Her hobbies include track and woodworking.

Hi Everyone! Sorry that I am extremely behind in the Smith postings! It seems like yesterday we were on vacation touring Europe and before you know it the Christmas decorations are starting to go up.

The Fall season is flying by! September was packed with travel for work and family outings. My parents came for a visit and we dined at my favorite local restaurant. We had a great night sitting outdoors, listening to live music and of course eating great food. My in-laws celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary this month with a celebratory dinner in October with all the siblings and spouses.  

Hubby and I are great! We have both been busy traveling for work. Hubby did manage to get a football game in with our friends. They invited us to a Redskins game but I had to pass since I was leaving for a trip to Orlando. We also traveled to Long Island to celebrate a co-workers wedding. Good times!

The pups are also great and we started a new game with them. Well, I should say that Kelcey started playing a new game with us......Run away as fast as you can from Mom and Dad! Since we seem to have a hectic schedule certain duties such as training, fall to the bottom of our to-do list. We have been meaning to train Kelcey some basic commands besides sit and lay. My ideal day is waking up peacefully (no barking) and going downstairs for a cup of coffee while my puppies run around looking for my slippers and fetch my paper. They never bark and they can run outside, off leash and come when called, the first time I call them. Instead, reality is waking up at 6am to puppies barking their fluffy heads off while standing cross legged, throwing leashes on them to go outside for potty breaks because they will run away from us and lets not forget the constant begging from me to Barney, "please come inside, I have a treat for you". Looks like Barney trained me! God, do I have a lot to learn in life.

We found out in September that Kelcey is quite the runner. I thought Barney had some speed and I have to say, since Kelcey is always on a leash I didn't quite comprehend her athletic abilities. I was getting ready for a business trip and actually had time to spare. Since I treat my pups like kids (I mean humans) I decided to take some time and play with them because I was going to be away on business all week. After 30 minutes I came inside and kept calling (begging) Barney to come in, before I knew what was happening Kelcey took off through the front door and ran to the back of the house. Panic set in instantly since I was home alone and set to leave in 10 minutes. I kept screaming her name and wondered why she wouldn't come to me. Apparently screaming frantically, "Mommy has cheese" throughout the neighborhood on a beautiful sunny day wasn't working and I was starting to sweat like a farm animal. Did I ever tell you that I don't run? I don't see the need for it. You look horrible, you sweat and it is bad for your knees. So I don't run and I thought Kelcey knew this, I mean Barney knows this about me and wouldn't run away. Let's face it Barney doesn't like to sweat either. Barney realized that I was about to have a coronary or a nervous breakdown and charged Kelcey. I am so proud of Barn-Barns, he did a great job running after Marion Jones but she managed to get away! What the hell was I going to do. Hubby was at the football game, none of my neighbors were outside, Kelcey doesn't even know her own name nor does she have dog tags and I have to leave and catch a flight to Friggin' Disney World for a convention all while experiencing a perfect day with perfect hair and makeup and actually running around in new shoes and AN IRONED SHIRT! (I never iron). Seriously, what the hell is a girl to do. I mean kids may at least give you the common decency of screaming back at you but come on, Kelcey didn't even slow down for a moment to look at me so I can see if she knew what was going on. All this because I felt guilty that I was going away for a week. Flo Jo continued this charade for 30 minutes and I finally cornered her at my neighbor's house after I stepped in a steaming pile of poop (in new shoes)! Kelcey just looked at me with her big green eyes that said it all "let's do that again!" I finally managed to get everyone safely indoors, calm down with some Valium and a LARGE coffee and crawl through the windows to leave for my trip.

The sad part of the story is that Kelcey had the same escape route the following weekend and ran up to her boyfriend Max's house! Hubby was home and ran with me that day. After we retrieved her we promised that we would never allow her to go outdoors again and taught her how to use the toilet. I on the other hand have a nervous twitch every time a see or hear a door opening.

I don't have pictures of Kelcey's track days but I do have a picture of her latest art work. Kelcey's hobbies include running and woodwork. Apparently Kelcey envisioned our window sills to have a different look to them. Also, here is a pic of Kelcey planning her next escape route.