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.

Vincent's First Christmas

Vince had a very fun first Christmas with Paula and Eric! He received all sorts of presents.

One of his new toys is a squirrel that almost looks like the real deal...we're not sure yet whether this was a good idea. LOL

Vince also received a Booda Bone from Grandma and Grandpa Wlos. He played with it all day on Christmas.

Playing in the snow with my Best Friend Eli!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....snow time!! Vince absolutely LOVES the snow. He likes to play in it, run around in it, eat it, and making it yellow - but not eating the yellow snow! There seems to be nothing more exciting than the snow. If Vince had his way, there would be fresh snow to run around in and eat every day.






Yes, Vince has a best friend. His name is Eli, and he lives across the street. Eli is the same age and size as Vince, so they are a perfect match for Puppy Plaaaaaay! Not to mention they look alike and were both rescued pups.

Unfortunately, Eli doesn't like to run around at top speeds like Vince does. Whenever Vince starts running around at top speed for several laps around the park, Eli sits down and watches. That is just too much effort to expend for Eli. If you can't tell, Vince is on the left.