Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Jill (Aimone) Allison's LiveJournal:

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Saturday, December 5th, 2009
6:56 pm	getting back into the habit of checking this.... Hello all! I was reminded by my facebook friends that this lj still exists and is SO much better for actual updating. I couldn't agree more....I guess that means I am not into actual updating MYSELF, but I enjoy reading everyone else's posts. (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 15th, 2009
5:38 pm	I have really enjoyed reading everyone's thought-provoking posts this week. Thanks to everyone for explaining what makes them tick, it was interesting. I have a hard time being articulate and thorough like that when typing so I am deeply impressed with those of you who are. I am enjoying my spring break. I am finding a nice balance between doing things and just hanging out. I was so excited to see that the irises that I transplanted from the church that I left (no, they were giving them away, I didn't go stealing flowers in the dead of night or anything) are coming up right now. My mom said it best, "Doesn't it make you heart sing to know that something actually WANTS to grow right now?!" I don't know if anything else in my tiny little garden will come back again, or if the dogs will dig it up, but there is hope right now. I wish I wanted to exercise as much as I want to eat. I am going to dig up some more weeds while there is some sunshine still. Love. (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
11:50 am	I have been ignoring livejournal in favor of facebook. Oops! Life here in KS is going fine. It's lent, so I gave up Zoo Tycoon 2, complaining about my job and husband (hence less posting!), and have starting attending church again. This week sucked because of the mandatory state reading assessments. The scores of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders determine if the staff get to keep our jobs for next year. And to top it off, the Kansas State Board of Education is deciding if the Kansas School for the Deaf will close or not. We are as a state, $1 billion dollars short of our budget. After meeting with 2 reps from the board for 1.5 hours, the following realities about my field were highlighted: 1- Deafness is a low incidence disability. We cannot create more deaf people. 2- Students with hearing loss are expensive to educate. We cannot change the support staff needed. 3- Programs for deaf and hard of hearing kids will never be cost effective (see above reasons). 4- The closing of deaf ed programs at the various universities has drastically reduced the amount of staff availablity to fill needs. 5- The closing of local interpreter training programs has eliminated the ability of schools to staff their school with qualified people. 6- The creation of new programs can only be done if there are qualified professors to teach the classes....big problem there. Sometimes it is no fun to be part of a swirling vortex of doom. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
6:22 pm	I am alive and feeling much better. Stupid cold and flu bug. (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 1st, 2009
9:09 pm	Favorite Christmas Memories - IL 2008 (Y'all know how much I love lists...) Greg, Mary, and the boys got a Wii from Santa which was delivered to my parent's house with a note written by Santa (in my father's handwriting - I thought it was a nice touch). Dawn, Brian, and Madison got a Wii for Christmas as well. We christened their guitar hero Aerosmith game...it's hard to play on a super large screen! We found a way for the boys to play as well. They would wear the guitars and the kid would EITHER strum or push the buttons while another person would help. It was fun and they had a good time. The CA crew got Wii Play, a series of small games, including cow racing. Yes, a split screen sit on top of the cow and knock over scarecrows for points kind of game. By the time we left IL, the whole family, including my parents had done some cow racing. I named the brown cow Bessie. In order to do cow racing, Greg, Mary, Dan, and I would stay up late and unlock the steps until we could cow race. My brother was teased mercilessly because he not only read the Wii instruction manual, he took it into the bathroom with him! He did discover that you can transfer your miis into your remote and take them to other wiis. Jared was very proud of his mii because he and Patrick figured out how to make it look like a bug was following your mii around - a large birthmark that was moved off your face...pretty creative actually. Now, all of our wiis are connected so the various miis show up in the background of everyone's games. The boys brought Bakugan with them. I bought Jared some Bakugans for his birthday. I knew they were like Transformer marbles, but I didn't know more. Apparently, there is a small magnet inside them and if they roll onto the magnetic cards they pop open. If two of them roll onto the same card, they battle. (not really, they do some basic math to determine who is the victor.) But, since they got a collapsable arena, they can have official battles. We would periodically hear one of them yell "BAKUGAN BATTLE!" at various times. We are giving Patrick another Bakugan for his birthday. They also got Lego Creators...a set of three elaborate instructions to build different things with the same pieces. I gave my parents "Singing Bee" and we played it several times. It's a game where you have to come up with the missing lyrics to the song listed. My mother broke out an amazing version of "Macarthur Park". We also ended up singing the "Purse Song". Madison has a fisher price purse that sings a song whenever it is opened...it's ridiculously sexist about putting on bracelets, singing a song, putting on lipstick and leaving. Dawn and my mom knew the song and in the few days we were there, we ALL could sing this stupid song. But Madison still rocks side to side whenever she likes music and would get into whomever was singing it. She also knows Ring around the Rosie, so we sang that one a lot! The huge cousin's party was fun. This was the first year for me not to be involved in the kid's games at all. There is now a SOLID generation between myself and the babies. My cousin Cindy wanted to do the 12 days of Christmas and brought pictures, so we did a rendition. Unfortunately, we were all in front of the fireplace with the cards, so the performers were sweating like nobody's business! We played a variation of our traditional steal the present game...this time you took a present and rolled the keep, left, right dice and then promptly lost your present when passing. It worked out well. We did a Aimone family picture this year. The theme was blue, which is humorous because most of the pictures were black and white. We were the first group at Jcpennys and our photographer was very nice. There was a wall of windows separating the picture people from the store and we all took to dancing outside the window to entertain whomever was getting their picture taken. The joke was that we all did that typically, so it was nice to KNOW who was on the other side of the window! There was a fantastic one of Dan and I, so we will put that one up on our wall. If I can figure out a way to put that one on facebook, I will. We had every type of weather imaginable. Including snow that ended up getting iced over, closing almost every highway. We were going to see my dad's side in Indiana and left two housrs later than intended and ended up driving these backwoods industrial routes (that did NOT show up on my brother's GPS while en route), but we did get there. On the way home there was FOG! We had very limited visibility, but made it home. Then the rains came. I ended up helping my parents pump water out of the backyard at 3am after Christmas. The rain erased every memory of the snow and ice. No sledding with the boys this year. Other favorite memories of my niece and nephews....CA and us gave Madison a large wagon for Christmas. Dan and I put it together, but when we gave it to Madison, we put her in it and Patrick very kindly pushed/pulled Madison around Dawn and Bri's house for about 20 minutes before she lost interest. The last night we were there, Jared and Madison started chasing each other around my parents pennisula and laughing hysterically. Madison looks so much like my sister, it makes me smile. Especially when she really cracks up, her smile is all my sister. At one point, she grabbed orange sections and proceeded to squeeze them all over Dawn's sweater. Dawn just started laughing and this continous shower of orange juice sprayed all over her, continuing as she tried to get Madison to give up the wedges. Jared, otherwise known as Mr.Fabulous, decided that whenever someone was very excited in conversation he would yell "Kapowie!" to be part of the excitement without contributing to the conversation. This was also the mock-Hawaiian year. We always eat at least one fruitcake, but if we can get our hands on a rum cake, pudding cake, etc, we will celebrate with that as well. My mom found a woman who makes rum cakes in jars...they are baked that way and are FANTASTIC. Dan had found a website that translates your name into Hawaiian and printed off flowered paper on which I did calligraphy of everyone's names. My name is Iile Alikonu. We put them in everyone's stockings. Patrick made his (Palikeki) his mii name. My mother has decided hers (Loleki) was the name of her evil twin. The funny thing is that the computer thought AIMONE was Hawaiian enough and did not change it. That made my very straight laced father, Paul Aimone.....Paulo Aimone. Yes, my father definately embodies the hawaiian spirit alright. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 16th, 2008
9:23 am	Happier things I do.. Since I avidly and feverishly run away from school responsibilities, I have developed some newer hobbies and maintained some of my previous ones. I still cross-stitch. I am working on my niece's Christmas present - a turtle sliding down a rainbow with the words "Have a Great Day". I still take the dogs to the pup park. And now I can ride my bike with Gratch because his long legs mean I would have to sprint for him to pick up the pace. Biking is more pleasant, but tough in the Kansas wind. I still play Rock Band. I am halfway through Hard on my solo tour and am starting to hold my own alright. I still play Zoo Tycoon 2. I have two zoos that are play-able so I now set a timer for one 45 minute session and then I have to pursue other things. Dan and I play frisbee golf every weekend. It was windy yesterday so my score went WAY up, but it's a fun thing to do and I feel like I get some good walking in as well. We watch "Legend of the Seeker" on Saturdays. They are absolutely butchering Terry Goodkind's novels, but it is a new show to get involved with. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 27th, 2008
9:43 pm	I learned the Souljaboy Dance! Finally!! Ever since we went to South High School's prom last year (just to stop in and say hi) I have wanted to officially learn the dance that will be played at every gathering I will attend from now on and I DID! It's like the YMCA where there are definitive bits that everyone dances and then a middle section where you just feel white for awhile before returning to the scripted part. Yeah for stimulating brain cells and to the wonders of YouTube! (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 28th, 2008
3:51 pm	Happy belated birthday Joanne! We celebrate you everyday! :P Seriously, Joanne, you are my oldest friend and I always admire your determination, spirit, and dangerous attire! (I couldn't rock heals the way you do!) From your contagious laugh to fierce hugs, you are truly one of a kind. Much love. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
8:53 pm	Funny story from today....We watched School House Rock's "No More Kings" about the reasons for the American Revolution. We watched it three times like always, and I GOT to interpret! Oh, what fun! Then we watched it and paused every frame and explained what was going on. THEN we did A FULL PRODUCTION of it OURSELVES! Complete with homemade props and everything! I think I have bribed some teachers to let us perform for them. I will try to get some pictures of our next rehearsal! (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 14th, 2008
10:11 pm	Just posting about today... As much as we whined to ourselves about driving back to KS on Saturday, I am SO THANKFUL that we did. We got in after 11 on Saturday night and at 7am on Sunday, the ceiling fan kicked out because we had lost power. After an entire week of rain, we lost power. Dan and I grabbed flashlights and started bailing water out of our sump pump. The utilites company said it would take between 2-5 hours to get power on, so we kept bailing water into rubbermaid tubs and dumping them in the downstairs bathtub. Continuously. For 3.5 hours. It was NOT fun. Then the power came back on, the Jags played and lost, we got our doggies back, cleaned the kitchen, etc. My muscles are SORE! I think I might have torn something in my left bicep, but that is neither here nor there, just me being whiny. I have prepped nothing for school and it is time for bed. Ah well. I will be a crazy busy bunny tomorrow. (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 6th, 2008
7:38 pm	I started off today trying to be productive, and failed. In my defense we started raining yesterday and are supposed to rain for A WEEK STRAIGHT! I did get Gratch's nails cut and we got a crate for him. I don't think I shared the day that he ATE the wires for the garage door and ripped insulation out of the unfinished wall of the garage. We got the crate and I can fit in it! We, Gratch and I, snuggled in there for a little bit and I keep throwing treats and toys in there so he keeps tentatively going into it. I haven't closed the door with him in it yet. All the literature keeps talking about the crate being a positive experience and I am trying really hard to not make the same mistakes we did when we crate trained Pickles. Parent teacher conferences are this week. Joy. Since I haven't started teaching reading yet, all I have done is tutoring and testing, I don't have a whole lot to talk about, but will make it seem like I have it all under control. We had a wedding reception this weekend for my coworker and next weekend Dan's fraternity brother is getting married in STL. Thankfully I have a cute dress that still fits. I am still on the hunt for jewelry so my wedding dress can be worn again, but no such luck yet. And I am really mad because I had gotten a cute little black dress before I went on nutrisystem and IT IS TOO BIG NOW! I never got a chance to wear it. Grrrr.... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 30th, 2008
9:48 pm	No chickens died in the making of this post. Thank God! Today was a better day. I am not anywhere near the productive whirlwind I need to be to get back on track, but there was a balance to today.... The entire family went to the puppark for an hour today. Yeah family bonding! We finally got to the grocery store! Yeah for food! I am halfway through learning medium guitar for Rock Band! Yeah for coordination! The movie "Kinsey" is amazing and I highly recommend everyone see it if you haven't. My fantasy football draft is tomorrow and Dan will make guacomole for the guests! Yeah for tasty food I don't have to make! I did some laundry today! Yeah for clean clothes! And I did all this without taking cold medicine today. I am feeling pretty mighty. Thank you to everyone who laughed with me about the awful chicken death day. I need to explain a little more. The land of the puppark is owned and fenced in by Chisolm Creek Kennels. The neighbor to that land has a free range chicken farm in addition to their house. Whenever you walk into the puppark, at least one rooster crows at you. (YES, I am aware that I live in the sticks!) If a chicken flys over the fence into the park, or the parking lot, the chicken owner understands that the chicken will probably die, and no, I don't have to reimburse anyone for the loss of chicken. And NO, I did not bring it home and pluck it for fried chicken. :) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
6:50 pm	Today has been a suck-ass day! Lowlights from today include: -Getting NOTHING done last night as I was hacking up my lungs and unable to do such brain-bending tasks as laundry -Hallucinating that Dan was in the shower for hours -the inability to have a K kid sit with me and look at a book for 7 minutes without tearing things off the walls -getting fed up with a second grader who was being annoying and handing him a stack of flashcards of upper and lowercase letters and requiring him to flip through and name all the letters -Cleaning up Gratch's latest adventure...he dragged one of my large rubbermaid tubs full of preschool stuff across the garage, got a rake partway through the doggie door before he quit, found a container of motor oil and carried it to the deck, pried two boards off the deck, and found my ice scraper on a garage shelf and dragged it to the backyard -A fifth grader got frustrated with me and said "I'm Deaf, you are hearing. You talk, I don't. I don't have to listen to you. You lie." We had a discussion, one on one, that I am hearing and I have never asked her to voice, never asked her to wear hearing aids, and yes, I can speak, but I always sign. She was crying and took a break, but then came back to us later. But nothing tops the finale.... SIGMUND KILLED A CHICKEN AT THE PUPPARK. I HAD TO WALK TO THE OFFICE AND GET A BAG AND PLACE THE DISMEMBERED BODY INTO A BAG AND DISPOSE OF THE BAG. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
7:55 am	I am in IL And having a very good time. My late night flight was delayed Thursday night, so I got into my folk's house after midnight. Ouch. Friday, Mom and I went to OFHS and toured all the changes they made. They built an entire new wing and library and reconfigured where the classrooms are and added many more. Needless to say, we got lost, but did better than the freshman milling about who kept asking us where classrooms are! Then we went out to my sisters and I got to play with Madison some more. We came home and my parents and I went to The Thunderbolts game. The Thunderbolts are the local semi-pro baseball team and we had a great time watching the baseball and chatting. Now, I have to go shower because we are heading back to Dawn and Bri's until later when Joanne is coming to pick me up for the reunion. I am really excited to see some people. I found some of them on Facebook and now I know some more people are coming, so there is a good possibility of reconnecting. It's nice to have some roots again. I live a pretty root-less existence. If it wasn't for livejournal, I really don't know what I would do, so pat-yourself-on-the-back for posting and keeping me included in your world. I appreciate it more than I can say. Lots of love (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
10:22 am	Trying to not have a day of disappointment So, the reality that school starts VERY SOON is setting in. I had to go to a meeting with the Deaf Ed department to hammer out who is covering what for whom, etc. This is the first year most of us will have plan time, and my coworker will be able to leave at 2 4 days out of the week. (Every year, so goes one step closer to quitting and every year, we finangle some way to entice her to stay. Yes, she's that good.) That took 2 hours. Joy. Gordmans is having their back to school stuff up, which means a third of their store is on clearance. Last night, I went and covered half the store in 1.5 hours. Which means I did the juniors section and found a lot of crap. I really was disappointed. I will go back and do the womens section and have more luck, I hope. Sigmund is doing much better on his steroids. He can now get up on the bed and sofa himself, though he does it sparingly. He actually had the energy to bark at our neighbor's dog yesterday. The vet told us not to exercise him until he has finished his rounds of steroids (he pulled a muscle in his back/butt), which is good because we have been 102 the last two days. It matches Kate's description of August heat. It truly sucks out all productivity. We have an evergreen tree in the backyard which DIED. Like Christmas tree left in the garage for months dead. On Saturday, I went out with the clippers and hacked off all the branches I could get to, but now there is the dead center that I don't know what to do with. If it wasn't so hot, I would dug up the roots to attempt to uproot the center. I thought about soaking the bottom of it with water and setting the top on fire. But all plans are on hold until some of this heat has passed. This post was paused because I heard some clanging in the garage. Gratch decided to take the plastic lid off the toolbox on the garage shelf and attempt to take it through the doggie door. Thankfully he was unsuccessful and we played fetch with his rope toy in the backyard. I have an eye doctor appointment today. I can't read the street signs as quickly as I could before and I am parking my car very crooked. When I ride in Dan's passenger seat, with my depth perception, it looks like we are going to hit other cars or have them hit us. I think my eyesight is becoming worse, but I am trying not to think about it. We'll just see what happens this afternoon. I have new patient forms to fill out, so I am going to eat breakfast and get that done. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 28th, 2008
4:37 pm	Random acts of narcolepsy I kid you not, I feel like I should be depressed. I am SO tired these last few days. I keep crashing out on the couch, at night, etc. I contribute some of it to being unemployed, some of it as sadness from being with family and then not, some of it to rebel from school starting, and some of it to getting off nutrisystem. And, my new friend Stephanie, is moving 2-3 hours away in less than a week. I made the rule that I cannot play zoo tycoon without exercising, so I am trying to keep with that. My zoo is tanking right now though, so I will revert back to my distraction zoo for awhile. I finally finished "On Gold Mountain" by Lisa See. It's the history of her family from when her great-grandfather came to America and in the beginning it was very interesting with the history of LA, the terrible Chinese discrimination laws, the railroad history, etc. By the time it got to the 1950s, I lost all interest and it just kept plodding along for another 100 pages. Blah. It was her first novel and her latest "Snowflower and the magic fan" won many awards, so later, I will read that. Our TiVo has missed Project Runway due to power outages, storms, etc. I am really grumbly about that, but not mentally pysched into starting a new commitment, again, wanna be depression. The dogs got their haircut today, so they are much happier in this 100+ degree heat. I wish I was. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
7:00 pm	We are back from the whirlwind family time. We did my family for 3.5 days in Chicago and then Dan's family in Branson for 3.5 days. We got back today with enough time to pick up the doggies and we are camped out with our computers! Congrats to people with new houses! Congrats to people who have left jobs that do not satisfy them! Congrats to people who found new jobs! Congrats to everyone else who felt left out! I am tired and really just want to enjoy doing nothing, thinking nothing, and be on my own. Love (Comment on this)
Monday, June 30th, 2008
9:49 am	Weekend was good... We went to KC to see the Cardinals vs the Royals. Yeah Cards! I was happy to see them win, though not happy to sit in the sun for 2+ hours, but the shade came and that was nice. Jeremy and Gina are great people and I always like seeing them. We got home yesterday with enough time to pick up the dogs, feed them, give Gratch the last of his medicine, and abandon them again to go to a going away party for my interpreter friend Stephanie. I was very happy that Dan decided to come with me, and we whopped up on everyone in washers (funny how the owners of the game are the best at it). On the way home, we found an arcade that had 3 different operating pinball games and tore ourselves away after a few games to go play with the doggies. Now that Gratch is over his upper respitory infection, his nose is wet again and he wants to PLAY! He is just starting to understand fetch, but it is very hit or miss. This morning he jumped on the bed and would not settle, preferring to try to eat my earring (I don't know when this game started!) and put his paws in our sleeping faces. I stumbled to the laundry room and gave them bones, but Gratch has the "hiding" instinct and disappeared with the bone and then came back bone-less a moment later and wanted to PLAY. Now I have gotten no more sleep and I am out a bone as well. Damn! The other bummer is that he is terrified of lightning and will not settle during a storm. The new saying in our house is that "If Gratch is not sleeping, no one is sleeping.) He is very cute and still a welcome addition to the family. I am now discovering how much personality a dog can have as we discover what Gratch does that is similar to Sigmund, or Pickles, or what his little doggie brain comes up with on his own. I am happy that we can bathe him today because his stitches have healed, and he is not on meds anymore. I am not going to tackle that one just yet though! I think I will go lay on the sofa some more. :) Today is Dan and I's anniversary and I don't want to take on the world just yet. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
8:23 am	We got another dog! No, we cannot and will not ever replace Pickles. He was a one of a kind dog who filled many voids in our lives. However, those voids must be filled and as a tribute to him, we have added Gratch to our family. Gratch is a 6 month old Aussie Shepherd mix who came home with us yesterday afternoon. Considering we had friends over last night and played Rock Band, he has been doing great. He got "fixed" two nights ago, which is why we couldn't bring him home until yesterday, and we are pissed with the animal shelter because they said they would give him a bath before they neutered him, but we think they just waved a wet rag at him because he is smelly and has some gook still caked in his fur. Because of his stitches, we can't bathe him for another 9 days, so we are stuck with a cute, but smelly dog. Sigmund is very happy ignoring Gratch (yes, he is a Terry Goodkind reference) Gratch is really interested in Sigmund and wants him to run with him outside. (Which Sigmund doesn't really play at all) Inside, Gratch is more timid, but is starting to explore the house more. With his stitches, he is not supposed to jump up on anything, so it's hard that we have to pick him up for the stairs, bed, or couch, but he will get better with time. If I have your email address, I sent pictures. If I don't, send me an email message at jill_aimone@yahoo.com and I will send the pictures to you, if you want. I am going to go join all the napping boys. Love. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
8:19 pm	Pickles is dead. He was hit by a car while he was chasing a rabbit. I took the dogs to the pup park and we parked less than 10 feet from the enterance gate like always and I got out of the car and went to the gate like always, not seeing the rabbit in the parking lot. The boys did and ran full force after it. The rabbit ran straight to the highway and a pickup truck going 55 (the speed limit) hit Pickles head on. He died instantly. I moved him off the highway and called Dan. We carried him home and buried him in the backyard about an hour and a half ago. I started writing all the things about Pickles I could remember, so feel free to skip the abbreviated stories if you want. I just don't know what to do with myself. No, I don't expect most of these stories to make sense to anyone else yet, but if I wait for it to be perfect I am afraid I will just shut people out or push them away. Why Pickles Dog was so Special to Us Pickles Dog joined our family in December of 2006. Dan and I noticed that Sigmund had stopped coming to the door to greet us and we thought he could use a playmate. The hunt started; our criteria was specific. We wanted an Australian Shephard male who was slightly larger than Sigmund, but would still fit through our doggie doors. We hunted online, favoring the pet adoption sites that had pictures. On a lark, Dan was scrolling through pictures and we were laughing at all the different dog personalities we saw in the pictures. When we got to Pickles’s picture, it was the name that first got our attention and a laugh, and once we got a page or two later, we both shared that we liked Pickles. He was out in Gardner, Kansas though. Dan called Gardner Animal Hospital to find out more about Pickles and exactly how far away he was. We decided to go and get him, but knowing it was ultimately Sigmund’s decision, the whole family had to agree. Things didn’t go right on our meeting day, but we all piled into Dan’s car, with the cooler taking up all of the backseat and frantically drove to Gardner. We made it minutes before closing, calling to be sure they would be open. When we got there, they brought out Pickles, who was a very tall and skinny black and tan Aussie, but was calm around Sigmund, who was calm back. Both dogs were skittish on their leashes and hardwood floors, but we thought it would work fine. We bought a maroon collar with green leaves stitched on it, and the animal hospital let us keep the flowery short leash they brought him out with. After paying, we all walked out as a family. We piled into the car, Sigmund on Dan’s lap as always and Pickles stayed in the footwell of the passenger seat and placed his head on my lap during the drive home. We had to stop for human food, and decided to eat in shifts. Dan went in first to order the food at Subway and I stayed in the car with the dogs, trying to keep the windows defrosted. Then, humorously, Dan had to get into the car and I had to get out without losing any dogs. I had never brought a new dog home before, so I had no idea we all had to assign a pecking order and that the harmony of the car ride was a far cry from a peaceful house. Pickles had no intention of going to sleep when we got home, even though all of us were in the bedroom. He walked all over the bed, all over us, curious about everything. Pickles’s stories: *eating the duraflame log and living to tell *having no bones and just not getting comfortable until he was inverted or with his paw in your face or side *Being the best swimmer I’ve ever seen *Breaking the shallow ice and making me laugh at the pup park *jumping up and down on the low branches in the lake to make waves *knowing the words boney-bones and bally-balls *checking for ninjas in the hallway *waking us up every morning before the alarm *jumping up on the bed and then jumping down just as fast until someone got out of the bed *running up to everyone at the pup park and jumping up on them and running away before they could pet him *pushing his long nose into the blanket or my leg and whining in I didn’t start moving. *stealing my spot in bed every night and refusing to yield any blankets until I had wiggled my way into bed and then jumping up and funning away * playing chase with the dog across the fence until we had no grass and no topsoil left *having his “nest” where he would bring all of his treasures (especially my clothes) and hide them by the plants *jumping into shallow puddles and laying down in them when I tried to keep him out of the lake *laying down directly on top of my and I would flip him over on his back and pin him between the couch and my body on the sectional *Pickles would let Dan spin him on the kitchen floor *putting his paws on top of Sigmunds’ head to initiate play with him *being a “Panda dog” and sitting upright so we would rub his belly *Getting the blinds’ cord caught in his collar and getting stuck on the living room couch *eating all the zippers out of the couch cushions *hating his kennel and trying to dig his way out *sleeping in the garage next to Dan’s car tires or just on the concrete *eating raw hamburger meat and we trying to force feed him hydrogen peroxide when Mark was over *knowing every time I opened the front door he would already have jumped and landed with his head on my hand by the doorknob *knowing he could jump from a stand still and catch my nose *attacking every car on the road from the backseat *stealing Snickers bars out of Dan’s backseat while he was changing his oil *eating the vet’s pen *playing “I got your tongue” with Dan *running away from zerberts or loud farts *escaping with Sigmund under the house/fence and being found by neighbor kids *barking at other dogs on TV, or scary parts in movies *having eye boogers that would superglue themselves to his eyes *working the blanket through the holes in the kennel and chewing a 2 foot hole in the comforter *learning how to stay, but peeking his head out the doggie door to watch anyway *learning how to walk on a leash with a harness, otherwise he loved the pulling sensation from tugging on his collar *being able to pull my body weight and the bicycle so we could go around the block without me having to pedal *running under the garage door and jumping on the cardoor/jumping into my lap before running outside *getting shaved and discovering that his “black” color on his body looked more like a drying out Sharpie *having turkey fur around his neck *never really getting the hang of using his back legs-when we first got him he would fall off the couch, later in life, he would try to scratch himself with his back legs and just kinda half-heartedly try until someone else would scratch him *he finally learned to pee with his leg up about a year ago *he was our “stinky butt dog” and was never embarrassed about it (5 Comments |Comment on this)