Dog Park

We took Molly to the dog park this afternoon, just in case she was feeling unloved and un-played-with.

There's an old amusement park across the street from the dog park.

Run, Molly, run!

Molly stopping suddenly to grab the ball Stefano threw.  It was a bit dusty there.

Play-fighting witha another puppy.

Molly digging randomly at the dirt.

Oh, and Stefano is doing well, by the way.  He was working from home all week, and went back to the office on Friday.  Not much in the way of pain other than a little bit of a headache, and his only sign of surgery is that he still gets tired out pretty easily.  That's why I dragged him to the zoo and the dog park today after Molly insisted on waking us up at 8 by whining nonstop!! Wait, that doesn't make much sense.

Ok, done posting for the day, I swear.

Denver Zoo!

I decided to take advantage of a beautiful February day and our new zoo membership (thanks Mom and Dad) and  convinced Stefano to go to the zoo.  I had to bribe him with a trip to Tom's Diner (kidding, he had a lot of fun too, he just won't admit it because it's not hockey-related).

By the way, Tom's Diner was the first restaurant we ate at in Denver.  We had just gotten into town after an 18 hour drive with a handful of other civil engineering students, and it was down the street from our hotel.  The conference was downtown at the former Adams Mark (now Sheraton), but as starving college students, we were staying about a mile away in one of the city's sketchier sections.  Not knowing this, and feeling invincible, we wandered down the street, past adult movie shops and liquor stores, and found Tom's Diner.  It's a classic diner, with overweight waitresses that call you "hun", vinyl seats, and greasy food.  And giant milkshakes in creative flavors like french toast or dutch apple pie.  I really think the giant milkshakes are what Stefano loves, but he also loves the memories that the place brings back.

What was I talking about?  Oh yeah, the zoo.  It was an awesome day for the zoo-- perfect weather and not too crowded.  Unfortunately about a third of it is closed off right now for construction, but we got to see plenty.  Ok, time for picture overload...

Puppy likes to hide

When Molly was a little puppy, she crawled under EVERYTHING.  Couch.  Futon.  Bed.  Chairs.  Desk. Etc.  She doesn't fit under much anymore, but if she squeezes she can still fit under the couch.  She especially does this when she's feeling insecure. But it's pretty cute regardless to see her squeezed under there.

Apparently I need to upload pictures more often

So Stefano and I went to the zoo today, and I took a bunch of pictures.  With my real camera!  Not just my cellphone.  So I had to hook it up to upload pictures, rather than just emailing them straight to the blog (which is where most of my just-picture posts come from).

I hooked up my camera to upload pics, and realized I hadn't copied pictures to my computer since the middle of January.  Woops.  So here's some random ones for your consideration.  Lots of pics after the break, and zoo pictures to follow in another post.

Puppy

Molly keeps melting me today. Silly puppy! I have to work so we can buy you food. I can't just sit around playing with you all day.

Beardo the Great

Stefano hasn't shaved since before his surgery. It's getting a little out of control.

Pretty

I was working here last week.... This was taken at the airport by Fort Collins, and it was an absolutely beautiful day-- about 65 degrees and sunny.

Oh, and hey, it's my 100th post.

Thanks for listening.  And looking. :)

Stefano vs dessert

Stefano is feeling better apparently.  So is Christine. Life is good.

Peaceful Saturday

Molly napping, and Stefano playing video games. He's feeling much better!

Helpful Hints (or what I've learned in my first 24 hours of playing nurse)

I feel like I was pretty well-prepared, especially considering that the weekend and beginning of the week turned pretty chaotic (see number 3). But in all my worrying about getting things ready for Stefano, I kinda forgot that I'd be too busy to take care of myself too.

1) Cook (or go out) before the surgery so you have leftovers in the house. Lots of variety is good-- sick people can be so darned picky about what they feel like eating! We have stuff to make dinner, but I don't have the energy to pull stuff out of the freezer. And I couldn't run out for little things the day of his surgery.

2) Do laundry. Being able to quickly grab your favorite comfy shirt out of the closet is really nice when you're rushed for time. Stefano has plenty of clothes, but all he needs is pajamas.

3) Don't let your closest in-town friend / support network get sick. Ok, this really isn't in anyone's control. Christine was sick all weekend, in the hospital Sunday, her mom flew in to take care of her, and ended up having emergency surgery Tuesday. Poor thing.

4) Don't waste time blogging. Wait. This is keeping me sane. Never mind.

5) Have plenty of ice. We usually only keep our ice bin half full since we don't use that much, but now we're going through a lot, between lots of ice water and ice packs. Plus I keep giving Molly ice cubes to keep her busy. See number 6.

6) Stock up on dog treats and toys. She's getting on our nerves today and I just want her to go play on her own! No, Molly, I don't have time to hold your slimy toy so you can tug on it. Nor do I want to.

All-in-all though, we're doing well. Stefano was awake for most of the afternoon playing video games, and wore himself out, so he's taking a nap. He actually seems to be sleeping deeply (I went in to pull the ice pack off his face), something he couldn't do last night or this morning.

Doesn't he look excited??

Daytime TV

I suppose I should be grateful for the daytime TV in the waiting room. I'm irritated at it, so I'm not worrying about Stefano.

He's having surgery on his sinuses today, hopefully letting him breathe better and not get a dozen sinus and ear infections a year.

It's pretty routine, and he should be done in about an hour. I just hate waiting.

Dog Show and Dog Park

Thoughts while I'm watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show:

It's really funny watching them judge the dogs with lots of excess skin (i.e. bassets and bloodhounds).  Their handlers are picking up the skin and holding it out of the way so the judges can see the actual muscle shape.

Really cute beagle!  He looked more like a stuffed animal than a dog.

I really wonder why the trainers all dress so terribly.  I know it's from the awkward combination of dressy + something you can run and move in, but why don't the women wear slacks?  Why the ugly frumpy skirts and flat shoes.


We took Molly to the dog park near our house for the first time this weekend.  She had a couple moments where other dogs bullied her, and she got a little freaked out, but for the most part she held her own and enjoyed running around like crazy.

Life's tough when you're a puppy

Friday

Oof.  I don't know what it is, but this week kicked my butt.  I was in Las Vegas for work Monday and Tuesday, and I think the change from that weather to it being about 3 degrees in Denver really bummed me out.  And when it's cold like this, I just really don't leave the house because its miserable.  And Molly doesn't behave because she's tired of the house too.

Things are looking up though.  It's supposed to be warm over the weekend and next week.  Like, upper 50s.  So excited.  Stefano and I had dinner with our neighbors last night (we were going to go bowling but didn't feel like waiting for an hour), and we're going out to one of our favorite little restaurants for dinner tonight.

Ok, time to be useful.  Like trying to deal with the fact that all the dishes are dirty. And I'm not dressed for dinner.

Really??? Come on!!!

It snowed most of today, when we were only predicted to get "PM snow showers".  It finally stopped around 4, I went out and shoveled, and as soon as I finished, it started up again.  Heavily.

Come on!!!  Seriously?

Disjointed thoughts

Stefano and I are mad at the poodle because she woke us up at 4:15 a.m. crying.  I got up, got dressed, and took her outside, because I honestly thought it was time to get up.

We call her the poodle when we're mad.  Does this make us bad puppy-parents?

It's supposed to get up to 38° today.  I'm very happy.  It's also supposed to snow, but just a little bit, so we'll see.

Work is really slow this week.  It's a slow time of year for us.  It's really hard to stay motivated at work when you don't have enough things going on.

I'm still emotionally recovering from the conference.  Conferences take a LOT of energy out of introverts.  I'm still amazed that I managed to do it.

The poodle is chewing on her tail.  Weirdo.  At least she's quiet.  She has been so whiny lately. Crying for attention.  Crying to go out every 20 minutes.  Crying whenever either of us leaves the house.  Ugh.

Going out for sushi with Christine tonight :-D!  Stefano has hockey tickets, so we're having a girls night. And tomorrow is Friday!  Plan for this weekend: clean up the house and do laundry.  It looks like a tornado swept through the house.  Also, insulate the darn crawlspace.  Maybe go to the zoo if its nice out.

My nose is froze

I'm bad luck for Stefano's hockey team.  Every time I go they lose, and every time I freeze my butt off sitting in the bleachers, they lose miserably.  I think that's the world's way of telling me to stay home under a blanket and watch tv.

It's been miserably cold here lately.  We've been breaking records left and right.  Yesterday was the first day since 1997 that the high didn't rise above zero degrees.  The official high for the day was -1°.  It's hovering around zero right now, but at least it's supposed to get up to around 30 tomorrow.  Phew.  Our house was not built for cold weather and high energy costs!

At least we got part of our crawlspace project done-- sealing off the two vents.  Honestly, we just don't have enough moisture in the crawlspace to bother having them open, and it's already made a huge difference in the temperature of our floors.  Next step will be adding foam sheeting insulation to the crawlspace walls.  Don't look at me as some sort of house expert; the way I see it, everything in our house is so MacGyvered anyway, we can't really do that much harm.

Ok, time to crawl into my frigid (61°; the thermostat is set at 66° but the bedroom loses so much heat it never keeps up) bed and get some sleep.  Thank goodness I don't mind sleeping in the cold, and I have a nice warm husband.