Our New Puppy: Achilles

For those that didn't know, our beautiful dog Athena passed away earlier this summer. She was very sickly with an asthma-type illness, so we knew she would not live much longer, but our hearts still mourned her passing.

When she died, I sobbed to Paul that I didn't even want to think about getting a new dog for a long LONG time. Silly me. After just a few weeks without a dog, I missed it. Since I am never having children, dogs fill a void for that annoying maternal instinct that all women (including me) seem to have. I was going crazy in our little trailer without a dog to spoil and snuggle. So I started looking for a new one.

We had already decided that our next dog would either be a Labradoodle (Labrador Retriever and Poodle mix) or a Shepadoodle (German Shepherd and Poodle mix). Why? Because both of these breeds do not shed (Athena would shed handfuls of hair every single day! We couldn't have that much hair in a trailer...). Also, both breeds are good for people with allergies. I don't think we have allergies against dogs, but we have friends that do, so it would be nice if they didn't have to sniffle and sneeze every time they visited.

Both of these breeds are super intelligent, kind, easily trained, and all those other traits to make a perfect dog. Shepadoodles only differed in that they are extremely loyal -to the point where they want to follow you from room to room. The problem was that both of these breeds are pretty expensive. They are popular right now (due to their amazing qualities), and Paul and I just could not reason with spending over 1000 bucks on a puppy. I kept looking and just prayed that if God wanted us to fill our household void with a puppy, the perfect puppy (and reasonably priced) would appear online.

Lo and behold, our puppy was available! God rocks. :) I found an adorable puppy online and she was reasonably priced! Here's why: at a breeder's home where the lady bred Labradoodles and Shepadoodles, her male Shepadoodle escaped his kennel and had a lovely time with a female Labradoodle. The result? A batch of "Double-Doodle" puppies. :) Since neither group of Doodle-searching families wanted this kind of mutt (I call her a 'fancy high bred mutt'), she was cheaper than most Doodle dogs. Huzzah for us!

We named her Achilles (shh...she doesn't need to know that it is a boy's name!), since we go for a Greek/Roman theme with our dog names. She is definitely a mix of both types of doodles. She has webbed feet and LOVES swimming like Labs/Labradoodles, but she has the coloring and extreme loyalty of a Shepadoodle. Seriously, if she is napping and you get up to go to the bathroom, she wakes up and falls back asleep next to the bathroom door. Totally cute (but I'm sure it will be occasionally annoying). So far, her hair is only a tiny bit wavy, but with 50% poodle in her, we wouldn't be surprised if she gets more curly hair as she grows older.

So far, things are mostly good with a new puppy. Although note to self: with future puppies, make sure you and Paul have NOTHING going on when you get one since they need lots of attention! She has figured out the whole potty training thing pretty well, though we still watch her closely. She knows lots of tricks already, she loves swimming and playing catch, and she loves snuggling by our feet. When you raise your voice to her, she always immediately stops what she is doing and sits down. It's pretty cool.

The only problem right now is that I am super paranoid about the puppy's health. Since our last dog was sickly, every time our puppy has anything slightly sickly happen (breathing hard from the heat, coughing up dog food from eating too fast, etc.), I freak out and Paul has to calm me down. Hopefully I get better and relax in the future. I am just not used to a healthy dog that loves running and swimming!

Life is good right now for our little family in our little trailer. Hope you all have great days too! :)

~Cris

Back to the Grind

Cris finally decided to let me (Paul) post on "her" blog.  Whatever happened to what's her's is mine?
Well, I've been working now for a couple weeks after the shortest summer ever.  Sadly, we had to miss Young State Park due to work trainings and dinners.  Work feeds me way too well.  I swear, every time I have to go to a meeting I end up eating Mexican twice.  Not sure who orders the food, but I assume it must be the dude wearing the sombrero.
My official title is 'online math teacher'.  It's a pretty prestigious position.  Basically, I sit at home and help students when they need help and occasionally teach a class. So far it's pretty sweet.  I roll out of bed around 8 and log on and take lunch whenever I feel like it.  I do work in the same building with this one annoying girl who keeps singing and making me lunch.  My school (that's right, it's mine already) is called Connections Academy, so if you want to know more about it just google it.
I'm not sure yet if this is going to be a long-term job or just another stepping stone towards becoming a ninja.  I finished my masters in math this summer so I could teach in college.  Or else I'll just forget everything I know about math and start a fishing guide business.  Or, if Cris gets her way, an emu farm.
The downside to working here is that I'm stuck most days in my tiny little office.  However, my office is about a 2 minute walk to one of the best lakes I've ever been to.  Still trying to figure out how to set up an office on my boat.
Life has been pretty chill.  I still feel like we're on permanent vacation.  There are still tons of chores (like windsurfing or fly-fishing) to do and not enough time.  Wish I had a picture of a giant fish to put on this post, but sadly the biggest fish I've caught this summer is a bluegill.  Soon.
Cris got me SCUBA lessons for my birthday.  They start tomorrow.  Once I find out what SCUBA stands for I'll probably be pretty excited.  I assume it has something to do with crime-fighting great dane.
I do miss friends and family up north, but we have better family down here.  Looking forward to coming home over Christmas.   Over and out.