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It’s been a while since I have blogged about what’s happening in our lives. While there isn’t much happening, there is plenty to keep us busy.

We spent President’s Day weekend with the dive club at Lawson’s Landing camp ground at Dillon’s Beach. The weather was cold and windy, with a couple breaks of warmth. The sun came out a few times to warm our frozen noses and then settled into the ocean creating beautiful sunsets. The cows were nearby creating a lovely scent of manuer when the wind wasn\’t sweeping it away, so I guess you could say that in a sense, the wind was a blessing. Actually, in past years the weather brought rain so I have to say that no rain was a GREAT change this year. For those that aren\’t aware, this isn\’t an annual dive trip, it\’s a clam digging/eating trip. I didn\’t do any clam digging nor did I do any clam eating. I left that up to other brave souls. I think Tate ate enough for us both. The appetizer and dinner pot lucks left my tummy plenty full. I felt like I was waddling home on Monday. Click on the link for pictures of the weekend: Yahoo! Photos

Aside from the weather and food, it was a tough trip for us emotionally. We were missing Winston. Even though he only started camping with us last year, I really enjoyed having him along; walking him and playing with him in the great outdoors. There were other dogs there that weekend and while it was nice to play with them, it was hard not to have Winston there too. We miss him terribly. Tate played with all the dogs every chance he could get. I can\’t tell you how many times people told me \”get him a dog would ya?\”. I said I\’m working on it…

Within the last month or so, Tate has been looking into rescuing a Weimaraner in need of a home. He feels it is the only way for him to honor the memory of Winston and fill the emptiness in his heart and our home. At first, I wasn’t interested in the idea. In many cases, you never know where a rescued dog comes from, it’s background and history. So I fear of learning to trust a new dog who hasn’t grown up in our home. There is a lot of work that comes with a rescue, and I just wasn’t sure I wanted to go through that. Plus, for the most part, Weimaraners are the same color and many of them look identical. I didn’t want to look at a new dog and see Winston. I also didn’t want such a big dog. I want to be able to take a new dog out on the boat and camping with us and not have it be in the way. So after a lot of talking we compromised and agreed to looking for a female (because they are smaller) blue colored (more of a charcoal gray) Weimaraner. The Blue Weimaraner’s aren’t typical and the blue coat is actually a disqualifying factor in the breed so you will never see one in the Westminster or any other dog show. But they are quite beautiful.

Since making this decision, we have been in touch with the local Weim rescue group as well as rescue’s in neighboring states. They know what we are looking for and are keeping an eye out for us. There have been a couple that have come up, but unfortunately other families adopted them before we had the chance. So we continue to look. In the meantime, Tate has agreed to expand our search to include puppies. This makes me very happy since I love puppies and would love to be able to start from scratch and train a new dog. There will be challenges since this breed is VERY high energy and requires a ton of daily exercise and attention. I anticipate a new dog, whether it be a puppy or an older dog, giving us the motivation to get out and get some exercise. Go to the park, ride bikes, dust off the roller blades and start to use the bike trail that’s right behind us. We have found a reputable breeder and her female is due to have puppies in early April. If all goes well, we should be bringing home a new bundle of energy in late May, early June. Unfortunately, with a new dog, life will change a little bit for us. We will not be able to leave for the weekend and leave her alone like we did with Winston. We will either have to take her with us, get a pet sitter $$$ or just stay home. There are a couple of instances where we will need to find a sitter. We have a houseboat vacation coming up in June and Hawaii in October. We will be looking for some one to perhaps come and stay at our home while we are gone or someone who is home during the day to watch over her. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Don’t worry, if/when we get a new doggie, I will be sure to post lots of pictures!

In other news, like I said, we are planning two major vacations this year. One is a houseboat trip to Shasta. This is the same trip we did last year with people from WakeWorld, although this year we actually know everyone going and are even expecting a special guest from Kentucky. We are really looking forward to it! In October, we are heading to the Big Island of Hawaii for our 2^nd anniversary. We plan to do some diving and see the island. I can’t wait!

We are also planning several other dive trips this year. I am very excited about this since we really haven’t done much the last couple of years. So with all the boating that summer will bring, it will also bring diving. Winter on the other hand, has brought no water for our lakes or snow for the mountains. So I haven’t been snowboarding si
nce the last time in January. Tate hasn’t even been nearly as much as he would have liked to. In fact, unlike past winters, we haven\’t even been wakeboarding.

So that\’s it. That\’s what\’s going on. Sorry it\’s been so long. Until next time.

Reneé & Tate