Old Man Chase

I know I have written about The Yellow Bandit before, but I am not certain if I have ever mentioned Old Man Chase. Chase is the yellow lab across the street. When I first moved in, I thought his name was Jake for some reason. Chase lived to the nice old are of 14. He was a beautiful almost white yellow lab who had the most distinct bark. I'm sad for my neighbors. What a crummy way to start a weekend. :(

Miner says, "You're a slacker!! Post something, damnit!"

I need to get out and take some pictures of my garden today. There's tons of stuff growing. It's just too hot out right now. And it's not even that hot! Maybe this evening. 

I took Miner swimming out at West Lake Park. He was already pretty stinky and in need of a bath, so who cares that he smells like lake now. He is currently napping. I might decide to join him. 

Neglectful

So, I realize I have been neglectful about posting lately. I must apologize. There's no real excuse, just nothing major happening on the home front lately. I've been running, Miner goes out with me most times. It's finally starting to warm up and the Bumble Bee has been out 3 times already this year. 

I did have a very fun long weekend and vacation this weekend though. The only bad thing is my throat and sinuses are messed up enough that I lost my voice on Sunday afternoon. I am going to do my best to not talk at work tomorrow, though it was difficult not to this afternoon at the Training Center.

My vacation was to South Carolina. I ran the Cooper River Bridge Run with my friends Jada, Tim and a group of their friends from Texas and the Carolinas. Here's all of us on the beach Sunday morning. Left to right is: Julia, Toby, Jes, me, Jada, Tim, Sara and Walt. 

It's a 10K and you go over this big pretty suspension bridge. The run ends up in downtown Charleston. We stayed out on Folly Beach which was great. They all headed home on Sunday afternoon and I stuck around two more nights. I didn't do a whole lot...I wandered around the beach and went and saw this huge tree.

I got up very early this morning to fly home. I got to pick Miner up all clean from his bath at the kennel. Since Easter is coming up, he got this little bandanna. This is only the second time he's ever had a bath there that they put a bandanna on him. I am thinking it may also be the only other time where I have picked him up right after his bath and not the following day. 

Miner's New Nick Name

Crash. That's his new nick name. This morning, he fell out of my bed. Those of you who've been to my house have seen how my bed is kind of ridiculously tall for someone my height. Yeah, Crash, boom. Little bit of limping and now he's OK. Maybe this was the universe's way of telling me that I need a new mattress. 

And I came home to this...

So Much Fun

Well, Mom and Brian both headed home today. Mom at the crack of dawn, Brian at about 1:30 PM. 

It was so much fun having them here. Thanksgiving morning, Brian and I ran/walked the Turkey Trot in Davenport. It was cold, but really fun. It was nice having B with me...he even went slow for me. We had a great meal Thursday. My friend Chanda and her mom Michelle came to share Thanksgiving dinner with us. We had such a good time. I made the WW pumpkin pie recipe. It is now my favorite pumpkin pie! It's got molasses in it, and all the usual pumpkin pie spices, but seems "spicier" than the recipe from the back of a can of pumpkin. Spicier in a good way. 

We continued our tradition of watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy until late at night. Then we added a new one: The Bourne Trilogy movies. I forgot how good those were. 

Mom helped me put up Christmas decorations. She even did my least favorite task of spreading out the branches on my artificial tree. We put lights in the bushes out front. I also got a new little snow man to add to the outdoor decorations. We had a little photo shoot, because I wanted a picture of me and Miner to send to mom, Granny and Erin. Here's a preview, but not the one currently being printed at the drug store. 

I did have to interrupt Mom's decorating to take her for a short ride in the bug with the top down. We drove over to a friend's house, but they weren't home, so we tooled around for a few minutes and came home. Then we finished the tree. You can see most of it in Miner's "bah humbug!" photo. Miner is definitely not a fan of photo shoots.

Miner has a hitch in his giddy-up

While out on our walk/run this morning, Miner started limping a little. So I turned us around at the bike path and headed back. It got progressively worse and he was putting as little weight as possible on his right foot. I wound up taking him to the vet. She thinks it's probably a sprained shoulder. He can't move his right leg the same as his left. Doggie Advil and rest for two weeks. If it doesn't improve by Monday or Tuesday, I'll take him back in for X-rays. :( Poor boy. He has to be shut in the guest room when I leave, so he's not hoping up at the back window or doing much wandering around.

It's that time of year again...

...the time when more rabbits come hang in the yard...and Miner gets little rabbit poop snacks all the time. Guh-ross!

Miner Got a Bonus

During our walk tonight, Miner got himself 1/2 a piece of pizza before I realized what was going on. How did I miss an entire piece of pizza on the sidewalk?!

Miner's new Favorite

Is when I put peanut butter in his Kong toy. It keeps him busy. He found the trick for getting the crunchy treats out, so I had to out-smart him.

Me and my bad ass tomatoes

Apparently, my tomato plants are pretty bad ass. I had two separate groups of people stop and admire them this evening. Miner has been doing a good job chasing off the rabbits and squirrels, so everything is looking quite nice.


This is the biggest green tomato I could find. I have already picked a handful or two of the little yellow pear ones. But those never made it in the house.


I currently have five 8-ball squash (round, dark green zucchini) sitting in the kitchen waiting for me to make bread or ratatouille or something. I've also harvested 3/4 of the green beans. The basil is going nuts, so if you need some, call me.



Finally, a close up of my dahlia that made it back from the brink...a result of erratic watering and then its sunny spot on the west side of the deck turning shady when the neighbor's fence went up.

Getting off my ass...

Miner and I walked about 1 mile this afternoon. Can still do it in under 20 minutes, but my knee and ankle are telling me I need to do this more often.

Came back and drank a bunch of water and ate a nectarine cut up with some blueberries. Feeling pretty good about myself.

Dog

I am a little affraid my house smells like dog. This always happens in the summer and always when we walk more frequently. Maybe I just need to bathe him more frequently...I sure as shit vaccuum often enough.

Kinda Cruddy Day...

...that ended up being OK. I was tired, cranky and just feeling sorry for myself. Feeling a little lonely lately and really not doing well with the whole calm-assertive thing with the dog. I am more worry-nervous. So we practiced today. We just walked a mile before dinner and me going to class. That was nice. I just practiced breathing and tried to be zen about it. And I have been working on practicing commands with Miner...even if I don't need him to sit, I make him sit. So, whenever there was a house with nice flower beds, I made him sit, and I just kind of studdied what they had in the flower bed and how it was edged and all. It was actually relaxing.

I am very much in a knowing what I need to do to feel better but not getting off my ass and doing it sort of period right now. Eh.

Class was good. We talked about our StrengthsFinder results. I'll post more about that some other time.

Stupid Money

I am opting for no fence this year. I know that Miner would like it and that I would like it even more in the winter, but I need to pay off debt. I need to pay off debt and start saving for "Aunt Amy's Lake House" somewhere in IA, WI or MN.

Eh. Divorce is a pain in the pocket book. But it has been worth it in so many other ways.

Dag Nab It

eh...apparently that's not the first time I've used that subject for a post.

I am torn. Why is it so hard to make a decision? I really would like to have my yard fenced so Miner can play in all of the back yard. I am thinking at this point, it won't make the yard too little. And I think I can get most of it done with the help of my neighbors and maybe Brian (hint, hint).

Guess I have another conversation to have with Rick.

I KNEW there was an orange one!

When I bought these near dead lillies last year, I was pretty sure that I got two white ones and an orange one. Last year, however, I never got to see a bloom on the orange one...and I began to doubt if I really did get an orange one. Well, I did! The lillies opened this week.

Here's a couple Miner pictures, too. He's looking quite puppy-like in this one on the blue dog couch in the basement.

Glass Houses

The neighbor still hasn't mowed her lawn. Well, she did the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. I have mowed my lawn 2 or 3 times since then, because it needed it. She has not. Today, she asks me if I "know what's up with the house with all the trees down the street." She is referring for a house with a lot of overgrown trees and shrubs and says, "you would think that someone would have called and reported it." Uh...HELLO?! Have you looked at your yard recently?

Also, her dogs get out all the time. Both did yesterday, and met Miner. There was brief sniffing and not much else. They both did again today. Benny busts his collar all the time. Really, I just feel sad for the dogs. I mean, when Miner is loose, he doesn't run away just to run away, he comes back when called and really only takes off after rabbits or squirrels or something, and even then he stops at the edge of the yard. I do need to keep working with him on meeting other dogs, he got all riled up at a boxer on our walk this morning.

My dog is awesome

All 4 paws trimmed in one go! Plus, he played some with his girlfriend Shelby this evening and was looking quite cute. :) That's my dog!

Great Weekend

I had a great weekend! Friday, I took the day off. I did laundry, cleaned house and painted the "people door" to the garage.

Saturday, I went to get the oil changed in my car. I had an appointment, but they were running a little behind. Really, I didn't have to wait all that long, and I had a New Yorker with me to read...but after waiting about 15 minutes or so, the manager poked his head into the waiting room and said, "Since we are running behind and your time is important...I am not going to charge you for the oil change or tire rotation." This is why I love Tuffy's in Davenport! :)

Sunday, I got up early and drove down to St. Louis for a cook-out at Dave? and Kelly's house. Josh and Sarah were in town from Germany. I got to visit all my St. Louis Los Bike friends. It was great. I stayed over night and my neighbors watched Miner for me.

Today, I got up early, spent a half hour talking with Pat before hitting the road. About 60 miles out of town, the rain was so bad I had to get off the highway and wait it out for 10 minutes at a gas station. After that, it rained on me most of the way home, but not any where near as bad. I got home around 12:30 and cleaned up my sewing room in the basement. (I have lots of stuff to make for all these babies my friends are having). Then later this evening I had some friends over for ice cream sundaes.

And reports from my neighbor was that Miner was very well behaved. Miner got to sit outside with Rick and their dog Shelby (Miner's girlfriend) for 4 or 5 hours yesterday while he was smoking ribs. Miner got to sniff and lick where all the pork goodness was dripping from the smoker. Amy said she took him for a walk this morning, too. He's such a good boy!