For the last few days, I’ve been letting Ilse drink out of a bowl in the kitchen, filled with water from the refrigerator door. This isn’t where she normally gets water, which is what makes this story impressive.

This morning, I picked up the bowl and put it in the dishwasher, with the intention of replacing it with a clean bowl. I got distracted rinsing other dishes, though, so I forgot to replace it.

Fast-forward to this afternoon. I heard Ilse go in and out of the doggy door in the kitchen several times. (This is how she gets my attention.) When I went downstairs to see what was going on, she was sitting on the kitchen floor, staring up at the cabinet in which we keep the bowls. She looked at me, then looked at the cabinet. Looked at me, looked at the cabinet.

I pulled out a bowl from the cabinet, filled it with fresh water from the fridge, and set it back down while she wagged her tail with delight.

Ilse dislikes Halloween more than I do. I’m just uninterested. She, on the other hand, is forced to wear uncomfortable clothing.

I would just like to take a moment to point out that I have a cute dog. I have a cute dog. I’ve noticed that most of the photos I’ve taken on my phone camera are of my dog, including this one. I can’t help it: she always seems to be posing.

It’s been a long time since Ilse’s been so excited about a treat (a treat meant specifically for dogs, not for people), so I have to blog about these. She absolutely loves these Zuke’s Mini Bakes that we got at Anaheim Feed.

I’ve never seen them at Petco, so I’m not sure how long they’ve existed. They only have the Zuke’s Mini Naturals, which smell gross. I went to Anaheim Feed to find a different treat but ended up deciding to try these. We got her the “Peanut Butter ‘n Blueberryz” flavor because she likes peanut butter more than turkey, and we think she’s allergic to chicken.

She’s been getting them for over a month now, but she still dances and acts crazy when she knows she’s going to get one. She usually loses interest in her treats pretty quickly, so her reaction to these is a welcome change. And they come in a huge box (325 pieces) for a low price (about $5), so that’s a welcome change too!

As a bonus, they’re made without wheat, corn, and soy, which is good if your dog has allergies, or if you’re a dog-allergy-hypochondriac.

Ilse wishes you a "hoppy" Easter! This photo is from her Cadbury audition, naturally.

Thank you, Mom and Lisa! Ilse loves my birthday present, and I think it looks very nice in our room.

Ilse was really matted when she went for her haircut today, so they had to cut it really short again. She looks like a big white rat.

Wow, I haven’t written anything since May? The saddest part about that is that my archives will always skip over June 2008, as if it’s the month that time forgot, or as if I don’t know the order of the months. “Let’s see, April, May, July… July? That’s not what’s next!”

June had weddings and stuff. Work was pretty hectic too, and is even more so now that it’s July. Ash and I have been watching a lot of HGTV, and I even tried my hand at some “Hidden Potential” inspired makeovers using Photoshop.

Ilse is sad every day while Ash is at work. She just camps out by the front door waiting, or she sleeps in her Sherpa bag all day. Oh, the poor neglected puppy. Of course she wouldn’t be neglected if she were willing to play with me, but noooo… she wants her “mommy” instead.

Friends of ours (Donald, Matt, and Joy) just moved in a mile or so down the road, and I’m excited to have more people setting up house in Long Beach. We used to encourage our friends to move to New York with us, and now we encourage them to move to Long Beach instead. No offense to New York; we’re just short-distance-friend gluttons.

Seems to be working (admittedly not through our own efforts), because every day we hear about someone we know who is moving or has moved here. Hooray!

Most benefited by this is Ilse, who gains new puppies to play with at the dog park.

Ilse’s fur had a bunch of mats in it (particularly under her collar, because it rubs against her fur all day), so we had to get her groomed with a really close haircut. Now she looks like a poodle, much like she did the first time I took her to get groomed. (I underestimated how long her hair needed to be.) She looks better when her fur is longer, but I guess sometimes it’s good to start with a new coat.