Let Us Recap

According the the little countdown on Sophie's page, she just turned 9 months old!  I can't believe it for two reasons.  1) She is so small!  At 45 pounds, she is currently nestled comfortably in my lap.  Shouldn't she have turned into that gigantic bruiser dog we all expected when she was a baby?  2) She is so immature!  She doesn't know nearly as much as most dogs her age, something we worked really hard on for the past 2 weeks.  Socially, she thinks she's a little puppy and had no problem taking on a mastiff AND a husky (at the same time!) at the dog park this week.  Only a crazy puppy with delusions of grandeur would engage 6 times her body weight in a wrestling match. 

For the past two weeks, my dog focus has been all Sophie all the time.  Poor Pauly has been entrusted to my parents and brother, and I haven't even seen him in a whole week!  I miss that easy-going, lazy old man.  I have enjoyed my 2 straight weeks with Sophie because I usually share responsibility for her with my parents.  She is in NYC with me and Pauly on Mondays and Tuesdays, and then on Long Island with my parents for the rest of the week.  I think it is confusing for her to live in two different homes and to answer to three different people.  She has really responded well to consistency and having one handler.  It has also given me an opportunity to bond with her, something I never really did because there was always her Pauly or competing humans around.  She learned a lot in the past 2 weeks.  She's walking with a looser leash, not jumping on people when they pet her, not running up to every single dog on the street, and trusting me more in "scary" situations like stairs or heights.  I'm proud of her, but there's still a lot more work to be done before she's ready to go in for formal training in 3 months. 

In other news, I believe my birthday festivities have finally come to an end.  Mind you, my actual birthday was almost 3 months ago.  My best friend, Erika, seriously prolonged the festivities.  2 months after my birthday, she made me this amazing chocolate raspberry (my fave) cake.

Yes, this tasted as good as it looks.

For my birthday present, she got me tickets to see the Propeller all male Shakespeare troop perform A Comedy of Errors at BAM.  Let me just say, the show was phenomenal.  It was the perfect combination of staying true to Shakespeare and the language while being accessible to a broad audience.  Complete with a sombrero and soccer jersey clad chorus, a naked man running across stage with a sparkler in his arse, and Shakespeare's witty and crass humor.  It was SO.MUCH.FUN.  And before the theatre, she made Aditi, Jay, and I a feast!

Salad, baguette, and fresh tricolor fettucine from Little Italy with sundried tomato and mushroom cream sauce

Slaving away in my kitchen

Jay visited for a few hours and fell asleep on the kitchen floor with Sophie

Yum!

I know this post is super long, but it's probably the only one you're getting for awhile.  Between now and Thursday, Pauly and I have pet therapy scheduled at the hospital, I have to go to Connecticut for an all day job interview, I am going to see the Daily Show, and I need to stay on top of my classes.  I also think I'm getting sick.

"What?  You were writing a super long blog post and I am bored with all my toys and missing my brother.  I see no problem with flipping the water bowl and running around the apartment with it."

I need to go clean up.