I’ve been keeping Roger off-leash in my office, and it’s going really well! He doesn’t go any further outside my door than his leash had reached, and there’s no tangled leash getting wrapped around my chair. He also seems more calm when we finally leave the office, too.
Agility went really well last week! Roger’s a natural! I, however, need some work! :)
I found an intro to agility class for Roger and me! I’m so excited, we start tonight!
Recovered the seat this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have time this fall to get another chair done. I may have changed my mind about using the same fabric for all 4, I’ll make a decision once I know what colors the other chairs will be!
Our office is now officially dog friendly!! They instituted the policy last week, and Roger’s been with me almost every day since!! It’s so great to have so much time with him, I’m so happy!!
Our company’s Commuter Challenge is officially starting next week! We’re having a kick-off event Thursday toward the end of the day to present it to everyone and get them psyched up for it. Which is getting easier all the time! We’ll be serving margaritas (“green” drinks!) and announcing the PRIZES!!
After work I went to a couple outdoor gear stores we picked to ask them about prizes – added value really, because we have some money to spend. I was blown away by the positive response!! They’re talking about doubling the money we’re spending, free schwag, percent-off coupons – wow.
So awesome.
Roger and Haiden FINALLY got to play last weekend!! Roger and I were in NH for Jess’s birthday Saturday. For most of the afternoon, Roger stayed at my parents’ house while I was at the fair with Jess and her family, but then for the cake and presents, Roger joined us at Suzanne’s house. She’s got a great big deck with gates at the stairs, so the two boys were able to toddle around and get to know each other!!
Haiden LOVED to feed Roger treats, and each time he would clap and laugh! Roger liked him so much he even let Haiden get away with being a little rough with his petting… Haha, it’s a work in progress, off to a wonderful start!
My parents came on Sunday and Dad and I installed my storm/screen door! How wonderful to get ventilation without bugs!! It took MUCH longer than I thought it would, and I’m glad I didn’t attempt it on my own like I originally planned.
We also hung an old bamboo shade on the street-side of the porch. The neighbors across the street – though very friendly – tend to invite themselves over every time I’m on the porch relaxing. Now I can roll down the shade when I just want to zone out and enjoy the evening breezes. Although it doesn’t cut out the noise from the street like I had hoped it might, it does make it easier to ignore!
I picked the first two ripe tomatoes Saturday night!! Another couple should be ready soon, too. I had to add extra supports – the plants just keep getting BIGGER with all this rain!! And they’re so heavy with fruit, I don’t want branches to break off.
The cucumber vines are above the trellis, climbing the fence now! There are already several small cukes coming in, exciting! I’m just afraid everything’s going to come in during the week I’m gone…
One day to laze around…
One day to do the boring errands…
And one day for BIG FUN PROJECTS!!
I finally started on my chairs! Spent the whole day sanding (kinda hard to see in the picture, the chair is about half-sanded here), and was able to paint it by early evening. I had NO idea it would take so long!! I still want to do each chair a different color, and I like the idea of covering the seats with the same fabric to tie them together. Haven’t found the right one yet though!
I read somewhere has been playing at the edge of my mind every time I see my garden, does this ring a bell with anyone? I’d love to find the full quote and the source…
“There are those of us who, no matter how old we are, will always find something magical about burying a dry brown seed and watching it grow.”
My tomato plants are HUGE!! Like, out of control huge!! And the cucumber vines are growing nicely. The lettuce and spinach were stolen out of my garden last week (yes, really stolen, not eaten by wildlife), so that sucks. Hopefully some more will grow, if only the neighborhood cats would quit digging up the soil!
My chives are thinner than usual. Maybe too much direct sun? The basil is growing nicely – unfortunately the two larger seedlings are right next to each other! I’m struggling with whether to pluck one, or if they’ll both be okay. I have a mint plant inside now, fun! I’m going to make my own mojitos!
Do any of you twitter? I’m brand new at it, and interested in finding some green/eco posters to ‘follow!’
So I’m a media planner/buyer. It’s my job to be on top of, or at least aware of, new trends. By far, the majority of new trends are internet- and technology-related. SO I’ve joined twitter! I figure I’ll keep it up for a couple weeks, and if I’m hooked by then I’ll keep it up. And in the meantime, I’ll hopefully figure out what the big deal is! Are any of you on it? If you follow me, I’ll follow you! ;)
In addition, earlier this week we had an interdepartmental ‘share’ with contact (media) and PR, talking about our work with blogs. The PR department does a lot of pitching to different blogs, as well as actually writing one for a client. Contact takes care of the paid ads that run alongside of blogs! Pretty interesting stuff. Anyway, people were impressed to hear that I have my own blog, despite the fact that I haven’t really kept it current. So I’ve decided it’s time to resurrect lou-la-la!
http://lou-la-la.blogspot.com/
I’m bringing Roger to NH for the weekend! We’re leaving today right after work.
He’s going to get to run around Mom and Dad’s yard all day, and we’re going to camp out in the yard, and he’s going to meet Haiden and Jess FINALLY!
Well shit…it’s going to rain the whole time. Looks like we’ll be “camping” on the porch!
Well. Roger and I both survived our first weekend apart!
I was in St Louis from Thurs-Sun, and my dog trainer friend Damon was in charge of Roger. They had met and Roger liked him, but the first night Damon came, Roger was NOT having it! I got a call from Damon while I was sitting in the Chicago airport waiting for our flight to STL…he was growling, wouldn’t let Damon get near him, wouldn’t accept treats, and wouldn’t leave my room even for food! My poor puppy!!
Luckily, Damon was able to get our mutual friend Erin to come over, who works at the shelter and Roger remembers and loves her. She was able to reintroduce Roger and Damon, and convince Roge that he was a good guy. The rest of the weekend went smoothly (for the boys, anyway!).
After canceled/delayed flights and lost luggage, I finally made it home in the wee hours Monday morning. Roger was a little tentative at first, but pretty soon he was my lovey velcro dog again! Even in the crazy heat, he slept on top of me and I loved it.
The hot weather finally broke yesterday in a couple BIG thunder storms. I snuck Roger to the office for the afternoon, and he alternated between napping fitfully on my feet, pacing my little office, and resting his chin on my lap with his ears flattened and his eyes wide. Puppy doesn’t DO thunder.
I missed him terribly, and Damon reports that he missed me too – lots of heavy sighs by Sunday. We only got each other in April…I don’t really know how long it’ll take for him to realize that we’re going to stay together forever. I’m already at least his fourth home!! I’ll be gone for a whole week in August, what will he think?!? Maybe I could sneak him to camp with me…
As part of the Honda helpful campaign, the SoCal Honda dealers are planting trees to replace those lost to wild fires!! Just go to http://www.socalhonda.com and enter your name and email (you can choose to opt out of future offers) and a tree will be planted in your name. It’s good to see big companies doing something like this!
Last night Roger and I had our interview for DogZone, one of the snazzy doggie daycares in the area. He passed with flying colors (got along with the owner’s dog, peed outside)! I’m such a proud dog mama!
However…it’s REALLY expensive! My budget is pretty tight, and we just decided to raise our condo dues, too. I know Roger would totally LOVE it, and the exercise and socialization would be so good for him, but I just don’t think it’s in the cards for now. We’ll see…
FINALLY, my housewarming party is this Wednesday!! I kept on having reasons/excuses to put it off, but I’ll never be 100% ready unless I force myself!
Also, garden is aaaaaall planted! Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, spinach!
My parents will be here Thursday morning for our flight to St Louis, so hopefully there will be time to hang the hutch. I found a great rug at Pottery Barn Kids, now I’m trying to decide if the 3×5 size will work instead of the 5×8 (for less than half the cost).
Everything is in the ground!! I spent some time this morning digging and mixing. It’s really not as deep as it should be, or as well-mixed. Oh well!
Roger and I went to Gardener’s Supply and found the same cherry tomatoes I had great success with last year, and picked seeds for cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, and spinach.
The sky is threatening rain and it certainly feels like the sky could open at any minute! That’s some pretty good motivation to get seeds in the ground!! My patch is actually big enough that I should really have some row markers, hmm…
My garden is taking shape! Of course, that shape includes a LOT of roots to be dug out, but I spent several hours at it over the long weekend, and I think I’ve decided it’s enough for this year. Now to get things in the ground, and I’ll be a happy Lou!
My container herb garden on the porch has a bright green crop of wheat grass, yay!
FINALLY hired the crazy guy across the street who happens to run a lawn care service. It looks GREAT to have the grass and overgrowth cleared out of the garden, and the hay field cut down!! It’s just a strip between the sidewalk and the road, but it was looking pretty bad.
Last year I had a pretty successful container garden at my apartment. This year I’m digging a REAL patch in the ground of the condo I bought! HOORAY!!
Progress so far: kinda slow – there are all kinds of roots to be dug out first, and of course I’m doing it all by hand. At least Dad gave me a bunch of wonderful tools as my housewarming, so I’ve got the tools for the job. Mom and I discussed, and I think it’s good enough for now. Each year I’ll just dig more roots out. Now I’m ready to mix in the soil and peat moss, and then I can finally plant things!! (In my zone I’m not late – Memorial Day is the earliest one should plant, in case of late season frost)
