The Sun Rises on 2017

Hey Everyone-

Happy New Year! Glenn and I have had a fun holiday week. Well, Glenn more than me since he's been off for two weeks. But still, it's been nice.

One thing that I've really enjoyed is that Glenn has been walking with me every morning, so we've seen a bevy of sunrises. We've both been taking some sunrise pics, so I will scatter these throughout this post so we don't annoy you too much.

Since Glenn was off, he decided to entertain himself every way he could think of, including gambling at the casino, disc (Frisbee) golfing several times, actual golfing (with my boss), and, of course, fishing.

He fished under the bridge on the Dunedin causeway near Honeymoon Island and caught a crazy array of fish.

He started, as usual, by catching a talkative grunt. But then things got more interesting.

This is a little grouper

Followed by an angry puffer fish

Followed by a nice Spanish Mackerel

And then, I think this is a blow fish. Or a porcupine.

Followed by another pretty leopard-print grouper.

All in all, a good day fishing with quite a variety.

So anyway, we had a quiet Christmas here. We had a lazy Xmas day and then headed over to Chad and Lisha's to watch the Steelers beat the Ravens and watch the sunset from their penthouse apartment.

Chad's parents were there, as were Lisha's mom and her dog, Buddy. Sadly, we managed not to get any photos of any humans.

Ok- time for a sunrise picture.

I actually got ONE DAY off for Christmas, on Monday, so we took the canoe out of the Safety Harbor Marina and headed out into the bay.

It was a little choppy as we headed out by the pier.

We were trying to get close to some manatee by the pier, but were getting blown around and decided to head downshore to fish instead.

We fished among some mangroves with no luck - just some ibis spectators.

Near a little bridge, I managed to catch a decent Sheepshead.

On our way back to the marina, I suggested we stop just smack dab in the middle of the bay. It turned out to be a good idea.

I managed to bring in a ladyfish (who was leaping spectacularly) despite the fact that my reel fell off my rod as I was bringing it in.

Then another.

Then Glenn started bringing in some seatrout.

Then he started catching some ladyfish too.

While we were reeling in all these fish, suddenly a manatee popped his face out of the water literally 6 inches off the side of our canoe. I could have pet him on the head, but was too surprised to do so.

In fact, a couple manatees kept surfacing over and over right next to us. I think they were curious. Still, it is a little scary being surrounded by two thousand pound sea creatures when you are in a tiny canoe, and I was sincerely afraid they might capsize us just for fun.

So - to recap = on the second day of Fishmas, my true love caught with me - 4 ladyfish, 3 sea trout, 2 manatees* and a sheepshead near a palm tree. (*ok, we didn't actually catch the manatees).

I think it was this same morning that we saw a bald eagle as well. Sadly, I didn't have my superzoom with me at the time, but you get the idea.

And now for a few more sunrise pics.

Let's catch you up on Deucie. He's been so much better behaved since he started dog daycare.

I think I mentioned that the daycare posts pics of the dogs on social media every day and I was so happy to see this pic.

Look! Deucie is sharing a bed with a puggle and hanging out on beagle row. The people who work there said that he is super sweet with all the staff and all the dogs, which is nice to see.

And then...just when we thought all was well...he got sick.

He started coughing and we were worried he had kennel cough. The vet is not sure that is the problem, but he has to stay home from daycare for a while, and we're not supposed to walk him, which means his anxiety has come back.

Obi-wan Couchobee

So anyway, he's on antibiotics and some ibuprofen, but he is coughing a lot and generally being pathetic. Wish us all luck.

And now...more sunrise pics.

I mean, this is not a bad way to start the day.

Merlin

Tonight is New Year's Eve, and obviously, we're not partying like rock stars. Glenn is currently watching the Penguin game and I am blogging. Deuce is coughing.

Earlier tonight, we went and had a very nice dinner at a little restaurant we like in Safety Harbor called Tapping the Vine.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Anyway, you're all caught up for now. I hope you all have a happy, healthy and joyous new year!

I leave with...you guessed it...some sunrise pictures.

Love you, guys!

Return of the Blog!

Hi Everyone!

So yeah, I've been pretty terrible about blogging lately. I missed November entirely, although we got to see you all in person, so hopefully that made up for it.

Last time I posted was after we lost Mojo. Since then, as many of you know, we've been having a difficult time with Deuce. He became extremely anxious and started to destroy stuff when we'd leave him alone.

We actually replaced these tccwo blinds, and then he destroyed the new ones we got like a week later one night when we went out for dinner.

He also attacked the Christmas tree, pulling off the lights and breaking a number of ornaments. Even through our gate.

It's a pretty tree if I do say so myself.

He was even doing dangerous things while we were home like pulling hot pans off the stovetop and generally being crazy. We took him to the vet and discovered that he is almost completely deaf. I think Mojo was providing him with visual cues when to react to things, so he was even more anxious after she passed away.

The vet gave us anti-anxiety drugs for him, which haven't been noticeably effective. So, we started taking him to a doggie daycare place which is only about a mile away from our house.

It took him a few days, but he seems to like it. The daycare posts pics of the dogs every day on Facebook, so we've gotten to see him on location. He even sent us this awesome selfie.

He seems to like going now and socializing with other dogs. We tell him he has to go to work in the morning like the rest of us.

ps. Check out the little dog on wheels in the top left. So cute!

At first I thought Deuce was sleeping on the bed in the foreground of this pic, but that is not him. He is sitting in the lifeguard chair in the back. Literally being the top dog.

They told us on the second day that he made friends with one of the other beagles and they hang out together.

Anyway, now when we bring him home, he is totally tired out. So far, since we started him at daycare, we stopped giving him the anxiety drugs and he's been a totally different dog.

After a long day at the office.

So. That's more than any of you wanted to know about our dog situation, but it's been a stressful thing for us, and we're really happy that things seem to be getting better and Deuce seems much happier too.

In other news, in addition to our tree, Glenn put up some really pretty lights outside that are the envy of the neighborhood.

Florida can be surprisingly festive during the holidays.

In work news, most of you know this already, but some of you don't, so forgive me if you've already heard: I won an Emmy Award for a video I worked on. It was just a little animated explainer video about why businesses should produce animated explainer videos. If you wish to see it, you can see it here: https://vimeo.com/158194017.

Obviously, I didn't animate it, but I came up with the concept, wrote the script, directed the voiceover talent and worked with the animators on it. I knew it was nominated, but when my boss asked me to go with him to the awards ceremony in Orlando, I said no, because I didn't think there was any way we would win, and who wants to drive to Orlando on a Sat night?

But we did win, and he ended up having to go on stage and make a speech. He texted me and let me know we won and that he was "not even joking!"

This was for the Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards which covers Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Puerto Rico...something like that. Anyway, I also had no idea that we'd get REAL EMMYS!

This was the one they gave my boss, but they made one for me too - with my name on it and everything - which my boss gave to me last night at our office Christmas party.

The party was held at my boss's house, and Glenn took some blurry pics but at least you can tell we are having a good time.

We also surprised Glenn at the party. My boss was saying a few weeks ago how he wanted us to get Glenn a gift because he always shares our Roger West posts on social media. So we got him this and presented it at the party.

So we both got awards!

Yesterday also marked the successful completion of another task my boss had given me which had become the bane of my existence - getting an office Christmas card made.

A few weeks ago we did a photo shoot, complete with ugly sweaters. This is one of the pics from the shoot - me, Baby May and Amy Mac.

I really love these people. The other day we all went to lunch at the Waffle House together and sat at the counter.

Amy Mac, me, Eugene, Trocke, Chris and my boss, Mike

Anyway, I digress. Eugene, our designer, did an amazing job creating a truly memorable Christmas card for us.

Ta-da!

So Happy Holidays, y'all! Love you!