Change is Afoot

Ummmm....Lots of things are probably changing this summer.
There's a chance we're buying a house??
Yeah. We'll let you know when we know something...
Advice welcome!

Spring in our Step

It's spring in Indiana. How do we know? Well, we experienced the better part of a week in which the sun was up when we were, around 7AM. And then our good moods were quickly ruined by daylight savings -- we really should be on Central Time, not Eastern!
But how do we, Team Carlson, really know it's spring????
Because, folks, bug-hunting season has begun! Pepper knows all about bug-hunting season and is gleefully doing his part to keep the moth and fly population of 1249 Miller Drive under control. Boomer, on the other hand, seems to miss the point entirely. Pepper hunts with great focus, running amok all over the house -- sometimes he just puts his nose to the ground and "meta-hunts" -- he wants to hunt, so he hunts for something to hunt.
Meanwhile, as Pepper runs about trying to catch (or play with?) an insect, Boomer runs around trying to catch (or play with?) Boomer. The end result is incredibly amusing and sounds a bit like a stampede!

Boombaloney

The longer we have Boomer around, the harder it is to believe that anyone ever gave that dog up. I just had to write a quick post about this...
We put in a (very short) fence last week...well...Matt put it in. Now the dogs get their collars on and go hang out in the yard first thing in the morning, or any time they need to go potty. Boomer hasn't quite figured out that his trusty bell is now at the back door, but he really lets us know when he needs to go out. A few times he's come into my office and just started barking at me (he's doesn't bark for attention like Pepper does, so it actually means something when he barks. Pepper, on the other hand, is "The Dog Who Cried Woof."
Anyway, twice now Boomer has gone and grabbed his collar from the table by the back door and brought it to one of us, then he's gone straight out and peed.

Good dog, Boombear!

Spring Cleaning: Team Carlson Style

This week is spring break, and it is BEAUTIFUL - in every way. The weather has been gorgeous, meaning that we've each spent some time on the back deck, and Matt even put in a little fence for the dogs today. Now the dogs are completely comatose on the couch, as they spent the afternoon having free reign of the house AND the yard!
We spent many hours yesterday moving furniture around - the front room is back to being my office, the back room is now our bedroom, and the middle room is now Matt's office. I know: quite a sexy spring break, huh? Well, I'm very much into the idea of making our awesome house a home this spring and summer - and that starts with getting rid of a LOT of stuff and doing some MAJOR spring cleaning!
To keep it interesting, Matt and I have begun a little competition. We have made a list of spring cleaning tasks and assigned point values to each task. Whenever one of us completes a task, they get the associated points. Most points wins $50. We've got two iterations of the Spring Cleaning Challenge - one began today and ends June 1st while the second runs June 1st to August 15th. May the tidiest or most industrious Carlson win!
Yes, we are enormous dorks. Our dorkiness is pretty lovable, donchya think?
Once the house is back to some semblance of order, we'll take some pictures. There is talk of paint cans and non-functional (i.e. purely decorative) items. GASP!