Meet Sugar!

All my life I have never been a dog person. I never wanted to deal with the hassle of training a puppy or cleaning up the mess. People in my family and friends dog's were as close as I ever wanted to get to a dog. I must admit that I always liked puppies. I mean who doesn't? But I always knew that the cute little puppies grew up to be big dogs that needed to be taken care of. But, I always said that IF I was to ever get a dog, it would be a black lab.

Well, I was watching Baileigh play one day and it occurred to me that, being an only child, she needed a playmate. After thinking about it on and off for a year or so, I asked about Beth about 2 months ago if she would ever consider getting a dog. She said yes but wasn't fully committed to the idea. So I started looking at Labrador breeders for a black Lab puppy. I must admit that I had no idea how much puppies cost from a breeder. The average pup was $1,000. I saw a few go for $2,500! We also heard some breeders have inbred puppies which we didn't want.

After talking to some dog owners we decided to look into adopt a puppy. We found a few places but they didn't have any black labs available. Well, one place did but they said we lived too far away for a house visit so they were not going to go through with the adoption. Oh, they were 1 1/2 hours away.

We managed to find a female black lab/golden retriever mix. she was 8 weeks old and in North Carolina. We filled out the adoption application and told them where we live and what the other agency said. The girl, Brit, who is with Fuzzy Love ResQ, told us it doesn't matter where we live as they would find someone to do the house visit. She also told us she would be bringing the dogs up for adoption to New Jersey the following weekend. So we made arrangements to meet her and get the puppy, who's name was Miya (we already knew we would change it as my brother-in-law's dog is named Miya).

We never told Baileigh we were getting a puppy and she had a sleepover at Grandmas the night before we went to get the puppy. We got up Saturday morning and at 8:00 drove about 1 1/2 hours (the same drive that was too far for the other adoption agency to drive) to Sussex NJ to meet Brit. There were 20 dogs (dogs and puppies) who made the trip. 2 sisters and 1 brother of our puppy made the tip as well and were also adopted. All 20 dogs that day went to their new homes. :)

When we got home my mother-in-law brought Baileigh home and she walked into the kitchen and saw the puppy and fell in love right away. After a few minutes I told her it was hers and she was so EXCITED!!! Then she stopped, looked at Beth and said, "You told me I could never have a dog or cat". She was confused for a minute. Then Beth said, "We changed our mind".

Now came the naming part. We decided to let Baileigh name her, as long as we all agreed on the name. We coached her a little by suggesting names from TV shows she watches, like Carly (iCarly) or Zoey (Zoey 101). She thought them cute but she liked Sugar. So her new name is Sugar! She loves the dog so much and just seeing how happy she is with Sugar makes us very happy. They are going to be best friends!!

Baileigh and Sugar.

Ready for spring

It has been one long, cold, gray winter. I had enough of it right after the first snow storm on Dec 26th. I used my snow thrower more this winter than I did the past 3. If I never use it again it will be too soon. I have a serious case of cabin fever.

While the snow thrower still sits in my garage I am getting all my fishing gear ready...both salt and fresh water. I am also ready to get out with the camera again. I can only take so many pictures indoors.

Opening day for trout fishing is April 9th at 8AM and I am ready to go now. Well, I am but my
gear isn't...yet.

Every year I say the same thing; I don't want to make multiple trips from the truck to the fishing spot with everything I need for the day. Every year the same thing happens; I make multiple trips. Well, this year I am determined to make one. The biggest problem is carrying my fishing poles (I bring 4) and tackle box and my thermos of coffee. Yes, I need my coffee. Instead of the traditional tackle 'box', I converted an old back back I don't use anymore into my tackle 'bag'. Now I can carry it on my shoulder along with my chair as it has a carry strap.

Next are the fishing poles. I tried to carry them all but it was always difficult as they get tangled and the lure unhooks from the guides and hook on me or something along the way. I have modified a 5 gallon bucket into a pole carrier.


Now I can carry all 4 pole without them getting all tangled and the lures unhooking. And I can carry my thermos of coffee in it as well as my fishing vest, net, stringer and anything else I need for the day. One trip may actually be a reality this year. Now I just have to catch some fish......

Corned beef dinner

Every year for about the past 7 years my wife and I have a corned beef dinner around St. Patrick's day for friends and family. Every year the guest list seems to grow. The first year we had it I made 1 corned beef and 2 loaves of soda bread along with various deserts people bring. However, this year I made 3 corned beefs and 4 loaves of soda bread and had enough desert for an army of people (at times throughout the day it seemed like we had a army over...and some people couldn't make it!)

I make the corned beef in a crock pot and we only have one so we needed to borrow 2. I used to get up at 5 AM and prepare the fixings and rub ( I make my own along with the packet that comes with the corned beef). This year I prepared everything the night night before so all I had to do was put it all in the crock pot and go back to bed......but I didn't. Even though I wound up not going back to sleep it was still a lot easier than doing everything in the morning.

The dinner went great and everyone had a good time. There was plenty of food, drinks and music, Irish and 'normal' music has someone put it. Every year when that alarm goes off at 5 AM I say to myself 'this is the last year I am going to do this', but come 6 PM when everyone is eating, drinking and having a great time I think 'I can't wait until we do this next year!'

Saying goodbye...yet again!

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since my last post, November 9th! A lot has happened since then but I have been so busy I never had the time to blog. Well, I plan on changing that and blog more often.

My first blog of 2011 is not a good one...

I said goodbye to 3 people in 2010 and was hoping 2011 to be a better year. We made it to the end of February but then had to say goodbye to someone. My mother-in-law's cousin, Eugene McGovern, passed away after a brief battle with cancer. I never really knew him too well until the last 2 years or so. We started to see him more and more and he was an all around nice guy. My daughter has experienced death more in the last year than any other 6 year old I know. It's hard not to tell her what's going on when it's so close to home. I must say, she has handled it all very well.

My daughter knew him pretty well. My wife's aunt watches my daughter once in a while and Eugene was married to her best friend so they used to go and see him. At first my daughter wanted nothing to do with him and cried at the mere site of him. After a while she got used to him then liked to go visit him. Last summer they came down a few times to my mother-in-laws to hang out for the day at the pool. He was a fun guy to hang out with and have a few beers. He will be missed.

R.I.P. Eugene McGovern