Puppy Camp

Vince spent 4 days at Puppy Camp while Paula and I were in Philadelphia. He came back acting really strange and even skipped a couple of meals. Things look all better now though, he even brought me toys for puppy play today.

This is Fall?

Temperatures soared into the 80's here in Chicago this weekend, kind of shocking considering the calendar says October! The one benefit is we were able to drive the convertible out to our friend's house to watch the Boilermakers lose to the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Vince was happy though, as the warm weather encouraged us to take a long walk on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was a bit interesting. Those of you that have visited us know that we leave near the Lathrop Homes CHA housing projects. This has not been an issue in the 5+ years we've lived here but it was not good when we walked through on Saturday. There were multiple people out on the street completely DRUNK (or worse) at 9 a.m. and they were checking us over as though we were fresh meat ripe for the picking. Frankly, it was a bit disturbing. I hope that this economic downturn doesn't lead to an upturn in crime in the area, but it might just be time to purchase a baseball bat to keep in the house.


On a brighter note, the warm weather gave us the chance to winterize the deck in decent weather. We took down the tent cover and placed the table and chairs under a tarp for the winter. :-( Guess the only "al fresco" dining we'll be doing will be at tailgates!

Oh Deer

It has been quite some time since we posted, it has been a busy summer for us. Vince and I are spending a lot of time in Michigan City at the condo of late due to work, and as summer draws to a close here in northwest Indiana the deer start to venture out in the dusk hours to feed.

The last two nights when we have been out for our long walk we have run across deer and Vincent just doesn't know what to do. He generally stands, sniffs the air, whines, and pacing back and forth waiting for the deer to come over and play! He has not yet run at the deer like he did last year, but I figure it's only a matter of time before he does.

Fun Summer So Far

Summer is going by quickly!! We have been busy with this, that and the other this summer. Here are a few pictures of our recent escapades. Last night we were at the Sox game (27th row behind home plate - thanks to Joel and especially to his mom for those tickets!!). The weather was decidely different from last Monday's Cubs game/tornado event. Unfortunately I didn't capture any pictures of the swirling rain, but suffice to say that it was an fun and slightly disconcerting experience.

Last weekend was Retro on Roscoe - lots of food and bands. We had a great time there and ran into lots of friends too! I didn't capture too many pictures as our large group was separated most of the night due to the crowds, but don't think that stopped us from having fun!

Who's a Big Boy?

Been a while since we posted, life has been crazy for us lately. We'll get a full update done this weekend, since it's the first time we'll be home toghether since May! I wanted to post big Vincent news though, he's now staying out in the condo in Michigan City all on his own. No more "going to bed" when Eric goes to work! We're on day 3 and so far no destruction of property!

New Garden Terrace

I thought I would show off our handiwork. Eric decided this was the year we were getting rid of our old vegetable garden setup - which consisited of a menagerie of pots sitting on red paver stones on top of wooden pallets. We were a little late to the game as we did not get back from our Med cruise until early June, but we weren't tooooo late to catch up a little. So we have a couple nice tomatoes, a cucumber, and many of varieties of peppers. The best part is all containers are self watering, so I don't have to worry about them every day! Now we're really ready to commence our normal summer rooftop gatherings.

I L-O-V-E Puppy Camp

Whenever we are not home, Vincent goes to his home away from home, or as we like to call it "Puppy Camp." He stays in a house that has a large room for the big dogs to play and sleep in - no cages. They don't have any webcams, but we are CONVINCED that Vince doesn't sleep the entire time. He sleeps for two days straight whenever he comes home from camp. Here are a few pictures of him trying soooooo hard to stay awake.

Going

Going

Gone!

Vince's Message for Rescue Pooches!

I received a link to a shelter that is closing in Marion, IN. Any of these dogs not adopted will have to be put down and Vince wants to help!

If you are planning on getting a dog, will you please think about adopting!

http://picsbycindy.com/marion_grant_dogs.htm

As everyone knows, Vinny is a rescue pooch and he would love to see some of his fellow rescue dogs find a good home.

Vince Chooses His Allegiance

It's official, Vince is a true north sider - he has become a Cub fan. Eric bought Vince a new toy a couple weeks ago - a blue bat with the Cubbie logo that plays "Let's Go Cubbies, ruf, ruf, ruf-ruf-ruf." It has quickly turned into his favorite toy. I can never get tired of hearing the "Let's Go Cubbies" but somehow Eric seems to get annoyed after the 30th time in a row it's played. Bah. Sometimes I'll even chime in and sing along to cheer on my dear Cubbies.

Our New York Minute!

On a quick whim, and thanks to an e-fare from United, Eric and I....well actually, Eric decided we were taking a trip to NYC this weekend. He decided he just HAD to make one last stop at Yankee Stadium before they open their new park next year. A trip to NYC? Who am I to refuse that??

Play Ball!

We did a lot of the usual stuff...a Reuben for lunch at Katz's. Upon having that buttery corned beef, I repressed the urge to re-enact the big O scene from when Harry Met Sally - yes it's the same deli. After that, you can only follow a meal like that up with a trip to see my French boyfriend Jacques Torres for some of his Wicked Hot Chocolate. Anyway, we went to see David Hyde Pierce in Curtains, which is a hilariously and witty musical. Of course we went to see the Yankees win against the Rays, and then headed to our favorite little place, McSorley's. Nothing finer than getting two beers per order of their fine cask conditioned ale! For those of you who are not in the know, their slogan is "We were here before YOU were born"...and that is absolutely true of eveyone I know, even my great-grandma (who is 103ish and still counting). Thankfully, McSorley's finally allowed us girls (by Supreme Court ruling) a chance to visit their fine establishment since 1970.

Backdrop is the bar at McSorley's.

St. Patrick's Day Breakfast

For the second year we had everyone over for breakfast before we headed over to The Abbey Pub to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Unfortunately we didn't get the camera out until we headed over to the pub, so we don't have any photos from the house. However, a great time was had by all at both Breakfast and at the Pub.

I got the privilege of taking Andy's kids to a bar for the first time. (Don't tell Kari!)

After spending a good 7 hours at the pub we returned to the house to party a little longer. One of the new engineers at Chicago Faucet spend the day with us and I think really enjoyed herself. Her name is Whitney and she's all around good people because she and her fiancee are Reds fans and being from Nashville understand what real BBQ is! Whitney showed her southern roots by closing out the party at our house by demanding Free Bird by Lynard Skynard!

It was a great day all around. Jen and Tony came up to the Pub after going to a lecture at the Science and Industry Museum. The rest of the Chicago Crew was there with the exceptions being Grady and Keith. Keith was down with an illness and Grady was at a med conference in Austin. However, Chris and Eileen made it, as you know we couldn't celebrate anything Irish without Eileen!!

Spring is Creeping Closer

Winter finally seems to be giving way to spring here in the midwest, and not a moment too soon! Even though the temps are rising we still have some remnants of winter hanging around. I noticed this phenomenon last year but didn't get a good photo. I'm not sure what causes this, maybe it's the prevailing winds, but all the ice from Lake Michigan seems to stack up against the shore here in Long Beach.

I'll try to get a night photo but I don't think that it will really come through. The appearance is very eerie at night.

What Have We Been Up To?

It's been a while since our last update and a lot has been going on in our world. Paula left a few days after our last post for a trip to Anartica with her Mom. She'll be gone for another few days. So Vince and I have been hanging out and not doing much of anything exciting.

The first week that Paula was gone was awful weather wise. This has been a crazy snowy winter here in the Chicago area. Michigan City is of course getting it even worse. We had 12 plus inches in two days a couple of weeks ago!

I finally finished my tennis lessons, though I still don't want to talk about it. The instructor was as nice as he could be about it, but my capabilities on the hardcourts wasn't much to write home about. I will say in my defense that due to my multiple shoulder injuries to my left arm I was forced to play right handed.
As I mentioned, I've been working a ton so Vince has been "neglected" in his eyes. He's still getting plenty of love, just not as much play time as he would like. To combat this I bought a ball throwing device which allows me to fling the ball 75 yards (again, the shoulder issues make throwing the ball difficult) which allows Vince to run full speed after it! He loves the new game! Additionally we've been taking "training" walks every Sunday. Training is for me actually though, I'm building up to our cruise where we're going to be walking a lot. We've been doing 3~5 miles every Sunday.

I decided this Saturday Vince needed som Puppy Play time so he went to Dogs Day Inn overnight. I was planning to go out on Saturday night so I figured he would love to go to puppy camp yesterday afternoon. We had bath time tonight to get the stink off of him!

I have been out with Keith the last three Saturdays. Grady joined us the first night out on the town, it was a great time. We started at Pint where we got 8 free pint glasses to replace Grady's Ikea set. (You got a free glass with each pint of Guiness!) Last Saturday we grabbed BBQ and went to a movie - which I slept through. Can't help it, I was at work 12 hours every day the week before including 8 hours on Saturday. Finally this weekend we hit a pub crawl in Chicago. Here are a couple of photos:









Oh yeah, that's the other thing I've been up to, I've been growing a beard. It's coming in all right, not great. I'll probably shave it all off when Paula gets home.

On the Purdue front, the Boilers have locked up the second seed in this week's big ten tournament. I have really enjoyed this basketball season, it has been much better than I could have hoped for from a team that features four freshmen!

Playing in the Snow!

As always, Vinny just L-O-V-E-S running around in the now. And yes, for those of you with a keen eye, that is a Triple XXX frisbee. Long live the Duane Pervis burger!!

Vinny checks out a snowball before Eric throws it...oddly Vinny couldn't find the snowball when Eric threw it into a snowbank. Was that mean?

Another dog is within Vinny's domain (anything within Vinny's eyesight he considers his domain), so he's checking out the other dog making sure our neighborhood stays safe.

Frozen Solid

It's freezing here in the upper midwest, we're fighting through sub-zero temps and since the boy and I are in Michigan City it is of course snowing!

Vince has been sick with a stomach issue over the last week so our "outdoor time" has been curtailed greatly. However, he finally seems to have taken a turn for the better and we have been able to get in a walk or two over the last few days. On Saturday we went over to Lincoln Park for and hour while Paula had brunch. The boy slept for the rest of the weekend, he was so worn out!

On Sunday the temp dropped to ghastly levels. I have been been taking tennis lessons at the local raquet club (more on that when I'm able to hit the ball over the net on a consistent basis) and that was the only time we went out all day long. (Vince's potty breaks being the exception.)

Happy New Year!!

We sure packed a lot of things in the last few days of 2007. Eric's niece, Kierstyn, came to visit us for a few days so we took her all around town. We went pottery painting, visited American Girl, ate at Uno's and Ed Debevic's, had hot chocolate at the Signature Lounge (96th floor of the Hancock building) went to the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium, and saw the lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo! I'm exhausted just thinking about it all.

Jen also took two of her nieces Jess and Cindy to Chicago as well. We all met up at Uno's for the best pizza in town!

While we were at the Shedd, a diver was in the center reef tank feeding the fish.

After the Shedd, we headed over to the Adler Planetarium to see outerwordly adventures. We went to a nice winter night sky show where they showed us what stars and constellations are visible in the current sky. Of course, you have to venture outside of Chicago city limits to be able to see most stars. It also looks like we will both be going to the moon in NASA's next moon mission.

Last but not least, we celebrated New Year's Eve in style. We hosted the NYE party this year, and we had a great crowd to ring in the new year with. Even Dawn and Brendan decided to suffer the weather and come up from Florida to participate in the festivities. Of course, any trip they go is required to have some luggage drama...their bag did not make it to our house until 24 hours after they had arrived...and let me point out that the bag arrived in Chicago only 2 hours after they did, so it took about 22 hours to deliver one bag 14 miles. What a statistic.

And don't worry about Vincent, he hasn't been ignored during all these events. He's been spending this whole time at puppy camp playing the days away. We pick him up tonight, and I'm sure he'll sleep the next two days solidly, but I'm sure he'll be happy to be back home and playing in the snow.