Here are some random (and I’m not kidding when I say random) photos from the few days it’s been since I blogged. (sorry, no fun stories this time)

David got a few things done around the house. He fixed the trash can. It’s one of those with a pedal, and the pedal hasn’t been lifting the lid. It’s been like this for a month or so, and I was STILL stepping on that pedal. He finally fixed it for me and it works like a dream. Yeah, coat hangers and electrical tape:

He also mowed. It was time:

We’re trying to teach Jake to fetch (consistently). He’s got the idea - we throw, he retrieves - but he gets tired of it after two throws. On the third, he settles down to chew whatever it is we’ve thrown:

We went to Elayne’s second wedding (to the same guy). They were married quickly and rather privately in March because his visa was expiring and he didn’t want to leave her to go back to Colombia. They had their [already planned] and big wedding this past weekend. Elayne and her dad:

On the way home, the clouds were crazy interesting:

And… the ongoing saga of the bathrooms. So, here’s what the paint looked like when we moved in (it’s HORRIBLE):

And here’s David mixing paint just before we painted the room a solid, non-barf-inducing color:

… has met an untimely end. He died today, on our deck. Our dog did his hound dog thing and killed us a rooster. R.I.P., Dumplin’.

Jake at the window, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

That’s my puppy!

on guard, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

Jake’s the self-appointed guardian of our backyard. He’s taken to standing just like this - completely motionless - for minutes at a time… just in case some bird or squirrel trespasses.

pawprints, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

Jake’s muddy pawprints. The snow is melting and the ground is completely saturated. Lots of mud. And, since it’s snowed and rained so much, who knows what else is mixed in with the mud? We haven’t been able to scoop up all of his mess… So, I try to get him to run around on the deck a bit before coming into the house. Who really wants that mess on their kitchen floor? Not me!

pawprints, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

Jake’s been traipsing across the frozen fountain pond in the backyard. Now that the snow is all but melted, the ice is starting to look thinner and thinner. The only snow/ice that remains, aside from the thin, flat layer on the top, is built up around the dog’s footprints. It’s bizarre - the ice around the prints is inches tall!

Shadow Jake, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

Jake’s a bum today. He’s been sleeping on the floor, right in in the sunlight.

yum, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

My silly, web-footed dog. See that red dot by his front left paw? He was chasing a laser level beam around the house like a mad animal… I thought it’d be fun to get a shot of him running around chasing it, but when I snapped the photo, he looked up and licked. =) This was a way better photo.

sniff, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

My dog never just lets me take his picture… This is what I see every time I get close enough to him to take a close-up picture.

curtain, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

I got an up-close and personal look at the shower curtain tonight, so I thought I’d share it with you as my photo today.

When we went to West Virginia over this past weekend, we had to kennel Jake. We took him to “A Home Away,” the boarding place run by Jake’s trainer from obedience classes. It’s a nice place - new and clean - but that doesn’t stop Jake from coming home stinky and smelling like a dog. (He doesn’t normally sport Eau d’Dog.)

So. Today we gave him a bath. But because it’s so cold out, we had to bathe him inside. In our tub. It was… a hassle. The poor dog was trembling from the second he walked into the bathroom, even though he’s never been in that room before. Ever. (We haven’t ever allowed him upstairs.)

I ended up showering with him so I could wash him and make sure he didn’t jump out of the tub in the middle. Then, I scrubbed the tub like a maniac - because GROSS. My dog was in my shower.

So, rather than showing you what the bathroom looked like after, I thought I’d just show the pretty shower curtain. Enjoy.