Flashback Friday

June 2007 - Buddy's Homecoming

Our friends Andre and Stephanie have a Shih Tzu named Chunk that both Rob and I loved. His personality was so cute and lovey, and he had the cutest face. Shih Tzu's also do not shed so that was a big bonus for us. We knew we wanted a Shih Tzu and we knew we wanted to rescue one. So I did some research online and found someone who did not have any Shih Tzu's but knew someone who did. They referred me to Loree at Toy Breed Rescue and we set a date to meet Buddy. Loree also works at a Vet Hospital in Campbell and they keep the rescue dogs there.

He was 7 months old and was given up by his owner for having some "issues" in the potty department. He was on the wrong diet and would be constipated for days. Sorry if that is TMI (Too Much Information). He was given to the humane society and then Toy Breed Rescue Group adopted him. They got him all up to date on his vaccines, put him on a diet that did not make him constipated and got him adoption ready.

We went to the vet office on a Saturday and were standing at the front desk waiting to meet Buddy. Someone walked over with this scrawny, not so cute dog and Rob and I both thought to ourselves "oh no...THIS is Buddy?". Well, it wasn't. A guy who worked there came out holding Buddy. He set him down on the ground and Buddy was very excited to see us. We took him out on his leash to the parking lot behind the vet office to spend some time with him. He would bark and put his paws on us like he wanted us to pick him up so we would pick him up, then he would try to jump out of our arms. I think he craved human attention and we were giving it to him.

We loved him but knew it was a big decision and needed to sleep on it. We called Loree Monday and told her we wanted Buddy. Her staff neutured him and a few days later we went to pick him up. She wasn't there the day we picked him up, but she had told us the diet he was on that made his potty issues go away.

When we picked him up, we took him outside and he had to go #2. He tried. Tried again. More trying. He was constipated! Poor guy. We went inside and cleaned him up a little bit and drove home with him. I think we jokingly were saying to each other "what did we get ourselves into?" We had NO idea! That night was one of the hardest nights. He proceeded to try to go #2 (in the house) and sometimes he was successful sometimes not, but always made a mess. Looking back I think he was stressed and scared.

I would say his potty issues act up once every 1-2 months but it only lasts a day or so and he now knows to go outside. Thank goodness! He will leave us a treat every now and then if I didn't let him out but that doesn't happen too often.

Here is Buddy on the first day we got him:





Buddy's first chin scratchies:



We love you Buddy!

Dear Rob,

I wanted to send this message ahead of time, in the chance you find me someday on the garage floor having suffered a heart attack. Let me explain.... Every morning, since January-ish, I walk out to the garage, feel my heart stop beating and say a few curse words that start with the letter F and S. Then breathe a sigh of relief.

When I first enter the garage, everything seems normal enough.



But then I turn around the corner and BAM - I am getting the stare down by the two Christmas trees I offered to take off my mom's hands. I know they don't belong there, but as you know, we still haven't cleaned out our garage and I don't know where to put them. The other Christmas tree I adopted from the Beiers is now lying next to these trees. Thank goodness I declined the Gaballah tree I was offered. I swear every morning, I think there are two burglars in our garage.




I will do my best to make time to put them somewhere else so I don't leave you as a widow, and Buddy mom-less.

Signed,
Terrified of Trees

Your Mom has a Blog

Actually, my mom DOES have a blog. In fact, she has three but to be honest, I only check 2 of them (sorry mom).

If you want to add a blog to your daily reads, you can check out her blog at: http://mushroom-city-memoirs.blogspot.com/

She also writes a column for the Morgan Hill Times newspaper and has for a couple years now I believe. If you want to read her columns, you can read them here: http://mushroom-city-memoirs-the-column.blogspot.com/

Her column is in the "features" section and she writes about anything and everything. They are smart and fun reads if you so have the time.

Oh and her THIRD blog is one that showcases her other hobby of photography. I don't think she updates it too much, but if you want to check it out, you can go here: http://sweetlight-works.blogspot.com/

P.s. She looooves her some comments. Show her some love! :)

Flashback Friday

September 2007 - Our First Wedding Anniversary

We spent our first wedding anniversary in Carmel. We stayed at the Tickle Pink Inn which is right next to the Highlands Inn where we got married. We had a great room with an awesome view.







The first night we went to Roy's at Spanish Bay. We had been there before when we stayed at Pebble Beach. I love Roy's! One of these days I want to go back to Roy's and then sit by their outdoor fire pit and make s'mores.

The next day we had brunch at the California Cafe at the Highlands Inn. Us girls ate there for lunch the day before our wedding (to go of course). I think Rob and some of the guys ate there on the wedding day too. Then we went shopping in downtown Carmel and rode along the 17-mile drive. That night we had dinner at the Pacific Edge which is the restaurant in the Highlands Inn that catered our wedding.



After dinner we hung around in the lounge. They had great live music and Rob and I just sat and listened, and drank some yummy drinks before stumbling back to the Tickle Pink Inn.




This guy had a few too many.



The next day we went to the Rio Grill on our way home for lunch. This is where we had our rehearsal dinner.

It was a fun way to celebrate our first year of marriage by going back to the spots we were just the year before when we got married. I look forward to going back.

How did you spend your 1 year wedding anniversary?

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

Flashback Fridays!

Starting tomorrow, I will post a picture(s) of something PB (pre-blog). I will provide a brief, or not so brief commentary (depending on my mood) on what the photo is all about. Could be something very meaningful or something totally random.

Stay tuned!

Italian Beef and Polenta Bake

I'm really excited about this recipe. It's a new one I found in the Weight Watcher's Shortcut Cookbook. Why do I love it? 1.) It's good and 2.) It's easy. Bonus: It clears up your sinuses. I will definately be bookmarking this one.

I've been on a polenta kick lately (sloppy joes over polenta, chili over polenta, eggs, yes eggs and polenta, etc.) and the last time I went to the store I saw sundried tomato polenta. Interesting. I didn't buy it. Fast forward a week, I was sitting down at the kitchen table planning out dinners for the month (I know - I'm so on top of it) when I was thumbing through a cookbook and saw Italian Beef and Polenta Bake - totally up my alley. Well wouldn't you know it, it called for sundried tomato polenta! Perfect. I knew just where to get some.

In my Hurricane Alyssa post, I realized if you clicked on the picture of the recipe, you can actually read the whole recipe. So going forward, I'll include a picture with the recipe on it because I'm lazy like that.

P.s. I calculated the points and it was 6 (recipe says 7). If you are a calorie counter like Rob, mine came to 307.

Hurricane Alyssa, Beefy Noodle Casserole and a Validation

Awww, don't you love Sundays? I like to try new recipes on Sundays and veg all day long. Rob and I watched Pineapple Express earlier and I just threw dinner in the oven. I declared this Sunday Stay Inside and Watch Movies because it's Raining Cats and Dogs Outside Day.

I found a recipe in the Weight Watcher community swap message board I've been wanting to try. They aren't receipes WW created, but recipes WW members have found or created (they tell you how many servings each recipe has and how many points).

So I decided to make Beef Noodle Casserole tonight. It's basically a meatloaf with noodles in it. Kind of strange but I was game. Rob eats my WW meals but he is on his own diet plan. He doesn't count points but calories so I had to tell him how many calories were in tonight's dinner. I knew how many points it had (7) because that's what it said online. So I added up all of the calories and decided to add up the fat and fiber too to make sure the poster wasn't deceiving me - I wanted to make sure it was truly 7 points. To my horror, it came to 11 points. 11!!! For those who have never done WW, you might be thinking "big whoop - its 4 points." Um - 4 points is like eating 2 bean brownies or 4 latte ice cream bars, 2 servings of polenta, 2 BAGS of unflavored popcorn. It's a big deal, alright? So I kind of freaked out. I didn't even want to eat it. I went up stairs to tell Rob the bad news - it was also bad news because it was over HIS calorie amount too. Being the neurotic point nazi that I am, I decided to re-count everything. To my delight, I realized I multiplied wrong on the beef's calorie content: it's 140 calories for 4 ozs, not 440! That made a big difference. And guess what, it IS 7 points! So in the end, I felt bad for calling the anonymous recipe submitter the horrible names I thought of in my head which I will not repeat. She's probably some sweet old grandma in the midwest who struggled with weight all her life, and her mission now is to help young ladies like me get our butt into gear whilst eating a delicious, low cal dinner. This is another example of validating I made the right decision to not be an accountant. Yes, for a brief moment, I wanted to be an accountant. I also wanted to be an engineer one time, because, I liked the internet. Not kidding at all.

Speaking of going off on a tangent, please tell me I'm not the only one whose kitchen looks like a bomb went off when they cook. As the dinner was in the oven I looked around and saw....

the door open to the lazy susan where I took out a pot to boil water for the pasta...



splattered recipe paper with cheese bag and worcestershire bottle...



doors open from when I grabbed a mixing bowl...



random used teaspoons and ketchup...



chopping board, knife, teaspoon, half onion, some noodles and our telephone...



cupboard open from getting strainer from the top shelf...



drawer open from...I don't remember...



cabinet open from getting the salt...




empty tomato juice can, brown sugar from breakfast and mixing bowl...




I can honestly say I DID clean up along the way, but I guess I didn't get everything.

Then, a little fairy comes in and makes it all better.



In the end, the recipe wasn't awesome. It was ok. I think it kind of smelled like wet cat food. I won't include a picture because it also looked a little like wet cat food.