Reason #89 Why I'm Awesome

I caught a fly ball in softball tonight.












With my face.











Ow.

Happy Stuff #6 - Dogs

If you haven't yet been able to tell by my ubiquitous Toby postings, I'm kind of a fan of the doggies.



I mean, I sorta think they're kinda cute and all.



Oh, who am I kidding, I friggin' love dogs.

Not just my dog either, but pretty much all dogs. I mean, I might even like some dogs better than Toby. Namely dogs that don't eat iPods, bags of powdered sugar, books, shoes, etc.

I have been known to google image search "puppies" when I'm having a bad day. I can generally say after looking at a face like this for a few seconds, I somehow always feel a little better:



I'm not sure if it's his dopey expression (made more dopey by his crosseyes), his goofy smile or just his general gumpy demeanor - whatever it is, Toby makes me smile pretty much everytime I look at him.



Well, maybe I don't smile after he's destroyed something.



Nope, dang it, that picture still makes me smile.

Now, it's not just my dog that makes me happy, it's pretty much dogs in general. I came to write this entry today because I happened upon two fantastic articles about how great pups are.

The first is a picture article, about a program called Puppies Behind Bars.

Basically, it's a program where inmates at prisons help train service dogs and it warms my heart. Now, generally, prisoners wouldn't garner a warmed heart from me. I love the program for many reasons though. Why not get something useful out of these men behind bars? And dogs can increase moral and compassion in people too - so I'd imagine the prisoner would come out a better human being after training the dog.

This led me to another article about, Tuesday, a emotional service dog. It's about a dog that helps a veteran dealing with a multitude of psychological issues.

I'll just post one of my favorite parts from the article:

On a recent afternoon, Mr. Montalvan and Tuesday walked to a nearby subway station. The platform was crowded. Mr. Montalvan began to look agitated. Tuesday, who had been lying at his feet, jumped up and stood between his master and the nearest cluster of people, creating a buffer. Mr. Montalvan's breathing noticeably stabilized.

So, this post is for all the pups in the world. Thanks for being man (and lady's) best friend.

Sweet Home Caledonia

Andy and I tend to travel a lot during the summer. We obviously enjoy traveling, but we also really enjoy being lazy. This weekend we got to stay home and make our own plans - and I had as great a weekend as ever.

Friday - Shopping with Kim - best friend in town from North Carolina. Lunch with Kim and her family. Evening pedicure. Andy coming home safely at night.

Saturday - 2 cups of coffee and the crossword. Long walk with the pup. Long run with me, myself and I. Fulton Street Farmer's Market. Afternoon beer and burger at the Ottawa Tavern. Afternoon ice cream at Coldstone. 10 year HS reunion at night.

Sunday - Sleeping in. Meeting, holding and pinching the cheeks of my new niece Abbygail. Dinner at Fowlerville Farms. 2 hour evening nap.

Simple.

Relaxing.

Wonderful.

An American in Guangzhou

I've gotten to speak to Andy twice since he arrived in China. They are 12 hours ahead of us - which causes Andy to say "Good Morning Honey" when he calls me at 7 pm. It's now Wednesday there which is our tomorrow but it's Tuesday here which is their yesterday. CONFUSED YET?

Here's what's happened so far:

• When the plane landed in China, Andy started to get up but was told by a flight attendant in broken English "You sit temperature?" Andy decided to just do whatever the guy in front of him was doing - and the guy in front of him was sitting. He sat waiting for about 30 minutes when finally one of ten men in full biohazard suits approached him and took his temperature. Welcome to China, the Land of Swine Flu Hysteria.


• This actually extends to his workplace too. When he is dropped off by the van in the morning, the security guard takes everyone's temperature before allowing them into the facilities.


• At lunch yesterday (today?) he had to pass the chopsticks test. This required him using chopsticks to get a greasy peanut out of a dish. He passed on his first try.


• His lunch included fish head, which he said was delicious. He even ate the eye of the fish. One husband's delicious is this wife's Fear Factor challenge. He is eager to try chicken feet.


• Guangzhou has 100 million people. I thought about typing that out with the zeros, but figured I'd lose count along the way.


• Well traveled people with whom he has spoken have told him that Guangzhou is the worst city in the world (seriously) for driving. They went to dinner last night. It was a half mile from the plant. It took them an hour and a half to get there by car. My sketchy math tells me they averaged .66 mph.
  


• The road that goes from his hotel to work is a 3 lane road. However, apparently "lanes" are just suggestions there, because this 3 lane road carries 5 rows of cars. Due to this fact, Andy says no cars have side mirrors and the drive is a semi-scary experience.


• He described the weather as "95 degrees and 100 percent humidity." He wore a long sleeve shirt. Because his white skin didn't scream "I'M A TOURIST! I'M NOT FROM HERE!" enough.
  

I believe that hits upon the most interesting bits as of now. I'll let you know how those chicken feet taste when I get the update.

Dogtastrophe

We've slowly been giving Toby more unsupervised freedom.

Yes, I realize we're crazy.

Andy decided on Tuesday he'd leave Toby in the whole house while we were at work.

I was nervous.

However, I came home to a sleeping dog and an untouched house.

Fantastic.

So, we left him out again on Wednesday.

The results were not as favorable.

Hatten Fest V

The only way to properly celebrate America's birthday is to venture North to the Hatten Complex. I chose to say "Happy Birthday USA" by doing the following:

- Setting wood on fire

- Drinking beer

- Shooting a .22

- Floating down a river

- Consuming mass amounts of food

- Playing frisbee golf, cornhole, yard nards, and flip cup

- Laughing a lot

I attempted to document the event via photos, but I am a forgetful photographer most days. Here are some things I did capture on film:

My husband, 5 minutes after arrival:



Chief's tongue and Chief:



Parson's, The Dog Wrangler:



Flip Cup, to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger":



I like this photo, because aside from Jackie and Kara, nobody in the picture appears to be interacting with anyone else in the photo:



The Men + Jackie T:



The boil is poured:



The boil is consumed:



Sister Bonding Time (State vs. Tech)



My photos seem to end where the bong begins. . .

The Hotdog Eating Contest did not occur this year, as nobody challenged Andy. There was much discussion of the event, hotdog eating technique, etc. Andy declared that mass speed hotdog consumption "isn't so much about technique, it's more about level of awesomeness." I hope that someone finds their inner awesome and challenges him next year.

Is it July 4, 2010 yet?

Cincinnati Boom Bolatti

Andy and I treked down south a bit to visit the Marshall's in Cincinnati last weekend. I had never been and was quite excited to visit a new town. The Marshall's were superb hosts and we went on whirlwind tour of the city which I will share with you via my favorite medium: Pictures.

We crossed the bridge into Kentucky and visited the Hofbrau House. They brew their own beer AND you get to dance on the tables.



Andy has some pretty sweet moves.



We ghetto cruised to the Findlay Farmer's Market and had a few beers in the beer garden.



Apparently, the Camp Washington Chili place is pretty famous, so we stopped there for some Chili, Cinci style Chili that is.



We went to the top of the Carew tower and Andy paid 25 cents to check out the ladies in the rooftop pools.



We stopped at Graeter's for some fantastic homemade ice cream.



It was a hot weekend, and everyone seemed to have their shirts off. Andy figured when in Rome . . .



We stopped at the Party Source in Kentucky, which is pretty much like a Wal-Mart for alcoholics.



We stopped at a lookout and posed for a group a pic.



We then hit up Goetta Fest in Kentucky. We sampled Goetta balls, Goetta Cake, Goetta Burritos, Biscuits and Goetta Gravy and a Goetta Grilled Cheese.



Goetta Fest was in an area full of bars. So we went on a mini bar crawl and visited 5 or 6 throughout the night. One of the bars had $5 PBR pitchers. Andy fell in love.



Then, this scorned wife came in to kick that PBR Hussy's butt.



I showed no mercy.



And finally I reclaimed my husband.



Our journey came to an end Sunday morning and we waved goodbye to Cinci.



As with most of our trips, I can't wait to go back.