The big 3-0!

Ryan and I went to Memphis to celebrate my 30th birthday this past weekend. It was a little chilly to truly enjoy all Memphis has to offer, but we had a good time eating our way through the town. I think I ate enough fried food for a lifetime. But we did find time in between meals to check out Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum, which was cool. It was amazing to me how much I had forgotten from my high school and college days. Perhaps a strange thing to do on your 30th birthday, but it was fun. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Ryan checking out the surprisingly delicious fried pickle.

Doing his part to try to drink down the most disgusting drink I've had - the Diver bucket from Silky O'Sullivans. Nasty.

Taking a more delicate approach.

Outside of Dyers (home of the deep fried burgers) on Beale St.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (and Happy Birthday, Kathleen!)

Tuesday, getting ready for the big parade.

The green horses that inspired much growling.

Irie, taking it all in with those big ears.

Me and Ryan with the pups, enjoying a sunny (albeit a bit chilly) St. Patrick's Day Parade this past Saturday.

Tuesday's Tuesday update

Tuesday has now been with us for about four weeks. In this time, Tuesday has...

1. Run away three times. Each time resulting in a mad chase around the neighborhood. She's fast. And not so good with the "come" command. She's always a happy girl when we do catch her though.
2. Has become Irie's best bud. I've never seen Irie play with another dog like she does Tuesday. Don't get me wrong - there's still the occasional fight, but really I'm very impressed.
3. Mastered the sit command. She now sits like a pro and will even wait (though not exactly patiently) until we release her to eat her food.
4. Become the hit of our local dog park. She simply loves all other dogs and can't wait to play with them.
5. Eaten the corner off our coffee table. She definitely likes to chew.
6. Scared off our dog walker to the extent that she ended up spending the rest of the day lose in the house because he was afraid to try to put her back in her crate.
7. Learned to sleep in a bed like a human, with her head on a pillow and usually with a paw around either Ryan or me.

So, yes, she's grown on us quite a bit. She's now attending basic obedience and we're working on basic manners with her. We haven't made a definite decision on whether we'll continue to foster or will just adopt her, but we certainly have fallen - at least a little.

Silliest Pet Picture contest

Our community center is hosting a "Silliest Pet Picture" contest. I've gotten some recent fun pictures of Irie and need some help deciding which one to use. So vote early and vote often.

Irie making good use of Lily's car-seat on the way home from the farm last month.

Another car-seat shot.

The after-effect of digging in a foot of snow.

This one really isn't in the running - I just think it's a cute picture.

Irie thinking it's a little too early in the morning for pictures.

Introducing... Tuesday!

We've added a new (temporary) member to our family. Tuesday is a four-year-old, border-collie mix that we're fostering from Stray Rescue St. Louis.

A few weeks ago Ryan and I started talking about fostering a dog and then he found Stray Rescue. Stray Rescue basically takes strays from the streets and some abused, neglected dogs from homes and puts them in foster homes until they find families to adopt them.

Our job, as the foster parents, is to give Tuesday a normal life in a house, try to teach her some basic commands, get her more comfortable with people/other dogs and take her to adoption events to try to find her a forever home.

We met Tuesday on... you guessed it, Tuesday (though she was already named Tuesday - that wasn't our doing.) We decided she'd be a good fit for us and we picked her up last night.

She's actually a very sweet dog. She's a bit skittish (and barky) with strangers, but warms up pretty quickly and is tolerating Irie quite well. Irie, of course, is not so sure about this new intruder, but they made it through last night with flying colors and have actually been playing together this morning.

The biggest challenge so far is that Tuesday is not a fan of coming back inside when called. We let her out in the backyard last night and it took us a good 10 minutes to get her back inside when we were ready. This isn't such a big deal except that it's about 2 degrees outside. So except when we have plenty of time to corral her, we've been taking her out on a leash. There's also the fact that two dogs just seem to set each other off more, so I'm dealing with a bit more barking than I'm used to.

All in all though, I think it's going very well. And I'm hopeful some TLC and boundaries will help get Tuesday ready for a good forever home.

Tuesday and Irie playing on the couch.

Street patrol.

2009 Resolutions

• Work out at least 3 times a week
• Find some friends in the Lou
• Find new hangouts in St. Louis
• Go somewhere new and fun
• Find a class to take with Irie
• Be able to walk Irie on a loose lead
• Go on excursions with Sarah and Nicole
• Practice patience
• Plan for an out of country trip in 2010

Ringing in the New Year

Happy 2009!

Ryan and I spent the last hours of 2008 in a blues bar trying to talk over very loud music. It was a nice, laid back evening though.

Enjoying the midnight toast.

Ryan trying out his waffle making skills. It was quite the mess but the results were pretty tasty.

Christmas Part I

We had a lovely (and unique!) Christmas dinner last night of standing rib roast, goat cheese scalloped potatoes, broccolini and pumpkin custard pie. Delicious.

Lily was a particular fan of the broccolini.

And then it was on to the gifts which Lily just couldn't wait to get into. To her credit, I thought she was pretty darn patient due to the many delays. It was pretty funny when she snuck into the other room and finally broke down and opened one. Here she is showing off her new camera.

Irie sporting her new sweater. So cute.

Lily and Sha-shawn (they both have very similar dresses on amazingly enough.)

All tuckered out.

Hurricane Ryan

has hit St. Louis.

Ryan arrived in St. Louis a week ago tonight. He had packed his car much like mine had been only a few months before. He decided to ship the few things that wouldn't fit in the car rather than renting a truck which made a lot of economical sense. The only downfall to this plan is things like his dresser have not arrived yet, which leaves him nowhere to put his clothes except on the floor, as you can see. :-)

Good news!

Many of you have already heard as I saw most of the family this past week, but we got some exciting news last Tuesday. Ryan got a job! He'll be moving here one week from Thursday.

I can't believe how quickly it's happening, but I'm definitely ready! I hope the job turns out to be a good fit for him - I know he's leaving a job he likes a lot, but I also know he's ready to get back to the midwest as well.

As I've been waiting for Ryan to find a job, I've been busy getting my life in shape here. I've joined a couple of meetup groups that have led to meeting some nice people who I hope to get to know better. I also just joined a winter kickball league that I have really high hopes for. We've only played one weekend so far, but my team was very nice and welcoming. (Much better than the Baltimore team!) And I'm intrigued by the idea of playing in the snow! I also have gotten into a couple of volunteer activities, both involving local animal shelters. While I haven't met anyone that I'm spending a lot of regular time with, I definitely see lots of possibilities here.

Photo shoot at the dog park

Irie was sporting Terra's old jacket at the dog park today and looking pretty darn cute.

Pajama Party

Saturday night Lily and I had our first pajama party. Apparently she was so excited about the prospect she wore herself out and when I came to pick her up at 5pm she was zonked out. Reminding her about my promise to take her to the toy-store seemed to revive her though.

We hit up Toys R Us and checked out all the exciting new toys. Lily had picked out a baby doll that she wanted within the first two minutes we were at the store, but she humored my request to continue looking. Anytime I'd point something out that I thought was cool though, she'd play with it for a second and then remind me that she still wanted the baby. But then we came across a My Little Pony that had a tattoo which kind of threw her for a loop. She couldn't quite figure out how to finagle both the doll and the pony, so she decided that it was the baby's birthday too and we should get the pony for her. It was just such a good argument, I had to give in.

After our shopping excursion we went to Cici's pizza (home of the cheap pizza buffet!) and managed to freak out several people with Lily's new life-like doll. It's face really does look like an actual baby and no less than three people shrieked when seeing the way Lily was carrying it or had it placed precariously on the edge of a chair. I guess Cici's is the kind of place where something like that may be a bit more likely to happen....

Some of my favorite quotes from dinner were,

• Lily choose seats that happened to be right by the soda machine. Apparently the soda splashes a bit when dispensing because my chair was covered with a sticky film. Awesome! I switched chairs and Lily commented with a devilish grin, "Maybe someone put glue on your chair!" And then her famous laugh.... "Isn't that funny?!!!"
• Out of the blue, after taking a bite of pizza, Lily flashed a coy smile and nearly whispered, "I'm going to tell mommy about all my adventures."

When we got back to my place we popped in a Care Bear movie that Lily deemed to be too scary, so it was switched to a My Little Pony movie. "See, Ingrid, this one's not scary.

We played school and I got to participate in "family meeting time" and "cooperation time." We sang Hey Diddle Diddle and she filled me in on her beliefs about the role of big sisters in the world and how she didn't care that her parents had gone to the movies. She said, "And I said fine. Go to the show. I'll have fun."

She thought it was hysterical that she was going to spend the whole night at my house and sleep in the same bed with Irie and me. But when her parents called to see if she wanted them to pick her up, she said she'd rather stay. She fell asleep while we were reading books and slept like a champ the whole night (well, except when Irie decided that she needed a good licking.) I can't say that I slept very well as I'm not accustomed to being told exactly where I need to lay and that my arm needed to be under her head etc, but it was fun.

And when we left the next morning, she said (in a sweet but somewhat threatening way), "I'm going to come stay over here again, Ingrid."

I look forward to it, Lily.

Lily, the new baby and Irie in "the baby room" at the "school."

It just doesn't get any cuter than this

When I came back from making dinner in the kitchen this evening, this is how I found my puppy dog. I guess perhaps I've been keeping it a bit cold in here! :-)

Thrilling 3s

The birthday girl gets some swinging action in.

I love the look on Lily's face in this picture.

I mostly love this picture because it shows off some of Lily's tattoos and multiple stamps. I told Lily that for her 18th birthday I would take her to get a real tattoo, but her mom didn't seem real excited by that one. I have a feeling this little one may have a tattoo well before her 18th birthday! :-)

The making of a koala

The red-eye doesn't allow for the best picture of the cutie koala, but despite some serious attitude, I still think she was pretty adorable. She didn't quite get the concept of collecting candy and saving it until we got home, so after each house we had to "OPEN IT!". She really did seem to get the hang of it towards the end though and we all enjoyed watching her figure it all out.

Fall festival fun

Last weekend, we went to a fall festival with a meetup group I recently got involved with. It was a roaring good time with a huge bonfire, hay rides, bobbing for apples, tug of war, fireworks and more! It seems like a really nice group of people that I'm looking forward to getting to know better.

Exploring St. Louis

While Ryan was in town last week, we went into downtown for the first time. Neither of us have spent much time in St. Louis in the last several years, so it took us awhile to re-acclimate. It'll be awhile before we get everything figured out I'm sure, but it was fun to begin the exploring.

Funny halloween dogs

I've seen some of these before, but they still make me laugh. Dogs are just funny. And the things humans come up with to do to them....

This is a new one to me

I think MoveOn.org has outdone itself here. I received this video clip earlier tonight as a way to help remind me (and to pass it on to others to help them remember) to vote. Don't worry MoveOn - I'll vote. But this will definitely keep it fresh in my mind.



If the video doesn't play here - you can also watch it by following this link.

Moving is expensive

I realized this weekend that it's probably a good thing I don't have much of a social life right now, because this move has definitely cost me some mula. Anytime you move somewhere new there are things that need to be purchased and I was lucky enough to have a lot of the basics already covered, but I feel like Lowes and Target have become my second homes. I'm still working on making the place feel "homey", but as I unpack more and more boxes it gets a little closer. I think the main things that are needed right now are drapes and probably a couple of area rugs in the rooms. Hardwood floors are nice, but there's something that just doesn't seem warm and cozy about it. Especially as it gets cooler. Irie is great about sliding all over the floors, but I think she too would be a fan of having a little more rug action.

My major purchase for the weekend was a new mattress. My initial plan was to bring my futon down and use it as a bed until Ryan moved in and brought his mattress. However, my futon is not currently available (it's a long story), so I've been sleeping on my couch for the past two weeks. Now, my couch is comfy, but two weeks of sleeping on it was about to push me over the edge. My back is killing me! So I broke down yesterday and started shopping around. Tomorrow my brand-new queen size mattress will be delivered and I just can't wait! I am soooo looking forward to bed tomorrow night! While I'm happy about the purchase, geez, mattresses are expensive!

Otherwise, life in the new place is moving right along. This was my first weekend in town and it was a relatively busy one. I got in some quality family time with Carl, Kathleen and Lily during their family fall fun on Saturday (and got my laundry done - thanks guys!) And today I got to visit the entertaining atmosphere of New Town where Kathleen's parents live. They were having a cook-off that Kathleen had entered, so I went out to vote early and often. :-) New Town was setting up for the McCain rally being held there tomorrow, so it was a bit crazy. It's quite the little town though. Out in the middle of some corn fields, there's this little enclosed bubble of a community. Kinda reminds me a bit of Pleasantville. Not in a bad way though - just different.

Irie is still loving having a backyard. I have put a little wire fence around the trunk of one of our big trees to keep her from gnawing on the bark (weird habit of hers). Today I purchased some outdoor toys for her so she now is the proud owner of a kid's soccerball and a soft-sided fresbie that she LOVES.

The neighbors have all been pretty nice. I haven't spent a lot of time with any of them, but I've met the people on either side of us and one across the street. All seem friendly.

I'm loving having more time with Lily and am constantly entertained by her imagination and expressiveness. There's never a question of what she's thinking or feeling. The rolling eyes, the sly smile, the shrug of the shoulders.

We were talking about birthdays the other day (a topic of choice these days) and I mentioned that her daddy and I have the same birthday. Her reponse? "Yeah, I know that, Ingrid." with the classic roll of the eyes and slight shake of the head. Well, sooory.

Ryan continues to job search. He amazes me with the number of jobs he can apply for in the course of a day. I guess there are a lot of computer jobs out there, but there's an equally large number of people out there looking for them, I'm guessing. Happily, he'll be coming back out to St. Louis this coming weekend to celebrate his birthday!

Work is going good. Well, except for the fact that the economy sucks and it's never easy in the non-profit world, but it's going as well as it can. It's busy as usual and I'm working hard to cram trainings that have to be done this year into the next few months - still playing a bit of make-up from working part-time for awhile. But some new and exciting things are in the works as well, so I'm trying to focus on that. I am really glad that I'm doing something that the majority of the time, I enjoy.

And I think that's the update for the moment. Once I feel like the place is a little more put together I'll get some pictures up!

A good laugh

I've got a nasty cold and have been feeling pretty terrible these past few days, but I found myself in the midst of a good belly laugh several times tonight watching re-runs of yesterday's Daily Show. The whole show was really good (and I recommend checking it out online), but here are two of my favorite clips.



and

We made it!

It's day #4 in the new place and this is the first night I've felt alert enough to post anything. I've moved before, but I've never moved like this before. It was simply... exhausting.

It started with filling my car to the gills (maybe that analogy doesn't work for cars, I'm not sure) and driving cross-country. I was a little nervous about something sliding out of place and hitting me in the head, but apparently everything was packed in so tightly it really couldn't move. On day one of the move, Irie and I made it from Baltimore to Waterloo, IN and spent the night with Grandma Deetz. The next day we continued on our way to Chicago where we picked up the moving truck, Ryan (from the airport) and my old couch in that order. Then, with me behind the wheel of the truck and Ryan driving my car, we headed out to Freeport to Mom's. We loaded up the truck Saturday morning and made the last leg of the trip down to St. Louis. We arrived in St. Louis around 7pm and were met at the house by our new landlord and two of Ryan's friends from highschool who just happen to live nearby.

His friends were nice enough to bring over dinner, so we all had a quick dinner of pizza and then unloaded the truck. With Ryan's friends, their wives, kids, Carl, Kathleen and Lily and a neighbor - the truck was unloaded in record time!

While there's still some unpacking and organizing to do, the house is looking good and Ryan and I both really like it. (And so does Irie - especially the backyard!) The neighborhood is what I like to refer to as "up and coming" but our immediate neighbors all seem nice and one of Ryan's best friends from highschool actually lives 10 doors down from us. What are the chances of that?

Some of my favorite things about being in St. Louis so far are...

• The proximity of the house to all kinds of good shopping including the Galleria Mall and pretty much every store you could want.
• The fact that you can buy alcohol in grocery stores.
• That our town's city hall is tiny and when we went in to get our occupancy permit there was absolutely no wait.
• The price of pretty much everything being lower.
• Being closer to (pretty much) everyone!

In fact, there's only a few things that I'm not a big fan of - one is that St Louis isn't smoke free yet like Chicago and Baltimore are. Basically this means that people can still smoke in restaurants and bars - so whether or not you're a smoker you smell and feel like one by the end of the night. The other is just the lack of a social network, but I know that will come with time. The meetup groups are a bit less active here, but I'm sure I can do something about that. And then there are those nasty cardinals.... :-)

All in all, everything is moving right along. Ryan even had a preliminary interview today - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something will come up in that area soon! I have to give a facilitator training in Austin on Saturday, so unfortunately I won't have this weekend to just kick back and continue getting acclimated, but maybe by the weekend after I'll be truly settled.