Stanley Biographical Information

Stanley Pack (white stuffed baby seal)

came to me when i was maybe 7 or 8 from my dad's parents, Grammie and Paw. he was from sea world. i remember standing in their kitchen and i had a choice between an alice in wonderland tea set and Stanley. i chose stanley. (incidentally, i was given the tea set at the next christmas holiday so i ended up with both. and i really loved tea sets, i have no idea while i chose stanley and i almost regretted it at first). so there is this great photo of me and my cousin mary beth sitting on Paw's lap and resting on his chest and stomach and stanley is there with us. if i had that photo here i'd scan it for the blog, but it's at my parents house.

Stanley kind of hung out for a while. then when i was in 10th grade he came to camp with me when the other girl who was a counselor-in-training with me brought her stuffed animal. sometime in that few weeks i came up with the name 'stanley' while i was resting on my cot. i think it may be a throwback to the stuffed bear in 'the hunt for the red october' which i was slightly obsessed with at that point. (?)

and ever since camp, stanley has been the go to guy. he went to college. he survived flying across the room whenever my boyfriend saw fit (mean right?) he also survived attack by one roommate's cat who took his mouth apart. and he got to be friends with bear (my college roommate, karen's, stuffed lion). probably in college i discovered stanley is good for kissing goodnight right on his nose AND he sleeps perfectly in the crook of my arm right by my heart. he also makes a nice neck pillow while reading.

so when max and i met stanley was my constant bed companion, putting me to sleep every night. and it wasn't so bad to have max come over just that stanley had to sleep on the bedside table. but max and i knew we were meant for each other when among the many many similarities we found ... .. we discovered the sealy stanley connection. max grew up loving stuffed animals and baby harp seals. so he had his very own stuffed white baby seal: Sealy. i got to meet sealy (and wally and the others) when i went to visit his parents house the first summer after we started dating. VERY CUTE.

now that we're married, stanley lives in the closet with the baby afghan Grammie crochetted for me and only comes out when max is away. but he definitely comes out and keeps me company. that's probably why he has some peanut butter on his forehead.

stanley is also a world traveller. along with going to college in fredericksburg, stanley also went to graduate school in philadelphia. more recently he saw hawaii in summer 2004 and bali in summer 2007. (he was not invited to rome however) i'm sure he's got plenty more trips in him....

Here's Stanley in the Lei after arrival from Hawaii


Lounging on the beach at Wimea Bay in Hawaii


In the bed in Bali. he didn't see much of the countryside, but he did make an appearance going through security in the Denpasar, Indonesia and Guam Airports (did he smuggle drugs???)

New Puppies

As we all know, we had to say good-bye to sweet Akira in May as she made her trip to doggy heaven. I imagine she is getting LOTS of treats and plenty of attention without having to throw a fit. and she probably isn't getting any rubs she isn't asking for. lucky dog.

So, without Akira, the blog has been on a break for the summer. but of course, max and i being the pup lovers that we are have not taken a break from Tyco. and i know i personally have NOT taken a break from entertaining the idea of getting another sweet pup to befriend tyco. (especially when he cries at night when max isn't home). but we decided not to go ahead with that idea just yet. the stress of bringing in another dog when Tyco is clearly more of a people person doesn't seem worth it.

and so, off i went to Bali. Bali is full of dogs. they warn you of this in all the guidebooks. lots and LOTS of stray dogs. dogs that are not cared for and look horrible.

Here are some of the better looking of the strays... the temple dog, the puppies we shared our cookies with, and the beach bum...

So being in Bali was a little sad because you can't just walk up and start petting the pups there. they'll bite your hand off or give you a disease or something. and that was how it was until we went to our beachside bungalows at pondok pisang...chandidasa. then we met the sweetest most wonderful and cuddly pups imaginable and my heart melted at the idea of a black lab coming into max, mine, and tyco's life.... see photos of the sweet pup loves all around:(ps don't tell tyco i was sharing loves with so many other pups and that they're on his blog, he might get jelous)










All those beautiful Bali baby dogs. i was so happy when we found some that were definitely pets not vermin. they were so sweet. i came home ready to adopt. slowly that idea faded

but it came back again a few weeks ago when i got an email about these sweet puppies with no home. i thought surely Tyco would love to have a puppy. but, turns out it's all a hoax. there are no black labs. : ( dang internet!




As it is max and i decided now isn't exactly the time for a new puppy. especially because the new puppy would definitely have to abide by NEW RULES and a much stricter code of behavior. i'm afraid poor friend might teach her bad habits, OR go into shock when he had to live by the new rules. so for now it's just the three of us here. and i'm sure akira's around in spirit.

Tyco the Recycler

Tyco has taken on new responsibilities here at 3913. now that he is 12 he has taken it upon himself to help with recycling. the recyclables have moved into the pantry so they're not too tempting for him but he seems to find them. every few days we come downstairs to find our recyclables have been chewed up and moved into the backyard. yesterday it was the milk carton and a cereal box. i think he's just trying to take care of things for us and get them closer to the street.

then today we went to visit some friends up the street. tyco was actually ok off leash in their backyard. but apparently he wanted to help some with recycling there too. we looked over and tyco let out a whimper and started running around the patio with the green recycling bucket attached to his collar. tyco was scared to tears and we dissolved into laughter as all the plastic bottles from the earlier birthday party spilled all over the patio. so nice of him to offer to help. they rewarded him with a leftover hamburger from the party. nice guy.


here's a recent touched up photo of tyco looking 'blue' on the deck. i have no recycling ones yet but i'm sure i'll get the chance for some soon.

Easter Treat for Huskies

Tyco and Akira were very lucky pups this Easter. The Easter Bunny didn't bring them chocolate or special dog treats. This year they got SNOW on the morning before Easter. Max and I woke up to about an inch in the trees and on the ground. We were shocked that Tyco didn't come up to tell us about it, so we went down to find them.

first they were under the Azalea bush cuddled together... you can barely see them under the branches

Then Tyco came out to check things out and to get some rubs.
He's such a softy!

Finally Akira came out but she generally tried to run away from the camera as much as possible and tried to look upset about the condition of her backyard, but we know it was all an act!That's her trying to run away.
Snowy Nose
My deck is covered in snow!!! GRRR!!!
(i think this means i disearve a treat!Right?)
Happy Easter Friends!!!

Visits with Friends

So my good friends Karen and Joey stopped by our house to say good bye as they departed for California and Karen's new job in the wine business. Katie and Shannon stopped by and we all enjoyed some company and visiting on the front porch. The pups were locked in pup jail in their room and the yard because of the food and wine around. They behaved pretty well during that time.
Here are all the visiting couples:Karen and Joey (newlyweds)

Katie and Shannon (engaged!!)

Us (oldly weds)



After Katie and Shannon took off, Joey finally got to relax and do what he wanted to do which was watch the final four basketball game. And Tyco finally got to do what he wanted to do which was relax on the couch and make love to Joey as much as possible.
First Tyco jumps on the couch and makes himself very happy with rubs from Joey. Notice the Smile on Tyco's Face

Next, as Joey slows down to actually watch the game, Tyco institutes the now infamous "rake technique" where he uses razor sharp claws and brute force to rake the person who has slowed down in petting him. At least he didn't get bare skin, but the belly is a soft spot to be takin' a rakin'


Akira also came around but as there were no treats to be had, she refused to smile for the camera
Akira again avoids the camera


The boys enjoying the game, well, at least Tyco is happy!

Akira gets below an F!

So last night I was home alone with the pups. and they were feeling sad and deprived because both max and i worked all day on monday and tuesday and they didn't get the usual amount of attention. Tyco didn't get his usual time on the suede couch, akira didn't get to throw as many fits as usual. so yesterday, i was exhausted. tuesdays are extremely long days for me and work has been stressful lately (7 weeks to go!!) and they didn't get much love unfortunately. apparently, that idea was not agreeable to akira. i went to bed around 10 and that's about when she started up. 'yip' wait a few minutes 'yip' wait a few minutes 'yip' .... arg! so i go downstairs to learn they have food and water in the bowls and akira is standing on the lower level of the deck staring incredulously at the door. (how dare we leave her alone all day and she doesn't get a walk tonight! walks are a whole other story) so i give them some roast beef from the party on sunday and go back to bed, determined to ignore her and not to reward the naughty behavior any more. so i doze for a while and then 'yip' it starts again. 'yip'.....'yip'......'yip' i'm going to ignore her. i can do that. 'yip'......'yip' oh my god the neighbors must be annoyed. 'yip'.....'yip'... finally at 2 am i couldn't stand it. back downstairs. this time food and water were empty. when did they eat? who knows, i never heard them inside. so i fill the bowls. and miss princess akira got a stern lecture.. 'you have food, you have water, you are waking up the entire neighborhood and your mother and this has to stop.... GO TO SLEEP!!' her grade is BELOW F! that must have gotten through because she was quiet for the rest of the night and completely passed out when i left the house this morning at 6:30. tonight she was a little punchy but we'll see how she does.

Bring your pups to Work Day

The pups spent the day at Gearhead Camera. The shop was hot (as usual), so Tyco needed to do a little "airing out. Or maybe he's just dreaming about being on the Siberian Bobsled team?"