Heidi's Last Weekend

Unfortunately (for me) this last weekend was Heidi's last weekend in D.C. She is headed back to Seattle Wednesday morning. It was sad to part with her last night - knowing I won't see her again for five months. I got spoiled having her so close!

But we did have a nice weekend together. We met her and her friend Ally (also from Seattle, who was transferred to D.C. for a week for work - same company as Heidi) to watch the Cougar/Husky game on Saturday night. Then on Sunday we met up to tour around Eastern Market and Georgetown. (Sorry the pictures are so dark.)



Joe, Stuart and I also went to the Museum of American History this weekend. It was fun! I got to see a lot of movie memorabilia, as well as some interesting articles from the past - like the advertisement they had framed that said "D-T-T is good for me!" and a message from the guy who invented saccharine. Wow, the things we didn't know... makes me wonder what things we're using now that we think are great and in 50 years, they will be in a museum and others will be thinking - "it's sad they actually thought that was good for them..."





This is actually the hat Lincoln was wearing the night he was shot. Isn't that crazy?

Overall, a fun weekend. I'll miss you Heidi!

A Rescue Pet's Christmas Poem

This poem is so sweet and sad. Please consider donating to an animal shelter this Christmas!

A RESCUE PET'S CHRISTMAS POEM

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,
every shelter is full - we are lost but not found,
Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare,
we hope every minute that someone will care,
They'll come to adopt us and give us the call,
"Come here, Max and Sparkie - come fetch your new ball!!
But now we sit here and think of the days
we were treated so fondly - we had cute, baby ways.
Once we were little, then we grew and we grew,
now we're no longer young and we're no longer new.

So out the back door we were thrown like the trash,
they reacted so quickly - why were they so rash?
We "jump on the children:, "don't come when they call",
we "bark when they leave us", "climb over the wall."
We should have been neutered, we should have been spayed,
now we suffer the consequence of the errors THEY made.
If only they'd trained us, if only we knew,
we'd have done what they asked us and worshiped them, too.
We were left in the backyard, or worse - left to roam,
now we're tired and lonely and out of a home.
They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-bye,
"Maybe someone else will give you a try."

So now here we are, all confused and alone,
in a shelter with others who long for a home.
The kind workers come through with a meal and a pat,
with so many to care for, they can't stay to chat,
They move to the next kennel, giving each of us cheer,
we know that they wonder how long we'll be here.
We lay down to sleep and sweet dreams fill our heads,
of a home filled with love and our own cozy beds.
Then we wake to see sad eyes, brimming with tears,
our friends filled with emptiness, worry, and fear.

If you can't adopt us and there's no room at the Inn ,
could you help with the bills and fill our food bin?
We count on your kindness each day of the year,
can you give more than hope to everyone here?
Please make a donation to pay for the heat
and help get us something special to eat.
The shelter that cares for us wants us to live,
and more of us will, if more people will give.

Two Rescue Pets say Thank You!

Update

Joe got back from his trip to New York on Sunday night. They actually let him go an hour early, so he was able to get home at about 11:30 p.m. It was definitely nice to have him back home. :-) Although Jack was less than amused that he lost his place on a full side of the bed.

Joe did say that he saw a bit of snow driving back. We were worried about this because New York and Pennsylvania were supposed to get snow and we don't have snow tires on the car. But he said it was a really dry snow and there were no problems.

He said he test went really well, and he's SO happy to have all those tests behind him. He will find out his scores on Dec. 26th and then can finally apply for his license. Yay! Here are some pictures from his trip:

His hotel and hotel room. Last time he had a horrible hotel where he didn't even want to walk on the carpet in bare feet, so this was a huge step up! Very comfortable and nice!


Here are pictures from the town of Seneca Falls. Joe had all Saturday off, so he was able to look around a bit between studying. Isn't it pretty?



And this is my favorite. It looks like a castle! Beautiful!

As for my weekend, Stuart and Heidi came up to see me on Saturday, since I didn't have a car and no way to get around. They had quite an adventure both coming to my house and leaving, but I'm so glad they came. It broke up a solitary weekend for me. Thank you guys!

It's getting colder and colder here and we have huge drafts that go through our apartment so yesterday Joe put plastic up over our windows. There are two kinds - the stuff that goes on the outside and the stuff that goes on the inside. We had to get the inside stuff because of the way our windows are laid out. We think it is helping...

My parents come into town on Monday to spend Thanksgiving week with me! I'm so excited to see them and have them see our new place and new town! We'll be meeting them at the airport on Monday night.

Well, I guess that's a good update. We've already started planning our holiday events for the season (yay! so excited!) so there is going to be LOTS to write about over the next several weeks. Looking forward to it!

Thank you soooo much... (sarcasm)

My mom got the dogs this super-awesome toy and Jackson just LOOOVES it. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, all day long. Isn't that just like a gramma?

Part IV Boards

Joe dropped me off this morning and once again took off on a 6-hour drive to Seneca Falls, NY. He is taking his fourth set of board exams this weekend and will be gone until at least Sunday night. It's funny, because I was just thinking how it didn't seem at all odd to only spend 3 days a week with him when we were commuting back and forth from Portland to Seattle. Now I'm completely bummed and missing him already because he has to be gone for three days. At least I have the dogs to keep me company.

Oh! And I just realized that I forgot to mention last month that he got his Part III Board scores back and he passed! It was very exciting and I can't believe I forgot to blog about it! Once this last set is out of the way, he will actually be DONE will school and can focus on his career. He is SOOOO looking forward to that.

Warning: Lots of Pictures

I asked Stuart to take some pictures of me, Joe, and the dogs because I realized the other day that we only had one picture of the four of us, and the dogs weren't even looking! So, we took a walk today, and we got some awesome shots. I warn you, there is a bunch of pictures!

Whoo-Hoo!!

Well, it's over, and thank God we got the result we were hoping for. And not by a small margin, either! Americans came through and voted for change, and although I understand that Obama has his work cut out for him, and that the real work starts now, I'm looking forward to seeing how the next four years pan out.


Joe stayed up for the entire election process. I tried, but kept drifting off to sleep. Joe kept waking me up to give me more results, and I'd start watching again, that drift off again. But I was glad he kept updating me. It was such a great night.

Also, I'm VERY happy to say that Prop 2 passed in California! This is a very important issue for me and I'm so glad to see that Californians realized the need for a higher quality of life for farm animals. Thank you Pam (my cousin in California) for helping me spread the word. :-) I hope California's decision resonates with the rest of the world and we as a nation can start treating our fellow creatures more humanely.


Unfortunately, the other Proposition in California that we were watching closely - Prop 8 - did not go our way. Californians took away the rights of same-sex couples to marry last night. This is a hot button issue for Joe especially (he has many gay and lesbian friends and cares about this issue deeply) and we were both infuriated when it passed.


What is the difference between different-sex and same-sex couples?? When are we going to realize that this is the same issue we had with woman's rights and African American rights? We're all just people and we should all be entitled to the same rights!!

Sigh....

I Rocked the Vote!

This is such an important day. It really hit me this morning how incredibly important today is. We've been waiting and waiting, and talking about everything for so long. We've been listening to both sides, watching the debates, debating with each other... for how long? This election started so long ago - remember when Hilary announced her run over the Internet? And then some guy I had never heard of announced he would be running against Hilary. Funny how that guy has come to be so important to me. :-)

We got there before the polls opened this morning - around 6:55 a.m. We had heard about the long lines in other cities, but didn't expect to find such a long line in our small community. It stretched it's way all through the school, around corner after corner. But I have to give major props to our polling people - it was so efficient and we were done in a little over an hour.


Anyway, I know it's silly, but it's kind of emotional - it's a big day. And it's a great feeling to be one of the first to vote as opposed to one of the last, now that we live on the East Coast. It was also my first time to vote at a booth - I've voted absentee all other elections.

I hope you all are getting out and voting today. I got an email from my cousin PJ who lives in The Netherlands and he took time out of his day to write to me to ask me to vote - because he said, "the whole world is watching." So true.

Go rock the vote! It's a great feeling!

Happy Halloween! Doggie Style

Well, the dogs didn't win the costume contest, but we thought they had the best costumes at the party! We were very proud of Jack - he wore his costume like a champ, and it was the first time he has ever worn anything (well, the first time Joe has allowed me to dress him up, haha). The "rules" are a bit more lax with this iggy group - they allow other breeds to come if they are iggy-friendly. So, Jack is much happier to be able to be invited.

The party was indoors, at a doggie daycare in Bethesda. The dogs had a great time and are still exhausted tonight.

We thought this was pretty cool - Peppe came as an Obama campaigner.

The hula girls:
 The hula boys:

How CUTE is he??

Such a pretty girl:

Happy Halloween! D.C. Style

Joe and I had a great time last night! We met up with Stuart and Katherine (an old friend of Stuart's who lived with him in Seattle for a while but moved back to Maryland, where she is originally from), and we did a pub crawl in downtown D.C. It was so much fun. We met a lot of people in GREAT costumes. Some of my favorites included Michael Jackson in Thriller (and when that song came on he danced the whole dance - it was awesome!), Goose & Iceman from Top Gun, A Bag of Cocaine (super creative), Cindy McCain, Bristol Palin (SO funny!!), and Jim from The Office. Oh - and someone dressed up like Jigsaw (from the Saw series) and I almost wet myself it freaked me out so bad.

Stuart dressed up like "The Old Guy Who Never Left Hawaii" (don't ask, he's random, but it turned out pretty good) and Katherine was Wonder Woman. Joe and I were Gunslingers. Here are some pictures.

Joe and me rocking the Gunslinger garb:

Joe taking his first ever JagerBomb (he liked it!) and me finishing off a Bellini. I'm probably the only person who orders a Champagne drink on Halloween night...

Stuart and his friend Ben, the devil.

Katherine has an obsession with taking photos with random people.

This guy was visiting from China. I'm sure he'll have lots of stories to tell!

Don't you love Stuart's hair? I told him he should actually go blond for real. :-)

It's a hold up!

Too much fun!

I love Halloween!! Hope you all had a great one as well!