Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent a lovely Thanksgiving up North, visiting my extended family, enjoying my aunt and uncle's hot tub, playing games, and letting Hannah meet everyone. She seemed to really like my parents' house and got to play with Molly, my brother's dog. We also went to the hunting shack for a day where she got to run through the woods. Here are some pics from the weekend:

Hannah's Redecorating

When Hannah moved in, we gave her a room that we started calling "Hannah's Room." Even though the room was used every day by us and was previously known as "the laundry room," we knew Hannah needed a nice place to spend her days while we were at work. We put a water feeder in there, a little bed and blankets, some chew toys (ones she can't choke on while we are gone), and thought it would be a nice cozy place for a doggie to rest during the day.

Hannah, however, had other plans for the room. No sooner did she move in than the redecorating started! The first step? Simplifying. All the clothes - and the laundry basket - came off the top of the washing machine and dryer, two days in a row. Who did these people think they were, putting their stuff in my room? Clothes were scattered all over the room (thankfully nothing else happened to them), and amazingly she even managed to get clothes off of hooks that were almost six feet high.

The next thing she deemed important was more natural light. A small window in the laundry room has a bottom sill about four and a half feet off the floor, and a set of blinds covers the window. We had noticed some paw prints on the wall, as if Hannah was trying to look out the window. And then one day we came home and there were hundreds of little plastic pieces all over the floor, which effectively removed several inches of the blinds. In the process, she also added color, texture, and visual interest to the walls, with brown paw prints and scratches scattered beneath the window.

Her latest adventure topped them all, when she removed a shelf that was nailed into the wall about six feet high (the shelf was over my head, even!). We are pretty amazed at her handiwork. The same day, she pulled out a covered container of cleaning rags, opened the container, and spread the rags all over the floor, effectively adding floor coverings to her liking.

Since then, she seems to have settled down a bit. Is it because she has finished her redecorating? More likely, it's because she is feeling more settled in the house not as afraid when we leave her home during the day, which reduces the separation anxiety. In any case, Jenn has ceded decorating control of the laundry room ... for now.

Happily Ever After party

Last night Matt and I attended a party for Happily Ever After, the studio he (and sometimes I) shoots for, to celebrate the "end" of the wedding season. Ruth, the studio owner, went all out, renting our group a huge limo and taking us all out to Pazzaluna for dinner! It was a great group of people that includes both friends AND family, as my cousin Rachel is now working for the studio.

In front of the limo, downtown St. Paul

Getting ready for Xmas!

Back: Jenn, Matt, Melissa, Jamie, Rachel
Front: Lisa, Ruth, Kerri

Hannah Update

So many people have been asking about Hannah that I thought I would post an update! Hannah joined us on Sunday and has spent 3 days and 3 nights in our house so far. She seemed to adapt better than we thought she would. Moving to a new state, a new house, with new people - that's a lot! But she already seems very much at home.

Hannah is perfectly house trained, loves attention, listens well to commands, and is an all-around sweetheart (a high-energy one, but still a sweetheart!). She hasn't gotten into any trouble around the house, and has been sleeping in our bedroom like a little angel. Right now she is laying next to me, chewing very happily on a bone. It is so relaxing to watch a dog get lost in her bone!

The toughest part of adopting her will be her fear of strangers. We originally thought she was simply a little shy at first and would get used to new people after half an hour or so. Well, this fear has proven to be a bigger issue than we thought. She is still afraid of Matt. Our progress today was that she didn't bark at him when he came home! We are working with someone from the rescue organization to learn ways to overcome this behavior. And then we will have to start socializing her with other people too, so that she will be more comfortable being around people when we have friends over, or when we travel.

In the meantime, we are celebrating all the small successes along the way. She's very smart, and I was so proud of her learning to play fetch with her new stuffed toy in just two days! Plus, having a dog is getting me some great exercise - I can't remember the last time I woke up at 6:45 in the morning to go for a walk!