Hibernation has begun...

Now that winter is in full swing around here, hibernation has completely set in. By the time Daniel and I get home from work in the evenings its cold, dark and damp outside so we are having a hard time leaving the warmth and comfort of the couch. Even the dog doesnt want to go outside, he literally has to be pushed off the couch and encouraged to go out the back door.

Adding to the hibernation mode is the endless assortment of confectionaries we have been receiving from family and co-workers. Its been an endless smorgasborg of chocolate, cookies, baklava, cocoa, peppermint sticks, nuts...the list goes on and all of it is irresistible! Its like we are storing up for the winter. The pic below are a couple of the pears that we got from the Harry and David tower that we got from Daniel's family(thanks so much!). I love pears so I just had to take a photo of them. I was going to take a photo of the chocolate truffles but we ate them too quickly.



Somehow despite our slothful behavior lately, we did manage to put up a few christmas lights. It was freezing that night, but Daniel really wanted to get them up. As you can tell from the photos, Daniel did all the work and the dog and I just hudled together on the porch and took a few photos.

Thanksgiving day...

Well Thanksgiving day wasnt your usual turkey-fest for us this year. Unfortunately, Daniel had to work the evening shift. So that left me trying to figure out what to do with myself. Since everything was closed and the weather was a sunny 75 degrees,
I decided to take Cooper to the garden at the Chrysler museum and of course I took lots of pictures. I have always loved the garden of the Chysler and the Hague(the waterway in front of the museum) but now that its the place that Daniel and I said our marriage vows its extra special.
So while Daniel was slaving away at the station(dont feel sorry for him, he volunteered for the shift)....

I was out enjoying the gorgeous day....


The picture above is a photo of the path that we stood on as we exchanged vows. The bench was in front of us and the fountain was behind us.


The above photo is the fountain in the middle of the garden. It was looking a bit dried up and and full of leaves this day but when we got married it was running and quite pretty.
Here is a pic from the museum's site.

And of course I had to take pictures of Cooper. It was very windy so his floppy ears kept blowing in the breeze.



As for Thankgiving, Daniel and I celebrated on Saturday and invited my sister and her family and my parents over for turkey and all the trimmings. It was quite successful. Daniel made an awesome turkey which I wish I had gotten a picture of. It was the first time the we had dinner at our house and it was fantastic! Cooper loved having kids around to rough house with and it was so nice to finally be the host instead of the mooching daughter/sibling that my parents and sister are so used to.

Leaves, Leaves everywhere...

Fall is upon us and the raking commences. Amongst the various unknown species of plants in our yard there is one unmistakenly overwhelming maple tree that is taking over the backyard. Not only did it steal all sunlight and rain that tried to make its way to the seedling grass that Daniel tried to grow during the summer, now its menacing us with bushels of leaves. Thats ok because we have Cooper to help. He has quite the fondness for the rake and shows it by barking and growling relentlessly at it. He also likes to jump into the pile of leaves to find sticks so he can run around the yard in circles with them in his mouth.

This is Cooper trying to blend in with the leaves so we dont notice him.

Cooper in print!

Cooper is so cute he got his picture in the latest issue of Hampton Roads magazine!
Well, his cuteness counted for alot but it probably helped that I work for the magazine.
Really the picture isnt much to brag about, its a pretty tiny photo on a rather insignificant page but I still think its cool. He probably would have gotten a larger photo space if I hadnt called in sick the day I was supposed to bring him in for the photo shoot. Who knows, he may have even made the cover.

Halloween

I am sad to say that Halloween is officially over for this year... but we didnt end it without getting a few silly photos.
Daniel and I were quite out of character for Halloween this year! Of course we didnt just dress up as a nun and priest, we threw a vampire twist to it. Who would ever think that we would be wearing 6-inch crosses, it had to be Halloween!
This year we were invited to the Granby Theater, a restored 1915 movie house in Norfolk for a costume party and to enjoy a live performance of Micheal Jackson's Thriller. Unfortunately we stepped outside for a minute and missed most of the Thriller performance but thats Ok, we did get a chance to see quite a few crazy costumes and more pirates than we could count. The theater was gorgeous but packed with people. Luckily, Dave and April, the couple that invited us had reserved a private balcony to watch the performance from. A good time was had all around. Can't wait til next year!

Coffee, Wine & Art...

Coffee, Wine & Art what else could anyone ask for? This past weekend, Norfolk had two of its biggest Fall festivals- the Wine Festival and the Fall Stockley Gardens art show. Its always my favorite weekend! We had originally planned to go to the art festival on Saturday and the wine festival on Sunday but instead we had to cram both in on Sunday because neither one of us could get motivated enough to get out of bed and out of the house on Saturday.
Publish Post


First stop: Stockley Arts Festival(Well actually the first stop was Starbucks but after that)
I love arts festivals. Its so nice to see artists having a place to sell their stuff and to see people actually buying it. One fish sculpture got bought right out from under my nose as I was trying to get a closer look at it. Its kind of inspiring, I would like to get a booth someday to sell my paintings. Lets see if i can finish one first.
We wandered around a bit, looked at the artwork, pet a few dogs, avoided the temptation of all the Carney-type foods, (funnel cakes are irresistable), and bought some lemonade from two little girls at their lemonade stand. If I had had a few hundred extra dollars lying around I would have taken home a sculpture or two. Maybe someday.



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Next stop: Wine Festival
Every year my company rents a tent at the festival and invites all of us to bring a food dish and throw down at the annual wine festival. I usually have a pretty good time but I always find the wine festival kind of funny. Wine drinkers are usually stereotyped as being snooty or thought to have a certain level of class but I just think that most of them really are just a bunch of alcoholics who think that Wine Lover has a better ring to it. By the end of the day at the wine festival, it is hard to find someone who in not undignifiably drunk off their ass. And wierd things always happen, some of which could qualify for a Girls Gone Wild taping. Such as this year one woman was so drunk she got naked and jumped into the river. And then there was the women in the next tent over from us who were flashing a helicopter that kept flying overhead. Not to mention that someone stole the whole gourmet cheesecake that Daniel and I brought to the party. We didnt even get a slice! Doesnt anyone have any class?

Williamsburg

I havent posted in awhile because I have been a bit preoccupied with the dog of late. This week Cooper swelled up like a balloon, got the hives, had a bloody nose, refused to eat, acted like he was possessed and became a pooping machine. Needless to say, we had to take a few trips to the vet clinic. After ruling out Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, the vet came to the conclusion that he either had puppy strangles or a severe allergic reaction to something. But after a couple of sleepless nights, a 1/2 dozen doses of antibiotics and steriods, late night runs to the store for items such as thermometers and Benadryl, and a change of food, Cooper is back to normal. Actually for some reason he seems worse than normal. We swear his mischeviousness and energy has increased since he has gotten well.
Anyway, last Sunday before Cooper got sick, Daniel and I decided to take a little road trip to Williamsburg to walk around and enjoy a nice Fall day with Cooper. Unfortunately, we ran into some major traffic on the way up there and the time we actaully got to spend in Williamsburg was very little. But I got to take of few pictures before we had to turn around and go home.

This is Cooper surveying the traffic situation, he is a bit of a pill in the car.


These photos are from Colonial Willamsburg. I thought the ox pulling a cart was neat and the building was a hospital back in the day. We will have to go up there again soon and spend a bit more time.

Olde Towne...

Since my last two posts were all about Cooper, I figured I should write about something else today....
On Sunday Daniel and I took Cooper for a walk in Olde Towne Portsmouth. Olde Town is the only area in Portsmouth worth visiting. It is a really beautiful historic area with old houses that are reminescent of New Orleans and a downtown with a few art galleries and restaurants mixed with empty old storefronts, steepled churches from the 1800's and lots of homeless people.

This weekend I had to take pictures of some of the architecture for work, but it really wasnt work because the area always makes for such a nice walk and the houses are so beautiful. Many of them are built right on the street with partial underground basements that place the front door up a flight of steps. The architectural styles vary from Victorian to Greek Revival, some have been converted into condos others are still in their original condition. It really is an area that is under appreciated, its a shame its snubbed due to the a somewhat seedy reputation of Portsmouth and its inaccessibility, the best way to get here is by ferry due to 24 hour tunnel congestion. We only walked around for about 20 minutes because thats all Cooper could take in the 90 degree humidity. I cant believe its October and so hot, plus we havent seen rain in weeks!

A week into it...

Ok it has been officially a week and two days since Daniel and I have become puppy owners and I think it is safe to say that we are ready for him to become a full grown dog. Yeah he is cute but the cuteness only gets him so far. Here are a few quick facts about our lovable Cooper:

Favorite Toy: the cat


Favorite Food: Dryer lint, sticks and Cat turds


Favorite Place to Sleep: Anywhere but his crate

Favorite Drink: the condensation on your cup especially when he has a full bowl of water
Favorite Past Time: anything that ultimately results in the need for a bath


Favorite place: Inside when he is out, Outside when he is in

Favorite smell: the alluring aroma of day old flip flops

Favorite Dinner spot: the flower garden

Pet Pev: That no matter how hard he tries, he cannot dig the pavers up from the yard

Pup pics!

Daniel and I finally drove to North Carolina on Saturday to pick up our puppy. It had been two weeks since we had seen him but he hadnt changed much. He slept in my lap the whole way home while we tried to figure out a name for him. I cant believe we didnt have one picked out since we had two weeks to think about it.
Daniel and I had picked a few favorites but we decided to see what his personality was like before naming him. On the way home we thought about the names that each of us liked, me-Tucker & Dutch; Daniel- Kelo & Kona, but none of them seemed to fit. Then Daniel mentioned the name Cooper and somehow it just sounded right. Then Daniel said Cooper again and his stumpy little tail twitched in his sleep as if he was approving it. So thats his name and I think it suites him.

His first night at home was a very long one. Daniel wants to crate train him but I dont know if either of us have the heart for it. Who could comfortably lay in bed while their little puppy, missing his mother and siblings, is frantically whining and trying to dig out of the crate? Needless to say, after only about five minutes he was up in our bed curled up between us and fast asleep. Poor Daniel had to get up five times during the night to let him out. Since I am taking tomorrow off from work, I will be getting up with him tonight, I sure hope he sleeps through the night.


He didnt know quite what to make of the sheep.