The getaway that almost wasn’t

Did you have a good Labor Day weekend? I hope so!

We just got back into town from a nice little getaway. Through the kindness of a stranger, we were able to stay for nearly free in a beautiful lodge in the San Luis valley (about 3 hours from here, in another very pretty part of Colorado). It was a contact through dh’s work, and I couldn’t believe it because the lodge was offered to everyone in dh’s small “shop” (as they call it) and almost everyone agreed to be there. I don’t think we’ve ever been in a situation like this where the guys who worked together got along so well, AND the the wives and families too. You know how it is, someone’s wife usually can’t stand someone else’s, or someone else’s kids, etc. etc. It’s actually kind of nice that everyone gets along, if rather freaky.

At the last minute, while we were loading up the car to go, we realized that one of our dogs’ bordetella vaccine would expire over the weekend… and of course the kennel wouldn’t take him without it. No dogs allowed at the lodge. And our vet office was closed for the holiday. I am normally very on top of that stuff, but dh made the arrangements and I just assumed that he double checked their shots as well. Ahem. In all the furor of phonecalls and blame, I forgot to take the big camera, even though the bordetella nonsense all worked out in the end. Dh had the point and shoot, but sadly I just can’t take a decent picture without my big camera anymore, my photo mojo goes on hiatus, so you’ll have to use your imagination. Envision big beautiful mountains in the distance, pretty little lakes and hiking among lots of aspens. We hope to return down that way once the colors change, which will be spectacular. I promise I’ll bring the camera next time

(and the dogs are going to the vet this week so we can just avoid all that drama, and for the record, so not my fault).

The dog and the new pajamas

My mother’s dog is named Samson. This is quite possibly the most ironic name ever, mostly because while the biblical character of Samson was a brave, strong hero this in-real-life Samson is the the ultimate scaredy-cat of a dog. Anyhow, Sam’s favorite hobby is to sneak into your room and steal your unmentionables to bury. My mom has entertaining stories about how she came home to find her underwear all over the lawn.

While we were home over the holidays, I accidentally forgot to close the door to the room we were sleeping in. This time he decided against the unmentionables but went for the dutchkid’s jammies. Cute froggy print ones, that he took right out of the suitcase. No doubt this spring when all the snow melts my mother will find them in her flower bed.

So this made making her new pajamas higher on the priority list of projects. I already had purchased the Bedtime Story Pajamas pattern from Oliver + S and this week I finished them up:

(forgive the odd angle, the pants aren’t really that much bigger than the top)

Seriously, I love her patterns – clear and detailed. As a relatively novice seamstress, I get frustrated sometimes because with other patterns they assume you know how to do things. I am still at the point where I need it to be spelled out so that my finished project looks good. Especially with clothing.

And here she is wearing her official “smile” for pictures. It cracks me up every time.

Smells like dog

We met with our realtor again tonight because we are going to lower the asking price on the house.   Just hoping to get a few more people in to look at it, since we’re only about 5 weeks out from when the movers arrive to pack us up.  She also gave us feedback from the people who have been through.  Two separate people said that my house smells like dog.  ARGH.

I’m a pretty good housekeeper.  I mean, you couldn’t eat off my floors or anything, and sometimes the toys get away from me, but overall I think my house is ok.   And that’s just when you might surprise me, if I know someone is coming to look at it?  I’m Dutch, people.   I seriously scrub my doorstep.

The realtor assured my dh and I repeatedly that she did not smell dog at all.  Her theory is that just by having dog “stuff” in the house (like the kennel) that some people would think that.  I, of course, had to call several neutral parties and grill them on if they thought my house smells like my dogs.  I think they sensed that I was on the warpath and answered correctly: “of course not!”

Tomorrow is officially cleaning day.  My two labs are getting a bath, all floors will be mopped, doorstep re-scrubbed.  Someone please buy my house before I completely go off the deep end!

Astray

I have a bleeding heart when it comes to animals. I have rescued 2 dogs and a turtle (that’s another post in and of itself) since I’ve lived here, and seen countless other strays. I’ve never lived in a place where it was so prevalent. Today I brought home a chocolate lab.

The first words out of my dh’s mouth: “You CANNOT keep this dog. Do you hear me? You CANNOT.” I am aware of this, as I need a third dog like I need a hole in the head.

But as I was driving home from the necessary evil that is Wal-Mart, I spotted this dog running wild exuberant circles around 2 kids walking home from school. It was obvious that the dog didn’t belong to the kids because in his excitement, the dog kept on running into the busy road. The kids didn’t seem to care. He was almost hit twice in the time it took me to turn around and pull onto the shoulder. I asked them if he was theirs, and they said no. I knew if I didn’t pick him up I would see him by the side of the road tomorrow. He had no collar on, and was pretty thin. He was more excited than shy, but he wanted nothing to do with my car.

Did I mention I drive a Civic? With a big convertible carseat in back? It was an adventure getting him home. The dutchkid sort of wigged out on me because he was pretty wild and tried to get into the backseat with her as I was getting him settled (read: pinned down) in the front seat. She kept calling him by our chocolate lab’s name (who worships the ground she walks on and would allow her to eat his ears for lunch).

I threw him in the back yard, my boys were not amused. He’s sort of half-grown and a total maniac. At least they’ll get some extra exercise. I guess I’ll look for lost signs tomorrow and maybe put up some found ones. I hate to bring him to the shelter, he’s mighty cute. Dh gave me a week maximum. Anyone need a dog?