Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Family Time

I spent the last week with my family in North Carolina. It was a great escape from the cold! It also was great to hang out with Dave's family and my adorable nephews. And of course we ate lots of great food! Here's some of my favorite Anthony quotes from the last week.

"Goodbye Uncle Dave. I'll give you a call sometime." (Saying good-bye to Dave at the airport)

"Uncle Dave, when you get another puppy, will you name him Scooby Doo?"

me: "We're going to watch Ratatoullie."
T: "No, it's Ratatootie."
me: "Ratatony?"
T: "Ratatootie!"
me: Ratatummy?"
T: "RataTOOTIE!!"

Uncle Dave: "Tony, you can have Chick-Filet or my toe nails for lunch."
T: "Chick-Filet."

Uncle Dave: "Are you sure you don't want my toe nails?"
T: "You can eat your own damn toe nails."

Diana: "You can unzip your shirt a little bit." (Anthony was wearing a new fleece pullover and had zipped it up all the way.
T: "No, I can't. It's the rules of it."

And some photos, of course!


Saturday, November 17, 2007

An update on me...

Looking through the page with my most recent blogs, it appears that I'm a little bit obsessed about my puppies. I have lots of posts with pics, but none of my posts talk about me and my life. I'm sure you love the doggy pics, but maybe you read the blog so you can find a little bit about what goes on in my life once in a while. It's really not that exciting, but here it goes anyway.

Work really seems to have taken over my life. Especially since the lay offs, I've had a lot more to do, since there are less people around. It's really busy and a little stressful, and the environment is so gloomy and depressing. But the last two weeks, I've made a better effort just to change my attitude about work -- to not care so much about it and just remember that it's just work and the important things in my life are friends and family --and be thankful that I do have a job -- and to just remember work is 8 (or maybe 10) hours a day and I still have the rest of my life to enjoy. Well, the change in attitude has really helped. I'm not so bummed about going to work, and I'm staying more focused and just getting the work done so I can go home. I'm not back to the point where I actually enjoy work, but it's definitely tolerable. Actually, I did enjoy work this week. We went to Reynold's Plantation for three days for an off site meeting. I got to meet a lot of people that work throughout the world to work in communications for my company, and we had some really great work sessions. The resort was amazing. Lots of delicious food and drinks. And I have to admit, it helped bring back a little bit of enthusiasm for working...just a little bit.

So I've done a little bit of fun stuff the last month or so. Beginning with Erin coming home to visit from Chicago. Erin, Melissa, Rachel and I had Girls' Night Operation Snuggly Mittens (part II to our girls' night in Chicago last September -- Operation Cute Shirts). And every time I wear my scuffed up brown boots, I remember Operation Snuggly Mittens. Here's a pic...

And then there was Halloween. Dave, Rachel and I had a Western costume theme. I was a saloon girl, Dave was a gun slinger and Rachel was the sheriff. Here's a couple of pics...


And last weekend, Dave and I took Otis and Cooper down to Rochester for a quick visit to meet Minnie and see Grandma Louise, Ann and Joe. Minnie is Ann's new little puppy. She probably weighs two pounds and Cooper was scared of her....so that was pretty cute (yeah, I know I couldn't get through a blog without mentioning the puppies. I tried!)


Well, that's all for now folks. Until next time!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Best Friends

Otis and Cooper are fast becoming best friends. They love to play with each other, go on walks with each other, and cuddle on the couch with each other. Right now, when Dave and I aren't home, Cooper and Otis are in different kennels, in different rooms. And as soon as I let Otis out of his kennel when I get home, he rushes up stairs to rescue his little brother. Here's some photos from this weekend.


Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Cooper learns to go down stairs

Cooper learned how to go down the stairs yesterday. Watch him going down them his second time. (His daddy coaxed him down the first time.)

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Hello world, meet my little brother, Cooper!

What an exciting weekend for the Minnesota Balows! Otis got a little brother named Cooper. This little guy is almost three months old. Saturday afternoon we drove down to Worthington, MN to pick him up. It was a long drive, but definitely worth it. He's been great so far....slept through the whole night without crying or having to get up to go outside. Today we got to go for walks, explore, sleep and eat. Otis likes his brother and his new best friend!!


Discovering all of Otis' cool toys.

Playing outside in the grass.

Cooper and his momma!
Even Gracie likes Cooper!

The proud Daddy with his pups!



So sleepy after a long day!