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On Wednesday, we drove about an hour from here and saw fall colors.........quaking aspens mixed with pines......took a pic nic.....it was a nice day. Nobody was there but us.....it was in a ranching-forest area very close to WY. We didn't even put a leash on the dog.......he had a blast running around sniffing...... It was @ 10k feet....
On Wednesday, we drove about an hour from here and saw fall colors.........quaking aspens mixed with pines......took a pic nic.....it was a nice day. Nobody was there but us.....it was in a ranching-forest area very close to WY. We didn't even put a leash on the dog.......he had a blast running around sniffing...... It was @ 10k feet....
Sounds like you guys had a great time. I've never lived in a place where there was a whole lot of leaf color changing. Ours is either green or dead.
Household update:
Israel is bathed and dressed for school this morning.
My 19 year old has decided he can sleep in dirty clothes.
.....Next Challenge: You, yes YOU, can load the dishwasher!
YAY FOR GLORY!!! Doesnt it feel great?
There's an awesome book entitled DONT SHOOT THE DOG, HOW TO IMPROVE YOURSELF AND OTHERS THROUGH BEHAVIORAL TRAINING that was published in 1984. Its focus is on changing your behavior (like a faulty tennis swing) and the behavior of people (family, friends, co-workers/bosses, etc) and pets in your life through behavior shaping, reinforcement, stimulus control and un-training.
The author, Karen Pryor, was a dolphin trainer at Sea Life Park and relates how she used those methods to teach dolphins those amazingly intricate tricks. Even if I werent so interested in behavior modification, I'd have enjoyed the book just for her experiences from those days.
The title comes from one example in her book: your dog is barking in the back yard. You have several options to remedy the barking:
1. Shoot the dog. He wont bark anymore.
2. Punish the dog. Everybody's favorite solution, except that it doesnt work, with people or animals.
3. Extinction. Wait until the barking eventually goes away.
4. Train an incompatible behavior. A good solution that works well with people too.
5. Change the motivation. This is always the preferred approach.
As part of the psychology of behavioral training, she discusses each above option and explains why it does/doesnt work, with dogs and with people.
Throughout the book, she gives many examples -- kids who wont clean their room or put the laundry in the dryer, spouses who come home from work in a bad mood, adult kids who want to move back home, etc -- and details various ways to deal with each situation and why that method is/isnt recommended.
The book is very well-written and is the best book I've ever read on changing behavior. I used it as a bible in dog training and it helped me win two national Doberman Pinscher Club of America invitational Obedience Competitions (for the top 20 performing dobermans each year). It also helped me deal with two recalcitrant teenage daughters (is that an oxymoron?). It's out of print but is often available on eBay. I have a couple of extra copies if anyone wants one.
I think I'll order it tomorrow morning. Sounds like the kind of book I need to read.
My problems with the two youngest kids are truly my own fault. If ONLY I had listened to my mother years ago when she told me I needed to be a better disciplinarian. They both have some rogue rebellious gene which totally exasperates me. Even when they are in the wrong....I somehow think it is my fault.
On Wednesday, we drove about an hour from here and saw fall colors.........quaking aspens mixed with pines......took a pic nic.....it was a nice day. Nobody was there but us.....it was in a ranching-forest area very close to WY. We didn't even put a leash on the dog.......he had a blast running around sniffing...... It was @ 10k feet....
Oh, Wurzig, that sounds SO beautiful. When I was around age 4 we lived in Ohio. It was rural. There was no garbage pickup. So we had to bury the trash in the forest. I'd ride out to the forest on my father's shoulders. There were trees with white bark. I was walking around trying to peel the bark off and Dad told me not to do that because that is what the animals ate in the winter. I'll never forget that.
A year later we were stationed in New York. The trees were so gorgeous in the Fall. I really miss the colors.
Sounds like you guys had a great time. I've never lived in a place where there was a whole lot of leaf color changing. Ours is either green or dead.
You must be feeling better as well!!
Physically, I'm maintaining. Not perfect, but okay. We have gotten more exercise this week, but they haven't been hard hikes...... I get tired of vacuuming up dog hairs, swatting flies, buying groceries and washing clothes, so these outings have been nice....
I wish I could sleep........I feel so worn out a lot of the time. Our best friend is on my mind, (on top of everything else)......none of his personal affairs are in order, his wife, (also our best friend), is frazzled..(I can't tell you how many times my husband rode his butt to make a will or at least form a trust but he didn't want to think about it---these men think they are made out of stainless steel and it is always going to happen to somebody else, not them. They run companies, they oversee employees, they make huge decisions all day long.....they never think they are going to get sick)...we sent her to our CA. lawyer yesterday and they are going to do power of attorney and trustee stuff tomorrow with a notary.....who knows if he will be conscious enough to sign the forms....it's all very upsetting. The four of us are extremely close, (36 years, but who's counting), and we are so far away..... My husband was just there a week ago burying another friend....sigh...... Parent weekend is next weekend in MT and we are signed up to go, but he is terminal and each day, weaker, and we will be going to CA. at some point, too..... For the first time in 17 years, I need to deal with a dog before we get on the road...there is no doggie door and it gets hot outside and we don't know any house sitters, but they would have to be here a lot, not just at night.....boarding a HUGE dog is going to be $$$. And of course, I don't know the future boarding facility yet, so I don't trust them 'with our little monster child'..... I am eating way too much..... Lots on my mind.
Oh, Wurzig, that sounds SO beautiful. When I was around age 4 we lived in Ohio. It was rural. There was no garbage pickup. So we had to bury the trash in the forest. I'd ride out to the forest on my father's shoulders. There were trees with white bark. I was walking around trying to peel the bark off and Dad told me not to do that because that is what the animals ate in the winter. I'll never forget that.
A year later we were stationed in New York. The trees were so gorgeous in the Fall. I really miss the colors.
The good thing about this is that we just drove for an hour and we were in the neatest area......so the drive to and fro didn't wear us out. The Rocky Mountain National Park also has colors, but it is a bit farther for us and we wanted to try something new.... Actually, there are colors all around here, but we just wanted to take a drive and explore a bit....
I love to have a breeze blow through the pines.....and then see the aspen leaves shimmer..... Being in mountains relaxes me......I love pine trees.....
I think I'll order it tomorrow morning. Sounds like the kind of book I need to read.
My problems with the two youngest kids are truly my own fault. If ONLY I had listened to my mother years ago when she told me I needed to be a better disciplinarian. They both have some rogue rebellious gene which totally exasperates me. Even when they are in the wrong....I somehow think it is my fault.
There is no right or wrong rule for parenting and it is the hardest job that I have ever had in my life......each kid is different....quit being so hard on yourself......you have done the best that you can.... I worry about my kid every day and wonder if I should have done some things differently...it's normal.
We love you. You are a good person.
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I'd ride out to the forest on my father's shoulders. There were trees with white bark. I was walking around trying to peel the bark off and Dad told me not to do that because that is what the animals ate in the winter. I'll never forget that.
