Holiday Happiness

It's 3:30 Christmas Day. Lucy and I are sitting in front of the fire while J is out running the boys around the neighborhood for a good, tiring walk. The tree is lit and I'm eyeing some balled up wrapping paper that needs to to be thrown away. I will get to that. In just a minute.

We had a lovely Christmas morning with our friends Jen and Tim and their two beautiful little girls. Jen is an incredible hostess who whipped up a beautiful Christmas breakfast for everyone, all while managing to tend to the kids and visit with her guests.

Tonight's pan is to snuggle by the fire with hot cocoa and maybe a movie.
Just quiet, warm, together, and happy.
A perfect ending to a wonderful Christmas.

Moments of Heartbreaking Terror

Sunday was my adorable little godson/nephew Brodie's baptism.

J and I planned to leave super early so we could stop at Mamoun's for lunch before making it to the church in plenty of time to be there for the little cutie's big day and some family time.

I need to learn to never plan to intentionally have a good day.

We woke later than expected because Lucy, our 5-5:30am alarm, slept in.  This was odd because Lucy loves food more than anything in the world and her breakfast is at 6am.  She even tries to trick me into feeding her early each day (hence the 5-5:30 wake-ups).

J turned on the light in the bedroom and we noticed a few little pee spots on the floor.  That was extremely odd and made us realize something wasn't right.

We tried to get her up off her sleep pillow, but she couldn't walk without falling over, her head was tilted and twisted, her eyes were darting back and forth constantly, and she wouldn't eat anything. We were horrified and heartbroken at what appeared to be a very serious condition that struck her overnight.

Her little body just wasn't working, though you could tell she was trying.  I thought she'd had a stroke. 

J and I tried to figure out what to do.  His parents were still staying at the house and they were obviously concerned for Lucy and for us.  They said we should go to Connecticut and they would keep an eye on her, but I was worried to leave her side and afraid to leave them with such a bad situation. What if something happened while we were two hours away? Should we bring her to the vet or wait and see if there were any changes over the course of the day?... and then there was the baptism.  I had to be there, but I felt like I couldn't leave.

J decided he would stay behind and bring her to the vet so I could go to Connecticut.  Her vet said she could come in for 11:30 and if I was going to make it to the baptism, I needed to leave well before 11.  J promised to call me and let me know what was happening.  With tears streaming down my face, I drove off in the pouring rain, convinced that I would get a call in an hour that would make me turn around and head to the vet.  I called my brother and sister-in-law and left messages explaining what was going on, that I was definitely on my way, but there was a chance I might have to turn back.  They both sent texts saying they understood (we're all dog people) and could easily have a stand-in fill in for me if I wanted to stay with Lucy.  I didn't know what to do.  I was driving, the rain was coming down in torrents, and I was crying my eyes out preparing for the worst.
I thought we were going to have to say goodbye to her.

Within minutes of crossing the border to Connecticut, I got a call from J.  He said it wasn't as bad as we feared, most likely.  He wanted to put the vet on the phone so he could explain it to me directly.  She was diagnosed with idiopathic canine vestibular disease (http://thebark.com/content/idiopathic-or-old-dog-vestibular-disease ). We were told she would likely begin to recover in just a few days, and if she didn't we would have to consider the possibility of a tumor in her brain, but the vet assured me that the prognosis was more than likely good. Given the condition she was in, this seemed impossible, but two days later she was almost completely back to normal.  

I worked from home Monday and Tuesday, sitting next to her as I answered emails and finished projects with more efficiency than I would have had I been in the office.  I had to feed her with a syringe, force her meds down her throat a few times a day, and encourage her to walk around the house between her naps, but Lucy seemed to thrive on the constant care and attention.  I was by her side all day, working next to her, petting her little body and keeping her close.  I slept downstairs with her Monday and Tuesday night so I could get her outside right away and help her maneuver around the yard if she needed to go out (she was diagnosed with a UTI on top of everything else).

This morning I worked a half day at the office and she seems to be doing quite well, especially considering her condition just a few days ago.  She is a little wobbly, but getting around like a pro, and her head is a little tilted, but in more of a cute and curious way than the exorcist-esque way it had been on Sunday and Monday.  She's even sleeping upstairs tonight on her usual pup pillow.

After reading up on the disease, Jason and I were saddened to discover that the diagnosis is sometimes overlooked and dogs who would otherwise fully recover are euthanized because they are thought to have something more serious (I cannot explain how terrible and serious it really did appear to be).
I am immensely thankful that our vet recognized what was really happening with her. And I am also immensely thankful that our little Lucy is well on the mend. 

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with the symptoms of canine vestibular disease, so if it ever happens to one of your furry loved ones, you can make sure they are given a chance to recover.

Lucy, napping her way to recovery on Tuesday afternoon.

It Is Known

...well, it wasn't, but then we had cake:

We gathered family and invited friends to cast their votes on facebook:

(it was a bright and sunny November day, as you can tell from the awful lighting in these photos)

The cake revealed it.  We're expecting a little boy.

And the always awesome and totally prepared sister-in-law had a gender appropriate sock gift ready to go!

The cake was so cute and incredibly tasty, thanks to the fabulous baking and decorating talents of Kristen and The Cupcakerie!

Thankful 2013

Yesterday was Thanksgiving (and let's not forget, it was also the first day of a four day weekend.  I love those).  J and I, without even planning it, managed to do the same thing we did last year.  We decided at the last minute that we needed to get out of the house for a little while so we went to Garden Grille for dinner.  Last year it was a little later when we got there and we were two of about ten people there.  It was quiet and wonderful and just what we needed. This year the place was completely packed when we got there.  We got the last booth in the back and managed to have a sweet, quiet night together despite everything going on around us.  I think we may have started a tradition of sorts.

This year we got home and started prepping for Thanksgiving dinner. Why we didn't do this last year, I have no idea!  I made my praline pecan pumpkin pie while J prepped a ton of stuff to get a jump on the morning's schedule.  Last year I was completely blown away by what a whirlwind he is in the kitchen.  He had every inch of stove and oven working for him as he prepared an amazing meal that could have fed the whole neighborhood!  Our prep night was a ton of fun complete with eating too many of the pralined pecans, and impromptu vegan stuffing prep after realizing we'd bought the wrong kind at the store, and a nice waltz break in the middle of the kitchen to a song that came on the radio during green bean trimming.

We shaved a few hours off the Thanksgiving morning kitchen activities, which was wonderful.  And, once again, J was a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen.  Some of my favorite dishes are his lemony red pepper green beans with walnuts, coconut milk sweet potatoes with ginger, mushroom gravy, vegan stuffing (possibly the best I've ever had, and it was made from some italian bread and wheat bread we found in the kitchen the night before), and the pull apart rolls.  I made roasted brussels with walnuts and vegan mashed potatoes, and his dad made a huge bowl of mashed potatoes for the non-vegans and his pretty-much-famous citrusy cranberry sauce.  J also makes turkey, gravy and stuffing for the meat eaters in the family, which is pretty much everyone but us.  He really is an incredible cook and he puts together one delicious Thanksgiving feast.
After dinner we pretty much all sat around the fire and watch The Godfather 2 while fighting to stay awake.
Ah, Thanksgiving.

But, in all honesty, the best part is having everyone together for the day.  I have much to be thankful for and I truly am so appreciative every day for all the wonderful people in my life.  I love the holiday season so very much and it always goes by so fast.  This year, especially with it being the last one with us being an immediate family of two (plus three dog-kids), we have lots we want to fit in, including lots of time with family (parents, siblings, sis-in-law and little nephew), and some new family xmas traditions of our own to start.

Tomorrow my mom and dad are coming up for a visit.  We're taking all the parents to the indoor farmer's market in the morning for some shopping, including the crafty fun spots for xmas gifts.  Then we're picking up some pizzas, and J's uncle, and meeting my brother, sister-in-law and little nephew at the house for a little gender reveal party!
Yay! I love family fun times.

I Was Wrong. Weird.

It seems as though when I was working my butt off doing the school thing, I was on my computer quite a lot.  Most of my free time was spent up to my eyeballs in multiple papers and looking for distraction, which, as it turns out, often led me here to this blog.
Now that school is over, my free time has been filled with non-computer activities and I occasionally think to myself that I need to really get over here and update.  So much has happened in just the few months I've been away that I want to make sure I document it all.  But then life happens and typing about it doesn't.

My many months of telling myself that I'd have SO much more time once school was done was apparently a very inaccurate assumption.  I've not read nearly as many books in my kindle as I expected I would by now (it's almost October!), and I've not picked up any of my long abandoned hobbies, either.
What has happened with those many evenings that were once devoted to classes, studying, and paper writing?
I have no clue.

J is working up in Boston again.  He has a very sweet job, that seems to fit him quite well, at a great company that he believes in.  This is wonderful for many reasons from "we are no longer wondering how many months we have left on the east coast" to "consulting turned out to be more frustrating than rewarding" to "it's really nice to see the person you love the most feeling happy and confident in their professional life and direction again."  There's so many more positives to it, really the only negative is the commute.  The drive is terrible.  It's hours of traffic each way, depending on what is going on it can be a sweet 50 minutes (that happened once, on a holiday), but it's much more likely to take 1 1/2 to 3 hours.  This means leaving super early and getting home tired, road-weary, and pretty late considering how early he has to get up.  He's been taking the train in which makes things much easier and predictable as far as commute time, but it's still rough, so we've decided to move a little closer to Boston.  J got a relocation package as part of his offer and we have until next summer to use it, so we plan to.

We're looking at some great, quiet towns south of Boston and though we'll miss having friends nearby and amazing restaurants just minutes away, a big yard on a peaceful street sounds too good to ignore.  We're growing our family now and the idea of being farther from the city and closer to the quiet is more appealing by the day.

We have a lot on our plate right now.  We each own a house here, I have a tenant in mine now who is also a close friend, and his (where we live) is spacious, beautiful and cozy.  Both homes have incredibly low mortgages, too.  With a little one on the way next spring we're looking at daycare near my office, which is in the total opposite direction of where we're looking to eventually move.  It's a bit to work out.  Everything considered, we're thinking it will likely be summer before we're seriously house hunting.

Life is happening.  Hopefully the blog can keep up with it all.

An Irresponsible Blogger

I am no good at this thing.
I think its been a month?  maybe a little more?

So... this summer has been fun.  Like any summer of recent memory there just hasn't seemed to be enough time to do most of the things I'd planned. Que sera, I guess.
Highlights of the summer:
Very fun weekend away for J's birthday at Block Island.  We visited our favorite beach, biked up (then climbed down) to the Bluffs, dined with fancy drinks at the Spring House, overlooking the ocean.  It was dreamy fun.
Garden success.  J built an awesome raised bed for the garden.  I added tons of big pots.  We planted like mad. We currently have some of the most amazing tomato vines I have ever seen.  They are taking over the yard and I love it!

J's parents are visiting for most of August and he's also in what appears to be heightened discussions with a company in Boston he really likes regarding a position that sounds pretty great.
We leave for a week in Florida next week.  We're flying into Ft Lauderdale, driving to the Keys for a few days, visiting Miami, checking out the Everglades, playing in Orlando for a few days and then heading home.

And then it will be September.  Fall. Almost Halloween.  The beginning of the holiday season. Snow.
No more beach time and bike rides, but winter hibernation with J and the pups doesn't sound too bad.  It's a fair trade.

Wine and Family

First of all, you know your weekend is heading in a good direction when you step out of the shower Friday morning and find this peeking at you from between the shower curtain and tub:

Lucy playing peek-a-boo behind the shower curtain. 
She gets a get out of jail free card for the paw prints on the tile and the fur on the curtain solely because she was being so adorable

Friday night was a birthday party for Jen.  J and I made ice cream cookie sandwiches out of a batch of vanilla ice cream and some chocolate snickerdoodles he made Friday afternoon (we rolled them in mini chocolate chunks after assembling, for good measure). 

Chocolate peanut butter birthday cake, ice cream sandwiches and a potent, but delicious, punch are most likely the culprits that made my jeans difficult to zip up this morning.  We had lots of fun and partook of a late night game of 80s trivia before having to bow out to get home to the pups (who, as we suspected, couldn't have cared less that we were home after waking from their nap spots).

Saturday J and I loaded Lucy in the back of the CRV and dropped her off for grooming.  We made a run over to East Ave for a quick brunch, got in touch with my mum and dad, who were on their way up for a visit, and managed to get back to the groomer just in time to pick up a squeaky clean miss Lucyfur.

Mom and dad showed up not long after we got back to the house.  After a quick tour of the garden and a little time talking and hanging on the back porch, we headed out.  J and I had planned a fun visit for them, starting with a trip to a vineyard not too far up the road from us.  The grounds were lovely and the family that owns the place was very sweet.  We did a tasting, bought a case to split between us, and oogled the scenery.

This is, unfortunately, a case of bad iphone photography.  The tree below was the most enormous purple tree I've ever seen.  The photo does it no justice at all, but please imagine it as the majestic giant it is
.

J and I were so smitten by the place that we discussed possibly making it the location of a fun event we are planning.  It's certainly in the running.

Once we left the winery we stopped at two lovely plant nurseries.  My mom has one of the greenest thumbs I've ever met and J and my dad hung out and talked while my mom and I ran around gathering up dahlias and veggie plants while discussing locations in the yard that would fit another rose bush or maybe even a small fruit tree.

One last stop for dinner at the best Chinese restaurant in reasonable driving distance (I'm ridiculously picky when it comes to Chinese food and this place rocks like nobody's business).  We had a great early dad's day dinner; my dad actually really liked it, which was amazing because he's way more picky than me.  We talked about the plan J and I have set in motion, the pros and cons, the exciting possibilities and the realistic ones, too.

We got home to happy dogs who were thrilled to visit with my parents for a little while before they headed home.

Saturday night was a nice, quiet night at home. 

(I love those the most)

Sunday we slept in and then rode our bikes to East Providence, stopped at Garden Grille for brunch, then turned around and headed for Slater park in Pawtucket. We picked up the bike trail, rode it to the end and then turned around and headed home.  Full bellies and exhausted bodies, we collapsed in the living room and watched The Dark Knight Rises until we decided to call it a night.

The rivers are still running high and flowing swiftly. 
We stopped to marvel at the sight a few times along the ride.

This was a really awesome weekend.  Much thanks for the amazing friends and family (furry ones absolutely included) who make life sweet.  I couldn't, and wouldn't, ask for more.

Perfect Ride

We discovered that if we hop on our bikes, roll down the driveway, ride up the street, through a cemetery and through a parking lot for a baseball field, we can pick up the new Slater park bike path extension.  We take that path into Slater and pick up the second half of the path, hit the end, then turn around and do it all in reverse. It's just under 10 miles, it's a ton of fun, and we'd do it every day if it would just stop raining already!!!

58.4 miles so far this month, but it should be more.  I'm a weather wuss when it comes to riding.  I do not want to be soggy and dodging lightning bolts throughout the trip, so we're slaves to the sky this week.

The rain has been relentless (with the exception of a several hour break last night), so it has resulted in fascinating scenery for the water geek in me.

I'm enthralled by bodies of water, waterways, swampy marshes, tidal pools, ...anything of the sort.  The Ten Mile River is high and flowing strong right now.  The entire length of the path follows the river so as we ride I get to marvel at the high water levels, the spill pools and the swampy muck all around us.  It's awesome! 

Now that I've gotten in the habit of using my fun Road Bike app, we'll be comparing our ride time and the distance for the Slater ride, the Blackstone Valley ride, the brunch ride (to Garden Grille or Rasoi, around Swan Point and then back), the East Bay ride, and the South County ride.  A little competition against ourselves will be fun and hopefully it will keep all J's kitchen creations from popping up on inconvenient parts of my body. (Why do cookies never go to the boobs, it's always straight to the belly or butt?)

I'm excited for our next two wheeled adventure, but it's not going to happen until the weekend.  Rain today and tomorrow. 

Yay.

Rain.

CreeperPup

Have you ever been cozy in bed, just about to fall asleep, when suddenly you feel eyes on you? 

Someone is watching you.

In our house it's usually Ollie.

He loves to try to work us with the sad eyes, hoping for an invite to jump up and snuggle down for the night.

Unfortunately for Ollie, we have three comfy dog beds in the bedroom, so no pup is allowed to sleep on the bed overnight.

He got some head pets and a smooch on the nose and was escorted back to his sleep spot.

Goodnight, sweet bear.

More Dogs, Gardens, Thrones, and Bikes

The weekend was pretty sweet.

Friday night J and I hit the Wickenden for a beer and then hopped across the street for Ethiopian.  Date night fun times.

Saturday morning we played with pups.

Ollie chillin on a dog bed. I surprised him and he dropped his bone!

Looking at Necco with the "back off, this is my time for luvins" look in his eyes as J snorgles him and rubs his belly.

Lucy time. Her face kills me. So cute!

Then we spent some time in the garden before heading out for a late day bike ride.    



Beets and carrots are starting to look good! The kale and beans are thriving and everyone in the planters behind the raised bed is looking happy and healthy!  Yay garden! (so far)

After the bike ride we met up with a friend at The Grange for an evening vegan donut and iced coffee, a visit with friends on the west side and then back home to finish out the night on a quiet note, with the pups and a movie.

Sunday, we slept in and then hit the road for another bike ride.  We came home and did some cleaning up for company.  The Game of Thrones finale double-header was awesome.  We're discussing showing it in two or three episode blocks next year, possibly.  One hour just never seems like a long enough dose of dragons and deceit.

New Favorite

Watching Jason rock out/freak out to old Black Sabbath while sitting in the (almost) dark might be one of my new favorite things to do.
Trivia included.

Throne of Cookies

Sunday night we held a "special" Game of Thrones night.  We called it Throne of Cookies, and it ruled.

Everyone brought cookies (each car group, at least), so we had TONS of cookies.  There was also wine, fruit salad and vegan ice cream.

We had spicy mexican chocolate cookies, chocolate chips, chocolate oatmeal, chai snickerdoodle, gingerbread with lime glaze, and homemade graham cracker vegan smores.

I, unfortunately, forgot to get a photo until after our guests had feasted (the first round).

We devoured our treats and quaffed our wine while watching the newest episode.



What was left of Throne of Cookies after the first helping.



The wine was drained by the end of the night. We polished off a Cabernet, an Rkatsiteli, a sweet red, and a fruity pomegranite.

It was decided that we'd save the last two episodes for a double header, with a southron-themed pot-luck which has evolved into a Mexican feast by the sound of things.  It sounds like schedule issues may push it off another week, which means most of us will have seen both episodes already, but it'll still be a blast. GoT night is always much fun. 

Insect Bigotry

I've just had a realization.  I am perpetuating bug stereotypes.  How utterly crappy of me.

Saturday was a lovely day, sandwiched nicely between two other lovely weekend days.  We scurried over to the awesome garden shop to buy lots of soil and a few more veggies and flowers for the yard and garden.  Then we hopped on our bikes and headed over to Rasoi for brunch and a walk to the Hope Street farmer's market/craft fair.  After visiting with friends and wandering around for a little while we were back on the bikes and headed home.

I was in the garden planting butternut squash and trimming dahlias by 4 while J took the mower out for a tour of the neighborhood (he does half the neighbors' yards for them).  I was fussing with our giant planter of peas, nestled in the corner of the back fence when I noticed very fine sawdust falling just in front of me.  I looked up to see more of it coming out from a 1/2" hole in the underside of a cross plank in the fence.  I knew it was not a good sign, as there was obviously some sort of insect boring it's way through the wood, yet I couldn't help a small giggle at the way the saw dust was being kicked out of the hole in frantic plumes.  Then it stopped and I went about my work after making a mental note to let J know about our possible pest problem. 
I was 12 feet away, tending to some garden marigolds when I heard buzzing.  I followed it back to the hole in the fence.  There was no sawdust coming out, but the buzzing was coming from a little deeper inside the piece of wood.  I was both impressed and concerned as I'm pretty sure that one wood boring insect is usually the tip that you have many wood boring insects to contend with.  Moments later, the sawdust was poofing out of the hole again.  I peeked around for more holes in the area and found nothing.  I looked, from a distance, at the hole and noticed something rather large and dark looking like it was starting to back out of the hole.  I stepped back a few feet and waited.  Nothing.  The buzzing started again, then more sawdust.  I was pretty impressed by the tiny worker bug.  But I was also starting to think it was likely a wasp, and wasps are evil, awful, terrible bugs.

I went about my gardening until J got back, at which point I took him to the spot where the fence was being drilled and relayed my story of saw dust and buzzing emanating from the depths of the fence.  We both had work to do outside so we decided to keep an eye on it and hopefully catch the culprit in the act.

About a half hour later, I was across the yard when I heard the buzzing again.  I looked over toward the fence and spotted Ollie standing and looking toward the hole in the fence.  I called him to me and glanced over at the fence just in time to see a winged insect crawl inside the hole.

J and I reconvened at the site of the activity and discussed our options.  We didn't really want to spray the thing and kill it.  Closing the hole up with another piece of wood would hardly be effective since whatever was in there was making short work of tunneling through the wood that was already there.  And then even if we did manage to prevent the bug from getting back to this particular place on the fence, we have a whole lot more wood for it to choose from between the fence and the house.

We had managed to convince ourselves based on the size of the hole, the quick glance at the culprit, the sound of buzzing coming from inside the tunnel, and some quick internet sleuthing, that this was indeed a wasp, a horrible, nasty, yucky wasp that would exact its revenge upon us and our poor pups if we disturbed its work unarmed.

J located a can of wasp-specific insecticide, the foamy kind that makes it hard for them to retreat from the hole once you spray it in there.  I moved the planters away from the spray fallout zone and told him to go for it.  J voiced some trepidation at killing the thing, to which I replied with something along the lines of "whatever, it's a wasp, spray it."

He sprayed inside the hole until the foam started to build up around it.  Then he proceeded to spray every other crack or hole in the fence within the vicinity of the sawdust spewing hole.

Later that evening J noticed that something was starting to make its way out of the doomed hideout in the fence.  He positioned a big bucket under it to catch it when it finally fell out.

The next morning I peeked into the bucket to view my fallen foe.
It did not appear to be a wasp.
I felt a slight twinge of discomfort that comes from being wrong -especially about something upon which I pretty much sanctioned the unleashing of chemical warfare.

I got to work and googled a bit(I think I've learned more from Google than I have from my many years of schooling) and determined that it was, without a doubt, a carpenter bee.  A crafty little furry bugger who is more or less the elephant of the insect world.  The ladies tend to hang together in the nests burrowed into whatever wooden structure they choose.
I killed a big furry elephant bee.
I suck.

Hopefully this will be a lesson learned and I will have a little more tolerance toward members of the insect kingdom.  Except for mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, chiggers, aphids, roaches, wasps, and other multi-legged pests that aren't bees, lady bugs, or "good" spiders (anything that won't bite me and cause my skin to erode).
Yes, definitely a lesson learned.

Toast

I am highly food suggestable.
From the time I was old enough to operate an oven, right until 2000 when I adopted a vegan diet, I would be compelled to make an egg in a basket (fry an egg into a hole made in a nice thick piece of toast) nearly every time I watched Moonstruck (and I do love that movie).  There have been many other examples of TV/movie inspired impromptu dining, but the most recent came from last night's viewing of the most recent episode of Mad Men.

J and I had just eaten dinner when we cozied up on the sofa and turned on the episode (Mad Men gets a Monday viewing each week due to GoT night on Sundays).  When we got to the part where there was a brainstorm session over margarine and everyone was snacking on toasted white bread bathed in faux butter, my highly food suggestable belly perked up and demanded some.  I can't remember the last time I ate white bread (though it is one of the tastiest empty calorie foods known to man).  I do make every effort to snack smart and not go carb crazy because carbs are glorious, delicious, happiness and I would gorge myself on them if they didn't go right to me arse.  So I told my belly to pipe down and get over it.

I got out of the shower this morning and heard the clanking of kitchen activity downstairs.  Not long after, I was greeted by J who presented me with a bowl of delicous cooked oats with fresh fruit and a tiny bit of brown sugar.  What a sweet surprise and a perfect breakfast.
I got to work 45 minutes later and the belly voices started demanding toasty white bread with melty earth balance once again.  What the bloody heck, belly?  Get a grip.  Normally a breakfast like the one I'd just eaten would have chased away all food thoughts until well after noon.
It was an hour later that I broke down and toasted a piece of rye bread.  The voices are silenced, my angry, demandy belly has been appeased.

I think I'm watching too much television these days.

Rainy Spring Weekends

We got spoiled.
The weather has been bright and sunny, and for the most part even pretty warm, each weekend for quite a while now.  We've been riding our bikes starting up a pretty sweet garden and thoroughly enjoying the weather as much as possible.  Unfortunately, I had two recent weekends in a row where health issues put me out of commission (miserable reaction to antibiotics followed by the toothache from hell) and then I was down in CT for most of the first weekend of May, so there is still quite a bit we want to do as the weather continues to get warmer and more perfect.
Then the rain came.  A whole weekend forcasted for grey cloudy, rainy days.  I think we made the most of it and really, the weekend was one of the best in a while.  Friday night we went up to Boston the see Ghost at the Royale (old Roxy).  We got a great spot and the show was amazing.  They are such a great live act.  We were both very happy we made the trip to see them.  After the show we ran down the street and around the corner to one of my favorite Boston vegan restaurants, My Thai.  Dinner was beyond delicious, the show was awesome, ...not a bad Friday night.

Saturday was rainy, dark and stormy.  We did the weekend super-clean, ridding the house of every trace of dog hair.  I cooked up a tasty brunch of spicy carrot vegan Belgian waffles (with gimme lean and some fakin bakin) while J made powerful and delicious mimosas.

We found a movie, cozied up on the sofa, and both passed out.  We wound up having a fun day of movies at home while the rain blasted against the windows.  I love a good lazy day every now and again, and a good stormy weekend day is the perfect excuse for one.

Sunday started out gloomy with hope of clearing later in the afternoon.  We got started after noon and headed out to Garden Grille for brunch.  After brunch we took a trip up to North Attleboro, first to Lowes and then to a wonderful little plant nursery, to stock up on more supplies to finish up the garden.  We got home and mixed up the soil in the raised bed, then planted everything that will be residing under the bird/squirrel netting..  A few more plants were added to the container garden, and we have just a tiny bit more to do before I shift focus to flowers.  We are now growing two types of basil, three types of tomatoes, green bells, orange bells, jalapenos, thyme, oregano, rosemary, lavender, mint, sage, onions, chives, two types of kale, spinach, lettuce, beets, green, yellow and purple beans, peas, and cucumbers. We also added new dahlias (of course), daisies, and a gorgeous white peony, along with an extensive spattering of marigolds and nasturtium to the yard and garden.  We finished as the sun set, rather proud of our handy work and hopeful that everything grows full and healthy this summer.

He Makes Me Laugh, Too

I woke sometime around 4:30 this morning to J asking me "what time is your dentist appointment tomorrow?" (the scheduled part 2 of the root canal started two weeks ago)

I thought for a second, half asleep and replied "two-thirty"

J: "tooth hurty?" 

me: "yeah, two-thirty"

J: "tooth hurty? you're scheduled for your root canal at tooth hurty?"

me: giggles uncontrollably until fully awake

Today I raced to complete payroll for CA & RI and then to find 40 or so missing China employees who've disappeared off the headcount over the last couple months.  The later is a project that has been making me want to bang my head against a wall for two days.  Today I found all but one of them.  

I had to cram as much as I could into the earlier part of the day because I had to leave around 2 for my tooth hurty root canal appointment.

I fully expected to be home fairly early and put some extra weekday warmth and daylight to use.  Instead, everything took longer than expected.  I then had to pick up a prescription on the way back, and I got home after 6.  

Now my jaw is achy and it won't open very far.  This happened last time, just after RC pt1. And hopefully, much like last time, it'll be fine by tomorrow.  For now I am anxiously awaiting the return of the world's coolest man who has run out to get us a pizza from Nice Slice.  

It was determined that pizza is a proper size for my temporary lockjaw state.  It will fit through the 3/4 inch space currently allowed for food entry.  I'm stoked for some Earth Crisis super vegan veggie pizza awesomeness.  

I will suck on it or blenderize it if I have to, but it is going in my mouth tonight.

Early Mum's Day

I hopped on a train Saturday morning to head down to Connecticut for a bit.  I read a book on my kindle while taking long breaks to stare out the window and take in the beauty of the RI/CT shoreline.  I think this is my new favorite way to travel to visit family. 

My brother picked me up at the New Haven station and took me to my parents' house where we marveled at the awesome cake my mom made for my sister-in-law's baby shower.

How cute is this thing?

(The bear looks exactly like the pilot teddy on the crib sheets and room decor of my nephew-to-be)

After the shower, my mom and I went to dinner and talked about everything from her impending grandmother title to J and me and our plans for the future, complete with guesses as to where we may land and what sort of preparations we'll need to make if we wind up far from home.

My mom and I headed up to northwest CT Sunday morning to visit my grandmother.  She has Alzheimer's and it's progressed quite a bit over the past ten years.  We brought her a pretty and very hardy yellow and orange blossoming plant for Mother's Day to brighten up her room.  We sat and talked with her for a while as best we could until the nurses had to take her away for lunch (the disease has progressed to a point where she now has difficulty eating on her own).

My grandma used to be such a spunky little lady.  It's so hard to see her in her current state and not even know what, if anything, really registers with her.  She seemed to recognize me and she told my mom how beautiful she thought I was (my grandma used to say that sort of thing all the time.  I was her first grand child and we had a special sort of bond).  She would nod and giggle sometimes when I'd ask her if she remembered certain things that were significant memories from our past like going to the beach, big family dinners on Sunday, or Kristy, the German Shepherd she had for most of my early childhood.  It's hard to tell if things sometimes really struck a chord, or if she's just gotten good at faking it.  We went through the same photos over and over and answered the same questions about who was who.  It's really quite heartbreaking to see her like this. 

On the way home my mom and I talked of other things for the most part, not talking too much about the visit other than to agree that I should probably get back up there to see her again soon.

When we got back to my parents' house, my mom opened a bottle of wine and we sat and talked for a little while.  My brother showed up not long after and needed to steal her away for a bit to run an errand, so I took my wine and a small piece of cake and sat out on the back deck in the sunshine as I waited for J's arrival.

My night in shining silver CRV appeared just before my mom and brother returned.  We all gathered in the kitchen and talked for an hour before J and I decided to finally hit the road to get back in time to prep for Game of Thrones night.  We made a stop at Mamoun's, of course, because that is what we do when we are on our way through New Haven, complete with a quick walk around the Chapel/Yale area before heading back.

GoT night involved a smaller group than usual and a couple bottles of wine.  It was a very fun night and a prefect way to cap off my somewhat hectic weekend.

Gingerbread!

Gingerbread rules.

It is one of my most favorite things in the world of food.

J also rules.

He is my number one most favorite person ever.

Last night, after dinner, I visited a sweet sleeping Lucy on her little pillow nook.

I gave her a hug and put my head down next to her for a moment.

An hour and a half later J woke me (still on the floor next to a still sleeping Lucyfur).

He had made a batch of gingerbread muffins and thought I should try one.

It was a fantastically delicious gingerbread muffin.

I woke up this morning to a baggie with two muffins and my name on it.

I ate one already.

(That's a tasty Stumptown cold brew next to it. A perfect combination.)

The sun is shining.

It's warm and toasty.

I'm in a sun dress.

And I have a baggie of tasty gingerbread love.

Puzzels and Sunshine

I'm always leery of proclaiming anything a done deal.

Especially if it is something I'd like to be a done deal.

It feels very warm and spingy again.

The whole weekend was warm and springy.

I hope it continues to stay this way.

Friday night we met up with California friends who were making a quick visit to Westport to see family.

We met up at Garden Grille and later headed to Wildflour to continue the evening.

Lots of fun.

Saturday we had a quick brunch then rode our bikes to and around Slater Park and the bike trail.

Some garden care, lots of pup play, a horror flick and then the day was over in a blink.

Sunday we hosted a brunch for nine.

I made blueberry oatmeal waffles and fakin bakon while working the french press and J made his signature "best vegan pancakes in the world" and homefries, berry compote, and fruit salad while cooking up some vegan sausage patties. (He runs circles around me in the kitchen, quite literally)

Friends brought mimosa makings, tofu scramble and savory biscuits.

Tons of fun visiting and hanging in the sunshine out in the back while the dogs ran around and played.

We had a couple hours to clean up and recuperate just in time for Game of Thrones night to start.

J had popcorn ready for everyone and we had a fridge full of beer (thanks in part to a proactive brunch & GoT attendee).

The weekend was full of fun and pretty much packed with activities.

The weather was perfect.

I hope for many more like it this summer.

The puzzle pieces are swirling around us still. 

J is talking to people about new opportunities.

We could land in California, Texas, Washington, New York, ...or stay right here.

Its exciting and incredibly stressful all at the same time.

There is so much to do if the first piece of the puzzle lands anywhere outside of the MA/RI/CT area.

All we can do right now is talk about it, mentally prepare for everything (and anything), and wait.

Here or there, we have lots planned for the next few months.

Hopefully the weather will stick.

I don't think I could handle warm weather anticipation on top of all these unknowns.

I'd explode.

A Cozy Nook

My sweet little Miss Lucyfur's mission in life is to:

• get eat the most treats and foods possible
• to get the most love of all the pups ever
• to find the coziest spots and sleep in them lots

She's actually very good at doing what she sets out to do.

This is what we discovered after arriving home from a night out.  Necco and Ollie met us at the door with tails wagging, but Lucy was nowhere to be found.  Somewhat concerned, we ventured off to locate her.

And here she was, snoring soundly.

She got herself between the open door and the wall, in a perfect cubby-den, and tipped over my obnoxious (but fun) computer bag so she was perfectly boxed in and, I assume, snuggled with my scent.

She woke up looking drunk on the sleeps and very surprised, but very happy, to see us.

I love this dog.

Haircuts and Sugar Highs

Every year around this time I get the overwhelming feeling that I want to get in the car, on my bike, a train, a plane, (anything mobile,) and just go. Go to a fun place, with beaches and sunshine, a place with adventure and excitement! 
But I can't just up and take off like that (responsibilities, you suck) so I change something. 
I get a new hair cut or color, get a tattoo, ...heck even buying some new clothes helps, just something, anything, that feels different). 
It has got to be caused by that feeling of being on the brink of summertime awesome weather, but just not quite being there yet.  It's exhilarating and frustrating all at the same time.  I cannot wait for another toasty warm day when I do not have to be at work, when I can go for a long bike ride with J.  I even more cannot wait for the days when we can take the bikes to the beach.  It is almost my favorite time of year!  The time I wait for and count down to for 260 flipping days!

But it's not here yet.

And I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin in anticipation.

My bangs are back.  They come and go on pretty predictable cycles.

I miss them, so I cut them back.

I get bored with them, so I grow them out.

I'm a fickle pickle.

I've also purchased a handful of fun summer dresses and tanks, found the coolest bracelet in the history of Etsy, and found some new hair products that are both vegan and loved by my wacky wavy/curly hair.  I just got a sweet bump at work, but it involves a change in my pay frequency (much less frequent), so I need to chill on the money burning while I adjust to a new financial schedule.

Still, it's not enough!

So, I started my day today with a vegan donut and coffee, had a delicious iced soy chai with lunch, and will be visiting the best li'l vegan bakery in town tonight after dinner with some friends.

And tomorrow, ...diabetes :(

Maybe I'll just have an iced tea at Wildflour.  I feel like I've consumed my weight in sweetener already today.  Yuck.

It is *supposed* to be beautiful tomorrow.

If the weather peeps are right, bikes will be out and about tomorrow and gardens will get some major loving while the pups play happily in the yard.

I heart warmth and sunshine like nobody's business.

Separate Ways

If there is one thing I've learned from past experience, it is the following: 

When you are in any sort of relationship that causes you pain, that results in you being treated poorly or unfairly, if the other party is not willing to work to make things better, then it is time to cut them loose.

It is because of this lesson that I did something Tuesday morning that I am already beyond ecstatic about. 

I went to the dentist for an impromptu root canal.  See ya, angry pulp! I will always remember the miserable week we spent together.

Okay, so it was only part one of the procedure and part two sounds pretty much terrifying, but all I really know or care about at this point is that my jaw is not experiencing blinding, searing pain every 15 minutes. 
Wow, toothaches are no joke. 

My pediatric dentist, a monster of a man who used to enjoy snapping his rubber gloves in my face and calling his dental instruments by names (I only remember that one of them was some sort of drill he called his "John Wayne"), told my dear, and at that time young and gullible, mother that my new molars were "weak" and would need to be filled in order to save them.  So each of my back teeth would get a nice shiny filling as soon as it was done growing in.  The guy is long gone now and my only recourse is to deal with it.  The awesome part of dealing with it is that thirtyish years later all those fillings need/ed to be replaced.  The particular tooth that was giving me trouble was a large enough filling that my current (completely competent and non-scammy) dentist advised me last year that just replacing the filling may not be enough for that tooth over time.  Almost exactly a year later I felt the uncomfortable ache that two days later would become the bane of my entire existence for the next 9 days.

I will never again take for granted the feeling of nothing that comes with a happy, healthy mouth.

Pup Photo Booth

I just came across a bunch of photos from the week J was in Texas.  The pups and I held a few photo booth nights to send some "we miss you" pics to J.  A month later they made me giggle as I came across them and remembered the chaos that accompanies trying to get dogs to pose for photos.

Miss Lucy, my heart.

Necco, not so sure about that countdown to flash.

Necco and Ollie, taking instruction.
"and when the light goes off, you make a funny face - like this"

Smoochin on Mr Ollie's big noggin.

Ollie and Necco, trying for the candid shot.

Ollie, a handsome fella.

Pup nose smooch with air-drying hair.

Good Morning, Pups

This is what I woke up to:

Ollie decided to leave his dog bed to come snuggle with miss Lucy. 

It's not looking to be quite as warm as I'd hoped the day would be, but the sun is out and it's not snowing, so I'm thankful for moving forward, ever closer to summer...

It may not be the best day for major gardening, but I expect we'll get at least some of it done, we have fun plans for tonight, and with a wake-up like this the day is already pretty awesome.

Spring Sprung

It is flipping beautiful out today.  I met J for lunch at Wildflour and we sat outside and soaked up the sunny warmth while we talked about all sorts of stuff from future plans and life directions, to past Providence reminiscence with an acquaintance who happened to be walking by.  Best lunch date ever.  This weekend the weather is supposed to continue its over 60 streak and we're planning to celebrate with some gardening and yard work, dinner, drinks, and Evil Dead with friends, a bike ride, GoT night, and maybe a fire pit.  The theme for the weekend being to spend as much time outside as possible.

In other news, after seeing yet another crazy-bad driver behind the wheel of an Escalade, I'm realizing those things make for a good unit of measure.  For example: the grotesque looking oversized puddle I pass at the exit for the 37 connector every day is about the size of four Escalades and looks like it's made of battery acid.  I have the overwhelming desire to shoo the ducks away from the thing out of concern for their safety.

Spring Sicky(s)

My poor J is under the weather today. 
We're shaping up to be a whole family of sickies.  Lucy had a bad belly bug Sunday and was about an hour from a vet appointment when she finally ate some cheerios and matzo Monday night.  I was pretty sure I was coming down with something Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm not bad off, just queasy and super sleepy. I seem to have a less intense human version of what Lucy had. So now it's J's turn, and he got whacked pretty hard. 
I brought him a super smoothie of citrus, berries, greens and ginger today during lunch and now that I'm home I just stuck his cute ass in a hot tub with an herby eucalyptus bath bomb.  Tea is steeping and we're turning in early tonight.
I'm trying to get him on the fast track to healing.  We have a fun weekend ahead and I don't want him to miss out on any of it because of a miserable seasonal cold.

We have a plan to start mapping out our cross country trip tonight.  Fly to Portland, drive the PCH, ... but then we want to get to Zion and few other places before hitting New Orleans, Austin, and an east coast beach tour on the way back home.  Lots to do and not a lot of time to do it.  Maybe we'll break it into two parts, two different trips over the year.  Of course, who knows where we might be living by the time August rolls around.  If we've landed in California or PNW we might have a totally different agenda.  And of course, if that's the case we might not even be taking our August vacation.  The dependable August live-in doggie and house sitters (J's mom and dad) are a huge part of the reason we're planning the trip.  And then, if we move we'll probably rent a place for a while ...that'll be fun with three dogs. I wonder if we'll have the room to host visitors over the summer. Eek. Our fun and easy vacation just gave me a small headache.

Game of Pies

Friday:

Pretty much ruled.

Got home early.

Made two delicious pizzas with J.

Fun night at home.

Ate lots of pizza.

Went to bed waaaaay late.

Saturday:

Beautiful spring-like day.

Slept late (see Friday's last line).

Walked all three pups with J.

Dusted off and tune-up the bikes.

Rode over to Wildflour for smoothies.

Rode over to Swan Point to enjoy the lovely day.

Rode back over to Garden Grille for dinner.

Rode back home.

SO tired!

Fed pups.

Cozied up in bed with kindle movies.

Blew off Saturday night plans.

Had an awesome evening.

Sunday:

My house in Pvd with J, loppers, and saw.

Dismantled overgrown butterfly bush (tree).

Visited with neighbors.

Worked our butts off (especially J, the super saw-er).

Home for Game of Pies night prep.

Super cleaning (me).

Super cooking (J).

Totally ready, just in time.

12 participants for Game of Pies night.

Sheppard's pie.

Pot pie.

Spinach pie.

Strawberry pie.

Peanutbutter chocolate pie.

Berry crumble pie.

All vegan.

All flipping amazing.

All devoured.

Visited with friends.

Watched GoT.

Perfect night.

"When you play the Game of Pies, you eat, or you die." - P.L.

Wandering Mind

I am having one of those days where I just can't really focus on anything long enough to be productive in any meaningful way. My mind is everywhere.

I wish we had a real life Dexter who targeted animal abusers.  Wouldn't that be the coolest?  I would happily sponsor and endorse and aid and abet such a person.

I wonder if there's a good app for cross-country drives, a guide of places to check out or something along those lines. There must be. I need to remember to look into that.

I finally found the magic hair product that lets my wavy/curlyish hair air dry without turning fuzzball. This means I am officially ready for summer!

Ever notice that white Escalades are almost always driven (very poorly) by someone with a wicked bad fake tan and a cell phone glued to their ear? Those things are immensely ugly and oversized.  They seem way too dangerous to be open for ownership by the general (phone-focused) public. 

I don't know if I'm just getting old and ornery but man am I just not feeling social media lately.  (And by lately I mean for the past year or more at increasing levels of severity.)  It's like reading bad fiction or being a fly on a wall at a dysfunctional support group.  My fb feed sets off my internal BS detector constantly. To much pretending and posturing and attention-seeking going on out there. Maybe I'll fall back into the herd one of these days. Anything is possible, right?

Oooooooooooo.  My thoughts started taking a cynical-sounding turn there. 

Eh, I'm a balanced person.  Not too sunny, not too cloudy.

The weekend is shaping up to be extremely busy.  Well, busy, at least.  Tonight is our chance to chill at home with the pups.  Homemade pizzas and family night.  Yay!

Upgrades Rule

Verizon does, indeed, bleed their customers dry on charges, and they harass me like an overzealous stalker when they have something they want to talk to me about (how was your service?, you gonna pay us that bill due 20 minutes ago? etc...).  But my excitement over the ability to upgrade to apple after being on the android experience for years was more than my common sense could overpower.

I've re-verizoned.  This time with a fancy new iphone, which I love (probably to the point of hitting my data limit way too soon if I don't chill on the not-at-home phone play time).

I've been a mac fan for years, lauding the wonders of an apple over pretty much every other type of computer I owned before my mbp.  Yet, for whatever reason, I resisted the switch to the iphone.  In all honesty, I know several people who have destroyed their screens and my dropsy ways have me paranoid.  But I'm taking a risk and facing my fears.  The faster camera shutter speed was the factor that drove my final decision.  Yay! More and better dog photos! All the time!

Little Lucy, sleeping like a champ after a long day of play and walks.

Actually, I'm completely misrepresenting with this photo.  It is the product of an iphone, but J took it. 

His current role of consultant extraordinarre (I sort of made up that title, but it works) leaves me envious of the amount of time he gets to spend with the pups at the house.  They, of course, are psyched.  If he starts working in weekday bike and beach time, I'm quitting my job to appoint myself his personal assisstant of the professional realm.

Sad and Neglected

I was under the misguided impression that finishing school would leave lots of time to keep up with this thing regularly.

HA!

...heading over to work on finishing a bunch of saved blog bits to fill in the last few weeks of my sad and neglected blog.

My new misguided declaration is "once I have my new iphone it'll be easier to upload photos over here, thus resulting in me keeping up with this thing regularly."  I'm expecting a better quality camera will rekindle my love of photographing things of interest, like dogs doing things and ...that's about it lately.  Maybe summer's increased outdoor activity level will help, too... if it ever gets here. 

Someday I'll be better at this.

(you can "HA!" now, too.)