Thursday, July 30, 2009

Thankful Thursday...

This week I'm thankful for...Nights out. Good friends. Twins games. Fun times.

Last night we went to the Twins game with our friends Mike, Andee and Nikki. We were with great people. We had $1 dome dogs. The Twins won! We witnessed numerous beach ball parties. We cheered hard. We simply enjoyed the moment.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

He's all grown up now...

In less than two weeks, Cooper is turning two. Cooper is very much my baby and it's bittersweet to know that my pup isn't going to be a puppy anymore. (Two is generally the age when dogs start to calm down).

Today, Cooper did something for the very first time.

He lifted his leg this morning. My little pup always squats --- well, not anymore! (Otis on the other hand, was lifting his leg at 10 weeks old. I'm sure you wanted to know!)

When I saw what he was doing, I exclaimed, "Cooper!" I couldn't help myself.

He looked up at me as if he was saying, "What? I'm not a pup anymore. I'm almost two. I gotta do what the other guys do."

But in usual Cooper-style, he seemed somewhat bashful about it (I swear he was blushing underneath that fur)....and came up to me to get a scratch to let me know he will always be my baby.

Photo courtesy of Katie Mathews Photography.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Thankful Thursday...

It's been a while since I've done a Thankful Thursday post. I keep forgetting on Thursday...and remembering on Fridays.

But for these week, I'm thankful for...

My endurance level being high enough to run a 5k. Last night, Dave and I ran the Torchlight 5K that runs through downtown Minneapolis. Prior to the race, I decided to map my current training route and it turns out the route was only 2.4 miles. That's dissapointing when you think you're running 3 miles! But I was able to run the whole 5k and I feel great today.

Good thing....since I have another 5k on the calendar for Saturday!

The best part of running the race was running with Dave. Dave and I used to run together all the time. But the last couple of years, he's been running longers races so our training schedules didn't match up so well. And, let's face it, I've gotten a little lazier with my running and a little slower, so it's harder for him to run as slow as me. It felt great accomplishing something with my husband.

Monday, July 20, 2009

The price we pay...

Yesterday I found out a guy that I went to high school with died when his jet crashed in Afghanistan.

He left behind a wife and 6 month old twin girls.

I didn't know Tom very well. I only found out today that he had gotten married and had children.

Still. My heart breaks for his family.

For his little girls that won't have any memory of their dad. Someday when they're old enough, they'll hold photos of their proud dad holding them when they here infants. They'll never hear him whisper the words, "I love you," in their ears. They'll yearn to know the sound of his voice. When they lose their first tooth, they'll wonder if their dad would have made sure that the tooth fairy visited. When their sports team wins a tournament, they'll wonder if their dad would have given them a high-five. When they perform in a dance recital, they'll wonder if their dad would have been waiting after the show with a bouquet of flowers. Their dad won't be able to teach them how to ride bikes, or take them on a big roller coaster, or confront their high school boyfriends.

For his wife, for whom "until death do us part" unfairly came too soon. She must now find the strength to comfort and protect her children even though her whole world has just fallen apart. She has to play the role of Mother and Father. She'll never be able to look over at her husband and smile as their daughters walk down the aisle on their wedding days. She'll never again be hugged by the man who makes her feel safe. She'll never get to experience the joy of her husband coming home from this deployment -- she won't be able to run into his arms and be spun around and kissed.

The one thing that these kids will grow up to know was that their dad gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. And they'll find honor in that. And they'll be proud that their dad fought to protect our freedom for another generation.

But that won't bring Tom back. That won't bring this Dad back. That won't be this Husband back. This Son. Brother. Cousin. Friend.

Each and every time a service member is killed in action...this is the price we pay. Each one is a son or daughter. A friend. Most are a brother or sister. Too many are husbands or wives. Fathers or mothers. It's a price we don't hear enough in the news. It's a price that our politicians don't consider enough when they ask our troops to go to war. But yet, it's the price that we all have to bear.

Tom, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. RIP.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Vacuums. Grrr.

When I first got my vacuum, I loved it. So much I even blogged about it...on my own will!! The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser. True to it's name, it erased pet hair from our floor. I used it. A lot.

But less than a year later, the piece with the bristles on it that spins wore out. Where the spinning-thing connects to the vacuum, it's made out of plastic. Friction cause the plastic to melt away and the piece didn't connect very well...which made vacuuming very loud. But I loved my vacuum and was pleased that I could just buy a new piece for it.

We've had that new piece for 7 months now. And the same thing has happened again -- it actually probably happened 2 months ago!!! I'm really annoyed this time around.

Why would Bissell make the spinner attach to the vacuum with plastic?

We vacuum quite a bit, but probably a normal amount for people with pets. And since this vacuum is called the "Pet Hair Eraser," I would infer that it's for people with pets. We have the right size belt (I bought a new one when I got the new spinner). I've been really holding back on buying another new spinner, but vacuuming is making me deaf. I've been waiting to vacuum until I see clumps of dog hair on my carpet. Prolonging the noise as long as I can. Do I buy another new spinner if I need to buy new ones every six months or do I buy a new vacuum? It's still cheaper to buy the spinner, so that's probably what I'll do. But I'm NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Growing forever

Last night, the family headed to one of our local Barnes & Nobles stores to see my dad at his first book signing and discussion for his book, Victory Principles. It's about World War II's Normandy Invasion and takes an indepth look at the mililary's leadership and how their leadership techniques can be applied to people in leadership roles today. Great for anyone who's interested in WWII history or leadership development!



Thanks for listening to that little sales pitch. Now back to our program. :)



In the car on our way home, Amanda was talking about how she loves getting birdies from Uncle Dave. A birdy is when she runs up to Uncle Dave and flaps her wings (er, arms). He throws her up into the air and catches her.

A: I miss when Uncle Dave worked at Home Depot.
Me: Why?
A: He gave me birdies every time I saw him.
Me: He gives you birdies every time he sees you anyway.
Rachel: Soon you're going to be too big to get birdies.
A: No, I'm not. Dave's going to keep growing, and I'm going to keep growing; so he'll always be big enough to give me birdies.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I'm back

Yes, I know I've been MIA lately.

The truth is....that's it's just been a busy and boring summer (yes, at the same time), so I just haven't felt compelled to blog.

I've been blogging for two years now (yes, I celebrated my 2-year blogging anniversary on Sunday), and there are just so many times you can blog about taking the dogs to the dog park and running and weekly thankful posts until all blogging motivation runs dry.

And honestly, my mind has been consumed with things that I don't want to blog about. Things that are difficult enough to talk with best friends and parents and sisters about...and while I've thought of blogging about some of it...it makes me anxious exposing myself, so I've just stuck with my own private journal so that stuff can stay, well, private.

But summer has actually been very enjoyable. We had a great fourth of July weekend.

I took Dave kayaking for his first time. After he got over his fear of flipping over, he did really good.

We went down to St Peter for the Dobosenski annual party....and got our fill of brisket and yard games. But actually, now that it's been a week since the 4th, I could go for more of that brisket.

We also got back home in time to make it to Minneapolis for fireworks with my nieces. They were so excited when we surprised them at the park (Emily actually cried when I told her we weren't going to make it....although she apparently was just trying to make me feel bad. It worked).

And this last weekend we went to a Twins game with my nieces, brother-in-law and cousin. My nieces hung out with a friend of theirs for a while. Their friend loves the Twins so much -- she even set on marrying TC Bear when she grows up. For the upcoming All-Star game, their friend made goody bags for all the Twins players playing in the game, so that they'd have snacks to eat on their trip. My nieces and their friend took the goody bags to TC Bear towards the end of the game. The goody bags were well received, because the next thing I know...we all see my nieces and their friend with TC Bear on the jumbo tron! It was my first Twins game with my nieces and the Twins won...so it was a great day.

The next couple of weeks are filled with work and training for some 5k's I'm racing at the end of the month. My mother-in-law is coming to Minnesota in the beginning of August, so we might have a visitor for a night or two...or more....I haven't heard her trip plans yet.

That's all I got for now. If I still have any blog readers, you're now up-to-date on what's been going on with me and my family. Hopefully I'll get over my blogging rut now and it'll be less than two weeks until I post again. :)