When we moved here, we got a coupon for a free flat of seasonal flowers from the local garden center, and I went and redeemed it today. I got some pansies, petunias, and some other annual I forget. I also picked up some lantana because it was 75% off, meaning it cost $0.50 each! So I got five :) Anyway, I planted most of them in the front in various beds, and the pansies plus one petunia were ensconced in the new hanging basket on the front porch. Yay! I hope they make it all right. I have been much more diligent about watering recently, so I'm pretty optimistic.
I did my trial run of pie making last week, making four pie crusts, one buttermilk pie, and one coconut amaretto pie on Thursday. The next day I took pieces to Carolyn, Mom and Dad, and John and Susie, and they all liked them, so I was encouraged. Also, it wasn't too stressful or challenging to make all those in one day, so making just one pie with the crust possibly already done should be just fine. Tomorrow I'm taking my first official pie to Amore!
I met Matt at Chuy's for dinner tonight because he's working late. This fall busy season stinks. Before we parted, we went in the Apple Store to look at the iPod Touch and iPhone. Not that we're thinking about getting one, but now that they've been out a while you can actually play with them without waiting in a line. They were pretty nifty.
We were walking Pene last night and we ran into a couple with two Great Danes. I asked them if Pene looked like their dogs did when they were young and they said yes. She had almost identical markings as one of the dogs. Hmm...seems half Dane is still on the table. =P
Speaking of Pene, she had the best time ever playing with her ball in the backyard this evening. After I'd thrown it five or so times and she'd brought it back, she thought it would be more fun to play "keep away" with me. She was running in circles around the tree as fast as she could, so that I couldn't keep up even making the smallest circles. So then I'd go the opposite direction and encounter her, and she'd juke and get around me and keep going. Once or twice she changed direction. And she did this about three times as I'd occasionally wrest the ball away from her. Good way to burn off some of her energy!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
free Netflix
I have four coupons for one-month trials of Netflix if anyone wants them (the usual trial is 2 weeks). E-mail me if you want them. :)
Oh, and one other thing. Do you know why this is a great time of year? Because honeycrisp apples are back! Yay!
Oh, and one other thing. Do you know why this is a great time of year? Because honeycrisp apples are back! Yay!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Private Practice gets the boot
I have my first casualty of the new TV season...Private Practice kind of sucked. Maybe I'd give it another week - maybe - except we have Kitchen Nightmares and Bionic Woman (we're trying that one) at the same time slot, so I'm really not sitting in our bedroom and watching a show on non-HD with commercials if it isn't very good. What did they DO to the Addison character I loved to hate?
Only exciting thing I did today was visiting Matt's grandmother Phyllis in the hospital. She had a knee replaced last week, and she's doing well. She gets to go home Friday and I put my name in to help out when she gets home. How could I not when she's a fellow Lake Highlander? :)
Only exciting thing I did today was visiting Matt's grandmother Phyllis in the hospital. She had a knee replaced last week, and she's doing well. She gets to go home Friday and I put my name in to help out when she gets home. How could I not when she's a fellow Lake Highlander? :)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Happy birthday, Emily!
Pene and I spent the night at the ranch last night with Mom. Pene thought it was all about her (maybe she's right). She got to visit all the livestock, nose around the pond, and have a fabulous time. We even took a dip in the lake and I made her swim - she's a natural, of course. I burned lots of brush which is always a good time, and Mom and I watched three straight hours of NBC prime time programming. We liked Chuck well enough to give it another week and of course Heroes was great. We started to watch Journeyman and were skeptical, but we got sucked in unwittingly and watched the whole episode. This morning we were picking peppers in Mom's garden and Pene was dashing in, grabbing them off the vine, and retreating to rip them up. Luckily she was choosing bell peppers instead of jalapeños.
On Sunday I got to know our next door neighbors' son Kyle. He came to ask to use the phone after getting locked out. He sat at the kitchen table and drank a Coke while waiting 25 minutes for his parents to let him in. Turns out he's an (almost) Eagle scout in ninth grade, plays basketball, and likes video games. He wants to go to A&M like his two older brothers (whoop!). Anyway, it was cool because he was a nice, well-spoken young man, and there's something that feels so neighborly about lending a phone and cool place to hang when a neighbor gets locked out. :)
Pene and I spent the night at the ranch last night with Mom. Pene thought it was all about her (maybe she's right). She got to visit all the livestock, nose around the pond, and have a fabulous time. We even took a dip in the lake and I made her swim - she's a natural, of course. I burned lots of brush which is always a good time, and Mom and I watched three straight hours of NBC prime time programming. We liked Chuck well enough to give it another week and of course Heroes was great. We started to watch Journeyman and were skeptical, but we got sucked in unwittingly and watched the whole episode. This morning we were picking peppers in Mom's garden and Pene was dashing in, grabbing them off the vine, and retreating to rip them up. Luckily she was choosing bell peppers instead of jalapeños.
On Sunday I got to know our next door neighbors' son Kyle. He came to ask to use the phone after getting locked out. He sat at the kitchen table and drank a Coke while waiting 25 minutes for his parents to let him in. Turns out he's an (almost) Eagle scout in ninth grade, plays basketball, and likes video games. He wants to go to A&M like his two older brothers (whoop!). Anyway, it was cool because he was a nice, well-spoken young man, and there's something that feels so neighborly about lending a phone and cool place to hang when a neighbor gets locked out. :)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
here's the latest
A number of things conspired to delay my blog post. The main thing was that I wanted to wait until I'd heard back about Pene's blood test, and ... anyway, sorry. I'm back.
Pene
On the 14th Pene had a blood test to check her distemper antibody levels. A fourfold increase would signify her having distemper; no change would suggest she didn't. Well, the blood test came back with her levels unchanged, which is great. Unfortunately we'd noticed a tick/spasm/whatever in her right front leg a few days prior to getting the results (a muscle spasm about 100 times a minute that she has maybe 50% of each day). The vet said that sounded like classic a neurological sign of distemper. So we're basically back to the waiting game - see if she gets better, worse, the same...I'll take her back to the vet in a week or so to see what he thinks and to ask about her getting on with her vaccinations. At this point, we have no idea if Pene will ultimately live or not, so we're just making the time we have with her the best we can and dealing.
Pene has been to the ranch a couple times since her recovery and she has had a blast. She touched noses with cows and horses, stalked and ate some bugs, played with toads, waded in the lake, and generally had a blast. There are some pictures scattered around on our web site.
Matt has been working hard at work. He's at work right now actually, but should be home soon.
I've been watching Grey's Anatomy on DVD in preparation for the new season starting this Thursday. I signed up for a free one-month trial of Blockbuster Online so I am getting them from there. In-store exchange is pretty neat, but Netflix still kicks BB's ass.
New shows Matt and/or I will be checking out this fall:
Dad and I are investigating the possibility of me making Carolyn's coconut amaretto pie for Amore. As soon as I find a source of amaretto cookies I'm going to try out the recipe and give it a whirl. I bought pie pans at Crate and Barrel (yes, with the gift card we're still working on from our wedding, yay) in preparation. :)
I bought lots of candy today at Sams for Halloween (so I don't forget later). We're really excited about having trick-or-treaters this year.
Pene
On the 14th Pene had a blood test to check her distemper antibody levels. A fourfold increase would signify her having distemper; no change would suggest she didn't. Well, the blood test came back with her levels unchanged, which is great. Unfortunately we'd noticed a tick/spasm/whatever in her right front leg a few days prior to getting the results (a muscle spasm about 100 times a minute that she has maybe 50% of each day). The vet said that sounded like classic a neurological sign of distemper. So we're basically back to the waiting game - see if she gets better, worse, the same...I'll take her back to the vet in a week or so to see what he thinks and to ask about her getting on with her vaccinations. At this point, we have no idea if Pene will ultimately live or not, so we're just making the time we have with her the best we can and dealing.
Pene has been to the ranch a couple times since her recovery and she has had a blast. She touched noses with cows and horses, stalked and ate some bugs, played with toads, waded in the lake, and generally had a blast. There are some pictures scattered around on our web site.
Matt has been working hard at work. He's at work right now actually, but should be home soon.
I've been watching Grey's Anatomy on DVD in preparation for the new season starting this Thursday. I signed up for a free one-month trial of Blockbuster Online so I am getting them from there. In-store exchange is pretty neat, but Netflix still kicks BB's ass.
New shows Matt and/or I will be checking out this fall:
- Kitchen Nightmares (Wednesdays on Fox)
- Kid Nation (Wednesdays on CBS)
- Back to You (Wednesdays on Fox)
- Dirty Sexy Money (Wednesdays on ABC)
- Private Practice (Wednesdays on ABC)
- Bionic Woman (Wednesdays on NBC)
- Big Shots (Thursdays on ABC)
- Pushing Daisies (Wednesdays on ABC)
Dad and I are investigating the possibility of me making Carolyn's coconut amaretto pie for Amore. As soon as I find a source of amaretto cookies I'm going to try out the recipe and give it a whirl. I bought pie pans at Crate and Barrel (yes, with the gift card we're still working on from our wedding, yay) in preparation. :)
I bought lots of candy today at Sams for Halloween (so I don't forget later). We're really excited about having trick-or-treaters this year.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
hi
Things took a turn for the better at the end of this past week. Pene got to come home on Thursday. She isn't out of the woods yet because there is still a possibility of distemper, but she's doing lots better. Her distemper test results showed some antibodies for distemper, but that could just mean she's been vaccinated or exposed, not necessarily infected. The only way we'll know is time - another test two weeks from now will show if the antibody levels have stayed the same (yay) or increased (boo). Also, she could start showing neurological signs of distemper, like seizures. But so far, so good. She's eating well and being playful. Last night Piper and Pene stalked a bug through the house, which ended with Pene eating it (except for one leg). This morning she helped me water and rake the yard. And right now I think I hear the girls playing in the other room.
Carolyn is improving as well. She's leaving the rehab place on Monday and we're all thrilled. She's in a lot less pain, moving around well, and in good spirits.
Leslie was here from Monday evening until Friday morning. She was supposed to go back Thursday night but rain here in Dallas delayed her. We tried to pretend we were sad she had to stay another night but we were not-so-secretly pleased. Les and I got to hang out a lot and spent Wednesday at the ranch with Mom, Dad, Mike Shannon, and Yolanda. Wednesday night we grilled out here at the house and were joined before the end of the meal by cousin Lisa and Matt (who is working his tail off with fall busy season). On Thursday we gave baby Miles his first swimming experience in Mom and Dad's pool, which was awesome. He never cried, even when I accidentally dunked his head. We had to evacuate the pool though when the rain storm hit. Leslie returned to California early on Friday and Lisa and I spent the day cleaning Carolyn's condominium in anticipation of her return home. It was very satisfying :) Lisa had to head back to Austin yesterday morning, much to my dismay, but I suppose Eric wanted his wife and son back. It's only fair that I share.
Friday night Matt and I went to Scott McClelland's wedding rehearsal dinner at the Grotto in Uptown because Matt was an usher for Scott and Lindsay's wedding. The wedding was yesterday morning at Scofield Memorial Church. We sat with John and Susie and they all enjoyed seeing lots of their Lake Highlands friends (Scott and Matt grew up together in Lake Highlands). The reception was at Arlington Hall in Lee Park. Then Matt and I came back home to allow Matt to watch copious amounts of college football...it's like a holiday for Matt! He was flipping between three games at one point. Unfortunately the Aggies weren't on TV, but we did have other Big 12 action to watch, as well as the Cal-Tennessee game (go Bears!). And we happily thought of Luke in the nosebleed section of the third deck at Kyle Field in the far corner with all the other freshmen. Tonight we're dining at the Roberts because Emily and Rick are up from College Station for the holiday weekend. Whoop!
Carolyn is improving as well. She's leaving the rehab place on Monday and we're all thrilled. She's in a lot less pain, moving around well, and in good spirits.
Friday night Matt and I went to Scott McClelland's wedding rehearsal dinner at the Grotto in Uptown because Matt was an usher for Scott and Lindsay's wedding. The wedding was yesterday morning at Scofield Memorial Church. We sat with John and Susie and they all enjoyed seeing lots of their Lake Highlands friends (Scott and Matt grew up together in Lake Highlands). The reception was at Arlington Hall in Lee Park. Then Matt and I came back home to allow Matt to watch copious amounts of college football...it's like a holiday for Matt! He was flipping between three games at one point. Unfortunately the Aggies weren't on TV, but we did have other Big 12 action to watch, as well as the Cal-Tennessee game (go Bears!). And we happily thought of Luke in the nosebleed section of the third deck at Kyle Field in the far corner with all the other freshmen. Tonight we're dining at the Roberts because Emily and Rick are up from College Station for the holiday weekend. Whoop!
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