Reece turns one!

Today is Reece's birthday! It's only noon, and she is already exhausted.

We dropped my car off at Firestone at 10. Lance followed me in his truck with Reece in the back seat. I got into the truck and we headed off first to Reber Ranch, which is a giant store that has stuff for farming, hunting, the outdoors, pets, etc. They also have a doggie playground.

So we went in the store first. Lance picked up a few things, including a bag of bulk treats. Then we went to the doggie playground, which has an agility course. Reece spent most of the time running around with the other dogs, but she tried a few of the apparatuses for the agility course. She's only a beginner, but she seems a natural fit for it.

I think she ran around there for about an hour or so. When she showed obvious signs of fatigue, we packed her back up in the truck and went down the road to Soggy Doggy, which is mostly a self-serve dog wash, but they also have a bakery. Since Reece just got a bath last week, I wasn't particularly interested in bathing her. But we picked up a blueberry muffin as her special birthday treat.

She just finished eating that a little while ago. Played a little bit with Lance. And now she's passed out on the couch.

It's coooooooooold today. I'm trying to thaw out now. Yeah, it's not bitterly cold like it is in the midwest and the East Coast, but we were dealing with a cold fog and temps in the low 30's. And I was out for a sustained period. So I'm a bit frozen.

Time for lunch. Firestone should have my car ready to go here shortly. We're actually not going to crate Reece for the short time that we'll be gone. Anxious to see how she does when left to her own devices.

Minty Fresh

So Lance and I went to Firestone to pick up my car. Since we were only going to be gone for 20 minutes or so, we decided to leave Reece out of the crate.

After I got my car, Lance stopped at the gas station. I headed home, filled with trepidation.

I walked in and Reece came to greet me. Looked around. So far, so good.

Walked into the living room, and...

there were pieces of something on the floor. Something white with red stripes.

Oh shit. A candy cane. Lance had one on the table next to his La-Z-Boy. We totally forgot about it.

Red sticky gunk stuck to the carpet. Wet crunchy bits covered with dog hair. One smug puppy with minty fresh breath.

I can't be mad. After all, this was totally our fault. Instead, I laughed. I laughed as I got out the carpet cleaning spray and started scrubbing up the mess. I laughed every time Reece got close enough for me to smell the peppermint on her breath.

It's been quite a birthday for you kid, hasn't it?

Once Lance got home and I told him, he was quite amused too. Especially later on when I called to Reece with, "come here, Minty Fresh." I think that'll be her new nickname. :)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

So Kathy loaned me this book. I've had it on my amazon wishlist for AGES, but it was just a book I never got around to reading.

So sorry I haven't before now. I've been sitting here on the couch laughing my fool head off.

Now I have to write a book review for Sarah's Key, so I suppose I need to shift my focus elsewhere for the time being.