Doggie Love Affair

A certain elder, stray black lab has taken notice of our unfixed chocolate girl. This random pup (and by pup, we refer to all dogs no matter age) started showing up this past week. After Brenton scaring it off a few nights ago, he took a little break. Well today, he's back and staking out.

Everytime we take Lexi out to "potty", everytime we wander out on an errand, everytime we drive off...HE'S THERE! Sounds like a kids book, but the content would not be rated "G". So we have this problem of a random pooch that we can't seem to shake off.

Though, we did drive down the street making him scurring away as fast he could, looking over his shoulder afraid we were gaining on him. The dog had a sweet face, but was sure scared; rightfully so! Sadly, the fear has not overcome him as he continues to stake out a distance. Not including his random overtures of aggressiveness as he runs closer to the house.

If I get a picture; I'll post it requiring immediate removal of the dog from our neighborhood! In good fun of course, though partly serious.

Welcome One & All

In the half a year we have lived in Asheville, we have had more visitors than our few years in Oklahoma! It has been so wonderful to keep up with family and friends. My cousin, Becca, traveled west from the Lexington area to visit a friend of hers and, in the meantime, stayed with Brenton and I for a night. With the cold weather, we didn't get out too much. So, we're saving the hike for later in the year!


As for Lexi, she was exuberant to see another fuzzy fellow like herself, while Brenton and I reminisced Lexi's puppy days which were amazingly only a year ago. Lexi played the role of Big Sister quite well. Tucker found himself tumbling as Lexi took her turn being the bully. She played caretaker, herding Tucker around the yard while making sure he didn't go to places that would make mom and dad mad. She got a little jealous she was no longer the center of attention, what sibling never gets jealous! But most of all, I think she liked not being the only child for a while. We all miss Becca and our new little friend, Tucker.

Brenton is now full-swing into recruiting season; keeping busy watching videos, calling players, crunching numbers, and trying to get the big picture in sight. This past week at The Cove, I took on a project for my supervisor by preparing Speaker Contracts and letters with informative updates for the seminar speakers. It was a productive week and filled with projects I never expected to attack.

The weekend is coming to a close with a game night and more guests, a final blog post and a background movie, "Dan In Real Life", another favorite.

Must Read

My favorite in the last few years. An easy read, but downright good.

Jesus Paid It All

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim;
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down,
All down at Jesus’ feet.

Things You Never Want to Hear...

"SO YOU GAINED A LITTLE WEIGHT, HUH?"
(Nurse at the Doctor's Office)

"DADDY SAYS YOUR DOG IS MORE HYPER THAN OURS."
(Picking up our dog after a weekend away)

"NOW, I NOTICED THAT YOU STARTED DRESSING NICER ONCE YOU STOPPED WORKING FOR ME."
(Former Employer)

"WHAT BRAND OF HAIR DYE DO YOU USE?"
(Coworkers referring to you as a natural blonde)

"I GUESS WE COULD REIMBURST YOUR VISIT, THOUGH THE POSITIONS YOU ARE INTERVIEWING FOR ARE LOWER END."
(President of a university, though none of our former employeers)

Downwind walk

It is just as it sounds; we took a casual walk recently. The weather was brisk, the sun was out, and the nearby creek made it all too wonderful. It was too good to be true and Lexi made sure that reality hit about three times on our walk. Somehow Brenton missed all of Lexi's surprises until we hopped in the car to go.

Lexi takes the cake hands down; no sounds, no warnings, just sudden stink attacks unexpectedly crowding in. The smell is worse than any human odor I have smelt. Our little, innocent puppy has lost the cute privilege for the day, many a times! And I have decided to lead or hikes from here on out.









We have now had two flying monkeys that Lexi has loved until the day they die. The first lasted a good year and a half, probably because Lexi only knew him for half a year. The picture of "Hoover" that you see was taken last night before he lost his head. Hoovie Junior, rest in peace. Although he's probably grateful he is out of pain; if you didn't notice, the Hoover in the picture had an exploded mouth and intestines hanging outside his body.

And finally, I think one of our favorite hobbies has become dressing Lexi when the opportune moments arise, last night at bedtime for one!