Introducing.......

Miles....yes I finally got my dog.  Corey is none to thrilled about it.  He has two rules with the dog.  He can't go in our bedroom at anytime and that during dinner he must sit in his kennel and wait.  I thought both these rules were fine with me.  I have to share how I found him. 

So we went first to the SPCA here in Douglas and they only had about 6 dogs to choose from.  The only one I liked was a pit bull named Firetruck.  He really was such a sweetie and he loved the kids.  But Corey just was not comfortable with a pit bull seeing as he was attacked by one as a kid and had to jump on top of a car to get away from it.  So I turned my sights to the SPCA in Casper which is so much larger.  They had about 40 dogs to choose from.  We went in and I told the guy I was a big fan of gentle giants.  I wanted a large dog that wasn't going to knock down Hailey and get really crazy.  So I mentioned no labs.  If you remember George he was crazy and I don't think Corey could handle another George.

So he brings out this Husky mix and after watching her for 5 minutes as she basically jumped from chair to chair and then tried to jump on the table I told him that it was way too much energy for me.  Plus he said since she was part Husky she would basically pull me as I was running.  So why did he even bring this dog out?  He swears after awhile she settled down but who was to say what a little while was.

So next he brings in this Great Pyrenees.  These dogs are giants and this one barely made it in the room before he flopped on the ground and didn't get up.  We all sat on the ground and patted him.  He would sometimes lift a paw to put on your leg but he basically didn't move.  I then asked if he would be able to run with me.  He assured me he could, but I didn't think so.  Then I asked how old he was, he replied 9 years.  So basically a senior dog that maybe had 2 or 3 good years left.  He was sweet but I didn't want a dog that old or lethargic either.  So he took "Sparky" back.

I asked if he by chance had a dog that was about a year old.  He said he did have a lab mix but since I said I didn't want a lab he didn't think about him.  I asked to see him anyways.  So they brought out "Rex" and he was so cute and fluffy.  He was so calm and would just sit on your foot and let you pet him.  He didn't like Hailey too much, but I don't think any dog likes to have a 2 year old all in it's face the whole time.  I loved him instantly.  So I filled out the application and we had to go home and wait.

We went on Saturday and so we waited until Thursday to go pick him up.  He was so scared.  He even growled at Hailey a little bit and I was thinking great my instincts were off and I will have to give him back for being aggressive.  He wouldn't get in the car, so I brought the kennel and they put him in that then loaded him in my car.  I was having so many second thoughts by the time I got home.  Got him inside and I was a little scared of him at first.  You never know who your dog is going to turn out to be.  But can I just say after one day he turned into the biggest lovable baby ever.  He has so many great traits that I will just have to list them:

1. He hasn't barked yet, I don't even know if he knows how to.  Even when he sees other dogs nothing comes out of his mouth.  It has been wonderful.

2. He is not hyper at all.  He will just sit and lay down all day long while inside.

3. He never jumps on anyone, and he loves people and dogs.

4. He is very submissive to me and he has never had an accident in the house.  He even pees on command now when I say pee-pee.

5. He loves me, and I know this by the way he will follow me around all day long and even sit on my feet and make me pet his belly.

For awhile there I thought he would never play.  He doesn't like toys.  I got him some and tried to throw them and nope, no interest.  But a couple of nights ago after he used the bathroom I started rough housing with him and he loves it.  He will run like crazy around the house and then jump on the porch in one swoop and attack my feet like a cat does.  I am laughing so hard it is hard for me to concentrate.  And when I want him to calm down all I do is tell him to sit and he turns back into my cuddle bug.

That is the other thing, he knows how to sit, give me paw and the best is stay.  And when we eat meals he will go and lay down on his blanket and wait for us to get done.  He goes in his kennel at night and never complains.  I just feel like I picked the best dog ever.

Today I took him to the groomer to get him cleaned up.  He was pretty dirty from the SPCA and he was a little stinky.  When I went to pick him up he looked so fluffy and smelt so good.  Plus his fur now feels like those soft teddy bears you buy.  He looks even more handsome.

And as a last note...what kind of dog is he?  Well that is all speculation.  I have different remarks from everyone he has been to.  The SPCA said he was part lab part Akita.  The Vet said she saw lab and German Shepherd.  And the groomer said he didn't see any lab at all.  He swears he is German Shepherd and chow mix because of his fluff and head shape.  I really don't care what he is, all I know is he is mine and amazing.

In his kennel happy as can be.

 Out of all the kids he loves Logan the best.

 What a handsome boy his is.

 When I am in the kitchen cooking this is what he does.  He just lays there and watches me.  Never begs or gets under my feet.

 He loves to snuggle and get his belly rubbed.

 He will paw you if you stop petting him.

And for some reason he thinks he is a small lap dog.  I don't know how many times he has tried to sit in my lap.

The Giver

I don't know why I have never read this book.  You would think since it won the Newbery award I would have read it at some point in school at least.  And if you have spoke to me about books and book club reading YA books that won the Newbery have not been my favorite ones.  But I was actually surprised on how this book kept my attention.  I never felt like I was forcing myself to finish and the fact that it is a short book also helps.

It felt a little sci-fi to me, and I normally don't go for those.  But it actually had a great ending.  As I was nearing the end I was getting  a little alarmed because I saw only 2 more pages and where the characters were at was not really comfortable to me.  I like the ending the best.  One of those endings that are uncertain and mean different things to different people.  I felt that they both met the bad or pessimistic ending.  I read up on the reviews and I agree with the sad ending.  That is what I thought before I even did the research.  But I guess you could also switch it to the happy one as well.  For me it just holds so much more meaning and sacrifice for the not so pleasant one. 

I feel that people do that every day.  We deal with the not so great things and experience the bad so we know the good.  This book felt a little like what Satan would have our lives be like if he would have won that argument in the pre-existence.  No choice and everything with strict rules.  They call it sameness.  But we don't live like that and so we all have choices.  And those choices make our lives unpredictable yes, but also so wonderful at the same time.  If you haven't read it yet, you really should.  I love a book that actually gets my brain a thinking.  I really should have picked this book for book club back in Maryland when we were doing the Newbery's.  Oh well, at least I got it in.  Happy reading everyone.

Seems A Bit....

I am the first one to admit that I love Facebook.  I love to see what my friends are doing.  I like to see pictures of people that I would normally never see.  I know there are lots of Facebook lovers out there.  But along with the good comes the bad, or not even bad just annoying to me.

So a girl from our High School was hit by a car a couple of days ago while walking in LA and suffered severe brain damage.  She was in the ICU and since she was an organ donor they kept her alive and then did the surgery to harvest her organs last night.  I was sad for her and her family.  What a horrible way to leave this earth.  I am not known for my compassion.  Ask my kids.....  But I found the comments on Facebook a bit overwhelming.  I mean, everyone sounded like they were her best friends.  I could be wrong, maybe she did have 1000 of good friends.  Seems almost impossible to me, but it could happen.  So you read comment after comment and I just think how many of these people actually knew her?  I didn't leave any comment because besides saying hi to her on occasion and being in girl scouts when I was like 10 I didn't really know her that well.  So this got me thinking....

If I happened to pass away I wonder how many of those same people would say that they knew me that well?  How many would leave the good old I remember when comments?  I can think of maybe a handful of friends that actually knew me well enough to leave a heartfelt comment on my Facebook page.  If I was looking down and saw even half of the other comments I would probably laugh.  It seems cheesy almost to put those comments on some one's page who has passed on.  Notice I posted my feelings here because I didn't want my tires slashed or have death threats put out on my life.

I just hope that when I pass I don't get those same lovey comments from the same group of girls who harassed me the whole time I was in High School.  And I would have to say most of them were pretty horrible and snobbish.  I know, people change and it was High School, but still you don't know me.

Settling

Here I am....Yes I know everyone thought I was lost.  And at times I really thought I was.  Swimming in a sea of moving boxes and paper can get overwhelming.  I still don't get why you have to pack a box of clothes with paper.  We are all settled in now, and I have all these ideas swimming in my head for decorating my house.  It has been two long years of renting and for me when we rent I don't have any motivation to make it mine. 

Before we moved we made one last trip to Washington D.C.  We went with our good friends the Ryders and it always is a pleasant day when we are with them.  Of course we saw two of the museums but I didn't take too many pictures.  We did take pictures outside in front of the Washington Monument.  Little did we know that Corey ran a red light on this day and was caught with a traffic camera.  We just got the great news this past week.  Thanks for the parting gift. 

 I was trying to hold it up, after the earthquake it just hasn't been the same.

After we got to Douglas Lexie's class had their Christmas program.  We had been there all of two days when they performed.  Lexie was adamant that she go so she got all dolled up.  I was impressed that she knew most of the songs and choreography after only two days.

We finally got moved in and somewhat settled.  Like I mentioned before I have all the color schemes and decorating ideas in my head.  Little by little I will get my house where I want it.  But this is what I have so far.  My bedroom is actually bigger than we thought.  I went with a simple gray and black bedspread and I plan on making my accent color red.  This is the least decorated room, but I will get to it eventually.

My bathroom coordinated with my bedroom so the same color theme.  This is also not too decorated, but no one really sees this anyways. 

The boys room for now, this will eventually be turned into an office when we get the basement finished this summer.

The girls room.  I love the new bedspreads with the black and pink polka dots.  This will be turned into our guest room when we get the basement finished.

This is the entryway when you come into my house.  I love my ladder shelf.  I still have to put stuff on it, but you get the idea.

Our living room, with our new couches which we love.  Notice how the arm is on the wrong side of the sectional.  Yep, Value City gave us the wrong couch and we didn't unwrap them till we got here.  But we called and told them and they are shipping us the right one and we get to keep this one as well.  We plan on moving the recliner in our room and hooking the other couch around to make a large U.

My dining room which is much bigger than the last one.  We can all actually sit around the table without squishing against the wall.

Aww my kitchen.  My favorite room of the house.  I am still figuring the color scheme in here, but I love how homey it feels to me.  I do spend a lot of time in here so I am glad that I like it.

Don't you love our basement?  We have it set up in living room style with the TV against the pink walls.  The cement floors make a great play area for the bikes and skateboards.  Corey's parents are coming this summer and we plan on getting it framed, electrical done and the drywall up.  This will give us a great headway into getting at least the kids bedrooms in and the extra living area.

 Oh more packing paper that escaped the clean up.  I guess I still have more work to do.

We are happy and getting settled.  Hopefully I will post more often now that we are getting back into a routine.