Do you have a dog?

I would like to introduce you all to the Furminator!

You HAVE to click on the link below and check this thing out! This is by far the best thing i have ever purchased. This super cool dog brush gets more hair off Cooper than i thought humanly possible. Cooper doesn't have long or thick hair but he sheds like crazy! My friend Julie recommended this brush and i love her for it! I have brushed Cooper three times since we got the brush last weekend and have filled bags with his fur! He is shedding A LOT less which means no more "tumble weeds" trying across my floors and way less vacuuming! I know i sound like an commercial but you HAVE to check this thing out!

http://www.furminator.com/

Class Trip!!

So today the 5th grade took a trip to the Camden Aquarium and had a super fun time! We always bring enough parents so that the teachers don't have to walk around with an assigned group, that way if there is a problem, a kids gets sick or anything like that, the teachers are free to handle it. It also means though, that if there are no problem, we get to walk around and enjoy ourselves! Well Kristy did such a wonderful job planning this trip that that is exactly what we did...here are some silly pictures to show how much fun we had!

4-D Imax Show
(Please note the super super cool student designed neon shirts)

Kristy is the clown fish, Monique is the turtle and I am the shark!
(Art reflects life!)

Kristy trying to make out with me inside the shark!
(I know I'm hot but let's control ourselves!)

Lorri's Showers

This summer one of my good friends Lorri is getting married. Last week our school held Bridal Showers for her and Dawn (another teacher getting married). I was a good friend and helped Lorri keep track of her presents as well as make her a swell hat! (Lorri, like a good little bride, is the one in white.)
Then on Saturday we had a surprise Bridal Party for Lorri as well. It was held at a great Italian resturant we they served us TONS of yummy (all of which i ate) and her sister made tons of yummy cookies, chocolates and cup cakes (again i ate them all!). I ate so much of yummy pre-main course stuff that i didn't even touch my veal parm! Luckily they were nice enough to wrap it up for me and i brought it camp so Chris could eat it for dinner!!In case I hadn't had enough to eat at the party, i then met up with my parents for dinner! I only had room for a salad... However my set was there and i got to see her new hair cut! Still super blonde but shorter. This is a really cute photo my mom took...i think it is funny b/c mouse looks so little and i look so big!

Five Years!!

That's right! This past weekend was our five year anniversary! I can't believe it has been that long already! It feels like yesterday but still in that time we have accomplished so much: Chris moved to the US, he stated his job at Cayuga, i crashed Chris' car! and then he got a new one, we bought a condo, i graduated from college, we got our matching Carollas, I got my first teaching job, we got Cooper, we sold the condo and bought a house (and then re-did it all!!), Chris started at a new camp, I finished my masters program...and poof...five years is gone!

Chris was able to take the whole weekend off work and we had an amazing time! We spent lots of time together:

1. We saw a super cheesy circus which i loved! My favorite part was the elephants and the ponies (they had pony rides but they said i was too big...) and Chris loved the Ring of Death!
That is three motorcycles going around at the same time and then they split the ring in half!! Super cool!

2. We hung out with some friends in their backyard bar. The best part was Julie, the girl in the back made brownies that had peanut butter chips in them...yummy!
3. We ate at a great restaurant on the lake.
4. Michelle and Olly came over to play.


5. Our good friends Kristy and Sean also joined us for a great Memorial Day BBQ...way too much food, wine and laughs!!


It was a great weekend and a great start to another 5, 10, 15, no 50 years of happiness!!

For Lauren!

A crappy picture of me and my fantastic flowers!!!

Chris who?

Yes I know there are never any photos of poor Chris!! Thanks to the timer on our camera here it is...Chris in a photo!! (I do have to say though that this is not a great photo and does not due our weight loss justice! I've lost 10 and Chris 30!!!!)

Olly

My sister recently graduated from UCONN and will be beginning her doctoral program at University of Hartford in September so she did what every busy college student does...got a dog!

After much searching, she found Olly at a local shelter and yesterday he became a Bobier! Olly is super super cute and had the coloring of a cow! He is white with lots of big patches of brown and I'm calling him a Pocket Pit...he has the pitbull face with the big square head and "smile" but he weights about 25 pounds (probably should be closer to 30 but my mom and Michelle will fatten him up soon enough!). He is a giant goofball and is still quite the puppy at (we think) about 9 months old.

Cooper and I went over today for their first puppy playdate and after old man Cooper grumbled for a bit they were good friends. I'll try to get some pictures of them up soon!

One down ...One to go!

For those of you that don't know, the Greenbaums (my mom's side of the family) are very good at making stones! No not diamonds or any other useful kind of stones, kidney stones. And as a good Greenbaum (by way of Bobier and Marangon) I too have the gift of making stones. But unlike any of my relatives I make lots of them at one time! YEAH!!!!

So when we found out a few months ago that I currently have three of the little suckers we thought that maybe we would do something about it! So last week I went had the ones in my right kidney crushed. Now, several days, lots of sleep, some bruising and some pain pills later I am all ready to go and have my left side done! Yup, next week we get to do it all over again!!!! Who's excited????

Black Thumb

I would love to say that i have a green thumb but based on last summer's flower disaster i am pretty sure i have a black thumb! (Who knew you really do have to water flowers like every day!!) This year, i am attempting to redeem myself and hope to advance to a brown thumb.

I am happy to report that some of my lilli's survived from last year and that i have not yet killed my three baskets of flowers on the front porch. If anyone has some tips for me i am all ears...otherwise i will continue to do my best to make the world a prettier place!

Chris' deal...

Chris has been super busy getting ready for another camp season. He has been hiring tons of staff and organizing all the Teen Travel Program's trips. They have had lots of tours and new families and are doing several big renovation projects around camp so it looks like it will be another good year!

School

For those of you who don't teach April is budget month. Due to the changes in state funding, our school district had to cut 300 dollars per student. With 4 elementary schools, a middle school and a high school that added up real quick! Cutting money means cutting activities and jobs and that is just what they did! As a non-tenured teacher, it has been a little scary. They had their first round of cuts and I'm still here but we don't get out "You're been hired!" letters until late May so fingers crossed!! If i make it thought this year, i get tenure in September and then they are stuck with me!!!!!

Excuses..

Reasons why i have not posted anything in...um... months?

1. Chris hogs the computer.
2. It has been really nice out and Cooper and I have been playing outside.
3. I have a student teacher in my classroom right now and she is awesome! She is really good and I don't have to do anything right now! I spend a quite a bit of time online doing "research" and therefore don't go online much at home.
4. We are boring and I don't have much to report!!!!

Enough Said

Our latest update....Dani sucks at blogging.

Near Death Experience....almost

Monday was beautiful so in the afternoon i decided to take Cooper for a nice long walk. We had been out for about 20 minutes when we turned a corner and found a dog wandering the street. It was quite large and looked like a husky mix. (Please note that my fear is that I'm out walking with cooper one day and a stray dog attacks cooper and there is no one to help and nothing i can do...). So i turn around and start walking the other way. Of course the dog bee-lines it for us (no tail waging I'll note) and starts following us. I start to get worried and cooper senses it and starts to growl. Now the dog is walking at my side and I'm super nervous because i have visions of the other dog starting to growl too and attacking us!! So i pick up cooper and keep walking. The dog keeps following. So i start to yell at the dog , hoping it would go away or someone would hear me and come help me. Nothing... So now what!?!? The house in front of me had two cars in the driveway and a fenced yard, so i rang the doorbell and ask if i could go in their backyard and wait for the dog to go away (keep in mind the dog is still standing next to me) Luckily the woman was VERY VERY nice and invited Cooper and me inside. She knew the dog's owner and called them. Apparently the dog is half wolf and not too friendly. The owner knew the dog was out but said she couldn't get him back inside! Long story short, I ended up going out the nice lady's back gate and walking home a different way.

While i know the dog never actually attacked Cooper or me, it was horrifying to think that it could at any moment and i wouldn't have been able to do anything other than scream or try to kick it! After a bottle of wine and some ice cream, I am feeling much better about the situation and will not be walking anywhere near that street again!!!