Black and white and PINK all over!!

No, this isn't a sick joke from your elementary school years. Let's break it down.
I am pink all over..tickled pink actually. Why? Because the tart..Miss Cali..has officially passed the therapy dog exam and we are a certified therapy dog team through Delta Society! We passed our exam this weekend. I couldn't be more proud! I can relate to the parents of children graduating from Harvard at this point..no lie! I could read..I understood what was expected of me..for me..it was easy! But Cali..she had a serious test to take. And she passed with flying colors getting above average on every single test which means she is qualified for "complex" situations..apparently a very rare occurence for first timers!
So our badge photo
The crepe myrtles are in bloom..they resemble my 'tickled pinkedness'
Black and white..well right now we are surrounded by a lot of black and white in fur colors. We are watching 3 hounds for a family for 3 weeks (I know...we are crazy) Terran, Linka and Ezri and for the weekend we had Ana and Blue.
See the black and white overload?
But you say..there is an empty bowl in the center and only 8 dogs!! Who is missing. Well..Linka tends to want to eat..in alternative locations. She is 10 so we oblige.
Terran (right) and Ezri (left) get their turn on the couch.
Terran..he is HUGE and very sweet and gooberish
Ezri..who is young and CRAZY!
Blue loves his Aunt Trina..it is very obvious and I dig it. (shiloh..not so much)
Cow Dog Butt INVASION!
And oddly..we had a Wildlife Kingdom moment the other day. I know..I live in suburban hell with no trees how could I possible have wildlife?
The local hawk landed on my fence to enjoy his fresh meal of 'bird' (the squeamish need to look away)
yummy..
that isn't a worm..the aftermath..Besides passing the therapy dog test, I also helped with a dog haul and we had our annual membership picnic (more photos can be seen on the gpa blog)
Cali was thoroughly exhausted after SAturday's test and was not up for any more fun Even Uncle Gil couldn't rouse her from her slumberDana remains confused but beautiful as ever

breaking the rules

It has been a lazy few weeks. We have a busy greyhound weekend coming up but for now we just let the dogs have some fun in the cooler and less humid days of September.
We had Run The Table (we called him Run..I know..stupid) for about 2 weeks. He was adopted to his forever home on friday. I really liked him. He was very bright and he loved to break the 'rules'.
Rule # 1 - No fosters on the couch
-"Am I a foster? But the couch is so comfy..sewiouswy lady" "what if I lay on a pillow..is this ok?" Rule #2 - Cali always wins

-C: "You know you want it..come get it big boy"
R: "Can I have the stuffie, puleeze?"C: "You can't have it"

R: "but I wants it!"

R: "I GOTS IT! I GOTS IT"

C: "OOOHHH..."

R: "I gots me a stuffie..I gots me a stuffie"

C: " DAAADDDDYYYYY!!!!"
R: "Stuffie, stuffie stuffie"

Cali eventually forgive him..and she and Dana enjoy some romping

We have Hemi and Bella for the weekend. Bella is SO cute. Hemi..is sneaky caffeine from somewhere..we just haven't found were his stash is at this time.

Bella gives me the poseAnd the seductive 'come hither' lookShe is also a roo-erThe two speckled-y dogs snuggleSo I got sent some inspirational posters that had me in stitches. I may pull them out from time to time..but I couldn't help but see similarities in this photo (it is eery..and I didn't stage it):And this posterSo for now I leave you with another inspiration poster..

When the road fights back..

We had another travel weekend..it can really be summed up in a few photos.


But you say..WAIT...there is something amiss in these photos. There is no beer, there are no chicken wings..How could Trina be away from a big screen TV on the opening day of the NFL season? Tradition says..opening day is celebrated with Legend's beer, homemade chicken wings, friends and long hours sitting squarely in front of the TV.
OH..but this year..had to be different. Our good friend Mike and Kim got married on Sunday in Leesburg, VA..so we drove up to Kristen and Gyeong's for Saturday night which is about halfway.
Gyeong fixed a great dinner
And we brought our Wii so we did a lot of that too..

Where does one Brindle (Cali) end and the other (Beamer) begin??
Aren't they cute...
Then on Sunday, Jason and I got up and headed north to Leesburg..no wings and beer..but oh well. We did stop at The Winery at La Grange on the way up..really good.
The wedding was beautiful. And we got to hang out with Jenni and Paul. (they are due in 6 months and that is sparkling cidar in her flute)We dress up occasionally..So..now the first two photos are explained. How curious are you about the cop cars that truely defined our weekend. We left the reception around 7:30 and headed to Kristen's to pick up the dogs. At around 8:10 we went through a construction area of Route 15. We felt a huge bump, a loud pop and our night changed. ;-) We had a flat tire..due to some type of crevice in the road. As we hobble to a point where we can stop, we notice many cars on the side of the road. So we pull off..and Jason..in his suit..gets to the dirty work while I phone the state police and Kristen.

Now..to say we were pissed..is an understatement. VDOT's ears were ringing! So after putting the donut on my car (remember..I have an all wheel drive car..donuts are NOT good for them)..we drove back to the scene of the crime to photograph it and see if we could find others. It wasn't hard. There were quite a few cars on the side of the road, people with flash lights..and one man with TWO popped tires. This is my tire..And this is the crevice that wasn't filled (you can see the 'squished' asphalt on the bottom edge.). While I was taking this photo (at 10PM at night in the dark)..a car went over it and I saw it pop..saw the air blow out and watched it hobble away.It was just a perfect scenario for tire popping..bottom of a hill, poorly filled..left hand side of the road. The police finally arrived (FOUR of them) along with the construction company representative, VDOT and lots of construction equipment..at 11PM at night. And we had quite the gathering of affected people and cars on the side of the road as well..they became a new friends.We did this for 3 hours..waiting for a number/name so that we would have our damage paid for by the responsible party. We saw 15 cars get flat tires (some two)..and we missed some I feel sure. We finally got everyone business card, the names to call ..and off we went (albeit at 50mph). We finally got to Kristen's at 11:45PM and knew we would be unable to complete our jouney home safely on a spare tire...Interstates don't appreciate 50mph and it would have abeen an additional 1 1 /2 hours on the spare. So we stayed another night and got up this morning. At 8AM I called the numbers I had been given, and surprisingly he was expecting my call (he knew me by the Subaru driver)! He had a busy morning too. They are reimbursing us. So then..off to find a new tire..driving to the closest place that had it and getting a new tire. The tire person told us we had a 'impact crack' on the back tire and a scratch on the back rim as well. So the company knows they may be buying me a 2nd tire in a few weeks. But we were obviously ultra close to having TWO flat tires..which would have made a bad evening..much much worse.

After getting a new tire, driving back to Kristen's to get the dogs, we finally made it home at noon on Monday...12 hours later than anticipated. I did see that Dallas won..and I hear it was a great game.