Club Nationals

On Thursday afternoon, I drove to Camden, New Jersey to participate in the USRowing Club Nationals regatta on Friday morning. I had been signed up to row in a 4x (quad) with my friend Wendin, and two other women who I had never met, Kris and Erica. We entered the race as a "Composite Boat" - composite meaning that we are all affiliated with different rowing clubs but we decided to join forces and enter an event together. Unfortunately, we didn't advance past our heat but, considering that we had never rowed together and that we were borrowing equipment, we were competitive and had a good row.

The boat we "rented" for the race

Boatmates, Kris and Wendin

After the race, we visited some of the vendor tents that had been set-up by the water. There was one tent in particular that caught my attention... not because of what they were selling, but because of who we found sleeping inside.

The ladies in front of the vendor tents

A weimaraner, sleeping under one of the tents

Kris giving the weim some love

Coney Island Fun - Virtually

On July 4th, Brian participated in something that has become a bit of an annual tradition in our household -- the Nathan's Famous Hotdog Eating Contest. The official contest takes place every year in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. And, every year at noon, Brian and I tune into ESPN and watch as championship competitive eaters attempt to consume as many hotdogs as they can in a 10 minute time period. Of course, Brian just can't sit back and watch... he has to participate too!

The hotdogs are ready...

Brian "the iron stomach" is ready...

Ashley & Tahoe are thinking "you can do it!"

After 10 minutes, Brian successfully polished off 4.5 hotdogs*

*Note: It must be mentioned that Brian was at a slight disadvantage this year. The buns that we used were potato buns, not regular white bread buns. Potato buns are much heavier and denser - not ideal for competitive eating.

Happy July 4th!

Happy 4th of July! What are your plans for today? Watching a parade, lighting fireworks, grilling with friends...? Whatever lies ahead for you today, I hope that you have fun and remember to take a moment to reflect on what Independence Day is all about.

Derecho Causes Havoc

A strong storm, labeled a derecho by our local weathermen, swept through our area at 10:00pm on Friday night. The storm produced heavy rain, lightning, and 90 mph wind gusts in some spots. The storm caused two fatalities close to our home.

We were lucky as we were safe and had no damage to our home. The power went out around 10:30pm on Friday night though, and was restored at 10:00am this morning (Sunday). This weekend has been one of the hottest this summer, with temperatures reaching 100. Needless to say, with no power (and air conditioning) many people in our area have been very uncomfortable and hot.

Down power lines, 2 miles from our house

Tahoe and Ashley took the power outage in stride. They spent most of the time in the basement - the coolest part of our house - and slept.

Weekend Warriors?

Yesterday was Take Your Dog to Work Day. My workplace (understandably) does not participate in this event so Tahoe and Ashley spent the day, just like any other weekday, at home. However, based on the sleepy pooches that I am with this morning, I would say that those two must have occupied themselves just fine on their own... must have been a "ruff" day & night!

Ashley sleeping on her back

While napping she watches Survivorman

Tahoe sleeping on the basement stairwell

I hope that you are having an enjoyable and lazy Saturday morning too!

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Also, wishing a happiest Birthday to my big brother!

An Update on Blue

Last month, I wrote a post about Blue, a dog in Elephant Butte, NM who inspired a community to come together and fight for his freedom...

Keep Blue Free

Update: Blue "supporters" circulated a petition to make Blue Dog the city's official mascot. Over 700 names were collected in less than 15 days. Last Wednesday, the city council met to discuss Blue's future. According to the NY Times, the council meeting drew a record crowd, filling the Council chambers and adjoining courtroom to capacity. After listening to over an hour of testimony - including suggestions to turn Blue into the city's mascot, granting him rights and protections not extended to the average dog - Mayor Kent granted Blue's guardians a temporary exemption to the leash law ordinance so they can install an electronic fence around the Elephant Butte General Store property (where Blue calls "home") and a large corner lot and boat repair shop. This will allow Blue to roam around without a leash while confining him to a safe area.

For more images of Blue, check out this NY Times slide show.

House Guest

This past weekend we hosted a house guest, Mei Mei...
Mei Mei is short. She has dark curly hair. She loves string cheese. She loves attention, and... she likes to bark.

Mei Mei

Mei Mei is a black poodle. She gets along well with Tahoe and Ashley. Mei Mei has stayed with us before while her family has been out of town. We always have a good time with her - I particularly enjoy watching how Tahoe and Ashley interact and play with her.

Thanks for a fun weekend and the puppy sleepover Mei Mei. We hope to see you again soon!