We have a nice backyard. Madison loves to run and jump the monkey grass. So why does she want out? I was working yesterday when my neighbors came over to introduce themselves – and return Madison. She had evidently shown up at their house and started chasing their cats. The nice lady, Janice, did tell me that she has three teenage daughters that would love to pet sit, which is good to know. When I checked out the backyard, Madison had dug herself a little hole and crawled out. Maybe an electric fence is the answer after all….
Pets
Madison posing for the camera. She was much cuter when she was fighting with her toy, but she dropped it when she heard the camera lens open.
Madison has gotten a little more aggressive in her begging. Initially she would sit by the table and wait till we were done. Then she would get a small bite. Now anytime there is food she sits, but soon tires, and puts her head on your leg. That’s cute the first couple times, but it gets annoying. Especially when she does it to company. Wade has been making her staying her kennel while we eat and she isn’t happy about it.
It wasn’t much and we actually got some help (labor is cheap!) laying the tile, but finally one thing is done. I think the fireplace looks lots better. We still have to sand down and seal the inside, but the hard part is done.
Before:
After:
Wade and I are homeowners. We had to make a last minute wire transfer, set up an escrow account for some unfinished repairs, and the house was ours. We got the keys and immediately started our projects. The first was ripping the carpet out of the downstairs bedroom. The rest of the weekend we sanded the front door, patched holes in the walls, chipped the tile from the fireplace, scraped the sunroom ceiling, and scraped the sunroom walls.
Madison wasn’t too sure about all of the remodeling. She would run and hide and then sit peeping around the corner checking on us. She did love the backyard and the dog on the other side of the fence.
I had a first encounter with a neighbor. We had a full driveway of cars so I parked on the street (due to the realtors, Wade’s car, and mine). When I got back from the closing, there was a typed note telling me not to park in the street. Of course, the note begins with “Not to be a bad neighbor, but…” You’d think she would at least introduce herself to me first or wait to see if it ever happened again. Geez.
Madison will eat pretty much anything – especially if it comes from a human hand. I was eating an apple tonight and she kept looking at it longingly. I decided to give her the core. She wasn’t sure what to do with it, which I found hilarious. In the end, I had to cut off a few pieces for her.
After a hard day of work, or something like that, I came home just wanting to finish my book. Having both Madison and Wade at home, I decided to take a bath. Wade, being his normal self, decided to contribute with a Sponge Circus. (You remember those pill-like capsules that you put in warm water? The outer part dissolves leaving the sponge shapes behind).
Wade and I grabbed a quick bite and then headed out to see Walk the Line. Wade’s parents had loaned us the audio CD of Johnny Cash’s autobiography, which we really enjoyed. We had been meaning to see the movie for quite a while but never seemed to have the time. We went, we enjoyed, and then we got milkshakes!
We got home at 10:30, but of course Madison was fast asleep. I recently got her a new pillow (which she has already put a hole in). Doesn’t she look cute?
My family does most of our celebrating on Christmas Eve. I’m not sure exactly why this happened, but I’m not complaining. Melissa, Chris, Wade, and I spent Friday night at my dad’s house. Madison woke up at 6:30 (yuck) but wasn’t too excited about going out to the bathroom. My dad has three big dogs and they were a little intimidating for Madison. She cowered between my legs and then leapt into my arms. I was amused.
We had a wonderful breakfast with Dad, Laura, and Laura’s dad Ken. Did I mention there were cheese grits? Yum. Then we opened gifts – Wade got the tiny video camera he has been drooling about.
We left my dad’s and headed for my mom’s. There the madness ensued. Mom was excited to have us all home for Christmas and we were excited to be there. Madison had fun too!
I spent last night making Madison a new blanket. It turned out pretty well, but it took longer than I was anticipating. I’d like to say the idea was my own, but a coworker made one like this for her niece’s dog. She had red as the backing and even voiced that black would have been better (you see I agree with her suggestion). After I took this picture, Madison moved back to my blanket. I guess she’ll just have to get used to her new one. I am reclaiming mine!
While visiting my mom in Kentucky, Madison got an early Christmas present. She has a new collar that reads “Santa Paws” and a new peppermint striped bone (thanks to Old Navy for their cute Holiday doggie line). Sadly, the bone has already been chewed into tiny pieces. I got the picture right before total destruction occurred.
Wade and I were attempting to take pictures for our Christmas cards. We wanted Madison in them too, but that might have been asking for too much. Before we got done, Melissa and Chris had jumped in on the action. Sadly, I’m not sure any of these are quite right….
Wade and I decided not to begin our Thanksgiving drive until Thursday morning. We headed south on I-85, turned west on I-20 and promptly hit stand still traffic. We quickly found an alternate route and arrived in Memphis right on time.
Wade’s little cousins Marie and Tina were lots of fun and love to play hide-n-seek. We spent a lot of time in the backyard running around and up in Wade’s old tree house (that is until we broke the ladder). Wade’s Granny and Papa loved Madison – especially Papa. By Saturday morning when we left, Madison would just sit by Papa’s chair. Of course, he had been feeding her table scraps all weekend so that might explain a lot!
Thursday night we (Wade, Granny, Papa, Judy, Jerry, and I) gathered around the table to play Uno. I always enjoy the game, but this time was hilarious! Papa had a little trouble telling the difference between blue and green so Papa was allowed to play either and everyone else had to follow suit. Granny didn’t like this at all – she is a real card player and wants everyone to follow the same rules. In the end, Granny won three games and everyone but Wade won one. Poor Wade.
After church today, Wade and I had lunch with some of his friends from work. They cooked an excellent lunch. We got back to Wade’s tiny apartment and all took a nap. I woke up before Wade and Madison and tried to snap a picture – they woke up just as I took it.
Madison and I got up early this morning and drove to South Carolina to visit Wade. He had wanted to spend last night working on his portfolio – and he is almost done! We toured Anderson and then drove to Greenville. They have an awesome park and downtown area. We played around and did a little shopping. We even looked at neighborhoods to see if we could possibly be happy living here.
I was surprised at the number of people that recognized Madison as a Brittany Spaniel. Most people get the spaniel part, but have never heard of a Brittany. Someone even commented on how well behaved she was – ha!
Evidently Madison has decided to use my blanket as her new pillow. My nice, warm, cuddly, heated blanket. As soon as we walk into the living room she hurries to curl up on top of it – guess I’ll have to be quicker or sneakier.
Madison has entered a chewing phase. She doesn’t chew on people or furniture, but she has been destroying her toys. This is a first for Madison. I have thrown away three toys in the past week, such as the bear below.
One of the best commands we taught Madison was “pillow.” The moment this word is said she runs to her pillow and lays down. It is great if she is getting into things or we have company. The pillow is hers so she often plays with it. Last week it developed a few small holes, which Wade sewed up on Sunday. I usually leave the pillow in the hallway with Madison so I did today while I was gone. This is what I came home to….. I couldn’t do anything but laugh.
It’s time for my second test in my EMT class. I have an eight hour class tomorrow and half of the day is dedicated to a written and a practical test. I’m not too worried about the written, but I haven’t done a lot of practicing for the practical – which is a run through of a patient assessment. We have a flow chart to follow and specific steps that have to be performed. Wade was a little late getting into town, but he willingly agreed to be a patient and then we didn’t give Madison much of a choice.
To get Madison to cooperate:
First, make sure she is good and tired.
Then she is extremely pliable. Here Wade is playing doctor.
And now it’s my turn. Wade and Madison as seen here have just been in a serious “leash accident.”
Update: I took the two tests. I got an 89.44 (the worst grade in the world – so close to an A) on the written and a 100 on the practical – thanks to my two patients!
Going away for the weekend has gotten much more difficult since Madison joined us. All of a sudden, going away means taking Madison with us or finding a place to board her. I don’t mind boarding Madison, but it’s inconvenient and expensive. Some places put them in cages and some give them runs. Some offer “play time” with other dogs and some charge for “lap time.”
The biggest issue in deciding where to board Madison is when I am going to pick her up. Most places close at 6 pm on Sundays so I would have to get her on Monday, but if I am working that becomes hard because I don’t get off work before they close. But I finally found a solution! There is a kennel called Park ‘N Bark. They are located three minutes from the airport and they are open till 10 pm seven days a week. I’m going to try it out this weekend when we got D.C. for the costume party so we’ll see how it goes…..
Wade and I decided to make sugar cookies again – yeah! I sent Wade on a hunt for Halloween cookie cutters (he came home with a pumpkin and a ghost) while I studied. Wade’s mom called with her recipe and I took a break to make the dough (which is super yummy too).
Here’s the recipe:
1 cup of butter creamed with 2 cups of sugar. Then add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of salt, 4 teaspoons of baking powder. Add 4 cups of flour, one at a time, till the dough is thoroughly mixed. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Let the dough chill in the fridge and take out a small portion at a time to make the cookies. Roll out the dough, with flour, till it is 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick and then bake the cookies at 400 degrees for 8-1o minutes.
Wade and I had fun with the cookies and ended up with a little flour fight. You can see that Madison got caught in the middle.
I was preoccupied with studying so Wade decided to perfect Madison’s playing dead. Here she is learning to stay in the “dead” position till we tell her to get up (or rather till we give her the treat). If you look closely in the background, you’ll see Wade’s Halloween costume. It’s in the early stages, but he’s been working on both mine and his. Mine is definitely low tech and Wade’s is once again “working.” Now the trick will be getting it to D.C in working order.
Here I go about the dog again… While I was studying all Friday night, Wade taught Madison a new trick. She will now play dead. She doesn’t have it down perfectly, but it is hilarious to watch. She sees the treat in your hand and wants it so bad that she doesn’t listen. She goes to her pillow (where she often gets a treat) or sits or lays. Eventually it sinks in that the new words mean lay on your back.
While I was in class all day Saturday, Wade met me for lunch and brought Madison. We ate outside at SA (my work), which has a nice lake and trail. There are also a bunch of Canadian Geese. It took Madison a while to notice them, but she swam out to the middle of the lake after them. We’ve never seen her voluntarily get in the water, especially past where she can stand up. Maybe she is a bird dog! She kept swimming out, then coming back to us, and then jumping back into the lake. It was hilarious. I’m sure glad she had to ride home in Wade’s car!
I used to say we had a dog that never barked or growled. She whines occasionally, but that is about it. I may have to change my statement. Lately Madison seems aware of everything and feels compelled to let us know. She woke me up three times last week growling at something outside. (Did she get off the bed to check it out? No.) Then she barked Friday to let us know the delivery man had arrived. I’m not sure if she is just more aware now or what.
My mom sent us a Halloween goody bag. There was a pumpkin hat, some decorations, and a new collar and glow-in-the-dark bone for Madison. Doesn’t she look snazzy?
Well we did it. This was the weekend we decided to go for a backpacking trip – a trial run for both Wade and Madison. We got up on Saturday morning, packed the backpacks, and drove to Pine Mountain, GA (near Columbus) to hike the Pine Moutain Trail. We registered with the park people and started hiking. We had a lot of fun – and saw a bunch of waterfalls. We kept Madison on the leash and she did fine – as long as she was in front. The only really funny incident was when we were playing in a stream/waterfall area. Wade had found a small deep pocket right before the waterfall. Madison was playing around and just walked right into it. Too bad the camera wasn’t on for that one!
We set up camp on the early side and built an awesome fire. We played Skip-Bo (and Wade won) and then sat and talked. Madison was asleep as soon as we stopped moving. She slept in the tent with us and woke us up around 7:30 when she suddenly went nutso. There were two Chow dogs off their leashes that had ventured near our campsite. She barked and growled long after they left – maybe she’ll be a guard dog yet.
Wade and I started celebrating Halloween early. We decided at the last minute on Friday afternoon to do some pumpkin carving. Jamie, Steven, Grant, and Shelly came over and got creative – or rather Wade got creative. The rest of us discovered how wonderful stencils can be. Madison was underfoot and ate quite a bit of pumpkin guts – but it didn’t seem to bother her. My pumpkin is the third from the left!
Since we carved the first pumpkins so early, we’ll hopefully be able to have at least one more pumpkin carving before Halloween. Now we just have to work on our costumes for Rob’s B & B Party in Washington D.C.
Wade and I decided to go for a hike in northeast Georgia after church. Wade could easily get to Anderson (his home away from home) and I could just come back to Atlanta. It turns out Panther Creek Falls Trail was a little difficult to find, but we eventually made it.
This was a new experience for Madison. She was tugging on her leash but did pretty well. We eventually let her off and that was great. There were lots of streams and waterfalls, which she loved. She even fell in once and got carried away by the rushing water. There is a video of it (and other pictures) on Wade’s website. She got herself out before we had to go in and rescue her – poor puppy. The rest of the trip was uneventful. Madison jumped in the water anytime she could, but no more rushing water. She liked to be in the lead when walking on the trail, but she never got more then 10-20 feet in front of us.
At one point, Wade and I stopped for water (I was wearing my camelback) and Madison was sitting all cute watching us. I squirted some water out of it towards her and she started drinking too!
The worn out puppy slept the whole way home and only woke up for a bath before going to her crate for the night. Now we are talking about a weekend trip for next weekend.
Friday night, Wade and I went out with Jamie and her new boy. I long ago told Jamie my only requirement for the guy she dates is that he like to play cards. You wouldn’t think it would be hard to come up with two other people, but it is. We always have three or five – never four. We did play cards after dinner, and it was Dan’s first time at Spades. He did pretty well, but Jamie and Wade still beat us.
Saturday, Wade and I spent most of the day in the car. We drove to Cullman, AL to meet his parents for lunch. (The main reason for the trip being the return of Madison.) Madison looked a little skinny and had stitches on her tummy, but she was as hyper as ever. The bad part is she can’t have a bath till Friday (she normally gets one every couple of days). Wade’s dad also told us she has fleas. Yuck.
Sunday, I had to play putt putt for the Gwinnett Corporate Challenge with a couple of people from SA. I managed to get 3 hole-in-ones and the third worst score – go me. Then Wade and I did the cleaning and fogging that went with getting rid of fleas. That also meant we had to leave the house for a few hours. We ordered some pizza from Mellow Mushroom (I am in withdrawal) and headed for Piedmont Park. I love watching Madison in the dog park. She isn’t sure about the big dogs and there was a Great Dane there tonight. It slobbered all over her and she jumped up into my arms. There were some Australian shepherds and Chihuahuas she liked playing with.
I love vacations. Why do they have to end? I just spent a week in Florida with a bunch of friends – Cori and Derek from California, Daniel from Alabama, Luke and Jamie from Atlanta, and Melissa (my sister) and Chris (her fiancé) from Nashville. We had surprisingly great weather. (I was expecting another hurricane.) The days were sunny and the evenings had awesome lightning.
Madison came to the beach too. She loved being in a house with 9 people – talk about never wanting for attention. Luke got her a little too excited once, but overall she was very well behaved. We only took her to the beach one evening, but she seemed to like it. She would even follow us out into the waves.
One of my best friends from high school, Kate, lives in Ft. Walton Beach. She recently had a baby, Taylor, and this was the first time I got to see her. She was adorable and Kate looked great! It is so nice to know a local person when you are looking for good restaurants, especially seafood places.
We weren’t a very active group – being out all day in the sun is tiring. Not to mention the beach Bocci, Frisbee, and football tossing. We did go go-kart racing one night – Melissa and I both came in first in our respective groups. Dad would be proud. The rest of the evenings we had some heated Spades games and random movie watching.
Did I mention how much I love vacations – I had plenty of time to read and relax!
We have gone through most of the typical “puppy issues” with Madison. The one we haven’t had an issue with is chewing up things. She has never touched furniture, electrical cords, or things just laying around – until lately. We keep a bucket of toys for Madison and for some reason the bucket ended up on a shelf. I guess she used that more than we realized.
Wade woke up the other morning to Madison chewing his hat, which he’d only had for a week. Yesterday I came home from work to find Wade’s Doc Martin’s chewed (mostly the insole). I think we all see a trend here – it is Wade’s stuff that she chews. Know what that means? Yes, he leaves his stuff all over the house. Maybe Madison can train him better than I ever could!
It was a nice relaxing weekend at the Burch house. Wade spent most of the weekend working on his thesis and I spent most of it doing nothing! We rearranged a lot of furniture (love our living room), spent Saturday at the pool, and then watched a bunch of movies. Oh yeah, and we dyed Madison blue.
Dyeing Madison had been in our jar of activities and was recently chosen. Wade bought some dye – essentially colored hairspray. We put Madison in the tub and turned her blue. Then we topped that off with a glitter layer. She was a pretty good sport, i.e. she just sat in the tub and watched us. Due to the torrential downpours we have been having, we had to give her a bath after getting some pictures. Madison has a doggie door and can go outside at will. That would have led to a dog dripping blue everywhere she went
Wade and I recently decided we had too much down time. I would come home from work, and he would want to go out. It would take us forever to figure out what we wanted to do. By then, nothing was open. Then, Wade came up with a great idea. We made a list of random activities and put them in a jar. We pull one out and then know what we are going to do on our next free night.
Our first activity was a trip to Centennial Park. I love the water and music show. Of course, with our luck, that particular fountain was closed for repairs. Instead, we played around with Madison. We are working with her in the hope that she will eventually sit calmly and meet new people. Right now she gets super excited and jumps and nips. This makes it a little difficult for little kids to come meet the cute puppy.
I grew up in Paducah, KY, which has two large lakes conveniently located nearby. In high school, my family got Sea Doos and a lake house. My sister and I spent lots of time on the water, but I never attempted to water ski. When I went to college at GaTech, I met Jamie. Her family also spends all kinds of time on a lake, and her’s is much closer than mine. The difference is her family is big into water skiing. Her dad quickly taught me to ski and by the end of the summer I could also Slalom. The wakeboard, however, kept alluding me. I would try and try but never quite get up.
Well, after moving away and then back to Atlanta, I am once again spending time on the lake with Jamie. Wade, Madison, and I went this past weekend, and I was determined to wakeboard. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I did it! What an odd feeling. Water skiing feels a lot like snow skiing except that my back starts to hurt after a while. Wakeboarding is just awesome. I can’t wait to go back and try again soon. Jamie is a pro at the wakeboard and her brother, Jason, is awesome to watch on Slalom. I can get up, but I am definitely not impressive. Wade can ski, but he wanted to try wakeboarding. He didn’t quite get up this time, and after what happened to him this weekend, I don’t know if he will be back.
Wade has tried repeatedly to get a tan and is never successful so he decided to forgo sunscreen for the first few hours. Because of that, he is now a bright pink color. He tried to wakeboard for quite a while, so his arms, shoulders, and back are sore from the jerking. Then the good stuff happens. Jamie, Madison, and I were taking a nap and Wade decided to go out on a big inner tube with Jason and his friends. The tube holds two people and was pulled behind the boat. When I woke up, Wade is standing over me with a bloody head and telling me he lost his wedding ring. Evidently he collided with one of the other guy’s knees while on the tube and busted his forehead up. The ring he lost while slowly letting go of the handle on the tube. It was definitely a hard day for him – he spent all of Sunday recovering.
This was Madison’s first trip to the lake, and we weren’t quite sure how she would do. We bought a lead on a stake and put her in the lot next to Jamie’s family. I was a little worried she would bark while we were out in the boat and annoy Jamie’s mom. Madison was on her best behavior and only whined when her lead got tangled in the various pipes, poles, or picnic table. The funniest part of the day is when we put Madison in the water. She was okay as long as we were there, but she didn’t do too well on the Jet Ski. We thought she would love the wind (like sticking her head out of the car window), but evidently the water in her eyes made the experience horrible. Wade came back from the ride with scratches all over his legs. I guess it was a rough day for Madison – she has slept all of today!
Wade and I have made quite a few trips to Memphis and Paducah lately so we decided one more wasn’t too much to ask. My dad was hosting a Harper Family Picnic and I wanted to attend. I got off work early on Friday afternoon just to beat traffic so of course, we hit traffic. We did get into Paducah in time to eat at El Chico – my all time favorite Mexican restaurant.
All day Saturday was spent at my dad’s house helping get ready for the picnic. There were fresh strawberries to cut, ice cream to make, and tables to set up. We got all of that done early enough to go for a horseback ride – Wade’s first. We debated which of the horses was the safest for Wade to ride and finally decided on the Arabian, Mia. None of the horses are regularly ridden so they tend to be a little head strong in the beginning. My dad rode Beau and I was on Trigger – my huge Palomino. Both Beau and Trigger need a strong hand and vigilant eye in the first lap or two – they tend to want to buck. We had a good time riding around the farm and Madison loved running behind. She tried her hardest to keep up, but couldn’t quite do it. She got a little close to Trigger and quickly learned to avoid her back hooves. The picnic was a lot of fun and old albums and family trees made their appearance.
Wade has been trading my fix-it projects in exchange for certain home cooked meals. We recently finished redoing the kitchen table and Wade wanted fried catfish for payment. I have never cooked catfish so I decided to go to an expert, my mom. My grandfather loves to fish and always brings home catfish so Mom’s had lots of practice. We invited my grandparents and Wade’s grandparents for lunch after church. It was great to see everyone and Wade seemed to love the food. My grandmother even brought some dishes she wanted to pass on to me. Then we stared our 5 hour drive home – yuck.
This past Christmas, Wade gave me an IOU for the dog of my choice. Wade’s dad is a vet and we decided to take his advice and look for a Brittany Spaniel. I quickly decided I wanted a liver and white – I personally call it chocolate and white – Brittany. Wade’s dad also suggested we wait till it was warm outside so that house training wasn’t miserable for us. That was excellent advice. We picked out Madison and brought her home in March.
Since then, Wade and I have become those people that obsess about their dog. As much as we try not to, we find conversations and activities center around Madison. When we decided to go to Birmingham, Alabama for a country concert, we suddenly had to worry about Madison. She couldn’t be left alone for 8 hours in her kennel. Oh well, we have decided Madison is the best dog ever and we’ll just be those people we used to make fun of.
My gallery has random pictures as she grows. Her estimated final weight, according to my veterinarian father-in-law, is about 40 pounds. That’s not really important one way or another except that Madison is a true lap dog. I’m starting to have trouble picking her up as it is.
These four got some good quality snuggles in this morning.