After our fabulous bike ride on Sunday, September 13th, we relaxed on the front porch, napped, took Chloe for a walk, and ate dinner outside. That evening we watched a DVD about
calming signals in dogs (related to Chloe's therapy dog class). It was fascinating! We learned about calming signals such as licking, turning the head away, yawning, "doing something else," and other things that dogs do to either calm themselves or another dog. We also discovered that you can try these same techniques to try to get your dog to relax (for instance, yawning repeatedly). The expert on this is a Norwegian woman named
Turid Rugaas. For anyone who owns a dog, I highly recommend doing some reading/research on this. You'll be amazed at how much better you understand your dog!
Tomkin and I also watched the movie "
2 Days in Paris," which was written and directed by Julie Delpy (who also stars in it). Very funny! We both liked it a lot. We also did a crossword puzzle together. Such a nice Sabbathy thing to do!
Monday morning we took Chloe to the vet. She had been licking her, um, "backside" a lot lately, and we thought we should get it checked out. Turned out she needed to have her anal glands expressed. The vet brought in a second person to help keep Chloe standing (she kept wanting to sit or lie down). Expressing the glands was NOT a pleasant job, but as soon as it was done Chloe started wagging her tail. She seemed to feel immediate relief! And she's been fine ever since. Phew! We then headed down to the liquor store and picked up the ingredients for grasshoppers. (Chloe got to carry them home.)
Then Tomkin headed to the office, and I went grocery shopping at Target and did some grant research. I've been looking at the poverty level in American school districts--there's one in Arizona at 85%! Wow. Tomkin met with a couple that night, and I had a premarital counseling session. One of the things I love about being self-employed is that our time is flexible--in fact, we often end up working in the evenings. I think if it were up to me, we would sleep in every morning, run errands and walk the dog in the afternoon, then work at night. Chloe, of course, prefers to sleep at all times of the day.
Tuesday morning Tomkin biked into work, and I went with him down Summit Ave. then turned around and headed home. What a wonderful way to start the day! Chloe hung out with me on the front porch while I did some grant research. That afternoon Liz, the woman who's going to house/dog-sit for us while we're in Hawaii, came over so we could show her where things are at and give her some info about Chloe. She's really nice (a friend of Helena's and fellow yoga instructor), and we feel confident that we'll be leaving Chloe in good hands. Tomkin and I walked over to the nearby polling place to vote in the primaries.
Then we took Chloe for a walk. That evening I had a nice chat with my friend Carrie before taking Chloe to her therapy dog class. This week we ran through the entire evaluation process to see what we still need to work on. Chloe did pretty well overall, but I could tell she was getting a little overwhelmed when she couldn't even get the "sit" command right. Really, though, I am very proud of her! She's doing a great job.
On Wednesday I had a premarital counseling session during the day, so Tomkin took Chloe along to have lunch with his folks and then brought her to the office with him. At first the office cat, Muscles, was none too pleased to have a dog around, but eventually they both hung out on Tomkin's couch.
We took Chloe for a walk and let her run in a nearby park. That night Tomkin went to see "
Inglourious Basterds," and I talked to my mom and did some blogging.
Thursday morning I biked halfway to work with Tomkin (we're both so happy to be bicycling again!), and then I did some grant research and started getting ready for Third Thursday. Tomkin had a wedding rehearsal that afternoon. Then we finished getting the house in order and preparing the food and drinks.
This month's featured cocktail was the grasshopper. To match the drink, all the food was green, too, and we even listened to the music of
Green Day.
And of course Chloe wore a minty green bandanna.
I honestly wasn't sure if anyone was going to show up--all the RSVPs we'd gotten were from people who were busy or going out-of-town. But we ended up having ten guests, and we all had a really nice time.
Tracy came by with a sugar-free chocolate cake he had baked and topped with raspberries from his garden.
We spent a long time catching up on news and gossip about the neighborhood. Fletch told some great stories, and he and Jim talked movie festivals.
We all just had fun hanging out, eating and drinking, and chatting about whatever.
Tomkin kicked everyone out right at 10:00 because he had a 9:00 rehearsal the next morning. Otherwise I'm sure we would have kept right on talking!
While Tomkin was off performing a wedding rehearsal and then working at the office Friday morning, I slept in until 10:00. I'd only had a couple grasshoppers, but I hadn't slept well the previous couple nights, so it was nice to catch up on a little snoozing. I did some work and blogging, and then we both took Chloe for a long walk down Grand and Summit. We are really getting some beautiful weather now--it sure doesn't feel like the middle of September! We came home and took a nap, and then Tomkin left to perform a wedding. I did some blogging, and then we all hung out on the front porch and relaxed. It's really nice to have a low-key weekend with almost no plans. I realized I don't have another one of these until after we get back from Hawaii in November!
Today (Saturday, September 19th) Tomkin had a noon wedding. I did some blogging, and then I drove out to Hopkins to "shadow" some therapy dog teams at the public library. They volunteer with the
READ (Reading Assistance Education Dogs) program--I probably won't end up doing that, but I thought it would be get to check it out, observe, and ask some questions.
I spent about an hour watching two of the teams and chatting with the handlers. They had some good advice and suggestions. I was really impressed with their dogs! Both were incredibly mellow and well-behaved. I'm not sure Chloe would sit still that long....
I got home about 3:00, and then Tomkin, Chloe, and I drove down to River Road and walked along the Mississippi. It's so beautiful!
We veered off into a residential neighborhood and marveled at the gorgeous (and huge!) houses. There were squirrels all over the place, so we let Chloe chase a few. She was so happy!
We came home and hung out on the front porch--I've been blogging (I'm finally caught up!!!), and Tomkin has been reading. I'm looking forward to a computer-free Sabbath day tomorrow. And coming up in the next few weeks: a visit from my friend Carrie Mc., a couples counseling conference, my 40th birthday, and our trip to Hawaii! So many fun things to look forward to. Thanks, as always, for reading my blog!
We headed down Summit Avenue, then took the River Road to Ford Parkway, rode the bridge across the Mississippi, and biked back on the other side. We stopped to rest and check out the scenery a few times along the way. 
Both of us are amazed and thankful that we get to live in such a beautiful place! We were starving, so we picked up some sandwiches at Kowalski's on the way home, then ate a delicious lunch outside. 
After that we spent some time relaxing--reading on the front porch (both of us), napping (Tomkin & Chloe), and watching TV (me). 
We walked over to Jim & Roxanne's to pick something up, and Chloe got to run around with Watson in their backyard. Then Tomkin spent the evening editing video footage of Chloe's birthday party while I watched the Emmys. 
I alerted Tomkin when our friend Peter's category came up (he writes for The Colbert Report), but unlike last year the Colbert team went home empty-handed. Ah, well. I still thought it was a great show overall!
Monday morning Tomkin headed to the office. I met up with Becca for lunch at Yum! We ate and talked and ate some more (their desserts are to die for!). It was so fun to catch up with her and hear about the antics going on in her kids' lives. Becca is one crazy-busy woman, so it's always a treat when I get to spend time with her!
I headed home and did some work while sitting on the front porch (Chloe kept me company), and then Tomkin and I took Chloe for a walk. That evening, Tomkin and Chloe hung out in the basement while I led a premarital counseling session. Then I watched the season premiere of "Dancing with the Stars" while Tomkin did some work.
Tuesday morning I biked halfway to work with Tomkin, then he continued on to the office and I headed home. I did some work and went grocery shopping at Target. We took Chloe for a short walk, and that night Tomkin met with a couple while I took Chloe to therapy dog class. She got kind of freaked out while we were working on distractions. There were all kinds of items spread out on the floor, and the instructor sent a skateboard whizzing by and started up a toy firetruck that made a beeping noise. All that was fine, but once she started blowing on the party horn, Chloe got really freaked out. She was shaking all over and started pulling me toward the door. The instructor felt so bad--she said this is all supposed to be fun for the dogs. Thankfully, after a few minutes, Chloe was fine again. We have three more classes to go, but we're going to take the Delta evaluation (to become a certified therapy dog team) this Monday! I think Chloe will pass, but you never know what might happen the day of the test. Fingers crossed!
On Wednesday, Tomkin had lunch with his parents then went to the office. I stayed home to work. It looks like I'm going to be working on another biodiesel grant soon! I'm also doing some editing work--busy, busy, busy, which is great! We took Chloe for a walk, and that night Tomkin went to see "The Informant!" (he thought it was okay--didn't love it) while I led a premarital counseling session, then talked to my mom and watched more "DWTS." (Three nights in a row is quite a lot to ask of your viewers....)
At Palm Beach Tan, in a room with the Mystic Tan booth.
Last night we went to Helena's for a house-blessing party. We had so much fun! 
We knew some of the other guests--it was great to catch up with Marcus, Nick, Cassidy, and Liz--and we really enjoyed talking to some people we'd never met before. Some were teachers or students from the Center for Happiness, others went to Carleton (which is how we know Helena) or had another connection with her. 
At 7:30, we all gathered around, and Helena led us in a blessing exercise to get rid of things from the past, both in regard to her house and in our own lives. 
Then at 9:00 we did a second blessing, which involved laughing in the corners of the house! 
There was lots of delicious (and naughty) food, which I heartily enjoyed. 
But mostly it was fun to just hang out and talk with so many fun and interesting people. And to bless Helena's beautiful new home!
Today (Friday) I've been cleaning our house in preparation for Carrie's arrival this afternoon. Her flight is scheduled to land about 3:30. I'm so excited to hang out with her for the next couple days! Whatever you're up to, I hope you have a wonderful weekend. And thanks, as always, for reading my blog!
