Taylos 1st day at Obedience Class...

Last night was Taylor's 1st day at Obedience Training Class...

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Obviously I could not take pictures, I had my hands full. So this picture is from their website of another class... significantly farther along than we are.

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I was so shocked when I walked up... there were about 50 dogs of every breed you could imagine already there. A few Labs, a poodle, a Labradoodle, a Rhodesian Ridge back, a couple of bulldogs, a boxer, a collie, a sheep dog, a few mutts... it was quite an array.

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I was so nervous, Taylor does not do well with distractions and this class was all about distractions! That is why they sign up so many at a time... they believe the more they can learn with distractions, the better trained they will be in the real world of distractions.

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Well until we started working with the dogs, we had to sit in a half circle and listen and watch the trainer demonstrate techniques. But don't let your dog touch another dog.

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Okay, easier said than done.

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My puppy can pull 12 refrigerators by herself!!! She is so strong!!!

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My arms are so sore from hanging on to her all night.... I am literally crippled today, and I have leash burns across every knuckle!!

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But the good news is, she did really well and we have already been working and practicing on walking on a 12 foot line and she is no longer pulling me down the street. Now my little Taylor does use the full 12 feet at this point... but it is okay and she is learning!

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I am so excited to have hope of imaging this...

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Off-Leash Obedience
Imagine this: you stroll through a meadow while your dog romps in the sunshine. A rabbit bolts and your dog starts after it. You give a one-word command and she wheels around, bounding cheerfully back to sit expectantly at your feet. Another command from you and your dog heels sedately at your left side. You stop. She sits attentively. You tell her to lie down and stay and you walk off to investigate something. You give the release command and she frolics off to continue your companionable outing together. No leash. No shock collar. No food bribes. No panic. You have full confidence that your dog is under control. At Scotch Pines Dog Training we believe that true obedience must extend beyond the six foot leash. Because gates get left open and leashes slip. Because real life, even in your backyard, is off leash. Our goal is to instill off-leash reliability whether your dog is walking with you along a mountain trail or a city street, whether there are other dogs or children about, or even whether a cat zips by.

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Wouldn't that just be too weird, to have her not rip out of my hands when a cat "zips by"!!!

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There is lots and lots of homework (I hate homework), but if you don't do it, "you and your dog will flunk"! So I guess I am now committed!

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So if you need me, I will be at the park training and bribing kids to distract my dog so she will graduate obedience class!

The Neighborhood Water Issues...

Our little neighborhood has a pump that runs the irrigation water down to all of our houses, and it seems since my strong silent mysterious man who works on pumps for a living moved on the street, he has been silently elected to get the 1st call when anyone notices a lack in pressure, or any water issues at all.

While he is really good at what he does, this just has not been a very healthy situation at our house. It normally comes at the most in-opportune times, and never when he is feeling generous and willing or able to deal with the problems.

Well last week was no exception, he had been working tons of overtime and finally made it home late one night, only to receive several visitors from the neighborhood asking about why the water pressure was so low.

So he walked down to the pump house and started assessing the situation... at some point, I decided to walk down to see if I could help out (yeah right). When I arrived on the scene, there was a very heated argument going on between my husband and another man and what appeared to be his wife who lived down an adjacent street.

Apparently, the valves that indicate how much water goes down which pipe can be manually adjusted and this guy was taking the liberty of moving them to serve him efficiently, not taking into consideration anyone else down the line.

So to make a really long story short... my peace making skills kicked in... and the man who felt like since he had lived when all of this land was pastures and fields, he had control of the water, finally agreed to work with me on a schedule, all was better.

In the meantime, all the lack of water flow had caused a major gush of leaves and junk into our pump, so we recruited another neighbor and they pulled the pump to clean out the filter.

Not as easy as it looks...
Several thousand pounds...Some herkin' tools and straps...
But they got it lifted, disconnected, cleaned out, re-connected... and lowered back in place...
It was a dirty job... hey where is that teenager?
Yeah, don't be thinking your going to get out of working when there is heavy lifting and dirty cleaning to do!!

He was a great help to his Dad... and at least willing this time!

We have so many single ladies on our street, a strong silent man comes in handy!

I am so thankful my husband is so generous and giving of his time and talents in these situations. He is a good guy!

But the word "water" is a touchy subject at our house.

Fathers Day 2008...

Sunday was Fathers Day and Uncle Fred invited us over to Lucille and Waynes, and Tom and Cathy were coming over along with some of Lucilles family.

We had such a good time visiting...
and the food was amazing... Uncle Fred had grilled some chicken and roast.... yum!
We got to play with the baby... and get to know some of Lucilles grand kids a little better.

One of the boys had served his mission in the southern states and learned to make boiled peanuts!!!!!!!!

OMG ~ They are my favorite in the whole world... I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!

These things really bring back memories from my childhood trips to stay with my grandparents during the summers.

He didn't use green peanuts, but roasted peanuts from Costso... and they were pretty good!

Not quite as squishy, but really yummy!!!

Here is Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy...
And Aunt Lucille...Peggy and her daughter Brooke... (cooling down a sunburn from the day before)
And Peggy with her husband...

I love being with family, and I miss my family so much. It was a great day, and fun to be with family for Fathers Day.

The Teenager goes camping with horses...

Well last week before "the virus" I dropped the teenager off at a leaders house to load up horses and gear to go camping.

They had planned a big campout and the leader was bringing horses so the could ride and work on a horsemanship merit badge.

From the beginning his Dad and I did not have a good feeling about this, and the more we thought about it, we really didn't want him to go.

There were just too many elements with boys who are not used to being around horses out a hundred miles from anywhere that could happen and it would not be a good situation.

The teenager was determined he wanted to go, but agreed not to ride any of the horses, so he took a bike to ride trails while the others were on horses.

I was surprised at how easily he complied once we explained our concerns.

(especially since he argues and tries to negotiate every other rule that is layed down around here).

So with all of those issues out of the way (other than the leaders making us feel like we are the meanest parents in the world for not letting him ride, not that I care what they think about how I parent my child... but it would have been helpful to have them back us up on the deal).
As they packed and loaded... it turns out only 1 other boy ended up showing up for the trip.
But they all agreed they wanted to go anyway... 2 boys and 2 leaders and 3 horses, and one bike.
Oh and of course... one really BIG belt buckle.

(thanks to his cousins and a little influence from living in Idaho, he is really into big belt buckles, but not boots or hats yet... go figure)

They finished loading up and were off!

He made it home safe and sound and had a really good time, and didn't break any of the no horseback riding rules. And didn't even seem to mind. He had a super fun time.

So something to add to my list of things to do this summer, take the teenager horseback riding where he can learn all the right things to do and not do, and in a more controlled environment, with responsible people, and access to the hospital if necessary.

Computer Virus...

I am recovering from a horrible bad computer virus!

It wasn't catchy through our address book (so your safe)... but because of a really naughty teenager who broke the biggest major computer rules of do's and don'ts, and who will remain nameless

oh, and grounded, without any computer priviledges,

I had to clean it all up not only on one computer in our house... but TWO!!!

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I am not even going there... I was not a happy camper!

But I have not been blogging all week because of this nightmare.

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The good news ~I have still been taking pictures (of everything except the beating of the teenager, just kidding, kind of) to remind me of what I was doing each day when I wasn't spending hours and hours doctoring up the computers. You know, in my OTHER spare time! So I will be catching up and blogging about those memories.

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And for those inquiring minds...

the teenager lives....

for now....

only because both computers survived...

and I am sane...

barely...

and extremely EXHAUSTED!!!!

Happy Anniversary!

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man and I celebrated our original Anniversary date of 16 years. The teenager had gone camping Friday night and was still out Saturday when he asked me if he could take me out in the Z car for a ride on our Anniversary.

Of course I was excited for any quality time together alone with him, so I jumped in, not even thinking about what I was wearing or how I looked.

The tour began through downtown... one of my favorite places in any town, I love the city.
And I got a shot of this car wash... it had the most beautiful landscaping I had ever seen at a car wash before!
This would be JR Simplot's home... and I don't know the whole story, but I understand he donated it to the State of Idaho and moved downtown into a penthouse suite in a downtown apartment building, and this home over looking the city was to be used as the governors mansion... but the current governor is his ex-son in law and his new wife refuses to move into the home because it used to belong to his ex-wife's family...

To each her own... but sorry, I'd move right on in, no problem!

(provided I had someone to mow the lawn, dust and clean all those windows for me)

We were having such a lovely drive...

and then we began to climb in altitude... and the road got really curvy!

Back and forth... and back and forth....

(way curvier than this sign indicates)

Uggggg!

I get so car sick on curvy roads...

But the view was more gorgeous the higher we got...
Awwwww.... I have never been to our local ski resort...

Always wanted to go here... how romantic!!

Well it would have been much more romantic with snow.... but still!!

I was impressed by the thought...

(I impress easily)

So I knew I had to capture this special moment on this special day with a photograph of the two of us... so I set up the camera with the timer on.

And even though I wanted to hide behind him... I was a good sport. I am sure I will be glad I took it, and was in it with him... one day.

When I got it home.... it reminded me of a picture we took with the timer when we were dating... in San Francisco with Alcatraz in the back ground from the top of a building.

I guess he has a history of taking me to the highest point to get the best view!

We definately have changed since then... but I know I am more in love with him than ever... and 16 years ago I never ever thought that would be possible!

(Sounds cheesy, but so true)

Happy Anniversary Baby!