welcome to our low-key weekend.

this is my way of showing you that nothing too exciting happened on our low-key weekend:



j-money figured out how he can effectively get away with stealing our sock balls by hiding under the bed immediately after being discovered.

we took a sun-bathed nap.  well he slept.  i read "womens health" & dreamed about actually being motivated to workout.

 


andrew finally came back from his last skiing weekend of the season!  i ran out of things to do on my to-do list, so it was perfect timing to get out of doing chores.  (where did the classy hat come from you ask?  pond skimming competition.  they celebrate the end of the season by trying to make it across the pond on their skis. make it: you get a hat.  don't: you get a towel.)



the last retreival of the camera brought about documenting my make-shift kong.  who knows where the original is.  this ones a little more creepy. (thanks to gus - his nd bff)  no hesitation, so don't worry.

i think that's really all we've got!  i've been addicted to a book trilogy called "the hunger games" -- but luckily that tween guilty pleasure was finished up yesterday.  now, it's on to tina feys new book & i must say it is hilarious!!  thanks to ashley [sister] for recommending it!  it's a must-read to anyone who needs a giggle -- especially on audiobook, so you can catch the tones of each chapter from tina herself!



bromance.

enough said.  here is a picture explanation of what is caught on my phone on almost a nightly basis.  notice how i said "phone" -- obvious poor quality, but i couldn't run the risk of losing the chance to capture the lovely moments these two share.

you thought it was a one-time deal, right?  not even close.

  i finally got andrew to admit that he more than "likes" jack now.  he won't declare it, but it's written all over his face.  (& sorry for the unflattering, awkward position that you have to view jack at in these 3.  clearly it was worth it.)

sidenote: jack smelled terrible in this picture.  like rotten wafflecrisp.  (or whatever that mid-90's maple syrup cereal was called.)

not placed here -- promise.

 the reason for all the bromance?  i don't know.  perhaps because i'm the one that gives the baths (done shortly after we couldn't stand the tainted maple syrup), disipline giver, spray bottle supplier -- oh yeah, & the one that will proclaim that i love him!  what's up with that?  love triangle.  classic love triangle.

update.

poor jack.  housesitting for a long weekend lead to both of us getting leash-sick.  we were at clint & connie's house, which includes a cat that's not impressed with jack & apparently delicious, irrisistable cat food -- so unless we are in our bedroom, he is on a leash 24/7.  this leads to a lot of crying, biting (of the leash), & getting sick of eachother.  so, it didn't take long for me to innocently lead him outside & clip him to the deck.  i was really hoping the breeze would carry his cries down the hill, but after some close observation, he was actually enjoying himself!  SUCCESS.

here's some proof that i'm not knowingly neglecting my dog:



getting his bronze on.



playing predator.

honestly, i don't want to know what he's prowling on.

my last jack story:   we've been trusting him around the apartment as much as you would a 4-year-old.  he knows his place, but can sniff out a spare button sewed to a tag from across the room.  [he has no shame in chewing these out.  even if it's a favorite cardigan.] 

hilarious things that occur when we're not watching incclude trying to eat the grout between the entryway tile, eating bird fecies on the deck, staring at us from a distance, trying to dig holes between the couch cushions (with nothing below), hiding toys under both couches, staring at us from the other side of the couch -- & much more.

one other thing is crying in the bathroom.  we can hear echos of cries randomly.  is he a 16-year-old girl dealing with the struggles of high school?  no, no.  when we go in there, he's staring at the bathtub.  all he wants to do is drink the tub water!  is that weird?  i've heard of dogs drinking from the toilet, so maybe it's the shorty equivalent?  so, as the enabling owner, i feel that it is within my duties to drop him in a let him go to town.

yeah, i turned it to sepia so you couldn't see the tinge that's going on in our tub. might as well admit it.

in other news:
i accepted an offer to return to camp galileo this summer as a lead science instructor & next week will officially be the head coach of our swim club.  i'll be dropping my lifeguarding & water fitness classes for the summer & there are no zoo classes -- no 12 hours days here! -- & have already purchased a little mini-crate for jack to live in at camp.  i'm excited for summer to begin! 

last,  NEWS FLASH: andrew suggested that he stays home this weekend from skiing!  he even brought home his equipment this past weekend without me interviening. 

what's the score you ask?  skiing: 11  wife: 3 

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!