end of an era

Tomorrow we are putting Tucker to sleep. He's been going downhill for quite some time. Took him to the lake yesterday - he didn't even really want to get in the water.

It's going to be a rough, rough day. My heart breaks.

Time .... where has it gone?

So, this is my first entry of the year. Pretty pathetic, I know. In my defense ... I've been pretty busy. I'm working full-time, teaching two courses (haven't taught either of them before, so every day is a new prep), trying to look for a new job since mine is going away at the end of May, and finishing my dissertation. Plus, there's that thing called life. Excuse me while I vomit.

I'm hoping to defend my dissertation next month. I have A LOT to do. Every day I wonder if I'm going to be able to make the deadline. I feel bad for my students--like they're not getting the best of me. I feel bad for my dissertation--like I'm not spending as much time working on it as I should. I feel bad for my job .... well, not so much! (There's a LONG story behind that, but I don't think I'll ever post it here.)

So, long story short, don't expect many updates to this thing any time soon. (Yeah, I've had such a great track record up to this point!)

Hopefully, Dr. Mspuppers will be updating soon. :-)

I've been tagged!

OK, so I haven't updated this thing in forever. Well, you know, life has a way of getting in the way and mucking up the blogging process. I bet there are worse things to happen in this life. :-)

So, Kim, here you go ......

1. Where did you meet?
In the local "it" grocery store at the time in our hometown.

2. What was the first thought that went through your head when you met?
What eyes!

3. Do you remember what he was wearing?
A Demond's red apron over his clothes - I believe black jeans and most likely a white, long-sleeve shirt.

4. Where was the first time you kissed this person?
In my parent's garage after our first date.

5. Where did you go for your first date?
It's been a long time ...... I know we ended up at his brother's softball game and some kids there kept running by me and smacking my behind.

6. How long did you know this person before you were a couple?
Hmm...... About 5 years, I think. Friendship is wonderful.

7. How did he ask you out?
He asked me to go to his sister's wedding. The rest is history.

8. Has this person ever proposed to you?
Yep.

9. Do you and this person have kids together?
At this point just dingoes and felines.

10. Have you ever broken the law with this person??????
Probably .... every time we drive somewhere! And then there's the tree poaching and not following included instructions ......

11. When was the first time you realized you liked this person.
Immediately. Even though I was only 13 when I first saw him, something was there. Over the years my thoughts always returned to him.

12. Do you get along with his family?
Yep!

13. Do you trust this person?
Most definitely - except when it comes to doing laundry the "correct" way. (Read that as MY way!)

14. Do you see him as your partner in the future?
Yes.

15. What is the best gift he gave you?
Our pups!

16. What is one thing he does that gets on your nerves?
Well, he has a tendency to kick his legs around at night. I swear, sometimes I think I could just cut them off! :-)

17. Where do you see each other 15 years from now?
Living in a house in the middle of the woods with herds of pups and goats running around. In our spare time we travel the world completing long-distance runs.

18. What causes the most arguments?
I don't like to think of then as arguments, but as discussions that require clarification.

19. How long have you been together?
This coming July 1 will be 16 years.

20. Are you married?
Yep.

That's done! So, I should write another entry that updates our happenings. Well, .... maybe later. ;-)

the Deck - a test of endurance

Here are a few more photos of the deck ... the beast that it is:

Deck photos

OK, so I haven't written in this thing in "many moons." Many moons as in butts. As in, mine keeps getting bigger because we keep eating too much! Ha!!!

So, here's the scoop. I haven't been doing much at all on my dissertation, but the deck is coming along nicely. Here are a few photos:



This on is of the guys digging holes for the supporting posts for the deck. There are 17 of these things in total. Our ground is just about completely ROCK. Needless to say, fun was had by all. :-)









And here's one of Corina -- helping dig/clean-up the holes. Isn't she just too cute? She had bought those new blue jeans earlier in the day at the local ShopKo. She found quite a few nice things at ShopKo.



And here's the "boss" of the operation. He does like to supervise. And if you don't do what he likes, he'll lift his leg on you.
Here's a shot of the part of the deck that goes off of the dining area. Combined, I think the deck will be 800+ square feet! That's bigger than many of the apartments we've lived in! Ha!


So, I'll try to take more photos of the deck today and tomorrow and I'll update this thing once again.

The end is near

OK - sounds ominous. What I'm talking about is the end of my summer vacation. I will be going back to work on August 18. I wish I could say that I have accomplished a TON on my dissertation during my break, but alas, this is not the case. I have made quite a bit of progress in how I'm thinking about it and the overall organizational structure of the thing, but, as is the case with pretty much everything I do, I don't feel like I've done nearly enough. I seem to do much better when I have less time and severe deadlines. I'm hoping that going back to work - this time having my own office (with a door!) - will encourage me to kick it in gear. It looks like my last day to defend and graduate this fall will be November 7. Ug - -now I feel sick.

So, what else has been going on? Hmmmm...... Well, we've been putting up insulation and drywall in our garage. It's not much fun, but it certainly looks a lot better than it did before. Chris has been doing some fishing - he even caught a walleye and three lake trout last week. Boy, they were good!

Chris is doing the Copperman Triathlon this weekend in Copper Harbor. We plan on staying at the Ft. Wilkins campground on Friday night to avoid traffic and parking on Saturday morning. Hehehe - parking and traffic in Copper Harbor! It should be fun. Chris did it last year and enjoyed it, so I know he'll enjoy it this weekend. I'll be the athletic supporter and will have both dogs on leash, so it should be interesting. I'm sure they'll enjoy being out-and-about, I just hope they behave.

Other than that, life goes on. One of our sets of friends found out they were expecting last week - she's due at the end of March. Anita is exactly 3 days older than me and her husband, Chris, graduated with his PhD from UCF at the same time my Chris did. Funny that we both ended up here! So, I guess our time is coming! I'd like to first graduate and finish the Chicago marathon, but anytime after that is as good as any I guess. Hopefully, it won't take too long -- tick-tock, tick-tock. Ah, how time flies.

The price of living in heaven

OK, so an admittedly odd title.

When we were considering the move up here a colleague of Chris' mentioned that air travel can be a bit unpredictable up here. Apparently, he told us, air departures/arrivals are on time and without delays and problems about 30% of the time. He went on to say that this could be a bit frustrating (much travel occurs in order to locate and maintain relationships with sponsors), but that's the price we all pay for living in heaven. Well, Chris paid up for quite awhile last night.

Yesterday Chris flew to Minneapolis for the day - taking the 6am flight out and coming back on the late flight at 11:45pm. At least that was what should have happened. Morning went off without a hitch - step 1 complete. He arrived back at the Minneapolis airport yesterday afternoon around 4pm their time, hoping to get back here on an earlier flight if possible. Well, that earlier flight was canceled for some reason (maybe not enough people to "make" the flight). No big deal, he thought, he'd just come back on his scheduled later flight on the "big" plane - read that as an actual jet, 4 seats across. Our other plane selection is a nice little, 3-seat-wide, prop plane. These can be quite exciting to ride as they like to bounce up and down a bit on the wind. So, then the late flight on the big plane was canceled. A bit later, the late flight was rescheduled, but on the small plane. Again, no big deal, at least he'd get home .... he thought.

The time came for plane boarding. They all got on the little plane - the little plane that never seems to have much in the way of forced air circulation until it is completely up in the air. After they sat on the tarmac for over an hour, they finally took off. There was a line of storms that had moved through Minneapolis earlier that caused a bit of a backup for flights taking off. Up in the air, Chris got to enjoy a simulated roller coaster ride - he does not normally enjoy riding roller coasters. The line of storms won the race to the Houghton County Airport. The plane circled for quite awhile. The pilot finally came on to inform them that they were running low in fuel and needed to land somewhere in relatively short order.

So, it was on to Iron Mountain! I bet Chris would have never guessed he would be so lucky as to get to visit Iron Mountain at 2am this morning. What an exciting adventure! After landing, they were informed that they needn't worry - a bus was on the way from Calumet to retrieve them. It would be there in just 2 short hours!

After all was said and done, Chris arrived home this morning a bit after 8am.

Ah, the price we pay for living in heaven. Chris' account must have a positive balance at this point!