Well, Doug has had off last week but as I had just started a new position, I wasn't able to take off. So, Doug got to spend a lot of time with the pets. Which has been a good thing. He's been able to work with Shackleton and complete homework. Shackleton now knows sit\stay, heel, down\stay and come (well, he almost knows come, he comes if he wants too). Tonight we have his fifth lesson. He is doing progressively better with each week and we have been introducing more distractions. Last week though, we switched from his regular choke collar to a prong collar which was hard for me to take. I felt like I'd done something wrong that I couldn't get Shackleton to behave on a choke chain. The first lesson with the prong was horrible. He didn't like it and he let Doug know how he felt by carrying on something fierce. Surprisingly though, he was really good with me ;)

 

Since Doug had off that week, he would drop me off at the metro station and pick me up which was nice. One day during the week, he got Shackleton and Lilliputian in there car seats to come meet me at the station. They were so adorable in their little seats waiting for me. Lilliputian is just too cute for words.

 

Thursday night we went to a Georgetown get together from Doug's EML class which was fun. It's always good to see old friends and keep up the old network. We are planning to have a mini reunion party in June with a workshop maybe Saturday morning and then dinner at our house followed by a hangover brunch the next day ;)

 

Friday night we were supposed to be home for an appointment to see a company about replacing all our windows in our house. Unfortunately, we kind of forget and went out to dinner instead (oooops).

 

Saturday was a busy day. One thing about having Shackleton and Lilli is that they wake up at around 5:30 or 6:00 every morning (because that is the normal time during the week) even if you don't want them too. So, Shackleton woke me up Saturday morning and while I let Doug sleep, I got some stuff done around the house. Once Doug was up, we took off for breakfast at Elsie's Skillet and some serious play time for Shackleton at the park. After breakfast, we dropped Shackleton off at the house and took Lilli with us to run errands. We get stopped a lot because most people have not seen a cat in a stroller before. Most people assume it is a baby but then when they get up close, they are like, 'hmmmm. that's an awful furry baby." ;) Anyways, Lilli loves going around with us and sitting in her car seat peering out at the world. By the time we got home, it was time to get ready to go see a play. Two of our neighbors are in a play at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. We went to see them with some other neighbors, Ivan & Rich. It was the first time for all of us to see a play in a long time. It was a very interesting play in that there was no intermission and there were only four characters for the whole play (Scotland Road). It had lots of fade ins and outs and after the play, there was much debate between the four of us as to what it actually meant. After the play, we stopped off at Cosi in Old Town. This was an interesting choice because the only Cosi's I've been to have been strictly lunch places with sandwiches, salads and soups. However, this one has a bar and a diner menu. Rich & Ivan are late eaters and had not had dinner so they ordered real food while Doug munched on a pizza and I had an appetizer. Now I understand why the place is always crowded at night (it's on the corner of Washington & King Sts) when before I was never really sure why someone would want to go to a sandwich shop at night. As an interesting side note, Cosi is one of the concepts that Rich managed when he and Ivan lived in Boone, NC.

 

Sunday we had breakfast at home but then it was off to the dog park again. Shackleton got to play with some of his buddies (Mr. B who is a boston terrier and the cutest thing you've ever seen. He doesn't let his size get in the way, he'll try to wrestle with a St. Bernarnd. There is also Bailey who is some sort of hound mix and about two months older than Shackleton. They have the best time wrestling with each other). We also got to meet some new dogs as well. After the dog park, we did some more chores around the house and some errands but then we took off for a motorcycle ride up the GW Pkwy. The weather was perfect (not to hot but not to cold) as we cruised in parralel to the Potomac and we decided to head up to Great Falls on the Virginia side. If you haven't been to Great Falls Park, I highly recommend it. It reminds me of what most city parks must have been like many years ago - lots of immigrants and many different languages spoken all at the same time. Tons of families and bbq and soccer games. Of course, the falls themselves are pretty cool as well. We saw people fishing but to be honest, I'm wondering what they would actually catch. If I were a fish, I'd be all dizzy after shooting those rapids. ;) Both Doug and I decided we should come back with the pets as they would appreciate the trails and nature (lots of squirels but we will have to keep Lilli covered because we also saw lots of vultures).  In a funny side note, when we got home, we saw our neighbors, Heath & Mo with Mo's parents, and it turned out that they had also gone to Great Falls that day, although they went to the MD side. In any event, it was a very full weekend, when I hit the bed last night, I was out cold before my head hit the pillow.

Wow! What a week! I started my new position at Northrop Grumman this week. Working on a government contract is very interesting - the people start work at eight in the morning, take lunch and then leave at four! It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. However, I have to say - there isn't much stress involved which I guess is cool. It's certainly helping me keep a good work\life balance. I'm home by 5:00, 5:30 at the latest (because I have a tendancy to start around 8:30 instead - I've never really been an early morning person).  Shackleton really likes this because then we can go to the park after work.

 

Friday night, Doug and I went out for dinner in Old Town. Saturday was super busy because we took Shackleton to the park in the morning and then we went into DC to meet Doug's cousin, Nick Baldessari. He was in town with his senior high school group to learn more about politics and volunteer with a local charity. We took Nick to The Tombs near Georgetown University for lunch. Doug can write more if he wants but I thought Nick was pretty cool. The high school he attends sounds like they have some awesome educational programs. Especially the program that brought him out to DC. You have to be recommended by your teachers, be on track to graduate and it is a limited program. I think Nick said there were only about 24 kids in the program. I left the two boys after lunch so I could take Shackleton to a dog bakery and store in Arlington. We met one of his foster mom's from down Richmond way (the rescue group comes up here twice a month). She hadn't seen him since before he got sick. There were so many dogs there that day, I wanted to adopt all of them. Diane got to visit with Shackleton and we bought some new toys as well as some treats for our neighbor dogs. After that, it was a race back home (with a quick stop at Balducci's to pick up some apple pie) with a shower for me before we headed over to our neighbors for dinner. Our neighbors, Joel and Sarah, had almost everyone in our row of townhomes over for a cook out. As usual, much fun was had by all. There was a lively discussion about babies (two ladies are pregnant and due within ten days of each other while two other sets of our neighbors are adopting this summer) which made Terry a bit uncomfortable (Sorry Terry! :)). There was also another conversation about the line in The Godfather, specifically about the line with Clemenza and the gun and the cannolis. I'm not sure who got the line right but I looked it up and it is "Leave the gun. Take the cannolis." It was nice to hang out and enjoy our neighbors in the lovely weather.

 

Sunday morning, we awoke early because Doug decided to run a 10 miler. His friend Andy had asked him on Friday what he was doing on Sunday and Doug decided why not? So, off he went with three other guys to the start by Mt. Vernon. I loaded Shackleton and Lilliputian (along with her stroller) into the car for short hop to the Parkway and then we waited for Doug to run by. Lilli and Shackleton got several looks and "oh, that's SO cute!" - I guess people aren't use to seeing a cat in a stroller ;) After Doug stopped to say hello, it was back in the car, to drop Shackleton off at the house (he was being kind of naughty) and then Lilli and I headed into Old Town to see Doug at the finish line. Lilli of course, got some more looks and "oh, what a cutie!". Doug crossed the finish line and then we all headed back to our house for some breakfast. I whipped up some breakfast and we hung out with Andy, Laurie, Jake and Bill. Soon, Jake was fussing (he's just getting over a cold) so Andy & Laurie headed home along with Bill. Doug took a nap and I cleaned up around the house and got some laundry done. Now Doug's on the phone with his parents and I'm typing this up. I'll call my mom after this and then we will get started on the next week -

This week was a busy one. Perhaps it only seemed that way. Monday we made a decision on who our new tenant will be. I'm hoping we made a good decision and that we will not come back to a trashed house and our neighbors not liking us :)

 

On Tuesday Doug had to rush home and slog through traffic to make it for Shackleton's second training lesson. Our trainer, Kathleen (Jane has opened her own store in Georgetown), says that Shackleton is progressing well (us too :) although I think Doug is better because I'm kind of a softy). He is heeling well and this week we finally nailed the automatic stop thing. He had sit\stay already in the bag. We were supposed to go today for his third lesson but it has been pouring rain since last night so we have rescheduled for this Tuesday.

 

Friday was a very busy day for me.  I accepted a position at Northrop Grumman working on one of the largest SAP implementations ever. So, on Friday, I had to get drug tested and finger printed, plus fill out mounds of paperwork. I'm hoping that the project will be all that I believe it will be. In any event, I know it will definately be challenging. After running all those errands I went grocery shopping and then Doug came home early so we could take Shackleton to the dog park.

 

Saturday we ran additional errands and met Shackleton's new mid day dog walker, Jeannie. She seemed like a nice lady I suppose. Shackleton seems to like her. We showed her where all of Shackleton's things are and which routes were the nicest and most familiar to Shackleton. Lilliputian put in an appearance as well ;) Saturday night we tried to watch a movie on our new big screen but somehow, the dvd player doesn't seem to connect to the tv. I will have to find a tech nerd to see if we have all the necessary parts.

 

Today is Sunday and it is raining like crazy so I'm just catching up on laundry and making lunches for the week. In between, I'm hanging out with Doug on the couch watching some dvds. So - not a very exciting week but that's life sometimes ;)

So, our furnace has been repaired and a good thing too. Last week Monday it was like 80 out and by Saturday morning we had snow on the ground!!! Dontcha LOVE northern Virginia weather. It's not so bad but I feel bad for the poor cherry blossoms.

 

Doug and I have been keeping busy since St. Patty's day. Georgetown was in the play offs and we went to our friends, Andy & Laurie's to watch the games on their big screen. The first night, Laurie made awesome enchiladas and the second night I made some yummy lemon chicken & roasted asparagus.

 

Lilliputian finally got her trip over to Ft. Washington into Maryland. I think she enjoyed the ride and is getting used to her carseat. We toured around the grounds and checked out the neighborhood which seemed really nice. It was later that day that we went over to Andy & Laurie's for the first ball game.

 

Shackleton has been getting a workout as we take him to the dog park each day after work. Also, last Sunday was his first day back at school and we are working on heel as well as sit\stay and automatic sit (when we stop walking he is supposed to automatically sit). I think he gets the heel and he does well when no one else is around but he gets a bit distracted if there are other people or dogs around. He has definately mastered the sit\stay though which is cool. This Sunday we didn't have a lesson as it was Easter so we will go tomorrow night.

 

Saturday we had appointments almost all day so that folks could tour our house. All in all, we have done very well in that we had fifteen applications for rental. Doug and I were supposed to make a decision yesterday but we had company over and got a bit distracted ;) Our neighbors, Ivan & Rich, as well as Joel (Sarah was in TN visiting her folks) came over for dinner and everyone brought wine. I think  we went through six bottles last night amongst the five of us. Doug was in bad shape ;) I made lamb for the first time. I think it turned out well. No one got sick (at least not from the lamb). It was bittersweet because we have such cool neighbors and we will really miss them when we move to California.

 

Yes, that's right. Doug finally got his orders. We will be moving back to Camp Pendleton in Southern California. His last day at OCS will by July 6th and then we are off to Camp Pendleton. He has an appointment to meeting with TMO to determine our exact moving date. In addition, we have applied for base housing at Camp Pendleton. Neither of us has ever lived on base so this will be interesting. We want to move onto the base until we figure out where I will be working - either, Irvine or San Diego.

 

Lilliputian got micro chipped on Saturday and Shackleton tested negative for mites. He goes back in three more weeks and if he tests negative again, we will schedule his neutering appointment where he will also get microchipped. We can't wait for that to happen as he starting to get a little pushy with some male dogs at the dog park. Everyone seems to agree that it is because he hasn't been neutered yet.

 

So, that's about all that is going on with us.