Birthdays

I invited family and friends over to our house for Andy's birthday (July 12th), but I forgot to take a lot of photos!

Julie and Lee were very kind and stopped by the Cheesecake Factory to pick up a Cookie Dough Cheesecake for Andy. For those of you that don't know, Andy and I LOVE Cheesecake Factory and have been known to drive to Columbus or Cleveland just for cheesecake. Not to mention tailgating at Crew soccer games with cheesecake!

Andy and his brother, Chris, were having a good time! (Sorry for the bad picks, but atleast there were some!)

The following weekend (July 18th) was Sarah's birthday and the annual canoe trip! Sean (Sarah's husband) had been planning a nice 30th for her for months. I was in charge of the cake (which took a dive in the car but still tasted good!)

Sean had both the sign and shirt made for her. Unfortunately, on Friday (her birthday) it was like 100 degrees so Sarah was a HOT 1978 classic! Tricia (Sarah's sister) bought her the crown and I got her the fun party cup!

Weather was good until Sunday. We woke up to sprinkles and a heavy down poor. We all decided to stay so we tarpped up everything we could and made the "grotto" (pictured below) that consisted of 3 tents.


On Monday morning we had survived the big storm that came in over night (not that Andy and I knew we slept through it all). Poor Kim and Ryan were found in their car. I asked if the "grotto" had failed and they were rained on, but the real reason was that between the thunder and Andy's snoring they could not fall asleep! Everyone asked how I can sleep in the same room with the bear, I said I go to bed first.

New Job!

I guess I haven't written anything in awhile! The big news since last time is that I got a job here in Findlay. No more driving the hour commute to Toledo and filling up my car twice a week! I will be working at Family Resource Center which provides mental health counseling to children between the ages of 2-18. I am going to start out with adolescents and they will train me to be with the little guys in the next few months. I am very sad to be leaving my job in Toledo, which has been difficult letting all of my current clients know that I am leaving. But I will remain at the Private Practice on Saturdays (and maybe one evening a week). I am a little nervous but I am excited to start working only 15 minutes from home!

Kentucky

This past weekend, Andy and I adventured south to Kentucky to see Kelli and Mike get married. Well that was the plan, but we were unable to actually see them get married because of construction on I75, but ultimately it was due to Mangoes and Papayas (thank you Julie for finding out for me and putting my mind at ease). Yes, because of fruit we did not get to Richmond, Ky until 6:00pm and hour after the wedding (but in time for the reception). For proof I snapped these photos, remember we were driving down the highway when these were taken!

The reception was wonderful and the rest of the weekend was great!

We spent Saturday night at Kelli and Mike's playing euchre, the boys won each game but we are going to plan a rematch! Congrats Pool Girl!

Diesel's New Friends

Kelly requested a picture of the Great Dane, so here are some pics of Diesel and his school friends.

Diesel and Gabby (the Great Dane) are starting to be better friends (notice the size difference). Gabby's parents say that the also have a chihuahua that keeps Gabby in her place! They also said that she grows 1 inch a week and doesn't realize it. I found that out when she tried to squeeze under my chair!

Diesel and Gus were saying "hello" Gus is about 1 month older than Diesel.

Diesel has also befriended the lab next door, Sadie. They played yesterday for about a half hour. It is amazing how having a dog can help you get to know your neighbors!

A Day with the Kids

Today Mom and the kids came down to visit. We started the day having lunch and Andy got to try on the "uncle" hat for the first time.

He played "make-up" with Elena (Don't worry he just put it on her)....

and Wild Wild West with Alex. Then we went to "Fort Findlay" located in a park near the hospital. The kids said they loved it and Alex didn't want to leave.
Elena found a good way to cool down!
Elena is in the window to the left.
The fort had a lot of places to hide, this tire swing was actually under the fort.

I had to promise Alex that we would come back another time to get him to leave. After the park we had ice cream at Dairy Queen and went back to our house. When we arrived, Alex wanted to play Wii (surprise) so Andy played with him and after about an hour they had to go home.

That night Andy and I went to see The Happening. Now I am even more afraid when the wind blows! It is a definite must see.

Who is that masked man?

Kindergarten

Last night was Diesel's first day of Kindergarten. There are eight other students representing many breeds: another pug, a labradoodle, a cockapoo, a german shepard, a goldern retriever, a shih tzu, and a great dane. Diesel was suspicious of what was going on.




Here he is finding safety under dad's legs. During play time, we were not aloud to touch our own dog. Diesel made his rounds to the humans but did not pay much attention to the other dogs. Especially the great dane who he would run from. But then he learned that if he was the volunteer he got treats. The next photo shows him wanting to be the volunteer.







The trainer told everyone that in the class each pup represents different personalities and we discovered that Diesel is the strong-willed dog. When all the other pups were doing the activities, Diesel would just bark and run away from us. Finally, it was play time again and he got to explore a little more. Here are some pictures of him and dad playing.



We were given homework and have to spend 15-30 minutes a day working on the exercises we learned. The trainer said that even though he is strong-willed we will end up with a really good dog as long as we follow through. This should be fun!

Skunks and Tornadoes (again)

Yesterday was yet another eventful day in Findlay, Ohio. I started my day getting ready for work. Andy had taken Diesel out for his morning constitution and piddle and mentioned nothing out of the ordinary. He left for work, and it was my turn to take Diesel out. Two steps onto the deck we heard growling from under our feet. I took Diesel back into the house and went outside (through the front door) to investigate. I went into our neighbors yard (a safe distance from our deck) and looked under. Next to our house under the deck I saw an animal with a triangle face and a white stripe down its back, a skunk. All I have to say is thank God it didn't spray us when we were walking above him on the deck! I am also very thankful that it left the deck and we didn't have to call animal control. I think there is a skunk epidemic in Findlay, it is the only road kill I ever see on Co Rd 99.

The excitement continued after work. For the third time in 2 weeks we had a tornado scare. Because of the recent touch downs around us, Hancock County is enforcing a 3-2 siren. What this means is the siren goes for 3 minutes and is off for 2 minutes. The all clear sign is silence for 5 minutes. So as long as the national weather service has us under a tornado watch our sirens will be going off. Last night they went off for 1 hour!

My neighbor and I had been outside looking at the clouds as the storm approached. (I have to add that her daughter just graduated high school and will be attending Michigan, GO BLUE!) When the sirens went off she called our house because she thought Andy was still at work. She said that she didn't want me to be alone and offered for me to come over, but Andy had gotten home minutes before the first siren went off. Next time I might take her up on the offer, she has a finished basement with few spiders. If this continues we are going to have to reevaluate finishing our basement soon! If these tornadoes keep up it is going to be a long summer.