I Love Winter

Okay, I'm half lying there. I don't love winter. But I do. But I don't. When I have to drive an hour to and from work every day in the winter, I don't so much appreciate it. However, with winter comes my most favored time of the year. I love Thanksgiving. And I love Christmas. And I love New Years... And you know, these holidays wouldn't be nearly as magical if we weren't covered in snow over the course of them. The snow is the icing on the already moist, delicious, perfect holiday cake.
But when January comes, I would be happy if the snow were to leave us. Because without the holidays to keep me in good spirits, its just cold, wet snow with no particular purpose but to drive us Minnesotans crazy. If you've never met a person with real, live cabin fever, then you come visit me right around March.



But in all actuality, I really do love winter. I love living in Minnesota. And honestly, while I do love to bitch and crab about the snow, I am truly happy that it blesses me with its presence every year. I mean what better way to exercise dogs than making them flop full force through 2 foot snow drifts after a tennis ball that wont be found until spring?

This morning I stepped out side with the dogs to find myself being snowed on. So you know what the first thing I did was? I ran back inside and I grabbed my camera. There was no pretty sunrise to capture as it was quite cloudy. But I got a few quick yard shots in while the dogs pottied.

Man I love having my camera back.

Ruger was a little miffed to find the outdoor water bowl covered in.... Snow?


Ruger, my foster dog, is a baby yet and likely has never seen snow before. I had to give him a nudge with my foot this morning to get him out the door. But once he figured out that he could eat the new white stuff, he had a grand ole time making a mess of it.

The shops always look so pretty in the snow.

Man, look at that big ass snow flake that's totally trying to ruin the shot! The nerve...

Look down there, there he is again!

That's just fine. I'm going to have the dogs dig tunnels right through your cousins tonight, little snowflake.

No, I'm not crazy, folks. Its just that its Friday and I'm tired and I'd really like to go back to sleep.

If its snowing where you come from, get outside and enjoy it! There is nothing like playing outside when its warm and snowing!

Happy Friday my friends!

She wants to be a Disc Dog

I have an Australian Shepherd.



Those of you who are dog people, I know you just nodded and sympathized with me. Because you probably already know where this post is going.

Those of you who aren't dog people... Well, Aussie's are a breed of their own. Herding dogs are in a genre of their own. They are highly driven dogs who need something to do. ALL THE TIME.

My Frankie and I are making our way through obedience classes. And making awesome headway in our training! But it's not enough. Our goal was to be competeing in novice agility trials by summer 2009. And that's still in the cards.
But in the mean time, we needed something else.

Then, a rescue friend of mine told me about an organization that she belongs to. The Minnesota Disc Dog Club. So I stopped at the store and I bought a frisbee. And I showed it to Frankie. And then I threw the frisbee for Frankie. And then a monster was created.



Yesterday, I woke up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I see Frankie is standing in front of the counter where I left the frisbee, shaking in anticipation and ready to pounce should the disc try to fly away without her consent. If she had been human and I'd said good morning to her, she would have absently waved a hand at me without taking her eyes off the prize. If she carries the disc around and nobody notices and plays with her, she rubs it on our ankles and drops it in our laps.

I joined MNDDC yesterday. I think it's the only thing left to do.



I'm going to have to start hiding the frisbees I think.

Pray for me.

Delievered

Today, its a beautiful word. Delievered.

My camera... was Delivered. Today.

I am going to take a boat load of photos tonight just so I have something to share with ya'll tomorrow!

Its been a looong journey without my camera. And I appreciate you all bearing with me through this painful process.

Painful for you, I mean. Because you have had to wade through week's worth of crap just to get this far.

Me, since I wasnt able to take pictures, I mostly just ate cookies. And baked Dlyn's apple cheese crisp. And ate it too. And then I didn't clean my house with all the spare time I had. And I didn't do the dishes and I didn't do any laundrey.

Man, its going to be good to have my camera back.

Rants & Apple Cheese Crisp

Mind if I vent? Too bad, because I'm gonna. Gonna? Yeah, I'm gonna.

I do not understand these people who pull out in front of me each morning, pulling out so quickly and so close to me that I am forced to slam on brakes to avoid hitting them. Then once they are 'up to speed', that 'speed' is often 5+ miles under the speed limit.

Can somebody infer, here? Please make me understand why they do this to me? Are they trying to get me fired? Are they trying to make me late? Are they trying to get into a car accident?

And how come here at work, everybody coughs, loudly, when they pass my office? Especially when I'm on the phone? Why do you people come to work sick? I know you dont want to miss hours, but then take better precautions against becoming ill. And dont bring it to work with you. I dont want whatever it is that you're coughing on me!

Why do my dogs insist on being hard to catch, only on the days that I'm running behind? Do they sense that I'm anxious and rather than be nice, they get an early morning laugh out of making me growl at them in frustration? I know they are laughing. Especially the Aussie... She smirks.

Alright, onto the pie. Well, it's not pie. But its apple crisp. And not really apple crisp, but like apple cheese crisp. I came across this evil concoction of cinnamon and cream cheese and apples via Country Girl's site. And she got it from her friend, Dlyn's site. So you folks click on Dlyns link there and you make this crisp right now!

I made this apple cheese crisp on Saturday. And it. Was. Sheer. Bliss. I made one change to her recipe by chopping my apples up much smaller, since I dont really like big apple chunks. But its all about your personal tastes. And when I took my extra large, hot hunk from the pan, I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a little drizzle of caramel topping. And I just about died. Not to mention that not only did it taste amazing, but for the rest of the weekend, my home smelled like a hot apple pie candle. And there is nothing like a clean house that smells of fresh apple cheese crisp. Nothing I tell you.

So go... Take this new heavenly knowledge with you and make this pan of delight as soon as you are able. Then go to Country Girls site and you thank her. And then you go to Dlyn's site and you thank her. My life has changed because of this dish. You will not regret it.

See, this apple crisp is so good that I am totally over all of the infurities that I was slapping at you about earlier. That's how delishious this apple crisp is.
Oh, and Dlyn herself was even kind enough to tell me how on earth I could find a pie dish as adorable as the one she's using. Its Fiestaware and I found a beautiful dark red one on ebay for $7. Every woman needs a good, sturdy pie dish. At least if you ask me...

Canine 'Tricks'

Yeah, they're not funny.

You hear that, Jake? NOT FUNNY!

Yours truely (ah, me) went running this morning. But it wasn't for exercise. No, and probably my body didn't benefit from my run at all. In fact, I'd be willing to bet you money that I will be coming down with at least a cold in the next few days. My hair was wet. I was in boots. I had no bra on. And I threw the first sweatshirt on that I could find. Oh, and I grabbed a squeak toy at the last minute.

Now, why on earth would emmie go running in the freezing cold morning with wet hair and a squeaky toy you ask?

Because my dog ran away. Thats why. This is the second time in a week. I had the man neutered years ago to stop this behavior. But noooooo....

Its all my fault really. I didnt hook him up. I was too busy focusing on Frankie and making sure she went potty. Jake is Mr Old Reliable. Usually. Not this morning!

Nope, Jake decided that he was going to go trick or treating... without me! So as soon as I discovered he was gone, I muttered some swear words under my breath, followed by a "Not again!". Then I grabbed some stuff and I ran. And I ran. And I screamed out Jake's name. And then I almost plowed over my startled neighbor. It was still dark outside you see, and he was only trying to take the garbage to his dumpster. Then his crazy neighbor lady comes flying around his garage, screaming, sopping wet hair, squeaking a dog toy. Yep. I probably wont be invited to the next neighborhood bonfire.

After rounding more blocks than my shins care to talk about, I bolted back towards home. I grabbed my keys and I slammed my truck into gear. All of the images of Jakes limp body laying on the side of the road floated through my head. You see, even at the mature age of 7, Jake still has no 'traffic sense'. And after jumping a fence at the tender age of 2yo, and escaping for a day, he managed to get himself hit by a car and left for dead. Luckily, my vets own vet tech happened to be driving by and found him, scooped him up and hauled him into the ER. It was a bad time for me. And all that came rushing back.

After 5 minutes of my driving around (still with wet hair. Still in a sweatshirt and not warm pajama pants. And this time, with all the windows down, still screaming) I saw a dark figure standing in the middle of the street. JAKE! I whipped the truck around and gassed towards the shape. But it wasnt Jake. It was the neighbors black lab. But why was he standing in the middle of the road? Because Jake was in the neighboring yard. I skidded to a stop, shooed black dog back out of the road and into his yard, and opened the truck door for the yellow figure hauling ass towards me. Jerk. Why does he scare me like that?

But you know what? Its all good. I managed to punch in right on time for work this morning. I may not look the greatest today. But its okay. Its all good that I'm pale and my hair is a rats nest and I'm wearing an old sweatshirt. Because its Halloween. And I dont have to look good on Halloween. I just have to look scary. And that I do. So I guess I should be thanking Jake for giving me the pale, sick, scary look on such a day. Right?

No! Not right! He scared the crap out of me today! It was waaaaaaaay too early in the morning for a dog induced heart attack! Come on!

Happy Halloween, folks...

Camera...

...oh how I've missed you.

My camera is finally on it's way. Well, not technically on its way. I am waiting on the tracking number. But when I have the tracking number, she will officially be on her way. And then I can get back to sharing my world with you digitally.

I've missed my camera. I've always used my camera as my way of expressing myself. And then sharing myself with you all, my wonderfully patient readers. I am feeling the love.

I'm also feeling very impatient because I know the guy sent it via Snail Parcel Service (thats not a real parcel service. I am just crabby because it will take so long). Which means a week or something before it's arrival. And you know what? I dont think I have a weeks worth of clever or witty euphamisms for you all. I know you are getting to where you can't stand my writings, and that the only reason you come here is for the photography. Right? So I really am going to need for that camera to get here. Quick. Quicker!

But really, I do appreciate you all hanging in there. And even more so you sticking around because I know it has nothing to do with my photography. Or my writing. You come here because you need the links to get to these other awesome blogs that I am following down there on my blog list. Right? Yeah, I know what's going on.

But really. Did I already say that? But really? No, but really, I have to go now. So even if you dont come here just for the links to other blogs, you really should check out the blogs I'm following at the moment. They are pretty dang good. God knows there isnt anything for you to see here for a while! Ha!

Strange Visions

I realize that some of you are alarmed at the recent 'experimenting' I've been doing with my site here. Those of you who know me generally know me as one who isn't much fond of change.
However, as I learn about this blogging 'drug' that somebody created however many years ago, I can officially say that I am a blogoholic. Thats the realization that came to me today in a conversation with my friend 'dhw'.
I want to use the technology available to me to make my blog the best that it can be so that you may enjoy it as much as I do, if not more!
So please be patient as I 'makeover' my site. You will see things you like and things you dont like. I had a rather 'girly' background up a while back and I hope nobody saw it. God forbid people think that I have any sides to me resembling feminine. Ha!
You'll see things that are me and you'll see things that aren't me. Bear with me while I work though my brief identity crisis!