Ice Cream and Great Danes

There is a local ice cream place here in town that I love, Josh & John's. They are locally owned, and they come up with some interesting ice cream flavors. In fact a few months back I had the coffee and donuts ice cream, you may remember me mentioning... Anyway, we went out to dinner tonight with our friend's Glenn and Alexis. Afterwards we ventured up to Josh & John's for one of my favorites that they currently have, yellow cake batter ice cream with chocolate chip cookie dough chunks! MMMmmmm. The ice cream tastes just like yellow cake batter! And who can resist cookie dough?! It really isn't good for my waistline, but who can resist! It really is one of the best ice cream flavors I ever had. But it doesn't beat Kimball's peppermint!

The store was pretty busy today! We had had over $3000 in sales by the time I left at 6pm. Today the Rocky Mountain Great Dane rescue came into the store and did a “meet and greet” for 4 hours. Two volunteers for them brought their Great Danes in and let people meet them and learn about them. Plus they shared with people how to adopt from them and what it's like owning a Great Dane.

I love Great Dane's. They are some of the sweetest dogs. I don't think, however, there is one in our future. They are awfully big! I am sure it costs a fortune to feed them!

Next month we have the Greyhound rescue come and do a “meet and greet”, plus a few local rescue groups that rescue any kind of dog. Who know, maybe I will discover a dog I just can't live without... :)

Puppy Time!

Our friend Rick got a puppy! A chocolate lab, who he named Hershey. He is sooo cute. He is about 4 or 5 months old. He came over for a visit tonight. We gave Rick some dog bowls, some food, some toys and a bed. Everything except for the food, we all ready had, they are hand me downs so to speak.

We were at Rick's house dropping off the food and bowls when Hershey arrived. Rick's step-brother brought the dog by. Man, is he ever cute (the dog, not the step-brother)!! Hopefully I will get a picture of him soon so I can post it.

I am so excited for him. This way Buddy has a pal to play with once and a while also. Yea, for our friend Rick.

News of a puppy is so nice right now. Between Petey, and Hubby's co-worker having to put his Great Dane down and our other friends, Ross & Kori having to put their cocker spaniel down yesterday, some happy puppy news was nice!!

Other than that, not much else is new. Yesterday was all foggy all day. Today we woke up to icy roads. It was cloudy and overcast all day. Currently it's snow. Yes, May is Sunday and it's snowing tonight. Gotta love that Springtime in the Rockies...

And for those of you who follow American Idol: What on earth? I don't know if I can watch anymore without Constantine!!

Still man's best friend...

I recently was talking to my cousin, Danielle. I asked her why Man's Best Friend had such a short life span? I liked her answer. She said so that we can have lots of best friends since each one enriches our life in a different way. I like that!

Tuesday was a day off for me, but I actually spent so much time at work, I felt like I was actually working. Then I worked yesterday, but I have today off.

I woke up late and I plan on just relaxing all day! I need to run a few errands, but other than that, I plan on doing nothing. I got all my laundry done the last few days and the house is somewhat clean.

We woke up to fog this morning, which as most of you know, is one of my favorites! I love fog. It's pretty thick this morning. I love it love it love it!!

It's been two weeks today since we lost our Petey. We still miss him terribly.

You're Fired

Well, I have had a first at work. I had to fire someone. It's a long story, but basically he just wasn't a good fit for the store. My stomach was in knots this morning. I had to go in (on my day off) and meet him when he came in to start his shift at 8:45am. Lucky for me, he didn't show up. So, I called him to find out where he was, and I was able to do the deed over the phone. A tough thing to do, but there was no sense in making him come all the way in just so I could fire him. But because he didn't come into the store, I wasn't able to do my Donald Trump imitation “You're Fired”. Oh well, maybe next time!

But I made the most of my trip to the store. I brought Buddy up with me to give him a bath. So, he is currently drying and munching on a new raw bone. But please remember, he isn't spoiled.... :) Plus today was payday, so I picked up my paycheck and put it in the bank.

Yesterday Buddy wouldn't eat his dinner. Now, for those of you who know Buddy, you know that is an indication that something is really really wrong! Buddy is one of the most food motivated dogs I have ever met! So, I left half his dinner for him in his bowl and went to work. I came home to check on him at lunch time. His little bit of dinner was gone. But I felt bad for the guy, so I brought him to work with me. He was pretty good. It was easy because it was evening, so there weren't that many customers. When there was no one in the store, he would roam about sniffing everything. When there were customers, he had to stay behind the counter. But if he was back there and I left the area, he would start barking. So, I had to stay near him if their were customers. We managed, but I don't know if I will every try to do that again!

So, I have a day off today. And it's a good thing. My knee is really aching today. I am not sure why. I notice that most mornings when I wake up, my feet are sore. I guess that is what I can expect when I stand on them for about 9 hours a day non-stop almost!

Well, I need to go and drop off dry cleaning and make a trip to Target. And this afternoon I need to take Buddy to the vet, I think he has an ear infection. So, I better get moving so that as soon as I am done, I can come home and put my legs up to let my knee rest! I am so glad we have a Target store so close to the house!

Thinking....

I am not famous.

When I got engaged to Hubby, there was no announcement on Good Morning America. When we got married, there were no photos in People Magazine. And when I die, there will be no news reported breaking into regular programing to announce my death.

Why would I even think about this you ask? Well, because I think sometimes it would be nice to be famous. Because in my mind, if you are famous, that usually means you are rich also. And if I were rich, I could do wonderful things like travel to the Bahamas, or Italy. Or just sit at home and watch TV and hang out with my dog.

I know being famous isn't all wonderful, but it sure is nice to dream, isn't it?

Not much new

Things have been different since Petey has left us. The little nagging things about life just don't seem to be as much of an issue anymore. Makes you realize just how precious our time is here and that we have to use that time wisely.

We haven't been up to much. We went out to the Melting Pot on Friday night with some friends. It's a fondue place, and it was very very tasty. We started with a cheese course that was so yummy. I probably could have eaten the cheese course all night. But then we moved on to a meat course and then last was dessert. We had a chocolate fondue. It was very tasty.

Saturday, I had to close the store. So, we started cleaning the house in the morning. When I left Hubby was cleaning the carpet with our new carpet cleaning machine. We got a Hoover Agility a few weeks back. This was the first time we had used it. It worked pretty well. Our carpets look much cleaner now.

So, I worked yesterday and again today. I have tomorrow off. Hubby has school tonight. Pretty much nothing new or exciting here.

1 more post today

So today was a day off. A LONG day off. I did go and do laundry after the last post. All 10 billion loads of it. HOW do 2 people go through so much laundry? And dishes? I tell you what, we could probably run our dishwasher once a day! Makes me wonder what happens when kids arrive on the scene? Dose the dishwasher run constantly as well as the laundry? Ugh! I can hardly keep up with putting the laundry away now, so I hate to see what happens when the clothes double! But that won't be for a while, so I will just complain about the two of us right now.

Anyway, I spent the afternoon doing all the laundry. Then I cleaned up the bedroom a bit. Somehow our lives have been in chaos and I haven't had much time to clean. Or maybe I do have time and I just don't want to do it when I do have time. Oh yeah, that must be it. So, I got a bug to clean. A small bug mind you. So, I cleaned the bedroom up a bit.

I figured I needed a reward after all that cleaning, so I headed to the basement to watch a movie. Buddy slept off our long walk from early while I watched Shark Tales.

After that I emptied the dishwasher, fed Buddy and started watering the lawn. We haven't restarted our sprinkler system yet, so I had to water the old fashion way. That involves moving the sprinkler (attached to a hose) around the yard every once and a while. It's a longer way to do it, but hey, the grass needs it. I have started to notice all ready that some neighbor's grass looks like summer time all ready. They have thick green carpets of grass. Our currently looks like it's still January. It's still mostly dead, but it is starting to show a few signs of life. We just had it aerated and fertilized, I hope that helps!

Hubby came home from school a bit early, so we headed off to Target (yes, my second trip of the day). We got a caddy thing for the Jeep. The Cherokee doesn't have the storage space that the Sebring had in the front area. So, we found something that attaches to the front seat to have some more storage space for things like cell phones, badges, MP3 players and such. Hopefully it works well. We haven't installed it yet.

The weathermen are predicting thunderstorms for tonight. Gee, I hope they are wrong on this. I am not fond of thunderstorms at night. But, my grass does need the rain. You know you are getting older when you are excited about the rain to water your lawn!

Tomorrow, another day off! And who knows, maybe a bit more cleaning!

Update

Thank you to all of you who supported us and sent us well wishes during the past week. It's been a tough week. It's very odd adjusting to not having Petey around. I did pick up his ashes today, as well as a clay imprint of his paw. But he provided lots of happy times and that is what we try to focus on.

Today is a day off for me. I went to Target, then came home and got Buddy. I took him to the vet's for a shot (for kennel cough) and a nail trim. At the same time I picked up Petey's ashes and took care of the final stuff that needed to be taken care of. After that Buddy and I stopped by the store to just get out and hang out. He picked out a raw buffalo bone to bring home and munch on.

We came home and he enjoyed his bone while I loaded the dishwasher. Last night we had a few friends over for dinner and there were dishes everywhere. After I finished that, we headed up the green space in our neighborhood. It takes us about 45 minutes to walk all the way to to the top of the green space and then back down through the neighborhood. It is quite the walk, we were both out of breath by the time we got home. Now Buddy is re-cooping with a nap. I have about 4 buckets of laundry that needs to be put away. So, I think I will go and finish that, and when that is done, I think I will kick back and watch a movie or something.

Jeep

Here is a picture of our newest Jeep

Just another day...

It's been 5 days since Petey's death. It's still hard to get used to. It's odd just having Buddy around. I feel like our nest is empty. I have worked every day since last Thursday, that helps to get out of the house. I guess over time, the pain will start to be less. But, it will take time. Buddy seems to be okay so far. He hasn't been acting odd yet, but it has only been a few days. We will watch him closely for the next few weeks for signs of depression. We did take him with us to the Vet when we put Petey down. We wanted Buddy to be there to understand what happen to Petey so that he isn't endlessly searching for him.

Other than that, things are the same. We went bowling last night with the WnW crews. The owners took us all, and we had pizza and bowled some games. It was fun.

Ode to Petey

The things I will miss greatly about Petey:

His Snoopy (or Petey) spots

The way he waved to you when you walk up the stairs from the basement

The way he sits on the bench in the front window to watch you leave

His Petey Dance

The way he would put his face on your leg and look up at you with those big brown eyes to get you to pet him

The way he snored louder than Hubby

The way he looked in a Birthday Hat

The way he would paw at you to get you to keep petting him if you stopped

That he loved my massages

The way he would steal a bone from Buddy when Buddy was chewing on it

The way he would spit out his kibble when he realized there was a treat in the bottom of his bowl

The way he made me laugh a lot

over

At 2:15 today Petey's struggle ended.

Saying goodbye is never easy

We will be saying goodbye this afternoon to the Great White Fly Hunter. Petey is in liver failure, and we are sure of it now. In about 2 hours we will go to be with him while the vet takes away his pain permanently. Once we knew for sure it was liver failure, it was a easy decision to make. In fact, it was made for us pretty much. There is nothing further that can be done for him.

So, for those of you out there who have pets... squeeze them a little tighter tonight. Your time with them is short and precious....

Goodbye Peteyman, we will miss you terribly.

The dog is sick as a dog...

One of my babies is sick. Yesterday Petey started vomiting in the afternoon. Pretty soon he couldn't keep water down. Then it was his dinner, which was a bland diet of boiled meat and white rice. Pretty soon, we were off to the Emergency Animal Clinic. We (Petey and I) arrived about 7:20pm at the emergency place. Hubby joined us about 9pm. At 10pm, it was determined that we didn't really know what was causing Petey's pain, but he needed to stay there for the night. So, we left him there. That was tough.

This morning we got up to go get him. The emergency place is only open from 4pm-8am so we had to get him out of there by 8am. So, we picked him up where they informed us that he had continued to wretch most of the night. We transferred him to his normal vet's office then. It worked out that one of the vets from our normal vet's was also working the 12-8am shift at the emergency place. So, Petey will have the same doctor taking care of him from last night, through today.

Currently we are waiting for news from the Vet's office. They are going to take some X-rays and run some more tests. At this point no one is overly sure what is wrong. I did just call the vet's office though, and he hasn't thrown up since 5am. That is a start!

This is tough. I don't think either one of us is okay right now. We both love him so very much. This little hiccup makes us realize that he isn't going to live forever, and that we are closer to the end of his life now, then the beginning. These are the times when I ask myself, 'why did I ever open my heart to this creature in the first place?'

I love my little Peteyman and I really hope he pulls through okay....

Sore!

I sure am sore today after shoveling yesterday!! There are pictures up on our website now from this weekend. First of 4-wheeling (and the new Jeep). Then the blizzard! Enjoy!!

Blizzard!!!

It was a long week for me here. I worked 9 days straight. Friday was my last day working before having the weekend off. Yesterday we took the Jeeps and went up Mt. Herman (a mountain outside of Monument, CO) and up into the mountains and back down Rampart Range Road which ends in Garden of the Gods. Hubby drove the Wrangler, I drove the new Cherokee. I took Buddy with me and Hubby had Petey with him. It was quite bumpy on the first road we were on, and we hit patches of snow. We should have pictures up soon on the website. I had so much fun driving. I was laughing. Buddy was a little unsure about what to think about all the bouncing around. Petey, meanwhile, in the other Jeep, doesn't seem to like it as much as he used to.

We got back down and drove over to my parent's house to show off the new Jeep. My mom was home so she got to see it. We came home and hosed the Jeeps off. They were pretty muddy!

We went out for dinner at Macaroni Grill. We had a gift certificate to use up. We also were wondering if we should stop at the store as a blizzard was being predicted for Sunday.

Sure enough, we woke up this morning to a MAJOR blizzard. The wind started last night, but the snow started early this morning apparently. By the time I got out of bed at about 7:45am the visibility was very low. At times, with the blowing snow I couldn't even see across the street!

About 8:45am, Dan, the owner of WnW called and asked how it was where I am. I told him it was pretty bad. We decided that not opening the store today was a good idea. I was not scheduled to work today, but I am the manager and the closest one to the store with 4 wheel drive. So, Brian and I hopped in the Jeep (the Wrangler) and headed off to the store to put a sign up and call employees. The trip to the store was pretty bad! visibility was less than 20 ft. We took a few pictures. We should have them up soon.

After that we stopped at the bagel place on the way home and had breakfast. There was very little traffic out and about. We finally made it home safe and sound. Our side gate keeps blowing open though, so we went out and screwed it shut with a board. Hopefully that will hold it through this storm! Once the weather is nice again, we are going to have to fix it permanently some how.

Well, I am going to take advantage of this weather and get laundry done, and dishes as well. I made a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread in my bread maker, it smells fantastic!

Sleepy tonight!

So, I know I had to get SOME of you with my April Fool's joke, right?! I know for sure, one person fessed up to falling for it. A few others said they were at least skeptical... So, what pranks did I play that day? Well, I was kind enough to send my mother a bouquet of flowers with a nice balloon attached that said, “Happy 60^th Birthday” on it. See, she isn't 60 and it wasn't her birthday. People at her work told her she looked good for her age though!! She did take it well and she did think it was pretty funny. Hubby played a few good pranks at his job. There were to many of them and too detailed for me to explain here.

So, last week, I really did take my car into the dealership. While we were there, we just happened to look around (always a dangerous thing). To make a long story short, we now have a Jeep Cherokee, and the Sebring is gone. We got a 2000 Jeep Cherokee sport, that is black, 4 door, 4 wheel drive and very slick looking. We both love it and are very happy about it. We have been talking about trading in Hubby's car for a while, but we wanted to get more payments on it so we would not be upside-down on a loan. We came in just about even. It worked out beautifully!

Other than that, things are the same. I am currently on a 9 day stretch of work. Last week was tough, I had to work a double one day. I worked open to close, a 11 hour day. But due to our low staff issues, we didn't have anyone to close. I have now hired 4 new folks and I have a call in to offer a 5^th tomorrow. I hope they all work out. I am not sure about one of them. We shall see.

Well, I closed the store tonight and I open tomorrow. So, I am off to get some sleep. Oh, and that part about the roof leaking on Friday really did happen.

What a day!!

What a morning! I went to work this morning and about a mile from my house I got pulled over by a cop. I kept thinking "I wasn’t going THAT much over the speed limit!" So, he comes up to my widow and informs me that the plates on my car come up as STOLEN!! I didn’t believe it! He told me to go and sit in the back of his car. So, I kept trying to explain that it’s my car, and it’s not stolen. So, he then suspects that the plates were switched. Well, yesterday my car stayed in the garage. The day before that, it was at the dealership getting fixed. So, the cop was thinking maybe someone at the dealership switched them.

Lucky me, I get to ride over to the dealership with him to try to figure this thing out. So, we are at the dealership and of course the manager says there is no way anyone at his work did it. This cop believes it wasn’t me doing the switching, but we don’t know who. But of course we don’t know who did it, or why. Finally he feels bad for me and lets me go to work.

I get to work and it turns out that the store had been broken into over night (wonder if it was the same person who switched my plates?) They stole some merchandise, but no money (they couldn’t find it) And of course the owners are out of town!! So, another two hours was spent with the cops.

Later on in the day, the roof begins to leak like no leak I have seen before. All the snow from the other day is melting, and its leaking right through our skylight! So I have to call the contractors to come and fix the roof!

Meanwhile Brian is at his job, seems he and his co-workers played a practical joke on someone and it did not go over well with management. So, he calls me to inform me that he has been put on unpaid leave until they figure out what to do with him!

Man, what a day I am having! Oh yeah, and April Fools….