Dog Days of Summer

Ruff, Ruff!

That's what our lives have been since we've moved here in LA. This is Drifter speaking. Let me tell ya...it's hot. I like it here, though. There's lots of room to run and play!

My sister, Holly and I get lots more positive attention here because I'm not constantly destroying the house and yard anymore. There's too many other things to do! Like pick fruit and chew it!

Or wrestling with my big sis...

Yes, Louisiana is alright with us. We like it here-

How could we not?

P.S.- I keep hearin' about having a brother around soon, but I'll believe it when I see it. Mom just looks fat to me.

XOXO,

Drifter

Fireworks and Food

On the fourth of July, Captain J and I spent the day with our neighbor across the street. She's a single mother of three and quite the firecracker! She is funny and incredibly generous with her offers to play dog catcher, cook, and furniture supplier for us.

Our dogs are often putting us in scenarios that allow us to meet other people.  I can thank Drifter and Holly for the majority of my friends I made in Alaska because I met them at the dog park! It has been no different here. My dogs like to run over to their house and play with their dog, Budweiser. Anyway, after chatting several times outside on hot Louisiana days, she called us up one day and invited us to celebrate the fourth with her.

The food was amazing. Ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, pork loin, deviled eggs, dumplins, pickles...you name it, she had it.

We stayed for a few hours, ate, and swam and then walked across the street to get ready for the fireworks show in town. I took lots of photos of the event, but sadly I can't get them to upload.

The small town feel made my heart smile. A Christian band was playing as everyone walked around and talked with one another. The kids spent their time jumping in a gigantic blow up play thingy at the end of the blocked off street. The humidity was 100% and the fire ants were out in full force, but we still managed to have a good time. As the fireworks started, I could help but to think about how lucky I am to be born in this country and now I'm married to a soldier who has defended her. It's a good feeling. Every time the music starts up and the bright colors burst in the sky, I feel like crying happy tears.

Or then again, maybe it's just my crazy pregnant hormones.

Either way, I know I'm blessed. I hope you all had a great July 4th Weekend!



 

Fair warning: most of this post is complainy

Oh, how I wish I had good news.

I don't. I got nothin'.

Actually, that's not entirely true, but I'll leave that for last. Today, we were supposed to get our internet hooked up. After their "window" of time had closed shut, we called AT&T to ask why they never showed. Their response was that they didn't provide internet in our area.

(Ok, so why did you allow us to make an appointment for that?)

Anyway, long story short...

AT&T says that they'll be able to send someone out to survey the area and see if they could hook it up in our neck of the woods. Great. Perfect. But then they said they couldn't send anyone for up to 10 more business days. And then there's the chance that we would wait just to hear that it wasn't an option.

This does not work for two graduate students attending online courses.

We don't exactly trust AT&T after they neglected to actually call and cancel our appointment so now the only positive that was in my week is gone. I have no idea how I'm going to get these two research papers done without internet access at home. I can either spend time at the local library (with time restrictions on computer usage) or set up shop in a hotel again and use their internet.

I've been so annoyed recently. It's just so expensive to pick up and move, especially after we just did it 8 months ago. Now, we're wasting money on eating out (b/c we don't have our pots/pans/etc), we'll inevitably waste money on a hotel room b/c we need internet (b/c the Army will only pay for ten days), and then there are all the little expenses that add up.

We're just completely broke at this point and that's never an easy feeling when you're getting ready to have another mouth to feed. I just pray that Baby K continues to get a healthy report. Heaven forbid they have to put me on bedrest or something because I DON'T HAVE A BED!

I have been really disappointed with this move because I don't think waiting for a month on our furniture is the best they can do. We drove ten hours. It didn't take us a month to get here. I know others are waiting on their belongings, too...but I can't explain to you how much it sucks to be 8 months pregnant with nothing but the floor to sit on.

And that concludes my complaining for the day. Please forgive me.

The good news is- I talked to a midwife today who pulled strings, stepped on toes, and moved over some appointments just to fit me in. I love her soul. My appointment with the OB is tomorrow morning and I have an ultrasound appointment on July 7th! Woo hoo :) Hoping for good news! *I would just like to add that Ft. Polk's hospital staff has been very helpful. I'm definitely pleased with their service in helping me into the system so quickly and efficiently.

As promised, here are some photos of our new place-

He's weird, but I love him.

Our backyard is huge. Drifter and Holly love it here. I have new pics of them, too but I'll have to post those later. It's Mrs. K's bedtime.

hi, ho, hi, ho

Whew! The last few days have been interesting. The rest of our drive to Ft. Polk was terrifying. I know storms plagued most of us in the central and eastern states. It was no different for us. There were a couple of times I thought I was a goner. The storms came like curtains of rain. I would look out in front of me and see it waving around like the stage was being set and the curtains were about to close. I was sure it was the end of me.

But, then the skies parted and I realized I had at least a few more minutes left.

It continued to rain as we drove into LA. We hoped it wasn't symbolic or anything.

As we began our search for housing, thus began the worry. The money that the Army allocates for housing off post here is inadequate, to say the least. The properties in our price range were pitiful. A ridiculous amount of money for rent was required for very dirty, very broken down houses in bad neighborhoods. It wasn't looking good.

But I kept my happy face on (can't say the same for my husband) and knew it would all work out. I'm sure J was wondering, "Who is this woman and what has she done with my wife?"

What can I say? I'm trying out this new glass half full thing and it looks good on me.

Anyway, I was almost prepared to get my cleaning boots on and deal with those icky houses that seemed like the norm around here. But J wasn't having it. We decided we would spend a little more money so that we could be more comfortable and have a clean, safe place for Baby K to come home to.

We found a lovely home- 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a gigantic backyard for Drifter and Holly. It's pretty awesome. The yard is about as big as the dog park back in Fairbanks that they loved so much. They'll be happy there!

And I think we will be, too.

The downside?

Our furniture won't be delivered until July 12th. Thanks, U.S. Army. Baby K and I really appreciate that. It's back to the air mattress we go. Hi, ho, hi, ho.

(If you don't hear from me, fear not. I might be without internet access for a few days.)

tail, face, tail, face...

Some things in life just don't mix. Ketchup and chocolate, for instance. Both great. Not together.

I have discovered a few more things in life (over the last twenty four hours)
that shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence and I think they deserve a warning for all of you:

1. 3rd trimester and blow-up mattress. 'Nuff said.

2. Part- wolf dogs and no furniture.

Need an explanation? Well, let's just say that it's not even 9am and I'm completely tired of having a husky tail in my face, then a husky face, then a tail, then a face. If they don't quit pacing, I might go insane.

3. Cereal and zero eating utinsils to speak of. That's no good either.

That's all I've got for you today. I must retire to the library and study. I'm hoping to get ahead so that I won't be entirely stressed out during our drive to LA. Before we part, I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my very first Army wife friend I made when I joined this military family journey. Nicole, I hope you have a fabulous day!

Dog Savior

See this face?

 

And what about this one?

 

If I didn't deserve their looks of adoration and their greetings each time I walked into the room before, I surely do now.

I saved their lives.

Even though the two troublemakers were driving me bonkers, I just didn't want to send them back out to their pen. It's hot outside, y'all and my two little Alaskans can't take the heat. I brought them inside during their mandatory outside time (read: Mrs. K's saving of sanity time) and I'm glad I did because...

a tree fell on their little home in the corner of the yard. The large tree landed right where my dear Holly curls up to sleep in her little husky ball. She surely would have been crunched. Then I would have been stuck with this one-



and let's face it, when he's an only (dog) child his life expectancy plummets.

Never a dull moment 'round these parts.

A plus

Yesterday, I went to pick up Drifter and Holly after our hiatus to sunny Florida. We tried out a new boarding company because the last one we used caged them all day with no chance to play with other furry friends. Not cool.

Captain J opened the door to the facility with a little trepidation. We hoped our pups got a good report card after all the bragging I did on their behavior with other doggies on the application form.

The gentleman at the counter began checking us out and closing our transaction as he said, "I've dealt with huskies before and two can be a real pain in the a**..."

[Insert incredibly awkward, uncomfortable pause]

"...but these two were great! I'll watch them for you anytime."

Whew! Catch these two on a bad day and his comment could have been a totally different story.



Like a proud Mama, I acted like my angels were always just that- perfect little angels. Inside, I was a little dumbfounded. Most people don't describe my dogs as well behaved. Poor D-Nugget and Holly dog. They probably were just happy to get out of the four walls of our living room for a couple days to play with other creatures of the k-9 persuasion.

We're longing for dog parks and huge fenced in yards at our next duty station. Send your positive thinking powers our way!

Love,

Mrs. K, Captain J, Holly, and Drifter

Growin' grass

Not that kind, you potheads! In addition to my duties as household domestic engineer (*snicker), mom to two pups and one sweet baby boy on the way, and online schooling, I'm also adding grass grower to that list. We're in the business of growing grass in the backyard because it looks like two Alaskan huskies have been rolling around in it for the past four months. Oh, yeah...they have.

We're moving soon so we can't very well leave this place with no grass. Southerners like their lawns, ya know.

We realized that we only have about two months to get this done so it's back to this for Drifter and Holly.

That's right. They're caged again.

Which also means, I'm stuck with them during the day again. I'm thrilled, can you tell?

I like spending more time with them inside, but Drifter gets so restless. He doesn't like being in here. He has too much energy and longs to be outside, at a dog park, or a running trail. Bless his crazy little heart.

Our new routine consists of me waking up around 7:30am to bring them inside for the day. There goes savoring my relaxation time before the baby arrives. These two are like little toddlers themselves.

The cage has been set up in the far corner of the lot so that we could get the grass growing and that is where it will stay until we leave here. In the meantime, I'm about ready to go to the library and check out every dog training book on the shelves. These two are terrible. I love em' but they are bad dogs.

Oh, well...at least they're entertaining and keep this pregnant gal off her butt all day.

Here's D-Nugget getting his workout in for the day-



And here's my dear, Holly being alpha to the crazy one-



Fair warning: My sanity might leave again. Hopefully, it won't. Wish us luck and thick, soft green grass!

Pregnant With Laughter- Part 3

Every Wednesday I get to talkin' bout my crazy pregnancy brain that often plagues me. Today I'm going to tell you about another dream I had. Not quite as weird as the KFC epidemic, but it might still make you giggle. If you have a story to share about your pregnancy experiences or a kid you know who has said or done something funny, I'd love to hear about it. You can link up your post at the end of this one. Now, without further ado- Here's

I don't know about you, but I just cannot get comfortable these days! I woke up the other morning (thanks to my hubby rootin' around for his uniform) and couldn't go back to sleep in bed for the life of me. I decided to move to the couch where I had less room to wiggle and squirm, in hopes that I would fall asleep faster. What? It did make sense at the time.

I flipped on the t.v. and watched awhile, but soon began to drift away once the Ellen show came on. I love watching Ellen in the mornings, just not this particular morning. I was exhausted! Unfortunately, her show started to become a part of my dream...

For some reason, one I may never know, Ellen and her guest began talking about miniature ponies. Even weirder, I think she told a story of a horse biting the nipple of her brother!

Meanwhile, in my head, Captain J is telling me that he must put one of my bestest friends asleep-

My dear, Holly dog...

Hysterical, I'm half screaming/half crying asking why he would ever do such a thing. He is all fired up and responds with, "Well, she bit my brother's nipple!"

Captain J's brother is in Germany, currently serving our country over there. No way Holly could reach that far! Plus, I know her- she's the sweetest dog in the world. She'd never do that! Just last Saturday I watched a three year old smack her in the face as hard as he could and she just sat there and allowed him to do it with a look on her face that said, "Well, I don't think I deserved that but that's okay."

Not my Holly. She would never!

I woke myself up screaming, "Noooo!" as Captain J started to take her away to euthenize her. Tears on my face, I realized that I was carrying on for nothing because it had all been a dream.

That's when I started to chuckle.

Oh, the ups and downs (and really silly dreams) these hormones produce. I'll tell ya...I'm sick of it! But at least they give me something to laugh about.

Oh, happy day

Today was a good day. I wonder how many of my post start off that way? I suppose it's not a bad thing to recognize that life is pretty darn sweet around here. I woke up feeling not quite so wonky, not quite so fatigued. Out to breakfast, I discovered that Starbucks will make any of their drinks decaf. Enter happiness overload. I vowed to cut out caffeine (except for the occasional sweets) when I found out I was expecting. No cokes, no coffee, no so-many-other-things-I-love. Oh, how I've missed my daily dose of coffee. I enjoyed a cup without feeling bad about myself one bit.

Later, I felt so good that the hubs and I took Drifter and Holly for a walk around the park near our house. As always, they loved getting out and about. Holly donned her easily excitable demeanor as she looked from tree to tree spotting squirrels and flighty birds. Drifter seemed to just be glad to be among the living. He's so social; you would think he never sees humans or other dogs.

[caption id="attachment_2210" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I'm ready to go, Mom!"][/caption]

Guess what? After our stroll down lover's lane, I STILL felt pretty good. J headed off to the grocery store to prepare for THE GAME while I stayed and tried to clean the disaster area my house had become. We began to prepare to watch the Steelers vs. Jets and settle in for the night.





Needless to say, this game contributed to my good day with a win from the Steelers! AFC champs, yet again. It's a pretty exciting Sunday around here. Just ask Drifter-



GO STEELERS!


p.s- Take a look over at the right hand side of the page. See the nifty poll located there? If you haven't already, go vote to tell me whether you think we're having a baby girl or baby boy. Thanks y'all!

1.11.11 -a Phone Update

What's on Mrs. K's phone? Well, I'll show you...

My sister and mother came to Gawga for a visit and we went shopping! We didn't get a single picture, but we did happen to capture a very uncomfortable moment for my sister, Paige in this video-

Family moments may be lacking on my phone, but friend moments sure aren't. Here are some photos from a wonderful evening hanging out with two of my besties during Christmas break-

J calls this my Clint Eastwood sweater

Also during break, I got to meet J's cousin's wife...finally! We took a short trip to the Chattanooga aquarium where we discovered all sorts of neato fish...

That's enough. Oh, and in case you were wondering- Drifter and Holly had a wonderful Christmas, too. (Thanks to all those who remembered our dear dogs this year. Y'all are too sweet!)

Thanks for taking a peek. Want to play along? Head over to The Lowe Family News to link up!

Top 5 Reasons Why the South is the Place to Be...

this week any way :) ...

1.) This morning I threw on a tank top, some shorts, and went outside on my front porch swing to enjoy the pleasant weather with my journal in hand-

2. Our neighbors came to welcome us to the neighborhood. Never not once did anyone do that in Alaska. It feels good to be back in the land of Southern Hospitality y'all! Did I mention one neighbor offered to watch our house while we're gone (along with our newly installed alarm system)? Another gave us a Christmas tree so that we would have some Christmas cheer around here. And still another came over bringing us bagels for breakfast!

3. Much needed girl time with much needed friends-

4. Big, fenced back yards for Drifter and Holly to play (or relax)-

5. And a wonderful husband, who I'm sure I don't deserve, firmly planted down south for Christmas. I'm so grateful to have him stateside this year.

the one where I complain

I'm awake. I'm tempted to call up all my Alaska buddies because I'm sure they would be the only ones awake at this hour. I might just like this time change. Anyway, why am I up, complaining on my blog? Well, I'll tell you. It's because of these two numbskulls:



I'm sick of them. There, I said it. Yeah, they look cute and innocent in that photo but they (read: Drifter) are far from it. This is the trip of a lifetime that Captain J and I are making, but having two rambunctious huskies kind of throws a kink in all that. We can't take them off the pavement in any National Park we've been to thus far so saving money camping is out of the question. Not to mention, we aren't able to do the trails that we'd like to do either. Just earlier, J and I were having dinner at the restaurant in the hotel and we got a phone call saying that people were complaining about our dog whining. I'll give you one guess as to who that would be. I'm just over it.

Traveling around the country with your honey is supposed to be exciting, romantic, and fun...Getting our evening interrupted so that we can go take care of our dog is none of the three.

I slept for awhile but I woke up to little paws in my face and a 50lb mutt on my feet.

I'm not that much of a dog person. When they're taking over the bed, they've got to go outside. They're dogs. Dogs! J forgets that a lot! I never allowed them to sleep with us in Alaska so I don't know why we've started that now. I just cannot wait to get home now- to a place where I can have my husband back. I want to sleep in the same bed as him without feeling like I'm being cuddled by a bunch of stinky mutts. I want to wake up in the morning and not have to find a cold wet nose on my bum. I want to greet Drifter and Holly with a smile again when I see them for the first time in the mornings instead of a "shoo, excuse me, MOVE out of my box" look that comes much more easily these days.

I wouldn't trade those two for anything in the world, but tonight I'd love nothing more than to have a bed to sleep in with absolutely no dog breath to wake me in the a.m. I'm afraid that's just not going to happen, though.

Poor, poor, pityful me.

California Redwoods

A couple posts ago, I promised you some redwood pictures, didn't I? I'm sure Captain J got plenty of good ones with our his fancy schmancy camera, but he has forbidden me to post any until he can choose the ones he wants the world to see. Oh, the trials of being married to a good photographer. He takes five gazillion trillion shots and out of those he'll like ten of them. Perhaps by the end of this trip he'll let me share some with all of you. Until then...you're stuck with mine!

They're a pixelated mess, but at least you can see how enormous the redwoods are. Maybe I'll buy myself my own fancy schmancy camera for Christmas and avoid this little problem all together!

But then again, if J is taking pictures and I'm taking pictures then who is going to watch these two crazy mutts?

We'll be in Arizona by tomorrow!

City Life in Cali

San Francisco  wasn't ready for us....and boy (or girl), lemme tell you- we weren't quite ready for the streets of San Fran. These two Alaskans in our F350 just didn't mix well with the traffic and congestion in the hilly city. The first hour or so was quite stressful as we tried to navigate around the city and attempt to not  dismember any innocent pedestrians. Thanks to the help of Magellan, we found our way to our first stop: Wags Hotel.

We knew hauling two huskies up and down the streets of a busy city was just asking for trouble so we chose to board them for the night. I swear, their "hotel" was better than ours. You wouldn't believe the ammenities/goodies/extras they offered: One on one swim time, Yappy Hour, and more. I'm pretty ashamed of myself for pampering them so, but I'm sure they had a good time (Their report card said so! ;) ).

After Captain J and I decided on a location to rest our pretty little heads, we set out to explore the city...on foot. No more driving for us! We walked everywhere we went. I'm surprised I survived.

We strolled down to Fisherman's Wharf to walk along the water and view Alcatraz from a distance. Later we spotted Ghirardelli, which quickly became my favorite place in this whole entire world. I was in chocolate heaven!

After a quick snap of this photo (and J telling curious onlookers that I was a "chocolate fiend"), we strolled on down the street where we came to a wine tasting. Being in California and not tasting wine is criminal so we sat down to enjoy a few swigs of California's best aged grape juice.

Afterwards, we continued on down the road to Pier 33 where there were tickets to Alcatraz being sold. Knowing that I'm slightly obsessed with prison shows and culture, J hopped in line to buy us tickets. The boat ride took approximately 12 minutes. In no time, we were standing on the island- looking out at the bright lights of San Francisco. I regret that I didn't bring my camera during this time. How could I forget that?! All I had was the iphone and it doesn't have great capabilities in the dark. Oh, well...I'll have to savor those memories in my mind. I did get a picture of a quote from one of the wardens of "The Rock"-

I thought this was pretty profound especially when I think about all our soldiers who have given all. Did you know that before Alcatraz was a prison that it was actually a military base? Did you know that families occupied the island as well during the time the inmates were there? The tour was quite interesting and I'd definitely like to check out some more literature on the topic.

Around 8 o'clock that night, we finally had dinner. As suggested by my dear dad-in-law, we had dungeness crab and chardonnay. It was excellent! These Californians have it down a little better than Fairbanksians, I just have to say. We left the restaurant with our bellies full and began the long trek back to our hotel.

I didn't get much sleep that night because there were two women in the room to the left of ours that were having an excellent time together, if you know what I mean. Then to to right of us, there was a young couple who argued in German during the wee hours of the morning. Add in cars honking, tires screeching, and the hustle and bustle of city life and it's easy to see why I slept very little.

I woke up with a spring in my step, though. I was ready to get out of that hotel! Captain J and I put on our walkin' shoes and got to stepping bright and early. We had breakfast in the Wharf then headed to Lombard Street to see the crooked roads and beautiful gardens.

Photo Credit Here

Then we went to see the interesing Chinatown district where I wanted to snatch up a couple of those beautiful Chinese children and high tail it to GA and call it a day! (I promise I'm kidding) They were all so precious and it reminded me of the pull I feel to adopt from China. Maybe one day.

We followed the streets to Coit Tower. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to go to the top due to construction on the tower.

Note Annoyed Smile

I could go on forever. We literally went all over this city and by the end of the day I felt as if I had done a half marathon, at least. Then I began to ponder how San Francisco(ians?) stack up in marathons. I bet they win more often than not. You wouldn't believe the steep hills that I was huffing up. Whew! I get tired just thinking about it. I just know if I lived there, I'd look amazing with all that extra exercise I would likely get.

We loved this city, but were glad to drive out of the congestion and back into a slower pace. We definitely wouldn't make it as city folk! Tomorrow we're camping in Yosemite. The adventure continues...

P.S.- Does anyone else have the Full House theme song in their head now?