Simon's Transformation!

Is Simon a pug? A pig? He does make some oinking noises from time to time when looking hard for something to eat. And long ago I established he's got some rottweiler tendencies. He's a good protector when he needs to be. Lately I've been thinking he's transforming into a rooster. For the last 6 or 7 months he wakes up at the crack of dawn giving off a few muffled yet sleep disturbing barks. Here's the somewhat funny part....he doesn't get out of bed to bark. He lays in his bed, head still down when he gives off his "rooster crow-bark". It's a bit strange.


I've tried getting upset with him so he'll get the hint this isn't an acceptable time of the day to be barking. I've tried keeping him up later thinking that will help him sleep in, it doesn't. I've tried all I can think of. Since it's not getting light out as early anymore it has gotten better, he isn't quite as early with his rooster crow-bark but he's still doing it. I just wish I could break him of this new habit he's developed. I'm still hopeful that the colder the mornings get the more he'll enjoy his bed, feeling no need to bark.

When he first started this I assumed he barked because he was startled by noise from the downstairs neighbors. However, they moved out months ago and he's still barking almost every morning. Oh how I miss the good ole days when Simon loved to sleep in and was more courteous to his mommie! Sime, Sime, my dear sweet Rooster Sime! Lol!

Christmas Time Arrives!

I hope everyone had a great Turkey day! We did! We truly enjoyed the whole Thanksgiving weekend. My boyfriend had Friday off so that made it extra nice! The dishes that I made for Thanksgiving were all well received! The cake turned out awesome! I was very happy with my rocky road inspired cake! I was even asked to make another one for Christmas.

I plan on decorating tonight for Christmas. I can hardly wait to get out my decorations. There's this one rolly-poley Santa that fascinates Simon every year. Since it's got a rounded bottom it doesn't fall over when you bump into it, that's the part that's fascinating to him.

I'm excited about Christmas already! I'm currently mulling over what to get my boyfriend. I have ideas, it's just deciding what to go with. The boys and Storm are easy-breezy to shop for!

Another thing I look forward to this time of year are the holiday movies. I definitely have a few movies I want to go see. Arthur Christmas is top on my list! I heard about Arthur Christmas back in October and told my boyfriend about it at that point. I also must find time to watch Home Alone, it's one of my own personal Christmas traditions. I hope to get in Home Alone 1 and 2 this year!

Safe to say, I'm already well into the Christmas spirit!

Turkey Day Errands!

Earlier today I felt almost like Santa Claus. I made my list and I checked it twice. However, my list was for groceries. I had this brilliant idea to get my turkey day shopping out of the way today versus waiting until tomorrow. Tomorrow the stores will be slammed! I'm happy to report I won't be one of the thousands rather millions of people that will grace the doors of a nearby grocery store tomorrow...I hope! As long as I didn't forget anything that is! Like I said I've checked my list twice before I went and once after I got home. So I think I'm set!

We will be taking an appetizer, a side dish, and a dessert to Thanksgiving with my boyfriend's family. For the last two years I have baked an apple pie. I even got an early plan in my head as to the things I wanted to do different with this year's apple pie. But then in is family email I noticed that his family was requesting a cake for dessert too. So cake it is! I'm more comfortable baking cakes! I will be trying something new with this cake and hopefully it all turns out well. Here's the worst part about baking a pie, there's no sampling it or checking to see if it's done. With a cake you can taste the batter to get an idea of the finished product. Plus there's plenty of ways to make sure a cake is done. With an apple pie until it is sliced up you can't tell if the apples are really as tender as you want them. Pies can be tricky, so I'm certainly not disappointed I don't have to deal with that concern. For the cake the idea of a rocky road inspired cake rolled through my head. After lots of looking through recipes nothing completely fit my cake idea, there was similar stuff but I'll still have to improvise to attempt to make what I was envisioning. Despite the fact that rocky road ice cream is typically made with almonds, I will be using pecans...it's a Texas fave and it's what my mom sends us. Pecans it is! A little bit of AZ will be included in this cake! No fancy decorations on top I think it will look delicious if it can all turn out the way I'm picturing it in my head! Wish me luck!

As for the appetizer and side dish, we'll take a spinach dip and a green bean casserole. I've made French's version of green bean casserole many times as that is the recipe my mom has used for numerous years. Last year I used a new recipe I found and this year I will be using another new recipe. This year the recipe seems like a great combo of some fresh elements with some canned elements. We'll see how it goes! My spinach dip I especially look forward to making. I use elements of 2 different recipes for my spinach dip, so much fun to make! I had to go to 2 stores before I found the right bread that I use to serve it inside of, other than that small issue my shopping was a breeze.

I think I was brilliant by going to Target and getting all items I could then going to a grocery store just for produce items on my list. I figured the grocery store would be busy and Target would not be too bad. Both were rather easy to get in and get out of! Tomorrow won't be the same! The only bad news of the day is that I spent my afternoon tending to the "Human" errands so the trip to Petsmart was postponed until tomorrow. Sorry Sime! But I did get you some treats while at Target so you'll survive!

Chilly Big D!

Whew! Finally done with the cleansing diet. Though I'm happy to be done with it. There's a certain amount of training that's occurred during the 10 days of it so now everything I eat that I haven't been eating I feel guilty about. I had a tuna sandwich for lunch and I currently can't stop feeling as though I cheated on my diet. All I had was a tuna sandwich too. No chips, no wheat thins, nothing with it...just the sandwich and I have nothing but guilt. Geez! Not sure why but this time of doing the cleansing diet was super hard for me. Oh sure I had my good days but I had more bad days then I remember having in the past when I've done it.

It's a chilly day here in Big D! Cloudy skies overhead and light rain off and on. I had to stop messing with the lighter jackets and pull out my winter coat today. Oh get this, the forecast for yesterday claimed we would experience unseasonal temps. It was supposed to be 80 degrees yesterday. To this news Cody immediately went to the closet to pull out his swim trunks and then asked for some sunscreen SPF 30. While outside early yesterday I was skeptical about the temp hike as I glanced at the cloud cover over us. By the time we walked out of church we thought maybe there was a possibility it could burn off and warm up to the predicted 80 degrees allowing Cody to bask in the sun. But wait, just about 45 minutes later we came outside to immediately notice the temps had gone the other way. It was suddenly cooler. I knew at that point the 80 degree warm-up was a farce. There was no chance the temps were climbing up that high. As the day rounded out we had nothing but cloudy skies and spotty rain. I doubt the temp got up to 65. Needless to say Cody's swim trunks have once again been put back in the closet! LOL!

For most of November our weather has been unpredictable. Then again that's the best way to describe Dallas any time of the year. Still though the weather can't decide if it wants us to experience full blown winter or tease us with some perfect days. I have a feeling as we inch closer and closer to December winter temps will be here to stay and it will stop giving us those perfect days mixed in with colder days. Today is the perfect beef stew and cornbread day! Yum! Too bad we won't be having anything like that!

Halfway Done!

There's a song called "Halfway Gone" by Lifehouse. My boyfriend was making up his own version of the song and calling it "Halfway Done" last night as we are halfway done with this cleansing diet. Woo-hoo!

Here's my greatest tip if anyone else should ever try this diet....eat very soon after you get up in the morning. I'm not saying you have to run from bed to the kitchen but soon after getting up eat. The first 2 days I did alright no major energy difference. By the time day 3 came around I was feeling it. And oh my goodness day 4....I hit a wall, figuratively! I felt so drained in the morning it was ridiculous. I think if I had taken time to eat something or make my breakfast smoothie I wouldn't have felt so run down. Once Monday arrived I felt better in the morning than on Sunday morning but still had some energy problems. The energy difference for me is certainly felt the most in the morning hours.

Today and now that we're officially starting the second half, so to speak, of the diet my body is a little more used to not getting as much energy from food. I still don't have my normal energy amount and I know I won't until after this diet is done. The main thing is waiting for your body to adjust which happened for me during days 3 and 4. I'm hopeful that it will be somewhat smooth sailing from now until the end on Saturday night. This is certainly not an easy diet.

I am proud of myself for making a new veggie last night for dinner. I try hard to change it up a bit so we don't get too bored. Tall order on this type of diet but I'm proud to say I did something new for the first time last night....I sauteed fresh green beans and mushrooms with some garlic. I thought they turned out so well I plan on repeating the combo again soon.

Here's an interesting tidbit about this diet....I've never been on a diet that has made me think and dream about food as much as this one does. Each night I dream about food. I wake up recalling my dream I had about pancakes or pizza or whatever. Last time we did this diet I certainly thought about food a lot but I didn't dream about it! Bizarre!

Tonight I plan on looking through recipes for pies and other Thanksgiving fare as I prepare to figure out what to make for Thanksgiving. Hopefully looking through such yummy recipes isn't too much torture. I don't think it will be, I'm a focused person. Can't help but wonder though what kind of pie I will be dreaming about tonight?

This Past Sports Weekend!

First I must mention that this past Sunday my Cards beat the Eagles! What the heck? Didn't see that one coming? Awesome! I didn't pick them on either of my 2 pick sheets but it was a game I very happily marked wrong! Everyone will be happy to know that both pugs did their victory dances. Not sure which one dances better but Simon has some nice moves! LOL!

Too bad ASU didn't win this past weekend. I watched the game. I hung in there with them to the bitter end. And bitter it was! Back to back Saturday nightmares. Did anyone catch the upset of the weekend? TCU beat Boise State messing up Boise State's perfect record. Sweet!

It's kind of funny how my boyfriend and I root for each others teams. Of course, I claim all TX teams since I live here. I live in Dallas, I can't not root for the Cowboys or the Mavs or the Rangers. But I also know that come Sunday if the Cowboys win my boyfriend will be in a better mood. The Cards aren't doing too well this year so I can handle a Cardinal loss better than a Sun Devil loss this season. I'm not the happiest of campers when the Sun Devils lose. Just ask my boyfriend! Although I coped with their disappointing collapse this weekend alright. I think!

Off-Leash Time, Tae-Bo, and the Pugs Rumble!

The day started off crazy windy. We took the boys to the small off-leash dog area today. Cody had fun. He was totally into playing ball! Simon kept doing things that he's not supposed to do. In the end, I got fed up with Simon and told him his off-leash experience was over. I was content with making him sit in a makeshift time-out for awhile then minutes later we decided to end the off-leash time since it was getting cold and we needed to walk back.


My boyfriend and I worked out together doing tae-bo today. I haven't done tae-bo in ages. I used to do tae-bo as my main workout years ago. The last time I did tae-bo it was on VHS. Yeah, so it's been awhile. We'll see how sore we both are tomorrow! I'm sure I'll be a little sore but at least I'm no stranger to working out so the soreness shouldn't be too bad. We did a "bootcamp" style workout. The entire class on the DVD was dressed in army fatigues. It was fun!


I usually know when the boys are going to fight. Cody grumbles some beforehand but just a few minutes ago the boys went at each other for who knows what reason. Only they know! I wasn't in the same room with them at the time, all I heard was the sound of them fighting. I quickly dropped everything and went to see what was going on. Cody was making a lot of noise, Simon was making almost as much right back at him. Simon was spinning around as Cody chased him from one side then switched to a different side, trying desperately to anticipate Simon's move and then counter it. I clapped my hands a few times and did what I could to get them to stop. They didn't fight for long thank goodness! Usually I know right away what the fight is over, most frequently it's a rawhide or a toy. Tonight however, the reason for the fight is a complete mystery.


So it's day 3 of the cleansing diet. The weekend is the hardest! I went to the store late this afternoon. I overheard people talking about ice cream and the lady behind me in the check-out line was buying soda! Anyone have sympathy for me? My most exciting purchase at the store was a salad dressing that fits the parameters of our diet. I'm looking forward to a salad! I think my two fave parts food-wise of the diet are the breakfast smoothies and salmon. I don't get tired of either.

Various Thoughts!

Have we gotten used to time change? Nope! Simon is still anticipating things to happen for him an hour early than they are to occur. It certainly doesn't help either that I forgot to change a clock in the house and not once but twice I have looked at that clock thinking it's time to feed the boys when it's really an hour away from their feeding time. At this point I'm not sure who is more confused...me or Simon? Cody's just along for the ride! He'll eat whenever! Here's the thing that gets me the most, I feel as though the boys(mainly Simon) think I've forgotten to do for them. I haven't forgotten to feed him or walk him it's just not the right time yet.

Today is day 1 of our 10 day cleansing diet. My boyfriend and I have done this cleansing diet before. We actually did it last year at this same time. Last year we started 10 days from Thanksgiving so we would end the day before Thanksgiving. It was kind of tough getting through Wednesday night the day before turkey day but otherwise it was great timing. This year we opted to start a little sooner and we'll likely stay on the diet a little longer. We'll try to go right up until Thanksgiving. It's a difficult diet so I'm not sure how doable that really is. We're typically so eager for the 10 days to end continuing longer is difficult to imagine. Maybe we can add a few extra options to eat once the initial 10 days is over to make it the rest of the way to Thanksgiving. I actually haven't counted the days from now to Thanksgiving. All in all I'm not sure how many days of dieting I have ahead of me. I understand the diet is hard to do but my focus is on the benefits. It makes me feel like I'm doing something good for my body and I love how clear my skin looks during it.

This has been a weird week as far as the weather. Earlier in the week we had rain but the temp was kind of warmer than usual, now the temps are back down again. When sitting at my computer typing I need my space heater going in the room. I want to bathe the boys but I can't find a good time to do it based on the cold walks outside. Don't worry Cody you'll get your bath sooner or later! LOL! He's tolerate of bathes but certainly not in love with bath time.

Changing the Clocks!

First day dealing with time change. I like time change because we participate with it unlike AZ. So nothing changes on the TV schedule for us. But we do have to deal with getting used to the different time. Doesn't seem as though it would make a big difference and it doesn't for the most part. However, it constantly feels later than it is. Plus you have to get used to it getting dark so much sooner. The darkness is definitely the weirdest thing for me to adjust to.

My inner clock is a little bit thrown off. Not as thrown off as Simon's inner clock. Handling the stares from the Sime-Boo-Boo will be quite the issue for days to come. At 4:30 this afternoon he was ready for dinner. Try explaining to a pug daylight savings time has ended! This afternoon when he approached us in an effort to inform us that dinner time was looming we tossed a pillow in his direction he then turned around and left us alone for awhile. Lol!

Adjusting Simon's clock isn't as easy as changing the clocks in the house and the car. Cody doesn't seem fazed by the whole thing, he's way too casual. He trusts that overall I won't forget to walk him or feed him so no use staring me down until I respond. Thank you Code! By the end of the week Simon will be a much happier boy!

Games, Laughter, and Football Picks!

We started the weekend off right!...We spent Friday night having a pizza-gamer night. It was what I won from winning our football picks. I think pizza-gamer night is my fave bet to make. The winner gets to pick the pizza and all games that are played. For my winning pizza-gamer night, I was on a great winning streak that lasted all night long!

It's been a fun weekend. We went to a birthday get-together for my boyfriend's nephew last night. Lots of fun, lots of laughter. I always have so much fun at those types of get-togethers. I love how much everyone laughs and enjoys each others company. Great fun! I made brownies as a gift for his nephew. I believe they turned out well. The last batch of brownies I made a week or so ago didn't. I didn't account for the fact that I was using a different pan then what I normally use, therefore they needed to bake longer.

As for this week's football picks....I had a terrible time trying to pick the Cardinals game. And Seattle is in town to play the Cowboys. I've lived in Seattle and I was a big fan while I lived there. It's going to be weird to see the Seahawks playing the Cowboys today. A few years back in the play-offs Tony Romo muffed the hold for the extra point kicker, he then tried to run it in and was stopped by Seattle. I remember that game well! Back when I watched that game I of course cheered like crazy for Seattle. Little did I know within just a few years time I would be living in Dallas and cheering for the Cowboys. How did that happen? Lol!

Nicknames!

Lets talk about nicknames. I grew up with so many nicknames I'm surprised I know what my real name is!!! Lol! My mom calls me "punky", "pooh bear", and "babe". Let me say there isn't many people that can say they have lived through the embarrassment of their mother being in a department store loudly blurting out the term "pooh bear" to get the attention of her adult daughter. Geesh! As for the term, "babe" coming out of my mom's mouth it makes me feel like "Babe the pig" from the movies. Whereas, "babe" coming out of my boyfriend's mouth is welcomed.

My grandpa called me "skeeter" or "skeet" for short and "sugarfoot". He loved the term "sugarfoot". I found it to be slightly embarrassing. From time to time my cousin's on my dad's side love to remind me of grandpa's nicknames for me. My grandma called me "sweetie" no one said it the way she said it. I often think about the way she affectionately called me "sweetie". My uncle called me "sweetie" as well. Much like my grandma he had his own style of saying it. I occasionally miss hearing him call me "sweetie". He was a big man's man type of guy and that affectionate term "sweetie" coming out of his mouth was extra special!

One of my cousin's on my mom's side came up with the nickname "jabber jaws", because according to him....I talk too much. Maybe I did as a child and I'm sure I have my talkative moments now as an adult. But overall I'm not the "jabber jaws" chattering type.

Where am I going with all this nickname stuff? I have answered to so many nicknames/terms of endearment that at times when I hear someone close to me use my actual name it sounds so foreign. It's as if I'm looking around the room waiting for someone else to answer to it. My mom also uses a shortened version of my full first name when she isn't using a nickname. Sometimes when she does use my full first name I immediately question whether or not I'm in trouble before answering her. Something similar happened last night with my boyfriend, he uses so many terms of endearment with me that when he said my name last night it once again felt foreign. I guess I prefer being called "babe", "honey", or even "furrball" more than my actual name. Yes, he calls me "furrball" from time to time. Not sure why but I've gotten used to it. It's funny, makes me laugh.

When naming the boys I wanted shorter styled cute names for them. I only considered 2 syllable names when thinking about names for them. I never once thought about nicknames when choosing their names. I was not about to name one Sebastian with the intent of calling him Baz! Nope! But let me tell you the boys are not short of nicknames! And the funniest part is that they know all the nicknames they have too. Cody is Cody-man, no stretch there! He's also known as Coco, Cokey(long O sound), Code, Coshy(long O sound), and boo. I call him Code more than I think I call him Cody. Much like my mom does with my name. As for Simon. Wow, what nicknames I've pulled out of his name. A plethora! Sime is most frequently used even by my boyfriend. Others are: Sim(long I sound), Simo, Sisi(long I sound), Momo, boo-boo, and boobie. I hate to admit to boobie but one day I wanted to cutesy up boo-boo as if boo-boo isn't cute enough. Anyway the term boobie came out, I use it somewhat rarely. Both boys get called "sweet boy". And just the other day I called Simon, E.T., he has a bit of an extraterrestrial look too him. Think about it! He didn't seem too impressed by the new term and quickly backed away my boyfriend tried to tell him he should take it as a compliment because E.T. was popular at one time. I doubt that reasoning worked with a dog though! Lol!

Anyway I just had nicknames on my brain ever since last night. It is strange to me though how I have so many nicknames. The fact that they are used so frequently and to the point that my own name sounds odd coming out of certain peoples mouths is interesting too. Not sure what that says about me! LOL! I'll add it doesn't seem odd coming out of everyone's mouth just those closest to me!

November Arrives!

All day long yesterday I meant to put up a Happy Halloween post but never got around to it. It was a busy day as are most Monday's for me. Monday's are the worst....I make it busy for myself but yet it's hard to get going on a Monday. So here is a belated Happy Halloween and might I add welcome to November. Aww, November! It makes me excited because 3 weeks away is Thanksgiving and then comes Christmas. The stores are already in Christmas mode! I used to think like my mom that it's way too early to be seeing Christmas stuff in stores. However, in recent years I totally embrace that Christmas stuff starts arriving the second Halloween is done. The Christmas season is magical and like no other time of the year. Why not want for that season to begin a little early? To me this is the time to look around at Christmas stuff before you actually have to get too into the major planning of Christmas. So I embrace it!

I went into my apartment complex office to talk about my new lease that is to be signed today and I was told by the new employee that she couldn't help me....based on her new employee status. I was dumbfounded and couldn't help but think to myself, "So because you are new this means you can't write down a note and an apartment number?" I tell you the people they hire at this complex is interesting for sure. It's a nice place to live the office staff isn't that great though. When I first moved here the office staff got things done but were unprofessional. Now they change out the staff so frequently it's hard to keep up. They are definitely searching for the right combo. I think they need to keep searching!

For me yesterday was an annoying day! Just didn't go that smoothly for me. And it certainly didn't go as I anticipated the day going. Oh well, that happens from time to time. Get over it and move on! I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for a crochet pumpkin pin that I remembered having since I was a kid. I never did find it! Then texted with my mom about the pin and found out she has it. Geesh! As I already stated yesterday was an annoying day for me, I spent way too much time looking for that darn pin that's all the way in Phx. Geez!