TGIF!

Today was a bit of a busy day for me. It always is when the boys go to the groomers it seems. They are sporting matching bandannas around their little necks as a result of their grooming visit.

While I was driving home from dropping off the boys I got flipped the bird in traffic. It amazes me how people do that so randomly. It also amazes me that I've been flipped the bird twice in the last month. I have quite a record going! And both times it was the other driver that was in the wrong! Completely in the wrong yet I got flipped off! Geesh! I was in the left lane about to go through a freeway intersection. The guy in front of me stopped at a GREEN light to make a U-turn. There's signs posted no U-turn due to the freeway off ramp and entrance ramp. But he was set on making his U-turn and holding up the entire left lane to do so. I've never seen that before. I've seen people make U-turns in places where U-turns aren't technically allowed but yet it's not a busy intersection and you can get by doing it. This is a freeway intersection the off-ramp was across 3 lanes of traffic to the left of my lane and the entrance ramp was on the far right of my lane. And the guy is trying to make a U-turn from the left lane right in front of the off-ramp! It was insane!!!!!!

I'm finally feeling more like my normal self. Yay!!! I'm looking forward to the weekend which is due to kick off in just a little while for us! Lots of new movies came out today. But wouldn't you know the ones I'm most interested in didn't fair so well in the review department. I would like to see "The Smurfs" but I'm worried it will be lame. So we'll see if we make the movie theater scene this weekend or not.

A tropical storm is headed for Texas, last I heard forecasters weren't sure which section of Texas the storm would turn towards. I'm all for some rain! So hopefully we'll get a little bit of the leftover rain from the tropical storm.

Running On Fumes!

I haven't been feeling well this week as I mentioned in my last post. I've stayed in as much as possible. I finally got out a little yesterday due to the fact that the boys were out of food and I needed more meds. Well I forgot how low my gas tank was last time I drove. I got in my SUV and started driving I soon looked down to notice the "low gas" light was on. My SUV has a count down feature on it that counts down how many miles you can go before running out of gas. Before making my first stop at Petsmart I look at the count down which says 10 miles to go. After the stop at Petsmart I notice the countdown has gone away which happens when the gas situation gets even more dire.

The first gas station I came to was way too much I knew I could get a better price if I went down the way. So there I was quickly calculating in my head how far it was to the other station I knew of. I decided to try to get to the other station. It was an intense drive! But I made it. Once I gassed up my SUV the countdown on my dashboard came back on. I happened to notice while it was re-calculating after getting it's much needed gas up it flashed a 2. Meaning that I had 2 more miles to go before running out of gas. Without a doubt that is the closest I've come to running out of gas I believe. That's what I call taking running on fumes to the max! Geesh! I will try my hardest to not run that low on gas again.

Gas prices in my area are very bizarre, you can find a 20 to 25 cent difference just going down the way. Normally the price will differ a couple pennies not 25 cents. There's 2 Chevrons in the area that mystify me as to how they stay in business. I suppose it's all about their location because both Chevrons are located on off-ramps of 2 nearby freeways.

Memorable Walk!

My boyfriend is currently on a Blockbuster run meanwhile I decided to take the boys for their early evening walk. Just moments into the walk Cody started sobbing. I don't know if a bug flew at him and he ate it accidentally. I have no clue. All I know is that I felt ridiculous walking a dog that was sobbing the whole time. As soon as we got to some nice grassy areas he couldn't stop rubbing himself in the grass. So picture a sobbing and now a frantically grass rubbing dog. What a sight! As soon as I told the boys it was time to turn around to go back home Cody was off to the races, attempting to pull Simon and I in the direction of home as quick as he could.

Well I still have no clue what was so troubling to him while we were on the walk. He seems fine now. What a memorable walk!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon!

A lazy Sunday afternoon here in Big D. I'm not feeling very well today. This is an odd time of the year for me to be under the weather. I can't remember the last time I got sick during the summer. Just sitting around watching tennis, live from Atlanta. Two American players battling it out in the Atlanta Championship finals.

We watched the movie Arthur last night. A re-make of the one with Dudley Moore years ago. Finally a silly goofy movie that we could just laugh at. In our opinions Hollywood has been short on laughter of late.

Despite how I'm feeling I still look forward to getting in the kitchen to make dinner later. All weekend long I've planned on making this Mexican chicken dish. What can I say?...It's those little things that excite me!

I will end with another thing that excites me.....I'm truly excited the NFL lockout will likely end tomorrow. It appears the players will accept the owners deal. It's going to be a fast and furious week for teams to get caught up and sign players/free agents. I can only imagine the dramatic competition that will occur to sign free agents. It will be interesting! I hope my Cards sign a quarterback!

Porcupine Meatball Night!

One of my favorite meals to make is meatballs. Mainly because you can change it up each time you make them. Coincidentally my first big dinner I learned to prepare with the help of my grandmother was porcupine meatballs. For those that don't know a porcupine meatball gets the name because you mix in rice to your meatballs when putting them together.

Last night I made porcupine meatballs. I wish I could share my recipe for them but over the years I have drastically enhanced my grandmother's recipe. I don't measure anything that goes into them I simply toss the flavors I'm looking to have for that particular meatball night. I'm never afraid to mix them up using different things each time. Last night was the first time I used milk in the mix. I saw a chef using buttermilk on the Food Network for a meatloaf so I thought I'd try milk for my meatballs. The other thing I did was bake them for half of their cooking time. You wouldn't believe how much oil came off those meatballs. Oils that we would normally be eating if I had prepared them completely in the electric skillet like I normally do. So huge tip when preparing meatballs put them in the oven for about 15 minutes then finish cooking them with whatever sauce you are preparing. I got quite creative last night! I was proud of myself. The thing I like about porcupine meatballs is the rice in them. So if you can make a plentiful veggie based sauce with them you have a complete meal. Your meat, your starch and your veggies all in one pot! A one pot meal as Rachael Ray would say!

I used tomato juice as my base because that's what my grandmother used. Then I put a can of diced tomatoes along with some wedged pieces of zucchini, 2 handfuls of peas, and plenty of half rings of onion with extra rice thrown in to the sauce to cook with the porcupine meatballs and tomato-based veggie sauce. It was excellent. My boyfriend went back for seconds! I will certainly use the same spices and preparation method in the future! Anybody getting hungry?...I am! It's dinner time here!

Smoke Alarm and a Disappearing Cody!

I set off the smoke detector tonight while preparing dinner. I didn't burn anything but the alarm still sounded. Certain types of food in the oven make it sound soon after I open the oven door to check on the food. Weird! The smoke detector is just way too close to the kitchen in this apartment. Soon after I got the smoke detector to stop I looked around to notice I only had one dog in the living room area. I waited a few moments thinking Cody would reappear on his own. I called his name a couple of times but still no Cody in sight. Finally I got to a place with the meal preparation where I could go look for him. I found him in the spare room almost all the way under the bed. Just his tushy was visible from where I stood. I couldn't help but chuckle quietly to myself. I then convinced him to get out from under the bed. Which wasn't easy...might I add! He has remained close to me for most of the night.

He's always been easily frightened but I think since that awful hail/tornado storm back in May he is even more easily frightened. Poor little guy! Below is a pic of Cody hiding under the bed...the exact view I got when I entered the room to find him.

Waiting and Waiting!

My complex is currently being painted. This has been somewhat of a long process. I thought it would go much faster. I now fully understand all the little steps to painting a large complex. Today I was hoping my building would be done with the painting process. I've been at home all day waiting for painters to come by to paint my apartment doors. It's slightly annoying spending my Saturday sitting at home. Furthermore it's after 5 now so I think the painters have gone home and my door still hasn't been painted. Which ultimately means there will be another day that I will have to sit at home to wait for painters to come by. I just hope it's during the week and not on the weekend. It's been hard to stay at home today. I know everyone can sympathise with me it's not fun waiting around for painters/repair people.

I generally like my complex I live at. Oops, WE live at. Gotta include the boys! They live here too! Anyway, everyone has little complaints from time to time about where they live. It's normal! So overlooking the power issues and water issues that have occurred the owners take good care of their buildings. However, if I was a prospective resident out doing my apartment search I'm not sure I would lease here. Why? The leasing staff gives a bad impression in my opinion. I'm sure 98% of the men in the world would not agree with me! But as a women every time I go in the office I can't help but wonder if the staff is prematurely dressed for their second jobs as cocktail waitresses. Or perhaps they're heading straight to the club once work is out so to save time they've already dressed for the club. It's disgusting! I've also witnessed how the women in the office give great service to any man that walks in while a female resident must wait and wait and wait. Oh and did I mention wait some more! I actually left one day they made me wait so long while they helped guy after guy that walked in. Can you tell I just came from the office area of my complex? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw one of the leasing agents just a little bit ago. All I can say is why isn't there a dress code or at least some appropriate standards! I'm over the stilettos. I've gotten used to seeing the women in Dallas in stilettos. So I can overlook the stripper shoes but otherwise some standards would be nice!

That's it that's the end of my complaints for the day! LOL!!! All smiles!

Don't Mess With Simon!

Look at that sweet face! Does this little guy look intimidating? I certainly don't think so. However most have heard the phrase "Don't mess with Texas". Well that phrase can sometimes be changed to "Don't mess with Simon"! He is a rottweiler trapped in a pug body! Actually he doesn't act like a rottweiler all the time. But when he's out on his walk and other dogs appear to be threatening him or his family he's ready to take on anyone. He doesn't care the size of his opponent either.

Early yesterday evening I took the boys out for a short walk. Now one of my biggest pet peeves is dog owners that feel it's unnecessary to put their dog(s) on a leash. It's an epidemic in this complex. It's especially bizarre to me when people that own small dogs don't put them on a leash. Anyway, back to my story. I'm walking the boys all of a sudden an apartment door nearby opens 2 small dogs rush out then the owner appears. Notice the chain of events I just explained the dogs BEFORE the owner appeared. Well don't mess with Simon! He immediately steps into action. He gave a warning to the first dog that approached him by way of a lunge and slight nip. Then the next dog approached him which received the same warning of the previous dog. Soon the owner that was on the phone while all this was going on was able to get her dogs attention and usher them back inside their apartment.

Well don't mess with Texas, don't mess with Simon and don't mess with a pug mommie. I mumbled under my breath, "That's what a leash is for." The other dog owner heard me and said, "Excuse me?". I boldly said, "It's called a leash!", as I pointed to the 2 leashes in my left hand. That woman was speechless for a second then finally responded by explaining to me that her dogs slipped out while she was on the phone. I'm thinking yeah right! Her dogs appeared long before she appeared, someone had to open the door for them. Plus it sounded weird that she would want to stand in the heat to chat on the phone. I then told the woman, "Well then you should be more careful." She gave a big sigh of disbelief to which I responded, "Not my problem!" as we walked away.

I was actually proud of myself for saying something at all. It's not typically my nature. It gets annoying to deal with these dogs and owners that never feel the need to leash their pet. I've seen that particular lady let her dogs out of her apartment just like she did last night. Needless to say I didn't believe her explanation of the dogs accidentally got out. I guess there's just a difference in pet owners. There's the owners that leash up their dogs and take them for a WALK then there's the owners that don't want to be bothered by walking the dogs so they simply walk to the front door and let their dog out to go do his/her business.

Power Outage Means Terrified Cody!

Rough afternoon for Cody! I have no clue why our complex has so many power issues. It just does! Rather frequently too! I can't even blame the power issues on a storm it's completely clear skies outside.

Here's the thing about the power going out, the building alarm sounds every time the power goes out which Cody hates. While the power is out the building alarm gives off one sharp beep periodically. Once the power is restored we won't miss it coming back on because the alarm sounds once again for a good long while. I get that the alarm is tied into the power but it's still somewhat baffling that they have those types of alarms installed in this complex. First place I've lived in that had alarms tied into the power source.

So this afternoon the power goes out. I was working at my computer at the time. Not good timing for a power outage in my opinion. In Cody's opinion there's never a good time for a power outage. The alarm sounds Cody gets terrified runs to me instantly. He's not happy being at my feet either when that alarm sounds he must get to my lap. He's completely out of breath due to his fear, he begins clinging to me. The power soon comes back only to go out about 10 minutes later. Well Cody never got over being terrifed in the first place so he didn't have to run to me the 2nd time the power went out he remained on my lap trembling with fear and still somewhat out of breath. Power comes back then goes out again. It was nearly time for the boys to be fed their dinner when the power was playing this little on and off game so I distracted them with food then a walk. Poor little guy could hardly wait to get out of the house when I mentioned going outside. Once outside he still acted scared and unsure of things. By the time we got back from our walk the power was back and it's stayed on for the last 45 minutes so hopefully that's the end of the power issues for at least awhile.

Cody is interesting, he's the first one to bark at any noise. Cody's so quick to bark at any little noise I sometimes dismiss his bark and typically don't get concerned unless I hear Simon join in. Yet he's the first one to run to his mommie when fear hits him!

The Silliness That Is My Sime!

A while back I made a post about all the silliness that is my Cody. Well it's Simon's turn for a post of the same. Oh the joys of having 2 little pugs that are so uniquely different!

1) Sous-chef extraordinaire! If there’s food being prepared Simon is there. He must oversee the process or should I say he must keep a close eye for anything to drop to the floor. Now typically Simon is accustom to my routine and he stays out of the way about 75% of the time. There are those days though when he just can’t help but get too close to the action.

2) The Noisy Sleeper! Most dogs can pick up lots of noises around them, never achieving a deep sleep. Simon isn't like most dogs though, he is very capable of achieving a deep sleep. Once in a deep sleep you might soon hear the sound of loud snoring or bubble blowing or muffled barking. You may also observe him jerking around. No clue what wild rides he goes on during his dreaming process but the boy can surely capture attention with his sleeping noises. I think the bubble blowing is my favorite. He seriously sounds like he's underwater making bubbles. Video of Simon in a deep sleep would be entertaining to get. We sometimes make up different scenarios that he might be dreaming about when we hear him doing his sleeping noises.

3) The Coyote and Bear Down Stretches! This little pug just stretches in weird silly ways. One of his stretches looks like he's imitating a coyote howling at the moon. He sits up and extends his neck far up towards the ceiling, head tilted up in the air. The perfect howling coyote stance but he doesn't howl thank goodness! He also has a stretch which I call the "bear down" stretch. Obviously I got the idea for the "bear down" term from U of A. His front legs go out as far as he can extend them while his head and body bow to the ground meanwhile his little tushy is sticking straight up in the air. Silly pug!

4) Loyal to his gorilla! The boys used to have 2 gorillas, one was a rusty brownish color and one is black. The rusty brown “gilla” (as I termed it) had an unfortunate accident thanks to my cousin Nick and the boys! So Simon latched on to the black gilla. That gorilla has been his go-to toy for years and years. No other toys have received as much of Simon’s attention as the gillas. Now that we’re down to just the black gilla, it’s been patched up with a needle and thread numerous times. Each time it gets worked on Simon waits patiently watching every move of the needle on his gilla. Gilla at this present moment has seen much better days I’m currently trying to wean Simon from his faithful friend gilla. I have yet after all these years to find another toy that he loves as much as gilla!

5) My little party animal! When it’s a special occasion like New Year’s I’ve always allowed the boys a little lap or two of some bubbly. For many years the bubbly was only sparkling apple cider. Simon was always anxious to get some of the cider. Cody on the other hand has always assumed the apple cider might poison him so he stays far away. This year we decided to give the boys champagne(real bubbly). We not only got a very excited Simon that gave us his signature eyes of anticipation but once he got a taste he followed the glass with his eyes and hopped back and forth on his feet. It was the eyes of anticipation plus a little dance of anticipation. There’s no doubt in my mind he could possibly become a lush if given the chance.

6) Speedy Simon! When he gets hyper…look out! Ears go back, body gets super low to the ground and off he goes trying desperately not to run into anything. Most of the time though there’s a pug collision because Cody is unsure what his nut of a little brother is doing and he gets in his way. There's been many times at the dog park where Simon will lead a pack of dogs on a good ol' fashioned chase. Chasing each other from one end of the park to the other. Most people that witness speedy Simon are rather in awe of such a fast paced pug. Pugs aren't known for speed! What can I say? That's my little Sime!

7) Kissing Bandit! My mom gave Simon the nickname “kissing bandit”. Sime can’t handle being kissed and not reciprocating. It’s just not in his nature! If you kiss him he’s going to kiss you back. You’ve been warned!

8) The Ultimate Anticipator! Forgive the made-up "anticipator" word but it accurately describes Simon. He's all about anticipating the next event of his day. When it's time to eat he arrives in the kitchen licking his lips and spinning in a circle once I start pouring his food. He stares at me when he anticipates it's time for his walk or a night time treat. He simply knows what time of day it is at all times! I'm convinced he has a palm-pilot somewhere on him that keeps him up to date with the daily happenings. LOL! My mom and I have joked for years about Simon's secret palm pilot!

9) He's a reckless daredevil! Sometimes it's funny and sometimes it isn't. There is nothing dainty about my little reckless daredevil. During our move to Texas we weren't on the road long before Simon decided he needed to take a tour of the many boxes piled high in the SUV. He made his way over each and every box not concerned with how many times he lost his balance while I was driving. It wasn't long before he decided to settle himself on top of an unstable box. I know he thought he was in a good place but I disagreed. I pulled off the freeway and got him out of the mountain of boxes. It doesn’t matter what it is he’s just reckless. He also doesn't give a second thought to climbing on rock work at our complex. When it comes time to get off that rock work once again no thought process concerning his safety exists he recklessly jumps towards the ground. I certainly have to watch him close!

10) Flopping Fish Routine. I love the flopping fish routine! Most dogs when they have an itchy back they roll over on their back and move to get that itch. Simon has a little bit of a different approach. He literally flops himself down to the ground then flops from one side to the other in order to get that hard to reach itch taken care of. When I was a kid and we went fishing I remember looking into this bucket that contained all the fish we had caught. As I was peering into the bucket a fish flopped himself up out of the bucket and landed at my feet. I began screaming, it wasn't long before my grandpa stopped fishing to come pick up the flopping fish and return it to the bucket of water. Anyway, the first time I saw Simon flop from side to side to rub his back it triggered that flopping fish memory for me. Hence, the term flopping fish routine!

Various Thoughts!

Well TV-wise I've been glued to the outrage over the Casey Anthony trial. I won't say too much about it other than...the jury system in America is somewhat broken. I've also been keeping up with the Women's World Cup. So America will face most likely Japan. Japan is currently winning against Sweden. Oh I've also watched some of the Tour de France. Geez, I can't believe how many crashes there's been this year. Spectators stupidly standing in the middle of the road got hit by the cyclists and a cyclist got hit by a car doing photography of the race.

My mom recently sent the boys some Dingo bones. The boys love Dingo bones but Dingo bones are not sold here so grammie to the rescue. These bones made my boyfriend and I laugh a little and question whether or not my mom has ever met hungry-hungry Simon? She sent them the mini bones. I was thinking Simon would have his gone in 1 flat second. It did last him longer than I thought it would last him. He was busy with his bone all while we were having dinner last night. It lasted Cody twice as long! As it appears grammie knew what she was doing after all. It did last him a reasonable amount of time!

I'll end with a short silly story. I went to the grocery store very quick earlier today. I was getting some fruit. I had a plastic bag I was loading my plums into. I soon noticed the weight of my bag hadn't changed any. I glanced down to see no plums in my bag. I looked closer to discover the bag had a hole in it, each plum was falling right through the bottom the second I placed it in the bag. I felt like a dork! I guess the plums I put in the bag before realizing it had a hole in it just fell to the ground in a way that I didn't even notice.

Festive Week!

It's been a festive week. Fourth of July on Monday then my boyfriend's birthday on Wednesday. The 4th was awesome. We watched a movie while having some all-American food!!Then we went down the street to the best fireworks display I've ever seen. Of course coming from AZ where fireworks are minimal, I'm not hard to please when it comes to fireworks. It was nice outside too. Not too hot, it was comfortable sitting out there with a nice breeze and we were so close to the action!

From my perspective my boyfriend's birthday went well. Lots of fun. It felt like we were on vacation on Wednesday. We enjoyed going to brunch, a little shopping, a movie, Red Lobster for dinner and of course cake #2 for dessert after opening gifts. While at Red Lobster my main focus was shrimp. I'm not as adventurous as I wish I could be when it comes to seafood but I know I love shrimp. I did however, try some crab legs and lobster tail. The lobster tail was great, the crab legs were good just a little more work than I'm willing to do when it comes to eating my food.

By the time we were done with dinner I was certainly getting anxious for him to open my main gift. He was surprised at what I got him. Which is exactly what I wanted. Last year I got him a new cell phone but his cell phone company spoiled the surprise of the gift just days before because they sent him an email congratulating him on his new cell phone. Geez! This year the element of surprise was definitely there!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone has a good 4th! We are currently deciding what to do tonight. Thinking about going downtown for some fireworks or maybe even heading out to Fort Worth. We had a party yesterday for my boyfriend's birthday. His birthday is actually coming up this Wednesday but we already had a party with his family to celebrate. I'm happy to report the party was a great success. Good food, good company, and tons of laughing. I truly enjoyed hearing the loud eruptions of laughter! Oh and the cake turned out pretty good too!

Cody loved having so much company around to pet him. Simon loved how much food was being prepared in the kitchen. The boys were a bit annoying when it came time to eat but they mellowed out as the party went on. Now tonight we turn our attention to celebrating America's birthday. Then back to celebrating my boyfriend's birthday by Wednesday! :)

Judging by the amount of cake we have leftover I'm thinking it's going to be long gone by Wednesday. Undecided to make another cake or buy a small one or just insist on dessert when we go out to dinner on Wednesday night. We'll see!

Happy 4th to all!!!!

Here's a pic of the cake I made for my boyfriend! Tennis-themed! My original decorating idea didn't work so this was plan B!