Hey, I did it! I blogged every day this month as part of NaBloPoMo. I’ll be the first to admit that some posts were better than others, and also that I struggled at times to come up with topics. I wasn’t very motivated last week when I was out of my regular routine, and I even contemplated throwing in the towel at 11:15pm Friday night when I was thinking, Oh man, I still have to post something to the blog. *&$#@! Nevertheless, I persevered, and it feels good to accomplish something I set out to do.

I don’t plan to continue to blog every day. You might hear from me a few days in a row, or maybe twice a week. We’ll see how it works out. I’m hoping, though, that this exercise got me into a groove so that the next time a blog topic pops into my mind, I will write about it instead of letting it sit in my head for days (until I eventually forget it).

While I’m on the subject of blog topics, I’ve been thinking about something lately. Some might expect my blog to be more focused on our adoption or maybe my ongoing emotional struggles with infertility and pregnancy loss. I know that those subjects are what drew most readers to the blog. But I always think back to the reason why I started this blog in the first place. (Here’s my very impressive and exciting first post. It’s a good thing most of you didn’t see that at the time, or else you surely wouldn’t have come back for more! And to those friends and family members who did read it and are still reading: You rock!) At that time, about two and a half years ago, I hadn’t yet discovered the fabulous world of blogs outside of a few that family and friends had started. I simply wanted a place to share stories about family, travels, gardening, knitting, dogs, and so on.

Over time, the blog evolved into more. Once I opened up a bit about some of our family-building struggles, I learned that other people out there – people I did not know in real life, even! – found some of what I had to say informative and helpful. And I learned that they could offer support to me, the been-there-done-that kind of support that I was having a hard time finding elsewhere.

So, anyway, this is my blog and I know it can be about whatever I want it to be about. I’m going to write what I feel like writing. So you may have to read more about my teenage crushes or watch videos of my dogs or see some knitting projects mixed in with the bigger stuff. It’s all a part of my life, and that’s what this blog is about.

With that said, I’m quite certain you won’t be hearing from me tomorrow. I need a break!

Here’s Macy’s YouTube debut, showing off her newly-learned skills from her training a couple of weeks ago:

[That's Kirk, our dog trainer friend's colleague, working with her.] In the video, Macy demonstrates loose-leash walking and things like an automatic sit at the end of some walking. I love how she slowly (and perhaps begrudgingly) goes into the “down” position. They told us that she fought them tooth and nail on that all week, and Kirk was the only one who got her to do it. We’ve tried and haven’t had any luck, but we’re so pleased with the other improvements that we’ll just keep working on it.

One of our greatest challenges with Macy is that she has an incredible prey drive. She is such a little hunter, and cats are definitely her biggest enemies in the world. When we come across a cat while out on a walk, her whole body freezes and then she bays that loud beagle bay and pulls incessantly to try to get to the cat. In the past, I would generally just try to drag her away and I’d spend the rest of the walk fighting her as she yelped and whined and tried to get back to the cat. But now, after her training, she responds to a firm “No!” and a pull on her collar and then she just sits. We might have to do that correction twice, but it’s just amazing how we can redirect her attention, even when faced with an Evil and Dastardly Cat. (Her title, not mine.) She’s still pretty fixated on the cat, but at least she’s not annoying everyone within a one-mile radius with her bays, and she’s responsive to me when I tell her, “Let’s go,” so we can go on our merry way and enjoy our walk.

Macy was a BIG jumper (although thankfully only 20 pounds), and now she knows not to jump on people at all (and if she slips up and does a little jump, she responds immediately to a firm “no” and she goes into a polite sit). We’re also working on limiting the amount of “kissing” that goes on. She is such a licker. Sometimes it’s cute, and sometimes, not so much. I mean, I just don’t need my dog licking my toes when I’m trying to take a nap on the couch.

The biggest thing we learned from the training is to always give her the same correction. Before, we might yell, “Macy!” in a firm voice, or “No!”, or “Uh-uh,” or clap our hands, or say or do something else to get her attention. Now we know to just say, “No!” and she knows that that means to stop what she’s doing. After she stops the behavior we’re trying to stop, we are supposed to give her something else to do. Generally, it’s just telling her to sit, and then when she sits nicely we give her lots of praise.

All in all, the training was a big success. We’ve seen great improvements in her behavior, and Craig and I are working on being more consistent on our end. Now we need to try to implement some of the changes with Rocky. He is so stubborn and while we did take him to a basic training class when we first adopted him (8 years ago), and he learned the basics, he pretty much thinks he’s in charge and therefore feels like he can pick and choose when he listens to us. It’s definitely time for us to work on asserting our status as the pack leaders!

We’re back in Baltimore tonight. The drive is a long one, but Craig and I have done it so many times over the past 11.5 years that we could practically do it in our sleep. (But of course we wouldn’t do that!) On average, the trip takes us about 8.5 hours, but today we set a record of 8 hours, 5 minutes! About two years ago we picked a new route that helps us avoid extreme congestion along I-70 (due to combined DC and Baltimore traffic), and today we really limited our stops (just two to get gas, pick up food, use the restrooms, and change drivers). Of course, a lead foot (or two) doesn’t hurt in keeping things moving along. But really, the traffic was light, we didn’t hit any construction or other slow-downs, and the weather was great, so it was sort of a perfect combination.

We usually choose to drive back on Saturdays if we can, since it helps us to avoid the peak travel day of Sunday (especially for Thanksgiving weekend, but also for other trips), and it also gives us a day back at home to unpack, do laundry, sort mail, and so on. Plus it saves us a day of dogsitter fees.

While we had a great time with my family in Michigan, it is good to be home and back to the dogs and our house. I could swear that someone cleaned up most of the leaves in our backyard while we were gone. Perhaps it was the Thanksgiving Leaf Fairy? (Yeah, I just made that up.) Whether it was a neighbor or just a perfect wind that moved the leaves elsewhere, I’m certainly not complaining!

 

Craig and I really enjoy playing games of all sorts. We get together once every few weeks with good friends to play a variety of games, including Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, Apples to Apples, Dominion, and more. We also really enjoy playing poker (Texas Hold ‘Em) with friends, although our poker group has essentially disbanded after our most frequent hosts/organizers moved away. This relatively new interest in game-playing is intriguing to me, especially since I have pretty negative memories of playing games with my family as a child. (Seriously. I didn’t play any type of game other than cards for years and years due to the extreme competitive nature of my entire family. There was no letting your 5-year-old daughter win at Chutes & Ladders in my house!)

We spent the afternoon and evening at my dad’s today, and we spent our time playing games. We played poker and then some rummy. My grandmother joined in on the rummy after feigning that she didn’t remember how to play. We always partially consider this proclamation (she is 94, so it’s reasonable) but then realize that she’s just setting us up to school us. Rummy was always her game, and she’s still pretty sharp.

After dinner we set out the family’s current favorite game, Mexican Train Dominoes, and played several rounds. It’s a lot of fun. We had a great time, and while we played the games we recalled lots of good family memories. There was at least one occasion, after we all practically rolled on the floor laughing about some particular event, where someone said, “Please tell me that’s not going to show up on your blog, Kelly!”

I’m always looking for other games to play. Does anyone have any suggestions?

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for my uninterrupted prosperity and so much more. Of course I’m thankful for my husband, family, friends, pets, home, and job, as well as the food on my table and clothes on my back. I’m thankful for being firmly on the long path to our child. And I’m thankful for the blogging community that keeps me sane.

I’m thankful that I can be with my family on this holiday. My brother Matt arrived from Denver around midnight, and my dad, stepmom, grandmother, and step-cousin will be arriving in a few hours for dinner. Our dinner preparations are well underway; my jobs are the squash (done!), stuffing, and salad, while Craig is in charge of the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans. My mom has already set the table with the silver and the holiday plates, and is making the appetizers, rolls, and bread pudding. My 94-year-old grandmother made the pies.  My stepmother made the cranberries. It’s a team effort, and it will be a lovely meal, but the best part will be that we’ll all spend some special time together.

We’ll be missing my other brother and sister-in-law, who couldn’t make it home from Colorado. But we’ll be thinking about them. We know that they’re having a nice holiday with her sister, aunt, and uncle. We’re all glad that Matt’s girlfriend, who manages a retail store and worked until midnight last night and starts again at 6am tomorrow (which does not sound like fun to me, especially since I avoid stores like the plague at this time of year), will be joining them as well. (Matt probably would have stayed in Colorado, but he has a high school reunion to attend this weekend.)

Now I need to check on Craig in the kitchen, and I’m going to try to get in some exercise before the mad eating occurs later in the day. I hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

 

 

 

This time of year always makes me think more about living closer to family. We’re pretty isolated in Baltimore, family-wise, and I don’t really like that.

The holidays are of course time to be with family, and generally that means that we need to travel – either to Michigan or Colorado to see my family, or Nashville (where we’re headed for Christmas this year) or Oklahoma City (where we haven’t been in years) to see Craig’s family. Frankly, I get tired of the travel. It takes time and it costs money. I often think, wouldn’t it be nice if it was just a special dinner and it didn’t need to be such a days-long production?

And of course it would be so nice to be closer to family for many other reasons. We don’t necessarily feel a strong draw to move to Michigan, but whenever we’re here, it does cross my mind. It’s where I grew up, and it’s familiar to me. And my parents are here. Today we drove past a cute house with a “for sale” sign in the front, so I looked it up online and then spent some time looking at other listings in the area. Then I wonder about jobs and so on – and of course there’s the fact that it would be hard to sell our house right now without taking a big hit. And who knows how a move would affect our adoption?

And there’s Colorado, which has been on our radar for years, especially since both of my brothers live there. I do feel a real draw to that area (stemming from a spiritual moment on top of a mountain about ten years ago), plus we like the climate and there may be some job opportunities for Craig within his current company.

It all just makes me think. Just think. It’s certainly not something we’re going to do now, but maybe we’ll make a move sometime in the future.

I’ve been having fun here in Michigan. It’s mainly just been my mom and me hanging out, but a couple of her friends have stopped by for cocktail hour and we’ve also busied ourselves with errands, a trip to the gym, a visit to DSW (of course – shoe shopping is always a must!), and so on. I went to my dad’s house earlier today to spend a bit of time with him, my stepmother, and my 94-year-old grandmother. Craig should be arriving very soon, so that’s good.

Earlier today my dad called and asked if I wanted to go see a movie. It was Bargain Tuesday, you see, and my dad can’t pass up a good bargain. My mom was interested in going, too, so the three of us went to the movie. (We saw The Men Who Stare at Goats, and it was a good thing that we only paid a discounted matinee ticket price, because it wasn’t very good.) Obviously my parents (who divorced when I was in high school) get along very well, and I’m so thankful for that. In fact, we’ll all be having Thanksgiving dinner together on Thursday – my husband, brother, mom, dad, stepmother, grandmother, and stepmother’s niece. We’re one big happy family, I like to joke – but really it’s not a joke. It’s very nice that everyone likes one another and that we can do things like celebrate holidays together.

Anyway, I sat between my parents in the movie theater. And I realized that I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I spent some time with just my mom and dad. Usually Craig is there, or my stepmother, or a sibling, or a combination of those people. I’m the oldest child so obviously 30-some years ago I had some good quality time with just my parents (and no pesky younger brothers), but I’m not sure how many occasions there have been since then. So this was sort of sweet and fun.