Last day being 50

I get to enjoy 50 for one more day, and then I turn 51, tomorrow.  To celebrate I am having lunch with Suzie at Biagi's, and then going to Fresh Market to buy one of their DELICIOUS but expensive filet mignon steaks which I will have them cut in half because they are VERY thick, and then I'll have two steaks to grill for dinner.  We'll have it with some delicious side (or two) I plan to find at Fresh Market (so that I don't have to cook on my birthday) plus the leftover cold bean, corn, tomato, onion, and pineapple salad leftover from last night.  We'll eat late, after Bob gets home from dog training.


Speaking of last night, dinner ROCKED!  I finally figured out how to grill pork chops without over or undercooking them.  They are about 1/2 inch thick, so I grilled them on medium heat, 5 minutes on each side, and VOILA!  They were marinated in ginger, lemon grass, brown sugar, and soy sauce and were way yummy!  Had them with the aforementioned cold salad, and some baked apples which were WAY better than applesauce. I should have taken a picture, the plate was lovely.


So I have now blogged three times in the last week and no one has commented. Does this mean my previous lack of blogging lost me my 3 readers and so they don't know I've blogged yet?  Possibly.  But I do wonder, if a blogger blogs in cyberspace and no one reads it, does it make a sound?

Finally, a smile!

Penelope and her daddy, Jason.

I have not been blogging

Good grief.  June 27?  Really? It's been that long? How is it possible?  Sure, Daisy has been here twice since then, but only for long weekends, so I really have no excuse other than general laziness. Oh, and heat stroke.  It's been ridiculously hot this summer and I think it melted my brains and some of them (the blogging part) may have fallen out through my ears and plopped onto the sidewalk and then cooked like fried eggs.


I've been busy too, that's true. Between NCC and PT (the dog biz) we are kept hopping and this Sunday will mark the fourth Sunday in a row I've "reflected." Probably all that writing I've been doing for/about Jesus takes away from my urge to blog. Bob will take the next two so that I can relax during and after my birthday week, so that'll be nice. I probably won't blog then either.


Meanwhile, because of my busy lazy heat stroke, here is what you've been missing:

I apologize, and will try to do better. Or not.  Happy weekend!

I have been blogging

But on another blog while Daisy was here.


Day By Daisy


Daisy went home on Saturday afternoon - we dropped her off on our way out of town for Suzie and Danielle's ceremony in FC.  We were somewhat sad to see her go, and somewhat relieved.  She was a handful! But such a sweetie.


The very next day (Sunday) Kayla woke up coughing and gacking more than usual. She wouldn't eat, which has NEVER happened, and she was bringing up something brown. Bob and I took her to the ER Vet, where Bob left us so he could go do his Jesus work. I stayed with her where it was determined she may have aspiration pneumonia due to her lar-par surgery two years ago.  She was most susceptible to it soon after surgery, so we let our guards down two years later.  But now she may have it.  Will confirm with a trip to our vet  later this morning.

They gave her a shot for pain from all the coughing, and a shot of antibiotic, and Kayla was more comfortable the rest of the day.  And best of all she ate and drank. She's still not herself and kind of out of it, but hopefully our vet can make this better.


Will keep you posted.

Cheek Wars becomes "shade" wars

Baby P is ready to hit the beach!


Meanwhile, Daisy is exhausting us -- or more to the point, sweet Kayla is exhausting us with her jealousy of Daisy (who also has some cute cheeks).

Daisy is not blurry. I am. And no that is not an electrical chord we let her play with - it's a fabulous tug toy that she loves to play with.


Off to a wedding rehearsal soon -- our third civil union of the new era in Illinois. Krystal and Tina will get hitched tomorrow is a more traditional ceremony. They already got married several years ago, like most of the rest of the folks we are civilizing, but they went off alone to wed on a beach in the Keys. So this one will have the fam and friends.  Fun weekend!

Day by Daisy

It's only 1pm and it's already been a full day for Miss Daisy (and us - I predict an early bedtime tonight).  She slept well last night and didn't cry very much at all, then this morning she was up early, went outside, had breakfast, a long walk, some training with Bob, and a little down time with me when Bob took our Kayla to the vet.

Then it was off to PetCo to get her a no-pull harness and work on her socialization skills.  She met lots of people there (who all thought she was adorable, of course), and a big dog. She did VERY well with everyone, and the trip was so successful we'll be taking her back again for sure! (When one woman asked about her and we said she was not ours, but a training client, she was so impressed with how well behaved Daisy was she asked for Bob's card. So um yeah, we may be going back every day!)

Getting out of the car.

Heading into the store.

Daisy pays attention to Bob very well even with all the

Kongs and other goodies all around her.

Daisy sits when asked by Bob, even with all the store distractions.

Then Daisy does a perfect "down" in front of a mother/daughter.

Everyone wanted to meet her and she was very polite with little jumping.

On the way out, Daisy met a larger adult dog. She was very calm and good.

Daisy Daisy .... I'm half crazy ...

Or maybe full-on crazy.  You decide after reading the blog.  Meet Daisy:

This picture was taken May 21, so she's almost three weeks older now. 

Daisy is a client of Bob's.  He is teaching her, and her family, Good Manners.  He goes there once a week for five weeks.  He has been there three times already, with two more to go.  But before the last two sessions she is coming to live at our house. For two weeks. Starting tonight.  Her family is going on vacation. Her "mom" called and asked if Daisy could stay with us for the two weeks so Bob could do some "hard core training" (her words) with Daisy while they were away. We had never done anything like this before (it's called "board and train") and we may never do it again, but we decided to give it a try because it's great experience for Bob, good money, and, well, she's a yellow lab puppy so of course I said yes.


We took a week to make our decision to take in Daisy, mostly taking Kayla and her physical challenges into consideration, and only said yes after much discussion about how we would a) make Kayla feel as loved as ever; b) keep Daisy from overwhelming Kayla with her puppyness; c) keep Daisy from knocking Kayla or (PDub) down the stairs; e) make sure Kayla really feels loved even more. Kayla does not know about this yet, but she will find out about it at about 9pm or so this evening.  I hope she's just mildly annoyed while at the same time curious, and doesn't hate us forever.


The good thing about our house is the thing I hate about our house - it's a bi-level. So if there are issues with the puppy being too gregarious with Kayla, then Daisy can stay upstairs with Bob and Kayla can chill with me downstairs where the big TV is.  We have a crate upstairs and downstairs for Miss Daisy, as well as puppy "playpens" for her. Bob says it's all about management.  And while I am kind of excited about having a puppy for a couple of weeks, I'm also a bit nervous.  


So, dear readers, if/when I blog the next couple of weeks, I promise some cute puppy pictures, and, hopefully, a sweet portrait of Good Ole Kayla with Miss Daisy.


P.S. My Kindle arrived! Having fun figuring it out, downloaded a few free books (Jane Austens) and am starting to really love it!