Ryan Hill in June

Megan and I packed the car the day before we headed out to Ryan Hill. All the necessary accoutrements were there, including what seemed like way too much dog stuff and way too much camping stuff. After all, it was only for one night, and only with one dog. How things change when you add a little variable to your lifestyle.

I wanted to leave by 7 am on Saturday, but we didn't actually hit the pavement until a leisurely 7:45 am. That was just fine. We stopped at REI to snicker at the dog-related items like a sports drink for dogs. (I wanted to buy one to see if Linus would start sweating green beads of moisture like in the old Gatorade ads.) In order to make sure Linus was comfortable while we were in REI, I gave him a chewy bone. By the time we came back some 20 minutes later he had apparently eaten the entire thing. Or else he managed to bury it in his crate somewhere. Ah well. Next time we shall watch him more closely.

Then we set out onto 84 to get to the usual northward turning point at Biggs. At some point Meg suggested we take the old Historic Columbia River Highway, so I turned off at the appropriate exit. We soon came upon the beautiful Wahkeena waterfall and took a swift jaunt up the path to the bridge. Linus met some new friends while Meg and I tried not to step on some rather portly slugs. After a quick stop for some canine bodily functions, we continued onward. This time we didn't stop at Multnomah Falls because of the already hefty tourism going on there. We did stop at Oneonta Gorge to walk through the short tunnel and admire the creeky river.

Onward we pressed with a brief pause at the mock Stonehenge replica in Maryhill, Washington. Speaking of which, we do need to see Maryhill Museum for the fabrics and other tidbits they house there. Another time. After another canine bodily function moment at the Agriculture Museum in Union Gap, we finally arrived at Ryan Hill. Grandma and Grandpa Ryan, the Hoys, and the Striblings were there along with their dogs. It was a great time to meet some new friends (in Linus's case) and greet some old family. After some conversation we headed over to Tim & Stacy's house for some dinner. Roger was there, and it was nice chatting with him. We also saw Remmy's brother, Therby, though he didn't talk much. There we all stayed and talked and visited and remembered until about 10 pm or so. Megan was teaching Sara and Sammy how to crochet while Tim introduced me to the wonders of Peggle (which is now permanently attached to my iPhone). At long last, Megan and I drove back to Grandma & Grandpa's place to pitch the tent in what was becoming a strong wind. Grandpa pointed out a good spot between the grapes and the pool and in moments we had the tent up and filled with dog and sleeping bags. However, Megan and I did wander around the orchard a bit in the dark looking at satellites and spooky branches before getting to sleep.

The next day we visited some more around the breakfast table with rye bread and coffee. Meg showed everyone some photos on her laptop -- a device we were proud to introduce to Grandma and Grandpa! Some time later Grandpa insisted we all go and get cherries (bings and rainiers) and so we all obliged. While we picked cherries, Linus was getting used to the Stribling dogs and they were teaching him his place in the temporary pack. After a lunch with the family, we packed up the car and headed for home. The trip home was quick, but we did pause for a few hours at Mike's apartment in Lake Oswego where we talked with him and Angela about their goings-on, and looked at some of their recent photos.

It was a long weekend, but completely fun! Linus is still exhausted from all that activity, and I'd wager that Meg and I are in recovery mode as well. Nevertheless, we're looking forward to another visit during August.

Astoria R Good Enough

This weekend we're gonna load up the Toyota Echo and head to the northwestest part of Oregon civilization: Astoria. Whenever you mention Astoria, you're supposed to remind the reader that "The Goonies" was filmed there. Now that we got that out of the way (as well as the Cyndi Lauper reference: see this post's title), we can get to the good stuff.

We haven't settled on a route to get to Astoria yet. Actually, we have, but I'm not going to disclose it here because I would like to believe that someone reading this is a stalker, and frankly I won't give you the satisfaction of knowing where I am. That reminds me. I watched last night's Colbert Report and it was much better than I thought it would be. Obama even put in a few words! What a guy.

Back to our goings on.

We haven't had a sound vacation in awhile. I guess life is, you know, like a vacation, man. Right? I mean, we work and we play and we have a good time, right? I dig, man.

Aside from that, we haven't spent the night, together, somewhere other than here for awhile. Since I decided not to do the OSU graduation thing this time around, we figured we'd make the most of the weekend outside of Corvallis city limits. Why Astoria?

Well, there's the Lewis and Clark angle. And of course the aforementioned Goonies. And I think there was a song about Astoria on the radio a few years ago. I dunno. (Well, I guess I do since I bothered to get the Wikipedia link for you.) Why not Astoria? You got a problem with it?

If there's no better reason, then at least it's a nice name. Astoria. Doesn't it make you think of fairies and rainbows and magic? Assssstorrrria. Now say it with a British accent. Ah-STOW-ree-yah. Hm. Maybe more transatlanticish. Ah-STAH-ree-ah. How about a nice cockney? A-STA-REE-YAAAH. Now Klingon. A'sto'ri'acklablak. Doesn't that sound nice?

Anyhow, it'll be a blast. Next destination: Ryan Hill!

3 Weeks

We've had a great three weeks, for the most part. He tries our patience just a little bit, mostly because we're having to learn how to train him, just as he's learning how to understand us. We're doing clicker training, which is based on completely positive reinforcement, and are really enjoying the results. We're reading Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, which isn't so much a how-to-teach-your-dog-this-trick but rather how animals think and how you can shape their behavior using positive reinforcement and why punishment doesn't work. Being a punishment-focused species, though, and naturally more drawn to the bad things (or at least we notice them more), it's been a challenge for us to not just overlook when he's doing well; we have to make sure we tell him when that's happening. So far he mostly knows sit, down, high-five, drop, and come. And we're working on leave it.

Today we went to the vet for the first time. He's been before, to get two rounds of shots, but that was with his littermates. He got his third round today, and dewormer, and Advantage (for fleas), and some meds for a yeast infection in his ear (which we'll be trying hard to prevent in the future; I think he must have gotten water in his ear during a bath a couple of weeks ago). He did just fine; chewing on a rawhide during the rectal thermometer and the vaccines and only flinching when the tickly otoscope went into his infected ear. And he's gained 10 pounds since we got him! No wonder I've started having trouble picking him up out of his kennel in the mornings to take him downstairs and outside to go potty.


Yesterday was his first swimming day! We went to Avery Park, which is bordered on one side by Marys River, and we went down to a little swimming hole and put Linus on two leashes end-to-end so he could frolic. Which he did, until he started shivering from the cold water. I went in calf-deep myself, and it was nice. Then we sat in the sun in the grass until he dried off.



We also took him to the farmers market on Saturday morning, his first big outing where there were tons of people and other dogs. We'd get about ten feet and have to stop and let people pet him. He did so well, even with little kids sitting down on the pavement and leaning on him! I was so proud of him, he's going to be such a good boy with our future kids!

Linus the Peaceful

Like his namesake, Linus is a true pacifist. Linus Pauling won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work against above-ground nuclear testing. While our puppy won't be getting any such accolades for at least five or six years (after all, he must first learn SIT before NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT) he's showing some strong signs of being the most submissive dog of the litter.

Linus has taken to the leash quite well. He scratched at his collar a bit last night, but barely notices it today. I attached the leash to him for a bit to let him drag it around. This morning I can have him on leash and he'll meander very closely to me. When I stop, he comes to me and sits down at my feet. Odd behavior, but I praise him for it. He's alert to loud noises and unfortunately fears neighborhood cats. However, I can see that his area of distraction is quite small at the moment. Passing cars mean little to him. A dog more than 15 yards away doesn't exist. His world is truly minute, and we're trying to make sure that we have a central part in his focus.

He woke up several times to whine last night. We expected that. However, poor Megan sleeps closer to him so she took him out a few times. I woke up at one point -- around 2 a.m. I think -- and she told me that she hadn't had any sleep yet. I empathized briefly and went back to dreamland. To help make things fair, though, I woke up at 3:30 or so and took the dog out. Then I slept next to him on the floor so he'd feel a bit less lonely. That worked for a couple of hours. At 6:30 this morning we began the routine that we'll keep for the next three or four weeks.

First, I will take him out for a brief walk. Second, feed and water the guy. Third, play. Fourth, into the crate. Fifth... shoot. I forgot what's next. It's all written down in our handy guidebook, Mother Knows Best by Carol Lea Benjamin. It's from the '80s so it's a hoot and a holler.

But I was talking about his submissive nature, wasn't I. Linus appears to be quite comfortable on his back. I try to get on my back and let him play around as alpha for a bit. It's a behavior we noticed on his farm. His brother was constantly the top dog during roughhousing, and Linus was satisfied entertaining the notion. Right now Linus gives a super-wide berth to Trout. (Seldom is he far away enough, in her opinion.)

I can't help but wonder how that will change when his attention span develops to an area greater in size than our living room. But until then, we're capitalizing on his limited perceptions by making sure he knows that the center of the pack is us, and he has a very special place in it.

Trout is upset, and that may be a good thing. Today, something changed in her world. Today, we brought home a new golden retriever puppy, Linus Granholm [flickr].

Megan discovered Linus through a Craigslist ad. We talked to his parents via email and phone and then headed out to their farm for a visit. The mom, Lucy, and dad, Romeo, had a litter of 13 pups. All but Linus, his brother, and his sister (and maybe a couple more?) were either spoken for or adopted. They were born on February 20, so that puts him at 10.5 weeks old. He has big feet, a persistent patch of pitch on his face, and a devil-may-care attitude of where his toilet is. In short, he's a gem.

It's tough not to think about his predecessor, Remmy. She was a good dog with a good demeanor. She also had big paws and initially didn't care where to relieve herself. But she learned, and we learned with her. I missed out on her puppy years, but took over with reasonably good results at about her two- or three-year mark. I am excited to start training Linus how to be a good dog, too.


Until the training begins, we must observe. He is not done with whining, so we have to figure out how to deal with that. He has noticed Trout several times -- each time he sees her it seems that he is shocked for the first time -- and has barked at her out of either amusement or confusion. Trout, with her flat ears and penetrating, does not flinch.

Earlier this morning we bought a crate for Linus to sleep in. He's not used to confined spaces yet, but we're working on it. He likes to play, and I think he even likes to play with us. In fact, he played so much in the past couple of hours that he now naps under the stone table, with his muzzle wedged beneath the couch. This brief time of resting gives Trout the opportunity to observe the new arrival with us.

Oliver is here!

A couple of weeks ago I was having coffee with my very pregnant friend Erin, and she invited me to come see her give birth to her second son Oliver! I was really excited - I've seen lots of YouTube videos of births (I started a Natural Birth YouTube group) but hadn't had a chance to see it in person. So as her due date got closer (he was due April 3rd) I started bringing my phone to bed with me so I could get going as soon as I got the call.

Yesterday I chatted with Erin on MSN Messenger a few times, and she told me she had lost her mucus plug and was starting to get sporadic contractions. At around 2 she told me it was difficult to wrangle her toddler while she was in labor, but when I asked if she wanted me there to help she said no.

So I made a dumb decision and thought it'd be nice to walk to Fred Meyer to pick up salad fixings for dinner. It's a 30-40 minute easy walk. I took my phone and we set out, and got there, and gathered our groceries, and as soon as we hit the checkout (at 4:40) my phone vibrated at me.

"It's Tom," the voice said. I was all "...hi!" but thought "Tom? Who's Tom?" The voice said "we're on the way to the hospital now, it's time!" OH! Time, not Tom. Duh. And at the worst possible time, too, heh.

We flew through the self-checkout and walked home as fast as we could. I ran the last block or two, got inside and changed out of my now sweaty clothes, grabbed my bag and was out of there.

I had to call my aunt to have her help me with directions at the hospital, as the original plan was for me to go to Erin's house and ride with them. I made a wrong turn and had to make a U-turn and go back the other way, but when I got to the parking structure I found a spot pretty quickly and then made my way over to the birthing center. It was just before 6pm.

I got up to the labor and delivery area and stopped by the nurses' station and asked them to take me to Erin. The nurse knocked on the door and opened it, and I heard a baby crying - I was TOO LATE! By maybe a minute. The doctor hadn't even sewn her little tear up or anything. I rushed in and grabbed the camera out of my bag and went to see Oliver.

It turns out Erin was at 9 centimeters when she got to the hospital at 5:30, and after half an hour she was done! Her mom barely got there in time; she'd arrived seven minutes before he was born.

I stayed for almost three hours. I looked at the placenta (I said "it's kind of pretty, in a weird way" to the nurse, and she laughed and said "that's the first time I've heard anyone say that!") and got to hold Oliver for a few minutes (he sneezed, which startled him - so cute) and was there for his first feed, and was there when his big brother Anthony came to the hospital to meet him for the first time. When Erin's brother and his family got there, I decided it was time to get back home; before I left we planned for me to come hang out at her house on Thursday after her mom left, so that I could help out with Anthony and help Erin get some rest.

It was a whirlwind evening! I was so happy to be able to see at least the tail end of the birth, and Oliver seems to already be a pretty laid-back little guy!



I put a few more pictures up at Flickr.

All Quiet on the Front

Nothing new to report, unfortunately. We are currently in a holding pattern, waiting for word back from people who have received Cory's resumes, and waiting for more job opportunities to present themselves for Cory to send resumes out to them too. I kind of feel like we're holding our breath, just waiting for the next stage of our lives to start. Which is probably the way that a great deal of other people suffering from the recession are feeling. Can't do much else but wait (and keep your eyes open) when you're looking for a job; can't look for a house, can't start a family, can't spend much money on fun stuff 'cause you don't know if you'll have to spend it on groceries in a month. It sounds depressing, and it kind of feels that way sometimes, but we're actually in pretty good shape, all things considered. We have savings, I still have a job (for now - who knows how long it'll stay though), and we don't have much else to tie us down to any one area. It's just frustrating sometimes. So here we sit, waiting, for a little while longer; sure that when the waiting is done we'll actually have something to blog about.

Mom Update

Mom had surgery yesterday to screw a plate into her bone. It looks sort of like a Chuck-It, she said - a cup on one end that the ball of her shoulder goes into, and then a 4-5" bar that screws into her humerus. She'd been in quite a bit of pain all week, while she waited for her surgery, so it was good to finally get it done. They kept her overnight and may keep her again tonight if she is still needing it; hopefully she'll be able to go home and rest in her own bed. The surgery went fine, and she was super sore and groggy last night according to my stepdad.

I'll be going over this weekend as long as the pass doesn't keep me on this side of the mountains, to cook and clean for them a little. Hopefully she'll be feeling a little better by then.

Ouch.

My mom broke her arm yesterday morning on her walk. She and her neighbor (who's a nurse) go almost every morning, from their houses on top of the hill down to the bottom and then around their street's loop a couple of times. Here's the email I got:

Well, 2009 is getting off to a somewhat "disarming" start.

Penny and our neighbor went for their morning walk at 6:30 this morning......It was very icy.

Everything went well til about 6:45 when Penny elected to become an Olympic gymnast/figure skater....without skates.

She did a beautiful half-gainer and landed on her left side and shoulder. The neighbor called to tell me she was taking
Penny to the ER in Redmond.

I met them in the ER where Penny was being X-rayed. She was in a great deal of pain. The doc prescribed some pain killers and suggested we meet with another Doc in Bend to determine the best course of action..... We were lucky that the Bend doc could fit us in at 1:00 PM.

The Bend Doc showed us the X-rays and the upper bone that connects to the shoulder joint was definitely fractured and separated. He said it would be best to schedule her for surgery and have a metal plate installed.

We're currently waiting for a call from the scheduling nurse with a date and time.

It is very painful for her to make any movements and she is currently taking a bit of a nap.


Will let you know what happens.

Poor Mom. :(

Happy New Year!

When the clock struck midnight, Cory and I had our new year's kiss and as I looked at him I got a little misty: I realized I'm so excited for this new year. I'm hoping to work more on my crocheting, getting more submissions in to more magazines and books, and making more money at it hopefully (though that was never really the ultimate goal of crochet - the process is so much more fun than the process of depositing a check). We're also at a crossroads in our professional lives, both trying to find new jobs, which means we could move anywhere we want (which we've narrowed down to three areas, all of which are near family). And I'm crossing my fingers that babies are in our '09 plans, once we've got the professional stuff out of the way.

I'm glad that the continuing downturn at work hasn't made my outlook for the future turn down as well. I know my time there is short, but it also puts us into a good situation: one where we're not tied down to any one city. I remember when things were going well and I was worried that I'd have to leave my awesome job to follow Cory once he graduated and found a job. That decision might be made for me, now, and I'm actually happy about it.

Now all there is to do is let that excited momentum carry us forward into actually doing all the things I thought about when I got misty last night. Whee!

Happy New Year, guys.