Thursday, October 25, 2007

Doggie Shots

So after my big ordeal a couple of days ago with waiting forever to get my dogs shots, I decided just to go to the local vet right down the street and get my doggie's shots there. I originally did not want to go there because it is usually a lot more expensive just to even walk in the door. But...after the other day I just didn't care anymore. So I called yesterday and made the appointment. They were able to get me in right away...TODAY!! I was so pleased.

Here is how the appointment went.....I walked in. I didn't even have to sign in. They called me and my dog by name. (How they new it was us, I am not sure.) I didn't even have a chance to sit down. They called my dog over to the scale (to check her weight) and then we went right into an exam room. We were in there for probably 1 min before the vet assistant walked in. He took Sadie's (my dog) temperature, checked her out a little, talked with me about what we were there for and then left. Before I knew it the door was opening again, this time it was the doctor. He came in with the shots, gave them to Sadie, talked with me a little and then we were on our way. I could not believe it. It was so smooth and easy.

To top it all off, when I went to pay I actually paid less then what I would have paid the other day at the other place. Woo-Hoo Amazing.

I only took one dog in today instead of two because I was not sure what to expect and I was not about to go through another ordeal again with both dogs. I decided to play it safe and just do one at a time. Now I have Annie (the second dog) to get done. You can guess where I am going next time!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Anger or Frustration??

I think it was truly anger. Here is the story...

Yesterday I took two of my dogs down to our local PetsMart to the vet, that they have in their store, to get some shots that they are needing. This was my first experience with using the vets inside of the store as I have never realized that they were even there before last week. They have a "shot clinic day" each week where you can come and get your dogs shots without having to pay an office/exam visit fee. So, I thought, cool this will save me a LOT of money.

When I called the day before to get all the details they told me to come 30 min before to make sure that I get on the list (because they only take the 1st 20 dogs and the spots fill up fast). So that is what I did. I got the dogs all ready, leashed them up and got them in the car. I drove down to the store and unload the dogs. As I am rushing into the store, to make sure that I get on "the list", I realize that my golden retriever does not even have her collar on and I am dragging the leash. That was not good. So after chasing her down and fixing her collar I finally get to sign them in. Then I wait....and wait....and wait. Oh yea did I tell you that I waited. I stood there for almost 1 1/2 hours before I started asking when they were going to get to me...and everyone else that was their waiting. They told me that I was the next one to be called into an exam room. Well that was all fine but then I asked them..."How long will the wait be once I get in a room?" Their response was one that did not make me happy. They said, "Oh probably about 20 mins, or so." What! You have got to be kidding. I could not believe it. It was going on 2 hours and there I stood...with two dogs going crazy, needing a drink and a walk outside to do their "thing".

And that was not all...it was time for me to pick the kids up from school. Oh man was I mad. Two hours with two dogs in a retail store full of other dogs...not good at all. I told the lady that all I needed were the shots and asked if someone could quickly give them to the dogs. Then I could be on my way. No, they couldn't. So I told her that she could take me off the list and I left. I was so mad the rest of the day! I could not believe that I wasted 2 hours of my day for that! I will not be going back there.

Yes, I am sure now, it was anger!

A "Loosing" Weekend

This past weekend was one of loss for our family...in our sports lives that is.

For a family that plays a lot of sports, we are all fortunate enough to be on teams that win the majority of our games. Well....this past weekend there was no winning to speak of around here.

This past Friday was the first week of our seasonal soccer tournament. Needless to say, we started off on the wrong foot. Yep, we lost. Not only did we loose we helped the other team win by scoring a goal on ourselves (It was not me, thank goodness!). NOT a good thing!

Then on Saturday, Kyle had his soccer game. Yep his team lost too...after creaming the team they played last week 9-0. It was a hard loose for all the kids as it was their first loss of the season. ouch!

And Finally Tyler's Hockey game was on Sunday. They are just starting their season and doing pretty good...until this game. They won their game last week 7-2. But yep...another loss. And, they lost by a score of 9-2. :(

So as I said, this was definitely a LOSSING week! There was a lot of pride capping and humbling going on here.

No one ever likes to loose, but it does help every now and then to keep us humble and remember that life is not always about winning.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Our New Office!

Ok, we are finally making progress towards completing our kitchen and office remodel. I just put a lot of the finishing touches on the kitchen this evening (some decorations and stuff). I still have a few things to add to it. Tomorrow I will be on a search for a few more things to finish it off. The first place I will hit is one of the best stores for home decor, Kirkland's Home. It is a wonderful store and their prices are amazing!

The office is also just about finished. We finally have our new office furniture. Oh, it is so nice to have a desk again! Just about everything for the office came from Ikea, another great store! If you are lucky enough to have one around you or visit somewhere that has one then I recommend that you check it out. Just walking around their showroom is an experience and is actually fun. It can be a bit overwhelming too! You really have to know what you are looking for when you go. :)

I don't have pictures of the kitchen right now, but here is a quick snap of my desk in the office. We still have a lot of clutter and misc. stuff laying around but it is all slowly getting put away.


Sunday, October 7, 2007

Still Here

Yes, I am posting! But then again most of you will probably not see it as you have probably stopped checking in on my blog since there has not been any activity around here lately. Can't say I blame you! HA!

Well anyways, for those of you who do check here... Lets just say, house remodeling is still in progress, kids 2 week fall break is here and a few travels here and there. I think that can, mostly, sum up where my time has gone.

Yes the house remodel is still underway but the biggest news right now is the wonderful trip that we just returned from a few days ago. We finally did it. We took the kids on a cruise. It was WONDERFUL and they LOVED it! I have to say that it was probably one of the best family vacations that we have had with the kids. Being in a, relatively, confined place the kids were able to have A LOT of freedom and do just about whatever they wanted to. We never had to worry about them getting lost or someone taking them. We gave them a key to our room and a map of the ship and that was pretty much it. Well, yea yea, they did have to check in with us every so often and let us know what they were doing and where they were going but other than that they were pretty much on their own. They did, actually, spend most of their time in the kids' club that was staffed and run by crew members on the boat. We traveled with Carnival. They have an awesome kids club, which they call Camp Carnival. They literally have activities planned for the kids all day and night. They don't just keep them all in one room/location either. They move all around the ship doing different things. They even had a disco party for the older kids one night. Really cool!

As far as the adults, well we just enjoyed the laid back time of not having to be anywhere or do anything...and did I mention all the food! OH that was great. ALL the food! The kids thought it was great too. They helped themselves to whatever they wanted whenever they wanted (well we did put a limit on the number of ice cream cones they could have in one day). :0

Oh yea, I almost forgot to tell you where we went. We sailed the Mexican Riviera down to Cabo San Lucas, Mex. I have to say that out of all the places that I have been in Mexico it is one of the nicest cities I have seen yet. The natural beauty there , rock formations and the crystal blue waters, were amazing.


I will post more details later. For now, here are some pictures to share with you...


The boys on the beach in Cabo.


The ship we sailed on, The Elation

The famous rock arch at the southern most tip of the mexican baja.

Me and Tyler with the endless pacific ocean and beautiful sun set in the background.

Dad with the boys as we are on our way from the cruise ship to the pier in Cabo.