Update

I'm afraid I really have anything exciting to share with you, except for some random stuff.  Bear with me!

- This weekend is going to be a scorcher, which is a real bummer for me.  I have finally finished sanding my entire deck and have my stain purchased and I'm READY TO GO!  I even woke up early this morning in hopes of getting a coat on the flooring, but it rained overnight.  The humidity was sky high; it didn't even start to evaporate until just before I left in the afternoon.

-  Remy joined Zach at worked this afternoon.  This is a big deal since Remy has a bit of an issue with our routine at work.  Remy really hates the kennels where he stays when I'm doing my "tech" side of my job and constantly howls.  That is, he howls most of the time when he's in the cat kennels and barks constantly in the dog kennels.  I pretty much cross my fingers each day that he joins me, hoping that he'll magically behave.  And although there's major improvement, it still isn't ideal for either of us.  Thankfully, Zach said Remy did really well and after a tour of the building and greeting all of Zach's coworkers, he settled down comfortably next to Zach's desk.  Yeah!

-  My backyard garden is really looking great and I have been enjoying my evenings outside on the deck.  (Which is why I'm so anxious about getting it stained!)  The flowers are coming up nicely and I can't wait to find out what zuchinni, corn and tomato crop I'll have.  I still have a few projects in mind, but I don't know how much I'll tackle beyond my deck.

- I'm really bummed that we don't have cable TV now that the Olympics are approaching.  There is just nothing that is equal to watching it on TV.  Nothing online comes close and reading or listening to the news broadcast after the fact never really gives insight into the thrill of the moment.

Final Exams

This week marked the conclusion of Remy and Connor's obedience class.  In order to graduate, the dogs had to perform the following commands:  Recall, Stand and stay for 30 second, Sit and stay for 1 minute, Down and stay for 1 minute, and a sequence of Heel, turns, and stops.

Connor was definitely cramming for his exam the week prior, but had a great day when it mattered most!  He was so proud of himself that evening.  Mom reports that Connor was wagging his tail all night, apparently aware that something GREAT happened!

My guy, on the other hand, didn't make the grade.  He passed all his commands except for a Sit and stay.  He got five chances (the instructor was being generous and threw in two extra!) to complete this command, but Remy wasn't having it.  Instead of sitting, he ended up getting bored and dropping into a Down.  (And all along, I was most nervous about the recall and he did great for that!)

I was really disappointed with the result since Remy has improved so much in the last four months.  But as any mom, I'm still proud of him and I know that he's a great dog!  This class has really given us a break-through in our relationship and we'll continue onward and upward, hopefully attaining a therapy dog certification within a year!

My Choice

When we found our house in Etters, I knew I would have a drastic change in my commute to work.  Accepting a twenty-five minute commute (or an hour during rush hour)  on some of the Harrisburg area's worst highways was a hard pill to swallow when I exchanged it for a leisurely five minute commute.  It was a choice that I made, and amazingly I don't regret it because I am in love with my house and property.

But let me share with you some of the price that I have paid since moving into our home two years ago.
- A few months after we moved into our home, we were blessed (or shall I say cursed?) with a Walmart less than two miles from us.  With that construction came the destruction of our road!  Now, I must trek through Walmart and surrounding stores before I can proceed to the on-ramp of I-83.
- My commuting started at the tail end of Route 15/581 construction that took years to complete (10? 15?).  Surprisingly, PennDOT got it right and I'm thankful for easy travels through that area now!
- Then there was the repaving of I-83 right at the York split.  It was a rather benign construction zone during the hours of 9pm and 5am.  However, with my wonderful work schedule I was still often trapped in it. (Or when the workers forgot to take signs down in the morning, causing rush hour traffic to make unnecessary lane shifts due to supposed lane closures, creating major backlogs well before Reeser's Summit.)
- Most recently I've suffered through the thick of construction on I-83 near the PA turnpike.  Lane closures, restructuring of lanes and the like have plagued my commute for nearly a year.  The upside of this lengthy construction is that the "regular" commuters aren't phased and the backlogs are usually minimal, nothing more than the normal rush hour delays. This week, I finally see an end in sight!  My hope is that things will be finished with this construction site by the end of July (I'm giving myself an extra cushion so that I could be pleasantly surprised should it be sooner).

I still don't regret my choice to move to Etters, but I begin to wonder - what will be the next phase of construction in my commute?  Should I be so lucky as to have NOTHING?

In Bloom

Random Photos

Remy was too tired to get up to play!

First bouquet of the season.  Beautiful roses!

Anniversary photo - Three years!