How do they know?!?

Max is a much harder chewer than our dogs, so we needed to invest in a few more hard to ruin toys. We were down in Ankeny today, so we stopped at PetSmart and got 3 new toys. As soon as we carried the bag into the house, all 3 dogs started freaking out. They someone knew that there was stuff in that bag for them. Now, we carry bags of groceries in and they could care less. And the bag was not see-through, so how did they know??

They're so crazy!!

I'm with ya!!

I wholeheartedly agree with Campbell Brown. I'm tired of seeing negative ads, filled with lies, one after another all night long. At the very least, stop wasting your money trying to make the other guy look bad, and tell me what you're going to do.* And really, even if the ads aren't negative, I'm surely not going to make my decision based on TV ads paid for my the candidates. Sadly, I realize that some people will though.

*This statement is more geared towards McCain. The Wisconsin Advertising Project found nearly 100% of McCain's ads to be negative during the week of September 28 - October 4. During the same period, only 34% of Obama's ads were negative. So, I'm supposed to vote for McCain just because Obama is "dangerous" according to your commercials?? Even though I have no idea what McCain'd do if elected?? That doesn't sit right with me...

Saturday Slang

w00t\ˈwüt\interjection, 1 slang: EXPRESSING JOY
"w00t! I won the contest!"
(spelled w-zero-zero-t)

Bathroom musings...

The bathroom at work made me laugh today. I always go into a specific stall (because I can be a little OCD sometimes...) and mid-way through the day, this black mark appeared on the toilet seat. It took me a while to figure out what it could be, but then it dawned on me. It was the scuff mark from someone's shoe!! They must have been one of the germ-o-phobes who uses their foot to flush the toilet.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with trying to avoid germs. But...my whole take on the foot flushing thing is that I'm about to wash my hands, so I'm probbaly safe for a few seconds.

Anyhow, thinking about this person flushing with their foot got me thinking about handwashing and how many people will:
a) not wash their hands after using the restroom.
b) use the "water rinse" method where they just run water over their hands for about 3 seconds and they're done.
c) use soap, but for all of about 2 seconds before they rinse and they're done.

None of these are effective hand washing methods!!! The Mayo Clinic provides these steps for proper hand washing:

• Wet your hands with warm, running water and apply liquid soap or use clean bar soap.
• Lather well.
• Rub your hands vigorously together for at least 15 to 20 seconds. *
• Scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
• Rinse well.
• Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel.
• Use a towel to turn off the faucet. **

*15-20 seconds is longer than you might think. One suggestion I've heard is to sing "Happy Birthday" 2x while scrubbing.
** I would also suggest using that paper towel to open the door to the bathroom - just think about all the people that walked out without properly washing their hands, leaving their germs all over the door handle for you!!

American Society of Microbiology studies showed:

• 97% of females and 92% of males say they wash; of these only 75% females and 58% males washed.
• 50% of middle and high school students say they wash; of these 33% of females and only 8% of males used soap while washing hands.
• Minnesota Department of Health led three observational studies:
  2003 Back to 50’s Car Show Event—64% females washed and 30% males
  2003 State Fair—65% females washed and 39% males
  2004 State Fair—75% females washed and 51% males
  
  (Source: 2006 Minnesota Handwashing Tool Kit)

Hi-larious!!

Roarke was trying to tell jokes tonight, but didn't have great material, so I grabbed some laffy taffy. Justin used his flashlight phone while Becky and Roarke read the jokes (and ate the candy!!)
Then we ran out of laffy taffy jokes. So, I used my only joke that I can remember:
B: Knock-knock.
R: Who's there?
B: Banana.
R: Banana who?
B: Knock-knock.
R: Who's there?
B: Banana.
R: Banana who?
B: Knock-knock.
R: Who's there?
B: Banana.
R: Banana who?
B: Knock-knock.
R: Who's there?
B: Orange.
R: Orange who?
B: Orange you glad I didn't say "banana" again?!?

Which Roarke followed up with:
R: Knock-knock.
B: Who's there?
R: Orange.
B: Orange who?
R: Knock-knock.
B: Who's there?
R: Orange.
B: Orange who?
R: Knock-knock.
B: Who's there?
R: Orange.
B: Orange who?
R: Knock-knock.
B: Who's there?
R: Potato.
B: Potato who?
R: Potato you glad I didn't say orange again?!?

OMG!! I laughed so hard, I couldn't breathe!!

Crazy kid!!

Saturday Slang

props\'präps\ n sing or pl, 1 slang : DUE 1 2 slang : RESPECT 2 3 slang : ACKNOWLEDGMENT 3

Did you know this is the year of a presidential election??

I was sent this video by my cousin. I thought it had a good message, regardless of what you believe.

Sharing 101

Ever since Max moved in, Steve has been a little over protective of his toys. This is a common sight- Steve makes sure that he's actually touching a couple toys and has a bunch of others nearby. As soon as he hears one of the other dogs approaching his eyes fly open and he stares down the approaching dog. Then Max or Nick usually just goes for the toy furthest from Steve.

I think we need a lesson in sharing for the boys!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

3 Dogs+2 Humans=1 Big Adjustment

We are a 3-dog household these days. Aaron's sister, Dena, and her family have moved again for her husband's job. This time around, they couldn't find a place that would accept pets, so they asked if Max could live with us for a while. We said yes, thinking, "We already have 150 pounds of dog running around. What's another 50 pounds?!?" So far this week though, it's felt like a lot more than 'just another 50 pounds of dog.'

All 3 dogs have been a lot more energetic and on edge this week than normal - at least I know Nick and Steve have been. I think they each want to make sure that they don't end up the low dog on the totem pole. This is more so the case for Max, because our dogs have teamed up against him several times this week, but already we can see our dogs teaming up with Max when it's to their advantage.

In addition, I think each dog has needed their 'alone time' this week. There's been a lot of extra sniffing, posturing, etc... and sometimes the poor guys can't even scratch their ear without another dog taking the opportunity to sniff or pounce. On Monday night Aaron was watching football in the basement and I was watching a movie in the bedroom. Max followed me into the bedroom and immediately layed down on the dog bed. He didn't move until I left the room after my movie. Nick and Steve (and even Aaron) wandered in a few times during the movie to check things out, but Max barely lifted his head to acknowledge them. He seemed very much to be saying, "I'm just laying here, minding my own business, not being bothered by anyone, so let's keep it that way!!" This morning, Nick was never more than a foot away from me while I was getting ready for work - in the bedroom, bathroom and everywhere in between. Although annoying, I kinda thought it was cute. "Hey!! Don't forget about me. I'm the dog who loves to get petted!! I noticed you weren't petting any other dogs right now, so I thought I better stay close by in case you're in the mood to pet..."
This is the dogs on Sunday morning, barely more than 12 hours after meeting eachother. You can see that they're all drawn together by a common thread - raw bacon!!

Here are my '(not-so)mini-bios' of each dog:

• Steve (85 pounds, 5 years old, Husky-Chow-German Shepard mix). He shares a name with my stepdad, because as Aaron puts it, he had the dog before he had me, so Steve is commonly known as "Steve The Dog." Steve came to live with Aaron after the vet's office that his sister worked at rescued Steve and his brother at only 6 weeks old. He didn't know how to drink water from a bowl, only from licking puddles on the sidewalk. He likes to pretend that he's cool and he doesn't really care if he gets any attention or petting. However, if you get him by himself - when the others are outside or busy eating - he can't get enough. He always looks a little ragged, because he has so much hair that no matter how much we brush him or what season it is, he is shedding. He loves to play fetch and is a big fan of catching the ball mid-air. The poor guy has some hip problems, so he has a hard time getting up after a hard day of playing, but he loves taking medicine, so we give him some glucosamine in hopes that it won't get worse. He seems to be able to sense when one of us is feeling blue and acts accordingly to try to cheer us up. When he hears the laptop click shut at night or the TV turn off, he immediately heads for the door so he can go out one last time before bed.
• Nick (65 pounds, 3 years old, Lab-Vizsla mix). We got Nick from the Animal Rescue League when he was 12 weeks old. He was tiny and adorable and afraid of pretty much everything, especially when he didn't have any backup from Steve. Nick doesn't like tall guys and gets freaked out by loud noises and falling apples. He likes to be just like the big dog, Steve, which is our explanation for his curled tail. He didn't have one when we first got him, and neither labs nor vizslas do... Anytime someone walks by the back door, he thinks he needs to go outside and check things out. We commonly use the phrase, "Nick's about to burst!" because you'd think his bladder was about to burst by the way he jumps around by the door. If he could be outside getting pet all day long he would be in heaven. He tries really hard to be a good cuddler, but he's just too much of a spaz. He has an uncanny knack to find "armholes" - any space between the crook of your elbow and your body where he can stick his head in hopes of getting pet. For a long time, we didn't think Nick really knew how to play fetch. When we throw the ball with both dogs, he just chases after Steve and bites his back side. When Steve's not around though, he tears after the ball like no other!! His claim to fame is that he can give high fives.
• Max (50 pounds, 8 years old, Rotweiler-Poodle mix) Adam and Dena got Max as a puppy and I'm told they had to use leather gloves to handle him because he was a biter with very sharp teeth. I had only met him a couple times before he moved in with us, and both times he was with Ziggy, a Miniature Pinscher, who was totally in charge of Max!! He seems to be having a really good time playing with dogs closer to his size and really seems to like the toys our dogs ignore. He reminds me of a kangaroo, because he's very jumpy. He goes from having all 4 paws on the ground to all 4 paws on the furniture (that he's not allowed on!!) in about half a second. It's crazy!! He's still learning the rules of our house, but I think at this point he's just playing dumb, hoping we'll let him get away with it. He's either playing hard or sleeping hard, there doesn't seem to be an inbetween. I'm sure we'll have the pleasure of learning even more of Max's quirks as time goes on!!

Hoofing it.

One of the things Aaron and I were most excited about when moving to Ames was that we wouldn't have to drive everywhere. When we lived in Slater, we had to go to Ames or Ankeny to get/do pretty much everything, so walking or riding our bikes wasn't really an option. We had 2 motivations for wanting to drive everywhere - exercising more and polluting less.

I found this set of facts from http://www.idealbite.com/ pertaining to walking and thought it was interesting.

The Benefits

• Getting fit as a horse. Even at a slow pace, you'll burn around 100 calories per mile, and consistent exercise from walking reduces the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
• Saving change for the races. Walking 1 mile each day instead of driving will save you about 15 cents on gas each day. That's almost $55 a year.
• Not horsing around with our air. Walking instead of driving 10 1-mile trips each week averts 500 pounds of CO2 emissions per year.
• Connecting with neigh-bors. It's easier to interact with other people when you're not stuck behind the wheel.

So how's the walking/bike riding going?? Well, we're making small strides. We walk to my mom's a lot - all .2 miles each way. We've also ridden our bikes to the farmer's market, the library and church a couple times. Only recently did I get a helmet, we both got flashing lights for the bikes and we got a basket to go on the front of one of the bikes. Since then, we've been able to safely take advantage of the bikes a little more.

I don't think we'll ever ride our bikes to work - I don't like what the helmet does to my hair - and it seems quite unlikely that we'll ride our bikes during the winter, but we're doing what we can while we can.