Holiday Recap

Vince had a very hectic but satisfying holiday season. He loved his trip to Eric's parents as there were four girls under the age of 10 to entertain him for two days! The girls were great, they threw toys and chased Vince all over the house. By the end of Sunday though he was down for the count!

When we all opened presents at Eric's parent's house Vince wasn't left out. He received a large tin of peanut butter puppy treats.

When we moved to Paula's parent's house for Christmas Vince was just as happy even without his new playmates. Vince loves their house because it's out in the country and he gets to run and chase any toy you throw. He spent 3 days getting runs outside and spoiling belly rubs.

As far as gifts go, Vince must have been good because he got 2 chew toys in his stocking from Santa. Paula's mom also bought him a "lounging bed" for the living room, which Vince absolutely loved. Guess we're going to have to get one for home as well.

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.