Last Friday night I got home late. too late to justify feeding the dogs. It was already bed time, If I did it now they would wake up at 2am needing to go outside, and we were both exhausted so we wouldn't hear them. Then we would wake up to disaster. I don't need that in my life. So I decided to feed them early Saturday morning, after we've all been well rested.
Well Saturday morning came along and I went to feed the dogs, and Roxy took her dinner off to her special eating spot, because that's what she does. And then she dropped it and walked away.
That is not normal.
I begged and pleaded with her to eat something, and she would only eat the smallest of bites, and then she was done. This continued for the rest of the weekend.
By sunday night, she had eaten maybe 1 bite of food, lapped up an ounce or so of pumpkin and milk, and we "force fed" her about a cup of chicken broth*. She kept that down for an hour. So we have her another cup and a half.
Bad idea. She barfed it all up.
Her skin was showing signs of dehydration. This could mean obstruction.
Monday she went to the vet. Lab tests, xrays etc.
They couldn't find anything wrong with her. They put her on IV fluids and said "lets wait and watch"
I spend all day worried sick. Monday evening they called me to say she seemed to be improving. She spent the night at the Vet's office on IV fluids.
Monday night I was exhausted still, after having not slept soundly all weekend. So I went to bed at 8:30pm
I woke up at 7am Tuesday to move my car so someone else could get out of the driveway.
Something was wrong.
Why are those things in my seat? They're supposed to be right over there.
Wait. There are other things that are supposed to be there. THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER THINGS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE! MY CAR WAS BROKEN INTO!
Of course, I had kept everything in my car the night before. My purse, My wallet, My cash, MY FAVORITE SHOES, MY PSP LIMITED EDITION SLIM WITH ALL THE GAMES
They took it all.
I got a phone call from the vet. Roxy is doing much better. She even ate something eagerly.
Eventually after dealing with police and calling to cancel all my cards, I was told that mine was one of 7 in the neighborhood that got broken into. Neat.
Eventually I made it to work that day. Then the power went out at work.
So I left work.
Wednesday I got to work early.
It was my 3rd wedding anniversary.
The internet wasn't working. After 5 hours of fighting with a server that wouldn't boot, running repair utilities, which overwrote all of the network settings, resetting all of the things, I finally got the office up and running - I left for lunch.
Thursday I was told of a family member in the hospital.
Now it's Friday.
Today will be a good day. If it kills me.
*Note: I do not support actual force feeding of your dog for many many reasons, when I say I "force fed," I mean we used a syringe to squirt it in her mouth, she did all the swallowing herself.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Ash Wednesday Part B - and valentine's suspence
Usually I don't start Lent until I've gone to the Lenten Service in my town every year, and that's at 7pm on Ash Wednesday. I think it's a good way to kind of open up your mind and let some guidance in, and I usually get some inspiration on what to do for lent while i'm there. This year, as mentioned in my previous post, I'm expecting to struggle until the last minute.
This year I have to go alone, which is especially difficult for me, as I am NOT a "show up by myself" kind of girl.
Especially because I *KINDOF* know these people, which is worse than not knowing them. If they were strangers then I could ignore them and they could ignore me, and I could be there and then leave and there would be no follow up. In, Out, Done. left with my own thoughts, just like I like it.
Also - this service is not at "our" church. it's a town-wide service usually held at a different church with different ways of doing things that i'm just not as familiar with. It's a step out of the box for me, and I find myself struggling to keep up with what's happening sometimes. I don't dislike it, I'm just not used to it and have to pay extra attention.
Anyway - Hubby gets home from work a little after midnight, and i'm supposed to report back to him, and i'm a little overwhelmed by my assignment. Maybe I can find some way of videotaping the whole thing..
Also, Valentine's day is tomorrow. It's Hubby's turn to plan our night, and the only clue I've gotten is that I don't need to dress up. Very mysterious. I can't wait :)
This year I have to go alone, which is especially difficult for me, as I am NOT a "show up by myself" kind of girl.
Especially because I *KINDOF* know these people, which is worse than not knowing them. If they were strangers then I could ignore them and they could ignore me, and I could be there and then leave and there would be no follow up. In, Out, Done. left with my own thoughts, just like I like it.
Also - this service is not at "our" church. it's a town-wide service usually held at a different church with different ways of doing things that i'm just not as familiar with. It's a step out of the box for me, and I find myself struggling to keep up with what's happening sometimes. I don't dislike it, I'm just not used to it and have to pay extra attention.
Anyway - Hubby gets home from work a little after midnight, and i'm supposed to report back to him, and i'm a little overwhelmed by my assignment. Maybe I can find some way of videotaping the whole thing..
Also, Valentine's day is tomorrow. It's Hubby's turn to plan our night, and the only clue I've gotten is that I don't need to dress up. Very mysterious. I can't wait :)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Charleston Anniversary re-hash and Christmas Dinner
**NOTE: My phone turned to crap right before I posted this entry. ALL of my beautiful photos of ALL of the many things i discuss in this entry are GONE with my phone. I'm furious, but please don't let that keep you from reading, hopefully you can just use your imagination, or just cook the food, and you'll know how good it is!**
My dear sweet hubby took me on a weekend trip to the beautiful Charleston SC for our anniversary this year. If you've never been to Charleston, you should go now, because it's one of the most perfect places in the south.
The weather was beautiful and perfect for ruffly sun dresses, which I participated in wholeheartedly.
Charleston is famous for an abundance of ghost stories, including, but not limited to, the saluting ghost of Fort Sumpter, and the Whistling Ghost of Church Street.
We did take a day to go visit Fort Sumpter - which, btw, was not the most exciting thing in the world, but would be good to do if you were in Charleston for an extended period of time and needed a good way to waste an afternoon. - but we did not witness any saluting ghosts.
Afterwards, we meandered the streets of Charleston, which is really the best thing to do in Charleston. We happened across multiple shop varieties, french bakeries, girly boutiques, and most importantly, ghost shops! One in particular had everything ghastly you could imagine, and as many of you know, I'm usually already planning for halloween well before our September anniversary, so we had to stop in. We found lots of great things to look at, but our greatest find was this doormat, which I'm pretty sure was made specifically for my psychologist hubby. Unfortunately, they were sold out except for the display model. So we bought it.
In addition to the ghosts and the shoppes, Charleston also has an open market on Market Street (so cleverly named, don't you think?) So we did quite a bit of meandering there, as well.
But the most important thing we discovered in Charleston, was shrimp and grits.
I was skeptical, but i'd heard rave reviews. I had had some versions of "shrimp and grits" in other places that i was not impressed by, and I had seen some tv personalities put "their own spin on the classic" but I wanted to start with the classic.
So the first night we were there, we found a place and I explained my uncertainties to our server, who assured me that if you're going to try shrimp and grits, you came to the right place.
WOW was she right. You know that first time you ever had a taste of creme brulee? How it just punched you in the face with it's magical flavors? it was THAT good.
This was quite possibly the best thing I'd ever put in my mouth, and I've tasted some delicious things.
First, if you don't like grits, you're wrong. You don't like grits for the following reasons 1) you ate them as a main dish, and they are not. 2) you ate instant grits, which are a lot like eating buckshot.. only with less flavor. 3) your "chef" prepared them with water. so you take a flavorless pile of sand and add even less flavor to it and you get a perfectly unappetizing pile of gelatinous bleh.
Stop that.
Second, if you don't like shrimp, then I can't help you, you're clearly a crazy person, and my expertise can only go so far.
Third, if you're skeptical of this recipe i'm about to give you, well join the club, and try it anyway.
Here's the deal: That dish was absolutely PERFECT. Start with HUGE perfectly cooked shrimp, add sliced andouille and fresh portabella sauteed and then dredge it all in a made-from-scratch brown gravy. Then pour that over a pillow of creamy and decadent grits. Then die because you have reached enlightenment.
It's that good.
But it's also insanely simple! So I came home and started trying out the recipe. Thanks to Harris Teeter's occasional "Buy 2 Get 3 Free" sale on EZ Peel shrimp, I had plenty to test with. But I nailed it right from the start. That's right IIIIIIIIIIIII, of all people, got something basically right on the first try.
Cook the NOT INSTANT grits low and slow, and I recommend using milk instead of water, or at least half milk half water. Also put in lots of REAL butter, salt and pepper. If you use all milk, be sure to stir it fairly often to keep the milk from scalding on the bottom. Also, use a WAY bigger pot than you think you should, this stuff expands and you need stirring room. Some people like to add cheese too, but I don't think it needs it, and the original that I ate didn't have cheese, so I didn't. I bet some parmesan would be good though, if you really want to try.
I broiled the shrimp, because a few months prior I learned to broil shrimp from this pin I found on Pinterest, and decided that there's no reason to cook shrimp any other way. Although that recipe calls for seasoning and broiling in the shell, I shelled them first and broiled them plain. The process otherwise is the same, though. Lay the shrimp out in a pan, broil for 3ish minutes, then stir and spread out again, repeat until the shrimp is pink on all sides. Easy!
Then slice some Andouille sausace into little medallions (I used about 12 ounces, but use more or less depending on how much you like it) and sautee. you might want to add in half a diced onion here, I did and it was tasty.
Once the sausage is heated through, add in the sliced mushrooms. I used button mushrooms because that's what I had on hand.
Last, but certainly not least, add prepared brown gravy to the sausage and mushrooms, then add the shrimp, give it a quick stir, then serve a pile of grits and the shrimpygravy on top! Hubby likes to mix his all up, but I like to keep it layered as served.
We liked this so much, we made another HUGE batch for our family for Christmas. We had over 20 people at our house the day after Christmas, and while normally I would love to make a very intricate menu, I was in the middle of a major proposal at work, and just did not have the brainspace.
So when I started trying to figure out something that I could make with little to no fuss in a few large pots and have everybody serve themselves, and eat off of disposable places so I didn't have to to dishes, this was the perfect option! I had a huge roasting pan filled with 10 lbs of shrimp, which the broil and stir method worked perfectly for, and then a stock pot full of grits and a stockpot for gravy (unfortunately it wasn't big enough for all the shrimp, so we had a 3rd stockpot to keep them in when they were done broiling)
I hightly recommend giving this a try, It is SUPER filling though, so judge your shrimp purchace accordingly. We estimated 1/2lb of shrimp per person and went from there because I was concerned about not having enough for everyone, but it was WAY too much. Aim for more like 1/4lb of shrimp per person, and half the standard "serving size" of grits, and you'll probably be in good shape.
Enjoy!
My dear sweet hubby took me on a weekend trip to the beautiful Charleston SC for our anniversary this year. If you've never been to Charleston, you should go now, because it's one of the most perfect places in the south.
The weather was beautiful and perfect for ruffly sun dresses, which I participated in wholeheartedly.
Charleston is famous for an abundance of ghost stories, including, but not limited to, the saluting ghost of Fort Sumpter, and the Whistling Ghost of Church Street.
We did take a day to go visit Fort Sumpter - which, btw, was not the most exciting thing in the world, but would be good to do if you were in Charleston for an extended period of time and needed a good way to waste an afternoon. - but we did not witness any saluting ghosts.
Afterwards, we meandered the streets of Charleston, which is really the best thing to do in Charleston. We happened across multiple shop varieties, french bakeries, girly boutiques, and most importantly, ghost shops! One in particular had everything ghastly you could imagine, and as many of you know, I'm usually already planning for halloween well before our September anniversary, so we had to stop in. We found lots of great things to look at, but our greatest find was this doormat, which I'm pretty sure was made specifically for my psychologist hubby. Unfortunately, they were sold out except for the display model. So we bought it.
In addition to the ghosts and the shoppes, Charleston also has an open market on Market Street (so cleverly named, don't you think?) So we did quite a bit of meandering there, as well.
But the most important thing we discovered in Charleston, was shrimp and grits.
I was skeptical, but i'd heard rave reviews. I had had some versions of "shrimp and grits" in other places that i was not impressed by, and I had seen some tv personalities put "their own spin on the classic" but I wanted to start with the classic.
So the first night we were there, we found a place and I explained my uncertainties to our server, who assured me that if you're going to try shrimp and grits, you came to the right place.
WOW was she right. You know that first time you ever had a taste of creme brulee? How it just punched you in the face with it's magical flavors? it was THAT good.
This was quite possibly the best thing I'd ever put in my mouth, and I've tasted some delicious things.
First, if you don't like grits, you're wrong. You don't like grits for the following reasons 1) you ate them as a main dish, and they are not. 2) you ate instant grits, which are a lot like eating buckshot.. only with less flavor. 3) your "chef" prepared them with water. so you take a flavorless pile of sand and add even less flavor to it and you get a perfectly unappetizing pile of gelatinous bleh.
Stop that.
Second, if you don't like shrimp, then I can't help you, you're clearly a crazy person, and my expertise can only go so far.
Third, if you're skeptical of this recipe i'm about to give you, well join the club, and try it anyway.
Here's the deal: That dish was absolutely PERFECT. Start with HUGE perfectly cooked shrimp, add sliced andouille and fresh portabella sauteed and then dredge it all in a made-from-scratch brown gravy. Then pour that over a pillow of creamy and decadent grits. Then die because you have reached enlightenment.
It's that good.
But it's also insanely simple! So I came home and started trying out the recipe. Thanks to Harris Teeter's occasional "Buy 2 Get 3 Free" sale on EZ Peel shrimp, I had plenty to test with. But I nailed it right from the start. That's right IIIIIIIIIIIII, of all people, got something basically right on the first try.
Cook the NOT INSTANT grits low and slow, and I recommend using milk instead of water, or at least half milk half water. Also put in lots of REAL butter, salt and pepper. If you use all milk, be sure to stir it fairly often to keep the milk from scalding on the bottom. Also, use a WAY bigger pot than you think you should, this stuff expands and you need stirring room. Some people like to add cheese too, but I don't think it needs it, and the original that I ate didn't have cheese, so I didn't. I bet some parmesan would be good though, if you really want to try.
I broiled the shrimp, because a few months prior I learned to broil shrimp from this pin I found on Pinterest, and decided that there's no reason to cook shrimp any other way. Although that recipe calls for seasoning and broiling in the shell, I shelled them first and broiled them plain. The process otherwise is the same, though. Lay the shrimp out in a pan, broil for 3ish minutes, then stir and spread out again, repeat until the shrimp is pink on all sides. Easy!
Then slice some Andouille sausace into little medallions (I used about 12 ounces, but use more or less depending on how much you like it) and sautee. you might want to add in half a diced onion here, I did and it was tasty.
Once the sausage is heated through, add in the sliced mushrooms. I used button mushrooms because that's what I had on hand.
Last, but certainly not least, add prepared brown gravy to the sausage and mushrooms, then add the shrimp, give it a quick stir, then serve a pile of grits and the shrimpygravy on top! Hubby likes to mix his all up, but I like to keep it layered as served.
We liked this so much, we made another HUGE batch for our family for Christmas. We had over 20 people at our house the day after Christmas, and while normally I would love to make a very intricate menu, I was in the middle of a major proposal at work, and just did not have the brainspace.
So when I started trying to figure out something that I could make with little to no fuss in a few large pots and have everybody serve themselves, and eat off of disposable places so I didn't have to to dishes, this was the perfect option! I had a huge roasting pan filled with 10 lbs of shrimp, which the broil and stir method worked perfectly for, and then a stock pot full of grits and a stockpot for gravy (unfortunately it wasn't big enough for all the shrimp, so we had a 3rd stockpot to keep them in when they were done broiling)
I hightly recommend giving this a try, It is SUPER filling though, so judge your shrimp purchace accordingly. We estimated 1/2lb of shrimp per person and went from there because I was concerned about not having enough for everyone, but it was WAY too much. Aim for more like 1/4lb of shrimp per person, and half the standard "serving size" of grits, and you'll probably be in good shape.
Enjoy!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Nailed it Pecans.
I wholeheartedly and fundamentally support pecan trees.
1) they're pretty
2) they give me delicious things to eat.
I do not own a pecan tree, and I have never owned a pecan tree, but I like to do my part to encourage the proliferation of pecan trees, and therefore, i choose to fund the pecan industry heavily.. so that they will expand their pecany horizons. and bring me more snacks.
Just kidding, I only care about the snacks. I'm not opposed to trees or anything, I just don't think about them when I've got a serious case of the noms.
Monday, December 10, 2012
As good as cookies get without chocolate.
So I mentioned back in a previous post that I had a whole bunch of butterscotch chips. I had gotten them on sale, and it was one of those things that you just buy because you'll never get that price again even if you don't really know what you're going to do with them.
but i really wanted to pair them with something salty, and bacon was on sale too, so i decided i would try bacon butterscotch cookies.
I started with the basic Tollhouse butterscotch chip cookie recipe. and added bacon (already cooked, of course).
the result was pretty phenomenal. This picture does not do it justice. But trust me. Put bacon in it.
but i really wanted to pair them with something salty, and bacon was on sale too, so i decided i would try bacon butterscotch cookies.
I started with the basic Tollhouse butterscotch chip cookie recipe. and added bacon (already cooked, of course).
the result was pretty phenomenal. This picture does not do it justice. But trust me. Put bacon in it.
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:
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.
It was slow going, the blade didn't seem to be doing much, and then:
Thursday, November 29, 2012
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*
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*
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