Kelly's Belly w24.5

How about those stripes!

Heidi Ho!

Well I guess we have Mara to thank for this picture as she bought the ridiculous "Frontier Ears". Heidi kept looking like the pig tails were sneaking up on her so she kept trying to eat them. That is why my hand is in the picture. Heidi didn't really volunteer to wear it around or anything. Admittedly it is hilarious and I wish she would. I think she looks pretty good as a blonde, what do you think?

Call it what you want . . . Kelly has lost her mind

Perhaps you may recall a few days prior when I made a scientifically based comment about Kelly's brain function. I believe I wrote something to the effect of it being somewhat depressed due to some strange side effect of pregnancy. I suggested a hypothesis about the neurons migrating south to set up shop in the brain of our baby boy. There is also a chance that they are just there because it is the new and exciting place to be, or perhaps the hormones are masking her ability to pick up on normal thought processes . Who knows? Prior to today, however, I had only anecdotal evidence supporting my theories.

Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed colleges, scientifically educated peers, I give you Exhibit A.
Upon returning home from work I noticed that the house had an unusually strong lemony fresh scent. Though it is not unusual for Kelly to do some impromptu dusting, it is strange for her to start on a weeknight after a day at school. The nesting instinct has displayed itself strongly in Kelly as of late so I assumed she had found something that just had to be dusted. However, I could not find any freshly dusted items. That is until I found the ironing board, where sat a lovely can of lemon fresh furniture polish. I inquired as to what she had been ironing and she said just a bunch of clothes and the new bedskirt for the bed (maybe they were dusty? HA). She had no idea why I was laughing until I pointed out the can that she had used for her ironing.
****NOTE****
The can of furniture polish looks nothing like the can of starch
nor is it lemony fresh, so don't cut her too much slack, unless due to pregnancy.

The only hope is that congruent to my correct hypothesis, the mass exodus of nueral processes, as evidenced by Kelly's ridiculous behavior, to our babies brain will lead to a very smart baby. The basis of that theory of course being that if they aren't working in Kelly's head hopefully they are working somewhere. On the contrary if my theory is incorrect and our child has nothing but genetics to rely on it makes me a little nerveous.

As I believe this does further substantiate my hypothesis. I may move on to other strange phenomenon related to pregnancy such as the lack of vestibulocochlear awareness displayed by many pregnant women. Kelly has been running into things for no reason, and I think it goes beyond her change in size and center of gravity. Feel free comment, theorize, support or even discount my hypothesis as I believe that Kelly is not alone in this experience. If nothing else, Kelly will know that she isn't the only one doing silly things, losing her balance, and knocking over things for no obvious reason, other than the previously posted pictures of her very round belly.

Addison is a cute kid

Went to see, Tricia and Jeff in Granbury on New Years day. We had a good time taking it easy. We had a nice relaxing time and enjoyed their company.

We went on a walk, and Addie got to go down the slide.
Which she enjoyed immensely until we had to leave.

Kate the dog is fun too, except she kept eating all of the pecans we were collecting. As you might notice she looks a little like Heidi. She is a German wire haired pointer (note the beard) of very noble bloodlines and is in training to be a realy hunting dog.
She will be a very good hunter someday,
until then she is rascally like Heidi.
Only with longer hair and a goatee.

Kelly's Belly w23.5

Kelly has continued to progress in her pregnancy and has already begun to countdown the weeks of school. Not that she gets to miss school for anything relaxing, but the break does come at a pretty good time of year. It will also carry over right into the summer. This works out pretty well. She also has a very proficient and capable student teacher who has been in her classroom all year who will be able to substitute for Kelly in her absence. This will give Kelly a great deal of peace of mind.
Some of you may still be saying that she doesn't look that pregnant.
To you I will say this: (with some very carefully chosen words, hopefully I will choose well)

• Kelly is just as cute and petite as ever, perhaps cuter
  
• this does help her hide her very round and very pregnant belly.
• questionable points?
• possibility of Kelly being any cuter and
  
• if cuter is an actual word in itself?
• The pictures I have of Kelly that really show off her belly she won't let me put on the Internet, but I guess I understand. She is always so virtuous. It is a good practice to quell any picture exposing a bare belly or anything else not usually seen in public. Matter of fact I should probably be helping her not posting them myself.
  

Thanks for checking in, sorry I was a little late with this post.

Home Again Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We're back in town and everything is as it was when we left it. That's always a weight off of my shoulders. We had a great time but coming home is nice too. We just missed the snow in ABQ which is a good thing, as our drive was uneventful. Seeing a snowstorm is a unique experience when you have been living in Waco, so we were also sad we missed it. If you are driving far I recommend some podcasts from Itunes, there are books that are free so you don't have to buy them. We listened to Huck Finn and Robinson Crusoe. They made the 700 miles go pretty fast.
See you around, we will be trying to get all we can out of the rest of our vacation days. And by the way happy 2007!

Kelly's Belly 22.5 / Merry Christmas

Ok, so we are in ABQ so there has been a slight change of venue but I thought some of you would appreciate the update. We are having fun. There is snow on the ground and ABQ is beautiful this time of year. We have been hanging out with family, trying to eat our fill of NM food, and wrapping Christmas presents. We have also been attempting to train 3 dogs to coexist in the same house. What will be fun is when we add two more "members of the family" to the equation tomorrow. Enjoy your time with family and may this Christmas truly be a memorable one.

Westward Ho'

Today we push west towards Albuquerque, hopefully the weather will hold off for another day to provide safe driving and a white Christmas. I know you're not supposed to notify people when you leave town but if you are reading this and know where we live I would like to think you weren't the sort of people who would steal our stuff. Perhaps you are out of town too, hopefully both. Plus we took practically everything good with us and our neighbors probably know more about what goes on in and around this house than we wish they did, they are very attentive to the goings on around the house.

We are excited about going "Home for Christmas" but a little less excited about the 700 miles and 11 hours it takes to get there. Then again, I think Kelly and would get a little restless and probably couldn't afford to stay around here brainstorming about things we "needed." So it probably is a great thing that we are able to make the trip. We attempted to purposefully scale down the packing to check the feasibility of making this trip next year with a kid and all the accompaniments therein. We will no doubt make it. It is just a matter of if there is room for my toothbrush after we bring all the kid's stuff. It remains to be seen if Heidi will be making the trip next year, hopefully we can squeeze her in.
Another experiment we will be conducting today is the, "How many pit stops does a pregnant lady need on a 11 hour road trip?" Should be a good one, but all I know is she better time them well because there aren't too many trees, gas stations, or rest stops past Clovis.

We'll with all that said, "We'll be comin round the moutain!"

Tricia & Co.

Tricia came to town and we enjoyed seeing her and the rest of the gang. She is one week ahead of Kelly, and is also having a boy, their second child (*see below). We don't have any pictures of Jeff because he was asleep half the time, so if there would have been a picture it would have been of him sleeping, trust me not worth posting on the Internet, . . . this time.
Addison, on the other hand, is cute as a button and I can't believe how grown up she is every time I see her.

We have ourselves a hotrod!!

Ok so really it's a dryer vent, but I am calling it an aftermarket modification so that my dryer really purrs. Seriously it sweeps my back patio when its on. We finally got this put in so that after using the dryer for a few loads of laundry the garage didn't feel like your were doing laundry in Guam. It's nice not having all that dryer lint on the cars too. Thanks to my Dad who said he would pay for it as my birthday present! (***note:it is a late present because I am behind schedule not him)

Kelly's Belly w21.5

Kelly is feeling just dandy now, and has a bit more of that glow that people always talk about. She gets all smiley thinking about giving our baby baths, pushing him in the stroller, or pretty much anything. She has even admitted to the nesting behavior they speak of. This is great thing because it means a clean house and more cookies for me to eat. Although I have to put up with the vacuum cleaner when the TV is on. Is that the universal cue for, "Get off your hindquarters and help me clean," or what, my mom did the same thing? Not to worry I picked up on this subtle hint of the female mind and dusted a little and took out the trash.
With the nesting instincts and the glowing comes this other strange side affect that apparently is common. It appears that creating another human occupies part of the brain that usually is attributed to little things like remembering right from left, common vocabulary, general motor function and other skill sets common to daily function. The overall clumsiness I can understand, biomechanically there has been a slight shift in her center of gravity that would throw most of us off. This could explain why a typically graceful individual trips over the dog and breaks a few dishes but that still doesn't explain the slightly less than optimal brain function. Kelly is a amazingly intelligent person gifted in the art of teaching, management, and organization. In fact the only reason I have a chance at noticing is her otherwise impeccable record. I know the whirlwind of hormones has strange affects on people but I can't understand how any of them would be linked to brain performance. For a while I thought since Kelly is actively "making a brain" that some of the neurons, synapses, and nerve endings usually available to Kelly may have been in a sense "deployed" to our baby boy to set up camp there. Only to return when things looked like everybody had learned the ropes. This is far from scientific journal and you guys probably don't want to hear my hare brained theories, but this is the only way I will get them published. Mostly you want to see pictures and hear what has been going on, so I will add a few more, at later time.
Either way we continue on, excited about our news, as the baby room begins to fill. I will continue to do research on this great mystery and study both of my subjects carefully, keeping an eye on them, mostly to make sure she doesn't really trip over the dog.

It's a . . . . .

BOY!!!!!

Kelly's Belly w20.5

It sort of depends on the shirt, but my belly is definitely growing! Tomorrow we get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I have had bad dreams that for some reason, we forget to find out. Obviously I have been looking forward to this for awhile. I am really excited! Take a quick second to vote on what you think the baby will be by scrolling down and looking for the poll box on the right of the screen. Right now the poll is 50/50! We'll let you know the results sometime tomorrow. :)

Why clean out your garage, you may ask?

A dirty garage has no victims. No one suffers as a result of untidiness, or do they?

I give you Romero and Julietta the frogs who perished within my garage. They led otherwise happy lives, gobbling up numerous bugs and avoiding Heidi the hound dog. Romero would recite Julietta sonnets, frog couplets (croaketey croak croak and what not), bring her fresh junebugs, and generally look out for her best interests. But it was not to be, their families resided on separate banks of the creek. There was only room for one more frog in each nest prior to hibernation season. Knowing that they could not make a hibernation season without each other they resolved themselves to attempt to hibernate together. The young inexperienced frog knew of a place that remained a constant temperature year round, the only trick was getting in the door. So away with haste they hopped to the house, but alas young Romero did not know the garage was not temperature controlled. Julietta would succumb to the temperature that very night, and then whilst thinking of life without is sweetheart, Romero resigned himself to stay near his bride until the end. The first freeze came quickly as did their deep sleep when they no doubt sought shelter in the corners of the garage, and perished therein, not to be found until their slippery frog skin was dry and crunchy, their bodies mummified in the arid expanse of my garage floor. Goodbye my froggy friends.
Pictured here for the last time Julietta and Romero repine on the park bench

Make Way For Bebe!

If you say it right it totally rhymes so cut me some slack, titles are sometimes difficult part of this process.


You guessed it today was clean out "the baby room"day, otherwise the extra bathtub will have to function as a bassonet. We started today with a closet full of junk in the extra bedroom/office and have since cleared it of almost all but baby stuff. A task we are somewhat proud of. The thing with emptying a closet is that the stuff you took out usually spills over into something else that must be cleared out and so on and so forth all through the house.

The good part is that is sort of forced our hand a bit in clearing some different areas but not quiet as much as we should have. We are fully aware that a small closet will not contain the plethora of things that accompany a child. I know the picture may look decidely pink, but the bag was Kelly's and the piggy bank is just a reminder to save for the little one. Besides the stroller (gracias momma or should I say Grandma Pace) is blue so don't think we are hedging our bets or anything.



Here was the modus operandi for today. Clean out office Closet ---> excess items overflow to extra bedroom closet ---> extra bedroom closet stuff overflows into -----> Garage ----> Garage overflows to Trash and Goodwill.


Check out the final results on the Garage (trust me this is better).

Kelly's Belly w 19.5

As far as new developments in Kelly's pregnancy, we are pretty sure that we have started feeling the baby move. This includes Kelly and myself, which is pretty fun. Apparently the little one has a pretty active night life, especially the night Kelly had a particularly potent batch of green chile enchiladas. We are unsure whether this means the little one has an affinity for spicy native New Mexican cuisine or a general dislike of said food but I guess one way or the other he/she will be a Texan so it could go either way.
This weekend we stayed mostly around the house for a change. I tried to put up the Christmas lights (ala Griswald) and somehow got back to the corner of the house where I plug everything in with two ends and no way to plug the things in. It wouldn't be a problem to get back up on the roof but when you don't own a ladder it becomes a little more adventurous.
As all of my engineering friends and family collectively sigh at this type of oversight I might as well own up to the other comical development that continues to occur in relation to the nearing due date of our first born child. We went to Target trying to figure out which items were "must haves" and which were useless, unsafe, overkill, or flat out ridiculous (butt paste?!?, parents are all nodding in agreement, non parents look it up, it exists I promise). We investigated the ease of manipulating supposed "easy to handle" strollers, pack & plays, car seats, and various combinations of said items. We were taking things apart, pulling things off shelves, and very few of them met the manufacturer's claims of ease. At one point, no doubt seeing the look of overwhelming confusion on our faces, a good hearted woman actually recommend a pack & play because of it ease in collapsing for travel. Not to take any ones word for it and to figure it out ourselves, Kelly and I decided to test this nice woman's word. We proceeded to try our best to dismantle then reassemble this contraption in the aisle of Target (if there is surveillance footage of this spectacle I would like to see it, sound would be a comedic plus).
It included the usual,
"I think you just broke it,"
"I didn't break it you broke it,"
"no you have to push this,"
"then why isn't it working,"
"surely it can't be this hard,"
as well as significant amount of flailing and frustration. Nevertheless we push on toward the goal of preparing ourselves and our home for our firstborn with excitement and trepidation, so if you have any advice we will gladly accept it. Heeding that advice, as you can tell from this story, is something that may escape us and we may just have to figure it out on our own. To that end we will treasure your prayers and wisdom as we go about this process. 

Happy Turkey Day!

Better Late than never, but after a whirlwind of a thanksgiving weekend I am just now sort of catching up. We had a great couple of days in Sacramento. Kelly and I left on Tuesday night to beat the rush and were picked up at the airport by my sister and her more than just an acquaintance Arthur, who is from Greece. For those of you who didn't know Mara was touring the Mediterranean a few weeks ago. He was a good guy and we only got to hang out with him briefly but he put up with our family for a few hours so he cant be all bad. We even tortured him with a game of cranium and made him spell. His english was much better than my greek, spelling and all. Kelly thought it was comical that he came all the way from Greece and he ended up hangin out with the fam during Turkey day. I guess if he is looking for the real American experience maybe we're it. I am sure he did find it strange that the news story that included my father happened to be on TV (see below post) when he came over. I think that would have freaked me out. Not to worry he didn't just hang around suburbia and watch TV. My sister showed him around the rest of the week, and they were debating on whether to go to Tahoe or Monterrey later. I told Arthur that if he really wanted to see the real US of A, not just the land of fruits and nuts he was welcome in TEJAS anytime.
Kelly, Rhonda, my Dad and I ran/walked/jogged/wogged a 5K Thanksgiving morning with about 20,000 other people. It was really hard not to run. I am no shape to run a fast 5k so my pregnant wife was a good excuse, but I had no idea how hard it would be to turn that instinct off. I heard a gun go off and I didn't move, we literally waddled like penguins to the starting line and didn't get to it for more than 5 minutes. I felt like it may have been a good exercise (psychologic not physiologic) for me but am not planning on doing it again anytime soon. We finished in a whopping 60 minutes and about 45 seconds. We negative split each mile speeding up each time mostly because I had to go to the bathroom. It would have been good to have my brother and Leslie there. My brother and I could have shared in the pain and confusion of being in a race without competing and we could have taken turns playing NASCAR with Andrew in the stroller, while Leslie and Kelly could have compared pregnancy notes. Sadly doctors orders advised the SoCal Capron's to stay home and we affirm their decision. Hauling a 1.5 year old through the airport is hardly bedrest. Hopefully we will get a chance to get out to the OC to catch up with them in due time. I wonder if they are booked for spring break?
Dinner was great and masterfully prepared by all involved. Myself not included, I was given no food related responsibility, maybe it was to many, 5 second rules, God made dirt and dirt don't hurt comments that tarnished my food prep resume. After it was over we were looking for the 12 other people who it seemed we had prepared food for, as our cup runneth over with turkey, mash potatoes, yams, did I mention turkey, green bean casserole, and cranberry salad. Unfortunately we were unable to help with the leftovers as I had a to catch a flight to North Carolina to do a bit of recruiting at the Foot Locker South meet. By late Saturday night I was back in Waco ready to squeeze the rest of relaxing into a Sunday afternoon. That's all for now, Thanksgiving break is over.

Kelly's Belly w18.5 + Tricia w19.5

Well, I thought there might be a rule, bylaw, or a city ordinance about having two pregnant women with obnoxious dogs in the same house at the same time but apparently not since we weren't sited for anything. Our neighbors probably wish that maybe we had been after our goofy dogs ransacked the neighborhood all weekend. Heidi got out while we were gone (multiple times). Our poor neighbors were still digesting their turkey dinners while chasing her around the block, to no avail. When Tricia brought Kelly back to Waco, after she graciously picked he up from the airport, we had multiple dogs roaming the neighborhood looking for trouble. Tricia has a beautiful wire-haired German short haired Pointer who is smarter than Heidi, just as rascally, and has a wiry goatee. They had a good time carousing, but it was not without its moments.
Anyway, the post should be about these lovely ladies whose due dates happen to be roughly one week apart. Tricia and Jeff will be having their second child (first boy) and we still don't know what were having. Again we really have no preference, Kelly thinks its a girl, I can't decide but might be cheering for boy since he's apparently the underdog. I think that our doctor must be into the suspenseful drama thing because we have heard of people finding out by now, but maybe it is just God's way of buying me just a little more time to prepare myself for the next step. Not that I am not ready but I am pretty sure knowing the sex of my firstborn child will make this whole process a great deal more substantive in my head. We should find out around the second week of December so be checking the blog for updates. 

Another Television Appearance by Dr. Capron

Well I guess as long as there is crime, terrorism, and other social deviants, my father will continue to be on TV. I thought this one was much more optimistic than in times past. Maybe it was the comfy home environment. Click on the Picture to see the story.

Kelly's Belly w17.5

Kelly here- making my first post ever. Jon has done quite a good job of updating our blog each week. I always looking forward to reading his commentary on things... whether it is the pregnancy, the mouse, the snake, or whatever. He always seems to make it interesting. This week Jon is in Indiana for nationals, so I figured I would try the process out myself. My mom is here visiting for a few days, so she took the weekly baby belly pic today. We both think that my belly sort of has a strange pointiness in the middle. I want it to be round not pointy! I guess I will try to eat enough at Thanksgiving to take care of that problem. Here is a pic of my mom and Heidi hanging out. We have all had a nice time together.

Heidi has expensive taste

We always knew this to be true, and for that reason we usually splurge and by her the expensive dog food but this is ridiculous. Not that we have even this kind of money "lying around." Heidi pulled this one from on top of the dresser. Apparently the small bills aren't quite good enough for her taste, so she didn't eat all of it.

HeartBeat

Today we went to the doctor to check on the bebe. Everything sounded good, and the heartrate was clicking along nicely. We should find out the sex of the baby in early December.

Hear it for yourself.

Kelly's Belly w16.5

If you are looking for the Kelly update, here it is. So far the only thing that has been bothering her lately has been her relative lack of clothing that fit correctly. She is in that stage where she is not ready to commit to 24/7 sweatpants but wearing your clothes half unbuttoned isn't much of a fashion statement either. I guess I will have to let her do more shopping. That or find her some real nice sweatpants.

Coach Capron makes the message boards

In a new and exciting development for a young coach, I made it onto a running message board famous for defaming people doing a pretty darn good job (myself, not even necessarily included). It is a favorite place for those who want to remain nameless but want their voices and criticism to be heard. Basically a lot of people have nothing better to do than whine about things they don't like, sort of like an armchair quarterback or coach only much meaner. As I told Kelly, at least I got accused of being to much like a youth pastor, I guess it could be worse.

See for yourself www.letsrun.com

All I ask is that you don't add anything to the post. It is not worth adding to the fray, it only encourages more banter, and although it can be funny, I would rather not have people brainstorming on why I did/am doing a terrible job as coach, runner, person, or otherwise.

Christy and Noah Get Married, friends come to Waco

So, we went to a wedding and it was truly a beautiful ceremony. I am a little embarrassed that I don't have any pictures of them, but they had a wedding to be in and we were just glad to be invited. I also didn't want to be that guy taking pictures from right behind the photographer so I just took a few of our table. Christy and Noah are great and we are happy we get to hang out with them when they get back from Hawaii. The ceremony was at the Earl Harrison house and gardens that happens to be by the zoo and you could hear the lions and elephants voicing their approval of the union. The wedding brought together a lot of people that haven't seen each other in a long time (for no good reason). It was good to see all of them again, and somewhat amazing to see them all grown up. It was neat to see that everyone was doing so well.

Kelly's Belly w15.5

Now you see it.












Now, not so much.









Either way, as cute as ever.

Kelly has continued to do very well this week. It is somewhat remarkable how taxing it is for Kelly to literally grow a child. Her sleep and nutrition requirements really have increased and her energy level, despite the sleep shows that her body is . . . well working on something else. Probably a good reason the physical side affects of pregnancy are hard to miss, otherwise men around the world would assume their wives were just making stuff up. The large stomach ( I know this is only the beginning) and other outward changes I believe are visual reminders ( men are visually based) to cut your wife some slack and take her word for it even if she did eat less than an hour ago.

in the mean time . . .

We have

a baby

dog.

Kelly's Belly w14.5

If you can't tell she/our child is growing, come hang out with us for a while. You will quickly notice Kelly's appetite is considerably different. She is frequently hungry to the point of being nauseated until she eats. Then she is so full that she is uncomfortable until she is hungry again and the cycle repeats itself. I guess the little guy/gal in there is taking up a considerable amount of space already.
Personally I try to lay low and keep the food coming, I would say more but I have to go make dinner, or else.

You have to start somewhere...Kelly's Belly w13.5

Some of you will be wondering what this is picture of (other than Kelly) because she doesn't really "look that pregnant" in this picture. Let me assure that she has all the other symptoms. Some good, some a little more difficult to deal with. Truthfully she has begun to get into her maternity gear already and she is growing, not that you can tell that much by this picture. Showing the picture with the real evidence would no doubt get me in trouble because it isn't the most flattering and I was instructed not to post that on onto the internet. I thought it was great shot but then again, the internet is a very public place for such photos.
Mother to be and the lil peach, pickle, squirrel or whatever you want to call it are doing well and it is very obvious that Kelly is already beginning to enjoy being pregnant more and more in the lull between the 1st trimester morning sickness and the 3rd trimester point where you are uncomfortably large; even though I still have a hard time imagining Kelly in that state. Nevertheless, you have to start somewhere and well, here it is.

Heartbeat

Kelly and I went to the doctor yesterday and got to hear the heartbeat of our child for the first time. It was clicking along at about 150 bpm which is pretty fast unless you are the size of a small peach, then it is normal. In true doctor fashion he then began to tell us that studies have shown that you can predict the sex of the baby based on heartrate and be correct almost 50% of the time (ha. . ha). Due to the fact that we were using doppler to hear the heartbeat, Michael Taylor and I thought it would have been funnier if he had said, "Well we can hear the heartbeat and can see a 40% chance of severe thunderstorms moving across Kelly's stomach on the radar, so if you have weekend plans be sure to bring your umbrella."

The Dog who cried Woof

Typically Heidi barks and we tend to ignore her, but there are definitely times when you can distinguish between, "I want to be inside under the bed," and "HEY, you get outta here!" Thinking the neighborhood teenagers were teasing her or walking behind the fence I went outside to scare them back, as I was scantily clad. After figuring out that there was nothing outside of the fence she was barking at I decided maybe she had treed a squirrel (can you do that since that is there home?) Anyway Heidi greets me at the gate with exuberance that I have not usually seen at 12:45 AM. Since she sleeps more than any of us. She is excited because apparently the hunt is on. She proceeds to show me what she is hunting and points out a rattlesnake, barks and darts in and out of its strike range. Not knowing exactly where it was as Heidi completed laps around, over, and among said snake, I didn't really want to wade in barefoot, let alone no pants (just shorts), no shirt etc to pull her away. I was afraid their might be more than one or Heidi would scare it towards me. I had no time to compose myself as I thought any moment my dog would be barking her last time I went about it lion tamer style with one of our lawn chairs. Seeing Jon the Snake Charmer/Lion Tamer in action spurred on Heidi more however and she started to really hassle him. Finally after tiptoeing across the lawn and trying to call a very stubborn dog, I convinced Heidi to check it out from a different angle behind the chain link in her dog run and I was able to grab her without becoming a half naked Texas statistic. I can just see it now, "Over 38% of Texans are bitten by snakes, while in their underwear or something to that effect.
I believe I did break a rule set out for any member of the Texas Republic. I encountered a rattlesnake and didn't kill it. I didn't discharge a firearm within the city limits or blindly wield a shovel at 1:00am to finish off the cursed reptile. Mostly it was dark, I was barefoot, I was sleepy, and I figured as long as it didn't come in the house maybe it would keep the mice out (see previous post)?