Aww, look at the cute brothers, hanging out together....
Then Pooka decides to get playful....
And Ludo shows Pooka his Satanic Hellhound Face....
Pooka decides napping would be a wiser alternative.
The ROUS FAMILY -
Showing posts with label Pets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pets. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2011
Monday, September 13, 2010
I've got a bad motivator!
Now Playing -
Marty Robbins - The Strawberry Roan
Marty Robbins - The Strawberry Roan
Life -
I was planning to wait and update my blog on Thursday, when I have a day off, especially after I hurt my finger at work - A box went rogue and sliced my right index finger under the nail about a half inch deep. Which is indeed just a papercut when you think about it, but an awesomely painful one, especially when you're a henpeck typist, like I am.
But then two things happened!
First, I took the three awesome photos of the boys, hanging out, being goofy that accompany this post. As you can see, they're deserving of it.
And second of all, I got a blog award! Zoe, over at No Letters On My Keyboard chose me as one of the recipients of the "One Lovely Blog Award" Keep in mind, she's a horror writer with awesome taste, who just gave me an award titled One Lovely Blog. A recent post was about how death and darkness makes her a better person. The blog award also features pink roses and a lacy teacup. SO clearly, Miss Zoe has a great sense of humor. So in honor of a Major Award, I figured I should Lovely Up my blog with some pictures of the kids looking stupid. Taa-Dah!
Thanks, Zoe! (And Thursday or so, I'll pass on the love to some deserving blogs too!)
I also have a few book reviews to catch up on, I posted a sneak preview of Martin, my newest creature on Deeply Dapper, and I started setting Halloween at work. Hooray for Halloween!!!
 |
| Pooka, his head looking deceptively small and Clover, cuddling Pook's paw. |
I was planning to wait and update my blog on Thursday, when I have a day off, especially after I hurt my finger at work - A box went rogue and sliced my right index finger under the nail about a half inch deep. Which is indeed just a papercut when you think about it, but an awesomely painful one, especially when you're a henpeck typist, like I am.
But then two things happened!
 |
| Ball... Not pictured, a second ball, further back in there... |
First, I took the three awesome photos of the boys, hanging out, being goofy that accompany this post. As you can see, they're deserving of it.
 | |
| Ludo, laying in what looks to be a horribly uncomfortable position. Also observe his luxurious mane. |
Thanks, Zoe! (And Thursday or so, I'll pass on the love to some deserving blogs too!)
I also have a few book reviews to catch up on, I posted a sneak preview of Martin, my newest creature on Deeply Dapper, and I started setting Halloween at work. Hooray for Halloween!!!
Writing -
Uhh... Nothing to see here, move along! I hurt my finger! Arrrh!
Uhh... Nothing to see here, move along! I hurt my finger! Arrrh!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
It Begins
The next day, we got up bright and early, if slightly disoriented from being back in Idaho. After a bit of packing a re-arranging, we hit the bank for our loan and swung by Lindsay's parent's house to drop off their car (Which my mom borrowed for the trip to Salt Lake while hers was in the shop)
Our new car was in Idaho Falls, about 40 minutes to the north, in a town that gets all the good stores. So we stopped in at the Barnes and Noble so that I could try out my nook in the store. Nothing too thrilling, but I did get a free copy of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and chatted with an employee who had some great hints for searching the nook store. For instance, you can type in "0.00 history" to bring up a list of all of the history related free books for download. This is a cool thing.
I also discussed the cracked button issue with him, and he said most of the store's nooks, as well as the employee's personal ones have cracked as well. He actually likes his cracked, it makes the button pushing easier, and he was pretty sure that the next one would crack too. That is probably very true, but man, it sandpapers my chicken that it's something I'll just have to accept. Maybe I'll have to get a silicone sleeve for it that will hide the button from view. But then I wouldn't be able to fit the nook in my back pocket!
Smith Honda had a shiny new Citrus Fire Metallic Element parked out front waiting for me. Very cool. I was iffy about the color at first, I'm used to cooler colors like greens, but the paint is interesting, kind of an autumny blood orange that changes colors in the light. I liked it.
Naturally, thanks to the Honda dealer in Poky, I didn't have the paperwork filled out here, so we hit a nearby fish and chicken place for lunch while the salesman finished my papers. Then, a few signatures later and Lindsay and I pulled out of the lot in our new car. Easy, fun and no shadiness.
This is our third element, we bought it in the third month and when we got in, the trip meter was at 33.3 miles. Third time had better be the charm!
I christened this vessel Captain Stormalong, after a New England Tall Tale about a giant ship captain (Kind of a Paul Bunyan of the Atlantic) and in honor of it, the first song we played in him was "Old Cape Cod" a remake of it by a group called the Puppini Sisters, three lovely young ladies who sing in an olde timey way with a suicide girls twist. Coincidentally, Old Cape Cod also happened to be the third track on the CD... Spooky!
The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave. Our plans for the E consisted of removing the back seats and installing a sleeping/storage platform that Rich (My father in law) had built for us based loosely on some plans from the internet. It turned out really great, though we did have to make a few simple changes. Essentially, what we did was create a platform out of wood and pipes that allows us to stash all of our stuff under it and have a mattress and sleeping stuff above it. When we are driving, the mattress folds under to the shorter length and is nice and kooshy for the pets to ride on and at night, we slide the seats forward and lay the seat backs flat, flush against the platform. Once we unroll the mattress the rest of the way, this creates a full size bed in the back, with enough sleeping room at the front by the steering area for the dogs to sleep.
Then my wife went to work, cramming a shocking amount of stuff into that little 4x4x1' storage hold. I was shocked, frankly.
We spent the remainder of the evening with family, eating dinner with both sides of parents and stopping in to visit a few friends. That night, we added a few touches to the car and headed to bed.
The first day of the trip started out pretty decent. We left town at 11:11am, fully loaded. Cats on harnesses and leashes, dogs getting used to the new back platform... and we headed East! Well... North really.
The pets adjusted to the first day of driving pretty well. Ludo, of course, just settled right in, chewing on rawhide and looking out the window at the back of the car. He loved how the raised platform allowed him to lie down and look out the windows. Pooka was a bit fidgety, whining a little and shifting around a lot. We had some pills that would make him drowsy and help with nausea that we were probably going to have to use eventually. The cats... Were very good. They crawled around a bit, exploring things, getting tangled up, wanting to sit on my lap, getting stepped on by Pooka... But other than that, they were great! They looked out the window a bit and eventually decided they liked riding on the floor under Lindsay's feet.
That night, we grabbed some fast food at a Taco Johns, eating it in the car next to a school while we watched TV on Lindsay's laptop. (With the sound piped through the a/v jack in Stormalong, which made the theme song to Big Bang Theory pretty impressive!)
The conversion to sleeping mode took a bit of work, it was the first time we'd tried it and doing it in the dark at a truck stop just outside of Billings Montana was tricky, but once we settled in, everyone slept quite well.
Our new car was in Idaho Falls, about 40 minutes to the north, in a town that gets all the good stores. So we stopped in at the Barnes and Noble so that I could try out my nook in the store. Nothing too thrilling, but I did get a free copy of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and chatted with an employee who had some great hints for searching the nook store. For instance, you can type in "0.00 history" to bring up a list of all of the history related free books for download. This is a cool thing.
I also discussed the cracked button issue with him, and he said most of the store's nooks, as well as the employee's personal ones have cracked as well. He actually likes his cracked, it makes the button pushing easier, and he was pretty sure that the next one would crack too. That is probably very true, but man, it sandpapers my chicken that it's something I'll just have to accept. Maybe I'll have to get a silicone sleeve for it that will hide the button from view. But then I wouldn't be able to fit the nook in my back pocket!
Smith Honda had a shiny new Citrus Fire Metallic Element parked out front waiting for me. Very cool. I was iffy about the color at first, I'm used to cooler colors like greens, but the paint is interesting, kind of an autumny blood orange that changes colors in the light. I liked it.
Naturally, thanks to the Honda dealer in Poky, I didn't have the paperwork filled out here, so we hit a nearby fish and chicken place for lunch while the salesman finished my papers. Then, a few signatures later and Lindsay and I pulled out of the lot in our new car. Easy, fun and no shadiness.
This is our third element, we bought it in the third month and when we got in, the trip meter was at 33.3 miles. Third time had better be the charm!
I christened this vessel Captain Stormalong, after a New England Tall Tale about a giant ship captain (Kind of a Paul Bunyan of the Atlantic) and in honor of it, the first song we played in him was "Old Cape Cod" a remake of it by a group called the Puppini Sisters, three lovely young ladies who sing in an olde timey way with a suicide girls twist. Coincidentally, Old Cape Cod also happened to be the third track on the CD... Spooky!
The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave. Our plans for the E consisted of removing the back seats and installing a sleeping/storage platform that Rich (My father in law) had built for us based loosely on some plans from the internet. It turned out really great, though we did have to make a few simple changes. Essentially, what we did was create a platform out of wood and pipes that allows us to stash all of our stuff under it and have a mattress and sleeping stuff above it. When we are driving, the mattress folds under to the shorter length and is nice and kooshy for the pets to ride on and at night, we slide the seats forward and lay the seat backs flat, flush against the platform. Once we unroll the mattress the rest of the way, this creates a full size bed in the back, with enough sleeping room at the front by the steering area for the dogs to sleep.
Then my wife went to work, cramming a shocking amount of stuff into that little 4x4x1' storage hold. I was shocked, frankly.
We spent the remainder of the evening with family, eating dinner with both sides of parents and stopping in to visit a few friends. That night, we added a few touches to the car and headed to bed.
The first day of the trip started out pretty decent. We left town at 11:11am, fully loaded. Cats on harnesses and leashes, dogs getting used to the new back platform... and we headed East! Well... North really.
The pets adjusted to the first day of driving pretty well. Ludo, of course, just settled right in, chewing on rawhide and looking out the window at the back of the car. He loved how the raised platform allowed him to lie down and look out the windows. Pooka was a bit fidgety, whining a little and shifting around a lot. We had some pills that would make him drowsy and help with nausea that we were probably going to have to use eventually. The cats... Were very good. They crawled around a bit, exploring things, getting tangled up, wanting to sit on my lap, getting stepped on by Pooka... But other than that, they were great! They looked out the window a bit and eventually decided they liked riding on the floor under Lindsay's feet.
That night, we grabbed some fast food at a Taco Johns, eating it in the car next to a school while we watched TV on Lindsay's laptop. (With the sound piped through the a/v jack in Stormalong, which made the theme song to Big Bang Theory pretty impressive!)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
1 Element, 2 Dogs, 2 Cats, 3000 Miles, Ugh.
I knew this was gonna be a pain in the rear, but man... That was a long trip. I have a lot to say about it, and this blog will probably only cover the basics. Then I'll make little separate observations about the details of the trip later, thus avoiding the dreaded Serial Effect that most of my trips have, but still allowing me to ramble and rant like I usually do. That said, this will still have to be a couple of installments... ha!
Unlike most of our road trips, this trip was not that fun for the most part. Last week, my wife and I left Maine, where we have been slowly building our new lives, and returned to Idaho to pick up something was missing from it, our pets. We have 4; a black cat named Clover, a Siamese named Sassafras and two dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Pooka and Ludo, a Newfoundland/Retriever.
We love these guys and it's been hard being away from them for so long, so it would be good to have them here with us. Getting them here though would prove to be a challenge.
First off, we had to buy a car, and not just any, my third Element. We started talking with a friend that worked for the local Honda dealer in Pocatello. He's a great guy and I love him and his wife, but we've had problems with the dealer before, so we were wary. We needed to get this purchase taken care of before we arrived - We only had about 36 hours in town before we had to leave for Maine again, and we didn't have time for silly Car Dealer crap or delays.
It went smoothly for a while, but then things derailed. They got the car but could never give me an official, final price, so I had to get the loan without a total. They did tell me that a certain price would be sufficient, so that's what I asked for and received from my bank. Two days later, the paperwork arrived in the mail, with a price of $3,000 more than my loan, and a down payment.
Needless to say, we were not amused. I spent the next days trying to get an answer for what was going on and they kept coming back with different excuses. The papers were wrong, don't worry - Oh, well, just hold on and we'll fix it.... Hmm, seems there was a mistake, but your loan still isn't enough... We don't need a down, let me see what I can do...
Finally, I got ahold of the finance guy, Brett. Who, incidentally, was the reason we walked on an Element a few years ago. He admitted that they hadn't been up front about the pricing and they should have gotten the total finalized a long time ago, but that it wasn't his fault. I should have known better than to buy a car like that. Then, he said that he would not apologize for the confusion. He admitted they were wrong, but would not apologize. Grr. The money wasn't that big of a deal, I could adjust my loan, but this pissed me off. A simple sorry and I would have kept up with them.
Instead, I told Brett to shove it and walked. I felt bad because they'd shipped in the car from Montana, and I truly don't feel that it was our salesman's fault, but I wouldn't stand for that. We called a dealer in nearby Idaho Falls, and they happily sold us a new Element for $2000 less than the local dealer said was the lowest they could go.
Of course, afterwards, I got all sorts of calls from other people in the Pocatello Honda asking us to come back. Bah to them.
Anyway, that figured out, we headed to the airport. I was kind of looking forward to this flight. Previously, I've always had tons of luggage and this time I was flying light, just my coat and nook. Well, apparently, I also looked like I was carrying something else, because not only did I get frisked at the security point, I also got frisked a second time at the gate, as did Lindsay... I must look shady.
The flights were long and boring and full up, so we didn't get to pick our seats, though I sat next to a cool musician out of LA the first leg, a chatty Scottsman the second and my wife the third. I read the most part of two books on the flight and had to demonstrate the nook to a few folks that seemed fascinated by it. Lindsay, meanwhile, sat next to some grumpy old men and a excessively friendly flight attendant. In Salt Lake, when we finally landed, we met my mom and brother for dinner at the charming and delicious Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Trolley Square in SLC. I've always loved this place. I don't even like pasta, but their food is pretty reasonable and the decor is fabulous there. We met Lindsay's sisters and brother there and had a very nice meal.
Then the highlight of the trip, seeing our pets for the first time in two months. They were ecstatic to see us and by the time we went to bed, it was well after 1am Mountain time, which was a LONG time from the 6am Eastern when we got up....
The next day was going to be busy!
Unlike most of our road trips, this trip was not that fun for the most part. Last week, my wife and I left Maine, where we have been slowly building our new lives, and returned to Idaho to pick up something was missing from it, our pets. We have 4; a black cat named Clover, a Siamese named Sassafras and two dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Pooka and Ludo, a Newfoundland/Retriever.
We love these guys and it's been hard being away from them for so long, so it would be good to have them here with us. Getting them here though would prove to be a challenge.
First off, we had to buy a car, and not just any, my third Element. We started talking with a friend that worked for the local Honda dealer in Pocatello. He's a great guy and I love him and his wife, but we've had problems with the dealer before, so we were wary. We needed to get this purchase taken care of before we arrived - We only had about 36 hours in town before we had to leave for Maine again, and we didn't have time for silly Car Dealer crap or delays.
It went smoothly for a while, but then things derailed. They got the car but could never give me an official, final price, so I had to get the loan without a total. They did tell me that a certain price would be sufficient, so that's what I asked for and received from my bank. Two days later, the paperwork arrived in the mail, with a price of $3,000 more than my loan, and a down payment.
Needless to say, we were not amused. I spent the next days trying to get an answer for what was going on and they kept coming back with different excuses. The papers were wrong, don't worry - Oh, well, just hold on and we'll fix it.... Hmm, seems there was a mistake, but your loan still isn't enough... We don't need a down, let me see what I can do...
Finally, I got ahold of the finance guy, Brett. Who, incidentally, was the reason we walked on an Element a few years ago. He admitted that they hadn't been up front about the pricing and they should have gotten the total finalized a long time ago, but that it wasn't his fault. I should have known better than to buy a car like that. Then, he said that he would not apologize for the confusion. He admitted they were wrong, but would not apologize. Grr. The money wasn't that big of a deal, I could adjust my loan, but this pissed me off. A simple sorry and I would have kept up with them.
Instead, I told Brett to shove it and walked. I felt bad because they'd shipped in the car from Montana, and I truly don't feel that it was our salesman's fault, but I wouldn't stand for that. We called a dealer in nearby Idaho Falls, and they happily sold us a new Element for $2000 less than the local dealer said was the lowest they could go.
Of course, afterwards, I got all sorts of calls from other people in the Pocatello Honda asking us to come back. Bah to them.
Anyway, that figured out, we headed to the airport. I was kind of looking forward to this flight. Previously, I've always had tons of luggage and this time I was flying light, just my coat and nook. Well, apparently, I also looked like I was carrying something else, because not only did I get frisked at the security point, I also got frisked a second time at the gate, as did Lindsay... I must look shady.
The flights were long and boring and full up, so we didn't get to pick our seats, though I sat next to a cool musician out of LA the first leg, a chatty Scottsman the second and my wife the third. I read the most part of two books on the flight and had to demonstrate the nook to a few folks that seemed fascinated by it. Lindsay, meanwhile, sat next to some grumpy old men and a excessively friendly flight attendant. In Salt Lake, when we finally landed, we met my mom and brother for dinner at the charming and delicious Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Trolley Square in SLC. I've always loved this place. I don't even like pasta, but their food is pretty reasonable and the decor is fabulous there. We met Lindsay's sisters and brother there and had a very nice meal.
Then the highlight of the trip, seeing our pets for the first time in two months. They were ecstatic to see us and by the time we went to bed, it was well after 1am Mountain time, which was a LONG time from the 6am Eastern when we got up....
The next day was going to be busy!
Friday, June 5, 2009
June 04, 2009 - Foggy Conditions
Life -
Today was a pretty fine day. Lindsay and I were both off, and we started the morning early, heading to Butterburrs for breakfast with the In-Laws and my Sis-In-Law, who was leaving that afternoon to meet her biological mother in California. Both of Lindsay's siblings are adopted, which I think is great. We don't plan on having kids, but if we ever decided to, we've discussed it a lot and would like to adopt, it's a good thing.
I'm more torn about the finding your biological parents aspect. While I can easily see the benefits, seeing where you came from, any hidden medical history, etc... I don't think I ever would. Of course, I think it's safe to say that my opinion is colored; I was raised by my mother with only a very small amount of input from my father, who then left us completely when I was 2. He has made a few half hearted attempts to contact me in the past, and frankly, I have no need to add those kinds of complications to my life. I appreciate that he wants to be a part of my life, but he wasn't there when we really needed him, so why should I go out of my way now, when I don't need him? Unless of course, he's got $70,000 he could loan us for a motel....
It's a completely different circumstance than finding your biological mother, but I'm pretty sure that it's why I have a hard time understanding why you would want to.
All the same, Marissa's BioMom sounds pretty cool. Laid back and a bit crazy, like Marissa and I hope her the best of luck on her quest. Not just because she's going to Southern California. Bleah.
After that, we hit the pet store and bought Ludo a new collar for his birthday. Our little boy is 3 years old! Which really means he should stop acting like a puppy... eventually.
He seemed to enjoy his birthday treats!
As did freckle-faced Pooka, who likes to have his brother soften the chewies up first, then steal them..Apart from that, I spent some time editing wedding photos, in the hopes of having a CD of 'em for Marissa when she comes back through town in a week, and I worked on some ...
Writing -
During which, my wife made it clear to me why writing a dream sequence while in pain, suffering from cabin fever and hopped up on pain pills while it rains outside is a bad idea....
You write entire pages describing fog....
This time, he found himself on the same stump with three trees growing from it that he saw in one of his earlier dreams. He was standing on the stump, wearing his winter coat and new boots, with a faint breeze drifting through the trees. All around him, the undergrowth seemed over sized, with some of the ferns so large that they looked like they would tower over him if he was on the spongy forest floor instead of on the stump. There was fog too, drifting through the trees and plants, almost like a living thing. It rolled and twisted, sliding up over leaves, then slithering back down the stems like misty, insubstantial snakes. Thousands of them, too. The entire forest looked like it was being invaded by these sinuous gently gliding snakes of fog. As he stood on the stump, watching the fog roll below his feet, he was afraid to get off of the stump. What if the fog sensed him in it, wrapped around him and drug him down?
I go on like that for a full page and a half...
I have roughly 3 weeks to finish editing, revise the manuscript, do a second edit and revision and get it in the mail... it is gonna be tight.
The Last Sentence -
"The heat so hot that things seemed to shimmer in it and jungles so wet that your clothes could rot off of you."
From The Whispering Ferns
Friday, May 8, 2009
May 8, 2009
Writing-
Wrote a bit today, managed to put down around 2,500 words so far. I started writing this novel on 04/26, and based off of other similar novels, I figure it should be around 40,000 to 70,000 words. Right now, I'm at 13,258, which isn't too bad. Next stop is writing a slightly more detailed outline and deciding how long I need to make the rest of the story. I also need to start designing the characters on paper, deciding what art style to use, and create a rough map of the village that the story takes place in.
Life-
Unpacked a few more boxes today, it's a strange kind of bittersweet to see all of the boxes that we'd packed with the confidence that we were moving to start a new life get slowly unloaded back into the house. At the same time though, we are starting to be stricter about what we keep, and we threw away 2 bags full of crap we don't need or never use, and filled a box with yard sale stuff. We also started unpacking my masks for the front room, which is thrilling. I've missed their wooden gazes.
We also walked the dogs, and decided to start training them to walk a different way. Until now, we'd just let them walk ahead of us, and tugged on them when they got to pulling to hard. This has been a problem, as both dogs are over a hundred pounds and can really strain your arms when they tug. Today, after a hilarious sequence where Lindsay, attempting to punish Ludo for tugging too much caught him by surprise and pulled him off of his feet, then tried to force him to go back home with her while I walked Pooka, we decided to try and make them heel at our sides while we walk. We've always heeled them across streets and when we needed them close, like when there's infants about. (Ludo likes to steal their crackers.) So we decided to try having them heel to us full time. We've decided to use a looser heel, which we have been calling Heel Close as we walk, soon to be shortened to Close as they get better at it. It keeps them next to us, leashes loose, but they can have a bit of leeway, as long as their bodies are even with us. It worked pretty good for the last leg of our walk today... we'll see if it still works tomorrow.
We also went to Mama Inez for our weekly Fajita Friday date, and had a splendid Cheese Crisp, then bought 3 books at the Thrift store.
All in all a pretty good day, and its only 6pm!
The Last Sentence I Wrote Today -
Eventually, Uncle Cannon came up and knocked on their door.
Eventually, Uncle Cannon came up and knocked on their door.
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