Update on Grandpa

Axel's Mom here. I am still in South Africa. I wish I had good news for you, but the fact is that Dad is critically ill and has been for some time now. Since his heart surgery, he has had 4 additional surgeries and one setback after another. For the past 5 days he has been sleeping and unresponsive. Though I have been praying for his recovery, I believe in my heart that it probably is not to be. He is in a very weakened state now after almost 4 weeks in ICU and he is 85 after all.

On Tuesday I am planning to leave South Africa after a month and return to my life in Philadephia. Of course I leave with a very heavy heart and deep sadness because I do not expect to see my beloved father alive again. I have struggled with the decision to leave, but I knew Dad would be the first one to tell me its time to go, that I need to get back to my life and my work in Philadelphia.

I can't wait to hug Axel - I have so missed his little furry presence. I have no doubt I will be leaning on him when I get home.
Please keep Dad (and me) in your prayers. This is the hardest time in both our lives I expect.

Dani

PS Please note the NEW button on the top right of the blog - please click to find out more about Sweet Cecil and open your hearts and wallets to help this dear boy restore his vision.

Message from Mom (again!)

AGC: Mom is hogging my blog, again...MOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

Mom: Hello everyone (get down Ax!),
I just wanted to tell you that I will be going to South Africa tomorrow to see my family - Ax will be staying home with his Daddy. I'm not sure if he will have computer access while I'm away...

AGC: "What? No way!!!"

Mom: Sorry Ax...but it is just so. I promise to bring you a big piece of South African biltong (beef jerky SA style - incomparable to American beef jerky) to make up for it. How does that sound?

AGC: Hang on, I have to google biltong to see if it is a fair bargain....Well, after looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltong - you got yourself a deal Mom. That looks yummy!

Mom: I do need to add one word of caution Axie Pax. For some reason it is illegal to bring biltong into the United States, so your Mother will have to smuggle it in. I'll gladly risk imprisonment so you can get your snack...but if you can send word to those airport dog sniffing beagles...that would be wise.

AGC: I'll see what I can do! Have a good trip Mom, we sure will miss you.

Mom: And I will miss you every day too Axie Pax. Be a good boy and look after Daddy.

Congrats to Grandpa and Grandma

I call on all my wirey pals to join me in drinking a grand ol' toast to my Mom's parents, Grandpa Abe and Grandma Reeve who live in South Africa! Today, January 14, they are celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary! Can you imagine living with the same person for that long? That's 322 dog years!!

Below is a picture of the happy couple taken in South Africa when Mom and Dad were visiting in September last year. I don't know who the wooden man is...he has an awfully big head!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! WE WISH YOU MANY MORE HAPPY AND HEALTHY YEARS TOGETHER!! Come and visit us soon - we miss you. I have met my Grandma twice and Grandpa once when he came for Mom and Dad's wedding. He calls me his "Michel" dog. Don't ask me what that means, I don't question him as he is the man responsible for bring wires into the family and for my name Axel (Grandpa owns a truck-axel manufacturing company in Johannesburg called Go Axels! I am named in his honor).

AGC

I'm BACK!

Hi everyone!
I am back from my vacation with Ricky, Lucy, Chloe and Sophie! I had a very good time as you saw on Ricky's blog and their humans treated me so well! If I can't be home with Mom and Dad, then being with them is the best place I could ever have wished to be. So a very big THANK YOU to them all for two weeks of hospitality and kindness!

Just when I'd given up all hope of ever seeing Mom and Dad again or of going home - I saw my temp Mom packing up my things. I got so nervous I couldn't eat. And then we were all upstairs on Monday evening and I hear the doorbell ring. I started to bark at the top of the stairs but then I heard someone yell, "Hey Axie Pax!," and well I thought my heart and head would burst with joy. I recognized that voice. It was my Dad!! I went tearing down the stairs and threw myself against the screen door. And there were Mom and Dad! They opened the door and we all fell about doing a joyous reunion jig! Oh my friends, it was too wonderful to do justice in words!

Here we are courtesy of Ricki's blog at the moment of reuniting (Mom says to please excuse how hideous she looks - she'd been awake for 30 hours straight!):

We then said our goodbyes and thank you's and off we went, back to our little house on the edge of the big park. Oh happiness it was to run up my familiar front steps. To jump on my couch. To sniff the errant mouse who cannot be caught. To luxuriate in the love of my mom and dad who evidently missed me very very much. I cannot stop smiling. I am just so happy to be home.

Yesterday Mom and Dad did not go to work. Dad took me on a mega 3-hour walk and swim in the morning and Mom took me out later and then to the park to play with my pals who had missed me too. Mom and Dad worked hard the rest of the time unpacking, doing laundry etc - they've hardly had time to download their photos and videos - but here are a few to enjoy:

Mom and Dad at the Pilansberg Nature Reserve - they stayed with Mom's parents at the Bakubung Lodge and saw animals that included a leopard (rare!), elephant, giraffe, zebra, hippo, rhino, buck, warthog, wildebeest, baboons, monkeys etc...

I got a bit jealous when I spotted this picture of Mom hugging a miniature shnauzer named Arial that belongs to her friend's brother. But then I knew that the only reason Mom was looking so happy and hugging her so tight was because she was thinking of ME all the time!


So it's good to be back online, it's good to be home. Life is GRAND!

AGC

Farewell for a While

Dear Friends,

I will not be blogging here for a while. I am going to spend a few weeks with my pals Ricky Pepper, Lucy and Chloe (pictured below in their lovely yard), their four kitty siblings, fishy siblings and hoomans, Cee and Tee. They have very kindly offered to look after me while Mom and Dad are in Africa.

BUT DON'T DESPAIR!!

You can still keep in touch with me via Ricky Pepper, Lucy and Chloe's blog at http://chloerickylucy.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: Ricky Pepper's url has changed because his Mom and Dad just brought a new Doxie named Sophie into their family! New URL is:

http://chloerickylucysophie.blogspot.com/

I will be back online towards the middle of September. To all my Jewish pals out there, Shana Tova - wishing you a happy and healthy new year.
To my mom and dad - safe travels, I will miss you!

AGC

My Middle "Name" and a Cunning Plan

I was tagged by too many wirey friends to mention by name to tell you what my second name is!
I guess as my full name is Axel G Chocholoza Meersand-Slon - I kinda have two middle names. The "G" was bestowed upon me in honor of Mom's very first WFT called Georgie. Mom adored Georgie - she often tells me stories of how Georgie would chase lizards, eat bees, fight the neighbor's dogs through holes in the wall, and most of all, spend lots of time in Mom's family's swimming pool. Mom grew up in South Africa where pools are common - I sure envy Georgie, I have never even swum in a real pool, and I'm two already! Here is a photo of Georgie doing what she loved best:

My other middle name is quite a mouthful to pronounce - Cho-cho-loza is how you say it. Dad can't even say it properly. Mom laughs at him. Mom only uses my full name when she is angry with me! Chocholoza means "sweet little thing" in the South African native black language known as Tswana, spoken by the Batswana people. Mom was very fortunate to be raised by a nanny named Tina, and Tina called Mom her Chocho and often sung to her, a song by the very same name. Mom sings it to me now, but she can't remember all the words...

So there you have it...but sorry, I'm not going to spell out what each letter stands for...it's just too long! I haven't got all day, you know!

But boy, a maltese poodle named Trouble sure does have all day to do anything! And I mean anything. The lucky pooch just netted $12 million left to her in a will by her owner Leona Helmsley! How many Wellness Wellbars and Dingoes could I buy with $12 million? Anyone want to figure that out for me or is it too depressing? I have a cunning plan. Yo, Asta in NYC - try to seek out Trouble and be her friend, then we can divvy up $12 million worth of snacks!! What do you think???

This is going to be my penultimate blog entry for quite a while. I go to my temporary family on Friday night. I am quite nervous, I've been sniffing in Mom and Dad's suitcases and staying close to them both. I know I will be very happy with Ricky Pepper's family, but like anything new, it's a little scary at first...the good news is that you can keep up with my antics by visiting their blog! Mom is very happy about that!

AGC

AGC

About my Family

I am very depressed because I went for my haircut today and the groomer did a horrible job on me. We are confused and upset as she did a good job last time. I told Mom and Dad they shaved me instead of stripping my ex-beautiful coat. I can't even bear to show you what I look like....Mom already wrote a letter to the groomer to complain...but I'm trying not to focus on it...luckily Ricky Pepper tagged me and says I have to tell you about my family. So here goes...


About my Mommy
My Mommy was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. That's her right - when she was a toddler. She is the youngest of three and the only daughter. She grew up in a small, warm Jewish community and went to Jewish day school and high school and LOVED it. (Guess school is different from obedience school!) Mommy grew up in SA at a time when there was a horrible government that oppressed the majority of South Africans who are black people - it was called Apartheid. White and black people were not allowed by law to integrate - black people could not live where they liked, own property, get a good education and never go to the same schools, universities, restaurants, movies etc as white people. Until Mom was in her teens, she didn't even realize people lived diffently in other countries. Then she realized something in her world was very very wrong.

Mom had three parents - her biological Mom and Dad and a black nanny named Tina (right). Most families had live-in servants. Mom loved Tina with all her heart - Tina was pure unconditional love and lived with her family for the first 25 years of Mom's life. She passed away 3 years ago.

When Mom was 10, her Dad suggested they get a wire fox terrier. Mom wanted a maltese poodle, but her Dad said wires had spunk. So she relented. Georgie was a wonderful wire and Mom was nuts about her. That's the two of them pictured left when Mom first got Georgie. Georgie lived for 15 years, and Mom vowed that one day she would have another wire. My middle initial is in honor of Georgie.

After high school, Mom went to Law school even though she wanted to be a journalist - at that time there was no university degree in Journalism in SA, so she followed her parent's advice and went to study law. She didn't enjoy it very much but graduated. In that same year, Apartheid ended and on the most memorable day of her life, Mom stood in line for hours with Tina and millions of other South Africans of all races, most of them voting for the first time in their lives.

She didn't know what to do then because she didn't want to be a lawyer, so she decided to travel - and went to Israel where her brother lived and some friends. Mom lived in the holy city of Jerusalem for 6.5 years. It was the best and worst of times - she met wonderful people, did well in her new chosen editing and managing websites career and enjoyed speaking Hebrew etc; but it was also the height of the Palestinian uprising (Intifada), and buses were exploding all the time, suicide bombers seemed to be everywhere - life was scary and precarious. At some point she met an American guy (not my Daddy!) and they dated for almost 2 years but then he announced he was going home to Florida. Mom decided to go visit him for 2 months to check out the relationship and the USA. After two months, Mom ditched the guy but was in love with the USA - the freedom, the peace, the huge array of choices in the supermarket! And of course the beaches in Florida. So she took a very big risk - put all her stuff in storage in Israel and decided to stay - she was able to still work for the Israeli company as it was a web job.

Mom had to find a job and visa sponsorship in the USA to stay...but then 9/11 happened. Mom couldn't believe it. She'd left Israel to avoid bombs and now they were there! And the terrorists had been living down the road in Mom's new neighborhood of Delray Beach! Yikes! After almost a year, noone wanted to hire Mom...her visa was running out...so she thought she would have to go back to Israel. Before she left, she thought she'd go see some family living in Philly. And yadda yadda yadda - sent her resume to 2 places there for the heck of it, got an interview and got the job and sponsorship and moved to Philadelphia! She still works there today as an E-Communications and Marketing Manager!

About My Daddy
Daddy grew up in Philadelphia. He is the oldest of three and has two sisters (opposite of Mom). That's him at around age 5 taking a bath, heh heh! He had a few dogs growing up, including Bunnie a very fat mixed breed terrier and Ted, a German short-haired pointer. Growing up in the USA wasn't as eventful (or interesting) as Mom's life in SA - so fast forward to post high school. Dad went to school in NYC to study audio engineering. When he was quite young he got married (first wife). They then went to live in California where Daddy worked in Hollywood as a studio engineer in the music biz and an audio engineer in film (he worked for that boring movie The English Patient!) At some point he came back to Philly, got divorced and worked for a TV station as a broadcast engineer. Now he is in the security biz installing CCTV and video surveillance cameras to catch baddies etc...all I know is, he always finds time to take me on awesome walks!

How they Met
When Mommy moved to Philly in 2002, she joined an online dating website and met many many creepy guys. Then her cousin (the one she'd flown to visit) in Philly told her a friend mentioned that her friend had a nice son to introduce Mom to. So she said ok and they went on their first date to a Cuban restaurant. They got on really well and dated for quite a while....Mom loved Dad's loud, raucous laugh and his ability to fix anything; Dad loved Mom's petiteness (she's 4'11) and funny accent. Soon they both knew it was the real deal. Mom took Dad to SA to meet her family - they loved Dad - and he proposed during a Friday night (Sabbath dinner) in between mouthfuls of awesome South African roast beef and warm challah bread.

They got married on June 4, 2006 in Philadelphia. Mom said, let the family endure the 25 hour flight for a change - and endure they did. Everyone came from South Africa, Australia, Israel, London, Canada and around the USA - Mom has family and friends everywhere. I spent the day at doggy day care - don't think I ever let them forget it. No dogs at a country club my ass!

Mom and Dad's Likes and Dislikes
Mom loves writing! She writes and writes compulsively...to all those people around the world mostly. She also reads like a maniac - one or two books a week. She loves the Free Library in Philadelphia! Mom loves Marmite - a black yeast spread she grew up on. Most Americans, including Dad can't stand the sight of it. Mom also likes steak, fried liver and onions, cola tonic and lemonade (a SA drink), Cadbury's chocolates, salt & vinegar potato chips. She won't eat swine in any form, but lately relented and allows Dad to eat bacon (I get some too on occasion. I am not a Kosher dog) She is positively wire mad! She watches quite a lot of TV - loves British comedy, Rescue Me, Seinfeld...

Dad loves to read manuels! No magazines or newspapers in our bathroom, just manuals! He is very handy and can fix anything and everyone in his family knows it ("Son/Brother can you come and fix x?"). He knows music - name a lyric and he'll tell you the band. He has thousands of CD's - Mom has about 10. Dad doesn't like throwing out stuff...it's Mom's pet peeve. The basement is his domain - Mom is too scared to go down there. Dad loves chocolate ice cream and he is addicted to Coca-cola. It is the only thing he drinks! No tea, no coffee - just Coke! Dad loves Diner food, especially breakfast. Dad enjoys video games and knows every episode of Seinfeld by heart. He watches all the reruns despite owning the box sets! He loves silly American movies, Mom loves foreign artsy fartsy movies. They order two Netflix movies a week; often one of each.

How I Came About
I came into their lives in July 2005 after Mom did a lot of research finding a good breeder. We are a very happy family. We live in a little house next to Lemon Hill/Fairmount Park where I walk every day and often find tasty snacks left by picnickers! Below is a photo of the street we live on - that's me and Daddy taking a stroll... Our family dream is to one day afford a home of our own with a fenced yard for me to run in, a garage for Daddy and no steps for Mommy!

Phew...so that is the parents and our family! What a long megillah! I need a nap after that!

Now can we please go back to Doggy stuff! And no discussion on haircuts please!
Just for fun, I am going to tag Koobuss and Bebe - I want to hear more about their families!

AGC