Nope, that’s not a doctored screen shot. The terms “Chiberia“, “Polar Vortex“, and “Frozen Tundra” get tossed around so casually, let’s just say it’s pretty freakin’ cold here. In fact my typing has slowed down by about 50% due to semi-numb fingers. And I’m indoors.

This photo of Sid was taken a few days earlier when it was relatively pleasant outside. You know, like a balmy 20 degrees. In fact, I think I was wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

I didn’t dare put Sid through the extra seconds it would have taken to snap a photo outside yesterday or today. Sid has perfected zipping out to the backyard, takin’ care of business, and zipping back inside (for a treat of course). He’s been a real trooper. I set up wee-wee pads for him, but he’s a got a bladder of steel and refuses to go in the house (trust me, I’m not complaining).

We hope everyone else has been staying warm and staying indoors – preferably in Snuggies. We’ve been under blankets as much as possible. I even cooked dinner while wearing my puffy winter coat indoors. Looking forward to when we get back above zero!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Starting New Year’s Eve, Chicago (and pretty much everywhere else) got bombarded with snow for 48-hours straight!

Sid’s been such a trooper through all this, and even though he was born and bred in Southern California, he’s been bucking up and going outside in the frigid January air to do his business. We’ve been forced to stick to brief walks – basically to the front of the apartment building or to the backyard.

Thank goodness for our awesome landlords (and most of our neighbors) who shoveled the sidewalk immaculately, otherwise I’m sure I’d have a full-fledged poop strike on my hands.

Sid wanted to do an “artistic” photo to show his feelings about these brutal temperatures. He happens to be doing his famed “Tripod” in this one. Don’t worry, though, he got a top-notch paw-warming by yours truly immediately after the photo was taken. STAY WARM, PEOPLE (AND PUGS)!

Sid and I hope everyone had a great holiday. We’ve been laying low the past few days, watching some movies at home, and trying our best to stay warm. Ever since the Christmas festivities wound down, Sid has been predominantly in a horizontal position, purring like a 4-stroke engine.

The reason why Sid is so tuckered out is because he went on a twinkling-light-filled bender last week. Here’s a collage of his descent into holiday madness (double-click to enlarge the image…that is, if you can handle the insanity).

One incident of which no photographic material exists, but I’m sure Sid will never forget, involved a certain pug hurling himself into the air, batting an entire shrimp cocktail platter onto the ground, and chowing down on said shrimp cocktail platter while all humans present looked on in horror. Based upon the speed at which Sid normally inhales his dinner and how many seconds had elapsed before I was able to intervene (approx. five), I suspect he slurped down about 4 or 5 shrimp. Probably the tails, too. And some of the sauce.

Sid’s rampage continued into the living room where he tore open numerous presents, many of which weren’t even his. He thought the new puffy coat for my brother-in-law was his new bed and started digging/nesting in it. He rummaged through the bag of discarded wrapping paper, certain that a package of venison treats must have slipped through the cracks. On numerous occasions he tried to recreate his earlier moment of triumph by awkwardly batting at any and all items that were within 6 inches from the edge of a tabletop. He does have amazing reaching skills but I’m happy to report his further attempts proved unsuccessful…well, to him anyway.

It’s no wonder the dude needs to recuperate.

Hey there Slopers – it’s me Sid today.

I hope you  all are staying warm and cozy. It’s been so dang cold here that I wish my dad would just buy some of those wee-wee pads so I can stay inside until Spring.

So I read on the internet that we’re supposed to leave cookies out for Santa to provide him the stamina required to deliver all those millions of presents and treats to humans and pugs around the world. So I asked my Dad to set out some cookies and almond milk (I also read Santa is lactose intolerant).

But I couldn’t help staring at the cookies; they were calling out to me. “Sid! Sid! We’re so tasty and filled with PEANUT BUTTER! Please eat us!”

It was UNBEARABLE to have them just sitting there, mere inches from my muzzle.

Then my little pug brain started thinking, with all the other BILLIONS of pugs and humans on planet Earth, doesn’t Santa get all the cookies he needs? Surely he’s not going to miss a few small Nutter Butters, right?

I thought perhaps my Dad would agree with my logic but he insisted that I could not eat any of the cookies. Being the persistant pug I am, I respectfully bowed down (you know, like you’re taught in gentle-pug finishing school) and dipped my head as low as it would go and repeated my plea.

But still my Dad denied me the cookies.

Humbug! Oh, well. I’m sure I’ll get lots of cookies later tonight and tomorrow. It’s just so hard to BE PATIENT when you’re a pug!

The lack of recent posts is due to the fact that I was out of town for bit. While Sid was stuck at home, I was on the West Coast to visit some friends in Los Angeles and Oakland. This trip provided a welcome departure from the endless days of below-zero windchill temps that were bombarding the midwest and keeping Sid and I cooped up like hermits.

When I crashed through the apartment door, with my suitcase and carry-on bag flailing behind me, I expected to be bowled over by an ecstatic pug, overjoyed that his master had finally returned. Well, this was the “Welcome Home” face I was greeted with:

I think Sid may have actually been rotating his head slowly back and forth, muttering “tsk tsk tsk” under his breath. In other words, I was presented with the infamous PUG GUILT TRIP. I’m sure many of you are familiar with this move. Sid claimed that during the past week he received NO TREATS, NO BELLY-RUBS, and was subjected to EPIC WALKS through various snowstorms and blizzards without even a meager confidence shirt to protect him from the elements. Well (for once) I actually knew better as I had been in communication with his pug-sitters the whole time I was gone. He even got DOUBLE DINNER one night! COME ON! Talk about SPOILED!

I was really happy to see him, though, so I played along with his story and gave him a bunch of baby carrots and chest rubs. Whatever works, right?

We got a decent dumping of snow over the weekend and most of it has stuck around. We’re supposed to get some more tonight. It’s actually really pretty. The initial snowfall is the best phase of snow, before it eventually morphs into grey piles of mush. The wonderful sight of Christmas light shining out under a thin layer of snow almost makes up for the fact that temperature is in the single digits.

Sid enjoys the snow, although when there’s more than an inch or so, it gets stuck between his toes and he starts trying to walk on three legs while staring at me pathetically. I can usually appease him by holding his limp paw in my ungloved hand to melt the snow and warm his paw up a bit, but other times the only way to console him is to carry him the rest of the way home. He was born and raised in southern California so I can’t fault him for having thin blood.

If it stays this cold, we’re going to have to double up his layer of confidence shirts and invest in some insulated pug boots!