Nored No More

Quickly

I know it's been ages, and I have so much cool stuff to post... I have a few things to get out of the way (a trip to North Carolina for the 4th of July, and the D.C. Metro Dash on July 9th) before I go back to regular sewing/knitting/posting.

In the meantime, Charlie is love love loving his new food. Even-more-expensive-than-before kibble for breakfast, with a spash of unpasteurized goats milk; an afternoon snack of virgin coconut oil, and dinner is either kibble with canned ground turkey (it worries me that I like the smell; makes me think of Vienna Sausages... and it makes sense since the ingredient list is TURKEY, WATER, and CARRAGEENAN GUM) or two raw chicken burgers. 

I am love love loving my Crossfit workouts every day (well, not every day anymore, since the trainer gave me the word on inserting two days of rest somewhere in the week).  I am love love loving the story line in Game of Thrones. The gore and the nekkid folks are kinda much, but the acting is excellent and the storyline fascinating (says the girl who isn't SUPER fond of Sci-Fi or Fantasy...). I've been watching on-demand, so no need to wait for the next episode - just have 9 and 10 to watch.

Happy (and safe!) Fourth of July to everyone.

Was it yummy??

Last night, I grilled a steak for dinner, and some of the edge pieces were too crispy for my taste, so before I sat down to eat I sliced off the offending parts and left them on the counter.

When I went to do the dishes, I looked at the meat (which I HATE putting in the trash because then it smells) and thought, "Hmm. Three little pieces of meat, three big dogs. I'll be their favorite human ever!" (Nevermind that I'm the only human they're interacting with over the next four days...). So I sit them all down on the deck, and starting with the oldest and moving to the "slowest," I dispense the treats.

Rosey takes it gently from my hands, and starts chewing oh-so-slowly, enjoying the taste and savoring the moment.

Finlay jumps up and takes it, chews three times or so, and then sits down and looks all expectant like, "May I have anotha???"

And then there's Charlie. Charlie lapped the piece out of my hand with his tongue and swallowed it without even chewing ONCE. He sits down and looks at the other two dogs as if to say," What's the big deal? Why are we freaking out? I didn't taste anything."

I'm pretty sure Rosey gave him a disgusted look, and then eyeballed me with, "What a waste." And I don't think she was talkin' about the food.

Here's the deal...

I've been all tied up in finishing lots of big and little projects all at the same time at work, while planning for new ones.  I'm clearly very behind in my blogging, my sewing, my photo-taking, my knitting, my reading, and according to my TiVO, my television viewing as well. Sans pictures, here's a quick update.

Charlie: Charlie had another seizure in early May, while I was hmming and hawing about putting him on anti-convulsants. Rather than immediately filling the Rx when he had the seizure (which, unlike any other seizure, happened right when I walked in the door from work and right at my feet), I called the holistic vet I'd been referred to and made an appointment for the following week. A good chunk of change and a new dog food later, we may have the solution. As it turns out, my dog (and those of you who know me may find this rather funny...) has a TON of FOOD allergies. Everything I've been feeding him since I got him--ya, he's allergic to it. And I've been feeding him good ($$$), Made-In-The-USA, human-grade food...that he's allergic to... fingers crossed his new  food solves the problem.

Eating: I haven't cooked anything cool lately. I made turkey salad last weekend that got rave reviews, but seriously? That's just sad.

Knitting: I'm still looking at lots of pretty yarn I own, but I haven't touched the sticks since I ordered yarn back in...February?

Listening: I don't know why, but I bought three new albums (dating myself there...) inside of three weeks, and each was more different than the next. Zack Brown Band, Adele, and Linkin Park. I love all of them. Linkin Park for Crossfit, Adele for drivig, Zack Brown Band for the pool.

Quilting: I am picking up two finished quilts from the quilt lady tomorrow; one is the Happy Days quilt I made last August. It's my first-ever quilt, made from Sandy Gervais' Frolic. I LOVED that fabric, and can't wait to see how it turned out. I'll post pictures.  The second finished quilt is one I made over Christmas using some SweetWater Authentic fabric I stole (was given?) from my sisters giant stash. I used a Schnibbles pattern, and plan to give it away as a very belated 40th birthday present. Can't wait to see how THAT one was quilted, too. Also in quilting news, I bought 11 yards of Tula Pink's Prince Charming and one of her patterns to make a quilt for my bedroom. I've been slowly working on redecorating the house (remind me to post pics of the new couch!), and this new quilt for the bedroom is just the ticket. Oh, and the block-a-palooza with SweetWater's Sunkissed...still working on that...AND I have two layer cakes of Sandy Gervais' Giddy to do something with as well... I was thinking this (when I get to it).

Reading: While I should be reading some stuff for work...I'm reading brain candy instead. Although I find Stieg Larsson's books to have so many different yet necessary characters that I wouldn't call them brain candy. I started The Girl Who Played With Fire in January, and last week I finished it and downloaded The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I finished that the other day (Memorial Day Weekend was spent pool-side with the Kindle for extended periods of time), and now I'm back to true brain candy: Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware crime novels. I think I'm on number 19? Rage. I started reading those books in the '90s, and two years ago I picked one up and decided to get back into them... slowy. I'm really interested in reading something decent but nothing out there sounds good. I just read a couple of "Summer's Big Reading!" lists in various mags, and none of them sounded like anythingI had to grab immediately.

Running: In case y'all didn't know it, we had a brutal heat wave here the last week or so... and yet, courtesy of Crossfit, I was still running sprints in the early a.m. My 5K in April was very smooth but s-l-o-w. My next "race" is the Metro Dash, which is more obstacle course than race. The next two I'm signed up for are also obstacle courses (including one with ZOMBIES!). I'm trying to harness a group of 12 for the Ragnar, but it's not looking too good.

Teaching: Same old, same old - still teaching kids to read. Heh-heh.

Watching: All the season finales that I've seen were fine... nothing that made me go "WHOOOOAAAA....." We'll see when I get through the TiVO.  I saw Bridesmaids, which slayed me, and I saw The Hangover, Part 2, which was funny enough, but exactly like the first one--just in Bangkok instead of Vegas.

Annnnnnd.... that's all, folks! Posts with pics returning soon...-ish... I hope.