The Fleeting Patch of Tall Grass

I'm not one of those 'feelings' type of journal people. When I look back on this blog I mainly want to remember the details of this or that.

My cousin Bryce marvels at my recolection of minor things when discussing on our childhood visits. He is amazed at Thanksgiving when I start brining up stories... although it's not fun to reminisce when I'm the only one who remembers!

Jase and I were discussing dogs the other day and realized that if all of my dogs live until they are 10 years old it means that I will probably only have 4 or 5 dogs in my adult life.

If this blog lived 50 years I would love to look back on the details of my canine friends. Charlie, for example, is full of storied details. I hold myself back from boring people with Charlie is so this and Charlie is so that stories (I'll save that for when we have kids).

Lawn mowing day is a fun day for Charlie and me. It ALWAYS starts and ends the same. First, he peaks under the neighbor's fence to see if their large dog Brewsky is anywhere to be found. Charlie will squeeze and shimmy under the fence if Brewsky is back there. Otherwise, he moves on to me.

Second, I pull the lawn mower out and for some reason Charlie starts hopping around like it's Christmas morning. Ten minutes into the front lawn he follows me around, barking, jumping around, and grabing onto my shorts. Yes I have mooned my neighbors a few times. Maybe he's is trying to get me to chase him... maybe he's jealous of the lawn mower.

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Third, he realizes I have things to do and gives up on the chase. He finds a bone, lays in the shaded part of the tall grass, and chews away in his own zoned out world. He has been working on this bone all summer. No idea where he puts it and how he finds it each week... but he does.



He'll get up and move to a new spot when the mower comes to close. Moving is more frequent as the tall grassy area closes in. He moves, chews, moves, chews, moves until it is time for the back yard.

Fourth, I lure him into the backyard and playtime starts again. As I mow passed his 45 toys I throw them out of the way and he'll fetch, run, bark, nip at my feet and shorts... (Sorry for the loud breathing on this one.... yardwork + headphones are not a good combo for the camera man).

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Eventually he falls asleep in the sun and is done for the day. This post was more for me when I'm 50 than for anything else.

Paul Comes For a Visit

Elaina's dad Paul came out for a visit this week. He had to come solo as his wife Melody broke her leg in a kayaking incident.

I ate ocean floor in the same kayak only a few months ago. At the time it was funny and now I realize I was lucky to not have snapped by back.

We had a nice visit. Did some boating and grilled up some steaks on the new grill Paul gave Elaina for her birthday.

Although this picture was to show a little of Paul's visit, it's one that I love of Elaina. This is one of those 'my beautiful wife' pictures.

Our bbq was fun. Jase, Nicole, and the kids came over. We ate some dogs and some steaks and then I played throw the kids around the couch like bags of flour.

Natural Hot Springs and the Best Hot Dog EVER!

Last weekend we went to Quinn hotsprings in Montana with Bart and Amber. Pretty cool place in the woods with little cabins, a really nice restauraunt, and natural hot springs.



The pools were a little dirty so we sat in the hot tub for a few hours and finally started our 2 hour drive home at midnight. Yes that's right, we drove a total of 4 hours to sit in a hot tub.

We had a lot of fun though and the scenery was pretty nice.

As we rolled into CDA we hit this hot dog stand down by the bars. Everyone on the streets were dressed up for a night on the town and here we stand in sweats and swimwear ready for bed. Luckily we are in North Idaho so we didn't stand out too much.

This hot dog stand has the BEST hot dogs in the world. You gotta try one with cream cheese... trust me... cream cheese.

Lazy Dog

Elaina is nearing the end of hell month. She has been on the 11pm-7am shift 5 nights a week. Next week she'll finally finish. The good news is that she starts her 4 days on/2 days off/2 days on/6 days off schedule. The bad news is she will be on her own as a nurse. She's a little nervous but we all know she'll do a great job.

I'm hoping next week I can finally start posting some fun stuff with Elaina. Our opposite sleeping schedules pretty much suck. It's been great for Charlie though. He sleeps with me all night and then sleeps with Elaina all day. He's a ball of tornado energy from about 6pm-8pm, and then ready for bed again. What are we doing to this poor guy?

This is what I found the other day:

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Elaina's birthday. She had to work the night before and spent much of the day sleeping. After opening presents and an awesome King Crab dinner at the Beach House in CDA we headed out to a casino.

Lane has always wanted to learn how to play craps, mainly because it looks fun to roll the dice I think. She walked to the table slowly and hung back a little to watch. A few people were giving her pointers and explaining how to play.

About 20 minutes later she's rolling dice, throwing out the lingo, "give me $12 on 6 and 8". She turned into an instant pro and won a lot of money.

I won a lot earlier in the night, but made myself stop as the winnings were trickling away.

We both came home winners... which doesn't happen that often. Happy Birthday to me too!

Standard Summer Panic Time - August 15th

For some reason (procrastination), around August 15th of EVERY year I get into a total panic about the summer comming to an end. All of the sudden I start to catch up on the mountain biking and fishing that I didn't do all summer, but really meant to do.

Panic pushed me into a mountain biking day at Silver Mountain. Yes I'll admit it. I ride the ski lift up and then mountain bike down the mountain.

First, you ride up in the worlds LONGEST gondola taking you to the top of the mountain:



The ride down will take you through 30-45 minutes of single track heaven. Here are a few shots of the day.... This is why I LOVE living here!










Even a trip through the spooky forest. This is a real comforting sign when you are riding by yourself:





Ok, I'll admit it. I set up the self timer for a few action shots of myself.




After 30-40 minutes of total downhill you end up by the river for a 1/2 mile ride back to the tram for another round of fun.

Wave To The International Space Station Kids

Tonight we had Bart and Amber over for dinner. Elaina has come up with this totally healthy stir
fry that is quickly becoming a crowd favorite. After glancing at an article in the paper we
realized the International Space Station was going to pass right over our house in about 5 minutes.

We headed outside to take a look. Sure enough, just as predicted, it came into the sky at 9:41pm brighter
than any star in the sky. It was completely across the sky and out of sight in about 3 minutes. Those mathematicians are pretty
darn accurate. They must have paid attention in geometry... unlike myself.

You can look at www.heavens-above.com to enter your zip code and find out when it passes by you.

I'm Feeling Weak

I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. Keeping this blog a secret from Elaina is tough. I can't tell anyone else for fear of someone letting the cat out of the bag. Plus it's hard to explain why I'm taking pictures of a kabob tray.

Stay strong... I'm staying strong. I think this will be fun for her to read in a year.

We just started our weight loss saga a few weeks ago. Our focus is mainly portion sizes. We looked up weight watchers and started to calculate how much we were eating. I can't believe how unhealthy I eat 90% of the time. Not to mention eating out at least 5 nights a week. We're not talking light salads...we're talking the great ones: Outback, Red Lobster, Chillies.... oh, chillies... I miss your chips and queso.

I'm down 5 lbs in the first week. Up 1/2 pound the second week... I guess my 5 lb celebration dinner wasn't exactly smart. I won't give out Elaina's numbers, but she pretty much kicked my butt on week 2.

Lane is finishing up her first week of overnight shifts at the hospital. These full time overnight shifts suck. I pretty much sleep and wake up by her work schedule. Once you factor in sleeping there isn't a lot of time for anything else. She is working so hard.

A few more weeks of this and she'll be down to her schedule of 3 nights a week. Hopefully normal life will continue. We're celebrating her first 6 day hiatus with a trip to Yellowstone.

Word Is Out ... Free Dinner At The Matthews!

Elaina pretty much kicked some butt on the back yard again. I went on a scanning trip to Council, ID with Jase and came home to this:



More plants, less weeds, and a new bird feeder.



This morning there was a record 4 birds on the feeder with flapping wings and position mongering. I'm sure this is all a bunch of drama in the bird world.



The bird line was long on the fence. I'm sure our neighbors appreciate the bird butts on THEIR side of the fence instead of mine :)



Yesterday we went to Art On The Green down at the Coeur D' Alene Park. Tons of booths showing art, photography, crafts, etc... oh, and food.... mmmmmm fair food! This is just a picture to tempt people to come up. You'll never have corn on the cob as good as this. My dad really enjoyed it at last years Pig Out At The Park in Spokane. Pigout At The Park is this HUGE event with hundreds of food booths. Enough food to give you Diabetes, high cholesterol and a heart attack all at the same time.... totally worth it.





Here are some kabobs...



why am I posting pictures of kabobs you ask? Two reasons, 1) FINALLY bought a new camera and this is my inaugural shot. 2) This was prepared for 6 of us to eat dinner... not to mention the 5 or 6 that were already on the grill. Are you calling me fat?

Happy Birthday to our niece Daisy as she just turned 3. Her birthday party was today....... wouldn't you love to be a kid again?