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?

The Reunion!!!!

G'day Pals,

Sowy it took me so long to post these photos of my big homecoming after my mum being in Israel for 8 LONG months. Mum has been weally tiwered fwom her twip and digging and she had to go back to work today. She has to give a lecture on Tuesday. I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound as much fun as a pig ear.
Mum is in the middle as Grant and Mandy Figg pose wif us. They are weally gweat people for taking good cawe of me for 8 months.
The first thing I did when they put me down is pee! I was sooo excited, but mum just thinks I was marking my spot.
After that, I played wif my favowite rope toy, I showed mum I still wemembered my twicks like laying down, I had some dinner, and then I layed down and took a west while mum and dad went acwoss the stweet to the pub to celebwate mum's and my homecoming.
I'll have some pictures of our fun weekend soon!

1 More Day/Halfway Home!/My Favowite Book

G'day Pals,

Mum just contacted me from the airport in Bangkok. She is leaving for Melbourne in just 5 hours and she will be home on Friday afternoon. She says she is sorry she hasn't been able to help me blog much in the last 2 weeks, but she only had about 15 minutes for internet because she was busy with all of those wonderful bones. She says most of her internet time was taken up with something called spam. I don't know what it is, but it sounds like food!

Asta up over asked me to list my favowite books. I'm not as cultured as her, so I've only read The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. My mum reads a lot of this deconstwuction stuff but I don't understand this. I like it when she shows me pictures of old bones!

Asta

THWEE MORE DAYS!!!! & My Bones

G'day Pals,

Mum will be home in just 3 more days on Friday! And, best of all: look at all of the swell bones she dug up with her friends at the Philistine site of Tel es Safi. I'm not sure what a Philistine is, but it seems like they sure enjoyed their food! I just hope mum brings all of those bones home to compensate me for my pain and suffering of being away fwom her for 8 1/2 whole months. I'm soooo excited, I've just peed again!

6 more days!

G'day Pals,

I'm so excited. Mum left her dig at Kibbutz Revadim and Tel es Safi to go back to Jerusalem and pack to come home. Because of her packing, she could not help me send out as many messages as I would like. She says she's finding lots of dried up bones on the dig and she also helped to uncover a Philistine hearth! Absence makes the hearth grow fonder. She has some photos on her blog at www.lahconfidential.blogspot.com
I'm sooooo excited, I peeed again!

Getting Ready for Mum & Meme

Some of you asked me about what kind of welcome home pawty we are planning for mum. She's going to be pretty tired from the 20 hour flight and the 10 hour stopover in Bangkok, so we're just doing something simple. Something else that I haven't told you about me is that we live across the street from a pub - the Brandon. Dad likes this aspect of Australia a lot and mum says it's like having our own pwivate beer tap. Mum and dad met the Figgs here. So the Figgs are bwinging me home on July 20 and we're all going to the pub to celebwate! Mum will be packing next weekend, so she won't be helping me post, but she may have time to help me visit some of my pals. In the meantime you can read some more about me:
1. Your age? 2 1/2 years
2. Your age when came to live with your people? 2 months
3. What color is the collar you’re wearing right now? Blue for the Carlton Blues, my favorite footy team
4. Who is your favorite person other than the people you live with? The Figgs who are taking care of me till mum comes home
5. How much do you weigh? 8 kgs
6. Most expensive thing you’ve ever chewed up? My mum’s 1 gig memory stick
7. Do you like other Dogs? Yes
8. Who is your best non-human friend? Asta up over & close to home, I play with Judah
9. Squeaky Toys or Tennis Balls? Tennis Balls!
10. Do you like to be brushed? No
11. Peanut Butter or Cheese? Cheese! Some Gruyere & a nice chianti
12. Do your people cut your toenails? The Groomer does it
13. Any formal education? Puppy pre-school
14. Couch potato or Energizer Bunny? I’m a Fox Terrier, draw your own conclusions
15. Five nicknames your people call you. Asta No, P-Asta, Pain in the Asta, Girly Girl, Asta Baby,
16. What is your best trick? I can roll over
17. Do you like kitties? They’re delish!
18. What did you have for breakfast? Chicken necks
19. Can you hunt (aka have you ever killed anything living)? I shake my rope toy till its dead.
20. When & why was the last time you went to the V.E.T.? About 2 months ago for vaccinations
21. Where do you sleep at night? In between mum & dad or in Ellen Figg’s bed
22. Do you like to swim? I love to swim! Check out my surf cam!
23. Can you make puppies? Make them do what?
24. Your favorite place to visit? The Park
25. Do you give kisses? Smoochie kisses to Asta and Jackson!
26. Can you potty on command? Yes, when they say “ hurry up” I pee and then I go to my treat jar & wait for my tweat
27. To Cuz or not to Cuz? Cuz & Kongs Bore me, I like rope toys & pig ears

Countdown to Mum

G'day Pals
Happy 4th of July. Being a true blue Aussie girl, I don't get these things, but mum is a yank (we call all Americans yanks), she sawys it's weal important. That's when she & all her mates got freed fwom the Bwitish. They just sent all of us to a big pwison.

Mum hasn't been helping me blog much cause she's been packing to finally come home. She's going to dig up old bones on Sunday for 10 days at a Philistine place, then she's coming home in just 16 days! She leaves Israel on July 18 and reaches Aussie land on July 20 - I'm sooo excited, I could just pee! I hope she at least brings me some of her dusty old bones. Mum and her mates are digging in the photo.

Meanwhile, my best pal, Judah the cairn, hurt his foot. Crikey! you should have seen how big and swollen it was. My poor little mate was very upset. The vet thinks that he's either been bitten by a bug, had an allergy, or sprained his foot - maybe playing too much wif me! And, then because it was sore he licked it so much that it became infected. Poor Judah has been on 2 weeks of antibiotics and some anti-inflammatories and he is good as new. Mandy Figg - who takes care of me till mum gets home noticed I was a bit put out because Judah wouldn't play chasies with me around the house. I love chasies almost as much as playing nursie wif Jackson! I kept going up to him and sniffing his foot and then giving him a dirty look - cause I only give nursie cuddles to Jackson and I wanted to Judah to play. Everyone thought it was vewy funny. You can see Judah in the picture wif me.

Jerusalem Gay Parade & Doggie Tummy Rubs

G'day Pals,
Last week my mum went to the gay parade in Jerusalem to show support for her friends and for human wights. She said it was her scawiest experience of 20 years working in the Middle East, and she's wowked in Sywia, Egypt, and Lebanon! Thewe were 9000 police to pwotect 5000 marchers. In the middle of all of this there was still woom for a doggie to get a tummy rub! She took the photo cause every time she sees a dog she thinks of me and she misses me. I pwoud of my mum for standing up for wights, even though I'm not suwe what they awe. My mum says she's a little jealous because she's had a blog for 9 months and I've had one for 3, and I have as many hits as she does. If you want to visit my mum's blog it's at http://lahconfidential.blogspot.com/
She's coming home in 3 weeks! Hooray!

Ready to Pawty for Maggie

Ben Ben & Girl Girl invited me to a really cool Pawty for Maggie, Queen of So Cal. My mum is still not awound to help me come up with a weally good costume. You should see my pal, Asta up over, she looks like a queen herself. So, I'm stuck wearing my sexy, smokin hot nursie outfit. I'm catching a ride wif Girl Girl in her car on the way to pick up the other Asta in New York (I hope Asta's dwess will fit in the car) and then we are off to California. I'm weally excited because I've never been to California, but my mum and dad are fwom there. I didn't know how Girl Girl would fit all of us in herw car but she managed. Girl Girl, took this cool photo of all of us in the cawr & put it on her blog. There's nothing like a woad twip! I'm hoping we can swing by Jackson's and pick him up to be our date!
Pawty On!

Jackson's Dweam Team

G'day Pals, Those of you who have kept up on our fwiend Jackson's medical pwoblems know that the 2 Asta's had to get him away fwom hussie nurse Clarissa. Jackson came to his senses and now the 2 Asta's and Janie are taking good cawe of him! Doesn't Janie look gweat in her nursie uniform? We wait on him hand & paw. Janie gives him cookies, and the 2 Asta's give him smoochie kisses and cuddles. Doesn't he look gorgeous?

Me & My Dad

G'day pals, this is me giving some licks to my dad in our patio. I know he loves me, but he has a hard time taking care of him self with mum gone, and more trouble taking care of me, so I am still with the Figgs (not to be confused with Tad's mean sister Fig) where I'm getting runs and tummy rubs from Ellen and playing with my 4 cairn mates: Zarra, Judah, Violet and Jasmine. My foster mum Mandy says that Ellen has been a good influence on me, and I like to be cuddled more now (Jackson, where are you?), instead of jumping around all the time. That's good because my mum is coming home in just over a month, and that means I get to come home too!

I'm Ready for my Close-Up Mr. DeMille!

I've been tagged for celebrity look-alike by Goofy, so I have to show myself next to a famous celebrity that I look like. This was really a difficult choice. My first thought was to choose Anna Nicole Smith or Marilyn Monroe, but I think I most look like Skippy, who played Asta in the Thin Man movies. Can you tell which is which?
I'm tagging Opy, Bogart, & Toto, too!

Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me!/Improving the Aussie Cork Hat

G'day Mates, My mum just returned to Jerusalem from her week in Cyprus and is tired from partying with all her friends. However, we were distressed to read that my cultured pal, Asta Urbanista in New York (New York City?) has had some trouble with flies, and one of them was so gigantic that she was pewtrified with fear and had to call for help! Crikey! Mates, we have lots of flies down here, and to help keep 'em away we wear these cork hats. So, I got my pal Asta urbanista to try with of these beauties. Don't you all think she looks Faire Dinkum? And, cuter than the funny man. The dangling corks scawe the flys away, but the only problem is that the corks are more annoying than the flies, but at least they aren't scawy! My new cairn pal Scruffy had a weally good suggestion for impwoving the cork hats. He thinks we should have treats and bones dangle fwom the hat instead of the corks. Snicker's Ma suggested dangling vermin would be fun for us doggies. And, Fee suggested having dangly treats on the anti-itch cones. I think that all of these ideas could be a big impwovement!