Santa or Elvis?

I am gearing up for my trip to LAS VEGAS for Christmas. Las Vegas you say? Why yes-my parents now live there. They moved from the pastoral town where I grew up in the Midwest, Perrysburg, OH to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving. I know-odd, right? I think so too. But Vegas just happens to be where my dad got a job. So while I will always be a Midwesterner-I now get to visit my family in VEGAS BABY.

Among many interesting fun Vegas themed holiday facts-here are my favorites:

1. In Vegas you can get your picture taken with Santa OR Elvis. This will be hard to resist-so don't be surprised if next years holiday card has a bit of Vegas flare.

2. They portion off a part of Caesar's palace and make an ice skating rink right in the hotel. I cant wait to see it-maybe Mom and I will go skating. FUN!!!

3. The Bellagio does a light show to Christmas tunes. Of course they do.

4. While the weather in Vegas is usually temperate-mom says it snowed yesterday. Everyone was advised to stay off the roads. Much like snow is handled here in TN. Mom of course was frustrated on two counts-why can no one drive in the snow and WHY IS IT COLD ONLY AFTER I MOVE HERE. I see her point.

I am sure I will have more information about a Vegas Christmas when I return. I can't wait.

Dogs in the Dunes-Part 2

Of course while I was in Hilton Head I took some pictures of the dogs. I wanted to share some of my favorites so you can see how much fun they had. They partied until they literally would fall asleep ANYWHERE. Tired dogs are the best dogs

Molly in the pool, with Frisbee of course

Coming in for another toss...

Throw it now, THROW IT NOW!!!!!

Bailey lounging by the pool...take note he is on a chaise lounge. Naturally

Molly..when finally ready for a break would only settle on the other chaise lounge. My mom first had to give up her chair and then spread a clean, dry towel on it. Molly hopped right up.

Bailey needed to move to the shade so he made himself comfy under the deck chairs. He decided that mid afternoon IS the perfect time for a nap.

Molly noticed that Bailey had stumbled upon the nap plan, and she too, decided to join him in slumber land.

Bailey got sick of the ground and decided that Molly's chaise lounge nap location looked better so he took the other chair. At this point mom and I were sitting on the cement and our little beach sand chairs.

We moved inside to the screened porch to read magazines and Molly decided that one of the small human chairs was preferable to the floor. Once again she fell asleep. This didn't even look comfortable-but she seemed to like it.

Then Bailey decided that since there were four chairs that he should get one too. This time at least mom and I were able to remain comfortably seated.

Dogs in the Dunes

I went to Hilton Head in early October and was lucky enough to be able to take Molly and Bailey. I had so much fun with them there. I decided to take the opportunity to get professional photos done while we were there. I know, they are dogs-BUT I justified it in three ways:
1. They are my family. Bailey is almost 10 and I only have 1, maybe 2 good pictures of the three of us. In this case good means we are all in the photo (smiles or even paying attention to the camera are too much to wish for.)
2. I am always the one taking the pictures so I rarely get to be in them myself
3. Getting a good photo of all three of us was going to require cat like reflexes and a very good camera, preferably operated by a professional.

I researched area pet/people photographers and found Angela Hopper. I highly recommend her. She was awesome with my dogs and very likable in general. Here is her website if you all are ever in the area.
http://angelahopperphotography.com/

Here are some of my favorites. There are too many to post at once, but trust me you will see more later;)

Molly in motion....

The orange thing at the top is Molly's Frisbee. Its akin to a child's pacifier. She is calm and good with it around and a little out of control when its gone.

Bailey and I on our stroll down the beach...he has to be convinced to walk on the sand and then he really has to be cajoled to get near the water-but he was a champ on picture day....trotting right along

Bailey-bigger then life.

Molly most serious...I like this pic too because it shows the freckles on her nose which I love.

Here's the money shot. Note Molly and Bailey were not required to wear khaki shorts and white shirts-but that's the route I wanted to go:)

I love these two of Bailey and I. He is such a love bug...and this really demonstrates that.

And seriously? How damn cute is this one. He is smiling!!

Molly in the ocean...I like all these action shots allot!

Cottage Living CLOSED????

Alright. The economy is bad-we all know that. People are losing jobs left and right. You would think in a time of downsizing and economizing that people would turn toward the way it used to be. When people lived in neighborhoods and looked after each other and their charming little cottages. Right???

Today I read that my FAVORITE magazine-Cottage Living was a victim of this mess. I almost shed a tear. I heart this magazine. I get so many good ideas from it. I am going to take a few days to mourn the loss and hope with misguided anticipation that this is not really happening to me (or all those poor magazine people at Time Inc who are going to likely lose their jobs.)

GOOD BYE OLD FRIEND.....I will never let Domino or Dwell replace you in my cottage loving heart:(

At least we have good tailgating....

So-anyone who might be following University of Tennessee football this year knows we are doing BAD. I mean really bad, like cant buy a win. I continue to skip the games, but the tailgate must be attended-its the good part after all. Here are some pics from last weekends festivities.

Sybil- The Movie?

So as many of you might know, I am on vacation with my family right now. We were having a conversation regarding Sally Field and my Aunt Pam (aka blog hater) said that "everyone in the universe" has seen Sybil, the movie. However, I disagree. I have never seen said movie-nor will I believe that all of you have. AM I ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE? My dad said that. He is watching me blog this.

Alright-to the point...please comment if you have NOT seen Sybil. Pam did put a caveat on it, and said that all people in the universe over 40 had seen it. So since you are all fairly young, take informal polls amongst your family. Please get back to me soon. Being right really matters while in vacation with ones family. Thanks

#29. Have my photo featured in formal gallery. CHECK!

Like many of you out there, especially blog addicts, I love to take pictures. I take hundreds of the most every day stuff-like my dogs, my house, construction sites, street signs etc. I love taking pictures. I was patrolling some of my favorite blogs and ran across this story about a site where you can upload your pics and see what they would look like in a museum. EUREKA-totally awesome idea right? Here is the link so you can try with your favorite photos:

http://www.dumpr.net/museumr.php


Of course, I have examples with my favorite photo. I took this one misty morning in Ireland. Something about the subject matter (old graveyard) and the early morning light make it my favorite travel photo to date. I took gads of pictures...but this sums up the experience. Take a gander:

Molly Most Agile

I signed Molly up for an "Intro to Agility" class at Grey Dog Lodger in Lenoir City. Every Monday, for the past 6 weeks, we have gone to class where she learns both commands and different agility obstacles. This is a canine event dominated by border collies and other herding dogs, but I thought it would be a good way for her to learn some advanced commands, meet other dogs, and expend some energy. I also thought we might have some fun together..and we have been having a blast.

Last week we began "sequencing" which means doing the obstacles one after another. I have some videos from last week. As a disclaimer, please disregard my appearance. It was hotter then the hinges of hell and we had been at it for an hour by the time these were taken. I thought only Molly would get a workout-but um, no its allot of running around for me too. The squeaking noise is her toy...some dogs will do this for food and some for toys (Molly falls firmly into the later camp.) Also note...most of these videos show us trying a couple of times, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again:)

This is Molly doing the A Frame and then the tunnel.


Here she is doing the hurdles....this one was tougher then most since it requires me, as the handler, to be very clear with my expectation (something I don't have down yet.)

And last...the tunnel followed by the A Frame...a little tougher still since she needs to have serious momentum off the tunnel to make it up the pitch of the A Frame (also comes down to me being clear and giving her plenty of room)

Hunters and Gathers receive their due press

OK...I am not going to get into all the particulars of the hunters and gathers dinners. Suffice to say the idea was not mine if was the brain child of the Mowrers and the Smiths. They deserve all due credit...because what they did with the materials they had was amazing. I will give you my perspective. On Friday Jen asked me to come over for dinner with them as they prepared their hunter and gather meal. She said she would explain when I got there. I wanted to see Lottie Sue of course, and was also mildly curious. I seriously thought they were collecting food out of the trash and showing how it could be repurposed. But no...not really.

Here is a write up in the local paper on what they did. Yep-the Knoxville paper. They are big time.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/sep/10/locals-only/

It was also on the cover of the homepage. See there is little old me pulling basil leaves. I was allowed to contribute a bit. I did bring the wine;)

Stay Tuned for the Commercial Break....

OK....I think that the Olympics have exposed me to commercials again. What? You ask. Well...I dvr almost everything I watch on television, and most often ff right through the commercials. While I was watching dear Michael and the Olympics I was able to catch all sorts of commercials that I really enjoyed. Now I have some favorites that I often slow down to watch. I want to share some of my favorites (to you they might be old, but they are all brand new to me:))

Forgive me for having links instead of embedded players...but my laptop is conspiring against me:)

1. The Manning brother vs Williams sister oreo commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7o_JfWuw1E

2. The Manning brother NFL "anything you can do I can do better commercial"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6a6DNOVe7w

and to show I like other commercials besides those that feature the Manning brothers..check out this one by Visa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7W45Fr6NRA

This last one I feel obligated to comment on the nimbleness of the NBC traffic department. It rain RIGHT after the Michael Phelps 8th gold race...and was obviously designed in the event that he won. Which he did. The slotted it in ASAP, and from my perspective that's a job well done by the behind the scenes crew:)

Jen is my HERO, second only to Michael

So Jen Mowrer is my new hero. She was able to find/ create a picture of Michael with some interesting new ink. In case you cant read it..its says "Carrie C 4 EVA" right above his swimsuit. I mean I knew if he met me he would heart me. And obviously he is reading my blog, and knows how I love his tattoos? I wish he would comment.

Thanks Jen for making my millennium.

And Michael-call me-seriously;)

Rain Delay

It appears that planning to have my roof replaced is a modern version of the Native American rain dances.

I have been saving up for a new roof for the past few years. I decided to take the plunge a few weeks ago when I realized the price of shingles is going up proportionate to the price of gas. Did anyone else not know that shingles were effected by oil costs?? I did not know until I started getting quotes this summer. Anywho. Today was my new roof day.

We have not had rain in East TN in the last month. This is, literally, the driest August on record for the past 60 years. But today...I wake up (at 6:30am when the roofers are scheduled to arrive) to gray skies and ominous clouds. yes folks, the precursors of rain. And rain tomorrow, and rain on Wednesday.

To make everything more fun...they have dropped off loads of shingles in front of my garage, so my car is stuck outside until they can re-roof the house. Of course I spent hours this weekend cleaning said car....even waxing it. I should have anticipated three days of thunderstorms:)

Greatest American Dog

Is anyone watching Greatest American Dog on CBS?? It comes on Wednesdays at 8pm. If you are a dog person, or even a pet person, you have to watch this show. Its normal people, with normal pets (albeit very well behaved pets,) competing in challenges as they vie for the title of Greatest American Dog. I love a few teams- Bill and Star, this guy is like everyones favorite grandpa and his dog Star is great. You can tell they love each other allot. I like Laura and Preston, she is adorable and she cuts Preston's hair to make him look like a lion. Usually weirdo hair cuts on dogs are annoying-but Preston carries it off. Last I like Travis and Presley, mostly because Travis is cute and Presley is barely a year old and so fun to watch. Here is a link so you can catch up:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/greatest_american_dog/

If you are watching, comment and tell me who your favorites are:)

The elusive Rachael EMMERGES

I just want to give a shout out to baby Rachael. At almost 6 months old, I finally got to see her in person. I had seen photos (although not as many as I would have liked.) I have been hounding her dad, Ron since she was born, to bring her into work. This is very customary where I work, puppies and babies both are completely welcome. But alas..Ron (I refuse to let his wife Melissa share in the blame) has kept his wee one as hidden as Shiloh Pitt. Maybe they were holding out for a spread in the local Knoxville magazine...and thought premiering her early would undercut the price for the pics??

I can now say for certain that she is real-and ADORABLE. Here is a picture of her smiling. This is fairly rare-since she most often looks serious, like a little professor.

Hulu...you heard it here first...maybe?

Hello...I am back. So...this is not crazy exciting, but you all MUST check it out, if you haven't already. Hulu.com, a site devoted to high quality, full length TV shows and movies. The interface is pure eye candy. The manipulation of video is genius. And...in the Internet world (where I work) this site is GINORMOUS. Second in video to only ABC. AND they haven't even done consumer marketing yet. They will roll that out in 4Q. You heard it here first. This site is gonna be HUGE!!! Check out Jon Stewart below...

Best Out of Office Responses-EVER, in the spirit of summer

1. I am currently out of the office at a job interview and will reply toyou if I fail to get the position. Please be prepared for my mood.

2. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of theoffice. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything atall.

3. Sorry to have missed you, but I'm at the doctor's having my brain andheart removed so I can be promoted to our management team.

4. I will be unable to delete all the emails you send me until I returnfrom vacation. Please be patient, and your mail will be deleted in theorder it was received.

5. Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 forthe first 10 words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message.

6. The email server is unable to verify your server connection. Yourmessage has not been delivered. Please restart your computer and trysending again. (The beauty of this is that when you return, you can seewho did this over and over and over...)

7. Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system.You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply inapproximately 19 weeks.

8. Hi, I'm thinking about what you've just sent me. Please wait by yourPC for my response.

9. I've run away to join a different circus.

10. I will be out of the office for the next two weeks for medicalreasons. When I return, please refer to me as 'Lucille' instead ofSteve.

The Dog Days of Summer

So this past Saturday was the first day of summer-WOOHOOO!! Here in TN we are having some unusually nice, aka not blistering hot, weather. I took the dogs to the lake to play. Molly had a wonderful time. Bailey who is doing much better (thanks for everyones well wishes) came with us to sniff around. I, of course, have pictures. Enjoy!!

Molly and Bailey on the ride to the park...awake, eager, excited!!!
Bailey might not seem excited...but I assure you he was:)


Loving Life
That's a dog smile
This is as close as Bailey would get to the water....but he also looks like he is smiling...





This cracked me up....her eyes are totally shut.
This is the after picture...these guys were WORN OUT

even Molly laid down...and she lives to stick her head out the window...