I came across this article a couple weeks ago, and it made me think about the value of cooking shows. I watch the Food Network a lot. In fact, Bobby has complained that's all I watch. And it is, mostly.
I like cooking, but that didn't really start until I was in college. My mom taught me how to make a few things - scrambled eggs, pancakes, spaghetti, boxed mac-and-cheese and rice-a-roni. Were I out on my own, I could feed myself, no problem. But I actually learned about how to cook via the Food Network.
The shows may make everything look easy, and that may be false representation, but it also makes you a little more willing to try it out. And then there's the fact that they are often showing a technique that you can use when cooking similar foods - Rachael Ray tought me what a roux is, and I learned about tempering from Alton Brown. It's that kind of knowledge that allows me to better understand what's happening when I watch people cook now.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
10 pounds
I've lost 10 pounds so far this year. Some of this I attribute to making my own lunches, and therefore eating smaller portions, since I'm at home, and cooking dinner most nights, but half of the weight loss has occurred in the last few weeks. Why?
I'm fairly convinced that this is because for about that long, I've been consciously altering the way I eat. Between looking at the food pyramid the government recommends for a person of my age and gender, and some recent ruminations prompted by this speech and personal thoughts and articles/blogs on healthy eating, I came up with some basic guidelines for myself:
1. Eat way, way more vegetables (like 3 times what I normally would)
2. Only eat one serving of meat per day, if at all
3. Eat yogurt daily
4. Eat smaller portions for dinner, so not to be too full for dessert
5. Avoid most processed foods (so use honey, not Splenda, in tea, make a vinaigrette instead of using bottled dressing, and drink water, wine, or 100% fruit juice cut with sparkling water instead of sodas).
The toughest bit - cutting back on the meat. Not because I crave it, but because I'm surrounded by people that think they are supposed to be carnivores. Bobby thinks a meal isn't a meal if it doesn't involve a half pound of meat. He's often pressuring Emma to eat her meat (she'd like to live on bread and cheese). My aunt is has always been a big fan of "the bacon diet," eats mostly meat all the time, and takes carnitine supplements as well. She's convinced that her red meat-carnitine combo is the reason she has record low cholesterol. My dad has tried out her method, but hasn't had the same results.
But so far I've been pretty good with it. And I've found that when I focus on eating loads of veggies, I not only eat less meat, but less bread too. After limiting my meat intake, the results were nearly immediate. I still eat more than enough butter and cheese and fruit.
I think eating dessert has actually been a key factor. I eat a small dessert almost every night - usually Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream with sliced strawberries, or sliced banana and Nutella (OMG, so good!). But by saving room for dessert, I'm giving myself an immediate (okay, nearly immediate - I do wait an hour or so) reward for denying myself that second helping of pasta or rice or steak, and in the time between dinner and dessert - my body has had enough time to truly register how full I am.
So we'll see if it keeps going down, or if I hold steady here...
I'm fairly convinced that this is because for about that long, I've been consciously altering the way I eat. Between looking at the food pyramid the government recommends for a person of my age and gender, and some recent ruminations prompted by this speech and personal thoughts and articles/blogs on healthy eating, I came up with some basic guidelines for myself:
1. Eat way, way more vegetables (like 3 times what I normally would)
2. Only eat one serving of meat per day, if at all
3. Eat yogurt daily
4. Eat smaller portions for dinner, so not to be too full for dessert
5. Avoid most processed foods (so use honey, not Splenda, in tea, make a vinaigrette instead of using bottled dressing, and drink water, wine, or 100% fruit juice cut with sparkling water instead of sodas).
The toughest bit - cutting back on the meat. Not because I crave it, but because I'm surrounded by people that think they are supposed to be carnivores. Bobby thinks a meal isn't a meal if it doesn't involve a half pound of meat. He's often pressuring Emma to eat her meat (she'd like to live on bread and cheese). My aunt is has always been a big fan of "the bacon diet," eats mostly meat all the time, and takes carnitine supplements as well. She's convinced that her red meat-carnitine combo is the reason she has record low cholesterol. My dad has tried out her method, but hasn't had the same results.
But so far I've been pretty good with it. And I've found that when I focus on eating loads of veggies, I not only eat less meat, but less bread too. After limiting my meat intake, the results were nearly immediate. I still eat more than enough butter and cheese and fruit.
I think eating dessert has actually been a key factor. I eat a small dessert almost every night - usually Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream with sliced strawberries, or sliced banana and Nutella (OMG, so good!). But by saving room for dessert, I'm giving myself an immediate (okay, nearly immediate - I do wait an hour or so) reward for denying myself that second helping of pasta or rice or steak, and in the time between dinner and dessert - my body has had enough time to truly register how full I am.
So we'll see if it keeps going down, or if I hold steady here...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
We Marched
I raised $160, and my team raised around $1,000. You can still donate - it's not too late!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Upcoming Charity Walks
A couple years ago, my good friend Freida participated in her local Susan G. Komen 3-Day, 60 mile walk. If my memory serves, she raised close to or just over $2,000, and started training months in advance. Like me, Freida worked in an office, and 60 miles would be quite a lot of walking for her. She blogged about the whole experience, and it was obvious that the experience was a spiritual one for her, as much as it was a charity event. I decided that the next time she participated, I hoped I could join her.
I don't know if she's doing the 3-Day again this November, but she is participating in two upcoming charity walks: The March for Dimes March for Babies (6 miles) on April 25th, and the Wild Women of Wine Country 5K Run/Walk on May 2nd. I've just signed up to join her on both of them.
I'm really not active enough, but Abbey and I usually walk around 2.5 miles when we go out, so I'm not too concerned about the 5K, and I think I can work up to 6 miles by next month. Who knows, maybe I can keep it up and work up to the 3-Day in November. (Bobby is convinced I can't do that much - said I should try 10 miles first.)
My fundraising goal for the two walks is $250 and $100 respectively. If you'd like to donate, you can donate to the March for Babies through the link on the left; unfortunately, there is no easy link for the Wild Women of Wine walk, but let me know if you'd like to donate.
I don't know if she's doing the 3-Day again this November, but she is participating in two upcoming charity walks: The March for Dimes March for Babies (6 miles) on April 25th, and the Wild Women of Wine Country 5K Run/Walk on May 2nd. I've just signed up to join her on both of them.
I'm really not active enough, but Abbey and I usually walk around 2.5 miles when we go out, so I'm not too concerned about the 5K, and I think I can work up to 6 miles by next month. Who knows, maybe I can keep it up and work up to the 3-Day in November. (Bobby is convinced I can't do that much - said I should try 10 miles first.)
My fundraising goal for the two walks is $250 and $100 respectively. If you'd like to donate, you can donate to the March for Babies through the link on the left; unfortunately, there is no easy link for the Wild Women of Wine walk, but let me know if you'd like to donate.
Monday, March 2, 2009
An Update
Working from home is a lot of work.
I work all the time. I sleep a little later, and I sometimes work my chores into the middle of my day instead of the evenings or weekends, but I'm busy almost nonstop. I am amazed that Bobby was able to get any bidding done with the amount of other stuff that needed to get done. He's been getting a lot more bidding done since I've been able to work on all the admin stuff, and it's a good thing too - with the slowing of the economy we have needed to get more bids out to keep work coming in.
Then, to make everything a little more hectic, I decided to add a little to my load. As you know, my brother owns a microbrewery in Fullerton, CA - Bootlegger's Brewery. He's realized he needs someone to help him out at least a few hours a week, so I'm now working for him Friday mornings as well. I like being able to help, and I can tell he needs someone around that thinks like I do.
I have also tried to make sure to take some time for myself. I introduced Bobby to yoga and we try to get to a yoga class at the gym at least 1-2 times a week. Also, Abbey and I walk for about 45 minutes each day - down to the park and back. She and Lucas still aren't the best of buds, but they are slowly getting better. Well... she is getting better about accepting that he doesn't want to play, and he's getting better about not minding so much when she walks in the room. I know it's a long shot, but I long to see them cuddled up together. I could be waiting a really long time.
She's mostly housetrained now, but she likes to bring our shoes and clothes outside to play with and chew on. And she mouths us a lot. We are trying to tell her no, substitute her toy for our arm, and/or put her outside for a time out when she just won't stop. She's a normal puppy, and requires patience. She has picked up some commands already, but her consistency drops significantly when we don't have a treat in our hand. We start an actual obedience class on Sunday.
I'm making both lunch and dinner almost every day, so we are eating out rarely. I feel better when we eat in because we save money, I end up eating smaller portions, and I also feel like I have a better idea of what we are eating. I'm also a big fan of courses, which is easier with smaller portions, but I'm having a little trouble finding desserts that are easy to make for just two or three people (Erica is with us many weeknights).
With as busy as I am, I've had less time to read the many food blogs I subscribe to, so I haven't been as adventurous lately - making more tried & true recipes. I did, however, make a mushroom bourguignon recently that was heavenly. Bobby would be perfectly happy if I made huevos rancheros every single day (in fact, he asks for it most days - but I skip the cheese and add sour cream and avocado as well). Mom gave me a ton of lemons from the tree at the Chino house, so I'm trying to find uses for them outside lemonade.
Since I have a beautiful, bright red KitchenAid stand mixer now (Bobby bought it for me for Christmas), I have this desire to make stuff that requires kneading, like fresh pasta, pizza, and yeast breads. With the weather I've been craving soups and stews and other warm, hearty meals, but the weather was really nice yesterday and I started thinking about lunches on the patio and grilling and chilled white wine. In fact, I decided to have a little salad, fresh baked bread dipped in really great olive oil, and a glass of chilled white wine for lunch.
You know those rare moments when you feel totally at peace? When you feel like there isn't something that you need to do right this moment, and there are no thoughts just tugging at your brain? As if you can just be still, and rest, and feel peaceful? They are so few and far between that I can recall those moments with complete clarity - sitting on the top of a deep sea fishing boat just feeling the movement, waking up to the sound of distant mariachi music on a beautiful Saturday morning when Bobby and I lived in the apartment, and lying back in the hammock on our newly built patio, drinking a glass of chilled white wine after a nice lunch the afternoon Mom and Lisa and I stayed home to be with Gma when she was starting to get really sick.
Chilled white wine on spring-like days reminds me of that afternoon. It was one of those days when the temperature and breezes are so perfect that you throw open every window and door in the house. Lunch had been perfect, and it felt so good to spend time with my Gma, mom, and aunt. We ate well but didn't over eat, drank well but didn't get drunk, and everyone took a nap mid afternoon in hammocks or skychairs or wherever they fell.
Something about just the thought afternoon naps is calming to my soul. Like that scene in Stealing Beauty when Lucy arrives and everyone is napping (4 minutes in). I want to be there, sleeping on one of those chaise lounges.
Today was overcast and drizzly, but I think, perhaps, more warm spring-like days are not too far off. The buds on my grapevines are starting to burst. Yesterday I saw that a couple had just burst, and today they are already shooting out leaves.
Emma had a Home Depot gift card (she won it at a casino party my parents threw a few months ago - we taught her to play Blackjack) so we went down to their garden center recently. Between the two of us we came home with quite a few plants - as always, she with mostly flowers, and me with plants that will later feed me. My problem is that I always think of all these foods I want to eat, but forget that I don't have much room for the plants. So I've recently planted some tomatoes, cabbage, lettuces, blueberry, blackberry, and concord grape, and now I have to find a place for an Improved Meyer Lemon tree. Luckily, I left the avocado tree at the store.
I'm really looking forward to all the green that comes with spring. I have more to plant - leek, chervil, parsley, and Brussels sprout seeds, and I need to pick up some basil and thyme. Now that the rains have soaked the earth pretty well I feel like I need to get out there and put some plants in.
I work all the time. I sleep a little later, and I sometimes work my chores into the middle of my day instead of the evenings or weekends, but I'm busy almost nonstop. I am amazed that Bobby was able to get any bidding done with the amount of other stuff that needed to get done. He's been getting a lot more bidding done since I've been able to work on all the admin stuff, and it's a good thing too - with the slowing of the economy we have needed to get more bids out to keep work coming in.
Then, to make everything a little more hectic, I decided to add a little to my load. As you know, my brother owns a microbrewery in Fullerton, CA - Bootlegger's Brewery. He's realized he needs someone to help him out at least a few hours a week, so I'm now working for him Friday mornings as well. I like being able to help, and I can tell he needs someone around that thinks like I do.
I have also tried to make sure to take some time for myself. I introduced Bobby to yoga and we try to get to a yoga class at the gym at least 1-2 times a week. Also, Abbey and I walk for about 45 minutes each day - down to the park and back. She and Lucas still aren't the best of buds, but they are slowly getting better. Well... she is getting better about accepting that he doesn't want to play, and he's getting better about not minding so much when she walks in the room. I know it's a long shot, but I long to see them cuddled up together. I could be waiting a really long time.
She's mostly housetrained now, but she likes to bring our shoes and clothes outside to play with and chew on. And she mouths us a lot. We are trying to tell her no, substitute her toy for our arm, and/or put her outside for a time out when she just won't stop. She's a normal puppy, and requires patience. She has picked up some commands already, but her consistency drops significantly when we don't have a treat in our hand. We start an actual obedience class on Sunday.
I'm making both lunch and dinner almost every day, so we are eating out rarely. I feel better when we eat in because we save money, I end up eating smaller portions, and I also feel like I have a better idea of what we are eating. I'm also a big fan of courses, which is easier with smaller portions, but I'm having a little trouble finding desserts that are easy to make for just two or three people (Erica is with us many weeknights).
With as busy as I am, I've had less time to read the many food blogs I subscribe to, so I haven't been as adventurous lately - making more tried & true recipes. I did, however, make a mushroom bourguignon recently that was heavenly. Bobby would be perfectly happy if I made huevos rancheros every single day (in fact, he asks for it most days - but I skip the cheese and add sour cream and avocado as well). Mom gave me a ton of lemons from the tree at the Chino house, so I'm trying to find uses for them outside lemonade.
Since I have a beautiful, bright red KitchenAid stand mixer now (Bobby bought it for me for Christmas), I have this desire to make stuff that requires kneading, like fresh pasta, pizza, and yeast breads. With the weather I've been craving soups and stews and other warm, hearty meals, but the weather was really nice yesterday and I started thinking about lunches on the patio and grilling and chilled white wine. In fact, I decided to have a little salad, fresh baked bread dipped in really great olive oil, and a glass of chilled white wine for lunch.
You know those rare moments when you feel totally at peace? When you feel like there isn't something that you need to do right this moment, and there are no thoughts just tugging at your brain? As if you can just be still, and rest, and feel peaceful? They are so few and far between that I can recall those moments with complete clarity - sitting on the top of a deep sea fishing boat just feeling the movement, waking up to the sound of distant mariachi music on a beautiful Saturday morning when Bobby and I lived in the apartment, and lying back in the hammock on our newly built patio, drinking a glass of chilled white wine after a nice lunch the afternoon Mom and Lisa and I stayed home to be with Gma when she was starting to get really sick.
Chilled white wine on spring-like days reminds me of that afternoon. It was one of those days when the temperature and breezes are so perfect that you throw open every window and door in the house. Lunch had been perfect, and it felt so good to spend time with my Gma, mom, and aunt. We ate well but didn't over eat, drank well but didn't get drunk, and everyone took a nap mid afternoon in hammocks or skychairs or wherever they fell.
Something about just the thought afternoon naps is calming to my soul. Like that scene in Stealing Beauty when Lucy arrives and everyone is napping (4 minutes in). I want to be there, sleeping on one of those chaise lounges.
Today was overcast and drizzly, but I think, perhaps, more warm spring-like days are not too far off. The buds on my grapevines are starting to burst. Yesterday I saw that a couple had just burst, and today they are already shooting out leaves.
Emma had a Home Depot gift card (she won it at a casino party my parents threw a few months ago - we taught her to play Blackjack) so we went down to their garden center recently. Between the two of us we came home with quite a few plants - as always, she with mostly flowers, and me with plants that will later feed me. My problem is that I always think of all these foods I want to eat, but forget that I don't have much room for the plants. So I've recently planted some tomatoes, cabbage, lettuces, blueberry, blackberry, and concord grape, and now I have to find a place for an Improved Meyer Lemon tree. Luckily, I left the avocado tree at the store.
I'm really looking forward to all the green that comes with spring. I have more to plant - leek, chervil, parsley, and Brussels sprout seeds, and I need to pick up some basil and thyme. Now that the rains have soaked the earth pretty well I feel like I need to get out there and put some plants in.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Welcome Abbey
Bobby and I have wanted to get a dog for a long time, but we both felt pretty strongly that we should wait until we had time to spend with a dog. Time for walks, and time to play, and time to train. This December, with the thought that since both of us would be working from home come the new year, it was finally time.
Then the search began. We initially hoped to find a pup by Christmas, but we had a long list of criteria, and decided it was important to find the right dog, even if that meant waiting. It had to be a breed we liked the look of, but it also had to do well with cats and children, and we preferred a pup less than 6 months old (both for training purposes and due to our cat, Lucas). Bobby's tongue-in-cheek description of the kind of dog he wanted was, "Floppy ears... and could kill a man." But would love the cat, obviously.
Bobby, Emma, and I made a number of visits to shelters over the last few months, looked online, and called breed rescues. We watched Dogs 101 on Animal Planet a lot and took a few mental notes about breeds we liked. This Saturday, we picked Emma up and decided to go to the Riverside County Animal Shelter.
We only had a vague idea of where it was, so I checked Google Maps on my phone for a location. Instead of the Riverside County Animal Shelter, we wound up at the Riverside Humane Society, but decided to look at the dogs anyway.
As we were looking for parking, Emma and I were looking at the kennels that faced the parking lot. Upon seeing the first dog, I said, "That's the one!" We hadn't even gotten out of the car yet.
We made sure we saw all the dogs they had, but there were really only two we were considering - the first dog I'd seen, a 5 1/2 month old Bluetick Coonhound, and her cell mate, a 1 1/2 year old Basset Hound.
When we asked about the dogs, we mentioned that we already have a cat, and that it was important to us to find a dog that is good with cats. The coonhound had not been cat tested yet, but they agreed to do one with us there.
We first met with the coonhound, Soleil, and as soon as we were in the visiting room, she walked up to me and gently crawled the front of her body in my lap to let me pet her. When she got down, she did the very same to Bobby. She was a very happy, playful puppy. Emma was in love, and already begging us to take the dog home. (She's easy like that though. Every place we went there was always a dog she was madly in love with).
After a while, they brought in a cat carrier with a jet black cat named Phantom inside. I had been wondering how they go about choosing a cat to do the cat tests - obviously you don't want to stress any of the animals out too badly. Apparently this cat loves dogs, actually prefers to be caged with them than with other cats, and has been their cat test bait for as long as she's been there. Soleil was mildly curious, but not agressive in any way. After a little time, they let Phantom out of the cat carrier and he wandered around the room a bit. Soleil followed him around, very curious. The cat was finally irritated with all the sniffing, and gently batted the dog, and she just backed off.
The staff member we were talking to informed us that Julie had been cat tested, and she is okay with cats that do not run from her. Apparently if the cat bolts, Julie chases. I was a little uneasy about that, but we decided to visit with her anyway.
Julie was much mellower than Soleil. Again, a sweet dog, but more reserved, perhaps even lazy. If she needed to move forward just a little bit, she'd just drag her backside instead of getting up to walk. Bobby, who never thought he would like a smallish dog was really taken with her, and when they took Julie back we had a tough decision in front of us.
Bobby wanted Julie, but liked Soleil too. I wanted Soleil, but liked Julie too. Emma waffled back and forth (really, she wanted to take a dog home NOW, and it didn't matter which one). I was still concerned with how Julie would act towards Lucas, and the fact that she was an older dog. Bobby really liked Julie.
We eventually caved to our indecisiveness and decided we would get both. They seemed to do so well together in their kennel and it would be good of us to save them both right? And how nice would it be for each of us to have a dog? Emma was ecstatic.
Thankfully, the staff at the Humane Society held us back a little. Since we have a cat, and both the dogs were hounds - dogs with a strong prey drive - and since Julie was already predisposed to chase cats, they said we could only take one home that day. Take one home, acclimate her to the cat, then maybe see about another. That way Julie doesn't teach Soleil bad traits right away.
We tried to talk them out of it, but they were firm. We were back to having to make a decision. Finally, Bobby relented, and we decided on Soleil. He reasoned that it would probably be better to go for the puppy, and if we want a Basset Hound, then we can try to find a puppy in a few months. Better not to scare Lucas with two dogs all at once, right?
I liked the name Soleil, but Bobby didn't care for it, so we started thinking of other names. It didn't take long for Bobby and Emma to decide on Abbey. His family is full of Beatles fans, which is why her name is spelled the same as it is in Abbey Road. We filled out the paperwork, and picked out the collar, leash, water and food bowls, a toy, food, and some treats. Then we piled in the car and brought her to meet Jäger.
Jäger is Bobby's brother's labrador. We were understandable aprehensive about their first meeting - Jäger is a rather large, powerful, and somewhat uncontrollable dog, while Abbey is rather petite. It was clear rather early on that Jäger was simply enamored with this new girl. She walked around sniffing the yard while he just followed her around as if he were the puppy.
It was a breif visit, since it was time for us to be heading home. The closer we got to home, the more worried I was about how Lucas would react. We were fairly confident that Abbey wouldn't attack him, but he often disappears when there are people over he doesn't like - what if he just takes off while she's there?
As soon as we pulled the car in the garage, I jumped out to check to see if Lucas was in the house. I was hoping we could introduce them that night, since I didn't want them to surprise each other while we were all sleeping. Luckily, he was right there in our bedroom waiting for us to come home. I quickly closed up the exit we leave open for him. We brought Abbey in, but Lucas was already under the bed. She was so excited that she went right past him to explore the rest of the house.
After everyone settled down a bit, I closed the bedroom door and pulled Lucas out from under the bed. He wasn't really all that happy with me, but he loves me and never strikes out. I held him in my lap and pet him, while I called for Bobby to leash the dog and bring her in.
Abbey reacted the same way she did towards Phantom - extreme curiosity. It was clear that she wanted very badly to sniff and play with the kitty, but Lucas wanted none of it. He did hiss once and growl a few times, but over all he did remarkably well. He still avoids her as much as possible, but if we pick him up and bring him into a room with her, he will sit somewhat tensly in our lap and warn her if she gets too close. It will take some time, but I think they'll get used to each other.
Then the search began. We initially hoped to find a pup by Christmas, but we had a long list of criteria, and decided it was important to find the right dog, even if that meant waiting. It had to be a breed we liked the look of, but it also had to do well with cats and children, and we preferred a pup less than 6 months old (both for training purposes and due to our cat, Lucas). Bobby's tongue-in-cheek description of the kind of dog he wanted was, "Floppy ears... and could kill a man." But would love the cat, obviously.
Bobby, Emma, and I made a number of visits to shelters over the last few months, looked online, and called breed rescues. We watched Dogs 101 on Animal Planet a lot and took a few mental notes about breeds we liked. This Saturday, we picked Emma up and decided to go to the Riverside County Animal Shelter.
We only had a vague idea of where it was, so I checked Google Maps on my phone for a location. Instead of the Riverside County Animal Shelter, we wound up at the Riverside Humane Society, but decided to look at the dogs anyway.
As we were looking for parking, Emma and I were looking at the kennels that faced the parking lot. Upon seeing the first dog, I said, "That's the one!" We hadn't even gotten out of the car yet.
We made sure we saw all the dogs they had, but there were really only two we were considering - the first dog I'd seen, a 5 1/2 month old Bluetick Coonhound, and her cell mate, a 1 1/2 year old Basset Hound.
When we asked about the dogs, we mentioned that we already have a cat, and that it was important to us to find a dog that is good with cats. The coonhound had not been cat tested yet, but they agreed to do one with us there.
We first met with the coonhound, Soleil, and as soon as we were in the visiting room, she walked up to me and gently crawled the front of her body in my lap to let me pet her. When she got down, she did the very same to Bobby. She was a very happy, playful puppy. Emma was in love, and already begging us to take the dog home. (She's easy like that though. Every place we went there was always a dog she was madly in love with).
After a while, they brought in a cat carrier with a jet black cat named Phantom inside. I had been wondering how they go about choosing a cat to do the cat tests - obviously you don't want to stress any of the animals out too badly. Apparently this cat loves dogs, actually prefers to be caged with them than with other cats, and has been their cat test bait for as long as she's been there. Soleil was mildly curious, but not agressive in any way. After a little time, they let Phantom out of the cat carrier and he wandered around the room a bit. Soleil followed him around, very curious. The cat was finally irritated with all the sniffing, and gently batted the dog, and she just backed off.
The staff member we were talking to informed us that Julie had been cat tested, and she is okay with cats that do not run from her. Apparently if the cat bolts, Julie chases. I was a little uneasy about that, but we decided to visit with her anyway.
Julie was much mellower than Soleil. Again, a sweet dog, but more reserved, perhaps even lazy. If she needed to move forward just a little bit, she'd just drag her backside instead of getting up to walk. Bobby, who never thought he would like a smallish dog was really taken with her, and when they took Julie back we had a tough decision in front of us.
Bobby wanted Julie, but liked Soleil too. I wanted Soleil, but liked Julie too. Emma waffled back and forth (really, she wanted to take a dog home NOW, and it didn't matter which one). I was still concerned with how Julie would act towards Lucas, and the fact that she was an older dog. Bobby really liked Julie.
We eventually caved to our indecisiveness and decided we would get both. They seemed to do so well together in their kennel and it would be good of us to save them both right? And how nice would it be for each of us to have a dog? Emma was ecstatic.
Thankfully, the staff at the Humane Society held us back a little. Since we have a cat, and both the dogs were hounds - dogs with a strong prey drive - and since Julie was already predisposed to chase cats, they said we could only take one home that day. Take one home, acclimate her to the cat, then maybe see about another. That way Julie doesn't teach Soleil bad traits right away.
We tried to talk them out of it, but they were firm. We were back to having to make a decision. Finally, Bobby relented, and we decided on Soleil. He reasoned that it would probably be better to go for the puppy, and if we want a Basset Hound, then we can try to find a puppy in a few months. Better not to scare Lucas with two dogs all at once, right?
I liked the name Soleil, but Bobby didn't care for it, so we started thinking of other names. It didn't take long for Bobby and Emma to decide on Abbey. His family is full of Beatles fans, which is why her name is spelled the same as it is in Abbey Road. We filled out the paperwork, and picked out the collar, leash, water and food bowls, a toy, food, and some treats. Then we piled in the car and brought her to meet Jäger.
Jäger is Bobby's brother's labrador. We were understandable aprehensive about their first meeting - Jäger is a rather large, powerful, and somewhat uncontrollable dog, while Abbey is rather petite. It was clear rather early on that Jäger was simply enamored with this new girl. She walked around sniffing the yard while he just followed her around as if he were the puppy.
It was a breif visit, since it was time for us to be heading home. The closer we got to home, the more worried I was about how Lucas would react. We were fairly confident that Abbey wouldn't attack him, but he often disappears when there are people over he doesn't like - what if he just takes off while she's there?
As soon as we pulled the car in the garage, I jumped out to check to see if Lucas was in the house. I was hoping we could introduce them that night, since I didn't want them to surprise each other while we were all sleeping. Luckily, he was right there in our bedroom waiting for us to come home. I quickly closed up the exit we leave open for him. We brought Abbey in, but Lucas was already under the bed. She was so excited that she went right past him to explore the rest of the house.
After everyone settled down a bit, I closed the bedroom door and pulled Lucas out from under the bed. He wasn't really all that happy with me, but he loves me and never strikes out. I held him in my lap and pet him, while I called for Bobby to leash the dog and bring her in.
Abbey reacted the same way she did towards Phantom - extreme curiosity. It was clear that she wanted very badly to sniff and play with the kitty, but Lucas wanted none of it. He did hiss once and growl a few times, but over all he did remarkably well. He still avoids her as much as possible, but if we pick him up and bring him into a room with her, he will sit somewhat tensly in our lap and warn her if she gets too close. It will take some time, but I think they'll get used to each other.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
What He Said
I couldn't say it any better than Michael Ruhlman.
P.S.
I know, I've been gone a long time. I'm still alive, just super busy. Hopefully I can make a comeback this weekend.
P.S.
I know, I've been gone a long time. I'm still alive, just super busy. Hopefully I can make a comeback this weekend.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
My BlackBerry Just Got Cooler
I tried out Google's Sync for my BlackBerry, and it was horrible. I never kept up with my Google contacts, only my Outlook/BBerry contacts, and Google overwrote all my data with it's old data, and then when I would fix it, it would just reinstate it's bad data. Thankfully I was able to preserve my Outlook data by not syncing.
Removing Google Sync turned out to be quite a pain, and I wound up having to wipe my BBerry, and clear all the software, and reinstall from scratch. In doing so, I also updated my device software, and now it's looking better than before.
One of my few complaints about the AT&T Curve (8310) was that I couldn't download AIM or Yahoo! Messenger. I could only by third party software that was always slower. That is fixed, and now I can log in to all my IM accounts. One of my other complaints - no HTML emails. Now I have HTML emails. Also, if I have a picture saved in someone's contact, that picture shows up in the header for emails from them - just like in Outlook.
There's also multi-folder support. If you have two calendar folders, you can sync both, but new entries you make in your BBerry will only go on the default folder. But you could always make a note to yourself to transfer that entry over.
I haven't been able to play with it much yet, so there are probably other new things I have yet to discover. But I'm excited all over again.
Bobby's HTC died a couple weeks ago. A friend got the BlackBerry Storm, and after playing with it a bit we were both quite envious. Bobby has been telling me he needs a new phone, and I was telling him that no, he needs to wait - he can't just get a new phone because he wants one. But then, it proved to be insane. The phone. He turned it on, and it just started beeping, as if someone were pressing buttons, but no one was touching it. He set it on the counter, and it dialed a number on it's own.
If we had Verizon, or our AT&T contracts were up anytime soon, we probably would have switched to Verizon for the Storm, and so the contract could be in the company's name instead of ours, but we already have contracts with AT&T on two of our three phones - one with a year left, one with almost 2 years left.
I was pushing him to get a BlackBerry, just because I love mine so much, but he wound up choosing an iPhone instead. So far he likes it. He's got another 2 weeks before he has to commit, so we'll see.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Rain
Boy did it pour here today.
I am fully aware that I live in Southern California, and that "it rained a lot here" doesn't compare to a great many other places, but for SoCal, it rained A LOT!
Emma is learning the clarinet, and she had her first show today. The school had planed 2 assemblies in the morning, and a show for the parents in the evening, but Bobby had his last final that night so we planned to make it to the 9:20 assembly. I took the day off, and planned to take advantage of the free time and get a haircut as well. We were, as usual, running a bit later than preferred, and Bobby was driving a little faster than I would like, but we made it there safely, and just at 9:20.
But as we were walking up - there were parents walking away, saying that the second assembly had been cancelled due to the rain. You see, the kids were to be sitting on the floor of the cafeteria, and with the rain they would be tracking in water and mud that the faculty didn't want them to wind up sitting in. They'd already sent all the kids back to class, so we asked if they could get Emma out of class so we could at least say hello and tell her how bummed we were that we couldn't see her play. She was obviously super excited to see us, but didn't seem upset that we missed the show.
So we hopped on the freeway to travel the one exit from near Emma's school to near Bobby's sister-in-law's mom's salon where I was going to get my haircut. It took 40 minutes.
A smaller semi had rammed into the back of a FedEx semi, and the FedEx semi had wound up jacknifed across all the lanes of the freeway. After my haircut, we got onto the freeway to head back home so Bobby could get to a job inspection he had scheduled. On the way, we saw two more jacknifed semis. The cabs of both had clearly swung all the way around on the driver's side to ram up against their trailers, because the driver's side doors of each were well dented. There were also two autos that had spun out, and traffic overall was quite bad. I was glad I would be staying home the rest of the day.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Interesting Article
My blog reading led me to this article today about perceived healthfulness of a food hiding the actual healthfulness of that food. I'll admit it, I don't eat at Subway but I do view deli sandwiches as healthier than McDonald's, but I also would never eat a 12" sandwich. I'm a sucker for the chips though.
In fact, I refuse to eat at McDonald's, and avoid all those burger chains as much as I can. I make a better burger anyway. ;)
I find that if I go out for lunch I'm tempted to eat a larger portion, feel overly full, and then experience a sort of food-coma. But when I make my own lunch, I eat a smaller portion, don't feel weighed down, and remain productive. I wonder how many calories my homemade, no mayo, toasted roast beef & muenster sandwich with olive oil-sauteed mushrooms and onions with marinated spinach and tomato has.
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