Friday, August 31, 2012

The Dog Who Danced


Once again, I found myself reading a dog-related book on my commute.  I enjoyed this book - a story about a woman who is separated from her dog on a cross-country excursion, and the couple who finds him.  The woman goes to lengths to find him, while re-living her journey which made her the dog lover she is today.  The couple, suffering from an unimaginable recent loss, finds their pain being eased and their lives once more bearable because of their love for their new friend.

This book is not sad, it did not make me cry, and a random stranger on my commute did not have to give me a tissue like the last time.  It was slightly predictable.  Did it pass my time on the train?  Sure.  Was it an easy read?  Yes.  Did I learn something about Shelties?  Of course.  Would I recommend it to any of you?  Only if you happen to see it and know you need something to kill a few hours of your day.  I enjoyed it, but I did not love it.

The main thing I want to say about this book though is that the dog kind of forgets his previous owner over time, a month perhaps, if that.  He remembers there is someone else he is looking for and somewhere else he is supposed to be, but he can't remember what specifically.  I recognize this book is a work of fiction, but this concept, upon some minor reflection, made me unbelievably upset, and I wondered if when I left Finn for a couple of weeks when I went on vacation, she forgot to remember me too.  What do you think about that?

Monday, August 27, 2012

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Sea Invasion

I would like the President and Homeland Security to know that if there is ever an invasion by sea, they have a new recruit in Finn.  She doesn't let anything foreign invade her water space.






Poor duckies.  They never stood a chance.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Operation Phat - Secret Path Continues

Some of you asked in my last Operation Phat post what this was referring to.  See, Finn's vet told us she was a tad chunky and so we needed to give her more exercise and less treats.  Since I am not going to call Finn "fat" we decided to call her "phat."  'Cause she's so cool!

So, when last we were walking we decided to stay to the left.  Well, we went to check out the right one day...

Here is the infamous intersection.
Last time, we went to the left.  Here, we are heading to the right.
Just a lot of woods!
And another intersection!
We decided to head to the right again.
Where are we???
We walked on for a good bit, walking in circles essentially!  It's nice to have a group of trails so close by!  And on the way in from our little escapade, we saw two deer, who ran from us fast, so we didn't get a picture of them.  And when we got home, we checked ourselves for ticks.  We've been back in these woods a couple of times now and she seems to love it!  Operation Phat continues!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

August Barkbox!

Our August Barkbox arrived!!!


Someone was very excited about this slingshot toy!




We got some tasty treats and body spray too!


Right, like I said, this is supposed to be a slingshot toy.



We'll see if she'll let us play with it like that any time soon!

Two months of Barkbox, and we are nothing but pleased!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Children of the 80s!

Oh Kong, do none of your design staff identify themselves as children of the 80s?



Whip it
into shape
shape it up
get straight
go forward
now move ahead
try to detect it
it's not too late

To whip it
Whip it good!

Who's with me?

Sunday, August 19, 2012

More of Seein' the Sites - The Skyline

My job has me traveling to various parts of the city to present our outreach programs.
In July, I went to Staten Island, and from the bridge, I could look back on downtown Manhattan, where most of the sites I take you to are located.  

The NYC skyline is in the distance in this photo.  The tall buildings on the left of the skyline is the new World Trade Center (It's directly in the middle of this photograph).


The rusted old bridge is in the foreground.  I try not to think about that.  
And in between in Brooklyn.

It's the same skyline that I showed you in my last post - I get to walk out of the skyline and look at it when I go out for lunch.


Once my husband asked me if I could see the skyline from my office window.

Glamorous, eh?

So here are some images of me being a part of the downtown skyline.  Enjoy!






Friday, August 17, 2012

We Got Mail!!

Way back before the Olympics, we got some mail!!

First, we got our drawing from Bailey's Mom.  It came out so beautiful.  She really captured Finn's spirit.  I'll never know how she did it, but I fell in love with this drawing as I fell in love with Finn herself!




Then, we got another package on the same day!
We signed up for Barbox and this is what we found in July's package!





I am so glad we signed up for this!  We got a squeaky toy, a bag of treats, a chew/teeth cleaning treat, some poopie bags and doggie bubbles!  I love getting surprises in the mail, and this was just wonderful!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Beach Day 2012

Our dog park had its annual beach day!  Finn loved it!

Volunteers dig out this huge pool by hand and then 
guard it with the fence until the moment we open.


And then it's a free for all to get in!





And we're spent!



Monday, August 13, 2012

Now That the Games Are Over...

You know the stories in the tabloids - the Olympic athletes have too much fun over in the Olympic Village and need to unwind, sober up, and adjust back to normal life once the games are over.

Same with Finn.  I think she had a little too much fun at our Olympics, and now, she crashes back at home for a long awaited slumber.




It's tough being an athlete and winning at all those events, you know?

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Can't Find Your Athlete??

Thank you to everyone who sent in your athlete's picture!  

I hope you could find your athlete in the Closing Ceremony collage.
And if you couldn't, here are some close-ups!












That's over 150 athletes!!

I struggled a bit with what to do with all the photos.  I tried to resize all the pictures so that they would all be the same size.  I admit, I think the crabby girls and the turtle are bigger than some of the dogs in the picture, but what can you do?

Then I thought that perhaps I would put everyone in less, but longer, rows.  I wouldn't have been able to get everyone in one picture, so I opted for a square of rows.  I was thrilled with how many folks wanted to be a part of this!  I hope I did the Olympic Committee proud!