~HB ADVENTURE~ – Page 446 – "If you don't see the book on the shelf, write it." ~ Beverly Cleary

June 22, 2009

Self Reflection On Vacation

Day one of vacation and I’ve learned two things about myself. My workouts are so boring that a group of dogs aren’t interested in finishing them and I’m not much faster than a pug.

This morning I went out for a run at Flip and Janet’s, but the Camp Janet Dog Pack wanted to follow along. I could see that going terribly wrong, so I decided to do a set of 10 sprint circuits up and down the driveway. I’m sure the neighbors were wondering what was going on, but the dogs were loving it. Even Sydney was running back and forth with us.

That’s when my first realization sank in. As I was sprinting up the hill in the second circuit, I noticed the pug was going all out and was pretty much keeping up with me. Not exactly an ego boost.

My second realization sank in when I turned around for the 6th circuit. Not a dog in sight. Apparently pulling a stick out of the ground was more fun than my driveway sprint routine. Go figure.

June 17, 2009

Hobuck

Last weekend I had the chance to go camping with my parents, Phil, Izak, and Genevieve while Barry went camping for Adam’s bachelor party. My family headed to one of the most beautiful places, Neah Bay.

We’ve been going out to Hobuck for years and even have pictures of us as kids there. (Specifically shots of Izak…) There is a special campsite that, quite frankly, I consider ‘ours.’ By the time that Izak and I rolled in late Friday night my parents had already put some signature Elvrum/Lowman stamps on the site: rearranging the campfire, collecting buoys, and even making a sculpture out of sand dollars, rocks, and other beach findings.

After the Sparky & Sydney reunion on Saturday morning we headed down the beach to check out the neighboring coves. Sydney really doesn’t have an ‘off’ switch on the beach. She just keeps going, and going, and going, and, well, you get the idea. Izak brought his frisbee and he and Phil spent their time throwing it back and forth, back and forth, back and forth….oh, well, again, you get the idea.

A couple years ago we went to Hobuck with the intent of having a fun-filled weekend, but it was raining so hard that we were forced to hang tarps everywhere! I remember waking up to my dad and brothers working hard to get the rigging just right, a depressing sight in August.

I’m not a huge meat eater, I love seafood very, very much, but Phil has a passion for meat in all forms. I believe that his first word was ‘meat’ as a child, that is how strongly he feels about meat. I don’t remember eating a whole lot of meat growing up. Tofu? Crab? Vegetables? Rice cakes? Yes, yes, yes and yes. I do remember, however, cooking steak over the campfire with my family as a teenager at Hobuck.

I think the best part about the trip was that we all made an effort to be there. I hope we always do this.

June 15, 2009

This Just In:Tubby Torpedo Not So Tubby

People often say to us, after not seeing Sydney for a long time, that she’s gotten fat. She is actually a very petite pug that has a very athletic body. Proof? Look at the picture above. This is not our dog, but it is a pug.

Happy last week of school!