Through a Dog's Eyes

Do you ever wonder what life looks like from the eyes of a dog? Sometimes I look at Max and wonder what his days are like. I guess this is pretty typical for him...

5:15 a.m. - Lie in my kennel watch daddy come down the stairs. Listen to him eat his cereal in the kitchen, watch him put on his shoes in the front hall, and then watch him leave for work.

5:20 a.m. - Go back to sleep.

7:30 a.m. - Wake back up as mommy comes down the stairs. Stand up and step out of the kennel as she lets me out. Stretch front legs. Stretch back legs. Yawn really big.

7:31 a.m. - Trot to the back door and go out to potty. Make the rounds of the yard, inspecting the entire fence line for squirrels, birds, rabbits, and other interlopers.

7:40 a.m. - Watch mommy turn on the sprinkler to water the plants, and RUN back into the house. The sprinkler is very scary. (One time it got me WET.) Watch as mommy puts dog food into my bowl. Sniff it, but decide to save it for later.

7:42 a.m. - Bark to remind mommy to open the window shade behind the couch so that I can see out the window into the back yard during the day.

7:45 a.m. - Jump up onto the couch for a quick snooze while mommy works on the computer.

8:15 a.m. - Climb the stairs to watch mommy run on the treadmill. Get bored with it and go back downstairs.

8:20 a.m. - Bark at people and dogs walking in the park across the street. (Note to self: this is a particularly good time for this because mommy is on the treadmill, so she won't scold me.)

8:30 a.m. - Go back upstairs to the workout room. Lie down for a nap.

8:50 a.m - Follow mommy to the bathroom while she showers. Lie down outside the door for a nap.

9:10 a.m. - Go back outside to potty one more time before mommy leaves for work.

9:15 a.m. - Come back into the house and watch mommy leave for work. As she drives away, bark very loudly at all dogs in view across the street.

9:20 a.m. - Climb the stairs to see if mommy or daddy left anything interesting in reach. Check mommy's night table for used Kleenex. Check the floor for shoes or dirty clothes. Bring all treasures that I find downstairs to the dining room and make a pile of stuff under the table.

9:25 a.m. - Make a round of the downstairs looking for shoes. Add to the pile of chewables under the dining room table.

9:30 a.m. - Sniff the entire kitchen. Jump up to pull any food off the counters and eat it right away. Destroy the evidence by hiding it behind the trash can.

9:31 a.m. - While I'm near the trash can, stick my face inside it and rummage around for stuff that smells fun to chew. This includes cardboard, food, and plastic wrappers. Pretty much anything, really. Add all of this to the pile in the dining room.

9:40 a.m. - Spend an hour or two lying on the dining room rug under the table, chewing on all treasures.

11:15 a.m. - Get a sip of water from the kitchen, and then head into the living room. Jump up on the couch to survey the back yard. Bark at squirrels and birds.

11:20 a.m. - Lie down for a nap. I'm exhausted.

2:45 p.m. - Wake up from nap. Go to front door and look for mommy's car. Lie down on the dining room rug and watch until mommy comes home from work.

3:30 p.m. - Hear mommy's car drive up. Run to front door and bark to welcome her. Remember that you were naughty and made a mess while she was gone. Slink up the stairs or behind the couch to hide and hope that she doesn't notice.

3:32 p.m. - Get scolded for getting into stuff and chewing up shoes.

3:33 p.m. - Go out into the backyard to potty and make the rounds of the fence line. Chase off squirrels and birds.

3:45 p.m. - Come back into the house. Eat the food in my bowl while mommy washes the dishes and does early work for preparing daddy's dinner.

4:00 p.m. - Follow mommy to the couch and push my way into her lap, making sure that I'm between her and the laptop so that she will hug me and pet me. Settle in for another nap in her lap while she works for a few more hours.

7:30 p.m. - Wake up and follow mommy around as she does laundry and cleans up the house. Keep a close eye on the front door to watch for daddy coming home.

8:30 p.m. - Watch mommy make dinner. Keep watching the front door for daddy.

8:45 p.m. - Daddy comes home from work! Greet him with barks, yelps, jumping, and lots of energy. Wrestle with him on the floor while he tries to take his shoes off.

8:50 p.m. - Sit at the top of the basement stairs while daddy does his workout down in the basement.

9:15 p.m. - Watch mommy and daddy eat dinner on the couch. Jump up onto the couch and push my way in between them while they eat so that I get the maximum amount of attention at all times.

9:30 p.m. - Watch mommy go upstairs to get her night shower. Eat any scraps off the floor that might have been dropped during dinner. Then lay in daddy's lap on the couch while he plays video games. Squirm periodically so that he remembers to pet and talk to me.

9:45 p.m. - Potty outside one more time before bed. Lay down in my kennel with a doggy treat while daddy gets his shower.

10:00 p.m. - Lights out - time for sleep!

Beach Trip!

A few weeks ago, we went on our annual summer beach trip to Hilton Head Island with my family. We were worried that we wouldn't get good weather, since the ENTIRE week before had been rainy, but it was perfect! We all had a great time. Our beach house had a great view, a nice kitchen, a pool, and a hot tub! We went to the beach every day, and we found all kinds of cool shells because of the storms that had come through the previous week.

New Garden Pictures

We got a new camera this week, and I took a whole bunch of pictures of our back yard! Here they are...

A picture from the side alley














The sweet william!














The back right bed, with hollyhocks, salvia, and marigolds...



















one of our tomato plants - they've just started growing a lot...














the better boy tomato bed














the climbing beans are finally coming up!



















our dreamweaver roses are climbing the trellis














the snapdragons underneath the tree roses














I love these new annuals, but I can't remember their name



















I love these, too...



















don juan climbing rose



















these are pretty, too...



















The tree roses have really started blooming!



















Here is one of the pots beside the grill



















The pots beside the deck stairs.



















The bed in front of the house!














I put in hydrangeas, patriot hostas, azaleas, and impatiens...




























Here's a view of the back yard from our bedroom window...

Garden Updates!

The April rain made a big difference in our yard. Here are some pictures!

I put in some hydrangeas in the front yard.














Here's one of our encore azaleas, which I put on each side of the front steps...



















The climbing roses are doing well.



















...and so are the lilies.














here's the first sweet william blossom!














another of the climbing roses...



















I created these planters to put in front of the grill



















here are the pansies on the deck!














The lettuce is doing well in the rose bed.



















Our curved side beds are doing well.














one of the lettuce plants














the peonies are going to bloom soon



















the daffodils in the front of the house bloomed like crazy

Nighfloat

A couple of weeks ago, James finished his third nightfloat rotation at the hospital. Basically, that means that he works a 30 hour shift on Sunday, and then he works nights from Monday through Friday morning. He sleeps all day Saturday, and then on Sunday morning, he starts it over again. So I thought I'd share some pictures of the call rooms at Barnes, b/c that's where James lived for three months this year...















here's where he keeps his toothbrush, razor, saline, etc.














Sometimes I borrow a mattress and sleep in the call room because when James gets to the end of the nightfloat month, he sometimes sleeps through his pager!



















here's his locker (notice the random Lipitor magnet)



















and here's the bathroom

One more week...

I thought I'd update everyone on what's been going on with us lately. For the past three weeks, James has been on a nightfloat rotation at the hospital, which means that he works a 30-hour shift every Sunday (through until Monday morning), and then he works every night from Monday to Friday. He usually has the Saturday off, although he did have to spend one of his Saturdays taking the board exam. In any case, it's exhausting. He has only one more week of it, though, and then he'll be back on regular rotations for the rest of the academic year. This is the third month of nightfloat that he's had to do this year.

I've been pretty busy, too. We have 12 guys trying to graduate in our program next month, so I've been overseeing (and editing) their dissertations. I also had to write the grant report for the Lilly grant that funds the Center for Ministry Leadership, so that took quite a bit of time as well. I'll be happy when it's the end of April, and all of this end-of-the-schoolyear stuff is complete.

Max has kept busy, too. He has an aggressive schedule of naps, snacks, chasing birds, barking at passersby, getting into the trash, and digging in the garden (for which he gets into a lot of trouble.) His favorite time of the day is when his daddy comes home from work, and he loves to jump around and make lots of noise!

Back Yard in Early Spring

We've started working on our back yard, and it needs a TON of work. Here's some of what's going on...

We started digging out curved beds on both sides of the yard.



















Max isn't much of a help, but he keeps you company!














He loves "his" yard.



















We're planning to put a double brick border along all of the beds.














Our first and smallest bed...now it has lettuce and shrub roses in it, but this was before we planted it up.














good soil...


































A new climbing rose along the new fence.














One of our old roses that we brought from the carriage house garden - see all the new sprouts!



















The lilies that we brought are coming back, too!














We put pansies into window boxes along the deck. James wanted purple and yellow b/c those are his fraternity colors!














Our peonies are coming back, too - they're growing fast now.

Rock Climbing

On a cold day a few weeks ago, we went to REI so that James could go rock climbing. He was awesome - his first time up, he decided to climb the expert wall. He got to the top in less than 30 seconds!!! The woman overseeing the rock climbing wall said that they would have to make some of the hand holds "off limits" to make it harder for him!

Hooking up the harness...














Climbing onto the wall...



















halfway up



















almost all the way up



















at the top!!

New Fence

We got a new fence put in on three sides of our yard. The other side already had a wooden fence. We LOVE it!

February Fun

I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything to our blog, but we've been busy! Here is a little of what we did this month....

We vacationed at Big Cedar, which is a resort owned by Bass Pro Shops down in Ridgewood, Missouri (just below Branson, on the Arkansas/Missouri border). We rented a boat and went fishing on Table Rock Lake!














James loved driving the boat, but he let me drive it some, too.














We ate at the White River Fish House, which is also owned by Bass Pro Shops














Self-portrait














James by the lake, just beside our cabin.



















We also went to see the orchid show at the botanic garden. This is a picture of the climatron...



















My favorite orchid at the show...














Then we went to the St. Louis Auto Show! This is the SUV that I want to buy...














This is the truck that James wants...














I've also started some plants and seeds in the house to get ready for spring. This is a lovely amaryllis that I grew!