Stories of the Chloe:

Spiderdog, Spiderdog....
After having drinks with an old co-worker of Dave's on Friday night, we got home around 7:30 p.m. Over an hour later than usual. Expecting to find our little Chloe whining in the kitchen awaiting our return, we opened the door from the garage and were greeted with a jump and a kiss from the Chloester. What's so unusual about this, you ask? Only that we enclose her in the kitchen with a baby gate, which she should NOT be tall enough to jump! On Sunday we finally figured out that she wasn't jumping the gate, she was climbing it. Yes, climbing. She inserts her paws into the slats and climbs on up. Hmmm, part dog, part cat.... or Spiderdog.

A Sentence I Never Thought I'd Utter....
"Chloe left her pig's ear up my skirt when she was smelling my fart." Okay, really gross, but Dave dared me to post it. I was laying on the couch with Dave, and Chloe was chewing on a pig's ear nearby. Yes, I said pig's ear. It's a real pig's ear cured and dried for dogs to chew on and Chloe loves them. We love them because they keep her quiet and occupied. Anyway, on to my story, Dave recently figured out that the sound of a fart really freaks Chloe out. Don't even ask, I didn't. So, demure woman that I am, I let one rip. Chloe came over to sniff it, which is nasty enough in and of itself, but because I was wearing a skirt at the time she, um, went for the source. I kicked her off the couch and Dave and I continued talking. A few seconds later I realized Chloe no longer had her pig's ear. So I uttered the sentence, "Dave, Chloe left her pig's ear up my skirt when she was smelling my fart." Good husband that he is, Dave retrieved the ear from beneath my skirt, and all was well again.

Chloe is in that puppy stage where she has hyper fits of energy -- we call it "psycho puppy." We've realized that she is more mellow when she is absolutely exhausted.... swimming in Dave's dad's pool did it on Father's Day. One slight problem -- we don't have a pool or even a large backyard. So our solution is to take her for a long walk to a nearby church that has a HUGE grassy field. Once we arrive, Dave runs with her. And I do mean run. We're talking sprints here. Some days she is so tired we have to carry her home. And then, when we get home, she looks like this....

I did it! I got a haircut and highlights from someone other than my sister -- the first time in over four years. After I got past the sticker shock (free haircuts seriously rock) I booked an appointment with a stylist one of the girls from church goes to. I was a little worried about her age ... a whopping 20 years old, talk about feeling old... but she did a fantastic job. No Katherine, but it'll do. I'll post a pic as soon as our camera is fixed...

This weekend's project was priming our bedroom. I had hoped to post before and after pics, but alas our camera is on the fritz. When we moved in, our bedroom was a very bright sky blue. Think of children's rooms you've seen that have bright blue walls with white clouds painted on them (For fun, Dave painted a cloud with the primer and added a bird a la second grade -- would've been a great picture!). As we just ordered new bedroom furniture I figured we should paint before it arrived. Well, this blue is truly a nightmare to cover and today I am sore all over. I think I'll take a break and wait until next weekend to actually paint!

So this past week (Monday the 29th) I joined to big 3-0 club. Still being new to the Sacramento area, and having missed several holidays with my folks, I was a little depressed about turning 30 without good friends or family around. Well, my husband took care of that! My aunt came to visit for the weekend because there was a VW bug show up here (she has a "show" bug). On Sunday while she was at the show Dave took me to buy a new outfit and we looked at furniture. He kept dragging and suggesting more activities. I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go home, but went along with him. When we got home and walked in the door I heard many voices yelling "Surprise!" My sweet husband had thrown me a suprise party. But, the kicker is that my mom and dad drove up from SoCal and my sister and old roommate and BFF Amy flew up. What a treat! My mom had decorated our house in Strawberry Shortcake decor to make me feel young -- we even had a SS cake that came with a toy and two locket necklaces (one to share and one to give to your BFF). What a great way to turn 30!!!!

By request, I'm posting some pictures of my recent wedding. It's been just over two months, and it has been so much fun so far. The day was absolutely fantastic... it went very smoothly and it was so fantastic to have so many people I care about in one place. I'm a Heckler now!