One More Sleep

I love this nippy weather.  As promised, Linda took us out for a walk after church even though it was 10 p.m.  It was super dark though, she should have bought the flashlight.  Usually, enough people have their porch lights on that we can see.  Tonight, everyone seemed to turn theirs off at exactly 10:01.  There were a couple of scary moments when Chimmie started barking at something we could not see.  Of course it could have been a leaf blowing on the grass knowing Chim's quirkiness.  I wonder how he will do at Paul's for 6 nights?  He loves going over there, so it shouldn't be too hard for him.  I'm beyond excited I get to go over Jerry's.  I slept at his house once for a night when Linda had a sleepover with Carol, but this is the first time I'll be there for such a long time.  Tomorrow Noah and Sarah come over then at night, Chim and I start our big adventure! 

11. Kiss Choopie

This is Linda's To Do List today.  Of course she did the normal morning routine from 6-9 a.m, this is just what was on the agenda the rest of the day.
   1. Teach three classes:  check
   2.  Drive Carol home:  check
   3.   Eat lunch:  check
   4.   Pack for vacation:  check
   5.   Copy new Pump/Combat music to computer:  check
   6.   Figure out how to copy DVD's of above:  CHECK (this has been the biggest headache for her!)
   7.   Chores/laundry/email:  check
   8.   Read and pray for church service tonight:  check
   9.  TKD sub canceled for while she was on vacation, find someone else:  working on it
  10.   Sit on the deck and relax a little while in her new chairs:  Oh yeah!

Paul came to walk us while Linda was teaching and he tired us both out.  Chim has been sleeping all afternoon.  After church, she'll take us on a short walk before bed.

  This is actually a hand-written to-do-list by Johnny Cash.  It was up for auction and estimated to fetch between $300-500.  I love number 3.

 

This Better Be Photoshopped

What an amazing morning.  The temperature is just perfect.  We are going to wait for our walk until 1:00 though.  Linda actually has the afternoon off to get ready and pack for her trip.  She does not have to teach her two afternoon classes!  After the trail hike, she has to pack her own suitcase and both of ours.  She said there is a weight limit to all our bags. She might have to pare down what she planned to pack to stay under 50 pounds.  I can bring my bed, a few toys (I'm sure Jerry will take me shopping at Pet Smart and buy me a whole passel of toys!), my leash, bowl and food.  Chimmie, the same thing.. but he needs about 100 toys because he'll destroy them all in the time Linda is gone.  Tomorrow is Noah day!  Sarah is coming over too.  We are going to take Noah out on his first trail walk.  They will have to take him out of the stroller and carry him across the streams.  Linda is going to wear the carry-me pouch for when I'm too tired to walk.  That way she'll have her hands free if she needs to carry the stroller while Sarah carries Noah.  I hope the crows are not out on the trail tomorrow, I'll kill them dead if they come after Noah. 

So Cold!!!

We didn't get any visitors tonight for our walk, so Chim was locked up in the bathroom for 4 hours straight while Linda taught her classes.  I'm glad we had a trail walk this morning because she is too cold to walk us tonight.  Yes, too cold!  She drove home wet from the pool and for some strange reason, she is shivering even though she is in her big white fluffy robe.  As soon as she is done eating, she is going to get in a hot bath and see if she can warm up.  Her fingers and toes feel frozen.  How can she be so cold in August?  She said it might be because she was soaking with sweat and her body temp was raised after teaching her Combat class, then she jumped right into the very cold pool for 60 minutes. 

This Just Stinks

You would never have to go on vacation.

It looks like one of Chim's floppy toys

We were all set to sit outside on our new patio furniture this morning and enjoy the beautiful sunshine while Linda drank her coffee and had some quite time.  We're calling it patio furniture, but we know it's nothing more than a few folding chairs that only support 225 pounds each.  Linda is so happy with the price she paid for them, that it feels like she is sitting in this set pictured.  Anyway, as soon as Linda got outside she was hit with a wave of skunk odor.  Ewwww.    He probably came up from the trail with all the other wildlife that has been disturbed by our recent biblical weather.  I hope the smell goes away soon. She better not go outside and find this in her grass.  The chipmunks were enough of a worry.  If there are baby skunks, I'm not sure what we'll do! 

Wildlife

I don't know if it is the Earthquake or Hurricane, but we have seen so much wildlife on our last couple of trail walks.  Yesterday we saw a big hawk, a fluffy bunny, and water snake on the trail.  Coming home from our walk this evening, we saw the Mama Chipmunk in our front yard! No sign of the babies.  Then Linda almost stepped on a fat toad that hopped right in front of us.  If it wasn't almost dark, we would have gone on the trail tonight, but we had to stay on the sidewalk.  Linda said she would love to do a night walk on the trail, but does not want to go alone.  Maybe after vacation she can get a brave group of friends together to do a night walk with flashlights.  She said I can come, but she will carry me in the front pack.  Chim will have to stay home just in case a fox or other wild animal decides to attack us.  Once Linda hiked a trail called Little Devil Stairs.  It was beautiful hike, straight up a waterfall.  At the top there was a bear off in the bushes, but it did not try to eat them.  One of the guys had a hand gun in his pack just for this very reason.  After the hike they found out its illegal to take a gun on the trail, even if you have a carry permit.  It's a good think he did not have to shoot the bear. 

Snicker-sized

Mini-Chim

I'm not sure what is wrong with Chimmie.  He is very laid back and chill today.  We took a peppy walk this morning, and then he was outside while Linda went to teach her classes.  Now that she is home and Chim is back inside, he is just lolling all over the house.  Sleeping in the sun by the patio door, conked-out in his bed, snoozing at her feet in the den, laying in a patch of sun in her bedroom.  He keeps changing spots, but get this... he's actually walking from place to place and not running!  He hasn't pushed me down the stairs or tried to chew on my hind leg at all today. He has not dropped one toy on the keyboard or pushed a squishy ball into Linda's face.  Could it be he is finally growing up and settling down?  If this is the new and improved Chimmie, like a mini-Snickers??  That would be amazing if he could develop a personality like good ole' Snickers.  Now if he would only not be afraid of his own shadow.  Today on the walk a moppy dog named Curly came running out of his yard barking at us.  He about had a heart attack. 

We're Strolling Now!

Look what Linda found today!  A brand new stroller (same brand as the one she returned to Target, just the smaller umbrella stroller) on sale for...... $4.75!  Yeah for us!! I hope Noah likes it.  She also found some lawn chairs at a great price, $4.99 each.  We got rid of our big rotting table and broken chairs, so this will be a perfect temporary solution until we get a new patio set.  Check out the comfy recliner.  That was a few dollars more, but at $7.00.. still a bargain.  Now when Sara and Tier come over to sun on our deck, they don't have to lay on the splintery-rotting-doginyourface deck.  The one downside of the chairs are they are only rated up to 225 pounds.  Any of Linda's bigger friends won't be able to sit on them.  She is going to leave the sticker on.  It would be kind of uncomfortable to say "Oh, excuse me... but you are too BIG for that chair, please sit on the deck." 

Exciting Week Ahead

I'll miss you Noah!

Linda is getting excited about her trip with Tier, Taylor, Sarah and Baby Leonidas.  She's so thankful that Paul and Jerry are taking us to their townhouses, or we would be parked in a kennel 23 hours a day at somewhere called  "Happy Trails Dog Paradise."  Too bad Chimmie could not spend the time at Cesar's Dog Whisperer Ranch learning how to be a proper dog and not a basket-case.  Since I'll be away from the laptop, I'm going to do something called auto-post.  It's supposed to upload your entry each day.  Maybe Jerry will let me use his Mac to post.  (I doubt it, he's very protective of his electronics and would not want me getting dog drool on it.)  She's still working on a solution for cat visits.  I told her to buy 4 more cheap litter boxes, 10 of those automatic Glade spray things to combat the odor and open a bag of 5 pound food on the dining room table.  Chip would be just fine.

Not Quite Raging

We waited too long before we went out on the trail and the waters had already receded dramatically by 3:00.   If we could have gone at around 9:00 a.m. when it stopped raining, we would have not even been able to see the stepping stones.  Before I was born (when it was just Snickers,) Linda was hiking on the trail.  The water was really high at one crossing.  The log she usually walked across was covered in water.  Since it wasn't that far, she decided to jump.  Snickers made it to the other sides since he swam through, but she didn't.  She jumped, hit the bank and slid back into the water.  It was waist deep!  At first she laughed, but walking all the way home wet with squishy sneakers wasn't too fun.  Today, we made it across the first stream.  There were boys catching snakes in a bucket having a great time.  At the next crossing, the water was covering the rocks and she was afraid that she might slip trying to carry us across.  Drat!  The walk had to be cut short.  She should have attempted it just carrying me and let Chim do the dog paddle across.

Whoa! The Deck is Wet!!

Water in a bowl.

I'll probably get 10,000 hits on this photo alone.

We didn't lose our power at all.  And there isn't a branch down in our yard.  Nothing blew away.  Our car is not crushed.  Linda still needs to check downstairs for flooding, but she's believing there won't be any wetness.  It seemed like a normal rain storm to me.  The news guys are really fishing for a story.  Right now, he is holding up some palm leaves that were blown off.  The waves did not even go over the barrier they erected to save the boardwalk.  All in all, lots of hype/planning/panic/ for not much damage in our town.  There might be some areas who were hit hard, but not around where we live.  She is very glad that our gutters were all cleaned and cleared a few weeks ago or they would have come down for sure.  After church, (if the rain has stopped) we are so hitting the trail to look at the flooded  streams.  It's going to be epic since its been raining for over 18 hours.  Now the news guy are saying another huge band of rain is about to hit our town in just a little while.  You can see where Linda collected all Chim's deck toys and put them in his empty water bowl.  She anchored the bowl under the table leg.  The bowl if overflowing with water.  (These are the same exact kind of Hurricane photos they are showing on the national news stations on TV.  I figured if the network executives think they are epic shots, I should put our wet deck photo on my blog.)

UPDATE:  I just checked my stats.  I've already had 57 hits this morning!   I knew that wet deck photo would drive up my readership!!

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Our lights just flickered.  I guess it's only a matter of time now before the lights go out.  Chimmie had to go outside and he would not go down the deck steps unless she carried him!  It's a good thing he took care of business quickly, or she would have been totally soaked.  The umbrella she was using almost collapsed, but they got back in before it broke.  I'm going old-school and just using a pee-pee pad.  There is NO WAY I'm heading outside in this rain and wind.  It would pick me up and toss me over the fence.  Linda is going to take a hot bath and then get into bed.  Yes, I know it's only 9:18 on a Saturday night.  But The Big Bed is calling our name and it's looking very cozy.  If Chim needs to pee again, Linda is just putting a pad down in the bathroom and shutting the door.  She is not going back outside. 

This Little Light of Mine

Still no gale force winds.  It's been steadily raining, but not even pouring.  The highest winds for our area will be later this evening.  I hope we all sleep through it and I don't get scared.  There are 21,000 people in just our area without power, but we still have lights.  Linda has her flashlight, headlamp and candles ready just in case.  The second it stops raining tomorrow, we are rushing down to the trail to see how high the streams are.  There's no way we'll be able to cross, but Linda will bring the camera to get a photo. 

Napping's a Good Choice

It's raining, but there isn't any wind at all.  We are wondering if it will actually get scary later on.  Just to be safe, Linda just finished taking the chairs and pads off the deck.  The table and doghouse are way too heavy for her to move, but she thinks they will be OK.  The gym was actually busy today.  Her Water class was full and the other classes were packed.  Maybe people who usually workout on Sunday came today just in case the gym loses power tomorrow.  Anyway, I'm glad Paul was able to walk us this morning before the rain started.  We were able to do the trail and get home just before the rain started.  Linda is hungry and exhausted from working out. She is trying to decide on nap/lunch or lunch/nap.   If she chooses the nap first, it might end up being nap/dinner!  Then should she read or watch a movie on Netflix?  Vacuum or fold laundry??  Such life decisions.

P.S.  OK, now the wind is picking up.  The pine tree in our front yard is swaying a little. 
P.S.S.  Update:  Linda decided to eat first since there is a good chance the wind might knock out our power this evening.  She did not store up a lot of food that does not need to be cooked, so she thought it might be her last hot meal if we do lose power.  Now for that nap......

Goodnight Irene

The talk of the town is still Hurricane (tropical storm for us) Irene. It's supposed to hit us sometime tonight.   I don't know if anyone is coming to walk us today, it looks kind of scary outside. Linda has her regular classes today, though she does not know how many students will show up.  When she gets home, she needs to clear off our deck so things don't go blowing around.  Hopefully, it won't already be raining too hard.  She decided to go to Target and return the broken stroller last night and while she was there, she stocked up on canned dog/cat food.  Everyone was buying all sorts of emergency supplies (toilet paper, bread, milk, ice, cases of water, flashlights) but Linda had a cart full of pet food.  The cashier looked at her funny, but did not say anything.  After, she went to church.  It was her favorite Family Night yet.  Yeah for family! A group of her friends went to a restaurant after, but Linda came home to prepare her routines for today and get a good night sleep.  Linda loves being alone and reading, doing chores and having it quite.  She is such a home-body but really needs to start socializing more. I think she is letting people down by not going to movies, dinners, lunches, and parties. Maybe it's time for her to change.  Her new goal:  One group activity a week.  My new goal:  One extra nap a week. 

Not Even an Emergency Yet

The newsmen are saying to batten down the hatches, here comes Hurricane Irene!  At one of her gyms this morning, all the ladies were talking about the coming storm and how best to prepare.  One of the ideas was to fill up your gas tank today and not wait until tomorrow or Sunday when the power might be out.  Sounded reasonable, right?  Wrong... Linda just came home from the gas station and she said it was like every man (or woman) for themselves.  People were short tempered and being rude.  Cars were pulling in from both directions and people who were waiting their turn from one side were made to wait when the other car pulled in ahead of him.  Plus, it was gridlocked so you could not pull out when you were done pumping.  Even mild-tempered, Type B, laid back Linda got her hackles up when a lady who had no business at all driving an F250 pickup could not maneuver the truck in close corners.  She would back up 1 inch, pull up 1 inch and wait 2 minutes before starting the same thing all over.  Linda thought a guy was going to come to blows with the pickup lady, but he stayed in his vehicle.  These signs were sold at Urban Outfitters, but they are out of stock.  If everyone made a set of these, then people could stay in their cars and there would be no fights.  You could just hold up a sign that said, "Lady, put down the cell phone and drive!"  (Please ignore the blue one with the pointing finger.  That one is bad.)  Linda likes the one that says "I'm So Sorry." 

Explorers

Linda figured she better get a walk in this morning before she leaves for her first class since it could be raining later.  Chim is still doing the bizarre darting thing he started on Monday night.  He smells the ground and jumps back like there is something there going to get him.  Next, he darts a few feet in the other direction and smells a new spot, and does the same thing.  He's also freaking out for no reason and flattening himself to the sidewalk.  Then he'll walk 100 feet just fine, but stop dead in his tracks and start the ground sniffing, freaking thing all over again.  I only walked 2 houses before I wanted to be carried.  Even though it's not raining yet, the atmosphere feels weird and I'm very sensitive to weather changes.  If there is even a hint of thunder rumble, I won't walk.  A few people say I'm spoiled, but Linda says I'm not.  Spoiled dogs are annoying.  They destroy things when they are left alone for any period of time.  They demand to be walked and fed cookies. I don't do any of those things. But hum... that sounds a lot like Chimmie.   (Linda is logged on the "guest user" account on her laptop because she is syncing her work iPod.  For some strange reason, this is the only photo on the account. Don't the explores look adorable?  Katie, who is right behind Tierney is getting married in a few weeks.  Tier is going to be her bridesmaid.) 

Hurricane Warning

This is the first day in my life that Linda has ever turned the TV on in the morning. We did not even turn it on after the earthquake hit since it would have been old news.  She figured she better watch the weather since we are in the midst of a hurricane warning. It's 100 miles out from shore.  The beaches have been evacuated, and the news just said it will be a "historic storm surge."  We don't have the hurricane supply kit that the news is recommending.  We do have 3 cans of dog food and 4 cans of cat food although that wasn't on the list.   There is about 30 pounds of dry food left, so I know we won't be starving.  If we lose power, Linda has her new ginormous torch flashlight (she better check if there is batteries though) so no problem there.  People are buying bottled water, but I bet the shelves are already empty.  She'll check today between classes and see if she can find a few emergency bottles.  Since we are far from the beach, it will only be a Tropical Storm at our house, so it could just be a wet weekend and not dangerous.  We don't have raincoats, so Linda found this great idea to make us raincoats out of grocery bags!  It looks like they forgot to leave a little opening for him to do his business. 

Cutest Baby Ever!

Noah loved taking a bath this afternoon.  He was splashing Linda and playing with the floating toys just having a great time.  When Linda took him out, he made the funniest face!   His little lip was quivering like he was going to cry, but he held it together.  As soon as Linda got him dressed, she let me up on The Big Bed and he forgot about being sad his bath was over.  It was our best day together yet.  Linda wishes she could watch him one more day each week. 

Kind of Disease

  When Tierney was 2 years old, Linda took her to the pediatrician for her regular checkup.   Besides being off the charts in her height, she was already smarter than some Kindergartners.  Tier was entertaining the Dr. with stories and asking questions about her instruments.  Linda remembers the Dr. calling Tierney precocious.  At first Linda thought she meant precious, but asked her to repeat herself.  The Dr. said it's when a child demonstrates very mature qualities at an early age.   According to this old article, Linda should have treated her like an animal and not engaged her in any mental studies.  Ooops, too late.  Now look what happened!  Tierney turned out super smart and successful because Linda encouraged her mental studies.

:(

I guess I'll just walk myself

The stroller might have been a good bargain, but Linda should have realized that the damaged box might have meant that the stroller itself was damaged too.  When Noah woke up from a very short nap (giggling and saying "ga-ga" which I think is baby talk for "Choopie, where are you?") Linda took us downstairs to get the stroller assembled so we could all take a walk.  As soon as she got it out of the box, she noticed the frame was slightly bent and the metal part where you put the wheel on was crushed.  Since she does not have a car seat for Noah, they can't return it for a new one.  Bummer.  That means Noah does not get his walk, but neither do Chimmie and I.  Instead, Noah ate his big-boy lunch of cheese, hard boiled egg, diced carrots and applesauce with fresh blueberries.  I had all the leftovers, except I wasn't too crazy about the carrots.  Noah made a big mess so he got to have a bath and Linda put his new outfit on him.  Now, he's doing his "ah ah ah" sounds which means bottle time and maybe the rest of his nap.  Or it could mean "I want to watch Bambie on Netflix. 

Handy Women

Linda just noticed that the earthquake Tuesday caused a little damage to our walls.  She is not sure what she should do first. Do you call the insurance company or get a contractor to come and give an estimate to fix the walls?  I guess if there are cracks in the kitchen, there might be cracks elsewhere too.  I hope our ceilings stay up, especially because we have company today.  Noah is asleep in the bedroom.  Linda wants to take a picture of him because he looks so adorable, but she does not want to chance waking him up.  She was able to buy the stroller she wanted at Target this morning.  The box had two little rips and a hole in it, so she asked the manager guy if he could discount it.   He gave her an extra 10% off!!  It's a good thing she has tools now.  You have to put the wheels on the axles and then attach that to the stroller body.  There are also some other screws that need to be attached to hold the tray and handle on.  Having tools is kind of nice, but now she has to learn to do things herself instead of calling on good friends for help.  Since she put the Eureka! together by herself, the stroller shouldn't be too much harder.  Maybe she could even fix the walls and repaint the kitchen too!! (Now that's just crazy talk.)

Just a Normal Choopie Day

Just a Normal Chimmie Day

Bed Droppings

Dead Duck

Linda often wonders if there is something seriously wrong with Chimmie. He has so many positive traits.   He is a kind and gentle dog to everyone.  He has never bared his teeth, growled or been threatening.  He LOVES everyone equally.  A stranger could come in the house and he loves them as much or more then he loves Linda.  Chim is thankful for every little rub and praise you give him.  He does amazing on a leash and obeys every command.  He'll walk for hours and does not want to be carried.  (I have an excuse for that.  I'll get seizures if I go to long and it's hot outside.)  If you have a cookie, he can do incredible circus lion tricks and jump from platform to platform (OK, they are more like smooth stepping stones.)  But just look at these photos!! This is a normal day for him.  The duck was a birthday present from Paul.  He liked it a lot, but as of this morning, it is now in the trash can.  This is around his 10th bed.  He adores his beds, so much so that he nurses on them when he falls asleep.  But no matter how strong, tough, or durable the bed is supposed to be, he chews a hole in it.  When he is tired, he drags his bed out of his little room and puts it where he wants to nap.  Yesterday, he was taking little chewing breaks as he was making his way into the den.  This is what Linda found!   A little stuffing trail.  Chim is also afraid of random dogs.  He'll make himself into a pancake and whimper.  He sometimes is petrified of getting his harness on.  No matter how sternly he is corrected, he still can't help but jump up on people to greet them.  There is not off switch on Chimmie when he wants to play.  He'll seriously jump/wrestle/run until he falls asleep on his feet.  Chim has chewed holes in the wooden deck.  There hasn't been a toy yet they he has not destroyed.  He'll eat just about anything:  crayons, dead bugs, twigs, cat poop, poison berries, fabric, entire tennis balls, lawn furniture.... I could go on and on.  If someone knows Cesar Milan, would you please tell him about this post?  Chim needs to go to the Ranch. 

Diamond in the Rough

Linda's favorite ring in the world went missing about 5 years ago.  She was almost certain that it was on her nightstand, and then when she went looking for it, it wasn't there.  The diamond ring was her Moms, and it had more sentimental value to her then anything else.  At the time, Linda had a cleaning lady named Maria.  She cleaned our house for about 10 years, and nothing ever went missing.  (Every single time Taylor would lose his wallet, he would say "Maria took it."  Of course he would always find it stuffed in a pair of jeans or under his blankets.  When he was little, he was scared of her because she had a shiny gold tooth.)  Back to the story:  So the ring was never found.  She had a suspension that it might have ended up in Sheba's or Snicker's belly, but she checked the backyard droppings for weeks and never found it.  The other option is that it fell down the heating vent by the nightstand and she's not sure how she would get it out.  Imagine if $10,000 worth of diamonds went missing??   That's what happened to a jeweler in Georgia.  The man left the expensive earrings on his desk and walked away.  His little dog Honey Bun jumped up on his office chair and gulped the earrings down.  The next day the jeweler was able to pick the diamonds out of Honey Bun's poop and clean them up good as new.  Ha!  Do you think some unsuspecting rich lady is going to ever know where the earrings were? 

Strollin'

All quite on the earthquake front.  Linda had the BEST night of sleep in years.  She fell asleep quickly and only woke up when it started to get light out.  It has been so many years of tossing and turning, that she forgot what it feels like to wake up and not be tired.  Since she was awake, she woke all the pets up too.  Chim and I had an early morning walk and Chip actually got fed before she started her morning ritual of screaming for her kibble.  Besides doing laundry and house chores, she even had enough time to drink 2 cups of coffee before she had to leave for classes.  The best news:  Noah is coming tomorrow!!  We missed him so much last week.  Linda is hoping to get to Target to buy a stroller sometime today.  We found a very sturdy umbrella stroller with a giant basket underneath (for me to ride in!) It also has a very large sun shade and the handle is high enough for Linda.  The Target she went to yesterday only had the display model, so she is going to try the Target by Gold's today.  Also, it's under $40! 

I Felt The Earth Move Under My Feet

By now, the 5.8 earthquake in DC is old news.  Nothing exciting happened at our house.  I looked at Linda with my "carry" eyes and Chim was running around the backyard just like normal.  Linda was washing dishes when the earthquake hit.  All the appliances are secured but the refrigerator, so it was shaking back and forth.  She felt the ground roll like she was in a fun-house at the carnival.  What should she do??? Since she was planning on resting her legs/back before her 3 evening classes, that is exactly what she did.  We all got up on The Big Bed and she read for 30 minutes while Chim and I napped.  Her classes were only1/2 full tonight.  The guy working the front desk said the gym was empty too.  People where calling assuming the gym was closed since lots of companies were dismissed early.  Jerry did come by for our usual walk while she was gone.  We did the trail until it got too dark and we had to finish in the neighborhood.  As usual, we are all heading to bed early since Tuesday is Linda's hardest day.  Night, Night....

Once I Was the Big Dog

I feel so bad.  The one night that Linda falls asleep quick and even stays asleep, I had to wake her up twice.  The first time I had to go outside.  It was a real emergency or I would have waited until morning.  The second time, I needed a drink of water.  I walked the entire hour last night and must have forgotten to drink when I got home.  Linda said I lapped for at least 30 seconds without stopping.  She knew I would probably have to go back outside again in an hour, but I held it until 7:15 so she could sleep in.  Chim was still worn out from the late walk and his running marathon and did not want to wake up!  She had to pick him up out of his bed and carry him to the backyard.  Everything is back to normal now.  He's throwing a toy on the laptop keyboard and I'm settling down for my first nap of the day.  I forgot that I was actually bigger than Chimmie at one time!

Sheba Memories

I never talk about Snickers first dog named Sheba.  She was a full breed Siberian Husky.  Linda got her as an eight-week old puppy.  She was the sweetest dog.... for about the first 13 minutes she was home.  Sheba was beautiful to look at, but she was the most stubborn and willful dog ever born.  Linda said she would talk back every single time she was corrected.  Sheba would do this howl thing, just like she was arguing with you.  She found 100 ways to escape from the backyard.  Linda had to spend lots of money on chicken wire and an electric fence so she would get shocked by a collar if she left the yard.  None of that worked.  Finally, she got a real-deal cattle fence.  If the dog touched the live wire along the 6 foot fence line, ZAP!  That solved the escaping problem.  One time Linda had to pay $75 to bail her out of the dog pound.  Another time she ran 5 miles away and was found on a golf course. Sheba would kill anything moving.. birds, squirrels, bunnies. Linda's shoulder was almost out of the socket every time they took a walk.  The dog once pulled Taylor off his feet and dragged him along the trail.  To top it all off, she was allergic to grass and would get these horrible skin rashes that required weekly vet visits and special baths.  (Ever try bathing a 55 pound Husky who hates water?)  As much of a pain as she was, Linda was a little sad when she got a blood disease and went over the rainbow bridge.  Linda left her eyes demon red in this photo on purpose.  They were really an amazing shade of sky blue. 

Choopie Cotton Tail

Linda subbed a late class tonight, so she did not get home until 7:30.  Since Chim had been cooped up for almost 4 hours, she took us for a long walk even though she was tired and wanted nothing more than to eat some food and rest. Since we knew we would be gone an hour, the trail was out of the question because it would have been much too dark.  Instead, we did our next favorite thing.  Linda carried us across the busy main road and we walked in a different neighborhood.  I love all the new smells and sights.  Chimmie was doing the funniest thing.  He was darting around, changing directions like a bunny.  We think he was trying to catch bugs, but Linda did not see anything.  It was like he was jacked-up on too much caffeine.  When we got home, he did his usual 100 mile an hour figure-eights around the backyard for 10 solid minutes.  He ran so hard he started having an asthma attack and was choking to breath.   Dumb dog.  He's already pulled his bed out and tucked himself in. 

Happy 4 Year Anniversary Taylor and Sarah!

I'm don't know why, but Linda likes to look at wedding photography blogs.  She loves looking at the photos, especially the non-posed, spontaneous shots. One of her favorites is: http://www.imkristensblog.com/. There are lots others, but since no one else (not even me) cares about strangers wedding photos, she won't bore you.   She cries at the weirdest times during wedding ceremonies.  Always when the brides/grooms parents are escorted down the aisle.  At Emily's wedding, she cried when Grandma B was escorted down by her two sons.  At Jamie's wedding, she completely lost it when the groom's Dad, Mr. Bickle came out.  She was sobbing and making noises.  There is something about a child leaving their parents and starting a whole new life that tugs at her heartstrings.  When she walked down the aisle at Taylor's wedding, she did not cry a single tear.  In fact, she did not cry once the entire wedding. (She cried enough at the engagement announcement!)  She sometimes cries when she sees the grooms face looking at his bride coming down the aisle.  Some guys look like a deer in the headlights, but the ones that look at their future wives with the soft, I'll Love You Forever eyes make her cry. 

Here Kitty-Kitty

Chip really lit into Chimmie tonight.  We did not see it, but heard Chimmie yip and scream.  He came running down the hall crying his eyes out.  There wasn't any blood on him,  Chim must have just scared his fur off.  If Snickers was still here, he would protect us both from the mean cat.  Linda found a website (totally by accident, she did not google "bring Snickers back to life") that will do a life size stand-up photo poster of your deceased pet.  It would be such a good idea for a few reasons.  First, I could put the Snickers pop-up right next to my kitchen bed so I can see him the second I wake up from my naps.  Linda could also put it up by the front window and bad buys would leave our house alone.  I guess it would be a little creepy though.  We used to have this heavy bag named Bob.  It was shaped like a real man and Linda used to punch and kick him.  Every single time she went downstairs into the room and turned on the light, she would momentary get frightened and think someone was in the house. 

New Tricks/Best Dog

It's been a restful kind of day.  We did our walk with Paul while Linda was gone.  It was way too hot for a long trail walk, but we did a short one.  She forgot to leave Paul a note to work with Chimmie on crossing the stepping stones by himself.  He can jump from stone to stone on the ones that are closer together.  Soon, Linda won't have to carry him at all, which will free up her hand to carry the iPhone/camera for emergency calls/photos.  There is no way I could do it though, so she won't even attempt to have me try.  My little legs are too short to chance leaping across the deep water.  (He did fall in the first few times, but then figured it out.  He really is smart when there are cookies involved.)  We took a  nap earlier and feel much better.  Chim has wanted to spend most of the afternoon on the deck playing with his outside toys, so it's been really quite around the house.  It's been a little while since I put up a Snickers photo.  He was my Daddy, Best Friend, Mommy and Protector all rolled into one.  Snickers always let me win the wrestling matches.  I would bite him under the neck or on the ear and hang on when he stood up.  Every time Linda sees a photo of him she gets all teary eyed.  She wants to find the photo of me sticking my entire head inside his mouth.  We loved him. 

Remember This?

The minute Linda leaves for church, I'm going right back to bed.  Paul will be here to walk us soon and I need to recharge.  All three of us were super tired yesterday, so we went to bed early.  Chim actually pulled out his bed first and laid down at 9:15.  Linda and I turned in a few minutes later.  She fell right asleep, but was wide awake and thought it was time to get up at 12:15! She tossed and turned (which means I had to toss and turn to since I sleep right next to her) until almost 4:00 a.m.  Chip decided she was absolutely starving at 6:30 a.m. and could not wait a minute longer to be fed. One lone crow, probably the leader of the murder, thought it would be funny to caw on the fence right near our bedroom window for 15 straight minutes straight. All Chips caterwauling and the crows crowerwauling woke Chim up, then he decided he needed to go outside.  Right this minute, Linda is pretty crabby from lack of sleep and so many animal noises at an early hour.  At least a cup of hot coffee will wake her up, right?  Nope....she forgot to buy coffee yesterday.  To cheer Linda up, I thought I'd re-post the photo of the dirt the Eureka! pulled out of her carpet.  She said she will vacuum before church to get her in a better frame of mind. 

Crib for 2Dalls

We were looking through the craigslist ads today for baby things. Linda was tempted to respond to the ad and ask if the dalls were included in the amazing deal!

mhttp://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bab/2554081397.html

Are You My Baby?

You might not be able to read the caption on this photo.  It says "After fourteen months at sea... blah, blah, blah...meets his baby for the first time."   I could be wrong, but that kid looks more than 5 months old.  Plus, why is he holding it like that?  I wonder what this little girl is doing today? 

Saturday Afternoon

We know 3:42 p.m. is way too early for bed, but Linda is so tired that she needs to lay down and nap.  This morning started at 6:00 a.m. and she worked until 1:30.  There was time for a quick shower and change of sweaty clothes, then back out to her friends Cabi party.  A Cabi party is where you go to someones home and try on beautiful clothes at prices Linda could never afford.  Linda watched the show and listened to the sales pitch, but did not tempt herself by trying on outfits.  Maybe she can buy something 1/2 price at the end of the season when it all goes on sale.  Anyway, after a short nap maybe she will be able to meet up with Sarah and Taylor for dinner.  Oh, I forgot to mention that the pet store was having an amazing sale yesterday.  Linda got all these of these toys for only $5.00.  They were originally $9.99 each!  Now when Chimmie chews them to bits in 2 days, she won't feel so bad.  I guess with all the money she saved on the toys, she could have justified buying a $45 shirt at the party.  (Except all the shirts she liked were more than $45. so it's a no-brainer anyway.)

We Heart Noah

The camping trip was cut short because of severe hail, pouring rain and lightening.  Linda got to see Tier, Sarah and Taylor at church tonight but only through the nursery window. They were going downstairs to the fellowship hall to have dinner and finish their camping trip fun indoors.  The babies in the nursery were very fussy tonight and Linda has lots of spit up and drool on her shirt.  Noah was there, but he was busy crawling around the lobby and did not come into the nursery.  She was happy that she got to cuddle him and give him a kiss before she left for the night. Hopefully, he'll be coming this Thursday for our usual play date.  It's off to bed now because Linda has an early morning meeting before her regular classes.  

HELP!!

4 and 20 crows baked in a pie!

This is getting ridiculous.  I know I wrote that typing and saying "murder of crows" is fun, but now I'm wondering if they are not out to actually murder me! A few days ago they flew around us on the wooded trail.  Yesterday, they were on the house across the street and today... THEY CAME IN OUR BACKYARD!  I'm not talking one or two rogue crows either.  This is a MURDER OF CROWS.  There must be 50 of them!!  When Linda got home from teaching and Home Depot, she put us out in the back to go downstairs and do some laundry.  She could hear me barking and barking all the way down in the laundry room, so she came up to see what the deal was.  The crows were everywhere!!  On our fence, flying overhead and going CAW-CAW.. I WANT TO EAT YOU UP CHOOPIE.  When she opened the sliding glass door, they flew into the yard that backs up to ours.  You can't really see them very well since Linda does not have a camera with a telephoto lens.  Just believe me when I tell you all the trees were full of the murdering birds.  If they don't go away soon, Linda is going to have Taylor come over with his B-B gun and Megan will be baking some bird pie!

The Walking Dogs

This mornings trail walk was eerie.  It rained cats and dogs yesterday, so everything was damp, humid and very wet.  It was hot already even though it was very early.  There was steam coming up from the foliage and streams.  High winds had knocked off lots of leaves and small branches onto the trail.  The water was very high and large trunks of trees had washed down and created a little dam where we cross over on the stepping stones.  (I wish Tierney was writing this post.  She studied creative writing in college and has a way with words.  She could make it sound much better than I am.)  Linda decided to take a shortcut home.  No one (not even the deer, unless they were very short deer) had been on the deer trail in a long time so she kept getting a face full of cobwebs every few yards.  We didn't see one sign of wildlife, not even the murder of crows. (I just love writing "murder of crows".  I will try to use it as often as possible just because it sounds so cool.)  We left the iPhone home again, so no photos of our adventure... but this is what it looked like.  We were almost expecting a Zombie from The Walking Dead or even Bigfoot to pop out and get us!

Humans Do The Dumbest Things

To be fair, Chimmie does dumb things and once (just once) I did too.  When I was super tiny, maybe just 2 pounds, I needed a snack.  Instead of waiting until Linda got home, I made my body squeeze in the little opening under the cabinet where Linda keeps the food.  I was able to bypass the doors and just climb inside. OH MY!  I tore into a bag of treats and ate until I got sick and my belly was swollen!  Paul fixed the cabinet by nailing a board in the opening so I could not get in anymore.  Anyway, nothing Chim or or have done is as dumb as what a babysitter did in Florida.  Instead of taking the baby out of the stroller and putting it in the car seat, she just loaded the stroller into the back of her pickup truck and sped along on super busy highways!  Other motorists were calling 911 after seeing the infant sitting in the stroller.  The cops finally caught up with her.  She thought it was OK since someone was laying in the truckbed holding the strollers wheel so it did not roll back and forth. Speaking of strollers, Linda wants to get this Bob stroller for baby Leonidas or Zena. (The baby might be a girl, so Erica (Taylor's other Mom)  is calling the baby Zena Princess Warrior.)  It is by far, the top of the line jogging stroller.  Sarah loves to run and it would be the perfect present for her.  Since Sarah doesn't read this blog, it could still be a surprise! 

Camping Fun

Tier, Taylor and Sarah left this morning for the annual camping trip with the Young Adult group from church.  Over 100 people usually go.  Everyone gets a job for the weekend.  Sarah will be cooking, Taylor will be chopping wood and tending to the fire and Tierney is in charge of one of the latrines.  I'm sure Tier will decorate the tarps hanging around the potty with pretty artwork and there will be fashion magazines available as reading material.  Sarah grew up a country girl and is right at home in the woods, Taylor... not so much and Tier not at all.  She is a good sport though and always has a good time.  Here are some photos from past trips.