The heat of the summer is taking its toll

It has been so blazing hot for the past two weeks. Each day is hotter than the previous one, making it unbearable to go outside during the day. The grass is turning brown (no matter how much we water it). But despite the heat, my roses are still going strong! Although they are definitely feeling the heat and lack of rain (the roses are not lasting as long), they are still going strong. Here are the latest bouquets that I arranged Sunday night...





Still gorgeous, huh? Hopefully they (and all of us) will outlast this heat.

The 'Do-It-Yourself'-ers, Part 1

The last few weekends have been pretty productive for house renovations. This weekend was no different, although it turned into a much larger project than I think either of us had hoped. It all started a few weeks back when I saw a program about changing the look of fixtures and other things in your house that you don't like the color of. For example, I hate the fixtures in our master bathroom. They are shiny gold and look like they came from the 1980s (which is not cool at all).





Are we all in agreement? It definitely wasn't a deal breaker for the house because it could easily be changed. So, I did some research and found a spray paint product that allows you to just spray the fixtures, giving them a new and refreshed look. Both Jeff and I were a little skeptical, but decided to give it a try. After all, it would be a whole lot cheaper than buying and installing all new fixtures. So, we started the process this weekend, with the stuff that was easiest to get off the walls (i.e., toilet paper holder, light fixtures, and door knobs/handles). This was also the less expensive stuff, just in case it didn't work. But, I have to admit, the end result is amazing! Who could believe that spray paint could be so handy? So, for about a $20 investment, Jeff and I have revitalized and updated our bathroom. Take a look for yourself....









Looks pretty good, right? Now, next weekend we will focus on the faucets and shower. Then our bathroom renovation will be complete. More pictures to come, when it is all finished and lookin' good!

Koda's New Bed

I was running around the house this afternoon, doing laundry and working on dinner, when I noticed that Koda was nowhere to be found. Kira was on my heels (like always), but I couldn't find Koda. His favorite places are under or on our bed, or laying on the landing of the third floor (which we have affectionately named "Koda's Landing"); but, he wasn't in any of his normal spots. Then I looked in the spare bedroom and saw this....



Looks like someone has taken a liking to the new spare bedroom!

Update on the Dogs

A lot of people have been asking me how Kira is after her paw accident, so I decided to post an update. We removed the bandage last week and she has been getting back to normal. The paw looks amazing...the vet really did a good job with it. You would never know that she was really hurt. And she was such a good patient. She always had a smile on her face and never tried to get the bandage off (although I doubt she could have- it took Jeff and I quite a while to get it off!). Here she is enjoying some time in the backyard the other night.



And for Koda...well, Koda is still Koda. I think he liked the special attention he got when limping around. He still occasionally tries to use it to get out of things like baths, but to no avail....we are on to his little shenanigans. But, he has the cutest personality!



As you can see, he is running and playing like normal!

Thanks for all the well wishes for them that everyone sent (especially the grandparents, whi called often to check on their "granddogs"). Kira and Koda really appreciated it! They say "Thanks and we love you!"

Updating the Kitchen...One Step at a Time

Of all the rooms in our house, I am the least happy with the kitchen, which stinks because I spend most of my time in there. I just think that it needs some updating. First of all, the counter tops are white which is the most horrible color ever for counter tops. Who would ever pick white for their counter tops? It shows every little speck of dirt. Secondly, I have white tile in the kitchen...also a stupid choice (especially with dogs). It is also on my long-term rennovation list. Finally, the third problem on my long list of kitchen complaints is that the kitchen has no hardware on any of the cabinets and drawers. Here are some pictures of our kitchen before....







Although this may have been the "in" thing when the house was built, it bothers the hell out of me. Hence the reason for my "rennovation weekend"...

Jeff and I were in Lowe's on Friday night when I decided that I wanted to look at new hardware for the kitchen cabinets. I have a stainless theme going on; all our major and minor appliances are stainless. So, we picked out some handles for the cabinets and some matching knobs for the drawers. Then we had to install them. Luckily, I left this up to Jeff. He is the handyman in the house. Here is the end product.









I think that it gives the kitchen a more updated and fresh look. Great job, Jeff! Thanks a lot for putting up with my crazy "we have to do it now" fits. It is amazing what $80 can do! Now, I just want to replace the counter tops and sink, the floors, and install a tile backsplash. If I only had an unlimited supply of money, this would go a lot quicker!!!!!

Roses Galore

The roses in my yard have inspired me to post a weekly update (complete with pictures) of the newest bouquets I have created for the house. Each time I go outside to clip roses, I am amazed at how beautiful they are. And, I am learning how to create lovely bouquets...although I can't take all the credit...I have good pieces to start with! Here are the latest arrangements I put together for the house.





I think this week turned out even better than last week. Lots more to come!

The McNaughton Family

Introducing...the cartoon version of The McNaughton Family!

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Beautiful Roses...and they're in our yard!

When Jeff and I first looked at this house, he fell in love with the inside; I, however, fell in love with the backyard. Not only was it fenced so the dogs can run and play off leash, but there was some really nice landscaping. Of course, it looked like crap when we moved in because the previous owners did not water the yard all last summer. I knew we would have some (and by some I mean A LOT) of work to do, but it had potential. Good thing we were both up to the challenge. Anyway, we have these rose bushes all along the back of our yard. They were not taken care of and were in pretty bad shape when we got here...they looked dead. Still, Jeff's dad said to just cut them back and they would flourish in the spring/summer. Well, he was right....Here are our rose bushes as of last night....











They are the most beautiful bushes I have ever seen. We have maroon ones, red ones, pink ones, purple ones, and white ones- a smorgasbord of pretty, colorful roses. There are so many flowers that last night I had to go out and start pruning them...and I got some really good up close pictures of the actual flowers...







As I was pruning, I cut some of the flowers and brought them inside. When all was said and done, I had two vases full of fresh flowers! We put one in the kitchen and one in the main floor living room.





I am loving the smell (especially the lavendar) and can't wait to see how well they do this summer. I have always wanted fresh flowers in my house all the time, but never had the flowers to do it with. Now, I am in heaven! Can you blame me?

Happy Father's Day!

Can you believe that they make Father's Day cards from dogs? I was shocked (albeit extremely happy), but it is true. I was wondering around Walgreens the other day and low and behold, there were Father's Day cards from the dog. So, what else could I do but go with it! Kira and Koda wanted to get something for Jeff for Father's Day...after all, he is their daddy! We finally decided on a cute picture of the two of them taken while Jeff was in Alabama last week. I had the picture blown up and put in a nice frame for his new work office. Here is the picture of Jeff's two "kids".....



Altough some might think this is a ploy by Hallmark to get more money out of people, I think it is sweet....after all, there are always people like me who will buy the stuff!

Koda's Empathy for Kira's Pain

As if the hike was not rough enough on all of us, as soon as we get Kira back from the vet yesterday (and ran to the grocery store real quick), Koda starts limping around the house. He refused to put any pressure on his front left paw (ironically, the same paw that was hurt on Kira). We looked and looked, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. He wasn't yelping like it hurt, so I think that maybe it was just sore. He was trying to walk around the house and looked so pathetic that we finally wound up wrapping up Koda's front paw as well. Call me crazy, but I think he was feeling empathy for Kira and wanted to be like her. As soon as we put the ace bandage on his paw (with a little cortizone in case it had gotten burned during the walk), he was all right and walked around the house just fine. So as to be fair, here are some pictures of Koda's "injury"....





He wore the bandage all night and when we took it off this morning, he could miraculously walk all by himself again. Either this was a miracle or Koda was jealous of the attention Kira was getting and wanted a little attention of his own. Of the two, Koda is definitely more the "center of attention". Still, I think that the worst of our ordeal is over. I think we will use today as a "rest up" day....here is what they looked like the morning after the hike (notice that Koda's paw is without the bandage)....

The Hazards of Hiking

Today, Jeff and I decided to take Kira and Koda to the Jordan River Parkway for a little hike. We packed everything up and brought tons of water and started hiking at 7800 South at Gardner Village. We had previously taken the dogs south on the parkway, so we set out north this time. It didn't take too long before we noticed that it was really HOT outside; the dogs were overheating and all of us were guzzling down the water. The scenery was really pretty though...







After about a mile, Koda decided he had had enough and started to turn back towards the car. We made the decision to begin heading back and that's when things got a little scary. Kira started to act funny and didn't want to be in the sun anymore. We made it to a little shaded area off the path and she literally collapsed on the ground. I just figured that she was overheated, gave the dogs some water, and let them rest in the shade to cool off (which they really enjoyed).







After about 15 minutes, their breathing seemed to have slowed back down to normal and we got up to finish the hike and head back to the Rainier. When Kira got up, her legs collapsed and she had a hard time standing up. This really frightened me, as she once had a small seizure that left her without the ability to stand on her legs; they wouldn't support her. So I was pretty scared. Jeff thought that she might have twisted her leg and he was just walking slowly with her. We finally got back to the car (which felt like an ETERNITY) and came home. When we arrived home, Jeff noticed that there was blood on the sheet in the back of the Rainier and when Kira walked into the kitchen and on the white tile, I knew instantly who the culprit was...with every step she took, there was blood. I looked at her paws and the left front pad was sliced pretty deep. She also had some smaller cuts in her pads on the back two paws. Jeff called the vet and (luckily) they could get her in right away. The vet looked at her and told us that she cut the left front pad pretty deep and that he needed to cut some of the pad away, clean it well (as she was in the dirt on the parkway), and wrap it up. He put her on some antibiotics AND pain medicine and we got to take her home. She even got a really pretty fluorescent pink bandage to show off....



Of course Koda, who got left behind at the house during this ordeal, was curious to see what had happened to his sister while she was away...



We are all home now and Kira is doing well. She has to keep the bandage on for a couple of days and take medicine for about 2 weeks. But, at least we know that this is a common thing to happen to dogs while hiking. The vet said that they often help the police dogs in West Jordan for the exact same thing. We were told that you can purchase special hiking booties for dogs, that help reduce the friction between their paws and the trails and cuts down on this kind of thing happening. Still, she is our little girl and we are glad to know that she is going to be all right. You gave us quite a scare, Kira.

This is both Kira and Koda after the hike; Kira is glad to be bandaged up and on medication and Koda is just glad to be home. I think his face says it all.

A Day in Monticello

Work has been crazy lately and most of the stress has originated from a site I am involved with in Monticello, UT. So, for a brief history...this small town was the home of a uramium processing mill in the 1940s supported by DOE. The town was exposed to numerous types of radioactive matierals through a variety of means (air, water, food, and the tailings were even used in the contruction of new homes). The entire time, the DOE never informed the residents of the potential health effects of this material. Needless to say, the entire community is now experiencing extremely high rates of all types of cancers. They asked the health department to conduct a cancer study to determine if cancer rates in Monticello were actually higher than the rest of Utah. We found that there are certain cancers that are elevated in Monticello.

Yesterday, six members from the department of health flew down to Monticello to hold a town meeting. We got to take the state plane down there, which was a first for me. But, since we were traveling with some pretty important people (the director of the health department, Dr. Sundwall and some representatives from the senators offics, we decided to fly. Here is the 8-seater plane we flew down on.



When we landed in Monticello, this was the "terminal" we waited in for our ride to the hospital for a lunch meeting. Pretty cool, huh?



We took a tour of the former milling property, which has since been remediated and is looking really nice. They had to remove a large portion of the soil and plant grass and trees as part of the clean-up. The area is now used as a hiking trail and park.





Here is a picture of the "horse head" in the mountain. It is one of Monticello's most prized posessions. Can you see it? Sorry the picture quality is so bad, but it was taken through the window as we were driving. If you don't see it, here's a hint...it's in the left side of the picture.



During the town meeting, both My colleague John and I gave presentations. On the stage, the residents placed 512 yellow balloons, one with each name of a resident either deceased or currently living with cancer. There were 512 balloons, in a community of about 1800 people. It was really heart wrenching to see those, knowing that each represented a person. After the meeting, the residents of the town took the balloons and released them into the air. I was touched that they asked up to participate in the release.....



Finally, here is a picture of the UDOH employees that were there....from left, Tom, me, John, Dr. Sundwall, Deb and Teresa. It was a successful meeting and I am thankful for the people of Monticello for welcoming us into their community. It was definitely an experience that will stay with me.