Something else to write about!

It occurred to me this morning that my last two posts (and heck, maybe more?) were about Hudson. For nearly two years she has been our only child of sorts. Granted, she has fur, horrible breath and ears that just can't seem to stay in place. But she has been such a source of entertainment in the house since the night she arrived.

Hudson is in for a RUDE awakening come late April of 2009.

Wade and I recently found out that we're having a baby!

We're having another ultrasound on Thursday of this week along with our first "long" OB appointment where they will poke and prod and ask lots of questions about our family medical history. We've already seen the baby's heart beating and thankfully I am not dealing with a great deal of morning sickness as of yet. I realize that I jinxed myself. But so far, its just bouts of exhaustion and mild nausea.

So obviously this signals a new chapter in the lives of the Garretts. We're definitely embarking on one heck of an adventure now - full of hormonal rage and inexplicable headaches. And that's just Wade trying to put together furniture and get through all these books I've brought home! Just kidding. Those things are 100% my domain.

Here's a snapshot of our baby bean ------- MORE TO COME!

Take your dog to work day!

This past Friday, my co-worker and I decided that since we had quite a few people out of the office, it would be a great day to bring our dogs to work. Thankfully, I work for a very small company that is flexible and family-oriented.

So instead of going in the boring crate in the garage all day, Hudson got to come to work!

She and Rix, my co-worker's dog, ran circles around the warehouse and the stock yard. They would greet anyone who came out of the doors from the first and second floors and into the warehouse space. I was impressed that both dogs got along so well with each other and everyone in the office.

As a result of the long work day, Hudson was caught sleeping on the job a few times.

I am so thankful to work for a great company. And so relieved to have a well-behaved dog. I don't think that she has fully recovered from her busy day at work. As you have read in previous blogs, she has great "problem solving skills" ... but will need to work on paying more attention!

The Suspect Had Brown Fur

Those of you that have kept up with us for the past few years know that we initially had a lot of trouble with our dog, Hudson. She was a rescue of sorts – bounced from place to place before finally ending up with us. We quickly discovered that she had all sorts of “emotional” problems stemming from separation anxiety. Within a week of her arrival, she had decided to remove all the carpet from the base of the stairs in our bonus room. This was an obvious desperate ploy to dig out of the room. Too bad for her we live on a slab. She also learned how to open doors with her paw!

A few weeks after we adopted Hudson, we decided that she would simply have to be crate trained. Wade and I quickly realized that a dog with separation anxiety does not agree with being crate trained. We endured many nights of her howling and barking. Her crate had been in our sunroom and one day we came home from work and she greeted us at the door. Her supposed steel crate lay mangled in the sunroom, the plastic base completely destroyed. We were desperate because not only would she escape her confines, but she would mark her territory while we were gone. Wade and I took her to Petsmart to return the crate that they had told us was strong enough for our neurotic dog. They politely told us that our dog had “issues”. Our vet recommended using Children’s Benadryl to calm her down during the day. Unfortunately, Hudson reacted to the Benadryl as if it were speed. It made her crazy and her escapes from the crate happened even more quickly.

After several weeks of using zip ties to keep the old crate held together (and her consistently daring escapes), we decided to get a stronger airline crate and that she would just have to stay out in the garage. We were wise to her tricks by this point. As much as we loved Hudson, we were determined to keep her in that crate while we were at work or out running errands. We used a tie-down strap from Wade’s truck to reinforce the door to the crate and hoped for the best.

For the most part, the reinforced crate has worked. She has only made it out a few times, usually when we have a friend check on her if we’re out of town and they don’t know how tight we keep the straps. Most people underestimate her strength and determination, like we did! We gave her the nickname of “Houdini”.

It has been a while since Hudson managed to get out of her crate …

On Sunday, Wade and I went to run errands. We put Hudson in her crate, secured everything and went out our way. When we returned home less than three hours later, we opened the garage door. Wade said “Wow – she moved the crate! Look at that!” I walked around to the front of the crate, which was still secured – door shut and locked, strap tight. Except Hudson was not in the crate! Wade and I start spinning around looking for the dog. We thought maybe she ran out of the garage when the door opened and we just did not see her. But by now, she would have been all over us. Wade turned around and noticed that the door leading to the house was barely cracked. I went and opened the door, and Hudson was sitting in the foyer with her tail wagging, as if to say “What took you guys so long?”

How on earth did this happen? The crate looked as though nothing had changed. All we can figure is that the strap wasn’t in just the right place and she hit the door with enough force to bow out the bottom and squeeze (and I do mean squeeze) out. But how did she get into the house? The door was shut! Wade saw that there were some obvious claw marks on the door frame. Hudson clearly managed to open the door with her paw again. Thankfully, she went into the house and did not destroy anything or mark her territory.

I suppose this is what we get for having a dog that is apparently smarter than us. But we do think that this was one of her more humorous successful escapes simply because we were so stunned that she made it into the house. And at least she had the sense to close the door behind her.

Coming Soon –
Pictures of a miraculous nature!

This blog is brought to you with limited commercial interruption by …

Over the weekend, Wade and I realized that for the past two weeks we’ve been more invested in watching the Olympics than in all previous competitions (hence the silent blog). Not even when the Summer Games were in Atlanta did we watch this much coverage. I think a large part of it is due to the obsessively continuous coverage aired by NBC on their conglomerate of 2,394 channels. We were of course enthralled with the swimming and gymnastics competitions. I tried my best to keep up with the women’s soccer games. We became fans of the men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams. We’ve even watched mountain biking, BMX biking and whitewater kayaking. Doubles ping pong? Insane. I won’t even go into the mess that was race walking – I can only tell you how hard I laughed.

The one area that could never attract our attention was track and field. My disdain for running goes back to my soccer days, where running was used not only for conditioning, but punishment when a drill did not go as planned. I have never been able to really run since. So now I find myself in a position where I do not understand the sheer joy these athletes display when they are dubbed “the fastest man in the world”. I also realize that they probably feel the same way when they see soccer players celebrate goals. They just don’t get it. And neither do I.

Now we find ourselves without Olympic coverage for the first full day in some 19 days. The new seasons of our favorite shows do not start for another month or more. It is as though we’ve forgotten how we spent our evenings before the Olympics.

So Wade and I return tonight to our normal marriage. Without promotional consideration from Speedo, Nike, Oakley, Coca-Cola and Visa, the only card accepted at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.

If cooking was an Olympic sport, I would be disqualified.

I am sure that everyone has, even if for just seconds, seen some of the Olympic coverage so far. Wade and I watched bits and pieces of the Opening Ceremonies on Friday evening. We made it through the first two hours and then I moved to another room and caught the last part of the parade of nations and then the lighting of the torch while Wade played on his Playstation 3. I was amazed at the pageantry and creativity that went into the Opening Ceremonies.

But can you imagine the conversation they had with the man who was selected to light the cauldron?

BOOC: “We would be honored to have you light the Olympic flame for the Beijing games!”

Li Ning: “It would be my great honor to represent our country. Thank you.”

BOOC: “There is one tiny detail we have not covered.”

Li Ning: “Do not worry. I knew this was coming, and I have been running in preparation for this day for months.”

BOOC: “Yes, that’s great. How comfortable are you with heights and climbing harnesses?”

On another note, I had my first real kitchen blunder in years. We wanted a simple dinner Sunday night since we had been cleaning the house all day and were exhausted. I decided that tacos would be the easiest thing to fix. While chopping the lettuce for the tacos, I managed to get my right index finger in the way and gave myself a nasty cut. I am normally good with the knives in the kitchen, so I stood there in complete bewilderment for a few seconds before dancing around the kitchen yelling “Ouch. Oh man. OUCH! This is not good. Brittany, this is NOT good.” Thankfully Wade helped to get the situation under control. I’m left handed, and until today I never realized how much I needed my right index finger.

Seriously, who cuts their finger while chopping lettuce?

Ode to a blue shirt (repost)

Some of you may recognize this post from my MySpace account. I decided to move it on over to this site. Enjoy.

Oh how I loved you. You were such a lively color of blue. I remember seeing you on the display in the store. I thought "that's a shade I haven't worn before". And I took a chance on you. I sifted through the pile until I found you. I don't even recall checking the price tag. We walked happily to the counter and you were placed in a perfect bag and carted proudly out of the store along with others that caught my eye that day.

Did you see it coming? When I placed you into the laundry basket, could you sense that the end was near? Did you cry ever-so-slightly, knowing that the next time we laid eyes on each other, something would be different?

I feel as though I let you down, my little blue shirt. I should have checked to make sure there were no imposters in the washing machine. But alas, it was not the washing machine that caused your demise. I suspect that you survived your tumble with the detergent, along with the others.

Into the dryer I tossed you, careful to set the temperature on low so you would not shrink or lose your vibrant shade. I did not realize the evil that lurked in Wade's jeans. I had no idea that the pen Wade left in his pants would hurt you. Oh, how the heat must have caused that pen to leak its toxic color onto your sleeve. And collar. And the other sleeve. Its useless, as the putrid black ink had turned you into a spotted wonder.

By the time I found you in the dryer, all warm and clean smelling, it was too late. No amount of Spray-N-Wash could reverse the damage. I gasped in horror as I saw the top to the pen. Then I found the spring. Next the plastic casing. Finally, the final blow - the empty barrel of ink.

Rest assured, my favorite blue shirt, that you are not alone. Many before you have endured the same plight. May you take comfort in knowing that you lived a full and wonderful life.

I know you certainly will not be the last. There will be others.

And Wade's clothes will NEVER again be washed with mine ...

Its getting hot in here ...

Wade and I had a bright idea the other night at Home Depot. We were armed with a $50 gift card and a little too much time to wander the store. We have talked for a while about getting a better programmable thermostat for our house. So we made our way to the appropriate section of the store and began to ooh and aah over the many wonderful features of the available thermostats. Some had touch screens, others were just plain. We opted for a lovely model that we thought would make our AC/Heating fully automated and we'd never have to touch the thermostat again.

Friday night Wade decided to install the new thermostat. He turned off the circuit breakers labeled with "AC" and "FURNACE". He removed our existing thermostat and the temperature of course began to rise. I know that Wade was very careful in labeling the wires, so when he connected the new unit and had no response, he was truly puzzled. He attempted to call the customer support service that the manufacturer offers, and of course they were "experiencing higher call volume than usual". At 9pm at night? Really? There are that many homeowners installing new thermostats on a Friday night? Apparently its time to bulk up your staff!

The hours slid by last night with Wade growing increasingly more frustrated. After no response from the manufacturer's supposed customer service, he decided that we had a faulty unit and began the process of re-installing the old thermostat.

Around midnight (now six hours without AC), here's what was on our wall ... the temperature wasn't THAT bad, but when we tried to turn on the AC, the furnace came on. So after a few minutes of blowing heat, things got a little sticky. We slept with every portable fan in the house in our master bedroom.

As you can see, this is probably not the ideal situation for a thermostat. This is the old thermostat, which is STILL not working after a nice sweltering night in the humidity of Georgia. Today's temperatures are predicted to reach the high 90's here in Monroe, with the heat index pushing things over 100 degress. AND WE HAVE NO AIR CONDITIONING.

Anyone want to come over this afternoon to hang out? No? Aw, come on.

Its just past 9am here. We have already had our neighbor draw a diagram of their connections, which show that Wade hooked everything up just fine. However, he just noticed that our stove went off when he flipped the breaker switch labeled "AC". Hmm. Wade thinks that he *may* have fried our AC system. Excellent. We have placed a distress call to a local AC company. Hopefully they will show up at some point today and save us from this inferno!

So who wants to let us (and our panting dog who will shed all her fur in this heat) come over?