I Saw the Sign

As many of you know I was fortunate enough to attend Saturday's World Series game.  It was incredible!  I can't begin to explain how crazy it was at the stadium.  Just looking at the sign that said "Welcome to the World Series" gave me chills!

If you want to see all of my pictures from the game you can go here (warning...there are a lot of pictures):

  http://picasaweb.google.com/carissa325/WorldSeries?authkey=Gv1sRgCJHboMe-8vmSMQ#

On Friday night I made a sign that I thought had a pretty good chance of making it on TV.  I spent a lot of time on this sign and was fairly proud of it. Most of the original sign can be seen in the following picture:

 

On Saturday, right before we left I decided to write on the other side "Who needs Cowboys when we have Rangers?"  I spent about 2 minutes working on it.  Who knew it would be such a hit (pun totally intended)!  Here's the prize winning sign:

As soon as we got to the park people kept asking to take a picture of the sign.  We were videoed by MLB Network, the Dallas NBC affiliate and about.com.  The sign was on the jumbo-tron and at least 500 people asked if they could take a picture of my sign.  On the way home a writer for the New York Times had quoted it in an article! 

Overall I have to say it was probably the coolest one day event of my life.  I'm a HUGE Ranger fan and never dreamed I would get to see MY team in the World Series!  It was a wonderful experience to share with my Dad!

If you see me eating Peanut Butter sandwiches all month don't be alarmed...I spent a small fortune at the gift shop...but it was worth every penny!

Taken after the last out, right as they set off the fireworks!

Becky

Today the roomies embark on a much awaited journey.  They will be travelling to the Grand Canyon to scatter their Mom's ashes.  While this is a huge physical journey, in many ways I think that it has (and will continue to be) an emotional journey. 

Becky Loder passed away eleven months ago today (the day after Thanksgiving).  While she had been sick for many years her passing was sudden.  More important than Becky's death, I want to tell you about Becky's life.  Becky was one of those people everyone wanted to befriend.  She was funny, loyal, caring and loving.  She loved her Lord and she loved her family.  While her illness caused her much pain, she was never one to complain to other people.  Even when she was feeling pretty bad, Becky could usually crack a joke and lighten up the mood in a room instantly.  Because I have been friends with her daughters for more than twenty years in many ways, losing Becky felt much like losing a member of my own family.

Over the last eleven months I have watched my best friends go through the hardest time in their lives and I think they have emerged stronger women for it.  On Saturday they will begin their hike down into the canyon.  This isn't a hike for the faint of heart...they are carrying their belongings, food and tent on their backs.  They will have to walk several miles just to get water! They have trained hard and are ready for this trip.  They will be in the canyon for three nights.   If you think about them over the next week please say a prayer for them.

Andrea has a blog about her mom: www.andrealoder.blogspot.com.  She is a great writer and her posts are inspiring!

Romans 12:12 says "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."  I think this verse describes Becky's life perfectly.  I sure do miss her!

Just one example...

of why life with my roommates is never boring!

 

They are leaving tomorrow for the Grand Canyon.  They will be hiking down into the canyon to scatter their Mom's ashes (I'll have to tell you about sweet Becky sometime).  I sure will miss them while they are gone!  

I'm In A Hurry...

Today reminds me of a song by Alabama that I loved as a kid called "In A Hurry To Get Things Done".  That seems to describe my life lately.  Last Wednesday I locked my keys in my car at McNiel.  My good friend Belinda bailed me out and took me home to get my spare key.  WHEW...

This morning at Ben Milam I shut my car door and immediately knew that my keys were in the car.

Guess where my spare key was........................


You got it; Still in the car from last week.  Sigh... 

Two hours, one locksmith and $30 later I was in my car and on my way to McNiel.  I happened to call my step-dad and he said "You're just in too big of a hurry."  So true!   Let my misfortune remind you to SLOW DOWN and enjoy life. 

In the spirit of enjoying life I thought I'd share this picture with you.  Tucker is definitely a dog who enjoys life!

Puppy Agility (or how to distract Reese in ten seconds or less).

You may or may not know that Reese has been going to puppy school since he was about four months old.  I decided early on that if I was going to have a big dog he was going to be well behaved (hopefully).  So far we have done Puppy Kindergarten and Beginning Obedience.  He has done fairly well...but he IS still a puppy...some things still need a lot of work! 

Last week we went to orientation for Puppy Agility.  At first, I was very excited about this class.  Because Reese has so much energy I figured it would be perfect for him! 

Excitement...well...that was before I took into account that Reese will spend most of the time in this class "off leash"....

The roomies will be the first people to tell you that he is MUCH better behaved ON leash than off. 

The class consists of five dogs, all under a year old.  Some of the dogs behaved better than others while they had to wait their turn (Reese was very good for this part). However when it was Reese's turn to try the obstacles he would rather have played with his four new best friend dogs.  This was especially frustrating for me!

Tonight we got to try three obstacles:

Ladder:  Dogs have to walk inside the rungs of an extension ladder.  Sounds easy, right???  It was...once Reese figured out that his BACK legs had to go over the rungs too!

Starter Weave Poles:  Imagine the weave poles you know and love but put them off center.  They start this way and gradually move them together as the dog progresses.  This was by far Reese's best performance of the night!

Table:  About six inches high.  Dogs have to sit on it for five seconds.  Again...easy right???  Well...not our strong suit.  My silly dog was afraid to get on it.  He wasn't the only one who had trouble but it was a little embarrassing since the three pound miniature dachshund did it easily!

All of this was apparently exhausting!

Oh well...there's always next week.  Time to practice!

Priorities

Reese joined our house in April and at that time he was a small, fairly quiet dog.  In the last six months he has become a huge, fairly LOUD dog.  Normally this is a problem we can deal with.

We ran into a problem two weeks ago tonight.  You see, in our house the one show we ALWAYS watch the same night that it comes on is Grey's Anatomy. There are no phone calls, other shows, trips to the store, etc...  The "Grey's Hour" is sacred. 


Reese didn't understand...

On season premier night, instead of the desired hour of  Grey's Anatomy wonderfulness what we got was an hour full of dog barking, growling, playing, whining and generally NOT being quiet. 

If you, like Reese, fail to see the importance of quiet during the coveted hours of 8:00 and 9:00 on Thursday evening please call me.  I will fix you.

In the last two weeks Reese and I seem to have come to an agreement. 

Such a good boy!  Let the Grey's hour begin...

Wordless Wednesday

The Characters

For several months now a couple of people have commented that I should start a blog about the crazy things that go on in my life. The majority of the craziness revolves around my dogs (hence the title "The Mutt Hut").

The Cast

Honey

Honey is a 16 year old Chihuahua and Fox Terrier mix. We adopted her from the humane society when I was fifteen. She is a sweet old girl and we've been through a lot together!

Reese

Reese is a 7 1/2 month old mutt. My roommates brought him home for me one day. I didn't realize I was in the market for a dog but there he was. Most of the craziness in our house revolves around Mr. Reese.

The Supporting Cast:


The roommates, Amanda and Andrea.

We have been friends since we were in first grade. Even without the dogs the three of us are capable of plenty of mischief.

Zeke

Zeke belongs to Andrea. He is 11 years old and probably the #2 cause of craziness in our house.

Tucker

Amanda's sweet dog is named Tucker. He is 4 years old and everyone's best friend. Don't get me wrong...he can cause mischief too!


It won't take you long to learn to love these crazy guys as much as I do!