Friday, November 20, 2009

Date Night!

Joe and I had a date night last night! We had so much fun. We got dressed up and went to dinner and a movie. Doesn't sound like much, but we haven't been out in a LONG time, so it was really, really nice.

We chose a Mexican restaurant we have passed by before called El Sombrero. Of course, we had to have margaritas. :)



For the movie, we saw "Couples Retreat". I had heard some bad things about it, so we kind of went in with low expectations. But we wanted a comedy, didn't really feel in the mood for an action or scary movie (our other choices were 2012 or The Box).

We ended up liking the movie quite a bit! It was pretty funny. So, we had a very nice night. Gotta love date night!


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Dog Park

We just have the BEST dogs ever! They did so good at the dog park today, even Ava was being social. There were two big Greyhounds there that kept coming over and checking Ava out. It was really cute. Ava had to wear her winter sweater, though. It's getting chilly out.




Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Visit from Takashi

On Sunday, an old friend of Joe's from college, Takashi, came to visit us! Takashi lives in Japan, but was relocated to Boston for a few months for his job, and when he found out Joe lived in Connecticut, they jumped at the chance to get together.

It was a lot of fun listening to them reminisce about old times. Joe brought out his photo album from college and they talked about their old friends - some of which they have kept in contact with, some not.

It could have been a little awkward since they haven't seen each other in 15 years, but it wasn't. Takashi is a great guy and he and Joe get along great. We're hoping to make a trip into Boston to see him before he leaves for Japan. And maybe we'll just have to visit him there some day as well!



Sunday, November 15, 2009

Game Night

Joe and I are big fans of this website called meetup.com. It's this community where you can find people in your area that share your interests, and meet up with them to hang out and do what you all love to do. Usually, I'm finding dog-related groups. I've met tons of fellow Italian Greyhound owners that way. When we moved to Cheshire, I looked to see what type of groups were available, and we found a group who put on game nights. And last night we went to our first meetup.

We had a great time! There were around 25 people there and everyone brought something to eat or drink, and their favorite board game. It was great!



Joe and I ended up joining a big group of people who were playing "Battle of the Sexes". Neither of us had played it before, but it was awesome. Unfortunately, the men won the battle. I swear, those cards were rigged!

The owner of the house we met at, get this - owned big Greyhounds! She and I immediately bonded and Joe and I spent a lot of time petting the dogs. :) We are such nerds.


We are looking forward to getting together with them again.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Dinner Out

Last night Joe and I went out with Joe's boss (Dr. Grant) and her husband (John). They took us to this hole-in-the-wall neighborhood seafood restaurant that they frequent often (and know the owner). I was a little worried when we walked in. It's bare bones, a small, one-room place with nothing on the walls and outdoor furniture for seating.

But then we ordered. The owner of the place came and chatted us up for a while. We met the mother of our waitress, who told us she raised her kids to be hard workers because they owned a dry cleaning business. The guy sitting at the table next to us was told Dr. Grant was having masonry problems and came over to answer some questions for her. It was so fun - and bizarre!

Joe has wanted lobster since we moved here, so he ordered that. I order a bunch of sides - green salad, sweet potato fries, and beet salad. I wasn't expecting much (seafood restaurants usually aren't too adept at serving vegetarians), but I had the BEST meal! They knew I was a vegetarian and went out of their way to make me something good. How cool is that??

Joe had a ginormous lobster and we all just had a great time. Of course, the two bottles of wine we drank probably added to that. Which was another funny thing. They don't serve alcohol at the restaurant, but send people to the liquor store next door if we wanted anything. Joe and John went over and brought back two uncorked bottles of wine. Crazy!

We will definitely be going back there - it was just too great of an experience not to. AND did I mention it was cheap? The four of us paid only $66 total!



Thursday, November 12, 2009

Dog Park

I took Ava and Jack to the dog park yesterday and it was so much fun! Ava, for the first time, spent time on the ground, walking around and being among the 'common dogs'. She even chased after Jack a little! I didn't have my phone or camera with me, so I didn't get any pictures. Of all the times! There was a big Greyhound there and at one point he was leaning up against me and I was petting him. Well, Ava didn't like that too much, so she started jumping up. She landed on the Greyhound's back! And when she felt how warm he was, she just laid down and stayed there! Man, if I could have just got a quick picture - it was the funniest thing. Everyone was in hysterics. But I was just glad to see her running around and being normal.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Ava Enjoying Some Sunshine

It such a nice day today! They say it could get up to 70 degrees. Ava is lovin' it. She sat in the sun this afternoon just soaking it up. I did, too. We need to take advantage of the sun when it comes. I have a feeling full-on Winter isn't far off.

Wine & Cheese with the Lion's Club

Joe and I had a great time last night! We went to the Gouveia Vineyards winery with Joe's Lion's Club. Everyone brought snacks that we all shared, and most of us bought a bottle of wine to drink throughout the night. The winery was absolutely packed - lots of happy people having a great time. :) Great energy in the room!

We stayed there about four hours getting to know all the Lion's Club members. We found out the president is a huge movie fan, so we talked to him a lot about various movies. He was horrified that Joe and I claim to be into movies, but neither of us have seen Casablanca. Guess we better remedy that.


Saturday, November 7, 2009

Dog Fight

Jackson got attacked during our walk around the neighborhood yesterday. There is this dog that lives in the next building over that has always had a problem with Jack. Every time we walk by her house, she attacks the windows and I swear the whole building shakes. We met her on the road once when her owner was taking her for a walk. Both dogs were leashed and she started snarling at Jack, and he snarled back. The owner was all, "Oh, they just need to be introduced, they'll be fine" and started walking toward us. I said, "I don't know, they don't seem fine" and he assured me his dog was okay. Well, it wasn't and we pulled the dogs apart and that was that.

Well, yesterday, Jack and I are on our walk and I look up to see that dog loose in the middle of the road staring at us. Her hackles were up and Jackson stopped dead in his tracks and stared back - a total standoff. I could see her owner a ways away sitting at a picnic table. I knew if I turned and tried to run or walk away the dog would chase us. But I knew that if she got closer they would start fighting. I had Jack sit down and called to the owner. I just hoped he would come get the dog before any trouble started.

He started calling her and she paid no attention. He didn't even get up! She got closer and just as I expected, Jack growled and it was on. I tried to get between them and I was yanking poor Jack back and forth from his neck trying to get him out of the way. He finally slipped his collar because I was yanking it so ferociously, so I got down to their level trying to pull them apart. Finally, the dog's owner got to us and basically fell on both of the dogs. His dog is HUGE and he couldn't pull her away - she is just too big and strong. So I had to pull Jack out from under this guy! I got Jack sat down and got a hold of him. The guy just sat there with his dog and I finally had to tell him to take his dog away because I had to get Jackson's leash and get him home to check him out.

While he took his dog home I just sat there for a bit looking at every inch of Jackson trying to see if there were any cuts. I saw some blood on his front legs and I looked at every inch of them looking for bites. Only then did I notice it was me who was bleeding. I had a big puncture in my finger from one of the dogs biting me.

The guy came back to check on us. He was apologizing all over himself telling us that his dog had never done anything like that before, blah, blah, blah. I just wanted to get home.

I got home and just burst into tears. It's amazing what that much adrenaline will do to you! When I finally calmed down I realized how much my finger hurt! I called Joe and my mom and got their advice and cleaned myself up. This morning I found a couple other minor scrapes and bruises, too, but nothing major. And I think my finger will be fine. It was just SO scary though!

The owner has been over to my place three times since the attack making sure we are okay and telling us again and again how horrified he is. He really does seem to be sorry and I just told him that all I wanted was for him to keep his dog on a leash. No matter how well-behaved he thinks his dog is, she obviously has a problem with Jack and I need to know that I can walk Jack around our neighborhood without fear of her being loose. He agreed and said he learned his lesson.

Jackson seems completely fine this morning and totally oblivious to what happened. Of course, I laid in bed last night replaying the whole thing in my head - what I should have done differently, what I should have said to the guy, wondering if I was too lenient, ect. I'm going to ask around to some of my neighbors to see if they have had any problems (the owner said his dog gets along with all the other dogs in the complex and I want to see if he is being truthful) and then I'm going to ask to meet the dog in person without Jack and judge for myself if I think the dog is dangerous or if this was just a case of poor ownership.

Also, the guy works for Snapple and dropped off a whole case of Snapple and some Snapple swag this morning as a peace offering. I told him I didn't want it (felt like a bribe), but he insisted. So, I guess I'm going to be swimming in Snapple for a while.

Anyway, I'm just glad it's over. I hope he learned his lesson, and I learned mine. I need to be more aware of things when I'm on a walk and I think I'm going to pick up some pepper spray just in case something like this ever should happen again.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Working Again

I got a job! I am now working at a company called American Industrial Rubber Products, Inc. I know, pretty random. I go from working with financial institutions to children's birthday party supplies to industrial rubber hoses. But it's always fun to learn about a different industry, no matter how unrelated to your life it might seem.

I think this is going to be a great job for me. It's basically running their office activities - invoicing, managing accounts payable and accounts receivable, billing, filing, writing purchase orders, etc. Once I get familiar with the product, I will be able to help customers, and I'm also going to be able to delve into their marketing initiatives (they don't really have much going in that area right now).

The job is part time to start, which actually works well for me. I work Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and since Joe has Thursdays off, the dogs only have to be home alone two days a week. And, since my parents are coming to visit for Thanksgiving again this year, working only part time gives me more time to spend with them. So, it all seems to be working out.

Other than the new job, there isn't much else new to report. Jackson went to the vet yesterday and received a clean bill of health, which was awesome. Not that we were worried, but with everything going on with Ava, we wanted to make sure we didn't neglect anything that could be going on with Jackson.

Ava is still doing good. The vet decreased her medication to half of what she was on and she is still responding great to it, so that is a very good sign. The less Prednisone she needs to be on, the better. Her ears are starting to look better too! But because she is feeling better, she is back to being our little pill. She has been jumping up onto the kitchen table and trying to get on the counters lately. Last night we took Jackson for a walk and came back to one of my favorite coffee cups broken all over the kitchen floor because she jumped up and knocked it off the counter. I'm sure she smelled the food left over on our dinner plates and decided she needed to have it. Ugh! Luckily, she didn't cut herself. We just need to be extra careful about putting stuff away. Crazy girl.