Life with Pugs: June 2007

Surprise!

I truly think I have some of the BEST coworkers ever! Today, they threw me a SURPRISE party for passing my test. And I really was VERY surprised! They decorated the room, arranged for lunch to be provided, and even had a cake and balloons! I am so blessed to be surround by such caring, thoughtful people. It was very touching!

Weekend Fun! (warning: very long post)

(I tried to put breaks between paragraphs, but blogger is not cooperating and has a mind of its own. Bad blogger.......)

**This weekend was a great weekend. One of my best friends from junior high and high school came in town for a visit! She arrived Thursday evening and left Sunday after church. We kept her busy (and ate a lot!) and had a wonderful time!

**Thursday evening Jason had a softball game, so Melissa and I had some girl time. She got settled in to our house, and we went to dinner at Udi's Bread Cafe. If you are in Denver, this is a great place for a light meal. We have been several times, and I often get the same thing, the "Big Apple Turkey" sandwich. It is turkey with slices of granny smith apple and brie on walnut cranberry bread. Yum! Of course, I would probably love anything with brie!

**Friday, we had breakfast at Pete's Kitchen, a Denver landmark, where I had a breakfast burrito. I love those things! Pete's has been around since the 50's and is totally a greasy spoon diner but has character plus great food. After breakfast, we went to the new Titanic exhibit at the Museum of Nature and Science. It was opening day for the exhibit, so it was somewhat crowded, but I was really impressed with the exhibit. I learned a lot, but the best part was the focus on those who lost their lives. It really made things more real and made you think about the victims. We then spent a few minutes downtown and went consignment store shopping. Love it!We then went home and napped a little. Jason finally came home from work, and we had dinner at Salty Rita's, then rented "Music and Lyrics."

**Saturday morning we tried a new restaurant near Coors Field called Snooze. We luckily arrived before the crowd hit and were seated promptly. It was great--the food was good, and I enjoyed the ambience. Below is a picture of my breakfast--a variety of yummy pancakes. From the top, clockwise: whole wheat blueberry, bostom cream pie and Snickers. I definitely will be going back!

**After breakfast, we spent a few minutes at REI and by the Platte River (see first picture), and then went home and hung out for a while. It was nice just to spend some time at home relaxing. Late afternoon, we headed our for an early dinner at White Fence Farm. WFF is a country restaurant that serves food family style. There are several shops on-site, as well as a petting zoo and a big Clydesdale horse that pulls a carriage around the grounds. We had a fun time!

**So that was our fun weekend. Melissa headed out right after church Sunday, and Jason and I spent the afternoon running errands and napping. It was a great weekend, and it was such a blessing to spend time with Melissa. Yay for good friends! Thanks for visiting!!

Storms in Denver

Thanks for checking in on us, Meimei and Miko! Yesterday was a weird day in Denver. There were microbursts happening throughout the city. I didn't know what a microburst was, but apparently they are strong bursts of wind that blow straight down and then spread out in all directions when they hit the ground. They knocked down several large trees and ripped the roof off the Alameda East vet clinic. I was worried when I left work, because I had biked in yesterday, but I was safe and sound, thank goodness. It is just hot at our house (yesterday, Denver also broke a temperature record--it was 99 degrees!). Thanks for thinking of us!

Thank You!

Thank you all for your wonderful words of support and encouragement re: my test. I appreciate it more than I can say! I am so thankful to have so many new friends around the world. Thanks so much!

Happy Father's Day!

I have been very blessed with a dad who always wanted what was best for us and worked very hard to provide it. Happy Fathers' Day, Dad! I love you and miss you.

I can finally rest easier....

...because I passed my test! Remember the certification test I took 6 weeks ago for work? I finally received the results in the mail today, and I passed! I could not be happier--I invested so much time studying and preparing, and to know that I passed is such a rewarding and happy feeling! Yippee!!!

Houseguest, Shopping Spree and Biking to Work

Hello all! Hope you are having a good week. We currently have a guest staying in our house--Moxie, Daisy's best pug friend! She is staying with us until next Tuesday, and everyone is having a great time! All three pugs get along great and play and play until they are worn out. It is fun having another pug in the mix!

AM, I blame this on you (just kidding)! I went to Bath and Body Works on Monday and had a mini shopping spree! I went in intending to spend only $20 and came out spending a little more than that. But the deals were irresistible!!! I am actually planning on going back before the sale is over to get one more Wallflower for my bedroom. I love those things!

Today was my first adventure of biking to work, and it actually went well! It is only about 5-6 miles to work, so it wasn't too bad. I had no idea how long it would take, but is suprisingly only took 30 minutes! It was great, and I plan on doing it much more in the future.

I don't have to work tomorrow, so yay for a 3 day weekend! Hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and blessed weekend!

The Way I See It #238

From my Starbucks' cup last week.....

"Have you noticed that dogs are the new kids? You take a walk with your kid and your dog, but nobody says, 'What a cute kid!' Instead they say, 'What a cute dog! What's his name? Is he a rescue?' Maybe if I put a collar and leash on my kid someone will notice her."

Judy Gruen, humorist and author of The Women's Daily Irony Supplement

Weekend Camping Trip

Each summer, the church we attend has a summer camping trip, and this last weekend was the camping trip for this year! For the past three years, we have gone to Golden Gate State Park, which is a great campground for our group. Gotta love those flushing toilets and showers! Jason and I worked half the day on Friday, then came home, packed up and headed out. We arrived at the campground around 3:30 and got settled in. Friday night, we cooked burgers for dinner and then had smores for dessert. YUM--I love smores so much and just cannot get enough!

Daisy and Oscar enjoying our campsite

They did get locked in the tent a few times

We took a little hike on Saturday with our friends. These next few pictures are the view at the top of the hike.

I was pretty suprised at how well the pugs did with the hike. They were pretty worn out (especially Oscar, as you can see below) but they made it!

A visitor at our campground

Saturday morning, we had breakfast burritos and then went on our hike. Afterwards, Jason took a nice, long nap in the tent while I finished up a book. Saturday afternoon, we played Phase 10 and then had tacos for dinner. Saturday night, a group from church sang around the campfire, and then Sunday morning we had a worship service in the campground. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend, and the weather was PERFECT! Two years ago when we went on this same trip, it rained the entire weekend, so we could not have asked for more perfect weather than we had. It was so fun, and I cannot wait until our next camping trip!

Oscar's New Shirt

Tonight I took a trip to Target, and like most of my trips there, I strolled down the doggie aisle. I love the dog aisle at Target, but usually I don't buy anything. But tonight was different. I get really excited when their dog items are on clearance, and tonight I was in luck! I found a shirt for Oscar for $3.88! Here he is modeling his new tough guy shirt!

I am not sure if you can see it, but the shirt is dark green with skull and crossbones. Makes him look so tough!

My Latest Project

As some of you may know, one of my most favorite things to do is scrapbook. Several years ago, Jason gave me my own scrapbook table. It is SO nice to have, because I can leave my things out and easily pick up where I left off without leaving our dining room table a big mess. It was starting to get really cluttered, so I needed a better way to organize my things. I saw the idea for a pegboard in one of my magazines and loved it, so I begged Jason to make me one. He did, and I finally finished painting it and putting everything together.

I LOVE it so much! I have many of my supplies up on the wall and out of the way. It is helpful because I can see what I have and be reminded to use different things. I am so happy with the way it turned out!

I am currently working on a scrapbook for Jason. We were given a bunch of pictures of him growing up. I am really excited about the way it is turning out and can't wait to see the finished product! And my next plan for the area is to turn the wall to the left into my "pug area!"

Look what I found in my mailbox.....

...a pug!

Jason's dad picked up woodworking several months ago and asked us if we had any requests for him. Surprise--I asked for a pug, and it arrived in my mail box this weekend! I love it so much and plan to make it part of my pug display in my area of our office. Thanks, Steve!

Celebrity Look-Alikes

Well, Daisy and Oscar were tagged by their good friends Winston and Sela to post pictures of their celebrity look-alike. They had to think about it for a while, but they finally told me who they think they look like.

Oscar was easiest!