Stuffed turkeys, and stuffed bellies

Last night we arrived back home from a great trip out to L.A. to visit Brian and Heather. They just moved into their beautiful new house a week ago, and were still willing to have some company. The house was built in the 1920s, and has a lot of the original charm mixed in with modern updates. For Thanksgiving, Brian got a deep-fried turkey that had a great Cajun seasoning (according to the meat-eaters), and I cooked the side dishes (just the basics).



On Friday, Brian, John, and I went to see Wake Forest play in the 76 Classic in Anaheim. Since there aren't too many Wake fans out there, we got seats right behind the Wake bench. We felt like we were part of the huddle, and could hear everything the coach was saying. John did have to watch his mouth (oh the pain!), since we knew the players could hear us too. We even made a bunch of the close-ups on ESPN2.

Anybody else like the guy right behind me? Doh!

The rest of the weekend was spent napping, unpacking, eating Yummy Cupcakes (which will make an appearance as Brian and Heather's wedding cake), and just hanging out. Loads of fun! Many thanks to Brian and Heather!

Big news, everyone!

Hey folks,
We've got some fun news. After two years with Winston as our best four-legged friend, we're putting an end to all of the speculation about who his parents were. He knows what his mother was, but he's not telling. As for his father, we don't know...I'm not sure if his mother was the type to "associate" with basset hounds or cairn terriers. As a goofy holiday gift to us, we have sent away Winston's blood to determine his breed make-up. We're using a test through our vet, called the Wisdom Panel that will test for over 150 different breeds. A lot of people do this to get an idea of potential health issues that go hand-in-hand with some breeds, but we're just curious about our little buddy. We'll get the results in a few weeks, so until then, feel free to comment with what you think he is. And, although the "Winston" breed would make the best breed ever, his kind begins and ends with him (snip, snip). To be continued....

The air is cooler....time for Election Day!

John and I just couldn't wait until November 4th to vote, so today we went together at lunch to participate in early voting. I know that McCain will likely win Arizona big-time, but I am so excited about Obama that I couldn't help feeling big and powerful filling in the bubble next to his name. There were several propositions that we had to read up on, ranging from eliminating payday loan practices to defining marriage as between a man and woman (which is ridiculous discrimination in my book, and redundant, as same-sex marriage is already prohibited...don't get me started!). Whatever your views, make sure to go out and vote!! You'll look as happy as me this afternoon (and get a sticker).

Birthday dog!

This past week we had a lot to celebrate. John and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a nice dinner out last night. To celebrate Winston's 2nd birthday, we invited our friends and their dogs to come play at the dog park. I made tasty "pup-cakes" for the dogs, and provided party hats for the dogs and plenty of tennis balls. It was a great time seeing all of the dogs play, even if Winston had no clue it was for his birthday. Here are some pictures:

The birthday dog!


Charlie with a party hat and a smile.

Buster was clueless about the hat.

Winston thanking me for a fun day.

Ripley, Winston, and Cooper sitting for Somer (or the cupcake in her hand).

Here are all of the pictures from the day:

Anniversary

Tomorrow marks the One Year Anniversary of our arrival into Tucson. While missing home and family a ton, we've carved out a nice little life for the Campbell Clan here. We've had our ups (kick-ass Europe trip, Winston's growing CV, my growing CV) and a few downs (ugh). Not much else to say, except that we are thankful to have friends and family back home that are wonderful enough to trigger such homesickness (so bittersweet), and thankful to have such wonderful friends, and each other, here to ease the homesickness. Paging Dr. Phil!

New photo found!

Brian looked at the pictures I posted yesterday, and realized one of them looked like a very old war photo he recently saw. Look carefully....

Summer of family!

Throughout this summer, we've had the fortune of having our parents all visit us in shifts. It was fun showing everyone around Tucson and spending some QT with everyone.

Johnnie and Colon stayed around after watching the house and Winston while we were in Europe. We celebrated Colon's birthday with a selection of tasty deserts (I liked the mini-tart you see me trying to inhale).

When Dad and Carol came, we went to the Air and Space Museum and the Desert Museum. Dad can never resist taking an opportunity to ham it up for the camera.


When Vann came out, we took him to Pheonix to watch the Diamondbacks play. It was cool watching Randy Johnson pitch for 6 innings.

Something in the air....

Last night was a very bizarre night, and it still has me scratching my head. The Sonoran Desert where we are experiences a "monsoon season" starting around mid-July for several weeks...these monsoons are pretty much a storm with crazy rainfall, lightning, thunder, etc for a few minutes. Last night there was what looked like an early monsoon rolling through Tucson...you can see them for miles, just sheets of dark clouds and rain, and try to brace yourself. The agility class that Winston is enrolled in at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona takes place every Wednesday night. We all got to the agility field ready to go last night, and were just going to chance it that the storm would blow by west of us, which it mostly did. Still, we could see tons of lightning on the other side of town, and feel a lot of wind blowing. I don't know what this kind of atmosphere does to the dogs, but it was very noticeable. Winston isn't perfect, I can admit that, but last night he was baaaaad. He couldn't focus on us...we would try to start a run on a few pieces of equipment laid out on a small course and he would just take off and do laps around the entire field of equipment, people, and dogs. Once we had him more under control, I took a breath and looked around. All of the dogs were going nuts. None of the dogs, including Winston, were scared or mean....just nutty, like they all sat down for some coffee right before class. So, I don't know what was in the air from the storm, but the instructor said that this happens every time there is a monsoon nearby. Very bizarre. Then I looked around and saw John doing laps and going nutty too (well, not really, but that would be funny).

Tim Russert

Tim Russert has always been one of my favorite journalists and interviewers. I know, join the club...this guy was loved by many. I'm sure a lot of you have seen this clip from Daily Show, but just in case you haven't, enjoy. (Thanks to Kara for sharing.)

Happy Belated Father's Day!

I know this is late, but I wanted to post some pictures of the wonderful fathers that are in our lives. I would have done this on Sunday, but I was celebrating Father's Day by asking Dad for money...just $20 to see a movie and get a sundae at Friendly's. John wanted some baseball cards.

My handsome Dad. Notice the keys in his hand...couldn't wait for the party to start!

John's Dad on his 35th (ha!) birthday last year, full of Vann's punny jokes.

John's stepdad Colon, a world traveler and best friend to Winston.

Happy Piglet

This has nothing to do with us, but this surely made me laugh. I mean, how could you look at this little piggie above and not smile?! In this report from BBC News, this piglet was afraid of the mud, so the farmers put little wellies on her feet.

Europe trip 2008

Hey everyone!

John and I arrived home last Friday from a whirlwind trip to Europe. We went to Paris, London, Interlaken (Switzerland), Cinque Terre (Italy), and the French Riviera (Antibes and Nice). It was wonderful, and it is always nice to come back home. We have been settling into our routines, enjoying time with Johnnie and Colon (here to watch the house and Winston while we were away, and visit), and starting another round of Agility class with Winston. Finally, I've posted some pictures for everyone to see...click on the picture below to get the slideshow.

Europe

Also, here are a few movies that we made along the way.

Here we are going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower while it was sparkling (which it does on the hour):

Up top (well, not tippy-top, but it was good enough!):

Here is the "ferry" we were in to get through a mountain in the Alps:

John being cheeky:

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful mothers in our lives!

Johnnie

Janice


Carol

Grandma Campbell

Grandma Lamm and Johnnie

Aunt Lib (and Tom)

McCarthy moms (Aunts Ann Marie, Ellen, Jean, Marian, Teresa, and Cousin Megan)

Aunt Catherine (and MM)

Best Week Ever

I don't know if you guys remember VH1's "Best Week Ever" show. Well, they now have a daily blog of pop culture happenings, and Brian's short made it up there for today (4/17). Check it out at http://www.bestweekever.tv/.

Yay, Brian!

Los Angeles or bust!

This past weekend I went to L.A. to visit Brian and Heather. We had a great time together, and attended a premier party for a comedy short that Brian made (starring Heather, more on that in a minute). We also walked around a Thai street festival and watched some sort of Thai-style kick boxing, which looked quite painful. John and Winston had a bachelor weekend at home, and I'm sure they missed me between the beer and Taco Bell they consumed.



For several weeks now, Brian has been polishing up a comedy short that he wrote and directed, called "Behind the Fake Music." I'm posting two versions of it (the first is higher quality). If you like it (and you should!!), feel free to share it...the more hits the better. And, as Brian warns: "Beware, there is some salty language and situations that may be slightly NSFW (aka, Not Safe For Work)."

Behind the Fake Music from Brian McCarthy on Vimeo.

Happy Easter weekend!

This weekend has been an exhausting, wonderful weekend. Winston graduated from his Agility Foundations class on Saturday (yes, there was a ceremony). After all of the dogs did their last run-through on a sequence of equipment and received their certificates, they were all free to play and romp around in a little pool they set up to cool the dogs off. Winston typically doesn't volunteer to go in the water, but after a fun day in the sun he was ready to splash around, and he did. We also signed up for the next level of Agility, starting in June. All of these classes are through the Humane Society to help fund their shelter and clinic, so if anyone is interested see their website.

Today has been a quieter day, and a great way to celebrate Easter. I cooked a big brunch for John and I, and was the first time I made a ham (thanks to Johnnie's help). To keep with Easter tradition, Winston and I indulged in a little nap! Lovely.

Mazel Tov!

This past weekend was packed with festivities to celebrate Julie and Ronen's wedding. Saturday night was a rehearsal dinner, and Sunday was the wedding. It included a touching ceremony, a kick-ass reception, and a wonderful and happy couple......Mazel Tov!

John with several of the other accounting grad students.

Me with said students' wives. I just realized that accountants must not like blondes.

Agility class

Here are a few videos of Winston on the agility equipment today. Enjoy!

WinstonWear

Many of you have seen this shirt already, but I figured it deserved a blog post. At Christmas, I opened up a gift from Brian that at first looked like a pink shirt. Then I took a careful look at the shirt and realized it was the Best Gift Ever. I think a whole clothing line of WinstonWear would sell off the racks, don't you?

Update

Hey everyone,

Figured we should post an update about our lives, but I do apologize for the lack of pictures. Sure, I can always post pictures of the famous Winston, but I get enough grief from a certain fellow blogger in LA for my ridiculous obsession with my 4-legged best buddy.

John is going through what is likely the busiest semester, between overloading himself with classes and seminars, teaching, and research. He is an overachiever, but he plays that role so well. He has also found some time for Wake and UofA basketball, which is a good opportunity for him to relax. You guys know him, though...this doesn't really relax him.

Winston is doing really well at agility so far. He has mastered the tunnel, which is stretched out to about 15 feet. For whatever reason, this was scary for some dogs...not for Winston. Once he would reach one end, he was ready to run back the other way without any prodding from me. And, he liked to stop in the middle to sniff out any treats that were left as bait for some of the more timid dogs. To see the entire tunnel from the outside, wobbling and rocking around from him investigating, was pretty funny.

As for me, I'm keeping busy with my new lab and various things. I'm at the animal shelter most weekends, which I love, but this weekend was a really tough time to be there. After several months of investigation, a very large dog fighting ring was busted last week in Tucson. Two of the many news stories on it is here and here. Officials seized about 150 dogs (mostly pit bulls), loads of firearms, and God-awful equipment used in breeding fighting dogs (treadmills, rape stands for unwilling female dogs, etc). Most of these dogs ended up at our shelter.

To accommodate the 150 dogs at the shelter (side note: pit bulls are kenneled separately since they will kill each other if kept together), most of the regular dogs up for adoption were moved to the Humane Society shelter across town. So, my job of finding homes for the remaining adoptable dogs was a tough one on Saturday. It was a bit jarring for my little protected soul to see the pictures of everyone arrested in this bust scattered around "backstage," as warning should we see any of them lurking around. During the slow times, I poked around the closed-off and very secure part of the shelter to see all of these fighting dogs. Many came up to meet me right away, some were unsocial, and some were downright irritable. There were so many puppies, too. After hearing that some of these fighters were from such good "breeding stock" to cost thousands of dollars each, I wasn't too surprised to see that they were in good shape and healthy-looking. Still, I couldn't help but feel a lump in my throat walking around back there, thinking about what each of these dogs may have already gone through.

These dogs will all very likely be humanely euthanized...these dogs do well what their jerk-face owners bred them to do. It is controversial to put these dogs down, as many of Michael Vick's dogs are currently being rehabilitated. So, with the large number of dogs seized here in town, their "good" breeding line, the cost to rehabilitate these dogs, and the small funding our shelter gets, the reality is grim. Any thoughts?

I'm realizing what a "Debbie Downer" post this is, but I just can't seem to get these dogs out of my head. It amazes me to realize that Winston is the same species as these fighters. As my dad says of Winston's ability to protect us against another burglar, "He would serve them cocktails before he would ever stop them." While that doesn't serve my paranoia over home intruders well, it does make Happy Hour at our house very nice. He makes a good vodka tonic.

Dawg House

Here is just a goofy little thing some of you might get a kick out of. Today, Winston is at dog daycare. You read that correctly. Over the next few days, we are hosting Cooper (a very sweet Doberman-lab mix) while James and Somer are away. Every Friday, Cooper and his dog-sis Ripley go to the Dawg House Daycare service to burn some energy. So, to keep with Cooper's routine and help Winston burn some of his energy, we took both of them over there this morning. The website is http://www.dawghouse.biz/, and if you click on Dawgie Cam on the bottom, you will likely see a blur of stocky, shaggy Winston. They will have fun playing with dogs all day, and hopefully come home tired.

Winston 4 Prez

Winston's support of Hillary made his favorite website, www.luvmutt.com!! I hope that everyone in a Super Tuesday state voted today. When I showed up to vote, it only took 2 minutes....so no excuses, people!

Fun weekend

Hey everyone,

First of all, GO GIANTS!! John and I had such a fantastic time last night watching the Super Bowl at Linsday and Brent's house. I even made Giants cookies and brought out my 1986 Giants Super Bowl victory shirt for the occasion (it fits better now than it did in 1986). Then we went home and I watched Puppy Bowl IV for an embarrassing amount of time.


The rest of the weekend was pretty awesome too. On Saturday, Kara and I went to hear Hillary speak on the UofA campus. To be up front, I'm still undecided between her and Obama so I thought hearing her speak might help. I need to figure it out before tomorrow's primary. Chelsea was there too, but my fantasy of inviting her out for drinks and Mexican food to become buddies never really came to fruition. When I got home, though, it was clear Winston was jealous of my Hillary sticker, so I gave it to him. If you remember, he has always been a Hillary supporter.


Sunday afternoon we also had our first Agility class with Winston. We hope to have pictures of him on some of the fun equipment at some point, but our first class included obedience basics (which Winston nailed, of course!). Some people get really competitive about Agility, but our primary goal is just to have fun with him at the class and let him learn some new things.

It's been a while....

Hey everyone,

It has taken us (me) a long time to get organized to post up some goodies. John and I had a great time in NC for the holidays, and we even got to see Wake Forest play in the bowl game in Charlotte. Check out Brian's blog entry about John's wonderful time watching the game. I stayed in NC for two more weeks to chill with the Goldstein Lab and to do some experiments that will hopefully help the paper Bob and I are writing find a nice home in a journal.

The last few weeks in AZ have been my Return To Routine. If anyone knows me well, this RTR is an exciting time for me; my obsession with my red daily planner and pages of to-do lists comfort me, while the chaos around holidays keeps me a bit unsettled (even if I am having an awesome time). I've heard that this part of me stems from my early childhood problems with potty training. Happy New Year, everyone!

I do want to share a bit of my joy with everyone. You may remember, a few posts back, that our house was burglarized. When talking with our landlord about making the house more secure, I mentioned the doggie-door in the back possibly needing to be closed off. This was sad to imagine Winston running into a wall where the door used to be, but I felt that someone could crawl through pretty easily (especially in the likelihood that would-be robbers could be thin from all the meth around Tucson). John quickly said, "That's ridiculous. Nobody could fit through there." I could smell the challenge before he finished his sentence. Some of you may have even weighed in on our bet over whether or not I could fit through there. Some thought my head too big (wrong! quite the opposite, folks), my shoulders too broad (really?!), or even my hips too wide (thanks very much, jerks). I'm writing about this, because you can only imagine the outcome......Enjoy!