Silly ol' dog

Bought Peter T. Dog a new cushion for curling up on the hard floors downstairs during the day. He likes it, except for when he's sleepy. When he's ready for a nap, he prefers the flattened old dog bed, and paces restlessly until I get it for him.


As you can see from the photo though, he doesn't want to completely give up the new dog bed to let Clifford fully claim it, so he lays on both mats, and snoozes happily.

I love my big dumb dog.

Crayola Hike

Finally got a chance to upgrade to Flickr Pro and load up the photos I mentioned last evening.

This past Sunday, we went for a mini-hike at one of the trails in the Chattahoochee NRA. $25 buys an annual parking pass that covers all 16 locations along the river in the Metro area. Since some combination of family members can be found along the river at least once or twice each week, it's quite a bargain. (Single pass is $3.00, which adds up quickly.)



DottieB is branching out. Instead of sticking with our normal nature walk scavenger hunt, collecting the colors of the rainbow , she and Bugsy decided to collect what you'd find in a crayon box.

In addition to good old ROY G. BIV, they snapped shots of muddy reddish-brown creekbeds, white mushrooms, black-eyed susans, brown acorns, gray tree trunks with blue trail markers, pink puffs, lilac/lavender flowers (there was a lengthy debate on that last color designation)...

...until the battery ran out.

In the car on the way home, I heard plans to bring extra batteries next time, and a 24-pack of Crayola, just to make sure they don't miss any.

Where did the week go?

Between meetings with teachers about one child (yes, THOSE types of meetings), completely insane destructive puppy antics (4 months is apparently "normal" time for it), Open House at the HS, Parent University at the ES, and three-out-of-five family members spending a day or two at home with a cold, I just looked at the calendar and noticed tomorrow is Friday!

I know time is supposed to fly when you're having fun, but I'm not so sure the person who came up with that gem had this kind of fun in mind at the time. Think I'll choose another old saying for this week. Thanks to how quickly it ripped by, it was like taking off a band-aid.

I have a great set of photos to post from this past Sunday. By great, I'm speaking as the proud parent of the eight year old who is experimenting with angles, zoom and light. The photos are not as good as some of the shots she took at the Atlanta Botanical Garden last month, but that has a lot to do with being knocked about by a puppy who is quickly approaching her weight division.

Eek! I've exceeded my flickr uploads for September. Will have to add the pictures as a short slide show AFTER I sign up for the pay service. That'll be in the morning. Right now, I'm going to bed.

But before I do...
Waiting to hear the word about the last couple pieces falling into place on the house. Closing in two weeks, moving in three. Should Clifford and his canine equivalent of the terrible twos not be a thing of the past by then, we're all looking forward to opening the kitchen door and shooing both dogs outside for 20-30 minutes of Peter's favorite game. No name for the game yet, but here's the playbook:

1. Peter T. Dog runs as fast as he can in a circle.
2. Almost lets Clifford catch up.
   
3. Turns around and runs directly at the puppy.
4. Clifford stops short, and goes tail over head.
   
5. Peter leaps over him in a graceful arc.
6. Prance happily away, while Clifford looks around in confused state.
7. Repeat.

I can post a single photo directly to blogger, even if flickr hates my little batch of photos. With the larger, FENCED, yard, frequent intervals of the game ought to wear Clifford out better than the 1.5-2 mile walk/run or 10 minutes of tag on a leash.

Since a tweet changed my outlook last week, should I say I had a good tweek? (a.k.a. Big Darn Week, part two)

It was a no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day or two to start the week last week. Super busy. Trying to put together offer on house. Spacey children who kept leaving lunches at home in the morning, and homework at school in the afternoon. A puppy in a combination of growth spurt & teething phase, leading to regressive behavior.

My heart wasn't really into any exercise that wasn't two-wheeled, and even that was only because of the escape into audiobooks & podcasts I enjoy on rides. My running continued to stink, as it has since getting back to hot & humid Atlanta from vacation, in June.

I was following my normal early morning routine (lunch packing / breakfast rush, stretching, coffee, blog reading, weather checking), when I thought I don't really want to do any of this stuff today. Then I saw an early morning (for her, since she's in TX) tweet from MizFitOnline. It was something about taking on the day with open arms.

It struck a chord with me. What the heck did I really have to complain about? Nothing on my list of grievances was beyond the level of minor annoyance. So, I scrapped all the plans which weren't possible to work out, opened up, and took on the day.

Strapped leashes to my pups for the morning upper body workout - I mean walk. Laughed my butt off at the ability of my lovable little idiot to tangle everybody up in the leash, and at the look on the face my sweetheart of a Peter T. Dog. I would swear he rolls his eyes at Clifford, and that the head tilt & lolling tongue is his own brand of laughter.

Dropped off the forgotten lunch at the elementary school, and took my lunch down to Riverside Park for a ride. Realized my helmet was hanging from the roadster back at the house, so went to a less heavily traveled road, with bicycle lanes for my ride. 10 miles or so, listening to the Adam Smith episode of The Thomas Jefferson Hour (fantastic episode, btw - almost enough to make me start a 3rd attempt to make it through The Wealth of Nations)

Hopped off the bike, changed shoes, and headed down the trail by the Chattahoochee River. Before I'd lost sight of the parking lot, the heavens opened, and I was completely drenched. Ugh. So much for that.

But, wait. That's the kind of thinking that put me into a funk in the first place. Mopped off my face, and started into the woods. Everything was lush and green, and the rain quickly dropped the temperature and cleared away the general pea soup humidity we'd been having for days.

It was the best time I've had running in months. Jumping over rocks and roots. Ducking under branches. Splashing through the runoff streams the trails had turned into. It. Was. So. Much. FUN!


While leaping over a particularly deep & mucky puddle, I was reminded of MizFit's recent posts about being your own superhero... and I definitely felt like one. Pulled out the iPhone, risking water logging, snapped a few pix and moved Mighty Little Man to the top of the playlist.

I'm not sure what my superpowers are yet, but do know that kid chaos and weather are not going to be my downfall. (The photo is of my super soaked feet, as light blue speed silk singlet & white sports bra are better suited for dry, sunny day superhero activities.)

That one tweet was just the nudge I needed. With the improvement in attitude came a big improvement in my workouts. Running is fun again.

Dog Days of Summer

While getting the newspaper might be a good job for Clifford down the road, he's got a ways to go. I'll need to toss the paper onto the truck next time I throw it up the driveway. Or just keep it in my hand. Good thing I do most of my news reading online?

It's not that hot for late July / early August this year, but Dog Days still applies. Between two dogs and three children who are completely out of their minds, I'm dog tired.

Cannot wait for school to begin. Being off a tough schedule was fun for a while, but I'm over it. I want regular bed times. Breakfast and lunch at established intervals, not based on what time I manage to drag the two night owl children from their beds in the morning. Since getting back from vacation, B1 and DD seem to believe they are still on mountain time. No amount of summer reading, music practice and math games seemed to work at holding back the kids' brain rot. (Not that I was immune. My vocabulary and ability to form complete sentences has decreased at approximately the same rate as their bickering and nonsense has increased.)

The summer with the kids at home, instead of in day and away camps has been good for all of us, but I think we're all about ready for it to be over.

One week. That's what's left of summer vacation. Then, it's back to homework help, school/class volunteering, packing lunches and pressing uniforms. And... regular veggie lunches, midday run and ride time. Being able to do 90% of the shopping by bike again. No more sandwiches for lunch, or random stress snacks. The five pounds of summer weight will melt away. (Yes. I gain weight during the active summer. Who does that?!)

On a "you are not alone" note, I came across this at MomFiles yesterday:

Wow, I did not think I would say this but I am ready for the girls to go back to school. I have enjoyed having them around and they are so helpful to me but it's just time to go. I have not been on a proper schedule at all. My eating is so not right. Too much snacking with the kids around or I just don't eat on time. I am always scattered all over the place and I don't like it.

So glad to know it's not just me.

To complicate matters for the last couple weeks at home, we've hit a rainy patch of weather. Finding alternative outdoor exercise is a little tougher than when the kids were younger and happy to run around with umbrellas, splashing barefoot through puddles. Might break out the waterguns for a battle in the next rainstorm. Will have to see how B2 is feeling - has a bit of an upset stomach. At the least, I'll send out B1, DD and the dogs. The long waist leash should keep the puppy from getting into too much trouble.

Yesterday was a walk with the dogs in between downpours. Peter T. Dog is always great on runs, but usually enjoys walks as a chance to stop & sniff... every 10 feet. Drives the kids nuts, and since he's still got 15-25 pounds on the little ones, there's not much they can do to keep him moving. With Clifford tagging along though, Pete keeps moving. Can't let that little ball of fluff take away his spot as lead dog, after all. Good walk, with a little bit of playground time, during which I filled up the travel water dish for the four legged kids.

Pupdate

Behold the poor, pitiful puppy, banished from the cozy sofa on Saturday night. Not for being on the sofa. I'm fine with snuggly dogs. Not for bringing his chew toy on the sofa with him. I can appreciate the snuggly puppy with a teething ring. What I'm not fine with is having my wrist used as a teething ring by the snuggly puppy on the sofa. I think Clifford has designated Mommy and Peter T. Dog as his favorite things. Or maybe we just taste good. Either way, Clifford needs to learn that Peter T. and I are not chew toys. Pete's better at getting the message across, with a bark and a bit of shunning. I'm hoping a "NO" and being booted from the sofa will work as the human equivalent.

Aside from that, it's been a good week for learning around the house. The kids are learning to keep tasty toys, shoes and "stuff" off the floor, along with learning to recognize the signs of a young dog in need of a trip to his favorite potty spot under the magnolia tree.

I've learned that the coffee table isn't a safe spot for folding laundry, unless I was looking for a reason to run laps through the house, retrieving the socks Clifford steals. He's not chewing them, just trying to start a game of chase. It's very much like a baby deliberately dropping things from the high chair, just for the fun of mom or dad picking it back up.

Peter T. Dog isn't really learning anything, but he seems to be having fun being a teacher. On a family hike at the Chattahoochee River trails, he was not-so-subtly asserting his place as official scout by walking directly in front of Clifford to keep him from passing. And, during our normal side trip to the boat ramp for a doggy cool-down, Clifford was initially shying away from the water. Pete walked up to Clifford, chuffed in his general direction, and walked into the water. Only after seeing Pete soak himself would Clifford set his paws in the water at the edge. When Pete cooled off with his normal lie-down in the shallows, Clifford walked about a foot into the water and sat. Never took his eyes of the grown up dog. (I watched.) Clifford sat in the river until Pete stood up and shook out the water. Clifford tried to shake on his way out, but with far less grace. He fell over midstep, providing the whole family with a good laugh. I'm pretty sure Peter T's snort was an amused snort.

Anyway, after 4.5 miles of walking and a bowl full of food, both dogs are napping quietly by my desk.*


*Darn. Tried to get a picture of the two dogs. Peter T. Dog wasn't as sacked as I'd thought. He noticed the camera, and moved to the other side of the desk. (It wasn't even the camera with flash - just my phone.) Clifford, the chalk outline puppy, didn't even stir.

Pupdate

We're all loving the new family member, runny wet puppy nose and all. The cold should be clearing up, so we'll be seeing less of the runny part of the wet puppy nose soon.

He and Peter T. Dog are still getting along quite well. Playing chase around the house is all the rage with them, even though Clifford does occasionally forget what he's doing and wander off, mid-game. (It's the grasshoppers. They're very interesting. And so are fireflies.) When he does get distracted, Pete comes back, snorts something - I like to think it's "neener-neener, can't catch me" - then takes off at a slightly slower run to let Clifford keep up.

The kids and dogs play together very well too, but I think I've got myself two 4-legged babies now. I'm used to Pete coming to me for reassurance, but now there's two. Not a problem when I'm at my desk, or curled up on the sofa with a book. But in the kitchen, it's becoming quite the adventure.

This is a photo of the furry boys during my ironing the other night. This is pretty much how they land in any room where I stop for more than five minutes.

My kitchen is a good old (except for the appliances) 1950's ranch house kitchen, meaning it's tiny. Pete's favorite spot is dead center of the stove-sink-refrigerator triangle. I'm used to stepping over his stretched out form, as he pretends to nap while secretly hoping for dropped food. With two dogs sacked out in the middle of the kitchen floor, cooking looks more like a strange new form of hopscotch. And, when you add children getting silverware for place settings and passing dishes to the table... think Twister.

Speaking of kitchens, the dishwasher just clicked off. It's time for me to take myself and the 8-legged furry obstacle course back into the kitchen.

Tomorrow morning is going to be Clifford's followup on his little suture site infection, along with Pete's annual checkup. After clean bills of dog/puppy health, it's into the bath for the both of them. They both have the hot weather dog smell about them, and Clifford's fur is a magnet for dust and pollen during his exploration below furniture and thick hedges.