Hanging at Lucky's House

We had a great weekend hanging out around town. This morning Uncas got up early and went fishing. Sammy and I hung out at home for awhile (slept) and joined Uncas later at the lake. It was our first chance to check out his boat since he made all of his improvements.


Here are a couple of the improvements - a new depth finder and fancy cup holders. He also put in some very comfortable seats.


He caught a bunch of little fishes (like the one pictured here). I sat back and relaxed and read my book. Sammy slept and checked out the sights.
On Saturday night, we went over to our friend's Jessie and Rob's house. They have a cute little dog named Lucky. We were excited for our dogs to meet. Unfortunately, Sammy was a little too eager to be friends with Lucky and his puppy energy was no match for Lucky either. Much of the evening Sammy was chasing Lucky around, trying to get him to play. When Sammy wasn't busy bugging Lucky, he was busy leaving various bodily excretions around their house . . . we were not pleased (and rather embarrassed), but Jessie and Rob were very nice about the whole thing. After a tasty dinner, we sat down to play some Rock Band. It's a video game where people play different instruments to popular songs. Very fun and yet very challenging.

Here is Sammy trying to get close to Lucky.

Sammy curled up and sleeping on the couch with his new toy turtle.

Lucky sleeping on the other couch, relieved that no little puppy is bothering him!

Jessie, Uncas and Rob rocking out!

Sammy and the Tennis Ball

I made this video of Sammy today. Grandma Nimz gave him this tennis ball the first weekend we got Sammy. He always liked it, but he is having a lot more fun with it, now that he can carry it in his mouth while running!

One Year Later

I will never forget August 1, 2007. It was a beautiful summer day. Neither Uncas or I felt like cooking that night, so off we went to eat some Pad Thai at a restaurant. When we returned home, our neighbor asked us if we had watched the news. I remember thinking to myself - now how would we be watching the news when we just pulled up in our car?! He told us part of 35W had collapsed! What?! That caught my attention - Where? Over the Mississippi River . . . oh - we hadn't heard that news. I could even remember thinking - where is that at? I used 35W every day going to work, but was getting off just two exits from that section. I honestly couldn't think of what section he was talking about. So of course we rushed inside to turn on the tv. And before we did that, we got out our cell phones to call our parents - we're ok.

All night we were glued to the tv. What are we going to do? How am I going to get to work? How will we get to Duluth? I wonder if I know anyone who was there. And of course, the immense sadness of the whole tragedy. The next day, everyone on my bus going to work was very quiet. As we pulled onto 35W the bus driver made the announcement that our route would be detoured because they had closed off a very large section of 35W. When I arrived at work it was check in time and relief that everyone was ok in our department. That day over lunch a group of us walk down to look at the bridge. It literally looked like a movie set - it seemed very unreal.

I am reminded of the bridge collapse every day. I take 35W and see the orange road signs "Road Closed Ahead - must exit" as I go to and from work. I see the tall cranes in a distance. The detour is starting to seem like no big deal. There is so much construction on 35W (not even from the bridge collapse, but closer to home), I can't even remember what it was like before. But here we are, a year later. The bridge is nearly complete - scheduled to open in late September. I wonder when the new bridge opens if I will stop thinking about it as much? When we cross over the Mississippi on Washington Ave, will I stop looking over in the direction of the collapse?

Here is a picture of the new bridge:

SWEEP!

The Cubs swept the Brewers in a four game series! Hurray! My dad has his own "W" flag to post when they win, but it looks even better with the broom! For those of you who don't know, at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play, the fly a big "W" flag after the Cubs win. Go Cubs Go!!!

Go Cubs!

This morning Sammy decided that he wanted to try on the Cubs bandana that Mama made for him this past weekend. Just in time to watch the Cubs kick some Brewer butt!

Sweet Baby Anna

Today we went to visit baby Anna, the newest addition to Uncas's sister's family. As promised, I took lots of pictures. Abbie and Mike, the proud parents are doing great. Michael and Morgan seemed to be pretty happy about their new sister, although they liked hanging outside with the dogs today.

Precious Baby Anna

Look at all of her hair.

Aunt Sally, Uncle Uncas and Anna

Anna holding on to her uncle's finger

Happy Mama!

Proud Uncle!

Anna wrapped in a blanket made by new Grandma Nimz!

Proud Parents!

Very excited Grandma!

Grandma and Uncle counting Anna's fingers - they are all there!

Welcome to the World . . .

Anna Abbie!!!

Uncas's sister had her baby early this morning! She weighs 6 lbs 7 oz and I am sure she is super cute! We are planning to go up to Duluth to visit them this weekend. I will be sure to take lots of pictures. Uncas is very excited to be an uncle - Uncle Uncas! It even sounds good!!!

Meeting the Cousins!

Today was a big day for Sammy. We met up with Derek, Jeanna and their two dogs, who also happen to be dachshunds. My parents didn't want to miss out on the meeting (or a chance to see their children), so they came along too. We met at a state park in Minnesota, which is about the halfway point for all of us.

In preparation of the big day - I made dessert last night. What could be better than a big dachshund meeting, then dachshund cut-out cookies! Thanks to Lisa for my awesome birthday present - the cookie cutters worked perfectly!!

The meeting went very well. We had warm sunny weather and the picnic area was very secluded, so we had our own little area. Sammy definitely was the puppy. He wanted to play, play, play! Derek and Jeanna loved meeting Sammy and had plenty of time to hold and pet and get kisses from him. Tina and Snoopy also like Sammy, although Sammy did steal Tina's raw hide. And Sammy wanted to play and he would let them know it. Snoopy taught Sammy the finer points of digging holes. And Tina and Snoopy showed Sammy how to get all tangled up over and over again.

It was such a fun day. We haven't seen Derek and Jeanna since December. Jeanna is due with their first baby on August 20. I am thinking the baby is going to make an appearance before then. We were glad that they could come out and meet Sammy. He is looking forward to playing at their house in a couple of weeks (as long as the baby doesn't show up first!)

Now I have a pooped little puppy on the couch. Check out some pictures and videos of the weekend.

I also have some pictures that my mom took from today. I hope she doesn't mind that I am going to post them too! Mom's pictures

Busy July Weekend!

I had a very busy weekend. I am really tired, but there a lot of pictures, so I thought I should get them posted. Friday after work I drove up to Duluth. Saturday was the baby shower for Uncas's sister Abbie. She is due to have her baby at the beginning of August. The shower was a lot of fun. She received lots of wonderful and cute presents. You can see pictures of the shower here.

I drove back from Duluth on Saturday afternoon so I could attend a party for my co-worker, Jenn and her husband Shane. They were married in May at the courthouse, so her aunts threw a party for them. I have to admit I was really tired from the day, but Uncas and I went and took Sammy too and we had a lot of fun. Jenn's family was so nice and everyone loved Sammy.

Sunday was work around the house. Uncas spent some time working on his boat. It's nearly ready for launching. I spent time weeding outside and then cleaning inside. Uncas also hung a picture over the couch (we decided later it's a little high and needs to be moved over slightly - we'll do that some other day), hung the microwave over the oven, and hung up our security system sign. Those three things have been on our to do list for a couple of months! He also installed a new air conditioner in our bedroom. It is so awesome! Check out all of his handy work. Thank you Uncas for all your hard work!

Another little "project" that we tackled last week was "building" steps for Sammy to get up on our couch. It's just too high for his little legs, but he loves being up here. So, I constructed some steps out of cushions. You can check them out and some more pictures of my cute little puppy here.

And finally here is a picture that Uncas took and requested that I post.

"Go into your Kennel Sally, Go!"

Rocker Girl

Last night I went to see my favorite band in concert! Crazy, since a month ago we saw Uncas's favorite band. One big difference is that most people probably can't name the band by the picture posted here. I fell in love with Jimmy Eat World (yes, that is really their name) in 2002 - back when I was in my middle 20's, single and having fun with my friends. I bought one of their albums right before a weekend that I was going to visit my parents, and I still remember how I listened to it over and over and over again when I was driving. I kept thinking - how can there be not a single bad song on this cd?! But there wasn't! I was in love with them from that weekend on.

I saw them for the first time in concert that year in August at First Ave - how lucky was I to see them in such a small venue?! They sounded just as good live, if not better. I remember laughing with my friends because the lead singer was sweating so much, his shirt changed colors over the course of the show!

The next time I saw them was when they opened for Green Day (in 2005) and they played at the Xcel Energy Center. That was the best concert of my life (Green Day totally rocked - talk about an amazing show!) I went to that show with Marcos and Uncas. Marcos also happens to be a big JEW fan too! Then last summer, almost exactly one year ago, they came to a really small venue, The Fine Line in Minneapolis. We all went to the show, and while it was not their best, in our opinion, they apparently really loved playing there. But even a not their best show for Jimmy Eat World, is still better than most other shows that I have seen!

Last night was the fourth time that I have seen them live and they were back at First Ave. I think it was the best show that I have seen them put on. I was loving every minute of it! Uncas, Marcos, and Marcos' friend, we'll call him Paco, were all there to share in the good music. It's amazing because Jimmy Eat World doesn't seem to get a lot of radio airplay (although I don't listen to the radio stations in Minnie cause they suck), but they have this hardcore base of fans that know every single word to all their songs. It's so much fun to go to their shows and see that you aren't the only one. Whenever I tell people who my favorite band is, most have never heard of them. Funny story - when I told my mom years ago about going to see them for the first time, she sent me an email a few days later saying that they do really exist because she looked them up on the internet! Up until then, she couldn't believe that there was a band named Jimmy Eat World!

And now, I imagine I will have to wait until another album before I see them again in concert. But that's ok - I have their cd's to hold me over until then!

Happy 4th of July!

It's everybody's favorite summer holiday - 4th of July! We made our annual trek to WI and celebrated with our friends Andy and Ella at Shangri-la. This was Sammy's first trip there, so you will see lots of puppy pictures. Not as much blowing up was done because Andy and Ella just purchased a boat with Ella's brother Reid and his wife Kelly. They joined us for the weekend and we had a blast! Fun times on the boat, playing with the puppy outside and plenty of good food as always.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th! Enjoy our pictures.

Some Cute Pictures

Well, if you aren't a dog lover or if you are already sick of me talking about Sammy, you may not want to read my blog for a while. I have lots of pictures and stories to share about him, seeing as how he is my whole life right now (oh yeah, there is also this guy Uncas that I live with too!) Here are some cute pictures that I recently took.

The first one is of my handsome husband standing by his handy work - our new kitchen blinds. They look fabulous!

Sammy was sleeping in my lap and he had the cutest smile on his face. I think this means he is happy living with us.

I was trying to take his picture and he got curious and walked over to the camera. It makes me smile every time I look at this picture.
I found it funny that he likes to chew on his rawhide in his doggie bed, but he is falling out of it! When he does fall out of it, he just gets right back in . . .
He was sleeping in my lap, again and had his tongue sticking out - cute!!!!

Sammy's first bath!

And finally - this picture is specifically for my brother. I was eating dinner on the couch, with Sammy curled up beside me. We have yet to feed him any people food, so he had no idea what I was doing. He got bored and went to sleep!

Belated Birthday Post

With all the excitement of adding Sammy to our family, I didn't even mention that last week, well, June 19 was my birthday! I turned 31 and the day itself was just ok. It was the day before we picked up Sammy. I had to work on my b-day this year, which kind of sucked. Uncas did take me out to lunch with some of my favorite co-workers, which was very fun. I also tried to do as little work as possible :-)

Uncas had given me my birthday present back in April - the GPS for my 1/2 marathon training. So - I really didn't open any presents that day. He did get me a fabulous ice cream cake from Dairy Queen - it was Choco-Cherry Love. So yummy!!!


I shouldn't say that I didn't open any presents on my b-day. My best friend from Seattle sent me a couple of very cute and appropriate gifts.

Dachshund Earrings:

Dachshund cookie cutters:

We did actually do some celebrating on Friday night with our parents. My mom made a cake and I got some gifts from both sets of parents, so that was very fun! Thanks to everyone who sent me cards. I was impressed with all the dachshund cards that are out there!

This weekend we stayed in town. It was pretty relaxing, although watching a new puppy takes up a lot of time. Friday night Uncas played poker and then Saturday morning he went to a shooting range with his friend. I stayed at home and Ella came over to hang out with me and Sammy. We planned our annual "Last Year at the Cabin Weekend" - which is 4th of July weekend. We are going to Shangri-La again and we can't wait.

Saturday afternoon Uncas and I took Sammy to our old neighborhood. We introduced him to our old neighbors and then walked part way around Lake Harriet (about an 1/8 of it.) Today we hung around the house and actually got some things done. Lawn was mowed, blinds were hung in the kitchen, cd's and movies were put away. I am feeling pretty good that we got a few more house things done. Tonight we took Sammy for a walk around the neighborhood. He did incredibly well, once we got him out of the yard. He kept up with us, didn't bite the leash or put up a fight when I put on his harness. We are very proud of him! It's fun to see how far he has come in just one week. And on that note, I am signing off to get ready for the coming week!

Sammy Update

It's been a busy week adjusting our household with the new addition. Sammy seems to like his new home well enough. We haven't let him go upstairs or down to the basement yet, but he doesn't seem very interested in those places either. He doesn't love his kennel, but hopefully he will come around. He has enjoyed meeting the neighbors, and they all seem to think he is pretty fun - especially our 5 year old neighbor Cindy!

Here are a few new pictures:

Mama and Sammy sleeping.

Sammy sleeping while Daddy is on the computer.

Posing sweetly for the camera!

Sammy got a new toy today!

And finally - totally unrelated to Sammy - We had to clean out our gutters last night. Actually Uncas did all the work. Here's why:

Sammy Time!

 

Introducing Sammy Sacnu, the newest member of our family! He is a red, male, smooth dachshund, we think he will be just slightly larger than a mini dachshund when he is full grown. He was born in Superior, WI nine weeks ago and we picked him up on Friday afternoon. He spent the weekend in Duluth meeting both sets of Grandmas and Grandpas because my parents came up to visit Uncas's parents this weekend. He also met his "Auntie Sophie" who is an English Springer Spaniel belonging to Uncas's parents and cousin Bake, a husky belonging to Uncas's sister. We had a fun BBQ on Saturday where Sammy met Uncle Marcos and Auntie Ella and Uncle Andy. Everybody loved him and though he was super cute (cause he is!!!) We drove back from Duluth Sunday afternoon and introduced Sammy to his new house and yard. He loves his dog bed and is sleeping in it as I type this entry.

I have been waiting an awfully long time to get a puppy and the timing was finally right (a house with a big yard helps)! We love him so much and he has been a great puppy so far. He doesn't cry in the car, loves to be held and petted, already has a favorite blanket and responds to his name. You will see many, many pictures and videos in the near future.

Welcome home Sammy!!!

The Countdown is On!!!!

Check back this weekend to see what the countdown is for . . . :-)