Kaia - Menace, Wonder Dog, or Both?

I know, it's been awhile. Keeping pretty busy these days with work and school. Soon to be done with school though - December graduate!

Today was entertaining enough to warrant a post though and a more recent photo of the new family member - Kaia.

I get a call about 10:30 this morning at work that Steve has been locked out of the house and is at the neighbors calling me - no phone, keys, etc. So, I hop in the car to drive back home - 28 miles one way to get him back in the house. The entire way I'm trying to understand how this could have happened. You have to have a key to lock the house!

Enter...wonder dog Kaia! While Steve went out to feed the other dogs, he left her inside. This drives her crazy and she starts barking and jumping like a mad woman trying to get out into the garage. This time she managed to jump up high enough and hit the lock...locking Steve out and her inside.

The above picture was taken last week. She's laying on our floor and looks up to get her picture taken. This describes her 4.5 month puppy personality to a tee! Menacing...but cute!

Good thing she is so darn cute.....

Hanging Out

Sometimes You're the Sniffer, Sometimes You're the Sniffee

Voted Cutest Puppy at the Farmer's Market

We took Kaia (7.5 week old puppy below) on her first social outing this morning - and we deemed it a success.

We started out at a local coffee shop where she caught the attention of a 7 year old lab as well as some Saturday morning latte drinkers.

Then we headed to the vet for her well-check puppy exam. She got a good report, so we are off to a good start.

We then decided to take her to our local farmer's market. We've gone on many a Saturday and watched dog after dog checking out people, produce, etc. Why not take her? We carried her for the most part. We were the hit of the farmer's market. We had a lot of people asking to pet her, checking out what kind of puppy she was, asking her age, etc. One couple stopped and said they had voted her "cutest puppy there today". We had several little girls stop and play with her and she got very comfy on some laps.

I knew she'd be a hit!

Smells Like New Puppy

Summer

I think everyone has fond memories of summer. Lightning bugs, flashlight tag, afternoons at the pool, homemade ice cream. As kids summer means no school, sleeping in, being free to do what you want.

Summer as a 30-something working gal/ student? Work, work, and more work. Throw in studying and taking a class like Financial Accounting and it's not much of a summer break. Thankfully I work for a company that takes advantage of the summer by offering 1/2 day Fridays for longer work days the rest of the week. That does help!

I'm not saying I don't take a bit of a break in the summer. I do try to catch a movie or two, read some light summer reading, and get outside when I can.

This afternoon was one of those days. I saw The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock - very cute. Then we took a couple of the dogs to the dog park this evening and enjoyed the nice summer evening. When I got home I went and watered my tomato plants - hoping for more than the 5 that are currently on the plants. We're facing a bit of a drought in our neck of the woods.

There are also the occasional trips in the summer. For the 4th I was in Kentucky for the annual baseball game with the family. That was a lot of fun and it was nice to get away. This year also brings my high school reunion. I won't say how many years, suffice it to say...too many. I'm also looking forward to a visit by my parents, sister, and niece.

So, summer is not all bad as an adult. No evening games of flashlight tag though. I also have stopped catching lightning bugs.

Hope you are having a great summer.

Friday Night Shake Up

Typically on a Friday we will head out for some grub somewhere in the 10 mile vicinity which is near our house. I had my crabby pants on and whined about doing something different this time. I suggested several restaurants that are more within the 15-20 mile radius. Of course my restaurant ideas were not well received, but....the idea of "eating outside of the box" did.

We went to a new restaurant in a nearby suburb called The Mediterranean Cruise Cafe. I will have to admit I went thinking it was going to be a hole in the wall little restaurant where it would be difficult to find anything but lamb on the menu. Much to my surprise it was a huge new restaurant...just opened a week ago.

We were quickly seated and started perusing the pretty extensive menu. Yes they had a lot of gyros but they had other items as well. We ordered drinks...Greek Wine for me, some sort of martini for the mister. We shared pita bread and tasty hummus. We then had our Greek salad with lots of feta cheese. Very tasty. Our entrees arrived and were enough to feed 2-3 people each. Leftovers for lunch! I had chicken and some other sort of meat kabobs over rice. The other meat was good and I am hopeful it was not lamb. The hubby had gyros which he thoroughly enjoyed. We topped it off with a small piece of baklava each. I had walnut and he had pistachio. I think each of us would say ours was the best.

The restaurant also had live entertainment...a belly dancer. She was pretty good. The cutest part was when a little girl near the dance floor went on stage with her and danced too. The crowd seemed pretty engaged in the entire process.

We then walked around the downtown area for a bit taking in the nice summer evening while watching the storm clouds role over the metropolis. No rain...just dark puffy clouds.

All in all a nice change of pace for a Friday night.