Fun times with friends and general updates

In mid-March, Jen went with her friend Carissa and the neighbors' daughter, Brooke, to Louisville to a dog show!! Jen was hoping to meet some fellow puli owners and get tips on bathing, grooming, etc. Unfortunately, there was only one puli the day they were there (I guess most pulis were the next day), and the owners of the one that was there were kind of aloof about talking to others. Dog show people can be pretty weird as it turns out. (Shocking, right?) Even so, I understand everyone had a good time and got to see lots of cool dogs, as well as visit a Harley Davidson store AND the Louisville Slugger museum!!

Last weekend- the last in March- Jen and I went to Chicago to stay with our friends Eric and Paula for the weekend. Stacey and Thomas and their 10-month-old daugher Emma also stayed. It was really great to see everyone... this was the 1st time we had seen Stacey & Thomas since Oktoberfest in 2007, and it was the FIRST time we got to meet Emma. She was a very sweet little girl who smiled all the time. I really enjoyed having her around. I sure hope our boy is that nice!

We walked around the city quite a bit on Saturday, we introduced Thomas to deep-dish pizza, went to an art shop where Eric & Paula bought a painting, and then went to an oliveria & spice shop and headed home for dinner just in time for it to start raining & sleeting!! Eric and Paula spent several hours cooking us all a really good dinner, as the weather kept getting crappier outside. When we got up Sunday there was a few inches of snow on the ground!!!! Sunday we all went to the Chicago Institute of Art before Jen and and I headed home with Stacey & Emma in tow - they stayed with us until Tuesday!! Stacey helped us to register for baby-shower stuff at Babies R' Us on Monday... thank GOD she was there. That place is overwhelming. They make waaaaayyyy too much baby crap.

Today was nice so Jen took Sanders sheep-herding again while I stayed home to work on a couple projects I have going. Although, I will say that I am sure Jen got more accomplished just by standing there watching the dog chase sheep in circles for 2 hours than I got accomplished the entire day - let's just say things did not go smoothly. Oh well, having things be challenging makes it that much more rewarding when they're done...Right?