A.Boxer

Culinary Smackdown - Cabbage!

2012-02-28T18:08:00.003-08:00

Last week after my bidness partner's surgery, we stopped at a local restaurant in his 'hood for a post-procedure dinner. I wish I could say I was willing to deliver him home after a long day at the hosptial with a home cooked meal, but let's be honest?

I'm really only good for making reservations.

And maybe I would have made something if I had known what was waiting: one of the worst dinners I've had out in a long time. Later when I pulled up the Yelp reviews I was shocked to see so many positive comments and ratings. (Clearly, they have a large family with nothing to do but give five stars to a place that deserves far less.)

I won't even go into the train wreck of colliding French and Vietnamese kuisine I experienced, but let me just say;

pasta with mushy broccoli AND cole slaw as side dishes for every entree (we both ordered different fish choices) is just WRONG.

And bad. Really, really, really bad.

But! The coleslaw had some elements that made me think it could be turned into a healthy meal as long as the "chef" isn't tweeting his thoughts into cyberspace or pouring grease over everything in sight while "cooking." *sigh* Freaking Hipsters.

So!

My entry for Grumpy Granny's Culinary Challenge is:

Shrimp Coleslaw ala Boxer

Feed me, Seymour!

I have soooo many issues with low fat options for any recipe. I do not like "low fat" anything, so when many recipes have that as an ingredient (low fat mayonaise was a big one) I reject them.

One recipe I found substituted Splenda (aka the Devil) for sugar so that was out. Store bought dressings began to sound like a chemistry class gone bad when I read the ingredients so I went deeper into Google's recipe options,

and then found this fabulous recipe for sweet potato and cabbage slaw from Delish and made the following additions:

In order to make this a "full meal deal" I added wild caught (product of the USA only) shrimp. It wasn't easy to find made in the USA shrimp (China!) but I found some from Florida.

4 oz of American shrimp adds a whopping 16 grams of protein with zero trans and saturated fat and only adds 80 calories. (This is what the krappy coleslaw I had last week included and I thought it was a nice addition.)

The other extra indgredient?

1/8 cup of slivered almonds.

It adds a nice crunch to the mix while delivering an additional 3 grams of protein with only 1 gram of saturated fat/0 trans fat and 65 calories of "good fat."

Total calories for this healthy AND tasty dinner:

217 Calories!!! (and 19 grams of protein.)

I shredded carrot on top for some color

My sweet potato wasn't very colorful and I think the dish looks a little anemic. Next time I'll find more colorful sweet potatoes and if those pink shrimp are NOT from China/Thailand I think they would look better too.

The raw sweet potato tastes like apple and adds a nice flavor to the cabbage. The nuts (although bland in color) also add to the overall texture.

Tasty! Which is all that matters because I'm not serving
this in a restaurant.

Thank you Grumpy Granny for picking yet another vegetable I'm not that familiar with. This salad will be added to my rotation of summer salads and because it only took minutes to prepare?

I. Love.It!

Who will win the Challenge? Stayed tuned at Grumpy Granny's for the results.

Until then, here's what Henry has to say about it:

Toss me those shrimp Lady!

I'll be back Friday with more puppy porn and answers to a tag from Moi.

Have a great Wednesday.

Haiku Monday - VENTURE

2012-02-26T15:39:00.007-08:00

Uncertain outcome

entrepreneur gene followed

success has a price

When I was nine and most girls my age were playing with dolls,

I was creating small businesses.

I made and ran everything from a Kool-Aid machine constructed from of a refrigerator box (I killed the competition!) to selling a neighborhood newspaper with my siblings door to door. It was my nature. It was my path.

And I never worried or wondered why I wasn't like the other girls.

In my early 20's I kept a notebook of ideas for companies I could create/run and never lost sight of that gene that flickered inside me.

Where did this gene come from?

My Father, when not raising four children on one income with my Mother, worked by day at an office but also had that entrepreneurial spirit he was never able to truly express with the responsibility of a family.

And, I really respect him for that.

I appreciate he didn't risk our financial stability with a desire to be his own boss and instead put four children through college and beyond.

And yet?

He did manage small enterprises over the years and while none of them ever had the outcome he hoped, it never stopped him from trying again. And again. I loved that about him. And I still do.

The importing of Kokeshi dolls from Japan was the first memory we have of his many ventures and now, decades later, we refer to that gene passed on by our Father as the "Kokeshi Doll Gene." It pays homage to him and explains why all of us have similar urges to work for ourselves or create/sell.

We almost whisper it at times to each other as a prayer. An explanation.

It's our secret code. It's our nature?

Last year we found a few surviving dolls when clearing his house and I had my shop make small acrylic cases and gave them to my siblings for Christmas:

This sits next to a photo of my Father on my desk

and on those days I wish I had real vacations, perhaps a 401K, definitely a manager to manage ME, a job with no stress and maybe even an employee file,

I only have to look at my Kokeshi Doll,

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And I know I followed my true path.

Karl is our host this week for Haiku Monday so visit to see the other entries and don't forget to enter one too!

I'll be back on Wednesday and I hope you are too.

Friday

2012-02-23T19:13:00.009-08:00

Did you have a good week? Work hard? Get things done? Travel (Chickory) or win the Haiku Contest (Karl.) Or perhaps begin her annual observance of lent, which means no blogging (Aunty)?

Whatever you did, I hope it was good.

My biz partner's procedure went very well and I was able to pick him up in the early afternoon on Wednesday. No surprise, the first thing he requested was a milkshake and fries after having a tube down his throat/limited eating and I was only too happy to oblige. He's had little pain and so far is only taking extra strength Tylenol over the schedule four narcotics they freely sent him home with.

The interesting thing? He's felt no pain in the finger that was damaged last August, which was a blessing because he was spared any discomfort from the original (horrible) accident, but it also meant the finger was "dead." Today, he came into my office and said for the first time since the accident, he's feeling pain in his finger.

Moments later he said,

"I'm feeling my finger."

And that made today?

A really good day.

Henry now weighs five pounds and is nearly house trained.

"nearly" is a vewy subjective word.
I still luv your wug vewy much

I rarely buy magazines any more, but this cover caught my attention today while I was at my local drugstore buying a pair of reading glasses that are jacked up to +3.00.

Dogs break my heart. Actually? All animals do.

So I bought it.

I am increasingly grateful and humbled by the relationship I witness daily between Mickey, Coco and Henry. There are times when I feel as if I'm non-existant except to use my opposable thumb to open the can of dog food and you know what?

That's OK.

Mr. Boxer sweetly bought me a pair of +3.00 a few months ago to use when I'm doing crafts/etc and then promptly "borrowed" them. When I finally tracked them down, they were formed to his head and therefore fall off whenever I bend over to look at something.

My solution?

I can guarantee you he will NOT wear glasses with
rhinestones!

Many years ago when I worked for a distributor of plastics (versus a fabricator) I was constantly losing my tape measure, which was vital for the job, to the warehouse people or anyone who thought it was OK to "borrow" something from my desk. After I lost my third tape measure in as many months, I put a large red vinyl sticker on it and wrote,

PRINCESS in large black letters on the front of it.

Guess what? It was NEVER "borrowed" again.

And I thought of that tonight as put my new reading glasses on my head.

Do you have plans for the weekend? Will you tell me?

Karl won the Haiku and will be announcing the theme very soon.

It's my last weekend in the City before we return to the Island and what am I going to do?

Deliver acrylic/Plexiglas panels to the Island so my (amazing) BIL can complete a green house project he's been working on with his Father this past week.

I'll be also working on my garland and eyeing my next project while drilling holes in beach glass and shells. Thank you all for your comments and help.

As always?

MUCHO appreciated. I bought the proper drill bits and plan to spend Saturday afternoon experimenting. Weeeeee!!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'll be back on Sunday.

xoxox

Just call me Mr.February!

Driftwood Project 101

2012-02-21T20:51:00.007-08:00

A few months ago I removed a table in our sun room we never used and replaced it with a long work table for my craft/art supplies, finally giving myself a proper place for my projects.

I'm so happy I did this.

I picked the photo where you don't see the martini glass

The driftwood garland is my favorite kind of project to make; it doesn't take a lot of time and I was able to do it without using any tools.

And I used driftwood. Oh, how I love driftwood.

I placed eyebolts at each end of the wood I selected from my beach walk with Coco, picking pieces that were approximately 4-6 inches in length. I tested each one afterwards to make sure the bolts were going to stay. A few pieces of wood were too soggy.

Easy. So Easy.

Next I connected them with silver jump rings I bought at a bead store and chandelier parts I found at the hardware store.

Anytime I can combine driftwood with chandelier crystals I am happy.
Add moss? and I'm nearly dizzy with joy

While at the bead store I found some really beautiful beads made from recycled glass and added two to my project:

I love these

The garland finished at approximately 72 inches. I could easily add more wood, crystals or beads, but what I REALLY want to do is learn how to drill holes into beach glass.

Or I could hang chandelier parts from the hooks?

Drilling a hole in glass is tricky. Uneven glass is even trickier. I watched a video on YouTube and bought something that turns my Dremel (aka thumb ripper) into a drill press:

Diamond tipped drill and I'm ready to go!
WEEEEEEE. Chick Power Tools Rule.

Sadly, my first attempts were a complete fail. The glass cracked and no matter how much water I used, it clearly got too hot. But I have an endless supply of beach glass and I'm resolve to learn how to do it. For now, I'm happy with my garland but plan to add glass and maybe some shells (they should be easier than glass to drill?) in the future. Stay tuned.

Are you having a good week?

A few weeks ago, Troll alerted us to a new contest called the hardest working hands in America and I thought my bidness partner would be a great person to enter. First, he actually uses the product and second? Well, he uses his hands for a living.

Today before his surgery tomorrow, I took some pictures:

Too graphic? You tell me. The first photos I took had his injury more promiment but that's not the real story of his hands, so I took a second set with his "good" hand covering the injury. The injury was only a chapter in his life and I don't want to call attention to it and yet? It's going to define his future. The middle finger is the one going under the knife on Wednesday and the hope is he will have more movement in it.

I'll be back on Friday.

XOXO

Haiku Monday - X Marks the Spot

2012-02-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

As a youth, many hours were spent turning the pages of the Johnson Smith Catalog and reading comic books bought at the local 5&10.

Tucked in the back of these pubescent periodicals were the whoopee cushion ads (still makes me laugh) fly in the ice cube, fake dog poop, shocking hand buzzer and the always titillating:

X Ray goggles from

Johnson Smith Catalog was

Christmas wish denied

We never did get the XRay Goggles but I do remember a dribble glass and whoopee cushion offering endless hours of entertainment. (This is when I knew my parents weren't all that bad and the XRay Goggles were the first thing I thought of when the TSA began their assault on our privacy last year.

Moi is our hostess this week and be sure to visit to see the other participants in this week's contest.

Did you have a good weekend?

High winds and pouring rain kept me from the beach on Saturday but this morning Coco and I walked to a tiny one near the City House and I was able to find enough driftwood to begin my project:

It could be good. It could be krap.
This is the point when I can never tell.

It was nice to go on an outing with just Coco and even though it's never as exciting for her as throwing the ball, I think "we" had a good time.

I thought you were the one that needed the walk.
I was fine. Now. Where's that ball?

Because Mr. Boxer was gone yesterday, I took Henry with me to the Island and he did well but I think he missed his buddies:

Hey! How's this going to work?
I'm stuck in a bag all day?
I don't think that's a good idea

And when he got home, quickly reconnected to the yard and other dogs:

WEEEEEEE, smell ya later, Lady.

It's obvious I take a lot of pictures of the dogs and I think my favorite this week is one I did while trying to see if Mickey and Henry are now the same size (and they are.)

Didn't you already pimp us out on Facebook?

Tomorrow is technically a Holiday but with our work load and upcoming surgery for my bidness partner, we're running a normal schedule and I actually have an appointment to see a client. Don't feel bad for my shop, they were paid for a full week off between Christmas and New Year and any snow day they missed last month. However, this IS the first time we've worked President's Day in many years because in the past we didn't have enough jobs and looked for any reason to slow things down.

Does that mean we're coming out of the recession?

You tell me. I'm still not convinced.

I'll be back on Wednesday. Maybe with my driftwood project and definitely with pictures of dogs.

XOXO

How Lucy Got Her Groove Back

2012-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Ponita kindly asked how the Matriarch of our canine family is doing and I'm happy to report, she's doing really well (considering.)

I went up the back steps by myself this week so can you please stop
stuffing Voodoo Krap down my throat?

I credit a regime that includes bi-weekly IV fluids, a supplement I found online that supports the kidneys and a cocktail I created that includes a PH balancing supplement and wheat grass. Three days after throwing away the pills my Vet prescribed for treating ONLY the symptoms of acute kidney disease (lack of appetite and lethargy) and administrating my cocktail, she was eating on her own. Two weeks later blood tests that had been previously highly elevated were back to normal.

Now that I'm back to normal, when is Henry leaving?

However, I'm not fooling myself. I know she has kidney disease and it's only a matter of time when alkalizing her body to balance the acid being dumped into her system (and therefore making her not want to eat/etc.) will catch up with us.

Lalalalalalalala - I can't hear you

But for now, every time I hear her demanding bark!bark!bark! for food or attention, I am more than happy to oblige. It's actually music to my ears (except at 2:00 a.m.)

In other dog news. Henry can now walk on a leash without having the cord manually extended for him. When we first got him he didn't weigh enough to pull the tension on the very tiny retractable leash I bought for a cat? I'm not sure.

Yes. He was that small.

Or is it that you were that big? Hmmm?

Life with a puppy has its ups and downs. The potty training is going as well as can be expected considering the little guy has the city house, the office (and next month the Island) to factor into his tiny little brain. But I'm ever vigilant and tonight I had to leave before Mr. Boxer came home and I left this note for him:

This is extremely humiliating. Please let me out.
So I can poop on your rug

Henry is a smart little guy and highly motivated by treats and I was able to train him to sit in under three minutes this week using "crack sticks" provided by Paul Newman. So I am confident we'll master the Potty training. Soon? Right? RIGHT???

Coco, is she serious about this pooping outside because I'm just
not feeling it Dude.

Moi was the winner of the Haiku contest and will be hosting this week. Be sure to visti Chez Moi to see what she's picked for the topic.

My bidness partner is having surgery next week to repair the finger that wasn't lost but only mangled last August and this is good news (for him) and bad news for the shop (me?) They're going to graft bone from his hip to his finger and I've not been able to get him to understand this may actually,

BE PAINFUL?

*sigh* Freaking Italian men. This is when I embrace modern medicine.. aka....

heavy pain killers! But this is all good because "we" really want the remaining digit to move. Stay tuned.

I'm also celebrating my beautiful Sister's birthday on Saturday and looking forward to a trip over the water and through the woods that will also include a visit to the beach house (and beach!) and that means,

filling my car with driftwood! Weeeeee. I have some ideas....

Do you have plans for the weekend? Will you tell me?

Whatever you do, I hope it's wonderful.

I'll be back Sunday.

XOXO

2-14-2012

2012-02-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone on my Blog Roll!

Today, we're all in one big Bloggy Classroom with our desks lined up like soldiers, facing the chalkboard and waiting for the day to begin.

It's February 14th and hanging from the front of our desks are those big white paper envelopes made from kraft paper,

and here's what I'm delivering to all of you today:

For Aunty! Don't blush! Youse still a Lady!

Buzz - Our Boy Scout

To Chickory - Sweet Bird and Happy Anniversary!

For Serendipity - Huntress of the Wild!

Curmudgeon - I'm glad you're here this year

For Dani - Queen of her garden

To Chef Eggy. She's cookin'!

To Fishy! One classy poisson

For Foamy the teacher

For Grumpy Grandma the Cook

For Jean and Boneman
You Two Crazy Kids

For Captain Karl

To LaDiva! WEEEEE
She's Diva-licious

For LX - our favorite White Kitty

For Native Minnow - I hope you "spawn" this year.
;-)

For MJ who loves her tea and I believe
is actually quite proper.

For Moi. A true artist with her needle

For Pam - Sterling sends his love!

For Ponita - Horse Girls are the best!

To Scout - 0ur Southern Belle

For Skipper - short dogs are the best!

To Troll - You are a cut up

To Savannah - The Queen of Jazz

To Blaze - You are one Hot Momma!

For Walker - Always there to help

For Roses - A true Sweetheart

For Mago - Happy Valentine's Day!

If you celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope it's wonderful. If not, well, I get that too. I officially ended it in our home decades ago mostly because I'm stubborn and don't like being told I have to do something on a specific day. Especially when it requires being artificially nice (as in, buy a card, a present, etc.)

Still, I do believe in random acts of kindness for a guy who not only tolerates a dog that bites him daily;

Hey! Love means never having to say you're sorry?

But brings me ice cream when I'm sick and puts up with me 365 days a year.

So, this one is for him:

XOXO to you Mr.Boxer!
You knocked me out the first day we met.

This is the card I'd love to receive so I'm sending it to myself!

XOXOXO

Haiku Monday - Mother Nature

2012-02-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

I spent most of my weekend on the couch, with visions of The Stand moving through my mind as I pressed the remote,

over and over again looking for something to keep my mucus-embedded brain occupied.

Sorry you're flat on your back and all, but who's
in charge of throwing the ball around here?

Too sick to read or do much of anything else, I had to miss my Nephew's performance (a six hour round trip wasn't possible) and my only entertainment was either texting Mr.Boxer to bring more food/water/vodka/aspirin/dogs downstairs to my Sick Couch or watching krap TV.

Even my puppy brain knew it was krap tv

I tried not to fall into the dark hole of reality shows such as My Big Red Neck Vacation, any show on Hoarding and pretty much everything MTV broadcasts (does the "M" now stand for Mediocre?) So I stayed with Lifetime's "Romance Weekend" that oddly included movies where someone died at the end of both movies I watched (A Walk to Remember and Stepmom.)

So, that was fun.

I have one Haiku for Fishy's theme of Mother Nature:

Big Pharm attempts to

replicate cures the earth will

freely give to us

I woke up this morning feeling better and I said a small thanks to Mother Nature for keeping me free of any chronic or long term disease that might require pills. Ugh. No. My high energy is my currency in life and it doesn't take much to remind me to be grateful for what I have and to continue all that I do to keep myself healthy in mind and body.

Did YOU have a good weekend? I hope so. Tuesday is Valentine's Day so come back on Tuesday morning for what I hope is a post.

Until then, Happy Haiku Monday. Please visit Fishy and see the other contributions. Better yet? Contribute one yourself!

xoxo

Happy Birthday!

2012-02-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

Two fabulous Blogger Buddies share the same birthday this weekend:

Saturday, February 11!

First up, is the Queen of Food,

Happy Birthday Eggy!

Eggy makes Blog Land just that much more fun with her enthusiasm for cooking and loyalty to her fellow Bloggers! Let's all visit her today and wish her a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

BUT wait!

There's another Blogger with the same Birth date and that's:

WEEEEEEE! Happy Day to Ponita!

Ponita is our friend to the North (eh?) and a person who not only loves horses, but is a friend to all animals. Happy Birthday to you!

I hope you both have a wonderful day. (I'm sorry I didn't have a potato shaped like a horse I could torture with my Mr. Potato Head accessories, Ponita, but I like your horses better.)

Fishy was the winner of this week's Haiku Monday fabulously hosted by Serendipity. Fishy will be announcing the theme for the next contest sometime on Friday.

Did you have a good week? Mine was fine until I realized I was coming down with a cold/Bubonic plague and that's put a crimp in my activities. I'm assaulting the germs with every known natural cure (please don't suggest OTC schnizz, I can't take it) and so far? I'm "OK." I need to find the silver product Chickory swears by for any future epidemics that hit our house. For now, hydrogen peroxide and nasal flushes (not a Netti pot, gross!) are working. *whew*

In dogs news, Lucy continues to thrive and Henry continues to dazzle us all with his energy, velvet coat and love of .....

Coco.

It's true.

It's Twue. I wuv Coco.

I've sadly watched Coco attempt to play with Mickey in the past and it usually ended in Mickey (old and nasty) biting too hard/snarling and unfortunately he's a dog that never learned how to play (because his previous owners used him as a stud only.)

As Henry gets bigger, Coco gets happier in playing and interacting with her new buddy and I can't say enough how wonderful that is for all of us:

My Moment of Zen

I admit, Henry (and Coco) are not the most productive "employees" of my Company but they bring me a ton of joy and in the New World? That's exactly what I want (it's 20 seconds):

Some of you have (kindly) asked how Coco feels about Henry's arrival and I'm so thrilled to say,

It's gets more fun every day. *whew* *weeeeee* and *whew*

Do you have plans for the weekend? Anything fun? Will you tell me?

If I can recover from the plague I have plans to watch my Older Nephew (17) in a one act play on Saturday night. It's also the very same place my younger brother (at the same age as our Nephew) acted in a High School production (many years ago) and I plan to be sitting next to him (brother) while I watch. How.Cool.Is.That?

I'll be back on Sunday with (I hope) a Haiku.

Have a great weekend. XOXO

Mid-Week

2012-02-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Do you care about the food you're consuming? Think just because we have the USDA, FDA and the Government on "our side" we're consuming safe food?

Click to make bigger

Do you trust your Government actually cares about YOU more than you do?

Don't!

Go here and sign this petition if you want to let our Government know they can't/shouldn't turn our food into something even a pesticide can't kill. It's shocking that Europe won't take our GMO food, but we will?

For reals?

Ouch! That's my DNA you're effing with!

Think I'm joking?

Read here.

And even here.

A special post and Puppy porn will resume on Friday.

Sunday in the Park

2012-02-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

It was a rare day in the PNW today, the sun was shining and temperatures reached nearly spring-like numbers.

As I waited on the dock for The Nephew's boat to arrive, I was happy to be outside on such a glorious morning.

I love the Waterfront. Love my city on a sunny day. I love the Market in the morning before the tourists arrive.

Big tourist attraction before they get started tossing fish

First stop was a visit to the big client who recently received some broken displays WE DIDN'T PACK and a gift card burning a hole in the Nephew's pocket.

Apparently, this display arrived just fine.

My design and not my packaging

Spring fever isn't complete without tulips. Why do they remind me of my Sister? I can't say, but I sent The Nephew home with a bouquet because as I told him,

Sometimes you just need to receive tulips on a random day in February.

My Sister is one of the most amazing people I know.

A few hours later after lunch and massive people watching, we headed back to the ferry dock.

A major fixture of the Waterfront community is this establishment and a decades old tradition of feeding the seagulls.

Bitch, that's MY fry

Later, I said goodbye and watched as The Nephew disappeared into the wave of people returning to the Island.

Bye Bye Young Man

and had the familiar pang of sadness to see him go and yet, sweet relief to return to life in the city with Mr. Boxer and the dogs.

Hey Lady! Shouldn't you be writing a Haiku?

I am twelve weeks old today

Mr. Boxer made a video for me of what happened moments after I left this morning. Our dogs are lucky. They are rarely without us and yet, seem to think they are woefully abandoned even when one of us is there to video tape it:

Weeee! There's 45 seconds you'll never get back! I give a Best Acting award to Coco for her triple "oooh-oooh-oooh's"?

Diva!

Please visit Serendiptity to cheer the participants of Haiku Monday or better yet? Submit your own!

I'll be back later in the week with more Puppy Porn and maybe?

Oh, just puppy porn.

Have a great Monday. XOXO

The Hair of the Dog

2012-02-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

I know I said I would be back on Wednesday, but I neglected to look at the calender and that was a mistake. The last day of the month (and the first day of the next month) are always super bizzy for me and my little bidness. You know, shipping and invoicing anything and everything that isn't moving. Weeeee! It's big fun running a manufacturing business heavily tied to retail in,

January.

In Puppy News:

I.SAW.IT.FIRST

Henry continues to grow (he's gained a full pound in the last month) and just in the last few days the following has happened:

1. He no longer needs my help in getting down the back steps.
2. He no longer comes to me immediately when I call him.
3. He now runs away from me outside (luckily, in a well fenced back yard) and gives me the "Forget it Lady!" look when he does.

Yah, I pretty much don't care about coming when you call for me no mo.
It's just the way I roll.

*sigh*

I know I have a puppy, but this transition to Wild Pony happened faster than I anticipated. Or wanted.

For reals? You're going to discipline this face?

Tonight, as I Googled "How to train a puppy to not bite your hand" I realized just how ill equipped I am to train anything.

I'm in SALES. Do you know what that means? That means I never, ever, ever say anything negative to anyone.

EVAH!

Just today, a very important customer sent an email about breakage on a large number of displays we recently produced. We didn't pack and ship these displays,

THEY did,

and yet, when she sent me an email demanding to know how they broke in transit (er? your warehouse did a krap job packing them?) I only said,

"send me a photo of the breakage and I'll see how I can help."

GET IT? I have no ability to be,

Harsh. Strict. Not.Nice.

And in the Aunty arena? My job is to stick sparklers in my ears and provide an endless amount of activities none of which come close to discipline. If anything, my Nephews provide that for ME.

So.

Puppy raising.

"Ruh-roh, Coco, Lady looks mad. Is she serious?"

"Relax young man. I've got it covered."

I've adopted enough rescue dogs to know and understand good training makes a good dog, but I'm becoming overwhelmed at being the person that does the training for a

PUPPY.

I'm sorry Lady, did you say something?
I was too bizzy chewing your antique puppet.

Not only do I have to make sure he doesn't hurt himself by ingesting something or getting smashed, I now have a young man who thinks it's "fun" to ignore me. My search tonight did yield a good website (tell me if you think it is or isn't) and I sent it to Mr. Boxer with this note,

"we have to do this right. Right?"

Right. And I will.

to be continued......

Serendity has announced the theme for the next Haiku Monday and the theme is METALLIC SOUND.

She's raising the bar on our weekly contest by including the classic Kireji and Kigo requirements. Well, that's never stopped me from writing a Haiku that had no hope of winning before and I hope it doesn't stop you either.

Or, maybe THIS week I'll actually pay attention to the rules.

Regardless, make sure to visit her her blog for more details and (as always) many amazing photographs.

Do you plans for the weekend? Does it include a Super Bowl Party?

ZZZZZZ.

I want to give thanks to the marketing genius that "leaked" the Ferris Bueller ad almost five days early therefore saving me the trouble of finding it while scanning with my remote. I LOVE it.

I have plans to entertain The Nephew on this side of the water on Sunday and that means little (or zero) football and more,

Food. And the Market. And Food.

Just how little do I care about the Super Bowl?

I care so little, I didn't even watch when my own city played in 2006. I think I went shopping that day. Maybe got a pedicure.

But I do love nachos and the commercials so I'll try to be home by 3:00 on Sunday to fire up TIVO and see what the Lifetime Channel (or WifeTime Channel as my Sister calls it) is showing for the Widows.

Whatever you do, I hope it's fabulous. Even if it's watching football.

I'll be back Sunday with my Haiku.

Haiku Winner - Big Daddy Announces Winner

2012-01-30T22:05:00.000-08:00

Big Daddy here, with my decision..... First of all, thanks to all of you who submitted. I'm very impressed with the images you've created and the poems that you've crafted. Haiku is great because it's the form of poetry that gives the most bang for the buck. I'm always amazed that the most limited of forms can produce such big results.

For all those who didn't win, rest assured that judging poetry is a very subjective process. I personally am drawn to the suggestive more than the explicit, the spare more than the ornate. (And yes, one can be ornate in the haiku).

I read all of the poems several times and found several that I kept going back to.

The winner is Serendiptiy for:

Tamarack Gold

Montana larches,
where elk wander in fall rains,
pave trails with bright gold

This summons up great visual images for me, of the massive elk moving in the rain on those trails of gold. Also really like those vowel sounds throughout.

A close second is Ponita in Real Life for:

frozen rain drifts down
dry as a naked white bone
melting in spring time

Comparing the frozen rain to a naked white bone is a knockout image for me, very unexpected.

Honorable mention goes to PamOKC for:

Nothing I love more
than wet, dark Sundays when the
rain comes slow, steady

I like how the "wet, dark" adjectives are then quickly echoed by the "slow, steady" and appreciate how straightforward the poem is.

Another honorable mention to Aunty Belle for:

Twelve summers have passed
since we caught rain in our mouths,
hiking across Spain.

I appreciate how memory works in this poem to bring up a specific image from the past.

And a third honorable mention goes to Jean for:

the tick-tick-tick on
thirsty leaves and dusty grass.
soothing lullaby

That sound of the rain hitting dry objects is well captured here.

Thanks again to everyone who submitted and thanks to dearest Boxer for asking me to read your work.

Signed,

BIG DADDY

_______________________________________________

So! There we are. Thank you Big Daddy for doing what I couldn't do and thank you all for you amazing entries.

To, NWM, JT, RAFAEL, Susan B, Fleurdeleo and Cory Jo, welcome to my Blog and thank you for your contributions. Czar, nice to see you too along with Grumpy Granny, Curmudgeon, Anya and Scout. BIG XOXO to my homies; Fishy, Troll, Karl, Foamy and MOI.

I love how Haiku Monday continues to expand each week and I hope you all continue to participate.

Serendiptiy? Send me your address and I will send you your prize: Big Daddy's newly published book of poetry which does contain a Haiku or two. You also have the honor of hosting next week's contest and I know you'll do your usual fabulous job.

I'm very happy Ponita received a special mention because it was her first time entering this week and I really liked her Haiku. Jean, Pam and Aunty congrats also. I gave Big Daddy zero direction on how to judge, so I was happy to see the special mentions. Nice!

That was fun! XOXO to you all. You are all fabulous.

Have a great week.

Haiku Monday - RAIN

2012-01-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true. I won this week's Haiku Monday and once I picked myself up off the floor, it took only a few hours to confirm the theme:

Raindrops keeping falling on my head.
Always!

Because it's no joke, we truly get a boat load of it here in the Pacific Northwest, so once Moi gave me her approval, it was decided:

RAIN!

And while I'm thrilled to be hosting, I'm very aware of my lack of experience/expertise when it comes to judging most anything (unless it has to do with plastic or small dogs) and that's why I'm bringing in a Guest Judge to do the hard job of picking a winner. He's really smart, a published poet, knows lots of big words and I think, BIG DADDY, will do a great job.

The rules:

I'm going with the classic 5-7-5 and nothing else. Please only give Big Daddy one Haiku to judge, but post as many as you wish. Just let us know which one is the one you're officially entering. If there is a tie, then visuals will help determine the winner. We are closing the doors at 10:00 p.m EST. The winner will be announced on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

And what does the winner get?

Not only the honor of claiming the badge:

and it's a very cool badge

But also a copy of Big Daddy's recently published book of poetry.

For reals!

I hope you all participate this week. Tell your friends! Writing a Haiku is not only easy, but really fun. Trust me, I used to think it was hard, and OK, it still is to me, but still,

It's fun!

XOXO

Wednesday

2012-01-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

So I bit the,

Really? You Need ANOTHER Time Suck?

bullet and joined PINTEREST today.

We are so cool we have a waiting list.
WHAT??

Thanks to Chickory, I was able to bypass their "waiting list" and registered through FB which immediately scanned through my Friends and Family and had me following or being followed (that's good, right?) within minutes of signing up and I guess that's cool. Although I didn't even know my Sister had an account, or "Board" or is it "Boards?" Way to go, Sis!

KRAP. What was I thinking? Now I have all new lingo (" Upload a Pin" "Happy Pining" or "Repinning") to figure out and then because I used F.B. I was forced into the new Timeline format.

So today?

Yeah. My head hurtz.

Still, I'm fascinated with the idea of Pinterest and the fact it seems far more creative than F.B. ever could be. It feels like I have open world of rooms I can fill or decorate and my only "issue" is I'm having a hard time actually "pinning" photos to my newly formed bulletin boards.

WHY? It's extremely annoying and is happening at both work and home.

In other news, in celebration of FABULOUS blood test results for Lucy on Monday (WEEEEEEE) Mr. Boxer brought home the soy vodka Karl mentioned in his Smack down video last Wednesday.

Karl seems to be, er, uhm

"on assignment?" right now because he's been absent of late (anyone taking betz he's in Italy?) but I told him I would give him my review:

LOVE the bottle shape and cork!

And the taste?

GIFSoup

Yup.

Tofu really is an unlikable product. I'll be needing a very large bottle of high quality tonic water to choke the rest of that bottle of expensive vodka down.

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated!

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers,
because my blood work says I'm AWESOME!

Are you having a good week? Watching the debates? Working? Not working?

I'm (as always) wrangling dogs, dosing Lucy with her "Voodoo Cocktail" I won't admit to my mystified Vet about the contents of and working on marketing my little company during this slow time of the year for us. It's not all bad. The hardest part? Trying to convince Henry to wear a collar and walk on a leash. THAT is actually the hardest part of my week.

So far.

But, I'm also still trying to work on pinning things, so we'll see.

Now that the snow has finally melted, we're back to a typical January in the PNW:

I'll take this over snow and it's the theme for the next Haiku Monday!
RAIN

I'll be back Friday with Puppy Porn and.......

probably more Puppy Porn.

XOXOXO

Haiku Monday - BEAUTY

2012-01-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

Anya is hosting this week's Haiku contest and here are my two:

Puppy purity

Innocent soul, joyful mind

Nothing is so sweet

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

Resident jester

mongrel, origin unknown

to us, perfection

Mutts are beautiful too!

Don't forget to visit Anya and the rest of the Bloggers who are participating this week to see what great talent there is out there.

I'll be back on Wednesday.

XOXO

SMACKDOWN RESULTS and SNOW!

2012-01-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Oh, I'll ask for it! As in, number of bottles!
This is MY kind of soy product

First, let me say,

I'm so impressed with all of the entries and want to thank everyone for their efforts. I'm going to let my original post stand as the round up of the January Smack Down - Tofu Style and will get right to the results:

If I actually believed in the "Everybody is a Winner" philosophy of life, I would award the following:

Best Video: Karl
Best Food Held By Amazing Hand: Moi
Best Fail and Recovery: LaDiva!!!!!!
Best Photo: Lori of Fake Food
Best Husband: Buzz
Best Entry for a Dawg: Aunty!
Best Promoter of a Smackdown, Evah: Eggy.

But winning doesn't seem as sweet when the rest of the 'team' receives an award and that's why there's only one true winner in this contest and it's:

GRUMPY GRANNY!

January 2012 Winner!

Grumpy Granny, not only did you embrace the challenge as it was intended, you produced two amazing dishes using tofu. I enjoyed every part of your entry and I'm happy to hand over the reigns and look forward to seeing what you pick as the next Challenge ingredient. This is Grumpy Granny's second win and I hope she displays her award proudly! Well done.

and.....I would encourage everyone to give her pesto recipe a second glance. I've made a version (cilantro and garlic) and it's wonderful on a bagel as a healthy substitute for butter or cream cheese.

So, now that I've finished my Smackdown hosting duties, this blog can talk about the SNOW.

It's true. We have it. We rarely have it. Or have it for very long. And when we do, no one knows what to really do in it. But we've moved into day TWO of school closures, work closures and me trying very hard to convince small dogs they really can go OUTSIDE.

Dude, what are you doing out there?
It's COLD!

Coco for the most part has embraced the freezing temperatures despite her California origins:

Really Lady? A camera?
Why don't you take off your shoes and try standing in this!

And I have to give Mickey props too because he was the first to go outside yesterday morning without much work, although I found him gazing tenderly at my oriental rug this morning.

Despite the fact we've turned into a big snow cone outside, I'm still diligently training Henry and he's done pretty well. He can only stay out for about a minute before he begins to shake and shiver.

I'm learning an oriental rug and ornamental grass is NOT the same

Cold. Cold. Cold. Nose? Super cold. Why?

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Where's the doooooor!!!

And the weather has made my newly minted pack new best friends when it comes to staying warm:

Coco's BTU's measure the highest

Here's a bright spot in my week:

I am old, it is a fact but I'm stll the Alpha, Damnit.

Our girl Lucy seems to have (surprisingly) recovered (for the moment) and is currently eating and sleeping comfortably. A far cry from a week ago when she was nauseated, weak and not eating. I know she's (really) sick with kidney disease, but as long as she's doing the things that make her happy,

I'm happy. Or. "Happy" in a way that's OK. Important blood tests happen on Monday. Again.

Thank you again for the support on the Smackdown. It was truly fun and not only did I find some new blogs I'll be visiting again in the future, I also collected some new recipes. I plan to try Buzz's soup very soon. (As in, as soon as I can actually get to the grocery store. I'm currently living on canned soup and pasta because I was NOT one of the smart folk who got to the store before the storms.)

More snow pictures:

Did you have a good week? Get things done? Have anything planned for your weekend? After two days of working from home, I plan to GET THE HELL OUT of this house and hopefully the forecast of rain (love the rain!) will allow me off this big hill I live on. Soon.

Anya won this week's Haiku Contest fabulously hosted by our Chickory and has picked BEAUTY as the theme for next week. I think that's perfect and I plan to be back on Sunday with something.

xoxox

ARE YOU READY TO TOFU???????

2012-01-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

At the time I picked TOFU for the CULINARY SMACK DOWN I wondered if it was actually a good idea;

and I thought maybe I should have picked something EVERYONE loves,

like?

Bacon!

Admit it Tofu you are a fake!
You have no taste!

But I don't eat bacon, not even fake bacon and I'm pretty sure it's been an ingredient in past contests.

Because I make jokes about living in the land of,

Tree hugging, Prius drving, tofu eating Hippies,

I thought it would be fun to see what all the Foodies would come up with.

And I have to say, a few of you have posted your entries early and they are truly amazing.

Wow!

It's making my Vegetarian-Tofu-Eating-Heart,

HAPPY!

WEEEEEEE! Tofu is better than a new puppy!
Oh. Wait. That's not right.

So.

In the first round we have:

GRUMPY GRANNY with her amazing double wallop of Tofu Pesto Pizza!

The tofu petso alone is fabulous

Oh Yes! Grumpy Granny comes out of her corner with a fabulous

1-2-3

PUNCH!

She not only makes her own tofu pesto, but she then continues the theme with her final punch of Tofu Pizza!

HMMMMMMMMM!

Nicely played Grumpy Grandma!

But!

In the red corner is new comer (to me) and MY NEW BEST FRIEND!

Fake Food Free

Seriously? Girl friend? You had me at,

My first experience with tofu was not pleasant.

And then she explodes from her corner with a Po Boy Tofu Sandwich:

What a great recipe and picture!

But wait!

Weighing in from the Southwest is buddy Blogger MOI who enters the competition with a strong recipe (and fierce nail polish!)

Love that color and the tofu looks good too

Colorful and delish!

of: Panko Fried Tofu Strips with Asparagus Pasta.

Nothing says "I'll eat that!" like panko and hot grease and her 1-2 combo of pasta and heavy cream she delivers the perfect PUNCH!

Next up from the great state of New Jersey,

it's................

Buzzy Big Boy Killer!

Buzz starts out with a few mis-steps, but delivers a hay-maker that shows why he's serious about cooking. His Chinese Shrimp and Tofu Soup may have what it takes to bring him home the Title:

Simple and tasty

BUT WAIT!

Cue the Rocky Theme and let's hear it for LaDIVA!

Entering the ring as an Underdog, our Queen of the Kitchen reminds us all that she is not only a PROFESSIONAL but also a gifted artist and good friend.

All Hail LaDiva!

She attempted a very complicated dish just hours after an extremely hectic work week (i.e getting PAID for cooking) and for that?

I heart her more than evah! LaDiva you are awesome!

Her recipe can be found here.

Next in is:

Kassius Karl from Delaware

who set aside his Super Power duties of saving the sea (and probably a whole lot more, but we won't get into that right now) and enters the ring with his own music AND Tofu Sandwich:

After doing some fancy footwork around the entire ring, Karl came in with a nicely produced "how to" video and a pretty ding-dang good looking sandwhich. Not to mention the soy bean vodka (be still my heart) mention at the end.

BUT WAIT!

Just sliding under the ropes in an HEROIC gesture of the true champion she is,

Aunty Boom-Boom Belle! enters the Smackdown.

and manages to deliver an impressive uppercut packed with:

TOFU DOG TREATS!

I'm not eating them! They were made for Hippie Dawgs!

Aunty? Youse good. Youse kind. And you,

Hysterical.

Thank you for making my day with your extremely clever recipe. It just may be the best use of tofu I've see during this entire Smack down. You've had a really hard week and that makes your appearance even more special. XOXO

AND........ just when you thought she was going to throw in the towel,

THE CINCINNATI KID EGGY!!

comes skidding into the arena. She does NOT disappoint with an extremely creative Eggless Egg Salad made with Tofu.

She weaves and bobs, she uses a great recipe and in the end?

Go Eggy! No Eggs!

She not only did a great job of promoting this Smack Down, she also finishes with a recipe I will most likely attempt. I have a few Vegans in my life and this sounds like good. Thank you Eggy! I know you had a busy week.

PLEASE go visit the other entries and welcome them.

The winner will be announced on Thursday night/Friday morning.

Entries will be accepted up until 5:00 p.m. Thursday night. That's a little later than previously noted,

but at that point, the vodka kicks in and I take no responsibility for responsibly reading anything.

Oh please! It's no contest.
I am cuter than the entire Kardashiasn Family and Tofu.

Thank you all for participating!

Haiku Monday - TREASURE

2012-01-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

My "Haiku" this week is a video made from a collection of photos I've taken on the Island over the past few months.

I wish I had been able to write a real Haiku, but sometimes it's easier for me to make a video instead of constructing words. During times when I'm stressed, I find immersing myself into a visual project,

very comforting.

Equally comforting? Every piece of moss, sand, rock, driftwood, grass and creature that makes up the Island.

ALL of it,

is part of me.

And as Coco and I walked along the road today, drinking in the smell of wood fires burning and the salt air blowing up from the beach,

the one word that resonated with me was,

treasure.

For REAL Haikus, please visit Chickory and don't forget to vote for your favorite.

I'll be back on Wednesday for the Culinary Smack Down and remember your entry can be ANYTHING having to do with tofu.

Have a great week.

Friday

2012-01-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

This is my final reminder for the upcoming Culinary Smack Down:

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18th.

The rules are simple;

Make your dish using tofu as an ingredient and post the recipe, visuals or anything else you think might make your entry more interesting and then come here to let me (and anyone else participating) know. I don't care if you don't make the dish. If you post a recipe and some cool visuals, I'm good with that. I know Troll experimented with noodles (and had a fail?) and I appreciate/admire his attempt and can honestly say a fail could result in a win because this is one competition where...

WEEEEEEE! I GET TO DECIDE WHO WINS!!

I know my choice of TOFU has either alienated or vexed many of the usual participants, but Good Lordy Folks,

It's a freaking bean.

The winner will have the honor of picking his/her badge created by Chickory and hosting the next Smack Down where they choose the next ingredient (and let me guess... not a bean?)

Thank you all for your sweet comments and support on my last post. What would I do without your comfort and wisdom? You're all a wonderful salve during a difficult time and I can honestly say it makes this journey a little easier.

Bless you all.

And.... because I know EXACTLY why a few of you are here:

Puppy Porn!

Is it a camera bag or a Henry Bag?

WEEEEEEE! GRASS!

Mr. January!

Do you have plans for the weekend? Will you tell me?

It's our last weekend on the Island and that's OK. With operating a doggie day care, canine hospice, 12-Step Program for a ball obsessed dog,

I may have pushed Lady too far this week with my, er, problem. My bad?

and sometimes actually running my little bidness,

it will be nice not packing up the pack for a few weeks until we return in early March. And I think Henry will appreciate one less house to navigate and I'll appreciate one less house to,

CLEAN.

But I'll miss Saturday mornings with Mr. Boxer sitting at the counter with dueling laptops, coffee, whirling dogs and the revolving door of family and friends who visit. I'll miss the Eagle. The beach. My nephews. My Sister. My Brother. My BIL's and my Island.

I.Am.So.Lucky.

but returning to City Life isn't bad either.

Chickory was the winner of this week's Haiku Monday and she's picked TREASURE for the theme.

Even if you're not going to write a Haiku (and BTW, why the hell not??) her post is worth a visit.

Trust me.

Whatever you do this weekend, I hope it's fabulous.

I'll be back Sunday.

Two Tales

2012-01-10T19:57:00.000-08:00

I knew by adopting Henry I was acknowledging that Lucy,

the Matriarch and Grand Dame of my Pack since 2001,

is in decline.

And as I held sweet, young, Henry in my hands in contrast to my bone thin and disappearing,

girl,

I was intoxicated by his youth and newness and knew my concern of having too many dogs (once again) wouldn't be one for long.

Despite having a puppy in the house that demands care,

Lucy has had my full attention due to her age and fragility. I've managed to keep Henry's bouncing leaps and puppy bites away from her world and so far, so good.

However, this week,

she seems to be vanishing before my eyes, getting more transparent each morning when she wakes up. She no longer can get up the few stairs from the back yard and waits patiently for me to pick her up, giving slow wags of her tail as a thank you or maybe even an apology. Over the weekend she began eating very little,

and the Vet confirmed on Monday what I already knew;

she's waning.

And as I stood in my kitchen tonight, mixing food for a baby and food for an Elder, I looked at my pack standing at attention,

and I felt,

blessed.

And I made a promise to my Girl, who just entered her sixteenth year, I would shepherd her with love and respect and she would suffer nothing. Feel no pain. Have no fear. I told her she was a gift and my gift was to take her pain.

Do we have days? Weeks? Months?

I don't know. But I'm so grateful for Henry's abundant youthful energy (and innocence) to shield me from the reality that sleeps just under my feet.

I'll be back Friday and I hope you are too.

Haiku Monday - NOCTURNAL

2012-01-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Haiku Monday is hosted this week by new blogger, Scout, who is doing her part in preserving the traditions of the South and writing winning Haiku's at the same time. Please visit and don't hesitate to participate.

When on the Island, we live in a house on the edge of the woods, and Mr. Boxer and I like to keep the windows wide open at night to hear the waves and smell the salt water. Often, we also hear the sounds of the night time animals that share the property with us and it just adds to the honor of living so close to nature.

And that's what I thought I would base my haiku on this week, but as I stood in the light of the moon early this morning, I knew I had a different feeling:

I sleep when I want and why can't we play at 3:00 a.m.???

Three in the morning

is for potty break not play

Puppy go to sleep!

Lady, do you have any idea how hard it is to figure out how many places
I actually live much less worry about your "beauty" sleep?

Henry's training to use the great outdoors instead of my rugs is going well considering he's just celebrating week eight of being on the planet and he changes every day. Plus, the little guy moves from the city house, to work and until next weekend, the Island house and that has to be confusing.

On the Island I have room to RUN!

And CRASH!

And crash, again.

Did you have a good weekend? I did. With only one weekend left on the Island before the house turns back into a pumpkin until March, I spent time on the beach with Coco, The Nephew and an object that has a back story, but that's for another post.

This is a rough shot and I'm still working on it.

We were joined by one of the eagles that nest near the property which impacted Coco's ball throwing time (insert sad face for Coco but the Eagle is so regal.)

Click to make bigger.
I love the eagles, but do not love their ability to eat my dogs.

Thank you for all of the great comments on my last post. It's times like this I know I'm truly lucky to have somehow wrangled all of you into my world and I appreciate everyone who visits and comments.

Have a great Monday. I hope to be back mid-week.

xoxo

Miso Happy About Tofu

2012-01-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

The Fabulous Foodie Eggy did a great job reminding her bloggy buddies of the upcoming CULINARY SMACK DOWN on January 18th. Sorry! But the special ingredient is still Tofu and I really hope we have a good turnout.

I know many of you were perplexed when I made my pick and honestly?

I totally understand.

Despite the fact that I've been a full-time vegetarian since 1989, tofu (or any vegetables) was something I never considered edible or even necessary in my daily diet.

I know! I was truly dumb when it came to nutrition.

I won't go into the gory details of what happened, but will instead give you a quick outline of how I changed my way of looking at food, specifically tofu:

1989 - Junk Food Vegetarian. Which means, Diet Coke, Nachos and Ice Cream are a regular part of my diet.

1992 - 1998 - Chronic sinus infections are ignored and treated with antibiotics. Poorly. Stomach issues are regular and the new normal is not good. I've gained 20 pounds. Added stress of working a start up company and other factors lead to:

1999 - Diagnosed with shingles and began a horrifyingly painful six week journey with my body and soul. Immune system is shot. Energy levels low. I am shamed and exhausted but have no clear path.

2000 - Began a strange (yet life altering) association with this woman when she began teaching wellness classes in my city:

She was crazy y'all but changed my life

and after a series of cooking classes in her kitchen that winter, I realized;

We truly are what we eat. And we need to eat the right foods for our body.

(It's true! For reals! who knew?)

So I stopped dairy for six months and now only eat in limited amounts and I've never had a sinus infection again. I rebuilt my immune system. I no longer had stomach "issues" or felt tired and sluggish. I lost twenty pounds and began to workout.

(I finally connected my brain with my body and reveled in it.)

The first thing Susan made on the rainy Sunday in February 2000 was this:

Tofu Chocolate Pudding and it was fabulous. I remember leaving those cooking classes feeling powerful and hopeful about my health and even though it was only months later when Susan imploded and left our city, I've always been grateful for those classes. And her.

Yet, soy has gotten bad press in the past few year and there's a part of me that wonders if the Dairy and Beef Councils are behind the warnings of consuming too much soy.

This is a good article to read about soy if you have the time and interest. For me, I follow a general rule of thumb when it comes to most everything I consume in my life (and that includes vodka)

Everything in moderation. Even moderation.

So I eat soy maybe once or twice a month and while I have a long way (still) to travel on the road to eating actual vegetables (remember, the last smack down was the first time I touched a butternut squash) I hope the culinary smack down will bring me some new ways to prepare this much maligned, yet benign bountiful bean.

Look into my cute puppy eyes
You are getting very sleepy
You want to cook with tofu
You cannot resist my cute puppy eyes

Did you have a good week? Get back into the swing of life without those fabulous three day weekends? Take your tree down? Get those lights off your house?
My world continues to revolve around this little guy:

I never worried for a second she wasn't keeping me. Just sayin'

and his arrival has been a combination of a ton of work and yet,

because I'm 100%committed to keeping him a schedule (the boy WILL BE HOUSE TRAINED)

I'm therefore on one too and that has given my week a great deal of structure which is oddly nice. I even started a book. Cleaned out some files. And spent a whole bunch of time outside saying,

"Be a good boy, Henry"

And he was.

Do you have plans for the weekend? Do they include Tofu? Something else?

Whatever you do, I hope it's fabulous.

xoxox

He's a very nice young man.
I think he'll make a great side kick someday

Haiku Monday - NEW BEGINNINGS

2012-01-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

Aunty is our host this week and I offer this as my entry:

Innocent soul begs

wary human does resist

love triumphs, onward!

Happy New Year!

I'll be back on Wednesday with an update on the upcoming Culinary Smackdown (Tofu!) and probably more puppy pictures than anyone wants to see.

Until then, visit Aunty to read all of the entries and then ask yourself....

why aren't YOU participating? :-)

As long as I have my ball I am happy

Bat? Possum? Puppy?
Henry!

I'm actually quite smitten with the young man.
You can let me back next door.

Life continues to revolve around a 2.2 lb pound bundle of fur and energy, but the other dogs have (so far) accepted little Henry into the fold.

*whew*

January 1st - 7:00 a.m.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T10:21:00.000-08:00

I had all sorts of ideas about a New Year post. Honest.

I had begun to look up pictures, old posts and even thought about making a video.

Is this for me?

It really sounded like a great project to work on during my hiatus from blogging/etc. last week.

Tastes like what they were feeding me at the other place

But as you know (and if you don't and would like to, clink the link)

I have no idea what this is but I must beat the crap outta it

I got a little distracted. With Henry.

Henry in Spanish means "time suck"

Did you have a good year? I really hope so.

It's always hard to sum up the total days, weeks and months that make up just one year and looking back there were some amazing things that happened (a lot a great trips especially with Moi and Chickory) and some not so great things (my bidness partner's accident and being audited by nearly every department of my State Government.)

I don't want to label 2011 as anything other than,

it was another year,

and maybe instead of looking back, I'll just look forward:

2012 will be fifth year of blogging. 2012 will see my business move after 18 years in one location.

2012 will certainly bring the same challenges and work 2011 brought me,

but as long as I have my health, my family, my dogs, my friends and

ALL OF YOU?

2012 will be just fine. Hopefully even better than fine.

Great, even, if we're lucky.

(well, except for that whole end of the year thing, but I'm guessing the Mayans just got tired of making calenders, that's all.)

what's this about the end of the year thing? I just got here

I'll be back for Haiku Monday. Aunty is hosting and the theme is NEW BEGINNINGS,

which I think is a great idea.

Happy Happy New Year!

O(h) Henry

2011-12-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

There is the trouble you make and then there is the trouble that walks in the front door of your bidness on a random Tuesday morning in December.

For the record? It's not my fault

And at first, I thought "Trouble" was merely a bidness neighbor coming by to introduce themselves and their new dog,

but in reality?

It.Was.Trouble.

And as I explained to friends and family,

"I did not go looking for this, it literally walked in the front door,"

But I'm ultimately responsible for what I said after I heard the woman's story,

which was;

"OK, I'll help you."

Oh, I'll just help myself to some of your chow?

"Trouble's" name is Peanut and he arrived yesterday morning with a blanket and not much else. At seven weeks old, he really shouldn't be away from his Mother much less being moved from house to house. The woman had all of the best intentions when she took him from a friend, but it was clear that financially and physically it was not going to work out. After realizing it was a PUPPY and PUPPIES have many needs (as in being house trained and not being left all day) she panicked and then her fiance said he had to go. That.Day.

This is puppy food? I had no idea.

Peanut seemed cute and sweet and I was SURE I could find him a good home when I said I would help to the woman standing in my office with tears in her eyes.

WTF Lady?
Help that thing right down the road

*sigh*

Rule Number 1:

If you're going to foster a dog, don't change it's name.

Rule Number 2:

Don't forget that every shelter on the planet is full with cute dogs (even puppies) that need help because people can't take care of them anymore.

But oh hell, Henry is cute:

How much work can I be?

and last night as I sat on the couch, slightly nauseated and shaking from the idea of possibly adding another dog to my pack, I looked over and saw this:

Mickey and Henry

and that was all it took.

For now? I'm putting a rice filled sock in the microwave every 60 minutes to keep this guy warm and taking him out every 90 minutes to keep this guy on target for being the first FULLY house trained Chihuahua in my life.

We'll see how that goes.

I'll be back over the weekend to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

I wish you all a safe and wonderful Christmas.

I'm taking next week off from BlogLand and FaceBook World to do things that don't require sitting in front of a laptop. The shop is out (paid) and my bidness partner gone (Mexico) and I'm going to take some time to think about how I want 2012 to look like for me and my business.

The best way to do this?

Unplug and stay away from computers and smart phones full of aps (Angry Birds) and other things (Facebook.)

I know. Nutty, huh?

But I'll still be around via email.

Mostly?

I want to read (finish) a book. Sit in front of a fire. Take a beach walk. Go for a run. Figure why I haven't been boxing in months,

and plan. Things. For the future. Because 2012 isn't going to be any easier than 2011 and I want to be ready.

Or at least as ready as anyone can be.

I'll be back on January 1st.

Until then,

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

My video Christmas card:

XOXO

Once Upon a Time

2011-12-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

Once there was a girl whose father baked bread. He baked bread so well and often,

he even won blue ribbons during a time (the 1960's and 70's) when men didn't bake,

much less enter local county fairs and win.

But he did.

The girl and her sister were given free reign of the kitchen and had a favorite cookbook they used over and over to make everything thing from sugar cookies to brownies.

Not only did she share the kitchen with her sister, who was her partner for baking,

she shared the kitchen with the father who made bread nearly every weekend and the house was filled with the scent of his art. It was a home that often smelled of baking no matter where they lived or who was using the oven.

One year just before Christmas, the girl found a recipe in the cookbook that required the complicated act of making, proofing and kneading dough.

These were things previously done only by the father and yet the girl was resolve to make the recipe:

And she asked for help.

Together they made the first in what would become an annual tradition of making "the candy cane" on Christmas Eve and the girl never had to learn the science of yeast because her father was always there to assist.

The first year, they followed the recipe perfectly and immediately decided to substitute the fruit candied filling with pecans and brown sugar and "modifying" became an important element in the girl's memory of baking:

It was the perfect thing to eat on Christmas morning.

Click to make bigger

A few simple snips of the scissors and the braiding of dough, made a visually festive creation that any thirteen year old could master and be proud of making.

One year when the girl was sixteen, she wanted to deliver a freshly baked candy cane to a friend who lived several miles away.

It was Christmas Eve and when she asked permission to take the car and leave, the mother replied,

"no."

Moments later, the father came into her room, held out the car keys and said,

"go."

and she did.

I'm not sure how many years the candy cane was made, but it was more than the girl could count. But as everyone got older and schedules got busy, some years there wasn't time for baking.

But the girl always held in her heart the tradition with her father no matter where they were.

One year, in the not so distant past, the father and the daughter found a place and time to make the candy cane and that year the daughter asked the father to show her the science of yeast.

I know it seems strange a girl could become a woman without learning this skill,

but with a father who had blue ribbons and loved baking bread,

it never seemed necessary.

Until then.

And she listened and watched as the father explained the very simple,

yet important science of making dough with yeast.

This year, the father is gone and the beloved cookbook now lives on with The Nephew. The outdated photos, the antique dishes, the pages coated with the past work of two sisters who loved to bake,

has moved to a new generation.

And,

the daughter, now an aunt,

taught the nephew how to make a very simple,

yet beautiful candy cane bread.

and it was served on what was their Christmas morning.

December 18, 2011.

And she'd like to think her father is pleased.

Holidaze Part 4

2011-12-16T20:39:00.000-08:00

I'll be back Sunday.

Have a great weekend.

Shiny and Bright

2011-12-13T21:49:00.000-08:00

December is usually a quiet time for manufacturers;

we live and die by retail and the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's is typically,

dead.

And then January happens and it's even more,

dead.

This year, with additional employees (weeee?) and everything that comes with the responsibility of more mouths to feed, I've been dreading the dramatic drop in sales that typically happens and oddly?

we're busy. Or, we're busier than we've been in the last two years. (But we still have less employees than we had at this time in 2008.)

and yet?

My neighbor (62 years old and spent his entire life in banking) was let go from his job last Monday.

A local paper company supplier (and a favorite store to find cool packaging) is closing Friday and all of the employees will no longer have jobs.

Several bloggers are also out of jobs and I wonder?

Where's the recovery? And who thinks it's OK to lay people off before Christmas?

Tonight,

I locked the front door of my tiny business and wondered what does 2012 really holds for us? Can I keep my employees? Should I let go one to make it possible to keep the other two?

*sigh*

and I went home to the safe harbor of my house and continued working on things that make me feel peaceful:

Frosty Kitty

started out as one of these:

At this point it's a crap shoot

But I soon realized the arms/paws were all wrong for Snow Kitties and one became a squirrel:

I am not confused at all. OK. Maybe a little.

But that left one lone cat to finish before my (early) Holiday Weekend with my Clan:

What about the whiskers?

I'm not finished yet. I need some bling

How is your week? Are you in the Holiday Spirit?

Is it possible this year to find the time/energy/money to recreate the times in the past when things seemed much more simple and easy?

I'm not sure.

So. For today?

My work table is full of glitter. Projects are still in progress and one last gift (I adopted a real penguin for the LALA Nephew!) arrived and I am happy with the upcoming weekend when I wake up with the heart beats of family in the house.

And. I remain,

optimistic.

I have no idea why.

I'll be back Friday.

Could you turn up the heat in your office?

xoxoxo

Haiku Monday - SILVER

2011-12-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

Fishy is the host for this week's Haiku Monday and while it kinda took a village to get them to announce the theme,

it was worth the "wait" and thank you Fishy/Blowfish for understanding it takes some of us DAYS to write a haiku.

My one and only entry:

Polishing away

tarnished finish of the past

shines for the future

Did you have a good weekend? Finish your shopping?

Or just start?

And since when does the 11th seem like so much later?

I spent Saturday making some amazing peppermint cupcakes with a white chocolate frosting that sent my blood sugar rocketing and......?

My name is cupcake and I am a sugarholic

it was totally worth it!

LaDiva? The frosting called for TWO STICKS of butter.

BAM!

Did you hear that? It was my cholesterol breaking through my arteries. But who cares?

It's the Holidays!

I know Martha Stewart is fun to diss, but honestly? Her recipes are consistently complicated yet weirdly simple and usually fail safe. We substituted peppermint for vanilla after I found red/white cupcake liners left over from last year and thought it would be fun to go "peppermint." We tinted half of the dough (red) and finished with grated peppermint bark and adorned with candles because they were the headliner for The Nephew's birthday:

Fireworks were also involved and even though I decided against sparklers in the house,
I think The Nephew was properly celebrated.

While cupcakes were baking and cooling, the tree and most of the decorations were dispersed:

"Waiting for orders"

To counter balance my wonderful silver (FAKE) tree, we cut fresh pine boughs and lined the mantle with their heavenly smell. This is where "Hitch" and Glitter Squirrel are also residing:

We are hoping to be adopted

I am hoping to move to L.A.

The tree stands in the family room, a glimmering beacon of shiny brightness. I grew up with only live Christmas trees and had to wait for my Mother to leave the planet before buying my first silver/aluminum tree. I think if you're going to have a fake tree?

Don't try to make it look like a real one.

I am crazy about Seahorses

Bright and Shiny

I think I'm finished with gifts (weeeeee) and this is the time of the year when I'm most grateful to have a shipping area available for the packaging and sending of prezzies/cards. I'm also grateful I don't have to ship anything to my immediate family because we'll all be together starting next Friday night.

Is it true you're sending me to the kennel next weekend????

I'll be back Wednesday and I hope you are too!

Holidaze Part 2

2011-12-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

It was just a week.

A week where I spent most of my time in the office, invoicing, filing, updating random things, swearing (I paid my tax bill from the audit in October today) and counting the minutes/hours until 4:30 p.m. when I was "free" to go home and work on projects:

It originally started out as a cat

Earlier in the week, I had a moment when I wished I had a mailing address for a certain blogger:

Uncle Troll is calling!

I told Moi that I think it's the wrong time of year to be working so hard because if you think about it,

most things in nature are hibernating

and what are we doing?

Just.The.Opposite.

Still. despite the invoicing, filing and swearing, I've been working on projects, decorations, gifts and that's not a bad way to end it.

How about you?

Because my brother lives in LaLa Land, we celebrate Christmas a week early and that compresses a major part of my Holiday projects,

which isn't bad,

just compressed.

So all gifts for family must be completed by the 18th,

not the 25th.

Fishy asked about the Penguin and this is for her (and anyone who wants to watch a video about a paper mache penguin.)

This weekend there is a VERY important birthday to celebrate (The Nephew is turning 13!!) and I'll be officially putting up the Beach House Tree/etc.

Do you have plans? Will you tell me?

I'll be back on Sunday with a proper post and I hope you return too.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Have a great weekend!

Holidaze

2011-12-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

This year, during the annual Torture the dog for a Christmas card photo shoot, Coco escaped with nothing stuck to her head but not because I didn't try. I made (lightweight) ear muffs out of Styrofoam and red fabric, but they did not have the springy part that real ear muffs have, and she ended up looking like a Holiday Princess Leia:

My ears are never cold, it's true

Why Why Why

so I pulled them off (gently) and went with just the scarf.

The cover of JCrew or JCoco?

I'm putting together my Christmas card list and if you'd like to receive one, just let me know. If I don't have your address, you can email me at: PNWGAL07@Yahoo.com.

And for those not fond of dogs wearing a glittery scarf that came off a holiday yard sculpture, there is also a snowman card:

Pick me! Pick me!

Culinary Smackdown Announcement

2011-12-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

You might be sorry I won.......

It's time to announce the next Culinary Smackdown which is set for:

Wednesday, January 18th 2012.

This should give everyone plenty-o-time to recover from the stress and strain (on our belts?) from the food and money spent celebrating the Holidays.

Before I reveal the special ingredient, I want to remind everyone the idea is to challenge the inner Chef in us to make anything taste good.

Yes, it's

TOFU!

Even Zombies eat tofu

So. Are you in?

Here's how I'll be judging the entries:

40% Presentation - I learned a long time ago even bad food seems to taste better if well plated.

50% Creativity in recipe - Trust me, I've eaten a lot of tofu and I pretty much know every way it can be cooked. I'm hoping for something different.

10% Visuals. Seriously. I have a short attention span and bright shiny objects really help keep me focused. Just sayin'.

So there we are. The winner will have the honor of displaying one of the wonderful Chickory designed awards and I'm working on a prize that is worthy of anyone who can make Tofu taste/look good.

Karl won Haiku Monday this week and will be hosting once again. The theme is TIME.

Did you have a good week? I slogged through end of month minutia and counted the days until this weekend because it's a new month and and that means,

we're back on the Island.

I've packed the warm clothes, Christmas decorations and a few things that are making a certain dog a little nervous:

Dear God don't let her staple anything to my head this year

Do you have big plans this weekend? Chickory is hosting an art sale at her studio (I hope it's hugely successful!!) and Moi is hunkered down while wind and snow make her world into a snow globe.

Whatever you do, I hope it's fabulous.

I'll be back Sunday.

xoxoxo

Vitamin D is for Sunshine

2011-11-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

And don't it feel good

Two years ago, I received results from routine blood tests that scared the HELLOUTME. They were so bad, it led me to seek alternative methods/medicine to help get my (then) rising cholesterol and blood sugar under control.

Drinking the Kool-Aid (aka, take a statin) was not an option for me and I'm blessed to have one of our country's premiere "centers for natural health" in my back yard.

Two visits and one blood draw later I was prescribed a plan for lowering both cholesterol and blood sugar and was given only "research based" supplements to add to my daily diet (I do not have expensive urine.) Vitamin D3 was one of those supplements (out of three suggested.)

One year later, I lowered both numbers enough to get the attention of my regular Doctor who seemed pleased with my progress but raised an eyebrow when I told her I regularly (4-5 times a week) take over 5,000 IUs of Vitamin D3.

Her immediate reaction was to warn of overdosing, which I understood because Vitamin D3 is fat soluble.

But that didn't mean I believed my dosage is dangerous and suggested they check my levels of vitamin D.

So they did.

And the results?

I was/am fine. In fact, I was in the middle range which means for ME (and not you or anyone else) I was doing the right thing. Certainly, I wasn't over dosing.

There are many ways to learn about Vitamin D3, but most websites extolling the benefits are usually selling it, and I never buy anything (especially supplements) without professional advice.

And you know what?

Dr. Google isn't a good source sometimes. Just sayin....

However,

this is a really great article that I recommend reading. It pretty much says it all.

(but this never stops me from getting up at 3:00 a.m. to GOOGLE every ailment from "Do I have a brain tumor" to "why is my dog obsessed with tennis balls?")

And, if you're in a hurry here are my reasons for taking D3.

1. Mood elevator
2. Supports bone health
3. Boosts Immune System
4. Keeps Zombies from making you into one of their own

Even if you live in a sunny part of the world, you can still be absorbing too little Vitamin D.

The Sun actually does a body good

In our need to protect ourselves from the "harmful" rays of sunshine, we have created a potential deficit in our bodies by our use of SPF's.

Add in food that is stripped of nutrients and the stress of daily life in the New World (not to mention the potential concern of Zombies)

and you have bodies deficit in Vitamin D3.

Or not? I'm not you.

Here's what I suggest. Do the research. Have your Vitamin D levels added into your next visit to the Doctor.

Take it regularly.

And give it 3-6 months.

Mother Nature takes her time, but she ALWAYS delivers. We just have to give it time.

Vitamin D is also good for the skin
Even Zombies

I'll be back Friday.

Sunday - Monday -A Haiku and a Birthday

2011-11-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

Did you have a good weekend? Relax? Buy anything?

Instead of shopping, I spent part of Black Friday (and Saturday and Sunday) staying in my house,

sorting, tossing and reclaiming,

all of the schnizz I've bought or been given over the past years.

Instead of buying more decorations, produced overseas with little care of the Holiday or homes they would adorn,

I went through the multiple boxes I ALREADY have and decided,

yes, I have enough.

Truly.

Don't we all?

So if anything goes into my collection it will be something I've made.

(I also discovered I have enough pens, nail clippers, socks with no mates, books, craft items and on and on and on.)

And one car load went to my work dumpster and another to Goodwill. Tomorrow, I'll be taking more out of the house. It felt really good to clear rather than,

consume. More.

However, I did go downtown to see the decorations and observe Occupy The City vs. Black Friday:

Pretty much business as usual and I bought nothing

My Haiku is below, which is hosted by the wildly talented Serendipity and the theme this week is ENERGY/ENERGIZE (which I love.)

It's also Chickory's Birthday and I hope she's having a wonderful day with her family, dogs and chicks.

The World is a better place with Chickory in it

Haiku:

Motivated by

Black Friday, spurred to purge not

consume like Zombies

I know the stores wanted me to take my credit card out for the day,

but instead,

I've spent the most wonderful day enjoying the things I already have....

... and I'm beginning to think I might be able to get into the Holiday Spirit?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

Pfffft to Zappos! I'm still a star

So, no big surprise Coco and I did not take home the win on the Zappos commercial and I told Chickory last week it would be very interesting to see who did win.

And I was right.

The winners came from what appears to be professional design companies or professional film makers/etc. Big money and time was put into highly professional entries. (the operative word here? PROFESSIONAL) Impressive, actually, but why make it into a contest?

It doesn't matter because I had a ton of fun for the following reasons:

1. After a year of owning my D90 I finally figured out the video option.

2. After a year of complaining about not having decent video editing software I found NERO and so far? So good.

3. Anytime I can partner (so to speak) with Chickory is a good thing.

So, thank you Troll for giving me the link and nudge. And thank you all for the support and kind words. Those mean as much as winning the contest.

And I'm putting this on my long list of things I'm thankful for right now and as I told my sister this morning:

"I'm not sure if it's life or the 10,000 iu's of Vitamin D I took this morning, but I'm in a good place."

And I hope you all are too.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please stay out of the stores.

Especially on Friday.

Boycott Target for making their employees come to work at Midnight on a Holiday (and any other store with this insane idea.) Pulling people away from their families so "we" can buy crap goods just that much faster, actually makes my heart hurt. Why even bother with Thanksgiving? It seems to get in the way of the new Holiday of "Black Friday."

I'll be back Sunday. With a post that I'm sure will include a penguin, some snowmen and a lot of glitter.

Haiku Monday - Expression

2011-11-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

Even as she sleeps

a thousand thoughts and feelings

are etched in her face

Did you have a good weekend? Hell week is over and my bidness will soon enter the quiet time of the year when I start to stress about the lack of bidness we have,

and I have to remind myself this is just the Circle of Life stuff and we always make it through.

Right?

Oh shut up and ship this box.

Along with working on my haiku and cleaning up the bomb site (aka, my office,) I began a new paper mache project on Saturday night using a technique from a book I found while watching a YouTube video:

My youngest Nephew lives in L.A. and recently developed a love for Penguins. I've decided to make the centerpiece for our Christmas dinner a "Paper Mache Winter Wonderland." My idea is every guest will pick a figure to take home and I hope the nephew wants the only penguin I'm making. And obviously, anyone else attempting to take it will be kicked under the table (Mr. Boxer.)

We'll see. It could be a lot of paper mache and not enough time.

This is a new way for me to make the armature and I like it

I made a small batch of the paper clay and made the feet.

stuffed and ready to cover

So far, I'm not a fan of the paper clay recipe, so I tweaked it a bit and Mr.Penguin's first layer is currently drying.

I'm calling him "Hitch" for now

Karl is hosting Haiku Monday this week and I suggest you follow the link to read the other entries.

I'll be back Wednesday and I promise NOT to have Coco or Mickey wearing anymore Pilgrim hats/etc. (that's for you Buzz.)

Have a great (short) week.

Friday

2011-11-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

I'll be back Sunday or sooner. I'm cold, exhausted and left my work laptop at work so I can't even upload the final cut of the Zappo's "commercial."

Even if I could, I think I'm too tired. But if you go to Chickory and follow her fabulous entry, you'll find mine in the mix.

It wasn't a bad week. Just a long week. And I'm ready to retreat to the basement with a martini and a few dogs.

But before I do.......

Yay to Eggplant's Scout for returning after being AWOL for over two weeks. And, big love to Chickory for producing a kick ass Zappos commercial. She made my week. High Five to Moi for defending us both against a Schleppy "critic," and hosting and judging Haiku Monday. Also? thanks to Karl for his NERO (wonderful video editing software!) suggestion and Troll for telling us we'd be insane if we didn't enter the contest.

How little he knew, that we're just insane enough to do such a thing during some of the busiest weeks in our lives.

:-)

Blogging is awesome. You ALL are amazing.

Have a great weekend.

She doesn't work that hard

Haiku Monday - Adventure

2011-11-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

Once a death row dog
now each day an adventure
living for the ball

It doesn't pay much, but it's an honest livin'

Not my best work for a Haiku but most of my day was filled with working on a video for a contest sponsored by Zappos.com that Troll let me know about last week.

The premise is simple; produce a 30 second "Holiday" video using their music and 6 second ad at the end. So, actually, it's a 24 second video. No longer. 30 seconds. That's it.

Things going against me:

1. I wanted to use my D90 video option, but I've never it used before so I spent Friday night watching YouTube tutorials.

2. I still don't have a good video editing software program and I figured it was time to finally learn the one given to me by my Brother last year (that was Saturday night.)

This morning I realized I really didn't have a grasp on either the camera or the software, but went ahead with the project using crappy Movie Maker.

Here's a very rough cut. Give me your feedback. I had to convey my story in 24 seconds. Did I achieve that? I'm not so sure. It would help if you could tell me what you think the story is.

I have until the 18th of November to do the following:

1. Realize I'm wayyyyy too bizzy with work to be fooling around with new cameras and software and not enter anything.

2. Spend the next five days learning the video software and re-editing, quite possibly bankrupting my bidness because we're moving into "Holiday Hell Week" when EVERYTHING has to ship to arrive before Thanksgiving. It's gonna be a hard week. It always is.

3. Just load this one up and walk away.

She stuffed me into a box
someone send help

For now, I'm going to put my living room back together and hopefully not have to explain to neighbors we were merely making a Holiday movie with our dog and not anything else more illicit. And a potential bonus for putting up a freaking tree in my living room? I may have gotten an idea for Christmas cards.

Happy Haiku Monday! Please visit Moi to see the entries from Bloggers who actually knew what they were doing.

xoxox

Genius!

2011-11-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

Things I was thinking about as I ran my four miles tonight,

outside,

enjoying freakish 60 degree and sunny weather here in the PNW:

First,

Troll linked me to a pretty cool video contest that I'm going to give a serious run at. Thank you Troll!

Mr. Boxer reminded me tonight that my Grandmother (on my Mother's side) was not only from the South and a radio personality on local stations in upstate New York in the 1940's,

but she also entered radio contests as a hobby so now I'm also doing this in the memory of my Grandmother?

Second:

"Geniusing" off Talking Heads is pretty cool. "Geniusing" off "Let's Hear it For the Boy (Footloose, 1984) for a long run,

Isn't.

What was I thinking??

Third,

It's Thursday and that means Sweet Genius is on and it's on my list of "Must Watch TV" next to Top Chef and Iron Chef.

Fourth.

I returned to running this week after a Summer of ignoring my blood sugar/cholesterol/blood pressure/arse/soul

and I could really use some suggestions for great songs to put into my play list of 2011.

Tonight, as I ran past homes (people! close your blinds!) restaurants (mmmmmm,) the water (ewwwwwww, tide is out!) I thought,

if I'm going to run, I'm going to need some new music!

So,

Give me songs. Or give me a song to Genius from.

Thanks to Mr. Boxer, I have access to over 20,000 songs so help me put together the ultimate running/workout play list.

Moi was the winner of Haiku Monday and will be hosting with "Adventure" as the theme.

Along with thinking about how to pimp Coco out in a Zappos commerical, I'll be working this weekend through the tsunami of orders that always crush us this time of year. ZZZZZ. I know.

Whatever you do? I hope it's fabulous.

I'll be back Sunday.

XOXO

My Own Private Idaho

2011-11-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

I'm having the kind of week when I don't have a lot to say.

We're bizzy (duh.) I'm tired (uh-huh) and hopefully I'll be back on Friday.

(yup.)

But!

There is something I've been working on over the past week and tomorrow it leaves for its new home.

This Kitty is very special to me. It's not only my first commissioned piece, but it's for a person that's very important to me and I want it to be perfect.

I've been making a paper mache Day of the Dead Kitty for the best friend of my friend (and therefore it needs to be worthy:)

Styrofoam body (he rattles!) Pipe cleaner tail
wood dowel stick legs

Tissue paper and Modge Podge mixed with water.
Chickory was right. It's the only way to go.
Elmers is good too.

The face is the hardest for me so I left it until last.
I looked at over 300 images on Google to learn
as much as I could about DoftheD art.

Some time Saturday night while sitting on my bathroom floor in front of a space heater drying Kitty so I could add more details, I fell in love with her. Only then was I happy.

Outside for varnish time.
Lots and lots of high gloss varnish.
It hides a host of painting sins.

Ready to ship
XOXO

Usually when I finish a project, I need a few days to clean up my work table, catch up on Tivo, think about other things and recharge.

But today moments after I sealed the box and added postage, I was contemplating;

Maybe I'll do an entire centerpiece for Christmas dinner out of paper mache?

That's going to be a lot of Modge Podge
And time

And that's going to be a lot of glitter, too!

xoxo

Haiku Monday - DEATH

2011-11-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

Occupy Seattle - November 5th

We all begin as

Willy Loman chasing the

American dream

Discovery Park - November 6th

Autumn morning walk

stamping down nature's bounty

skeletons of Spring

Troll is the host this week so don't forget to visit and read the other entries.

Did you have a good weekend? Get lots of things done?

I bailed on work (early) and walked from my office to our Downtown and smack into the Occupy-Hippie-We-all-need-to-bathe-Protest that seemed more like an event than a sit in.

Bands were playing, dogs and kids were milling around, a few Harri Krishna's had set up a table along with about a dozen other organizations.

I don't mind seeing our civil liberties being exercised and yet I'd also like to hand every one of them their portion of the 500K it's cost my city so far in security/etc.

Mostly, I just don't care. Why?

Because I'm too bizzy working and paying the tax that's feeding their unemployment checks.

That's why. But I'm sure they'll all go home around the Holidays to get their new Ipads and REI jackets from their parents,

so until then,

It's their "job."

On Sunday morning the sun was shining and we made Coco's day by taking her to the park for a walk:

I'm so much cuter than that Puggle you were flirting with!

I'll be back mid-week. Have a great Monday. Go write a Haiku.

XOXO

November is the New December

2011-11-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

For Reals!

Yes, it's true. I actually won the latest Culinary Smackdown, hosted and judged by Jen of Our Good Life. Buzzy, LaDiva and Eggy also participated and I came away (once again) not only having an appreciation for the cooking talents of my fellow bloggers,

but also for an ingredient I've never used before.

Thank you Jen for hosting and for the lovely extra prize.

My victory also means I'll be hosting the next Smackdown and due to the impending Holidays, I think we'll start off the New Year with the next installment? Weigh in.

So it's November and today while shopping at my local paper store, I heard "Frosty the Snowman" and I did not feel,

happy and full of the Holiday spirit,

but was actually annoyed. And cranky. Good Lordy, it's only the 4th.

Of November.

This year, I'm vowing to shut out the soundtrack of Christmas,

NOW

and ignore as much as I can in hopes the silence will bring a different way of celebrating,

But it won't be easy because national retailers continue to push the shopping insanity by announcing they will open at Midnight on Thanksgiving for all of those shoppers who can't wait until 4:00 a.m. Black Friday to be stampeded and shoved in a mad rush to get a cheap/crap microwave from China.

*sigh*

It all makes me yearn for this time in my life:

Easy Bake Oven and the Slushee Machine
Creepy Crawlers and G.I Joe

And while I know I can never go back to the days of sharing the Sears Wish Book with my siblings, circling the items we wanted and then WAITING for them,

I can do something about how I choose to celebrate the Holidays this year.

And that is:

There will be more handmade gifts.

It's never too early to make paper mache snow men!

There will be an emphasis on embracing the history and tradition of each celebration.

There is NO tradition of putting hats on small dogs
Stop it. Now.

There will be nearly zero time spent in Malls/Stores unless they are local (my Island.)

Target is NOT really local. Just sayin'.

There will be less buying of anything unless made by hand/artist.

Moi is brave. That is all I have to say
New Kitty for a special person

AND,

there will be a Blogger Christmas Party that I hope rivals in participation (and therefore donations to our charities) our New Year's Party from last year.

Let's celebrate together and make some money for charities.
Details to follow. In DECEMBER.

Did you have a favorite thing in the Sears Wish Book?

What was it?

Troll won Haiku Monday and has picked DEATH as the topic this week. I like it. And if you do too, then think about contributing.

I'll be back Sunday. Have a fabulous weekend. Whatever you do, please don't buy into anything having to do with anything closely resembling Thanksgiving or Christmas. Yet.

We have time people. There's no rush.

The big rush is to get this off my head. NOW.

XOXOXO