When I bought my first house it came with a tiny patch of grass in the front yard, and the rest of the yard was all rocks. We spent months putting in a fence, terracing, and a yard. We then spent several more years putting in a deck and a ton of plants. We were …
Author: ajthespringer
A.J. is my dog. One of the things I did while on an extended break from my career as a technical writer and editor was adopt this totally crazy and adorable dog. He's provided me with an incredible amount of frustration and entertainment. And as you can see, he's also provided me with a large amount of writing material. I'm back at work now, but plan to keep the stories coming - maybe just not as often.
Happy 3 Year Adoption Day
Happy Adoption Day!! Three years ago today, after months of searching for exactly the right dog to fit into our lifestyle, I brought home exactly the wrong dog. And I don’t know what I’d do without him. Who would follow me around the house? Who would rest their chin on the bed and stare at …
The Joy of Fireworks
Another 4th of July has come and gone. Sort of. Fireworks are illegal where we used to live. Not that people didn’t set them off anyway, but the din wasn’t nearly as bad as it was at our new location this year. Fireworks are legal here. When I was younger I loved fireworks. I …
Cut to the Quick
June was another eventful month for A.J. He started the month with a fun swim in the river, and ended the month with his head in a cone. That’s A.J. As I mentioned in our last post, we took A.J. to an off-leash park on the river and he had a blast running, swimming, and …
A Big Move
I once knew someone whose dog got stressed out and sick if his owner rearranged the furniture. Poor A.J. has been through a lot more than that, but my little boy is a real trooper! Here’s his latest story: At age 1 A.J. was taken to the shelter by his first family. He was transferred …
More Fun with Paint
A.J. has been helping around the house again. Here's an email I received while I was at work today: Subject: Before you ask tonight... ...yes, I DID try to wash the paint off your dog's ear.
A.J. is Amazing
A lot has happened since our last blog entry. Life has been busy, and the blog has suffered as a result. Plus, a lot of A.J.’s adventures have been happening without me. I spend all day at work, and Greg gets to experience life with A.J. But something pretty spectacular happened with the two of …
You Fill My Heart with Gladness
I love the Pixar movie Inside Out. I especially love the Sadness character; she makes me laugh, probably because I can really relate to her. For Christmas last year, Greg bought me a Sadness doll. When I went on my business trip last week, I brought Sadness with me to cheer me up. (I know …
A.J. Duty
While I'm out of town for business, Greg has taken over A.J. duties. Here are the updates I received today: "Well, you missed the 3:00 AM throwing up and the 5:00 AM barking explosion. Other than that, a pretty uneventful night." And later: "I let him run loose at the park, and he had a …
A.J. the Daredevil
A.J. continues to amaze me. I’ve mentioned before that he has climbed trees. The trees that he’s climbed don't have trunks that stand straight up, they’re at an angle of around 35 or 40 degrees (90 degrees being a perfectly straight tree). I’ve been saying he climbs trees, but really he’s just been running up into …
AJ the Springer 