Slowly but surely, we’re finishing our bedroom set from IKEA.

Yesterday, we picked up the MALM 4-drawer chest and the MALM 6-drawer chest to match our MALM night stands. We also bought a FADO table lamp that our dog thinks is a ball and won’t quit barking at, curtains for the front bedroom window, and placemats to use as table toppers.

All we need now is the MALM bed frame and slats, but we’re either going to have to borrow a truck or pay for delivery to get those home.

After looking at all the furniture yesterday, I’m pining for the MALM dressing table, which has felt trays for jewelry, even though we have nowhere to put it. Maybe someone could buy it for me and save it until we have a house with plenty of room.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve turned into total IKEA junkies and are really happy with the quality of the pieces we’ve purchased.

After four years of blogging, I participated in my very first blogger gift exchange through the Secret Santa Soiree, which will now be a yearly tradition!

I had a ton of fun shopping and gathering presents for my SSS partner and loved seeing her blog about her gifts, but I was most excited when my gift arrived yesterday!

My Secret Santa must have studied my questionarre, because everything was perfect for me. There was pretty recycled stationary, a new pizza cutter, and a picture frame ornament that now holds a picture of Ollie…in his elf costume.

That’s right. My Secret Santa knew I was a crazy weiner dog person and sent an elf costume especially for Ollie, and it fits perfectly…if we could get him to stop attacking the hat.

Thank you from both of us, Secret Santa!

The First Dog is sick of the limelight after eight years in the oval office, and took out his frustration on a reporter recently. Judging from the footage, I say Barney was provoked. Those reporters sing-songing his name over and over again and coming in to pet him so quickly; Barney had no choice.

No worries, Barney. Only 73 days till you’re back on the ranch.

In a word…YES! Ollie is a shoe-in for the FREE Pet Photo Contest! All we have to do is post a photo and let the votes add up. Prizes range from $25 to $300, so we’re going to get out our camera and let Ollie earn his keep around here! If you think your pup can compete with our weiner dog, create a profile and upload a picture!

Is your pet cute enough to win you $300?

Enter the Anamigo Pet Photo contest and find out. Entries that get the most votes will win daily and weekly cash prizes.

You could win:
- Daily prize of $25. (You have 7 days to win!)
- Weekly prize of $125

Get your camera out and email your friends. Your furry friend could bring you in cash!

I sure I’m mentioned my dog’s love for electric blankets. He collapses in a heap and immediately falls asleep as soon as he lays on a soft, warm electric blanket.

That was until last weekend when I bought a new king-size electric blanket from Costco. This blanket is the Cadillac of blankets; super soft, dual controls, 10 hour shut-off timer. Within 5 minutes of the it being on the bed, Ollie got locked out of the bedroom because he chewed a hole in it. Later that day, I let him back in and he had his usual love affair with the electric blanket, falling right asleep, so I left him alone on the bed.

About an hour later, Ollie starts barking like a maniac, and I see him standing on the bed barking at the blanket. I looked closer, and I realized he chewed another hole in the blanket, right over one of the heating cords.

Apparently, Ollie got a little shock by the electric blanket and was barking at it like it attacked him. When I went to bed later that night, Ollie wouldn’t follow me. When I finally convinced him to get into bed, he wouldn’t go underneath the blanket.

Really, it was a win-win situation. I got a laugh and Ollie won’t chew the blanket anymore!

Forget Obama and McCain. The new addition to our family, Huey, is entered in the We Picture Perfect Pet Contest and NEEDS YOUR VOTES to win!

He had a surge of votes this afternoon, shooting up to 15th in the perfect pet ranking, but your votes can help make him #1. Head on over to Huey’s Perfect Pet Profile and give him a 10 out of 10.

Vote, Stumble, Tweet. Make sure everyone votes HUEY 2008!

While we’re on the subject of wiener dogs, lets talk about how a trip to the emergency vet just cost $200.

Ollie must have picked up a stomach bug at the Doggie Hotel, because it’s been coming out both ends since Friday evening. We’ve been keeping an eye on him, giving him water with a syringe and scrubbing carpets and washing sheets, but he started to get dehydrated and didn’t so much as bark once today, so I took him to the emergency vet.

For $400, the vet tech wanted to take x-rays and blood work before even recommending a treatment. I love my dog, but he basically has the flu, so I had to pipe up and say that we couldn’t afford that, so we settled on a quick exam, IV fluids, and a generic antibiotic.

If all is not well in the morning, the emergency clinic already scheduled an appointment with our regular vet.

We have a new addition to our crazy family of wiener dogs. Meet Huey.

No, Mike and I weren’t crazy enough to get Ollie a partner in crime just yet, but my sister and her boyfriend were crazy enough to add their own little dachshund to their NYC lifestyle. So far, Huey mainly just likes to sleep, but I think his personality is going to show itself very soon and their 600 square foot apartment won’t be able to contain him.

I also think that Huey and Ollie are going to be BFF when Huey comes to stay with us at Christmas.

This past spring, we acquired a new pet. Bubba the Bunny lives in the bushes outside our front door and greets us every morning when we take the dog out. When we first spotted him, he was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, now he’s full grown and ready for the winter.

As much as we love Bubba the Bunny and all of his friends around the complex, maintenance needs to look into critter control, because Bubba got as big as he has by eating the leaves off of all the flowering bushes that line the sidewalks.

We want to keep Bubba safe and protect the pretty flowers, and the Havahart Spray Away does just that. It is a motion activated repellent that sprays water to keep critters away! It’s clean, harmless, and will give Bubba a little scare to send him in the other direction.

Sometimes critters are a little more stubborn than our friendly bunny, so Havahart also offers Critter Ridder, a spray system that contains ingredients that irritates critters by taste and touch, but is still okay to use for organic gardening.

If your yard or garden has a problem with rabbits, deer, groundhogs, or other small animals, consider using Havahart products so that you can enjoy your garden and the natural wildlife. You can even learn about your new friends in the Critter Control Library.

We look forward to seeing Bubba and our flowers next spring thanks to Havahart.

When we were at Brookfield Zoo a few weeks ago, I was so excited to see the trainers come out to feed the elephants right where we were standing. I’m snapping pictures and filming away, when one of the elephants takes the biggest pee I have ever seen. Of course, I keep filming and giggling. Enjoy!