Guinness Pictures of the Week - 1 April 2012

Well apparently Guinness loves coffee shops now? Why you ask... well...
While I was really sick a few weeks ago (meaning when I could hardly get off the couch for more than 20 minutes as opposed to now when I just sound awful still) I got really tired of drinking tea so I headed out to Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop here in Friendswood to pick myself up a latte. (My coffee needs to not taste like coffee.) I took Guinness along for the ride because he really needed to get out of the house too. He had his head out the back window (cracked just enough that he can get his head out but not actually get out in the event of a squirrel sighting) and as I pulled up to the window the guy gave me my cup and Guinness gave a little bark. Not a mean bark mind you but a "Hey look at me" kind of bark. The kid laughed and said "He must know." I asked him what it was he must know and he pulled out dog treats that were on the counter and proceeded to give Guinness one. Needless to say Guinness was a very happy camper. We went back to Dunn over the next week several times (hot drinks just made my throat feel better) and each time Guinness waited patiently for his treat and when they appeared to forget he'd give a little bark to let them know he hadn't forgotten!

Friday I was up WAY WAY too early to see the Cyfarthfa students off to the airport. I was barely coherent so I decided that I needed to go through Starbucks (since it was on the way) to get a latte to wake up. I had brought Guinness with me for the morning because I figured the kids would get a kick out of meeting him and that it probably wouldn't be a big issue for him to be right outside the hotel front entrance or even in the lobby. So we go through the drive through at Starbucks, I get my latte and then Guinness gives out his little "Yo don't forget about me" bark. I started cracking up! I explained to the girl he must be able to smell the coffee and thus associates it with a treat because he gets one when we go to Dunn. Without missing a beat she says - "Oh - I can make him a doggie whip!" Wondering what a doggie whip is? So was I. Turns out it's an espresso cup full of whipped cream. Guinness was in absolute heaven to say the least. He had whipped cream all over his whiskers and face. Now the question is does he like Dunn or Starbucks better? :)

Guinness Pictures of the Week - 25 March 2012

Well this isn't an actual picture of Guinness himself... it's a picture of the remnants of his doggie carrier for the airplane... not sure what exactly made him flip out but he went a little whacko and chewed through the side. I did give him doggie drugs (Vet prescribed and they've worked before) to allegedly knock him out. Apparently his adrenaline was going so much that while on the plane they didn't effect him at all but as soon as I let him out in the car he was very sluggish so obviously they'd had some effect. Unfortunately when he gets all wound up like that he isn't interested in any toys etc.

While on the plane all I could imagine was him getting out and running through the aisle and the pilot landing the plane to kick us out! Luckily that didn't happen! And he definitely knew he was in trouble with me....

Bummer - I am thinking I can't really fly with him anymore....

Here are some great pictures my friend Annie took while we were visiting her in Michigan..... Guinness was staring out the window at a squirrel....

Guinness Pictures of the Week - 19 March 2012

Sorry there weren't any last week just got caught up with everything going on.... so here are a few for this week :)

Guinness loves the car and he loves to ride "navigator style" where he is right in between the driver and passenger seat with his front paws on the console and his back feet on the back seat floor. Going to the airport this past week he decided to completely sit on the center console which was unusual and funny to me!

Guinness Pictures of the Week - 4 March 2012

Guinness and Katie are just about the same size so Guinness just loves her! He was extra happy when she was offering to share her pacifier with him :) Too cute!!!

Riding from Houston to Austin... I must be crazy!!

50 DAYS!!!! and counting...

Those of you who know me know I don't like car rides... honestly I don't even like to drive from Houston to Austin so why in the world do I ride my bicycle from Houston to Austin? Great question!! I ride the MS150 because I believe in raising awareness and money to try and cure Multiple Sclerosis! My childhood best friend, Erin,  has MS and she is one heck of a fighter against it! The least I can do is hop on my bike and ride!!
(I sure hope Erin doesn't absolutely kill me for all these old pictures!!! Love ya Erin!!! And I intended these pictures to be in better order by the blog site isn't cooperating with me so they will just end up wherever they end up apparently!)

In Kindergarten at the Zoo - I'm in the ET sweatshirt and Erin is in red.

Yes it is a tough ride. Somebody wasn't using their brain when they set the route because there is a fairly significant elevation change (in the wrong direction!) between Houston and Austin... It would have been much better if we started in Austin and rode "downhill" to Houston!!!

High School Hall of Scholars Dinner

Junior Prom

Senior Prom

It's an incredible event though - for starters it's amazing to see nearly 15,000 cyclists all riding for such a great cause. Plus there are thousands of folks who come out as volunteers because without them the event simply couldn't happen! All along the route when we go through towns people come out to wave and cheer us on. What really brings tears to my eyes though is when you see MS survivors out cheering us on. (Frankly I get chills just typing about it.) THAT makes the long ride so worth it.

College Days! Me at Purdue and Erin at Indiana State. I think I am visiting her in Terre Haute in this picture.

Our short stint as Girl Scouts (To be honest it wasn't a favorite thing of either of ours!) -
Here we are singing with the Choir at the Mall and Erin is giving me bunny ears.

The claim the ride is 150 miles but it's really closer to 180! (Talk about false advertising!) To give you an idea of what the ride is like imagine riders as far as the eye can see for 90ish miles a day. We start on day 1 in Katy and head out. There are rest stops with food and drinks every 10-20 miles but obviously you need to carry some of your own supplies as well. We do have a lunch stop about halfway and I'll tell you what - a peanut butter and jelly sandwich never tastes so good!!




You stop for the night in LaGrange and if you're part of a team it's awesome because there's a team tent with food and drinks already set up. We ride for the Saint Arnold Team because well.... we love Saint Arnold! And I won't kid you - honestly knowing there is free flowing Saint Arnold beer in LaGrange and at the finish line in Austin can also be a very motivating factor!!

I have ridden the MS150 quite a few years with quite a few different friends but this year's ride will be especially special. 

This year Ken has decided to participate for his first time ever! He is excited to be part of Team Saint Arnold along with some other extra special guest stars Mel & BJ! All of us are excited to be riding with our friends Kate & Mike (both rode last year as well!) and first time rider Jay as well! We are all excited about the event and also a little nervous that April 21 & 22 (the days of the ride) seems to be coming all too fast!

In the meantime we try and train as much as we can find time for and then there's the other big thing... we each need to fundraise $400. Not much in the scheme of things (especially considering how much I used to raise for Komen - and I haven't begged anyone for Komen donations for about a year and a half now)... but we're behind on that too. (Life has been busy what can I say?!) Please consider reaching into your wallet and donating even just $5!! I can tell you that your donation will be GREATLY appreciated.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO CHELLE

I also ride for my Aunt Janet who is battling MS as well. (I am bummed to say I can't find any pictures of me and her though I know there have to be some somewhere!!!)

We recently found out that a close friend of ours has been diagnosed... I haven't talked to him yet so I don't want to divulge his info but I can tell you that we will be riding for him as well. (Ken was not the most motivated about this ride because we have so much going on but when we heard this latest breaking news Ken has a renewed sense of motivation to ride.)

There are so many people who all of us riding the MS150 ride for.... The ride is the easy part in the scheme of things... And we are honored to ride! Please help us by making a small (or large!) donation... THANK YOU!

UPDATE!!!!!
Our buddy has given me the go for us to ride for him. We have had the privilege of getting to become great friends with an amazing Navy pilot Lucas who goes by call sign Spicoli (As usual when someone says Lucas I say Who? But I know exactly who they are talking about when they say Spicoli.) I am beyond honored to ride for him and so is Ken. I can tell you that he will definitely be the driving force behind Ken finishing because you know those fighter pilot guys have to stick together! (And to say Ken hasnt really trained for this bike ride might be a bit of an understatement!) We love you Spicoli and are here for you my friend! And if you wanted to send a jet along to help pull us to the finish line in April that would be okay too!!

Guinness Pictures of the Week - 26 February 2012

Yesterday we had a baby shower for Jayme at the house. Guinness was bummed that Baby Sliger is not here yet because he figures she will be like Katie and drop him all sorts of goodies to eat! He looked longingly all day at the treats on the kitchen table and then just decided to hang out underneath the table just in case something happened to fall....

Pavlov would be proud....

Ken and I have always had a system for making the kids lunches... In the evenings I put together the whole lunch except the sandwich. In the morning Ken makes the sandwich (since he is much more of a morning person than I am.) On a separate note - we never feed Guinness from our plates or the table. The last thing we want to do is have him begging or looking at us longingly for food when we eat. So if he gets any food scraps etc. it always goes in his food bowl when he isn't looking. Well Ken started putting a little sliver of lunch meat in his bowl while making sandwiches in the morning. So now as soon as Guinness gets out of bed (because he pretty much always stays in bed with me since I don't get up as early as Ken) instead of immediately going to the door to go outside he has to do a "drive-by" of his food bowl to see if there's a treat there!

Sometimes we are awake when Ken puts food in the bowl and when he drops it (no matter how small the morsel is) it makes a bit of a plink noise. Guinness has become extremely in tune with that noise. He can be sound asleep on the couch and we can drop the teeny tiniest morsel into his bowl and the "PLINK" noise it makes has him up and running for his food bowl. It's hilarious because sometimes he slips and slides on the til getting there he's in such a hurry!

Well Ken has decided to be a bit evil and has recorded the "PLINK" sound on his iPhone... poor Guinness isn't wise enough to figure out that if both of us are on the couch with him then obviously there is no one to drop food into his bowl!! I think he thinks that the food just magically appears there! I know the whole recorded bit is sort of cruel but I have to admit I can't help but laugh!!!