Water Sausage

Once there was a Pug named Babs, there was a pink life jacket, and at last there was a pair of golden "Doggles"... Put it all together and you have a very confused dog! Well, Babs was confused at first, but then she realized her life jacket was not coming off anytime soon, and the goggles were only a 'every once- in-a-while thing.'

George and I wanted Babs to learn the element of water, and see how she did when faced with a 'swimming letsson'... in fact she was going stand up paddle boarding as well. When we took Babs to the river, she was very nervous and timid about the water. It was very cold and unknown for her, but after a few moments she became a bit more calm and dog paddled like a pro. I made sure to stay close to her, I will admit I was a nervous dog-mom. It was her first time and if you know me well, you know this little black barrel is like a child to me.

We adventurously put Babs on George's paddle board and those two took off like two peas in a pod! Babs did very well and then after a while I joined along for the ride.

Little does Babs know she is going again this coming weekend!!

Gettin' Shanghai-ed!!

A couple months ago George and I went on the Shanghai Tunnel tour in downtown Portland. We went with a couple friends to discover the mysterious and supposedly haunted underground tunnels. The tunnel tour was only about 2x2 blocks in area, which I was expecting it to be a lot larger, but apparently there are more tunnels leading to the harbor near Waterfront Park. These tunnels were used to sell people back in the day of slavery and cheap labor. We met at a restaurant for the orientation which included warnings of claustrophobia and potential heart problems. From there we went through a trap door in the sidewalk that led us 'down under'... very interesting!

the trap door

There was an opium den where prisioners underground chilled out and got high. It was creepy to see the bunk beds and know that people were stuck in the small room for days at a time without day light. In most cases the tour guide told us that people were in the dark, as lighting was limited.

the den

As the tour led on, George and I, nor our friends did NOT see any ghosts or anything that was spooky. We did see a few things down under that were odd... kind of like this picture of us posing next to an Indian chief. Of all things, there was a chief there...

I recommend the Shanghai Tunnels, it was a fun activity and we learned a little bit of interesting history. If was all made up, I wouldn't be surprised, but it also could have been real, and the facts that we were told were not bogus. I guess we will never know!

Gimp

Well, I had quite the stupid accident this weekend... in fact it was Friday night. This is the story...
George and I went to Ankeny Vineyard after work. It was relaxing and we had pizza cooked in the outdoor fire pit roaster thing, and a bottle of Pino. When it came time to leave we cruised on home, like normal and plopped our butts on the couch. After a couple hours of more wine and YouTube videos of 90's R&B jams that brought us way back... I got kinda cold and went upstairs to get a sweatshirt...
In the mean time I had set my balloon style wine glass next to the couch, and out of the way of walk  through traffic. The glass was empty and was placed there for a while, and I failed to pay attention to it. As I came back downstairs with great momentum, I stepped down into our sunken living room, and straight on top of the empty wine glass crushing it with my left, bare foot.
OUCH!!
I freaked out and there were 2 shards of sharp glass stuck straight our of my foot, one of the pieces being in quite deep and about 3" long. Dear heavens it looked horrible, blood splattered onto the carpet and glass was everywhere! Huge mess! George took the glass out of my foot and i hurried to bandage it up. Thankfully the clean up didn't take too long and Babs stayed away from broken glass.

The next morning I was in excruciating pain and went to Urgent Care. The doctor bandaged my foot up tightly and said I didn't need a tetnis shot. He considered irrigating my foot out, and I talked him out of it :) Saying I was fairly certain there was no glass remaining in my foot and so far it hasn't gotten worse. It is just very sore and I have to baby it a little.

What an idiot! Wearing tennis shoes with professional dress to work makes me feel like a real winner...

Note to self: Get a new coffee table quick!

Our new place

Recently the Carter family of 3 moved to a new place. It is a lot different that we are used to, but we have way more room which is exciting! Babs' loves the bigger rooms and long hallway... she sprints around and gets crazy occasionally which is great for releasing her Pug energy.

At this time we do not have enough furniture to furnish this place, but we are working on it. In fact we have two bedroom that are empty (with an exception to the closets because in this house we can never have enough room, clothes, or shoes.... this includes George...)

Above is one of our rooms that is somewhat put together.... the patio outside of the glass door has a few plants planted that I am desperately trying not to killlllllll. Our two car garage also come off of this room, along with a bar area and mini fridge. Let the beer be chilled when we get home from a long days work!

Bab's has a little dog door and she loves running in and out of it. George and I have been working hard to get things all in order. We changed a few light bulbs, and scrubbed down the patio furniture so we have a nice outside area. This patio in this picture comes off of the other side of the house where our main living room and dining area is. Bab's loves the extra room!

This is the walk in closet in our bedroom. Built in drawers and shoe rack for heels.

L.O.V.E.

As time moves forward there is a lot more we would like to do to our place. A few pieces of furniture we can add, but for now we are content and have everything we need.