Pumpkin Carving Party! Happy Halloween!

Our friend Colette hosts a pumpkin carving party almost every year. This year I had HUGE pumpkins I got thru my boss' pumpkin farm connection. It took a couple of hours for each of us to carve our pumpkins (finished result pictured below).

Steve found a really neat camping motif on the KOA web site. I challenged him to modify the trailer into teardrop shape but he wanted to stick with the pattern. 

I carved "Devil Diva" this year. Unfortunately the thin parts of the carving have shriveled up so the pumpkin has gone to the yard waste bin. We don't expect any trick-or-treaters anyway, in our part of town. 

"Private Sophia" as Commando Iggy 

IGGY Ambassadors HOWLoween Costume Contest

The Winners of the 2006 IGGY Ambassadors HOWLoween Costume contest. Most Original Costume went to Superman. 1st place girl was wearing a tuffet with a massive hairy spider riding on her back, 1st place boy was a Harley biker dog complete with Doggles and cap (and mom was a biker chick dressed to match), 2nd place girl was a punk rocker with blue hair (partner was a pimp and mom was a street walker), and 2nd place boy was a hot dog complete with parents as matching condiments, dressed as ketchup and mustard.

Prizes were custom treat pouches or purses that I found at Michael's and then customized (one was jeans, one was a pink pleated skirt, with a handle and zipper) decorated with iron-on "IGGY Ambassadors" logos and colorful appliques. The grand prize "treat bag" was a full-size IGGY Ambassadors messenger bag from our cafepress.com store. Each also received a unique Halloween squeak toy and a keepsake prize ribbon to be displayed on the trophy wall at home.

In case anyone is wondering: I spent the last two months planning this event, the prizes, and assembling all the prize components, buying the toys, and the treats that went into the trick-or-treat goodie bags (with donations from members who attended the October 14 pick-up playdate). I won't say how much it cost since my husband is also getting this email message as a member of IGGY Ambassadors. Next year I will be seeking prize donations from members and retailers (if you have any suggestions of who to put the squeeze on, please email me!!)

Everyone had a great time it seemed and it was a real treat to see such a variety in costumes. I think everyone can see how high the bar has been set for next year's contest!

To see the entire photo album, which should be added to over the next few days, go to http://itgreyhound.meetup.com/145/photos/?photoAlbumId=107167&photoId=768836

Our next event:
http://itgreyhound.meetup.com/145/calendar/5201990/

----------------------------------------------------------------

To visit IGGY Ambassadors-Emerald City (Italian Greyhounds of the NW), go here:
http://itgreyhound.meetup.com/145/

Sophia has been almost completely "re-wired" to be a dog

Today was a big day for Sophia. A couple of weeks ago we found out that Westcrest Park, where there is one of Seattle's awesome off-leash areas for dogs, built a separate fenced area for "small and shy" dogs. Finally we could go to a dog park close to home! Sophia generally is too scared of other dogs to handle the dog park (I've had a tough time with her at Magnuson Park...)

Not many people know about it yet (the small and shy area), and plus the weather is getting cooler and frankly requires a doggy jacket or fleece. So the small dog area was empty. Then a small dog she played with last week, Charlie, came over to be chased for a few minutes (he runs and Sophia chases). Then his owner, Kristen, took him back to the other side of the fence and that's when Sophia started barking and whining and digging at the gate between the two parks. She wanted very badly to go out into the BIG dog dog park. So we did. We walked around the whole park. It wasn't too crowded and Steve was with me so I felt he could intervene if necessary. Sophia can run so fast that I feel more confident she won't get hurt, and she shows more and more interest in sniffing other dog's tails. Normally she shies away from big dogs (as in, super scared), but my friend Colette has huge dogs and I've been exposing her more and more. She ran around with some shepherds, a pit bull, a chihuahua, some labs, a collie, and a puppy she had to teach a lesson to, and who knows what else. 4 dogs will go running by barking and she will throw herself onto the end of the line running after them barking. (Sophia acts as if she is the Recess Monitor and is always trying to keep everyone in line.) One time she got kind of far away, tho, and began looking over her shoulder than running around trying to find us. All I had to say was "over here" and she made her way back to us (there were about a dozen people and dogs standing in a pretty small area).

Anyway, it was very cool. We will always start in the small dog area, but if it's deserted like it was today, I think I will take her out into the big area. I still hold my breath, tho, and worry about her getting hurt. She emits some fear and I am worried some bully dog will sense it and take advantage of her.

The Pumpkin Patch

My boss has a pumpkin farm connection - so on Friday we sort of played hookie and went out to the field and just loaded up as many as we wanted. I had a pumpkin carving party to go to on Sunday, so it was great to be able to get such huge pumpkins - and for free!

Weekends that just go to the dogs...

This last weekend was a big doggy weekend for me. Sophia went to work with me on Friday AND on Monday since my boss was taking a long weekend in Napa and Sonoma (lucky lady!)
On Saturday I hosted an iggy playdate for my meetup group - you can see cute pictures at http://itgreyhound.meetup.com/145/photos/?photoAlbumId=104279&photoId=732734

On Sunday Steve went with me to Canine Fest at Puyallup Fairgrounds. Puget Sound Dock Dogs were doing demonstrations (competing actually). I've never seena dog so psyched to "get to work". They launch themselves off a dock and try to grab the bumper at 6' 8" high, then land in the water and swin back to the dock with it in their mouths. Boy they sure do have fun!


One of our IGGY Ambassadors had a booth there. He and his wife make and sell doggy bandanas, tote bags, and blankets with greyhound logos on them (Sophia has one in green, to match the car). Sophia visited with UB, their iggy who was hanging out in the booth. And later we bumped in Michelle and her tripod iggy, Logan, scanning the booths for good products. She and her hudband opened Savvy Dog Boutique in Tacoma a few months ago. We haven't seen much of her or her 4-pack of Italian greyhounds since they opened the store.

Sunday rained a LOT and the drive down to Puyallup was yucky. When we got home I worked on real estate clock hours while Steve went to run some errands. Sophia took a nap!

Hope you're enjoying October! I love fall! I am having a great time!

Cold-resistant IGGY Ambassadors gathered for a playdate in West Seattle. Some folks stuffed doggy trick-or-treat goody bags in preparation for the HOWLoween meetup on October 28th. There will be a doggy costume contest with prizes I am making, and even prize ribbons!

outandabout : Enjoying Indian summer in the Northwest

We have had an amazing Indian summer here in Seattle. I called up Steve at 6 PM when getting ready to leave the house to see if he wanted to meet Sophia and I for a walk. He had just arrived in West Seattle on his Microsoft van pool. We arrived at the park at the same time and enjoyed a nice walk and some amazing photo opportunities. We won't get to enjoy many more sunsets since the time change is coming at the end of the month and soon it will be dark before we even leave work to head for home! We have to get outside as much as possible to enjoy this amazing autumn. Altho they are predicting a drier than normal winter here in Seattle, soon the days will be gray and there will be some rain. We just have to keep going until the weather chases us indoors for good! Steve is wearing his new IGGY Ambassadors sweatshirt. Sopha is sporting a new purple and gold collar set made by a fellow iggy owner in our meetup group, IGGY Ambassadors. With her purple polar fleece jacket of course. I am wearing red jeans and my wine colored poncho that Maria gave me for my birthday in 2004 while visiting them on our Route 66 or Bust trip that included 4 days visiting them in New Mexico. You need a little something to cut the chill, but it's too soon for a coat. It reaches 70 degrees most days - but it's 45 in the morning when you get up! Brrr! Thank goodness for heated seats!

The final scene as we depart the walking path along Lincoln Park in Fauntleroy. 

All I can say is WOW. What a beautiful sight. 

A lone fisherman off the beach between West Seattle and Vashon Island.  

Experimenting with the flash on the driftwood in the foreground. 

Quite a few ducks out and about off the shoreline near the ferry dock. 

Ferry arriving from Vashon Island to the Fauntleroy ferry dock in West Seattle. 

Sunset is just moments away.

A pile of furkids. Imp knows how to sleep! She lies on top of Sophia (who only tolerates this because there is a blanket between the two of them). Imp stretches and makes little kitty noises quite frequently. 

Synchronized sleeping (Sprite and Sophia on the loveseat).

I supervised a home inspection 10/11 in Gregory Heights (southwestern part of Burien). Really nice view of Mt. Rainier from the top floor master suite with wrap-around deck! 

A really nice view of Puget Sound. 

You have full view of the airport in the distance.  

Morning is tough - hard to believe I was sleeping in the middle of all of them. 

Autumn Splendor

I keep hoping for rain since it will send us scurrying indoors to focus on yoga and the balance ball - but this incredible weather just keep continuing! Granted, now I wear a sweatshirt and Sophia may be in a fleece pullover, but it hits 70 degrees during the day and is so amazingly beautiful. The water is SO blue, the sky is SO pretty, and these leaves are SO red they look like they've been painted. There are some amazing shrubs planted along the path along Alki - isn't this just the picture of autumn??

I've been keeping my head down and working hard, going to work and also focusing on my clock hours class to get my real estate. Hard to do with such nice weather, but I found if I use Steve's laptop set up in the living room I can watch Martha Stewart past the laptop monitor and I scroll thru as fast as I can and take all the quizzes and pass. I can't believe how long this is taking! I can't wait for it to be over with.

Sophia's decided she doesn't like running with my bike. At first I thought I was imagining it, but Saturday, out on the trail in Woodinville next to Mercer Slough, I was actually dragging her, she didn't want to get above a trot. The last few times I've been out with her alone so I am going to go out one more time with Steve to see if having him out front like her normally is makes a difference or not. Then I am going to call my dog professional and see what she thinks about the whole thing. Sophia does seem a little more nervous than she used to be - while walking today she was jumpy at noises across the street and looking over her shoulder a lot, thinking she heard another dog coming. Nothing's happened to her and she's not been hurt on any of our excursions, so I wonder if she's just trying to manipulate me. Stay tuned to see who wins this one...

So we just keep going, day after day, living our lives and having our fun. We're hosting a playdate in our yard on Saturday, and on Sunday we (at least Sophia and I) are going to the Canine Fest at thePuyallup Fairgrounds. It should be fun. I also have finished gathering all of the items I needed for her costume (Commando Iggy with a "Private Benjamin" twist) and also for the prizes and goodie bags I am making up for our IGGY AMbassadors meetup on October 28th. That's going to be fun!

Hope you are enjoying the weather and are looking forward to pleasant winter evenings indoors.

What a beautiful place to live!

I live in an amazing neigbhorhood, city, and state. I wouldn't trade it for the world! We hae been having the most amazing "Indian Summer" weather (altho we were just shy of breaking the driest summer ever record), the leaves are changing colors (I love kicking thru crunchy leaves when walking Sophia) and it's not too cold or wet yet that being outside is really pleasant. I took Sophia for a walk off Lincoln Park on Friday night - I wore a sweatshirt and she had on a light jacket, but we almost didn't need them it was do warm (normally it is windy off the point).

I spent most of my weekend outdoors, cleaning up my "Perennial Retreat" for fall (amazing how that clover can spread...), and spent some time out at my parents' house bringing home things we've stored there for many years (when we first downsized into a small apartment in 1999). It's time to get all of our stuff under one roof, and much of it will be donated to charity. But I admit - it's going to be hard to part with the coffee mug collection, I am not sure if I can do it. When we first got married and merged our coffee mugs, we had over 100 of them hanging on a huge wall in the kitchen of the townhouse we rented when we first got married. We haven't had a kitchen with wall space since - but there are so many memories in those mugs, they've been collected all over the world!

My IGGY Ambassadors (Italian Greyhounds of the NW) meetup group is soon going to be the largest IG playgroup in the world. We only need 14 more members to get past Dallas-Plano. Not too bad considering the group was only founded at the end of April.


Well, I have some adult responsibility things I must do, so this is just a brief check-in. Things are going great. My job is interesting every day - and Steve is going back to work at Microsoft at the end of the week. Thank goodness. He's been home for almost 4 months and needs to get back to work! But he has gotten a lot done around the old homestead!