Overcompensation

We had another busy weekend which means great things for the aesthetics of our home, but terrible things for the psyche of our dog. Ms. Olive was relegated to the five feet of front yard that her leash allowed her and she was none too happy.

Today, out of guilt for having neglected her for essentially the last month, I decided to give her full reign of the house while we were at work (and yes, you may read this as me taking full responsibility - Josh was decidedly against the idea).

Her first time out of the kennel, almost like a child's first day of kindergarten! Only, if Ollie had been my child at her first day of kindergarten, I would have gotten nasty calls from the teacher about her behavior...the kindergarten equivalent of which would have been destruction of the teacher's desk. The equivalent in the dog and home scenario? Ollie ate our couch.

Now, please, somebody share a story equal in horror to make me feel better about this sad situation.

RIP pretty brown couch.

the 9-5, then the 5-9

So we've been working like crazy on our upstairs, hence the lack of a social life for the last five weeks!! But this weekend, after a mad rush to the finish, we FINISHED! well, except for the trim, the closet organizer, window coverings, and the doors! But those are just minor details, the big news is that we're sleeping in the new bedroom and have an extra room to spare. A spare bedroom, now that's big! Now I just need to get my great grandma's vanity from my ex brother in law...

To view the start to finish, because I'm sure you're all so interested in what we've been up to the past month! http://picasaweb.google.com/jsuttong/AtticConversion

Special props to our family and friends who helped so much, Uncle Ron, Chris, and Brandon. And to Jeremiah Johnson, Drywaller extrordanaire, and the Home Depot quick carpet install team!

So...now we need some guests! Zack and Suzanne are first, who's second???

Measles? Guttate Psoriasis? Hives?

Nope, just a bad reaction to the amoxicillin I was taking for my strep throat!!! Americans really have the disgusted stare down. I was at Portland Fit Saturday morning waiting for my awesome running buddy to show up and people were definitely giving me the freak looks. Now I'm taking not one, not two, but three drugs to control my reaction to the first drug. You have to love modern medicine!

Our first trip to Bend was...

Truly awesome! And we only spent night! Ollie had a fantastic time in the snow - mostly because I forgot my ski pants so i was stuck in the parking lot with her while everyone else hit the slopes! but it was ok, i got some fantastic pictures of her being a snow dog :) we rented darling bungalows from lavabelles (if you haven't stayed in one of their historic homes or bungalows, check them out! great accomodations, good prices, dog friendly, free passes to mcmenamins, fantastic locations!... http://www.lavabelles.com/), had thai food, then martinis, then mcmenamins beer, then mcmenamins wine back at the bungalows. Chuck and Outhai are fabulous travel buddies! Sunday morning we relaxed over our huge beer samplers at Cascades Lakes Brewery then hit the waterfront for a walk with Ollie. The drive back, Josh let me snooze and that finished out a perfect, though short, weekend with good friends!

Check our all our good times and a great video of Ollie at http://picasaweb.google.com/jsuttong/Bend

What should we do next time we have a night to spend in Bend???