Sparkle Power

August 5, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

I took my 11 year old niece shopping last week to buy an outfit for her birthday. Holy Sparklepalooza, are the 80s back! I’ll admit I was a bit overwhelmed when we first walked into her favorite store. Let’s just say it was not a collection of gentle pastels. After looking around a bit, we […]

Bikes, Cows, Dogs. Also…Footloose

July 23, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

So much to catch up on. Blog posts are stacking up in my head! And then I sat down to write this update and Steve starts watching Footloose. I mean, who wouldn’t be inspired by that?!? Let’s hear it for the boy! I want to finish this before the farm kid finds his rhythm, so […]

THIS DOG…Not the Biggest Loser

July 2, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

Today was Bergie’s BIG day at the vet: her second weigh-in since she joined our family. As you may recall, she’s been on a slim-down regimen for the past three months, and we’ve noticed a small but exciting difference as her hip bones emerged from the flab. She’s still a full-figured pup, but we’ve been […]

Bergie Sees The World

June 23, 2014.Reading time 3 minutes.

THIS DOG got loose yesterday. A man with a dump truck pulled into our driveway to deliver mulch. The truck made a loud jump forward that freaked us both out. But while I stood my ground, Bergie had the smarter, more honest reaction to having an enormous piece of machinery lurch toward you: She slipped […]

A Blogger’s Dilemma

June 12, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

Sorry for being a blog no-show for the past few days. Life is good, great actually, in that, “SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!” sort of way. I’m looking for excuses to go outside, rather than to hibernate indoors:) THIS DOG is progressing miraculously. This weekend, I took her up to see my parents. Because she sheds, […]

The Weekend (Featuring: SUN!)

June 2, 2014.Reading time 4 minutes.

What a weekend! Summer is finally here in New England. Last week was freezing cold and rainy, so I CANNOT DESCRIBE my delight in waking up to two sunny days this weekend. Honestly…there was GLEE! And the sunshine was just the beginning. Here are some other highlights: – I painted the dining room blue and […]

THIS DOG and the Fountain of Youth

May 22, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

THIS DOG has outgrown her harness. She is slimming down and bulking up at the same time. It’s bizarre. She was a giant sausage link when we got her, so we’ve been diligently working to help her get svelte and sleek (and healthy) in time for beach season. We do 4-5 walks a day. Sometimes […]

Bergie gets trained! (And I did, too)

April 29, 2014.Reading time 6 minutes.

We had Bergie’s first training session last night! It was great, and she was most delighted by the sudden proliferation of liver treats in our living room. The trainer, Nayiri, gave us language lessons to help us communicate with our sweet pup, tips for new behaviors to replace things that we don’t like, and detailed […]

Quest 2014: Fake Rooster

April 8, 2014.Reading time 3 minutes.

I love rooster decor. I don’t love real-life roosters. But a giant bird crafted from ceramic and adorned in splashy primary colors? Sign. Me. Up. Steve does not share my rooster love. I’ve limited its expression in our house to a small spoon holder near the stove (that I expect to find “accidentally” broken any […]

On adapting

April 7, 2014.Reading time 4 minutes.

So as you may have guessed from my prior posts, we are now in the process of training a dog. Which means to some extent, our dog is also training us. It’s a fun, and sometimes baffling process. Years ago, I read a book called “Second-hand Dog,” which made me realize that with any dog […]