15 Seconds of Fame

Susan & Mischka

Mischka in all her glory

Badgley waking up from a nap

Spike as a little kitten

As you all are aware of by now, Jon and I are taking the Financial Peace University Course from Dave Ramsey through one of the local churches. We are really excited about the things taught (saving money, getting out of debt, planning for our children's college education, retirement saving strategies, etc.) in these classes. We have learned a lot already and are applying the things we are learning. I had the opportunity to speak with Dave Ramsey on the phone for a taping of his Fox Business Network show in regards to a special edition on money and pets. I emailed them about Badgley and Mischka going on the Dave Ramsey diet (see "Happy Birthday Mischka!" to get all of the details of the kibble counting.) and didn't think a whole lot about it until I got a call Monday morning from Dave's executive producer asking if I would like to share my story on the air with Dave. Long story short, he was amazed at Mischka being 23 pounds and even told me a story about his chubby pug. The above pictures are the ones that will be shown on the air during our conversation. Dave is busily making some last minute appearances on other shows due to the current economic situation and they will be airing my episode some time in the near future. I will make sure and tell everyone when it finally airs.

Balanced Budget!

Susan, Geagen & Mischka in the recliner

Well, Jon and I survived our very first budget summit ala Dave Ramsey. The good news is that the budget is balanced- the bad news is that it took over 2 hours to get it balanced.

Geagen, Mischka and I were in the recliner while Jon was crunching numbers at the desk. This arrangement worked out well for all parties concerned.

The Ballad of Geagen and Woolamina

Geagen and Woolamina at 5 weeks

Geagen and Woolamina at 11 weeks

Geagen in her cap and booties from Great-Grandma Wood

Hanging out in the vibrating chair

Today I took long overdue pictures of Geagen and Woolamina. Woolamina is a life-sized Merino lamb from the Pendleton Wool Company- she is made of wool and for this reason we have to hide her from Badgley (he REALLY likes wool....) for her own safety. She lives in the nursery where she fits in with the other barnyard animals and also serves the purpose of picture-taking prop. I think it's really neat to take pictures of her Geagen together and compare how much she's grown. For the record Geagen was 11 lbs. 8 oz. and 23" long at her checkup on September 10. I'm sure she's bigger already. There will be more pictures and I'm sure that with time Geagen will dwarf Woolamina.

Football Season Has Officially Begun!

Nyssa Bulldogs vs. Marsing Huskies

Jon in the box calling plays for Nyssa

Geagen at her very first football game

Daddy and Geagen on the field together

Geagen and Nyssa Bulldog Dillon Mitchell

Last night Geagen and I went to our very first Nyssa Bulldog football game with Robin. It was Homecoming and we were playing the Marsing Huskies. We played a really good game and ended up winning 25-0. Jon is the junior varsity head coach but calls plays up in the box for the varsity game so we didn't see much of him until after the game. Geagen also caught her very own Nyssa miniature football (they throw them to the crowd after touchdowns) and even had her picture taken with on of the players. We had lots of fun at the game and hope this season will go well. We are already looking forward to our next home game.

Free At Last!

Geagen and her daddy before her surgery

All smiles before the big event

Having a bottle with Mommy after her surgery

Daddy and Geagen napping together at home

Monday was a traumatic day in the Wood household. Geagen underwent surgery to correct her attached tongue (also known as being tongue-tied). Previously she had not been able to move her tongue past her gums and stick it out of her mouth. Thankfully her ear/nose/throat specialist was able to fix this at 10 weeks instead of having to wait until she was older. She had problems eating before her surgery and has already improved despite being both sore and groggy. She was a very brave girl in the hospital and was a model patient. The hardest part was sending her off to the operating room and then the wait for the surgery to be over and come out of the recovery room. It was a very long hour and fifteen minutes but she came through just fine. She is now discovering her tongue and moves it around a lot. It's like a new toy to her so we see it a lot when she is all smiles and giggles.

Happy Birthday Mischka!

Mischka 8 years old

It's hard to believe that Mischka has reached the ripe old age of 8. It seems like just yesterday when she was a tiny kitten playing in my closet in my apartment in Bend. I know that no one really believes that she was a little abandoned creature left to fend for herself since everyone knows her as the lovable 23 pound cat that she is now. Mischka still loves her kibble even though I have become a kibble counting nazi who measures all food to be consumed. The cats are slowly learning that wasting kibble is not tolerated any more now that we are following Dave Ramsey's budgeting guidelines- there isn't any allocation for spilled kibble. Anyway- Mischka also loves to lounge in Jon's recliner and is becoming quite adept at dodging Badgley's antagonistic behavior. She even fights back on occasion which is quite an accomplishment considering her sweet temperament. I am glad that Mischka is still healthy and happy and hope she will be around for many years to come.


Geagen with her uncle Mike

We went out to dinner with Jon's mom, sister Robin and brother Mike and his wife Kim. We had a fun time visiting with each other and Mike and Kim really enjoyed seeing Geagen since they hadn't seen her since she was blessed in early August. It was also really nice since I didn't have to make dinner- that's always a bonus.

To Grandma's House We Go!

Geagen and her Great-Grandma Wood

As you can tell, it has been a somewhat eventful week around here. In fact, we’ve been so busy that I’m just getting around to posting for yesterday. We went to go see Jon’s Grandma Wood out in Adrian, Oregon (even further out into the middle of nowhere- approximately 13 miles south of Nyssa). Geagen and I went with Jon’s mom Jeanne to go and visit Grandma Wood. We were going to pick up some peaches that she had picked for us but apparently we had gotten there too late- she had given the peaches away to neighbor in fear that they would spoil before we could come and pick them up. We did have a nice visit in spite of the whole peach debacle. I brought the camera and figured it would be a good time for little Geagen to get to know her Great-Grandma Wood who still loves babies. I got some cute pictures of the two of them together. Geagen made sure she turned on the charm and the two of them visited- Geagen cooed and smiled and studied Great-Grandma’s face intently. I also made sure Grandma had some pictures of the baby to put on her fridge and that they were properly labeled with her name and birthday to avoid any confusion- I guess it comes with the territory when you’re 96!