It’s been a long time!

Sorry everyone.  It’s been forever since I’ve posted anything…..Todd keeps reminding so!

Life has been busy.  I just wrapped up fall quarter for school.  And let me tell ya – I do not think I’ll be taking 3 online classes at once again!  It was brutal!!!  And anyone who knows me knows that I’m twisted in causing myself more stress than necessary with school.  So many of my friends take it with a grain of salt but I have to go above and beyond all the time….It stems back from my tortured childhood! 

So anyways, finals are over and now I have time to sit and relax.  Sortof.  Now I need to catch up on major housework that I put off this quarter.  Don’t get me wrong….my house is always clean but I haven’t moved furniture around to vacuum behind or mop behind it all quarter or cleaned baseboards in 4 months.  Ugh.  I’m always bound and determined to not let the house smell like dogs and if you come visit our house and you tell me that you would never tell that we have 4 dogs, I take that as the highest compliment!!

Also – its time to get caught up on “fun” stuff like my “fun” reading and scrapbooking.  I do have to admit, I did indulge a bit this last week and did read 4 awesome 600+ page books!!  So yes, I’m addicted to the “Twilight” series.  If you don’t know what it is, google it.  They are amazing books!  Kristin, you’d love them too since you an avid reader like me!!  Stephanie Meyers is an incredibly talented author.   I’ve seen the movie now 4 times!  LOL – dear god, I need a hobby!

Scrapbooking – yeah, well, I’m now over a year behind.  I’m hoping to get caught up on that stuff also this break.  No, I do not know how to sit and just relax.  I have to be doing something, even if it is reading…..sitting still is for sleeping. 

I’m so excited that it is Christmas season!!  I did find time over the Thanksgiving holiday to decorate the house and front yard!  It has officially exploded Christmas at my house!  I love Christmas, it is my favorite time of the year.  I’m still hoping and crossing my fingers that Todd can come home for the holiday or sometime around then.  But if not, I have my awesome kids and great friends here to celebrate with!  I had an awesome offer to go home to Chicago to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew for the holiday but it’s so hard for me to be away from the kids during a holiday.  I know they have no clue what day it is but I do.  You wouldn’t want to be around your human kids during a holiday, would you?  Well, since I don’t have human kids, I have my furry kids, and yes, they are my kids!!

On the Todd front – they are still waiting for snow on the mountain to start running tours.  Everyone at the kennel is getting antsy about it.  I don’t blame them – let’s get this party started!!  LOL 

Um, so I do believe that is about it.  I hope everyone out there has a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Back from Oregon!

Hello!  What an awesome time I had out visiting Todd!  It so gorgeous out there.  You can see Mount Hood from his bedroom window.  Glorious!! 

Each morning we were up at 6 a.m. getting ready for the day.  Dave, kennel manager, would come in about 7ish and let everyone know which teams we were running that day and off we’d go!  It was so interesting to watch everyone work with the dogs.  The day consists of scooping poop, feeding, watering, and running the teams.  This takes about 3-4 hours in the morning.  Let me break down each of these things!

Scooping poop – I will never complain about scooping poo for my 4 dogs again.  I scooped poo for about 152 dogs!!  That’s a lot of shit!  ROFL  But it gave me an awesome opportunity to meet each and every dog!

Feeding – the dogs get a combination meal of dry food and chicken…..and when I say chicken, it is straight up raw, ground up chicken.  It’s disgusting.  But it’s inexpensive, highly nutritious and gives the dogs the calories they need.  But holy grossness!

Water – same old, same old.  There’s nothing like watering 152 dogs!  LOL

“Running” the teams consisted of harnessing a team of about 18 dogs to an ATV/4 wheeler.  Depending on the team we would run various trails.  It was the coolest thing.  I have done a dog sled ride through the snow before in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but it was cool to do it on dry ground too.  These dogs would go ballastic when it came time to harness them up.  They soooo loved it!  Their excitement is infectious.  It was awesome.

The dogs themselves are straight up amazing.  I wasn’t expecting to “see” different personalities in each of them since there were so many.  Now, if you know me, I believe our 4 dogs are our kids so yes, they have personalities!  All these dogs did too!  It was awesome!!  To sum up a few……there was Biden and Obama, they are puppies and are just getting used to being part of the kennel, they are adorable.  Lori, she is insane!!  She loves to jump around, and the energy she has is so adorable.  She loves to sniff!  If you get even remotely close to her all you can hear is her nose a’goin’!!  LOL  Lazer, she was so sweet.  She is a hard worker and so shy.  She has a scabby nose from an autoimmune problem so we had to put sunscreen on her nose each day because she loves to catch sun on top of her house!!  There was Zach, my all-time favorite.  He was such a love.  He likes to stand on his house with his head on your shoulder while you love on him.  He makes these hilarious groaning sounds while you pet him!  There was Bob Dole who was a straight-up basket case!  He was hilarious.  He would run all over.  Not sure if he wanted to be petted or to run.  But he was a lover!!  Then there is Steel.  He loves to carry either his water pail or food dish in his mouth at all times.  It’s hilarious.  They say he has an oral fixation!  LOL  Let’s see….who else…..Tori and her 6 puppies.  They were adorable.  Of course I picked one out that I wanted to take home.  (But I didn’t!) She is a great momma and the puppies were getting so big.  It was fun to sit in their pen and have them all crawl all over me.  Nothing like puppy breath and puppy teeth!

The others who work at the kennel are simply amazing.  They are great, down to earth people.  There is Dave, who is the kennel manager.  He is very funny and so kind.  His wife passed away a couple of months ago and he has a 5 year old son.  He is a hard worker and keeps everyone in line!!  LOL  Rosie is another musher in training.  I have never seen another human be so compassionate and wonderful with dogs before.  She is amazing.  She’s quiet and just loves those dogs.  There was even one night that she slept out in the puppy pen with Tori and her pups!  It was freezing out that night but she wanted to!!  AMAZING!!!  And then there is Jerry.  He is the owner of the kennel.  He is a great guy too who was wonderful about explaining everything that was going on in the kennel.  Such an awesome person!  I didn’t get a chance to meet Rachel, who is Jerry’s daughter, and the kennel’s Idiarod racer.  She had a speaking engagement on the east coast.  But I did get to meet all her racing dogs!!!    She has one named “Becky!”  I’m sure it’s not after me, but one can dream!!  LOL

The accommodations were interesting.  They live off the “grid” there.  Which means solar power and generator power for electricity.  Their water is brought in and stored in a cistern.  They have to use an outhouse, no toilets in the house.  The water is turned on at the breaker box only when it is necessary so no showers!  (They shower at a local gym.)  Yes, there is hot water and they use propane for the stove and a woodburning stove for heat.  It’s a very simple way of life.  I liken it to camping in a house!  LOL 

It was such an amazing trip.  It made me realize how materialistic and “drama” so many people I know are.  Don’t get me wrong….I love all my possessions (especially my HD and huge screen TV) but these people were so amazing.  They valued the truly important things in life.  It was so stress-free!  When I returned to the office on Monday, I kept saying, “Working with dogs is so much easier than working with humans.”  And it’s true! 

As everyone who knows me well knows, I dream of having my own husky ranch.  Now that I’ve seen a “dog ranch” – oh you know I’m so going to do it.  Maybe not on the scale of 152 dogs!  Oh I can’t wait!!!

Todd took me to a couple of microbreweries there in Bend.  Talk about YUMMY!!!  It was so cool.  I could live there in a heartbeat.  Beautiful landscape, skiing, microbrews, awesome people, dogs galore!  What more could a person ask for!  Todd truly does have the life!

Anyho – better get back to work…..this Wendy has bills to pay!! 

Ramblings

So I leave tomorrow for Oregon.  I can’t wait to see Rico (my nickname for him) and all those crazy puppies!  The other day he sent me a video on our cell phones of a new litter of puppies.  Those little screeches and squeaks just made me want to bring them all home!  LOL – but Todd said they aren’t ready to go anywhere.  Phew!!  Saved from getting dog #5!!  I so need a bigger house and yard.  I know I’m going to get out there and just fall in love with it all!

Something I realized last night – I can’t go a whole day without talking to Todd or Pete, my little brother.  There are times that none of us really have anything to say to each other, but it’s nice to know that we are thinking of each other.  Last night, Pete and I chatted about the Monday Night Football game.  The Arizona Cardinals hold a special place in my heart because Steve Breaston plays for them.  He was a key player for Michigan.  And he gets a ton of playing time with the Cardinals and it’s cool to see someone who played on a college level play pro.  And why else?  Because I still get to scream, “I love you Steve!!”  or “SSSSTTTTEEEEVVVVEEEEE”!!!!  It was a tradition at the Michigan games and I keep the tradition alive in my own living room.  And thankfully the two most important men in my life understand my craziness!!!  Or so they claim they understand.  I know I love football more than Todd and I just might love it more than Pete!  I can’t help it!! 

The kids – they are all awesome…..making a huge mess of the house still.  Dirt, muddy paws everywhere.  It’s a never-ending battle.  But I wouldn’t trade them for the world.  Because there is nothing like a 50 pound husky jumping on you in the morning and kissing you awake!!  And to hear them howl and “talk” to me when they get excited when I come home or when they want scoobies!!

Homework – I’m sick of it.  I’m getting tired of school.  It’s getting harder and harder.  I know I’m not going to get where I want to be for our little family if I don’t keep going.  And no, I’m not going to give up but sheesh, I’m sick of always thinking about homework and when I’m going to squeeze everything in. 

Well, that’s about it.  Told ya, Todd’s blogs are far more interesting.  Way more interesting!!  LOL

I’m going to Oregon!!!!!

I have been trying to figure out how I was going to go out to Oregon to see Todd before his tourist season started, which is Thanksgiving weekend.  So that didn’t leave me much time to go out to see him……and the rates for flights were out of this world.  But I completely forgot I have a buttload of frequent flier miles…..so yesterday I traded in 60,000 miles to go out to see Todd next Wednesday!  So I’ll be out there until Sunday morning.

Now you must understand my reasoning behind leaving next Wednesday….first off, homework…..I needed to make sure it was during a “light” week of homework, then who Michigan was playing, and I had to be home the 24th for a deposition I have to do for a court case.  Well, it only led to this next weekend.  I can’t miss the Michigan/Ohio State game, and finals start the 24th.  Soooo…..

So I told Todd my awesome news and the first thing out of his mouth is, “Okay, I need to put together a list of stuff for you to bring with you.  And you’ll have to bring your own sleeping bag and pillow.  Oh and by the way, you have to use the outhouse like the rest of us.”  Nice.  Well, it looks like no carry-on bag for me.  LOL

And on the homefront…..I just wish it would get cold here.  It cools off at night which makes the grass and ground very dewey in the morning.  And for some reason Lexi loves to run like a banshee through the wetness and then kick up some dirt and come running through the house with muddy paws!!  I have been mopping every single freaking day!  I need my holly hobby husband back!!

Hello everyone!

I’ve decided to go ahead and start my own blog….why should Todd have all the fun?  Well, we know Todd always has fun!!  LOL

But this blog is to show what goes on “behind the scenes” being married to an adventurer!  To see what goes on here with four crazy husky kids, one insane cat, and the tasks of keeping the fort down here at home!

When I tell people what Todd is doing or has done (hiking the AT) they give me the most incredulous looks.  How can we do that?  How can I “let” my husband go and do these things?  And that question still surprises me.  I always say “How could I NOT let him?”  They make it sound like marriage is a prison.  Sure, as Todd has mentioned in his blogs, I always give him “guidelines” to these adventures and as long as he keeps his end of the deal up, GO FOR IT!!  I don’t need my husband to be in my physical presence each and every day to love him or appreciate him.  I know we have a different outlook on marriage than the average couple.  But this works for us.

As you all know, I’m not an adventurer by any means.  I’d rather be home reading, playing with the kids, working, and just keeping things up.  So we work well together.  As Todd and I always say, “When we got married, I chose the responsible side and Todd chose the adventurous side.”  Or as we also like to say, “I’m his Wendy and he’s my Peter Pan!” 

So my blog will be about the aspects of everyday life here (I’ll try not to bore you too much)!