Long Live the Roomba

All you dog lovers out there listen up! Tired of all those dog hair/dust bunnies in the corner?? You NEED a Roomba! It's something I was toying with for a while but couldn't make myself spend the money. So, my most wonderful mother-in-law stepped up to the plate at Christmas and bought us one (Perhaps she was trying to tell me something??). And, let me tell you friends, that IT IS A LIFESAVER!!! Now, don't get the impression that you'll never clean again, but it cuts down on your sweeping so much! I can't comment on what it does with carpet, but if you have tile or hardwood, you will love it.

We are currently housing my brother and sister-in-law's dog. They are trying to sell their house and their dog is a MAJOR shedder. His name is Munson, and he's a yellow lab. So, we're now living with piles of black AND yellow hair. Munson actually sheds more than my two dogs combined...it's crazy! I've attached a picture of Munson with the Roomba's latest load for your viewing pleasure :)

Introductions

So, I'm taking the plunge and starting a blog! I've been reading blogs for a while now, and I've been toying with the idea of starting my own blog because I love them so much. But, I'm really not sure if I'll be good at it or if I'll even have anything worth writing about! But either way, here we go!


I'm a civil engineer. I absolutely live in a man's world! Most of the time it's great but sometimes I miss the female connection. I work in one of the quirkiest offices you could imagine. There's a lot of singing, dancing, and just all around unique and interesting discussions...these are not your steriotypical engineers - and thank goodness for that! I enjoy what I do well enough to keep at it until my dream job comes along. And, since I'm not even sure what my dream job would be, I'm not expecting that anytime soon. I always think it's pretty sad when I find myself saying, "If I wasn't doing this, then what else would I do??" But hopefully I'm not alone in that! I work with some really great people that I look forward to hanging out with each day, so I guess I can't ask for too much more than that. Now, I'd like to tell you a little bit about my fam...


First, there's the husband. We've been together for 7 years and very happily married for nearly 5! Hard to believe...it's gone by SO fast. We have an amazing time together, and apparently, my love for dogs is contageous because he now loves them just as much as me. He's a great catch...I'm not sure how I got so lucky! He sells insurance, so we're a good balance because (1) I don't know a thing about insurance! and (2) I can't sell ANYTHING nor do I want to!

Then there's my pride and joy, Champ! Champ and I have been together for 8 years, so Champ was my main man before Joe came along. Champ and I have been through a WHOLE lot together. And guess what...he loves me and understands me probably more than anyone! One look into those eyes, and I feel complete peace. As you can tell, he's starting to show his age, but I'm not worried because I've made him promise to live until atleast age 20. AND, he still acts like a complete puppy a lot of the time! Champ loves nothing more than being petted, and he alerts you to this fact each time you stop petting him by clocking you with one of his paws.

Our more recent addition is Charlie, our 4 year old female black lab. She definitely keeps us on our toes. She's our sweet little timid lady who still stays in a crate because she lacks the ability to control her jaws around my furniture! We've replaced more furniture than I care to list here. But, she's absolutely worth it (and that wasn't even said through clenched teeth!). She's pretty neurotic. Champ is just laid back and goes with the flow, but Charlie has certain things that she loves that make her obnoxious! For one, she absolutely loves to eat more than any dog I've ever met. Second, she loves to go for a walk. If I even put my tennis shoes on, she starts whining and running for the front door...it's quite annoying when I'm putting my tennis shoes on with another task in mind! And, she's totally a daddy's girl. As much as I try to win her over, she's having none of it! You may also hear her referred to as Choo Choo, Chewley, Nugget, Pickle, etc...she just one of those dogs that you HAVE to nickname.

So, that's my family. Sometimes I think about what life would be life without the pups - an extremely clean house, nice furniture, the ability to wear white articles of clothing, etc., but you know what, nothing on this planet sounds more depressing and lonely to me. The sacrifices that we make to have these two in our lives are overwhelmingly worth it...without question! Hopefully some day we'll have some biological children, but until then, we are loving every minute of the time we get to spend with these two dogs.