Oh, the Joys of Corporate Travel.

I'm finally back home from my first long work trip of the year. It was nice to get to March without an overnight trip for work -- although this one made up for it. I had 6 flight segments and 3 different hotels in 5 days. (The upside is that I was upgraded to 1st Class whenever it was available, and I earned quite a few miles. Plus, there was sunshine, even if I was inside most of the time.)

The past week was actually more interesting than most of my trips. First we started in TX, at Texas A&M, interviewing undergrad and grad students in the Food Science department for internships. I am so impressed by the quality of the students and really enjoy being part of screening them for internships. I do have a vested interest as these folks will someday be my colleagues. In the next 5-10 years a lot of our most senior people will be retiring and there is a shortage of food science students to back fill those jobs. While it feels a bit strange to not be the young/new kid any more, and I'm glad that I can give back by interacting with the students in this way. Most of them don't really know what professional jobs using their education will look like, and are woefully short on knowledge about interviewing, resumes and cover letters. We were able to give coaching and feedback on this part as well.

Then it was off to CA for the Natural Products Expo West convention. This is a trade show for the natural products industry. All the big players and many of the smaller ones are there to showcase their new products and interact with the rest of the industry. My interest is looking at the trends and looking for new ingredients or raw materials. Plus, I love to visit the booths of some of my favorite brands and find out what's new with them. If you had room in your suitcase and the time, you could take home a lot of great samples. I didn't have much of either, so I concentrated on small things -- like lots and lots of tea samples. I'm so glad that the tea companies and the market is catching up with me. I have so many types of teas to choose from now, and that fills the gap that I used to fill with Diet Coke. I was really struck by one trend, a tea company that is marketing teas for kids. Herbal with lots of fruit and other flavors coming from the ingredients. Now parents can start their kids on drinks that are low in sugar, high in antioxidants and steer them away from soda or juice drinks. Very cool!

We also went to dinners and events sponsored by a couple of our suppliers. I even learned to play craps at one of them. Totally fun -- if we ever go to a casino (highly unlikely) I'll definitely want to play. Then it was time to get up very early and head home. Unfortunately, the flight back was complicated by the fact that I have yet another cold. It's uncomfortable to fly when your ears are full of fluid and all you want to do is go to sleep. That's all I've done today and I doubt I'll make it into work tomorrow. Sigh. I long for sunshine and warm weather. Bring on Spring Break!

It's been a good week :-)

The sun is shining, it's above 20 F and I'm in a great mood. There is something about all the very subtle signs that spring will actually come again that are helping me shake the winter blahs.

And, there are several things that have reminded me to be thankful: My job is as safe as any job can be right now, Tim's lab results came back normal and the dogs are getting along better.

I've been a bit overwhelmed by all the bad news about the economy. This area of Michigan is quite hard hit and we know several close friends who are suffering from reduced or lost jobs. It just seems that everywhere we turn, someone is hurting or is having financial difficulties. At K, our stock price is way down and there are lots of business direction changes at work. Plus, with Tim student teaching, we rely very heavily on my paycheck. I've been worried about the security of my job -- I got a great review this year, but if they had to make lists for cuts, would they keep me? At the end of this week we had an R&D/Engineering yearly meeting where the CEO spoke to us. He didn't exactly say our functions were free from any threat of layoffs, but he came close to it. That's helped me feel a whole lot better.

We have been applying for term life insurance, and Tim's lab results came back with some high levels for liver function enzymes. Worrisome, of course, both for his health and for getting the insurance. The end result is that he went to his doctor to discuss and re-test, and the results were normal. Yeah! The insurance company approved his policy and we're waiting to see what the premium is going to be. Hopefully, if it is high, we can send them the results of the test with the doctor and get some reduction.

We've been working with a dog trainer to help us understand why Henry and Bea suddenly stopped getting along. Trust me when I say that it was bloody and very tense when it all erupted. It was touch and go for a bit about whether we could keep both, but things are looking up. We had a great lesson yesterday and while we have much more work to do, they are making great progress. It's not nearly as neat or easy as the Dog Whisper makes it seem!

I'll be traveling next week, and it is to warm and sunny places -- TX and CA. If I have to be away from home, those are great places to be. Maybe it'll be warmer here too by the time I get back. We've been dreaming about fun things to do this spring and summer . . . kayaking, camping, biking and mountain bike races (that's Tim's idea of fun) and other stuff. Only about 6 weeks more until we should be able to be outside consistently. I think I can make it!

Hiram Gals in Arizona

I've been blessed to have a great group of college girlfriends who've kept in touch over the years. (Side note: in August it will have been 20 years since we all met as Freshmen! No way do I feel that old :-) We used to try to get together more often, but that's waned a bit with marriages and kids. On a bit of a whim, we managed to get together in Scottsdale for a 3 day weekend with most of the group. It was awesome to reconnect and relax with a whole weekend of basically doing nothing. We did some shopping (shoes were bought!) and some sight seeing (day trip to Sedona with awesome views) and saw a chic flick.

It's hard to say why this group of women is so amazing and why we have all stayed friends for so long. Most of us didn't have many classes together and we didn't even all live in the same dorms, though a few of us did. Somehow, though, we clicked. We all have very different careers and live far apart in different states. Each of us is pretty strong and opinionated, but is still able to support and listen to each other. I think the secret is each is a strong, successful woman who understands that without our families and friends, we'd would never have made it this far! I'm proud to be friends with Mary, Janice, Dawn, Kelly, Kate and Jen (who wasn't able to be there with us this time). And, I know it won't be so long in between get togethers next time.

Finally!

I know, I know, I've been such a bad blogger. I really intended to keep up with the blog, and the further behind I got, the worse it was to get started again. So, with little mention of all the things that have happened since September, I'm back to posting.


In no particular order or importance, here are some of the things I've left out of the blog: Brother Josh got married to the lovely Allison and we all had a great time at the wedding. Except for Tim who had to turn around in Ohio and go back to deal with sick dogs. We now call Bea "Giardia Mary" because she gave it to Henry and all the cats. I was pregnant again, and miscarried, again. That pretty much sucked. I traveled a lot for work and made Gold status on NWA. A dubious distinction, I think. I made consumer test samples on a new product that is very cool and also a bit strange. You'll hear more about that at a later date. I launched a new cereal for Kashi "Organic Promise Island Vanilla." In stores now, so look for it (organic shredded wheat). It is yummy and I eat it for breakfast about 3 days a week. We had the whole family here for Christmas again. This year it was more work and the dogs had a hard time with all the people in the house and were acting out a lot. Tim and I went to Chicago between Christmas and New Years for a much needed break. We stayed at the Palmer House Hilton. It's a really fabulous hotel and we had a wonderful relaxing time. Since the first of the year work has been complicated by the peanut recall. It's even delayed the cool new product that I made the samples of earlier. No peanuts in that one, but the production facility was using the recalled ingredients and they had to shut down to clean. We missed our window to get sales samples to the sales force, so we're not going to be in market with this one until Jan 2010. Tim quit his job in December to student teach at Portage Northern High School in the business department. His mentor, Amy, is now out on maternity leave so he is the long term sub for the classes. He's learning the way he likes best -- by jumping in feet first. He loves teaching and is more energized by connecting and impacting students than by anything else I've seen him do. I'm taking a cool class at the Lilah Arboretum in BC on perennial propagation. One day I'd love to be a master gardener, but for now I'm concentrating on learning more about plants and digging up parts of the yard! Hopefully I'll post pictures of that process. Work travel is ramping up again in March, and we've planned to go to FL to see Tim's step dad over spring break. At least planning all of this will keep my mind of the crazy amount of snow we've gotten this winter.

So, please keep checking back for more posts about what's going on in our lives!

Bite Me -- or Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow

I admit to a weakness for vampire and, more recently, werewolf fiction. I especially love the Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris (first book: Dead Until Dark) and the Betsy books by Mary Janice Davidson (first book: Undead and Unwed).

A new title caught my eye at the library last week. Sharp Teeth, by Toby Barlow. I loved the cover, red with a black snarling dog silhouette. Nick Hornby had a quote on the back -- love his books, so was likely to like this one. Until I started reading it, I didn't realize it was written in Free Verse. Yikes! this took me back to High School and all those ancient Greek stories and plays. I was stuck on the plane with no other book in sight, so I dove in. It was amazing.

The free verse gave it a cadence that matched the momentum of the story. It's lyrical and the form allows Barlow to use his words to almost paint pictures. I often 'see' a book when I'm reading it. This one felt like a full blown movie -- with a sound track. It's essentially well written suspense/crime novel that focuses on men (and a few women) who can change into werewolves at will. When in wolf form they can pass as dogs. They recruit other people who are "strong and lost" to join their packs. For fun, they blow off steam out in the desert in wolf form, munching on steak they bring in coolers.

Anthony is a down on his luck LA native who ends up with a job as a dog catcher. He falls in love with a female werewolf who's left her pack and determined to keep the other wolves from outing her. The packs in LA range from one run by a lawyer to one run by thugs and a third by surfers. The dogs and men play cards, break up meth labs, run scams and take over the dog pound. One is adopted in dog form and uses his new home as a safe-house to hide from the other dogs. A dedicated cop gets drawn in and has a hard time believing what he's seeing, even after it's clear what these people actually are. No matter how I try to describe it, I can't do this justice.

There is a great New York Times Book Review by Sam Anderson here: http://nymag.com/arts/books/reviews/43564/. Let me know if you read the book and what you think!

Rain rain go away

We had 11 inches of rain in the Kalamazoo area over the weekend. Remnants of two hurricanes came north and dumped on us.

The Kalamazoo River is at it's highest flood stage in 20 years and parts of downtown Kalamazoo are blocked off due to water over the road.

The above picture is looking out my employers front lobby at where there are normally cars parked in the parking lot. We are about 1/2 mile away from the river but still at flooding water level. My office is at the northern end of this complex and away from all of this mess so luckily I'm high and dry.

Bea Joins the Family

Henry has a new friend, and regardless of what he may think, she's joined the family. We officially adopted Bea (short for Beatrice) today from the SPCA. Henry came from the SPCA with the name Prince Henry, so we thought it was only fitting to add Princess Beatrice to the family. (Of course, we don't use the Prince or Princess.) Bea's name at the foster was Beanie . . . and since she's not a football player for Ohio State, and we don't want to be taken for OSU fans, Bea she is. She is also a Pit-mix and between 6-7 months old. We've had her for the last 2 weeks on a trial basis and she's been a fun addition, adding all kinds of shenanigans to the mix. Right now, we're working on breaking her of litter-box snacking (ugh!) and of cat wrangling. She hasn't actually really seen a cat, but she's poked her nose under all the beds trying to see what they are. They protest violently, and sooner or later she'll get a swipe on the nose. That may not stop her, though!

In other news, glamping was great fun (see previous post) and both more and less rustic than I thought it might be. We were in a lovely spot north of Santa Barbara, CA in a canyon between some very rugged hills full of chaparral and poison oak. I managed to see both a bobcat (racing away from us as fast as it could go) and the fattest skunk I've ever seen. We were also bedeviled by very tame raccoons who wanted our s'mores fixings. We also got a lot of work done and finished 30+ new product concepts that will go for testing in a few weeks. Sometime after the beginning of next year our team will get to see some of the ideas we'll be working on for 2010 and 2011. We do work that far in advance! What I didn't have, however, was reliable Internet access. Very frustrating, because now I have to spend time this weekend catching up on my email and other work stuff.

Next week I'm off to CA again. Lucky me! (Can't quite figure out how to convey sarcasm in a blog post. . . anyone have an idea to share?) It's a bit late in the game, but suddenly we need to find a different co-manufacturer for the new product that I'm working on for 2009. I'll be gone the majority of the week, so Tim has full dog duty again, bless that man!

Labor Day and other goins' on

Check out Mom, me and Katie kayaking during Labor Day weekend. Mom had never been kayaking before and did great . . . I'm sure we can convince her to go with us again. Katie's been out on a kayak a couple of times and looked like a pro. We saw some awesome turtles, including a pretty big snapper and some blue herons, but not much else on this trip.

Both Katie and Mom visited over the holiday weekend and we had such fun. Katie came out first and we went camping at Yankee Springs State Park on Thursday. We took Jake (her dog) to see if he was up for camping. It was busy at the park and there were lots of people and other dogs, but Jake did great. He didn't like the rain at 4 am on Friday, but settled down after a while. Yankee Springs is on a Gun Lake, a beautiful and pretty big lake so we wandered along the shore line with Jake and hiked in the wood for a couple of hours. We all had fun and it started the weekend off right.

Mom joined us Friday evening and the famous kayak trip on the Kalamazoo river was Saturday. We made sure to get some good ice cream at the end of the trip too! Mom went to church with us on Sunday and Katie got on the road for home later that afternoon. She hung out for a while because we were waiting for a special delivery. Yes, we are trying a second dog again. She's a cute 6 month old pit-mix and we're pretty sure this one is going to fit our family. We are having fun so far and can deal with any of the challenges she brings. It's always an adjustment when someone new joins the family, so we expected to have to make some changes. I'll let you know more when we decide to officially welcome her.

Now I'm off on another fairly heavy travel schedule over the next few months. Of course, some of the travel will be fun, like Joshy's wedding (only 5 more weekends!). I'm off to Santa Barbara, CA all next week for work. My flight tomorrow is at 6:50 am -- way too early and I get back Friday evening. We're staying at a cool resort -- where they specialize in Glamour Camping, or Glamping as my co-workers are calling it. We'll do creative ideation for new ideas for Kashi for 2011 and beyond. If you have any good ideas, be sure to let me know!

Vacation! Vacation!

Our vacation week started with 2 days of VBS. We do an evening VBS for families, with classes for everyone from babies to adults. The evening starts with a dinner and fellowship before moving to the opening ceremony and classes. Tim and I made the dinner for the first 2 nights and then another woman and her daughter made them for the last 2 nights. Everyone loves it when Tim cooks and he did a great job this year. It's a tough job to estimate the food and cook for 100+ people, while keeping costs down. We fed everyone for about $2.00 per person, per meal -- and there was food left over that went to Ministry with Community (local group that cooks for the homeless).

Right after we were done we went home and started getting ready for our camping/kayaking/mountain biking trip. We were only gone for 4 days, but it was fabulous to get away. We kayaked the Au Sable river on the east side of the state. It took us 6 hours to get there (MI is a BIG state). We camped at an awesome rustic campground the first night -- we were the only people there. The stars were amazing and it was so relaxing to sit around the fire pit with no other lights.

Our kayak trip was about 5 hours long on the river and we paddled approximately 15-17 miles. A portion of the trip went through national forest land and it was completely undeveloped. We saw a mink (looks kinda like a ferret -- only wild), 2 bald eagles (one that was immature and didn't have it's white head yet) and lots of blue herons and fish galore. We wished we'd worn our bathing suits because the water was clear and the bottom rocky. It would have been great for swimming. After that we camped at a State Forest campground that had nice hot showers and clean bathrooms. It was great to get clean, but I like the atmosphere at the rustic sites better.

The next day we mountain biked trails that were challenging work out for Tim and a challenge for my bike handling skills. I still can't quite get the hang of running into sand -- I tend to lose control and have to stop. I had a great time and felt amazing at the end of the 10 mile bike ride. I may have found an activity that gives me the runner's high I so dearly miss without messing up my knee. We ended that day by finding another rustic site on the map that was on the way home. This one was on a dammed up portion of the Muskegon River. Tim fished while I got the fire going and we had another beautiful night under the stars.

Sigh . . . . . . . . . it was lovely and so much fun, but way too short!

Finally, a few updates from Sarah & Tim!

Apparently we've been having so much fun, I didn't have time to post our adventures. So what have we been doing?

Well, I've been traveling for work. In August I traveled for two solid weeks back to back -- with a stop at home in between. First I went to Ohio and did a test at a bakery. Wow, it is hot next to those ovens! Then I went to NJ and did a test at a 3rd party blender. They will make a raw material for my new cereal for us. Then I went to Lancaster, PA where Kellogg has a cereal plant and worked on a new Organic shredded wheat project for Kashi. If you live near me or come to visit, I'll try to have a box for you to try -- but the rest of you might have to wait a bit before I can let you in on the secret! The sales samples (samples of the food the sales force takes out to it's customers to pitch the new product) are typically made 4 months before the launch. This new cereal will be shipped to stores in January 2009. It's surprising to most people that new products are complete so far in advance of getting them to the consumer.

This new cereal has been the craziest project I've ever been on. The biz decided in June they needed the new product and we've developed it and gotten it to launchable state in about 10 weeks. This is amazing because we should have started this project in January -- 6 months earlier! I had such great support from other team members and from our suppliers, but it was (and continues to be) crazy. More stuff to do, of course, but we managed to get it done and to meet (most) of the cost hurdles.

The only real fly in the ointment was that coming back from the NJ trip, I had some really scary side affects from the D&C. I was so sick by the time I got back to the Detroit airport, I couldn't drive myself home. I ended up getting a car service to drive me the 2 hours back to Portage. Thank goodness this was a work trip -- the ride cost $370!

Tim finished his second summer session class in mid August. Yeah! The summer sessions were hard, as anyone who's taken them knows. They are intense and condensed with very little down time. These past 2 weeks with no classes have been wonderful because he has time for some fun stuff and projects around the house. School starts again right after Labor Day, so the break didn't last long.

Henry is microchiped X2

Henry has been with us almost a year! I took him to our awesome vets last week for his shots and check-up. While there, we had him microchipped. Only problem, he was already chipped! When they scanned to check the chip placement, they found a second chip. The new one is on the right side and the old one is on the left, or vice versa. None of the adoption info talked about a chip, nor was there any transfer info for us to use to change his chip registration. All we can figure is that the first adopter chipped him and didn't tell the SPCA when she returned him. Why they didn't check, I'll never know. They have to have a chip reader for their dogs . . . All their dogs are now chipped when adopted, but that is new for this year. The vet's office will make sure that both numbers are registered under our name for Henry -- if he's ever lost they will only scan until they hit the first number and we need both of them to link to us. The vet said she'd never encountered this and was a bit embarrassed that they didn't think to scan him before chipping. I'm sure they'll do that for all the dogs they do now, no matter what!

We've been talking with the SPCA about another dog and have even visited to talk to foster parents of other dogs. Some time later in August we'll foster another for a week to see if she gets along better with Henry and doesn't cause such a mess in the house. This one is crate trained, very low key and seems to be very nice.

I'm excited about getting a second dog, but glad we're giving ourselves time to recover from the last fiasco!

Broke Scooter

Well I was getting ready to post I now have 1600 miles on the scooter now and have save 1/3 of the cost of the scooter in gas so by the time the snow blows I'll have two thirds of the thing paid off.

That was before I was coasting to a stop the other day and some unhealthy clattering/clunking was going on down by the engine. The engine died and wouldn't start. Luckily I was right at the corner near my office so I had to run it accross the street and then walk it to my office.

Also lucky there's a back room where I can work on it.

I've contacted the place I purchased it from and they said it's still under warranty but labor isn't included in the warranty. I was on my own to get work done to it. Now if it was a Honda or other namebrand scooter, no problem. But since it's a Chinese import, local mechanics are hard to come by. I've posted to some discussion boards (http://www.scootdawg.com/) and figured out how to tear the rear drive and motor assembly off the scooter so now I just have to find a local mechanic that knows how to tear apart an engine. General guesses are broken piston and/or rings so that's beyond my comfort level of tear apart and putting back together.

IVF/Pregnancy Update

To recap: the fetus had stopped growing at the 8 week mark and we were waiting for me to naturally miscarry. That didn't seem like it was going to happen, so my doctor decided I needed a D&C. I'm lucky that they do this procedure in their Grand Rapids office, so it was much less trauma than if I had to be admitted to the hospital.

I had the D&C on Friday and it all went well. I had the same kind of anesthesia as I did for the egg retrieval, so my recovery wasn't too bad. No nausea or anything like that. I also had to have a Rogam shot as Tim is RH + and I'm RH -. I don't remember much about the procedure (thank God!) but we had requested an ultrasound before hand, just to be certain that the fetus hadn't changed any.

So, we have a couple of weeks for recovery and then we'll talk with Dr. Young to understand the procedure for a frozen embryo transfer. We have 10 lovely frozen embryos to take us through the next steps. I'm actually looking forward to spending the rest of the summer having some fun and enjoying focusing on things not related to getting pregnant or staying pregnant. Time for Tim and me to relax, reconnect and have an adventure or two. It'll be fall before we know it!

One Dog Family -- for now

Sadly, Jack (AKA Trapper) went back to live with his foster family. His destructiveness just got to be too much for us. He was definitely unhappy here, and showed it by acting out. In his foster family, there are 11 dogs and he is much happier, not showing any of the behaviors that he did here. If you watch the Dog Whisper, you know the power of the pack! I think, also, that some people have a much higher tolerance for doggy misbehavior and may even encourage some things. When the foster family came to pick him up, he at first barked at them and was very suspicious. When he finally recognized them he ran and jumped up on his foster mom and peed on the floor in excitement. She didn't seem to notice and encouraged him to jump up on her. (These were all things we had tried to curb, although not the worst of his misbehavior).

We've talked to the SPCA folks and they are fine with the situation . . . they want us to have the right dog for the family. They'll help us pick out a dog that might fit our situation better, and we'll take them home for a trial run. Basically we'll foster for a week or two and if the dog fits in, then we'll adopt. We still think it will be better in the long run with 2 dogs and hopefully easier on the dogs when we have kids.

Were we crazy?

This week with the new dog -- now officially named Jack -- has been rough. Tim's nickname for him "Lil' Shitter" says it all. I had to go to Target and spend $180 on a carpet cleaner and pet mess cleaning solution to get the lower level cleaned up. Since then, however, things have started to improve. No more accidents and he's starting to feel more comfortable.

Our timing was terrible . . . why we thought it would be a good idea to adopt a new dog when Tim would be gone Tue. - Sat. for a work is is not very clear. I guess we wanted the adventure and weren't willing to wait 2 more weeks until Tim would be here on a Saturday again. We were definitely on a high and very excited about getting a second dog.

Jack is definitely a sweet dog, a bit shy, but full of energy and a good playmate for Henry. I had forgotten, though, how much we worked with Henry in the beginning. H is so mellow and friendly now that even though he is a big dog and can look intimidating people love him. All the training and bonding and the CGC work was really worth it. We'll do the same with Jack and I'm sure that a few months from now, we'll have a harmonious household again! (After we buy more speaker wire to replace the chewed bits and Jack proof the house so there is nothing he can get a hold of and chew to pieces.) I'm looking forward to when he feels like he's at home and will chew on toys and bones, not stuff he can get and destroy.

The dogs play off of each other, of course, and are more barky and rambunctious than H is alone. I think that will lessen as Jack is here longer and Henry is less protective of his space and the newcomer. There is a new puppy at our side neighbor (we share a fence) and 2 dogs behind us, so there is a lot going on when they are out in the yard. Rick next door warned us that with 2 dogs, it will feel like the poop in the yard multiplies by 10X and he is so right! We'll have to be vigilant so that the yard isn't a minefield.

I'm finding myself amused by how different the two dogs are in personality and temperament. I (silly me) didn't expect them to be so different. Jack will be fun as he is very light on his feet and can jump like a rabbit. I think he'll be very good at agility type work. I'm thinking of buying a hula hoop, because I bet we can train him to leap through it. He is gentle and follows me around the house. Where H is a leaner, and shows his loooove by leaning on you, I think Jack could be a snuggler, but right now he's too shy.

Nephew Jeremy is here for the next week or so because he has Air Nat'l Guard duty, so he's been a big help in getting Jack on a schedule and acclimated. H loves him and gets very excited when he's here. Jack is warming up to him and Jer is gentle with him. I couldn't have done this without him!

New Doggy!

News: Some good, some sad

I'll start with the sad news. The visit to the doctor didn't go very well. The embryo is not growing the way it should, so we've stopped the injections and medications. Dr. Young thinks that I should naturally miscarry in the next two weeks. Tim and I are sad and disappointed, and have the attitude that if the pregnancy isn't healthy, then maybe it is for the best. It will be several months before this is resolved and we can try again with our frozen embryos. I'm worried about what the next few weeks will bring -- if I don't miscarry, we'll have to do a D&C -- a much more invasive procedure. Thank you to everyone who's been praying for us, we'll continue to need your prayers as we go through the next several months.

Now, the good news. We have a new family member! For about 6 weeks, we've been discussing getting a second dog. The idea is to get one that Henry likes and that will play with him and become a companion. Henry is so bonded to us that he doesn't know how to play by himself. When we do have a baby, we'll have less time for the dog(s). It'll be good for them to have each other. Plus we need time to do training with a new dog and get him acclimated to the family.

We haven't decided on his name yet -- Tim is leaning toward Lance (short for Lancelot) and I'd like Jack. (I have the idea that Tim will get to prevail on this one. . . but we'll wait and see.) We adopted him from the SPCA (the same place we got Henry). He's a mix again -- about 50 lbs, black and white with a curly tail. Smaller than H, but they were playing together very well in the back yard today. So far, the cats have all gone to ground. I think they are mad at us. Oh well, they'll have to get used to the new doggy.

What's wrong with this picture?

Henry was helping Tim mow the grass and ended up with green feet. He must be a Michigan State fan.

Fourth of July Family Fun!

The extended Kirk and Quick families spent the 4th of July holiday at the beach in Saugatuck, MI. We had a blast! We biked -- here we are on the beach waiting for the sun set. We took the chain ferry across the river (hand cranked boat that uses a chain stretched across the river to move from one side to the other) and biked up and over the hilly road to the beach. Beach sunsets are so relaxing. We walked, everywhere, through the town and around. We kayaked on the Kalamazoo river and across lakes that are connected to the channel that goes out to Lake Michigan. We didn't brave the whole channel to go to the lake -- thank goodness -- later we took a paddle wheel boat ride and realized it was a long way out to the lake.

Saugatuck has been called the Key West of Michigan. It's a really hip and cool town that is filled with art galleries, gorgeous B&Bs, it has easy access to the beach and so many amazing boats. There is a yacht club there, so the best time is to walk the board walk from one end of River Street to another just to look at all the cool boats. Tim was just drooling, and dreaming of what we could have one day.

We stayed at a motel right on River Street that is also a Boatel. The boats pull up on the river side of the motel and dock for the night. For their fee they get a mooring, access to facilities and contential breakfast. The boaters and families sure looked like they were having fun. We enjoyed the gardens and tables and chairs that were river side. Much time was spent just watching boats go by. The town was very crowded on the 4th (everyone coming in for great fireworks) and the 5th (for a artisian craft fair), so it was nice to have a quiet spot to hang out.

While there we celebrated Teri's (Tim's sister) and Steffanie's (niece) birthdays. No cake, but presents and plenty of ice cream for all. Teri and her husband Mike also celebrated their 23rd anniversary on the 6th.

We came back very relaxed and refreshed. Exactly what you want from a few vacation days. Now Tim has a big week studying for the business/technology teacher certification exam and staying on top of his summer session 2 class.

No fetal pole, yet

At my doctor's office on Thursday, I had my first post positive beta ultrasound. Tim wasn't able to be with me because of his trip. He'll be there next time, though! We saw the implanted embryo. Dr. Young thought he should be able to see the fetal pole (central nervous system -- I think) but wasn't able to find it. We also saw the other embryo, it had implanted, but not grown very much. That one will most likely just be reabsorbed back into the uterine lining. Dr. Young was pretty calm about no fetal pole, just said that all pregnancies were different, and we'd be able to know for sure in 2 weeks. In 2 weeks, if we see the fetal pole and the embryo has grown the way it should, then we're back on track. If it hasn't, then the pregnancy won't be viable.

Of course, I'm worried. But -- our take on this is we don't really have any control over whether it will turn out to be viable or not. It helped that I talked to a friend who had twins via IVF and at her first ultrasound, one fetal pole was visible and the other was not. The second one showed up 2 weeks later and now he's a rambunctious 4 year old. Plus, if the fetus isn't developing like it should, it's better to know now.

So please just keep thinking about us and praying for us. I'll let you know the outcome of ultrasound #2 in 2 weeks!