking for a way to display them. After going back and forth about stepped displays or another shadow box or nothing at all, we've landed here:

I really like how it looks next to his service photo and shadow box/blasting machine. On the shelves below are more of his...tricks of the trade? Souvenirs? Artifacts?

One of my favorite things in the living room is a vintage Blenko ash tray, currently holding remote controls.

I believe November gets the short end of the stick by being glossed over when Halloween ends and Christmas decorations immediately pop up. I hope to get the tree up and house decorated this week. 

before and after: the TV room

REALLY before. So empty!

I am embarrassed to say that the room was in varying degrees of disarray like this until a week and a half ago. This was the dumping ground for things we didn't have a place for, stuff to go up in the attic, stuff we were giving to Goodwill, and Joey's toys.

And now it's finished and we luuuuuv it. The accent colors, orange and aqua, are running themes throughout the house. Instead of turning this into a guest room that we would use only very rarely, we made it our library/TV room. The chaise and chair/ottoman came from IKEA and can be pushed together to make a bed on the few occasions we will have guests. We put the PS3 and the FiOS box with the DVR in here, leaving the regular FiOS box and a basic Blu-Ray player in the living room. Now Brian can play Call of Duty in here and I can close the door and not listen to it! :) 

I lusted after this pillow at Target for a long time, and now it's mine!

Also an awesome Target find. I love how soft and cozy these pillows are.

The artwork is a mix of small indie artists (the black and white photo, the sun and the print underneath) and stuff we've done. Brian took the photo on the bottom right of the waves crashing on the beach in San Diego. I made the silhouette of Joey last spring and finally have a place for it.

The crayons are from my favorite ad campaign from the Zoo for the white alligator summer exhibit.The abacus (with a twin in the dining room) was a CB2 purchase in 2010. These two pieces are really the stating point for the colors in the room.

Dressing the bookcase took a while, but I'm pretty happy with the final product. 

Again, the Crate & Barrel outlet did us right. We have been wanting this clock for months and snatched it up yesterday for a steal! The photo underneath is one Brian took on our first hike together in Ogden Canyon, fall of 2008.

These two shelves are my favorite. The top has my going away book from the Zoo, our wedding announcement and photos with our parents from our reception/going away party and our wedding. Beneath is Brian's certificate of appreciation from President Obama on the occasion of his retirement, an EOD stein and miscellaneous books on the current war(s).

The little lamp was another Target deal. Perfect to sit on the shelf and give off just enough light without reflecting on the TV screen.

Who's the nerd that color-coded Brian's how-to books?

The leather chair? Oh, that's Joey's. Yes, we are now Those People.

During last week's Sandy Superstorm, we were holed up in here, cozy under blankets and away from the big picture window in the living room. I'm so happy we made this room into a place we'll use all the time, rather than having an empty room we'll almost never use. And Joey? He thinks the ottoman is pretty swell, thank you very much.