Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Moving.

Life is about to get a little crazy here in the Dahl household!!

The lease on our apartment is up in a few weeks, and we talked before we got married about wanting a bigger place.  Our apartment now is really nice, but we want more space.  We'd like a guest bedroom for visitors.  And we have a whole bunch of stuff in a storage unit, and it would be nice to have that stuff more accessible.  We also wanted a first floor apartment, because that would be loads easier with Molly!

We starting researching for a new apartment awhile ago...  After making some pro & con charts, and doing some visiting, we ultimately decided to stay where we are.  So, we'll be staying in our complex, just getting a new unit :-)

We really like the area we're in.  We're close to several grocery stores (though not Whole Foods), and Target.  Our new church is less than 10 minutes away.  The management here is great, and it is very people & pet friendly.

So...  Things are going to get crazy:

-A week from tomorrow (the 28th) is my mom's birthday, and I am driving back to Rochester.  I'll be there from Thursday until Thursday.
-When I get back to VA, I'll be home for a day or two, and then we get to pick up Molly on the 9th or 10th and bring her home!!
-Then... between the 13th-the 19th we will move from our old unit into our new unit.  Brian will still be working, so I am going to try to move most of our stuff while he is on the boat.  I am hoping that all he'll need to do is get a couple guys & move our big furniture...  Getting the couch in was no small feat, and getting it out will probably be tricky too!

... also.  Yes, we know it is crazy to get a puppy 3 days before we move.  But, it is just how it worked out.  We didn't want to wait another 8-12 months for a new litter of puppies.  And.  We'll be moving again in about another year anyway ;-)

... also.  The 19th??  I turn 30.  30.  Ugh.  Hopefully things will be pretty settled in our new place, and we can just kick back and enjoy.

I am really really excited for my visit to Rochester.  And I am really really excited for Molly to come home.

But yesterday, Brian & I were realizing that with my trip & bringing home our little buddy, the first 2 weeks of March were going to be nutso!

So.  I started packing & making a pre-move game plan.  I want to try to have quite a bit done before I leave next week, because all I am going to want to do when I get back is chill with my husband for a day or two and play & cuddle with Molly when we bring her home :-)





Monday, February 11, 2013

Puppy!!!

I am a sucker for cute baby things.  Just ask my husband or my parents.  If it is a cute baby anything I want it.  So, you might be surprised that the only reason my husband & I didn't get a puppy immediately after we got married was because I said no.

When we expected Brian to be deployed in the spring, I thought a puppy would be a mistake.  I was worried that with him out of the dog's life for 6 months, that when he got back, the dog wouldn't see him as an owner.  And would maybe even be mad that some guy came home, and was taking all his mama's attention...  I was also not keen on taking care of a young dog all by myself while he was away.

A lot of people tried to tell us we should get one...  Our apartment complex is very dog friendly, and when we'd go to the office, management would always ask why we hadn't gotten a dog.  Some of Brian's Navy coworkers have dogs & one of his good friends on board is a recent puppy owner...  PEER PRESSURE!

But I stuck to my guns and said "not yet."

Then.  The schedule was thrown out the window & we realized that Brian would most likely not be deployed again...  That realization lead to us adjusting many of our life plans, but one of the funnest adjustments we could make was a puppy!  When the issue of a dog came up again, I said "now that you'll be home, we can get a dog anytime... how about tomorrow!?"

Tomorrow was a little too soon for us.  For starters, we are moving in March (more on that in another post)...  We wanted to wait until we were in our new place (first floor) before we got a little buddy.

Secondly...  I tend to over-research things.  And I hadn't done any research on puppies.

So, for the last month I've been reading books, visiting websites, hitting up people at the SPCA, and getting as much information as I could.

We decided we wanted a medium sized dog.  I am a fan of bigger dogs, but that isn't fair in an apartment.  So a medium seemed like a good compromise...  I had it narrowed down to a Springer Spaniel and and Australian Shepherd.  Both are good sizes, very friendly, smart and easy to train.  Brian liked Aussies a little more, so we zeroed in on those (want to see what an adult Australian Shepherd?  Click here).

We found a breeder with a litter about 2 hours from us and made arrangements to go for a visit yesterday.  All the puppies were very very cute...  When we got there, they were all sleeping in a puppy pile, and we had to wake them up.  I was in love with all of them, so it was up to my husband to pick the one for us.

He picked "yellow collar," who the breeder recommended for us.  She is so sweet and lovey!!!  On the way home, we decided to name her Molly.  That wasn't my first choice before we met her, but once we did, she just looked like a Molly :-)

Right now our little girl is just 5 weeks old.  We won't pick her up until she is 9 weeks, so the next month will be long as we wait for her!!

Here are some pictures of our sweet buddy:




We are so excited to have a little fluffy friend!  And can't wait to have adventures with her!!!!

We are going to crate train her, and start using a clicker to train her for basic obedience as soon as she comes home.  Anyone else have any puppy tips for us?  Or any dog products you can't live without??

Friday, February 1, 2013

That Time I Threw Out the First Pitch Dressed as a Giant Cucumber.

So last night I was remembering one of my best stories, and even though it is slightly embarrassing, I thought I would share it with all of you.

Back in the old-days at Alpha & Omega (circa 2006??) one of my coworkers made a Larry Boy costume for special events.  It was pretty impressive considering it was home-made; it was as wide as the hula-hoops used for it's structure.  But it wasn't as tall as it needed to be for most people to wear it; you needed to be under 5 and half feet for it to look right.  This severely limited the number of people qualified to dress up as Larry Boy.

One summer A&O was having a "Night at the Ball Game."  We would watch the Rochester Red Wings play, and then following the game, they would invite people onto the field to watch the new Veggie Tales movie on the jumbo screens.

Somehow.  And I am not really sure how.  I was elected to dress up in the costume for this event.

I was not super excited about it.  Because the last time Larry Boy made an appearance at the Red Wings game, the kids completely clothes-lined the girl wearing the costume.  Seriously.  They knocked her down... Sometime after that incident she resigned.  I have no proof that Larry Boy was the reason why.  But I have my suspicions.

So.  I was not particularly excited.  But I was gonna be a team player and do it.

It just so happens that the manager at the store was my friend Meredith (I am not sure why SHE didn't have to wear the costume, she is the right height...).  And the afternoon before the game we were hanging out.  She got a call from the store's owners.  The conversation (from my perspective) went something like this:

Bosses: saying something I cannot hear.
Meredith: (looking at me) um, I don't think she is going to want to do that.
Bosses: saying some more things I cannot hear.
Meredith: (still looking at me) um, I really don't think she is going to want to do that.
Bosses: saying some other things, I still cannot hear.
Meredith: Okay we are on our way.

She hangs up and tells me that they need us to go to stadium right now.  Because they want Larry Boy to throw out the first pitch of the game.  Which means they want me to get in front of the crowd, dance around, throw farther than I have ever thrown in my life... dressed as a giant vegetable.

I didn't want to do that.  I really didn't want to do that.

I can't remember how she convinced me to do it.  I imagine that cotton candy was involved.  But.  We left for the stadium.

Once we got there:

They put the costume on me... You can only have about 75% visibility out of it; which means once I got in it, everything was a surreal blur.

Meredith and I got in an elevator that took us down to the field.

They lead me out and I waved at the millions of people in the stands.

I was brought to the pitcher's mound and handed a ball.  The costume only allows you to use your elbows.  So I couldn't even throw using my shoulder.  I couldn't see 3 feet in front of me, let alone home plate.  So I just sucked it up and sort of tossed the ball, the best I could, in what I hoped was the right direction.

To this day, I have no idea where the ball went.  I just know that the stadium laughed.  And then I was thankful that I was dressed in a cucumber suit and 99.9% of the people there had no idea it was me.

They lead me back to the elevator.  Handed me a baseball that said "First Pitch" on it.  And up we went.

Then some guy in the elevator took my ball and signed it.  And handed it back to me.

I got out of the elevator, and met a whole bunch of kids.  None of whom knocked me down.  And that was that.



So, at home, in a fancy baseball display I have a Red Wings first pitch ball.

Oh.  And the guy who signed it?  Buck O'Neil.  The first African American to coach in major league baseball.  A major player for Negro League baseball...  Mr O'Neil died a couple months after I met him.  After I met him, dressed up as Larry Boy, and made a fool out of myself in front of the masses.

The end.