March 24, 2009:  Hey yaaall!  Hope you're doing well this fine Spring morning, things here are good.  I'm at work and things are piled up so high that I just don't know where to start so I figured doing an update to clear my head couldn't hurt.  Everything is good here, the weather is as crappy as it ever is, we're bracing for 50's and rainy for the next month or so with the sun making an appearance every now and then but never for more than 20 minutes at a time.  We had a busy week at work but somewhat quiet week around the house.  Stella is going through a "phase" of some sort, basically she's been a total pain in the ass for the last week or so, getting into as much trouble as she has hours in the day, we're hoping it passes soon.  Stella's Mom Lottie and her cousin Claire are both having litters in a few weeks so we'll be sure to put lots of pictures of puppies up as soon as they arrive.  Stella won't be able to take her new puppy home until the middle of June so hopefully she straightens out her attitude by then :)  We picked up a ticket for Gregg to fly out here at the end of May to do some mountain biking and of course help me with a project at the house.  We will be replacing the white fence in the front of the yard with a new one that both isn't white and isn't rotten.  When Leroy was staying with us the two dogs were quite interested in getting that busted, falling down fence to open so they could roam the neighborhood, we need to put that to bed before Stella has a permanent sidekick to help her get into trouble.  We have been rounding up stuff for the Maui trip and have to start packing this weekend now that I will be in Dallas the Wednesday and Thursday before the Friday we leave.  We are both very excited about having a vacation, we really need it.  I guess it's time to do some work, have a great week and hopefully we'll talk again before we take off. 

March 15, 2009:  I know, there is no excuse for the long gap other than the same one I always give, just too busy.  Not a whole lot has happened lately worth talking about, we've both been working insane hours.  I'm in for a few more months of the same thing before getting any break, well, other than the trip to Maui in a few weeks.  We're getting real psyched to have a vacation, it will be here before we know it.  Stella made it out to the Seattle Kennel Club show with the gang last weekend and got a blue ribbon just like she always does, she was also the only dog in her class as always.  Maybe someday she's have competition that is the same age so we can tell how she stacks up.  We finally got around to having the huge trees in the back yard taken care of, they were here and got them all trimmed up and secured together on Monday so now we can sleep better and not worry so much about them coming down.  I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of things that you all might want to hear about but nothing is coming to mind, maybe I'll think of them another day.  My folks made a trip down to Hartford for my niece Elle's baptism, they sent us a few pictures of the weekend, we've added them to the link on the left.  A few weeks ago I got rid of the last of my nitro powered radio controlled trucks on eBay and I ordered a gas powered model from the shop I used to work part-time at back in Rochester.  I've been working on it when I have time and it's mostly finished, just waiting on a few parts that haven't arrived yet.  I'm anxious for the weather to get a little better so I can take it out for its maiden voyage, I'll report back when I have more to report and will try to get some pictures of it before I get it dirty.  Lastly we decided this week to spend a bit of my very hard earned bonus from work on a new washer and dryer to replace the old ones that are close to being ready for the junk yard.  While we waited for them to be delivered today we painted the cabinet that was still natural wood the same color as the trim and doors in the house, it really brightens up the room.  We got a pair of front loaders with pedestals underneath and they are easily the most complicated appliances I've ever seen.  They stand up as tall as Lisa's shoulders but look very good in the laundry room.  It's going to take a while to get used to how they work, Lisa's been reading the manuals so she'll have to teach me how to make them go.  So far I know how to turn the dome light on, yes, it has a dome light.  Well, it's late and I'm beat, enjoy the new pictures and have a great week, I'll try to do another update soon!