Take a Seat

My Dad made this bench for us...
I am especially excited about it for a few reasons. First, my Dad is a random person...and very hard to figure out. It is tough to tell how he thinks of you sometimes (unless he is mad, then you know). BUT if he takes the time to make something for you and drive an entire 15 minutes (highway and all - and that is a biiiig trip for him) to your house to deliver it, then you know he really loves you. And last, its pretty!

Matthew stained it with a this great stuff by Olympic that includes a weather treatment in the stain. I believe the color was called Cedar-Natural. At 1st it looked really orange, but with a 2nd coat and drying time...it turned out lovely!

This new world

We have met SO MANY new babies since the start of 2010. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but the boom of births really amazes me. Even more peculiar, all of them have been little girls! Every last one...thank goodness one of my dearest girlfriends, Karah, brought me the news of her 2nd baby boy to be born in October! I was beginning to worry for the future generations of males.
Anyhow...there has been our church friends' twins (Gwen & Grace) born around new year's eve followed by cousin Reagan Joanne, dear friend Elizabeth Grace, my boss's daughter Zoey Grace, and our NIECE, Alyssa Faith!

The photo shown here is of my Uncle Rick and his new granddaughter, Taylor Sue. She is a lovely, long little girl who already prefers being outdoors to inside. I think what hits my heart about Taylor is how her tiny presence has affected our family, like a ripple on lake water. She is my slightly older cousin's 1st child & 1st grandchild to Uncle Rick. Her birth has been a huge highlight in an otherwise rough summer for my grandma (her great-grandma). I also simply adore both her parents...they are down to earth and oh so much fun to hang out with. It will be a great joy to watch these family members grow along with tiny Taylor.

In other news...Summer is chugging along here in the Ohio River Valley. It is hot...HOT...and humid here. Work is...going...its busy and hot sometimes...and full of incredible moments with incredible kids/co-workers. I know there are a lot of *opinions surrounding ABA Therapy, but I have seen amazing accomplishments in kids we work with. I love being involved in helping kids make those accomplishments. It rocks.

Matthew has been working part-time for the reception hall this month. He has also been making gains on our "home projects". The garage has been rearranged, the bushes trimmed up, the bench my Dad made for us is stained a beautiful cedar color...we are pushing forward. Matthew & I also bought our 1st newer, nice car this month. I get to drive it most and I LOVE it. Its funny though, how hard it was to say goodbye to old Ethel...my 94 Toyota Camry. I had her for many years...that car got me thru IU. She will be missed...as much as a car can be missed, I suppose. And now I drive a 2009, green Corolla named Lilo. I love her! Matt thinks I'm silly. I love him too.

Now - I could continue on to tell you the horror stories of our baby boy pup turned adolesent pup...but I think I'll wait for another time. I'll just say this...he ate nearly a full roll of toliet paper today. sigh. Confetti all over the bathroom. Until next time, peace!

Southern Indiana Summer

Summer seems to have rushed itself upon us here.
My workplace, Meaningful Day Services, has been prepping for our annual Summer program. We run a very structured day camp for our ABA Therapy clients for about 8 weeks of the summer. Our 1st day is THIS Monday. woot! Our director is on maternity leave with her 1st child (so happy for her!) and our lead therapist has been doing all the crazy work to get our staff ready for this coming week & the rest of us have been trying to help out as much as possible...meaning lots of heavy work days + trainings + organizing the church facility we rent. I must admit I am super proud of MDS this year. Our Summer staff is ahhhhmazing :) and all really great to work with. Our company is growing and changing SO much right now & I am enjoying being here for all that goes with that...even the "growing pains" (I like problem solving *sometimes).

Along with all the craziness at my job - the school year ended for Matthew. He graduated from his Master's program this May !!!!!! and is working a part-time catering job for some of our friends who own a reception hall in New Albany. The good part...extra cash!...the bad part...he is gone for 6-10hrs almost every Saturday.

Hmmm...this is sort of a catch all post I guess. It seems like we've been busy since...the 1st weekend in May!? YES...it is true! nuts.
Since that last fast catch up its been...Uncle Bob in town, Memorial weekend + Sarah and Tom and Lena in town. Parker met Lena and loved his doggie cousin. Memorial weekend cookout at my parent's house with Schaffner fam. Major rain = flood = hilarious moments & the chance to splash in the gutters with my 7yr old cousin, Ella! We even sprung Grandma from the rehab joint for the cookout and Uncle Keith was there with his new, working heart valve! Hooray for answered prayers. Jenn comes to town. I made the Oreo Truffles for work party. Work party = great fun tye-dye tshirts, cornhole, and sunshine. Swimming at cousins house. Parker meets his cousin, Sophie dog. My cousin Lisa brings new baby Taylor to see us! yay! Jenn back in town with Evan this time. She met Parker and fell in love, as most people do ;) WEEZER concert at Horseshoe Casino last night. Really great band at a great venue. So much fun. Today was the big fundraiser yard sale for MDS parents raising money for field trips this summer. Tomorrow = huge church picnic at Highland Community Church.

By the way...I tried giving Parker a bath outside this weekend. I thought using the garden hose and being outside where its 90 flipping degrees might be easier. Wellllll it was less clean up but perhaps not worth the public FLOGGING I am sure to get by the animal rights people. We live in a neighborhood...with small lots...one where you can watch your neighbor's flatscreen from your own patio. Parker squirmed and wiggled and twisted himself out of every grip I got on his leash. When I tried holding his body, he would yelp and squeal like a dying piglet. Some of the sounds he made today in our backyard I have NEVER heard from him or any other living thing. All I wanted to do was spray him, lather, and rinse. It took forever and our next door neighbor actually came out to check that he hadn't been left out on his cable and gotten wrapped around something. He could hear Parker's calls of distress from INSIDE HIS HOUSE NEXT DOOR. Oh puppy...why won't you just take a bath !?

After tortuing the puppy, I set up my favorite blue chair in the yard and fell asleep in the sun. Parker, soaked and exhausted... laid down next to me & rolled on the hot patio until he dried off too. It was nice & I finally got some sun. Now I have the whole evening because hubby is working. I have felt like such a hermit lately.
I've been enjoying just getting things done at home and walking Parker and reading books. In fact, I think I'll go do those things now.

xoxo

Magic Moments

There are days, or I suppose more like times throughout some days, when I feel as if we live in a movie...a comedy to be exact. And even days when it feels like slapstick comedy. Although they are not all situations involving him, these times have definitely increased since we took Parker into our little family. I have to admit, I kind of love it...even the scary/annoying situations.

Did I explain how Parker brought me to the ground a few weeks ago? He was blasting past me, doing crazy-laps on his line in the yard. He jetted back and forth like he was weaving an enormous tapestry with his red, 30ft. yard cable. He managed to completely wrap my legs (honestly before I could even react) and when the line got too short....he hit the invisible wall and yanked my legs from under me. My neighbor had a great laugh watching this all unfold from his patio home behind us. It was so funny, I could not even be mad at Parker...I just laid back in the grass and let him lick my face.

Anyhow...there have been tiny moments in between then and now...moments full of frustration with a puppy who digs, barks, and has been sort of going backwards in his bathroom habits as of late. I wonder if God's sole purpose for puppies being adorable is so that people will put up with all this crap? Because he is definitely a full member of our family now...for better or worse.

This morning...for example...I was pumped about the chocolate filled pastry Matt brought me from Panera on Friday. I had saved it for a nice morning at home..and this was that perfect morning. I heated it up so the chocolate would be perfectly melted inside & I poured a glass of milk. As I was digging in to my little treat...the dryer buzzed...meh. I went into the hall and dumped the whites onto the couch. I noticed Parker's rear end was extra wiggly - he was thumping his tail against the wall from behind the futon. I sat in my chair at the kitchen table to find my plate EMPTY. I suddenly realized what his wiggliness was all about. I called his name and turned to see his head sticking out from the side of the futon with my delicious breakfast in his little puppy mouth. I tried to slowly approach him, but he new what was up & disappeared behind our big, wooden frame futon, tail thumping the wall even more wildly. I started to panick that he was going to ingest all that chocolate and began calling him until he came out, pastry still in his mouth...he was playing a game...and I was making it fun in my frustration. I finally got the hair and drool covered treat from his mouth...I dumped it into the trash and moved on with my life. SIGH. I grabbed another breakfast from the pantry and turned to see him sniffing at the trash can (he does this a lot). Moments later...more wild rear-end wagging....and somehow he had gotten the pastry from the trash. I chased, he ran, and finally I got it back from him...I buried that dumb chocolate pastry deep down in the trash...and hopefully that is the last I will see of it. Of course, the day is still young.

Happy Memorial Day...don't forget to thank your USA troops. No matter what your political views...they are out there every day, every year, working for you.

A New Frontier

Matthew and I are learning this week just how much a puppy resembles a human baby. We have been told this bit of wisdom before, but living it is so totally different from acknowledging it to be true. Parker may not be tiny, but he is SUCH a puppy...all 12-14weeks and 19lbs of him. He eats dirt clods, clumps of mowed grass, dried worms from the sidewalks, ROCKS, and anything else he can get his mouth around. This weekend he bit 2 buds off of my Grandma's flowers. She wasn't mad...but she wasn't thrilled either. I have to watch him closely even in a fenced yard because of this bad habit. We are working on the "Leave it" command & he is making slow but sure progress.
Next to his obession with putting foreign objects in his mouth...Parker is also incredibly clumsy. I suppose it is due to his breed (Springer Spaniel mix)....but he has these 4 lovely, long black/brown speckled legs. My aunt made the observation this weekend that he is "all legs" and she is correct.
When he walks and tries to sniff at the same time, he will often trip over cracks in the pavement...one big paw will get stubbed and suddenly his body curls as his hind legs continue walking right over the rest of him. When he plays in the house, his long legs will slide out from under him on the kitchen floor. He looks great when he is running around the yard, until he tries to stop - he is not graceful at all. He actually made MY DAD laugh today when his front paws slid out from under him on the deck and his head hit the wood. Making the Louie chuckle is no small feat & may in fact be the only reason he isn't holding a grudge for me bringing a dog to his dog-free backyard.
Another definite comparison between puppies and babies...PEOPLE ARE SUCKERS FOR EM. Hehe. I mean it though...people love puppies. We have met and spoken with more of our neighbors in the past 4 days than we have the nearly 2yrs we have been here. It is great.
He gets us out walking so much more than we'd ever go without him. We walk in the morning, right after work, and right before bedtime. Any friends we make in this hood, I will have to forever credit to a dog.

I would say about 90% of our time was devoted to Parker, Luna, and Caesar this weekend. We are still getting them acquainted with each other. Parker and Caesar are making the most progress...until the moments when Parker decided to bark at or chase Caesar. Luckily, for the cats, Parker is kept leashed in the house still. We want him in full view until he is fully housebroken.

All 3 animals got baths this week. Would you believe that the cats did better than our dog!? And allegedly he is a breed that "loves water". Caesar sat patiently under the faucet in the kitchen sink as I lather and rinsed him....Luna struggled, but not like she was being drowned...just like she was annoyed with me. Then....Parker...whined and cried...lept for the ledge of the tub & tried to all but climb over me to get out of the water.

We are also using crate training and I have to say it is fantastic for puppies! *one huuuuge thing that separates dogs from human babies ;) You should never crate train a baby! We call the crate Parker's "room" and he gladly goes into it most of the time. He already seems to see it as his safe haven/sleeping place. My cousin advised us to pick one command for the crate & to always make it positive...it is totally working. We began saying "Parker, to your room" 4 days ago & he now pretty much gets it :) The crate also helps with housetraining since the last thing a dog wants is to be trapped in a small space with his own poop/pee. We take him right out whenever he's been in the crate & its working well.

Its been a relaxing weekend & I am hoping for a nice, smooth week. In fact I am praying for one. I could really use an uneventful, boring week....sounds dull...but I'm trying so hard to keep a routine for the puppy...and I am TERRIBLE about routines. Maybe Parker will be a help in establising that along with our new walking pattern. Who knows? All I know is that he is awesome and I am so happy that we adopted him.

#1 Dog

That is right, friends, we adopted a puppy. Matthew and I have been talking about it for 2yrs now, and talking more seriously about getting one this coming summer. However, Parker just couldn't wait for summer. I was shopping at Michael's last weekend & there he was...he had been freshly dumped (that same day) to the Southern Indiana Rescue League which was set up outside of PetSmart for the day. I didn't even really think, I just saw him and fell in love. He was sitting quietly amongst the other barking, jumping, slobbering puppies and dogs. He was shy at 1st but then his tail began thumping and he climbed into my lap.

I called hub to come and see this amazing little dog. Matt was painting at his friend, Blake's, new house. He didn't have much time as it was 30min. until closing for the rescue league and so he came to see Parker in his ratty paint clothes and a broken flip flop that had given out that morning. It is a wonder they even let us inquire about a dog ;) The pup got hub's approval and we discussed it over the weekend...filed an application on Monday. The pup was neutered and microchipped on Tuesday and that night we met a lady at PetSmart to bring him home.
Talking about the quick chain of events...Matt and I both decided that his graduating from any school program must = we take in a new pet. It was about 5? years ago at Matthew's college GRADUATION party that we discovered our 1st cat, Cringer, hissing and spatting at us from under a bush. And now here we preparing for his Master's program GRADUATION party with this scrappy little Springer Spaniel Mix joining our family.

And now here we are...adjusting. Photos and more to come!
By the way...Caesar and Luna have been doing better than I ever imagined with a dog in the house. I'll explain how we are getting this result later.

THIS is how.

3/20 We drove up thru Indiana to Crown Point, IN to celebrate at a baby shower for our dear old college friends, Christina & Jake (yep, we hooked em up so we could all hang out together). MuahahaMuahahaha. But they are expecting their 1st baby and we wouldn't have missed it for the world - even - even when we were coming from 70 degree sunshine to 40 degrees + ice falling from the sky unpon arrival. 3/21 We drove back down through the state to Southern IN so I could work Monday and Tuesday. Lucky me. By the way -- I am positively FASCINATED with the wind mills along 65 in Indiana.
3/23 After work, hubby & I hit the road, taking the long way from Louisville to South Carolina because a rockslide from OCTOBER 2009 is still being cleaned up. Nutzo.

Turns out though, we like taking the longer route.
HOW can this be!? You ask...well, we saw lots of entertaining things along the way. Included in this list is the city of Chattanooga, TN which I definitely want to pass thru again sometime. I also enjoyed the markers along the road which pointed obviously to which states we were in. Here are some examples of how we pinpointed our location along the road:

Kentucky
Hills & Horses (well, duh.)
Dinosaur World !!!!!!!!!!!
Jim Beam & Bourbon Trail signs.
A billboard proclaiming HELL IS REAL just across from the Adult Depot.

Tennessee
Jack Daniel's Distillery Signs
Fireworks + Deli
Hee Haw Fireworks, Big Daddy's Fireworks, TN/Alabama Fireworks, Big Zack's, Big Steve's, Sad Sam's, and Battle Creek Fireworks/Chevron Station. (*Who EVER thought that combining the sell of explosives and gasoline would be a good idea?)
Bar-B-Cutie's
Pappy's bbq, Sugar's bbq, Smokey's bbq, etc.
Nashville :)
Appalachian Foothills

Georgia
Atlanta (eh...)
11 Cops on highway patrol per 80miles of highway...we actually counted 11 police cars either pulling people over or clocking speeds within about an hour.

South Carolina
Red dirt
Pretty trees along highways
Signs for Greenville
Tiger paws begin appearing on more and more (and more) vehicles along the way.
Clemson University

3/27 We had waffles (Matt's Dad makes a fantastic waffle) and drove home with a quick stop outside of Nashville for lunch with step-bro Randy. All in all, a really good mini vacation. OH and the Indiana State markers (for us coming up from the South) would be the river...the Kennedy Bridge signaling that within 20 minutes we would be turning off the engine and opening our big blue front door to see our loyal cats awaiting our return. It totally happened that way too....Caesar rushed to our feet like a faithful old dog (even tho he is actually a rather large cat).