Laundry day

Our washer conked out on us on Wednesday, so Steve headed to the laundromat (too bad I'm sick or I would have helped;) ...really I would have). So, everything got washed at once. This is one week's worth of laundry. Yikes! Going to buy a new one today.(we did all the appropriate research on Consumer's Report) Hopefully we can bring it home with us today.

Ode to a spotted dog

We said good-bye to Sapo yesterday. She was 14 years old. We got her when Steve and I first started dating, before I was sure we were actually dating. Steve asked me to go along with him to pick out a new dog. There were about 15 dalmatians to choose from, but only one with brown spots. So we loaded her up.

She was a total and absolute spaz from the moment we put her in the car. She was very ill-behaved, jumping and jumping and jumping on us, whenever we were in the house, so we named her Sapo, the Spanish word for toad. She was sweet and lovable, but wanted your complete and total attention at all times. On walks, she was the complete opposite from her at home persona, she was the well-behaved dog. She could walk off the leash most of the time, she always came back, never ran too far away. Sapo was never a barker, she was a howler, and she howled whenever she got left outside alone, which didn't happen often since we had 4 dogs. When she was about 2 she started having seizures. The first one was at about 5:30 in the morning, right after she ate breakfast. I, of course, thought she was choking, so I picked her up from behind and tried to do the heimlich manuever on her. Then we realized it was a seizure. We eventually got them mostly under control.

Last year, she began to show her age. She slowed way down on walks, didn't want to go as far, and had trouble getting up and down, her hips full of arthritis.

Last fall, she had a few really bad seizures that took her days and days to recover from, but eventually she did,but we knew it was a sign.

Last week, she had another really bad one, and she just wasn't recovering. So Steve made the tough decision (Sapo is technically his dog.) So, yesterday we said good bye. We will miss her.

The passing of an era.

Steve and Rachel are taking down the fort.

Bye bye swings

Inauguration Memoribilia

A most favored former student was fortunate enough to attend Obama's Inauguration. She brought her old teachers back some trinkets. Steve got 2 ties, and I recieved a t-shirt! How cool is that? But, will Steve actually wear the Obama tie? Tune in next time and see.

Psycho Dog is back

I know you want to throw it. C'mon.

I'm waiting PATIENTLY. I really am!!

I drop it in your lap, you throw it. Got it?

We had a couple weeks reprieve from the constant ball throwing, because Coco had chewed all his tiny balls in tiny scraps of rubber. Unfortunately, Steve decided to buy him some new ones. So, the last 24 hours, Coco has not let us rest. He's had to make up for lost time.

Whale watching in Monterey!

Whale watchers

Whale spout & tail

We saw about 20 gray whales. Some really close.

Took these stills from my video camera.

The naturalist said the Humpback whales will

be there in the summer. I think we'll go back.

Monterey Bay

A warm, sunny day at the beach, in January! Yeah baby!

Dead jelly

So cool! The biggest one I've seen so far! You can even see the body
parts. Usually they just look like a pile of goo.

Daredevil

From queen of the snow to queen of the sand

I'm just going to get my feet wet!

What a Ham!

A present from Nicole

A Twilight tshirt

A present from Rachel

Green Bay Packer purse :)

Happy birthday to me!

Out with the old, In with the new

Last summer, the girls decided they were ready for a change to their bedroom.

They wanted to get rid of their oasis bedroom in calming green and blue and

trade it in for Hannah Montana decor in light and dark purple. They chose

the colors and theme. We bought the paint in July, but just now got

around to making the changes. I had a hard time saying good-bye to

all my animals, especially this zebra that Rachel helped me out with when

she was about three, with its messy black scribbles she added when she got

mad. Keep scrolling down to see how it turned out.

So long !

good-bye whimsical animals

good-bye cross-eyed tiger

Paint crew

Had some help!

Nicole lasted about 15 minutes.

Rachel actually helped for over an hour and probably would have done more if I would allow her to climb the ladder with an open paint container.

Hello new room!

Funky

Fun

Purple Pop Star

Camping out

Sleeping in the living room, in a box? With the dogs and staying up
dangerously close to midnight again. It must be vacation!

Happy New Year!!!

Now get to bed:) I can't believe they both made it until midnight!
I almost crashed before they did.