Nice Weekend...

It was a fairly nice weekend, not too warm but not cold either except a little windy on Saturday. I took the pups to the high school field Saturday afternoon for some frisbee playing. In this picture Charlie forgot to apply the brakes and did a little flip. If you click on the picture you can see it better.

They do enjoy themselves out there and will play and play until I have to force them to stop. Usually when Zoe lays down I figure they've had enough and we head for home.

Friday night was our last bowling. They call it Position Night because after that game they are able to figure out what position you will end up in. When we started we were 2 points out of last place, 15th out of 16. Thankfully we pulled out 3 points against the last place team so we could finish 15th or possibly a little better. In two weeks will be our "Fun Night" and then it's over for another year.
Saturday while I was at the park Howard whipped up on the yard and mowed for the first time this year. We haven't had any rain but the grass is greening up nicely. My tulips are blooming and I can't believe I forgot to go out while it was still light and take a picture! I'll have to do that tomorrow after school. The weather is supposed to cool down this week and only be in the 40's and 50's. That's quite a difference from the 79 last Friday!
This afternoon I went to lunch with a couple friends and then to a movie. We saw "Smart People". It was ok, a bit slow. The theater only had about 8 people in it, including us, and towards the end I could hear someone breathing heavily a few rows behind us. Before long they were snoring! Guess they really found the movie slow!
Now for an update on the family because someone commented that lately all I seem to write about are Zoe & Charlie! What can I say, I lead a dull life I guess.
Amber and Andy have been house hunting again. They still haven't found the perfect place yet but they keep trying. Things are really expensive there and they are trying to get the most for their money. They are both doing well in their jobs though Andy works a lot of long days and weekends.
Tyler is plugging along with school, work and trying to find a place to live for the summer and next fall. His roommates are going their separate ways so they will be giving up their apartment in June. Tyler is planning to take a class or two this summer and to keep working at the health food store.
Scott finished up his classes last week with 4 finals. I think he's really glad to be finished. While he does keep plugging along he doesn't always seem to enjoy school. I'm trying to talk him into another part-time job so he can really make some money. So far that isn't having much impact. He's also trying to plan a trip to visit Amber and Andy sometime before Scamp starts at the end of June.
So, that's about all the news. Howard's work is the same, non-stop; works all day, works all night. My job hasn't been too enjoyable lately. We work with some difficult students and they have been extremely difficult lately. I hate to say I'm counting the days until summer vacation, but there, I said it. I've been told that things won't be like this next year so we will see. It's really hard at this time of year anyway. The weather turns nice, the kids just want to be outside, they don't want to be in the classroom anymore. It becomes harder and harder to keep them on task! Summer vacation is right around the corner. After all, the first day of May is Thursday!!

Have a great week!!

First Beautiful Weekend of 2008

That sounds so sad and yet it's true! This past weekend was gorgeous. The sun was shining, temperatures in the 70's, what more could you ask for. Yesterday I spent most of the day out in the yard, raking leaves and uncovering my flower beds. I also made a trip to the local nursery for a few plants for my pots and hanging baskets that were on sale. My new herb garden, small but sufficient with Italian parsley, rosemary and thyme. Zoe and Charlie were out on the deck enjoying the sunshine too! Howard spent part of yesterday repairing the door jam on the back deck where the door caught the wind and ripped the wood out. He spent his spare time helping me in the yard. I'm happy to report the beds are all cleaned out and things are coming up already. This morning when I woke up I was greeted with this lovely sight and sound:

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They really are quite noisy this time of year. There were lots of visitors to the back yard this weekend. Lots of birds, turtles, geese, ducks, little boys with buckets asking permission to hunt for frogs. This afternoon Howard and I took the pups up to the high school field for some frisbee. Howard was throwing while I attempted to get some pictures. They are so darn fast it isn't an easy task. This probably would have been a great picture if I had zoomed out a bit. Apparently Charlie was mid-jump but I missed it!! I got these two though!

Puppy Class Tonight!

Here he is! The smartest dog in puppy class!!

We started this particular class at this place a couple months ago but due to all the bad weather, icy roads and me getting sick, we had to call after missing 3 of 4 classes and ask if we could wait until the next session. Graciously they agreed and we began again tonight. In the last two months Charlie Boy has picked up a couple bad habits such as barking at other dogs ferociously so I was a little concerned we'd have more of the same tonight. Thankfully he did none of that and stood out as one of the calmest, most obedient pups there! One of the instructors even talked about getting him into agility this summer! Boy, was I proud!! He's mastered sit and "watch me". Now on to the "down". Updates to follow!

Does this face look confused??

He's confused alright. When he went outside this morning he was wondering what the heck all this white stuff was doing on the ground again!!


What happened to Spring?? Yesterday we had a little rain and our feathered friends were enjoying the sprinkles on the pond.


Thankfully by later today the snow had melted and the sun came out and we even managed to take two wild pups for a short walk.


Here are the ducks and the bunny eating dinner together last night!


Here's Charlie looking good. He and Zoe went to the groomer on Thursday and got baths and trims. Zoe was camera shy this weekend, not in the mood for posing.
I also hosted Bunco Thursday night which required me to take a day off work in order to get ready. Then Friday night we had bowling where we lost all 4 points :-(. Next time we bowl (in two weeks) it's position night and it will all be over. We are currently in a 3-way tie for 12th place I think. Oh well, there's always next year! The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Howard worked and I cooked dog bones and meatballs. Fun, fun, fun.
Tyler called yesterday and is doing well, working hard. He has another month of school left and will probably be signing up for some summer classes. He will also probably be looking for a new place to live as his roommates will be moving on. He's working a lot and enjoying his job at the health food store. The best part of him working there, besides the pay, is he's started taking vitamins!
Scott has about 3 more weeks of school. I'm trying to talk him into taking a summer class or two but he doesn't seem too interested right now. He's applied to SCAMP again for the summer but probably won't hear for a while if he will be hired or not.
Amber and Andy are doing well. They've been taking long walks every weekend since the weather has been so nice there.
I've got a busy week coming up. Monday and Wednesday nights are conference nights. I've never had to work them before but I do this year as I'm supposed to sit in on conferences concerning kids I work with. Then Tuesday night Charlie and I are starting puppy classes again. I'm sure this time things will be fine since the weather should be better. It will be itneresting to see how much different he acts compared to last time since he's two months older now. He now barks any time he sees a new dog go by. He's also not as shy as he was a couple months ago and he's a little better at following simple commands like sit and stay.
Wish us luck!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Elaine!

Today is my Aunt Elaine's Birthday. She's 81 years young. She is my Mother's only sibling. She's always been young at heart and seems much younger than her years. She's just counting her blessings every day now and thankful to be alive after surviving surgery a couple weeks ago to remove a tumor lodged between her skull and her brain. I hope all your Birthday wishes come true Auntie!!

It's Official, Spring Has Sprung in Michigan

Even though the calendar said it was Spring a few weeks ago, it isn't official to me until this happens! Just listen!

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This is what we hear every evening and night for the next few weeks. Every night when I go to bed I make sure the window is open, at least cracked so I can listen to this "night music". It was a beautiful weekend here in Michigan. Charlie couldn't stay off the deck! We ended up opening up both doors so he could move in and out freely. He was mostly out! He would come in to see what everyone was doing and then head back out to watch squirrels, birds, chipmunks and ducks. Zoe spent her fair share of time out there too. It wasn't what you would call warm exactly but it was in the low 60's which is warm to us! It was nice enough both days to take the dogs to the high school field. They got plenty of exercise this weekend. These critters were also in the back yard this weekend. Chuck the Woodchuck Our male resident duck. We even had this pretty sunset last night. As usual, the weekend is over too quickly and it's back to work and school tomorrow. And the good news is, I didn't hear about any snow in the forecast!

Charlie is 8 months old

Eight months old already! Where does the time go? He's really had a lot of energy lately and wants to go outside all the time. Thankfully I was able to take him to the park a few times this past week.

A Day At The Park...

It was an exceptionally nice day today when I got home from work. Yesterday was awful, rainy, windy, gray, so seeing the sun today made it seem like a good idea to take the pups out for a little exercise, especially Charlie who has been a stinker lately when he doesn't get some exercise. He's picked up a particularly annoying habit of chewing on the hair around Zoe's neck and back when he gets bored or frustrated. She's starting to look awful, kind of like a chicken with no skin around the neck. He chewed through her nylon collar and now that I have a chain around her neck he's just chewing her neck! She reminds me of a kid who took the scissors to his own hair, chop, chop, chop!
Anyway, here are a couple nice shots of time well spent out enjoying the sunshine!




Come on Springtime, keep it coming!!