Learning to Settle In

This is my first post from Cowtown!
Uncle Brian and Mr. M. drove Mama and I to the airport.
Uncle Brian stayed with us until Mama had to board her plane.
We miss him so much!

My plane ride here from Toronto was quite uneventful.
There were two other dogs in crates that rode alongside of me
in the cargo, we pretty much slept through the 4 hour flight.
When we got to Calgary, Uncles Allen, Andy and Auntie Ang
picked us up from the airport. They were shocked when
they realized that Mama's luggage was 30lbs overweight!

I've been at Uncle Andy and Auntie Ang's now for almost a week.
This is Kunou, he is "sleeping". I think he's
pretending, so I will leave him alone.
We're going to be best friends,
he just doesn't know it yet.

Every time I bring a toy over to Kunou for us to play,
he runs away and hides under the kitchen table.
He probably think it's cute, because I can't reach him under there.
I am patient, so I wait for him to come out.

I love that Uncle Andy and Auntie Ang have a backyard.
I love going out there to run and sniff the tomato plants.
I know, the tomato plants are poisonous to dogs,
so I don't eat them. Just sniff.
And I like the smell of the compost bin too!

Kunou has a bunch of toys that I have never seen before either.
When no one is looking, I steal them from the toy bin.
Problem is, now they all smell like me,
and Kunou doesn't want to play with them anymore.
Oh well, more for me!!

Bon Voyage!

Today is my last day in Toronto.
Mama is cleaning like a mad woman!
Look how much room there is
in the apartment now, it's nuts!
I haven't seen it like this since we first moved in.
Mama had to get rid of so much stuff!
Thank you to Auntie Trish who took a lot of it.
And the nice cleaning lady, Wendy, she's fabulous!

I've got all I need for the move:
Bear, and kibble.

I'm not sure about the flight though,
I'm a bit scared. Actually I think Mama is
much more scared than me. She's a
big scaredy cat. I know it'll be fine.
I just don't know what to expect.

I just wanted to thank everyone for being so
kind to me. I will miss you all. I really do
hope we can see each other again.
Come and visit me in Calgary, I promise
to show you a good time!!
The next time I post I will be doing so from Calgary.
So stay tuned!!

Just Checking In

My goodness! The last time I posted was almost a month ago...
Much has gone on since my last post:
Mama has finally finished school, yay!
Papa is still in Japan and he's slowly turning into a robot.
I went for a sleepover at Uncle Brian's house over the weekend.
And we are in preparations to move to Calgary.

It's pretty hectic in the apartment,
Mama is putting things into boxes, into the garbage,
and into big bins hoping that Auntie Trish,
Auntie Ada, and Thomas Ojichan will
take them off her hands.

I guess this is what happens
when you live somewhere for a long time,
you just accumulate stuff.
We also have all of Papa's stuff, and all of Obaachan's stuff too.
We have A LOT of stuff. If you live in Toronto and want
free stuff, or cheap stuff, drop me a line and
I'll let you know what we have to get rid of.

It'll be interesting to see what the apartment looks like with
less stuff in here. I wish I could help Mama more, but
she says I just get in the way more than anything.

I haven't really thought about leaving Toronto,
I've been here since I was a baby! I think that I
will miss my friends the most. Especially Uncle Brian,
Auntie Ada, and Thomas Ojichan. They are always so nice to me.
I will be sad I think, but I'll try to keep it together for Mama,
whom I know will be more sad than me to leave her friends.
Good thing we will always keep in touch!
Promise to keep in touch, and I will do the same!

Damn It's Cold

Our building turned the heat off for the season
and the air con is on now. Problem is,
it's friggin cold outside still. So that means it's
friggin cold inside too. Not to mention
there seems to be cold air con air blowing
at maximum outside in the hallways,
which leaks into the apartment from the
vents and under the door.

I guess I'm lucky, I have a permanent fur coat
to keep me warm. Mama is always wearing two
t-shirts, a sweater, sweatpants, socks and slippers,
a toque on her head and a big scarf around her shoulders.
She's even resorted to turning on the oven just
to warm up the apartment. Not very green I must admit.

We could tell the building manager, but he seems like a
bit of an a$$hole. He gives us snarky eyes every time
we see him. Maybe he doesn't like dogs?
Or maybe he's just an a$$hole.
What are your tips for a chilly interior?

Happy Mama's Day

Just a quick shout out to all the Hot Mama's out there!
Happy Mother's Day!
Thank you Mama for taking care of me,
feeding me my medicine everyday,
picking up my poo everyday,
wiping my paws and my bum everyday.
You are the best and I love you for it!

Where's Aiko

This was the disaster zone after Papa left on the weekend.
Can you spot me? I helped Mama decide what to keep,
donate, sell, and throw away.
Problem is, Mama is a packrat (not as bad as Papa)
and she tends to hang on to things that should just
get passed onto to someone else.
But it was good therapy to go through some of this baggage
and get rid of it for good.

Here's the result of our cull.
Not bad eh?
More room for me to run around too!

I Miss You Papa

I didn't tell you that Papa came home to see me
over the Golden Week holiday in Japan
because I don't like to share.
I was worried that if I told you,
you'd want to spend time with Papa.
That means less Aiko-face-time with Papa,
and that is just unacceptable.
But he's gone again and I miss him already.
It hasn't even been a day and I miss him.

Thank you for coming home to visit with me Papa.
I hope you can visit again in the near future,
I promise to be a good girl while you're away.

Hello Spring?

Sorry for the complete lack of posts for all of April.
My camera is kind of busted and I can't really take pictures.
Mama is going to buy me a DSLR as soon as she's done school.

Well, the end of April leads to many things:
1. Taxes deadline in Canada
2. Cinco de Mayo in Mexico
3. Golden Week in Japan
4. Mother's Day is May 11
5. April showers bring May flowers
except with this chilly weather your flowers might die.

On a different note, I've been happily dragging Mama
around the neighbourhood in search of new smells now that
the sun is out again. It is a bit chilly these past few days
but it's not snowing, so I won't complain.
I've met some new neighbourhood dogs,
some I like, others not so much.
I met this boy bulldog over the weekend,
his head was twice as big as mine
and his face looked like a cabbage!
He was so out of proportion!
His big cabbage head was on top
of his tall skinny body. What a freak show.

Spring Saturday Surprise

Mama brought me to meet a couple of new friends,
people friends and dog friends:
The bully in the picture is named Norm, he's pretty cool,
his Mom is Miss JMo and she hosted a fabulous lunch and
organized the dog get-together. I also met Miss Michelle
who has a dog but didn't bring him. And I met

Auntie CET again, and her dog Chili.

I know Mama was hoping that I would
behave myself around the new dogs.
But truth is, I like being a bitch. I don't know why.
I got into a few arguments with Norm, and we tussled.
I'm sorry Norm, I'll try to be a nice girl next time.
But no promises.

Chili is a Westie, and he loves to sniff bums.
I think he was trying hard to get me to play with him,
but you know me, I'm a little too into myself to want to play
with other dogs. He did get a bit bitey when I went over
to see if I could get a piece of the biscuit he was waiting for.

Mama said I was embarrassing her the whole time,
because I don't know how to act like a normal dog.
I can't help it if I'm totally selfish with anger management issues.
I think I'm very much like supermodel Naomi Campbell.

Thank you Miss JMo and Mr M for hosting what
should have been a lovelier afternoon of a dog party
if I had behaved like a good girl and not like my usual self.
Mama apologizes for the crappy turnout of the photos,
juggling me and a camera that doesn't work is not easy.

That Sure Didn't Take Long...

It's happened, I reluctantly went into the crate to fetch Bear.
Mama: 1 / Aiko: 0.
But then she put in a nice comfy blanky for me,
and I immediately barfed on it when I went back into the crate.
Mama: 1 / Aiko: 1.

Yata!

UPDATE: I got my peanut butter filled Kong
Mama tried to use to entice me into the new crate!
(Btw, I have no idea why this is all underlined)

Yup that's my head in the crate savouring the Kong.

I didn't actually have to go inside to get it!
I grabbed my blanky with my teeth and pulled it out
of the crate, and at the same time,
out came the Kong!!

I don't even need to be inside the crate to enjoy it!

Haha Mama, I fooled you!
I'm much more clever than you think I am!

This Again...

Something big came for me again in the mail,
maybe Auntie Angela and Uncle Andy are in there...
maybe they even brought Kunou!

Ok there is a Live Animals sticker...
I know they can't be referring to me.

Oh it's a crate. And it smells like plastic.
I don't like where this is going.

Mama tried to make it all friendly and a lot
less scary for me with my blanky and some toys.
There's even a Kong with peanut butter in there.

This must be an April Fool's joke, because
she's got to be crazy thinking I'm actually going to get in there.

Do You Smell What the Aiko is Cooking?

Mama made me a hardboiled egg for a treat today!
It's got L-carnitine in it, so it's good for me, since
I'm a vegetarian now (not by choice!).
I wish you could smell through my blog
the deliciousness of the gas seeping quietly from my bum!
The aroma is so rich and fragrant, so warm and enveloping!
Hahaha, Mama had to open the window!

On another note:
When Obaachan came to visit last time
she brought some Japanese treats for us.
Except, Papa forgot to tell us what they are before he left.
Mama and I are so useless, we can't read Japanese at all!
Does anyone know what this is?
Our guess is pickled something, because
Obaachan always brings pickles, candies, miso and tea.

Did you participate in Earth Hour?

Mama and I just spent an hour in the dark hanging out,
looking at the stars (see the Big Dipper?),
and reducing our carbon foot print.
Did you turn out the lights for Earth Hour?
I know some people think that turning out your lights
for just one hour on just one day is a bit of a gimmick.
But if we could all do a little more everyday,
we may be able to make a reverse impact on our
contribution to global warming.

Ok I kind of fibbed a bit, Mama and I didn't go star gazing,
it's still way too cold in Toronto! It's from the meteor shower
from last August. And I wasn't allowed to go either.

Papa, we miss you. We hope you had a safe flight home.
I hope you can come back to see me.

Congratulations Papa!

Congratulations Papa on your accomplishments!
I suppose I have to call you Dr. Papa from now on.
Mama and I are so proud of you, we knew you could do it!
おめでとうございます!

Spring Fever

So you remember how I mentioned last February 2,
that I wasn't going to mention anything about it?
Yah well I must have jinxed it right,
because spring is here in spirit,
but it's not really here in body!

Spring is ushering in like a lion this year.
Do you think I look like a lion?
Better than last time?
I'm so sick of winter.
Peeing in the snow with too much
cold near the sensitive areas is
not my idea of a good time.

Assign, Edit, Repeat

These past months have been so great,
Mama and Papa have been working at home.
That means a lot of Aiko face time with them.
Except Mama has given me the task of assigning
NMR spectra of the compounds she makes in the lab.

She also has me editing her thesis.
This is a boring job.

I haven't worked this hard since, I had to come
up with ideas for Papa's research.

I Got Mail!

Kunou sent me a package in the mail today!
I wonder if it's him inside that box?
He sure is small enough to fit in there!

Oh look what's inside!
It's a clock!
But I can't tell time...

Oh no, wait, it's a little toy!
A ratty looking toy!

Ah it's a cat! With no face, but still a cat in body and spirit.
But it's used up...

And it smells like something I'm not familiar with.
Is that Kunou's aroma?
Did he send a toy just for me so I can get used to his scent?
That's so nice! I guess I shouldn't try to eat him
when I move to Calgary and move in with him.
I suppose I should send a toy of mine too so
he'll know what I smell like.
But I don't like to share....

I really do enjoy playing with Kunou's toy,
I don't know if I'd want to give it back!!

This Makes Me Sad

I don't normally post things that make me sad, because I know they would make you sad too. But I thought it would be important for you to know that this kind of behaviour should never be tolerated. I cried when I read about it. I hope this person (and he is a US Marine of all things, aren't they supposed to be honourable and heroic?) is made an example of, too often animal abusers get a slap on the wrist, and it's the animals that all suffer. We have feelings too.

Happy Last Day of February, and it's a Leap Year!

This is my first leap year ever. And I'm going to commemorate it by destroying this paper towel roll. Do know why we even have leap years? It's so we can stay on track with the earth orbiting the sun. Leap years occur in years that are divisible by 4. I can't do math, but I imagine that it would be easy to figure out which years contain leap days.

I've been chillaxing quite a bit here at home. Mama and Papa spend a lot of time at home these days, busy playing on the computer. Funny, they never seem to have time to play with me though. But nonetheless, I love having them at home.