Flipping The Bird

Well, not really. It’s more like A Bird doing flips. I know it’s a devious title, right? You were all probably like what’s ol’ Naps all pissed about now. I know, I know I’m a cranky sombitch, but whatever, if you don’t like it, go piss up a rope. But anyway, now that I have gotten my ceremonial bitching out of the way, its on to this post.
So we signed A Bird up for gymnastics at the YMCA. There are a lot of reasons for it, but the main reasons are she has a crap ton of energy, she’s crazy, and I taught her how to do a somersault like a month ago and she has been doing them like everyday. She has actually gotten so good at them that she does them with no hands. She just bends forward and flips. But we also thought it would be good for her to get into and activity to socialize with other kids and be in a “class” setting where she has to listen to a “teacher”. But really, she has way too much energy and is crazy. What you don’t believe me? Let me present Exhibit A:

Crazy A Bird

Yep, that is her running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room chasing a fictitious fly. She is just running and running and then stops and does a somersault at the request of L Bird. The evidence is all there, she’s crazy.
But anyway, we went on to Gymnastics class. It was a very small class, I’m not sure if everyone else just didn’t show up or it really is just a small class. It is the instructor, A Bird, and two other girls.
First they all warmed up by stretching:

I apologize for the blurriness, we were having camera issues that night.
Then they walked the balance beam:

They did A Bird’s flips on a declined mat:


And A Bird’s new favorite the “bar swing”:

So all of this was done along with a lot of running, jumping, hula hooping, sliding down various gym mats in a half an hour. On another note, it took a little longer than I thought for the instructor to lose complete control and have 3 crazy little girls just running rampant through the gym. But she did manage to reign them in and show them all of the things above.
Overall, it was a great night and A Bird had fun and is super excited to go next week, which is the number one reason we signed her up. And as an added plus for me was she was all tired out and went to bed with a smile because she was exhausted. It was awesome!

Independence & Pumpkins

So we are getting pretty close to Halloween, and I had been putting off going to the Pickin' Patch with A Bird because it is always packed with kids and every time I wanted to stop it was raining. Now the Pickin' Patch is a great local attraction, they have an 8 acre corn maze, a petting zoo, a portable fun house, and new this year an awesome bounce mat, and oh yeah pumpkins.
Every time we drive by A Bird asks me when we can stop and normally I say when its not so busy or when the weather is better. So this week the weather was supposed to be sunny on Friday and in the 50's so I figured I was safe. So I told A Bird Thursday night that the next day we had to run a few errands in town, then we would stop at the Pickin' Patch.
So we get the errands run and we are driving back towards the place and I noticed that the clouds were getting darker and darker and it was starting to sprinkle. We finally arrive and pull in and as I'm getting A Bird out of the back, it actually starts snowing. Its just my luck, I had promised her so there was no turning back now.
So from the time we got out of the truck A Bird decided she was going to be Miss Independent.

Yep, she demanded that she pulled the wagon, even though it was enormous and weighed more than her. But she has the Schrader stubborness, because I'll be damned if she didn't pull that wagon the whole way. Then she decided that we needed 4 pumpkins and proceeded to demand that I pick up whatever pumpkin she pointed to up and rotate it for her inspection. Once it passed her inspection, she had me place it in the pumpkin wagon.
Now we had 4 pumpkins in the wagon and with a little help from old Dad she pulled it over to the train ride. Because it was snowing and we had our pumpkins we made a "deal". She could ride the train once then we would go home because it was cold, but we would come back to do the rest of the rides the next day. The one stipulation was we had to go as soon as it opened. That was that, the deal was struck and we shook on it.

It appears that the one train ride was good enough to hold her over. We got off the train, packed up our pumpkins and went home with A Bird anxiously talking about all of the things she was going to do the next day.
Luckily for me and L Bird, who came with us the next day, the weather was beautiful. So here is what proceeded.

Numerous trips through the Fun House. By the 3rd or 4th time she had the netting incline mastered.


At least 30 minutes running and bouncing on the Bouncer.

One more train ride.

Then we finished off our trip with a giant pumpkin cookie and some cider.
It was an all around great trip.

That's my jam...

Have you ever been just driving down the street not really paying attention to the radio, it's on but its more annoying background noise than anything else, then you hear the first few notes or words of a song and you are immediately grinning.

Yeah, that happened to me today. There I was in the middle of main street at a stop light grinning like the cat the ate the canary as one of my favorite songs came on the radio. I was just bitching to myself about the idiot in front of me when all of the sudden I heard:

Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt.
It is so big.  She looks like,
one of those rap guys' girlfriends.
But, you know, who understands those rap guys?
They only talk to her, because,
she looks like a total prostitute, 'kay?
I mean, her butt, is just so big.
I can't believe it's just so round, it's like,
out there, I mean - gross. Look!

There I was instantly lost in Baby Got Back. I honestly don't know how I got down Main St with all of my hip thrusting to "my anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun" and "I wanna get you home and ugh, double up, ugh, ugh". People must have thought I was having a seizure because I am grinning/singing/laughing at myself so much I have tears in my eyes while I was shoulder dancing and gyrating in my seat. It really must have looked awful, but I used to a man with a fistful of game, but now I am just an old fat bald man singing and laughing at himself.

So I just thought I would share what an idiot I was.

 

But everyone has a song that they just can't help but act like an ass to, right?

What's yours?

A Few Locals....

I had some time on my way home for once, and it was actually sunny for once. Normally fall is always rainy and dreary so, I try to take advantage when I can. None of these shots are amazing by any means, but it is what I see every day on my ride from work, so I thought I would share.

One of the Ontario County Pathways. I saw it driving by and thought it looked so peaceful, like a tunnel of trees.

A shot of the south end of Canandaigua Lake and the colors starting to turn.

Another shot, but I tried to capture the clouds to show their shadows on the hills.

 

The sun was just right to show the different colors of cows. It definitely was a very "country" scene.

This a mennonite egg farm. I normally pass very early in the morning on the way to work, and I always see an old man out milking that cow.

More chickens, I mean c'mon who doesn't love chickens.

So like I said, nothing spectacular, but just what I see daily. I was just trying to slow down and admire the beauty in the little things around me.

Struggling with guilt & time

Earlier in the week we lost Opie to the road. Long story short he got loose and ran straight into the road where he was hit by a truck and he didn't make it. It has been a very rough week. L Bird is a mess, she is racked with guilt. She questions herself constantly with things she could have done differently. I have told her repeatedly that it isn't her fault and there was nothing she could have done to change what happened, but it is just one of those things she is going to have to come to terms with herself. A Bird has had a few moments where she'll ask questions about where Opie is and what doggy heaven is like, or she'll say that she misses him. So that breaks my heart, but for the most part she seems ok and from what the literature says, that is normal for her age group to react the way she is, so that's a small comfort.

As for me, I try to keep myself distracted but it really is amazing how one little dog can impact your life so much. Its things like when A Bird and I are horsing around on the bed, I expect to see him come tearing into the bedroom howling as he jumps on the bed and goes crazy, or when I go out to the chicken coop to get eggs I expect to turn around and see him waiting for me, or while I'm watching TV, I expect him to come and cram himself on top of me so he can snore loudly as I keep turning the TV louder and louder. Then I realize he's gone and I won't be able to do those things again with him and I get a little choked up.

Then I struggle with getting another puppy. We will sometime, I am 100% positive we will, I am just a two dog kind of guy, but I don't want people to judge me if we get a new puppy sooner rather than later. We all love Opie and miss him terribly, so a new puppy would be a distraction to take our minds off Opie, but even as I write that I feel guilty. I am going to try and fight the urge to run out and get another puppy. But then on the other hand Roxy our other dog is a great dog and I truly believe she was teaching Opie some of her greatest traits of tolerance and mellowness. She is 12 now which is the top of her breed's life expectancy so I'm not sure how much longer she'll be here either, so I would love to have any new puppy spend time with her to "learn the ropes" so to speak.

Hell I don't know what I'll do, but whatever I do I always feel like people will make snide remarks or judge me because it is too soon. I guess the only thing I can do is just know for myself how much I loved Opie and how much I miss him and no dog will ever replace him.

He was born to run....

I had one of the most awful things happen to me today. I was at work and I got a frantic call from L Bird. One of our dogs, Opie the beagle slipped his lead and ran into the road and was hit and killed by a man driving a truck. As bad as it was for me to hear this news, it was tremendously worse for L Bird because she witnessed the whole thing. She saw Opie had gotten loose and went out to get him when he took off for road and saw him get hit. The man who it him never even slowed down, he just kept right on driving like a callous asshole.

Even though there is nothing L Bird could have done to change this awful accident, she has been beating herself up about it all day. I feel awful for her because there was nothing she could do as it was happening and that is such a helpless feeling. Then that is topped with the vision of it happening.

I drove home as fast as I could, and when I got there one of neighbors had helped L Bird get Opie into a blanket and on the deck, but it was too late. The only good thing is he appeared to go almost instantly with no suffering. So I pet him a few times as tears streamed down both L Bird's and my face. Then I loaded him up into the Jeep and took him to the vet to be cremated, then he can take a position on the mantle next to Frisco.

Now I have the unfortunate task of explaining death to a 3 year old. Right now she thinks Opie just ran away and will come back and I am partially inclined just to let her think that, but I feel she should know, Opie was her dog, she did pick him out. I am so not looking forward to her questions, but its what's right.

He was a great dog. He was excited to see you when you got home, he loved to chase anything you threw for him, and he would love to climb up and try to sit with you no matter where you were. We love you Opie. He definitely had the true instincts of a beagle, when his nose picked up a scent, his ears turned off and he was tracking it down. He was born to run and chase rabbits and squirrels. Well now you can chase them all day long in the lush green meadows of heaven. We love you, Opie!