Olive goes to California!

Look at these two cute boys. This is heading out to take Olive on her first walk. Well, it really turned into a run. And many of you may be surprised, but I ran too. And it was fun. And it didn't wind me. In truth this is one of the reasons I wanted a dog - to get my butt out the door and moving my body. About 3/4 of the way into our walk/run we saw Kim & Pete (our next door neighbors) they were heading out from the alley in their car. We stopped them and introduced Olive. They were thrilled that we will have a nice sized dog in our yard soon. The two of us are very into our neighborhood security - another reason I wanted a dog.



Another treat with having a puppy is catching the early sunrise! This was 5 something am. There was this amazing pink color coming in thru the curtains I couldn't believe it. When I brought Olive outside with me I thought she too was amazed by the color of the sky - but then I remembered that she had never been in the front yard and was really amazed at checking it out. So many smells to smell.



Tonight when we went in the back yard we spied a bunny running away as we approached the lawn. Too funny to me that now that we live in the city we have these beautiful fluffy bunnies that run around. When we lived in Prairie Crossing (out in the country outside of Chicago) we had the ugliest country bunnies that ran about. Here they are cute and fluffy and looking like pets that escaped.

Well I have decided that we have to take Olive with us on our trip to California next week for Thanksgiving. We were going to leave her here and have Erika stay with her and Mariana come and visit with her a couple times during the day. It all seemed not right to me and I decided this morning to call and book her a ticket. So, she will come with us. I went to a pet store today and bought her a little travel bag - something soon she will not be able to fit in. Luckily she is loving it. She slept in it most of the afternoon. The best part is when I told Zane we were taking her with us he said "you are the best mom ever for that." I had no idea it would earn me that many points. So, she will go meet the California and Mexico cousins. Hopefully we won't be trading any germs with each other.

Cody has gotten into having Olive here too! He is excited about how much she likes to chew on her stuffed squirrel! He is on top of keeping those nasty squirrels out of our yard (I won't discuss HOW he does it) - and now he is convinced he will be able to train her to retrieve them!

Olive!

She has arrived! The breeder drove her from Iowa and arrived here around 1pm. It was nice to have her arrive without all the noise and bustle of the kids. The breeder brought along her two boys, who were sad but also used to having the puppies leave. She is so much smaller than I was thinking. So far she is adjusting well. I have to be careful when I"m walking so I don't step on her! Day one of house training is going well. She is going outside in a designated spot that we decided on a while ago. So far so good. I left her in the kennel while I showered and I think she cried the whole time. Cody & Graham were eager to see her when they got home from school, and Seby & Zane were equally excited when they arrived about a 1/2 hour later. Luckily I was outside with her on her leash when their bus arrived - as we discussed I would this morning. Tomorrow I take her to the vet to get checked out - we found a great place nearby and the vet happens to be a parent of a friend of Cody's.

We have decided on the name Olive and it wasn't even on our list a week ago!

Obama !

Ok, I have to move on from the pic of the Missile Dick Chicks - but they are a big reason he won. So many groups of people doing everything they could to elect this man.

I wanted to post that sexy picture of him from last Wednesday, on the cover of The New York Times - in the black leather jacket in the pouring rain. Too sexy - who wouldn't want to vote for a sexy President? But I obviously couldn't find it.

It is 1am here in Minneapolis and I would have to say that the noise from the city is finally died down. That was a couple hours of excitement about our President-Elect! Did this happen in all cities? I sat up on the roof top deck and just listened, it was a little surreal as our weather here is oddly warm, cheers, honking horns, fire works, such excitement.

Voting

While I was waiting in line (for almost three hours) to vote - we were entertained (for a bit) from the Missile Dick Chicks, from Crawford, Texas. You can google them to see what they are about. It was hilarious, they were asked quickly to move farther away from the entrance. They were handing out cookies and quite lively!

Watching the images of folks gathering at Grant Park is amazing to me. Maybe because we lived in Chicago for so long. It reminds me of when the Bulls won so many championships. The crowds go wild. I remember being in Dallas on a job for their first win. I was talking to Slade on the phone as the game ended and we realized they won - Slade said there was this crazy sound over the city, like a snap.

Seby and Zane keep asking, who won? They can't believe it takes so long to count votes. I hope we know tonight.

Cody & Maggie

Here are Cody & Maggie at the dance this past weekend. They went as Beauty & the Beast, Cody didn't want to wear a mask so he chose the transformed beast. Cody and Maggie love the dances and dance almost every song. Graham and Amara, on the other hand are not into dancing. It reminds me when they were little - they each liked different things. Luckily now they accept their differences and get along really well.

The One

What is there to think about?