Happy Birthday, Jeff!

And you remain older than me. :)

This just kills me

So, I used to have a website dedicated to Fred Souza, a hot Brazilian volleyball player. Just last month, I let the domain registration lapse because he hadn't played much in the U.S. last year and I didn't have much to add to the site.

This morning, in my email inbox, I found an email from his sponsor, asking about the site. Apparently, Fred had told them about the site and asked them to link it to his bio on their web page. They couldn't find it, but apparently tracked me down as the webmistress.

Sigh.

I told them they should have emailed me last month! Hell, I didn' even know Fred knew about the site.

Sigh.

$630.37

That was the bill for Kaylee's fun-filled evening at the vet's. Youch! Good thing she's cute. And, of course, she was back to her normal, obnoxious self by Friday morning - you'd never know a damned thing was wrong with her. Her bloodwork came back "perfect" so I guess the ulcers are just from stress. [rolls eyes] She has a very tough life, you know, being a spoiled rotten brat. But we'll be heading back to the vet's to make someone else's car payment in a couple weeks to see if the ulcers have cleared up. If not ... well, who knows!

Other than that, no big excitement over the weekend. I started a new sweater for Kaylee for the winter. I hope to get it finished and written up fairly soon so I can submit it to the 2007 Crochet Pattern a Day calendar. I've already had two patterns accepted for it (but I'm not telling which two :), which is pretty cool, but I'd like some more in there. :)

Last night, Hurricane Katrina pushed some rain up from the south, and at three in the morning, we were awoken by a very disgruntled Indy, who sleeps near our south-facing open bedroom window. He and his bed and the floor were soaking wet. I toweled everything off and closed the window, but he didn't want to go back into his bed. So he came up with us (and Kaylee, who was pissed about having to share her bed with a big, sprawling dog :). But we needed the rain, so a few hours of sleeping with another bed hog was worth it. And we should be getting more rain tomorrow from the remains of Katrina, also good.

Unexpected excitement

Don't you just love it when you end up spending your evening in a way you very much did not plan? That's what happened last night to our little family.

Some background: Kaylee's had diarrhea for the past couple days (for those of you who said "ewww!" - deal.). No biggie for her, really. She's got a sensitive digestive tract and anything seems to set it off. But she seemed on the mend so I wasn't worried.

So last night, I came home from work and she went out to poop, and it was black. Now I know what this means: upper G.I. blood has been digested. This is not good. Since I have the world's best vet office, Animal Care Unlimited, they got me in right away, even sceduling an appointment so I wouldn't have to pay the emergency fee. I called Jeff, crated the other two dogs back up (before they got dinner, so they were exceedingly displeased), and hustled Kaylee into the car for the twenty minute ride to the vet.

(Aside: Kaylee usually gets carsick, but for a miracle, this time she didn't. At one point, she even looked out the window, all waggy-tailed.)

After everyone in the office gave Kaylee kisses and pats, and her fecal sample came back clean, we took a set of x-rays. Kaylee's stomach was basically blown up like a balloon, either with fluid or air. Generally, this means an obstruction. That is not good. My options were either emergency surgery or, though it would take time and time is not on your side with an obstruction, a barium x-ray to physically see if there was an obstruction. I went with the x-ray.

Lucky me, I got to hold Kay while she drank two big syringes of nasty barium, which she actually did like a good girl, with only a few obstinate moments. Since it was going to take a while for the barium make its way through her digestive system, if it was able to do so, I left her there to go find something to eat.

After wandering through four different stores, I was sitting in a parking lot, thinking about going into another one when I got a call that Kaylee was ready to go home. Yay! No surgery! She was lauded by the staff as the sweetest shar pei ever, and very easy to x-ray. (Personally, I find that hard to believe, since she's such a little snot. But does frequently behave in public, just so no one believes me when I call her a brat.)

The upshot is that Kaylee has two big ulcers in her upper digestive tract (gotta love it when the vet calls them "scary"), no obstruction. Her stomach was just full of stuff because her gut was very tender and just didn't want to hurt more by moving stuff through. The ulcers are big enough that you can actually see them on the x-ray.

So, we got sent home with five different medications to take for a full three weeks. I've had to make up a chart that shows us when to give them, since they are all given at different times of day, and one has to be given before any other food or medicine. And we have to switch her to a sensitive stomach food, which should be fun, since they tend not to taste all that great.

Bloodwork will be done this afternoon to tell if there's a reason for her getting these ulcers, other than just poor breeding (she's a rescue and has pretty much all the signs of being bred for looks rather than health*). I also get the joy of going in to pay the bill today - that should be fun. But, hey, it'll be cheaper than surgery.

So it looks like Kay should be fine, though the ulcers may be a continuing issue. But it was not how I expected to spend my Thursday night!



*She has lots of wrinkles, she needed entropion surgery, and she has the genetic disease familial shar pei fever.

Fresh tomato lemon sauce

For my stepfather, who has recently had to go on a low-sodium diet. After shopping with my mom this weekend and seeing how much sodium is in stuff, especially pasta sauce, I decided to see what I could make on my own. I came up with this.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small white onion, chopped
2 red sweet peppers, chopped
1 lb tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh sage, minced
1 Tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
1/2 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed hot red pepper flakes
1 tsp lemon juice

1. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until they become transparent.
2. Add red peppers and cook until they begin to soften.
3. Add all remaining ingredients except for lemon juice. Reduce heat to low and cook until reduced by half (about 40 minutes), stirring frequently.
4. Turn off heat and stir in lemon juice.

This is even better the next day. Enjoy, Lloyd!

Kantan Amigurumi

An eBay purchase: Kantan Amigurmi, Petit Boutique (DIY) Series No. 169; ISBN 962-14-1998-0. Japanese book translated into Chinese. Lots of fun stuff in such a little book! The front:

The back:

A kitty cat purse, the reason I bought the book:

The cutest little coin purses ever!

I'm not sure where to find the little coin purse frames in plastic though. I've found plenty that aren't plastic, but no cheapo plastic. Anybody ever seen them somewhere?

Fun news

Jeff decided that he should get in contact with all of his college friends this weekend. Fabulous. I love his friends. They're smart and funny (you're welcome, guys). Happily, everyone is doing well.

But there's this: Ben got engaged. Ten minutes - literally - before he called us back. For one, who the hell calls us back ten minutes after they get engaged on a Sunday night. Second, the boys are now discussing comics. Confabs with the 'rents takes more than ten minutes.

I love comics. Perhaps Joanna Jo Ann would like to call her parents? Apparently she has her own cell phone and all, but still. Should not Ben be doing something more productive than dissing Constantine? (Though it's well-deserved.)

Well, anyway, conga-rats to Ben and Joanna Jo Ann. I've not even yet spoken to you, Joanna Jo Ann, but you have my happy sympathies. ;)

Doggie lookout

Movies I watch over and over

• The Thin Man (Jeff & I want to be Nick and Nora when we grow up)
  
• Ocean's 11 (2001)
• Harold & Kumar go to White Castle
• Lilo & Stitch (though Jeff doesn't like me to watch this because he says it gives me ideas)
• His Girl Friday
• Dogma
• My Man Godfrey
• Love Actually
• Shaun of the Dead
• Star Wars: A New Hope (pretty much the sole reason we still have our VCR hooked up)
  
• Hellboy

I'm sure I've missed some, but those are the biggies.

Garden update

It's been a while, so ...

The pumpkins and zucchini were well and truly invaded by squash borers and had to be ripped up. Since then, I have found some non-pesticide ways to control for them, so I'll try again next year.

We harvested the potatoes and probably got twice as many as we put in the ground. Not bad, since we had no idea what we're doing. We expected it to be a learning experience and it was! We'll do better next year. On the plus side though, the potatoes are tasty!

The leeks just didn't work out. I have no idea why. We probably won't try those again.

The sugar snap peas have done their duty and did it well. They were mighty tasty! I'll plant more of them next year.

The tomatillos are doing pretty well, though I'm getting less yield from two plants than I would expect. But I've already included two tomatillos in a slaw-type salad and they were wonderfully tart!

We added two pepper plants (one mild, one hot) late in the season and they're doing so-so. We should get one or two peppers off each of them.

The sweet potatoes are still in the ground, but we did a little digging and they look like they're developing nicely. We now just have to find the little booklet that came with them to find out when we're supposed to dig them up.

So, all in all, not too bad. This fall, we're planning on moving a lot of the lilies that surround the garden on three sides, so we should have room to expand next year. I think the plan is to add one more raised bed and plant more of fewer things. And amend the soil. What we got was supposed to be top of the line, but it's still got too much clay in it for my taste. Adding some sand and compost should make a big difference.

Veggie peanut noodles

Serves two hungry or three normal appetites

Ingredients:

6 oz. soba noodles
2 tsp canola oil
1 red (sweet) pepper
1/2 lb. extra firm tofu
6 spring onions
2 cups broccoli slaw
2 tsp fresh cilantro
2 tsp creamy peanut butter
3 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste

Directions:

1. Cook soba noodles according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again and set aside.
2. Dice red pepper and tofu and chop spring onions (white and green parts) into 1-inch peices.
3. Heat oil over medium high heat and stir fry tofu, peppers and broccoli slaw for three minutes.
4. Add spring onions and stir fry for two more minutes.
5. Turn off heat and add cilantro, stirring until wilted. Set aside to cool.
6. To make sauce, wisk together remaining ingredients.
7. When veggies have cooled, mix together all ingredients and serve at room temperature.

For the perfect lunch:

Divide the noodles, veggies and sauce into thirds and package separately into snack-sized plastic bags or your favorite bento box. When it's time for lunch, mix together all the ingredients and enjoy!

Ondori Handicrafts - crochet

I also got this book at the Japanese bookstore in Little Tokyo that I mentioned yesterday. It's part of the Ondori Handicrafts Book Series (#18).

I'm not normally a doily kind of person, but I do like that pink one on the cover. I also like this little bag:

And this one, too:

I don't normally crochet with thread, but it might be worth it for those cute little sachets.

Eat your lunch

(Sorry for the lack of posts. Lots to catch up on since I was away!)

When I was in SoCal, we went to a Japanese bookstore in Little Tokyo. The area itself was fairly disappointing, but the bookstore rocked. I bought a couple things, but the most pointless purchase might be this book:

I can't read it, of course, but basically, it seems to be a book about how to present food so your child will eat it. I absolutely adore it. I even just yesterday found a place here in town that sells little molds for rice (a heart, a bear, and a star), so I could do this myself, if I wanted to. ...And I'm thinking about it... :)

I like this little doggie:

And I absolutely adore this crab and underwater scene:

This one, however, is kind of disturbing and obscene:

What you've all been waiting for...

Volleyball photos!

Team O'Neill playing Guzzle at the 2005 Surf Fest 6-Man Volleyball Tournament. Guzzle (dressed as the Lakers) was packed with pros and former pros. Team O'Neill had a few pros of their own. See the guy with the tattoo on his arm on Team O'Neill (they're in pink)? That's pro Eli Fairfield, who seems a very nice boy (and used to team with Fred Souza, who played on Team Smack). Click here for more photos from the tourney.

In case you have some crazy notion to peruse all the photos from my trip, you can find them all here.

SoCal plantlife

One of the highlights of my visit was a visit to the Los Angeles Arboretum. And I loved this palm tree. I can't remember what kind it is now, but it was cool. Click here for more photos from the arboretum.

One of the reasons I wanted to go to the arboretum was to take photos of flowers to adorn the walls of my upstairs hallway and maybe the living room. I got a few that should work. Click here for more photos.

Volleyball photos later today. You know that's what you're waiting for.

Fred's adventures in SoCal

Little Fred is my traveling companion. Go see what he got up to in SoCal. (And see where he's gone in the past)

Ah, vacation!

Here I am, in sunny SoCal (SOuthern CALifornia, for the unititiated), just lovin' it.

My friend G. is doing well, her pup Lola, who I am meeting for the first time, is a doll, and it has been sunny, sunny, sunny! Yesterday, after breakfast at iHop (which we don't have in central Ohio for some horrible, horrible reason) we treked to Chinatown and did a little shopping. Bought some fun stuff, including a birthday present for my husband. (No, honey, I'm not going to tell you what it is. :) Then, after a divine lunch at Portos Bakery, a Cuban bakery in Glendale, we headed for the (disappointing) Little Tokyo to check out a Japanese bookstore. The book store was fabulous. Once I'm home with my scanner, you can look forward to some wonderful scans of a book I found.

Today, we plan to visit the Los Angeles Arboretum, so I can try to get some new flower photos for the house. I think they'd look nice in the living room, and I'd kinda like to swap out the ones in the upstairs hallway. After that, I don't know what we'll do. Maybe check out Little India? We were invited to go with some of G's friend yesterday, but after only 4 hours of sleep, I didn't think I was up to being social with people I didn't know. Who knows.

Saturday and Sunday, we hook up with the SuperSpy and head out to Surf Fest and watch pretty boys on the beach.

Photos when I get back. Play nice while I'm gone, everyone!