Dog Days and Cosmic Nights

This past weekend, Noa, Mike, Jess, and I all went out bowling at the beach. It was our lucky night: Cosmic Bowling Night. Although I would never consider myself a bowler, I have to say that I actually improved on my game, although that was until I had some beer. Then I was pushing to get 5o. And no, I was not drunk - just slightly impared in my already poor bowling skills. Nevertheless, it was a fun night and Jess took some cool photos.

On Sunday, Jess and I met up with a bunch of friends at the dog park and spent almost 4 hours there! I made a little collage of photos to share some of my friends' beautiful canine companions - they are all so wonderful. I got to meet a girl named Jen, who works with Jess and owns they beautiful Vizsla (Riley) pictured. It was fun to talk with her and have my dogs around, since Vizslas are a lot like German Shorthair Pointers (my next dog - after Japan, of course). Riley did well around Sadie and Gunnar, which is promising for future prospects. After our long visit at the park, we headed to St. Johns Town Center to grab some coffee with the dogs. Unfortunately, the temperature decided to drop and since we had to sit outside with the dogs, we had to get creative to keep them warm - notice Gunnar is sitting inside my fleece. Although it was freezing* we still sat and chatted outside while trying to warm ourselves with hot coffee. Of course, we couldn't have any deep intellectual conversation about the state of the world, since every person that passed us by wanted to pet the dogs and ask questions about them. Jess is so good about this. She's now so used to being out in public with Sadie and Gunnar that she simply pretends that they are hers and answers the many questions we get. You never know, maybe I'll convert her to become an IG mom someday! It was a fun, relaxing day - friends, dogs, and coffee - it doesn't get much better than that!

*Really, it was cold - probably around 40 degrees. I know that it's still not as cold as New England, but I think that temperature warrants some need for a hot beverage when sitting outside.

Lucky Pie

After getting out of my six-hour class this afternoon, I was happy to get home and find a pleasant surprise in my mailbox. I had ordered the dogs some cute tees from Ruff Ruff and Meow: one to replace the shirt that was inside Sadie's crate when it got stolen (long story - I'd rather not go into it) and one for Gunnar, to make it fair, After all. Sadie's says "cutie pie" and Gunnar's reads "rub my belly for good luck." I know I'm biased, but I think they look just darling. Plus, notice how well the collars match. Bonus, baby!



Now the pups are ready for Sandy Paws next weekend. I'm really looking forward to the event. It'll be nice to get out of Jax, even if it is only for a weekend. It's been a hard, draining week - mostly because of school work. I think this is my most intense semester of grad school so far. So, a weekend away to Jekyl Island with some of my IG buddies and our fur kids is a much needed (and appreciated) escape.

Why Elephants Don't Visit

Here are 5 reasons elephants don't visit our apartment anymore.

Furkids

Many of my friends know a lot about my dog Sadie, since we've had her for almost 3 years now (she'll be 3 in May), but Gunnar, our puppy is only known by many through online pictures. Gunnar will turn one at the end of June, but he is still very much a puppy. It has been a trying year learning how to train this little guys who is Sadie's complete opposite. She is sweet, loves attention (especially by the boys), and quite a little snuggler. He is a rambunctious ball of energy, a mamma's boy, a shredding machine, who recently learned how to lift his leg (not a good thing, since they are paper trained for the indoors!). He also seems to have a flatulence problem at times, which doesn't help keep our friends around. Although we got Gunnar to be Sadie's buddy, she was resistant to him upon his arrival. Things between the two of them have gotten better; we now catch them curled up in little balls, sleeping next to each other on the big chair in the living room. Still, there are times of sibling rivalry - one of them always wants what the other has, but that's to be expected.

Gunnar's most recent pursuits in testing the limits is paper shredding. This started with him walking into the office and pulling out a paper from the trash can or a bag and running with wild fury into the living room and shredding the malicious paper to pieces. It was actually pretty funny most times to see him get so fired up over an innocent piece of paper. Well, that behavior has escalated to toilet paper and paper towel shredding. We have to keep all our bathroom doors closed because IGs love to grab hold of the end of a roll of t.p. and run as fast as they can through the house. Today I was doing some cleaning in our bedroom/bathroom and had a roll of paper towels on hand. I stepped out of the room momentarily to talk to my friend on the phone and I returned to find that Gunnar had redecorated during the few minutes I was out of the room.


I don't get upset when these incidents happen - it was my fault for leaving the paper towels unguarded and to be honest, Gunnar probably had a blast creating such a scene for me to find. The scene reminded me of our first v-day here in which Sadie "redecorated" our living room using the roses Noa brought me for the holiday. Thankfully, I was able to see the humor in that incident too.

This weekend Jess and I took both the dogs to a pet expo in Jax that was hosted by the Humane Society. I wanted to post pics of the event and the many dogs that I wanted to take home (one of which was a great dane!!), but my computer has decided to be difficult lately and not let me use the picture sharing program I usually use. So, the photos are in Jess' computer for now and I will have to wait on that one (although I think she blogged about it). Theses pet events are absolute heaven for me considering my passion for all things canine. In two weeks, I'm headed to Jekyl Island with some IG buddies for a fundraiser weekend for retired racing greyhounds. I'm praying for beautiful weather considering it will be on the beach. The weekend's past expo got me excited for this upcoming trip, called Sandy Paws, since I talked to one vendor who will be there with his hounds.

You can bet I'll have a lot to blog about that one! Until then, I'd better go clean up Gunnar's creation and check all the bathroom doors.

Down In the Mouth

I hate going to the dentist. It's one of those childhood phobias that never went away. I get extremely nervous and anxious. My palms get sweaty, I get dry mouth - the whole nine yards. So, my solution to this phobia for the past year was simple: ignore it and it will go away. No, I didn't ignore my teeth, but I abstained from making my bi-annual visits. Unfortunately, my "solution" finally caught up with me two nights ago. While I was flossing my left back molar, I realized that something had just become dislodged in my mouth. Looking in the mirror, I realized that a filling had completely come out of my tooth. Now there is a large chunk missing from it.

Due to this unfortunate turn of events, I broke down and made an emergency appointment with the dentist for today. As usual, I got anxious, sweaty, shaky - the works - but there was no avoiding it, since I knew that I couldn't ignore the hole that was now in my tooth. Come to find out that the reason the filling popped out was because some decay started forming on another part of the tooth and pushed the filling off! The dentist told me that she had good news and bad news. The good news was that I came in to get it looked at right away. The bad news? It's possible that I may need a root canal! Great. Just the thing to fight this phobia of mine. I've been instructed not to eat or drink from that side of my mouth until I get it taken care of. So, now I'm going in on Monday morning (guess that means I can't do storytime at B&N - which I really love doing) to get the decay cleaned away (doesn't that sound pleasant??) and she'll assess whether I can simply have the filling replaced or whether I'll need to have a root canal. What a way to start a week....ugh...



Take my advice: never, ever ignore the dentist.

Another Birthday!

Yes - this would be the third birthday of the week and once again it's a good friend from back home. I met Vanessa in college and we were fortunate enough to be on the same team that traveled to India one summer. Vanessa and I also lived together our senior year of college, when our guys got to be good friends as well (both are big sports fans). Vanessa and I have shared many good (and not-so-good) times together between our psycho neighbors, blizzards that caused the garage to collapse, our weddings, and ultimate Killer Uno championships (of our own doing - what canI say, we love playing games!!). We've had a lot of fun together over the years and I wish that this year I could be around to celebrate with her.

To my dear friend, Vanessa - Wishing you a fun, memorable, and happy birthday! Wishing you all the best in the coming year! We miss you and Marc!! - Julie

My Other Sister

I've known Cristyn since I was two years old. Our families grew up living next door to each other when we were kids living in Billerica, MA. After both families moved away, our parents remained close and Cristyn and I found ourselves both enrolled at Gordon College many years later. That's where we got to reconnect as friends. Since then, it's been just like it was when we were kids. We spend holidays together, we were in each other's weddings, and we are able to talk about anything. I've always considered Cristyn to be a sister and even though we live hundreds of miles apart, I still consider her to be one of my closest friends.

Today is Cristyn's birthday and I wanted to send out a HAPPY BIRTHDAY post to her today:


Cristyn-
Wishing you another year of blessings and joy! I'm sure Aaron has a special day planned and I hope that you can celebrate with those who love you. Although I can't be there in person to celebrate with you today, know that you are in my thoughts. Eat a piece of cake for me. I love you!
Happy Birthday!
-Julie

Threatening Visitor

I'll admit that I like Valentine's Day. I like the idea of a day that honors love. Personally, I think everyday should be a sort of Valentine's Day, but the way this holiday has evolved, it's become so commercialized that we'd all be broke! Anyway, I'd like to say I'm a purist and resist the notion of gift giving for Valentine's day, but that would just be denying my nature. Those of you who know me well, know that I can't resist the urge to give gifts - I thrive on it!

The way Noa and I treat V-day is to acknowledge it with smaller tokens of appreciation - usually, a card and a small gift. This year, he was on call at the hospital, so I put together a small package and went to visit him that evening. His main gifts were a book he had been wanting and a framed picture for his office. While I was putting this package together prior to V-day, I found myself at Hallmark cracking up over this stuffed lion. When you squeeze his paw, he rattles around and makes a deep purring sound. It was hilarious! Normally, I wouldn't dream of buying a stuffed animal for Noa. We aren't the kind of people who "decorate" with stuffed animals and of the few small ones that are in our home, they are exclusively for the dogs. I knew it would be a perfect gift to embarrass Noa at work - well, at least make him blush.



Yesterday afternoon when he came home from work, he brought home the affectionate beast and the dogs immediately noticed this threatening visitor. As soon as Noa was out of the room and I was busy elsewhere, they decided to show this "cat" who ruled this house. Thankfully, the camera was all charged up, so I was able to capture some of the drama. It was quite a scene between the dogs growling at the lion and the lion deeply purring back. Although it was quite comical, I decided to rescue the lion before Gunnar had the opportunity to pluck out his beard.

So, Mr. Lion will be put away until next Valentine's Day. Until then, all is calm in the Hammer household.

Blink of an Eye

I have not slept well this week and the effects are much to obvious to my naked eye. Let me explain: while doing some observation work yesterday at a local elementary school, I realized that my left eyelid was twitching. I tried to to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop. After the observation when I was talking to my friend who teaches at the school, I saw her look at me funny and I realized that once again my eye was freaking out. For the rest of the day, both eyes had fits of twitching that were not only embarrasing in public, but increasingly annoying as well.

So after some investigation work and checking with Dr. Noa himself - it's probably due to fatigue and stress. The solution: rest. So, today, after working a morning shift and doing some studying - I'm "resting" - yep, I've given myself permission to nap today - as long as I want. Today will be otherwise known as Take-It-Easy Day, and I plan on doing just that. Read a litte, nap a little, eat some, read some more, nap some more., etc. I choose to do this for the wellfare of my annoying eyelids and will not feel guilty one once for doing so. And if you need me - sorry, I'll be in bed today.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

....but Sadie's feeling warm!
We are still having our cool weather and I'm implementing a sweater rule in the house so that we don't have the heat up too high. Sadie, of course, has to don her heart sweater on this festive day (with the coordinating v-day collar, of course). Actually, the Hammer household doesn't have big v-day plans, since Noa is on call! So, it's me, the dogs, and a stack of textbooks just pining for my attention. I'm doing some observation work this afternoon at a local elementary school and then it's study, study, study! I'll need to take a study break this evening, so I may just have to pay a visit to the good doctor himself. :)



This morning in the midst of our hurried routine to get out the door on time, he presented me with a v-day card and a Starbucks gift card - guess he knows my penchant for Starbucks' lattes! Perfect for those sleepy afternoons when I really don't feel like studying. You know, it's those little things that mean so much, like when he makes my coffee for me in the morning in my travel mug in order to give me 3 extra minutes to get ready. Or the many instances in which he comes to see the millionth IG picture I've found online (and does so with a smile) and I know he humors me by walking through the entire Target store every time we need to run in to pick up something. What a guy - I couldn't be more blessed.


I love you, Babe.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Tally-ho!

Before you read this post, know that I was having some photo issues today, so I apologize if the photos seem a little scattered!!

After class on Saturday, I drove to Tallahassee to see my good friend Erica, who was celebrating her birthday this weekend. Not only was it great to see her (I don't get to see her very often), but it was my first visit to our state's capital, Tallahassee.




I arrived early Saturday night. Soon after my arrival, we met some of her friends at Chez Pierre - a classy French restaurant. The food was absolutely divine and the place was quaint and sophisticated. After our scrumptious dinner, we went to her friends' apartment for an even bigger celebration with more friends arriving, eating some lovely chocolate cake, and finishing the celebration with a killer game of "Apples to Apples" (one of my favorites).






Although it was a freezing* on Sunday, we decided to tour the city. First, we headed to the capital building, where we made fools of ourselves by taking photos of our heads lying on the capital lawn (notice the above photo). I think we were amusing the drivers who were waiting at the traffic lights in front of the capital.













Next stop: Florida State University, of course (you can't go to Tally without visiting there!). I got to see all the main sites there as well - Wescot Fountain, Bobby Bowden field, the student union, and all the random statues, which opened up many photographic opportunities (and more opportunities for us to make fools of ourselves in public - again notice the interesting photos above - oh, and yes, I am trying to look like I'm making out with the statue. I think the cold was getting to my brain).





Lastly, I got to see her new place of employment, working with the recreational division of the school at a conference/recreational site. Every workday, Erica gets to walk the beautiful grounds of the conference center - complete with a scenic lake! It seems like an extremely fun environment to work in - my sister (the recreational diva that she is) would love it!

All in all, I had a blast. The trip was way too short, of course. Erica is one of those friends who I can just "pick up where I left off" - there's never an awkward stage when initially seeing each other after long absences. Plus, she's my "southern friend" who teaches me all about southern life. She recently reminded me about the time I asked, "So Erica, what is the deal with Nascar down here?" (people are slightly obsessed with Nascar in these parts**). It was fun to see some of her life over in Tally and spend some qulaity time together celebrating her birthday. I can't wait to visit again, except next time I hope it's warmer!


Oh, and once again: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERICA!!

*One of the bank signs I drove by recorded a temperature of 39 degrees. For Florida, that is darn cold. I know it doesn't compare to the gallons of snow dumped on New England and other parts of the east.

**I still don't understand the Nascar obsession.

Why English is So Hard

I wanted to share a part of a handout I got from one of my profs today. I thought some of you may find this amusing too. This is only a part of it:


The English Language: Reasons Why English is So Hard to Learn!
1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. After seeing a tear in my pants, I shed a tear.

You ship a truck and send cargo by ship. How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.



And I thought Japanese was tough!!

Champions!

The Steelers?!



No - Mike & Noa!!






Notice the matching shirts that Mike and Noa are wearing. The two of them are always finding some way to compete with each other; usually the competition involves the game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" (or what we refer to as "farkling"). It could be a farkle to see who has to run back to the car to retrieve a forgotten item in the rain. Or it could be a farkle to see who has to eat a leftover mound of ketchup on a plate at Steak and Shake. As long as there's an once of competition involved, you can bet the boys will farkle about it.

A couple of weeks ago, Jess and I stumbled across these "Rock, Paper, Scissor Champion" shirts at Target and instantly thought of the boys and their competitive game. So, we each bought one for our respective hubby. We decided that instead of telling them that we each bought one for them, we'd just tell each boy that we found "him" a cool shirt. I told Noa, "you should show this off at the Superbowl party!" (knowing Jess would tell Mike the same thing). So, on Superbowl Sunday, we all laughed so hard when Noa opened the door to show Mike his newest shirt and then both of them realizing they were wearing the same thing!! Ha ha ha! We got 'em good!!

Oh and yeah, it was a good game and all, but hanging out with the Apostles is always a blast.

Found!

A puppy. A Hubby (not mine). A Language.



Yesterday, Bettina invited me to join her in the morning to pick up her new IG puppy from the airport. The little girl is so cute and Louie (from previous posts) seems thrilled. Bettina and her family have been through a lot in order to bring a happy, healthy puppy into their home and I think they are just going to love her!! Who couldn't resist this adorable face?! Her coloring is similar to Gunnar's, except her muzzle is very blue (Gunnar's is white and blue) and her body is mostly all a light fawn. She's a sweetheart and she did well playing in the yard yesterday, considering she had been in a crate all morning on the airplane. She doesn't have a name yet, but I'll keep you updated.

**EDITED TO ADD: I just found out that this little cutie got herself a name: Maya. Cute!




Late last night we went with Jess to welcome Mike home at the airport. He had been away for two weeks to do some training with the Army Reserves. Jess made a cute sign that read: MISSING: ONE HUSBAND. It was a pretty comical welcome home since the planes had been delayed due to weather, so that by the time Mike was walking off the gate, Jess had run to do a quick bathroom stop, Noa was talking with some people to get flight information, and I was left waiting alone. So when I spotted Mike, I gave him a warm, welcome home hug and tried to get him to go back in order to do it all over again so that Jess could greet him with her sign.
Anyway, I'm glad he's back since the four of us hang out all the time and it gets weird when one person is gone. It's kinda like missing your right arm or something. It's good to have our right arm back (by the way, I put Jess' blog on my links - check it out!).




Finally, for those of you who don't know, Noa and I are slowly trying to learn some conversational Japanese. Although it's somewhat difficult and takes time and practice, we are actually really enjoying the process and it's a fun car activity, which makes the 45-minute treks to Mike and Jess' house very productive. The fun part is coming up with ways to remember the words. For instance, the word "you" in Japanese is "anata wa" and we remember it by thinking "another one". We've been using the Pimsleur method, which involves listening and repetition, which seems dull, but we actually enjoy it and it seems to be working! Sayonara!

Oh Canada!

Yesterday we recieved a package from Canada-land. It was new collars from our friend Trish at Dog Dayz!

I never thought I'd be one of those pet owners who dress up my dogs in frilly outfits and take them about town in a bag. I won't do that - and I refuse to put them in a bag, unless absolutely necessary, like on a plane. But, by owning Italian Greyhounds, I found that their need for warmer clothes when its cool (they don't have much body fat, in case you haven't noticed) is a fun way to express each of their personalities, but still meet their need. Yet although I've vowed to never become one of those dress-em-up-and-take-em-out types, my closet has a small bin with a collection of coats, shirts, and sweaters! Oh my gosh, I may actually be turning into that crazy dog lady!! Maybe it's a maternal instinct of sorts being projected onto my furkids or maybe I am going too far, but I promise you - neither of them will wear a frilly dress ever!

I've found that having a selection of different collars for the dogs is a fun way to change things up a bit and show some personality without subjecting them to "let's play dress up" . So, after finding Trish, who makes the best martingales money can buy, I've begun to build up a collection. Gunnar is sporting his new "evergreen" stripes collar and Sadie is celebrating V-day with "huggy kisses" (Noa cannot believe I bought this one for her. With all the pink and the hearts, he thinks I'm going off the deep end!).

They Really Exist

So, I've been working at the customer service desk at the bookstore this week and it never ceases to amaze me the kind of things people ask or say to me:

"I like this map book, but it's from 2003. Does the company have a more recent edition?....No? Well, then can you sell this to me for 50% off since it's old?"

"Hello, um, yes. Do you carry any books put out by St. Martins Press*? Oh, you do. Which ones?"

"I'm looking for a book and I don't know the title or the author, except that his name begins with a D and the book is about society."


The last comment happens much too frequently than one would like to believe. When I've had a day full of these comments, I just keep repeating the mantra: I love my job. I love my job. I love my job.

*St. Martins Press is a one of America's largest publishing companies and puts out about 700 titles a year.

Lovely, Simple Weekend

It's been a great weekend.

It started with a date night with Noa (see the post below). Saturday I had my bi-weekly class, which I really enjoy actually (call me a dork, but this educational pyschology is interesting - we are studying classical and operant conditioning). Saturday evening, Jess and I got to hang out and spend Saturday night together making a new blog for her and watching "Newlyweds" episodes. She took some amazing pics of the dogs, a couple of which I'm including in today's post. She's incredible with a digital camera. I can't wait to say, "I knew her when..."

But I digress....today brought another trip to the dog park like last Sunday. As usual it was heavenly. There were 6 other IGs there today!! Plus, on the way out we saw some friends who have a huge great dane (who looks like he's dressed as a dalmation) and 2 adorable German Shorthair Pointers that inspire* me. Also, Noa and I studied Japanese some more (Nihonga ga wakarimas ka?), he got my iPod Nano up and running (oh yeah, now I'm living in the 21st century), and I got to use my new (well, from Christmas anyway) asparagus steamer (thanks, Mom!). It doesn't take much to make me happy, but all these things were definite highlights of my weekend.

I love the simplicity of it all - hanging out with friends, watching dvds, going to the park. It's such simple, easy fun - I cherish every minute of it. Sadly, it ends much too soon.

*For those of you who don't know, this is the next breed of dog I would like to own. Whenever I see this couple, I always ask a million questions about there GSPs. I'm sure they get annoyed with it, but I want to be informed and learn as much as I can and these people are friendly and helpful. I really want one...someday.

City of Old

Noa and I finally had a night off together, so we decided to visit St. Augustine - America's oldest city. We've been there many times, but we seem to fall into old patterns when going on a "date" there - same restaurant, same routine - but it's still fun and doesn't get old. I guess that's because we don't get to have a date night there very often. Our favorite restaurant is O.C. Whites which is right on the water and is housed in an old mansion from the 1700s. Noa enjoyed the salmon (which his doesn't get often since I have a strange aversion to seafood). I had the Jamaican Rum Jerk Chicken - mmmm - spicy!! After that, we enjoyed a walk through the downtown, on historic St. George street, which is still decorated with lights from the holidays. Again, our traditional date in St. Augustine is dinner at O.C. Whites followed by ice cream from Kilwins. This time we decided to shake things up a bit (we're so crazy) and went with the chocolate peanut butter fudge at Kilwins. Yum. It was a great night to hang out, catch up, and enjoy the pleasures of the Old City.

Oh, and if you are wondering about the photo with Noa looking extremely happy, it's because we passed a wax museum on our walk and one of his heroes just happened to be "standing around."

It was bound to come up eventually....

Yep, you guess it - THE DOGS. Since I'm terrible about keeping in touch with family and friends I hope that this blog can serve as a window into our lives. Of course one of the biggest parts of our lives is our dogs, Sadie and Gunnar. We just love 'em and they keep us entertained. My favorite thing to do on the weekends is go to the dog park (I'm going to add the link on the side of my blog). This past weekend my friend Bettina and I took our IGs to the dog park to play. It's such a neat opportunity to hang out, meet new people and dogs, and let "the kids" get some energy out. The funny thing about the social aspect of the park is that you meet people through their dogs. Sometimes you never even know the owner's name, but you'll know their dog's name(s), birthday(s), favorite thing(s) to do, bad behavior(s), good behavior(s), etc. I talked with a guy this past weekend who's dobby is named "Trouble" (aptly named after eating a corner of their pool table) and I finally found out what his name was - two weeks after meeting him and Trouble. Last week Trouble ran around with Sadie and Gunnar, another dobby, and a terrier named "Duce." Did I ask any of the owner's their names? Nope and they didn't ask mine. It's part of the culture there, I guess. You have to at least wait until the 2nd play session to get a person's name. It is after all, about the dogs.

Anyway, the blue Italian Greyhound posted above is Louie, Bettina's playful boy. His tail is always wagging - he is soooo happy. Gunnar, who is now about 6 and a half months, with his newfound treasure and then Sadie, who turns 3 in May, looking sweet - she knows how to pose for the camera! Lastly, the IGs decided to pile up on Bettina, including another IG, Buster, who frequents the park as well.