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I Smell Like a Wet Dog…

…and it is all Hubby’s fault.

Today was a summer Friday for me. If I work extra hours, I get every other Friday off. Which is awesome. It’s even more awesome when my work load is such that I can actually take the day off.

I told Hubby last night that I couldn’t think of anything fun to do. First, he suggested I go buy a truckload of mulch. I told him that might be way too exciting for me. Then he suggested I take my doggie girls to the dog park. And that’s what I did.

We didn’t go to just any dog park, though. We went to the beach. I took my camera along, but wisely decided to leave it in the truck. So, no pics of the girls frolicking in the waves. I did borrow a pic to share though, which shows the dog beach at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis.

The girls had a blast. They were both quite excited. Meg would go in the water, but not deep enough to swim. Belle, our toddler dog, was happy to go into the water and swim. Mostly because I was in there. She swims like a toddler, though, lifting her front feet out of the water and smacking them back down, flailing happily along. Right next to Mama, of course.

I was soaked. Between that and all the dogs shaking water off of themselves and onto me. Oh yeah, and there’s the one time Belle swam out to me (I was wading at a depth of about mid-thigh) and for whatever reason she decided to try and climb into my arms. She didn’t make it, but the front of me was a mess!

Meg was cracking me up, too. Like I said, she’d go in, but not deep enough to swim. She’d only go out as far as she could while still touching bottom, then growl and bark at me to come back in.

I really wish I had pictures to share. But I am also VERY glad I did not take my camera.

One of these weekends when we’re at the WV place, I’m going to take them down to the river for a swim. Maybe Hubby will come along and we can get pictures of that.

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Problem Solved

Some of you may remember this post where I talked about yet another issue with my computer keyboard. It’s been screwed up for a while. Keys would stick randomly, letters had worn off, that kind of thing.

Thanks to Hubby, the problem has been solved. Look what I got…

Yep. A brand-spanking-new human interface device (aka keyboard).

I do know that me getting a new keyboard is not all that newsworthy. But I just had to share something I found sort of funny. After installing the new keyboard, my computer gave me a message saying, “New hardware detected. Human interface device successfully installed.”

Human interface device? That’s a new one on me!

Call it what you will, I can type safely again. And this one is a Microsoft keyboard, so it should last longer than my previous two combined. I hope…

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It’s Getting Closer

The date for the Army Ten Miler—October 4th—is fast approaching. And I am still struggling to get in shape for it.

Monday’s training session went okay. Actually, considering I’d only slept four hours the night before, it went well. I managed to jog 10/walk 5/jog 8/walk 7. The goal was to do two rounds of jog 10/walk 5.

My failure to do the two 10-minute jogs is frustrating. I feel slightly better after reminding myself how far I’ve come. I still have a long way to go though.

But know what? I actually did TWO rounds of jog 10/walk 5 this morning. Two. One right after the other. It felt good. Mentally anyway.

I hope I turn into one of those people that says, “I have always hated to run but after training for and completing this marathon, I love it! I can’t wait to get out and run every day!”

I keep waiting for the transformation. Maybe it’ll come one day. Right now, I’m still at the point where I’m not really enjoying this. It’s a necessary evil. My penance for letting myself get so utterly out of shape.

The next step is two rounds of jog 15/walk 5. But I need to do at least one, maybe two, more of the jog 10/walk 5 sessions. Because though I did it today, it wasn’t easy. I’m supposed to do that three times in one week before moving to the next level. I think if I do that, accomplishing two jog 15/walk 5 on the first try will be more likely.

And being able to do that would sure be nice…

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Another "Must Read"

I’ve been reading a lot lately. And lucky for me, I’m on a string of really good books. The latest, which I borrowed from the library, is Where the River Ends by Charles Martin.

I borrowed the image at left from the author’s Web site (sorry, Charlie!), but I didn’t think he’d mind. I hope not anyway. I mean, I had to do it. You know how I feel about imageless posts.

Have I ever mentioned my dislike for book reviews that are like a mini book report, recapping the story in way too much detail? I hate them. So I won’t do it here. I’ll just say, read the book.

It’s a love story that’s sort of along the lines of The Notebook; beautifully written, heartwarming and tragic. Not a cheesy romance, mind you, but a love story.

Seriously, add this to your wish list of gift books or get it from the library yourself. It is worth it.

I read it in two sittings, it was that good.

Now I have to find more of this guy’s stuff. I really, really liked the way it was written. The story was good, but the way it was told was awesome.

Keep up the good work, Charles!

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And the Winner is…

Dianne De Jesus, Facebook friend and former colleague, was the first to figure out what was wrong with the pictures of my Dad I posted last week. That officially makes her Most Observant ToadMama Fan.

So, what’s with the image? His hat is missing its brim. Apparently, Dad decided the hat was dirty, so he washed it. I’m thinking he’d probably washed it before, and have no idea why the bill came off.

Mom thought it was pretty funny. Dad, being a good sport, probably thought so, too.

But I bet he misses his hat.

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One Amazing Weekend

Hubby and I had an amazing Fourth of July weekend. It was the kind of weekend that reaffirmed our decision to build the WV place.

He mapped out an amazing Saturday ride for us. We had picture-perfect weather. The first leg took us west from Romney on Route 50 to Grafton, WV. An approximately 90-mile ride with sweeping curves, crazy switchbacks, 3,000+ foot mountains… Get the picture? A perfect motorcycle road.

About 20 miles east of Grafton, we stopped at quirky Cool Springs Park. It’s one of those weird, “only in America” roadside attractions.

Next time, we’ll have to linger a bit. We were both anxious to get back on the road.

When we hit Grafton, we turned south toward Tygart Lake State Park, where we’d planned on stopping to enjoy our picnic lunch.

I never knew there was such a big, beautiful lake in West Virginia. I only wished the dogs were along to go for a swim.

After leaving there, we meandered through the mountainous countryside on some very cool, scenic back roads that were sometimes more farm lane than road. The scenery was gorgeous.

We topped the 227-mile ride day off with a lovely dinner that consisted of crab cakes (thanks, Dad!) and fresh corn on the cob. YUM.

Today, Hubby didn’t want to go for a ride. He knew he’d be riding his bike home to MD and he had some things he wanted to get done, so I went for a brief jaunt without him.

Here’s the sort of lovely country lanes we enjoyed (but didn’t photograph) on Saturday.

We covered many miles of road like this. Today, I decided to stop and take pics of the cows. I wanted to park my bike next to the fence and get a shot with it and the cows. But the cows were a little freaked out by me.

See the strange looks they’re giving me?

While I was off having fun, my wonderfully handy Hubby installed a screened door.

You know what they say… while the wife’s away, the Hubby will be productive. That’s how it seems to work in our world anyway.

See how nice and inviting the front porch looks now? Ready to come for a visit?