My first Floatilla

Hi Dadthzs,

Last night I got to participate in my first Floatilla on the lake.  Here are some pictures, with commentary.

A Floatilla is when a bunch of boats connect with each other.  I hear the people call it "tie up".  Last night we tied up for Rob's birthday (Rob is my friend Kasey's dadthzs).  Here is Rob in the blue shirt. I think Dr. Cress in the green shirt thinks it's his birthday too.  (See what I mean now about how my weekend Counselor job is sometimes more time consuming than my full time week day job?)  You can see that I'm cautiously checking things out from my boat:

There were a lot of dogs on the Floatilla, and 2 of them were new friends.  They are sisters named Reece and Roci (Roci is pronounced "Rosie" and is short for Rociante, the name of Don Quixote's horse).  Reece didn't come off of her boat to say hi, but she is the little white dog on the picture above.  Roci, however, came over right away.  Roci is the same breed as Summer, just a horse of a different color (sorry, couldn't pass that up).  Roci tried to get fresh with me, then I tried to get fresh with her, but in the end we kept it strictly platonic.

I also got a lot of attention from Kasey's sister Ashley.  Ashley has watched Summer and me a few times when JuJu and Brett are gone too long.  She is really awesome and I love her a lot:

Last but not least - look at how my confidence grew from the cautious beginning of the night.  I actually climbed over the edge of my boat (with a little help) and over to the neighboring boat.  This is me on the Ripley's boat, out front without any safety gear.  My middle name is now "Danger":

I hope we have a few more Floatillas before the end of the season.  Last night was really fun!

Love, 

Bruiser "Danger" Bottolfson

I spent my first paycheck

Hi Dadthzs,

I got my first paycheck last Friday and I'm learning that can be a good thing, and a bad thing.  I haven't had to learn budgeting or money management until now, since you always provided for me. I still can't believe they pay me to greet people at Autumn - it's the best job I could ever dream of.  The pay for the weekend counseling job is sub-par for how hard I work, but when I balance the two jobs out, it's still a good gig overall.  So the good thing is, I'm earning!  The bad thing is, I'm spending!

Friday night after work, JuJu showed me how to shop on Amazon.com and I ordered myself a new bed. Summer has a Tempurpedic bed that I really like, but she doesn't like to share it much.  I ordered my own and had it shipped to the office so I could bring it home from work on Monday.  With all the exercise I'm getting, it sure feels nice to have a memory foam mattress to sleep on at night.  I even found a special deal on Amazon, and they shipped a free blanket (super soft) along with it.  I slept like a baby Monday & Tuesday night:

Highlight:  I also got to see Grandpa Bruce last week.  He came over all day Friday & he took Summer and me fishing on the pontoon. We spent a lot of time outside and just like I'd hoped, he noticed how well I navigate and balance on the dock, on the boat, and in the water.  Summer kind of acted up a little for Grandpa, and I told her she should be a better listener like me.  I am trying to mentor her on that, just like she's mentored me on lake living and managing a busy work and social calendar.  We are really becoming close friends and we are great for each other.

I got a lot of attention from Bruce and Gail Andrich this past weekend too.  They came to Camp Carnelian all the way from Milwaukee.  They pet me a lot and gave me a lot of love, and Summer and I did our best counseling and therapy work loving them back.  It was a win-win for everyone.

We have a mellow rest of the week and weekend ahead.  I'll talk to you next week.

Love you Dadthzs,

Bruiser

Full time work + Full time entertaining = One tired pup

Hi Dadthzs,

This full time gig is exhausting. When I first started as a guest at Camp Carnelian, I used to wake up JuJu at 5:30am for potty.  Now that I'm working full time, she has to wake me up to get me going during the week.  I am always fired up when I get to work - in fact I RUN through the front door & straight to Chris' desk.  Chris has the best treats!  I almost beat Summer to his desk on Monday.  I am working on my speed.

The weekends at Camp Carnelian are pretty busy.  I just finish up with greeting all week at Autumn, and now I have the crazy neighborhood to keep an eye on all weekend.  This past weekend was really something else - they had a big concert on the lake & we hosted about 70 people for a pig roast Sunday night.  It was really fun, and I ended up with a grease spot on my forehead when I tried to help the people carve the pig.  My friend Kasey ended up with 2 baths because she rolled in the grease.  Ooops!

Tomorrow Summer and I are going to Kasey's house for most of the day while Brett & JuJu are at a conference.  On Friday Grandpa Bruce is coming to stay with Summer and me for the second day of the conference. I'm so excited to see Grandpa Bruce again!  I bet I'll get to help him fish off the dock. I can't wait to show him how confident I am on the dock now, and how much better I'm swimming. I bet he is going to be impressed.

This weekend Brett's dad and his wife are coming from Milwaukee to stay with us for the weekend. They are real dog lovers, so I bet I'm going to get a lot of attention.  I think this weekend will be much more low key.  I need it.

I'll sign off with a picture from last night.  We took a spin around the lake after dinner.  See how confident I'm getting on the pontoon too?  I love boat rides so much.

Exhausted, 

Bruiser

PS:  Some people at Autumn and some neighborhood friends are following my blog now.  You know, all this time they never noticed my lisp until they started reading my blog.  JuJu said that I'm so handsome that no one pays attention to how I talk.  I am starting to feel objectified.  I am more than just a handsome face.  I hope these people realize I have brains and personality too.