First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes...

a TURTLE?! A short, stumpy thing with a big head, fat tummy, and little nubs for arms and legs? That's exactly what we saw on the screen... and it's inside of me!

Yes, we are expecting. As of now, we're not exactly sure what we're expecting, but the doc says it's a baby, due July 21, 2010. Today marks 10 weeks, and we're currently calling our offspring "Turtle-Bean". Since it's almost Christmas, we thought we'd send you all a special greeting from the fam! Happy Holidays!

A word to the wise... Never ride with or near a Smotherman!

Since mid-August, Richard and I have collectively witnessed 4 car accidents, 2 of them within 12 hours of each other. I don't know if we just drive too often or on too dangerous of roads, but I had never witnessed an accident since these began!

The first one was about 5 miles away from our house on a 6 lane road with a middle turn lane. It was raining and there was a lot of traffic. We were heading North-bound in the traffic. A little red Honda was sitting in the center turn lane facing South-bound. As we began moving, we watched a black Toyota sedan drift from the left South-bound lane into the center turn lane, without signaling. We then watched the Toyota continue moving, braking only when within a few feet of the North-facing Honda. It was too late... there was crunching metal and I was yelling, "WHAT WAS THAT PERSON THINKING?!" We turned around and went back with ponchos on to check on the drivers. The Honda was being driven by a slightly crazed woman who kept saying, "I should have stayed in the pet store a little bit longer! I can't believe this happened!" over and over. The Toyota was driven by a petite elderly woman who had be defrosting her windshield with her hand while changing lanes and claimed, "That woman just came into my lane." Hopefully she doesn't have her license anymore.

The second one was about 2 miles from our house near a 45 degree turn in the road. We were heading South-bound at about 10:00 on a Friday night 2 weeks ago. I heard a screeching sound and saw a pick up truck coming around the turn North-bound. The truck jumped over the curb and ran head-on into the corner of an office building. The impact flipped it sideways, with the driver's side laying on the ground. We pulled over and immediately called 911, watching the driver and passenger climb out of the passenger window, unharmed. While we waited to talk to the cops, we noticed they were both wearing wrist bands and acting like they were in a daze. The girl lit a cigarette off of one lying on the ground that was still burning. (I assume she dropped the other one during the accident.) Long story short, the guy ended up with a DUI... and I got a phone call from his insurance company the other day. We've been playing phone tag, but I can't WAIT to talk to them about what we saw!

The third accident happened the very next morning, at the entrance to our neighborhood. (Notice they keep getting closer and closer to home?) As we were waiting to pull out, we watched a driver pull out from a gas station at about 5 mph to cross 2 lanes of traffic going 45 mph. He's lucky all it ended up being was a fender bender. After we waited for 30 minutes for the cops to show up, we ended up giving the other driver our information and leaving.

The fourth accident was witness just this evening by Richard. He was driving home from work and was about 5-6 miles from home. Heading East-bound in the center of three lanes, he saw a car about 1/4 mile ahead driving in the right lane with its left turn signal on. As Richard approached, the turn signal was still on, but the car was not changing lanes. Then, just when Richard reached the car, he decided to TURN LEFT (not change lanes, but TURN PERPENDICULAR) to cross over 2 lanes! Richard slammed on his brakes to avoid an accident, but the car in the lane next to him T-boned the driver's side door.

I don't know why we keep ending up witnessing accidents, but if you decide to ride with or near us in traffic, please proceed with caution!

"You want to put that thermometer WHERE?"

We took Rubix to the vet at 8am this morning. Fortunately, they take walk-ins. She had her temperature taken (not fun!) and that checked out fine. The vet then explained to us that she needed to shave the hair from around the wound, flush it out to sterilize it, and then put an antibiotic ointment in and around the puncture. Rubix came back to us looking a little bit different. She now has a "summer cut" and we can keep an eye on the wound (and find it a lot more easily)!

We were told that it was very important that we make sure the wound stays open and heals from the inside out. Dogs apparently are able to heal quickly, but with bite punctures like this one, bacteria can be closed up inside when it scabs over and an infection may develop. We were given both a topical and an oral antibiotic to administer twice daily. Rubix is doing just fine, showing off her "tough dog club" initiation wound like a pro!

Hole in One... One Rubix, that is.

Richard and I were so excited to take Rubix and her Poppa and Momma Smotherman to the dog park tonight! She was goofing off with several different dogs, enjoying herself as usual. We all were laughing at their antics, taking pleasure in watching her socialize with her dog pals.

After about 10 minutes at the park a fluffy, spotted dog trotted into the group from across the way. I mentioned to Richard that her hair was raised near her tail. This usually indicates the dog is about to show some aggression. Seconds after I said that, the dog was showing its teeth and began snarling and attacking Rubix.

Poor Rubix tried to fight back, but was unable to get the dog off of her. Richard and I began yelling and ran toward the two dogs. He tried getting between them and breaking the fight up, but they were traveling across the park. He pushed the other dog with his leg, giving Rubix the ability to fight back a bit.

Finally, the owner of the dog ran up and grabbed her off of Rubix. He held her down, trying to calm her down. Rubix walked over to the gate and I started looking over her for injuries. At first, I didn't see anything. Then, the other dog's owner said his dog had blood on her teeth and he didn't think it was hers. I looked again around her collar and this is what I found:

That dog bit Rubix and left a puncture wound on her neck! I was so angry and worried. We drove Rubix home and I cried the whole way. She didn't whimper or whine at all. In fact, for most of the car ride, she was hanging out the window.

When we got home, Candace and Richard took her outside and cleaned the wound out with soapy water and peroxide. Then, they put Neosporin on it. She didn't seem bothered at all. Our puppy is quite the trooper! We're going to take her to the vet first thing in the morning to find out what all we need to do for her. We just hope it won't get infected and she won't be in any pain.

Rubix tries to read!

Richard and I have been trying to leave Rubix alone in the house outside of her crate this summer. We're hoping we can get her to the point that she can have the house to herself while we're gone, so she's not cooped up all day during the school year.

In the past, we've just given her the kitchen, and she was fine for 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 3 hours. Then, we tried 5 hours and she ruined a whicker 4 drawer chest we had in the kitchen. No worries, though... it wasn't worth much and we wanted to get rid of it anyway.

So, today I tried leaving her with free rein of the house while I ran a few errands. I unplugged electrical cords within reach, picked up shoes and expensive items off the floor, and placed out the 3 things she's allowed to chew on: her tennis ball, squishy football, and her rubber Kong filled with treats. 45 minutes later, when I arrived home, the kitchen was still intact and my beautiful, innocent puppy greeted me cheerfully at the door.

As I glanced up the stairs to the living room, however, I quickly learned her innocence was short lived. In the 45 minutes that I was gone, she had managed to grab one of my library books off the end table, and had torn it to shreds! I was so mad... but found some delight in realizing that she at least had the decency to leave me the last 1/3 of the book that I hadn't finished. So, I'll be finishing my torn book in the next day or so, and returning the mangled pieces along with $26.00 to the public library!

Oh, the joys of having a dog with a desire to read! I'll certainly be leaving library books out of her reach from now on.