Wanted: Carpet Steamer

You think I can rent a carpet steamer on post? We've had, um, a few accidents around here. (Poor poochies. Poor BW.)

Where do you think I should start my search? Jack Bauer said something about Self-Help and MWR Rents. Has anyone done this?

A New Vet and Another Interview

The doggies and I are off to visit the vet on post this morning. Both are overdue for a couple of vaccinations and Moo has a been growing this lump on her lip for a couple months. And a princess doggie shouldn't have a lump on her face. This is the first new vet for the doggies, but I've told them to be on their best military child behavior. They are already dressed up with their ACU bandanas on. :D

Then this afternoon I've got another interview with the last company I interviewed with, but for a different position. Sounds like it should be a good fit.

Tastefully Simple business is going well. Thank you readers who helped get me off to a good start. Now I need to work the parties and meet more people here. But I really am having a blast with it.

(No change on the status of the house in Middleville. Except that we can't pay the mortgage now.)

Catch ya later!

BBLLLLLLAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I scream.

I find myself in a predicament of unprecedented proportion, well, at least for me anyway. I am on one side and the dogs are on the other, tethered to me by a six-foot leash. Between us lies a three-foot rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail floor in the late afternoon rays.

The dogs have no clue of the snake's presence. But the snake is acutely aware of the dogs standing over it. The path is essentially blocked so I yank on the leash and the dogs turn round. Bear steps on the devil's creature, which hisses as it turns to the offending paw.

My heart pounds as I back up along the trail, dogs apparently intact and unbitten and utterly unphased by the encounter. I, on the other hand, need to learn a thing or two from the dogs, as I am freaking out about it. Poor Jack Bauer, he had to listen to me for the next 45 minutes of the walk screeching and rambling on about the devil. By the way, we saw another five snakes dead on the road during the rest of our walk.

Hours later, I think I have recovered. But I will not be walking on that path in the afternoon. Also i need to make sure I get us a vet and locate the nearest 24-hour animal hospital.

Calling all moms

My baby Bear appears to have stepped in some gum and got it mushed in between his nails, pads, and hair real good and tight. And of course, he is super wiggly and won't cooperate letting me just try to pick it out. Not sure he'll let me try ice.

Some people (yes, people on the Internet. How reliable can they be???) suggested peanut butter to let the oils break down the gum and then the dog gets to lick it up the mess. Of course, I'm not sure I really want to try that in a hotel room or my car for that matter. Sounds very messy, but the breakfast buffet will probably have some.

Do any of you moms out there have any advice on how to remove gum from hair?

The muddy slide

It has been raining here for the last two days straight. And the temps have been in the mid-60s. All this gray weather reminds me of the Pacific Northwest I left nine years ago. I've even had to pull out my sweaters and set aside my bathing suit and sandals.

But yesterday I did not let the rain stop me from walking the doggies. On our way back, I foolishly walked straight up the steep path that just the day before had been dirt. Yeah, you can see where this is going. I got up close to the top and the doggies stopped to sniff something, so I stopped. And then the ground rebelled and my feet started to slide back down the hill. I tried to quicken my pace, seeing that Bear's paw were slipping too, but to no avail. And as if it were a slow-motion reel, I let out a yelp as I went down on all fours and continued to slide down the muddy red clay path. After a few feet, I came to a stop. Not hurt physically, all I could do was laugh. A few failed attempts to right myself mid-path, I then crawled off to the little bit of grassiness under a pine tree before I was able to stand up and assess the mud damage.

New white and red Adidas running shoes? Covered deep into the laces.

Black yoga pants? Covered from the knees down.

Dog leash? Completely covered, but at least I never let go of my precious babies.

Hands? Mud piled on so thick you'd think I was about to give myself a mud bath.

Military.com fleece cover-up that kept me warm during the walk? Untouched.

Getting in touch with nature? Priceless.

Boy doggies

Since we've been here in C-ville, the doggies aren't allowed to roam free as they, and I, are used to. So every time they want to go out, they are on leash. We use a coupler so that the two of them don't get all tangled up and there is only one leash for me to hold onto. This system has worked extremely well for us for the last five years.

But this also means that Moo and Bear are right next to each other when they need to do there business. Bear, in accordance with doggie lesson #1, has decided that his sister, the incredibly tolerant princess Moo, is an acceptable item to aim for. Today it was just her hind quarter. A week ago it was her face.

Frankly, I think it is retribution for having to be her younger brother, the toughest job in this family. Poor Bear.

Maybe a case of general nothingness

After the excitement of deployment, homecoming, house-selling preparations, and moving 800 miles to a hotel room, well, life has kind of settled down. There really isn't the range of emotions or highs and lows that come with all the excitement. Life is steady for now.

But even better, there is lots of laughter. Jack and I have been enjoying our time together. Even if it is just being silly and talking about how cute our doggies are.

And there have been books. I finished Bright Lights, Big Ass (thank you AWTM) and I have moved on to the last Harry Potter book. Yeah, I know I made a big deal about getting it on the day it came out last year, but I never got around to really reading it. Until now. I like this having-time-to-read thing. Or I suppose it is making time. (For whatever reason, I just couldn't seem to do much "fun" reading while Jack was deployed. I haven't figured that one out yet.)

And there is time for working out. I went back to the BodyPump class yesterday. There were two instructors: one a dead ringer for Katherine Bell and the other looked much more like me. And I gotta tell you, it is inspiring to see someone who is not a size two, muscle-bound, thong-showing, George-Hamilton-tanned college girl not just doing the class, but teaching it. I think I will definitely have to go back.

And there is time for the doggies. We've been getting in lots of walks and naps. Some times it seems like my biggest concern is who has taken care of what business. Yesterday, Bear decided to take care of his business right on the sidewalk in front of the school. Nice. At least I care a special backpack just for picking up doggie messes.

I'll just leave you all with that crappy image. Have a great weekend. I think we're off to visit the home of another founding father.

This Army life is tough

Now we are on to Day 3 of school here in C-ville and Day 3 of my life as a full-time Army wife. Let's see what I did yesterday.

5:10 AM: Wake up and stumble into bathroom wondering why I am awake.

5:20 AM: Walk in the dark through jungle between Residence Inn and the campus with doggies and Jack Bauer. Still wondering why I am awake. Make way across paved plain to the Stairs of Cirith Ungol.

5:27 AM: Huffing and puffing and wondering why I got up for this. Say good-bye to Jack and the doggies and I wander off to explore.

6:40 AM: Get back to Residence Inn. Collapse into chair with cup of coffee. Lapse into coma waiting for Jack Bauer to return to room for breakfast.

7:05 AM: Raid hot breakfast bar. I must appear like a total pig, hot and sweaty, no make-up, hat-haired, piling food high on a single plate. Return to room and give most of the food to Jack, except the yummy cheese mini muffin. Yum!

7:45 AM: Say good-bye to Jack and crawl into bed, hot and sweaty, and lapse into another coma.

11:00 AM: Finally get out of bed, even hotter and sweatier, shower and make lunch for Jack Bauer. He even thinks the wraps are store purchased because they were wrapped so tight, but I had a lot of experience watching Josie, the wrap goddess at my last job, perfecting the tight wrap.

1:00 PM: Finalize grocery list and go shopping. Now the shopping center is literally across the street from the Residence Inn but I need too much to carry. So I drive. Spend the next 2.5 hours buying postcards for the niece and nephews, eye cream from Origins, an incredible butterfly box (see photo, much prettier in person), clothes hangers, a chest of drawers, a lime juicer (a don't-leave-home-without-it item). Oh yeah, and groceries.

4:30 PM: Traverse jungle, paved plain, and the stairs in the humid heat of the day to attend "ice breaker" at Jack's school. Spend next hour making small talk. Nearly collapse on my way back to Residence Inn from exhaustion.

6:30 PM: Make dinner in tiny kitchenette. Spend next 3 hours doing something, maybe cleaning tiny kitchenette, maybe watching super-cute doggies sleep, maybe watching Jack read, maybe read emails. No clue. Obviously I lapsed into another coma.

9:00 PM: Wiggle way into bed and fight for space with Jack Bauer and Moo.

9:30 PM: Win tug-of-war with sheets. Moo loses and heads to the couch to sulk. The much smaller Bear takes her place. Heh.

9:56 PM: Turn off Hannity (hot) & Colmes (not) and read funny book sent to me from AWTM last fall (yeah, I am finally reading that book. Love it! Definitely need it while getting house ready to sell.)

On today's agenda? My first "coffee." Time to really crack open my copy of Today's Military Wife, 5th Edition, so I can find out what a "coffee" is when it taking place at 7 PM.

Live from C-ville, It's BW!

After a little insanity getting the house finalized, after getting on the road with the doggies and my mother. after spending the night on the road and driving in 6 states, and after splatting a billion bugs -- mostly butterflies, ouch -- on the windshield, we arrived at the Residence Inn in C-ville, our new home.

Settling in here will take a few days and some creativity. There is no chest of drawers in this extended stay hotel room. But, ha! A couple of the storage containers I packed in fit right under the bed and will make do for now.

Then there is the issue of the missing oven. Yeah, no oven in this kitchenette. It's a good thing Jack Bauer got a great deal on a great wok. I foresee many stir-fry dinners in our near future.

But not setbacks, but rather part of the adventure.

This morning was the first day of class here for Jack. The doggies and I got up with him at 5 AM and walked to the top of the 86-step flight of stairs to get to where Jack is doing PT every morning. Then we headed out for an hour-long walk around campus. (Yes, campus, not post. We are at a public university.) I hope to get to know this campus better than the last 2 universities I attended.

On the agenda for today? Laundry, continue to organize room, get pedicure (I am in desperate need), make lunch and dinner, love doggies and Jack.

And the house starts showing tomorrow. :D

The Princess and the Pee

We are on the road to Cville. Dogs are traveling pretty darn well for their first trip. No problems on the road. At the hotel, once they decided that they didn't need to woof at everything that walked by the door, they settled down.

One problem. The princess Moo hasn't peed since we left Middleville almost 21 hours ago. Hmmm. She's acting fine, and even drinking water, not too little, not too much. I think she is just being a princess and isn't ready to pee until she is good and comfortable.

But if that is my biggest problem on the road, I'll take it.

Busy, Busy

Been a little busy around here the last few days. Here's the quick run down.

Friday: work from home in the morning; checked to make sure I became vested in my 401k (the 30-year difference is more like $174K); started date afternoon/night with lunch and a little Sex and the City movie (loved it! more on that later); dinner at Ruth's Chris (yum; good story there, too).

Saturday: landscaper arrived at 7 AM and the handy man arrived at 8 AM; yoga; work; nap; supervision of doggies while their backyard was transformed into someone else's backyard; grocery shopping; grilled chicken fajitas for dinner.

Sunday: errand running with Jack; work; thoroughly cleaned upstairs bathroom, got on my knees and scrubbed the floor and everything; called Dad to wish him Happy Father's Day; attempted to remove downstairs toilet seat but wound up breaking the plastic screw (oops!); grilled tri-tip for dinner.

Now that I have that all written down, it doesn't seem like much, but it was sure exhausting. It was very warm and humid all weekend. I don't like the humidity that comes with living in the Midwest in the summer. Can someone please take it away?

Moo 6

Today is my military princess dog's 6th birthday. Moo is a wonderful girl. She is funny and willful and thinks she is a little lap dog even though she weighs about 95 pounds. That's silly. She has been a great deployment companion. So as a special reward we got her a birthday cake from Three Dog Bakery. They decorated it all pretty with pink coconut and rosettes, wrote her name on it, and put her age. It reads "Moo 6." The first thing I thought of was Moo is a unit commander. Oh boy. We're in trouble if she ever finds out. :D

Fingers not toes

I can count on my fingers the number of days Jack Bauer has left in Iraq.

Just fingers, not fingers and toes.

And not my fingers and toes AND doggie toes and noses and tails.

Just MY fingers. :D

Dear Doggy Daddy

Moo and Bear couldn't sleep the other night so they got into my stash of postcards to Jack Bauer and wrote him a note. I was kind enough to mail it yesterday. Here's what they had to say:

Dear Daddy,

We can't wait any longer for you to get home. Mommy only gave us each one special treat for Easter! Although Moo did help herself to a 1/2 can of fat-free refried beans!

Love,
Moo and Bear

What a silly bunch of doggies. We are all so excited for Jack to be home soon.

(Note: Bear would love to play in that much snow. He wouldn't know what to do with himself!)

Capturing a moment

Yesterday, we got a hard snow, thunder snow, blowing snow, probably as close to a blizzard as I have ever seen. My house was in one of the heavy snow bands that came through our area. I stayed home with the doggies.

Moo, a rugged princess like me, isn't too fond of the cold. Bear, who is part Husky, loves it. So I was thinking that I would have one dog outside rolling around in the blizzard with a smile on his face, and the other dog curled up next to me in my chair.

I was quite surprised when Moo decided to follow Bear outside. The two ran around and played for a good 10 minutes. It has probably been a couple of years since I have really seen them play like that. I took advantage of moment and stood and watched them, smiling at the simpleness of it.

Note: That is not my dog in the picture.

Good News from Iraq: 5 Mar 2008

From LA Times, A Special Bond Between Soldiers In Iraq.

Minari Village, Iraq--Staff Sgt. Iron quakes with fear at the sound of explosions. He brawls with other soldiers. He whines when he doesn't get his way and slows others down when he stops to relieve himself during patrols through hostile territory.

But nobody complains, because when it's time to enter a building that might be rigged to explode, or cross a pasture that could conceal a minefield, Iron is at the front of the line, making sure it's safe for those who follow.

If it's not, Iron will bear the brunt of the blast, along with his best friend, Sgt. Joshua T. Rose, who ranks one level below him. It's an honor Iron enjoys for the dangerous job he does. It also ensures that charges could be filed against Rose in the unlikely event he ever mistreated Iron -- an 80-pound German shepherd.

Rose and Iron are one of about 200 canine teams deployed in Iraq, where the bond between soldiers and their dogs is so deep that some handlers have asked to be buried with their canine partners if they are killed together.

On frigid winter nights in the Iraqi desert, Rose shares his cot and sometimes his sleeping bag with Iron to keep him warm. In the scorching summer heat, he makes sure Iron has enough water before taking his own share. If the heat is too much for Iron, who has a thick coat of glossy black fur, Rose lets him rest, no matter what the platoon leader might want.

Whenever he goes on a mission, Rose tucks a copy of an ode to police and military dogs into his front pocket. It reads in part: "Trust in me, my friend, for I am your comrade. I will protect you with my last breath. When all others have left you and the loneliness of the night closes in, I will be at your side."

"These dogs are like our children. I'm closer to my dog than I am to anyone other than my wife," said Staff Sgt. Charles W. Graves, the kennel master at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, about 20 miles southeast of Baghdad.

Graves works with Udo, a yellow Labrador retriever who holds the rank of sergeant 1st class, one higher than Graves. He is the fifth dog Graves has been teamed with.

Graves adopted his first dog after it retired from active duty. The dog died at age 16, from a heart attack while chasing a cat.

His fourth dog was aggressive and liked to bite, nothing like Udo, who is a specialized search dog. That means he isn't aggressive and can run off his leash, wearing a vest that holds a radio through which Graves issues commands.

"If something ever happened to him, I'd never work canine again," Graves said as Udo did a practice run across a field dotted with remnants of once-lethal explosives and other weapons.

Handlers are expected to keep their dogs "on odor" by putting them through such training every month, to ensure they don't lose the ability to detect TNT, C4, AK-47s, wires, metal and the other threats that insurgents have planted across Iraq.

"If they took him out, I'd kinda wish they'd take me out too," Graves, a former police officer from Oroville, Calif., said as Udo loped nearby. With each successful find, Udo was rewarded with a toss of his favorite toy, a rubber cone.

"It's a helluva thing, owing your life to a dog," Graves said.

Before each deployment, troops are asked to update their wills. Graves included a request to be buried with Udo should they die together. It has happened before. Last July, Cpl. Kory D. Wiens, 20, and his Labrador retriever, Cooper, became the first soldier-dog team killed since Vietnam. They were buried side by side in Wiens' hometown of Dallas, Ore.

If you spend time with the soldier-dog teams, it becomes clear that the key to being a successful canine handler is to love dogs and to adapt to their childlike needs.

"If you deal well with kids, you'll deal well with dogs," said Rose, who has a husky and a dachshund back home in Kansas. "You're working with about a 3-year-old mentality."

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Blake T. Soller knows that all too well. Last April, his 4-year-old dog, Pluto, couldn't resist leaping over the side of a cargo ship into New York Harbor, 60 feet below. Soller jumped in after Pluto and stayed with the 87-pound Belgian Malinois until a Navy boat picked them up. Neither was injured.

The U.S. military has used dogs in combat zones since World War II and deployed about 4,300 to Vietnam between 1965 and 1973.

According to the military, 281 died in the line of duty there, but hundreds more died after the war ended and U.S. troops departed. Back then, there were no provisions for military dogs to be adopted when their careers were over. Most were euthanized or left behind to uncertain fates.

That changed in 2000, with a law allowing retired military dogs to be put up for adoption at the Military Working Dog center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. They range from small breeds such as beagles to hulking hounds.

Since the start of the Iraq war, about 1,000 dogs have passed through the combat zone, and three, including Cooper, have been killed in action.

Handlers say dogs are crucial for sniffing out the roadside bombs that are responsible for most soldier casualties, and for smelling wires that indicate booby-trapped buildings. They also search for drugs and illegal weapons at border crossings and checkpoints, chase down suspected insurgents and hunt for human remains.

And for the first time, the military has sent dogs into a war zone to serve as therapy for troops. Last month, two black Labradors arrived in Iraq to work with stressed-out soldiers.

A canine doesn't have to be a therapy dog to be therapeutic, though.

On a chilly winter's day, as troops prepared for a mission in southern Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad, attention was focused on Pluto and Iron, not on the dangers ahead. Rose scratched Iron's ears. Pluto stood on his hind legs and leaned into Soller's chest, like a dance partner. Other soldiers stood around in full battle gear, talking about their own dogs back home.

Until several weeks ago, the region was in the hands of Sunni Muslim extremists loyal to Al Qaeda in Iraq. A U.S. bombing campaign drove many of them out, but they left behind roads and buildings laden with explosives, and orchards littered with buried ordnance and weapons.

"I've had people say, 'It's a good thing you're in the Navy, because that means you're not on the front lines,' " said Soller as he and Pluto led the way down an eerily quiet dirt road lined with houses tucked back among high grass and fruit trees. "It doesn't get any more front line than this. My job is to clear the way so the rest of the guys can get there."

Soller, who used to train hunting dogs in Indiana, was tapped to attend canine handling school as a reward for exemplary service in the Navy. Rose, whose father was a police canine handler back home in Virginia, asked to attend the school after earning high marks from a platoon sergeant.

The biggest mistake handlers make is being impatient, Rose said as Iron veered to the side of the road and lifted his leg. The rest of the patrol slowed to avoid getting ahead of the canine team.

Visits to two homes, including a lavish villa overlooking the reedy banks of the Tigris River, showed how having dogs in the mix can alter an otherwise tense situation.

A grinning adolescent boy used hand signals and broken English to jokingly offer a trade: lean, amber-eyed Pluto for one of his sheep, which stood in a silent, fluffy flock staring at the dogs. In the garden, two women presented the troops with pizza-sized slabs of hot, freshly baked flatbread. Then the boy explained through an interpreter that there were weapons stashed in the wooded area across the road.

Soon, Rose and Iron and Soller and Pluto were pushing through a dense thicket. Within minutes, Rose spotted a subtle change in Iron's behavior as he nosed around some palm fronds. The 7-year-old dog calmly sat down, a sign he had found something. A metal detector and shovel proved him right. A pipe bomb wrapped in a green sack was buried in the dirt.

By the end of the mission, Iron had made a second find.

After each discovery, Rose rewarded Iron with tosses of a red rubber cone -- as with Udo, Iron's favorite treat.

The dogs are bought from breeders in Europe and the United States and then trained at the military's dog school at Lackland Air Force Base.

Iron washed out of two training courses, and his future in the military looked bleak until Rose met him in December 2005.

Rose determined that the problem was not Iron's nose. It was the fake rawhide bone being used as his reward. It wasn't appetizing enough to make the dog work hard. When Rose tried the rubber cone, Iron began picking up scents.

Each dog is different. Pluto's favorite toy is attached to a rope, because he likes playing tug of war with Soller. The petty officer remembers one dog who was satisfied only with a toy steak that squeaked when bitten.

Should dogs be wounded or fall ill, they are given immediate care. Handlers are trained to provide basic treatment until the dog can be taken to a military veterinarian.

When Iron broke a canine, a critical tooth for a dog who sometimes must chase down suspects and hold them, he was given a root canal to save the tooth the same day.

Severe cases are flown to Germany. This happened with Rose's last dog, Rex. In 2005, Rose and Rex were providing security at the Baghdad trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. One day, Rex wouldn't eat. Rose knew that when his 105-pound German shepherd didn't eat, something was wrong.

He had him checked by a military veterinarian in Baghdad. The diagnosis was cancer. Rex was dying. He was flown to Germany and euthanized.

But Rex's memory lives on at Ft. Riley, Kan., home to the Army's 1st Infantry Division and Rose's home base. At the base, dogs have a place to play. It's called Rex's Bark Park.

A dog's life

Man, do my dogs have it good. They slept in yesterday morning. On my bed. While I got up and did my morning routine. Usually they start moving around a bit the closer it gets to me feeding them, but yesterday, nope, they were happy to stay in bed until they heard the kibble being rattled around. Silly poochies.

Then they decided it was too cold outside. And they convinced me to let them stay inside where it would be nice and warm all day and the bed and the couches would be super soft and comfy. I told them they could stay inside on one condition: They had to fold the laundry.

So I went off to work, knowing that the doggies would be warm on a day when the temperature was not going to get above freezing and that my nemesis was going to be taken care of.

And after a long day of slaving away over a keyboard and after a tough hour of Pilates chair class, I was expecting to come home to a sparkling clean house, as if the doggies were going to team up with Mr. Clean.

So imagine my surprise when I came home to doggies all rested up and piles of laundry. And an unplugged computer. Hmmm.

Then they snuggled with me all night, as if nothing was wrong. It's a good thing these spoiled babies are cute.

Uh, that's kinda tight

So I have been insanely busy for the last few months. Running here and there, working, working out (some), trying to keep my sanity, etc. Well, I let eating right slip. Mind you, I have sooo enjoyed eating, especially the Christmas cookies, but my pants tell another story. The pants are not happy. Not at all.

I came home to an empty refrigerator. And no coffee in the house. Oh the horror! So after I could no longer wait for a cup of joe, I slipped on some jeans that I had not worn in several weeks.

"Uh, did these just come out of the dryer?" They were a little snug going on. Hmmm.

Time to get back to watching what I eat in a manner other than noticing that it is going in. Get back to Weight Watchers. Get back to writing it all down.

And time to get back to moving more. I took the doggies for their first walk in months. (I know, I have been a bad puppy mommy too.) I also wrote down Pilates classes for evenings in my calendar for the entire month. Just getting back to the things I know that work for me.

So time to get off my butt and get going. Have a nice day.

No place like home

I had a great visit with my family. My nephew and I had a great time taking pictures with my MacBook and then sending them to Uncle Jack Bauer who lives in a castle in Iraq.

But there is no place like my own home, with my own bed and my own doggies. I sure did miss them.

Now to get back to my daily life and straighten up some of that messiness that Jack didn't like looking at while he was home. Oh, there is no place like home.

A few of my favorite things

The cold weather has enhanced the doggies' snuggle factor. Every night, they climb on the bed, Moo on my right, Bear on my left, and snuggle down to say good night. They put their faces on my belly and Bear gives Moo a kiss good night. They look right at me and melt my heart.

Definitely two of my favorite things.

I sure am going to miss them for the next few days.