Home is where the dogs are

I did it again. 

I rearranged the house (ok - just the living room). It's a compulsive obsession of mine to switch things around here. The tricky thing is that our home is tiny and so there aren't many combinations on how to switch the furniture around, especially since this tiny home of ours also has a funky layout. But nonetheless, if anyone can figure something out it'll be me.

How long will the new layout last?

Sometimes years. Sometimes months. Sometimes just days. Yeah. That last one drives Yangkyu a bit nuts. But he's not here right now and so I have a few more days until I get to decide whether to put everything back where they once were, or figure out a new layout. Ha! (Good news for Yangkyu: I have an inking this new layout will at least last us until the end the season).

I have been soloing it with Momo and Noah and our guest dog Lanna for the past week and a half. Yangkyu is currently in Korea teaching a 2-week workshop on tech. We had some disagreements on whether he should take this gig. First it was 2-weeks of his personal time that he would need to take to go and it would mean that Noah wouldn't be getting his sub-q fluids. He gets them twice a week to help filter out toxins out of his blood since his kidneys are compromised. In the end though Yangkyu really wanted this experience and so the dogs and I sent him off with a promise that he would bring back lots of tasty Korean treats for both human and dog. (Funny thing - the other night Yangkyu sent a text of 10 photos from inside a convenience store. He went to each aisle taking photos of chips and ramen and other goodies to see if there was anything in particular I wanted to try. Among the piles of ramen I noticed one that said tomato ramen. Tomato ramen?!)

Yangkyu flies back on Saturday but starting tomorrow things get busy around here. We'll have three more guest dogs coming by on Thursday. Then two more on Friday. And one on Saturday. Which means by Saturday I'll have 9 dogs roaming about, ruling the house from every nook and cranny. Yes. It should be fun. Hard. But fun.

Since I'm not the best driver in the world, we did massive grocery shopping before Yangkyu left. I think I was in armageddon mode as I kept buying things I normally don't eat afraid that somehow I will end up craving it once Yangkyu left. I ended up buying things like Cocoa Puffs. I'm 40 and I bought myself a box of Cocoa Puffs like I was back in elementary school. And Brisk Iced Tea. I don't think I had that since I was in high school. We bought an entire case at Costco. Almost the entire box is still sitting in our kitchen cabinet. The box of Cocoa Puffs is sitting on top of our refrigerator unopened.

During the down time I had this past week and a half with just one guest dog, I've been doing a lot of reading. I just finished Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and currently thoroughly enjoying Ruth Reichl's Save Me the Plums (I love her writing). I subscribed to the New York Times again (haven't had a newspaper delivery in 10 years - I used to live and breath media as my past job) and spend about an hour and a half reading through articles, editorials and columns and take a shot at the crossword puzzle too (I really suck at crossword puzzles).

I somehow have gotten through all 5 seasons of Ma'dam Secretary on Netflix. I didn't really sit and watch each episode. I had it on in the background and caught parts of episodes here and there. Yangkyu and I are huge fans of Tea Leoni in the movie The Family Man and so when she returned to TV I was quite excited.

I resubscribed to SlingTV so that I can watch soccer properly this time. 

So I guess with Yangkyu gone, I've been mostly reading and spending a lot of money. Aside from the new subscriptions, I bought that ginormous orthopedic dog bed for Noah and Momo. Oh and a toaster. And a few other things..... many other things... herbal supplements, yoga mats, grass seeds, dog treats they don't need but thought they needed at the time when I hit the "confirm" button, food scale, eye drops. I mean... so random and some (many) unnecessary. (I literally just had to go to our expense tracking data sheet to remember some of the things I bought because I couldn't remember. If you can't remember things you buy then it is most definitely wasteful and unnecessary).

We have a monthly budget that we try to stick to every month and I can say that I surpassed it spectacularly this month. We have this budget so that we can save but also to not buy things we don't need (part of the reason we got rid of Amazon Prime was because we kept buying things we didn't need because the delivery was so fast).

It's so tempting to buy things. But one day I started to see it this way. When I'm 70, whether I bought myself that pretty dress dress or expensive make up or the fancy pot isn't going to determine whether I lived a fulfilling life. I won't look back and say, damn it! My life has been all for nothing because I didn't buy that thing when I was 40. It's been a good way of looking at how we interact with material things. But somehow this month this guiding principle has just all but gone down the drain (now I'm afraid when I'm 70 I'll be remembering the huge box of Brisk Lemon Iced Tea and the unopened box of Cocoa Puffs).

Some videos if you're interested - 

 // The Story of Stuff 

 // The Lifecycle of a t-shirt 

10 things about Momo

1. Momo was adopted from Asan Angels Sanctuary, which is located in the city of Asan in Korea. While it is called a sanctuary, it is not a sanctuary like you and I know it to be. While no dogs are euthanized the living conditions are harsh. Donations are low and regular volunteers are always needed to care for the 300 dogs who live there with an old lady in her seventies. 

2. Momo was known as the kitchen dog at the sanctuary. It is because that was the only place she resided. 

3. Momo's ticket out of the sanctuary was back in 2017 when she was found ill and had to be rushed to the hospital. She spent a year at the vet clinic who generously offered her housing while she recovered from one illness after another and then moved to a pet hotel before coming home to us in January 2019. 

4. Momo got her name in 2017. She was originally named Sunja. I think it means "gentle child."

5. Yangkyu and I decided to rename her (Sunja sounds like an old name - names given to women from our parents generation). Momo is named after the character from a book by the same name (by Michael Ende). Momo is a homeless girl who lives in the ruins of an amphitheater. She is known to listen very well and give very good advice and earns the trust of the people. I thought it fit her very well as she came to us during a very difficult time. After our adoption was confirmed, Momo literally picked me up off of the floor and got me to think straight again. And I would later find out by the vet tech who worked at the vet hospital where Momo stayed that Momo offered support to all her dog friends who were scared of the hospital. A truly fitting name. 

6. Momo is generally a scared and timid dog and aside from people she is most scared of thunder, lightening and the door bell.

7. She loves food! But aside from Korean sweet potatoes she isn't really a fan of vegetables and fruits.

8. Momo was listed as a corgi mix on her flight and quarantine papers. We will find out more bout her DNA (hopefully!) when we get our results back from her Wisdom Panel.

9. Momo has never really barked although lately she has been picking it up from her Piri's Place friends as she lets out these loud barks when clients come to drop and pick up their dogs. I had hoped she would pick up on their cuddling with people. Oh well. *shrug*

10. Momo is incredibly dependent on other dog friends. She had a little schnauzer friend in Korea while she was staying at the dog hotel after her stint at the vet hospital. His name is Jangsoo (which means "live a long life") and about maybe 5 months after Momo came home to us we heard news that Jangsoo also went to his forever home with someone in Korea. 

Life lately, according to my iPhone

"We all can dance," he said, "if we find the music that we love."

 -- Giraffes Can't Dance, Giles Andreae

Another Year of Cherry Blossoms

It's been a bit over a month since our cherry blossom viewing and hey! I'm finally getting around to sharing some pictures. 

Yangkyu and I have been doing this every year with Piri. We never had the chance to come with Bartles and Lady but did somehow make it out with Momo and Noah - two incredibly shy and timid dogs who have never really known what it's like to be around people, live in a home and walk on leashes. Everything is a learning process for them and while we are taking it slow as to not overwhelm them with so many new things at once, we really wanted to try and get them out to DC. While the ride out was a tough one (Noah has a hard time inside cars) and once on a leash they don't quite know how to stop and relax (they just keep walking and walking and walking) we are glad we were able to pull this off as a family.

**I know we can use treats to praise them but unfortunately Momo (while she loves treats) doesn't take them when she is overwhelmed or scared and Noah is a hit and miss because he has kidney disease.

While the cherry blossoms never get tiring to view what does get tiring are the crowds. And with two dogs who are still learning how to walk on a leash, going when there are a lot of people wasn't really an option. So instead we drove out early morning and even got a parking spot right near the Tidal Basin and we were able to walk about without having to worry too much about foot traffic. 

Just a little background as I haven't written a post to introduce Momo and Noah properly. Both Momo and Noah are senior rescue mutts from Korea. They lived their entire lives at a place called Asan Angels Sanctuary although it isn't quite a sanctuary like you and I are familiar with. While no dogs are euthanized there, the living conditions are harsh with over 300 dogs and they have to spend freezing winter nights and hot summer days outside. A 70 year old grandma lives on the premise but the area is maintained by a small handful of volunteers. Funds are always scarce but I can tell you the hearts of the people and dogs at Asan Angels are resilient and inspiring. I encourage you to take a look at their Facebook page and see the incredible and selfless work they do for these dogs so they can one day know what it is like to belong to a family and have a warm house to call their own.

Momo flew from Korea to be with us on January 30th of this year and Noah came shortly after on February 13. Momo was 8 when she came (she has since celebrated her first birthday with us and is currently 9 years old). Noah is 14 and he has Stage 3 kidney disease. He is one of the original dogs at the sanctuary. I believe the grandma had him since he was a puppy when she was still living in Seoul. We knew about his illness before we adopted him and while we weren't looking to adopt a second dog when I saw a picture of Noah I just knew we were all meant to be together.

It has now been 4 months for Momo and about 3 months for Noah in what is their journey to becoming house dogs. People probably can't tell from pictures I post on Instagram but they are still very skittish, don't cuddle with us and sometimes still try to escape, although it's not as dramatic as when they first came. But we're happy to be in this together with them. For me and Yangkyu, no dog is too shy, too timid, too sick or too old to call family.

 // My favorite people // 

While the Tidal Basin area is beautiful, our favorite place to stroll is actually Hains Point. We didn't get to walk around that area though - just a little bit - before we called it a day to head back.

That's what our outings have been like. Whether it's short or a long drive out, we don't stay long (maybe an hour tops) before going back home. For one, it's a little hard for Noah who is older and has arthritis. He isn't used to riding inside a dog carrier and insists he walks. He also doesn't know how to pee or go potty while on a leash. And so he holds everything in until we are home and he is in our backyard. They both also don't drink water even though I can tell they are thirsty. So it's all about baby steps for them. And not overdoing outings.

Back at home, both Momo and Noah took a long relaxing nap. And we were able to log a family memory that'll last us a lifetime. 

Past cherry blossom outings - 2014 // 2015 // 2016 // 

Shaggy

Hi.

This is Shaggy. He's staying with us until Saturday. Shaggy isn't a guest dog. He's actual a rescue from Korea who flew to Virginia yesterday to join his forever family. He'll get to meet them this weekend and until then he's staying with us. And let me tell you, he is a complete sweetheart.

The first thing we did when Shaggy was dropped off at our home was to let him out in the backyard to relieve himself. Then it was bath time. He didn't enjoy it but his little protests were the gentlest. Almost like, "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I think I want to step out of the bath now." And his gentle, soft personality continued to show throughout the day to this morning.

After breakfast and morning pee and potty session, I decided to leave him downstairs with Noah and Momo so that I can take care of things on the computer upstairs. We have a pet cam and I was watching them and I noticed that he was doing something but I couldn't tell what. Then I realized that he was howling! But it was so low, almost like a hum, that I couldn't even hear it clearly from upstairs. Shaggy is the gentlest dog. He is now sprawled out on the sofa sleeping. I hope he has a good dream.

When Shaggy arrived his stool was a bit soft and runny. This morning though it has firmed up significantly. We have been feeding him the same food as Momo - I and Love and You dry food mixed with ground beef, vegetables, chicken giblets with coconut oil. I also added some goat's milk and he gobbled everything up. I can feel that he is bony but I'm sure now that he has a forever family and a constant meal and lots of love he will gain the pounds he needs.

Some of the most endearing characteristics about Shaggy is his snaggle tooth. He also likes to dig and landscape too and so his hind toe nails look like they are about to turn into the Hulk (we'll have to get them washed before he leaves us). Shaggy also lets us wipe his paws and private areas too after he goes on a bathroom break. He just seems to go with the flow. 

I'm not sure how the stars aligned for us and Shaggy to meet. Sometimes I wonder that with people - how lucky I am to have met some of the people I know. And now I feel that with dogs. We really didn't do much for Shaggy. There are dedicated volunteers at Asan Angels Sanctuary, where he and Momo and Noah are from, who do all the hard work to get dogs like Shaggy adopted. We are just lucky to have the opportunity to be apart of this dog's journey, as small as it might be.

And we're all very excited for what the future holds for him. And we hope that all his friends at the sanctuary will get the same opportunities as well.

Please remember, adopt. Don't shop.