Time flies when you're . . .

too busy to slow down and breath having fun.  Seriously, though, we've been busy lately.  K switched to an in hospital rotation (which means he no longer gets to enjoy the schedule that comes with private practice) and I have been working non-stop to meet several large deadlines at work.  To say we've been busy is almost an understatement.  We're like barely getting our laundry done busy.  Thankfully we're still managing to have a little fun ;)  Here's a quick recap of life lately:

BYOP!

Our friends the Watsons had a BYOP (bring your own pie) party last month to celebrate Charlotte's half birthday and usher in Fall in San Antonio. (That's a little bit of an oxymoron, I know, but I promise the temperatures cooled off for at least two full days!) It was so much fun to sample the variety of sweet and savory pies and Mary Carolyn made a delicious salads to complete the meal.  Our contribution was a savory tomato, zucchini, and goat cheese tart.  Here's our tart just before it went into the oven.

Birthday Surprise

I turned 29 last week.  Yikes!  Work has been so busy that we didn't really have time to celebrate the day of, but K plotted with my bosses to surprise me with a quick trip last weekend.
It was a wonderful* surprise and I thoroughly enjoyed our little mini-vacation.
We played tennis, had a spa day and relaxed by the pool.

*Confession: I had to actively try to be excited about having my "plan" for Friday/Saturday thrown off.  I was actually a little disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to head into work at 6:30 on Friday morning to finish my motion and catch up on other deadlines before calling it a weekend.  I wish I was kidding.  I think that disappointment faded when I got to the spa mid-day Friday, but I feel like I have to at least confess the extent to which I am a control freak.  
Thanks for loving me anyway, K.

My Other Birthday Surprise

or Lucy's lesson in placing your treasure in heaven....
Last week, K and I made a big decision to buy a rug for our den.  I desperately wanted a patterned natural fiber rug, but we decided we needed something that would be a little easier to keep clean.  Read: a little more Lucy friendly.  We chose a neutral/patterned wool rug that I absolutely love.  We literally had the rug four days when I came home (on my Birthday no less) to this:

Yep.  Lucy ate the rug.  Or actually it looks like she sat there all day slowly pulling it apart.  Whatever.  She made a big fat mess of my pretty new rug.  I cried.  Then I immediately regretted that we had made a "big purchase" for the den.  Then I cried some more and went to bed.  A little dramatic?  Yes.  But I was frustrated and stressed and tired and it was my birthday.  K and I  decided Lucy was most likely trying to give us a not so gentle reminder that our material things just aren't that important.
She is so wise.  

Lucy, We Have a Problem

Lucy has a new favorite hangout.  Our bed.  And she has become very aggressive about claiming her spot.  See how she tries to look cute so that we'll let her jump up?

It works every time.  We never let Lucy spend the whole night in bed with us, but pre-bedtime and morning cuddle time have become a pretty big part of her routine.  Plus, this body on the bed, feet on the ground pose is one of her favorites and since she's not technically, all the way on the bed, we let it slide.

The other new addition to her routine?  Bi-weekly trips to doggy daycare.  I know, I'm a little embarrassed to put this out there, but we take our dog to daycare.  But, remember this?  She had been doing so well, but after about a week of 12 hour work days for me and K, Lucy decided to expand her original hole in the wall and add a few others around the room to spice things up a bit.  I think she was trying to tell us something.  Anyway, we decided doggy daycare was a great alternative to leaving Lucy home to eat holes in our wall all day.  The result has been great.  So great that we actually had both holes patched.  Plus, the world of the dog-obssessed puppy-parent is kind of fun :)  When I pick Lucy up after a full day of daycare, I get "reports" on her day, like "Lucy had a great time playing with Spot today.  They were together the whole day."  One time they even offered to put me in touch with Lucy's friend's "parents" so they could play outside of daycare.  And, they generally tell me how sweet and well-behaved she is, which is a boost, because our little crackhead, while always sweet, is rarely well-behaved.  Also, if I were so inclined, I could log on to the website and watch the live streaming video of the playground.  You know, just to be sure Lucy was safe and having fun.  For the moment I am resisting the urge to become a helicopter puppy parent, but who knows what the future holds?

So, I guess you could say we have a Lucy problem.  She kind of runs the show around here, and for the time being, we're kind of ok with it.

"Whose dog is the butterfly chaser?"

That would be us.

We took Lucy to the dog park today and rather than play with the other dogs, she chased butterflies. No I'm not kidding. People were staring, pointing, laughing...(it was pretty funny to watch). We decided to let her run and hope people didn't realize she was ours. That plan failed when an older man asked us directly whether she belonged to us. Ok fine. She's ours. We're the proud owners of the crackhead (I prefer dreamer) that chases butterflies around the dog park. As the man observed, "she sure has a lot of energy." Yes, we agreed, she sure does. We're just glad she got most of that energy out today chasing butterflies.

At least Lucy is sleepy after her big day at the park : )

Happy Saturday!

L-u-c-y! You've got some s'plainin to do!

Meet Lucy.

Isn't she the most adorable little puppy you've ever seen!?!

K and I l-o-v-e Lucy! Practically over night we turned into those "dog people." You know, those people who talk to their dog while it cuddles in bed with them under the covers. Ok, to be clear, we draw the line at under the covers, but you get the picture - we really love our girl.

See how she likes to be held like a baby?

We named our red headed pup after our favorite red headed actress, Lucille Ball. And like her namesake, Lucy tends to get into a little bit of trouble.

"L-u-c-y, you've got some s'plainin to do!" See the resemblance?

Lucille Ball image found here.

So what, you ask, could that sweet little puppy have done to get into so much trouble? The list is long. Too long to write about here, but I do have some photographic evidence . . .

Exhibit A: Hole in the wall

Apparently Lucy has an eye for decorating. If you'll reference Exhibit A, you'll see where she decided what our den really needs is to be opened up. With a big, random hole. What!?! You're wondering why she did that? Or maybe you're wondering how she did that? Me too! Being the diligent new home owners that we are, we immediately had the hole fixed. And being the persistent pup that she is, Lucy immediately replaced her hole. I guess she really likes the way it looks. We've decided she's right and aren't going to attempt fixing it again until she's moved passed puppyhood and is well into middle age.

We've also found that Lucy has quite a talent for landscape architecture . . .

Exhibit B: A wide hole in the ground.

Why thank you, Lucy. That is exactly where we were planning to put a flower bed.

What would we do without your help clearing the grass?

Exhibit C: A deep hole in the ground.

This must be where Lucy is suggesting we plant a tree. Isn't she smart to be

thinking about the amount of shade in our backyard?

We're not saying our yard looks great as is, but we're pretty sure it looked better before Lucy started "helping." If only we could channel all that energy into something positive. Sigh. For now, we're making an effort to take the girl on daily walks and runs and planning as many trips to the dog park as our schedules allow. And in spite of it all, we still love Lucy.

Seriously, how could you not love that face?