A Walk On The Bike Path...Along with some Squirrel Hunting!!!

We went for a walk today on the bike path today and there is this one sunken area surrounded by trees and a TON of squirrel holes!!!  Ginger especially LOVES to chase, hunt, and check every hole...it's bad enough that I let her off leash for a short minute while she sprints from hole to hole sticking her head as far down as possible!  One of these days I figure she'll get her nose bit off but so far so good and thank goodness she's never caught one...I don't need a dog to catch the plague or something from one of them!!!

My Backyard Moat...

It has been raining and raining and raining...and now my backyard has a moat of it's own!!!  However, in my house a little water has never stopped playtime...I have Labs and they LOVE water!

A Lazy Sun Filled Sunday!!!

After mowing the grass Saturday I put fertilizer and pre-emergent down hoping to ward off the weeds as the Bermuda comes out of dormancy with its spring growth.  The problem is, that I don't really like the girls to lay or play on it until it's watered in really well, considering it IS a form of poison!  When the sun poked through on a January day they couldn't help but want to go sun-bathe on the grass!  So, I put out towels and blankets to serve as a "protective" barrier between them and the poisoned ground and as you can see, they didn't mind the pampered treatment!!!

Birds don't live in my backyard...the girls make SURE of it!!!

You can't see the birds...but I promise they are dancing in the tops of the branches!

Ginger shaking the tree to get the birds to fly away.

Baylie's interest in the birds consisted of a bark now and again but she'd rather play with the ball!

 

My Girls & Our Christmas Tree!

Baylie has always been photogenic for a pup and more often than not she will "smile" for a camera...Ginger on the other hand rarely has that smile face (unless I get her to run around enough to pant first!) so unfortunately she looks a bit more stoic .

"Grama's House" to swim!

Ginger is poolside and I was helping Mom in the Garage.  Ginger doesn't like to be separated but unfortunately, she doesn't fit through the old doggie door.  She did keep a constant eye on us the whole time though!  Shockingly, not too long after this, we ran an errand just down to Lowes and were gone like 30 minutes.  We'd left the girls in the backyard (because they were both wet) and when we returned Ginger greeted us IN the garage!?!  She'd somehow pushed herself through the door and her poor little belly was rubbed raw!  She'd also bit around the side of the cutout (no doubt trying to make it bigger).  Next time Wayne came through town we planned to put in a slightly bigger doggie door to cover up the gnarled parts and make it so she fits through!   

Ginger likes to stay CLOSE!!!

This mat is on the floor in front of the kitchen sink.

Ginger always stays close, she likes to know where I am at all times!  On this occasion, I was doing dishes and she decided to come lay underneath me on the mat, forcing me to either lean over her or stand to the side of her to reach the sink.  She didn't seem to mind of-course!  All the while, keeping her paw on my foot so she'd know if I moved!

My pedicure!  :-)

July 19th, 2011--My little beggars...

 Everyone has heard of "puppy dog eyes"...but these little begging faces take the cake!!!  Both Ginger and Baylie have mastered that pathetic  wanting face--and sadly, it works more often than not!!!

Sometimes these faces are to remind me that it's time for breakfast or dinner and other times it's because they want me to stop whatever I'm doing and go out to play or walk.  These girls may not be able to talk but they sure can communicate and they do that quite well!  :-)

Me, Ginger, & Baylie...June 18th, 2011

Just because we were outside and smart phones have cameras!  Ginger was good about "smiling" this time because we'd been playing and she was still panting!  Baylie on the other hand wouldn't hardly sit still long

enough to get a picture because when she's playing fetch it's serious!!!  :-)

New Plaster in Mom's Pool!

There has been a few reoccurring rust stains that keep appearing in the bottom of the pool and it was getting so rough especially on the edges of the steps that the only solution was to re-plaster.  Most of the work was done from February 7-10 but due to rainy weather some of it had to be postponed and it was finally refilled on the 25th.  They were also able to fix/fill a couple of spots where the cement had lifted away from the tiles (thanks rogue tree roots) with a special grout--now you can hardly see the problem spots! Anyway, after the pool was drained I had gone over to see the progress...the sandblasting part had already been done. I was a bit afraid of what the dogs would do because they normally sprint to the back yard and immediately jump in the pool...I'm not sure they'd even notice the water wasn't there, so this day I kept them on leashes just in case! Once I led them down the steps I let them play around in the empty pool--I think they were rather confused about the whole thing! The worst part was that all this work kept the girls from being able to swim until spring break (April 2011) because after the new plaster was done it had to be submersed in the water to cure for over a month and I didn't dare risk claw marks in it! This made going to "Gramma's" house a challenge because they would stand at the door begging, barking and whimpering to go out to swim and we couldn't let them! O-well, they've been spoiled (admittedly) and they lived through it obviously! The pool looks brand new again and the steps are no longer pumice stones for feet and swimsuits! :)

Secret Survaillance Rig--For Bootcamp!

Recently, my friend Vanessa called and asked if I'd join a Fitness Bootcamp with her and because I'd already been working toward getting back into better shape since about Thanksgiving I thought it'd be the perfect thing to boost what I'd begun. We were planning to start on Monday, January 10th 2011. Class was scheduled for Mon-Fri @ 5:15 am and we vowed to attend every day! I felt bad about the idea of waking up at 4:45am and having to kick the dogs outside into the cold out of a dead sleep. So...prior to the first day of class I did a couple trial runs on Sat. & Sun. by getting up by 5 (yeah, I know--I'm nuts but whatever!) and leaving the girls in my room (praying Ginger wouldn't eat her way out)! Saturday I only left the house for a 20 minute jog around the block and when nothing was in shambles I thought, hmmm...maybe she'll be alright!? Sunday I borrowed a video camera from Kim (my friend and co-worker in the Deaf-ed dept. at work) and I rigged the camera up in my room on top of my dresser mirror. I wanted to "SEE" what Ginger did while I was gone because if it caused her more anxiety to be locked in I'd rather put her outside where she's used to being while I'm away. I again left around 5am Sunday morning but this time I extended my absence to 45 min. After returning home I reviewed the video and she did freak out a little in the beginning by whimpering and pacing back and forth and standing by the door drooling but didn't shred anything! I didn't want drool puddles on my new flooring so Sherry and Matt who were planning to go to Costco Sunday afternoon picked me up a rug (that matched the one I'd bought a few days earlier to put in front of the sliding door) so I could put it by the entry door as a drool catch. Monday morning was the first BIG test because I knew it would be a bit longer than 1 hour due to having to arrive a bit early for waiver signing! I pushed record as I left and when I arrived home a bit after 6am things still looked good—nothing outta place in the bedroom so I was happy! I continued video taping her for the whole first week and by Friday the video showed that she barely even got outta bed after I left. Her anxiety of me leaving seemed to have dissipated and she'd become used to the routine (which Baylie of-course figured out by the second day of the trial) but I was super relieved and crazy proud of her!

Anyway, I've cancelled my gym membership because quite honestly I don't go by myself and after the 3 consecutive weeks attending this bootcamp class I'm trying to figure out if I can afford signing up for a year long membership! I know it's a bit crazy but I LOVE it! I leave feeling like jello and sweating enough to instantly fog all the windows in my car afterwards but I also feel super accomplished everyday! The class is crazy intense but it is fast paced and runs in short circuits so just when you can't do anymore you rotate! I also like that everybody regardless of skill level is struggling with the same exercise...they just may be lifting a heavier weight or jumping up onto a larger box but everybody grunts and sighs together! Plus because it is from 5-6am all the girls come in naked-faced ready to workout instead of ready to pick up dates in perfect hair and full face makeup like at the gym which is so nice!

Everyday has been different so I haven't gotten board ever! Not only are the exercises different but so are the rotation times...some days we do 60sec work with 20sec. of rest/rotate and others 30/30sec with no half way breaks and yet others we stay in one place for 8-20sec. rotations with 5 seconds to breathe between each of the 8 rounds and then rotate to the next torture station within 10 sec.! Each morning is a surprise that I actually look forward to!

Fancy NEW Bedroom Floors!

After finally deciding on a color (well not really, I picked 3 different colors that they are going to mix and pattern together to create my new faux wood laminate floors) I set the installation appointment for Friday, December 31st, 2010! I was so excited that Carpet Outlet Plus was open and able to get my job booked during my break so I didn't have to take any time off work! On Wednesday the 29th I went and bought semi-gloss paint because my bedroom was done in flat paint that was impossible to keep clean and I figured if my floors were going be shiny and new so should my walls! I splurged on the low odor paint and by the time I finished it looked AWFUL! I was so upset and sore...I'd never seen paint go on so poorly--it was streaky and looked matte in some places and glossy in others!? So Thursday morning (now running out of time to paint and let dry before the workers show up on Friday) I went back to Sherwin Williams and told the guy that for a high quality paint it was lousy! He had me describe my problem and then tells me that because they use a spray gun to apply the flat paint they only do enough to cover the drywall and don't use primer at all! So essentially I'd used really good paint as a primer--So frustrating!!! The guy assured me that if I do one more coat everything would cover evenly and look great. Thank goodness it did because I probably would've gone postal on the guy if it didn't! The second coat was on by early afternoon and I'd pulled all the tape off that evening and crossed my fingers that it would be dry enough for the workers! I woke up early new year's eve in anticipation of the workers coming and then the guy calls me and says they won't arrive until 10am (when I'd expected them by 8am)! I found myself with time enough to finish cleaning out my garage so that they could work in there and have breakfast! Once they showed up it seemed like they had everything torn out in seconds and the blue underlayment put down! I tried to stay outta the way but snuck down the hall or through my sliding door (from out in the back yard) to get pictures every once in a while so that I wouldn't miss out on the progress! At the same time, I found it hard to watch because I had chosen 3 different colors (a dark almost black, a chocolate brown, and a honey colored laminate) and I was worried that I'd scrutinize the pattern! In the end, I walked into my room and LOVED it instantaneously (which was a good thing considering I'd already paid for it)! Before I moved back all my furniture I wanted to go around and re-paint all the baseboards so they too looked shiny and new! Painting the baseboards terrified me because I didn't want to ruin my new floors with paint so it seemed to take me FOREVER! When it was all said and done everything looked great! Thanks to mom for helping with the painting--she did ALL the cutting in (a part I don't enjoy doing) and then while I painted baseboards she went around and got all the door frames! By Sunday everything was dry but there was one board that I wasn't happy with (it had a funny streak all the way down the board were the gloss looked dull) so I was afraid to put the furniture back until I knew how they'd fix it. My installer called me back on Monday and assured me it'd be fine to put in the furniture because if he needed to replace the board he could take it right out of the middle. It took over a week for him to "fit me in" but amazingly the streak rubbed out with a pink eraser?!?!? I was happy that it was a simple fix because I'd already tried cleaning it to no avail and was sure he'd have to cut it out and glue in a new piece! I'm now enjoying my new floors and with a simple sweeping it comes clean and I use my little mini-vac to suck up the debris. I only need to use the cleaner about once a week to really get the shine back! Now it's time to save my money so I can do more of my floors! :)