Birthday Weekend

Today Mike is 25! It seems funny to think that 25 is more or less seen as turning a quarter of a century old. I am a little scared to turn 25 myself, because of that analogy. However, I still have a few good months at 24, so I won't stress it too much. (I'm also fairly sure that in a few years I'll be wishing for 25 again!) Even though today was the big day, we had more of a celebratory weekend.

Friday, as you know from my previous post, was spent at the dog park. This was done in order to wear out the dog in hopes that we could leave him unattended in the TLF that night without worrying about any destruction. Not that he normally destroys things, but we didn't want to risk anything due to the possibility of the damage getting us in trouble with the TLF authorities. Prior to departure, we closed all the blinds so that no one could peer in and see our dog roaming free illegally. Anyway, Mike and I had a nice dinner at Pappadeaux (a seafood restaurant) with some friends: Chris, Kyle, & Jake. They were all in the same helicopter class at Ft. Rucker and are also here now for advanced helicopter training. I didn't think about Crockett once during dinner. I probably should have.

Dinner took about three hours. Not long. We got home and were about to enjoy some wine and ice cream with some of the guys. Everything seemed fine. However, upon closer inspection, we saw that Crockett had apparently decided to claw his way out of the TLF because he had scratched up the entire front door. It looked like a prisoner had tried to claw his way out of jail. I was SO mad. He didn't go deep enough to damage the wood, but the varnish was scratched off and it looked pretty bad. Lovely.

Saturday we did a temporary fix on the door using some Old English Scratch Cover. If you ever need to cover some scratches on wood, let me tell you that this little beauty is a gem. A-Maz-Ing. His damage is now nearly invisible, but is still apparent when you run your fingers over the scratches. What a ridiculous dog. Since we can't use varnish to fill in the scratches (the maids would smell it) my dad suggested using a product called Tung Oil. I guess it does the same thing, only with no smell. It is going to take several coats to fill in Crockett's handiwork, but as long as we're not removed from the TLF, I am okay with that. I was mad at Crockett for a long time and did not give him any eye contact. I have since forgiven him, in case you're wondering. Is it possible to hate your dog, but then love him later the same day?


We went for a hike on Saturday since the weather was great and after the stress of the morning we needed to get out. There is a hiking area known as The Volcanoes that we tried out and had a great time. Crockett loves hiking!

Afterwards, we went to Mike and my favorite place: Barnes & Noble. Happy Birthday to you, Mike. We ate dinner at a pizza place with tables outside and Crockett laid under the table, just like a well-trained French cafe dog. People even complimented us on his good behavior. It just goes to show, looks aren't everything.

Today the weather was not so good, so I was glad that we had such a great day yesterday. It snowed! Nothing accumulated, but when Crockett came in from the yard he was white. We grocery shopped, took the dog for a walk before the snow came, read, I made Mike a birthday dinner, and am going to slather some Tung Oil on the door. All in all, a good weekend. However, if anyone is willing to purchase a well-behaved, sweet, cute two-year old pound puppy, I know of one named Crockett who, if he misbehaves again, will be up for grabs.