Just another sad love song

I have been putting off writing this post because I just can't find the words to do it.  But it needs to be written, so I can get through my grief instead of trying to circumvent it or pretend it doesn't exist.

On March 2, two months to the day that Spike left us, we had to let Peanut go too. We knew he probably wouldn't make it through the year - a 100-lb dog about to celebrate his 12th birthday - but still, I wasn't expecting it to be so soon. 

Peanut, Dec 2013

He was the first of many blessings in my life with TJ. Without him, none of the others would have happened. Realizing how much fun it was to live with a dog made us look for Spike (well, actually, we were looking for a well-behaved beagle, but ended up with Spike).  Caring for and enjoying dogs made me realize that maybe I could be entrusted with small messy lives, and that opened me up to the idea of having kids.

Peanut, Sept 2002

It's all due to this 35-lb gangly 6 month old puppy we adopted at the Tucson Humane Society in 2002. Now our hearts are full, but our house is so empty.

I grieve for you

Spike, age 13.75
March 25, 2000 - Jan 2, 2014

We let him go yesterday. It was the saddest thing I've ever had to do. But that takes me immediately to a place of gratitude - my life has been so blessed and lucky that the saddest day of my adult life came at age 38 for a dog who had lived a full and happy life, 10.5 years with us.

A short list of what I'm thankful for, in honor of Beagle:

• I have a husband who not only gets why I am so sad, but also feels it deeply himself
• Our vet, Dr. E, who we only met a few weeks ago. So professional and compassionate. I wish we had met her when our guys were young.
• The three road trips we took with him: my solo trips to Vancouver and the Bay Area, and our family trip to Canada.
• We had some time to spoil him and say goodbye.
• The vast number of things that Beagle taught us: 
• patience (oh the patience he required!) 
• how to deal with gross things that need to be cleaned up
• how to live with someone who hears and understands what you're saying but just chooses not to do what you're asking 
• the best place for napping is the one with the soft blanket and pillows, rules be damned
• don't settle for kibble when there is lunchmeat available

Thank you for choosing us, little guy.

This feeling calls for everything that I am not

Spike came to us 10.5 years ago, on my birthday weekend. After we got Peanut and moved to Seattle, we had been thinking about getting another dog. I really wanted a beagle. TJ did not. I saw an ad in the Micronews, the now-defunct internal newsletter at work, for a family looking to find a new home for their 3 year old beagle.

Last week at the dog park, Spike @ 13 years 9 months

I remember the first time I spoke to his previous owner - he called me back during a class I was taking at work. I was so excited about meeting Spike (who started out his life as Scooby, not a good name for a beagle IMO). TJ and I drove over to their house that night, nervous and trying to make a good impression because it was clear they were willing to wait to find the right, good home for their dog.

We thought the best idea would be to dogsit Spike for a weekend so we could make sure he and Peanut would get along. Spike was pretty much all wrong for a second dog choice - he was older than Peanut, hadn't lived with other dogs before, and was also male.

They spent the weekend checking each other out, and quite frankly it was clear Spike didn't like Peanut at all. He wanted to be the dominant dog, but "that stupid big puppy" just didn't get it. Reluctantly by the end of the weekend we were about to return him. Then I looked out the window and saw them actually playing a game of chase, and both were having fun.

So he stayed. He's not a good dog, but he's a nice one. He is not interested in pleasing us, he barks in the yard (sorry neighbors) and never did get the hang of walking nicely on-leash. He got really sick in 2007 after he escaped over the fence at the dog park and ate something gross. He had to be hospitalized for that incident.

Now he's nearly 14 years old. He's got some arthritis, his kidneys are only working at about 25%, and he's got a tumor in his bladder that can't be treated.  A few weeks ago, our vet said he only had a matter of weeks and anything we did was palliative.

I am sad. But we are also lucky. Lucky that we had 10 healthy fun years with him. Lucky that he adjusted to babies in the house, despite being a non-kid-friendly beagle. Lucky that we have some time to say goodbye and love on him.

Spike and Peanut are my first dogs, so I've never had to go through this. I spent a lot of time assiduously ignoring the possibility that one day they won't be with us. 

But now it's time for me to step up. My insightful husband told me a while ago that our dogs would teach our daughter one final life lesson when it's their time to go. It's a lesson for me, too. 

Spike's time is very soon. He started limping today and is obviously in pain, which we're managing with medication. Our vet (bless her) has been calling every few days to check on him. I don't know what the next few days has in store for him, but we will provide him with a warm spot on the couch and all the lunchmeat and aebleskivers he wants. 

Your family loves you, little guy.

I knew you were trouble when you walked in

The Two Best Dogs Ever, Spike and Peanut, have had birthdays recently, and are 13 and 11, respectively. Not puppies any more, they spend most of their days napping.  Spike's kidneys aren't doing so well (typical for an old dog), so the vet put him on the Hill's k/d special food which is much lower in protein.

This food is expensive, but that's fine. We're in "do whatever it takes" mode with these guys, since they're both fairly healthy and don't seem to be in pain. The problem, though, is that Spike HATES this food. To the point where he will leave it in the bowl and just not eat. 

This is a BEAGLE, y'all. You know, canine garbage disposal? Crumb vacuum? This is the dog that spent 15 minutes trying to get at a chickpea that rolled under the stove.  For him to refuse food is baffling. And sad. He actually got skinny, down to 21 measly pounds from his fighting weight of 25. 

So we caved and started giving him Peanut's food, which is a high quality dry Old Dog food.  Or maybe it was Fat Dog food.  It was the lowest protein content we could find, around 18%, but not as low as the vet-suggested food.

But Spike's latest bloodwork showed that his kidneys were still not working well, and we needed to reduce his protein intake to help. The vet asked me if I would consider home cooking for him. I looked at him like he was crazy. Then I said yes.

I still can't believe it. But Spike is my second baby. Despite all his annoying barking, refusal to do anything that HE doesn't want to do, and the tiny black and white hairs ALL OVER EVERYTHING, including BabyM, he's part of our family. And I'm willing to do what it takes to keep him healthy.

So here I am, cooking for the DOG every 3-4 days. Fortunately it's pretty easy.  I mix equal ratios by weight of meat, vegetables, and grains after cooking, and the doctor gave me a list of each to choose from.

Meat: beef, chicken, tofu, beans, turkey, cottage cheese

Vegetables: Pumpkin, squash, green beans, carrots  (no leafy greens or onions)

Grains: Brown rice (best), quinoa, amaranth, white rice (no wheat or corn)

Doesn't actually look too bad, right?

So far I've used ground beef because it's inexpensive and easy to cook, canned pumpkin because it's easy to open a pre-weighed can, and whatever grains are languishing in our pantry now that I haven't been cooking them (all of which I can just throw in the rice cooker).  So far he's had quinoa and wild rice and likes them both.

The size of my pans and bowls limits me to cooking about 6 lbs of food at a time, which is about 4 days' worth.  I've been trolling the "manager's special" meat section at the grocery store, because they mark down the meat with sell-by dates coming soon.  I cook the meat the day I buy it, so that works well.

Spike is also taking a bunch of supplements to help his kidneys, and fortunately we can just add the pills to his food, and he doesn't even notice.

Because Peanut is over 100lb, I decided not to cook for him. He'd require 4 cups of food a day which means I'd need to cook daily to make enough for both of them.  So he gets whatever is left over after portioning out Spike's food, and is happy about that, but seems a little sad the rest of the week when he's eating his regular food. I'm not THAT crazy yet.

In 6-8 weeks, we'll go back to the vet and see how Spike's kidneys are doing. I'll be disappointed if all this effort isn't helping.  Then again, I haven't seen him this excited about his food in a long time, so that's something.

If you need an ego boost, I recommend cooking for a dog. Never has anyone been so excited about my cooking skills!

So, would you cook for your pets?

Tuesday Lovin': Three of My Favorite Blog Posts EVER

Gratuitous BabyM photo,
 by Kristi Lloyd  Photography

In 8 years of blogging and Internet-time-wasting, I've read a lot of blog posts. Inspirational ones, funny ones, useful ones, not-so-useful ones. In the weird way that ideas converge, I was thinking about doing a post on my favorites, and a Facebook friend randomly mentioned one of them today, in a completely unrelated discussion. So I had to write this post - it was destiny, right?

I can't pinpoint exactly *why* these posts stuck with me over all these years. Two of these bloggers have consistently excellent posts, and the third is someone I don't read regularly, but his (?) post is just so ridiculously awesome that I have it bookmarked for when I want to laugh.

Tea & Cookies Kitchen Gift Guide

My friend S posted this link on Facebook a couple of years ago. I was home on maternity leave with BabyT so I had a lot of time to click links and read them. I now own and USE nearly every single item on her list - they are *that* useful. She hooked me with her lovely writing and all the stories that went with the gadgets. 

I think of it every time I use my fabulous green plastic spoon (and I'm thinking of buying another!).  I panicked in early 2010 when I was looking for the post, because I couldn't remember where I had seen it, and my fabulous friend S found it for me again. :)

AskMoxie: What Would Have Kept You in Your Job?

I knew once T was born that I would be happy to become a stay-at-home mama. Right as I was returning to work from maternity leave, I read this post (wistfully).  This post encapsulates the brilliance of Moxie's blog -  the comments are a goldmine of information from parents all over the world.  I read her regularly, but this particular post stuck with me, for its anecdata of what everyone would need to make their jobs more compatible with family life. A few commenters discussed why they still worked.  

A close second was the one describing the Newborn Witching Hour. I bookmarked it to try solutions for both of my babies. It didn't fix the problem, but made me feel a lot better about The Crazy that descended on our house for those few weeks each time. 

littera_abactor: I Has a Sweet Potato

This is the post that came up in discussion on Facebook today. I cannot articulate how much I love this. Anyone who has an always-hungry dog will understand. It makes me laugh out loud every single time I read it, so I keep it bookmarked. If you're not a dog person, you won't get it. Here are some cute baby photos instead.

Enjoy, and drop me links if you have a super favorite somewhere in Internet land.

Tuesday Lovin': King County Pet Licensing

The title sounds thoroughly boring, doesn't it?  But yesterday, the brilliant flash of happy in my day came from my interaction with King County Pet Licensing.

Peanut, last week

We were late getting Peanut's license renewed.  We had gotten to the threatening pink postcard level (I think that's 3rd in line after initial notice, then a yellow warning letter).  Somehow we had managed to register the pups independently - TJ registered Peanut when we moved to Seattle and I registered Spike when we got him in 2003.  So they're on completely separate schedules and we each have to take care of one.

I renewed Spike's license in 5 minutes online - I love their system.  You enter the license # (conveniently provided on the notice they send) and your phone #, get a chance to update your contact info, and then pay for the license via credit card.  A week or so later, they send you the new collar tag.

This is my ideal world - I can take care of it online at any hour, don't need to talk to anyone on the phone, or fill out a form, find a stamp and mail something in.  When it works, it's stupendous.  Amazing!  Awesome.

Until it doesn't.  TJ asked me if I could take care of Peanut's renewal, having ignored the first couple of letters.  So we were late, and they were threatening late fees. 

That's the other thing I luurve about King County Pet Licensing - they threaten late fees, but never seem to *actually* enforce them.  Once you pay the fee, they're perfectly happy to waive any late charges, regardless of how late you are.  One year we renewed the pups several months late, and it was like they were so happy that we bothered at all, that they waived the $60+ late fees on the spot.  LUUURVE.

Aaanyway, so I'm trying to access Peanut's record online and it just.won't. log me in.  I tried every phone number I could remember.  No luck.  Sigh.  I got on the phone and called the support number, bracing myself for multi-leveled touchtone menus and a recording that finally would tell me the entire office was at lunch.

But amazingly, after two rings, a dude answered the phone.  A real dude, not Automated "Press One Now" Guy!   He asked me for some basic info and told me the phone number it was listed under (our home phone from 9 years ago!).  He offered to change it on the spot to our current number (he goes above and beyond!).  I was batting a thousand at that point, so I figured I'd ask if he could combine Peanut & Spike's records into one.  And surprisingly, the answer was Yes, and he took care of that in another minute.  Dang.  I had no idea an interaction with a public agency could be that pleasant.  And seamless. 

It's kind of sad that I don't expect that kind of interaction with agencies/companies I deal with, but it's such a rarity.  The human was nice, the system worked to do what I needed it to do, and it did not take a ton of my time and energy.  That *never* happens.

So hooray for you guys, King County Pet Licensing.  We promise to always license our pets!

A new mother cries

We've just returned from the Worst Vacation Ever.  Two stressful days in an unfamiliar house with three creatures who needed to be looked after constantly.  We're using this as a learning experience.

I had imagined another mellow, blissful weekend like we had a few years ago on the Olympic Peninsula.  Of course it would be different with a baby, but with both TJ and me around, we'd each get some time to ourselves to just relax.  And BabyT is pretty mellow, so she's usually happy to play by herself near us for relatively long stretches of time.

We rented a house at Seabrook, a totally manufactured "beach town" on the Washington coast.  The drive over there with puppies and baby was pretty uneventful. Thanks to the massive amounts of baby stuff we need to carry around with us (stroller, diapers, her own clothes and toys), we had to put both dogs in the back of the Nitro together, and stuff all of our luggage in the seat next to the baby's car seat (which itself takes up a huge amount of room). We stopped once to feed Miss Baby and get me a diet Coke, but otherwise she napped or entertained herself in the back seat.

The house was lovely, and the neighborhood very nice to walk around in (despite the massive amounts of construction). We bought a few groceries at the Extortion Market located onsite, and TJ made a larger grocery run the next day, to Ocean Shores, which was about 15 miles away.

The bed was king-sized which meant we didn't need to bring a place for BabyT to sleep, and they even had a high chair and Pack N Play, which was a welcome surprise. That all sounds good, right?

But it was surprisingly stressful. The yard wasn't beagle-proof so we had to take the dogs out on a leash every time. We worried about the dogs getting into something or having an accident in the house since it was new and they didn't know where "out" was. If BabyT was on the floor, we had to keep a hawk's eye on the dogs. (We've solved this problem at home by installing baby gates so we can separate dogs and baby when needed.) We had to change BabyT on the floor. Basically, one of us was always watching the baby, and the other one was watching the dogs.  The first night was wretched.  Either BabyT or Peanut was up EVERY hour, as if to say "hey guys, did you notice we're not at home?".

Add to that the fact that I also forgot some of the parts to my breast pump, which meant we'd have no "easy milk" in the bottle for T. Which also meant that *I* was tethered to the baby for feeding. On a side note, hooray for 8.5 months of breastfeeding!

So yeah, not relaxing. A friend told me that vacation with a baby just seemed like the "same stuff, different location". I totally agree. But we had the house for 4 days so I thought we should make the best of it.

Until the Spectacular Vomiting Incident.  BabyT has been doing GREAT with eating solids.  We introduced bread (at Tropea, our favorite Italian restaurant) and a few strands of spaghetti, as well as the usual fruits and vegetables and she was literally eating it all up. But not with a spoon.  BabyT likes to feed herself, yo.

So I figured we were in the clear to just start feeding her whatever we were eating (except for the still-forbidden things like nuts, honey, egg whites and dairy).  I had some tomato soup for lunch on Friday, and for thought it was just tomatoes and spices. (Bad Mama Mistake #1)  So I offered some to BabyT.  She LOVED it.  Even let me feed it to her from a spoon.  She ate less than a tablespoon total, and all was well.  We went out for a walk, and went to the beach to let the dogs run around.  All was still well.  She took a nap.  All continued to be well.

I fed her again in the evening just after her last nap of the day.  As I was getting ready to take her downstairs for a few hours of fun before bed, it happened.  It actually wasn't that *gross*, just alarming.  Whoever said that babies' stomachs are the volume of a closed fist is a dirty rotten liar.  She was drenched, I was soaked, and so were the lovely bed linens (thank god for mattress pads!).   I had never seen BabyT do this so I was freaked out.

And of course, it was after our pediatricians' office closed for the day so we had to leave a message and wait for the nurse on call to return it.  In the meantime there was more (small) vomitiness.  The nurse just said to stop giving her solids, keep an eye on her for fever and more vomiting and give her milk as usual.

At that point I was ready to take my ball and go home.  We were an hour round-trip from the nearest grocery store and at least that from the nearest medical facility, which may or may not have had a pediatrician.  We had a limited number of outfits and laundry detergent.  I wanted to be in MY house where everything is set up the way we need it. 

Fortunately, BabyT was fine for the rest of the night and slept and ate pretty well. I discovered there was cream in the soup, so either she had a bad reaction to the dairy or is allergic to/doesn't tolerate tomatoes.  We're going to hold off for another month or so before introducing yogurt and cheese, and will go back to our "whole foods" plan for solids.

We're all fine but SO happy to be home.  We'd like to try another trip later, without the dogs, will remember to bring all parts to the pump, and will not introduce new foods while traveling :)

Who are you taking coffee, no sugar?

It has been a fabulous food week for me.  The highlight, of course was our 5th anniversary dinner at Canlis on Saturday.  It's so cool to be able to go back to the place we got married on every anniversary (I don't think we've missed one yet!)  Fortunately TJ's parents were in town, so they babysat for us.

TJ is not a food adventurer, and prefers to have a predictably good meal rather than trying someplace new, especially on a special occasion.  I love food, and trying new fancy restaurants and cuisines.  That makes it hard for us sometimes.  While Canlis has always been good, there were times I was yearning to go somewhere else just to try something new and different.

But now there's no conflict, because Canlis got a new executive chef about a year ago.  And he's young (younger than me!  I feel old!).  I recently read an article in a local magazine about how he experiments with molecular gastronomy techniques, but mostly saves those for the tasting menu, while leaving the old standbys on the regular menu.  So it's the perfect restaurant for us.  TJ can get the teriyaki beef appetizer (not on the menu, but TO DIE FOR) and the Canlis salad which have been around for decades, and I can try stuff I've never even heard of on the tasting menu.

Which is exactly what we did.  I opted for the vegetarian tasting menu because I'm always curious to see what awesome chefs can do to make veggie dishes interesting.  It did not disappoint, and even better, I wasn't rolling out of the restaurant with that foggy, overly full feeling either.  Satisfied, but not stuffed.  TJ got (and shared! so nice!) his teriyaki beef appetizer and the Canlis salad (with bacon! yum!).  I had the truffle fries and malasadas (Portuguese/Hawaiian donuts! woot!).  I'm drooling just thinking about the sweet coconut sauce that went with the malasadas.  So yeah, an amazing food experience and I'm already trying to devise ways to go back there more often. 

And if that weren't enough, on Sunday, I got a small delivery from Curry Aroma, a new Indian-Pakistani food delivery service.  Their prices were reasonable enough to get me to try it once based on a Facebook ad I saw (yes, FB ads really do work!) and the first delivery was excellent, so I ordered again last week.  I tend to order things I either don't know how to cook myself or don't want to bother with.  Protein is especially challenging for me.  I hate cooking meat because raw meat is gross.  But I like eating it. 

Most Indian restaurants don't have beef on their menus, so I think I can count on one hand the number of beef curries I've had.  This week I got a dry masala shredded beef curry that blew my mind.  It was the exact same consistency as the Mexican shredded beef in an enchilada, but with Indian spices instead.  A-MAZING.  Not too greasy or fatty, and no chunks of vegetables or sauce to interfere with the meaty yumminess.  Even TJ thought it was good.  I'm looking forward to eating the rest of it, with the Pillsbury brand roti I bought at the Indian grocery store.  Can I just say how odd it is to see a picture of the Pillsbury doughboy on Indian food?  Crazy. 

But wait, there's more!  Last night I went to see Vienna Teng play at the Triple Door, my all-time favorite music venue.  They serve food from Wild Ginger, which I'm not crazy about in general, except for the roast duck.  (Yes, there is a meat trend now.)  I'm not usually a fan of eating cute animals, but for this duck I will make an exception.  With a side of coconut milk roti bread, plus the puffy white steamed buns that came with the duck, I was a happy girl.  (More on the music in another post later.)

And since we're on the happy Asian food trend, lunch today (surprisingly) did not disappoint.  Some folks from the lab I used to work in at the Hutch were getting together to celebrate our former boss's birthday.  Since BabyT and I love an outing, we trekked over to Seattle, to eat at the Malay Satay Hut.  When they chose the restaurant, I was very disappointed.  We have one near home, and it sounds all promising and yummy (Malaysian food and meat on a stick!) but I've been there several times and disliked it each time.

Except for twice - today and the last time I went there with my labmates a few years ago.  I think the secret is Phil, a former coworker, who is from Singapore and does the ordering for us.  He seems to pick the right things, because the roti canai, mango shrimp, and mysterious beef curry were all YUM.  So either they know he's an expert and make it extra-yummy, or he's ordering something different from what I usually order.  I guess I'll never know, and don't plan to go there unless Phil is going to be there too.

Peanut is also enjoying some good food as well.  Our vet told us he weighs too much, which is not surprising since he's become really inactive lately since his knees and arthritis are bothering him.  So we've had to replace a cup of his food with canned carrots.  Which he thinks is the greatest thing EVER.  So it's win-win all around.  Hopefully that, plus the pain pills and anti-inflammatories, will make him a little more comfortable so that we can go out walking again.

BabyT is also enjoying solid foods.  Baby-led weaning is going marvelously well.  She's finally actually eating things - some apple, mango, pear, sweet potato and carrots.  We just steam them and hand her pieces and she seems to have gotten the hang of what to do with them.  It's still really fun to watch, though messy.

And that's the food situation here!  Anything interesting happening for you?

Wherever I lay down to sleep

Spike is awesome. In any given room of the house, he'll zero in on the comfiest place to nap. I think his first preference is in a sunbeam, because I've seen him lie on the hardwood floor just to get some sun. If that's not available, he'll find the softest, squishiest place to sleep - the couch, or if there is a pillow on the couch, on top of the pillow. He's also been known to sleep in a little nest of clothes at the bottom of TJ's closet. I guess the fleece sweatshirts were too much to resist.

We recently bought Peanut a new bed for our bedroom, because he had been repeatedly waking us up in the middle of the night to try and entice us to go downstairs and sleep with him in Dog Bed (the only bed he's allowed on in the house). Of course, TJ being the softie he is, actually gave in a few times, which encourages Peanut to do this often. But we thought the root cause of the issue might be that Peanut's current bed wasn't squishy enough, and in his old age (all of 7 years old) he might like a more cushiony bed. So we used our handy giftcard to Petsmart (gift from Mom and Dad - thanks guys!) to buy him a big new foam bed.



Turns out this bed is very popular these days. Spike decided to claim it for his own, even though it's about 4x his size. (It's sitting in front of the baby's crib, to give you an idea of how big this bed is.) TJ tries to get Spike to stay off it, but I don't really care, as long as Peanut sleeps in it at night. (Peanut doesn't typically nap in his bed during the day - he prefers to nap wherever he falls down, or in dark corners.) Also, I think Spike looks adorable sleeping in the upper left corner of this huge bed. He sprawls out on it like he's a king.

Peanut is nonconfrontational about sleeping space, so we do need to boot Spike off the bed when it's nighttime. But during the day, everyone seems to be happy with this shared arrangement. You gotta love beagles :)

It all boils down to the parts that we play

Yikes, I haven't blogged in ages! But that was intentional, because I got cleared by the Project Management Institute to sit for their certification exam, and since I had taken a prep course for it a few weeks ago, I wanted to take the test as soon as possible. I ended up scheduling it the day I wrote my last blog post, so most of what I've been doing between then and now was either filling Etsy orders or studying for that exam. My brain is a little fried right now.

But the good news is, I PASSED. I'm a certified PMP (no, it's not pronounced like 'pimp'). Yay!

So now I can de-stress, and go back to making stuff. And maybe attempt to get our house back in decent shape. It looks a bit like a tornado hit it, since neither TJ nor I are good at putting things back when we're done using them.

And Spike rolled around in something mighty stinky on his last trip to the park, so he needs a bath, STAT. Maybe that'll be my fun activity for tonight - wrestle unruly beagle into the tub and keep him there while he's wet and squirmy. It's quite a workout.

Projects up ahead:
1. Make 6 dog tags plus 1 periodic table copper keychain
2. Package up and send out a magnet order
3. Finish personalized charm bracelet for a coworker
4. 4 pairs of earrings for the winner of my donated item at the company charity raffle.
5. Necklace and bracelet, plus barrette on request from my parents.
6. Figure out exactly how much money I've spent on supplies since 2007. (yikes.)

And that doesn't count any of the things I need to make for the upcoming Holiday Bazaar at REI. Yikes! But I am really looking forward to it, now that I don't have that PMP exam looming over me like a little black rain cloud.

So, what are y'all up to??

Here Comes the Flood

Title courtesy of Peter Gabriel and last week's Grey's Anatomy episode. I totally love the fact they name their episodes after song lyrics too. I think it means we're meant to be together :)

And speaking of meant to be together, my fabulous husband finally convinced me to learn how to use a Dremel (excuse me, I mean a rotary tool) for the finishing steps on my dog tags. He couldn't find his, so we took a late night trip to Sears yesterday and bought their last one. OH MY GOD this thing is amazing. What used to take me 15 min or so *per tag*, for filing and polishing, now takes just a few minutes!

I made about 6 tags yesterday and didn't cut myself once. When I was filing by hand, I cut myself nearly once per tag-making sessions. I'm all for suffering for your art (sort of) but actual injury seems a bit excessive, right?

Summary: I LOVE my new Craftsman rotary tool.

Tool excitement aside, something REALLY BIG AND EXCITING happened to me yesterday. I was minding my own business at work, trying to actually get some work done, when I noticed the email notification that I had a new Etsy 'conversation', which is the internal messaging system on Etsy.

So I clicked over to see what it was - I've gotten a couple of interesting potential customer requests lately about custom made orders, and the Etsy system does not think highly of spam, so the signal to noise ratio is pretty high.

And ZOMG, the message I got was from CityDog magazine, asking if I could send them some sample tags for a photo shoot they're doing for their holiday gift issue. Holy zoiks!

Now even if it had been "Granny's Cross Stitch Quarterly Newsletter" with a circulation of 3, I would have been stoked for the free promotional opportunity. But this is a magazine I've actually paid money for. More than once! It's available in most swanky pet stores in the area.

So of course, I fired off an email saying I'd be happy to make them some sample tags with fake info on them. And that's what I was doing until 1am to make sure they'd get into today's mail. Behold the sample tags for Peanut, Spike, Ginger, and Frank.

Frank is the longhaired mini dachschund I don't have yet. Right now he lives with a family in a Belltown condo, but once they have a baby and decide to get rid of him, he'll be all mine. (Note: Frank is purely fictional, but someday I will have a dachschund. And he will be named Frank. I just thought I should have a good story to go along with the tag I made for him.)

So I guess before I start counting unhatched chickens, I should temper that with the fact that they probably requested products from lots of different people, and I might not make it into the issue. So I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic here.

But I am still secretly very excited. And of course, will post here if I do make it!

And even better, for the instant gratification, the editor of CityDog also writes an online column for the Seattle Times called Pet Dish (cute, I know!). So yesterday she also told me she was going to feature me there too. Yippee!

Check out the article and leave a comment there so I'm not the only one, please :)

Thanks everyone for your support and reading my blathering about crafty subjects.

Back home again

Yay! We're back home, safe and sound, with one day left before I have to go back to work. It's really nice to have this extra day of "vacation buffer". In my case, I'm working on 13 stamped tag orders, so I'm a very busy girl today. I found that filing all those tags is easiest while watching TV, and I caught up on a couple of episodes of Law and Order and last week's Project Runway.

Why, oh why, can't they get rid of Kenley on PR? Oh right, because annoying == good TV. Sigh.

This morning, TJ, puppies, and I went for a brisk walk at Marymoor in an effort to become less flabby. Though Peanut managed to lose some weight on our trip by following the Peanut Diet, which amounted to skipping breakfast and then eating only 3/4 of his total day's food (if we were lucky) at dinnertime. Now we can see his waist, which is cool, but a little sad for him and his disrupted eating schedule.

Funny though, the minute we got home and fed him in his own big ceramic bowl, he ate every last bit. I guess he really is sensitive about his routine, huh? I think he had a good time, but is REALLY happy to be home, with his own food bowl, bed, and lazy habits :)

Now I'm off to take a bit of a nap. ZZZZZ.

You know it ain't easy runnin' out of thrills

Hmm, so I had intended to put in a nice travelog of our trip, but I found it much more relaxing just to ignore the Internet completely. Except for once-a-day email checking to see if I got any sales on Etsy (just 1, thanks for asking.)

We're spending the night in a somewhat sketchy motel in Barriere, British Columbia, which is about 5-6 hours from home. We made some amazing progress today - left my friend Alice's house in Bonnyville, Alberta this morning around 6:45 our time, and TJ drove 12 hours straight, with minimal stops for gas and food and puppy-walking.

We did have a lovely stop in Mt. Robson, at a rest area. It was about 70 degrees out, gorgeous and sunny, and an amazing view of the mountains. The Canadian Rockies, and really, most of BC, are *so* pretty. We'll definitely be back.

The pups have been really great travelers, Spike especially. We set up his dog bed in the back seat, and he just curls up there and sleeps nearly the whole time. He hasn't once tried to come up to the front seats while we're moving, though he does get up there if we leave the dogs in the car to get some food. I guess he wants to watch us through the window to make sure we haven't abandoned him.

Neither dog has fussed about needing to get out of the car, though around the 11th hour today, Peanut got up and paced around the back of the Nitro, alternately staring at us and barking at the giant tractor-trailer truck behind us. I think he was just done with the car today, and so were we, so here we are, in bed at the motel, in a huge dogpile.

Oh! And today we saw wildebeests. Ok, not really, but we did see wild mountain goats - a whole flock (herd? gaggle?) of them crossing the highway in Jasper Natl Park. I got some pictures before I had to shut the window to prevent Spike from jumping out to get them. Peanut DID NOT like them and told them in no uncertain terms, to stay the heck away from him. Very loud. Fortunately the wildebeests didn't notice the Peanut at all.

We had a lovely time with Alice and Randy, eating, playing with dogs (they have 2 awesome pups), and crafting. I think TJ snuck in some football and napping while Alice and I went to some garage sales and did our crafty stuff. I made some good progress on my cross-stitch kit that I bought several weeks ago. I also figured out that cross-stitching in the car *is* possible, but a bit unwieldy and also has the danger of someone getting their eye poked out with the needle in case of an accident.

This past week has been a lot of fun, but I'm looking forward to getting home too. Wish us luck that the border crossing line is short!

I was made for chasin' dreams

Helloooo from Lillooet, British Columbia. Don't know where that is? Don't worry, neither did I until this evening when we decided we were done driving after 150+ km of winding, bumpy mountain roads.

Our intended stop for the night was Kamloops, which we didn't quite make. But that's ok, because we are SPONTANEOUS travelers. Flying by the seat of our pants with no plan except to get to Edmonton by Thursday night.

This morning I slept in because my sweet husband got up early and fed the pups and took them to the small dog park near our hotel. Peanut met an Akita puppy named Andy and apparently took quite a liking to him. They spent a long time chasing each other and wrestling while I slept blissfully in our hotel room.

Breakfast today was another crepe. Yes, I'm obsessed. There was a tiny crepe cafe across from our hotel which had been closed since we arrived but reopened this morning, finally. and OMG it was AMAZING. The most perfect, slightly sweet, paper-thin crepe surrounding fresh sliced banana and strawberries. It was HEAVEN. I would have eaten every meal there if we had stayed any longer.

We took the pups to Granville Island and wandered around for a bit. It's a great place for artsy-crafty things, so I had a good time. I actually *didn't* buy anything, believe it or not!

Then we drove to Whistler, and saw the ski jump and biathlon stadium they are building for the 2010 Olympics. Very cool, except for the TONS of road construction along the way.

After a nice dinner at a brewpub in Whistler Village, with the pups begging pointedly at our feet, we got back on the road, and after what seemed like an interminable sequence of twists and turns and potholes and bumps, ended up here in Lillooet. I have never been so happy to see a town I hadn't heard of before, especially when we saw there were places to stay :) And now it is time to sleep. We hope to make it somewhere in the area of Banff Natl Park tomorrow, but that's a long way from here, so we'll see. Yay Canada!

Say what you want

Katy over at Sycamore Stirrings tagged me with this blog meme last week and I never got around to doing it. So that's what I'm gonna do now, though I'm going to be a bit of a rule-breaker and not tag anyone else for it.

I'm supposed to tell you six random things about me. I suppose they have to be somewhat interesting, huh? You probably don't care that my dinner tonight was a glass of milk, a peanut butter cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Why? Because I'm a grownup and I can eat what I want, that's why.

Ok, here goes.

1. I graduated from high school just before my 16th birthday. While I wouldn't recommend that from a social development point of view, I love that I got 2 "extra" years to sort out my life, so my extra quarter in college and starting grad school late didn't really affect me much.



2. I met my husband when I was 16 and harbored a secret crush on him for a LONG time. We didn't start dating until I was 24. We got married just before I turned 30. Crazy, I know.



3. The hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life was getting through Caltech. That I came out with a decent GPA and an actual degree is icing on the cake. I have never worked so hard for anything in my life.



4. Spike and Peanut are the only real pets I've ever had. (No, I don't count fish.)



5. One of my favorite movies is "Crimson Tide". I have no idea why, since it's not particularly spectacular in any way. Zero bubble.



6. I really, really want to spend some time in Ireland. I don't know if it's because I started reading Maeve Binchy books when I was young, and have read nearly every one, or because secretly I'm Irish (kiss me!), but I can't wait to go there. That's gonna be our next big vacation, whenever that is.



So there you have it. If you decide to do this meme, post a link in the comments here so I can read it!

There's nothin that I want to do

Happy Father's Day to my Appa, Dad, and any other fathers out there!

Today was just about perfect. Yesterday, TJ and I were discussing our out-of-shapeness, and he suggested I just get up today and go to the gym first thing.

Instead of that, I took Spike on a walk to my office to time it so I had a better idea of how long it would take during the week (and so I couldn't convince myself it was just *too* far). For the record, it took me 21 min to walk to TJ's building, and another 19 min to get to mine. So a 40 min walk, which isn't bad. (It's all uphill though, which is rough.)

Once we got there, TJ picked us up and we all went to Norm's, which is a fabulous pub/restaurant in the Fremont neighborhood that allows you to bring your dogs *inside*. We had an awesome brunch, and Peanut and Spike behaved themselves very well, in exchange for a 1/4 lb hamburger all to themselves, some blueberries and other fruit from my plate, and a couple of French fries.

And then we wandered around in the lovely sunshine for another half an hour or so. It was the perfect Seattle summer day - clear and sunny, but not too hot. It *almost* made up for the awful weather we've been having for months.

And then we came home and just hung out. Dogs were good and tired so they just found a spot to sleep for a couple of hours while I caught up on my work email and got the basic structure of my organizational system into Outlook. I feel ready to tackle the work week now.

Oh, and I sold another set of GeekMagnets today on Etsy. Woo hoo!

Get a haircut and get a new job

Day 1 of official unemployment was lovely. Peanut and I went for a walk, I got him his hotspot spray, went to Target to buy essentials, cleaned off the table in our bedroom that was piled high with my garbage, and started my Mother's Day shopping.

Oh and puppies and I watched American Idol. We all *love* Neil Diamond, and David Cook was pretty awesome, even though I didn't recognize either song he sang.

And though David Archuleta has a great voice, he doesn't have the gritty yumminess Neil does when singing 'America'. So it didn't really work for me.

And dude, what is *up* with Law and Order lately? Their newer episodes have been pretty *amazing*. On all 3 versions, come to think of it. The one where Ed Green leaves was great, though very sad. I like the new guy, though, so I guess it could be worse. And then I watched an episode of SVU tonight where Olivia goes undercover in a women's prison. Scary, scary episode. And I saw a rerun of a Criminal Intent episode that was "ripped from the headlines" - about the college kids killed on a playground. That one must have had a different writer or director, or something, because the way it was shot and the way the scenes were set up, seemed different, and again it was really moving and well-done (in addition to having the usual great plot, etc.).

And Grey's Anatomy came back last week! Yay! So TV-wise, I'm a happy, happy girl.

Tomorrow night is my last sewing class. I'm debating signing up for Sewing 2 which starts in a few weeks. I'm concerned about signing up for that and starting my new job, though the class only starts at 6:30 and is in Kirkland.

I should be able to manage. If it's the same instructor, I totally will take it. She's great. In fact, had to miss class last week because I stayed at work too late and got stuck in horrible traffic on the way home, and by the time I got home and fed the puppies and got my supplies together for class, it was too late and I was feeling so frazzled I just bailed on it.

I emailed my teacher (yay for a sewing teacher who shares her email!) and she said if I showed up early tomorrow she'd get me started on the placemats that were last week's project. This week is potholders, so I should have my hands full. (And apparently my kitchen will be well-outfitted.) So I am super-excited about class tomorrow night.

Ooh, and our major landscaping work to clean up our swampy, ugly backyard is starting tomorrow. So woo hoo! Maybe this year we can play with the dogs in the back instead of feeling guilty all the time about how overgrown and swampy it is. And have that dog party I've been meaning to have for months now!

For ten long years he'll count the days

Today is Peanut's 6th birthday, and last week was Spike's 8th birthday. Well, we actually know Spike's real birthday since his previous family got him from a breeder. Peanut's is just a guess, but given his personality, April 1 is a good choice.

I love our puppies more than I ever thought possible. I never imagined dogs could become part of my family, could communicate with me without using *any* words, and make me so happy just with their presence.

I also *cannot* believe how much patience and tolerance for grossness they have also taught me. Beagle puked on the carpet? Ok, I can clean that up, no prob. Peanut swatting at the couch for the 100th time asking if he can get up there? Whatever, I'll just tell him 'no' again. And again. And again.

So here's to my sweet puppies and many more years with them. I leave you with my favorite picture of the two of them, taken just a few weeks after we got Spike.

You better hide your heart

Yet another productive Sunday. TJ has now picked up on Sunday being my day to unclutter and tidy, and says that I get crazy. There's some truth to that - I am a person who gets stressed when faced with piles of disorganized STUFF, and sometimes it's a losing battle around here. For both of us. Really, I'm not pointing fingers.

Actually, it's ALL of us here that leave stuff lying around everywhere. I picked up 8 dog toys from the kitchen. 8!!
When we get home from work on weekdays, the first thing we do is feed the pups. Of course, the minute we get home, the dogs are superexcited to see us. I mean, it's been 8 or 9 whole HOURS since they saw us.

And yeah, I'll admit it, that's one of the main reasons to have a dog. It's awesome to have someone who's so happy to see you every time you come back to the house, even from the grocery store or getting the mail.

Well, in this excited state, Spike always grabs the nearest toy, races up the stairs and flings it at the container that holds the dog food. Sometimes he flings it into the container, or into his bowl, and once, into the water bowl. Nice shot, Spikeman! And of course, he's so cute, that we don't tell him NOT to do this.

So at the end of the week we have approximately 7 dog toys hanging out by the feeding area. And every Sunday I take those dog toys back downstairs to their basket, the Designated Dog Toy Storage Container. This week it was Mailman, Starman, One Footed Blue Squeaker, Purple Devil Squeaker and three tennis balls.

I love my puppies.

It's so beautiful here, she says

Hello everyone! I'm writing this from a cozy cabin on the Olympic Peninsula, the far northwestern corner of the U.S. (not including Alaska, of course). TJ and I decided to take our new car for a road trip, and I found an awesome place to stay called the Manitou Lodge that allowed us to bring Spike and Peanut.

Since it's wintertime, and the off-season, we're the only guests at the lodge. They even gave us an upgrade to a nicer room. I can't say enough good things about this place. It's back in the woods, and *quiet*. There are two friendly dogs who live here and are very interested in what Spike and Peanut (the city dogs) are doing. Our room (a suite, really) is half of a detached cabin, surrounded by trees, and furnished in a very cozy style. I was worried about being warm enough, but it's got electric heat and a ton of blankets so we were nice and toasty last night.

This morning we went to Rialto Beach, which is just 3 miles from the lodge. I haven't been to the beach in Washington, though Spike and I hit some of the Oregon beaches on our trip to California in 2006. Rialto beach was gorgeous, quiet and empty. Black sand and tons of huge driftwood piles, plus the total lack of people made it seem like something out of a movie. The dogs *loved* it. They ran around like crazy, chasing the waves, then came running back when the waves started chasing them. It was freezing cold (in the 30s) so we left after about 30 min, to forage for food in the nearby town-let of Forks.

TJ bought himself a carhartt hat at the Forks Outfitters. I'm pretty sure I'm not cut out for small-town life full-time. I just like big city choices way too much (which mall, coffee shop, or restaurant do I feel like today?). This weekend is definitely not about the food. I packed some snacks and oatmeal, and we got breakfast as part of our room, so the food is pretty simple, which is just fine with me as I contemplate how to gain better eating habits. (Again.)

TJ is surprised I like this kind of vacation - with no TV, and nothing to do but read the books we brought (and of course enjoy the free high-speed Internet!). I'm totally cool with it. I wanted some time to chill out and really *think* about how I'm going to achieve my goals for the year. I already feel like I'm in that stressed-out, running-all-the-time, picking-up-new-projects mode. (Hello new sewing machine!). I read somewhere the mark of a geek is unhealthy obsession with a given project. I guess that's me. On the bright side, I sold another set of my GeekMagnets on etsy today. And I've got a couple of other custom projects to work on so I look forward to doing that once we're back home.

But anyway, right now we're chilling out (no pun intended) in the cabin, surfing the Internet, reading, and napping. Which is just about a perfect way to spend a Saturday. What are *you* doing this weekend?