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2008-03-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

Things My Dogs Are Trying To Teach Me
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* Bedtime is bedtime, it doesn't matter if there's work to be done or deadlines looming. It's BEDTIME.

* Cats are shifty and not to be trusted. Especially anywhere near the carpeted stairs.

* Field mice, voles and birds are fun toys.

* Ground squirrels are evil and will invade the house if not protected against.

* Strollers and bikes are devilish machines bound to cause trouble if left unperturbed.

* Liver is one of the most delicious foods on earth. Your shoes are another.

* Showing proper appreciation for a beloved toy involves chewing on it. No matter how much money was paid for that piece of electronics.

* That's not garbage. That's a potential nest. It just needs shredding and spreading in a circle in a corner.

* Children need to be sniffed, watched very carefully and occasionally hidden from. You just never know what they're going to do.

* Pizza is the greatest food in the WORLD.

* Leaving the house for meetings or shopping is highly overrated.

* At -9F it's too cold to go outside for ANYTHING.

2008-01-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

Can the weekend really be over? It's been kind of a surreal day, so I felt the need to touch base with... virtual reality? I don't know.

First of all, I spend my Sunday mornings corrupting the minds of youth. That's right, I'm a Sunday School teacher. Of the most impressionable age - 18 months to 3 years. Whatever you tell them now sticks in there and sticks good. Well, the bits that stick do. We had a long conversation today about Daniel in the lions' den, and the part they liked best was that the mean guys got eaten. That was met with howls of delight and giggles. Love these kids.

But boy do they wear me out. I don't know how mothers do it.

I got a short rest at home and a walk with the dogs, then I went to go facilitate a seminar about how to do genealogical research. It went fine, and the group was visiting over cookies and punch when I was starting to feel like my day needed to be over. I was tired and my social capabilities were being overtaxed. I was frankly wondering how to end the party gracefully so I could go home.

Then someone popped their head in the door and told us President Gordon B. Hinckley had died. The end of an era. I mean, he was 97, but you get used to people who are around giving funny, brilliant advice for your whole life.

Yeah, that cleared the room pretty quick. It wasn't on my list of possible methods, either.

When I got home, I had a message from my oldest brother repeating the news. Good to know our family grapevine is in working order. There was a second message also. A grandmotherly woman I know has decided there's a nice young man she wants me to meet, and wants me to call her to get details.

What a day.

2008-01-18T21:22:00.000-08:00

So, here's a funny dog story. Yesterday I went to the pet store and found a couple of cheap rawhide chews. I wondered which one my dogs would like better. So I bought one of each and brought them home. One - yay, big hit. Then I opened the other one. It's rawhide wrapped around peanut butter. So you have to chew through the rawhide to get at the yummy yummy treat.

And holy cow. That one was apparently THE BEST. They traded it back and forth all day, each one making a little more progress and eating a little more peanut butter. By today, they were down to just the rawhide. No more peanut butter. But apparently, it's still the greatest little piece of rawhide ever.

Tonight, Duke was sitting on my lap, happily licking and chewing on it. Duchess apparently saw this, went over to the door and scratched to go out. So I got up - and Duke had to get off my lap, of course. And he follows me everywhere, so he came along. When I went over to the door, Duchess turned around and went back to the couch. She picked up the piece of rawhide, and went to the fire to chew it.

Duke hadn't realized what was going on, and was patiently waiting by the door to go outside. (Duchess, so tricksy!) So I put his leash on him to take him out.

Duchess heard the door open. She watched Duke go out, and came over to me to get her leash on too. She still had hold of the precious rawhide.

She took it outside and buried it. Duke peed. Duchess dug up the rawhide and buried it again. (In the snow, we've got about a foot out there right now) Duke saw what she was doing. She dug it up, moved to another spot, and buried it again.

They both came back inside.

Five minutes later, Duchess needed to go back outside. (right, but I was curious to see where this was going to lead.)

So both Duke and Duchess went outside. They both went back to the first spot and dug. And dug. I couldn't help it. I said, "Duchess, it's over there." She looked at me, looked where I was pointing, went over and started digging. She found the treasure, and came back inside.

Duke followed. I turned my back at one point, and when I looked up - Duke had the precious rawhide. Duchess was looking lost and confused.

She went to the door and asked to go out. I put the leash on and let her. She went back to where she found the rawhide a few minutes ago and started digging. And digging. And digging.

Finally, I coaxed her inside. I found another toy they like a lot. Now that there's no more peanut butter, apparently the new bone was better. Now Duke is watching Duchess chew her bone while he nibbles at the rawhide.

Hee! Now he's barking at me, like I'm supposed to fix this situation. Funny dogs!

2008-01-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

Yes!! I have achieved something I've been trying to do for almost twenty years. It'll sounds strange when I tell you, but here goes.

The lunch lady back in high school used to make the most amazing cinnamon rolls. They had a gooey caramel topping and weren't adulterated with nuts or raisins. They were just amazing, and I've been trying to duplicate them for years and years.

I think I'm finally close. The dough just needs a little tweaking now, but I've finally got the topping nearly right.

Frosting is for lightweights. Carmel with some substance to it is truly the way to go. Heavenly!

2007-12-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

Weirdest. Movie. Viewing. Evar.

Ok, it's not that the movie was all that weird. The movie was Ocean's 12, which I'd put off seeing this long because when it came out everyone said it was just kind of eh. I did catch about 15 minutes of it on TV once a year or two ago. I only watched enough to go "oh yeah, that's what movie this is. It is kind of eh." So it didn't really grab me. But I've got a memory for movies. They just stick.

So I sat down to watch it today while I was working on some last minute (read: late) holiday gifts I haven't finished making yet. I watched it all the way through on my crochety old DVD player, and when the credits rolled I went, "huh. that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It didn't connect all the dots in the middle, but it didn't drag on, in fact..."

And that's when I realized. I hadn't seen the 15 minutes that I caught on TV a year or two ago. I had to think really hard. Had I caught some other movie? No, it was definitely these characters, and I even recognized some of the sets. I wasn't confused about what movie I saw. Did I just... space out for 15 minutes? I was stumped.

So I started over at the beginning and tried to pay more attention this time.

Mystery solved.

I didn't space out. My DVD player skipped parts. And skipped them in such a way that they just looked like clean jump cuts. That's why it hadn't hadn't seemed to connect all the dots. I missed a big chunk in the middle and at the end.

Fortunately, the second time around it skipped different parts, so I could fill in the blanks. I think I finally got to see the whole movie, but not in the right order. At least, all the dots are connected now.

But come on, the Oceans movies are weird enough with the wacky timeline hijinks. Wow, what a surreal evening.

So here's the big question. Is it just this DVD? Or have all the movies I've watched in the last six months been edited on the fly by my faulty electronics? For how long? Can I ever trust it again? Or should I just watch every movie twice in a row?

If anyone would like to donate to the Wendy's new DVD player fund, let me know. Or at least be patient with me while I look confused as you discuss your favorite movie scenes.

2007-09-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

The dogs and I celebrated the last day of summer by going on one of my favorite hikes. It's only about 20 minutes from my house and can be as long as you like. It connects to a trail running down the ridge of an entire mountain range. Granted, I've never made it up that far, but that's what the maps say. So there's no danger of running out of trail.
As you can see, fall has already arrived here in the rockies. Today/night may be the equinox, but the leaves started turning three weeks ago. We've already had our first frost, though no snow yet. That's why Duke is wearing a sweater. Not just because it makes me laugh. It really was fairly chilly out this morning and he gets cold really quickly. I took him out of the car and he immediately started shivering. Duchess on the other hand has plenty of body fat to help keep her warm, so she didn't have to wear a sweater. Poor Duke. I wish he would relax and wear the totally cool store-bought coats, but he freaks out a bit when I put them on him. He thinks he needs to be carried the entire time. What a diva. But I discovered when I was crocheting something else with this fuzzy, soft yarn, he was constantly right there on my lap cuddling up to the project or the working skein. So I got clever and crocheted this little number for him from the same stuff. He thinks he's just walking around in a snuggly blanket, and I don't argue. Hopefully it will get him used to the idea of wearing clothes. He's going to need them when winter arrives. I like walking in the snow.

My final photo shows the weather today. You can tell it's autumn here not because of the color of the leaves but because the rain has started up again. The low-hanging clouds are actually clouds now, not smoke from forest fires. I love the changing of the seasons.

2007-08-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'm teaching ballet again this summer. It took me a long time to decide to take the leap and do it again. The beginning of the whole thing last year was kind of tough. By the end things were going more smoothly, but this year my friend who helped teach last year was unable to participate (having a brand new baby can do that to people I hear) so I was going to be entirely on my own.

But it occurred to me that saying "I taught ballet for 2 summers" sounds a lot better on a resume than "I taught ballet for one summer" if I ever wanted to do this again in another town for instance. Plus, I'd have the chance to teach my niece and my cousin's daughter (first cousin once removed?) and I'd regret passing up that opportunity.

So here I am! Instead of trying to do all 3 classes in one day (age groups must be separated - there are some things a 4 year old can't do that an 8 year old needs to do) I have the younger kids on Tuesday and the older kids on Wednesday. It's working out pretty well. I still need to figure out how to tear myself away from work in a more timely fashion, but hey, nobody's paying me to be there way early.

I have many areas to improve in, but I'm actually quite enjoying it this time around. Well, I had a hard week last week, but today I came home in a better mood than I left my house in. And that's worth all the little dancers' weight in gold.

2007-07-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! I've been trying to express to people how totally awesome the police blotter in the local paper here is. And now it is online for the whole world to see.

My favorite for today:

* A man on West Villard Street saw someone trying to steal his brother's vehicle. He hit the person in the face while trying to get him out of the vehicle.

But don't miss this gem of passive-aggressive reporting. These stats are included in the paper on a regular basis, and they never change much:

The inmate population at the Gallatin County jail included the following:

* The jail held 56 inmates.
* An additional 26 inmates were being held at other jails at the cost of $55 per inmate per day, plus transportation costs.
* The maximum operating capacity of the jail is 39 inmates.

Can you tell a new jail is a hotbutton issue around here?

2007-05-25T11:05:00.001-07:00

My walk this morning was a serious birder's heaven. Spotted on just my half-hour walk with the dogs through my subdivision's park:

15 pelicans
1 blue heron
4 mallard ducks
20 white and black striped ducks - maybe buffleheads? oops, a birder tells me these are probably northern shovelers instead
5 rust red, small ducks - maybe cinnamon teals?
3 red-wing blackbirds
1 robin
2 ravens
2 biggish birds with bright yellow chests - maybe western tanagers
3 tree swallows - or maybe violet green swallows
2 house finches

I did my best to identify the mystery birds, but I'm not an expert, just someone who's interested enough to go "Oh wow, bird!" Something truly impressive - on Monday I went on a hike with my parents and we saw 2 sandhill cranes. I swear, they're HUGE.

Ok, more photos of the pelicans and ducks:

2007-05-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Quick update on the cat:

2007-05-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

The dogs and I got caught in the rain this evening. It wasn't terribly cold, but a little uncomfortable for them, I suppose. I was trying to decide if it was going to blow over quickly as it sometimes does around here.

While I was standing there staring at the clouds the dogs waded out into the tallest grass they could find and hunkered down. Apparently they were going to wait it out. I don't know who taught them to do that - not me. I guess their dna has more emergency survival information in it than I thought.

2007-04-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

So I'm supposed to be taking care of my brother's cat. And he used to be an outside cat, but I was all paranoid about letting him outside here because I was afraid he would go searching for his family, or run out into the busy street and die. And I'm supposed to be _taking care_ of this cat.

Nevertheless, he escaped a few times and kept coming back after a day or two, so I began to relax somewhat about his little walkabouts. I even started taking pictures of his funny reverse-skunk look he'd get from sleeping in the engines of cars.

And then a few days ago he came home looking like this. That's dried blood. That's not funny. Of course he showed up at 11pm looking like this. Not acting sad or sick or anything. Just with a swagger that really said, "You should see the other guy." Under all the dried blood it was hard to see if it was a bite or a scratch, so in the morning I called my sister-in-law and explained the situation. She came over to assess. Evidently he's a bit of a scrapper and has come home looking worse than this (oh dear) in the past, but she agreed we should take him to the vet to make sure he's caught up on rabies shots.

The long and the short of it - he's fine. He's done with his short course of antibiotics. His eye is looking much better, though still not great. And although he complained about it, he was getting pretty good at taking those pills. I think the treats before and after worked.

2007-04-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

Also better late than never - Happy Spring! Personally, I celebrate Easter but I love the whole human tradition of honoring the return of spring. I love it so much I take humorous pictures of my dogs. Enjoy the lengthening days.

2007-04-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. I think I forgot to mention here that my fish died. Poor fish. I didn't know you long. A year maybe? I did get one picture of him before he went belly up.

2007-04-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fool's Day! I'm a fan of the good old fashioned holidays, and this is one of the best. Personally, I prefer the happy/funny pranks and pulled this one off yesterday when I went to hang out with my family, including several nieces and nephews.

2007-03-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned Duke is rather more affectionate than Duchess ever was? He loves being scratched behind the ears or on his belly. If you're not paying enough attention to him, he'll come over and stick his head under your hand so you can pet him.

His favorite place for napping seems to be - not the fireplace, like Duchess - but my lap. He'll sit on my arm and stick his nose in my armpit to get comfortable. Apparently I smell quite sweet, as he takes a deep breath and sighs.

Well, today he had been napping in a dog bed. I'm trying to encourage this as I can't always be planted on the couch with him in my arms. He got up from his bed, staggered over to me, hopped up on the low futon I was sitting in, and collapsed in my lap. I honestly don't think he truly woke up at any point.

My sister didn't warn me that her dog is a sleepwalker.

2007-03-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

Food Funnies

Duchess seems to firmly believe that anybody else's food must be better than hers.

I mixed the last of Duke's food in with Duchess' food so he could transition to the new food. Duchess stared at the mix in her food dish for a few minutes, then she began to dig it out. The kibble went out all over the floor. Spread out nicely so she could more easily pick out Duke's food.

Duke on the other hand seems to be part chipmonk. He fills up his cheeks with food - Duchess' food if you please - then runs off to some other part of the house, drops it on the floor, and eats one piece at a time.

Duchess has figured this out, so every time Duke runs away from the dish Duchess follows. Because even though that's her food, it's now been slobered on by Duke and thus makes it his food. And so, better than hers or even whats left of his mixed into the bowl.

2007-03-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

My elaborate plan to get my sister's dog has finally come to fruition. I fell in love with him the first time I met him, but she wouldn't let me take him home. So I got my own puppy and convinced her I knew what I was doing. Then a few weeks ago she called me and said maybe she needed to find a new home for Duke. He's been having trouble with so many little kids around - those rampant two-year-olds can be intimidating, and what's a little dog to do but bite?

So Duke has come to live at my comparatively quiet house with my dog Duchess and the cat-in-residence, Ping. He only arrived on Saturday, so he's still figuring out how to settle in. Fortunately, he's slept through the night the last few nights, and he's starting to understand some of the rituals Duchess has. The combination of the two of them is pretty hilarious, though. She's bigger than him by quite a bit now, and she pushes him around big-time. He's kind of nervous about all the big changes in his life and he's been really really clingy. I've finally got the lapdog I've never wanted. Seriously, I can't sit down for two minutes without him jumping up on my lap.

Funny stories to come later, but I'll admit I've already bought him his own funny coat for taking walks in the spring rain.

2007-03-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hmm, I just noticed... Duchess has been sorting her toys.

I let her have access to her whole toy box and now I'm realizing she's piled up all the socks together and the shoe strings are in there with them. The chewed-on water bottles are all lined up next to each other. Her stuffed animals are on the other side of the room in a pile.

I have two questions. What have I done as her mother to make her so neurotic, and when did she find the time? I thought she was asleep ever since we got back from her walk.

2007-03-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

I'm back home again. Had a great trip to San Francisco - well, once I got there. The trip out there was a real adventure, starting at 4am when I got up to go to the airport. I didn't arrive at my hotel in SF until around 7pm. I did get to see some old friends - ate some great seafood - and even got sand in my shoes from a great beach.

But really I was there to work, and I did my best to both stump up more freelance work and put feelers out for fulltime gigs. Even thinking about relocating. It was really nice to have more of a social life.

Anyway, back home now and it rained today - the first sign that really and truly winter doesn't last forever. Thank goodness.

2007-03-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

It's Friday morning and I've got a lot to get done. My plane leaves on Monday at 6am, and by now I wanted to be packed and have my schedule all planned out for next week. However, I'm still trying to churn out one more article on ultrasound before I can really throw myself whole-heartedly into the conference I'm going to next week.

There, I'll be working on articles related to video games instead of medical imaging. Sometimes even I get confused by the things I'm interested in.

In other news, the cat and dog are doing just fine.

2007-01-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

What's this? Not a picture of Duchess? Not a picture of a niece or nephew? You're such a keen-eyed observer. No indeed, this is a picture of Ping. He's my brother's cat, and he'll be staying at my house until his family gets a more permanent living situation.

Personally, I think Ping is the prettiest cat I've ever seen. He's a mix between the traditional yellow tabby and a siames - thus a creamy white coat with yellow/orange points.

He's kind of old and cranky and isn't too thrilled about having a puppy for a roommate. Duchess thinks it's ever-so-exciting that there's a cat upstairs under the bed, or in the bathroom or whatnot. Ping has given Duchess a few good swipes, but no one has drawn blood so far. Duchess desperately wants to play. Ping just wants to sleep and look cool. Hopefully they will make friends eventually - or at least learn to ignore and tolerate each other.

First unwanted side-effect..... Duchess doesn't understand why the cat can go to the bathroom inside, but she can't. Wouldn't be so bad if Duchess would also use the litterbox, but no... right next to it seems to be close enough in the dog world.

Also, cat food seems to be more appealing than puppy food. And bark, bark, bark! The cat is on _top_ of the bed instead of underneath it like he was before! Bark bark bark!

How did I go from zero pets to three within a matter of months? (I've got a fish too. A very quiet red beta.)

2007-01-08T13:31:00.000-08:00

Home again, home again, to see my brother Eric and his family. This is his son Caleb showing his mom how to play a board game. He's quite confident about what he's explaining with all his new words.

2007-01-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

The hissing cockroaches aren't my sister's only pets. They also have two guinea pigs named Wiggle and Jiggle. They were hidden away in the master bathroom for our visit because we didn't think it would be a good idea for Duchess to get too friendly with them.

Duchess, however, sniffed them out after a while and she was quite interested - and upset - that we wouldn't let her play with the puppies upstairs. She was quite calm and friendly with them. They didn't squeal or run away, so I don't think she really registered them as prey. But we didn't encourage the relationship too much. I was just pleased to see they could be friends - at least in the short term.

They both sniffed at each other, touched noses, and everyone got out alive.

2007-01-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

And here's another awwww, aren't they cute?