A bath. . .no . . . a pool party in the tub!!!!

So, I just had an amusing adventure that I thought I should share :)
Casey and Koko are doing well together. It's been a lot of work training Casey, but Koko is a great help!!
Today is my day off from the hospital, filled with the typical laundry, cleaning, errands, and today's adventure. . . washing the dogs.
I started out with Koko, outside with the hose. I have been bathing her once a week since we came to Las Vegas this way, and she has handled it pretty well (she doesn't like to be wet, especially doesn't like to have her feet wet!!) So Koko, the hose, the soap, and Casey watching was the plan. The second Koko started getting wet, Casey thought he needed to be wet also, so he started jumping over Koko through the water from the hose. Well with a little tactic and body blocking (I knew my big butt would come in handy for somthing!!), Koko was bathed and clean. I thought Casey would be a "cake walk" since he loves water so much. HA! He likes water, but he doesn't like to be clean!!! I got him wet and he was fine, but the second the soap touched him he headed for the mud we had made in the grass with the hose water. So instead of being yellow he was quite brown and yellow streaked. After a couple more attempts, without much luck (Casey is as strong as I am and a spazz which adds to the challenge!), I decided to put his leash on and try the bath tub technique. Well Casey LOVES!!!! the bath tub!!! I was standing outside the tub trying to calm him down so I could get him clean. He wiggles way tooooooo much, so I stepped into the tub to try to hold him still between my knees. All I did was step in the tub and he calmed down. With both of us sopping wet and soapy, Koko (remember she doesn't like to be wet), became jealous and decided to come join us in the tub. A POOL PARTY IN THE BATH TUB!!!! I wish someone was here to have taken pictures!! At first I was getting frustrated with the whole situatioin, but then I just started playing with them. Yes I had a huge mess to clean up when we were done, but it was well worth it!! Maybe next time we just need to get a kiddie pool out in the back yard for the three of us. Then I won't have to mop up all the water and wash twice as many towels!!
Here's the clean product:

A lot going on. . . ALL GOOD!!!!

The house that I posted about last week. . . WE GOT IT!!!! We will close October 10, 2008. Can I tell you how excited I am to have free time to do something other than look for houses??!!

Yesterday we adopted a dog, Casey. He is a two year old Yellow Labrador Retriever. Lots of energy. He and Koko get along GREAT!!! He learns quickly but has no discipline. Koko is doing a great job of sharing the rules of the house and teaching him some of the ropes. She is being VERY patient. We make her sit and wait before she comes into or go out of the house. She has been waiting 3-5 minutes at times for Casey to get it right. As far as the rest of the training, it will take much patience from Kyle and I.

Check out his blog. (His name before adoption was Richie.)

Isn't he handsome??

ASL Chef

I'm out wandering the internet looking for a recipe for sour dough bread and I came across this website. Amateur chefs demonstrating how to make a variety of tasty things using ASL (American Sign Language) as a means of explaining. Most of them do a pretty good job. Check it out for yourself here.

Another house. . . another offer. . .

So yesterday we spent about 4 hours looking at houses. I think we've seen every house in the area we want to live in, that is for sale!! A week and a half ago we put an offer on a house and were out bid. Yesterday we found another house that we feel we could make our home!! We put an offer on it and should know back by tomorrow (Monday) at 5 pm. It is on a circle so it is a "corner lot" but a reverse corner. . .tiny front yard HUGE back!!! Check out the pictures below (yes there is still someone living in it! The only house we have looked at that still has someone living in it. ALL the rest were bank owned!!) We are really excited and yet at the same time dread that we will be out bid again. Kyle and I are ready to be in our own place and unpack. We really don't want to look at any more houses!! Many of the bank owned have been empty for anywhere from 2 months to 3 years and need anywhere from carpet and paint to major repairs, which the banks sell them "as is". Repairs, painting, and carpet could be fun, but we are not sure we have the time, energy and finances to put into a major job. Many homes we have liked the floor plan, but they need more work than we are willing to do. This one is ready to move in, and in our price range!!

Work and other ramblings. . .

I've been back in patient care for three weeks. Can I tell you how much I LOVE twelve hour shifts in comparison to eight?? Three days a week and I'm done!!
Las Vegas is about 5 years behind what we were doing in hospitals in California, so I feel like I've gone through a time warp!!

Last week we put an offer on a house and were out bid. We've looked at a lot of houses, it's hard to find something that gets both Kyle and I excited. I'll really like one and he says, "it's okay". He likes one and I imagine trying to clean it or take care of household chores and keep up with kids in it and say, "I could make it work". So all the time I am not at work is spent house hunting and trying to find something that we both will love. After getting so excited about the last one, it's hard to find anything that compares. Most of the houses are bank owned, so we are also weighing the pros and cons of fixing and replacing vs cost of house.

On Thursday nights we have a group of people come over from the ward for a one hour sign language class. It's really fun to have people sooooo excited!! This week I worked a 12 hour day and then came home and taught the class. I'm glad the students excitement rubbed off on me, because I was exhausted!!

Well my ramblings for now are done. . . until next time :)