Earlier today, Josh and decided to go outside and run around in the snow like a couple of 8-year-olds. After wandering around the shore of the frozen lake that’s behind our building, we raced to the top of the hill to head back home.
To make a long story short, I won the race, and he fell on his way up the hill at the exact moment I whipped a snowball at his head and hit him in the face.
(In a bit of cosmic justice, I laughed so hard that I fell over and landed in a snowbank.)
Filed under random stuff
I’ll start off with the update: I finally got my car back! After two weeks in the shop, $400 in repairs, and a new serpentine belt, timing belt and water pump, she runs like new. Only now I think another one of my wheel bearings is going, but I’m not surprised. Three out of the four of them are original, so they’re ten years old and have 112,000 miles on them.
Now for the news: due to my newfound interest in football (BTW – my husband says “FINALLY”) I’m declaring next week to be Superbowl Week. I’m going to be posting party tips, football party cookbook reviews, and other related information almost every day, on top of my regular stuff.
Also, this is for those of you who love camping as much as I do. If you’re a camper who brings along your fuzzy friend, Kampground of America is holding a contest that you may be interested in. Here are the details from the press release:
“With all of KOA’s sites being pet friendly and campers being so wild about taking their pets, KOA has just announced its Picture Paw-fect Pet Contest. Pet lovers can submit photos of their pet dressed up for a special event, showing off or just looking cute on a camping trip, up until February 9, 2011. The top 10 will photos will then be featured in the February edition of KOA’s Kompass magazine, where the audience will vote for the most “Paw-fect Pet” beginning February 16. The winner will receive $250 in great pet gear and two nights of free KOA camping anywhere in the nation.”
The link to enter is here: Picture Paw-fect Pet Contest.
Filed under random stuff
I only know a little bit about dog training. My scant knowledge comes from my first dog, Lady. My sister received her as a Christmas present from our Aunt, back when I was 12. I remember accompanying my dad to weekly training sessions with Lady, where we taught her basic commands like “sit”, “stay”, and “come.”
Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz’ Love That Dog Training Program uses positive reinforcement, which, I’ve since learned, is the same method we used for Lady. Rather than punishing the dog for misbehaving, positive reinforcement rewards the dog for doing something right. For example, you command the dog to sit. She sits, and gets a treat. Now she knows that every time you say, “Sit,” she’s going to get something tasty.
This well-written book goes into great detail on every aspect of dog training – from basic commands to how to stop bad behaviors like biting and barking. There’s even a section on how to teach your dog to clean up its own toys! (Now if only my cats can learn to do that.)
Information on types of collars, needed equipment, dog-proofing your home, and how to recognize a good dog breeder start off the book, which then jumps into the beginnings of the training program.
Sylvia-Stasiewicz, who has worked with Bo Obama and the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s dogs, recommends to first set up training goals, then develop a weekly plan, followed by a training log to record your dogs’ progress.
Later sections of the book cover dog grooming, vet visits, water safety and more specialized training for AKC obedience trials and hunting and tracking. However, the meat of this book has detailed instructions for the training that your dog will need on a daily basis, making it a must-have for any dog owner.
Osiris earned the nickname “Trouble” when she was a week and a half old and was already crawling out of the cat bed. Now that she’s almost 5 months old, the name has definitely stuck.
Until today, she was too small to leap onto the kitchen counter. Then Josh caught her up there three times in a row, and we sentenced her to a half-hour time out in a cat carrier. (Squirting her with water, our punishment method for the other cats, won’t work since she likes water. I flicked water on her repeatedly when she tried to climb into the dishwasher and just got a look that said, “Yeah, and?”)
After her punishment was up, I let her out and she hopped onto the counter 60 seconds later. ARGH. She went right back into the carrier, this time for an hour. Hopefully she’s learned her lesson. Only time will tell.
I know that there are training books for dogs; I’m all set to review one in a few days. Although I think that someone needs to figure out how to train cats. There must be a way to coerce them into deciding to behave themselves.
In the meantime, I’ll just continue to be astonished by the Trouble she manages to get herself into.
Filed under pets
I figured I’d chime in with my two cents regarding this new astrological sign nonsense. In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, please read this: New Astrological Sign Added, Other Signs are Jumbled.
While I do believe in astrology to a point, I’m not a hardcore believer. I don’t believe in daily/monthly horoscopes, and just going off of the idea that there are only twelve types of people in the world isn’t correct, since you need to be more exact than that.
The only way to get an accurate astrological viewpoint of a person is if you go off the exact position of the stars at the moment they were born. You can change the signs all you want, but people are who they are based on that. There’s a lot more to it than just what day of the month that you were born in. Look at it this way: my husband has a really good friend who was born exactly two days before me, in the same year, in the same area of Ohio. Our personalities are so similar that we get on each others nerves 99% of the time. You can’t look at something like that and not believe that the universe isn’t involved somehow.
Under this “new system” I’d be a Gemini, rather than a Cancer. Changing the sign I’m under isn’t going to automatically switch my personality. In fact, I think this whole thing is going to blow over quickly and won’t affect astrology at all in the long run.
Filed under random stuff
I haven’t left my apartment in almost 48 hours. That sounds weird, right? Well, it helps if you realize that I currently don’t have a car. Mine went into the shop two days early – Tuesday – to be exact, when the problem got worse and it started stalling out every time I had to stop at a red light or stop sign. My husband thinks the problem is an O2 sensor, so we’ll see if he’s right. Either way, I’m car-less through next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Another reason I haven’t gone outside is due to the giant blizzard that hit yesterday, but since I have no where to go right now (not to mention no way to get there), that doesn’t really bother me. It can snow all it wants right now! Ha ha ha!
My books from Barnes and Noble arrived, finally. They came Saturday, the same day I received an email from them letting me know that they were shipped. So, at least I have something to do besides write and watch the snow fall.
As far as work goes, I’m currently writing a bunch of book reviews, posts on sports for both of the blogs I write for, and a few restaurant reviews and news updates, so be on the look out for updates. I’ll post links to them once they go up.
Isn't Osiris HUGE? She's a 5-lb Calico Bundle of Trouble.
And now I’ll end things with kitten pictures. Can you believe that they’re both over five pounds already? Yikes.
Horus, on the other hand, is funny. He tries to beat up the other cats (even the ones much larger than he is) and runs around “meowing” and trying to swat at things that no one else can see. Weird, huh? He won’t like us much after he gets neutered next month!
Filed under random stuff
My New Year got off to a cruddy start: my next-door neighbors decided to stand on their balcony (right outside my bedroom window) and scream “Happy New Year” loudly over and over for an HOUR after midnight Friday night; the check engine light on my car decided to turn on, no doubt letting me know that more expensive car repairs are imminent; and stupid Barnes and Noble still hasn’t sent the books I ordered on the 28th of December with my Christmas gift cards. ARGH.
The B&N thing worries me, since the books had a ship date of 1/3/11. I keep picturing my box of books sitting on the floor of their warehouse, unlabeled, getting stepped on. This may be the last time I buy anything from them, since their customer service apparently cannot help me. (Maybe complaining will spur them into action.)
Needless to say, I was badly in need of a good laugh when I discovered Cracked.com. Remember the magazine? Cracked? It’s not published anymore, but it was sold alongside MAD. I used to read them both back in the day.
Anyway, I was looking around Cracked.com and found this: 8 Stupid Amazon Products with Impressively Sarcastic Reviews. It’s similar to a NY Times post from a few weeks ago, but equally funny. Sometimes reading funny things that other people wrote will cheer you right up. It worked for me.
BTW: Cracked also has a book out, called You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News. I haven’t read it yet, but if it’s as funny as the website (and magazine) I’m sure it’s good for a laugh or twelve.
Now I’m going to go back to worrying about my car. And my books. And hating my neighbors. ARGH.
Filed under things that annoy me
If I had to name my number one favorite food, the answer would be CHOCOLATE! And if I had to narrow it down further, I’d go with chocolate combined with other things, like pretels, cookies, peanut butter, and wasabi. Wait, wasabi?
Photo by Derek Hatfield
Yes, you read that right. I’ve tried it (and liked it) with pretzels, so why not with chocolate? Nicole Greene, the pastry chef and creative mind behind Chicago-based artisnal chocolate company truffle truffle has combined wasabi powder with white chocolate ganache for her Hot & Spicy collection.
Here are the details:
Hot & Spicy Collection:
Inspired by ingredients used to heat up taste buds around the world, this unique collection of truffles and caramels incorporates spices from Mexico, India, Japan and everywhere in between. Explore the frenzy of flavors with your valentine with this sweet and spicy journey around the world.
· wasabi: white chocolate ganache combined with wasabi powder
· curry: milk chocolate ganache infused with a house-made sweet and spicy curry blend and a hint of coconut milk
· spice: dark chocolate ganache infused with cloves, allspice, ginger and a pinch of saigon cinnamon
· chili: milk chocolate ganache with ancho, chipotle and cayenne peppers in a milk chocolate shell
Photo by: Derek Hatfield
caramels
· mole: truffle truffle’s original caramel recipe with a unique blend of chilies, spices, ground nuts and chocolate
· spiced curry: house-made curry blended with the original caramel recipe and the addition of chipotle pepper
· Thai peanut: caramels infused with the flavors of roasted peanuts, lemongrass, ginger and chili
· cracked peppercorn: freshly-cracked pink peppercorns add a pop of spice and heat to truffle truffle’s salted caramels
If those sound too spicy for you, check out this collection:
Culinary Couples Collection:
Photo by: Derek Hatfield
Like Valentine’s Day itself, this collection celebrates the simple fact that some things are just meant to be together. Just as loving couples are better together than apart these classic combos of ingredients go hand-in-hand for the perfect marriage of flavors…in bite-size form!
truffles
· peanut butter & jelly: a milk chocolate shell surrounds white chocolate ganache mixed with house-made raspberry preserves and organic peanut butter filling
· cookies & milk: white chocolate ganache is combined with chocolate chip cookie crumbles and rolled in white chocolate
· beer & pretzels: the original truffle truffle culinary couple, milk chocolate ganache is combined with American chocolate stout, enrobed in milk chocolate and rolled in crushed salted pretzels
· coffee & doughnuts: a tiny doughnut hole is rolled in rich coffee buttercream, enrobed in chocolate and finished with cinnamon sugar
Photo by: Derek Hatfield
caramels
· chocolate & peanut butter: a classic rich combination is even more decadent when combined with truffle truffle’s delicious salty caramel recipe
· maple & bacon: the addictive combination of pure maple syrup and organic Applewood smoked bacon is ensconced in the smoky salted caramel
· strawberry & banana: a tasty throwback to the childhood favorite of the perfect pairing of ripe bananas and fresh strawberries with the original caramel recipe
· apple & cinnamon: the familiar & comforting notes of apple & cinnamon fill these chewy caramels
I don’t think it gets any better than a strawberry and banana caramel and a peanut butter and jelly truffle. Do you?
Filed under food
Here are my top ten events for 2010:
And there’s more greatness in store for 2011!
Filed under events
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