300

My brother bowled a 300 last nite! It is his 14th or 15th of his life but its been a long time since he had one. Congrats to Brian!

Daisy Meets Pepper

Pepper came to dinner on Weds nite (with my folks). It was the second time he has met Ahi but the first time he met Daisy. Let's just say that Daisy is LESS tolerant than Ahi and Ahi didn't like him very much!

Daisy got that "are you serious?" look on her face and kept her distance. For awhile, she laid at the top of the stairs and looked over all the activity while looking very disgusted and put out. Then after awhile she came down and just stayed away from Pepper. But during dinner, she was laying below me and Pepper walked up to her!!! Lots of growling and snarling coming from Daisy! She wasn't very serious about it because she never even stood up. The problem is that Pepper doesn't take the clue and back off.

The good news is Ahi decided that she wanted to play with Pepper so they chased each other around a bit.

Overall, I think it will all work out - its just a process.

Hot Muddy Mamas

For the upcoming muddy buddies race, we needed a theme and a costume. So I have been spending my free time trying to come up with ideas and tapping my creative friends for slogans.

This is what we have worked out so far:

Our shirts are going to say...

On the back:

Hot Muddy Mamas

Happier than Pigs in Mud

And there will pictures of pig(s) running:



We are going to decorate our helmets with various pig paraphernalia. Our bike is going to have a stuffed pig on the handle bars and a pig tail on the back.

We won't win the race....but we will look good!

Soccer Season Starts!

Drew had his first game for his school yesterday and they won: two to zero!

It was really a nice way to start since last year they got pummeled all season long.

Our team looks much better than last year so we have high hopes that they will at least win some of the games this season. No delusions of a undefeated season. Just a few wins would be nice!

Drew is playing goalie and he only had two shots on goal during the game. And they were easy rollers. No real threat.

Stay tuned. There is another game today and I expect it will be a tougher team then yesterday.

Pepper meets Ahi

Last nite we decided it was time for Pepper and Ahi to meet each other. Since we are the designated Pepper dogsitters, he needs to get a long with our dogs.

So we headed up to my folks house with Ahi. (Daisy was not invited because we decided to introduce the small dogs first). We met outside and took the dogs on a walk together. That way the got to smell each other and be around each other without it being indoors and in Pepper's domain.

Ahi was a perfectly behaved dog. She greeted Pepper and then ignored him.

Pepper was an overzealous, panting, frantic mess!

We walked a little and then went to my folks house.

Pepper didn't get much better at home. He wanted to smell Ahi, which was ok...to a point. But when she would snap and growl at him - essentially telling him to "back off" - he would not get the hint.

So it took some time for the humans to lay out some boundaries for Pepper. After about 3 hours, he calmed down and gave Ahi her space and all was well.

But we still have some work to do.

And then....we need to add that big dog. And that big dog tends to want to protect Ahi from dogs that bother her. So Pepper better learn to mind his manners by then!

Proof that Men Have Better Friends Then Women

Friendship among Women:
A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.

Friendship among Men:
A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends. Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.

Quote of the Week

"Don't compare your life to others.
You have no idea what their journey is about."

This supports our family motto of "only compare yourself to yourself"!

Vinyasa Yoga

I can not believe it took me this long to blog about this because it was quite the experience. Last Saturday my sis in law took me to a Power Vinyasa Yoga class. She suggested it because I tend to bad mouth yoga because it never feels like a workout to me.

So I am all excited, go out an buy a new yoga mat and head off with her.

The class was 1 hour and 15 minutes and was held in a heated room....heated to about 87 degrees! So there you are doing the typical yoga routine in what feels like the middle of a desert! Think about 15 people in a hot room, in various stages of appropriate dress, sweating like pigs and standing on one leg! Not pretty!

Not pretty -- That brings me to the "appropriate dress" angle. I normally do yoga at the gym at work, which requires appropriate dress. And likely, if the work gym didn't require it, you would see it anyway, because who wants to have their "junk" hanging out in front of co-workers.

I digress....back to the "appropriate dress"...apparently in this heated yoga environment, the men think it is ok not to wear their shirts! (Remember the notes above about "sweating like a pig" and "not pretty"...just take a moment to think about that).

There was one man, in particular, that had a "top of his head mullet" and was wearing what looked like tighty whitey boxer briefs. Talk about "junk" hanging out. Let's just say I thanked Buddha that he was not in my line of site!

Overall, it was an interesting experience but I think my problem is I am too type A for yoga. But I am going to keep doing it because it is a funny addition to my work out routine. There are always great stories of grunting women, farting men and inappropriate attire.


Ohhhhmmmmmmmm........

My new parka

Last week I ran by REI to get the guys some lift tickets. While there, I wandered around because it is my favorite store! How happy was I when I found this North Face long parka! I am going to be VERY happy wearing it in the ice rink. Please note that Gracie (my model) is only 5 feet tall, so on me it does not go all the way to the floor.

nanny cam

A friend of mine has a nanny cam. She checks on it during the work day to see what is going on at home. Today is went down and this is the last pic it captured. Isn't that hilarious!???

Quote of the Week

Corn dog....a hot dog in a delicious sweater!

Saw this on a billboard and it made me laugh!

Spa Time

When we were gone this weekend, Daisy Mae stayed with Tina and Marty. It was like going to a spa for a labrador! They spoiled her rotten, including buying her new toys, taking her hiking and wrapping her medicine in tri-tip! I think she may want to live there permanently to get away from her pesky little sister...

Snow Time

We went to visit my brother's family this weekend and went to the snow for some sledding. We went to a sno-park, which was a new experience for us. It is a park that has groomed runs for sledding. There were about 12 to 15 different runs of various steepness and speed. By mid day there were hundred of people and it was loosely controlled chaos! Way different than when we sled - we usually snow shoe to a remote spot where it is just us and the solitude of nature. The sno-park was defintely more enternaining - lots of crazy people to watch....including old men who thought they were Olympic lugers!

That Stupid Chiweenie

I took the dogs out for a walk while Gracie was at ed therapy this morning. This is our normal routine - we go the same route every time. At the beginning of our route, there is a bridge we have to go under. It is really noisy with 4 lanes of cars going close to the sidewalk. Normally Ahi is a little nervous with her ears straight back and her head down as she hurries under the bridge.

Today was different. I wasn't paying much attention to her until I felt a tug and I looked up and she was at the end of her leash in the middle of lane number 1 on a very busy street! Thankfully a car swerved and missed her in time for me to pull her back onto the sidewalk! I could not believe it. Apparently she saw a German Shepard on the other side of the 4 lanes of road and decided to go after it.

Stupid Chiweenie....she almost "got dead"!

Snow on the East Coast!

Jim's uncle, Richard, lives in Washington and we have been following along his escapades in the latest snow storms. Earlier in the week, his wife, Roberta, got bonked on the head with an icicle when she was out moving snow and ice away from the house. Luckily a neighbor had a 4 wheel drive vehicle and got her to the hospital where they determined she had a HARD head and there were no skull fractures! But she did need 7 stitches to fix up the fleshy part!

These are pics of the results of the latest storm. Richard was going to go out and hike to work while Roberta went cross country skiing!

5k - Part 2

Today was another training day for the 5k. Since I ran the whole 5k in the last session, I decided to take it easy today - so as not to wear out my feet - and was going to run only two miles. But after two miles, it felt like a walk in the park. So I did one more mile and then did an hour long muscleworks class. Now that was a workout! By the time I hit the showers, I could barely hold up my arms to wash my hair and my legs were shaking just standing still!

5k

Gracie and I are doing a 5k race together next month. We just decided to do it last week and then we both got sick, so we haven't been able to start our training.

So with only 4 weeks left to get ready, I decided today was the day to start training. Who cares that I am still coughing and blowing my nose! And because I am type A (or Triple A, as my doctor calls me) I decide the best way to train is to just start with 5k the first day! Who ever thought "easing into it" was a good idea anyway!?!?!

I got on the treadmill, started running and stopped when I got to 5k. My feet hurt a bit towards the end because I have mostly doing non or low impact cardio (elliptical, spinning) but other than that, I felt great.

Stay tuned for the details of our training over the next month. I am sure it will lead to some laughter.

Friends.....

http://video.tiscali.it/canali/truveo/611_1234581161.html


This is a great video. Of course, it makes me want an orangutan!

RIP - Austin the Super Dog

Last nite we got some bad news - my Aunt Pat's dog, Austin, passed away. He was 14 years old and had been healthy until just recently. Then he went down hill fast.... Thanks goodness for the ability to put a dog down when their quality of life is bad.

Austin was a great dog and a devoted friend to Aunt Pat, Uncle Dave, Jess and Matt. He made a big difference in their lives and they in his. He can never be replaced nor can he be forgotten.

RIP Austin - and have fun with Betty in Heaven....and I hope you avoid Maverick....she is a mean, bitchy chicken!

Bodie Miller State Park

Bodie Miller State Park is my pet beta fish that lives on my desk at work. He was named "Bodie" after the state park. But then my coworker insisted he was named after Bodie Miller, the skier. So I compromised and now call him Bodie Miller State Park. I write it as BMSP.

So yesterday I was looking at Bodie and noticed his tank had a 2 inch long crack in it! It was not leaking but I had noticed water around his tank on and off over the last 2 months. But I could never determine where the water was coming from.

I wanted to ignore the crack because packing him up and taking him home is a big effort. But I was sure if I left it, I would come back to work to find Bodie's tank empty, my desk all wet and Bodie dead. So after work last nite I packed him into his motor home (AKA a water bottle) and headed home. On the way home, I stopped at Petco with the damaged tank. I showed them the crack and they immediately said to get a replacement one at no cost. I picked out a new one and then went to dump all the rocks from the old one into the new one. And boy was I surprised.....the whole bottom of the tank was full of cracks! Hundreds of them - from a couple inches long to a couple centimeters long! No wonder I had water on my desk.

I got the new tank set up last nite and this is a pic of Bodie in his new home! Now I have to haul him back to work!

New type of dog tick?

Jim: "What is that on Daisy's head? Some kind of tick?"

Me: While looking, "EWWWWWW! It looks like a larvae of some type. Ewww Ewww Ewww! I can't look!" (see pic - it looked like the little white things on the worm's back and imagine me making gagging noises)

Jim: "ok, I will look." (now imagine Jim getting out a flashlight and sitting down with Daisy to examine what was on her head)

Me: "Ewww Ewww Ewww."

Jim: About 3 seconds later. "It's cookie dough!"

Me: "wheeeew!" (giggle)

A new member of the family

My folks are going to adopt "Pepper" next weekend. We went and met him yesterday and boy is he a cutie! He is a pure breed Coton de Tulear and is about 7 years old. His breed is rare in the US. He is sort of like a bichon frise but has straight hair instead of curly hair. His breed is from Madagascar and popular in France. He looks a bit like a clown because his black nose is size extra large on a size small dog!

Best and Most

Drew's Junior High had the vote for "Best and Most" last week. You know....best shoes, most fun to be with, etc.

Drew is in the running for: best hair, best smile and most fun to be around! Of course, we gave him a ration of teasing about it! And then I took the opportunity to self nominate my self for "best mom" in our house and have stuffing the ballot box!

We reported to his hairdresser that he was in the running for best hair and that makes her almost famous! She loved it. We kidded that we would give her a framed pic of him to hang near her station if he wins!

Stay tuned for the results....

Shark Tank Game

Last week, Gracie had her hockey game at the tank. It was an awesome game going up to the last 9 seconds! The girls won 7 to 6! Gracie caught the last attempt at 9 seconds left!

Dumber than a rock

But cuter than a button! Here is a pup that one of my girlfriends recently added to their family. She describes her as "dumber than a rock"! And, she is made with spare parts - her tongue was left over from the great dane pile of parts!

After the hike

We went on a hike on Saturday morning and this is what the dogs looked like when we got home!