Pupdini Escapes Again

Somehow, on Monday, Callaway managed to get out of the yard despite our blockades. The bricks and plank of wood were all still in place, so we had no idea how he did it. To avoid him getting out of the yard while we tried to figure out how he was getting out, we decided to kennel him on Tuesday.

After work I had to stop at the gas station near our house. While I was standing there, I saw a work truck from Travis' new company drive by. I was unable to see who was driving. I didn't expect it to be Travis since he doesn't take the work truck home, but I didn't know for sure.

When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed Callaway wasn't in his kennel. Then I thought, maybe Travis' co-worker had dropped him off at home for some reason? And then Travis let Callaway out of his kennel on his way inside? When I walked into the yard, Callaway didn't come running, which could just mean he was inside the house. But it was weird that the door was latched. We always leave it unlatched in case Callaway wants to sit inside while he's hanging out outside.

I was starting to feel a little Twilight-Zone-ish when Callaway came running from his hideout under the house. I checked the door and it was locked, so I called Travis to see if he knew what was going on. I asked him if he had stopped by earlier in the day to let Callaway out of his kennel. He said no. Well then did the neighbor tell you he was going to let Callaway out? Again, no. How else could Callaway get out and then have the door latch behind him? It has a very difficult to use mechanism that requires an opposable thumb.

While I was talking to Travis, I was staring at the kennel waiting for it to yell out it's secret. I noticed a crack on the side, but it was barely big enough for a gecko to get through, let alone a 75-pound dog. After closer inspection, I realized he had broken one of the screws off. I still cannot believe that he can fit through there, but that is the only explanation I can come up with. If this is how Pupdini escaped, then he could most definitely fit around the boards we placed in the hole he dug under the fence.

When Travis got home, he brought in the mail. Written on the top envelope was the following: "Dog got out. 6/7/11" Not only did Callaway escape his kennel, but the yard as well. I'm assuming the postwoman put him back in the yard because that's where he was when I got home.

Our temporary fix is tethering him to a stake in the ground. We made sure he can't jump over the fence and strangle himself. He will be able to go 3 feet under the house, so he'll have sufficient shade. It still makes me nervous. I hope we will be able to buy some rebar this weekend to tie the bottom of our cyclone fence down, because then he shouldn't need to be tethered again.

Could our pets be any more annoying?

JP Star

Sunday afternoon, after we had the Callaway-situation under control, we drove back north for our friend Jacen's birthday cookout. Travis and I were both in a horrible mood by the time we were en route. We fought Aiden for two hours, trying to get him to lay down for a nap, with no success. Then we had to deal with Callaway. We thought about not going to the party at all, since neither of us were in a socializing type of mood. But then I decided it would be good for us to go. If we stayed home, we would definitely remain in a funk. If we went to a party with friends, we would have the opportunity to cheer up. And man am I glad we went. We all had a lot of fun.

I took boat loads of photos (to make up for missed shots in the past?) and I had trouble choosing between them all. Chris made sure to show off his muscles for the camera...

It was outrageously hot on Sunday, but if you stayed in the shade it wasn't so bad with the breeze. Some of they guys played the Longest Game of Washers in History, while the rest of us lounged nearby.

Supermodel Marina (pictured on the left below) did a great job with all the food. There were hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken breasts, ribs and then pasta salad and veggie salad and corn. I'm not even going to go into the list of appetizers she had out beforehand.

Kai, Travis, Skylar and Marina's right half:

After the Longest Game of Washers in History, we continued to hang out. There were a lot of kids there, which were quickly dubbed the Pack of Children. Aiden followed behind as they ran around the large property with walkie talkies, looking at rocks and plants and the horses and doing whatever else it is that entertains children for hours without a single toy (aside from the walkie talkies, of course).

Eventually a few of the older boys pulled a boat into the little pond. It was so funny because all they could really do was push the boat in and quickly turn around again. Aiden watched from the grass, while I tried not to have an anxiety attack about the possibility of him falling in. We could see everything the kids did from the house on top of the hill, but just because I can see him doesn't mean he's safe.

At one point, a small group of us went with Jacen over to their barn to feed the horses. We took a moment to check out the chickens and the one rooster with the longest spurs I've ever seen. Aiden was absolutely enthralled with all the animals.

When I was in middle school, I was at my friends house when she decided we were going to go play in the woods behind the horse pasture. That meant we had to climb the fence into the pasture with the horses for part of the trek out there. My friend warned me that one of the horses was still a little wild and I should run for the fence if she came over. Well, she tried to come over, so I ran. I had no experience with the large animal, so I just did what she said. My friend quickly realized I was not faster than a horse and yelled for me to stop and stand still. The horse then bit me on the shoulder.

I'm fairly confident that it was mostly lips and just a little nip with the teeth, but it scared the crap out of me. Nothing was broken or torn, but I had some bruising for a week. Ever since then I have been terrified of horses. I have tried to show courage, but I always had that animals-can-sense-your-fear saying in the back of my head. It doesn't matter how calm I am or if I have a smile on my face, I am sure that animal knows I am terrified.

Lucky for me, I'd had a couple glasses of Sangria before heading over to the barn, so I was (mostly) carefree when we stepped into the pasture. Personally, I think I did pretty well considering.

Here's a shot of Jacen (AKA JP Star) feeding Choctaw, the biggest horse I've ever stood next to.

Blair watches on as Choctaw and Cowboy eat their dinner.

Note to self: Do not mess with horses while they eat. They may get irritable.

Our Beach Escape and Callaway's Yard Escape

I have been wanting to go to the beach with Aiden for a few weeks now. I want to get in as many trips as possible before the heat and tourism becomes unbearable. Travis wasn't up for it this weekend - he didn't feel like dealing with the sand. I feel the same way sometimes, but the need to get out of the house overpowered my disdain for sand everywhere. So Aiden and I headed to Galveston beach Saturday afternoon.

Aiden has been taking naps later in the day ever since he learned to climb out of his travel crib, so we were later getting out of the door than I preferred. I went straight for East Beach because you can park your car right where you want to sit on the beach. Having Aiden, I've found this much more convenient than having to walk a ways from the car with my arms full, all the while keeping track of Aiden. I knew there was a sand castle competition on Saturday, but I didn't realize it would go so late in the day. So when I was stopped in traffic half a mile away from the beach, I decided to back track a bit to another beach.

I had never been to this particular section of the beach, but Rachel frequents it when she can. It's known to have more than the normal amount of rainbow umbrellas and same sex hand-holding. The perfect place for a woman to go if she's not up for flirters.

I recently bought a stake umbrella, so I was excited to put this to good use. This was the first time I'd used it and it was only a bit breezy. Perfect for umbrella usage. We applied our sunscreen and went straight for the water. Aiden loves it. The water is warm now. It was still cold when we were on the beach for Mother's Day. It's not the hot bath water that it is in the dead of summer, but it was warm enough that I didn't hesitate sticking my feet in.

Aiden found some seaweed that he didn't want to let go. He carried it around for the remainder of our time on the beach. After we played in the water for a while, we went back to hydrate and build a sand castle. Or should I say compacted sand pile? Finally, we went back to the water to rinse off. I showed Aiden some shells and he quickly started collecting them. He had his hands full by the time we left. It was nice and relaxing.

Saturday morning, Travis and I attempted to go for a walk to the park with Aiden.

We had about 5 minutes playing at the playground before one of our neighbors pulled up at the park to notify us that our dog kept getting out of the yard. He said he put Callaway back in twice, but somehow he kept getting out. Our neighbor was worried he'd get hit by a car since we live on a fairly busy street, so he drove over to get us right away.

We quickly started the trek back home. When we got there, Callaway was sitting on our front porch. Travis put him back in the yard and then we tried to figure out how he was getting out. We couldn't find anything strange or out of place. I was worried he was jumping over the fence. The only way to solve that problem is to build a taller fence - a luxury we don't have at the moment. I didn't want to have to go back to kenneling Callaway. He's lost so much weight, just by being allowed to run free outside during the day.

Aiden and I went for a short walk while Travis stayed on the front porch. We were trying to get Callaway to show us his secret escape route. It was time for lunch, so we didn't have enough time to figure it out.

That afternoon, we had plans to go to our friends' house for a birthday BBQ. We threw Callaway's collar on, put him in the yard and started north. We were pulling into the grocery store when a different neighbor called Travis to say Callaway kept getting out despite repeatedly being put back in his yard. We turned the car around.

When we got home, Callaway was still in the yard, but Travis had spotted the escape route. He was digging a shallow spot under the fence near the new patio. I am so thankful that this is a problem we can work with. Assuming he doesn't start digging in another spot, we can just fill this hole with bricks or boards. Also, this is the part of the fence we will be bumping out to encompass the new patio. Which means eventually, we won't have to keep the bricks under the fence.

Hopefully Callaway can avoid getting himself killed until then...

My thing for Travis's

As I look back at my life with boys, I am amazed by the number of Travis's sprinkled throughout. My very first crush, ever, was a boy named Travis. It was Kindergarten. I decided he was the bee's knees the moment I saw him in class that first day.

My parents hadn't had time to get my school supplies together that first week, so I had to share with my fellow classmates. The day that stands out in my mind, was the day we did watercolors. I had to share and the teacher chose Travis to share with me. I was soooo nervous, but excited! We started on our pictures, but had to stop one minute later when Travis got mad at me for mixing the colors together. I was heartbroken and embarassed. As far as I can remember, Travis was never my boyfriend, just a crush.

I now believe that procrastination with the school supplies and the years of similar stories in the years to come are the reason I am meticulous in my need to buy things way too far in advance. In the same vein, I am usually entirely too early at functions. I would rather be 30 minutes early to an event than 5 minutes late. It's just not right.

There was another minor Travis-crush in middle school. Fast forward to Freshman year of high school, and a new Travis came into my world. I attended a consolidated high school. The grade school I came from was the largest school to feed into our high school, but it was really interesting to see new faces at school. We had all been together pretty much from Kindergarten through 8th grade. High school was a small change for us. One of the other grade schools contained a Travis. He was so cool, laid back. I really liked him. We were friendly, but it was never more than that. I kind of got the vibe that he wasn't interested in my, so I never pushed things with him.

THEN! The King of all Travis's came into my life my senior year. It seems almost serendipitous that I should end my dating years with someone who has the same name as my first crush. I think it was meant to be.

The Working History of Travis

Travis' first week at the new job is going great. He likes the guy he's riding around with this week, but he hasn't had much of a chance to get to know the other guys (aside from the one he already knew). I really hope this week is a glance at his future with this job. He has worked so hard for many years, he deserves a job with a little slower pace of work. Because they service such a wide area, he spent more time driving than he ever did at the last electrical company.

He already has his own truck that he is in charge of inspecting, although he won't be driving around on his own for a few more weeks. He came home Wednesday night, excited about getting to arrange the truck how he wants. The guy he's driving with right now had some great ideas on how to set up the bed of the truck, so I have a feeling Travis will be doing some of that to his own truck.

When we first moved to Galveston, Travis got a job immediately working for Quizno's, since that's who he'd worked for in Illinois. He worked there for a few months before hearing about a job at a plant east of Houston. It was a horribly long drive, especially during rush hour. He had an hour and a half commute each way. That was in addition to a 10-hour work shift. We barely saw each other while he worked there. I hated it.

Soon after I started my first semester at Texas A&M, I made some friends. We hung out at their apartment frequently and got to know their neighbors, Cristin and Kai. They had a baby who I think was around 1 year old at the time. Kai was in the middle of building a house on the west end of the island. He had contracted out all the big work, but was getting ready to get his own hands dirty to do all the smaller jobs. Since Travis had some construction experience from when he worked for my dad during the summers in Illinois, Kai hired him to help.

Travis spent the entire summer helping Kai finish up the house, along with a occasional help from another friend of ours. The work Travis did for Kai was hard labor, but Kai was a good boss. It probably helped that we were friends. While Travis was working there, he got to know one of the guys Kai had contracted out to do the interior work. His name was Patrick. When the guys had finished the work at that house, Patrick took Travis on as his first full time employee.

After a couple months, Patrick hired another guy to work along side Travis. He did general construction for Patrick as well - trim, painting, installing appliances, windows and door knobs. He even took a stab at a little electrical, helping out some of the other contracted workers. Eventually, Patrick's health declined as he lost his battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma (hopefully I'm recalling that correctly). Patrick was unable to stay as busy with work as he wanted to and had to let Travis go.

While working with Patrick, Travis got to know his last boss, Guy. Guy quickly agreed to hire him on with his small company. Travis had always shown interest in the electrical side of construction and was looking forward to learning more. He immediately got his Apprentice license and began learning the trade. After a few years, he tested for his Journeyman's license and has kept that active ever since.

Working for Guy was hard work. They worked long hours during the week and every Saturday. The work itself was grueling and fast paced. A lot of what electricians do involves houses and businesses without the electricity turned on. That means no air conditioning, which in southeast Texas is a pretty big deal. Add to that a lot of work in attics and you've got one tired employee by the end of the day.

Travis also worked at an oil refinery plant as an electrician for about a year in the middle of his time with Guy. Needless to say, Travis has been working his butt off for years. I'd say that he is overdue for a job that is a little more laid back and I think this new position is just the thing he needs.

We're enjoying our yard

We try to find time to relax in the hammock. Aiden really likes going for a swing in that thing. He absolutely refuses to sit on my lap though. Independent stinker.

The tomato plants are thriving in our garden. We planted them too close together to use those metal cones for them to grow into. Instead, we stuck some dowel rods in the ground and tied the plants to it. Seems to be working well. We have some green tomatoes growing. They're only the size of large marbles, so we've got a ways to go.

The onions and peppers are not doing very well. It seems like all the plants against the garage are doing better. We thought it might be because they get more shade, so Travis built this partial sun cover for the garden. The white trellis sticking up in the front are for the cucumbers. My favorriiittteee...

We tucked Aiden's new sandbox into the corner of the house in the front yard. After the wall goes up it will have more privacy. We are hoping to eventually put up a swing set next to it as well.

My dad, Travis and I had a teleconference last night to discuss more options for the wall. We were originally planning on doing a stucco wall. That is definitely still in the running, but we are worried about the grill smoke staining the wall. We are trying to come up with solutions for that. At this point, we are thinking about putting tile in the grill nook. That would be easier to clean than stucco. We are also contemplating a prefab vinyl wall, with some sort of metal surround for the grill nook. The vinyl would melt, so that would not be an option around the heat (hence the pressed metal).

My dad is in the process of finalizing some stuff at work. If that all goes well, then he should have some time off to come help with the wall. He is also working on getting quotes for the different wall types to see what we're working with. The prefab wall would be soooooo much easier, but I think the stucco wall would be more unique and personalized.

Here's a mock up my dad made of the new wall from the patio side.

Looks like a smiley face, right? I have a hard time seeing past that. The eyes are lights, the nose is a window to the front yard and the mouth is the only grill option his computer program has. We'd really like to do the pergola as well, but it will of course depend on cost. I was thinking about building benches to place on either side of the grill nook on which to place potted plants. That's something we can worry about down the line. I'm already trying to accessorize this new yard and we don't even have it yet!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a lovely three day weekend with Travis at home. We spent a lot of time sitting in the yard while Aiden enjoyed his new sandbox. We had some boards leftover from building the veggie garden, sand leftover from laying the patio and Travis had some time leftover without working for the past week. Bam! Sandbox.

Saturday afternoon we had some friends over to enjoy use the new patio space with us. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera existed on that day. Boo. But we had a great time! We ate burgers and lots of sweets. I'm fairly confident I gained a few pounds from all the junk I ate this weekend. My clothes are feeling a little snug this today.

I am looking forward to bumping out the wall around the patio moreso now that we had that party. I think it was a little stressful for all the parents with small children running around (me included). We live on a busy street and it would be all too easy for one stray child to run into off towards the danger zone. That left all the parents on their toes, which means they had a difficult time socializing. It will also be nice when the overflow of people on the patio can stand in the yard, as opposed to the driveway.

Travis and I stayed up chatting with my work-friend Michelle until 12:30 in the morning. !!! I was exhausted the next day. We watched TV and the movie Astro Boy (very cute!) and did some more sitting outside. We even took a nap at the same time as Aiden!

Monday afternoon we went over to the Ramby's. The boys played in the kiddie pool and the adults chillaxed.

Snack break

Laying in the sun

Skylar has her own little pool of bath-warm water

Play zone

Just hanging out with us

Rough play in the yard

Coming back to work on Tuesday was rough. Especially since I had such a busy first day back. Travis had yesterday off, but he's at his first day at the new job today. Wish him luck!