i've moved

I will no longer be posting here (not that I posted that often to begin with).

Here is my new blog:
http://mfr1982.wordpress.com/

how to (cheaply) entertain your dog for hours...

Take a kong, fill the small end with peanut butter and rubber band a piece of saran wrap over that end.  Turn it over and wedge a treat in the big end, fill with water, and freeze.

I now have a dog happily trying to chip the ice out of her kong!

more pictures...fewer words

Pink mountains on a spring evening...

And a few pictures of Kiva...

kiva maebe wilsonstein, dog genius

After five years of (patient) waiting, I finally have a dog!!

 So far she's accomplished a lot for a little dog.  She already knows how not to pee in the house!  She learned that one less than 24 hours after coming home.  She's working on learning her name, she isn't so sure about going on walks but I think she'll learn to appreciate those, and she only has to get up once to go to the bathroom at night!

Snow dog!

 

Learning to love to sleep in her kennel:

Helping John cook dinner (he was making tuna sandwiches)!

fun with photoshop

Given that I've had six days off this week, I've had a lot of time to think about a lot of things.  While poking around on the internet I discovered a lot of awesome photographs that a lot of normal people took with a lot of normal (or slightly better than normal) digital cameras.  I wanted to know why my photos never look like theirs.  My trusty tiny Canon digital camera takes really good photos...but all the photos I looked at were better.  John's awesome new camera takes really really good photos...but all the photos I looked at were better.  After doing some more internet digging and digital experimentation...I discovered it wasn't me, or my camera, or John's camera...the secret is making a few (four at the most) simple adjustments in Photoshop.  Five extra minutes of my time makes my photos look amazing!  Here are a few samples:

Original:

Edited:

Orignal:

Edited:

Edit #2:

pictures and stuff

John and I decided to use a new program to post our photos on the internets.  Check it out here.  The link can also be found to the right ("My Photos").  Enjoy!

of dogs and beds

I might not have a dog yet...or know which dog I'm getting, but he or she will definitely have a place to sleep!
I ordered it from Molly Mutt. I liked the idea because we have lots of extra sheets and towels taking up space in our linen closet...now they can be put to good use!!

hospital etiquette

Every day I am at work I watch fathers pushing carts of stuff down the hall on the way to their cars. They probably came to the hospital for the birth of their child with one bag, a carseat...and maybe a pillow...and were there for four days at the most. When they leave their things have multiplied at least twofold.

So, although you might think that you are being kind and generous by bringing your friend or family member who has just given birth to a baby a gift or some flowers...remember that you are probably not the only one who had that thought AND they are the ones who have to take all of those things home. More specifically, dad is the one that has to push or carry all of those things out of the hospital because mom is not allowed to lift things that weigh more than her baby.

I do however, have a solution. When you speak to your friends or family (which I also urge you to do before showing up at the hospital...don't show up unannounced...it's possible that mom and dad have been up for days, or that mom has just had major surgery...and they have a new baby to get to know...and they might be exhausted since babies are not born with a sense of day and night), tell them that you have a gift for them but offer to drop it off at their house when they get home from the hospital. And if you do show up at the hospital and they have bunches of flowers and gifts in their room...offer to take a load home for them.

It might not seem like much, but it will save some wear and tear on a new dads back!