No Longer the Lemon

Last night was the second night of obedience training for the Magster. We worked real hard all week (basically I was determined that she would NOT be the worst dog in the class). The work paid off because Maggie did so well!!! The trainer even said, "You've been doing your homework. She's like a different dog." Not gonna lie, she was the best...seriously. She walked right beside me and did a perfect sit every time. Yay Maggie!!!

***Now if you come to visit we can show off our new skills :)

SEMO Love at 25

So this past Saturday (9/20) was my 25th birthday. I spent the weekend at home and had a wonderful time. I love seeing family and eating my mom's excellent cooking so you can't beat SEMO love :) My brothers, sis-n-law, niece, and I took to two nights of intense card playing. Peanuts (or Nertz in AL) is pretty addictive and pretty intense. Arms flying and people yelling (at times)....fun times! I also got to see my niece play volleyball...she's a great player and I'm predicting future Bearcat allstar. As far as 25 goes, it feels no different than 24. The only perk with the number is your car insurance goes down I guess. However, 24 was a good year for me, so I'm expecting nothing less of 25 :) Here's a few pics from the weekend.

Lunch Bunch with Nertz Girlies

Quick note....I met my friend Melodie today for lunch at Sweet Basil Cafe for my birthday. Well, two sneaky mc sneakersons came along and surprised me as well! My friends Kimberly and Scarlett came and it was such a sweet birthday surprise. Oh, and baby Callan and baby Ava came too :) I love surprises! The Nertz chicks had a yummy lunch (if you don't know what Nertz is, don't worry. I didn't either until last weekend where I was taught by these girls. It's really fun, however I have trouble with the card counting/adding up my points when the round is over. Luckily I have you Kimberly for that!) Thank you God for dear sweet new friends in Alabama!!!

Off to the Show Me State

Basically I'm really bored at work today (not a patient on the schedule), I finished my MBA homework, and am now sitting in anticipation to leave to go HOME!!! I decided to write about my wonderful home and town. My birthday is on Saturday (I'm hitting the official "mid" 20s with the big 2-5), and it will be my first trip back to see my family since moving to Alabama on July 31st. I'M REALLY REALLY REALLY EXCITED!!! I am so happy to be from a small town...where I was raised to know that I could be anything I wanted to be, and my parents instilled in me that faith and love of God, family, and others is most important. I love the feeling of knowing everyone, the politeness of people, and ease of life. Highschool sports reign supreme there, with fans all out to support the one and only Bearcats. Others may see my hometown as boring, slow, ugly, country/redneck, etc., but Dexter is a special place, and I'll always love it. So here's what I think of when I think of home and my beloved D-MO:

Home is:

the cliche "where your heart is"...but SO true!

my wonderful family...all living basically on the same gravel road :)

my mom cooking her wonderful treats

my dad in his garden

beautiful rural farmland (fall's the best with the cotton)

where there is always listening ears, good advice, and honesty

my brother Wes singing and always telling me he loves me

Southeast Missouri pride!

flat...some say ugly, but I disagree...you can find beauty in most anything, even if it is flatland with no hills

my brother David being his ornery self but being my protector

my sis in law Bonnie being one of the best mother's I know

where "everybody knows your name"....dum dum dum

still below the Mason Dixon Line for those thinking it's north....we're still South....maybe not "deep" South, but let's say "mid" South

my sis in law Jennifer being my best friend

my niece Kalee being the coolest 10 year old and always making me feel special

my nephew Jackson....his smile, his innocence, and his sweet kisses

the Bearcats

sleeping in my old room and comfy bed

after church, Sunday lunch with the family

the Crossroads of Southeast Missouri.....seriously, trains come through town like every 15 minutes

great memories of growing up

tractors

the place I'll always be quick to share and discuss with anyone when they ask where I'm from

the one place I always want to go

I heart home :)

The Class Lemon

Okay, so most of my friends and family who have blogs write about their kiddos and what their kiddos do. Well since I'm sans child, let me just tell you about Maggie's first night of obedience school.

So, I signed Mags up for obedience training with a lady here in Florence. She has a great reputation and was highly recommended. The class is 4 weeks (1 night/week) and we started last night. I was so excited to take her!!! 1. because I wanted her to have more association with other dogs; 2. I want her to be an excellent dog...well trained as well as friendly/lovable...I mean she is my buddy, and I want her to be a great buddy. So we headed to the parking lot of Pet Depot last night at 6:30 anxiously awaiting instruction. I began to swell with pride over Maggie. There were about 12 other dogs and they were ALL barking, yapping, whining, etc. Mags never made a peep. She just wagged her tail and wanted to bebop around to each pup to say hi. Everyone was saying how good my dog was and how pretty she was and how she wasn't even making a sound. I told them that I've never heard her bark and that she's only yelped once ...when I accidentally shut her foot in the door :( Well, the trainer showed up and had us all fill out our paperwork. She then showed us her dog (who's 10 mos) who is perfectly trained. Her dog is like the angel dog....sits, stays, comes, etc. I thought to myself, "That will be my Maggie." So I was all pumped and ready to start and the lady began to pass out training collars. I'm not sure if you know what a training collar is, but it's a metal collar that has links in it with prongs that turn in towards the dog's neck. It does not hurt the dog, but is designed for training ie: if you dog pulls on their leash. Well, my pride was shot when the training collar went on Maggie. I have never in my life seen a dog freak out the way mine did. The other dogs whined a bit, but they pale in comparison to the temper tantrum the Magster displayed. She twisted, yelped (it was almost like a dog scream), got tangled up in the leash, was biting it, etc. You would have thought she was dying. She finally calmed down and sat by my feet. She didn't calm down because she was used to it, she calmed down because she realized if she didn't move, it wouldn't hurt her. We were all instructed to jerk on the leash 3 quick jerks when our pups tried to pull on the leash. The first training to work on was walking. Well, Maggie is a pretty good walker, but she's never been made to walk right by my left side. That topped with her lovely training collar made for a terrible experience. She instructed us to say "Let's go for a walk" and get our dogs to stay on our left side. The goal is to get your dog on the left side and walk with a loose leash. If the dog pulls or won't come, you do 3 quick jerks as to say "no" and when the dog is walking on your left side, you give praise so they know they're doing it correctly. She had us walk in a huge rectangle in the parking lot, in a line, and if the person in front of you was having trouble with their dog, just pass them. WELL I GOT PASSED BY EVERYONE!!! Maggie couldn't even complete the rectangle. After about 10 minutes, everyone's dog could quasi-walk on their left side. My dog couldn't even stand on all 4 legs. She was flopping, yelping, biting.......completely freaking out!!! I was thinking to myself...."I wish I was as rich as Oprah and could have Cesar the dog guy come to my house and personally train my dog because this is awful." Well we then moved on to the sit command. Mags has actually learned to sit (sort of) and I was hoping she'd redeem herself. Umm, no. The new way of teaching sit she did not like at all. After about an hour and half, the class was coming to and end and the lady asked if my dog could stay a little longer. Yep, we were "those" in the class....the ones who distracted the others and made a complete scene. Well, of course we stayed and the trainer actually tried to walk her. I'm not kidding....the trainer walked with Maggie about 15 minutes and for about 8-10 of those minutes, Maggie was throwing a fit. She even walked the entire length of the parking lot on her back two legs with her front paws wrapped up in the leash. She finally caved in and walked by her side (pretty good). Basically, the trainer said I have the biggest challenge of the class because of Maggie's breed. (I knew that was coming). She said Weimaraners are extremely smart and almost too smart when it comes to training. She said they make exceptional pets and are very lovable and are great companions, but when it comes to training they are VERY strong-willed. She did emphasize that Maggie will break and be trained, but it's just hard for Weimaraners to "give in" to the mentality that you are the one in charge. Umm....yeah.....I have my hands full. Well, we headed home and Maggie crawled up in the front seat of my car and put her head in my lap. I began to cry on the way home because my dog was the total lemon of the class. I being the wish-to-please in academia myself, hated the fact that my dog was basically rotten and was the class disrupter. I know that she'll get it, but it may be a long road. I'm determined and we'll tackle it and she'll be a great dog. I do think we may need prayer though!!! So.....upon reading this....please no judgement of my pup if you haven't met her. Actually if you came to visit she'd be SO EXCITED because she LOVES guests!!! Just don't ask us to show off any of our skills.....we're a work in progress.

Tippy Canoe

Surprisingly there was no tipping whatsoever...

Yesterday, I went canoeing with a friend on the Buffalo River in Hohenwald, TN. It's about an hour or so north of Florence. Of course I was informed that it's not the "real" Buffalo River, since that's in Arkansas, but it was a fun river anyway. We did the 6 mile canoe, the weather was absolutely perfect, and had quite an educational day. I also even monkeyed up and jumped out of a tree into the river (pretty big deal since I'm afraid of some heights). So here's a recap of things I learned and things I taught...you the reader probably don't care, but it just gives you a set up of the day:

1. It is not an oar. It is a paddle (though if quizzed, I knew it was a paddle...and would not have called it an oar).
2. 3 parts to the paddle: handle, shaft, and spoon
3. When getting into the canoe, make sure you place your foot in the middle of the bottom of
the canoe to keep balance of the canoe (I executed this well).
4. The front paddler in the canoe is the power (that was me...I'm all about having power!) and the back steers (I think that's what he said...can't remember for sure).
5. When coming upon rapids, look for the "V". The "V" is the area where the water is darker in color, and the current runs quicker on either side. It's better to go in the middle of the "V". (Not sure if I explained that right, but that's what I got out of it).
6. When close to objects, ie: rocks, tree limbs, etc. and you must make a quick steer of the canoe, don't dodge the object and lean away from it. This can cause your canoe to flip. (I'm proud to say that I did this very well, and no "flippage" took place).
7. I also correctly learned how to make a loud noise with my paddle and how to execute an awesome "slice" maneuver with my paddle if I ever encounter a snake.
***After attaining and mastering all of the above, I am now fully equipped to go pro in canoeing. However, I may want to actually work on my paddle strokes, considering I honestly did very little yesterday....whoops!
Random knowledge:
7. 3 types of rocks: 1. metamorphic 2. igneous (which I remembered) 3. sedimentary.....my new rule is when in doubt, go with sedimentary...it makes you look smarter. There were some rocks/cliffs on the trip (most we decided were sedimentary in nature)....I pulled from 8th grade earth science to add to the discussion.
Knowledge I relayed:
8. The difference between a post oak (Quercus stellata) and a black jack oak (Quercus marilandica...I think that's right).......to fill you in....I had botany in undergrad and had to memorize a lot of trees and their scientific names. Oddly (and kind of nerdy), I still remember a lot of them. The answer: The width of the lobes on the leaf.
9. The parts of the eyeball: anterior to posterior as follows.....cornea, anterior chamber, iris and pupil, posterior chamber, lens, vitreous and retina. My friend is now equipped to be an optometrist.

So as you can see the canoe trip was 100% educational in many facets, but more importantly a fun trip! I think I'd be a good Pocahontas....I felt pretty Pocahontas-ish as I rode in the front of the canoe and did little paddling :)

Sister Sister

This weekend was my first "girls weekend" with one of my sister-in-laws. Jennifer (David's wife) came down for a visit. She told me before I moved down that she would come one weekend and we'd have a strictly shopping/chick flick/Lawson and Kt weekend. So I was very very anxious and SO excited for her to get here! It felt like old times of being roommates in optometry school :) We had a fun time hitting up TJ Maxx, shopping in the Huntsville scene, and watching movies. I just knew that I'd be so strong and not cry when she left. I've been making strides. Last weekend I didn't cry until after my family left, so I knew with her leaving today that I was ready to not cry at all. Plus, I'm going home in 2 weeks for my birthday and so it's not that long before I see her again. Well, to no avail...I cried. I can't help it. I'm an emotional bawlbag when it comes to my family and I get spoiled seeing them and being around them 24/7 when they come to visit. However, the tears did not last long, and Jennifer said, "You have nice friends here and a wonderful church." She's 100% true...the friends and great church here have eased my missing home and family. I'm so glad that Jennifer came though. I miss our old days of being roommates, but so extremely lucky to now have her as my sister. It was a great weekend!