How cute is this?

I stole this picture from my parents who are so nicely (thank you!) taking care of Tarn while our floors harden. We miss coming home to Tarn, but know he is having so much fun going to the dog park and having humans to follow around all day long. No Dairy and Tarn are not best friends - Dairy is so scared he is frozen. Dairy's defense mechanism is to not move. It must have served him well as he is able to avoid the monster's in the woods. I have been slacking on the blog. Life is chugging along and there really hasn't been any excitement. I have finished all of my classwork for my latest class so I am able to breathe again, this semester wasn't bad. I am really nervous about next semester/quarter as there will be three nights of classes per week. It will be 3 hard months and truthfully I am scared. But soon the house will be all in order and we are officially done. This house is as good as it gets after the baseboards get up and a coat of paint. We have all of our pictures up now and no clutter in the living room. I love it and am refusing to allow the clutter in the living room. We also have a flat screen television on the mantel not plugged in with no DVD player. The American Dream!

Leaves

Our tree is giving us so many gifts. Dropping pretty presents on the ground. Kitty wanted to get in the action. He has been sitting at the window watching for days. He got on his leash and went for a visit outside. He was shaking like a leaf. It is so pretty and sunny, the picture doesn't do the colors justice. Plus the lady next door mows the front 3 times a day to keep the leaves picked up. We haven't figured out how to get her inside the yard. Enjoy your extra hour!

Anniversary #1

We celebrated with a bike ride on the tandem through the canyon. A movie (W - not great) and dinner with friends. That was actually the day before. The day of we spent relaxing around the house with only me having to go to class ruining the day. This weekend was spent with me spending the whole weekend writing a paper. Except for today we escaped for a quick hike in between edits. It is so incredibly beautiful in crackima when the leaves change. I'll try to get some pictures, it is insane it so pretty. Sunday night, time for bed, there is a body pump class tomorrow that I must make it up for, I hope I can get out bed. By the way, it takes some talent to take the photo above.

Dexter (rock's new name) otherwise known as Dempster

Just chased kitty who flew through the air and landed on Damon in the bathtub and then bounced out. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. Damon says he came out with only a couple scratches. Lucky him.

The quickest update ever

• My parents visited and helped tile our bath tub. It still isn't done (not their fault), but about one thing gets done a day.



• My mom and I went to the fair and saw a freaky deaky goat



• My dad turned 62 (happy birthday!)



• My brother turns 34 tomorrow! (happy birthday)



• Tarn got a Halloween costume (Zorro - thanks KC)



• Tarn ate the fur off his tail and got a cone



• Damon's parent's came for a visit
  



• We took Ben and Max to the corn maze and didn't lose them



• The next day we watched Max's play



• For the next few days I will be in Spokane at a School Psychology conference
  
  Pictures of some/and or all events

I was extra lucky!

Damon brought home a cord. And dinner too! Back in business!

Broken computer

Of course the computer isn't working - AGAIN. (it hasn't been working for a long time - since the blog hasn't been updated). Anyhow after spending 200$ on a new battery and then 79.99 on a new cord that only lasted hmmm...maybe a week....I ran out of money. So I am anxiously awaiting getting paid tomorrow night and then maybe I will get a new cord. Or maybe if I am extra lucky Damon will bring one home with him tonight. I am guessing not. Yesterday we scoured this side of town looking for a cord but we were too lazy or grumpy to head to Union Gap. I have good photo's to post once it is up and running. Feel sorry for me as spend class today without spider solitaire.

Site of the Great Gnome Massacre

Last night at around 2:00 am, we started hearing noises. Tarn went a little crazy. Then we heard the neighbor's monster truck roar away (Damon says the truck is the real crime). Finally I got up to see what was going on and a cop was sitting outside our house. Damon went out to talk to him. He reported that some kids had gone next door and had been smashing our neighbors gnomes. It is kind of funny except that the lady next door had her gnomes smashed before (she has a gazillion) and she stopped me in the morning and she was really bummed ("I am on a fixed income and can't afford anymore" - the neighbor). The gnome smashers were caught last night according to the cop. When we got up this morning some of the gnomes were in our yard. We also drove by her house and there is a lot of gnome pieces in the road. So of course I had to set them up for a photo. If you look closely the pigs are (see no, hear no, speak no evil), the bunny has been given a collar, and the turtle is just a turtle. Now one of us has to go deliver them back. But don't worry there are plenty of gnomes still.

Ride from spokane to coure d alene

1. Starting out Saturday morning 7:30 am
2. My first flat ever Saturday 7:45 am
3 and 4 Waiting out the rain Sunday morning 9:00 am
5. Bunny Bunny Bunny (at the rest stop!)

computer is down again

On the upside I found this delightful picture of Tarn and Kitty on the old computer. I took it when I wasn't working. I know that because they are dressed in matching outfits. Gary and Chris were over the other night and they said "remember when we stopped by when you didn't have a job, and you had Tarn dressed up in people clothes?". I was like...."ugh ya. That is normal right". Anyhow, I am glad to have a job. Sometimes I don't like it, but it is a good thing to have. Dempster (the old Rock is staying with us). He is doing awesome. Well, two throw ups this morning after the gym - but still he is really really well behaved.

Here comes the rain

Here comes the rain. We road the tandem from Spokane to Coure de Alene. It is about 40 miles and I think Damon does all of the work since it wasn't all that hard. Saturday was beautiful weather. There was rest stop with a bunch of bunnies. They live in junipers and probably eat what the people at the rest stop feed them. I fed them carrots from the snack thing at our bike rest stop. We got there and had a leisurely day in Coure de Alene with more than one nap and a dinner at the brewery as part of ride. We walked since we had no car. The people that road 100 miles took a taxi. The next morning we awoke to pouring rain and no way to get back to our cars except to ride. Damon said "you like the rain, so this won't be that bad". I do like the rain, sitting in the house in front of the fire with a good book, not riding a bike. We rode with water in our shoes. Everyone was in good spirits and we PR'd on the ride back. Then we got baked potatoes at the hotel we stayed at on Friday. I'll add a picture later since I am in class.

monks

If you dropped the chip then it would be just a monk. This was a fat little monk that was getting us to feed him trail mix after our hike while we waited for the boat ride home. It kept trying to get in our pack to get more treats and even tried to climb in Damon's boot. We saw lots of these little guys on the trail but this one was the fattest for sure. All of the animals were treating us like Dr. Doolittle. Maybe because we met the bear from Dr. Doolittle at Sequim and he shared. There was the deer at our campsite the second night that wouldn't leave. There was the pheasant or quail that let me take a picture right up in his grill. Then this chipmonk. We saw a fox at the resort, but he didn't stick around to hang with us.

We had a great relaxing, refreshing time in Redfish Lake. Of course we came back with all sorts of new goals and ideas about life (see motivation). Mostly we just chilled and hiked. We also road the tandem 30 miles to a hot spring. There are hot springs every where. The lodge was like a modern day Dirty Dancing lodge, mixed with my experience at Squaw Valley Academy. I swear there was only like 3 workers there running a full hotel and full service restaurant, bar, and marina. Our favorite thing was getting to breakfast at 8 am right when they opened and watching the mayhem of breakfast. Ymmm coffee with a reality TV show going on all around you. The nearest town is Stanley and we were plotting our move until we found out that in the winter the town only has 35 people. No thanks. Anyway we are back to work. And if you haven't checked out the kitty blog lately, take a look at these cuties.

Delight - Vacation

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you...
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

John Muir

Sequim - Happy Birthday Damon!

If you know Damon he is pretty mellow about his birthday. I just heard him use it to advantage twice. Once to convince kitty to stop biting him and a half hour to get me to let him watch MASH at bed time. What a manipulative little birthday boy.

We had a nice family reunion on Saturday followed by a trip to Sequim. We decided to stay in hotel for Damon's birthday and do some of the top activities Sequim has to offer. Just like everything else we seem to do our activities are bigger than our hours and I am glad that I wasn't able to book the Kayaking trip on Saturday and we didn't bring the tandem. We had just enough time to enjoy a hike in the Rain Forest, cut short a little by entering the national park where the No's include no pets. It worked out perfect and we crossed a bridge and did another trail. It was hard to get Tarn to cross the bridge, but eventually to avoid being left behind he crossed at Damon's heals and bounded across unaided on the way back. Damon had been concerned on the drive up fearing we may get stuck without seeing any other cars on the dirt road. In true westside fashion the road opened up to a parking lot full of cars sporting environmental bumper stickers. It is so pretty up there in the woods. We got back just in time to visit the Sequim Game Farm. Here we come goats! I thought it was going to freak Damon out. It did a little, especially the penned cougar, that two hours earlier I was reading how to avoid an attack from the hiking book. They could make it a little more comfortable for the animals but it is crazy cool to see Kodiak bears just sitting 2 feet from you surrounded by a circle of uneaten bread. I am not sure if the highlight was touching a buffalo tongue or spending time with goats. We ended the trip with a ferry ride and a stop at Marymore Dog Park. No pictures but that place must be like Disney Land for dogs. So fun for Tarn.

Carnies a tribute to the book Water for Elephants

Who doesn't love a carnie? Damon and I went to the Yakima fair one year and the dart balloon guy had narcelepsy and was falling asleep when he yelled for you to win one of those mirrored picture thingy's. He had quite a crowd of his own watching him. These are pictures from Zillah where I used to pick up one of my carpoolers. He left, only stayed 8 months or so. He was clinically depressed a month after moving to Zillah and starting to work with us. It is a rough job and he had the added stress of a wife and 4 children adjusting to life in the Valley. His back fence touched this carnival. He was afraid for his 12 year old daughter because she wanted to spend time at the carnival. I loved the fact that the Carnies were there for like 2 weeks before the two day carnival - so I got an up close and personal look at the carnie camp. Of course they were never up on our way to work. I got an email saying my carpooler got a job he really wanted and doesn't have to commute very far in the town he grew up in. I feel like that book/movie about the orphanage where the doctor teaches the orphan to do abortions. My coworker found his forever home (just like Rock, too). I hope I too will find my forever home soon (jobwise).

Good bye Rock the dog, Hello Rock the Patio

This weekend we worked really hard and put in a rock patio outside our french doors my parents recently installed. It is amazing how adding a door can make you love your house and dirt pit of a yard. Having two dogs for the last month coming in and out from our dirt lawn caused us to move into action. We rented a tiller which promptly didn't work at all in churning up the dirt. So we dug it out by hand. Then we went and got a load of sand (thanks Mike for letting us borrow your truck) spread that out, placed the stones, and then had to dig and flatten each stone. Once we were done we realized it really did need a border. Damon is working on that this week. It was exhausting work for one weekend but worth it. We also took a trip to the dump we want the house to look as good as possible since the house next door is for sale. We want good neighbors. It doesn't seem like houses are selling quickly in Yakima (or anywhere, probably). We are probably stuck in our house for awhile so we are thinking about refinishing the hardwoods and Damon is looking through brochures for a hot tub. Jeez he pays off his car and thinks he is rich. On Monday we had a big treat - Rock got to go to his forever home. We had an email today that said he is doing great - no accidents and getting along just fine. Hope that continues since he peed on our bed and couch Friday night. We had some good days with Rock (now named Dempster) and some horrible days. The top three were: 1. The day he pooped in his crate and Damon came home to it smeared all over 2. The night he peed in his crate and got let out and ran all over the house 3. Friday when we came home to our bed being peed on and the couch. Yuck. All yuck. But he is sweet and lets hope he got all of his bad behaviors out on us. I know some of it is our fault - no dog wants to be in a crate for 16 hours a day after living on acreage. We learned that our house isn't big enough for another dog and we can't be a foster family for dogs. And if we do ever get a another dog it won't be a catahoola leopard hound. Too much time, too much missed work, and too much money. We had another crisis this week, Tarn came home from doggie day care with a wound in his arm and had to go to the emergency vet. He got some meds and a staple and seems to be healing nicely. I started classes again Monday. That is exciting and a lot of work, dang so much work. Today I was sick from work. Pilates was cancelled and I slept until 10 am. It was so wonderful-I must have been tired! We finally turned off the cable so for my sick day - no TV. I had to go to the gym to watch the View. I was sure sick. Video is of Tarn helping with the patio.

Goat Goat Goat

I got to go on a goat milking adventure with Mindy, Ben and Max. This as most know is my dream come true. We drove out to the goat farm to the chant "goat, goat, goat" and we tried to guess what noises the goats would make. Mindy was the only person with any goat milking experience and the last time she did it - she didn't get any milk. When we got there the goats were in the pasture with three giant horses (okay one was a baby horse). Only Sheeba was willing to greet us. I think she was only interested in the food since Max would go and fill up the bucket of feed for us to distract the horses and he would return with an empty bucket because Sheeba would shove her head in the bucket and steal all of the food. At one point I was in the pasture with giant horses circling around me and I was a little afraid. A thought ran through my mind - "this goat thing sucks" - but it was short lived. Eventually we just sat and waited until the goats walked in the pen themselves - this was about an hour later. Max was able to sneak up and close the gate. Max had elaborate plans to catch the goats - and he was frustrated we weren't willing to follow them. I know one of the plans had to do with Max blinking and signalling me to do something. The chalk board that told us what to do also explained that we needed to catch and pen up chicks and turkeys. We never found those so I guess they spent the night outside. Pretty sure that we failed our farming test. As we drove away Mindy said "I am not doing that again". Even with the decision not to do it again, we all had fun and our feet were covered in goat dung. We stopped at their relatives house where we were able to wash our hands. After leaving I asked Max why he doesn't like the dog at his grandparents house. He said because "black fat comes out of its ear". I guess it used to have a tumor that bursts - I love how concrete kids are. The evening ended with an invitation for a slumber party with Max. I was so sad to have to decline due to work.

Camping

I forgot about camping with my parents. Ping Pong on the picnic table, smores, hill billy golf, a hike between each event and lots of good company and food (thanks mom!).

Crazy

There is something crazy going on in the lower valley (ie Sunnyside). There has been over 100000 marijuana plants found on farms. According to the not so great reporting the area that is 100,000,000 dollars worth of marijuana. Let's just assume they haven't found all of the marijuana. Let's assume that they haven't even found 25% of it. That means that the Lower Valley is pumping out 300000000 dollars worth of Marijuana. In an area where the median household income is 27,000$. I am not really concerned about the Marijuana - I am just concerned about the gangs and the violence in the area. Doesn't that seem like a large amount. I am sure they are trying to do something - but what. There is a really good documentary to be made finding out about the drug trade in the lower valley. It reminds me of that dvd cocaine cowboys and what was going on if Florida in the 80's. But this is happening now and no one seems to be doing anything. It is wierd. This area is so wierd. Everyday is like the twilight zone.

Bye Bye Puppy

Puppy has a home. Bye, bye pee, barking, whining before bed. He will be staying until the 24th, so we will have lots of puppy time. He pees less inside. And just this moment went to the door for me to let him him out. Tarn is getting lots of play time and has learned a cool new trick - barking. Kitty is enjoying getting the dog to chase him under the bed and then showing how agile he is to jump up and around.
I think we have decided on a vacation to the Sawtooth mountains in september. That is exciting. We have lots of date constraints, but I think we have dates in our mind. And if we can't get reservations in the Sawtooths. If we can't do that, then I think Damon is convinced to do a last minute cruise to Alaska. He is against it because the environmental impact. My point is it is going with or without us. I may have him convinced - if we don't get to go to the Sawtooths. We are constrained by not wanting to fly. How sad is that? And my passport expired, so we are stuck in the country until I can get that taken care of.

Oh boy

My friend left town back to Nevada and left this little cutie for us to find a home. I know someone out there knows someone who needs/wants a dog. This one is half louisianna catahoula hound and australian shepard he is seems really sweet. He can climb and has already gotten out twice. He needs an active family or could be put to work hearding cattle or sheep. You know you have a use for him. He comes with a giant crate and bark collar, food and toys. We will probably get him fixed this week. Following are some cute picks of Nia, who leaves today.

Tagged

So, I have been tagged and told to list 6 random things about myself and then tag 5 other people to do the same thing......so here are the top 6 things off the top of the head:

1. I am sitting in class reading my friends' blogs

2. I dreamt last night that my coworker jumped in shark filled water to save a cat

3. I told my boss and 3 coworkers that I hated them because they said they hated cats

4. I love Damon because he tried to rescue a kitten on the Greenway and he was going to bring it home in his bike pocket - he didn't catch it

5. I can't wait to have a goat so the cat can ride it

6. I have lots of wishes. I wish I could travel more, I wish I could take a week off and chill, I wish my garden looked like Sue's. I wish candy had no calories. I wish I lived on a mini farm with mini horses and mini goats.

Tag Heather, Kate, Janice, Ember, Amber

A fine line between heaven and hell

Inside vs Outside

Love vs Hate

Work vs Sick Day

Fun Garden Party vs Driving

Friends vs Fun Strangers

Family Dinner vs Wrong Turn

Outdoor Wedding vs Dirty outside picnic

Garden vs Weed pile

Staying vs Moving

Goat vs Pig

So many fine lines that we cross everyday. I guess tonight - I paint!

Special Day

This wasn't today, but it was another special day. Damon dragged me out of bed to see the butterfly. It was supposed to make my day special and it did I am sure, I can't remember since it was a couple of weeks ago. Certainly better than flowers. Today is going to be a special day because while I was in bed reading this morning and balancing coffee on myself I spilled it and now I have a circular burn on my stomach. At that point I got up and worked out. Might as well. But I will try to count all the ways. My carpool just called and I am supposed to leave in three minutes but I haven't showered yet.

The weeks top 10

Learning about a goat coop and having the possibilty of going an milking the goats - go secret
2 full days of classes instead of work
Laptop working able to use it in class
One class finished yesterday
Yakima folklife festival and a day full of music and people watching
Pilates this morning
A garden party to look forward to
Eye sight
GAS PRICES!!! not really
The possibility of winning the lottery.
Fainting goats (that is 11)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_3Utmj4RPU

Nia, naya, nya....NOOOOOO!!!

We are puppy sitting this weekend. Puppy never stops. She ate everything that she came in contact with and then she puked it up. She learned lots of bad habits while she has been here. Oh look at her walk on a leash without heeling. She discovered the litterbox...yum. She bounced on the couch and tackled the cat. She ate Tarns food and refused her own. She whined all night and then got to sleep in the bedroom with the other animals. She will hardly go in her crate, probably because kitty sits and stares at her in there. Isn't she cute?

The computer works!

Damon dropped it off at a computer store, and it is a bad battery. Maybe a power surge. So 100$ fixes the problem. We don't have it back yet but hooray to having a laptop again. I finished the book Three Cups of Tea. I'll have to give it the best book read since The Glass Castle. We then went and saw Where in the world is Osama Bin Laden? It went well with Three Cups of Tea and goes with the theory of liking documentaries over anything else. Since it is 100 degrees here, gotta go see movies even if you don't like them. Damon did the MOuntain to Sound relay race this weekend. He had to be at the top of Snoqualmie pass at 7:15. At 6:45 we got a flat tire outside Cle Elem. The tire was quickly pulled off the car only to realize the spare didn't fit. Everything was thrown back in the car and we headed to Cle Elem to find a tire on Sunday before 8 in the morning. Damon has a cell phone but he thought he forgot it, eventually he found it but he dropped a year ago, so he can't see anyone's phone numbers to call them and let them know he is late. They are work people and he doesn't even really know them. So he is most likely going to ruin their relay race. We went to 3 gas stations and finally found out where they sell tires. We went there, right as they were opening the garage. But there was a lot of stress between 6:45 and 7:30. Eventually I started laughing, what else could we do, it was a lost cause to get Damon to this race. That was not the right thing to do. Damon started randomly dialing phone numbers in my phone to try and get his one friends phone number. He called the head of the department at my school. How embarrassing is that? Damon said wrong number and hung up. I had to call back and say we had a flat tire and my psycho husband is randomly calling phone numbers at 7:30 in the morning. Damon got to the race 5 minutes before it started. He rode 50 miles and said it was a nice ride. Tarn and I went and met my friend Kim at the Marymore dog park in Seattle. It was dog heaven, dogs everywhere off leash, running around like crazy. Tarn even went into the water above his belly to meet the 10 great danes that were standing in the water. Then Tarn got stuck behind a fence. I had to climb over and save him and all of the Great Dane dogs had little dog friends that were standing behind the fence. That is all the excitement here - it is hot.

You wish you looked this good in a cowboy hat!

I got my new cowboy hat at the hardware store. 8.99$ it is a good one, we fight over it. I chase Tarn around the yard with it. Sometimes I pretend like we are in a rodeo and Tarn is the bull. Then he realized it wasn't that scary and he wanted to wear it. So we had a photo shoot. I admitted to Damon that I really don't like movies. I was trying to think of all of the movies I have ever liked. Here is the list: Juno, Mystic River, Into the Wild, Sex in the City, and Sweet home Alabama, oh and all documentaries but I can't think of the names. Recently it was something pied piper about a gypsy singer who went on a road trip. Gypsy and road trip - two of my top 100 favorite things.

I hate computers

This is a plant, maybe a cactus outside Death Valley. It was taken at Devil's hole. We went looking for this "devil" hole in the desert. It turned out to be a cave with a cage over it. It really wasn't that cool, but the cactus was. I found the picture on my old computer - dragged out of the garage because hours after I wrote the last post the laptop just died. Dead, no lights, no nothing, and again nothing backed up. I keep threatening to throw it on the ground and smash it. Stupid computer. Stupid Walmart where I bought it. It was an impulse purchase anyway I should have done my research. My parents were here this week putting in French doors - actually a big dog door. Thanks Mom and Dad. Happy Father's day DAD! Go here to see construction. http://picasaweb.google.com/ronck309

Here are funny pictures that I found on my old computer. Notice Kitty and Tarn's matching outfits.

In class

I am sitting in class. Again. OHHHHH what am I doing? We seem to take a lot of breaks. It is all over video telecomference. And I have the most sinful thing - wireless. Which actually just lets me do the things that I would do at home during breaks. Since I am all alone here - I have no one to talk to. That is good - no one to get me in trouble. I think I just heard the quote "lets start so I can let you go". I guess that is good. Oprah here I come.

Life Makes it Happen

Congratulations Heather on changing your focus to PHOTOGRAPHY and your talent!!! I guess now you can move to Yakima.

The Secret

For some reason Oprah is on at 7pm. It is a rerun and I have actually seen it before. It is about the secret and laws of attraction. It sounds kind of like BS but I do believe in attracting good energy by putting it out in the world. So they said put what you want on a post it and really think about it and see what happens. So I thought really hard - and this is what I came up with. It is preliminary because I am brain dead. I'll try again maybe tomorrow.

Happy Birthday MOM!

Two days late and 58! My mom if you don't know her, looks like she is maybe 40. Thanks for the good genes Mom!

This how the blog started

"Vacation always gives perspective. The perspective usually adds to already busy days of the future. I must exercise daily, stop eating out, learn spanish, clean more, save more money, get organized, be a better employee, stay in better touch with friends and family, meet more people, and somehow learn to love Yakima. It all seems so easy - all those things you are going to do after the vacation - while you are downing your second cup of coffee watching the stray dogs circle the block for the third time." I need to focus on something that I can do everyday - so it looks like exercise and eating healthy.
I am trying to reorient back to this perspective without a vacation in sight. Part of this is self imposed and part is because Damon can't take vacation in summer. Then we don't know where we want to go, how long is the flight, should we spend the money this year. Responsibility sucks. Some places in the running are Guatamala, Mexico, a winter ski vacation.
Today I will try and pretend like I am on vacation.