World's Nastiest Dog

Jackson ate his poop the other day.  Then he at a small dog treat because Ben couldn't stand his breath.  Before that he ate a small piece of plastic from his new favorite dog toy.

Later that day I was upstairs unpacking and Ben was washing a few dishes when he turned to look at Jackson and saw him sitting by the door with two streams of drool extending from the corner of his mouth almost to the floor.  Ben called me asking where the camera was so he could get a picture before he wiped Jackson's face.  I ran downstairs to show him where it was and then it hit me.

The smell of puke and poop saturated the air when I got to the third step.  The stench was so bad it actually made me feel like I was going to puke.  By the time I was halfway down the steps my eyes started to burn, and Ben slowly said, "Oooohhh, Jackson puked..."  Ben ran to let Jackson outside in case there was another round on its way up.  As I came around the corner I saw what Ben just ran away from.

Right in front of the couch was a big puddle of pea-green puke.  The dog treat was in about three different pieces since he doesn't chew his food.  There was a little piece of plastic at the edge the puddle and, of course, two big turds right in the middle.

It was the most disgusting thing I have ever cleaned up.  Even after cleaning the puke, washing the carpet, taking out the trash, spraying air freshener, and lighting a candle all I could smell was poopy puke.

Jackson wasn't allowed to lick me for the next 24 hours.

Dream On

So I woke up at 3:00AM today trying to decide if I should brave the ice storm to spend a few hours on campus before work.  At about 3:30 (I decided to stay in bed) I was still partially awake trying to convince myself that I had made the right choice (turns out the power was out on campus half the day anyway so "yay" for being lazy).  Suddenly Ben starts making moaning/barking/who-knows-what sounds.

It lasted about 10 seconds before I sat up and asked him if he was okay.  I actually thought something might be wrong.  Actually...my first thought was that he knew I was half awake and decided to make the dreaming Jackson noises he finds so entertaining just to mess with me.  Ben responded mumbling something about a dream.

His dream involved him being startled by a prowler of sorts in an imaginary camper that wasn't ours but was parked in our driveway.  Apparently, this caused him to take a couple gasping breaths before he scaring away the stranger.  Then I woke him up.

Once I figured out he wasn't just messing with me I couldn't stop laughing.  I'm sure you had to be there or at least hear his dream "gasping" to find this as entertaining as I did, but trust me it was hilarious.

Then a huge, ice-covered tree branch fell in our yard and I finally stopped laughing.  We are in a state of emergency you know.  Don't worry, our power didn't even go out.  Everyone else in the state woke up to floods, cars under tree limbs, and no power but we just woke up to Ben barking in his sleep.

Ben's Horror Film

Jackson started losing his baby teeth about a month ago.  He finally started losing his molars and "fangs" (as Ben likes to call them) this past week.  Today Ben was horsing around with Jackson getting him all worked up and jawing his arm (as in, Jackson was jawing Ben's arm).  I was watching and laughing at the goofy way Jackson was jumping all around when I noticed something soaring through the air.  I thought it was a large drop of spittle and I got up to wipe it off the floor.

As I bent over to wipe it up another flying particle shot in my direction.  With a quick Matrix-like move I dodged the debris only to realize the spot I was about to wipe up and the piece I just dodged were teeth.

As I pointed this out to Ben another tooth landed on the carpet and Ben noticed his arm and hand were covered in blood.  Being the nice (and slightly grossed out) wife that I am I ran to grab something for Ben to wipe the blood off with.  By the time I got back there was even more blood on Ben's hand and a huge drop of bloody spit shot toward me, landing on the carpet.

Unfortunately we couldn't get a good picture of the blood since Ben's sweatshirt was kind of dark, but trust me it was gross.  In horror movie terms it was more of a Friday the 13th type gore, but that's still pretty gross when you thought you were just going to play tug-of-war or fetch with your cute puppy.

Any day you have to use someone else's shower is not a good day

I'm in Vegas this week for work.  I flew in early Monday because I hate the idea of burning part of my weekend flying for work.  Since I had a lot to do when I got here on Monday I took an early flight.  So I woke up at 3AM (EST) Monday, caught my flight and landed in Vegas at 1030.

Since no one told me Fox Rent-a-Car is a shady establishment, I rented a car through them because it was the best deal and it took me nearly 2 hrs from when I got my luggage to when I got my room.  They gave me a key and said, "Just go outside and push the lock button.  It's a PT Cruiser, white...I think."  There were no parking space numbers and there was no license plate number on my key.  I feel like I'm driving a stolen vehicle the cops have been looking for.

I was busy all day Monday and finally got to bed at 2AM.  The person I was picking up at the airport got in at 12AM instead of  7PM and the airline lost all their luggage.  The next day didn't start until 7AM, but I woke up at 4AM and couldn't get back to sleep.  So after being awake for 26 straight hours I only got 2 hrs of sleep.

I went for a run and got ready to take a shower...but my shower didn't work.  Fortunately my entire office was on this trip with me so I called a friend with a working shower.  An hour into the opening session I went back to the airport to retrieve the lost luggage and made it back just in time for the next event to start.  When I finally found a 2 hour break in my day I decided to take a nap.  During my nap I received 4 phone calls so I cut that short after 20 minutes and did some homework.

My last event for the day ran an hour late so I didn't get to head out for dinner until 9PM.  After dinner I was convinced to hang out for one drink.  At which point I was carded in such a way that made me feel like a 12-yr old trying to buy alcohol.  One $12 drink later, I decided to turned in since I was running short on sleep and the person I had picked up at the airport Monday had to be back at the airport at 6:30AM.  The hole day wasn't lost though.

As I was heading back to my room I walked by the Bellagio fountain show and noticed a lady really enjoying the display of water and light.  She was smiling as if this was the greatest thing she had ever seen.  I took an extra second to look at her because she looked a little too happy (even for Vegas).  Then I noticed she has tears of joy streaming down her face.  No joke.

So I got a little enjoyment out of my 47 hour day.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words...

Great photo, Obama!

1-1

And there was pee all over the crate today...

Jackson's Big Day

Today was a very eventful day.  By eventful I really mean uneventful.

Our neighbors graciously offered to take Jackson out during the day when they are around.  He usually gets to go out once or twice a day, and while Ben was out of town they even came over to let him out in the evening since I had class.  They are out of town this week so Jackson doesn't get any bathroom breaks while he is trapped in his crate all day.  Today was the first test of his bladder.  No one to come when he whines, he really had to hold it all day.

We expected to come home to a mess today.  Even when Tom and Liz are around he manages to make a mess by the time we get home half the time.  Today he managed to control himself for 10 hours!  This may not be exciting for anyone else, but it's a big deal here in NC.  This is like the Lions winning a Super Bowl, well maybe just winning a game (0-4, at least they got rid of Millen).

Sure, he may still lick himself all the time, and he did just run full speed into a parked car the other day.  But now he can proudly say he can hold his water.

Jackson

Ojo has been replaced.  I won't say it was because he had a faint but distinct Ojo-odor in high humidity, but I won't wasn't either.  Just so Ojo doesn't get jealous we'll tell him it was because Jackson was too cute to pass up.

Playing with his ball

Posing for a photo

Curling up for a nap

He is a 9-week old chocolate Lab.  We got him from a breeder about an hour from here.  When we finally decided to actually look for a dog on Sunday we found a breeder that had a few pups remaining from a recent litter.  By Tuesday we had a new puppy.  He likes Pepper (our neighbors dog), but Pepper isn't such a fan of another dog in her area yet.  Jackson already understands SIT and COME (if he isn't distracted), but we won't claim he's housebroken yet.

Playing with his favorite toy, a gift from Lindsey (another reason Pepper isn't such a fan of Jackson)

"But I like peeing on the hardwood floor"

Don't worry Ojo isn't homeless.  We just have a more interesting pet to play with now.  Ojo happily drinks his beer on our mantel still.

Who Has the Italian Sub?

We saw our first crazy person on the subway.

Ben's parents were in town for about a week.  They entertained themselves most of the time with whale watching, going to Cape Cod, Boston, and whatever else they felt like.  On the weekend Ben and I took them into Boston on the subway to show them a few things they had missed.

I noticed a odd guy talking to random strangers and being really chatty with everyone while we waited for our ride but didn't think anything of it.  He, of course, got on our car and proceeded to walk the length of the car back and forth as he talked to everyone.  Usually it was to the crowd in general, but occasionally he would try to chat with an individual.  You know, compliment clothing, ask what they were up to that day...pick up phone numbers.  It was a little awkward until...

Someone got on with food at one of the stops and Chatty Chatterson began interrupting himself in mid-sentence by enthusiastically asking about an Italian sub.  "Somebody's got an Italian sub, mmm-mmm!" Then he'd talk a little more about something unrelated and suddenly exclaim, "Seriously, I just want to know where you got it.  It smells GOOD!"

His favorite line was, "Who...has...the Italian...sub?!"  He said that one about a half-dozen times.  It was too funny, everyone in our car went from stoic stares at the floor hoping he wouldn't speak to them, to making eye contact with other passengers while stifling a laugh.

Boston Tourists

Oscar and Joanne came to visit Ojo for the Fourth of July.  They did a bunch of tourist stuff with Ben all week and we caught a Pearl Jam concert.  I wasn't there for most of the tourist activities, but I'm pretty sure the highlights were: discovering lobster tails (pastry), climbing the Bunker Hill Monument, and seeing the cart escalator in Nashua.

The highlight for me was collecting on a friendly wager Oscar and I had.  It was something about the Red Wings vs Stars match-up in the playoffs.  (When did Texans decided they know anything about hockey?)

He was supposed to wear a Yankees hat downtown, but he was afraid he'd get beat up in an alley so I accepted a change to the payoff.  Check out the video and pic below from the Boston fireworks.

Don't worry Oscar, we know you don't really hate us.

Yes, there just happened to be a Superman cape laying around the house.

Worst. Beer. Ever.

Steve came for a visit so we took him into Boston to see the sights.  One of our stops was Fenway Park.  As long as we were there we stopped across the street at Boston Beer Works for some dinner.  The beer served there is brewed locally and can get a little...creative, but they offer a pretty good description in the menu so you know what you're getting.  For example Watermelon Ale, with a "natural watermelon essence," doesn't sound good.  I played it safe.

Haymarket Hefe-Weizen: A German-style wheat beer brewed with authentic Weizen yeast producing a beer with a spicy flavor and aroma.  Sounds pretty good, right?  It's at least safe, no crazy fruit.

After one sip I was confused.  What is this flavor I'm tasting?  It couldn't be.

I had Ben taste it, he tasted the same thing (without me offering a suggestion).

Maybe we're crazy.  That's just not something you put in beer.  So Steve had a taste and came up with the same ingredient.  Bananas.

Why would you ruin a perfectly good beer by making it taste like bananas?  And why would you not warn people in the menu that they were getting BANANA beer!?!  What kind of person thinks describing banana flavor as a "spicy flavor" serves as an accurate description?  It was okay at first, weird, but okay.

After sipping about 1/3 of it I definitely didn't like it.  I felt bad though so I wanted to make it look like I didn't hate it; I had to drink 3/4 of it then I could pretend I was full and couldn't finish.  By half-way I actually shuddered with every drink and I was chasing it with food to cover up the flavor.  I managed to get it down to about 1/3 left and had to quit.

I don't even think Ojo could drink it.

Ojo

Ben and I got a pet back in September as wedding gift from Oscar and Joanne.  While we were in the middle of opening boxes of plates, utensils, and towels we opened a stuffed armadillo.  He (we think it's a he) is named Ojo after Oscar and Joanne.  He has a drinking problem and pretty much just lies on his back all day.  At Christmas Ojo was feeling festive and donned a Santa hat. He really wants to wear a Tigers hat during baseball season, but we haven't found one in his size yet.

This may seem like a very strange wedding gift, but there is a story behind it.  If you haven't picked up on Ben's fascination with animals already then you haven't been reading the blog.  He stops to watch wild animals all the time.  We visited Oscar and Joanne in Texas a few years ago and saw an armadillo waddling around.  Ben was very intrigued because he had never even seen a picture of one before.  They're common in Texas so Ben's excitement was pretty comical for our hosts.  When it came time to get us a wedding gift, Oscar couldn't think of anything better than a stuffed, beer-drinking armadillo.

It's pretty much the best pet you can have.  You don't have to feed him, take him for walks, clean his tank, or even water him.  All he needs is a bottle of beer.  When we first got him he was drinking Lone Star, but since we got home from Hawaii he won't put down the Longboard.

Busy Times

Another delayed posting due to photography.

Between buying a new mountain bike Wednesday, a rehearsal dinner on Thursday, having Becky in town Friday, the brunch-ecue on Saturday, and Alec and Michelle's wedding...we had a busy week. 

Ben's sweet new ride

Thursday we were invited to the rehearsal dinner at Michelle's house.  It was a lot of fun and we got to visit with Sue, Joe, Dustin, Alec, and Michelle which was nice since we knew all of them would be busy on Saturday.  Plus Michelle's family is very lively which is always fun.

Friday evening we drove up to Peabody (Pee-b-dee) to pick up Becky and have dinner with Dave, Laura, Keri, and Jason at the Seawitch.  For those of you who don't know, the Seawitch is a famous landmark; it has been used for navigation by travelers for centuries (or at least since they put the crazy jug handle in).

On Saturday Liisa, Paul, Izzy, Donna, Mike, Connie, Scott and the rest of the crew from Friday came over for a brunch-ecue.  (There was some confusion as to whether this was a barbecue or brunch so it was deemed a brunch-ecue.)  After some visiting and a quick tour of the house Ben fired up the grill while Pepper (our neighbor's dog) impressed everyone with her fetching abilities.

Ben holding Izzy

We missed the terrified look on his face when she ended up in his arms, not that I blame him (babies are scary).  By mid-afternoon everyone headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

The happy couple

The ceremony was really nice (no surprise) and the church was very impressive.  After things wrapped up at the church we headed to the reception which as about 30 minutes away and spent the rest of the night having a good time.  There was Portuguese music mixed in throughout the evening which was a lot of fun for those of us brave enough to give it a try.  As you can see below, Jason and Ben were not brave.

We have no idea what we're supposed to be doing

Later that night, Jason and I accidentally made Becky the center of attention for the bouquet toss.  The DJ learned her name while chasing her around our table trying to drag her to the dance floor.   He ended up coaxing her by name in front of the whole reception.  (Sorry Beck!)  Mike and Sue got everyone to join them for "Shout" and Ben even ventured on the dance floor for a few non-slow songs.   By the time we got home we were beat, and we still had to get up before 6am to have Becky back at the hotel to catch her ride home.

Now that the weekend is over I need a nap.

The Honeymoon...

This was written a long time ago, but I there is a several month waiting period for pictures from Karate Man Photography.

Hawaii was awesome!  We saw whales, went snorkeling, sat on the beach, watched the sunset, did absolutely nothing, saw lava tunnels and blow holes, went to a luau, ate fresh coconut and pineapple, hiked to waterfalls and beaches, and did everything you would expect in Hawaii.  We also survived 2 "sandstorms", got a Caliber stuck in beach sand, formed a plan for when wild boars attack, woke up (and went to bed) to the sounds of wild roosters calling, got chased off our patio by 2 Nene, and learned Ben can't tell the difference between a dried up creek and a trail.  Here are some of our pictures.

OAHU

The view from our table the first night in Hawaii.

We arrived 30 minutes before the USS Arizona Memorial (Pearl Harbor) even opened, but the line was already ridiculous.  I think we were about 500th in line.  Good thing we came early!  This was taken on our way back to land from the memorial.  We didn't have to wait as long as it seemed we were going to.

We had enough beach for the day and decided the Diamond Head hike sounded fun our last day in Oahu.  It was less than 2 miles from our hotel so we walked there.  It closes at 6pm (as in, if you're still there at 6 they lock the gate and you better find a comfortable place to spend the night) so we were walking Ben-pace the whole way there, up the crater, and back down since we started late.

You can see Diamond Head in the background of this shot from our whale watch tour. We hiked to the left around the crater then across the inside and up the highest peak on the right.

We came through the tunnel you see at the end of the road and walked around the outer edge to the left to get to and from the hotel.

It was worth it though, and we rushed for no reason.  We were back out of the park with over an hour to spare.

KAUAI

One of the many shots of wild chickens roaming around.  They were terrified of people, but wandering all over the place...at the hotel, in the roads, in the woods, on the sidewalks, everywhere.

These shots show the view from our Kauai hotel room.  If you look closely at the cliffs you can see a few of the larger water falls (there were actually over a dozen just on this side).

This is a pretty cool blowhole we caught while we were on our way back from the beach.  The waves come in underneath the lava rock with enough force to cause the water to shoot out of a relatively small hole in the rocks.  This particular one also makes a whining sound each time because air is shot out nearby hole that is higher than the water level.  The real highlight of this stop was when Ben didn't put the car in park and started to step out of the car.  As he put it, "Hey, the tree stopped us!"

Mmmm, fresh coconut meat.

We made our way to Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific).  The pictures don't do it justice, but the views were amazing.

At this point we are hiking to a waterfall on a canyon trail. You can walk right up to the edge of the canyon, no handrails or guide ropes to protect you (or detract from the view).  It's pretty steep in spots and most of it is downhill so you know it's going to be tough on the way back.

If you make this hike don't do it for the waterfall!  The little 30 footer behind us is all you can see of the 800 ft cascading waterfall we had heard about.  Oh well, it was still well worth it for the canyon views and the uphill climb to the car wasn't that bad.

We finally made time for a luau.  It was a little showy at times but overall very cool and the food was delicious.  For the record poi isn't gross.  It actually has no flavor at all.

The last day on Kauai we decided to skip kayaking and/or snorkeling to go on a quick 2 mile hike to a hidden beach on the Na Pali Coast along a portion of the Kalalau trail and then 2 more miles along a small river to a 400-ft waterfall.

These are a few of the views along the way, though they just don't give you the real picture. 

This is the beach 2 miles into the hike.  At this point we ate lunch, took a break, and wished we were wearing bathing suits because it was really hot and the water looked awesome.

After crossing the river at least a dozen times we finally made it!  This waterfall was the best sight of the trip.  Not only was it very cool to look at but it also meant we could turn around.  We started out with 1.5L of water and this "quick" hike was much more demanding than we expected.  (By the way, the plan for a boar attack was for me to run and climb a tree while Ben stayed behind with small knife and took on the attacking animal.  I thought we should both just climb a tree.)

We cooled off and started the hike back.  Ben slipped on a wet rock and fell really hard, I twisted my ankle slightly, we realized Ben lost his watch when he fell and had to retrace at least 10 minutes of the hike, Ben led us off the trail, I repeatedly led us on false trails trying to get back on the trail, but finally...we were back at the beach.  Half way home and back to a much more obvious trail!

Tired and thirsty but man does that breeze feel awesome!

We were almost out of water here, and every hill we climbed seemed like it should be the last one.  We finally made it back to the car and lived to warn everyone: if you go on this hike (which I would definitely recommend) bring lots of water and go early (before it gets too hot).

MAUI

We took the Hana Highway drive and checked out some waterfalls, beaches, and lava formations.  This drive is on a "two-lane" road that is, at times, almost too narrow for one car as it goes around a corner at the edge of a several hundred foot cliff dropping to the ocean.  It is a bit tense at times.  There are some turns you have to honk your horn to warn people coming from the other way since there is no way for you to see each other.

This is  pretty good size lava tunnel we saw at a state park.  The lava hardened over water and left behind a tunnel.

We went on yet another hike at the Seven Sacred Pools.  There are way more than 7 pools and almost every one is perfect for cliff diving.

At one point on the trek we were hiking through a bamboo forest.  The bamboo was so dense and tall that it was actually dark.  This is Ben in bamboo prison.

This is the final waterfall on the hike.  It's no where near as impressive as the last hike on Kauai, but it was a lot easier to get to.

Most of our time in Maui was spent just hanging out and taking some time to relax, but we did go on a snorkeling trip on the nearby island of Lahaina.  One of the coolest parts was the whales we ran into along the way.  This picture was taken without any zoom.  We were in a tiny little boat (technically a raft with a motor) so the whales were bigger than us.

Hawaiian-brewed beer wasn't bad, but it had a flavor that you had to get use to.  By the end of our trip Ben liked so much he brought home a bottle for Ojo.  (If you haven't met Ojo yet stay tuned for another blog.)

Wax On...Wax Off

Ben provides constant entertainment around here.  Becky says being around us is like living a sitcom.  This, is definitely one of those moments.

Ben was opening some of his recently purchased DVDs in the other room when I heard some strange foot shuffling coming from his direction.  I of course looked over, only to see Ben in the Karate Kid "crane" pose with a replica Karate Kid headband on.  This was naturally followed by a very skilled kicking motion that nearly ended in Ben sprawled on the floor.  At this point I could barely breathe I was laughing so hard.

When you factor in the headband he was wearing, the fact it was entirely unexpected, and it was without prompting...this was easily the funniest thing I saw this week.

Check out his sweet moves below.  This was a reenactment of the original Daniel-san fun.  I HAD to get a picture of this!

The Crane

Note the "injured" leg remaining in the air as his standing leg swings up for a kick.  Near flawless Karate Kid technique.

Mr. Miyagi would be proud Ben-san

The Madness!

Every year my family has a March Madness tournament where we each bet a whole dollar. It started when I was in 5th Grade between my dad, sister Jess, and me. Becky was too young to care and my mom isn't too into sports. She said something like, "I'm cheering for Cleveland, no the Cubs, no the Bears," when talking about Superbowl XLI if that helps paint a picture. Since then my Dad and I have always had a bet, for a while it was just the two of us. Becky started joining the fun a few years later although her choices were based on the color of the uniform at that point. ;) My mom has even started joining the fun with very random choices. Somehow she won last year...

This year Ben and I filled out our brackets in about 15 minutes while in Hawaii because he HAD to check the scores. I curious as I was I wanted to take the time to fill out my bracket right. We still haven't seen everyone else's brackets, but it didn't turn out too badly for us. We'll find out in just over a week who gets bragging rights of winning the pool or at least picking the champion.

Rivalry "Renewed"

Maybe I'm out of touch being in Boston, but I don't remember Pistons fans caring about the Celtics when I was in the Midwest. It definitely seems like Celtics fans still HATE the Pistons still. Ben and I went to see the Pistons play the Celtics last Wednesday and they were really pushing the old rivalry during the pre-game. We had awesome seats about 20 rows off the court right by the tunnel the visiting team used to enter the court (about 1/3 the way up Sec 4).

After getting stuck in a snow storm in Seattle Tuesday night and making it to Boston at 4AM Wednesday, the Pistons weren't really with it the first quarter. It wasn't a factor of the defense, they just couldn't make a basket to save their life. In the end they made it a great second half, and most of the fourth quarter the Celtics fans were noticeably less rude to Tayshaun and crew. In the end the fouls made the final score lopsided but it was an exciting second half.

I expected the one sided cheering where a good call against the home team is a "bad" call; I even expected a little ribbing since Ben and I wore Detroit gear, but the fans were extremely rude to the players. The fans eagerly booed the Pistons before the game even started, taunted Wallace and Billups throughout the second half, jeered the Pistons for playing "D League" players, and even made fun of Flip Saunder's mullet. I won't argue his hair seems a little date but I'm pretty sure that isn't a mullet.

The "D League" player was Dixon who hit a shot immediately after the fans made fun of his "D League" status (that was pretty cool). Tayshaun didn't have a stellar game, but he had a few huge plays during the comeback to tie the game. He did manage to score 28 points the following game though so I guess he needs sleep to perform at his normal level of awesomeness. The Pistons were playing their bench and playing around with match-ups most of the game so I don't think they're too concerned about beating the Celtics at this point since they slot for the playoff is guaranteed.

Ben and I took the T to the arena from Wellington to North Station since parking was limited at the arena, and it was actually cheaper to park at the station and pay for 2 roundtrips than it was to park at the arena. Ben was paranoid about using the T so he talked to some people in his office and took notes. When we parked I glanced at his post-it note and headed for the station. After we bought our tickets I noticed Ben kept taking off his cap and putting it back on. When I asked him what was wrong he said he was checking his notes. Yeah, he took that note I had memorized in 5 seconds, put it inside his hat, and kept taking off his hat to compare it to the signs we were following. What a dork! :)

After we found our seats and watched some of the Pistons shoot around we went to wander around and find some food. As we walked by one booth Ben said, "They have a place that sells deli sandwiches. That's kind of cool." I glanced over and immediately recognized the deli meat as something else. In his defense the freshly mixed Italian ice cream did kind of have an appearance of slices of meat laid out on a tray, but it didn't take more than a glance to figure out that the roast beef was actually chocolate. At least Ben found my quick response of, "That's gelato, idiot," amusing.

It was a great game and Ben provided enough side entertainment to make up for the loss.