Fall is Afoot

It's hard to believe that last week I was sweltering over in Spokane with the temperature around 100 degrees each day. Today I awoke to a downpour and the Polar Bear looking remorseful after he performed his routine rubbing of his face in the grass...only it wasn't dry like it has been for months. This is the face that greeted me:

I didn't know mom. I swear...

Let's look at that mess a little more closely:

Do I not look pathetic?

Why yes you do PB. He would have looked even more pathetic if I had gotten his rear end in the photo which was *covered* in mud and pine needles. Even the cats were smart enough to know it was wet outside. But I digress.

I went to the less than stunning city of "SpoCompton" as we call it, for a week long intermediate Hostage Negotiation course. It was terrible. I spent most of the week talking myself down instead of our fake bad guy. But it's hard to stop people in my profession from having fun and did we ever! When we weren't moaning and complaining about the fact that the Dept. of Defense was underwriting the whole class, we were drinking beers outside by the river, lounging in my penthouse suite (I inexplicably always seem to have incredible luck at our away trainings whether it's the best hotel room or winning the good stuff in the raffles...), and getting pedicures at the local trashy mall. So we made up for the fact that the class was a complete waste of time.

The Polar Bear spent my week in power point hell with my parents. I am beginning to think he loves them more! He now sleeps with my dad on his side of the bed. He loves being with Jake and Samson and has no troubles adjusting to his various stints at their house. He is smart enough, however, to remember which hand feeds him more often so when I go to pick him up, he becomes an ecstatic ball of wigglyness.

Two nights ago, I took him to the park after work because I am a sucker and felt guilty for having slept in after work the day before and not taken him for a walk at all. So even though I was exhausted, I threw him in the car and off we went. We arrived at 3am, exactly the same time as the cop who theoretically patrols the park but whom we had never seen until that day. I ignored him and began walking through the park with PB.

I kept an eye on the cop who first spotlighted my car and made a very thorough investigation of it by examining it from all angles. This made me chuckle - I have a dog bed, a dog divider, a magnet that says "Wag More, Bark Less" and I am parked next to a dog park. My experience at work is: If it looks like a duck, it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck....you know the ending. So I found it rather amusing that this cop was clearly having heart burn over the fact that my highly suspicious vehicle was parked there. But not enough to make me go back so I kept walking.

He circled the lot about 18 times with spotlight on, clearly looking for me. It wasn't like I was wearing a ghillie suit. The moon was full and my dog is all white. Hello? He then returned to my vehicle as if to reassure himself that I was really not in there. I continued walking. PB was also watching the cop's frantic circling and spotlighting and he was less than thrilled. In his mind, the park, all 40 acres of it, is HIS and he was not happy with this new arrival. He would walk a few feet, then stop and post himself behind me to make sure the "bad guy" wasn't coming.

So now I have become irritated. Either accept it for what it is Mr. Police Occifer- a crazy dog person who is letting her dog run around in the middle of the night or a dope head using a soccer mom-mobile as an undercover car so she can sneak into the park and shoot heroin. If you accept that it's a dog person, you can leave. If you think I'm in there shooting dope or planting marijuana plants, you better get OUT of your car and WALK yourself around the park because driving in circles around the lot isn't gonna do it.

But my line of thinking clearly wasn't his. He continued to circle. For the love of god said I. I put PB on his leash so that he wouldn't eat the cop for breakfast if he ever showed any inclination to heave himself out of his car and I walked back to the parking lot so that I could show myself and put the poor guy out of his misery.

Just as I got back to the lot, Mr. Cop decides a better course of action would be to DRIVE through the park on a gravel trail that goes for maybe a quarter mile at most before it dead ends, with his headlights on high beams and his spotlight swiveling like a light overdosed moth. Muttering curses not appropriate for this forum, I found myself chasing down the cop, who was chasing me down, with my dog on a leash in an off leash park that I drove for 30 minutes to get to so he could run free.

I finally cornered the cop and explained why we were there at that hour, that the park is perfectly safe as long as I am in it, that no, I never bring a flashlight and no, I am not the least bit afraid. He said, "You just disappeared. I couldn't figure out where you went and I didn't want anyone back here doing drugs or smoking pot." Admirable sentiments but I suggested that in the future, he may want to go out on foot and shut down the megawatt light bulbs if he wants to catch the bad guy. I also suggested he NOT get out of his vehicle to pet the doggy which he seemed bent on doing. So off he went, mind at ease and off we went, me hoping to god I am never that moronic at work. Maybe that's why he is park patrol.

I wish he would have gotten out of the car...

The Dog Days of Summer

There have been many a moment in the past few weeks when I have questioned giving up my extra weeks of doctor sanctioned leave and returning to work! Trying to get the house ready and fit for the market has been stressful and exhausting between trying to sleep for work, getting the dog out of the house and organizing contractors and workers. However, it is *finally* ready and it looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself. But not enough for me to want to stay in it!

Here's the link to the MLS posting. It wasn't on the MLS but a few hours before two people came to see it yesterday so I am taking that as a good sign and keeping my fingers crossed. The faster this goes, the better for me and the psycho dog who not only barks at every person who comes to get a flyer from the sign but also at the sign itself!

Lalalalalalalala! I hear nothing!

In our non-existent spare time, we have managed to cram in a new 6 week Reactive Rover dog obedience class on Wednesday nights. Last night was our first night. To my immense relief, there were no "kick me" dogs (is that a PC thing to say considering the class is sponsored by the Humane Society???) in the class. PB doesn't usually react to small yappy dogs as I don't think he even recognizes them as real dogs! Neither do I PB, neither do I.

We have a very handsome Golden Retriever, a black lab/Mastiff mix, a shepherd mix, a Newfoundland and a black lab something mix. They are all fairly large so that is good practice for us as bigger dogs tend to send PB into a frenzy of whirling dervishness. However, he was the class star last night and was used by the instructor as the demo dog since we have been working on these issues for over a year now and he is well ahead of where everyone else is. It's kinda nice not to have the craziest dog in class once in awhile!

Which doesn't mean he isn't crazy. This flying ear thing is starting to worry me slightly...

Flying myself away to my happy place where there IS NO WATER!

Last week we returned to Boundary Bay with Samson and the Jakester to meet Daisy, Darwin and Bear for another swim. Samson was in heaven but tired quickly and Jake suddenly discovered the puppy in himself and loved every minute of it.

Root beer eyes implored us to stay a little longer...

Samson shakes off the gallons of water his Newfoundland coat traps.

PB became a little distressed by the quickly incoming tide which forced him to have to swim and actually make a concerted physical effort at something for the first time in awhile! He was not terribly pleased and once he got back onto a sandbar, this is what he looked like:

Uncle. I am not moving from solid ground thank you very much.

I pointed out to my PB that the tide would continue its inexorable march and he could lie there all day but much of it would be lying under water until the tide went back out. He grudgingly moped himself back into the water to swim to the beach when my words proved strangely prophetic.


In addition to work, the house, trips to Canada and dog obedience classes, I have been trying out my new bionic knee in the great outdoors as I don't want to miss what's left of the summer and I miss my regular activities. So my friend Kristin and I headed up to Lake Serene just under Mt. Index for an 8 mile hike. This is the same hike I did in early spring with PB and he actually completed it when we did it. Which is probably why he refuses to complete another one with me! Lake Serene is indeed, serene. But only after you climb about a bajillion stairs built into the trail that go straight up the mountain. So we left PB at home on the sofa and set off for lovely Stevens Pass.

Although it was cloudy at the trail head, once we reached about 2500 feet, this was our view:

Ok, ok, the stairs were worth it.

On the way up, there are the lovely Bridal Veil falls, reminiscent of the Olympic National Park:






And the even lovelier Jen and Kristin beneath them! At least we think so...




The lake itself was spectacular because it's set in a bowl beneath the sheer cliffs of Mt. Index and the range of granite mountains around it. The lake has that blue/green glacial water that always looks pristine. Kristin boldly went swimming in the lake which looked to be about -20 degrees F to me. From the look on her face, I think she agrees with my visual temperature assessment!

Cold?

While I found it amusing watching Kristin pretend to enjoy her "refreshing" swim, this is as close as Jen Prem gets to swimming, people.

And this is a little too close if you ask me...

Notice the snow in the background? Wonder why Kristin was cold? But it was a great hike with fantastic weather. It's good to know my knee doth not protest too much and when it does I just tell it to shut up and look at the view!

Cross your fingers for the house everyone. There is a perfect house in Duvall for rent on 6 fenced acres which PB would die for and I wouldn't mind either!