Guess that Gender

I've gotten use to many multi gender names, but some there are a few in my ward that trow me a bit.

Lets play a game:

Guess— Which one is male, which one is female?

And yes, there is one of each in each couple.

Married couple #1

• Amy
• Kylie

Married couple #2

• Anthony
• Brett

Tough question, huh!?! I've left out the middle names, because those give it a way.

Not that it's wrong—a name is just that, a name... something by which we reference someone— For all I care someone could name their daughter R2D2. Is it strange? Ya. Are the parents of such a child a little weird? Most likely. Will little R2D2 be the most famous rapping actress of all time? You bet. Will George Lucas sue her for copyright infringement? Only time will tell.

Field trip.

Okay, okay... so I didn't actually even leave the room I'd been photographing in, but it felt like a field trip, because I got to take a 10 minute detour from jewelry photography and photograph a few pointless things to clear my head. I liked what I came up with. Nothing avant guard or deep. Just stuff.

Lazy Polo

Polo had a big week last week. Now he's happy to be vegging out in his brand new and supper cushy bed. Now maybe he won't sneak onto my pillows when I am not at home.

Yes, I think my dog is adorable.

Favorite snack

Lately, All I've wanted to eat is banana milkshakes. I've been drinking them for weeks, and now I am having trouble focusing on work, because I just want a milkshake.


1 banana
1/3 cup of raw milk
4 raw milk cubes (as in ice cubes)
a spoonful of honey
splash of vanilla.

It's more like cold frothy milk than "shake," but it's nummy.

OBVIOUSLY you don't have to use raw milk, but I don't really like processed milk, plus raw typically has some cream in with it... so using regular milk wouldn't be as rich.

Pet Peeve of the Week, Literally

I decided I don't care if I become known as "that lady who takes dogs to the pound." As in, "you better leash or keep an eye on your dog, because if that lady finds it running around, she'll take your dog to the pound."
That's right, I'm ready to embrace my inner curmudgeon.

Just because you have a lap dog does not mean:

• it is exempt from leash policies
  
• that you don't have to pick up it's cra......p
  
• that your dog is innocent, adorable and lovable
  
• that you by extension are innocent, adorable and lovable
  
• that your dog doesn't need tags with contact information
  
• that it is simply too small to get hit by a car
  
• that if you are too lazy to take your dog potty you can just open your door to let it out (then close it) and let it run around the condo's unsupervised.
  

Twice in the last few days I have found un-neutered, unleashed, untagged, unsupervised small dogs running around the condos making their potties. Is it so mean of me that I want to take these dogs to the pound so that the owners have to deal with the pain of retrieving their dogs, and because I hope this will teach them to watch their dogs? Maybe, but the owners obviously aren't the ones picking up their dog's poop, but I was. Plus, I'm not letting a dog get hit by a car, and there is no reason I should let it pee allover my house while I find the owner. I'm taking it to the pound.

The first time I really tried to give the owners the benefit of the doubt- maybe a kid left a door open... so after I took him to the pound I put up about 10 posters and tried not to think vindictive thoughts... like if they kept letting their dog poop unsupervised I would put the poop allover their door (Ohhh the things I think but never do).

The second time a dog ran out of a stairwell. no one around, no tags, all doors closed. No one answered my "anyone there" inquiries. After a few minutes I was excited to pound another cute adorable (and actually sweet) dog, but I forgot Brett had the car. I watched the dog on the other side of the condos (if I'm not going to pound him, I might as well make the owner at least worry). Eventually the owner came along.

"Bad dog! I just let him out really quick and he ran away."

"No, Bad owner! you were too lazy to take your dog out, so you just scooted him out the door, to poop everywhere, then was surprised when he didn't come back when you called. Children play on that grass jerk, this isn't your personal backyard. Your lucky I didn't have the car to take him to the pound."

Oh, the things I think but know better than to say out loud...

Ideas for owners too lazy to watch their dogs:

April= A few big purchases

At the end of April, the canyon was still a little icy and we discovered that hikes up Lambert park—though a perfect biking challenge—were a little too wimpy for a hike, and so we took the plunge and bought a tow hitch oh, and a bike rack

The hitch installation, an alleged easy one-man, 1. 5 hour installation project took B and his dad something like 4 hours (and partially disassembling our car) to get it on properly. On the plus, we can now tow a small boat. You know, like the one I keep in my back pocket.

After a lot of research and some bought and returned rack purchases, we found a bike rack that fits our car around the tire mount
It not only fits with the bike-holdy part up (horrah)

But also with it down (bonus)

Only catch is we can't switch the holdy-things (I am so technical) up and down without hitting the cover (grrrr)

Unless we lean the whole thing down first
Which gives us enough room to open the back to let Polo out.


So in the end to get a hitch that fit around our spare we ended up with a fancier, lighter, double folding, hitch than we planned— and it also came with bonus hitch and bike locks.

And thus the biking season for us has finally started... and we've done 3 short bike trips to Lambert Park.

This weekend when we went, there were high concentrations of various flowers in patches here and there... (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE PORT-A-POTTY DAFFODILS—in the post to come— which were gone by the time these flowers came

There were at least 4 varieties of wildflowers, but I only really got shots of the purple ones.
Such a pretty place to ride... with just the right amount of challenge.



Polo takes shady refuge when I stop to photograph. He usually gets restless when I stop, but here he is bury because he is all worn out from the 4 hikes (one 6+ mi long) we took when Freckles was staying over. Polo does not have Freckle's non stop energy.

S.P.R.I.N.G. Is for Outdoor Time with Charlotte

Since Easter we've had a healthy spring .

It started with A few wimpy hikes at Lambert Park while we debated having to purchase both a tow hitch and a hitch mounting bike rack.
There were daffodils here and there, but there was an especially high concentration of the yellow beauties surrounding the compost toilet.


Then, we bought the aforementioned tow hitch and bike mount, and have taken 3 trail rides.

But the bike trips were put on hold when we babysat Nanial's dog, Freckles, this last week.


Freckles and Polo might look like they'd make awesome friends, but Freckles is high energy and dominant, while Polo is lazy and submisive, so if Freckles doesn't get enough exercise, she thinks she cane at Polo's face and ears. She's bike trained, but two dogs and us on bikes was a little intimidating without Nanial there, so we hiked them instead.


We decided to try this gravel road next to the Battlecreek trail, and found that after a steep 5 minute accent, you reach a gorgeous meadow where the dogs sprint around, complaining of their sluggish 2-legged companions.

We go up and down hills (some steeper than others), gaze at the mountains, Utah Valley, Utah Lake, and the verdant hillsides while the dogs chase deer (one evening we saw around 30 of them in 7 or so groups).

Plus, we get a good workout. ( I only take out the camera on the easy parts)

I am amazed that this is all a 5 min drive from our condo... so much more majestic than Battlecreek falls, and much less crowded.




See... even I got carried away, and I typically hate landscape photos.
In addition to chaseable deer, we've found 3 or so un-chaseable deer.





I realize I probably took too many photos of deer bones, but for some reason they make the hike more realistic to me.

Then there's mud puddles that freckles just plops herself in, while Polo daintily walks through.
And Polo does some shameful things in the woods.


Since this trail is my new BFF, it is only appropriate that I take some photos with it, so I can tag the hillside in my facebook albums






Each time we went further and further, and on the 4th hike, the two dogs and I wen't over 6 mi roundtrip to celebrate the weekend, and I got past the 48/51 trail connection of the 3rd hike and all the way to (a nd a little up) the Dry Canyon trail. Here is Dry canyon bellow.


Dry Canyon, oddly enough, is where it started to rain on me. Don't worry, though, we are still friends.


Though I know I cannot maintain 4-5 outings a week,I'm hoping that this is a good indicator of the summer adventures to come!

At least Freckles things so...

New Board Game

Easter Weekend, Brett came home with a new board game. Remember when I was joking about this?

Well Brett got it and over the next two weeks we played it something like 6-7 times. We rather liked it. My skill varries a ton on this game.

Brett also got Acquire, a family favorite. usually we play it at Nathanial's, but now we have our own copy.


Our copy is to cheep, Nanials, is unnecessarily bulky.... I still dream of making my own wooden set from scratch, but brett didn't have the patience to wait 20 years for that.