State Fair Hijinks.

What a great Labor Day weekend! Why? Because 1) we had some pretty awesome visitors and 2) it included a trip to the Minnesota State Fair.

That's right, Brother Boo and Girlfriend-of-Brother Boo visited us for a final hurrah as autonomous human beings (i.e. before the tiny dictator makes his appearance in the next few weeks). Games were enjoyed, fetch was played (with Clyde), and lots of food was eaten. Especially at said Fair:

Sadly, I didn't make it to this trip to the Fair given the super-pregnant status. BUT, I did get to enjoy some Fair festivities earlier this week when Man Boo and I did a trial run one weekday evening so that I could see if I would be able to manage a hotter and more crowded trip with the whole crew. Ultimately, we learned that I couldn't -- it's really hard to strike an appropriate balance of hydrating enough not to trigger Braxton Hicks and not having to waddle to the bathroom constantly -- to make the trip enjoyable for all. Don't worry though, because I definitely got to satisfy some really strong cravings for Fair food -- one of which may have included chicken in a waffle cone. So good.

Besides, I also got to partake of cheese curds through the magic of Snapchat.

(This may have been my petulant response to all of the pictures of food being texted to me)

Clyde found two new best friends and was basically at "11" all weekend with the energy. Scott was a sucker when it came to caving in and playing fetch with him for much longer than Jamie and I could ever endure. And Ruth, was the Clyde whisperer...Jamie and I basically didn't exist for Clyde this weekend. Since they left, he has been a sad former shell of Weekend Clyde. Moping around listlessly and giving intense puppy dog eyes in the hopes that we will bring back his friends.

(Puppy dog eyes intensify)

We even had a surprise visit from our beloved friends, the Weitzes, who were in town and hijinks were had. I'm not sure I'm allowed to share video sample of that hijinks, but it was a great way to end our weekend.

And finally, we're almost to the finish line at 36 weeks and 4 days! Less than a month to go...which is pretty good news since this is starting to get pretty uncomfortable...

Not So Innocent.

Clyde's latest service dog trick?

Crafting a shiv from his favorite chew toy:

I'm sleeping with one eye open tonight. This is clearly the face of a killer.

(Blep.)

I should cut those talons too...

Wonderpup.

One of the biggest life changes since just before the hiatus was the addition of this little guy to our family.

Clyde is SO much fun and such a good boy -- if not a bit hyper at times.  I truly believe he is the most perfect dog alive: so friendly, so well-behaved, so smart, and just so damned handsome.

Anyway, a few weeks back I realized that I should start taping some of his training sessions so that I can remember how awesome he is long after he goes to be with his forever family. I stitched some of those videos together and made this quick video!

He's actually got many more tricks up his "sleeves"so I'll probably try to capture those in time too and make some mega-compilation (with real music) eventually. But for now, this totally warms my heart!

Boundary Waters

I won't pretend that my daily life is blog-worthy by any means -- most days are some combination of the same thing. So to keep things interesting and to jump-start the memories, I figured I would start blogging again by posting about highlights from my year of absence.

I'm going to start with our trip to the Boundary Waters (also known as my first-ever canoe trip).

Let me start by saying this: everyone should go to the Boundary Waters as much as they can.  It is such an intimate and glorious way to experience the wilderness and I cannot wait to get back out there again.

Now that I've said that, I also have to admit that our first couple of hours out there was pretty much a comedy of errors. Like, one of those buddy cop movies where things get worse and worse and you can only laugh.  See this?

Within a minute of taking this picture, both dog and husband were in the water. Clyde couldn't wait to get in the water, and in his excitement created a domino effect that ended with a big shove to Jamie much to the amusement of seasoned canoers around us.  By the time we got out in the canoe Clyde's excitement hadn't abated and a 60lb dog running back and forth on a canoe isn't the most fun for someone (me) who had never canoed before.

We "pulled over" and tried rearranging things a bit putting Clyde up front with me rather than having his way in the middle of the canoe.  This was much more successful as we quickly learned that Clyde had just been trying to get to me the whole time...once there he just went to sleep with his head in my lap.  

Once making it to land for our first portage, we strapped on our hiking boots.  I took my first step and the sole of my boot came off.  Incredulous, I took another step to get to a rock and investigate when the sole of the other boot came off.  I no longer had hiking boots and I had only taken two steps of an estimated many miles.  We forged on -- for the first time I was grateful for my thick-soled Incan feet.

The second important lesson I learned was to never trust Jamie when he told me it was safe to walk somewhere.

Shortly after this picture was taken, I was fully submerged in the water (Clyde jumped in after me because he's a good boy) because Jamie assured me that the grass on the right which is clearly floating ON TOP of the water, was solid ground. Despite my proving it was not to him with an oar, he still insisted that I step on it to get in the canoe. Those pants were wet for the rest of the trip. Jamie was sheepish for the next couple of hours.

Despite all of this, it was still an incredible day and totally worth it.

We spent four days out there, with each night at a campsite even more picturesque than the last. We had a whole island to ourselves in Lake Cherokee and I don't think I had ever seen Clyde happier -- he had a forest to run and lake to swim at his disposal.

We enjoyed the solitude together and took in the incredible feeling of being in a place so quiet and pristine.

We managed to make it the entire trip without tipping the canoe in a lake (the one time it did sort of tip was when we parked it and Jamie was about to get back in, but I'm not counting that) and without any of our gear lost to the lakes.  Clyde did lose some his treats from his treat bag, but I like to think that was just him sharing food with the fish.

Ultimately, we paddled and portaged SO many miles...

...but the incredible scenery made those miles fly by.  That, and the fact that Jamie carried the canoe by himself when we portaged. He assured me it was easier that way, but I'm not so sure...

Boundary Waters gets two enthusiastic thumbs and four fuzzy paws up!

That is the Question.

After over a year of absence, the obvious question becomes: "is it even worth trying to get back into the blogging habit?"

Of course, there are pros and cons. Pro: I just spent the last 15 minutes skipping through some of my old blog posts and thoroughly enjoyed that.  It'd be good to have that experience a year or three down the line and have memories of now.  Con: time is as tight as ever.  Pro: keeps me somewhat connected to old friends? Con: really not sure if they check here anymore...or if this would pop up in those Google Reader (I know I'm out of date) type feeds.

Ultimately, I am deciding to not just continue blogging, but to double down on my blog posts!  Granted, there was only one blog post in all of 2015, so "doubling-down" would only require two blog post this year...I'm halfway there!

Two major reasons I'm trying hard to get back into a routine: 1) This post of my niece, Leah, reading Mother Goose. Seriously, time really flies and I want to do a better job of capturing it and 2) Jamie and I just put down some big bucks towards our upcoming trip to New Zealand.  I'll definitely want to post about that trip on here.

I even enrolled in an advanced photography course so that I can take my pictures to a new level on this trip.  I'm going fully manual and I'll be able to share my success or failure with that endeavor on here.

And of course...remember this guy?

Well he....

...got...

...BIGGER!

And don't worry, Cody's just the same...(awesome).

Hope someone is still out there reading!

2015!

This is always an exciting time of the year -- full of possibility and plans for the year ahead.  It's pretty unbelievable that it is already 2015.  Not sure why, but it feels like a milestone of some kind.  We may not have Mr.Fusion-powered, flying time machines yet, I still hope it will be a good year!

Clyde turned 8 weeks old today and has acclimated to his new "home" very well and I'm already convinced that we have the smartest and bestest dog of the bunch.  He came to us sleeping through the night (win!), mostly potty-trained (double-win!!), and has already gotten a good handle on his first two commands.

Here he is showing off his "drop n' watch".  It's the "default" position for our service dogs, so I'm excited that he's already on his way.

While he doesn't know how to tell us when he needs to go out yet, he knows to wait until he is outside to do his business.  As an added benefit, he always goes within seconds of us taking him to the designated spot.  A major plus given the temperatures as of late:

To be honest, it's probably because it's so cold that he goes so quickly, but I'm not complaining.

Clyde and Cody are not best of friends yet.  Clyde is way too over-eager for Cody.  I give it a few more weeks.  

Clyde's first class tomorrow!  I'm so excited to see him reunited with his brothers and sisters...

Maximum Cuteness.

About this time, everyone has written about their year -- reflecting on the highs and lows.  I have so much to catch up on, I'd rather just share some of the memories from the past week.

Starting with these two...

Can you believe how much they have grown??  Can you believe how beautiful they are???  The picture cannot capture how smart, sweet, and hilarious they are so just trust me when I say they are pretty incredible 6 year-olds.

Of course, we capture a lot of video during our holiday with the family.  Unfortunately, we haven't been able to edit it together yet -- stay tuned.

In California, we were busy with our families, eating good food, enjoying our gifts, and sharing quality time with our loved ones.  We even had time to take a quick trip to Big Bear for some skiing!  

We headed back in to "chilly" Minneapolis last night and woke up bright and early to pick up little Clyde.

Our little service dog-in-training has been a great addition to our household so far.  He's super-smart -- he already gets that outside is for potty and has consistently gone within 10 seconds of us taking him out.  The frigid cold air may have something to do with that, though. We also hear that he already sleeps through the night.  Time will tell.

He doesn't quite seem to get how dog beds are supposed to work yet, but I'll chalk it up to first day fatigue.

Happy New Year everyone...

Pupkallah.

You know what looks kind of like babkallah but is infinitely cuter?

A PUPPY PILE!  They are at 7 weeks now and most of them will be going to their homes on Friday.  Can't wait to find out which of those golden little furballs is going to be our buddy for the next two years.

Puppy Update! (PUPdate??)

Remember when those puppies looked like this?

(Yeah, they're named after different colors for now)

After 4 weeks, they looked like this...

Then...at 5 weeks...

...and as of yesterday, they had their first outdoor adventure.

I should note that I haven't met the puppies yet.  All of these pictures were taken and shared by their caretaker (momma dog's owner) and fortunately, she's a prolific and excellent photographer.  I cannot get enough of these puppies.

Puppies are supposed to go home the day after Christmas.  Unfortunately, Man Boo and I will have to wait a few extra days to meet our puppy since we'll be out of town.  Can't wait to meet the little guy (or girl).  

Minnesotan.

Last winter, people assured me that it was unusually cold.  "The coldest winter in my lifetime!" they said.  "If you can make it through this, you'll be a true Minnesotan!"  I smiled and wrapped my new winter coat tighter around myself knowing that this was simply a "trial by ice".  The spring finally did come and it was followed by a really glorious summer.  I felt good about surviving my first winter in Minnesota and felt even better knowing that this upcoming winter wouldn't be as bad...

What the eff, Minneapolis???

So maybe it's been cold all over the U.S.  In fact, for the first time in many decades all 50 (!!!) states went below freezing last night.  And, the rumor is that it is actually going to be a pretty mild winter this year.  It's just getting all of the cold stuff out of the way early.  So we hope.

In the meantime, here is a video from yesterday of the puppies to warm your heart.  They're getting so big at two weeks now!

Helping Paws.

So here's something!  After a lot of deliberation, Man Boo and I made the decision to foster a service dog!  Crazy, right?

We have always wanted a dog.  Despite having two cats, we're both "dog people".  Sadly, the kind of dog that we wanted (i.e. the frisbee catching-type) was never a realistic option because we did not feel we had the time and space to provide a good home for one.

The stars began to align when we moved to Minneapolis and purchased a home with more space and a backyard larger than a postage stamp.  They aligned further when I realized that working from home provides me the time and flexibility to provide care for a puppy.  And finally, when we met Tango...

...at the Helping Paws demo at the Minnesota State Fair this year, we really began to think much more seriously about the possibility.  After plenty of research, sitting in on training classes, and conversation we took the leap and put our application in.  

A couple interviews, references, and a home visit later we were invited into the Helping Paws family as foster parents to a puppy from the upcoming litter of Labrador puppies.  "Our" puppy was born on November 5th...

Mommy dog gave birth to 10 puppies and while we don't know which one will be ours (for the next two years or so) we do know that he or she is somewhere in that heap of adorable.  

I'm probably going to obsess over this puppy for a while, so I hope you all are alright for puppy overload in the next months.

The next question, of course, is why a service dog?  I'll save answering that question for another post...