New Puppy!

This is Kona, our new Alaskan Malamute. She's 3 1/2 months old and quite a piece of work. We love her and are getting more used to the idea of being a two-dog family, but she's definitely a tougher puppy than Banjo was! We got her from a breeder whose house recently burned down and had to get rid of these dogs who are too old to sell now. Problem is, she's been kenneled at a vet's for weeks and has no sense of of not sitting in her own potty anymore. Makes me so frustrated that even an animal health professional would put dogs in such an inhumane environment. But, we are happy to have her and optimistic about overcoming her current bad habits.

And Jaron is already talking to local Malamute trainers about getting her some time pulling sleds! Here's to living in the arctic. :)

New Dining Room

Here's the before...



And here's the after! We still have some doors to paint for the built-ins, but it already feels so much more like home and it's been refreshing for sure.

*!?#!? Roosevelt...

I've had a very exciting couple weeks since I started coaching volleyball. And when I say "coaching" I mean sitting far away from the girls, watching practice, and filling in the coach on my observations by email. Aargh!

For a second I want to ignore all the good reasons there are for the red tape I'm encountering and just bitch about it. I cannot be on the court as a volunteer until I get a background check and register to be a sub. Fine. Oh, and I can't register to be a sub until I get a physical and a TB test. $200. Fine. Oh, and I have to have physical copies of my social security card and birth certificate, which I lost in the move. Replacement costs $30 plus a notary and weeks upon weeks of waiting. So it's going to take months of forms and waiting and about $300 to be able to VOLUNTEER 30 hours per week of my time. And until then I'm not allowed contact with the students. Up yours, FDR, I'm not a number!

In other news, I love the paint we finally finished in our dining room and will post a picture as soon as I get my camera battery back from Chicago. Also, we've been able to have dinner twice now with local musicians, Casados, and they are awesome. The hospitality of strangers is shocking and wonderful to me. They are so much farther along the road of performing and writing than we are and I'm repeatedly surprised by how gracious they are to us and our dreams.
You can find them in all the usual online spots for music, including Casados.