Mississippi clearly thinks she’s in the driver’s seat. Mississippi and I were thrown into the fire last night at an advanced dog obedience class. Though she went through 6 weeks of training, there were some basic commands we never got to teach her. Everyone else in the class had taken the beginning class from the…

We’ve had Mississippi for over two months now. It’s been a whirlwind. She’s definitely our dog now. She’s not afraid to tell us what she thinks of us. The other day I was sitting in what she now considers to be her chair and she tried to push me out. Why can’t we just get…

There is plenty around me to inspire me. What has been lacking were the matches to set them on fire. I have to be the one to strike the match. I’m trying to strike some matches today. Little ones because I am swamped with work, but I think it’s the little ones that are going…

It seems Mississippi’s progress goes a little something like the hustle. There’s lots of steps forward and lots of steps back. She continues to get better on walks and she’s way more mellow at home most of the time. She comes inside almost every time we ask her. She lets us sleep through the night…

I think I figured out why Mississippi has been hacking and acting weird. The clover on our lawn is in bloom and she wants to eat all of the bees. How ironic. I’m sure I’m not the first person with a bee eating dog.

Mississippi was just barking up a storm in the living room. She was nowhere near the door, she was in the middle of the living room, barking for my attention. We had just gotten back from a solid hour and a half at the dog park and you’d think she’d be ready for a nap.…

Tom and I have been together 9 years as of last weekend. Now that we have our wedding anniversary to look forward to, Tom says this one must now be called the “old anniversary”. I still think we should celebrate it, we’ll just do it with less fan fare than the wedding anniversary. So this…

Mississippi is not feeling well today. She had a really stressful day yesterday and it’s been very hot. Today she showed little interest in going out in the backyard. It’s usually the first thing she wants to do in the morning. She is very affectionate and wants lots of belly rubs today. Her nose feels…

Our dog Mississippi is a 1 year old Border Collie/Labrador mix. She’s been out of the Oregon Humane Society for less than two months and for most of her time with us, she has had next to no patience. Trying to keep her occupied and out of trouble has been a full time job. We’ve…

So, I bought a Norditrack 990 Audiostrider Elliptical machine. It sucks. I sort of knew it would. I bought it anyway. I could have been smart and buy one that I could actually try out first. I just went for it. It wobbles so bad and it makes lots of noise. Anyway, it’s mine now…

Wow, has it really been this long since I posted a blog about the apple eating resolution? Sorry, I’ve been good at photographing them, but not as good at blogging about them. I’m running about 10 apples behind my 365 apples in 2009 schedule so I need to do some doubling up in the next…

I picked up Mississippi from Rockin’ Roxy’s on Friday and I’m pretty sure they swapped my troubled, frustrated dog with a happy, well adjusted, awesome dog. Suddenly she has almost completely stopped barking for attention. She lets us sleep until 8am and instead of waking us by barking, whining and destroying, she wakes us up…

The weather in Portland is phenomenal today. It’s so good in fact, I’m not sure why I’m bothering to post this right now. But, I thought you might like some salad ideas for this weekend’s BBQ bonanzas. Have a good weekend. Ingredients 8 oz israeli couscous 1 cucumber diced 1 to 2 cups of cherry…

A recent survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that honey bee colonies continue to decline in numbers. About 26 percent of apiaries surveyed reported that some of their colonies died of colony collapse disorder (CCD), down from 36 percent of apiaries in 2007-2008. CCD is…

Our San Francisco neighbor Marvin died this week. He’d been feeling run down but didn’t want to see a doctor. He stopped answering his phone and our building manager found him passed away in his apartment Tuesday. The medical examiner reported that he died of natural causes. He was a great neighbor. He was a…