A note from the dog.

Packing = done.

Just in case you guys thought I was kidding about loving the most awesome toy ever, I'll have you know I have no love for other toys. The squeaker is still going strong even though I play with it every single day, I chase it into other rooms, I bring it to people, I sleep on it. Nothing else gets as much attention as my Chewish Bagel This one's the bee's knees. 

Thanks again, Christine.

The last days of our first year at Tuck.

After the in-law visit, we had two full days to say our short-term goodbyes to first year students filing out to their summer internships and longer-term goodbyes to second years who won't be in Hanover by the time we get back. 

Highlights include:

Multiple visits to the newest Hanover business: Gelato!

Went to this movie with a group of girls (and Jamie).

(santa monica dwellers, do you think this scene was inspired by Sonki?)

(oh wait, i just googled sonki and he's not at all the large, african-american dude in my brain and portrayed in the movie)

Canoe-bq trip down the Connecticut River.
Check out:
1. The big dogs swimming out to greet our boat (in the back).
2. Hudson as coxswain (pull!pull!).
3. Name of the white boat in the foreground.

This southern boy made shrimp boil and it was glorious.
Many stayed to camp on the island in the river, but we did a sunset canoe trip back home.

Stood through thunderstorms to see Ray LaMontagne*.
The deep fried oreos helped (the crispy cookie becomes cake-like!).
*we used this song for our first dance.

A casual backyard bbq with remaining Tuckies.

Check out the luscious grass! Never see anything like it in CA.

And here's the kicker....NO SPRINKLERS.

This is Zucca.

Laura and Ian adopted her in October and I love her.

I was clearly stressed about all the things left to do.

Ha, ya right.
Denial is bliss!

Up next: move to Providence for the summer.

Melting....

We've got some hardcore melt going on around here, folks! Piles of snow relegated to edges of fields, sides of homes that evade direct sunlight, and we see signs of spring preview in teeny tiny proportions. I even put our snow shovel into the storage closet - uh, is this jinxing it?

As I sit outside and relish in the warm rays, I'm realizing I never posted some of our winter photos. 

So here goes:

It'd get like this half an hour after clearing it.

Bust!

Free marshmallow roasting every weekend at our local pond

(which is cleared to skate on).

 sugar on snow!

boiled maple syrup, drizzled on snow, lifted with sticks.

I could have eaten this for every meal of every day of winter.

 Ridiculous snow gear = a must.

Good to know for next winter.

 We would lose Hudson for a second, but as it turns out, he just liked chasing sleds!

that's him at the bottom with Dean.

Chains down the hill have a 50/50 success rate.

 He'd get so super cold after a few hours on the slopes.

 But otherwise he seemed to manage pretty well even on the coldest days.

 This is how Jamie + Hudson would go get the mail.

If it fell below 19°, we put these boots on him to prevent clumps of 

paralyzing ice from forming in between his toes.

Needless to say, we're all ready for spring. Kids and dogs and grown-ups alike are running around like crazy in the what-i-would-have-previously-considered-COLD temperatures. It's easier to get out, to play outside for longer hours, and to feel so much more productive with my days. Yay for spring!!

I love you, dog.

April 7th was Hudson's 4th birthday.

Ethan, our 2 year old neighbor, points to all of the dogs in his books and calls them Hudson. Jamie's classmates beg us to bring him to campus to get their dose of scruffy dogness. And he won over every person at work, making it much easier to justify bringing him to my office multiple times a week. Needless to say, while I'm sure he's wondering where the heck all of his SF dog friends disappeared to, Hudson has acclimated to NH just fine.

  I like that you can see me+camera in each of his eyes.

This dog has made us so super happy*!

Let the record show, we still have snow on the ground!

Here's a post from the day after Hudson came home with us.

Happy B-day, buddy.

*most of the time

Did I do that?

For the record, this is the leash-burn culprit:

Who can get mad at a face like this?

Not us!!

Carter-the-boxer is with us for the weekend while his mom heads down to NYC. Amazingly, Hudson totally digs the big dog (60lbs?) and things are going smoothly. No more leash burns.

Things are a-movin'.

We're in full-packing mode here, folks. 

All walls have come in a few feet as the apartment is now lined with boxes of all shapes and sizes. Jamie's sister has come and gone, a whirlwind in the kitchen; all cabinets empty and all plates packed.  With our official move day exactly one week away, I've been cleaning and packing and otherwise move-preparing from the second I get out of bed until I crawl back in at the end of the night. This process has made me question our moral character, priorities, and overall lack of cleanliness (have we really lived ALL this time with THAT MUCH DUST behind that huge bookcase? ugh). 

Why do I keep so many shoe boxes?

They don't even have corresponding lids!

Uh...go ahead and ignore the Jessica Simpson box lid...it's not mine.

While we're mentally preparing for a cross-country drive in a 22 foot truck, I have also been brainstorming strategy to make Hudson's journey as comfortable as possible. For our local long drives, he's typically strapped into a back-seat harness. The big moving truck will not have the luxury of a backseat so I've been looking to get something to ensure safety and comfort for the poor thing.

amazon.com

Problem is, while Hudson is only 20 pounds, he measures at a solid 24 inches long (excluding a crazy long tail). There's no way he'd fit in the Sprokett-sized carseat like the one above!

Enter the
Adidas Bag Hacked into a Dog Car Seat
project.

I found this sporty bag stowed away in the garage.

It had busted zippers; the teeth crumbling with age.

We made sure it would fit our intriguingly long dog.

He was NOT comfy like this.

I drafted an extensive and complicated plan.

and by extensive, I mean not at all.

The miscellaneous shoe boxes were broken down and taped together

to create a solid base and some walls for the bag.

There were some complicated alterations.

and by complicated, i mean ridiculously easy.

Perfect fit!

We'll keep his water and food in the external pockets and

I made an inner pocket to keep treats and small toys available.

Seems comfy enough, huh?

We should be able to thread the seatbelt through the two side handles to secure the bag to the bench seat. Then the car harness should have plenty of places to hook onto! Need to keep this scrappy guy as safe as possible.

And to knock off a super old & dated commercial:

One old sports bag..... $0

Some leftover shoe boxes..... $0

Packing tape..... $0 (incorporated into moving material cost)

Hopefully decreasing dog's anxiety level while traveling over 3000 miles in a truck.....PRICELESS.

Hot Diggity Dog!

Happy Fourth of July!

Jack + his parents
hosted a glorious 3rd of July
impromptu gourmet hot dog bbq....

there were babies and puppies and friends and red/white checkered tablecloths....

a beautiful hostess, complete with her sally-homemaker-apron...

lots of dog romping...

and i got to meet cory's new baby (riley)!

that was all before the 4th.

gus and roxy hosted a 4th of July

impromptu picnic in fort mason....

jamie and i threw some leftovers into a bag, grabbed the dog, and headed outside....

huds did tricks for treasts....

we got to see peen....

(she's through with her surgeries and starting her new job this week)

more dog romping...

it's been a terrific weekend.

Hudson & Mrs. California.

Holly & Hudson

may 2010

Just in case you thought Hudson missed out on some of the fantastic professional photgraphing (that a word?), don't worry.  Holly & her husband kindly volunteered to watch Hudson once he got back to SF, post-wedding, and Holly even brought him to one of her photo shoots. So, this is what our dog was up to when we were gallivanting around London:

My ultimate FAVE:

 

Holly became Mrs. California Globe a few months ago and has been busy, busy, busy with loads of activities one faces as a first-time pageanter (that's definitely a word, right?). Even better, it's drawn a little more attention to help boost her acting career up here. Check out my favorite of her commercials: CLICK HERE. 

And don't you worry, I'll be right back to wedding stuff tomorrow!