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So it turns out that Oliver may not be such a pain after all. In fact, he may just be a hero. You may have heard that we’re having a little bit of weather today. It’s no big deal; just a little wind and some rain. But…..the ground is already super-saturated from all the other rain we’ve had, and our yard floods pretty badly. Again, no big deal, since it drains off pretty quick. Unless it rains for 12 straight hours.

Now, we did the right thing and drained some water out of the pool, so we weren’t really worried about it overflowing. In fact, the lanai didn’t look nearly as bad as it has in other thunder storms. But then Oliver started going CRAZY tonight. I mean, he was going crazazy even by his standards. Howling, baying, barking, digging at the floor (and not just where food has been, either). Since I thought it was cute, I started shooting video of him. And then he headed for the corner of the room, still baying, still barking. I’ve had him long enough that I know that when he does that for so long he’s trying to tell me something, and boy, was he ever.

The drain that runs across our lanai was clogged. Big time. Water had started seeping into the house. Behind the TV, and right underneath where our massive surge protector is. You know, the surge protector that our TV is plugged into. And the laptops. And the AppleTV. And the Wii. And the AirPort. Basically every important piece of electronics we own (minus the tera station). We were able to run outside and clear the clog (well, enough to get through the storm), and we shop-vac’d the water out of the carpet.

So thanks, Smalliver. You just saved our whole digital lifestyle.

We’re officially getting a Bath & Body Works just up the street. This is going to save me a bundle in shipping (which is still cheaper than the gas I’d use going to the next closest one). The downside? I just bought a year’s supply (no, I’m not kidding) of foamy soap online because they were having a sale.

And a quick word about stupid Fay: It looks like she’s coming for us for sure. We’re not awfully concerned, however, since we have everything we need (including a generator). And maybe I’m naive, but I just don’t see how hurricanes can be worse than North Texas storms. At least with a hurricane we get a warning; not so much with tornadoes. Just sayin’.

First, let me make this perfectly clear: I am NOT IN ANY WAY one of *those* dog people that dress their dogs up. Really. I mean, I love my dogs, but I would never subject them to this kind of humiliation.

Unless it was a very special day. You see, Oliver graduated from Puppy Obedience School today. He was at the top of his class (of course), and by the end of the six weeks, he’s learned to sit, stay, not jump when meeting new people, roll over, shake, high five (at Kevin’s request), come, leave it, drop it, bring it, lay down, and wait at doors until given the okay to go through. He also goes to the door now when he needs to go potty.

I’ve worked with this dog every day since we got him. For hours. So you bet I’m proud of my little man, and I’m proud of myself, too. Which is probably why I subjected him to the extreme humiliation of a cap and gown. You go, Smalliver!

There is not a whole lot in this world that I want for. Kevin does an *excellent* job of taking care of me (and that’s a big fat disclaimer for the story that follows).

It’s a pretty well known fact that Sunday is my big housework day. Kevin can chill and watch some NASCAR while I do laundry, iron, clean bathrooms, change sheets, fold towels, clean the kitchen, make dinner, put the groceries away, scoop poop….and the list goes on. Today was just like any other Sunday (and a huge thanks to Kevin for helping me out by vacuuming the living room). It was only after I finished dusting the baseboards and scrubbing our toilet that I started to daydream a little.

Me: “Gee….I sure wish I had a third toilet brush for the third bathroom.”

Kev: “Well baby, just put it on your Christmas list.”

Me: “And maybe a little trash can for the back porch to hold the poop bags”.

Kev: “That’s an awful lot….I’ll tell you what. I’ll take you to the mall and you can sit on Santa’s lap and ask him for it”.

Me: “Yeah! That’s it! I’ll ask Santa for a shit bucket!!!”

Some women want diamonds, some women want fancy cars. Me? I just want a toilet brush and a shit bucket.

The fact that the dogs played long enough for me to eat breakfast. It’s the first time that’s happened since we got a new puppy. Did I mention we got a new puppy?

Today is NASA’s 50th birthday!

Please stop. I have THREE dogs, all of whom love to run free. At first, I thought maybe you—the culprit—was the pool guy. Or the lawn guy. These two services (along with the fact that we live next door to a cop AND a police dog) are the reasons I do not have locks on my gate. That’s all about to change, however, since I’m sick and tired of the dogs running past me to see if the damn gate is open.

So, Mr. Trespasser Guy, as of right this second, you will no longer be able to open my gate. And sorry Lawn Guy and Pool Guy. Your jobs just got a little more complicated.

We had our third puppy class today, and WOW! Oliver is definitely a smart dog. He’s mastered “Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, “Leave it”, “Off”, and “Drop”. We had the teacher all to ourselves today (and she’s awesome, BTW), and we focused on working on his specific “beagle idiosyncrasies” which, to my absolute horror, included letting him try to find us both purely by scent and the “Come” command. We basically hid at completely opposite ends of the store, let him off the leash, said “Come”, and lo and behold, he found us. EVERY SINGLE TIME. With no distractions along the way. I swear he came right to me, and then back to the trainer. Then we hid again, and he did it all over. He’s frickin’ amazing.

He’s also the most social dog I’ve ever had. He LOVES people, and he obeys EVERYBODY. People will come up to the enclosure while he’s playing, and if they say “come”, he comes. If they say “sit”, he sits. He knows what he’s supposed to be doing, and he’s conditioned enough (via food reward) that he’ll see it through. Granted, we’re still working on potty training, but the good news on that front is that he hasn’t had a single accident all day.

Now if we could just get him to behave for Kevin as well as he behaves for everybody else, we would all be a whole lot happier.

When Kevin moved to Texas, he would often complain of sinus headaches brought on by allergies. I had no allergies, so while I felt bad for him, I didn’t really understand the depth of his pain. Until we moved to Florida. Ouch.

Every single time it rains (and since it’s Summer, it rains every day) my head hurts. Each sinus cavity begins to throb; dully at first, and then like knives stabbing my face. I’ll say it again: ouch. This is karma for all of the years I didn’t really sympathize with my husband. For every time I secretly thought he was being over-dramatic. Allergies have attacked me in earnest after more than 30 years without them. Now if only it would hurry up and rain so my headache would go away….

Not me. The puppy. Now that he has discovered television, he LOVES it. He’s mesmerized. It’s all I can do to get him to go for a walk. This won’t end well….

We ran over to Tampa tonight to have dinner with my Dad, who flew in tonight for a meeting tomorrow morning. For those familiar with the DFW metroplex, that’s pretty much how close Orlando and Tampa are (although I have a feeling that O-Town and Tampa residents feel like their respective cities are really far apart, but by Texas standards, they’re a stone’s throw). When I talked to my Dad on Sunday and he mentioned that he would be in the area today, I was all about “Hey, we can drive over and have dinner” (again, people really have no clue just how close the two cities are; it took us just over an hour to drive from our front door to the Tampa airport).

I’m so glad we did. I’ve adjusted quite well to living outside of Texas (which will, of course, always be home). I even like it here (which I totally did not expect). But other than when my Dad flew in when Kev had his heart attack, I haven’t seen him in almost a year. We had my Mom out for a week at Christmas, and we had my little sister here a week or so ago, but every now and then, a girl needs her Dad. And it sure was nice to see him tonight.

Snooze

When Chloe was a puppy, nothing would calm her down and knock her out quite like Teletubbies. No, I’m totally not kidding. It was like Xanax to her. 30 seconds of that annoying baby sun, and she was out like a light. With Rigley, it was my voice.

We’ve had a hard time with Oliver, but today I finally found it: Jack’s Big Music Show on Noggin. Now, I don’t know if it’s just because I’m older and a lot more tired, but I don’t remember ANY of our other dogs being quite this….energetic when they were puppies. And Oliver is like a two-year-old: He’ll do ANYTHING to try to keep himself awake. Since I’m tired of not having any sleep, I gave children’s programming a try today, and boy, did it ever work. Thanks Noggin!

I love my puppy (who is doing VERY well with the training), I love my husband (who has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow), I LOVE that my big dog is feeling better thanks to large amounts of antibiotics, and I LOVE Rock Band! I can’t wait for Oliver to take a loooong nap so I can rock out on the drums. Side note to Camille: You seriously have to check it out. Me on the drums, you on guitar, and there’s no WAY we could lose!

Three weeks ago, Kevin brought me a new puppy (who, if you can’t tell by now, I absolutely adore). Last week he took care of said puppy (even leaving work early) so I could enjoy Disney with my sister. Yesterday he ordered Rock Band for me. Today, he woke up extra early and headed over to the mall (which is faaaaar, Camille!) and waited in line for a little while to buy me a shiny new iPhone!

My poor old cell phone was DEFINITELY on its last leg; anytime banging something on a table is the only way to get it to work, you know you have a problem. I don’t use my cell phone all that much, either, but when I need it, I need it bad. I’ve managed to resist the lure of the iPhone for a realllllly long time, but today, she is mine! MINE!!!! I’ve been playing with it all day, and it rocks *so* *much* *harder* than Kevin’s Blackberry, which I am too much of an idiot to use.

Hooray for my iPhone, and THANKS BABY!!! I love you!

Originally uploaded by merrindonahue

You know you’re jealous. Admit it. Yep, that’s me and Captain Sig, the most badass captain in the Bering Sea. It was seriously one of the coolest things ever! Special thanks to Rob for getting there ahead of us and holding a place in line!