Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

While I have always been an avid supporter and am happy you are working on improving the state of the economy and am even okay with you handing out billions of dollars all over the place, I must say: could you please contact MnDOT and ask them to quit working on the roads or at the very least work on them faster? No matter where I turn or what road I use I run into construction. While it is said that in Minnesota there are only two seasons (winter and road construction) this year seems out of control – mostly due to projects you funded with the stimulus package. I appreciate the funds, as I’m sure other Minnesotans do, but the execution of using those funds is driving me nuts.

Sincerely,

Me.

Ellie Videos

A couple of videos for your viewing pleasure :)

Ellie - Day 10

It's been a busy week since I updated last! Ellie had a bout of diarrhea, but she seems to have gotten over that. She also has found her inner puppy and has started chewing on everything in sight and eating every plant, twig, or bug she can find outside. She also has quite the mind of her own. Can we say puppy training? :)

This week she came to my company picnic, went to her first bon fire, met some new dog friends, and was able to actually make it clear around the block on a couple of occasions (that's about her limit for now, though - as soon as she sees the house she races for the door, plants her butt, and refuses to move until we open the door to let her in :)). I can't wait until she's able to make it clear around a lake (and my ankle heals enough for me to be able to make it clear around a lake with her!).

Today Ellie got her very first bath. You can see in the first picture she was a little leery of the whole situation. We have a great sink in our basement that worked perfectly for her bath!

About mid-way through the bath she was positive she had had enough, but she was a good sport, and she eventually just sat there. Once the bath was over Kristin dried her off, and she was thrilled! I think in the end she actually loved the bath! Yay to Kristin for giving the bath and yay to Ellie for tolerating it (and us!).

Ellie and the cats are tolerating each other. If Ellie is tired she will just lay there while the cats sniff her face, butt, and everything in between. If she isn't tired? Watch out. A chase ensues which usually ends with the cats under the bed....although occasionally they'll stand their ground, and Ellie is the one who turns and walks away. But so far there hasn't been any blood, so I consider that a success! :)

Even with her inner puppy coming out, she is still pretty mellow and loves to be held, to play with other dogs, and with kids. She loves her sock monkey and will carry it around with her and has taken over one of the cat beds. I don't think she realizes it has pictures of cats all over it yet ;). It's pretty cute. As is she. Oh, and we pretty much love her to pieces.

Ellie - Day 3

Ellie had lots of time to get settled into her new home today! The day started with me taking her out to do her business after breakfast. She refused. I tried walking her. I tried ignoring her. I tried begging her. Nothing worked. After each failed attempt we would come back inside, she would play around for a bit, and then she would start sniffing around (which we have discovered means she needs to go).

We would go back outside and she would just sit there and stare at me. After doing this about ten times I was super frustrated (did I mention this whole thing started at 6:30 on my day off?!?). I knew if I put her back in her crate she would poop all over in it, so we kept trying. At one point she went running into the spare room and squatted on the rug. Seriously? We had been outside a million times and she chooses to wait and do it on the rug? ARGH. I was determined that she would not poop on the floor, and eventually she did go outside. I've never been so happy to see a pile of poop before. She continues to do well with accidents in the house. The one act of defiance this morning when she peed on the rug was the only "accident" outside of the crate today, so yay Ellie!

She is definitely finding her independence. She is taking an interest in the cats and finally seems to notice when we praise her (which will go a long way to helping with the house training!). We have noticed that she doesn't really know how to play and doesn't really get what humans are all about, so we're working on that. She had a second play date with Kat, Jehn's dog, and while they weren't sure about each other (14-year-old Kat wasn't sure what to do with a 3-month-old puppy and Ellie wasn't sure what to do with such a distinguished old lady like Kat) they didn't kill each other, so it was all good.

We got her a new collar and tag yesterday. She has learned to wear a collar quickly and is learning how to walk on a leash as well. She also learned what "sit" is today and we're working on "shake." She is a super smart dog. I'm so proud. :)

Ellie - Day 2

According to my sister, the world needs daily updates on Ellie for a week or two...so I am going to try to deliver. If you don't want "gag me, she's talking about the dog...AGAIN" thoughts, steer clear of my blog for the next couple of weeks :)

Today Ellie was very busy! She hung out with Kristin this morning and then came to visit me at work. The construction guys outside the building actually stopped working to check out the hottest new chick on the block (Ellie, not Kristin).

She got a tour of the office and met lots of new people. Later, she went to the vet and was given a clean bill of health. After a short nap she went to her very first play date at Sarah and Michelle's!

She came home and had another short nap before going outside to play with the neighborhood kids (she loves kids and other dogs)! Ellie did a great job with house training today and only had one accident when her mommies weren't very smart and left her in her crate right after she ate (they were at PetSmart getting more puppy supplies!).

Hopefully with such a busy second day under her belt she will take to the crate a little better tonight (because it was complete torture listening to her cry last night!). As for Ellie? She is looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow (and having both of her mommies home with her!).

Happy Middle Child Day!

With all the excitement of a new puppy I forgot to say

Happy Middle Child Day!

I blogged about this day last year...talking about how not one person had stopped to tell me that it was MY day. I got the same treatment this year, but hey, there's a new puppy in the house...it's all good. :)

May I present...

ELLIE!

So we've been looking for dogs for awhile now...pretty much ever since we decided to buy a house. Unfortunately, Kristin and I have very different tastes when it comes to dogs. Today, Kristin emailed me a picture of a dog named Tanika, a 3-month-old Welsh Terrier mix. She was rescued from a high-kill shelter in Kentucky and just arrived in Minnesota 5 days ago (she arrived the day she was slated to be put to sleep, btw)! I instantly fell in love and begged Kristin to write to the rescue. She did and next thing we know we are going to meet her (Kristin was going to take me to my internship training, so we stopped on the way)!

We had no intention of actually bringing her home today, but when we saw her at her foster home we fell in love even more. The woman said they don't typically hold the dogs for people, so if we wanted her would need to take her today. We decided we had to have her, and I ran to the bank to get cash for the adoption fee while Kristin went over the contract with the rescue.

Kristin dropped me off at my training and she brought Ellie (since she has only had her name for 5 days we decided it would be okay to rename her) home. Jehn helped with dog sitting for a bit so Kristin could get some supplies.

The cats aren't quite sure what to think of her yet, but Ellie seems to be adjusting well. After having a little accident, she is now sleeping soundly on the living room floor....awww....

I'm in love.

Quick Catch Up...

Things have been a little crazy the past few weeks. I thought I'd give a quick recap on some highlights (beware - lots of pictures ahead!).

My sisters, Cassi and Robyn, and their significant others, Nic and Dejan, came to visit July 22 – 26. It was so great to see them all again!! We went to the Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit (well worth the time and money to see…amazingly powerful). We went to the Mall of America and bowling and had a bon fire at the Como Park fire rings. We also tried a new restaurant or two along the way. Thanks to Robyn and Dejan for all of the housewarming gifts (the flowers, part of the router, the rug, domacica (sp?), and more!) and to Cassi and Nic for their housewarming gifts as well as helping to unpack and set up the router. We’re already planning next year’s gathering, so hopefully this will become a yearly thing.

Kristin, Me, Cassi, and Robyn hanging out at the bowling alley.

Dejan and Robyn relaxing between rounds.

Cassi inspects Nic's eye at the Science Museum.

Robyn tries her hand at eye inspections.

Nic is scared to see the Titanic movie.

The girls hanging out at the Science Museum.

Monday the 27th was our 2nd anniversary! We were both exhausted and spent most of the day lounging around the house ignoring all the stuff we had to do! We ended up going to Bascali’s for dinner. A place neither of had been, but which had gotten great reviews. Kristin thought it was okay, I didn’t like it at all. We headed to a movie, The Proposal, and then headed home to open gifts (the 2nd wedding anniversary gift is cotton – Kristin gave me a skirt and a customizable stepping stone for the garden. I gave her a hammock chair to hang either on the porch, in the living room, or in our bedroom upstairs once that is finished).

On Thursday, the 30th we headed to Wascott, Wisconsin, to Wilderness Way! We went a couple of times last year and loved it, so we decided we needed to make a trip out there at least once this year. We went with Patti from California and Vicenta (a classmate from St. Kate’s). It was a fun trip. Kristin ended up spending a majority of the trip catching up on sleep, and I used it as an excuse to make a little headway in the book I’ve been reading for the past two months. It was a fun trip – peaceful and relaxing as always!

Me walking on the dock

Patti

Vicenta

Kristin and Me by the fire.

We came back from Wilderness Way on Saturday, the 1st. Jessie and Patti’s birthdays were both on the 29th, so we went to a party at Jessie’s that evening to celebrate! It was seriously one of the best times I’ve had in a long time…just what I needed!

Playing the psychiatrist game. I was doing my best

imitation of Emily. Kristin was doing her best imitation of me

and Heather was doing her best imitation of Kristin.

I think we all hit it right on :)

Jessie opening her gifts.

Kristin and Me!

This past Sunday we spent time working in and around the house. I mowed the lawn which turned out to be a much bigger job than I thought it would be. I love mowing lawns…but with all the steep hills it was a bit much for me…I have gotten some really great ideas on how to do it better next time, so hopefully next time it won’t be so bad.

Mowing with the new mower!

Monday Heather and Santiago came for a visit. It was so good to see them and we had a lot of fun. I introduced Santi to the miracle of the laundry chute and taught him how to use the camera. He seemed to enjoy both activiites :). He also read me a bedtime story which put me right to sleep!

Heather and Santi

Santi smiles for the camera!

Santi loves the laundry chute as much as I do!

One of Santi's first photos! I think we have a

future star on our hands!

Santi tries to put me to sleep by reading about

a red barn on a farm.

I had my first day of internship training at The Bridge yesterday. I hope to write more about it soon, but it was awesome – I can’t wait to get started in September!

Consider yourselves caught up. :) The end.