Sophie's Grand Adventure

Well, it's been madness the past couple of days! We had to take back the kennel we bought Sophie and buy the largest size they make (which is labeled for a Saint Bernard, but no worries, she thinks it's like her own little apt. I'm thinking of stealing a painting of dogs playing poker from my grandmama's home to put in there!). Hassle, that's all I will say. I am going to be honest here and say I absolutely hate AAFES, the military shopping place that runs so much.

Secondly we found out this morning that we will be driving to the airport at 1:30 this morning because the latest she can be there is 4 a.m. for an 8 a.m. flight. She's gonna just love that. We're hoping to wear her out so much that once the plane gets going, the lull of it will put her to sleep (because let's face it, she likes to sleep as much as I do) and she won't stress out on the flight too much. My parents will be picking her up in KC at 9 tomorrow night!

I'm a little stressed about how much stress this is causing my parents. After my grandmama got out of the hospital she went to a rehabilitation facility to learn how to move more easily with her walker and cane. While there they continued to monitor her heart, and after seeing that there were plenty of times when it seemed to slow down too much, they decided she needed a pacemaker. She's in surgery as I type this, and since she's 81, I am a tiny bit worried (oh, let's admit it, I am scared as hell). I'm praying she'll get through this just fine and it will give her a new lease on life. I'm also praying my dog doesn't try to lick her to death or knock her down the stairs since Sophie has the happiest tail I have ever seen and it's thick and powerful (I've gotten bruises from being smacked by it before).

So I am still freaking out a little about Sophie leaving. I am going to miss her terribly. The way that Garret can try to call her inside, but as soon as I call out to her, no matter where I am in the house she comes bolting inside to find me. But it will allow Garret and I a little more freedom. We're going to try and get down to London next week to get G's watch repaired (it's too big for him. He had it shortened before, but it still is huge, and the place he had it done will re-do it for free with the receipt). While there we're going to hit up a couple of museums, and have a good time just relaxing and not having to rush home. We're also hoping to make a long day trip to Stonehenge at some point.

It's kinda sad, but we haven't really traveled much at all over here. I haven't been to Scotland or Ireland. I'm hoping that maybe we can get up early one morning and drive the 8 hours to Scotland, see a few things and drive back. If we switched off driving and drank lots of tea or coffee we could do it. Or we might find a cheap hotel and stay overnight.

But back to Sophie. She's my little 3 year old as I call her, and I am hoping she has a fun time getting to know her sister. But I will be most excited to see her in 2 1/2 weeks!

I've Become One Of Those Mothers

In 3 days I put my dear sweet Sophie on a plane to go to my parents' house. I'm utterly terrified. I'm like a mom with her kid going off to camp. Only in my case there are real dangers.

First, Sophie could pick up bad habits at their house. We've discussed not feeding her people food (except for the occasional bite of fruit) but my parents tend to fail on this regard.

Secondly she could get fat, and she's at the perfect weight. The vet doesn't want to see her any heavier (because of her build, she's heavier, although not overweight, so we have to watch her weight to not put a strain on her). My poor dachshund I left behind? Oh Audrey has no idea what's coming in a few weeks. She's going to be on the doggy exercise regiment from hell! Apparently she likes to sneak downstairs and eat the cat food. Never mind that when I left the cat food was up on a ledge because of this exact reason, so I have no idea on earth how my little 7 inch high pooch is reaching said food. And they claim she overeats. She was always free fed when I had her and at a healthy 9 lbs. God only knows what I am coming home to after 2 years.

Thirdly, I am worried she will quit eating. She did it when I was on the cruise, only needing her food bowl filled 3 times while I was gone 12 days. She is a very attached to mama kind of puppy, so I'm just hoping she'll be so distracted by being in a house with 3 other dogs (and 2 cats, an animal she's never had contact with) that she'll forget to notice my absence. Unlikely, but I'm holding out the hope.

And lastly, my dog Audrey, the dog who is my little doggie soulmate in that she's pretty much like me in dog form? Well, she's a bitch. A tiny, was the runt of the litter miniature dachshund bitch. It's little dog syndrome, but she reminds me of the poodle from Oliver and Co. who states that everything from the doorknobs down is hers. And she's so pretty she gets away with it. She just looks up at you with her cute little face with black rimmed eyes (it seriously looks like she wears eyeliner) and you tend to forgive her heinous behaviour. So, poor sweet Sophie who is not dominant at all is about to get her 60 lb. butt handed to her by something the size of her chew toy. Not to mention Wrigley, my baby brother's dachshund who is afraid of his own shadow, and therefore tends to snip when he's terrified (which is 90% of the time) will probably bite her and she'll get all squinty eyed (like she does when you even say her name in a tone she knows is bad) and cry.

I know I sound crazy, but anyone who has seen us with our dog understands. Sophie may be walking into hell. Or, maybe since I won't be there Audrey won't see it as a betrayal and they will get along as the best of friends and it will be Sophie's idea of heaven. Here's hoping for the best!

A Funny Thing Happened When It Rained

This past Sunday G and I decided to play hooky from church.  It sounds bad, but we both had horrible hacking coughs and noses that had minds of their own, and since our lovely church has so many ways of contaminating others, we thought we would be nice.  

So we headed to the French Market a bit early.  It wasn't as big as I had hoped, possibly because it was pouring, but eh, it was an adventure right?  We went and got some hot yummy potato dish to share, picked up a few homemade sausages (which was hilarious, because I was trying to gather the sellers attention in French when he was walking away before I got my full order, so I was dripping wet yelling, "Non, non, trois, trois, s'il vous plait!"), and considered spending a crazy amount of money on cheese (we ended up deciding to wait).  Walked back to the car in the rain munching on a croissant that was divine.

Then we decided to stop off at the Portuguese place for some coffee to warm up.  It was the first time I had the camera with me, so I snapped away.

That night I made wood pigeon for dinner.  I nearly had a heart attack doing it, because all the recipes and instructions I could find had varying oven temps and times.  In the end we cooked it for about 45 minutes.  I had roasted some baby potatoes beforehand, and while the pigeons cooked I sauteed up some green beans with onions and garlic.  The pigeon made me feel medieval since it was a bit hard to get to all the meat, but it was fantastic.  Too bad I haven't been able to find an online place to order them for when we move back to the US. 

 

And then this last pic is not of Sunday, but of Tuesday night when I was making funnel cakes and I might have powder sugared my dog.  She loves powder sugar (and flour, basically any white powder, which causes me to worry that some drug pushing dog will get her hooked on other powders, but I need to breath and trust that she will just say no!) and so I was tapping some out onto the floor when she saw me and got in the way.  She looked like she had a superhero mask on

Summer Days

Things had been so stressful lately, I was sure they must begin looking up.  Well, Javelin gave us a gift voucher for 20 pounds, and called today to say that they will be calling tomorrow, hopefully with news, about trying to get the VAT back for us on the jacket, which will be a nice bonus.

I've been horribly upset about the idea of sending Sophie home 2 months early.  She doesn't do well without me, I'm afraid.  But yesterday we found out that not only does Continental fly her breed year round, whereas other airlines won't fly them if it's over 85F, that it will actually be substantially less than I originally thought it would be.

The biggest disappointment lately was that we will not be staying here another few years.  Garret had an opportunity, but in the end it just wasn't going to work.  However, we are both very excited to be moving to Maryland.  I cannot wait to explore the city and make new friends!  And I must confess I am thrilled to be moving away from so many sheep and pig farms. It's quaint, but I am ready for a more busy setting.   

I've been cooking up a storm lately, trying to clean out the pantry.  The other night I decided to make red beans and rice with cornbread, but the cornbread turned out so well that we skipped the rice.  I did change a lot of the recipe when I made it (adding various things and omitting others) but it turned out phenomenal!  If you would like to know how I made it, please let me know!  Garret made sweet tea and we danced around the kitchen while listening to Marc Broussard, a Louisiana musician.  

Then we headed outside with some sweet tea and my white hat to keep Sophie company while she gnawed on her first real bone.  Sillyness ensued as we decided to play photographer, but I captured an amazing shot of my husband!

I also put together a yummy antipasto platter with prosciutto, salami, juicy tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and drizzle of olive oil.  Garret grilled some ciabatta bread, and we sipped on some Veuve Cliquot we had opened the day before.  

And lastly, we found some amazing cherries at the market, and I barely kept from eating them all!  I made myself take a photo before I devoured them.  Hopefully we will be getting more tomorrow!

Life Happenings

Lately G and I have been working out a bit.  Yesterday morning we went for a run on the treadmills because it was raining out.  And all this exercise has made us very hungry people.  So, I've turned to a version of the English breakfast.....tea, toast, eggs, mushrooms, and baked beans.  Mmmm!

Monday night G and I woke up and went to see Angels and Demons.  I have to say that the movie was fine, if you are not like me and have read the book a few times.  Some of the story was changed for length I am sure, but other points simply did not make sense.  For instance, the person made Pope in the end was not the same as the book, for no apparent reason.  But overall, I enjoyed it.  It had the ever yummy Tom Hanks looking better than he did in The Da Vinci Code, and Ewan McGregor.  Also had Stellan Starsgard, who is always a good actor to watch.  The lead woman was not as prominently featured in this film as she was in the book, but that's quite alright.  

Life is in an upheaval right now.  Unfortunately we're waiting on some decisions to be made about our future, but I will let everyone know once we've found out.  We're busy packing for the move and taking Sophie on long walks.  On the last one we had tea outside while Sophie got angry by the swans who were fighting nearby.  We also saw the cutest little sight in the world....

It's been very exciting because she has officially put two and two together to realize that getting in the car equals her getting to go somewhere, so no longer do we have to pick her up and push her in the car.  She gets in, and sticks her nose out to catch smells.  Cute as a button, eh?

Isn't her tongue hilarious? It's a good long one that she constantly is sticking out!