april fools & showers

all my april fool "jokes" are stupid.  this i know. 

• s:  andrew?
• a:  yeah?
• s:  i didn't want to tell you last night, but i hit the pole in my parking spot with my car.
• a:  ugh...
• s:  april fools!
• a:  (not impressed)

however, taking jack out to do his morning business (or numbers as we call them), brought on the best joke of today -- yes, i realize it's only 9 o'clock!

turns out there was something in the grass that turned his mini-feet blue.  BLUE!  here's some proof, but keep in mind that as hard as i tried, there was no way i could capture the magic that is still waltzing around our apartment!

you can kind of see it.

as you can imagine, jack wasn't a fan of me creepin' on his feet.  so, back legs were much easier to sneak up on.

it must've been in the grass.  that's the only explanation that comes to mind.  good thing he chose to not get an a.m. snack -- a.k.a. eat grass.  

i realize that these next pictures didn't occur in april.  that would mean that we would've already gone to the dog park -- ha! -- the reality is that i haven't left the couch in over an hour.  anyways, we just got out of a 2-week rain streak, which brought on some interesting twists to our daily bark park visits.

jack russel terriers were once used for fox hunting, which means that they would have to go down in these tiny holes or dig out the foxes for the hunters.  fast forward to the future -- they are digging machines.

thank goodness he's cured with a wet-one. 
people would ask the next day about the holes.  eventually they just assumed it was him.

at one point it was a little sad -- he would hide in the holes from predators.

everything has dried out now & has been getting in the 80's -- sorry for bragging!

lonely days, tidepooling, & running

1. the past few weekends (& the next couple), andrew has been off on business (& ski) trips -- which means that i'm entertaining jack & myself.  in that order.

so, we spent a lot of the weekend doing chores, going to the dog parks, rearranging the living room, going for walks/runs, & decorating for easter.  evidence:

goodbye awesome talking valentines day gift.  no more will you haunt the dreams of my dog.

hello wonderful white shoes.  haven't seen you since you were disgusting at the dog park.  finally you have been pulled from the pile in my backseat.

strings of easter colored puff-balls are strung along our ceilings -- layered over valentines day hearts that have been ignored.

2.  tidepooling.  this is when there is a low tide & critters that would normally be in 10 feet plus of water, are in about 1-2 feet & easy to collect.  we do this about once a month for the museum & zoo, but it was my first experience.  boy was it interesting!  however, it was 45 degrees, 20 mph winds + gusts, & pouring rain.  i was into it for about 30 minutes, then it was more of a chore.  at least i got paid!

white caps were on the scene as i drove away.  i didn't even bother whipping out the camera while we were in the action.  not worth the risk!

needless to say, i had to change my outfit completely & my rain jacket.  luckily i predicted this much!

we collected crabs, mussels, lichen, snails, sea urchin, hermit crabs, anemone, etc.  the only significant thing that i picked up was a dead crab.  hard to say if it wasn't just sick (it still had all its weight), but i scooped it in the bucket all the same.  call peta.  i dare you.

3.  i ran my 1/2 marathon today.  it was great weather for the occasion, everyone was friendly, & the run went by really fast.  i had 2:15 as my goal (5 minutes slower than my personal best) -- but ended up going around a 2:17.  i'm extremely happy with the results!  the only downside is that my knee is now in a knee brace, which will hopefully get the job done. 

no pictures to accompany this event.  andrew was apparently too tired to lug around our huge camera.  :)

ps: warrior dash at the end of april will be lame if i have to strap on a knee brace.  just sayin'.

i love rainboots.

i think it's kind of like a snow in lake tahoe.  it's only 1-2 inches, people aren't comfortable with it, so they walk around like their going to have an afternoon hike up mt. everest.  i feel like this is what i look like during the rainy season here in ca.  rainboots, raincoat, & half the time, a baseball cap.  i look like a fool walking around target & to work, but on our daily trips to the dog park, jack has the most functional owner! 

the rain has been going for at least the last 2 months, so i've been marveling at all the green!  surprising what it can do with the "winter blues."  obviously, this "issue" doesn't exist out here!  along with the green, comes snails & slugs around here.  jacks ate 3 to-date.  thrown up 1.  (that we've found.)

i'll spare you the details on the digestive problems & show you some samples.  these creatures didn't show themselves often (or at all) in nd, so i'm amazed with the armies that come out when it's damp!  they don't survive very long in packs on our apartment complex sidewalks, but i got the chance to see them alive & well in a desolate area one morning last week.  jack only goes for the dime sized ones as shown, but there were some larger than quarters that came out that night -- gross, right?

i think they're cute.  i don't understand why jack wants to eat them.  because they move?  that's my theory.

they leave a sparkly trail in their path -- love!  it stays for days & marks all corners of our sidewalks.

graduation day in the bay.

i realize that the title makes it sound like a huge extravogant event -- you wouldn't think that it was all going down at petsmart, huh?  i also realize that puppy training classes at a chain-store are a little ridiculous when there are various dog wisperers & cozy dog trainer facilities in each part of the city, but i had a coupon!

so, once-a-week jack & i try & do our best in the back of the store to focus & work on our manners.  he's been great & i've had so much fun with him -- we've only gotten kicked out twice.  no big deal.  his adhd got the best of him.  a lap around the hampsters does wonders.

here's a glipse of the magic that took place during his graduation ceremony:

classic grad pic.

this is the closest the cap came to getting on his head.  even the shrimp chuahua barney let it touch him.

so proud!

here's his girlfriend piper.

she was rad.

at home he celebrated bromance style with andrew.  jack was obsessed with holding his hand.  i didn't even try to understand.

we start intermediate classes next week in hopes of cleaning up his act before we head down to az at the end of april.  good thing he'll do anything for a treat!

housesitting extravaganza.

so, not only am i a single parent this week, but i'm also housesitting for clint & conni!  wonderful people, amazing house -- complete with a 15-year-old cat.  i would like to say that they get along & play, but there's no chance of that happening.  they keep their distance.  the only real contact was when he went for her tuna/fancy feast breakfast & she stopped him in his tracks with a swat!  i gave him props for not wetting himself. 

daisy.  a photo from the night we went there for dinner last week.  jack was hidden away during dinner in conni's office.  daisy was completely annoyed with the crying -- it echoed thru the entire house.  no apology could cover the audio.

again, a photo from our initial trial dinner.  daisy hissing, jack a blur of running away.

anyways, i appreciate the opportunity to be an hour closer to work & jack doesn't seem to mind being together 24/7.  i can't say that i do either!

tired from exploring.  yeah, he's on a leash...going from a 1 bedroom apt. to their house throws off his entire world.  why give him the chance to become un-potty-trained & mark up their gorgeous house?  not worth it.

enjoy my andy warhol depiction of jack? so fun!

as i've said previously, obsessed.  he's had a couple visits to other houses & held it together pretty well.

• visit #1 was to clint & conni's.  only obsticles there were the cat (daisy) & wide open spaces.  he cried for an extra 25 minutes each time he was kenneled, made the cat hiss more than necessary, & examined every corner of their mansion-like house.
• visit #2 was to lindsey & tony's house (friends).  obsticles here were enzo & jessie, who are two dogs more that 5 times his size.  he survived & ended up in the car for a time-out by the end of the night.  i'm pretty sure his heart rate was well above it's limit for the entire night.  one thing we did learn was that he loved the fenced in backyard -- or at least he prefered it over our current situation of a 3rd floor apartment.

one thing that i am going to focus on: focusing on other things.  he's becoming more comfortable, we are becoming more trusting, so i think the time has come that we can turn our attention to other things.  my focus: sewing adventures & cleaning.  a's focus: work & laundry. 

i'm sure you are all breathing out a sigh of relief that the jack-streak is coming to an end!  ha!

hobby #382

i'm not that big of an arts & crafts person.  by that, i mean that i don't have a million scrapbooks, calligraphy talents, 20 crocheting & knitting projects going on at the same time, etc.  but i decided that i would attempt some quilting/sewing endeavors. 

ione (mom) was one of those chosen few that was talented in this field.  because her sewing/craft room was located in the basement, the echoes of the machine "humming" could be heard through the entire family room -- so my little simple singer noise is somewhat nostalgic! halloween costumes, dress-up dresses, first day of school outfits, a handful of picture day dresses (usually the first day of school dress), holiday vests, & elastic-waisted cotton pants with crewneck cotton puff painted outfits (mostly adorned with cartoon characters) are some of the sewing projects that ione created when we were growing up.  i want to do this!  cute little first day of school skirts -- adorable! 

too bad 3/5 projects that i've worked on so far have been repairing jacks toys.  lame.

project #1: puppy quilt
    i mostly didn't want to try make a "full" quilt as my first attempt & i knew i wouldn't set up the sewing
    machine right the first time.  plus, binding & basting is kind of hard!

here's the halfways point.  i think half the issue was getting him to stop trying to sit on it as i went through the machine!

as long as you don't look at it close-up, it looks pretty snazzy!

project #2: hamburger pin cushin
    each layer is a different storage for pins -- genius!  andrew approved of my choice of object & it inspired
    us to go to red robin this afternoon, so i consider it a success!

again, genius!

it has multiple issues, such as the sesame seed pattern is on the bottom too & the top "bun" isn't shaped quite right.  details...

i'll let you know what my next project is when inspiration strikes!