not killing a single bird with any number of stones.

This weekend was not my weekend.
Just a series of not-quite-working-out-like-i'd-hoped things..

With Christmas and weddings and such around the corner, I had lots of things on my to-do list.
Some of which was cleaning.. We've got a big crowd coming for Christmas, and I need to get the guest rooms (aka, the "unfolded laundry storage area" and "the craft hiding room") ready for company. You want to know how far along I got? I will tell you. I started the washing machine.
Project Clean the Rooms = fail.

In addition to being holiday season, Late fall is also Birthday season in my life. In the circle of friends that I grew up with, all the birthdays are in November and December. In addition, my sisters-in-law are also November babies. However, I missed pretty much the entire first half of November due to my hubby being sick and in the hospital (he's OK now). Seriously, if you've never spent much time in the hospital, it's like a chunk of your life just disappears.
Anyway, to put it simply, I am way (WAY) behind on birthdays and also a housewarming gift for one of those friends. So I had 3 crafty glass art pieces I was going to make for each friend as a gift, out of one large salvaged piece of glass. Personal, homemade, and wall fodder. Great plan.

So I started cutting it with my glass cutting blade.
It was slow going, the blade didn't seem to be doing much, and then:

well hello there!

I have so many things to update in here. I have fallen so far behind.
for one, i made bacon butterscotch cookies back in the summer. That's right. bacon and butterscotch.. they were to die for. You have to make them.

for two - we FINALLY got new floors in the house. you'll have to see those too.

then we had our annual Halloween party, which requires showing of photos.

Then Hubby was very sick for a while, and was in the hospital for almost a whole week. He's improving now, and is now back to working his regularly irregular schedule, but that put a big damper on the "getting things done that might be blogworthy" stuff.

For FIVE: I have tried/developed some pretty spectacular recipes as of late, and you should know them.

my baby sister had a parisian themed birthday party in May. it was AWESOME. I made rose flavored marshmallows, among other things. You'll see. You'll love it all.


But i promise to update about all of them because i need to get them out of the way so that i can get started on:
*drumroll please*

How to avoid puppy scams!

I've talked to several people lately that have been interested in getting puppies - I think it's the weather.. now that it's nice and pretty out, we need a fluffy friend to go enjoy it with!

Before you do anything, I would say consider adopting!! There are so many abandoned pets in the world that need good, loving homes, and would be more than willing to enjoy the pretty weather with you! If you or someone you know is considering adopting a puppy or an adult dog, be sure to check out http://www.spca.org/ There are PLENTY to choose from! There are also breed-specific rescue groups all over the place.

That said, there are pros and cons to adoption, and if it's not for you and you want to purchace a purebred puppy, I've got some tips that will help make sure you do it right and protect yourself from getting scammed.

First: Know Your Breed!
Once you've identified what breed of dog you want, get familiar with the AKC Standard for that breed, even if you just want a pet and not a show dog, you need to make sure your dog fits the bill. After all, the standards were developed over many years to create the ideal health/structure and temperament for that breed.. if you buy from someone that doesn't stick to that standard in their dogs, then there's an increased likelihood of illness, injury, or poor temperament.. it could mean LOTS of money out of your pocket.. plus heartache if the issue is really bad.
Another thing is the akc standard goes into breeding practices.. specifically what colors can and can't be bred together.. that's an important one to learn also, because for example, if you breed a harlequin to a harlequin, the result is something like 25% fatality in the puppies.Don't buy puppies from someone that doesn't follow the breeding practices. I could do infinite blog posts on the genetics of why - but it's just a bad idea.

Second: Window shop! Don't assume that because a breeder has a nice website they're worth their weight.. Websites cost money and/or time.. so all a fancy website means is that the breeder has enough of either (or both) to spend on it.. it is totally unrelated to the dogs they produce. In fact, a lot of the best breeders don't have websites at all because they don't need them.. they have people lined up with waiting lists for years to get a pup because they're THAT good.
Keep your eyes open and compare and contrast different breeders. Here's the tools you need to help you do that:

http://www.akc.org/
http://www.offa.org/


Sign up for an account on http://www.akc.org/. It's free, and there's a cool trick you can use to get a little extra information.
Once you've signed in, your main homepage will have a link in the middle that says "manage dogs"
Click on that and it gives you a place to keep track of dogs and their titles and points.
Near the top is a link that says "Add A Dog" which you can click on and you get a pop up window.
If you already own a dog, you can verify your name and date of registration and it will add your dog to your list. However, if you don't own the dog, you can still add it to your list as a "dog of interest" you just need either the registration number or the registered name of the dog. You're welcome to add my dog, Kaptain, to your list of "dogs of interest" just for an example - His name is Legacy's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and he's a Great Dane. If you are adding by registration number that you've received from the breeder - DOUBLE CHECK IT. Your breeder might be telling a lie, you have no way to know that THAT dog is the same one that has that number, all you know is what you're being told. I can tell you my dog's name is Sammy's Big Brown Bear and you have no choice but to believe me. I can also tell you his registration number is RP35206434 and you wouldn't know the difference.. especially if I made it look like it might be a registration number for a great dane. Be full of doubt at this stage.. let's face it - you just don't know.
When you do the search, you'll get the results for all dogs with that name in that breed... and there's only one. If you'll notice, your search results will also show you the registration number, Kaptain's is WS30567003.

However, the first part of the name is the kennel name, and if you only want to enter the kennel name, then your results will include all active registered dogs from that kennel/breeder.
For example, my previous rescue dog, Boston, came from a litter sired by a dog named Watkin's Lordstryders Rangerboy. In this case, "Watkins" was the kennel name. So if I want to do some research on this breeder, I can type in "watkin's" and I get the following results:

"Dog Name AKC Number Sex Birth Date

Watkins Booger Bear WP32584710 M 12/31/1990
Watkins Midnight Rain WP41241808 F 04/26/1992
Watkins Mama Cass WC135419 F 10/16/1970
Watkins Magistick Cleo Rose WC261669 F 11/19/1971
Watkins Princess Sheena WF059570 F 10/25/1981
Watkins' Golden Spook WD593818 M 01/17/1977
Watkins' Blue Duke WE651081 M 04/22/1980
Watkins' Great Black Abbey WF642280 F 09/29/1984
Watkins' Black Sassafras WF642281 F 09/29/1984
Watkins Belle Star WF945462 F 06/23/1985
Watkins' Gray Bert WG253464 M 01/18/1989
Watkins' Baby WR04763107 F 10/20/2001
Watkins Willow A Weewee WS03058110 F 02/26/2003
Watkins Sophy Lady Luck WS09266601 F 06/10/2004
Watkins Blu Titus Maximus WS08075609 M 04/05/2004
Watkins Miss Blueberry Muffin WS12097001 F 01/29/2005
Watkins Lordstryders Rangerboy WS15308004 M 09/15/2005
Watkins Cabella's Gone Fishing WS29360708 F 12/28/2008 "

So this is all the registered dogs from this kennel. I want to know more about them.. and I have several options for doing that. First, I can add them to my "dogs of interest" page. Unfortunately you can only do this one at a time, but I'll use Lordstrders Rangerboy as an example from here on out.. Because I don't care that I'm calling them out for their terrible dogs and breeding practices, because they broke my heart, cost me thousands of dollars, and when I tried to inform them nicely, they ignored me and continue to breed and sell sick dogs.

When I add him to my list, I can click on the tab that says "titles and points" and it will tell me if he's a champion or not.. If so, when you see his name it will have a CH in front of it.. but he's not a champion, he's just a dog, so he has none.

Now if you're not looking for a show dog, and you just want a pet dog, it's still important that the dog comes from champion parents. Becoming a champion is a way to prove a dog is worthy IMPARTIALLY.. everybody loves their own dog. I love my dog, i would love to have more dogs just like him.. but until I can prove that my dog is an ideal example of the breed to someone that doesn't love him as much as I do, why should I contribute to an already overpopulated dog world? there are enough homeless puppies already. we don't need more.. In order to become a champion, a dog has the win at least 3 different shows by 3 different judges.. and some of those shows have to be of a particular size - so not only do we know that he's an ideal example according to other people, but he's an ideal example among a LOT of other dogs, many of whom are also ideal examples themselves, according to several different impartial people.. and not just ANY impartial people, but impartial experts.. To be a judge requires a boatload of experience amounting to several years. As a friend of mine put it, "You want your breeding stock independently evaluated by breed experts to prove their quality."
Also - don't take a breeder's word for it. A woman asked my help in double checking on some breeders earlier today and their website said "We breed for great dispositions and to the AKC standard for Great Danes" and on another line said they were the home of AKC great danes... and not only was the dam of the litter NOT a champion, the sire wasn't even AKC registered!! Which means the puppies aren't registerable either. What a racket!

So the other thing you can do - and probably the best thing you can do, is take that registration number to http://www.offa.org/
this is the end-all and be-all of canine health testing.
this is a 3rd party company that does nothing but review test results and log them and make them public.. good or bad, they still get paid. again, they're impartial, which is a big deal.

in the top left of the website is a place where you can enter in a dogs AKC registration number, and view their results. It not only displays the results of that dog that you entered, but also any family member of that dog that has results tested.. so now you can not only be more certain that the parents of your future puppy are healthy, but also you can see that they come from a family of very healthy dogs. I have a friend that has completed all of his tests and just received his CHIC number - which is a health certification based on all of these tests. I have asked his permission to share that information in this blog post so that people can see what it SHOULD look like.. and I will update when I hear back from him.

Each of these tests costs a couple hundred dollars. Many of them are repeated several times througout their life. some of them are repeated each time a dog is mated. THIS is why purebred dogs cost what they do. If you're being charged anything more than a couple hundred dollars for a purebred dog - you had BETTER be getting this, otherwise, you're lining the breeders pocket.. giving them money for things that did not bother to do for your dog. 
Finally - Don't get sucked in by a crappy guarantee.
Many Many Many genetic conditions are adult-onset. The "one year money back health guarantee" is GARBAGE
Here's why: You buy a puppy. You bring the puppy home. You fall in love with the puppy. Your kids fall in love with a puppy.
At 6 months, your puppy is diagnosed with something that means it will require medication for the rest of his/her life. You call the breeder and give them the news that you want your money back.
But here's what you DIDN'T know.. the "money back guarantee" was actually a return policy. meaning you can return your dog for the price that you paid for it. But your family loves this dog. Your children love this dog. This dog is a part of your life.. not a faulty piece of equipment. So now you have to choose between $2000 or a family member.. Nobody deserves to have to make that decision.
But here's the dirty part of it that you also don't see.. IF you do return the dog, the breeder can turn it around and resell it to some unsuspecting soul (and they do this all the time under the ruse of "rehoming a dog who's owners can't take care of it anymore") and the breeder can also CONTINUE to breed more dogs with this ailment and CONTINUE to sell them to unsuspecting souls who will have to make the same terrible decision with their poor heartbroken families full of children that love their puppies.
Your other option is to keep the dog, and pay out of pocket for the expensive health care for the rest of his/her life. In which case your breeder has just made $2000 off of you and you got hosed.. and the breeder has no repercussions.. and still continues to breed, sell, and profit off of unsuspecting souls.
This is why those health tests are so important. Those health tests are the best guarantee you can ask for. HOWEVER - It's always good to have backup in place, so IN ADDITION TO THE HEALTH TESTS - NOT IN THEIR PLACE - you should also have a guarantee that you're comfortable with and that you know ALL of the details of. It needs to have everything in writing.. all of the "what if?"s should be answered.. and specifically - you need to know what's going to happen if the dog develops some medical condition as an adult that is genetic or chronic and requires expensive procedures or lifetime medications. More importantly - The question that needs to be asked is What happens to the breeding program should a genetic condition pop up?
The best answer you can receive is this - All of the intact animals get tested, and then fixed, and then all of the owners of puppies sold from the affected dogs get notified. This is a terrifying possibility for any breeder.. even those that health test rigorously - so be gentle about it. If this were to happen to a longstanding established breeder, this could bankrupt them, not to mention completely end their lifestyle, and be emotionally devastating. But this is also why good breeders WANT to make sure their dogs are healthy. A sick dog doesn't affects the entire line, not just the one family. If a breeder doesn't want to do the tests to be certain - ask yourself why? chances are, it's probably because they have no sense of accountability if it goes wrong.

I hope this helps! If anyone thinks I should add anything, please feel free to comment.

Maintain the Awesome.

So my list of projects that I wanted to accomplish for Lent is ALMOST complete.
And the rest of the projects on the list are things that I have to wait on.. with the exception of pulling weeds up inthe front yard (ugh)

So here's some of what I've gotten accomplished:
Cleaned the laundry room
Cleaned up the carport
Pulled up tack strips in the master bath
Pulled up tack strips & carpet staples in the guest room
Pulled up tack strips & carpet staples in the living room
Painted the oven
Put the final coat of paint on the kitchen walls
Cleared out the living room closet
Emptied out and reorganized the kitchen cabinets (getting rid of anything we don't use)
Cleared out my shoes that I don't use.
Tackled & defeated the ENORMOUS pile of backed up laundry & developed a system to avoid it's return.
Created a weekly maintenance schedule for the house so that I'm not overwhelmed by it anymore.


The list of things I still need to do include:
Make storage boxes for the guest room - although with all of the stuff I'm getting rid of, I'm running out of a need for them. I will, however, need several for the house in general, so I'm going to make them anyway.

Ok guys, for real this time.

My mother is not a chef. She did not bring culinary masterpieces to the dinner table when I was growing up.. in fact, in my house, Daddy did most of the daily cooking.
What my mom DID do well, however, was follow directions. When it came to creating delicious food, her philosophy seemed to be "leave it to the professionals"

In that mindset she made us countless cakes, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, and all sorts of delicious treats, by following the directions on the back of the box.
After struggling and STRUGGLING with the Green Velvet Cake which is due tomorrow, I finally had to go back to my roots. Do it like my mom would have done it - not by using a boxed mix, but by leaving it to the professionals.

Here's why:
In 1889, McCormick & Company was started in Baltimore, Maryland by 25-year-old Willoughby M. McCormick. First products were root beer, flavoring extracts, and fruit syrups and juices, sold under "Bee Brand" and "Silver Medal" trademarks; "Iron Glue" (Sticks Everything But the Buyer) and "Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment" (For Man Or Beast). Products were sold door-to-door and the motto was "Make the Best - Someone Will Buy It."

Organization Week.

When Shane and I first started dating. I was nearly as type A as they come when it came to the house.. at least when it came to his house. My place was constantly disheveled, but his apartment was SPOTLESS.
When we bought our home together, that stopped.

There's plenty of things I can blame it on, but the gist of it is this: Our schedule got more hectic, and what little cleaning I could do became more and more futile.. the house was older and dustier, and much bigger.. we added two fluffy puppies to the mix (OMG FUR)... we started doing demolition on projects that we couldn't afford to finish.. and we inherited more furniture and stuff than you could ever imagine.

My $15 Stove.

We've done a lot of work to this house since we bought it.. but there's certainly a long way to go. We have a "wish list" a mile long of things that need to be replaced or updated. Each room has it's own list.
For the kitchen, replacing appliances is a major one. Our cabinets have been redone, we replaced the counter tops, we venetian plastered the walls... but those ugly almond appliances still sit, laughing at me every time I want to have a nice kitchen.

Well new appliances aren't cheap.. and we have plenty of other things that are also not cheap that need to be done. So the priority list gets a little blurry.
The other day while I was exploring the hardware store the other day, as I occasionally do.. I found this:

It's a high heat enamel, stable at temperatures up to 1000degrees for recovering grills and things... and also for recovering your stove!

For $15 per can, I HAD to try it.. if it worked, it would be the miracle my kitchen needed. If it didn't turn out so great, it would at least not be almond anymore. what a terrible color!