The Sooki Blog Entry/I hate Poop
I hate Poop, I particularly hate dog Poop. For a long time I did not want to get a dog because of the whole poop issue. Up until recently Poop was not a major part of my life, the kids had long since been trained and we had no other pets in the house. Sure I might run into a load or two during the summer months while mowing the lawn but other than that it was largely a poop free environment. Life was pretty good.
Then as part of my 'mid-life try new things' crisis I decided to overcome my fear of dog poop and soon there was a new woman in my life.
Meet Sooki a yellow lab puppy. She is essentially a dog poop machine. For the last couple of weeks I have completly overcome my fear of dog poop. I now have new fears and many frightening questions which must be answered on a daily basis. They are as follows:
1) Where is she going to poop?
2) Where is she going to pee?
3) How do I teach her not to poop or pee there?
4) Why won't she poop and pee when I want her too?
5) What is she chewing on?
5) Who's going to clean that up?
6) What do you mean she's gotta pee at 2:15 AM?
Most of the answers to these questions involve me getting my hands dirty and cleaning things or freeing things from the dogs mouth, or scrubbing something. The other day she got off schedule when she didn't poop before she went to bed. She pooped in her crate at 4:00 AM then wouldn't poop after breakfast then pooped in her crate while I was at work. When I came home I had to clean her and the crate again. I now constantly live in fear where and when she will poop.
In order to get the dog to remain for any length of time in the position shown above we must do plenty of walking. This involves me spending much of my life walking around the neighborhood with plastic bags in one pocket and dog treats in the other. I have the treats so that I can reward her for making a mess which I will clean up on the spot and then carry with me on the rest of our walk. So I not only have to clean up the poop, I have to transport the poop as well. My favorite night to take a walk is Thursday night because trash day is Friday and everyone puts their cans out in the evening. If she does poop I can quickly dispose of it at the next house.
The kids seem to enjoy the dog. Jake a little more so than Max. Here are the three of them in their Halloween costumes. Sooki and I have begun Puppy Kindergarden. One of her sisters is in our class which is nice for her. At least that's what I tell myself, I am not sure how much she really cares but I like to think she does. She has learned to sit and stays on occasion. Working on staying down right now. Maybe as we learn more tricks will post some video.
summer Fun
Been a long time since I posted; here is a summer recap. We seemed to spend the first part of the summer at baseball practice and baseball tournaments. Max began Allstars as a reserve but in the end was starting at second base. He was a reliable fielder but still needs some work with the bat.
Max has a pea head so he wears his cap underneath his batting helmet backwards. Here is getting ready to hit.
This summer Jake lost his two front teeth, at the same time. He has had a pumpkin smile for most of the summer.
Max grew his hair out and is telling us he never wants to get another haircut again. It's starting to approach his eyes and we may have to talk him into a trim.
We took a road trip up north with some friends and stayed at their cabin one weekend. The kids had a great time. They ran, swam and caught crayfish in the creek. They also passed out on the way home.
Here is Max in the stream catching crayfish, they put a bunch of them in a small wading pool and watched them fight each other.
They had a swing and the kids spent a lot of time on it. They also spent some time in the evenings playing rock band which was very entertaining. Max does a wicked version of sabatoge.
Jake and Max have been enjoying the skate park in Hershey this summer. They are just learning to shred and fall a lot but they have a good time.
Full safety gear is required which is good as the kids are beginning to feel more confident and starting to attempt some dangerous stunts.
Picture's Stories Coming Soon
Go Birds!
This week Max's team the Orioles had their end of season league tournament. There were six teams in the league. The teams in first and second got a bye. Max's team was the fith seed in the tournament. The first game they played the fourth seed. The games are six innings long and Max pitched the fourth and the fifth. The first inning went well but in the fifth the other team scored a few runs off of him and he got upset with himself. There were many lead changes in the game. When the game went to the bottom of the sixth the Orioles were up by two but the other team scored two to send the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the seventh our team was able to drive in one run. Max was playing short stop during the last inning and before our pitcher started warming up I saw Max go over and say a few words to him. It was going to be tough to protect the lead but our pitcher did an excellent job of shutting down the first two batters. When the last batter came up he hit the ball in the gap between first and second. The second basemen was a young second grader who was playing up with the third and fourth graders. He is probably the smallest boy in the league. But he was quick and made an excellent read on the well hit ball. He ran on an angle toward first base and right field and just when he was getting near the outfield grass the ball took a sudden long high hop. The second basemen reached out fully extended and was able to grab the ball. He spun around counter clockwise and made the throw to first just in time to get the runner out! The team went wild and the season would last at least one more game.
A day later we got an e-mail from the parents of the boy who did a great job pitching four innings in that game including the last inning. Max apparently told the boy who pitched the last inning, "We win as a team, we lose as a team" and told him to just go out there and pitch. I think I was more proud to hear those words than I was of the win.
Friday we found ourselves back at the park to watch Max and the Birds face the number two seed in the tournament. It was a team that had beaten them twice this season. Max had four innings of eligibility left to pitch in the tournament. We were the away team again and in our first at bat we scored four runs. Max went out and pitched his best game of the year protecting the lead for all four innings. He gave up some runs but held it together. It seemed every ball they hit was a pop fly to Max or a ground ball back to him. At one point they tried bunting but he scooped it up and made the throw to first. There was a scary moment in the fifth when our best pitcher was hit with a ball in the leg and we were not certain if he would be able to come back and pitch the sixth but he shook it off and closed the game out. With an 8-5 win the birds were now in the championship game!
Saturday morning at 10:00 AM the Birds faced an undefeated team in the championship game short two of their best arms. This team had not lost a game all season long and as much as I would like to say we had a fairy tale ending, this team turned out to be just too much for our guys to handle. However we did rally late in the sixth to give them a game. With the score 9 to 5 and two outs Max came up to bat and hit a ball to the third base side of the infield. It was a bang bang play at first and by bang bang I mean Max ran over the first basemen. The runner on second scored and Max quickly got up and ran to second. We were getting to the best part of the line up and the other coach called a time out and gathered his players together at the mound. Our next batter hit another ball to the left side of the infield and I thought Max would score the seventh run but the other team made the play at first and the Oriole's season came to an end!
It was a great tournament and experience for these boys to start out as a fith seed and come together and string together three strong games all as underdogs. They never quit and always encouraged each other. Just when we thought baseball was over we got word this week that Max has made the All-Star Team and will be playing in two tournaments. Practice starts next week!
My Cup Is Bigger Than Yours
Jake started playing catcher this year and thus needed a cup. He actually played one game without the cup and took a shot to the nuts and went down. The following day I found myself at "Dicks" sporting goods looking to buy a cup for my 8 year old. That's correct - the store's name is "Dicks" and for those of you on the west coast who don't have "Dicks"; well let's just say I feel sorry for you. Great store, excellent staff with plenty of support. The perfect place to buy a cup.
Now when I was a kid playing little league I too played catcher but the equipment bag came complete with bats, balls, and a cup which was shared amongst the team and reused every year. When it was your turn to catch you dropped the team cup in your underwear and squated down behind the plate. Sure it smelled and there was some sort of fungus on it but you wore it! Occasionally it might slip out a leg hole and you had to make some adjustments but at the end of the day you were well protected and stayed fertile.
Today everyone has to have their own cup and they come with special underwear. Not so much a jock strap but tighty whities with a pouch. So we picked out a cup complete with the underwear and rang it up and took it home. When we got home Jake had to show Max his cup. Then they had to get Max's cup out and compare the cups. As it turns out Jake's cup was bigger. Jake spent the next hour notifying anyone in the neighborhood who cared to hear about his cup size. We also had to show off our new cup to everyone on the baseball team and all parents who cared to listen. At some point in the game there came a loud cry from the bench when someone found the cup in their helmet.
Later Max requested we return to "Dicks" to upgrade. In the end I guess I learned that sometimes size does matter. Especially with brothers.
Next Week
Next week my friend Vicki is coming to visit from Detroit. I can't wait! Here are the boys...just hanging out with their silly selves.
In order to get the dog to remain for any length of time in the position shown above we must do plenty of walking. This involves me spending much of my life walking around the neighborhood with plastic bags in one pocket and dog treats in the other. I have the treats so that I can reward her for making a mess which I will clean up on the spot and then carry with me on the rest of our walk. So I not only have to clean up the poop, I have to transport the poop as well. My favorite night to take a walk is Thursday night because trash day is Friday and everyone puts their cans out in the evening. If she does poop I can quickly dispose of it at the next house.
The kids seem to enjoy the dog. Jake a little more so than Max. Here are the three of them in their Halloween costumes. Sooki and I have begun Puppy Kindergarden. One of her sisters is in our class which is nice for her. At least that's what I tell myself, I am not sure how much she really cares but I like to think she does. She has learned to sit and stays on occasion. Working on staying down right now. Maybe as we learn more tricks will post some video.
