178/365 Too Cute!

Getting back on track with something to make you smile. This is my nephew's first swim. As you can see he is quite the little fish! I don't think mom and dad planned on him to be out floating so in addition to copious sunscreen we plopped Uncle Dave's hat on for good measure.

162-176 Wow! Getting caught up on 365

I am very behind in posting! I was already behind and then our CCI Breeder had puppies TWO days early! Here are the pics... forgive me now for all of the puppy pictures. Oh and it finally happened - I missed a day. The day we had puppies was so crazy, exciting, overwhelming etc that by the time it was bed time (which for the past couple days has been on the floor in the whelping room) that it completely slipped my mind. Still irritated about that. Here we go....

Saturday June 11 - 162
Picking up some props for puppy pictures at the fabric store!

Sunday June 12 - 163

This is the big taste Johnsonville Brot grill. that whole thing is a grill. I didn't stop for a sample, only took the picture to make Dave jealous because he wasn't here. 

Monday June 13 -164 Fountain at the County Court House.

Tuesday June 14 - Doodle bug is home from the spa!

Wednesday June 15 - Today is xray day to determine how many pups we are going to have. A few goodies for the staff at the clinic!

Thursday June 16 - 167 Very pregnant mama, less than a 1 week to go.

Friday June 17 - 168 

Saturday June 18 -169 Pup at Pet-A-Palooza. Sometimes you are just hot and need to cool down!

Sunday June 19 - 170 Dinner and a movie.

Monday June 20 - 171 

Tuesday June 21 - 172 . So in the chaos of having puppies, getting everything cleaned up, trying to get some sleep I completely forgot about 365. I was sooooo disappointed, I hadn't missed a day yet - even on days that I didn't want to take a picture I did. Because we had some unexpected challenges with the delivery I was so consumed with making sure we didn't miss a thing I missed 365. In hindsight, I am glad that I didn't take any puppy pictures. We lost a puppy after the initial delivery and just don't need a photographic reminder. Things happen for a reason and while I was so mad at myself for missing 365 I know now that the only picture I need of that day is in my heart, where I can remember it in my own way.

Wednesday June 22 - 173 Back on track! Mama taking care of one of her aspiring service dogs!

Thursday June 23 - 174 Mama Sabina with her first born.

Friday June 24 - 175 The three amigos =)

Saturday June 25 - 176 Finally got out of the house, more specifically out of the den and see that the world is still turning! Not only are things (new puppies) thriving on the inside of the house, garden is thriving too. Must be the addition of that garden gnome. It is weird I think someone is moving it around the garden - he is never quite where I left him. 

158-161/365

158/365 - Tuesday
The Sacramento City Council meets every Tuesday. Every June the City Manager must present and the Council must approve a balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The past few years have been very tough with layoffs, furloughs, and the reduction of services for citizens. This night the council was hearing the public safety budget, taken while I was working in the media room. It was a long night, full of difficult choices.

159/365 - Wednesday
It was a long Tuesday night, didn't leave work until 2330ish. Had my first taste of a Hemi Sammy from Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen Food Truck and I swear I dreamt about it. Today when I was walking Colton at lunch time I came around the corner on the way to the farmers market and there... like a beacon... Drewski's.

This is the Hemi. It is a grilled cheese will pulled pork and macaroni and cheese - IN THE SANDWICH!!! oh and did I mention the garlic rosemary tater tots. yep.

160/365 - Thursday
I got an email from Unleashed (a little boutique pet store by Petco) that said they have chuck-in brand toys on sale for 20% off. I have been wanting to get this shark-fin floaty thing for Sabina to play with in the pool. Can you imagine my surprise when I went in and the ones I wanted were on clearance for $2 + 20% off and then buy 3 get one free. Did I mention that this size is usually $11. Sabina scored.

161/365 - Friday
I spent the afternoon with my ladies who lunch at a little puppy pool party. Good to catch up with everyone outside of puppy class (where we aren't supposed to talk and i get in trouble) and let the pups play. This was probably Sabina's last big outing before the big day. Less than two weeks now till puppies.

154-157/365 Weekend Wrap Up

Here is the weekend catch - up!

154/365 Friday - Out and about with the a class of aspiring service dogs.

155/365 Saturday - The only good part of our rainy day garage sale; re-do this weekend!

156/365 Sunday - Not the shot I was looking for, but the only one our very pregnant girl was going to put up with. She has the - seriously one more picture - look down pat!

157/365 Monday - June 6, 1944 the invasion of Normandy began. This flag hangs in our home, a gift from my sister who is in the US Army. This flag flew on one of her missions in the Middle East. Although the American Memorial Day has come and gone, a special thank you to the military forces of just and democratic countries who have given their lives in the name of freedom.

152 & 153/365 Getting closer to the 1/2 way mark

Damn impressed I have made it this far!

152/365 Wednesday UC Davis Medical Center

153/365 Thursday Bath Bubbles - I can't believe I am slipping into a steaming hot bubble bath in the middle of a Sacramento summer. More rain predicted thru the weekend and temperatures that are almost 20 degrees below the norm.

143-151/365 Another Week In Pictures

Happy to report still plugging along snapping shots everyday. I feel like I am still learning and am certainly still having fun. I am not however up for posting everyday. I want to spend more time taking pictures than processing and quite frankly life has been so busy that I just a) don't feel like doing the picture processing each night b) I am too busy to fit it in each night and meet my other obligations and well c) sometimes it is a bit of both.

Here is too another weeks worth of pictures.

143/365 - Monday

I don't often get to shoot people, still not super confident about just asking random people to take their picture. This was at a class a co-worker was teaching.

144/365 - Tuesday
Quick bite out at a favorite dinner spot Peasano's. This is a chain art installation that hangs from the ceiling.

145/365 - Wednesday
It's here!!!! This is my new Cricut Expressions - a lovely little anniversary gift from my hubby for our anniversary. Had to wait until he got a new job - so happy anniversary and happy new job!

146/365 - Thursday
This is Bernie, he - yes you have heard it before - is an aspiring service dog. This was taken at our weekly puppy class. Considering the difficulty photographing black dogs, pretty happy with this one.

147/365 - Friday
It is county fair time!

148/365 - Saturday
Rain, really? It is summer in Sacramento, not Portland.

149/365 - Sunday
We snuck away to the City for the day, and it was lovely. Went to the Walt Disney Family museum, which was beautifully done. Then a quick dinner at the best little spot in Emeryville - Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe!

150/365 - Monday
I love to see what people put on their fridges. You wouldn't know it to look at it, but I prefer NOTHING on the fridge. Okay I can live with the big calendar, but everything else that I could leave. However you may notice the ultrasound pics... yep - Sabina is pregnant. We will be having a litter of aspiring service dogs in June.

151/365 - Tuesday
Ever wonder were all those tickets come from? The ticket store of course.

A week at a glance: 136-142/365

I am still taking pictures everyday, but in my effort to get up and out (combined with a crazy workweek and migraine) I did not manage to post everyday. The best part of that is that I am okay with that. Here is my week in review!

136/365 - Monday night met up with some friends to work on a class we will be presenting. These little guys live in my friend's kitchen. She has probably had them forever, she has had them as long as I have known her. They make me smile.

137/365 - I don't particularly care for this picture, but because I got in trouble for taking it I am posting it. I was at puppy class in the mall and saw this very cool sculpture in a store window, when a sale associate came out and told me I  couldn't take a picture. When I asked why he said "if you don't believe me you can ask the manager." I didn't bother. (PS This isn't even what the store sells, it was a display rack...geeze)

138/365 - I swear our dog Sabina would swim in the arctic sea if we would let her, right in the middle of their winter. While it isn't even close to being that cold here right now, it certainly is too cold for me. She could stand there and shake all day and still need two or three towels to get her dry enough to come into the house.

139/365 - A little flower that was hiding under the patio furniture cover. Apparently it prefers the shade!

140/365 - In my attempt to reduce the dog pictures, these are dog shadows at a early evening puppy class. 

141/365 - Well it is after 6pm and not only did we survive the rapture, so did this evil little guy hanging around by the front door. He is obeying the rules (I live inside, bugs live outside the dwelling), so he will live to see another day and hopefully eat some other bugs that may not be so willing to abide by the rules.

142/365 - Come on summer - I dare you!

135/365 Where the pictures live pt II

More than a few posts ago I showed you where the pictures that aren't stuck inside my computer or a scrapbook live - well at least the color photos. I have a whole other collection of b&w family photos. B&W photography is my favorite and what drew me to photography to begin with. I have a romantic nostalgia for these pictures. I think that they are much like a book where I imagine what things look like. In a black and white I have to imagine the colors hidden in the shades of grey. I also appreciate that the time and expense of these old photos, that there were generally not the resources to shoot off 300 or 400 pictures hoping for the right one. Besides wedding photos, the b&w I love the most are the posed pictures where someone "dared" to smile... my favorites have smiles.

134/365 Still trying not to complain

I am trying to find something good about the day that the weather ruined. I hate the wind and it is cold. Apparently someone for got to turn on the furness it is May in Sacramento for crying out-loud.

This is starting to sound a little like complaining...lets try again.

Was driving home this morning and saw all of these flags. Kept thinking about them all day and decided to go back. I was in luck that the wind was in full force and presented this great shot. Thank you mother nature.

133/365 The Universe is not Random

In the service dog world there is a service dog team Wallis and Caspin. They are somewhat legendary in our circles. Wallis is an amazing college student who was matched with great dog named Caspin. They have traveled across the US and to other countries, Wallis has taught Caspin to do commands well above and beyond what they learned in Team Training, and Wallis continues to give back to the CCI community.

Caspin was raised here in the Sacramento area by a wonderful puppy raiser Mary Ellen. She is a wealth of information, and as a new PR she has been a great inspiration and helped me with my pups. I don't think that it was a random event or some sort of weird coincidence that several years after raising Caspin - Mary Ellen raised another dog named Tina IV who just graduated as a CCI Skilled Companion. Tina was named in memory of Wallis's mother.

I don't think it is a coincidence that Tina was destined to graduate.
I don't think it is a coincidence that Tina was raised by Mary Ellen.
I think it was meant to be, it was the way it was written to be.

Congrats to team Nick and Tina - I have a feeling that great things were written in the stars for you.

Mary Ellen and Tina reunited before Tina starts her life with her new partner. 

132/365 Outside

This year we are having the most fickle weather that I can remember. Today however, I will celebrate the day and the sun instead of wasting it complaining about what is coming this weekend.

There was a time when I generally didn't care for summer, and then as today despite developing an affinity for summer, spring is still my most favorite time of the year. Something about all the bulbs coming up, the crisp mornings and evenings and warmer afternoons, and of course Easter. This year I am longing for the warmth of summer so we can get some more swimming in and probably most importantly to get the tomatoes off to a good start!

Tomorrow is the Northwest Region of CCI's graduation. 17 graduates!!! That is the largest graduating class ever and 7 of the dogs graduating were raised right here in the Sacramento area. Before making the trip to Santa Rosa decided to get the oil changed, which comes with a free car wash. While I was sitting outside enjoying the sun I saw this great shadow on from the picnic table...

131/365 More Gratuitous Puppy Pictures

It would be very easy to make this the 365 Dog Photo Challenge. I have tried hard not to do that. This week will be an abysmal failure on that front, especially with CCI Graduation coming up on Friday. At least that is all of the  bad news - the good news is that they are cute to look at.

They are both aspiring service dogs, and apparently they had worked so hard they couldn't even get to their crate before falling asleep.

130/365 Sleepin on the job

This is aspiring service dog Yalu. She is hanging out with me for a few days, and going to work. I see she has been hanging out with to many of us government workers! Sorry Barbara, I am not trying to wreck your dog. =)

129/365 Carpooling

Carpooling is pretty cool, Dave and I are going to do it whenever we can. I am thinking 3 or 4 days a week (I only work 4 days - so that would be the max!). The downside, is that my camera was ready to be discharged from the spa at about 1115. Normally I would have imposed on someone to take me to the store to get my camera, but I exercised some self control. Never mind the near breakdown in the car after Dave picked me up because of the traffic. Needless to say I got there in enough time to have a lovely Cannon v Nikon debate (friendly of course) with the staff.

Then I had a board meeting to get through and the picking up of a puppy we are sitting (Yalu, who will probably make and appearance at some point this week.) Then after all that waiting a picture!!! Took it out (of my newest Crumpler) and found the subject of today's pic. Crisp and clean pics (yay! thank you camera spa workers at Pardee's Cameras - www.pardeescameras.com ). About today's pic - this is some left over salt-water taffy from a recent street fair. I can't stand salt-water taffy. Mostly because I don't know what flavor it is going to be - too much risk of getting something horrible like popcorn (which shouldn't be in taffy) or god forbid something melon flavor.

128/365 Elburt's Final Word (If you really knew me Final Installment)

While I would hate to admit it, my cousin Heathburt may have been right about this being a most spectacular garden. It seems my garden's mistress may have understated her gardening abilities in an earlier post this week and I too may have had unnecessary doubts. I have spent much of the past weeks observing her, and one can get to know one's garden mistress quite well over a short amount of time. I would like to be clear on two things before I share what I have learned: 1- Garden Gnomes, especially one as prestigious as myself, would never neglect my garden duties to make note of these learned things, they have been learned over the course of my garden overseeing duties; and 2 - Do not mistake my observant nature for spying. Spying is an undignified endeavor and as I mentioned I am just observant.

If you really knew my garden mistress you would know: she pretty much loves all flowers but has an affinity for tubers and bulbs; she is (thankfully) pretty strict about where the four-legged beasts uh - "hurry" as she calls it and keeps them out of the garden; she hates the smell and taste of all things purple grape, rootbeer, and melon; she loves to sit and dangle her feet in the side of the pool; volunteers for make a wish; she loves to hear the marching band practice and the pee-wee football game announcer as it wafts into the backyard; thinks that her sisters are the most amazing women; tells people she has been swimming all day when she means she has been on the floating thing; still licks the beaters when making cookies or cakes; that we have an obligation to help those who are willing to help themselves; she is most happy out in the garden - especially if the radio is playing (although her singing leaves a bit to be desired); she loves when friends and family come over to eat, swim, or just as you yanks call it "hang out"; worries due to her family history that she is likely to get breast cancer;  learned long ago that "brutally honest" is just a cover for being "brutally rude" - today she is just honest; she tolerates the "icky" bugs that help her garden but are merciless when it comes to the slugs; loves jewish food; everyday she can't believe she is married to the most wonderful man - and certainly can't believe it has been twenty years; that there is not much on this earth that is worth having if it means hurting someone's feelings or intentionally makes them feel bad; prefers to be barefoot; is deathly allergic to bee stings (which is why the barefoot thing is a problem; tries to keep the drama to a minimum - mainly by surrounding herself with wonderful people; is religious about applying sunscreen and wearing the most appropriately Queen approved wide brimmed gardening hat; secretly hopes that her friends and family will do their own "if you knew me" so she would know them better; loves to teach (and really only wants to teach when her partner in crime Sherri is involved); watched the most recent royal wedding as she did Charles and Diana's 30 some years ago; has thankfully learned that one can not withdraw more than she has deposited in not only bank accounts, but in friendships as well; she is a sexual assault survivor; that she reads the newspaper cover to cover, and pretty much anything else she can get her hands on; doesn't mind left overs - once; thinks sundays are the best day of the week; her favorite color is purple; she hopes that her loved ones know how much they have meant to her and works to make sure they don't forget; and lastly while I am not spying but just happen to catch a glimpse inside the house - she is happy more often than she is sad, she is grateful more often than she is wistful, and that she is confident and content more often than anything. There isn't much more that a Garden Gnome could want in a garden mistress.

127/365 If you really knew me PT VI

As this week of "if you knew me" is almost over, it was today when I had the privilege to share it with some of my newest "family members" I realized I had forgotten to talk about one of the most important things to me. My family.

Today's picture is a group of dedicated volunteers for Canine Companions for Independence. They are puppy raisers, breeder caretakers, as well as CCI graduates who are teamed with a fully trained service dog. In two short years I have met some of the most giving and charitable people who I am proud to call my friends and my GRC Family.  Next Friday and Saturday, across the United States, classes of service dogs and their partners will be graduating. Graduation marks the end of the journey for puppy raisers as they see their hard work meet their goals and expectations. However graduation is also a beginning for the graduate team who will go out in the world working together to be independent and live life to its fullest. (www.cci.org)

If you really knew me you would know that I am one of three sisters - but if I didn't tell you would never know we are sisters from other misters =); that I could not have been born with sisters as great as they are; that I am blessed to have shared special relationships with my grandparents.

If you really really knew me you would know that I attribute who and where I am to my "other mothers" (Jeannine Klock, Gail Kleve, Linda Jeffery, Jane Bruner, and Cindy Enloe) - without them I wouldn't be the woman I am today; that I hope I can be the same inspiration and support to another young woman as they were to me; and they are where I learned that family is about love not blood.

If you really really really knew me you would know that I feel blessed everyday that I have such wonderful friends who share their love and families with Dave and I, that I am grateful that I got the dad I did - I couldn't have had a better one; that I also completely lucked-out in the in-law department.

If you really really really really knew me you would know that I am completely sincere when I tell people I don't have children because I just have never felt the need to, that I am not going to "come around" one day and have them (seriously people 20 years of marriage and no children I would think you would get a clue), and that I am absolutely in love with the children in my life despite not having my own.