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well today is Monday, the 2nd of February... it seems impossible to me that it is February 2009 already! But it is... We somehow have decided it was wise to get another dog. Keep in mind we already have two large dogs. My old chocolate lab which I've had since I was 18 and an 8 yr old Rottweiler that we adopted when we first got married.

This is Abe, adopted in June of 2004.

This is Bailey, I got her as a puppy when I lived in Missoula, MT June 1996

For some reason Travis and I have just had the itch... better than the baby itch (which we cant fulfill) but getting another pet is a huge deal! With the economy as it is, we are currently just lucky to still have our jobs! To add another mouth to feed was a big decision.

Travis seems to find lost dogs all the time... so I'm sure he's been red flagged at the humane society for calling them often! A couple weeks ago he found another one.... called the humane society and asked me to come pick it up... Since he found it while he was at work. I came and got it, and of course the girls fell in love with it. It was less than a year old, fun and hyper! Travis and I decided if it's owner didn't call we would keep it.... The dog's owner called and said she would meet me at work to retrieve the dog (I was about 20 minutes from leaving the house for work when she called finally... ) I asked her to meet me there 10 minutes before 3, as I was to clock on at 3. She didn't show up until 3:30 and thankfully that wasn't a super busy time I could run out to my car and give her the dog back.

Well turns out the woman who lives next to Travis's work who held that dog until I came down to town for it had gotten a 7 month old puppy. She asked Travis the other day if he was interested in the puppy she had just gotten bcs it just wasn't a good fit for them. So ... Travis calls me, I was in the middle of heading to Redmond to go grocery shopping and really didn't want to have that conversation w/ my friend and neighbor Stella in the car with me. So I left the decision up to him. Later in the day he calls and asks me to come pick this puppy up.

I just returned home from grocery shopping (it takes 35 minutes for me to just drive to the store)... and put all the groceries away. Waited for the girls to get off the school bus and headed back into town (20 min drive). Once we arrived in town Travis went to the woman's house to get the puppy. I hadn't told the girls as I thought it would be more fun to surprise them. Well, the woman changed her mind! Travis and I took this as a sign maybe we should just not get another dog at this time.... so we let it go and continued on with life.

The next day Travis was at work, I was home running on the treadmill thinking about all the housework I needed to do, and Travis called. "Will you come and get the puppy?!" ... well, I guess!? Are you sure she wants to give it away this time? I'm thinking about the wasted time and gasoline on all the extra trips to town. He said yes, she was sure this time... so the next hour the girls and I debated on weather we should get the puppy now, or do housework first than go get the puppy. We picked up the house thinking that if we're getting a puppy that it would chew up everything. Once we had that accomplished we headed into town. I text ed Travis to let him know we were on our way.... to which he replied. "She won't be back until 2pm..... " Well I was already on my way and figured I guess I'll just go and get some coffee.

I brought Travis his Grande 3 pump raspberry white mocha, and noticed the woman's car was in her driveway. Her husband was home. Travis went and picked up the puppy and we brought him home. His name was Bunker, and for some reason just struck me funny. Tia started calling him Bonkers... and boy not only was that funny but appropriate bcs we must be Bonkers for getting a 3rd dog!

Bonkers is getting along great w/ Bailey and Abe. He has a lot to learn, he isnt leash trained, he flies and lands on my bed, however, he is mostly housebroken which is a major selling point for me! He comes when he's called and loves to try and heard Bailey and Abe when they go out to potty. The entire point for the Title of this blog is that Abe, our Rott, has been having some joint problems and he needs a good supplement. Our old dog needs a supplement, and we get a puppy!

Notice the shovel in the picture? Well see the rocks against the fence? Apparently Bonkers doesn't like the dog pen... and wants out! I had to fill in that hole, and hopefully that will be the end of it, I know I'm being hopelessly optimistic here but I can hope!

Seven Degree's this morning...

Yes I do realize its still January and I live in the high desert but really? 7 Degree's is cold! We built our house 14 miles outside of the nearest town (population 10,000) a little over two years ago and when building in the high desert you run into things like putting in a well. Wells in the high desert out by the "rim" (a deep drop off which goes down to the crooked river)... is a tricky thing bcs they have to be so deep. We opted out of the well since the neighborhood we live in has community wells. Allowing our mortgage to be 30k less and for me to be home most of the time w/ the girls. Until our youngest starts to attend school. So... this morning we headed off to the well to get a tank of water (500 gallons) we were unable to put the hose into the tank bcs the lid was frozen shut! We had brought our morning cup of coffee with us, so my husband quick on his feet suggested we use that! I graciously offered up mine, and he poured it all over the cap finally freeing it from the ice. We quickly than tried to hose off the coffee, but it had already froze! I just thought it was too funny not to share! and on a side note.... it was 7 degree's at 7am w/ the thermometer attached to the house, imagine what it was earlier and not so close to the warm house?!?!

This is our portable cistern in the back of the truck. It holds 500+ gallons. See the green hose? That's going into our pump shed, the concrete that looks like the foundation of the pump shed, that's the actual cisterns that supply water to our house. There is two concrete cisterns fused together under the pump shed. It is all plumed for a well, once we get to the point where we can afford to have one dug. The community well is less than a tenth of a mile away, cost 40 per year and its really that bad. The worst time of year to have to haul water is in the summer, bcs I try and grow lots of things. Therefore, I don't ask for much help hauling water in the summer time!