Friday Confessions

Below, an oldie but goodie.  I wrote this "confessions" almost exactly a year ago today, on the eve of The World's Largest Garage Sale.  And because now this is the eve of The World's Largest Garage Sale I cannot be expected to come up with an original post.  My garage sale strategy must come first.

You understand.

1. Growing up, my family designated "favorite movies" based on the amount, duration, and intensity of fart scenes.

2. I may or may not have taught my innocent, 13-year-old cousin what the phrase "breaking the seal" means.

3. I attended a luncheon on behalf of my boss where I sat at the head table with the Assemblywoman and the Chancellor of the New York State University school system. I had a visible booger in my nose the entire time.

4. I also dribbled sauce down my chin oh-so eloquently.

5. And then I ran out of the building.

6. The World's Largest Garage Sale starts this weekend. I purchased this old lady cart to store my treasures...and snacks.

7. Corey and I had an anniversary a few weekends ago. I spent the day with my family that was visiting from all over the country then the night baking my mom's birthday cake. We both passed out on the couch dinnerless and wedding-cakeless.

8. As this year has felt like no fewer than five, we were ok with it.

9. Marriage is hard, people.

10. After reading yesterday's post, my mom said our life is like a reality show. Let me tell you: we would be the dumbest show on the planet, second only to The Hills. Aside from our occasional misadventures, this is our nightly routine: come home, Corey walks dog, talk about dinner, eat cheese and crackers, forget to eat dinner, eat dessert, Stacie watches Matlock and plays with felt, Corey checks stats online then watches game, Stacie goes to bed, Corey watches game and falls asleep on couch.

Bo-ring.

But I would definitely entertain any and all offers. Just sayin'.

Dog Fights and Downpours

Oliver has had a rough week.

His life is one big routine of walk, eat, drink, watch me get ready for work, eat, sit, lie, walk, lie, eat, sleep.

Starting last Friday we've thrown in medication two times a day, constant digging through his ears, checking is gums, staring at his eyeballs.  We roll him over every other minute to check his rash; is it spreading?  is it getting better?  why is he wet?  ohmigosh is that pee?

Then last night the poor guy was attacked.

By a Boston Terrier.

Corey let Oliver out to do his business while I waited inside. 

No big deal.  They do this every night.

But this night I hear a blood curddling scream come from outside.  It was definitely a dog.  But what dog??

Oh Christmas candy, that dog has finally killed something.

I seriously thought my dog, who has aggression issues toward most dogs, had finally done damage to some poor, innocent creature.

The shame...the anguish.....the vet bills!!

I ran out the door, so did my neighbor.

"Was that your dog??"

The rest of our building was already outside.  Including one of the neighbors holding his little -4 lb Boston Terrier.  He was upset.  Corey was upset.

Oliver was confused.

I was confused.

It wasn't until we were back upstairs and Corey had texted our vet before I found out what happened: the teeny little dog was also outside doing her business when O-dog came down.  Being super excited to see who he thought was his friend, her brother, he rain toward her.  She, being not entirely pleased, lunged at him, grabbed ahold of his neck and did not let go.

Enter dog screaming.

Corey and another neighbor were able to seperate them.

I checked for damages and judging by the seriously awful sound of his screaming I was looking for missing chunks of skin, maybe a tooth.

Nothing.  Just some redness, a little bruising, and one littttle tooth hole that produced half a drop of blood.

Fine.  Everyone was just fine.

Except Corey.  And the neighbor who owned the dog.

But boys will be worriers.

...

This morning was the icing on the cake.  Out for our morning walk I noticed dark clouds rolling in.

After everything that's happened, wouldn't it be just great if it rained on us?!

Famous last thoughts.  It did rain.  And it was not great.

Oliver and I were stuck in a downpour a little less than a mile from our apartment.

Do I wait it out under a tree?

(rains harder)

Do I run all the way home?

(rains even harder)

I ran with my glasses in my hand, Oliver shaking off every 10 feet, water in my eyes, cars driving by most likely commenting on how dedicated an athlete I am.

Corey was waiting for us on the porch with a few towels.

...

Great way to start the day!  Possibly a hint of what's to come for the weekend?  Let's hope not.

We Want To Know: what you eat!

Spoiler alert: in the following post I mention pancakes.

Thanks to Mamarazzi and Queso for making me so hungry so early in the day!





{1} What is one thing (food or drink) that you MUST have everyday?
Currently, I'm not stuck on anything.  But I have had my seasons of English Muffins with peanut butter or rice with everything.  Right now I'm in transition: from ding dongs and wontons to salads and veggies.

My pants don't fit.


{2} What is your "go to" food when you don't feel well/need comfort?
Pancakes.  I love pancakes more than life itself.  Sprinkle them with chocolate chips and add a smiley face?  We'd be friends for-ev-er.  I'm not even joking.

{3} Is there a dish you make that people request when they visit your home/a family favorite?
No.  I think people still assume I haven't yet moved from newlywed to homemaker.

Which I haven't.  So people please continue to feed us.

Otherwise, I make a mean chicken spaghetti that Corey requests whenever he gets sick of cooking all. our. meals.

{4} What are 3 foods you have TRIED, do not like and will NEVER eat again?
The only food I can think of is mushrooms.  I gave 'em a shot, was not impressed, so I'd rather avoid them at all cost.

I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food.  Especially if it's slimy.

and our final question comes from Dee@ HomesickCajun

{5} What's one thing that you love to eat that most people would think is weird and/or gross??
Pancake batter and pie crust dough.  I've eaten some weird things in my day, but this is the one that has stuck for as long as I can remember.
Don't judge.

...

Visit Mama and Queso to join in!

My Thoughts, Exactly: Sandals

The opinions below are 110% my own, no one has paid me to say all kinds of nice things about these sandals, they were on my feet at the time, I realized how much I enjoyed them, and I thought I would share.

I don't often splurge on...anything.

I'm a "thrifter" as Corey called me this morning.  I live for hand-me-downs, garage sale finds and consignment stores.

However, every now and then I do come across some items that are worth spending a little extra on.

Like these:

Patagonia Bandha Sling sandals in Dried Vanilla.  Also known as my birthday present this year.

I realize it is a tad late to be talking about sandals, now that we've officially moved on to fall, but I anticipate a sale (you're welcome), plus, not all of us are blessed with four feet of snow by Thanksgiving and can get away with sandals all stinkin' year.

I hate you.

But I don't.

I came across these beauts at a downtown outdoorsy store early this past summer and by looks alone I was head over heels:

• They're simple.  90% of the time I wear simple outfits and need a shoe to compliment.  The other 10% a slipper will do.
• The leather and skinny design of the straps classes 'em up.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not above a flip-flop, just the opposite; these babies take me where no regular flip-flop can.  Like work meetings.
• Back strap.  Something different, something functional.  Because now that I'm kissing my twenties goodbye I should add some rationality into my decisions.

The only hesitation I had when buying them (clarify: when Corey bought them) was the price.  For $90 I could by 180 paperback books at the next book sale, I could go on a date with hubs, I could pay one half of my last driving-on-cell ticket.  But, I reeeeeally like them, and thought they might be worth the risk.  So on my feet they went.  And I've worn them almost every other day since July.

My feet have thanked me.

Just so you know.

Birthday Wishes

Thursday, September 22 was my mom's birthday but I just did not have the time to paste her age all over the Internets...and I feel terrible!!

My family did, however, throw her a low-key party for which she cooked the entire meal.

(But the dessert was ruined so my dad and I threw together a last minute chocolate cake because in our household a birthday is not a birthday without a cake.  Just like a Friday is not a Friday without cinnamon rolls, and a Wednesday is not a Wednesday without chocolate chip cookies...but I digress.)

We're a small family, five Dina's plus two significant others, and when we all get together you can almost hear the neighbors shoving earplugs, cotton balls, fingers, toes, cat tails, hot dogs, and whatever else into their ears.

"It's those Dinas again.  Jeez Louise do they have a volume other than Earth Shattering?!?"

No, not usually....

Unfortunately, my parents do not keep a supply of candles in the house, so we had to settle for the "2" and "3" candles that were meant for Kimberlie's birthday in March for my mom's cake.

Which is actually appropriate: if you add the two numbers you get the first number in her new age, and then if you subtract the two you'd get the second number, that is, unless you subtract the 3 from the two giving you -1, which would make her 49, and if the first number is a 5 that just wouldn't work out....

She's 51 years old, for cryin' out loud.

51 and lookin' goooooood!

So happy belated blog birthday wishes mom!!

Weekend Wrap Up: Happy to see Monday

Sweet mother of pearl am I glad this past weekend is ov-er.

Corey probably is too, but for different reasons.

Allow me to elaborate.

As you might remember, I've done a lot of work with our local soup kitchen to plan two of their major fundraisers that fall within a month and a half of each other.  The first was the festival in the park in August, the second a huge breakfast served to thousands of attendees of a balloon festival held this past weekend.

The planning that went into the two events was exhausting enough, but the actual events themselves were both equally physically exhausting.

Starting at 3:30am my dad and I started the days prepping food and working with the 80+ volunteers; we had an hour to fill 8 chaffing dishes with scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes and sausage.  Then four tables had to be lined with OJ, coffee, hot water, milk and every kind of condiment you would ever need.

Minus mini Tabasco bottles.  But we have to have something to shoot for.

The weather was terrible and none of the balloons lifted off.  But on Sunday, at least, they were blown up.

Which means there were still plenty of people lining up at 5am for an all-you-can eat feast.

Which means there was lots of scrambling of more than just the eggs.

Which means I was exhausted.

Needless to say, several naps were in order.

By 1pm on Saturday I had already worked six hours and napped for two.

...

And on Corey's end, he was in charge of monitoring Oliver-dog 24 hours each day for bruising in his ears, eyes, or gums that would immediately send us all to the doggy ER.

"I had to google what a Golden Retriever's ears are supposed to look like just to be sure."

"And?"

"He's fine."

For some reason, Oliver develops this weird rash on his undercarriage that lasts for several weeks and then disappears.  Corey took him to the vet on Friday just to finally find out what it could be and was surprised when the vet thought he had a serious blood disorder.

Corey left the office with several hundred dollars in vet bills, a 3x per day medication and a special shampoo to be used that day.

For a guy who has never owned a dog in his life, let alone bathed one, the whole process took a lot out of him and I came home Friday night to towels strewn across the floor, dog hair in the drain and a wet dog running wild, sliding all over the wood floors in our apartment.

Corey also had instructions to monitor Oliver closely and keep him calm and confined until his blood work comes back this week.  If anything about him even slightly changed Corey was told to take him to the ER immediately.

Confined, yes.  Calm, no.

But I guess it's a good sign he still has the same amount of energy.

...

So now here we are, Monday...again.  But this week we have a weekend of leaf peeping, granny visiting and a world's largest garage sale to look forward too.

Happy Ending.

Color Confusion

"Um hi, this is Stacie Lucas.  I called about an hour ago for hats, I needed nine of them..."

"Yes, I have nine hats in a Columbian blue."

"Ok, so what color is that?"

"Well, it's Columbian blue..."

Is this a color I should know?