This Child.....These Children

They look innocent enough, don't they? Beautiful, charming, great smiles, healthy, happy...but behind the fasade is the life of a teenager and a struggling parent who just wants to understand, be there to help them through this difficult time. I think the majority of adults are in agreement that to go back in time and be a teenager again isn't something one would choose to do. What a difficult time trying to find out who you are, become the person you were meant to be....and for some of us we use longer then our teen years to find out who we are suppose to be.

I like to feel I have an open relationship with my kids. I have always told them I'm here, they can talk to me about anything and I'm not going to judge, I'm simply going to share my experiences with them if they want, try to protect them if I can, guide them...or if they prefer I can just listen. No strings attached. Sarah- the striking red head on the left in the photo, is wonderful about sharing everything with me...at least she tells me enough that I feel she is telling me everything, even though I know she probably has her secrets, her own personal thoughts...and good for her! The handsome little guy on the right, Thomas, won't talk to me about anything that has to do with his body...only dad gets those conversations even though I've expressed that I'm his mom so I technically don't count for a girl...he still won't talk to me about guy stuff...but I get to hear about all the girls he falls in love with and who is being nice and who isn't being nice to him..so he shares...sometimes you can't get him to be quiet!! The flip side to these two is the gorgeous blonde in the middle, Julia. The other two kids are me in so many ways, this one though....I find so difficult to relate too. This bothers me to no end, because every mother wants to understand her kids so she can best help them and yes, I see some of me in her also but where I'm weak she is strong, where I babble all day long, she is quiet and reserved, when I'm quiet she babbles...we never meet on common ground usually and it's hard. There is undeniable love constantly in our family but when you are a parent it's hard to know how to help your child through certain times when you can't meet on common ground.

Julia has been more quiet then usual lately, even her teacher noticed and called me and talked to me about it and we've been trying to figure out what's going on with her without actually getting a lot of info from her when we've hinted or directly asked. She just keeps saying she doesn't notice what we are noticing...huh....Well, one of the days before the Captain left I was going to work and he found a journal she writes in for school. Stig began reading this as I went to work and during the day he shows up at my work and joins me while I have my break. He begins to tell me about the story he read in the journal about a girl who wrote a love letter to another girl and the bully in the class found it and read it too the whole class, ultimately humiliating the girl who sent the note and making her leave school "sick". "And she had a little brother," the Captain says too me with giant eyes...Oh geez....could that be what's bothering my baby??? Both of us start pondering what we should do and how we should go about finding out if this is what is wrong with Julia...Stig tells me not to approach her about this and I was immediately thinking that was the first thing I was going to do...so when I got home, I grabbed a minute with her while she was getting ready to go to the ski center and I shut the bathroom door and looked at her very seriously with a warm smile on my face...I told her that I loved her very much and that her dad had read something in her journal that we just wanted her to know that we knew about and that we were completely ok with....and I proceeded to tell her what her dad had read and I told her if she was gay I'd still love her no matter what and so would her dad. I was being extremely serious and she looked at me and said, "Mom, I wouldn't be gay I'd be a lesbian!" and she flipped her long hair at me and grabbed her ski helmet and walked off laughing....I followed quickly after yelling confirmations that no matter what she would be or is...we loved her and just wanted her to know this. She said nothing more too me before she left and Sarah having heard all this, picked up the journal and read it also. While Stig and I sat and discussed what I had said to Julia, Sarah comes over to us and asks if we bothered to read the name of the person who sent the love letter to the other girl in Julia's essay? No, I hadn't read it at all, just the Captain...and the Captain is sitting there with a blank look on his face and says nope, he can't remember the name...this is where Sarah proceeds to tell us that the name was Markus (A boy's name) who sent the letter to the girl, so it was a boy who sent the love letter not a girl. "You guys are so stupid!" Sarah exclaims as she walks off laughing and Stig and I just sit there looking at each other like...yeah....she might have something there and I of course have to give Stig my two cents for not noticing that and he has to give me his two cents for not reading it myself....AHHHHHHHH parenthood....ahhhh children....

Of course this has become a big joke now and our children see that while we aren't perfect and not always right, we love them no matter what and are willing to stick our necks on the chopping board to show them that!!!!!! I guess that is all that counts and all we parents can do.....our best??? Right???

Have a great Saturday everyone!!! Until next time...

Staying Positive

Staying positive is something we learn from a very young age but don't always remember when we should. At the preschool where I work we have a little girl who thinks it's loads of fun to flip us the bird (the finger) and you can tell by her face she thinks she is doing something bad. She is only two years old, how can she possibly know this is bad unless she has learned it from someone (such as an older brother eh hem...) but it's our job to turn this negative into a positive, so everytime she flips us the bird we break into song...we have a song which names each of the fingers and a loose translation would be something like this (when she shows us the long finger) we sing- Long finger, Long finger, where are you???? Here I am, Here I am...good day good day good day!!!! Then we go onto the next finger (ring finger) and so on. This totally threw her off the first time she threw us the bird expecting she had really given it too us...well....now it's the cutest thing in the world to see her face go from "I'll show you" as she is flipping us the bird, to a big ol' smile when we start singing and she happily sings with us while trying to manuever the next finger when we start singing about that one. One time she was sent to a corner after doing something wrong and when we went to check on her she was singing the finger song...hahahahaha.....

That old question, do you see the cup as half full or half empty, is a reminder to keep looking for the positive in life. In my humble opinion everyone has the choice to focus on the positive in life or the negative but I also admit that it's not always easy to choose the positive. Sometimes the negative is overwhelming and you have to really really look hard to find the positives but if you are willing to make the effort, you are usually rewarded. Positives are all around us, from beautiful sunrises to beautiful sunsets, a child's laughter, loving words, a happy song, just to name a few. I know I sound like the princess in that film Enchanted who can't see the negative world but hey....I could be compared to a lot worse!!! Think if more people thought like her, what the world would be like!!!

The Captain finally left today....hahahaha...I really don't mean that in the way it reads but he was ready to go and we were also ready. It's a lifestyle being married to a sailor, he is what he is and we know the routine, it seems weird when things don't go as planned like these past three weeks...it's been great having him here, but he's been mentally gone so it's not been the same as when he's suppose to be here. He's on his way to Rio via Paris. He has a five hour layover in Paris which has been described as the world's worst airport for foreginers (everything is totally in French and they aren't very hospitable) so he's been really not looking forward to this travelling but I told him he needed to look at the positives. He got his Ipod touch and downloaded his poker games before he left, he got an extra battery pack so the Ipod will last the entire 24hour trip, he downloaded tons of Donald Duck cartoons and Tom and Jerry cartoons so if the inflight films are a bust, he still has something to watch. I told him to enjoy a finer meal in the airport in Paris and have a drink if he wanted and just relax. I think I've convinced him to look positively on this travelling but we'll know for sure tomorrow when he calls from Brazil.

We got some photos of our new pup who is opening her eyes now. She was the first pup to begin to open her eyes- already taking initative in life!!! Good girl!!! We are all very excited to get to know her and to get to know the breed better. I am constantly reviewing our life and how things are here and thinking and hoping we can offer her a good life here with us. I believe we can and I'll stay focused on the positive and hope it lasts. We aren't perfect people and we make mistakes...but we do our best and you can't ask more then that.

I'll leave you with a couple photos of the baby and another positive thought- I'm off work tomorrow!!!! I'm planning to enjoy my free day to the fullest, starting with a cup of coffee and reading up on what the rest of y'all in blog world are up too, then grabbing a dog and my camera and seeing if we get lucky enough to have another beautiful sunrise like we had today. I have to get better about carrying my camera with me more often, I see things all the time I wish I could take a photo of and I don't have my camera with me and my cell phone camera just ain't cuttin it!!! Hope you have a great day also folks!!!!

Until next time my friends.....

A Humbling Experience

I love the part of Norway we live in now, I feel I have so many more options then I did when we lived on the coast but I have to admit that the nature up where we use to live was so powerful and gorgeous compared to the nature around here. I compare this area to Pennsylvania a lot but up there with the mountains and waterfalls falling out of the mountains and the ocean...it was just so breath taking and everytime we drive through there to visit family I'm just in awe...it's very humbling to drive through these valleys and look up at the mountains that tower over you and think of the people who live in this area now and way back when...especially those way back when...when there weren't actual roads to get people in and out of the area and winter in these areas...oh man....When you drive through this beautiful nature you feel very small and insignificant. I really feel in this instance a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll save you the words and just give you the pictures...

Until next time my friends....

No More Hokey Posts

My darling daughter Sarah reads my blog every day and I read hers. While we were on our walk today with the dogs, we had to stop and wait for Mamma Heidi...she was trying to make it over knee deep snow with her old legs (hey she is like 90 years old in human years), Sarah said, "listen to that silence...isn't it great?" I said yeah it was great and hey, did you read my blog yestrday? She said- you mean the MAGICAL woodland...and said that word magical in such a harrassing way that I gave her a mean look and turned around and kept on walking while she walked behind me laughing at me...TEENAGERS!!!! So as I walked off in protest I decided no more hokey posts.....at least not for awhile...I can't say never because...I'm kinda naturally hokey and writing hokey things just comes naturally without me thinking about it!!!!

So, what to write...what to write? Hmmm....well, the years we lived on the coast were certainly interesting years. I learned a lot about myself and about things I never thought I'd ever care to know about. Take for example fish. Now, before moving to the coast in Norway the closest I ever got to a fish was Long John Silvers fish n' chips and it was mostly the fatty little crumb things that I was most attracted too....the stuff that is really bad for you...yeah...the fish was just something you had to order to get the really good stuff. When we first lived in Norway we lived with my inlaws (that is a whole other post) and my mother in law would make lots of traditional Norwegian foods which were generally really good. Her cooking was a lot like my grandmother's, never a diet product in sight, everything was the real McCoy...butter, whole milk...that kinda stuff. Well, once she made this fried "fish" which I tried and it was WONDERFUL and then my darling hubby tells me it was cod tounge!!!! Did any of you know that cod's had tounges? That any fish had tounges? I just figured they opened their mouthes to a big black hole that went straight to their bellies and anything in the water got swooshed in and down the tube....but no...they have tounges. Now again, the meal itself was wonderful and I LOVED what I ate until I knew what it was and then the mental block kept me from ever considering eating it again. To me tounge was not meant to be eaten...but I know people eat cow tounge and I've seen those things in the butcher shops and they are NASTY. I understand a long long time ago out of neccessity people ate the entire animal...nothing was wasted...but these days there is no need to eat things like tounge!!!!!

There was also a fish Stig caught once which in Norway they call Steinbit and I asked Stig what they call this fish in English and he said they call it catfish or wolffish. I swear it must be one of the ugliest fish I have ever seen. He put it on our kitchen counter and cut it's head off, the head sat there looking at me like something from a horror film and then to demonstrate even more how horrible this fish is, Stig took a big wooden spoon and stuck it in the mouth of this cut off head of this disgustingly UGLY fish and the jaws clamped down together in one giant chomp on top of the wooden spoon and that spoon was STUCK!!!! I had NEVER in my life seen anything like that. I never once in the entire 12 years we lived on the coast, swam in the ocean...not when I knew those things were swimming in there also. I've attached a photo of this fish so you can judge yourself...maybe you've seen an uglier fish?

I know this next thing I'm about to write will piss some people off, but I've tried whale. I got an anonymous comment once from someone who said that the fact that Norway took up whaling again in 1993 was what turned them off to Norway....or something like that. Well, I went onto Wikpedia and found out that there is a specific quota of whales allowed to be caught each year from a breed of whale that is not endangered. Can't recall the name of the whale type but specifically remember it was not endangered. So, I've tried whale meat and I didn't like it. I've been told I obviously didn't get whale prepared properly because I told everyone that it was so dry tasting. Well, I have not been given the opportunity to try it since and quite honestly it's ok. Been there done that and like I said, the taste wasn't enough to make me dream of my next opportunity to have whale so I don't feel like I'm missing anything really.

My mother in law was also famous for her fishballs. Yeah, are you thinking what I thought when I first heard this? BALLS AND TOUNGES???? Geez, what kind of fish do they have here in Norway???!!!!!! Well, calm down folks....there are no big boy fish swimming around with bulging fish skins....hahahahaha....fishballs is like MEATBALLS only made with fish. You grind fish, potatoes, onions and seasonings together and form them in balls and cook them in boiling water. Once cooked you can eventually cut them up and fry them in a pan when using them as leftovers and they are good no matter what! You serve them with cooked new potatoes, crispy bacon and cooked carrots...a traditional and delicious Norwegian meal.

My kids loved to go fishing with their dad from when they were really small. We have photos of Thomas who fell asleep in the boat everytime we would go out, so we started bringing a plastic fish case with us and a Barney sleeping bag we had brought over from America. He would fall asleep and we'd put him in the fish case so we could easily transfer him from boat to land and not wake him when we got back. The kids loved to fish at the dock and then they would of course cut the fish open to examine what was inside...nothing grossed them out, I was grossed out which they loved but they weren't. They thought it was cool.

I have drawn the line on trying some things, like my inlaws love to eat fish heads....apparently there is fish meat on the heads if you know where to look....again this goes back to the olden days when they ate the entire animal...but I'm greatfully living in an age where this is not neccessary-THANK GOODNESS!!!! So until next time folks- Bon Appetit!!

The Magical Woodland..

Shhhh....look deep into these photos and imagine there are no cars..no modern transportation as we know it...heck let's go all out and say there is no modern doopey dingsers at all....(that is my own word folks so don't try and look it up..it means conviences...I could have written that but doopey dingsers sounds more fun don't ya think?)

Now turn off every sound around you and just look at these pictures...imagine cool fresh air when you breath...your cheeks feel chilly but you don't care. The only sound is the snow crunching under your shoes while you turn around and take all this beauty in....isn't it magical? I love the woods. I love how peaceful it is when you walk in the woods. It's a magical place where everything can be forgotten within the canapy of the tree tops. Enjoy folks and have a magical week!

Snowball Removal Part 2

What can I say? Snow is a major part of our life right now. The last two days it's snowed non-stop and we've gotten at least a couple feet of snow...I'm not a math person but let's assume that is correct...it comes to my knees and I'm only a staut 5'6...so that sounds about right.

This is perfect lioness weather....they are in pure heaven with all this snow and could spend hours in it. The only problem is their hair is a pure magnet to the snow and by the end of a long walk like we had today...they are walking like they've been riding a horse for months...all bow-legged like because the snow is packed between their legs...poor babies...but hey I swear I see smiles on their faces so I'm not feeling TOO sorry for them. Check the photo of Isabella running in the snow- tell me that's not a smile!!!!!

Removing snowballs can either take place in front of a roaring fire as I demonstrated earlier but for the lioness the second option is best as it is much cooler...and that is plucking snowballs from them outside..as you can see from the photos- Nanna is very greatful for the plucking and even stands still while Stuart Little (white cat) comes to check out what's going on.

We've come inside now for a cup of hot chocolate and have put on the movie Dirty Dancing...it's such a classic with great music....even with my two left feet I can't help but wanna get jiggy with it when I hear this classic great music in the film...

When you get a moment, go on over to Lady Fi's website and check out the blog carnival. I'm still a newbie to the blog world...but she will be spotlighting some expat blogs around Europe...should be pretty cool!!! Her link is in the side panel but for those of you who prefer a quick and easy escape here is the link: http://ladyfi.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/strange-shores-2/

Have a relaxing Sunday folks....until next time..

Some Ways To Enjoy Snow

How To Defrost A Lioness

All good lionesses adore this time of year in Norway- WINTER!!! This morning the snow is coming down sideways- a scary reminder of our days on the coast when any precipitation came down sideways!!! However, this is not a problem for the lioness...she can romp and play in snow that comes straight down, snow that comes down sideways, even snow that just lies there!!!!! The results when she comes in looks something like this (See photo 2). Check the look of guilt on her face...anyone who has had that much fun alone usually has that look on their face, like they are sorry you missed out but hey...they had a blast!!!

Start a fire...we highly recommend newspaper to be your base for your fire but if you don't have enough newspaper in the house you can use the cursed commercial papers you get in the mail although they are a little trickier to start...it is possible!!!! Next, add some thin pieces of birch tree bark...this stuff is the BEST to get a roaring fire going! Next- light up!!! Finally, you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around.....no wait a second sorry folks...once a nursery school assistent always a nursery school assistent....You close the doors just slightly to build momentum in your fire and then once it's roaring like your lioness, you place the actual lioness next to the fire on a bunch of towels and let her begin defrosting...this process takes awhile and you might have to switch out towels....but when it's all said and done, the lioness runs as far away from the heat source as she can and you can sit back and enjoy the comfort and coziness of a warm fire in the fireplace with a good cup of coffee!!!

A lovely Saturday to you all!!!!

I Don't Understand

I love commercials...sometimes better then an actual program. I am always impressed when a less then a minute long video can capture my interest and make me remember it all day long and I can see a two hour long film and forget how most of it went...

The Norwegian Lottery Commission has some of the funniest commercials based on the idea that Lottery millionaires are not like ordinary millionaires, which they announce at the end of each of their commericals. The latest commercial is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD60M8ladKc

For those of you who don't speak Norwegian I'll try and break this down for you. The woman calls from the Lottery commission and announces that Nisse (or whatever his name is) has won 8.7 million kroner. And on the line you hear a foreigner saying he doesn't understand talk to my brother....and she repeats herself, again you hear the foreigner saying, I don't understand talk to my uncle...and so on, going through the different relatives and then you see the guy on the other end of the line laughing and making up different people for this woman to tell this great news too, just so he can hear her say how much he's won....over and over and over...it's hillarious!

This next video from the Norwegian Lottery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieAsWDPsINM is another foreigner (Norwegians think foreigners are quite funny) and it starts like a horror show..a giant kebab attacks a city and the foreign guy tells them what it is when they ask (this is in English so I shouldn't have to explain this too y'all) and then you see this person standing there in disbelief looking at this commercial at a little kebab steak house in this tiny little place in Norway called Dombås (the kebab house is Dombås Kebab house)and the owner proud of his new commercial dancing away in the background...and of course the mantra of the Norwegian Lottery Commission: Lotto millionaires aren't like ordinary millionaires comes across the screen at the end!!!! FUNNNNNNNY!!!!!

I've been trying to think of something to write from an expat's point of view since Lady Fi has this neat blog carnival or something going on...I shamefully have not paid enough attention to all the details but this is typical me...not paying much attention to things which is why I struggle to find things to write about from an expat's point of view. I told the Captain that I think I'm like a horse with blinders on...I see what is in front of me and anything out of sight I don't think twice about. This is actually a very blissful way to live life...hear no evil, see no evil, say no evil....but I also admit I'm probably missing out on a lot by not paying attention as well as I should. I've honestly never thought of myself as an expat. I've never labelled myself...but I guess I am an expat by all terms and definitions as such...I am an American who loves her country but chooses to live in a foreign country. I've been living in a foreign country for 13 years and I guess I've learned several things over the years when I stop and reflect. I probably have learned a lot more then I will share right now but here are a few of the things I've learned:

You can't compare America to any other country. It's like apples and oranges. What works in America doesn't neccessarily work in other countries and vice versa. I use to wonder why things couldn't be like they were in America, I was frustrated over the differences and my inability to change things but the bottom line was learning to respect each country for it's individuality..it's history and origins. When people would comment about how much crime there was in America and how safe it was in Norway at first I was embarrassed by the high crime in America vs Norway..but hello....the total amount of people in Norway is what we have in one large city in America...OF COURSE there will appear to be more crime in America...Norway will never have the amount of crime we have in the states but Norway will never be as big as America either...if you look at Norway on a scale with other countries around the same size you'll see a more realistic idea whether there is a high crime rate here or not .(I don't know what the statistics are...remember- out of sight out of mind....ignorant bliss, and all that happy stuff)

Another thing I've learned is positive attitude has EVERYTHING to say about how your time in a foreign country will be. No matter how long you will be out of your own "fish bowl" and in another if you stay positive more positive things will happen too you then negative. On facebook I am part of a Americans in Norway group and someone asked the question: Norwegians- cold, rude..or something else (can't recall the whole question) and it was basically people complaining about the rude and non-social and not-nearly-as-friendly-as-an-American, Norwegians. In the Norwegians defense (and again I've come to this conclusion after several years here so I also have an understanding for the newbies in this country also) but anyhoot...first of all look at where Norway is located...in the north...gets cold in the north...and a long time ago before global warming it was even colder then it is now-brrrrrr....I shiver to think of it-and when it gets cold like that where do you want to be??? Yes, inside...next to a roaring fire...I assume this accounts for some of the Norwegian coolness in it's people. The other thing is Norwegians have been hard labour people for a long time, reindeer herders, fishermen, farmers, sailors...they work hard and take pride in what they do and don't take time for much else. But Norwegians are evolving....slowly but surely. They are travelling more and bringing home more foreign ideas of living and being and I've met some wonderful Norwegians who are fascinating people and yes I've met some rude Norwegians...and if they were the last people on earth I'd probably be more frustrated at their rudeness but thankfully the world is a big place and life is way to short to sit around and squabble about people you don't get on with....my motto- MOVE FORWARD!!!! The truth is I've met rude Americans too....but I'm not judging all Americans by these people...and I'm not wasting my time thinking of them either...I just move on...hoping I'll meet someone great next and appreciating the wonderful people in my life. Postive attitude is EVERYTHING!!!

Another thing I've learned is that we Americans are full of ourselves....I dare to say that we think we pretty much rule the roost when it comes to inventions, new thinking, how to do things and so on. Don't get me wrong here, we Americans are great people, we really are...most of us at least...but- and I say this quite humbly- we don't know everything- we aren't the best in everything and we would only benefit to be a little more humble and maybe learn from other countries. I'm not saying that everything I learn here is something I approve of, absolutely adore, or feel should be taken up in the political houses in America but our ancestors in Europe have been around a long time and have some interesting ways about doing things which have been staples in their lives for centuries which means they can't all be bad things?? There is a commercial here in Norway for a grocery store where people try and do things in a very complicated way and then someone comes along and does exactly the same thing in a very simple way and the mantra is: Sometimes the simple way is the best way and I agree with this...I think in our race to discover new things and make our lives easier we have complicated things more then neccessary and I've come to the humble conclusion again that not all progress is in our best interest.

These are just a few of things I've learned while living here and only humble opinions, I'm sure there will be folks who disagree with me and that is their right, that is what is so wonderful with living in a democratic world- the right to disagree and have different opinions. Right??? RIGHT??? hahahaha!!!

Have a great Friday folks...until next time...

Say It With Me People....AWWWWWWWWW

Awwww...wittle baby!!!!

Heidi Mamma

Our beautiful Heidi number 3 (long story but she is the third Heidi we have owned...first one we had to leave behind in the states because we couldn't afford the quarantine cost to bring her to Norway and number 2 was pretty much the same story, the second time we tried to make a go of it in the states and got Heidi number 2 and then changed our minds and came back to Norwayand couldn't afford to bring her with us) Heidi number three came into our lives and has been exactly what we wanted and hoped for in a family dog. She was never considered for showing, we never planned to have pups with her (she arranged her one and only litter on her own) She was simply meant to be a very well loved family pet and that she has been and still is. She has always been a joy, when she was younger and not sterilized she was a much fitter and more active Heidi. Her biggest hobby has been stones...she loves them. You could throw stones in the water for her and she would FEEL for the stone you threw with her paw, dunk her head underwater and come up with exactly that stone! When we would go up in the mountains, she would always find stones and carry them back down the mountain with us. Needless to say this habit has not been to her teeth's best interest!!! But she has never had problems eating, in fact, she has never had ANY problems...she has been healthy as a horse!

But her age is showing....more and more for everyday. This coming September she will be 13. We hope we can have her here with us as long as possible but we see that it's getting harder for her, even with the help of Rimydal. If it gets much worse then it is we will have to consider doing what is best for her and not us...but we are all hoping we don't have to play God yet again with one of our animals...and that nature will take it's course when it's time and everything will be peaceful. Isn't that how we all wish it could be when we lose one of our best buddies?? Knowing we will be facing a future without Heidi has made us begin looking for a replacement for her as our family mascot. We have been looking for awhile at various breeds, everything from Dachs, Shetland Sheepdogs, Jack Russells, Border Collies and Australian Shepherds...we want something small to medium in size since we already have the lionesses and that's enough BIG doggies in the house, we want something smart so we can do a lot of the fun activities we have read about like freestyle dancing and agility and flyball and frisbee tossing and not that a Leo can't learn these activities but you could never compete with a leo in these events and I can tell you I wouldn't want a leo to run up and over my back in order to catch a frisbee I was tossing....thank you very much.....

Darling hubby, aka Captain, is a smart man who appreciates a smart animal which is why he's been attracted to the Jack Russell but it just hasn't clicked with me and the JR breed...I can't put my finger on it but there is something that says that breed would NOT do well here.

The other night Sarah and I were looking at a friend's blog and she was posting pictures of her new litter of Australian Shepherds. Sarah begged me to ask her on MSN if all the pups were sold, which I did...and she of course answered NO!!! Huff....ok...well, to make a long story short which is just about impossible for me...after listening to a fantastic offer we couldn't really possibly say no too (well we could...but when it involves adorable puppies who in their right mind would say no??) we came to the decision that our next mascot would be an Australian Shepherd from my friend's litter. Sarah was over the top thrilled, finally we were going to be getting her dream dog! I told her not to tell her dad anything just yet...the Captain has to be gently persuaded into thoughts of more fur babies in the house...it's a delicate thing that takes time to figure out how best to present it too him....

Well, a day or two went by...I'm guessing no more then two days because Sarah and I were walking around the house like giggling girlfriends with THE biggest coolest most wonderful secret ever and SOOOOO ready to tell the world!!!! I had over the period of those two days shown some puppy photos to Stig...just randomly...."oh aren't these adorable honey??" and he would barely look up from his Ipod...finally I got up the nerve while I was at work....called him during a break and we were talking about Heidi's state at the moment and I said, "well, it sure will be nice when the new puppy comes and we will continue to have a mascot even after Heidi's gone" "Oh?" I heard on the other end of the phone....to which I began telling him about the most adorable puppies that we had decided we wanted as our next mascot and how smart they were so he could have his smart dog even though it wouldn't be a JR and so on and so on....To my great surprise he simply asked when the pup was coming and how much and that's it. Not a drop of hesitation or any attempts to tell me this was NOT an idea he agreed too...nothing...When I got home I showed him the photos Sarah and I had been oogling at the last couple days and pointing out which ones could possibly be our new girl...that Sarah and I had also thought we'd like to name, Jenny. He looked a bit thoughtful about the name Jenny and we started throwing out some other possible names and he was giving us his opinion...which means he had an interest...which is good...very good!!! And after a couple more days this is the little girl I think we have all lost our heart too....

Say it with me people........awwwwwwwwwwww

The Man Who Can't Smile NORMALLY!!

Just had to share some photos Sarah took today of Stig and I. I wanted a nice black and white of the two of us together...but Stig CAN'T smile NORMALLY!!! So we ended up with tons of goofy photos and I was in tears laughing so hard...still, I'm surprised to say I think the photos turned out great...what do you think?