Where Is Asta?/Asta's Routine

G'day Pals

Mum has been working so very hard these last few weeks - late nights evwy night and she has bad insomnia. She still finds time to take me for 1-2 hour walks/runs evwy day. She says it helps hewe sleep better. I can't believe she hasn't had time to work on either of our blogs for almost a month!

We always walk or jog a mile to Princes Park where our beloved Blues used to play. Then we visit the dog section of the park. Here you can see me with my pal Axel - he's a massive and with my other pal Conor, who is a Cavy. Cavy's are popular here in Oz. Then mum and I go running through the middle of the fields and you can see the skyline of Melbourne in the backwound. We do this almost evwy day, so life is pwetty routine.

About the only blog I've had time to visit is the one of my thin twin, Asta up over. And we didn't even have time to watch all of hewr clever videos - we just wead about her fun activities. We do always twy to make the weekly chat that Bussie has to keep up wif my pals.

Mum is going to Los Angeles in 2 weeks and she has so much to do to get weady. She says she has to write a confewence paper, whatever that means????

Plus she has to mark papwews and final exams and theses. I offewed to mawk them fow herw but she says that wouldn't help. I don't know why. We'rew weally sowy we haven't been awound lately. Mum hopes to catch up on evwything duwing the Chwistmas times.

Happy Halloween pals!

Melbourne's Full of Cats!

G'day Pals,

Today was the Grand Final: that's the Aus Footy equivalent of the Super Bowl, except tickets are a lot cheaper, but our team was out weeks ago - in fact, we came in next to last. Still, this was the fiwst time a Victorian team has gone to the finals since my pawents moved hewe. So, instead of taking me fow my usual 2 houwr walk to the dog pawk, mum went acwoss the stweet wif dad to the pub to watch the Geelong Cats crush the Port Adelaide team by mowe than 100 points. They dwank a bottle of champagne to celebwate a Vicky team winning - any excuse to dwink! So, Melbourne is full of Cat people this weekend. Meanwhile, I laid low and waited fow mum and dad to come back. I guess I'll get my usual walk tomowow.

Bestest Pawty - Asta's All Gwowed Up

G'day Pals,

I just woke up after pawtying hard wif Asta and all my pals.

What a day ow 2 days, maybe it went fow 3!

It stawted when Ruby picked me up in her jet fow the long flight to New Yowk. Things got weally interesting after she picked up Jackson in the UK. That Indian blanket was pwetty good fow snuggling under - He He He. Jackson, he got some heap big wampum thewe!

I think Jax was pwetty tiwed by the time we weached the wanch, so I did lots of sqwawe dancing wif Bussie and Asta up over and Stanley.

Then thewe was the aftew pawty.Melbouwne will nevew seem the same now that I've tasted life in the big city!

Happy Bar B Q Barkday Asta Urbanista!

Whoops, I almost fowgot my cowgirl boots. Ruby picked me and all the pals up fow the long flight to NYC.



What a gweat Bar B Q. There's nothing us Aussies love more than a good bar b que, except a pawty. My thin twin Asta up over is now all gwon up and can she pawty.

Jackson gave me the fiwst dance - he looked so dashing in his heap big chief costume. And, we had tons of food - she even supplied guacamole & mawgarwitas. And thewe is still the aftew pawty to look foward to.

Lock and Load!

Getting Weady for Pawty No. 2!

G'day Pals,

I'm getting weady for Asta up over's pawty. I know it's still early, but it's a long wide to New York - the Big Apple - I'm sooo excited! I just have to find my shoes. I'm also bwinging some pig eawrs fow the long dwive wif Ruby.

Dancin' the Night Away!

Add Glitter to Pictures



Stanley picked me and my mates up in his Pawty Bus to go to Penny & Lola's Disco Pawty. Stanley's a real smooth opewatow. You should have seen him on the dance floor. How he had all of that enewgy after dwiving to Austwalia, Asia, and all over America, I don't know! As you can see I am all blinged up. I had a gweat time dancing wif all of my fwiends!

Now I have to get weady for Asta up over's Bawkday Pawty!

Getting Weady for the Pawty!

Dad took me to see Sarah my gwoomer to get all pwetty for the big round of weekend pawties I'm invited to. I soooooo excited!

Mum and Dad took a bweak and went on a tour of 4 wineries in the Yarra valley.

The Yarra valley is bootiful and just 1 hour away. This photo was taken at the Domain-Chandon winery - that's mum's favowite. Today I got a bweak fwom being the designated dwiver.

This is my gwoomer Sarah, who makes me look bootiful evwy 6 weeks! Now I'm weady to Paw-tay!

Let Another Dogg Into Australia!

G'day Pals,

Sowy I've been MIA fow a while. Mum has been working evwy night till almost 2 am. She has lots of students and they keep giving hew papews to wead. I know I could do a bettew and fastew job of mawking them. Asta up over says just to chew them up, but I think mawking them would be fun too!

Meanwhile, I've become awawre of a sewious pwoblem in Austwalia. They are twying to keep dogs out of Austwalia. Thewes a dogg called Snoopy and they won't let him come hewe. They say he's a cwiminal. I'm not suwe what that is, but mum says that it used to be a requiwement for moving to Austwailia. This is so confusing! I'm suwe Snoopy could be rehabilitated if he just had some help fwom the Dog Whispewer, then went thwough quawentine. Snoopy wants to live in Melbouwne like me and my mum. I figuwe if they let mum into Austwalia, they can let Snoopy in too! You can vote fow getting Snoopy out of the dogg house and into Austwalia at:
http://www.mtv.com.au/snoop/

I'm planning to spend my weekend getting weady fow Asta up over's Paw-ty and will post again soon!

SCATTERGORIES: Wanna Play?

Mum has been working late evwy night weading her students work. So, I need to get my pals to pway wif me a little.
I’ve been tagged by Gussie to pway Scattergowies. I’m tagging Agatha and Archie, Girl Girl, Hammer, and Toby. I think I'll tag Koobie, too!
Here are the rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions. They must be real places, names, things ... nothing made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. You CAN'T use your own name for the boy/girl name question.
My name: ASTA
1. Famous Singer: Al Jolson
2. Four letter word: Asss
3. Street: Avenue of the Stars (Century City, California)
4. Colour: Aqua
5. Gifts/Presents: Antiques
6. Vehicle: Aston Martin DB 5 (told you mum is a Bond fan)
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Animal Keychains
8. Boy Name: Alden (my mum’s dad’s name)
9. Girl Name: Anne (my mum’s mum’s name)
10. Movie Title: After the Thin Man (of course)
11. Drink: Absinthe - It’s legal in Australia or Absolut Citron - Shaken, not stirred
12. Occupation: Archaeologist - what my mum does!
13. Celebrity: Audrey Hepburn
14. Magazine: Archaeology (published by the Archaeological Institute of America!)
15. U.S. City: Anaheim - where my dad is fwom
16. Pro Sports: Australian Rules Football (Go the Blues!)
17. Fruit: Apricot
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Attitude
19. Something You Throw Away: Advertising
20. Things You Shout: Ahhhhwooooooooooooo!
21. Cartoon Character: Astro Boy

A Fun Weekend

G'day Pals,

The weekend started out on kind of a bad paw. Mum decided that I've rolled in so much possum poo the last 2 weeks that I needed a bath. She always takes me into the shower. It would be fun if not for all of that icky soap!

We had our usual 2 hour walk at the dog park. I will show photos of the dog park another time. It was the warmest day here in several months - about 68 F (20 C), so mum and dad decided to go to mum's favowite outdoor pizza place in Carlton and I got to come along! Mum always eats this weally gawlicky pizza, so I didn't get too many tweats, but it was a good 2 miles of walking after our 4 mile walk at the pawk. At the end of my day, dad gave me a tummy rub and he got a big kiss in return. We all had fun even though the pathetic Carlton Blues lost by 82 points! Australian rules football is played on a round field wif 3 sets of goal posts at each end: you get 6 points for getting the ball thwough the middle and 1 point for getting it twough the end posts. The same team pways offence and defence, and they can move the ball by running wif it, vollying it, or kicking it, so there is lots of scowing, but losing by 82 points is too much! Mum will take me on another long walk tomowow. 2 hours after we got home it started raining.

Tagged and Bagged

G'day Pals,

I've been tagged by the Airechicks to tell you something about myself using my middle name. Since my full name is Asta La Vista Baby, I guess La Vista is my middle name, so here goes:

L for LA: This forms an acrostic & tells you where Mum comes from
Aussie: I’m Fair Dinkum

Victoria is the state I live in
Impish - Koobuss says this is what WFT’s are
Stubborn - I’m a real Terrier
Terror - short for Terrier
Adorable is what lets me get away wif Terrier Mischief

I have to now tag a dog for every letter of my middle name, so I tag: Asta up over, Koobie, Bussie, Gussie, Ruby, Tad, and Ben Ben

Another Footy Loss

G'day Pals, I apologize for my long absence from blogging. Mum has been sick for 2 weeks and foolishly going to the Uni to teach when she should be home in bed cuddling yours truly. She finally went to the vet last week and got some pills to make her better. Yesterday she was clearly feeling better because she went to the football game to drink beer and eat meat pies, but her pathetic team lost again. The Blues were ahead for the entire game, then lost to a team that has a mosquito for a mascot - how sad is that? So it was up to yours truly to try and console her. In return, she FINALLY took me for a decent walk today. Mum's blog got an award this week - it's the Expat Blog of the Month - it's still not enough to get her blog more hits than mine. I am clearly more interesting than all of this archaeology stuff she does, but at least her job keeps me in pig ears.

Lookin' Spiffy

G'day Mates,
Some of you have commented on my shaggy appearance. My regular groomer, Sarah, was on vacation when mum got home. I was scheduled to see her last week, but her plane was stranded in Singapore, but today mum was able to take me in. Sarah grooms me at the Carlton Vet, which is just 3 blocks away. I'm weady now for summer, but it's still cold here. I'll have to snuggle between mum and dad tonight to stay warm! Wight now I'm sitting in mum's study wif some of my favowite toys neaw by.

Footy Day!!!

G'day Pals, Mum has been taking me for long walks and runs evwyday, but at night she has lots and lots of student work to read, so she hasn't had much time to help me blog. But, today, mum went to see her favowite Austwalian Rules Football team pway. Austwailian football is played on a round field and mum likes it because the players wear tight little shorts. She supports our local team called the Carlton Blues and she likes them so much (even though the are almost in last place) that she makes me wear a Carlton Blues jumper. Mum says that the footy is fun because they drink beer and eat meat pies. I would rather pway wif my water bowl, but the meat pies sound good.

Where Are the Bones?????

I figured that because my mum found boxes upon boxes of bones she would bring them back to me for my pain and suffering of being abandoned for 8 1/2 months. But what does she bring me? She brings a rock from the Philistine hearth she excavated. She is a excited about this stupid rock. Tell me, have you ever eaten or chewed a rock? She said the bones had to be studied, and analyzed and put into a putter. So, Putter is getting all the bones???? Then she says she has a special gift for me. But it's even worse than the rock!

Even worse than a rock!

Mum said she had a really gweat pwezzie for me, but it turns out she bought this humiliating hat in the Bangkok airport! Oh, the Shame! She said it was cute and that she was inspired by all the clothes that Tadpole's massah buys for him. If you've read Tad's blog lately, you'll know he twied to mail himself somewhere to stop massah fwom buying those clothes! Dad says that this hat makes me look like a CHAV. I am soooo disappointed!

A Real Prezzie for Asta At Lasta!

Mum didn't forget me after all! Look at this giant bag of pig ears she is holding for me. Oh, the joy, oh, the bliss! My dawg! Have any of you ever seen such a big bag of pig ears? Maybe she'll give me one soon!

Gotcha!

I managed to get one of those scrumptious pig ears away from mum when she dropped one. She doesn't give them out evwyday. What can I do to cherish and pwotect it? Of course, I took it stwaight to the garden and buried it! How can I thank mum for this blessing? Maybe I'll dig it up in a few days, then bwing it in the house and shake the dirt all over the living woom! I know mum weally likes this because evwy time I do it, she gets soooo excited. Hooray! I'm soooo happy now! Especially because mum did wemember to get me a good prezzie.

Goodbye Friend Oscar: 28th May 2006-28 July 2007

We were very sad to learn of Oscar's death yesterday. Words escape us. He was a typical terrier: smart, mischevious, and full of life. He was too young.

Bogart has posted a beautiful tribute to Oscar on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAs23lf1gFg

Why Mum Hasn't Been Helping Me Blog

G'day Pals,
I thought after months and months of weading about Mycenaean Pottery and Philistine Pottery my mum would be giving me her undivided attention, but now she just seems to spend all of her time reading about Harry Pottery! Can you tell me what to do?