Major Catch-up! (Volunteering!)

I haven't been able to do much in the way of volunteering over the past 6 weeks or so...it has been a comedy of errors really!  Starting with tripping over Rosie and doing some pretty serious damage to my knee!  The knee still hurts and I cannot kneel on it at all, but I did go for an x-ray and everything appears "normal".  I did spend 4 days at the fair in the booth, but I know I mentioned all of that earlier...in the past few weeks, I have only been to the shelter once while my Mother was here) and I did go to an off-site event, Bark for Life out off of Highway 195 last weekend.

At the shelter, I met some new awesome pups looking for homes, and got to spend some time with ones I have known for a while now.  Raspberry is one of my favorites, she is such a sweet and smart girl!  Raspberry was adopted the day this photo was taken, but sadly, she was returned this past Saturday because she was guarding the family's older dog (or somehow was not meshing well with the family).  So, she is again looking for her forever home!  I really wish I could bring her home with me!

This handsome boy is Riley!  He was scared by the camera noise on my phone, but was kind enough to sit still for me to take 2 or 3 photos of him before he was too scared to take any more.  I love his spots too!  He is obviously a Dalmatian...  He'll do awesome in a quiet home I think.

Caterina is another lady I met on my trip to the shelter!  I'm not sure on her breed, but to me she looks like a very long-haired version of a German Shepard.  This gal is packing around a wide load too!  Her coat is so fluffy that I honestly don't know if it was just her fur or if she really is that wide in the back!  Another sweet gal though.

At Bark for Life this past weekend, we had a pit bull puppy with us, but he had to stay crated because he had not had all of his shots yet.  One of the younger volunteers (he'll be 18 the end of the year) climbed in with Mako to keep him company!  It was a very windy day and Mako happily curled up in a blanket in his lap for a cuddle and a nap!  Mako is 4 months old and available for adoption (assuming he didn't get adopted over the weekend)!

We had lots of volunteers at Bark for Life, 9 of us showed up! So, 2 of the volunteers went and picked up a couple more dogs, one of which was Stylz!  Stylz is a pit/bull dog mix and 100% cool dog!  He was so happy to be outside with us!  Who could resist that grin?!?  He does have an attitude, but it is part of what makes him so lovable!  He knows me because I have taken him on walks before...if I try to walk past his kennel, even if I've taken hoim out that day, I get this look from him like I've hurt his feelings somehow!  He's another dog that I would love to just bring home to stay!  Stylz has been at the shelter since June, adopted out twice and returned twice...he does have a skin condition and needs to be on meds for the rest of his life for it, that is why the top of his nose is so red...and as I mentioned, he does have a bit of a 'tude.  That being said though, I think he'd be perfect in a house where his "person" was home with him...he doesn't like to be left alone!  I don't either...so I can't blame him!

When we were packing up the dogs and all the "stuff" at the end of Bark for Life, we had extra dogs that needed rides back to the shelter.  Other volunteers took Stylz, Tovan, and Mako in their vehicles.  When it was down to loading a hound/black lab mix into the truck, Hank refused to go anywhere near the driver!  So, since I live close to the shelter anyway, I volunteered to drive Hank back.  Hank is an 11 month old, very pretty boy!  When we got to the car (the other half's SUV), he got his front legs in and then sort of stopped...Hank finally climbed all the way into the back seat and as soon as I shut the door, he melted into the seat, resting his head on the center console (between the back seats) and promptly fell asleep!  Hank slept all the way back to the shelter too!  What an awesome car dog!  I had a dog when I was 17/18 that used to curl up on the floor of a pickup I had and go to sleep during the drive too...  When we got to the shelter, Hank fell out when I opened the back door!  He was still laying on the door!

Week in Catch-Up! (Includes Weird Al pics)

Wednesday was a very long day for me!  I arrived at the fairgrounds just before 9am to help set up the booth for Spokane Humane Society, SCRAPS, Spokanimal, & Pet Savers (they share one booth each year).  The "night shift" from the evening before left a complete mess!  I was glad I arrived early to help!  We had to scrub (really gross) cat litter pans, pick up garbage from under the tables (scattered cat food, litter, junk knocked off the tables, etc...), reorganize things that had just been left out, and being the organizer I am...I organized the prize bins!  Petco provided items for the prize wheel.

(Okay, I started this on Saturday morning and then...I got side tracked!  Obviously, I didn't get too far but please bare in mind that the thought train above left the station 3 days ago!)

Back to my busy Wednesday though!  After 1pm, my replacements showed up and I left the fair to meet my other half in the parking lot.  He was nice enough to have picked up lunch for us!  (McDonald's)  After a break, oh it felt good to be off my feet, we returned to the fair to enjoy all the sights and sounds until early evening (we had tickets to see Weird Al).  Knowing my other half isn't fond of the barns, I had gone the day before to try and get my fill.  However, the horses were all gone!  They run things differently here than they do where I grew up...of course, the fair here is also 10 days long!  Anyway, he had to suffer walking aroung the horse barn with me while I got to pet the pretty ponies!  Okay...not ponies...Morgan's, an adorable 2 year old Dapple Palomino (She was so cute!  She was that light orange color with white spots all over!), and a few other breeds...they really segregate the horses...there was only about 10% of the barns being used!  As a teen my Grandmother took us to a fair on the other side of Washington (over by Portland...Battle Ground maybe?), they had huge barns!  They had one entire horse barn devoted to the Clydesdale's!  Beautiful creatures!  Gigantic, but beautiful!  I love going to see the horses, it reminds me of when I was a little girl and we had horses (we moved the summer I turned 8, so we're talking little girl), I miss having them!  They won't fit in my backyard now though...

I did get to see the chickens on Tuesday...there weren't any on Wednesday because they were "changing out" the youth group with the adult group and Wednesday was "cleanup" day between the two.  I never really knew how small bantams and the Seremas really were!  I was thinking my girls were tiny until Tuesday!  I swear you could fit the full-grown rooster I saw inside a large coffee mug and still have room leftover!  I borrowed the above image from Six Feathers Seremas.  I don't see any updates there since 2006, but the photos are sure pretty!  I, of course, want Seremas now...but I'd have to redo my whole run or they could just walk right out of it!

We had a lot of fun wandering around the rest of the fair...we sampled and then purchased meat sticks and meat Nuggets from Mill Lane Smokehouse, these were super tasty, even if they did have to keep them cold due to health code stuffs!  I think I know where "someone" is getting a birthday gift from (maybe...)!  We got Hawaiian Nuggets (does contain Brown Sugar and Pineapple Juice, but the Nutritional info claims only 1g carb per 3 Nuggets) and Teriyaki Snack Sticks (1g carb per stick).  Not bad for a snack every now and then!  The nuggets were $4, sadly not available for online purchase...I'll be emailing the company when I get ready to order to see if I can get more of those!  It's only $3 for the sticks (for a 1/4 pound bag, 5 sticks)!  When I order, I'll be getting the 1 pound bag for $10 though...I just didn't want to pack that much meat around the fair!

Free is always my favorite price!  So, I love gathering up samples and getting the other "freebies" while at the fair.  Sadly, we didn't win the train set though.  I did manage to get one (out of 5 booths) free mini massage though!  You know the booths...the Chiropractic places set them up to tell you have are all out of whack.  Well, apparently, I am very out of whack this year!  The guy was amazing, I felt 100 times better after a 5 minute "poke and prod" while he found all the spots where things are out of line with my spine.  I have ribs poking out where they shouldn't (subluxation[ed]) as well as my lower back.  I also (apparently) have one hip poking forward while the other is locked in a backward and up position.  I believe my insurance covers chiropractic stuff (still need to call and double check), if they do, I will certainly be making an appointment!  I mentioned above that there were 5 booths like this one this year, my goal had been to go to every one of them, but the other 4 were unmanned with "back in 10 minutes" signs every time I passed!  So, Inland Family Chiropractic gets my vote by simply "being there"!  They're out in the Valley, but that is like saying "they're across town"...not a huge deal.

We also stopped by the Tupperware booth this year.  I made the "mistake" (I read the question wrong) and marked that I would be interested in selling Tupperware online.  So, I got signed up for a phone call...  I actually like the gal I talked to (at the fair and on the phone) and found out she and I are pretty similar (from things she said, not things I volunteered)!  I really wish Tupperware was a little cheaper!  The "starter kit" to start selling is $80 for the "little set" and $120 for the "big kit"!  The only difference is number of pieces of Tupperware you get.  With my other half starting his Master's degree (he starts Oct 1st), that isn't something we can really afford to do right now!  Then there is the whole "none of my friends can afford anything from the catalogs" thing.  So...would anyone be interested in buying Tupperware online or at a party?  I am going to keep in touch with the rep I talked to, if I can get enough people interested in attending a party (and hopefully buying something), I can actually earn enough to pay for the kit!  (I would need to sell almost $600 worth of stuff at a party...)  I am more than willing to host a party!  Heck, I'll even help "you" host one if it is something that would interest your friends!  (I'll even clean my house and cook!)  Here is the catalog (assuming the link works) for the current month, possibly half month...things get spendy fast, but there are some items that are "affordable".  I personally love the classics line!  It's the stuff my Mom had in the late 1960's and 1970's!  I still have a few of those pieces in my kitchen, so they definitely last longer than the Ziploc or Glad pieces!

After all the activity at the fair...it was time to see Weird Al!  My lovely other half was able to snag Golden Circle tickets this year!  Not only that, but they were front row center seats!  Okay, seats 4 and 5, but close enough to dead center!  The above were all taken about an hour before the concert started...my other half loves being the first one in line!  See my pretty new shirt?  He keeps telling me it looks like a wedding dress...I haven't had the heart to tell him dresses are much, much longer than that shirt!  It's a size 2XL!  Down a size, woot!  Those are my new pants too...size 20!  Down from a 28 last October!  But, back to the real fun...

"Smells like Nirvana"!  The washed out figure just below that blue light is Weird Al dressed like the lead singer of Nirvana...during this song, he gargles water while he sings part of it.  He was nice enough to swallow what was in his mouth, but the leftovers in the cup...well, I got to wear part of it as he threw the contents of the cup!  Nothing like a bottled water shower!

During "Wanna B Ur Lovr", he came done into the audience and sang to various women as he trekked back to about the 15th row..on the way back, he made a stop off at the front row and sang a verse to yours truly!  That shadow on his hip is my other half's head and this was moments before he did a hip thrust at me (from 6 inches or so away...)!  It was a blast, even if the song, and outfit are a bit creepy, lol!  Side note...he has a very hairy chest!  (This is kind of like meeting him, right?)

Another "benefit" of front row seating...the streamer cannons!  I forget which song they were part of, but they have 2 sets of cannons that blast red and white streamers out at the end of a song.  It was like they aimed them at us!  I was literally covered with the streamers!  I had to untangle myself from them as the show continued on.

The evening was finished off with a performance of "The Saga Begins", a Star Wars parody of American Pie, complete with Vader, stormtroopers, and those little dudes with glowy eyes!

What goes better with that song, but "Yoda"?!  Yep, he did that one too!  He also did "White & Nerdy" and "Amish Paradise", two of my absolute favorite Weird Al songs!  Interesting point of fact, the piano payer, the guitar player, and the bass player from this video are still with him.  I don't know about the drummer...I didn't get a good look at him!  I believe though, that they are all still original band members...pretty significant really since he's been performing for so many years!

This concert is part of the new tour for the new album, so they performed several of the new songs as well, including the parody of "Born this Way", the costume were hilarious (Weird Al was in a giant Peacock costume)!  In this video from a June concert Weird Al is the only one in his costume...by our concert, the drummer was in a nun's habit with caution tape wrapped around him, the guitarist was wearing a cheese head and had a Swiss cheese jacket, the keyboard(er?) was wearing a bee's nest on his head and a gold lemme straight-jacket, and the bassist was wearing a skeleton Halloween costume and a top hat!  You can see all of the pieces (maybe the ones worn in concert?) in the Official video for the song, here.

After spending 13 hours on my feet at the fair Wednesday, I was very sore and could hardly walk!  My gluts were letting me know how unhappy they were for having to pack my butt (and the rest of me) around for that long!  I spent Thursday and Friday recovering!  Thursday though, when I went out to collect eggs, I stepped on yet another roofing tack that the chickens dug up.  These suckers are so, so rusty!  The tacks are literally returning to the earth at this point and so, the one I stepped on was nearly nothing but the pointy part left!  Of course, I stepped on it with my foot that was already sporting a blister pad from all the walking on Wednesday...why not add a band-aid to it too?  The nail broke the skin (I've had a tetanus shot in the last several years), so I slathered the "wound" in Neosporin and slapped a "duct tape" style band-aid on it.  That evening before bed, I went to replace the dressing but decided to leave it off as we couldn't relocate the puncture after a shower!  I know Neosporin "helps cuts heal faster", but that was amazingly fast!  Under 10 hours...

Saturday was uneventful, we took a half dozen egg out to my other half's parents and their newest dog (they've had her for a little over 9 months I think) finally came to say hello to me on her own!  I even got kisses and was able to pet her!  She has a real aversion to women for some reason...so I was really glad to see she's starting to warm up to me, we don't go out very often though.  I'm there maybe once every other month or so when we are paying back part of the loan they gave us when we bought the house (my other half normally takes it to them during his lunch break).

As for Sunday, we had an "us day"...I didn't even bother to shower until bedtime!  We got up, drank 2 pots of coffee (this never happens!), and played World of Warcraft all day!  My other half did get showered and do the shopping around lunch time...I wasn't feeling "up to going" because of girl issues (I really hate girl issues...I hope the surgery helps that be less of an issue in the future!), so I stayed home and caught up on all the Facebook games I play.

Today I need to decide what (if anything) I am going to order from AVON...I tried the new Anew cream they are coming out with and there is no way in H-E-double hockey sticks I am going to do that again!  I knew from past experience (I used to sell AVON) that I didn't like the Anew line...it smells too perfumey to me, I was assured this didn't smell so strong.  What I didn't count on was the minor chemical burn I got on my face, across both cheeks and around my nose!  I had it on for less than 3 minutes before I was running for the bathroom to wash it off with the first thing I could find...liquid hand soap!  I will be buying some of the Skin-So-Soft products, a few roll on deodorants (they're on sale and I love the scents), maybe a few things for the boys at Christmas...but, I have set myself up with a $15 budget (to cover taxes and keep it under $20), so we'll see what I narrow it down to!  Either way, I'm glad to have found a rep to buy from that isn't super pushy!  I only buy a few times a year when I have a rep to buy from...  I'd buy some of the makeup, they have really good stuff, but I never learned how to "wear" it...so I stick to lip gloss and nail polish, lol.

Has it really been that long?!

Oof!  I suppose it has been a busy week for me...

Let's see...the Spokane Interstate Fair started last Friday.  I was called in to cover a shift that evening.  What I learned from that shift was that all of my capri length pants are too big!  That includes the pair I bought in May...I have hardly even worn them!  So, on my "to do" list before my shift on Tuesday was a little shopping!  I ended up at Dress barn (I hate the name of that store by the way...) where I was lucky enough to find some really nice "dress" capris!  Not only that, but since "short pants" weather is technically behind us half-way through September, they were on clearance for 50% off!  Sadly, they only had one pair in my (new) size, or I would have bought more!  The sale price made them $15 each.  As for my size, I have gone down another size!  Since October 7, 2010 I have gone from a size 28 (yikes!) to a 20!  Go me!  Ha!

I was also called Monday to find out if I could work at the fair, but I hadn't got my shopping done yet, so I didn't go Monday morning...I went and bought the above mentioned pants, a pretty new shirt, and another pair of shoes.  This is my third pair this summer!  I "popped" the toning ones with their air-filled medicine ball type design after only 3 weeks and the pair of Airwalks I bought to replace them seriously hurt my feet!  I got another pair of "toning" shoes, but these have a solid rubber sole, no air pockets to pop!


Yesterday was my day as a "dog promoter" at the fair...Spokanimal brought a puppy to the fair!  Way too little in my, oh so humble, opinion...he's only 3 months old and hasn't had all of his shots.  All of the cats and the puppy were on antibotics too...no idea why though.

Today I am running the prize wheel!  Come win a prize (if we have any...we ran out yesterday morning)!  Then it's off to spend quality time with my other half before we go see the Weird Al concert tonight!!!

News from the home front...we got our coupon to start Rosie on a new dog food from BzzAgent!  Awesome program where you get stuff to try/test out and then give your (or in this case my) honest opinion about it!  Right now I am participating in two campaigns...one for a clothing website, which I will discuss later, and the second is for Bil-Jac dog food.

There was no need to "transition her to the new food, just opened the bag and started feeding.  As a picky-ish eater of dog food (she'll eat everything else without stopping to taste it), I was a little surprised when she scarfed this down!  She is absolutely in love with the new food!  It looks like pellet feed for rabbits or chickens...but she likes it.

I'm a bit rushed this morning, so more on that later too!  Have an awesome Wednesday!

Happy September!

Yes, I know...I'm late.  It's been another one of those stretches where I just don't feel like typing out anything lately...  But, now I get to play catch up!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a huge "math geek"...I do math problems for fun!  This works out well for my Diabetes needs sometimes...it has led me, on many occasions, to charting out my blood sugars in more detail than any health care provider could ever dream of!  My medical chart at my pediatrician's office was a 5-inch 3-ring binder!  At that point (way back in the early 1990's), we didn't have a home computer, so I did it all by hand, using graph paper, a ruler, and colored pencils!  Thank "Fluffy" for Excel!  These days I chart my blood sugars using an Excel workbook that I have created and adapted over the last 4 and a half, or so, months.  The latest addition to my workbook has been a Hemoglobin A1C predictor...  I looked everywhere online for something I could refer to, but since it is such a specialized test, not too many have any interest in knowing exactly how it is calculated...this is the first time in nearly 21 years I have bothered looking it up.  To make things that much harder, the powers that be decided to "update" what the numbers reflect in 2010!  What that means is that the lovely chart I did manage to find was essentially useless now!  So, I set out to replicate it using the "current" number data.

The first thing I had to do was figure out exactly "how" the A1C's were calculated.  For this, a quick Google search brought me to eHow health, this article actually gives the calculation in it (step 4)!  To double check that it was indeed using the current numbers, I had to do my math thing and get it to work "backwards" and give me a mean blood sugar (average) reading based on an A1C number, it worked!  In comes a spreadsheet...

5% is a little low...but nice information to have and 16.9% is way too high, but again, I think it is nice information to have on hand!  As a child/teenager, my HbA1C was usually around 12%...I can see now why they wanted to lower it!  My last test result was 7.1%, up from 7.0% from the visit 3 months before.  I also have another test coming up on Tuesday, but I have a better idea of what it should be now that I have this (and 3+ months of records)!

My weekly logs in Excel run Tuesday through Monday, but I keep a daily record of each day's average blood sugar (the mean) and then get an average of the averages at the end of each month.  I suppose I could take each reading individually, but this way is just faster for me!  I already had my spreadsheet set to color code readings, but I will be changing that so that each whole percentage point has its own color (for quick reference).  The center number (182) is the weekly average so that I can double check my numbers and make sure there isn't a typo somewhere.  The 3-month average here is June, July, and August...I am assuming that on Tuesday, I will get a 7% test result...which will be down from the last one, which is good, but I wish it was even lower!  My goal for the appointment I will inevitably be having in December (I go every 3 months), is to have it down to 6.9 (6.8 if I am very lucky)!  I did extremely well in June...my month-end average was 143 (6.2%), but July and August have been harder for me to control my blood sugars.  I picked up a new prescription of Humalog yesterday...I'm hoping "newer" insulin will fix my issues with my blood sugars!  The last time I picked up any Humalog was January...the pens aren't set to "expire" until October of 2012...but I wonder if the temperature in my refrigerator caused some ill-effects.  We shall see soon enough!  I am about halfway through my last "old" pen and have a fresh box to start on next!

Speaking of Tuesday's appointment...I have a whole list of stuff to go over with my doctor (nurse practitioner)!  Without having exact dates for surgery (or knowing what type they are thinking about preforming...depending on the type, I could be hospitalized for the afternoon or up to a week), I need to know what she has to say about my diet and potentially being "laid up" where I can't necessarily make my own food and medical choices.  Not that I plan to give those over to anyone...but they might fight me on it, lol.  I am totally prepared to eat nothing but Atkins bars and shakes (most likely shakes until they okay solid food) that I will have smuggled in.  Well, not "just" Atkins...I have flavored protein shakes that I like that I will also smuggle in.  I'm also planning on bringing my Excel workbook...at least a portion of it!  My meter loses time and the daylight savings feature never works...so the info it gives is useless, when, that is, they can get it to upload at all!  I'll just bring a copy of my records...they are better anyway (I don't record my meds in my meter, even though it does have that feature)!  I also have pretty graphs...even though I can't seem to figure out how to get my high/low lines to show up properly!

In "Chicken news", Gertrude likes her meal worms so much, she is learning tricks for them!  She does know "sit"...I swear, she just wanted to show off how she could jump for the goodies when I had video rolling!  Her "sit" is basically just a squat, but it is so damn cute!  As soon as I even touch the bag, she is at my feet begging for them!  The other two don't even like meal worms!  They do, however, love BOSS!  So, I have been tossing them BOSS before Gerty gets any worms...
Another favorite for all of the girls is "weed salad"!  We have a hill in the backyard that is perpetually covered in weeds...we tried to eradicate it earlier this year, but it didn't last long.  This works out for the girls though, I grab them a handful every day and toss it in the coop to give them something "new" to do and stay busy.  Yesterday, I just had to capture this after I tossed in a rather large load of "salad"!  They just love ripping apart the whole plants and the grass is a favorite for all!  There is also Dandelion greens and some unknown weed that Henri just loves eating the flower/seeds off the tops of!  There was nothing left but stalks by bed time...

The coop and run are getting "prettied up" today!  The bedding in the coop needs changing (I don't scoop the poo out, I just mix it all in, so it needs changed now), the sandbox is nearly empty, so I need to scoop the poo out of it and have the other half help lift a new bag of sand into it (I can't get the bag out of the trash can we use in the run for storage), I need to add hooks to hang the feed and water from (the feeder got here Thursday evening and water nipples should be here by next Friday...drilling buckets for those today!) and generally just making it look "less messy" as the girls are having visitors tomorrow!  Another Spokane resident is looking into building himself a coop and having a small flock and wants ideas on how to go about it, so I told him he could bring his family over to check out the setup we have.

I finally got around to trying a Cheesecake recipe too!  I ended up making a Chocolate Cheesecake with a Hazelnut Crust, only 4 grams of net carb per slice (1/12th of the pie)!  It is silky smooth and a little bit bitter...but that is expected with only 1/4 cup Splenda in the whole thing!  The author recommends serving this with a drizzle of Sugar Free Chocolate Sauce (Hershey's makes a decent one...), I forgot it though when I served it!  This is also one of the simplest cheesecake recipes I have ever made!  First, there is no cream cheese in it...the "cheese" in cheesecake comes in the form of Cottage Cheese and a little Sour Cream!  It was super simple, with only a few ingredients...cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs (I used our backyard fresh eggs), baking chocolate, Splenda...that's it!  The crust was simple too...Hazelnuts, Protein Powder (Vanilla, but this would be even better using Chocolate!), and Butter!  It looks, acts, and tastes very close to a Graham Cracker Crust!

Did I mention it has been a busy week?  I also got some new crochet projects finished!  The square(ish) thing is a hot pad...It's cute and all, but I don't think I'll be making that pattern again!  The other thing is a hearthstone...for those non-WoW (World of Warcraft) players...this is a thing in your inventory that you click on and it sends you "home".  For the WoW players...yes, I know the colors are backwards!  My first few attempts at this pattern were painful to say the least, as it turned out, I was following the pattern wrong (it was written badly) and the yarn I was using (the "white") was just too thin to use for the body of this project.  Since it is going to the newest member of the family...I didn't think he would mind, but hos oldest brother might!  It is about the size of my hand and made from soft baby yarn, so I deemed this a perfect baby toy!  I even know how and where it is going...ha!

The cat stuff finally got moved upstairs to a location we are more likely to remember to do things like scoop the poo every night.  Having two large cats, this is a necessary evil...otherwise they fill the box in a couple of days!  This is their new set up...the chest of drawers is pulled out from the wall about 6 inches so they have easy access to the litter box, but the dog cannot get in there for "snacks".  The step stool is blocking the "kitty hallway" from the dog as well.  We cleaned off the top of thew chest fpr their food, the large feeder has the "normal" food and the small one has Baby's "special" food (only he eats it, but it is good for both of them).  That is Baby hanging out on the step stool...it is his new favorite hang out spot!

I'm not sure if I posted this or not, but last weekend, my other half and I went out to Liberty Lake so I could volunteer at Mutt Strut!  While the shelter's "big dogs" were on the 1.5 mile walk/2.5 mile run, we got to hang out with the 3 puppies the shelter had brought along!  They are labs mixes (and most assuredly gone to homes by now), so freaking cute!  The other shelters that were there were sure my other half was going home with this sweet little girl, we did not though...  Looks just like Rosie when I first got her (10 years ago)!

I think that's it...we did have plans this weekend, but without consulting me, those plans were changed...so back to making my "logbook" Excel workbook even better instead!

Sigh...

It has been "one of those weeks" in our house this week!

First, (I think it was this week) I got the call I have been waiting for from the "best in the business" surgeon that my GYN recommended I go to for my soon-to-be upcoming surgery to remove a large (okay, huge, ginormous, they usually refuse to extract it without full hysterectomy) fibroid.  I have an appointment to meet with him on 9/21, a month after the call, but the earliest they had available.

Also on Monday, I started my period (oh joy) a few days early.  Not that it is ever pleasant, but I have noticed in the last several months that it has "gotten worse".  That is, of course, due to the fibroid (more blood flow in the area meas a larger "release").  So, I'm fairly miserable because of that and had to cancel my plans to go walk dogs on Tuesday because I don't dare even consider leaving my bathroom for that second day (I go through roughly 14 overnight pads in the first 48 hours).

Since I missed going Tuesday, I was really looking forward to spending time with the dogs today.  However, those planned were tossed out the window at 7:30 this morning when I tripped over my own dog!  She was asleep on her bed in our bedroom, the lights were off (and she is black), and I wasn't really paying too much attention to where I was walking.  I came down with all of my weight on my left knee as I landed sprawled out in the doorway.  Two hours later, it is still hurting!  I have my leg elevated (roughly the same height as my office chair, any higher and I couldn't type) and have been alternating between a heat pack and nothing on it.  I can now walk on it, gently, but there is no way I can keep up with the dogs today either!  I am really upset about that too!  I really haven't been there at all in the last two weeks and only sporadically in the weeks before that.  Tomorrow I have a training class to go to for the volunteer work at the county fair coming up in a few weeks, so hopefully I can manage to stand for a few hours on my knee by tomorrow afternoon!

As for our chickens, Henri had an "issue" several nights ago and at bedtime, laid two shell-less eggs!  The first was yolk and white only, not even a membrane on it and the second had a membrane, but nothing even close to hardening.  I only found them because she opted to sleep outside on the steps to the coop rather than inside, so when I did my head count before turning off the TV for the night, I had a "missing chicken" and went out to see what was wrong!  Henri took a 2-day break from laying and was back at it again yesterday.  Gerty is consistently laying now, even though the eggs are smaller than they "should" be, she lays a pale brown egg every day that weighs in between 1.4 and 1.6 ounces.

We are still waiting on Clyde though!  They are just over 23 weeks (Wednesday was 23 weeks!), so I'm not all too worried that "she" hasn't laid yet.  She is "practicing" though...Clyde follows Henri in every morning (when Gerty hasn't gotten in first) and copy's Henri!  Clyde gets in the unoccupied box, cuddles the fake egg, and sits quietly while Henri lays her egg.  She then gets up and follows Henri outside when she's done!  I did catch her "practicing" on her own yesterday afternoon, but still no egg!

Well, time for me to hobble outside and collect my morning "loot"!  I hope to get a Hazelnut crusted cheesecake made today that includes my "happy chicken" eggs that are theoretically full of good Omega 3's!

Long Time, No Post!

So, I just haven't felt like sitting down to post lately.  I have other things going on after all!

The only chicken to lay so far, everyone told me roo!

I added more hay after this!

Gertrude is laying almost every morning now (she takes a break every 5th day) and has started using the nest box finally!  We switched out the big bin I bought for an old cat litter box we have, but she couldn't fit in the door, so ignored it until I took the top off a few days ago.  She now goes in every morning after having a bite to eat and some water to lay her egg.  I say morning because she usually starts the process around 8:30...but, like today, Clyde and Henri were "playing house" in the nest box and she had to wait until they were done (she's nice like that), then it takes her a while to get situated (especially now that she's laying with the two fake eggs that she meticulously gets under her wherever she has made the dip for the day), and finally she gets to laying!  Today's egg didn't make an appearance until after 10:30 (when I had to leave the house).  SHe's now laying eggs that weigh in at 1.5 ounces, up from 1.2!  She should be laying at greater than 2.0 ounces when she gets "up to speed", she should lay large size eggs.

We also got "Chicken Channel" finally up and running!  Back in February we bought a video surveillance camera from Harbor Freight for a mere $25!  It's a pretty basic unit, but is "weatherproof", meaning it won't quit working when it gets cold (it's another story if it gets wet).  It's also in color and has black & white night vision as well as sound!  We removed an unused cable line from the side of our house, ran the telephone line like wire through the hole (conveniently located behind the television in the dining room that we only use to let little ones watch DVDs and VCR tapes on), and down across the run into the coop, easy!  Or hours of hard work in the sun and we had to replace the phone jack portion on the 80 foot wire because the stupid thin wires pulled out when we stuck it through the wall.  Luckily, my other half had the part and the tool to fix it!  We are now on the lookout for another $25 coupon for a second camera for the exterior of the coop!  We have plenty for $30, but the extra $5 savings is worth the wait (for now).


Let's see...the shelter dogs!  I'm still doing that one to two times a week right now.  My favorite dogs are all still there (boo!) and after today, I'm officially a Dog Deputy (or I will be as soon as she ups me in the system)!  I miscounted my hours and left myself 15 minutes short at the end of the month, so I didn't make it in a single month like I was hoping to, but that's my own stupid math error!  Also, I'll be volunteering at the fair (September 6-18, 2011)!  I'll be there for sure the morning of the 14th...come see me, I'll be working the prize wheel!  Hopefully, I'll be able to get a shift as a dog promoter too, but we shall see how things go, I'm also "on call" for the other days of the fair in case someone can't make their "shift".  I saw in an email (for either SHS or Spokanimal) that over 100 dogs got adopted last year!  I'm going to try to get in on some of the kitty cuddling too, but my plate is a bit full at the moment!  I am also getting set up as a Mentor!  I need to officially become a dog deputy and fill out my "about me" form...and get a decent photo(!), but I should be starting that in September/October too!  I also got added as a dog promoter...meaning I'll have the opportunity to go do off-site events, like when they have dogs and cats out at the local pet stores and such.  A few weeks ago, Fred Meyer had some big celebration going on for one of the stores here in Spokane and so all of their stores had dogs and cats set up in the shade, it was great!  I got to see Sissy (the black lab that took my lead for a swim minutes after I bought it), who I hadn't seen in a while!  I was just there shopping, but it was nice to see them out there!

If you watch Cleo closely, you'll notice she knows "sit", but she won't do it for me until there is a treat in my hand!  I love Cleo, she is such a cool girl!  She thinks cats are tasty treats though...

Also, I have started setting up my "adults only" blog...just waiting on the other half to get set up as a contributor and help me figure out the "page" things...I can't get anything to move from the "home" page!  It'll be mostly reviews for now...but may include other things as time goes on.  I'll let you all know the name once it looks all pretty and stuff!

Oh, and my sister and her hubby finally settled on a name for the new baby...Wyatt Paul should be here on Thanksgiving Day!  Poor kid...his initials will be WPDM (whipped 'em), lol!  I may or may not be down there, I have been considering leaving here when I know her butt is staying at the hospital to have him (she plays chicken with the maternity staff every time...she's already been there once this time!), but I may have to wait until Christmas, depending on if I/we can find a suitable pet-sitter by then.  I need to have someone come and feed/water the chickens and collect the eggs every day.  I also hope by then to have larger feed and water (getting a heated one for winter) by then, but as of right now, the water need filled daily and feed every other day, minimum.  The dog will go with us if/when we go and the cats are just dandy if left with enough food/water for a few days (but they do get even with us for leaving them alone).

I'm also considering trying my hand at replacing the kitchen sink...we desperately need a new faucet and while I'm there, I'd like to replace the sink with one better suited to my needs (small side with disposal and a larger tub side for dishes and such).  Of course, if I do that...then I want a new disposal too...and the pipe work down there is iffy at best, so those would need replacing too...  I may just get a new faucet, lol.  I think I would be in some major trouble if my other half came home from his trip at the end of September to find I'd destroyed the kitchen sink, lol.  At least I don't plan on ripping up the floor while he's gone...before we get a new fridge though, it needs to be done though!  Along with the removal of some cupboards, painting, and fixing of the wall behind the cupboards!  Might as well call it a mini-kitchen remodel!  The counters are safe...I can't afford to replace those and the stove and dishwasher are new (enough)!

 So, for my birthday last week, we went out to dinner.  The original plan had been to go to the Moroccan place, but after aweigh-in that morning, I was up 5 pounds(!) so we opted for a lower carb dinner of Red Robin.  We did "cheat" though, I had a Bonzai Burger (pineapple and Teriyaki sauce) and I had the Sweet Potato Fries (at least they're lower carb than the potato ones!).  I ate less than half, we left half of them on the plate and I shared with my other half as well, so not "too" bad, my other half had a bun!  Afterward, we cheated big time!  We went across the street to Coldstone Creamery and had the middle size of a creation!  I had Coconut Cream Pie, which is graham cracker crust bits, coconut, and lots of whipped cream!  It is supposed to be made with French Vanilla ice cream, but since I was cheating, I went all out and got it with Birthday Cake ice cream!  It was yummy.  They put so much add-ins in it that it filled the larger container!  I took about 1/4 of it home and used it to treat a low the next day.  I did pay for my cheating...I had a major carb hangover the next day as well as blood sugars bouncing between 50 and over 300!  I have, however, lost most of the 5 pound "monthly" gain now.

The chickens also got a "birthday treat" from me that day...we bought them a bunch of Kale the other day (I heard it was good for them), so I thinly sliced some up, added the few pea pods I had from shelling peas from my garden and sliced them up like green onion rings, shredded a few baby carrots (only kept in the house for the chickens and the dog), and I mixed a big handful of red pepper flakes into about half a container of Greek Yogurt!  They gobbled it all right up!  I keep reading about other people's chickens being finicky or terrified of new foods...not mine!  It takes them about 30 seconds to decide it looks edible!  When they'd grab a piece of carrot, they would actually dip their beaks to get a little "red pepper/yogurt dip" to go with it!  I need to do some shopping tomorrow and get more yogurt for them...they love it and it's an easy thing to hide the red pepper and crushed egg shells in!  They are also getting a steady diet of Oyster shell too...one of Gerty's egg shells was so thick this morning I had to hit it twice to crack it!  Much better than the first ones that would crack if you looked at them funny!

I have slowly been integrating some of the "phase 2 and above" foods into my diet, most recently I purchased a box of the Atkins Endulge bars in "Nutty Fudge Brownie" flavor!  So pretty...and yummy too!  They look like a brownie and taste like one too!  If you like brownies, you'll like these...if you like fudge, you'll love these!  It's half chewy brownie and half creamy, stick to the roof of your mouth fudge!  And did I mention the nuts?!?  It has bits of Walnut strewn throughout!  The one pictured looks like someone swiped a nut as it went by during packaging, lol.  This is not a phase 1 bar...but, get through induction and this is what you can look forward to!

On my mile-long-to-do list is "make cupcakes for my birthday"...I have yet to make these and my birthday was 4 days ago!  I'm consistent like that though....the other half's last birthday cake was 2 weeks after his birthday and the last cake I planned to make for my Mother got sent home with her as a can of frosting and a cake mix!  I hope to get it made tomorrow though...I have to, the butter is out on the counter!  However...in lieu of a "cake", I managed to get my hands on a box of Sugar Free Oreos!  They are 3 net grams of carb per cookie, but they taste just like the real thing!  That is, if the real thing tasted like it was made with Stevia...the "stuff" has a slightly minty aftertaste to it, but if eaten whole (who the heck does that anyway?), the taste difference is negligible.  A box has 16 cookies in it and we have opted to savor the flavor and only have 1 cookie each per day for 8 days.  We can afford that many "iffy" carbs.  They are made with wheat flour and some other stuff...like a regular Oreo, but the carb difference is huge!  One serving of regular Oreos is 24 net grams of carb (you get to subtract 1g from the total 25g for the fiber)...one serving of the Sugar Free Oreos is 6g net carbs (after fiber and sugar alcohols have been subtracted)!  We share one serving, which is 2 cookies.

And the last thing I believe I have to catch up on...my crocheting and (learning) knitting!  I recently gathered up all of the projects I had worked on in the last year (or at least those I remember doing this year and could find) and took a photo of them all together.  I have been a busy girl!  Even more impressive (to me) was that most of them had been done since June!  The only thing missing there is the baby blanket I finished and the one I'm still working on.  I really don't like making blankets in the round...I need to stop starting them!  But anyway...here I have (in no particular order); 6 baby/child size hats (4 of which have ear flaps), 4 pillow pal puppys, 1 teddy bear (not doing that again either, he looks funny), 6 baby wash cloths (4 from the same pattern, 3 of those match color-wise too), a car seat blanket (which started out as a round blanket for me, but I hated the pattern so much I stopped it right where I was...lucky for me, it's perfect to fit in a car seat!), 3 mini stockings (5-point granny squares), 4 doilies (3 of which are done in size 10 thread and the last in size 3), 1 reusable dryer sheet (I found a recipe for the spray on another blog - somewhere, and decided I could crochet my own instead of purchasing washcloths to use like the blog said to do) ,and a deep purple cowl (around the bear's neck)!  The cowl is something I started over 5 years ago, so it isn't really "new"...but it started out "life" as a scarf made from the leftover yarn from making a gift for someone else.  By the time I got around to making this though, I had lost the label to the yarn and have not been able to find the yarn since!  So, one day last week, I was holding this in my hand contemplating whether I wanted to rip it all out into a ball and use it for "something" or if I could figure something out to "finish" it.  Turns out, at roughly 25 inches long, it fit around my neck perfectly!  So, I pulled out the half finished row and crocheted the two ends together!  It is pretty and warm to boot!  I always have issues with scarves...how do you wrap them so they keep you warm, don't choke the daylights out of you, and look good?!?  I can't  do it!  So, this will be nice this winter, just throw it on and voila! 

On the knitting front, I seem to pick up stitches when I have to go back and forth from knit to purl or vice versa still.  I did, however, find a free pattern hanging at Michael's the other day that was all knit!  That I can do and do well!  Of course, the price tag on the type of yarn they called for made me gag, but I took the card home anyway.  I got a little money for my birthday, so I went out and bought myself some new knitting needles, the card called for size 9, I had sizes 6 and 8, so I picked up a set of size 9 in 14" length (I really like the longer needles!), as well as a size 8 circular needle and a set of 5 size 2 double pointed needles (DPNs)!  I also found some yarn I liked for the pattern I had taken home, not what it called for and it's actually baby yarn, but I like it!  I'm almost done with the project too!  I have a few more inches to go and that will be done!  Next up is some bright red yarn that is a little bulkier for the same pattern, I may not cast on as many stitches though...I'll make it the same 8 inches wide as this one though.  I also got some pretty cool self-striping sock yarn too, not that I can make socks yet...but I have the yarn to do it with now!  I hope I bought enough to make two socks!  But, I don't believe I'll jump right into socks either.

The Pups at the "Pound"...

Well, I think it was a good day!  First thing I noticed was that both of my "black lab cross" buddies had been adopted!  Dudley and Rudy were both adopted on Wednesday, yeah!  Dudley is a Black lab/hound cross (the dude that ripped my shirt, lol) and Rudy was mostly lab, I think.

I almost got a guy talked into Cleo today, but he wants a young dog and at 5 years old and on pain meds, she didn't really fit the bill.  The guy was a bit of a turd anyway...but he is thinking about volunteering, so he can't be that big of a tool!  I tool Cleo out first this morning, she really looked like she needed to be out and about today!  I figured she had recently had her pain meds and was feeling pretty darn good since she practically drug me to the field were we did a lap that consisted of half of the giant figure 8 they mow for us to walk in.  We did the walk in about 20 minutes...this usually takes me at least half an hour, so we were really moving!  I fell in love with this dog when I used her to learn the tricks at Shelter School earlier this month. Cleo knows "sit" extremely well and will eventually do a "leave it", but she'd rather not, lol.  She really doesn't do "wait" but she does wait patiently anyway while you open a door for her, so she had that one down without needing the command, lol.  When I sit down with her in the grass, he'll sniff around a bit and then lay right down either in front of or next to me.  She is such a mellow dog!  However, in the kennels is another story...if one starts barking...they all start barking and Cleo is usually the instigator!  She has issues with the other dogs getting any sort of attention when she isn't!  Said gentleman (see above) started a conversation as I was putting Raspberry back in her kennel in the back of the rows, Cleo had all the dogs barking until I managed to wander up to the front while talking to this guy.  Once we were in front of Cleo's kennel, the whole place quieted back down to not a peep and I was able to have the conversation this guy wanted and show him some of the "tricks" we teach the dogs while they are at the shelter.  He was really impressed that I could make her sit with just a word and a hand gesture (hot dog in hand, raise hand above her head, lol)!

Peeka is another dog who has been at the shelter for a while...she was adopted but got brought back, I have no idea why though.  Probably because she has an issue with cats...  Peeka is also pretty rowdy in the kennels, but does wonderfully outside on leash and just loves being off leash in the big play yards where she can sniff about and run through grass!  I always forget to really read the paperwork while I'm there for her, I suspect though that she is part "cattle dog" and part Husky or some other thick-coated breed with a curly tail.  The first photo of her was taken under a tree near the play yards, behind her, Nikki was running about in the first yard and Peeka was just enjoying the breeze, lol.  I did go talk to Ruth, who was in the yard with Nikki for a little bit, Peeka did great and really didn't pay Nikki any attention for about 10 minutes before Nikki's running about just got to be too much for her.

Fancy is a new dog to me being in the kennels.  She is obviously the Momma to the puppies that were there today, but she was spayed a few days ago and her milk has dried up...her "puppy fun bags" though, are still hanging pretty low!  I don't think I have walked a dog yet that I can't say wasn't "Super sweet", this one was too!  She was pretty uninterested in any treats or anything to do with me when we first got outside and into the play yard.  Once she had given everything a good sniff though, she came over and does know "sit" when there's a bit of hot dog involved, lol.  The look slightly to the left in almost all of the photos I took today is due to said "Hot dog in hand"....what better way to get them to sit pretty for a photo op?

Speaking of "new dogs"...Mystique is another dog that has been brought up to kennel 1 (there are two kennels, but the second one is for dogs that are not and may not be able to be placed up for adoption, so no "general public" allowed and if asked if the dogs in kennel one are all we have, the answer will always be "Yes".  I generally stay out of kennel 2 because when you walk those dogs, you have to stay hidden in the back of the property and there really isn't any shade back there!  I like taking them into the play yards and out front where there are trees to lay (I sit) under in the shade!

Back to Mystique though!  She is a gorgeous big, cuddler of a dog!  Part German Shepard and part Greyhound, she has an interesting "look" to her.  Her body looks way too big for her head and I would wager a guess that a typical collar wouldn't be a great idea...a harness or the non chain collars that cinch like a chain collar would probably work better for her.  Our slip leads work great, they cinch like a "choke" chain, but are a cloth-like nylon lead/collar combo.  She is much bigger than Cleo as well, standing, she came to roughly my hip!  This was another dog who just wanted to cuddle today...it is/was a "colder" day, mid-60's this morning, so maybe they were just looking for body heat as the wind picked up, lol.  Her favorite place to lay under the tree with me was on top of my right foot and under my left leg, lol.  She actually nuzzled her way under my leg to lay on my other foot!  We tried the play yard so she could run some (I thought she might like to given her proclaimed breeds), but she was so intent on being where ever I was, that I gave up and we went out to the shady tree so someone else could use the run if they wanted to.

Bear is also new, or at least today was the first day I saw him!  This little guy has a lot of energy!  This play bow was meant as "get off your rump and come play with me!", I know this because he brought me a ball to play with too, lol.  Not great with giving it back, but he let me pick it up again if he deemed it time to drop it somewhere for me to throw again, usually at the opposite end of the large play yard from where I was!  I really like taking all of the breeds out on the days I'm there...I know there are people that concentrate on specific breeds or types of dogs (some only walk labs, some it's the pit bull terriers, others go for the smaller dogs, though we rarely have actual small dogs in there for long).  We aren't looking for a new dog "yet", we still have Rosie, but she is getting up there in age and almost 10 (she'll be 10 years old September 12th) and I really don't want to be without a dog...I prefer life with a devoted companion that doesn't go off to work every day, lol.  That being said...I'd love to get a dog that could "work" as a therapy dog in senior centers or hospitals, that would be awesome I think.  Bear is one of those breeds that I enjoy walking at the shelter, but isn't one I would personally take home.  Herding breeds are just too high energy for me on a day to day basis.

I did manage to sneak down to the end of the kennels to take Raspberry out for a walk today, but I stayed "late" to do it!  I can normally get through more dogs, but today I was moving slower and in the cooler weather, I wasn't as worried about the dogs over-heating, so we stayed out a little longer today.  I'm beginning to think the "not being interested in treats (hot dogs) until I sniff the whole place" thing is a pit bull terrier trait, lol.  Raspberry actually took my "see I have the hot dogs" treat when we first got in the play yard, but spit it out onto the ground to go sniff everything!  She did eventually sniff all she wanted to sniff and came over for pets and to see if I still had those yummy hot dogs, but refused to sit for a decent photo.  I really love her coloring, it is one of my favorite color patterns!  After this photo, she decided she wanted to climb up in my lap and play "lap dog" for a while (I was sitting on a wobbly bench)!

I actually took Charley out somewhere near the middle of the "pack", but since I had more to say about him and a video to link up...I figured I'd save him for last!  He is such a happy boy!  You can't really see it in the photo, but the end of his tail is actually about 4 inches beyond where his yellow fur stops, it just is doing a great job blending in with the dirt!  He has a serious case of "happy tail" (raw and bloody) from being int the shelter and living on concrete for so long!  For reasons unknown to me, he also didn't get walked by shelter volunteers for nearly 10 days  beginning a little over 3 weeks ago!  His tail looks gross...he chews on the end of it so it is always a bloody mess, but now, since he was left in the kennels for so long, he has sores on all 4 of his elbows!  It is getting better and they don't look nearly as yucky now, but mid-week last week when I found he hadn't been out in over a week, he looked pretty bad.  All it took to get more people walking him was to note on his walk chart that he absolutely loves playing in the pools!  He is to the point now (since he now gets out at least twice a day) that he drags whoever is hanging on to the other end of the lead straight to the play yards and the waiting kiddy pools full of cool water!  There is no such thing as a photo of Charley dry, it just won't happen, lol.  He also decided today was the day to let me in on his secret obsession with playing catch!  Now, he isn't a young dog...so playing didn't last more than 10 minutes or so, but he ran at full speed and thought it was great when I could manage a long toss!  I really could have used one of those plastic ball thrower thingies for Charley today, he would have loved that!  He also alternated between the pool and the ball for a few more tosses before deciding he was done and we should head back in.

Pardon the squeaky girl talking over the video...just mute and enjoy, lol!  If you do decide to listen...he chose to keep the ball when the camera was on, but had given it back on the first "drop it" every single time before that and after that as well!

The second video (again just mute it and ignore me...he wasn't listening to me either, lol) is Charley and his pool.  I really don't know how he got the water that dirty that quickly!  He was the first dog in the pool today...and the only one that I know of that took a dip past putting a paw in to reach the "good water in the middle"!

Happy Dance Time!

Nothing really earth shattering, but I'm now at my newest "lowest weight 'ever'"!  Pardon the icky photo of me...I was practicing taking photos of myself, lol.  This week has been sort of a blur of nothing really going on, but I got a few things done that I wouldn't have in any "normal" week.  I finally finished a crochet project I started about 5 years ago, I made three brand new projects (tiny) possibly for gifts, more than likely for my own use, I skipped starting volunteering at Spokanimal (it just isn't as structured as I want it to be), and today I will actually make it to a second day in a week going to Spokane Humane Society!  My goal is to go three times a week, but I just haven't gotten there yet...  I also started following a bunch of new blogs, but they are mostly the kind marked "18 and over only", so I won't share them here.  I wrote a review for a product (also not something I will share here) and am waiting to hear if it passed inspection.  I'm not the worlds greatest at this whole "writing" thing, my thoughts sort of jumble together and spill out in random order as a general rule.  So, we shall see...I'll let you know if I decide to start another blog for that sort of stuff (I believe most of my "audience" is over the required age minimum, but I did "sign" a thing saying I wouldn't post that stuff here).  Of course, in my head, my entire audience is my other half, my Mother, and my Sister...and two-thirds of that audience doesn't need to know anything about that sort of thing!

On to the stuff I can talk about here!  My birthday is next Friday (Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!).  Anywho, this will mark a decade since I became legally allowed to drink alcohol...this one is kind of funny to me.  For my 21st birthday, my Mother and  Sister (who is only 5.5 years behind me) made me a white (maybe it was yellow) cake with pale pink frosting (I think it was Strawberry, but it might have just been food color), covered in toasted coconut (I love coconut).  Anywho, nothing really special about the cake itself, just a normal, 2-layer round cake, but the special part was the "decoration" on the cake!  My mother had gone to the liquor store (located in the local grocery store) and bought (I believe) 21 little bottles of all different kinds of booze!  This cake was jam-packed with tiny bottles!  One was Seagram's (I won't ever buy that again)...I mixed it with Diet 7up...it made me ill.  I know there a little bottle of Crown Royal, but in all honesty, I don't remember drinking it.  I am a huge fan of the chocolate liquors...my favorite though is Vermeer! That is one chocolatey drink, served best chilled and straight from the bottle!

Being a "truly" adult child has it advantages...I remember one night while my sister was having a bunch of friends over, we went to the store and bought two mid-sized bottles,  one of Vermeer and the other was an Irish Cream, Coraline's (maybe?) I think.  We went home, chilled both bottles down and that spent that evening playing cribbage and drinking.  We finished off both bottles that night between the two of us!  It is the single night that I ever drank in that type of quantity!  I'm actually pretty surprised I can remember it in such detail, lol.

The reason I bring up the "drinking stories" is I still have two of those tiny bottles of booze tucked up in the cupboard with the rest of the liquor we still have in the house, a tequila that has gone from a caramel color to nearly clear over the years, and a little blue bottle of Skky Vodka.  I'm not sure why I've held onto the Skky for so long, I really like Vodka (mixed with other stuff), but the tequila...ugh, remember up there where I talked about the Seagram's?  Same thing here, tequila is not my friend!

This year's birthday will be a little different from year's past, first, obviously, I'm low-carbing life.  Of course, as I've already mentioned in an earlier post, we are cheating on our diet and going for the $50 per couple Moroccan meal at the Marrakesh!  One of the courses is this yummy pastry thing with egg and cinnamon and all sorts of goodies in it!  That is most likely all the cheating I'll be doing on the day (the entire dinner, not just that one course), but I could go all out if I wanted to!

In my email this morning I had a varying array of birthday emails from all sorts of places where I have joined their "birthday clubs".  I got 15% off at the Godiva store (online or here in town), a free Creation sized ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery, a free Grand Slam from Denny's (this one I might use), a free 12 ounce shake from Arby's, a free Cookie Cake Slice (with drink purchase) from Great American Cookies, and a free scoop of ice cream from Ben & Jerry's along with a $3 off coupon for an ice cream cake!  Yep, you can tell I haven't low-carbed it for very long, lol.  I may use the Denny's one, but only if I can get the "make your own" grand slam so I can have my meat and egg slam sans all those other icky carbs!  Of course, if anyone is in the Spokane area and wants a free ice cream or something...I'd be more than happy to tag along, lol.

As for the crochet projects I have done and/or started...first, my 5 year project!  Several years ago I crocheted scarfs for Christmas presents.  They were made from very soft "frilly" yarn and the feather yarn.  Of course, the labels have long been removed so I can't even begin to guess at what they're made from now.  But, after all the gifts were made, I started one last scarf.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough yarn left to make a whole scarf!  What I had was a 28 inch piece of scarf and no more yarn to match it.  So, it went in the "unfinished project" bag and was forgotten about until I was moving all my bags of yarn into a newly purchased under the bed container that I bought to consolidate all my bags into!  I pulled it out, mulled over it a few times, took out the partially finished row, tried connecting it in a few different ways, and finally decided to just crochet the two ends together and form a cowl from it!  It isn't sized like your typical cowl though, it is 6 inches across and folded in half, measures 14 inches.  I think if I were to make it again on purpose, I would make it 10 inches wide and 12 inches across when folded in half.  It is a bit short as well as a wee too long to stay on if I  pull the back up to cover my ears.  I absolutely love how soft this yarn is though!  I'm going to start hunting for more yarn like this...I don't remember seeing it at the Wal Mart local to me now, but I know I bought it there in Central Oregon, they're craft department is huge there!

The other craft projects I worked on were all granny square stockings.  First, I followed the pattern, using worsted weight yarn and the proper size crochet hook.  For a pattern claiming to be a "mini stocking", 5" by 6.5" was not what I was expecting!  But, it could just be the color choice I'm not in love with...I made it from the yarn I purchased for the oldest nephew's puppy pillow, bright yellow and Banana Berry...very bright!  I made two more following the pattern, but I switched to size 10 cotton crochet thread and a size 6 steel hook.  The first ended up at 2" by 3" and the second was 2" by 2.75", my stitch "tightness" varies from project to project, lol. 

I really like this pattern done in the thread...however, I believe I will shorten the pattern a bit by doing double crochet instead of triples (like these have) and then maybe adding a row or two extra around the outside, these are only 3 rounds, so in DC they will be very tiny!  Also, I'll get red and green thread since these are supposed to be Christmas things.  My pretty color "5109" is a bit too "springy" for that!

I have also been working on my new knitting skill...I can do a knit stitch with no problem and I can Perl as long as I do the whole row without picking up any extra stitches.  I can do a "P,K" pattern as long as I'm super careful about the stitches.  I am in the middle of figuring out how to do a cable stitch, but my stitches are just a little too tight for it to be easily done.

Today is going to be a morning at the shelter, possibly a run to the craft store to look for more yarn.  Followed by some crafting this afternoon with maybe a load of dishes thrown in for good measure.  Then, this weekend and next week my other half is on vacation, so we will be weeding the rest of the backyard and cleaning out the garage!  It will be a busy, busy week!

A Week in Catch Up!

Last Wednesday we got our new dishwasher installed!  It's been a week of happily clean dishes with none of them having to go back for a second trip!  It was getting so bad with the old one that I swear we were running the same set of dishes through 5 or 6 times and they were getting dirtier with each "wash"!  So nice having this beauty in!  The buttons that control it are across the top of the door so it has a nice smooth face, so nice when compared to the gigantic knob on the front of the old one, and so quiet too!  I could go on and on about this new toy...but I won't because there is so much catching up to do!  I really should have sat down during the week to write down what I was up to!

First, I taught myself to knit!  Okay, the book and instructional dvd taught me how to knit...but, I have about 3 inches of a shawl now made out of this pretty pale pink yarn I brought home from my cousin's house!  This was a "sampler" that I was practicing on.  I ripped it out to make the shawl, lol.  I knew I might have an issue with my knit being "tight", I crochet pretty tight too out of habit.  My normal crochet of choice is doilies and such using crochet thread, that has to be done with a tight stitch or it falls apart!  I have managed to pick up a few stitches on my shawl...no idea how!  I think I can "fix" it though without having to start over, I'm 18 rows in!

As far as food goes this past week, I've been discouraged with my weight loss after several weeks (3 of them) of my weight climbing!  I haven't given up on the diet though, instead I upped the hours I've been volunteering walking dogs!  I now go to the Spokane Humane Society twice a week and starting this coming Thursday, I'm going to go volunteer some hours over at Spokanimal (another humane society facility here in town).  Also, since I spend multiple hours outside with the dogs, I'm drinking more water while I'm there. This in itself is a feat, I hate the way our water tastes!  The downside to living in the city is we have "city water" flowing in our taps.  To me, it tastes and smells of the chemicals used to make it "safe" to drink again, yuck!  But, I have been taking a 1+ liter bottle with me that's half full of frozen water and then I fill with cold water just before leaving the house, stays cold out in the 90 degree heat!  Otherwise, food is pretty normal. 

I made Fiery Skewered Shrimp a few nights ago, we were planning on getting big Shrimp from the meat counter, but apparently everyone in town had the same idea on Saturday and they were out of Shrimp!  Good thing too...after we walked off, the butcher went out and grabbed a couple of bags of the frozen shrimps and dumped them in the case!  Yeah, fresh my foot!  I won't be purchasing seafood from the meat counter anymore.  Stay away from anything pre-seasoned too...I used to work next to the butcher when I was working in the deli of a grocery store, the stuff they dowse in seasoning is the stuff they pull off the shelf because it's close to or past the sell by date!  Just get what looks the absolute freshest cuts or find a better butcher...I haven't made the jump yet to buying my meats in an actual butcher shop.  But, that being said, my other half's parents buy most if not all of their meat from a butcher and they have wonderful cuts every time we eat there, even the hot dogs taste better, lol.  Back to my Shrimp though!  I left off the skewers and grilled them in my new grill basket (grilling roasting pan) that I got for 50% off thanks to my birthday present from World Market (I have their "member card").  The bits of green are Pineapple Sage from my "garden", it is so, so yummy this way!  We went on Sunday to Costco and picked up another 2 pound bag of shrimp too...this cooks up so fast that it is quickly becoming a staple meal in our home! 

Last night's meal was nothing too special either, I marinated 4 thin pork chops in what was left of the low carb Teriyaki Sauce I made for the Orange Teriyaki Chicken I made while our nephew was here and a little olive oil (the staple oil in our house).  To go with the chops, I sliced up what was left of an onion (which was actually most of it) an tossed it in a sauce pot with a tablespoon or so of Sesame Oil.  I know you aren't "supposed" to cook with it, but I wanted the added "Asian" flavor in my meal.  I also added a tablespoon or two of butter to give the onions something to brown against.  Once the onions were cooked and slightly browned, I added the Marinade and brought the whole pot up to a boil for a few minutes while the chops were on the grill.  I have a side burner on my grill, so it makes doing sauces like this one very easy to time out with the meat.  Once the chops were cooked through and ever so slightly charred on the fatty end, I brought everything inside and whisked in a bit of Xanthum Gum to thicken the sauce.  It could have used a little more color, but the taste was awesome!    Tonight I was supposed to make Pulled Pork...not hard considered we got pre-cooked pulled pork at Costco that all I have to do is add our own sauce to!  However, I procrastinated my way through the day and didn't get the BBQ sauce made, so it was burgers at Red Robin tonight! 

I am also a card carrying member here, I like it when I can earn free stuff!  So, we both ordered burgers, sans fries (ordered side salads instead, they have a whole mini menu of stuff to go with your burger now!) and the (evil) bun!  You can get it in a lettuce wrap, but be warned, they give you a head of iceberg lettuce that appears to have been cut in half and hallowed out just enough to fit the burger inside!  I just get mine with no bun, it's still enough food to fill me up!  Tonight I got a "Pub Burger" which has Swiss and cheddar cheese, as well as sauteed mushrooms and onions that have been cooked in some sort of beer sauce stuff.  The onions are probably not as low carb friendly as I'd like, but they are yummy!  We sit in the bar when we can...Red Robin is a very "noisy" place to eat otherwise!  So, we over heard someone asking for a bottle of the seasoning salt.  Curious at what the carbs were like, I flipped the table bottle around and low and behold, no carbs!  The best part about the fries was getting to use this salt...neither of us really "liked" the fries, I don't think, but this stuff is good!  Since we knew one of our burgers was going to be free tonight, we asked what they cost...$3!  Yep, that bottle in the photo went home with me!  I'm going to try my hand at roasting some cauliflower and making it taste kinda sorta like fries, I'm also going to cook with it...Red Robin seasoned Shrimp anyone?  After dinner tonight, I made the batch of BBQ Sauce for tomorrow's dinner, no excuses now, just have to warm it all up tomorrow!  I may make some Oopsie rolls so we can make pulled pork sandwiches, but I really haven't had any luck making those yet...I think I need to let them bake longer or something.

I mentioned earlier that I upped the time I'm spending at the shelter, I just can't get enough of these sweet pups!  The cat room, well that's another story!  Not that I don't like the cats...I actually am planning on doing the majority of my volunteering at Spokanimal in the cat room, but the room itself is the issue for me.  There are two cat rooms at SHS, one is full of cages, each cat in their own "cell".  The second room (currently called Malibu Beach) is a large open room where the cats are free to roam about and interact with each other, cats earn a stay at the beach a few ways, first are the cats that came in sick and had to spend time in both isolation rooms (not open to the public and most volunteers are even banned from accessing them), once they have fought through their illness, they get to spend some time relaxing and getting a good stretch-out.  Others are brought in from the first cat room if they have been there a while (mini vacation while they look for a forever home).  Malibu Beach has lots of shelves in it, this is what I don't like about it!  If you kept up with my head injury tally during the construction of the chicken coop (built under the deck with a 5'1" door opening by your's truly who stands 5'6" tall...), you can add another to the tally!  I was picking up a kitten to cuddle after my shift last Thursday and stood up while my head was directly under a shelf that was chest height off the ground!  My head still hurts!

As for the dogs though, we have been having lots of fun!  I like going mid-week when there aren't a whole lot of "other" people running about, it means I can use the play yards without worrying about who is in the yard next to me (we are asked to avoid taking dogs in next to potential adopters because the dogs know us and loose interest in the "new" people quickly).  That means lots of time in the pools for the dogs!  Not all of them like going in, but they all enjoy the free access to that amount of cool water on a hot day!  On Monday I ended up taking 10 dogs for "walks"...which usually translated into running for a play yard, or meandering through the grass peeing on everything we came across (the dogs, not me) and heading straight for one of the three yards, all equipped with small swimming pools and mostly grass where the dogs can go off leash and just run around and play and do "dog things".  Last Thursday, it seemed like all of them wanted to play ball, or rather chew them into small pieces...I have never seen a dog demolish a tennis ball so fast!

Dudley!

Or a t-shirt for that matter...Dudley, the black lab/hound mix I have posted photos of before loves, loves, loves his tennis ball!  He likes playing fetch, but he doesn't really like giving up his ball.  I learned that lesson the hard way, first I didn't throw the ball fast enough and he nipped my hand (he missed the ball that was in the hand), the second time (yup, I kept playing with him), he lunged as I brought the ball up to throw and bit down on my shirt!  Luckily, it wasn't one of my "good" shirts, it was however, my brand new volunteer shirt that I had only worn twice before Thursday!  It is now sporting a big hole and I have a second shirt.  He is the sweetest dog ever, so easy to walk!  He also has the "typical" hound bark!  He spent a good portion of Monday just sitting next to his ball making "hound noises"!  Maybe it's just me...but this boy is so sweet!  He didn't really want much to do with the water, which reminds me of both of my Black labs (very not typical of a lab)!  Between my taking him out on Thursday and again on Monday, nobody took Dudley out of the kennels!  Shame on the rest of the volunteers!  I hear so many of them say they don't walk the labs "because everyone else is" and if they would actually look at the logs, none of them got walked between my taking them out!

Charley!

Then there's Charley!  Charley is most certainly a "typical" lab!  He pulled me so fast to get into the play yard!  He is no spring chicken either, Charley is roughly 8-9 years old!  But, he really loves hanging out in the pool on a hot day!  Charley didn't get walked for 10 days, according to the logs, before I took him out last Thursday...after my noting how much he loved the pools, he got a walk at least once a day!  He has bloody sores on all 4 paws and his tail is just mangled from spending so much time in a shelter kennel...this sweet old guy really needs a home with a nice soft bed for him to relax on!

Oso!

The last "dog" photo I have from this week is of "Oso"!  Oso is a pit bull terrier mix, super sweet and almost totally white!  Oso has a bad case of "happy tail" going too from spending so much time in the kennels.  I forget when he got there, but I do know he was born in September 2010 and has spent most of his life living in the shelter kennel!  He so, so sweet too!  In this photo, he was stretching out against the fence while Buddy was on the other side trying his best to get Oso to play with him!  Oso isn't really sure what to make of other dogs, but he loves people!  He's still a puppy too!

A few other things yet to note...my birthday, yup, a decade ago (in 10 days) I became old enough to drink alcohol legally!  We are going to cheat on the diet for dinner that night, we are going to go to the Marrakesh, a Moroccan restaurant where you sit on pillows on the floor and eat your shared meal with your fingers!  I met the owner, a friendly man who is from Egypt during my year at Spokane Falls Community College.  We haven't had the opportunity to visit his new location yet, but are really looking forward to it!

Henrietta, she looks mad here...

Also, the chickens are getting older too!  Tomorrow marks their 18 week hatch date!  I'm hoping to see eggs any day now, but know it might be another month before I know "for sure" they are all girls.  Either way, the nest box is going in the coop tomorrow!  I got a few god photos of them yesterday to share, the big red combs on Henri and Gerty have me a little worried, lol.

Clyde

Gerty, still loves cameras and cuddles...