Merry Christmas 2005

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. I hope that if you celebrate Christmas, it was WONDERFUL for you! Or if you don't celebrate it, that whatever holiday you do celebrate you enjoyed it as well!

The last 2 days at work were super crazy. On Friday December 23rd, it was the busiest day at the store ever. We had well over $7000 in sales AND we did 107 washes! Our previous record came in last February and it was 91 washes. So, needless to say, Friday was busy. It was so busy that Hubby escaped from his work a few hours early to come over and help us out by running the cash register! I worked the entire day. I opened the store at 9am, and then I stayed to close it and we didn't get out of there until 9pm! Uugh, what a day!

Christmas Eve was pretty busy as well. Not as crazy as the day before, but still crazy. At one point the wait for a tub (for a dog wash) was 30 minutes! Thankfully it really started to quiet down about 3:30pm. So, I was able to escape a few minutes early!

After I got home, we packed up the Jeeps and the dogs and the gifts and headed to my parents' house. We spent the night down there, and on Christmas Eve we had a delicious dinner.

The dogs woke me up at their usual time to go out and then eat. So, we were up at 7:15am. I took them outside, then fed them breakfast and then got the house up! Bristol went into Suzi and Zak's room, and Buddy went in to wake up Nana. They finally got up and moving and I think we started opening gifts around 8:30am(ish). We broke mid-morning for breakfast. And we finished all gifts and stockings around 2pm. Hubby, the 3 pups and I took a nap while dinner was in the oven. For some strange reason, I have been exhausted recently. Could it be the 12 hour days I have been doing at work recently?

We had a delicious dinner and after dessert we packed everything back up again, and headed for home. The puppies are exhausted, as they had lots of fun! They are all currently wiped out and I am not far behind.

Well, the pups are going outside for their last time, so I guess I will end here!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Holidays

I just noticed how long it has been since I have updated my blog.... Wow, long time! But I guess that is thanks to the Holiday Season.

Speaking of 'holiday', I have been working very hard at wishing people a very happy “Holiday Season” at work. It always used to be 'Merry Christmas'. But then my boss, who is Jewish, reminded me that not everyone celebrates the Christmas holiday. So, I work hard at only wish a very happy holiday to customers. It's tough, and some times Merry Christmas slips out first. But, it's always a good reminder that we don't all celebrate the same thing!

Things have been busy. It's been snowing a lot here recently. And we had our fair share of Holiday parties to attend this weekend. Suzi and Zak were in town briefly for the weekend, and I only got to see them when they stopped by the store to say HI! Well, I will get to see them again Christmas eve.

Well, not much else is new. All 3 dogs are well, Hubby is finishing up this round of classes for school and I am busy at work.

May you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Still Busy!!

Well, still busy here. Today is a day off, and I think I finally get to NOT go into the store on my day off, knock on wood.

Let's see, highlights from the past few weeks....

Monday night we went to the VIP night at the Zoo. It was the premier of Electric Safari, where they light the zoo up with Christmas lights. It's tradition, we go every year. This year, we as patron members got to go to the VIP night. They gave us these “3-D” glasses that when you put them on and looked at lights, you either saw snowflakes or snowmen, depending on which glasses you have. They are pretty neat. Hubby and I enjoyed them while walking around.

We also fed the giraffes (of course) and they served drinks and munchies in Primate World. The munchies were very tasty, as usual. It was pretty cold out, but we managed to walk around and look at most of the animals.

Saturday it snowed all day. It made the roads pretty treacherous and icy. Monday was really slick. At my work alone we had one person get rear ended Sunday night, Sunday morning one person slid into a ditch and then on Monday morning another girl hit a curb and caused damage to her car!

Then it started to snow again yesterday afternoon. They were predicting major amounts of snow. However, when they predict that, it rarely comes true. Tradition continues. We only got an additional inch to 2 inches, maybe. That is on top of the 4-5” we got on Saturday. But the big news is the record low temperatures. Apparently we haven't had this low of temps in several years now. Today's predicted high is 6 degrees. According to weather.com, it's currently -1 and feels like -14... BRRR... Gee, I can't wait to see what the utility bill looks like next month.

My plans are to stay inside today as much as possible. I do have to take Bristol to the new training place we are going to go to, he has to be evaluated. Apparently they want to make sure he can do what I say he can do. Should be interesting.

Work still takes up a lot of my time. However with the snow, we have been slower. But somehow there is always still a lot of stuff to do!

Well, I am off to wrap up Christmas gifts, and finish Christmas cards and all that fun stuff.

I've been busy!

I haven't updated my blog recently, sorry! I have been super super busy! Let's see, I will hit the highlights.

I hit a deer. I was driving in Rockrimon in the Cherokee and suddenly there was a deer. The good news is that I only cracked the grill of the Jeep. The bad news is that the deer took a good 15 minutes to die... I was mortified and very upset as you can all imagine!

I have been working A LOT recently. The week before Thanksgiving was BUSY! Everyone wants a clean dog for the holiday! And now we are into the holiday season, so life is busy!

We went and saw Harry Potter on Sunday night at the theater. Good movie...

Oh, we ended up adopting Maggie. So, we officially have 3 dogs of our own now. We will get pictures of Maggie up soon.

I registered the two puppies for more training, starting in January. I am looking forward to that! I like going through training with the pups. However, Maggie's class will be on Saturday's so Hubby is going to have to take her.

We had Thanksgiving dinner here. Suzi and Phoebe were here, as well as Mom, Dad, and Chula. Hubby made the food, I was just the helper. It turned out yummy! Hubby is such a great cook!

Well, that's really the highlights of the last few weeks! Now I must go and work on sorting out Christmas gifts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! May your turkey be juicy and the punch have just enough rum!

Love you all!

Christmas list

So, several people have asked us to come up with what we would like for Christmas. That's tough!

Wife says:

Pretty much I really don't want anything. But if you still insist on getting me gifts, here are some suggestions.

Donate to a charity related to dogs (rescue groups, humane society, spca) for me and send me a card letting me know you did so.

I always enjoy dog books. My collection is starting to get too large to list of ones I all ready have, so I will just say that both Barnes and Nobel and Boarders are very close by. (gift certificates always appreciated)

I have also really taken a liking to the store REI. They have some pretty neat stuff there.

Now that I have 2 dogs that need lots of training, simple cash is always a nice gift, as I am really looking forward to getting them both trained as therapy dogs. And all that training is not going to be cheap!

I would ask that folks avoid knick-knack stuff, as we have lots of it all ready. I have too many clothes I can't wear all ready due to I have to wear my work shirts and jeans 5 days a week. All though a gift certificate to Ann Taylor or Banana Republic would be nice.

And as a standard, I love lotions and shower gels from Bath and Body Works. And Macintosh is still my favorite Yankee candle scent!

Hubby says:

He doesn't think he needs much either, except someone to do all his homework. If you
can give that as a gift, it would be much appreciated.

But, he always is buying books off Amazon. So an Amazon gift certificate or Boarders or Barnes & Nobel as well.

Of course he is a cooking/grill master. So, any neat gadgets, sauces, recipes, cookbooks, etc... He enjoys making lots of recipes off Food TV. Alton Brown is his favorite guy to watch.

And always cheap Hawaiian shirts that are pretty ugly are good. Notice I said cheap, the cheaper the better. He wears an XL.

Otherwise cash to pay for school, to add to our savings for mountain property someday, or to buy Jeep Gear with would always be much appreciated as well!

More Vegas and dog news....

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast and after checking our luggage in with the bell hop and checking out of the Flamingo, we headed off to walk around Caesar's Forum. We did a little shopping, and spent a little bit of money. We finally went and picked up our luggage and headed for the airport.

We boarded our plane early and everyone was sitting on the plane. We sat there for quite some time. Finally they came on the speaker and asked if anyone was willing to get off the plane in trade for dinner, breakfast and lunch, as well as a free hotel stay and a $350 travel voucher. We went ahead and volunteered for that!! So, off the plane we went and after spending another hour and a half at the airport, we headed off to our new hotel. This one was not as nice as the Flamingo, but it was across the street from the Hard Rock hotel and casino.

I made a call and we were able to get Penn and Teller tickets for the show that night. Hubby had to do some homework, and a little bit of work, but finally we headed off to the Rio hotel for dinner and the show. Penn and Teller were fabulous! The show was great, we both enjoyed it. We had somehow managed to receive 3rd row center tickets.

After the show, Penn and Teller were in the lobby signing autographs and taking pictures! Here is us with Penn, and then Teller!!





After the wonderful show and then breakfast at the Hard Rock, we finally got on our plane and came home. Here's a nice picture of us at the Flamingo.



So, it was back to work for both of us on Tuesday. The next round of Hubby's classes started up and things are picking up at work due to the holiday's. We still had Maggie and their was an adoption fair rapidly approaching on Saturday. Friday night we made the decision that we just couldn't let her go. So, on Saturday at the adoption fair, I did the paperwork and she is now officially ours!

Well, I am off to work on our Christmas wish list, hopefully I will post it tomorrow!! And a shout out to Dad K and Barbara C. who recently had birthdays!!

Christmas list

Christmas lists will be coming out shortly!

Things to keep in mind, we watch lots of movies in our home theater, Wife loves dogs, and Hubby is a big compter geek currently going to school. If that helps at all....

Luck be a lady Tonight!

Okay, so day two started off that we were able to move rooms! Yea! Goodbye handicap accessible room with a view of the parking garage across the street! Hello pool view room on the 21st floor! Check out the view!



After a nice buffet breakfast, we hit the casino for a craps lesson at 11am. That was very interesting and we learned a little bit more about the game! So, after the hour long lesson we tried putting to use what we had learned. Of course we didn't walk away from the table richer. However, we did walk away a few hours later to head to the spa to get a couples massage.

After that we headed over to Caesar's Palace. We had dinner reservations at the Mesa Grill, which is Bobby Flay's restaurant The food was fabulous. I had a goat cheese queso dip prior to dinner and Hubby had a tuna something appetizer. For dinner I had a grilled Ahi tuna steak, Hubby had some sort of lamb. It was so tasty. Then for dessert we had this amazing chocolate cake thing. It was melt in your mouth, you can't believe it really tastes that good, good! After the amazing dinner we walked around Caesar's a bit more and then headed back to the hotel as it was pretty late by then.

Saturday we got up, and after yet another yummy breakfast buffet, we headed up the strip. Our first stop was New York New York. We picked up our tickets for the show that night and then we rode the roller coaster on the outside! Here is what New York New York looks like:



After that fun stuff, we headed over to check out MGM and the lions inside! And then a trip down to the M&M store. From there we walked down to Paris, and we took a trip up the Eiffel tower, what a sight to see! The tower in Vegas is only ½ the size of the real one. They were not able to build it to the height of the real one, due to the fact the airport is so close.

For dinner we went to the buffet at the Bellagio. What a buffet it is! The carving stations consisted of Kobe beef, buffalo roast, prime rib, lamb, and a few type of fancy turkeys. They also had sushi and crab legs and the most amazing dessert area! I made several trips through the buffet. From there we went down to New York New York to watch Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity. Very interesting show.

More about the rest of the trip later!

VIVA Las Vegas!!

We are back! Unfortunately...

Have you ever needed a vacation so bad, and then you go and it just isn't that great? Well, this trip was awesome! It was a MUCH needed break. And I can't even begin to tell you just how much I enjoyed it!

We took off Thursday evening. Of course my car didn't want to start at my parent's house, so that just made it even sweeter to get out of town. Anyway, we landed about 10:20pm and then took a cab to the hotel. We got checked in and somehow we ended up with a handicap accessible room. That wasn't cool, but they told us to call the next morning to find out about switching rooms.

Here is a view of our hotel from the Eiffel Tower (at Paris, next door). It's the big white building.



Anyway, after dropping off the stuff, we started walking around. We headed across the street to Caesars Palace first. We got the lay of the land in there and then headed up to the next hotel which is the Bellagio. Inside the Bellagio is BEAUTIFUL. They do the lobby area all up for the season. Right now it's full of apples and pumpkins. Here is Hubby and I at the Bellagio:



And it smells like Macintosh candles from Yankee candles (my favorite scent)!

After that we headed out and we saw the fountains. Now, if you have never been to Vegas and you end up going to Vegas, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend that you stop and see the fountains at NIGHT your first time. It's truly beautiful and amazing. We watched a few songs and then kept walking around.

The amount of people in Vegas is amazing! There are SO MANY people! And the very interesting part to me was that you see people in short and t-shirts walking next to people in evening attire. All the time! It's just one of those places where you could wear just about anything you wanted and fit in! And the whole “Strip” seems to be designed so that it feels like everything is 'high class', but you don't have to be Donald Trump to be there. Like I said, I was really amazed at the entire experience!

We finally got back to the room somewhere around midnight or 1am. And I slept like a baby in our king sized bed. I will tell you more about the next day, tomorrow! For now, I need to go move laundry and then head for bed! I have to go back to work tomorrow. :(

And then there was 3....

So, I got my flu shot. It was 1996 when I last had the flu. I can't believe it's been 9 years!! But after that, I will always get a flu shot. I didn't last year, due to the shortage, however Hubby and I went on Tuesday morning. The Utilities has free clinics for employees and their Dependants to get them. It was a lot easier than the tetanus shot, that's for sure.

I got my stitches out this week as well. That was a rather uncomfortable experience. But I have my finger back. It doesn't bend all the way right now, it's a little stiff. But hopefully in no time it will be back to normal.

We are fostering another dog. She is a cute hound mix. We think she is fox hound and Treeing Walker Coon hound possibly. She is soooo adorable. She might just end up staying here permanently. Only time will tell. Here is her picture from the organization's website. It's not a great picture. We will try to get more of them!



It's picking up at work still, but then again, the holiday's are approaching! It's keeping us on our toes. But it makes time go by fast.

We went to the Colorado College (CC) hockey game Friday night and had a pretty good time! CC won!

Yesterday I woke up with hives every where. It got worse in the evening so we went to Urgent Care to get it taken care of. They graciously gave me a shot in my rear end. And steroids to take for 5 days. I am better today and have only have a few small flare ups. Not sure what caused the problem. I didn't think I had eaten any new food. Who knows!

Watch out for the Beagle!

It's been about a week since I last wrote here. There's a reason for that. On Tuesday night, Buddy accidentally bit me. I say accidentally because I was taking a treat from him, and I did not command him to 'drop it'. I just reached for it. My finger was in his mouth when he decided to clamp down on the treat. I don't think he even knew my finger was in there. But, it broke the skin, and I started to bleed pretty good. And of course Hubby was at school. Long story short, I had a friend take me to Urgent Care and stay with me until Hubby arrived. I ended up with 3 stitches and a pretty black and blue finger. I have to keep it bandaged up for the next few days and I will go and get the stitches out on Wednesday morning.

This is only the 2nd time in my life I have had stitches. The first time was when I was in 5th grade and I tripped and fell and whacked my head on a desk, cutting my eyebrow open. That landed me one stitch, with no numbing stuff!! OUCH! But that was a dissolving stitch and went away on it's own. These they gave me numbing stuff for, OUCH, and they will take them out. These are in my left hand and I am not allowed to use that finger, let along bend it due to the bandages. It really has made me appreciate having two normal healthy hands. I can't imagine if I suddenly lost a hand how long it would take me to learn how to only use one hand for everything.

I also had to get a tetanus shot, so my right arm is still pretty sore from that. And Hubby and I are getting flu shots on Tuesday, so I will be sore all over again.

I had to work Wednesday with my big bandaged finger, but then I had Thursday and Friday off. Today I get to close the store. And I work tomorrow, my next day off is Wednesday.

Yesterday Hubby took the afternoon off work and we went up in the mountains to look at property. We would really like to by a little land. For now we can camp on it and then someday we could build a cabin on it. We saw a piece we liked yesterday, but I think we still have some looking to do. We shall see.

Well, I am off to eat breakfast, take an antibiotic and then get ready for work. Remember to turn your clocks back tonight! This is my favorite one, where we gain an hour of sleep!

Leavin' (for) Las Vegas

Well, things have been busy here as usual. Good news is that Hubby and I are planning a quick escape in 3 weeks! We are heading to Vegas for a weekend! We booked our flights Thursday. We plan on flying out on a Thursday night, and staying through Sunday evening. We are going to stay at the Flamingo! Which if you aren't familiar with that name, when you see pictures of Vegas, and you see the flower looking thing that lights up, that is our hotel.

Meanwhile, at the store, the owners ordered so much stuff at the show in Chicago that we are drowning in merchandise. We get shipments daily and then of course they are all large shipments. Plus we currently do not have a baker so I am having to bake to keep the treats stocked up. I have put in several long days at the store this week. And I am sure next week will be the same.

Today we are heading off to the Air Force Football game. It will be the first one for us this year. We are going with several of our friends and we are tailgating ahead of time. It should be fun. The weather should be sort of cool. I guess they would say good football weather. It looks like it will be between 55-60 degrees.

We hired housekeepers to come in and clean every 2 weeks again. I have just been so busy, I haven't been able to keep up with the house. It was great to come home to a clean house last night.

I am having all my employees over on Sunday for dinner and a movie. They hit the sales goal I set for them last month, so I agreed to offer dinner and movie if they did that. We still haven't decided what movie to watch. Probably something scary since Halloween is just around the corner.

Well, I need to go and put together my veggie tray for the game!

Only 2 Dogs!

Well, we are back down to being a 2 dog household. The Pomeranian's got adopted Saturday. Unfortunately their new home is several hours away in Lamar, so I probably won’t ever see them again. But hey, it was good to know them while I did.

I was so happy that they were adopted together. Hubby brought all their stuff up to the store and we said good-bye to them. And they headed off for their new life in Lamar, CO! It was rewarding knowing we got to help some dogs out, if even for a short time! Maybe in the future we will foster again.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same here. Work has been starting to get busy. It’s that time of year! Dogs are inside more since the weather is getting cooler, and people don’t want smelly dogs hanging out inside. Then we will get into the time of year when house guests will come (the holidays) and you want a clean dog for that too! So, it’s getting busier!

Things are still busy all the time it seems. The owners of WnW just went to that dog product show a few weeks back. We are now starting to get in all of the merchandise that they ordered at the show. I think the UPS man dropped of about 15 boxes today. It's a little overwhelming to get all this merchandise at once! But we will wade through it!
Bristol, mean while, has Giardia. It's a parasite that causes him to have diarrhea. Yippee. That dog has had so many worms and parasites since we got him, I think he it going to run the whole gamut of what is out there!
Well, it's late. Off to bed for me!

It's all ready October?

I have said it before and I will say it again! I feel so dang busy all the time! And I haven't been able to figure out why!

So, let's see... So last time I wrote I was having a day off, and I had a million things to do. I ended up doing about zero of them. I ended up spending the day on the sofa watching TV. The only thing I think I got accomplished was laundry if I remember correctly. Oh well, I guess I really just needed a day to relax!

So, let's see, since then what has happened? Well, we still have the 2 Pomeranian's but apparently we have several people who are very interested in them. They went to the vet today for teeth cleaning, they each ended up losing 5 teeth. Ouch! But oh, the breath is soooo much better!! Livable now in fact!

We got our first snow fall. We probably only got about 3 or 4 inches here at the house, but other areas got feet of snow! I know my boss was saying that at his house in Monument he had probably a good 2 feet. In fact, today was supposed to be my day off however my bosses were in Chicago for a Dog Show (product show, not like a breed competition show) and they were trying to fly back into Denver last night. However due to the snow, DIA (Denver airport) was pretty much shut down. They finally left Midway Airport about 9pm and by the time they drove home it was around 1:30am when the arrived home. I had planned on working for them this morning since as of yesterday we had no idea when they were going to be home. So, it wasn't until about 9:00am this morning that I even found out that they had arrived home! So, one of them will work Thursday for me so that I can have Thursday and Friday off. That was nice of him.

Hubby started the next semester of school tonight. He is taking one on line class as well as one classroom class. Tonight is the class room class. He has taken 5 classes so far and so far he has straight A's! Good for Hubby!

I went back to the doctor today to get the results of my allergy test, which I pretty much all ready knew. But he told me I was allergic to grass, trees and weeds, and he let me know that trees start blooming in the spring, grass is a summer allergy and then weeds are a fall one. Fabulous, I have 3 of the 4 seasons covered! Great..... Anyway, he wants to go ahead and try to control it with medication (nasal sprays) first and then we will go from there. Gee, I can't wait for spring now....

Well, I need to go and work on getting laundry done. My next day off I am going to the mall for Christmas shopping!! YEA! I can't wait!

First Snow!

It’s the first snow of the season! It started off yesterday being rainy and cold. Then by 9pm, the rain had turned into snow! It’s a cold and snowy day today! It’s beautiful falling from the sky. The roads are still pretty clear, just a little slushy. I was able to drive the car to work and didn’t need a 4-wheel drive!

More later!!

Today is a day off?

Well, another day off today. I only get 2 a week, but sometimes it feels like I get 0! Today I need to do laundry and I have a million errands I would like to get run. Plus Buddy has an eye appointment, and I need to clean the bathrooms. My day's off aren't like days off in the past, just spent relaxing. All though, I do have this coming Sunday off, so maybe I will get a chance to spend that relaxing!

Last night my work had a Laser Tag get together. I always have fun playing laser tag. This place that we went (I have been there before), has all kinds of levels and and mirrors and grates and everything to make it pretty cool. I prefer being on the upper levels that way I can look down on everything. Otherwise, if I am on the floor walking around, the people from above were always shooting down on me! I didn't do well either game. The first game I came in 2nd to last and the 2nd game we played teams and my team didn't win! Hubby went with me, but he acted as the photographer, and he didn't play. He says he isn't overly fond of laser tag. But I had a good time running around with my co-workers.

Saturday was extremely busy at work! Which is good, it makes the day go by fast and it's good for business. We also had an adoption fair, so I brought the Pom's with me. Unfortunately, I still have them. No adoptions yet. I have had people say they were interested, but no luck with them yet. But this adoption fair was really more the recuse from Lamar, not Colorado Springs. So, hopefully next weekend when it is the Colorado Springs turn, the Pom's will have more success. Plus, they are scheduled to go in for teeth cleanings on October 11th. That will help a lot as well! Plus I will be able to tolerate them better! Their breath is pretty bad right now. But that is what happens when you neglect your dog's teeth for years!

So, we have the new stereo in the Jeep now. Hubby is happy, it's no longer complete silence all the time. The nice thing is that he left it for me to drive today, and he rode the motorcycle to work.

I told him with the way gas prices are going that he needs to ride his motorcycle to work more often! And I think I should get a scooter! It's only 3 miles to my work so riding a scooter 3 miles wouldn't be bad at all! A girl I work with just ordered her scooter, as she is moving to California at the end of the month and gas prices there are supposedly going to hit $5/gallon soon. So she is taking the motorcycle safety class this coming weekend to get her license so she can drive a larger size engine scooter. I will have to look into them.

The odd thing to me right now is that Hubby and I do not have our next trip planned. Usually we have our plans started for our next vacation. Not right now! It's odd! I have never been to Las Vegas, I think that would be nice. And there are a few other ideas we are tossing around. We will have to start planning something so, to give me something to think about!

Well, I better go start running errands and getting my laundry done!

Saturday

So, it's starting to feel like fall a little bit. The day I had my allergy testing it was gray and cloudy most of the day. I kicked up the heat a little and turned on the fire for a short time. We try not to run our fire much, since natural gas is so expensive. But it felt great to sit in front of the warm fire and sleep. That has to be one of my favorite things to do. Which is odd for me because at night I don't like to be hot when I am sleeping. I prefer the room be cool at night for sleeping.

Things are the same around here. I still have a few spots on my arms that itch from the allergy testing on Thursday. My foot is healing, so it doesn't look really pretty right now. But once it's all healed up, it will look so cute!

I have a good jump on my Christmas shopping! I always try to be done prior to Thanksgiving and I have a feeling this year will be no exception! I either have things bought all ready or I know what I am going to be getting for people! I love it!

All the pups are doing well also. They did turn down my co-worker for adopting the little guys. My co-worker has an un-neutered male dog at home and it's against their policy to put dogs in a home with un-neutered dogs. So, they aren't going to go to her. I am taking them up to the store today for an adoption fair, so maybe today will be their lucky day!

Well, I gotta go get some stuff done before I head off to work. Adios!

Numbers

77
3
3
2


Those are my numbers for today. 77 is the number of times I got stuck for my allergy test today. There were 3 major things I was allergic to: weeds, grass, & trees... The second 3 is the number of paw prints I now have tattooed on my foot! And 2 is the number of earrings Hubby now has in his left ear!

So, last night I went out with some friends, we ended up at a tattoo parlor. (We had planned that) and Hubby ended up catching up with us there as well. When he caught up with us there were 4 of us total. My friend (and co-worker) Stephanie got a Carebear tattoo (as seen here):



It's a little red and blotchy in the photo, but heck, it had just been done! And my friend Mary (and co-worker) got her tongue pierced. That grossed me out, I watched them do the piercing part and all I have to say is YUCK! Then I got 3 dog paw prints tattooed on the top of my foot! They are so cute, about the size of a nickel, and BRIGHT Blue! One paw for Petey, one for Buddy and one for Bristol. This way I can add on in the future for more pups! And then Hubby decided he wanted a second earring in his left ear. So, he got his ear pierced. Everyone walked out of that place with something! I don't have a picture of my foot yet, but as soon as I do, I will get it up here!

I had to get up early today (on my day off, not a fun thing). I had to go in for allergy testing. Yippee. I reacted right away to weeds. So then they started doing the narrowing down the field thing. So, by the time everything was said and done I had been poked 77 times. Up and down both arms. I still have a few areas that have bumps under the skin where I reacted to what ever they put there. I don't remember specifically what the things were that I reacted to, it was mostly weeds, trees and grass. I had a mild reaction to one mold at a high concentration and I had a mild reaction to dog at a high concentration. The whole process took about 2 & ½ hours. I was so glad when I was done! They gave me cortisone cream to rub on my arms and they gave me a antihistamine to take as well. I came home and slept for a while to let the pill work and so I would itch my skin off.

We still have the Pomeranians. My aunt was asking if they are staying with us or if we are just paying to take care of them. They are indeed staying with us. The recuse group will pay for any medical care they need, such as one of them needs some teeth removed. I know a co-worker of mine really wants the little guys and she filled out an application to adopt them, I just haven't heard any word yet. Here are some pictures of them! BJ is the black one and Mikyla is the brown one (they are cute little fluff balls!):





We dropped the Jeep off to have a new stereo installed. We should get it back tomorrow night. Hubby says he's been going nuts without a stereo. It will all be better tomorrow!

Well, it's not really late, but I am sleepy! All that swelling and bleeding and itching made me sleepy. So, I guess I will end the post here.

More dogs...

Well, guess what? We are up to being a 4 dog family.... Temporarily. I was at work on Saturday and there was an adoption fare being held. There were 2 Pomeranians who essentially got dumped at the store. They desperately needed a home for these guys (for someone to take care of them). So, Hubby agreed to let me foster them. I am really not a Pomeranian type of person, so I am patiently waiting for the right family to come along to adopt these guys. They are a boy, BJ and a girl, Mikyla. BJ is 8 years old and Mikyla is 7. I am not sure why their last home had to give them up, but they are getting good care now, so I guess that is all that matters. I had them groomed on Monday, so they look a whole lot better and smell a whole lot better. BJ has really bad breath. And Mikyla needs to have some teeth removed, so they need a little bit of work. But, we shall see. I am going to call their old vet today and see if I can get some more information on them. They are WONDERFUL dogs, they just aren't for me.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... Bristol graduated from his basic training class last night! He was being a bit stubborn last night, but he has come so far. We will probably continue with classes as the boy needs more training yet. Hubby came to watch the joyous occasion. Bristol got a big cookie and I got a certificate at the end of class. It was pretty low key, but a major milestone for a dog who didn't even know how to sit at the beginning of class 8 weeks ago!

Buddy is doing much better since being sick last week. He had his last antibiotic this morning. What a relief. The little guy isn't allowed to scare me like that anymore!

You know what I was thinking last night as I lay awake for hours because I had to much caffeine yesterday? I was thinking how men everywhere today should be thanking Don Johnson. You know why? Because when he was Crockett on Miami Vice he made stubble cool. So now guys can get away with not shaving and it's cool. Had Don Johnson not done that in the 80's, well, who knows what the world would think of stubbly faces now-a-days! So, men of the world, you better thank Don Johnson, drop him a line, thanking him for his stubbly days on Miami Vice! What ever happened to that great show anyway? I am thankful, however, that the trend of the white and pink sports jackets went out with the 80's... That is one trend that I can do without...

Well, I am going to go try to brush BJ's teeth. For some reason, his breath REALLY gets to me...YUCK!

Oh, and happy 1 year to my blog! I can't believe I have been a blogger for a whole year all ready!

I believe..

Hubby belongs to a little security “club” (more like an organization). They meet once a month and Wednesday was their meeting. They always give away prizes and for the first time, Hubby won the prize! And guess what the prize was this month? The new Ipod Nano! And he was giving and gave it to me! It's only a 2gig, so it won't hold a ton of songs, but hey, I now have an IPOD!

I had a lot of time to think while I was on the bike. And here is a list of some things I discovered I believe ( in no particular order):

I Believe:

in seat belts and helmets
in Animal rights
in God
in the importance of family
in the importance of friends
in leaning on those friends and family for (emotional) support when needed
in love
in best friends
in laughter
in seeing the world through rose colored glasses
in SPEED LIMITS
in my country.

And I believe in a lot more things that if I listed them all, you would probably get bored reading them, but I think these items are towards the top of my list.

Well, it's late and I am sleepy... What do you believe?

Getting back to normal

I have been so busy since we got back! I worked on Monday and then Bristol had training Monday night. Yesterday I had to take Buddy to the vet first thing in the morning. He gave us a bit of a scare. We discovered he has a disease called H.G.E. Basically the insides of his intestines were sloughing off. He had to spend the day at the vet's office getting re-hydrated and hit with antibiotics. Thankfully we are pretty sure we caught everything early enough that he will be fine. But he scared us there.

After I left the vet's office, I took Bristol to work and gave him a much needed bath! His white areas are finally white again. After that I met Hubby for lunch. Then I went home for a little bit, then I had a 2:30pm appointment for a MUCH needed massage! After that I had to pick up the check from our closing and deposit it in the bank. Then I picked Buddy up and brought him home. Then I cleaned around the house.

This morning I was up early and started working on laundry. Right now we have a locksmith here as well. Our Jeep Cherokee was parked in the garage while we were gone and someone broke in and stole the stereo! Yes, the NEW stereo we just had put in in July.... Yea

After this guy leaves I need to hit the grocery store, as we have no milk, or much food due to we cleaned out the fridge before we left on our trip. And I have a million calls I need to make as well! Ugh, I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

My sister had bronchitis too! The poor thing, she sounds pretty horrible. But she has all her medication now, so hopefully she will be feeling better soon.

I have also been exhausted since we got back. I have been sleeping like a rock at night. And I have to force myself out of bed in the morning! I think it will take a while for me to feel rested.

All right, I am off to move laundry!

Analysis of trip

We did make it home safe and sound on Sunday night. This is the first chance I have had to tell you all that. So here are some things about the trip:

Wife's idea of a motorcycle trip: A nice leisurely drive around the countryside, stopping here and there when the mood strikes us to shop, walk, eat, read history markers, etc...

Hubby's idea of a motorcycle trip: Drive as fast as you can from point A to point B stopping only for gas and sleeping (eating and bathroom breaks must be included on one of the previously mentioned spots)

Result of the trip:

Wife: will probably never do it again

Hubby: Had a great time....

Things heard while getting ready for the motorcycle trip

Wife to Hubby: “I can ONLY bring how many pairs of jeans?”

Wife to Hubby: “What do you mean my faux-fur coat doesn't fit in the saddlebag?” (okay this one really didn't happen)

Wife to Hubby: "Are you SURE we can only fit 2 pairs of jeans on the bike?”

Wife to Hubby: “I am sorry, but I am not willing to turn my underwear inside out like you”

Wife to Hubby: “No, I don't know where your long underwear is! I am too busy keeping track of everything else you own!”

Wife to Hubby: “I am sorry, I am not sharing my deodorant with you”

Hubby to Wife: “You better bring cough medicine, you aren't not going to cough in my ears the whole trip! I will just disconnect the headsets.”

Wife to Hubby: “I have to bring 1 pair of shorts for wearing AND for sleeping in?”

Wife to Hubby: “Seriously, we can fit like 5 more pairs of pants in there, right?”

Wife to Hubby: “How come you can bring a tree's worth of maps and books, but I can only have 2 pairs of jeans?”

Wife to wife's mom: "What do you mean there are no bathrooms where we are going?"

Wife to Hubby: "Can we upload the MP3 player with all 70's and 80's music??!"

Off we go...

Well, something has flared up in me. At first I thought it was allergies, but now I am thinking it's a sinus infection. Whatever it is, it's here with a vengeance! Yesterday morning my nose started to run and it hasn't stopped since! I have a call into the doctor to see if they can get me on some antibiotics. I hope they can just call a prescription is as I am leaving on Saturday for our bike trip!

I have been working a 9 day stretch in order to be able to go on the bike vacation. So, I am really ready for a break! It should be interesting! I just got my rain suit in the mail the other day. So, now I have my rain suit, should we hit rain. Which I am going to guess that being on a bike for 9 days, we will hit rain somewhere. And when we were in Cripple Creek I got a new leather jacket and vest. I also went to REI and stocked up on long sleeved poly-pro shirts. And in case of cold weather I have my Gerbing Hubby got me for Christmas, which is an electric jacket I can plug into the bike. So, I am ready for any weather. I think.

I am loving my eyes now, after the surgery. I got up in the middle of the night last night to take nyquil and I could see! No fumbling around in the dark for my glasses! It's so odd, I still feel like I wear contacts! I went to the eye doc on Tuesday and I still have 20/20 vision. I tell you, it's the greatest thing ever!

While we are gone, one of my employees will be here at the house with our two dogs and Rick's dog Hershey. Usually my mom watches the dogs when we are out of town, but she is heading off to Ireland the same day we head off towards Yellowstone.

Well, I need to get things done today! We have our closing on our re-finance of the house tomorrow afternoon and then tomorrow evening, we will pack up. So, I am off! I don't think I will post until after we get back, so I will talk to you all in a week.

But before I go, I have to share. Bristol loves to play with toys. Bristol also loves to drink water. And sometimes he gets so wrapped up in playing with a toy and gets so out of breath that he decided he needs a drink of water. Usually this happens at the same time. The result is that whatever toy he is playing with gets dropped into the water dish. He just did it again, as he just gave me a sopping wet fleece ball to throw for him. Of course I didn't know before he gave it to me that it was sopping wet, but it's gross to suddenly have a wet pile of mush in your hand. I have seen him do this so many times, and it's funny every single time he does it!

Today's Saying

When you feel dog tired at night, it may be because you have growled at people all day long

-Unknown

Same stuff, different day

I can't take anymore of the sad animal stories coming out of the Louisiana/Mississippi area. So, if you know any, please do not pass them along to me. I started a collection jar at work for the Humane Society of the United States to collect for the animals down there.

It's kind of a rainy day here. I hear thunder in the distance.

Things have been pretty much the same here. I have been working, as usual. I had my week follow up exam this morning for my eyes. I still have 20/20 vision and I no longer need to use all of the antibiotic drops, or wear my shields at nights. Thank goodness! Those shields were miserable!

Well, I have to go and try to put some laundry away before I get cleaned up for work. Hope everyone is well!

I love wolves....

Okay, I have a new thing to do when people come to Colorado to visit. Sunday we went and took a tour of the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center! What a neat place. This is a private owned place where this lady has rescued several wolfs! There are also coyotes and foxes. Hubby and I paid for the VIP tour so after the regular tour, we got to go with the owner into two of the wolf pens! There are 6 pens for the wolfs, each pen is 1 acre. Then there is a one acre pen for the coyotes and a pen for the foxes. Here is their web site:

http://www.wolfeducation.org/default.htm

And here is one of the wolfs who looked right at me for the picture. I am not sure which one he is:



We got to give lots of love to Mika and Shunka in the first pen. Here I am getting Wolf kisses from Shunka:



And here is Hubby petting Mika:



In the second pen we got to give treats to Nikita and Princess. Here is Hubby feeding Princess (left) and Nikita (right-white one):



And me petting Nikita and Princess together!:



And here is Troubles, he has BLUE eyes!!:



It was an incredible experience! Then we came home to our more domesticated style of wolves:



Other than that, things have been pretty usual around here. I worked Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday night we had some friends over for dinner. Hubby made his Green Curry Chicken, yum. And we tried a Thai soup from a Thai cookbook we have. It turned out pretty tasty. We will tweak it next time we make it, but I really loved the broth! Mmmmmmm, tasty!

I created web pages for the pups on a great site called Dogster.com. Here is Bristol's web page with links to Petey's and Buddy's web page:

http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?j=t&i=186462

Just something fun!

Yesterday I had my eye surgery! So now, I have 20/20 vision without contacts or glasses!!! Yea! The surgery was very easy and painless! I keep telling Hubby “I can see!” I am very happy with the outcome! I have to puts lots and lots of drops in my eyes to keep them free of infection for a while, but I can live with that. In fact, it's time for me to go put drops in my eyes again!!

But Wait, There's More...

Hubby let me know that there are some important factors about Saturday that I apparently left out. First of all, on our journey from Woodland Park to Cripple Creek with the 2000+ other motorcycles, they block off the highway for us. The streets are lined with people, almost everywhere. It's quite a sight! It's very moving too.

Then you roll into Cripple Creek. There is all ready bikes there and then when the parade's roll in, it puts the the bike count at 5000+. The street is so packed with bikes and people that there is only 1 lane of traffic, and it goes in, for the bikes to come in. We haven't been able to do the ride the last 2 years, but when we did it in 2002, there were not nearly as many people as there were this year! And believe it or not, we forgot our camera....

Like I said before, if you ever get the chance to go and watch a motorcycle rally, go! And if you have the chance to be in it, do it! It is such a neat thing! 2000+ bikers, who have never ridden together before, ride like one long fluid movement. It's a beautiful thing.

I've been busy...

If you ever have the opportunity to see a Motorcycle Rally, GO SEE IT! And if you ever have an opportunity to be part of a Motorcycle Rally, BE IN IT!

Today was the POW/MIA motorcycle rally. It ended up that Hubby and I were the only ones going. Well, our friend Ross and his brother Monty were joining us as well, but Monty was coming in from Kansas and Ross had to wait for him to arrive to join the group. So we left without them.

Hubby and I started the morning off after we left Ross's house, by going to Pikes Peak Harley Davidson (the local Harley Dealer). From there we paid our $10 entry fee and joined the next group of riders going up to Woodland Park. There were about 25 of us in that group. The destination from there is Woodland Park High School That is the staging ground for where the major parade begins. There was probably around 2000 bikes in the high school parking lot. At 10:30am the parade began from Woodland Park to Cripple Creek. What a site. You are talking 2000'ish bikes all riding together. It's quite a site. We arrive in Cripple Creek to a crowd that is so big that there is only 1 lane of traffic on the main street and that is where all the bikes are coming in. We, thankfully were near the front. So we were able to park the bike and then walk a block over to main street to watch the rest of the parade come into town.

After the parade finished, we got some lunch and did some walking around. We then caught up with Ross and his brother. After that, a bit more shopping and then we decided to head back home. It started to rain on us about the time we hit Divide, CO, and rained most of the way home on us.

After that, we cleaned up and then headed to my mom's house for dinner. We had to celebrate Zak's birthday. We (Hubby and myself, Mom and Dad) gave him a new lens for his camera. Here is a pic of him with his new lens on his camera:



The next day, Sunday, we had tickets to the local track (PPIR) for the IRL race (Indy Racing League). I am sure you have heard of Danika Patrick? Well, she was there. She came in 8th. It was a hot day. The temp at race time was 87 degrees, and track temp at the beginning of the race was 127 degrees. Anyway, it was a pretty fast race, and fairly interesting, however they don't believe that “Rubbin's Racing” in Indy league, so to me, it could have been a little bit more interesting. After the race we stopped by my parent's house again. We had one last dinner with Zak. He leaves tomorrow for Pennsylvania. We will see him again in December, but not until then. That will be odd. After a quick Pizza dinner, we packed up the dogs and headed for home. By now Bristol and Phoebe were covered in mud and dirt and who knows what else, as they had played all day while Hubby and I were at the race. So, that night when we got home Bristol got a bath.

The rest of the week has just been work for me. I have my pre-op visit tomorrow for my eye surgery. Finally. Yesterday my mother had her pins removed from her foot. She says it hurts. But, at least we are to the point of her having the pins out now. She can only get better from here!

Okay, we are off to talk the munchkins for a walk and then get some dinner. Till later!

Still Coughing!!

So, I am getting worse day by day. All though I did call the doctor and demand a new cough medicine, as I wasn't getting any sleep. Neither was Hubby. So, now I have a nice narcotic cough medicine, that actually allows a bit more sleep. I took it for the first time last night and the results were wonderful! I finally made an appointment to go and see an ENT doctor (Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor). I see him on Tuesday morning!!

I am stuck in my glasses for the next week. I have all ready been wearing them for a week. I am in the finally countdown to my eye surgery. It's been a fiasco to get to this point, but we are FINALLY getting there! I just hate my glasses, I miss my contacts and I can not WAIT to get rid of both of them all together!! I have to wear my glasses two weeks before surgery, so here I am....

Last night was out annual dinner at the Zoo, the President's dinner. This is the dinner for Patron and Patron Gold members. We are patron members. Normally we get an unlimited supply of giraffe crackers, which I fully take advantage of. Well, this year we got a behind the scene tour of the White Lion exhibit. They took us back and let us stand where we were only about 2 feet from one of the pacing white lions. It was so neat, I could have reached out to pet him! But it was dinner time, and I didn't want my fingers to look like appetizers to him. But it was really a neat, up close look at them!! I enjoyed that a lot.

At dinner we sat with a crowd of people we didn't know, but then again, we don't know many people that are there. It was a rather interesting dinner. As usual, the food was amazing! The salad before dinner was delicious. Then we had NY strip steak, twice baked potato with steamed veggies on the side. And for dessert was turtle cheesecake. Plus open bar all night! What a fun time!

Well, I am off to take my narcotic cough medicine!!

Cough, cough, cough....

Remember that sinus infection I said I had. I was wrong. The Doctor said it was allergies. And it's only getting worse. I have been coughing for about the past 5 days. Things came to a head last night when the coughing kept both Hubby and myself awake a good portion of the night. Hubby insisted I see the doctor today. So, I did. I made an appointment, and went in late this afternoon. My allergies are pretty darn bad. And the doctor just prescribed more medicine for me. I am up to 7 prescriptions in the past week now. He did give me something for the cough, which doesn't work, I all ready took it.

After I left the Doctor's office, I met up with Hubby at KFC for dinner. I had Bristol in the car with me as right after that we headed off to training class. Hubby went home to work on his paper that is due in a few short days. So, it was up to me alone to do the training tonight. Bristol was okay, he really watches me (and the treats) like a hawk, but we have to work with him a lot more. Tonight we learned down and worked on down/stays. And we started working on 'Heel'. Bristol really needs to work on that one....

After class I came home and sat in a hot bath for about an hour. I have take all of my medications plus Nyquil. I think the Nyquil is starting to kick in, so I will end this here. Maybe tonight I will get some sleep! I hope so.

Another day in the neighborhood

I went and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight with a friend from work. It was GREAT! The set design was wonderful! And Johnny Depp was awesome! I highly recommend it!

So, I had been having headaches last weekend and early part of the week. I made a doctor's appointment. I went in and discovered that I have a sinus infection! And the headaches were tension headaches. So the doctor gave me some nasal sprays to help clear up the sinus infection I didn't know I had.

Now I have post nasal drip and I feel awful! I think I would rather go back to being a little stuffy and not knowing about the sinus infection versus the sore throat and cough. I am back to having to use Nyquil to get through the night!

Bristol has earned himself trips to the kennel when we aren't home. He has learned to jump or maneuver over all baby gates we set up. At first it was okay, he wasn't destroying anything. Then after a few days, he started to chew stuff. Since I don't want him destroying my stuff, and I don't want him to eat something he shouldn't or hurt himself. So he goes in the kennel when we leave now. He actually is quite well behaved now, a lot less barking and whining than he used to!

He had his first training class on Monday. He learned sit and stay and how to walk on a leash without pulling. We are still working on both of those.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same here. Hubby is finishing one class and getting ready to start another. I am still doing yoga and loving it. And I work way to much. Hope all of you reading this are well.

My View on Animal Planet

I have figured out there are 2 types of animal lovers. There are those that watch Animal Planet and those that don't. I can not watch Animal Planet because I really can not stand seeing any animal hurt or injured or abused. Then there are those animal lovers who do watch Animal Planet and most of those people usually never even watch another channel! Like I said, I personally don't watch it. I used to try to watch nice easy shows like K-9 to 5 or The Planet's Funniest Animals, but even the commercials they have on while watching the show are to sad for me. This morning I did watch a show called Amazing Animal Videos, which was okay, they all had happy endings. However, right there in the middle of a show a commercial came on for another one of their shows that had a golden retriever puppy who was being severely abused and was rescued by animal control. UUGH, YANK at my heartstrings why don't you. And that is when I remembered why I NEVER watch that channel!!!

I like living in my happy little WnW world. And even there in that world I see lots of people treating their dogs in ways unimaginable. I see people yank on leashes, hit dogs, nails that haven't been clipped in so long it's effecting the way the dog walks. I see at least a dog a day who is not being treated properly.

On a lighter note, I am currently awaiting Hubby's arrival with our 3 Doolies. It's Doolies Day Out today. This year they had Doolies Day Out after ALL of basic training. The last 2 years, we got them half way through basic training, in July. So, it should be interesting to see if there is any difference in having cadets after it's all over. For those of you saying 'HUH?' right now, Doolies are Air Force Academy cadets. They are the freshman for the class starting in a few short days. However, they have to go through 'basic training' first. I am not sure if they call it basic training or what they call it. Anyway, since Freshman have basically no privileges, the one thing they are allowed their first year is to go to Sponsor's house's. Their home away from home. This is our 3rd year sponsoring cadets. 2003 was our first year, and that was with Adam. He has since left the Academy and moved home. So, we shall see what today's cadet's bring.

In fact I gotta get going. I have a load of laundry to start and a dishwasher to unload and reload!

Living My Life

Here is what is most upsetting to me. I always make a conscious effort live my life in a manner that if I were to perrish tomorrow, I would be remembered in a good way. The last few days, and the last few people I have dealt with, really have made me feel like I am not that person.

The lady who rear ended me in the Starbucks line called me a dirty name. Probably because I was not saying very much to her and avoiding her at all costs because I was making a conscious effort to not lose my temper.

And the neighbor lady who accused me of grabbing her child? Well, that was just the worst! First of all, I would never want anyone to think I would ever harm a child! And second of all, I didn't do it anyway! And I never would.

I try so hard to make sure I treat others as I would want to be treated. I try to make sure I am nice, and kind to everyone, and I feel like I have been stepped on quite a bit in the last few days. Makes me wonder why I even bother.

Anyway, in light of recent, life goes on. Sunday night I had our WnW BBQ at my house. I had a fill in Hubby (the hubby of one of my employee's) do the grilling. He did a great job, and we had a great time. There were several employees and their pets who were not fit for driving and ended up spending the night. So, come Monday morning, it was like a whole new dog party. I had 4 dogs instead of 2. It really was fun and I had a great time.

I had Monday off and Hubby came home mid afternoon from Vegas. He said he had a great time in spite of the heat and that he learned a lot. He also won me a nice chunk of change for the bank! THANK YOU HUBBY!

I did start training Monday night for Bristol. The first night of class was just lecture, without dogs. Bristol will get to go with me on Monday. There are some regular WnW customers in the class, they have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy who is SOOOO cute!! Hubby got to meet her the other night and he thought the puppy was cute also.

Wednesday was a busy day. I was busy at work, as was Hubby. Then immediately after work we headed to our Mortgage Broker's office. We are refinancing the house. This time we are under that magic 80%, so no more PMI! And I am being added onto the house! So, essentially, I am in the process of buying my first house! I am pretty excited about that!

After that we headed down to my mom and dad's house to celebrate Mom's birthday. Suzi and Zak were down, with Phoebe to celebrate the occasion. And of course we brought our two pups. Phoebe and Bristol played and played and played. They had a great time. Meanwhile, the 5 of us, Dad, Suzi, Hubby, Zak and myself, gave Mom a new digital camera for her birthday. It's exactly what she wanted. So, we hope she enjoys that, especially when she goes to Ireland.

Tonight we had free tickets to the comedy club here in town. The vet from Emergency Vets was doing his stand up routine. It was pretty fun! The vet guy and the guy before him were soooo funny! I couldn't stop laughing! There were 6 of us that went to the show and we all enjoyed it!

Well, it's late now and I am off to bed.

Padded Cell Anyone?

So, we discovered that the lovely folks who met us up close and personal (rear ended us) on I-25 last weekend lied about having insurance. Yes, they are uninsured. So, you can imagine the headaches we are now going through. We are all ready out $500 of our own money for the deductible. We shall see how this one plays out. We are scheduled to have the Jeep dropped off at the body shop on August 8th. The damage total came in at $1690 roughly!

And if that wasn't bad enough! Friday I had the Cherokee to take to work as Hubby had taken my car to the airport. I was at Starbucks in line for my coffee when the lady behind me rear ended me and caused more damage! I am glad we hadn't been able to get the Jeep in for repairs yet!! That was a big mess.

Finally I got to work and finally Hubby got to Vegas after having to divert to several different places. His trip should have been only about 4 or 5 hours, and it ended up being more like 12. I told him he should have taken the bike to get there faster.

Tonight I took the dogs for a walk. It was the first time in a week and a half since we were attacked last time we were walking. It was about a week and a half ago. Long story short, we were walking through the neighborhood and there was a bunch of kids with a dog on a leash. Some kid let go of the leash and the dog came over and attempted to bite our two dogs. Thanks to Hubby's quick thinking, he was able to avert that by stepping on the dogs leash and pulling our dogs out of the way, but Buddy let out a yelp first. After that, I walked the little girl home who's dog it was that was having the issue and asked the parents to please keep their dog aggressive dog under control.

Well, that situation with them didn't go to well. I will just leave it at that.

Then tonight I am out walking my dogs for the first time since the incident. And a mom of one of the other kids approaches me and accuses me of grabbing her kid by the arm. Well, I let her know I had no reason to grab her kid nor do I recall grabbing her kid. Even if I would have grabbed her kid it would have been to get him out of the middle of that situation. However, there were no kids around close enough to be grabbing (hence the loose dog).

I was so upset by the time I got home. I called Hubby who did not see my reason for being so upset and was angry with me for being so upset. I can tell you this much, I do not plan on walking alone in my neighborhood any more! It just isn't safe. Apparently you need a witness with you!

Ever felt like you need a padded cell? I know I do!

Same stuff, different day

So, Friday night we went for our regular Military Briefing at the Academy. I always forget just how gorgeous the Academy is. But I am always lucky to see it around twilight, which just seems to make the place seem just that much more impressive! We had to park at the field house and go by bus to Arnold Hall.

This year was the same thing as last year pretty much. Be mentors, be good role models, make them follow the rules, no underage drinking, etc, etc... They were kind enough to inform us that next year's briefing will be sent out on DVD for us to watch at our leisure with a beverage of choice in hand (the general's exact words). Thank goodness is all I have to say to that! These briefings are mandatory for us, and they are about as much fun as paying lots of money to see a really bad movie. (hey, it was the best analogy I could come up with on the fly).

Anyway, we will get to meet our new Doolies on August 7th. This year we are taking 3 for the day and we will decided what to do from there.

The heat has finally broken! We have had a few cooler days, including one rainy cool day! In fact it was so rainy that our roof at work started to leak. I had 6 buckets trying to catch all the leaks placed on the floor in various spots. Today the roofers came and said they fixed the problem. I hope so.

Hubby leaves for Las Vegas tomorrow. He is heading off to a conference called Defcon. It's for computer security people. He should have a fun time as this is one of the biggest conferences of the year for his field. And they make it out to be more of a fun learning experience then anything else. He returns Monday, just in time to start our first training class for Bristol. The first night we go without the dog.

Other than that, things have been pretty much the same around here. I am still taking private yoga lessons from a lady in Monument. I am very much enjoying it.

Big news around here is that the doctor finally cleared my mom to get back on her feet! She is out of the wheelchair for the first time in 2 months. In fact she has a new car and is driving herself around! We went down tonight for dinner, and to fix a computer problem and to check out her new wheels. She got a '97 Toyota Camry. It pretty sweet. It has power everything, tinted window, a spoiler and the works. So far she is very happy with it.

Bristol continues to grow like a weed. He still isn't filling out much, but boarder collies usually are thinner, and he is a puppy. He has a ravenous appetite, but is still thin as a rail. He loves bones, like real cow bones. We have about 10 of them floating around the house and he is almost always chewing on one. In fact he is chewing on his favorite one right now.

Buddy, on the other hand, is sound asleep in his favorite chair. He isn't very interested in playing anymore. I don't know if that is because he is upset about the new puppy, or if his eyes are bothering him, or if he used to just play to entertain us. Who knows, but he has given up on every playing with toys again apparently.

I am having all my employees over on Sunday for a Bar-B-Q. I had all ready put it on everyone's schedule when I realized that Hubby would be gone. So, one of my employee's husbands has been kind enough to step in and do the grilling of the hamburgers and hot dogs in Hubby's absence. It should be a good time, there will be several dogs here as well as people.

Up and down, and up and down....

Our Saturday was a bit of a roller coaster.... Saturday morning, Bristol woke us up early. He started whining in his kennel about 6:15am. That is the time that during the week Hubby usually gets him up and out, so I just figured his internal clock told him it was time to get up. He kept whining and whining so I decided I would get up, let him out and then we could all go back to bed for a few hours. After all, it was my day off and we were not going to be heading out to the races until later.

So, I got up, let him and Buddy out, only to discover the real reason he wanted to go out. He had a bad case of diarrhea. After the pups came back in, I got their breakfast ready. He wouldn't eat. Instead he wanted to go back outside for another go around. It is odd for him not to want to eat. So, being the good dog mom that I am, I went outside with a zip lock bag inside out and scooped up some remnants for the vet. I have suspected for about the last week that he had some sort of parasite or worm. We all ready knew he didn't have heart worm, but he just wasn't gaining any weight as he grows. So, at 7:45am, I loaded the sample and the dog into the Jeep. Off we went to the vet's office. They were able to squeeze us in since we were there so early.

After the sample was examined, guess what they found. Yes, worms. Round worms to be exact. It's something he got from his mother's milk. So, at some point in time, his mother was around long enough to feed him. So, $68 dollars and two prescriptions later, we headed for home. He just had his last de-wormer treatment and he will be on antibiotics for a few days. That was one of those down hills.

About 9:45am, after the Tour De France time trial stage ended, we headed off to mom's house to drop off the dogs. Bristol hadn't been to Camp Nana yet, so it was a big day for him! He met Chula for the first time, which went better then I thought it would. Chula was more scared of him than he was of her. We left him and he was settled in within minutes of us leaving. That was a up on our ride.

We headed down to PPIR for the Busch race. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. Miserable hot. We were sweating like crazy and the sun was miserable. We had brought 2 bottles of water each. Plus I bought 2 bottles of water to drink those as well. It was hot. That was a down.

But then we headed up to our seats. About 20 minutes into the race the sun moved behind the building and our seats were in the shade. AHHHHH! Major up! And then the race was really good. We were cheering for Kenny Wallace. He took 3rd. It was a fun time! (again, an up)

So, then we headed to the parking lot. And started the long journey home. We were heading up I-25, in stop and go traffic. At one point we were stopped and the next thing we knew, we were rear ended. (That was a big ride down). Thankfully there was a state trooper about 4 cars back and Hubby was able to get out of the Jeep and walk back to their car. So, we all pulled over to the side of the road and the officer took all the info. We have major damage to the Jeep. It doesn't look that bad, only a few bumps, however, our tailgate won't open. That is going to be an expensive fix. But apparently this kid has insurance, so hopefully it will be easy to take care of. Hubby will probably contact the other guy's insurance company today or tomorrow.

After an hour we were back on the road heading for home. By now my sister and Phoebe had arrived at my mom's house. Apparently all 4 dogs were having a great time. We finally arrived and went out to dinner with everyone. It was a nice dinner. (up again).

We headed for home, and finally crawled in bed late! It was a long exhausting day, but I really enjoyed the race.

I had to get up early Sunday morning also. We had a staff meeting at the store, before it opened. I worked all day and then came home and was sound asleep by 10:15pm. I have a day off tomorrow. I am looking forward to that.

HOT, HOT, HOT!

I am so happy! I went to the doctor today for my yearly exam. I was really really dreading it, as don't we all? But, by the time I walked out of there, I was sooo happy! First, I got on the scale, and I had dropped 14 pounds since my last visit in October last year! (I knew I had, but it still feels great to have it on record). Then the doctor came in, addressed all my concerns and we went over all the blood work I had done last October as well. Everything was perfect!! He said I couldn't be in better health! Not to shabby for being 30, oops, I mean 29! ;)

I must be old, I get excited that I got a perfect bill of health from my doctor. I never really cared before.

So, we are having a little heat wave here. It's been upper 90's the last few days. Yesterday I was working so I was able to avoid most of the heat by being in my air conditioned work. Today however, I am not working and it is again in the high 90's. Weather.com says it is currently 87 degrees however I happen to know that earlier today my thermometer from outside was saying 93 and that was at 3:30pm. So, it's hot. HOT! I have all the swamp coolers running full blast and I am refilling them about every hour. We have decided that it's time for air conditioning. We are going to suffer through this summer and in the fall or winter, when they are the cheapest, or on sale, we will buy one. We are talking whole house air conditioning. Ah, next summer we will be nice and cool no matter what the temp outside it! I won't have to put the dogs in the basement anymore due to the heat!

Speaking of dogs, our two are as wild and as crazy as ever. It's just about 6pm which is their feeding time and they are letting me know. They are both at my feet. And of course they are panting because of the heat.

Oh, and about the microchips, you also have to pay a start up fee with the company once you microchip your dog, so it ends up costing around $52 or $53 dollars, BUT that is only a one time fee, so you don't have to pay again when you make changes (like if you move).

Other than that, things are pretty much the same here. Hubby is absolutely hooked on the Tour de France, like he is every year. He is also happy with his Jeep. We went to Car Toys on Sunday and spent way to much money on a new sound system for it. He had purchased on line an MP3 player for the car and he needed to get rid of the tape player in the car and have a more modern deck to hook it into. So, we did. And also, when we got the Jeep the front speakers didn't work. And I said, heck, since we are getting front speakers, we better get rear one's also!! So, many dollars and hours later, the Jeep now has a nice stereo system.

Okay, I am on the top level of the house on the computer, which is probably one of the hottest places to be, so I am going to meander down and once I feed the dogs, I am going to park myself in front of the swamp cooler with a nice cold beer!!!

Bristol goes to the Vet

Ahhh, a day off today! With my current schedule, I still get 2 days off a week, but it sure doesn't feel like it! I feel like I work all the time!

Let's see, well, I have told you all about our trip now. Friday was a normal work day, and I worked Saturday. I was supposed to close the store that night, but we had a party for a friend to go to, so my assistant manager was nice enough to switch with me so I was able to go to the surprise party. We all got to Tony and Kelly's at 5:30pm and Tony was supposed to arrive at 6pm. So, at 7pm when he finally arrived, we all yelled 'Surprise' and then dug into the wonderful food that Kelly had brought in from Qdoba! It was very tasty!

Saturday morning Hubby took Bristol to the vet. His first visit to his new vet! Buddy tagged along to. We got Bristol all checked out. He weighed in at 32 pounds (seriously underweight), but in great shape. He gets fixed on Tuesday, and when he is under, they will have to pull his 2 baby canine teeth. They didn't fall out when the adult teeth grew in. We also had him and Buddy micro chipped. It's now law that any new dog that comes into a vet's office or any humane society, or SPCA has to be scanned for microchips. So, in case the dogs ever get out and someone picks them up, they can find there way back home just that much easier! AND it only costs $35. So, I highly suggest it to anyone! Heck, I am even thinking about having one put in Hubby! But then again, if he gets out and lost, do I really want him back? =)

It's a very odd feeling to have another type of dog. I was so used to having our Beagle and Beagle mix! I feel like a traitor to the Beagle name by having another breed of dog in the house. We used to call Petey and Buddy 'the brown one' and 'the white one'. Well, we can't say 'the brown one' anymore, because they are both brown! So, we are trying to figure out new nicknames. Hubby said it should be 'the fat one' and 'the skinny one'. Or 'the old one' and 'the new one'.

We are still working on the housebreaking thing with Bristol. He hasn't had an accident in the house in a week, but he does tend to piddle in his crate when he is left in there for a little while. So, we are still attempting to work on that. Right now it is difficult trying to get him to go potty outside when we are getting ready to leave. We try explaining to him that we are leaving and he won't have a chance to go potty again for a few hours, but it doesn't seem to matter to him. If he doesn't want to go, he won't. Ahh, puppyhood. The vet is pretty sure he is right about 6 months old. So, that would put him born about mid January.

Well, I have laundry to do, lots of cleaning to do and some errands to run. I guess I better go and get started!

Bristol on the deck:

Last day in London

Life with Bristol sure is interesting! He is one smart cookie! He watches and imitates everything that Buddy does! He is getting much better at the potty thing. So far only 3 real accidents in the house, and we have caught him twice before he piddled on the floor. Something about our basement makes him want to piddle?! He is such a character. He still has trouble walking on a leash, it's a battle taking him for daily walks. But when he doesn't get a daily walk, he is so hyper. In fact, I need to make this quick so I can take them before I go to work. I did sign him up for obedience class starting the first week in August.

So, our last day in London started off raining. We went to a little breakfast shop just about 50 feet away from our hotel called The Muffin Man. I had tea and cakes for breakfast. It was on the breakfast menu, but it was literally tea and a huge slice of cake! I got the Queen's cake, which was kind of a spice cake with nuts and chocolate frosting with chamomile tea. Hubby got more of a breakfast thing with Earl Grey tea.

After breakfast we walked to the nearby park, which I don't know the name of right now. But in this HUGE park is Kensington Palace, and the Princess Diana memorial fountain and playground. We walked by the palace and the playground but we never made it over to the fountain. After we walked around for a while, we headed to a book store to get things to read on the plane. Here is a picture of the palace:



And here is a picture of the things on the ground that show the way to Diana's fountain:



After our stop at the book store we walked back to the hotel and got ready to head for home. We got up at 8:00am London time that morning which would be 11pm Colorado time the day before. Our flight was 9 hours, I only slept maybe 30 minutes and Hubby didn't sleep at all, he read a book cover to cover. By the time we got home that night and crawled in bed at about 10:30pm it had been almost 24 hours that we had been awake! Needless to say, we were sleeeeeppyyy! The next few days we both dragged a little bit, but we were back to normal in a short time!

Here's one more picture of the new pup:



And here is a picture of the new happy family!:

New Puppy!

We just got back from a long HOT walk. It's HOT out there!

As most of you probably all ready know, we have a new dog in the family!

Bristol!



He was with a rescue group that comes into my store about every other week. And he pretty much fits the profile of what we were looking for. He is cute, submissive, sweet and pretty much well behaved. His foster family said he was housebroken. He pretty much is, but he has had two accidents since being here with us. But, these are unfamiliar surroundings, so we have to work with him. Other than the accidents, he's great! He does have trouble walking on a leash, so we are still working on that. And a little separation anxiety when I try to take Buddy somewhere and not him. And he is a little bit timid, but we don't know what his past is, so we will work on making him more confident. He is approximately 5 months old.

Suzi and Zak stopped by last night with Phoebe. Once Bristol got used to Phoebe, the two of them played and played and played and played! I took some pictures of it and will have them to share soon.

Bristol has the tail and ears of an Australian Sheepdog, but the fur and face of a Border Collie. He is brown and white. Yes, Scott, all our dogs have to be some shade of brown and white.

Bristol also likes to get up EARLY. This morning he made it until 6:30am before waking us up. Yesterday is was 6:15am. But, when he does that, I get a lot done. He is pretty darn smart too. He watches Buddy do something and then he does it also! Like jumping on the bed. They have to jump on the bench at the end of the bed because the bed it so high. He tried to jump up the side, but couldn't do it. Then he saw how Buddy did it, and now he does it!

I am going to stop here and go take a shower before I head to work. I will tell you about the last day of our trip tonight or tomorrow!!

5th day in Lithuania, headed back to London

My parents spoiled me growing up by always giving me “REAL” maple syrup with my pancakes. My Hubby likes the “fake” stuff better. Yuck. I have a real craving for pancakes right now, but we are currently on the Sam's size bottle of fake stuff. We rotate if possible so we are each happy. Mrs. Butterworth's just isn't “real” stuff. Did I mention Sam's size bottle? You know what that means? It's about as big as a milk jug! I think I may suffer through just to have some pancakes.

Yesterday was probably one of the hottest days we have had so far. It was in the mid 90's here. I pulled out our 2nd portable swamp cooler from the basement and got it up and moving on the main level. So, we have 1 upstairs with 5 other fans going at all times. And now we have one on the main level with only 2 other fans going at all times. Plus we have a large fan that moves cool air up from the basement. The system works okay, better than no fans at all. It wasn't too sweltering in here yesterday when I left for work. And I was kind and filled up the swamp coolers before I left so hopefully the house would be somewhat cool when Hubby came home. Plus, I let Buddy have the run of the house, so I wanted him to be nice and cool as well.

We have to confine Buddy when we aren't home otherwise he gets in the trash. In the winter we usually confine him in the living room. He can get on the bench and look out the window. In the summer we tend to put him in the basement, for 2 reasons. First, it's a lot cooler and 2nd, in case big storms come by he is a bit more protected when we aren't here should something major happen. We have a wooden gate at the top of our basement stairs. It used to have a guide only at the bottom it would lock into. For some reason Hubby took that off a while back and installed the lock at the top. About a week ago, our not so slim Beagle figured out that the bottom of the gate isn't locked into place and slipped out. Guess what he did then? Yes, he got in the trash. So, until Hubby locates and re-installed the bottom lock for the gate, he either has to be in the living room or we have to put the trash up when we leave.

We have this nice wooden trash container holder that we paid $100 for. (It's really nice) The plastic trash can (the ugly part) goes inside and you lift the lid on the wooden part to throw trash into the trash can. So, yesterday, when I left I took the blue plastic trash can out, with a small amount of trash in it anyway and put it on the middle of our table. Then I left the door to the wooden holder open, so the Beagle could see there is NO trash in there. He still knocked the wooden holder over. It's about dead, we may have to invest in another one. It just hides the ugly trash can so nice! Hubby is thinking we should bolt it to the wall. Who knows, I just know after 7 years Buddy is still as much of a trash hound today as he was when I first got him. And the real trash can, with the real trash was still safely in the middle of our table. But I am sure he tried.

So, on our 5th day in Lithuania, we got up somehow in the morning. It was tough after that weddings. We ate breakfast, called Scott and Eva to say goodbye and headed to the airport.

At the airports in Europe, you don't know what your gate is until about and hour to a half hour before your departure. You just kind of hang out in the main part of the airport until it pops up on the screen, then you move to your gate. It's just different from here, where they tell you what gate you will be at no matter when you get there, so you can go and sit and wait there. I like our method much better. This way, I can sit and read without having to worry about watching for more information!

Anyway, we had a normal flight back to London. We landed at the Gatwick Airport, took the train to Victoria station and then took a cab from there. We could have taken the tube right to our hotel, but it's difficult with all that luggage, a cab is easier.

After settling in our hotel room and getting cleaned up, we went to our new favorite Thai restaurant just outside out hotel. Then we spent the evening relaxing.

4th day in Lithuania

What a difference a day makes! I am still feeling uneasy about everything that happened in London. We went through Edgware station several times. And we went through King's Cross and I am pretty sure we went through Liverpool at least once. I am not sure which lines were the ones that had the accidents as there are several lines that run through each station. I just know that it's a very uneasy feeling to think that we could have been on the trains when the terrorists were there scoping it out. Or that we could have been there when it happened!

Going through something like this again, (after Sept. 11th) just reinforces the fact that life is so short and precious! You have to take advantage of it while you can!

I am pretty sore after my yoga on Wednesday. So, yesterday I just walked on the treadmill while I watched CNN. Today I was good and got up and practiced my yoga even though I was sore.

So, back to our trip. Saturday was the big wedding day! Hubby, Bob and myself headed to Eva's house at noon to be there for everything. I helped Eva get ready once she got home from the salon, she got her hair and makeup done. The guys waited in another room with the door shut until Eva was completely ready. Then when Scott came in, he presented Eva with her bouquet. Then they were blessed by her parents. We then had a shot of brandy and some food. Then off to the wedding house.

At the wedding house, there are several groups of wedding parties waiting their turn. Right before it was Scott and Eva's turn to be married, they have to go into contemplation rooms for a few minutes separatly to think about getting married and to be sure it is what they want to do. We then proceeded into the room where they were married. After a champagne toast, we headed outside for pictures. Here are some pictures from the wedding house:







From there we headed off in the cars to Trakai, to the castle. Yes the same castle we were at a few days before. There are lots of places for some beautiful photos there! Here are a few pictures from the castle area:













After that we headed back to Vilnius for the reception. It was at a nice hotel. Here we are with the bride and groom at the beginning of the reception:



Yes, there was lots of Russian vodka, and the reception was mostly in Russian and Polish, but occasionally some English. It was lots of fun and the night finally ended at about 1:30am. It was a LONG day and we were happy to finally make it back to the hotel.

3rd day in Lithuania

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I did. I did have to work on Saturday, but once I got that out of the way, it was much better. Sunday we went to breakfast in the morning and went and ran some errands. In the afternoon we headed off to Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) for the midget car races. The tickets to this were part of the package we won at the Red Ribbon Ball. After the 3 races, which I really enjoyed, there was a Hootie and the Blowfish concert. After that, a large fireworks show. I figured it would be the only chance for us to see fireworks that weekend, so we hung around to watch. By the time we got home, it was midnight.

We got up early the next morning to head off on a motorcycle ride. We hooked up with Glenn and Alexis and headed up to Woodland Park for breakfast at the Donut Mill. Then, from there, we headed north out of Woodland Park. It ended up we went about 130 miles. I hadn't been on the back of the bike since we went to Santa Fe. My behind was feeling quite sore! I have to get in shape before our big ride in September.

We got home around noon and took a nap. We got up and headed off to Sherry and Cady's house for a bar-b-q. It was just a small gathering of friends, but it was a nice time. We ate yummy ribs and watermelon and it was just how the 4th of July should be! We came home about 8:30pm and then Hubby and I watched a movie before heading to bed. What a great 4th of July weekend!!!!

I got up early today, on my day off, to head to my yoga instructor's house. She really works me hard, but it's such a great feeling after. I have about 6 more sessions with her until I am on my own.

Things are pretty much the same here. It's in the low 90's today. I have my day off today and I am going to pick my mom up about 2pm and take her out for some errands.

So, our 3rd day in Lithuania we just kind of checked out old town Lithuania. We had lunch in a neat restaurant in the basement. A lot of the restaurants go into the basement, or the old bomb shelters. It makes for a pretty neat atmosphere. Here are some pictures from around Old Town:







In the afternoon, Eva had to go to get her manicure and to pick up her wedding dress for the next day, leaving Scott, Bob, Hubby and myself to fend for ourselfs. Which wasn't a problem, except Scott took us up to the 3 crosses. Sounds nice, except it was about a million stairs to get up to them. We were worn out by the time we got up to the top. But here are some neat pictures from the top, including the one of me pointing at the hotel we were staying in:







And here are the 3 guys doing the cheesey wave:



And Scott and I in front of their “White House":



That night we found another traditional Lithuanian restaurant and had a nice dinner there. Then it was an early night for all of us, since the next day was going to be a BIG DAY!!!

2nd day in Lithuania

Recently someone sent this to me and I found it made me smile. So I am passing it on to you:

Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably
worth it.

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

Never buy a car you can't push.

Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you
won't have a leg to stand on.

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

The second mouse gets the cheese.

When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors,
but they all have to live in the same box.

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.


So, I am still a little congested and now I have a cough. The congestion and cough are controlled easy enough with Dayquil and Nyquil. I had to stop yesterday at Walgreens to pick up some more.

Speaking of Walgreens, they are building a new one just about a mile and a half north of us. There is also one only about ½ mile up the road from us to the East. Then there is the one we use that is about a mile and a ½ west of us. That one is a 24-hour one, so that is why we tend to use that one. Plus it's between us and the major streets of the city so we tend to go past it more then the one that is only ½ a mile away from us! But geez, just how many Walgreens do we need within a 3 mile radius?!

So, back to our vacation. Some things I noticed while on vacation:

In London, the cops cars really do make that sound like you hear on the movies, after they have been running for a while.

The sun rises at around 5am and sets around 10pm in both London and Lithuania. (As Hubby says, makes for drinking beer longer, easier)

You only drink bottled water and the cheaper water is carbonated water or water with gas. Regular water, or still water, or water no gas, is usually one of the more expensive beverages on the menu!

So, on our 2nd day in Lithuania we decided to go down to the castle at Trakai. Trakai was the first capital of Lithuania before it moved to Vilnius. Well, we agreed to take a bus down to the castle. First we had a hard time locating Scott and Eva at our meeting point. Finally we did and we hopped a trolley to the bus station. From there we got on the bus to Trakai. The bus had to have been the first bus ever made. It was so old! It was a very hot day, and the windows didn't open. The only air flow was through the small emergency exit. Needless to say it was pretty hot. Well, Scott and Eva told us it was only about a 20 minute ride to get there. They didn't expect that the bus would be stopping to pick up people all along the way. It ended up being over an hour journey. Here is Scott and Eva on the ancient bus:



We finally got to the town of Trakai. The bus station is about 2km or about a mile from the castle. So, we started walking. We walked all the way to the castle. We walked around the castle, it was very old and kind of cool. I personally think it would have been fun to live there! Of course with some modern conveniences though. Here are some pictures of the castle:









After that we stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe overlooking the lake and castle. The service was so slow that we were not going to be able to catch the last bus back. So, we ended up calling a taxi to take us back to Vilnius. We ended up waiting a long time for that as well. But we finally got back to town, and Scott and Eva had to rush to the airport to pick up Scott's friend Bob who was also flying in for the wedding. Bob works for the Embassy in Germany.

That night was the bachelor and bachelorette parties. We started the evening by going to a traditional Lithuanian restaurant. They eat a lot of potatoes, meat and vegetables. We did a grill mix thing that Scott, Hubby and I all split. It was pretty darn good.

After dinner the guys headed off one way while the girls headed off another. The girls went to a dance club and we sat at a table and had some drinks. After a few hours we headed off to catch up with the guys. They were at another club/bar just down the street. They were at a 2 level club that had a bar upstairs and a dance floor downstairs. They were upstairs at a table in the bar area. We sat with them for a while and had a drink before Hubby and I headed back to the hotel. That was a late night for us.