Wish List - National Tree

8. See the national Christmas tree and all of the state trees
Happy Christmas Eve! Mike and I went downtown to check out the scenes around D.C. and it was bitterly cold! It was worth it though, something unique about our city. We kinda skipped some of the state trees... but we also saw the capitol tree from Montana! DC is actually a fun place to be at night time, when there isn't the stress of traffic and tons of people.











These are both pictures of the Capitol tree, and below are pictures of the National tree on the ellipse.













We also got a glimpse of the White House, but weren't able to get right up to the fence for a good picture.

Catch Up

This one is a long time coming, I’ve been a bit busy and have gotten behind! I could blame it on the lack of dogs to blog about, but we haven’t really had that. We took a “break” from fostering and instead we dog-sat for two of our friends and then allowed a special foster for 24 hours! I can’t tell you about them and not post pictures, so here are our friends’ dogs, and the last picture is the foster dog named Lola.

They were fun. It’s funny how you get used to fosters, and then dog sit for a dog that actually knows it’s name, and knows how to sit, stay and even play fetch!

In other news… Mike finished his hardest semester! He had 18 credits and managed to maintain his 4.0 (smarty-pants). Only one semester left for us, then he will have his Bachelor’s in Communication and we’ll be on our way to Chicago! Still no word on the housing situation, so we are staying flexible and patient.

Wish List – MV

#2 Go to Mount Vernon
We took a tour of Mount Vernon last Friday night, during the Christmas by Candlelight series. It was a beautiful but cold tour! It was fun to adventure to somewhere new together. We left the camera in the car, unfortunately, so no personal pictures to share. I did however find one on the internet, because it is such a nice place.

Oh! and after we went through the tour, we went into old town Alexandria to have dinner. We found this place that has THE BEST creme brulee I have ever had. Dee-lish!

Black Friday

I had a desire to shop. I always have a desire to shop, but this time, it was different. My curiosity got the best of me, and I woke at 4:30am to see what all the fuss was about. When I arrived at Wal-mart, the line began front and center of the store, curved around the side, ran all along the building, and proceeded to curve into the parking lot. Crazy! I had deja-vu of the hour long wait to vote.
So I finally enter the store, head straight to the electronics section, find the item I am looking for (I will only refer to it as "the item" because it was a gift!) and am promptly informed by the employee that I needed a ticket to receive the item. What?! Is this some information everybody else seems to know, and I somehow was oblivious to? No, in fact, even the seasoned shoppers were surprised at the "ticket system". So, to not drag this story any longer than it already is... I talked to several people in the "ticket line", several more employees who all seemed to have no other agenda than to get you off their back, and finally found the manager. He was escorted by two police officers and was the keeper of all of the (magical) tickets.
The system worked (barely) and I got the item! Although I had a few ideas on how to make things work a little better, like maybe trying to use some of the technology that you so eagerly sell.
By the time 9:00am rolled around, I had shopped at three different stores and spent way too much money. All in the name of holiday spirit and gift giving!

Wish list

Things we (I) want to do before the summertime (when we leave D.C.). In no particular order.

1. See the Holocaust Museum
2. Go to Mount Vernon
3. Eat at Jackson's Mighty Fine Restaurant & Lucky Lounge (the newest place in the Great American Restaurants chain)
4. Go to Williamsburg
5. Change the light plates in our apartment here (they have been painted over like 5 times and are nasty... and we like our landlord and want to help them sell the place).
6. Drive up to Boston to see family and spend a day or two downtown
7. Go to a George Mason basketball game
8. See the national Christmas tree and all of the state trees
9. Go to the National Cathedral (on Christmas Eve, maybe?)
10. See one last free concert downtown (military band or NSO)

My plan is to do a blog entry whenever we complete one... we'll see :)

And then there were two...

Spooky's brother (Boo) joined us on Wednesday evening. We've all been having great fun, and a few extra opportunities to practice patience. They love to wrestle each other, it's hilarious. And it doesn't matter what one of them starts playing with, the other will get jealous. Seriously, we gave them a cardboard box and one got interested, and before you know it they were pulling it apart! Though they are definitely more of a challenge than just one dog, they really are a good lesson for us. They make us work more as a team, not just taking turns, but coordinating and doing things at the same time and together. For example, when you're trying to get a puppy to go potty out side, it's much easier when one person only has to keep track of one dog, and they aren't distracted with being too close to each other. And messes... one cleans, and the other removes the culprits. We are a true team. And though it causes some stress, I love it.

Happy Halloween!

Ok, so it's way after Halloween, but our little friend was a Halloween "present" so I thought it would be fitting. He was dropped off to one of the rescue workers from HART on Halloween evening, so he and his two siblings were given festive names. His was Spooky, but we think he deserves a much more fitting name. He was born on 9/2/08 so is about 9 weeks old now. He is surprisingly aware of potty rules and goes as soon as we put him down on the grass. We are thoroughly enjoying the joy of puppy love. If you need a puppy fix, come visit! He loves to play and then conk out in your lap :)

Recovering :)

I'm happily recovering... hardly any physical side effects at this point (3 days out). I'm loving my new eyes, I haven't seen this well since I can remember. I started wearing glasses in 3rd grade (1992) and contacts in 6th grade. My last prescription in 20/20 terms was somewhere in the ballpark of 20/800. They say when your eyes are that bad, they kind of stop keeping track in those terms. The doctor explained that if you can only read the large "E" at the top of the reading chart, you are 20/200; if you are twenty feet away, it looks like it is 200 feet away. But now, I see just about perfectly! I see clearly, some halos around lights, but generally pretty darn clear. It's amazing, I highly recommend it to anyone trapped by their glasses or contacts.

Lasik!

Not that I am a dedicated daily blogger... but I felt the need to explain my upcoming absence. I am having Lasik eye surgery at noon today (Thursday)! I will be unable to read emails or focus on the computer screen for a few days, so won't be posting. When I return, my eyes will be just like new!

shopping

I went shopping today :) Wal-Mart, Ross and Safeway. Yes, you are correct in your assessment of my "high -end" shopping patterns. My idea of a good shopping trip is not only finding what you are looking for, but getting a good deal at the same time. I am one of those people who can't pass up a steal, and will think of a "need" to fit it so I can justify buying it :) Sometimes it works out, but usually I end up buying things that are "extras" around the house. In use, but not necessary. By the way, Wal-Mart is not at the top of my list, just Ross.
Sometimes I wonder what Stacy and Clinton would say about my clothing choices... I wish there were some way you could hire them to do a consultation or something. That would be awesome! I've also thought about staging a style disaster... wearing my worst clothing for a week or so and having someone nominate me. Wouldn't that be fun? and maybe a little misleading, I guess...


And for todays randomness... the inspiration for my dedicated love of dogs

Smiles all around

We are back from Massachusetts! It was a quick trip, but definitely worth it. I have included a few pictures below to give you a quick overview. There were dogs, kiddos, sister-in-laws and a cute little baby. Here they all are!

Packing...

Packing is like writing a paper. I can't do either without pressure. I need the serious, for real, night-before-it's due (or I leave town) pressure. Which is so weird to me. Because I absolutely loathe paper writing. Going out of town, on the other hand, is delightful. I love traveling, seeing new places, new people, adventures abound! So why do both things solicit the same procrastination and avoidance? One can only guess the inner workings of the mess that I am...

PS. I like to post pictures with my thoughts, so here is a side note. Dutchess is staying with one of the HART people while we are away. I hope she remembers us when we get back!

New friends...

Cash has a new friend! He was adopted almost a week ago, on Sunday. His new family is enjoying him and he seems to be having fun playing with their other whippet mix dog. We are very happy for him!

Mike and I also have a new friend.. her name is Dutchess. She is a pitbull lab mix and is quite sweet. We are enjoying helping her relearn the world, as she had previously been chained up outside 24-7. She's having fun living in a home and getting attention.

Nieces...

We are blessed with beautiful nieces... we have five in all, and here are pictures of each of them!

My sister Sarah's two girls, Sydney and Sophie.

Here is Sydney, growing into her new role as big sister.



And Sophie, on her first shopping trip with the girls!












My sister-in-law Crissy, has Brianna, Brittney and the newest addition, Braelyn.

Beginning with the oldest. Brianna at the swimming pool.









Here is Brittney, in her tent.











And baby Braelyn.












We love them all so much and are very excited to watch them grow!

A New Friend

We picked up another foster dog today! Cash is a Whippet and Jack Russell Terrier mix. He has the height of a Whippet, but a little more meat like a Jack Russell. We think he's actually pretty good looking. Cash needs a bit of training in the listening to us category, as well as the toilet genre. He is showing good potential though :) He will be one year old in December, so is still enjoying his puppyhood behavior.

Shampoo... not just for hair

We had to "shampoo" our carpets this weekend. The good news is that we can foster dogs again! It's been almost one month since we said goodbye to Baby (now Zoe) and we hear she is doing well. When you get used to having a furry friendly pet that depends on you, makes you take walks for exercise each day and gives you attention, it's hard to give that up. We both are dog people and really enjoy taking care of them and training them, not just the fun playing and cuddling part. After learning on Saturday that all we needed to do was to shampoo our carpets and wash our couches... we got right to it! Now we are just waiting to find the right pup that needs a home!

Pictures!

Here is beautiful baby Sophie!
She is healthy and well mannered, thank goodness!








Sydney is still adjusting, she's not sure she likes sharing all of the attention. But she is being a good big sister, nonetheless.








I got to hold her :) I love being an auntie!

Baby Sophie

My sister Sarah has had her baby!  She was induced this morning and 5 hours later, Sophie arrived!  She weighs 9 pounds even and is about 20 inches long.  She is healthy and so is mom.  I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Such is life... crappy

The little darling that came in to our lives and captured our hearts... is healthy, and in a new home. We are very happy that she survived the Parvovirus, but sad that we can't keep her. Due to the nastiness of parvo, our place is now infected and we can't bring her back or foster any dogs for a few months :( So, she came in, infected it and then left... oh yeah, and took our sleep and hearts with her. That's a raw deal and I'm a bit emotional still, if you can't tell. It feels like of all of the people involved in this little puppy's life, helping her along, we got screwed. Isn't life ironic.

I think fostering will now be on a strictly un-emotional level now. Just there to be a roof over a dogs head, not their new best friend.

Stabilized

The update... she has stabilized! We visited Baby today in her isolated room with our smocks and rubber gloves on, careful to not spread the parvo. She looked wonderful, sat right up to see us and even walked towards the front of her cage! She made sure to lick our faces since our hands were in gloves. The vet said she was very interested in eating baby food last night and ate some puppy kibble this morning. They think she "turned a corner" last night, largely due to her omega-interferon treatment and a plasma transfusion. Both procedures have additional dosages tonight and tomorrow (3 day treatment for the omega-interferon). We were very glad to see how much she responded to us and even more glad to hear the good report from the vet. Also glad that HART is so generous in paying for treatments for their rescue dogs. We know she will be in until at least Sunday night, and more realistically we think she might get to come home on Monday. The adoptive family still seems interested, so we're fighting to keep the perspective of "foster" parents.

The Real Deal

Here's the real deal... pictures of sweet Baby (we like to call her Lady as well) on her first day with us. She was feeling much better then.

We visited her at the hospital tonight, even got to hold her! The doctors are "guardedly optimistic about her condition. They say we might get to take her home tomorrow! Let's hope so! If she makes it through this whole thing, it's gonna be pretty hard to give her away...

Parvo

We took in another foster dog on Saturday, August 30. She is an adorable 3 month old pitbull/Lab mix. The rescue organization named her "Baby" which is cute now, but not much of a real name. Anyhow, she developed a sense of lethargy and lack of apetite on Monday night and Tuesday, then began vomitting on Tuesday afternoon/evening. We took her into the animal ER last night and they are keeping her for 24 hours. They think that it is Parvo , a disease that has a 90% mortality rate if untreated. We are sad that she is in pain and miss her sweet demeanor. It's funny how you can get so attached to an animal in 4 days...

This is not a picture of her... but I found on the web and it looks a ton like her, only Baby is cuter. I will upload a picture of her as soon as I have a free minute at home.

Buzz

Buzz was adopted! We were very fortunate to pass along our dear friend Buzz to a loving family exactly one day before we had to leave for our mission trip. Good timing! We miss him very much and are kicking around the idea of taking in another furry friend this fall. We will keep you posted.

Lately

I don't always know the words for how I'm feeling, and when I do, they don't always sound "good". So I often quote other people, and songs... so this is me lately...

Bebo Norman - The Way We Mend Lyrics

Lately you've been all blue sky
And I've been rain
I don't mean to bust up your party
With all of my pain

But sometimes my shadows surround me
And you take me in your arms and say

It's the way we mend
We tear it all down and we'll start it again
And I don't know how but you find me where we begin
And that's just the way, the way that we mend

starting things off...

Just starting the blogging thing... here is Katie's bio for lack of better things to post.



I graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2006 with a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance on the Saxophone.
· My husband is my hero. If I could have a portion of his determination and drive, I would have conquered the world by now.
· I have never been to Africa, Asia or Australia… but would love to someday.
· Once, while at college, I played Ultimate Frisbee on a golf course at Ohio University. True irony.
· During high school, I picked up trash and cigarette butts from a parking lot every Saturday to earn money.
· My favorite course in college was weight-lifting.
· I'm not good at asking for help, finishing books or being punctual.
· My guilty pleasures include cheese whiz, salt 'n vinegar chips and anything to satisfy my overactive sweet tooth.
· I took a free trip to Greece for a week, where I played music from my heart over the Ionian sea. Even earned a few coins from tourists!
· Though I try to hide it, I am a true nerd at heart. I worked for apple computers, dream of being a professional organizer and wish I could bottle the smell of Staples.
· I treasure my nieces (currently I have 3 and there are 2 on the way!) and deep conversations with friends.