The past busy week

So last Monday Kari and I took the dogs to "camp" for boarding. They ran off happily- not realizing that they were going to be there for a week. Then Kari and I got some lunch at Breugger's Bagels and then grabbed some coffee and headed off to Alabama. The drive was long- as it always is- but Kari and I had a great time together. We split a breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Chattanooga. Tuesday we had stuff to do which included eating lunch at Atlanta Bread Company. I have no idea why the one that finally went out of business around here was so ghetto, but the one in Huntsville is great and very busy all the time. It brought back memories of being in school and every Wednesday stopping there to get a sandwhich before going to class. Anyway, Wednesday was rainy and very stormy. I am not used to sleeping through thunder storms anymore ( partly because we have hardly had any rain) so I was awake most of the night. On Thursday, we had to finish getting everything ready for Thanksgiving dinner. My dad's family that was able to come down was driving the rest of the way from where they had stayed the night before. The photo above is of my dad, my grandma, my uncle and his girlfriend my cousin, and my two aunts. We had some of my mom's family over as well so there were 24 in total for dinner. My mom and her family had done cooking ahead or brought stuff over so we had a ton of food. The Pettit family stayed the rest of the afternoon into the evening so there was time for a nice little visit ( and a Cranium game with Kari, Jason, Cindy -our cousin, and me).

Friday was a really busy day. Kari and my parents had to finish picking up the rental stuff, etc, so I went to khols to get something for Kari. What a nightmare!!! I found what I needed in 15 minutes and then stood in line to pay for 45 minutes!! One lady said that at 5 am, the line circled the store inside two times. Yikes! Granted I did purchase a $30 sweater for $10, but I am not sure I would have the patience to do major Christmas shopping on that morning. Anyway, I picked up Carrie from the airport. We then went over to the big metropolis of Athens to get Carrie's bridesmaid dress steamed. While we were waiting, we stopped by Arby's and got some lunch. I had not been to one since I lived in Greenville, NC- so over a year at least! I then had to take Carrie to her hotel and get back home and get ready for the rehersal dinner myself.

Saturday we got up early. Kari did her makeup and then mine and then my mom's. We then were off to get our hair done. We stopped at Starbucks for coffee and a muffin. As soon as Kari, Carrie, my mom, and I were ready, we left and went to the church to get ready. Lindsey had a later hair appointment than the rest of us and so she drove herself and got ready at the hotel before coming.

Kari and Jason did not want to see each other until Kari walked down the aisle so we did pictures we each one separately. Then after the ceremony there were some quick pictures with them and the families. The first wedding picture above pictures me, Carrie, Daniel, with Kari and Jason. The second picture is self explanatory. Hee hee The bottom picture is of our family at the reception.

I came back to Greenville on Sunday and then the rest of the way home on Monday.Needless to say, the traffic was absolutely horrible. The usual 5.5-6 hr trip took me 8 hrs to complete on Sunday. I was so glad I had already made arrangements with a friend to stay in Greenville. I picked up the dogs; they were super excited to come home. One of my frogs died over the weekend ( after Wednesday because Jason checked on them then)- it was the one that had all the trauma and never acted right anyway. BJ did well with his 7 day feeder- it was mostly gone when I got back. :-)

7 more days!

Until Jason and Kari's wedding!! Our friends Jack and Julie are coming up for a quick visit tonight and tomorrow. On Monday, Kari and I are leaving Monday to go to Alabama. Our doggies are going to camp together.

Dwarf African Frogs

Amazingly, they are both still alive and kicking - well, when they aren't doing yoga. Phew.

Piper Ate the Pansies...

What more can be said? :-(

Now isn't that cool...

While I was super under-enthused about the Da Vince Code books, movies, hype, etc. , this is something really interesting...who knows??
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21724485/?GT1=10547

Back from the dead...er, or not

So African frog update...

I thought one of my little guys had given up the ghost last night. So I put it in a sandwhich baggie and it just so happened to have a little water and some air in there. Good thing... this am I came downstairs and horror filled my chest- the frog WAS NOT DEAD!!! IT HAD MOVED!!! Yes, I was freaked. Adrenalin rushed through my body making my hands shake as I tried to quickly throw it back in the water with the other frog. Phew! We are all back to normal, I think. I am hoping the little guy ( or girl, who knows!?!?) is really hardy and will survive this near death experience. Lessons I have learned: Let the dead frog get to the bloat and float stage before removing from the bowl. They can fake dead too convincingly for me!!!

BJ is doing great with his new vase with a lovely curly bamboo. I really like that whole set up. I might eventually get another bamboo, but let me see how this one does. :-)

The girls are all doing well. There were a few misdeeds from the Berkmeister, but that is par for the course. Her momma is in AL with Jason getting their marriage license and finalizing some plans there. They should be back later tonight.

Graduation Day and other good stuff

Yesterday Annabelle graduated from her Petsmart beginner class. I can't believe it was 8 weeks ago when I was desperately signing up for 8 Friday nights of classes after an incident occurred. I took Annabelle and Piper to visit my coworker's sweet Doberman mix named Molly. Piper did great with Molly, but Annabelle growled a little bit. The next door neighbors have rotweillers and would not take them inside. Annabelle got so stressed from one of those dogs getting aggressive through the fence that she got HGE. It is a condition that can occur for different reasons in dogs- eating spoiled food, a bacteria, a virus, and stress. Basically the dogs intestines slough and bleed. The dog can get dehydrated quickly. So Annabelle received two fluid boluses in her chest ( placed under the skin like they do for feline dialysis), antibiotic shots, antidiarrheal shots, and po antibiotics ( Flagyl which tastes terrible and was hard to get down her throat). After that whole ordeal, I trotted over to Petsmart in Matthews and talked to a trainer. Ours is April and she is great. She has a pound puppy that has way more issues than Annabelle. We loved our classmates and their parents. We were all so sad when our class was ending. :-( So last night, the dogs were put through their paces to demonstrate all we have learned these past few weeks. Everyone did really well and was so cute. We all got certificates, magnetic bumper stickers ( My Dog has Class hee hee), and some toys and treats for the dog. I also bought two African dwarf frogs to live in my peace lily water pot. I moved BJ to a new home- he has a great curly bamboo and pretty clear stones with colored sea shells. :-) So far everyone has lived through their transitions, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed with the frogs. Apparently, they can be delicate little amphibians.

Yesterday was also the day that I made my decision, and I got rid of some really old furniture I had. In 45 mins and 60$ later, the couch and chair were off down the road with You Call We Haul man. I then had to do tremendous vaccuming because lots of stuff fell out as the guy dragged it out the door. I then rearranged the living room with my remaining hide-a-bed couch. It is a lot more open and organized.

My other mission for the day was to buy a nice winter coat. I have some casual ones, but my black ones from previous years are quite worn out. One has a zipper that doesn't zip. I happened to see an ad Thurday night that Old Navy was having a 40% off winter wear sale. So yesterday I got a little red pea coat and a little black pea coat for just a little bit more than what I was going to spend on one I saw in a catalogue that ended up being sold out. The red coat is one of the toggle button kind; the black one has buttons. I was going to try to put up some pictures, but I can't get them to copy from the site. Oh, well.