One of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days? 

You know, the day where you slept terribly the night before so you're exhausted, and then work gets super crazy because a client from Louisiana wants testing next week and you have to figure out how to get three guys and 1200 lbs of gear to Alexandria in time to make the deadline.  Meanwhile you have to feed your foster squirrels at least 6 times a day because they were fed sugar water by an ill-informed, if well intentioned good Samaritan and they need a ton of care to be healthy again. 

But you also have to make sure that your dog doesn't get too jealous of all the attention you are paying to the 2 squeaky fur balls so you give him lots of loves and an extra walk too, which is great but it takes more time than you feel like you have.

And then you get home and you have no idea what to make for dinner, so you grab the go-to meal you keep in the freezer, because when you make lasagna you always make an extra and put it in your favorite pan that comes with an awesome silicone lid so you can store it in the freezer.  But you didn't think about the silicone lid until you smelled something terrible in the oven.

You know, one of those days?  Yeah...me neither...

DirtBag Ball 2014 - Hunters and Gatherers

Every year Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol hosts their annual fund raiser, the DirtBag Ball.  We think Josh has been to all of them, and I've been going for the last 8 years, it's always a fun party and we're kinda hooked.  This past weekend was the 13th annual DirtBag Ball.

It is a costume party and the theme this year: Hunters and Gathers.  Now I'll be honest - every year we are disappointed in the theme.  It isn't until about a week before the ball that we get properly motivated to figure out an excellent costume.  True to form and exactly 7 days before the Ball we decided on our costumes.

I really didn't want to take the easy way out and wear camo, I didn't want to dress up as a cavewoman, and I didn't want to dress up as an Indian.  So, we talked with some of our other friends and we decided on a hunter/prey theme.  How'd we do?

Josh was the fisherman and I was a shark, with the added bonus that I could hunt him right back!   My costume was super easy to make, and Josh already had everything for his. 

We went with our friends the Yeti and Yeti Hunter; and the Subaru and the Elk.

We saw lots of cavemen, Indians, and camo, just as expected.  Some people went all out, there was one feathered headdress that I found very impressive.  Lots of people stretched the theme too - we saw Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife, Boba Fett, the whole Flinstone family, two different Steve Irwins, and my personal favorite the Crystal Mountain Lost and Found (well played by our friend Keneta!).

Sometimes people buck the theme entirely, like Waldo here.

Just like last year, we had NO IDEA this random man was in our picture until we saw it printed out later.

Another great year at Crystal Mountain and the DirtBag Ball!

My Birthday - 29

This year for my birthday I decided to run my first 10k race.  I picked the Tacoma Saint Patrick's Day Dash and Josh ran it with me.  We did the same Dash last year, but we did the 5k.  This year's race was on the 15th and (just like last year) the route is on Ruston Way along the Tacoma waterfront.  I wore sparkly wings and a festive hair tie, and Josh rocked his shirt from the 2013 Dash.  We looked good!

I was so proud of us, we did our training and seemed like we were totally on track to run an awesome time.  Unfortunately, our training was derailed by shin splints, both Josh and I really struggled with them and our training in the last month didn't happen as planned.  That said, Josh was amazing and finished his first 10k in under an hour!  I did great up until the 3rd mile when I got a side cramp, I ran through it until about a half mile from the finish when the cramp became a knife under my ribs and I had to walk for a minute.  I was so upset with myself...I cried.  Hell, I'm just about crying typing this!  Anyway, I finished in 67 minutes.  I've done better multiple times in training, so I know it was about something other than my fitness level.  Maybe the nerves of a race?  Maybe something else?  I don't know, I was feeling a strange mix of excitement about running my first 10k and disappointment that it wasn't my best.  With a pep talk from Josh and some side stretches I realized that I ran my first 10k, AND I ran it with a side cramp.  Suck it Blerch!  I did it!

Josh took me to celebrate at Dirty Oscar's Annex for a post-run breakfast.  Hydration is a very important part of running, and I'm pretty sure hollandaise sauce is the best recovery fuel ever.

We spent the rest of the day running errands.  We  dropped off a bunch of art for custom framing and/or matting.  That stuff is expensive, even with the coupon!  We went to the grocery, Home Depot and did some other things that needed doing.

After all of that I needed a pedicure.  Somehow, I managed to convince Josh to join me!  I took Josh for his first pedicure.  The place I usually go to gives the best massages, so I treated Josh to a foot and calf rub and he got his toes clipped in the process.

Josh took me to dinner at Bahama Breeze.  I have mentioned this place before, but I love it, it's worth mentioning again.  The food is good, the atmosphere is comfortable and the sangria is delicious.  Every time Josh and I come here we have a good time, and my birthday dinner was no exception!

Earlier in the week my Dad had posted on facebook that someone had put a black lab in the kennel in his backyard, for two days in a row.  Very strange circumstances.  The second time she was put there, he decided to hang on to her and hope to find the owner.  He was able to keep her for about 5 days, but had to come up with a different solution for the work week, because he is away from the house a long time and that's not good for an unknown dog.

Did you know that I bring Leonard to work with me everyday?

So on Sunday afternoon we met my Dad and his girlfriend Karen in Tacoma to pick up the mystery dog.  We took Leonard and the girl for a walk to see how they would get along, everything went well so we decided to take her home.  After a nummy lunch at Katie Down's we headed back out to the car to get the other dog and make our way home.

We put the mystery dog in the back with Leonard and it took about 30 seconds for her to freak out.  She curled up her lips, started growling and altogether looked like a vicious hellhound.  My first reaction was to get her away from Leonard.  He is a fantastic dog but he tends to respond to aggression with aggression, especially if I'm around.  He lets it happen up to a point, and I was concerned for the new girl's safety when he reached his limit.  But then I looked closer at him and realized that his body language was telling a different story.  He had jammed himself into the corner of the car and was looking away from her.  He was doing everything he could to give her space and let her calm down, there was no aggression or defensiveness from him.  That was when I realized that she wasn't being aggressive, she was terrified.  So I quickly got her out of the car, calmed her down and rode in the backseat with her all the way home.  She was much more comfortable with her own space and some time to adjust.

That was definitely a proud Mama moment for me, Leonard handled the situation very well, and he did everything he could to comfort her - I love my Leonard!!  Here we are after we all got settled at home, Leonard is in the back.
 

When we got home I posted a found dog ad on Craigslist while we tried to figure out her name.  We started calling her Annie, and she seemed to respond to it.  Annie was sweet, cuddly, and definitely someone's family pet.  The funniest thing to me was that she could have been Leonard's sister. 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing with Annie and Leonard, and enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon.  Around nine that evening a good samaritan responded to the Craigslist post with a picture of a lost dog ad in the Shelton paper.  I called the number in the paper, and it turned out to be the owners.  We found out that her name was Molly (no wonder she responded to Annie!), and her owners lived in Shelton and since it was late, I would meet them after work the following day to do the transfer.

The transfer went well, Molly was thrilled to see her Dad, and I got this text later that night from the family: "We have one happy 4 year old.  Thank you so much for giving us part of our family back!"

Oh, and did I mention that Josh got me a SCUBA certification class?!?!?!  Because he did!

It was an excellent Birthday.