Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Baby Fever

My best friend Jennifer-Marie welcomed her beautiful baby Jocelyn to the world this past Sunday.  I guess that makes me an Aunt, sort of.  It also makes me officially the only one in my circle of friends who has not tried his/her hand at procreating.  Practicing, yes.  Procreating...not so much.  For whatever reason it seems my husband and I have always found a reason not to have a baby.  Either he wasn't ready, I wasn't ready, our bank accounts weren't ready, our dog may not be ready, our home repairs/updates weren't ready, our relationship as a couple wasn't ready, etc.  At almost thirty we're perfectly content to babysit for friends and family and then send the little boogers home.  We'd done our research on local daycare facilities, talked to my doctor, but really we were just waiting for the right moment when the stars aligned before making that commitment.  I know, I know... if you wait for the right moment you'll never have a kid.  There's never a right moment.  I've heard that a million times.  Although now it seems my mindset is changing.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Furry Friday: Stoic

Denture Your Dog
Stoic was the word the veterinarian used for Riley.  Apparently the bump that had suddenly appeared under his right eye was what we feared.  He had an abscess due to a cracked tooth.  While she poked and prodded around in his mouth he surprisingly maintained his cool-as-a-cucumber composure thus prompting the one word compliment.  Although, while having his temperature taken he hid his head in the crook of my elbow like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.  My heart ached for the little guy.  

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Advice for future children

No I'm not pregnant, but a few things had me thinking about writing a post like this.  First, a blogsite I belong to (20sb.net) was asking for posts about what we would say to ourselves five years ago, and then there was this little cutie posted out in the online world of Facebook and the Timesunion Blogosphere.  Ultimately I started thinking about how I would have done things differently and how I would encourage my future kids to prolong their youth because before your know it you're grown up and it kind of sucks. 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Furry Friday: Wednesday Edition



So last night Riley was being a bit whiney.  Initially we attributed it to the full moon as lunar cycles tend to affect him, but after further inspection we realized he had a half-dollar sized bump under one of his eyes.  Needless to say I was immediately worried.  Over the past week he had shown signs of what I believed to be allergies (rubbing his face, warm ears, sneezing, runny nose, etc).  Well, now I'm thinking I missed the signs that he was developing a toothache.  At least that's what I'm hoping it is.  After some reading online it appears this isn't entirely uncommon, however if it is an abscess it can lead to infection and possible surgery.

So wish us luck as we're off to the Vet for a 9:00am appointment.  Here's hoping for a simple fix (i.e. draining and antibiotics.) 

Has anyone else gone through this with their dog(s)?  Please share your experience.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Trespassing?

We couldn't have special ordered any better weather for this past weekend.  It was hot and sunny with just the right amount of breeziness to keep you from overheating.  Absolutely gorgeous for Father's Day weekend.  Every opportunity we had, we made sure we were outside to enjoy the weather.  We bbq'd Friday - Sunday, even camped out Saturday night with my sisters who had never tented before.  This was odd to me seeing as how they are Girl Scouts, I thought scouting had a camping requirement but I guess things have changed.  Anywho, we also swam at a friend's pool and even took a drive over to the picturesque Wintergreen State Park in Canajoharie.  This was the only hiccup to the entire weekend.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Grilling, Planting, Welding & Carpet

You read that right.  Last night was an odd combo of events for sure.  The evening started out with Justin mowing lawn and myself putting together supper.  It was gorgeous out so I opted to use the grill.  I made the most delicious chicken last night that I figured I'd have to share. Not a formal recipe, this was a throw together, but it was oh-so-simple and oh-so-delicious.  I'm sure you could replicate it:

The Krueger Version: Chicken & Mushroom Spiedies Sandwiches

Ingredients/supplies (serves 2):
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 portobello mushroom caps, cubed
Hotdog or hamburger buns (your preference)
Shredded Mozzarella
Pampered Chef Chipotle Rub seasoning
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Aluminum foil 
1 BBQ Grill

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Size Matters

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/d1b5bff6-b186-4be9-8a43-3bed8bedbeed.html

Already a hot topic in the gender realm, it appears the age old "size matters" debate will soon apply to beverages as well.  In an effort to curb the state's obesity, New York's Mayor Bloomberg intends to pass legislation banning the sale of sugary drinks in excess of 16 ounces. (Google search: ny soda size limit.)

While I can understand the facts provided in regards to the detriments of excess sugar on one's health, I don't know as though it's the Government's right to impose restrictions in this regard.  I think if we're not careful about reigning in "Big Brother's" micromanagement of society we're going to wake up one day to find we are no longer a Democratic nation.  It's a slippery slope folks.  Already on the radar are restrictions on the sales of popcorn, milkshakes, and "milk-coffee" beverages.  Where does it stop?

I think we need to flip this scenario around and start imposing more restrictions on those that govern us.  I won't speak for the general public, but I will say that I personally am tired of increased taxes and the out of control government spending.  It really aggravates me that this is what our tax dollars are wasted on (i.e. task force to prevent and control obesity).  I'm especially aggravated when I look at the whole beverage/milk beverage restriction from this perspective: my taxes are essentially paying the government to research how to make it illegal for me to purchase and consume a milkshake.  Yeah, that pisses me off.

Anyone else?  Leave your thoughts below.  You never know, we could be on to something BIG here.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Vi·ta·min

Growing up my mother fed my sisters and I vitamins like it was her J-O-B.  She thoroughly believed in the powers of vitamins and their ability to keep us out of doctors offices and on the perfect attendance list at school.  I may have embellished a little in that last sentence, however, it is true that we took minimally two pills a day with breakfast.  A little red multivitamin and white vitamin-c supplement.  Prior to our abilities to "swallow" our vitamins we did have chewables and I can vouch that chewable vitamin-c is absolutely puke-worthy.  There was also a time when my mom thought garlic pills were the next best thing to sliced bread.  All I can say is they provided for some nasty burps which made an already self-conscious preteen even more so.  At any rate, upon graduating and venturing off to college I nixed the vitamin habit much like I nixed my weekly dose of church on Sunday.  I guess I just needed a break from all things regimented that were either good for my body or for my soul.

Monday, June 11, 2012

One year Later

Not to steal any thunder from Riley's Furry Friday post, I graciously awaited until Monday to announce that the blog has reached it's one year anniversary.  What a year it's been!  I've published 166 posts, 32 of which were Furry Friday posts.  The blog has had over 5700 unique page views to date with readers hailing from the USA, Russia, Canada, Germany, the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, India, and Italy!  Not too shabby.  I've recently added a translation tool to the site so I'll be interested to see if I pick up any additional international readers going forward.  However, not to bore you with any additional statistics I thought it'd be worthwhile to share the top ten most read posts from the past year:

Friday, June 8, 2012

Furry Friday: Straight Up Cheesin'

So there I sat on the couch, box in hand, still not sure what to make of the flavor combination.  Justin had a craving for Cheese-Its this past week while we were grocery shopping so we'd picked up a box of their new Duoz.  This particular box had smoked cheddar and monterrey jack.  The orange ones tasted like feet, the white ones weren't as repulsive but certainly not the best.  We looked at each other and laughed, neither of us swallowing our chewed up crackers yet.  This box was a dud.  So I went to get up from my position on the couch to put these horrible crackers back in the cabinet and this is what occurred:

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Life on Mars

I was listening to Elvis Duran & The Morning Show on my way to a meeting this morning and the topic of conversation was the colonization of Mars.  Yes, the planet.  Apparently a company called Mars One intends to start a colony on Mars by 2023.  It's a $6+ billion dollar project which they hope to fund by creating a reality show featuring the colony of folks they put on Mars.  The disclaimer to anyone looking to sign up for the opportunity to move to Mars and be on Reality TV is that the trek is 7 months long and it's a one way trip. 

Friday, June 1, 2012

Furry Friday: Birthday Boy!


My precious fur-baby turns five years old today!  In dog years that makes Riley thirty-five.  Where has the time gone?!  In honor of the birthday boy, I've put together some highlights of his first four years: