Max... Just Max

It's a good thing we gave Max a simple name that's easy to remember, because when he becomes a famous dog-model it will shoot his name recognition through the stratosphere.

When my brother was up at the cottage, he used Max as a model for taking pictures.  For Max, it was a day of chasing his Kong in the water.  He must have done it over 25 times.  Jumping off the dog and happily swimming back to shore.

Turns out Dave entered Max and his picture into a contest and was made a finalist.  In fact, if you go to the link, Max's profile comes up right away.

Check out the link:
Detroit News - Photo Contest to Celebrate Michigan

Detroit News Article About Max

So now I'm thinking we're going to need an agent, publicist and he'll have to get an entourage of some type.  Maybe Jade will be the first one in his posse.

The Dangers of Fishing

Looking at this picture, one would never think that fishing can be dangerous:

But Saturday morning, that theory was proven wrong.  After our walk around the lake, John decided to do some fishing while I grabbed a chair and started reading.  He got a bite from a perch that was a pretty good size fish.  Proud of his fish, he turned around to show me his catch.  That's when the fish decided to fight back.

The slimy perch scrambled in John's hand and detached itself from the hook.  With all the commotion, John didn't watch the hook too close and this is what happened:

Ouch, ouch, ouch!  That hook was lodged in there.  So John tried to do some self-surgery (because there was no way I was going to be able to slice it out).  He washed it off and used a box cutter to try and cut it out.  After slicing into his hand and not able to get it out, I finally talked him into going to the local "hospital."

So off we go to the emergency room about 12 miles away.  My goal for the drive was to be supportive and not pass out from looking at it.  We checked in and they got John back right away.  The staff didn't seem too shocked and after asking, they see this all the time.

When the nurse asked John what his pain level is, he responded with a 2 out of 10.  I would have been howling and my pain level would have hovered somewhere around an 8 or 9.  They gave him a tetanus shot and then the doctor came in to get the hook out.  I finally saw John wince in pain when she shot his finger up with Novocaine so it looked like a puffy clown finger. 

She pulled and wiggled, once telling John she didn't need his help to get it out and for him to sit still.  Then she finally got it.  John went to grab the lure and she freaked out, stating that she's had people re-hook themselves before.  I'm not sure what kind of moron would hook themselves, need a doctor to help them get the hook out and then grab the hook and re-hook themselves again.  I can only speculate.

So after all that, John's finger was finally free and clear of the hook.  He was feeling fine and I was able to take him home.

And like John, he went back to doing all the things he normally would have done up at the lake... except for fishing.

Nothing's better than free labor

Last weekend we had our first overnight guests up at the cottage.  John & I trekked up to my parents' cottage to pick up their boat hoist, old dock and jet boat that they were so generous to give to us for the new place.

I don't think we realized how handy our trailer would be, but that thing has put on some real highway miles.

So like a little wagon train, we headed out.  Took just under 3 hours to get from Long Lake to Indian Lake with a stop off for lunch on the way.

Then the boys got to work putting the hoist together.  Here's a time-lapse video my brother Dave did of the assemble, which could not have been accomplished without the assistance of my dad and Karrie with her expert interpretation of the instructions and the guy at the hardware store that helped me find some bolts and parts we needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yRTklcaGzc

You'll notice in the pictures that there is a lot of Max running around with his kong and Jade laying around in the shade doing nothing. 

What's great about having Dave come to visit is pictures.  He took a ton of Max jumping off the dock.  Here's one that turned out fantastic!

 He also took a great picture using some kind of lens that we're actually going to print out and hang on the wall at the cottage.