maybe I'll get to drive the Zamboni

Jeff has informed us that as soon he's done making his rink, he's going to host a boot hockey league for the other dogs in the neighborhood.

fanboy

Readers of Kassie's blog already know this, but we took Jeff to the Metrodome for Dog Night. He begged me to take pictures with two of his biggest heroes. I couldn't say no.

Jeffrey Marie CC and Sir Francis Tarkenton

Jeffrey Marie CC and Jim Marshall

myre-big island state park

We went camping this weekend. Kassie pulled the surprise reservation at a state park down south. It's not really where Minnesotans go in the summer.

But it turned out to be a pretty nice place.

Here's our campsite. It was on the Big Island part of the park. The temperature was probably ten degrees cooler under the canopy than out in the real world all weekend.
Of course, Adventure Dog got to have some fun. There were very few mosquitoes and I don't think I saw a single biting fly.
And I think it may have been my brother who first pointed out to me years ago that the Push-Butt-Rub-Hands-Gently-Under-Arm-Wipe-Hands-on-Pants Guy really gets around. He's been to Myre-Big Island State Park!

the mostly true exploits of adventure dog

The world knows him as mild-mannered Jeffrey Marie CC- chaser of balls, eater of grass, splasher of water, sleeper extraordinaire.
But little do most people know, when nature calls, he transforms into Adventure Dog!*
Before his car even arrived at Glendalough State Park, Adventure Dog leaped out the window and battled the fierce and savage Mr. Badger. Way to go, Adventure Dog!
AD donned his pack and made it clear he was ready for a walk. Little did he know that his greatest nemesis, Deer Fly Horde, was waiting for him. The flies attacked. AD had little defense and little interest in staying near anyone who might be able to swat the flies and keep them away from him. He was pleased to find some relief in a creek.
It was a sad time in Adventure Dog's life. He even considered joining Monty, Coppy, Pokey, Chum, Tabatha, Rico, Penny, Rex, King, Rusty and the rest at the Glendalough Pet Cemetery.
However, Adventure Dog decided not to let a few welts and a swollen face get him down.
Instead, he made the most of his day, chasing a US Senate candidate in the water.
Adventure Dog had an exhausting, somewhat painful day. It was nothing four Benadryl tablets couldn't take care of.

He got his fill of nature and is happily back to being plain old Jeffrey Marie CC, asleep on the bed.


*There might be a lot of canines out there calling themselves Adventure Dog. They don't seem to be a terribly creative bunch.

you're welcome

former Independence Party U.S. Senate Candidate Robert Fitzgerald
hastens away as our hero drops a little love onto the lawn

last weekend

Kassie and I went to Sioux Falls last weekend to visit my brother Corey, his wife Tara, and their kids, Cayden and Kyah. We got there Friday afternoon, so we had a little time to kill before everyone got home from work and daycare. We made a stop at Falls Park, to see the falls of the Big Sioux River. The city has put a lot of work into that park since I lived there. It was really beautiful.

poop

the view from the observation tower, Kassie and Jeff- lower left

We had a really nice weekend. Corey threw some burgers on the grill for lunch Saturday afternoon. MinusCar Mike and his family joined us, as did KT. Corey, Tara, Kassie and I went out for sushi Saturday night at a place called Sushi Masa. It was really good, and relatively cheap!

After Corey and Tara got called out of church by the nursery and took Cayden to see a doctor, Kassie and I ducked out to go look around Sioux Falls.

After lunch, we all went into the back yard to play. We hoped to make sure Jeff was tired for the car ride home. He was already tired, but he wasn't too tired to completely level Cayden and give him a bloody nose! That was scary for a second, considering Jeff outweighs Cayden by about 2.5 to 1. Thankfully, Cayden is tough and made friends with Jeff before we left.

Jeff enjoyed the jungle gym.

nasty, nasty, foul dog

Today at the Bloomington dog park, Jeff distracted me with his Excited Turd- hot liquid, not easy to clean up- and rolled in the putrid, viscous stew of the remains of a dead bird a few feet away.

When we got home he got a bath.

Jerk.

fairly fit, I guess

I found the entirety of the cheesecloth in a brown, gooey mass on Jeff's bed this morning.

Jeff 1, Darwin 0.

whew

Well, Jeffrey will apparently live through the alcohol and raisins. I'm not ready to relax until we start to see some cheesecloth, though...

Jeff is an idiot/time for an intervention, parts 3 and 2, respectively

Kassie made two fruitcakes last week. The recipe calls for a cup of rum, plus they get doused with brandy every couple of days.

When I got home this evening, I noticed that Jeffrey hadn't finished his dinner. That's strange. He usually inhales it in about three minutes. Yeah, you know where this is going.

I asked Kassie if he'd gotten into anything. She thought maybe he'd eaten some garbage. Then she discovered what he'd gotten into. One of the fruitcakes is gone.

Jeff is HAMMERED. And we think it's been a few hours.

Idiot.

time for an intervention

I came home the other day to this:

I think Jeff has a problem.

At least it's not Aqua Velva.

the blob is Jeff and this would have been much, much better if I hadn't taken it with my phone... but you get the idea (and I hope you have QuickTime)

I'm still working with the Instruction Center, and will be for almost another month. I like it, but riding a bus, often sideways, for six or seven hours a day hurts my back. I have the day off so I went to the chiropractor today and I already feel much better.

I don't ordinarily post the horrible misspellings and grammar atrocities I see at the garages. For one thing, the signs people put up are often temporary. Another reason is that there are so many, it's all I'd write about.

But I'm making an exception today because I looked at this sign and I genuinely thought for a second that I might learn a new word. But it was not to be.


Kassie and I went to her parents' cabin for a long weekend. Jeff jumped on my lap.

the call of the wild

I woke up this morning to the sound of Jeff puking up sticks and assorted other. As I checked on the mess he was making, a bald eagle flying across the front yard caught my eye.

I looked out the window and saw another one. It was a young one. Eventually, I think it saw me, but it didn't seem to care.

So yeah, we went to Kassie's parents' cabin this weekend.

Anyway, Jeff was outside looking at the eagle. He was interested, but not interested enough to mess with it.

He sat safely up the hill, about 75 feet from it.

We had a good time. Jeff loved the lake. Kassie's cousin got a picture a lot like this one, but much cooler.

a few pics from the last week

Kyah and Cayden, my niece and nephew.

I thought it was a good idea to pitch with one hand and try to get a photo with the other. This was right before the ball hit Cayden on the forehead.

Jeff, Sammy. Sammy, Jeff.

Kassie said she sees this all the time, so she didn't find it nearly as funny as I did.

Banjo, tail end of the dump. I believe the next move is: consume what has been dumped.

Andy, Ben. Ben, Andy.

lazy sunday

Earlier:

This was the view from the booth where Kassie and I sat for a couple hours at Pride. The booth was for our church, University Baptist, and Judson Memorial Baptist, another progressive Baptist church in Mpls.

Later:

Satan Jeff, Steve. Steve, Jeff.

seriously, Jeff is an idiot.

beautiful day

It was a beautiful day; Kassie insisted that we had to do something besides sit around on the computer all day. I suppose...

We tried to look for a new light fixture at Creative Lighting, but they were closed.

So we went to the Electric Fetus and purchased the latest from:
Cloud Cult
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Low
Modest Mouse
Southern Culture on the Skids andLaura Veirs.

We went home for a little while, then took Jeff to the Minnehaha off-leash dog park. He ran around and swam and ran around some more for well over an hour.

For dinner, we went to Sea Salt, a place we've wanted to try. It's in Minnehaha Park, so we were right there. We got the Oil Pan, which is shrimp, oysters and pickled herring on ice, plus a pitcher of Surly Bender. It was ever so delicious. We ate at a park table with Jeff sleeping underneath us.

We walked around the park for a while, then came home. I'd have to say it was a good day.

Jeff is an idiot.