MASdesigns

The Secret Language of Dogs

Or maybe the title should be "The not so secret language of dogs". It's pretty obvious what Tibbi, our Yellow Lab, is trying to communicated. She lets us know when she needs to eat (or want's to eat) by sticking to you like glue until you feed her. She lets you know when she needs to go out by sitting by the back door. It's pretty clear that she want's to come back in by jumping on the door and hitting it with her nails. You know when she happy, she runs around in circles with a toy in her mouth. And this is her way of expressing anger and frustration. 

This is a ripped up kleenex. Whenever she is mad she will go into my office waste basket and take out a kleenex (or more depending on how mad she is) rip it up and leave it in the middle of the room. That's her way of saying "Take that you @@#$%%^%#$# !" It's a little passive aggressive on her part, but you have to admit, it's pretty effective. I know exactly what she is trying to say. Between the crappy weather and too much work on my plate Tibbi has not had much exercise these past couple of days. This morning I found a ripped up kleenex in the middle of the floor. 

Doesn't she just look ticked off. Guess I need to take this girl for a long walk today!

Morning Beauty

This was the scene outside of my bedroom window this morning. My hair was still wet from the shower as I opened the blinds and saw this magnificent sky. So, being the resourceful (lazy) person that I am, I got my camera and simply opened my window and the screen and started shooting. I took a short break to blow dry my hair and when I went back to take more pictures the sky had gone grey with just a tiny bit of pink. So this is my motto for today: beautiful moments are fleeting moments-capture them now!

Winter Fun

This past weekend we visited our good friends the Gilmores. It was time well spent with good friends, great conversations, nerf gun wars, scrap-booking and hanging out watching movies. It warmed up to 10 degrees above 0 on Sunday so we even got some sledding time in too. 

No school today

The wind chill here is -25 so the powers that be have called off school today. The kids are so sad, as you can imagine! I predict today will be filled with games of Uno Attack, Guitar Hero, Club Penguin and possibly some toilet scrubbing (as punishment for the fighting that will, no doubt, be happening)

Here are a few pictures from this past week. 

No-we didn't catch Miranda smoking, that's just her Oboe reed right before her Band concert. You can always tell the Oboe players-they are the ones sucking on their reeds. Apparently, Oboe reeds need to be moist. 

This is how she looks when she is actually playing her oboe. Good Job Miranda-sounds great!

This was taken yesterday-when the temp was a balmy 6. I took this picture as Brad was leaving for school. Even though he looks ready for the cold trek to school he's actually only walking to the neighbors house right behind him for a ride to school. With this Arctic blast my neighbor's been doing the drop off and I have been on pick up detail. 

Stay warm and here's to snow days and quite possibly clean toilets!

A good read

I just finished reading "The Last Lecture". You may have heard about the author, Randy Pausch, since his lecture was all over the news and You-Tube about a year ago. Randy was a 47 year old father of three young kids, husband and computer science professor. He gave his last lecture at the university he taught at after being diagnosed with terminal cancer and given 3-6 months to live. The book isn't a sad story of death, but a celebration of life and how to live it fully no matter how much time you have. I haven't watched the whole lecture yet but I plan to today....with a box of Kleenex handy.

Winter beauty

Sharing a few photos taken at our park down the street. This was after the snowstorm on Saturday that brought 10 inches of the white fluffy stuff. Brian and I took Tibbi for a long walk on Sunday and I'm so glad I took my camera along. 

Strategy or Stupidity?

This is Brad's pet toad Chopper. This morning as soon as Brad dropped a cricket into Chopper's aquarium it hopped on top of Chopper's head. Not only was that a funny sight but it stayed planted on her head for hours! Crickets don't usually last very long around Chopper- she's pretty quick at catching her food. So the question is....was this a great stategy on the part of the cricket....just to sit on the animal that wants to eat it? If so, I'm really impressed. The guts of the little cricket! 

The last time I checked the cricket was no where to be seen. So maybe it wasn't so smart after all!

Caribou Slide Show

Here is the slide show from the Mighty Hunters on their Caribou trip last fall.

This is only a test run. I'm still figuring out Youtube and will hopefully have a complete slide show ready to post soon.

New Year, New Word

Today things are getting back to normal. The kids went back to school, Brian went to work, the house is quiet and the sun is shining. In my book that's a very good day. I was trying to think of how to show "back to normal" with a picture and decided my new 09 planner pages would work. Empty planner pages that haven't been filed up yet with all the stuff that I need to do. So before I make out my to-do list for the day and the week I thought I would take a little time and share my word for this year. For the past couple of years I have read about the concept of choosing a word at the beginning of the year-something to focus on and something that sums up what you want to concentrate on for the next year. I kinda like that idea. It's not so much about resolutions as it is about focus. After thinking about it for a while I've decided on Evolve. 

e⋅volve

 

verb, e⋅volved, e⋅volv⋅ing.

–verb 

1.	to develop gradually

2.	to come forth gradually into being; develop; undergo evolution

I have a feeling this is going to be the year for many changes and I like the word evolve instead of change. Evolve is change, but a slower more deliberate kind of change. It means improving on and making better instead of a sudden 180 degree shift. Even though there might be many 180 degree turns this year I want to evolve with them instead of spinning around in circles getting dizzy. So here's to 2009 and all the changes this year will bring....I'm so ready for you!