1st Pony Ride

While Matthew was working a couple of weekends ago, Canaan and I went to a local park's annual fair day. There was a lot going on at the park, but the very best thing was the pony rides. From the moment I told Canaan there would be horses, she was so excited. We waited in line about 40 minutes so she could ride this pony (or horsey, according to Canaan) for about 5 minutes. She got to pick the one she wanted to ride, and she picked Toby. She was really good about sitting still and holding on. She squealed several times as she went around and would occasionally pet Toby. She had a ball!

We walked around the park to see what else was going on. There was a line for everything. We also went on a ride pulled by a tractor that Canaan enjoyed. By the time we got home, this pregnant momma was exhausted. It was a fun day!

Canaan went to sleep before Matthew got home from work that day. The next day when she was telling Matthew about the park, she told him she "needed Toby." She has talked about him several times since then as well.

Conversation about a puppy

I thought this conversation was funny and wanted to share it with you (obviously). In the following conversation, Ma is Matthew and Mi is Mindy.

Mi - "When I got to work this morning, I saw a posting someone had put up for free lab puppies that were found. They are cute!"

Ma - "Are the puppies there?"

Mi - "No. There are some pictures and a note posted in the break room that the puppies had been dumped by someone and found by someone else. They are free. Why is it that puppies are so darn cute?"

Ma - "Puppies are cute, and free is a good price...I'm tempted, but I fear vet bills and puppy shots, etc. And - what if it's a disaster? I think we have the best dog in the history of dogs - what if we get greedy and wind up with satan-dog?"

Mi - "I agree with you. It is tempting, but just think about all the potty training all over again. That was a mess! On the other hand, it could work out perfectly and Max would have a friend all the time. On the other hand, he could hate having another dog and not getting all the attention. It's probably best to stick with things the way they are, but puppies are fun."

Ma - "Yeah - I'm sure they will go fast, but if they don't we could take one. Do you know who it is who has the puppies?"

Mi - "I don't know who it is, but I do have the contact information. They say the puppies must go by Saturday."

Ma - "Just keep the info and call on Sunday. If they weren't able to give them all away, we can consider taking one."

For some reason I continued to crack up during this email exchange. You see that I am not the only one who is crazy about Max. We both seriously think he is the perfect dog. I'm so glad my first experience with a puppy has been so good. He is very well behaved and very affectionate. I wish you all could meet him.

Team Build

Yesterday my team at work had our annual team build. This year we decided to spend part of our day at a goat farm. I work for a natural food store (on the accounting team) and our stores purchase goat cheese from this farm.

Not only were the goats precious, but I also learned a bit about goats and goat cheese. This particular farm started about 16 years ago with 5 goats. They now have over 130 goats. We got to see a bunch of babies which was really fun. We saw one that was less than two weeks old. I wish I had a recording of their baa-ing. It really sounded cute.

• This particular farm has seen three sets of quintuplets born. This year was the first in which all five babies and the mother survived.
• Some of the mother goats after giving birth do not even look at their offspring.
• The kids are taken from their moms after they're cleaned so they can be fed pasteurized milk so they won't get a disease that can come from the mother's raw milk.
• There were two male goats that impregnate 60 or so female goats.
• Goats are very social creatures and do not do well alone. This farm will not sell just a single goat. Buyers have to purchase at least two goats.
• This particular farm cuts off the horns of the kids so they will not fight with each other.

A Love/Hate Relationship

Birds are can be such beautiful creatures, and there is nothing like walking outside in the morning (or anytime of day really) and hearing a bird singing. While they are beautiful, I have always read and heard that birds are truly dirty creatures that carry all kinds of disease.

The hate part of my relationship with birds began when I was in late elementary school or early middle school. If this has ever happened to you, you know how incredibly disgusting it can be. When I was a kid, we used to go camping in Fun Valley, CO. It was this really neat place that was somewhat closed off unless you had a parking permit to get into the camp. Because it was closed off, we kids could run around all day and our parents could enjoy time without us. There was a stream or river going through the camp where you could fish or go tubing. They had miniature golf, horseback riding, and other things to do as well. It was a really fun place to go on vacation. One year, I was walking across a bridge with my mom and dad when I felt something hit my head. I told my mom that I thought a bird had pooped on my head. She told me that I must be wrong and that it was most likely a raindrop. So I asked her to look at my head. Right where my hair was parted from my bangs, I had bird poop on my head. Thankfully, there were showers at this camp so I was able to wash my hair.

Even though it had happened before, I was still surprised by this next event. The year after I graduated from college, I went home for Mother’s Day. My mom and I were out on a Friday afternoon running errands. We had just finished looking around at Michael’s, when we were getting into her minivan. After I had opened my door and was getting into the car, I again thought I bird had pooped on me. This time it landed IN my ear! I showed my mom who thankfully had baby wipes in her car. I must say however, that using a baby wipe to get bird poop out of one’s ear does not make the ear nearly clean enough. This has been the most disgusting of the bird poop incidents thus far.

And yet again...After M and I were married, I went to church one Sunday without him. I can’t remember why. It was a nice spring or summer day. As I was walking from my car to the sanctuary, bird poop landed between my foot and my sandal. I could not get to the women’s restroom quick enough. Thankfully, it did not land in any crevasses like in situation #2.

I hope in this case the third time is the charm. I feel like I have certainly had my fair share, don’t you agree? Maybe after writing this, I should walk around with the protection of an umbrella or something.