forever my love

ripley gets a flea bath every weekend at the lake now. my dad thinks it helps keep her flea-free.. we have differing opinions, but ripley does seem to enjoy her weekly bath. 

kinda.

it's a long story, but we've been the foster home for one of jeff's friend's dog, jigsaw. she got a bath, too. 

ripley is one of the most attention-loving creatures there is. she loves to be dried with the towel after a bath, or she'll rub up against one if it's hanging on the railing. she really likes if you sit on the floor cross-legged and she'll put her nose into your tummy and wait for you to flip her so she's laying on her back in your lap.

but her favorite is if you pat her butt. she'll come stand beside you when you're sitting in a chair and just keep barking until you pat her. and if you stop, she'll yip again. 

anyway it's funny because we thought there was no dog that loved attention or being around people more than ripley, but jigsaw is right up there. she follows you around everywhere you go, waits for you outside the bathroom door, stands up whenever you stand up, and paws you when she wants you to pet her. 

it's been fun having them both around though. double shadow.

two fluffy puppies. we think jigsaw's face looks like a seal.

blackbird singin

i keep adding and adding to this post, but! today is minky and finky's 27th anniversary. happy anniversary to them. 

here are 4 random things from today and this weekend. 

1. ripley looooves the cat, while kitty only tolerates her. this afternoon the cat came in and laid down on the floor right by the door, and ripley just came over and laid down almost on top of him, and then proceeded to lick his ears. the funniest part is that they'll spend a while together, but when you get the camera out to document it, the cat always gets up like he doesn't want anyone to know. 

2. a BLT is the perfect summer dinner.

3. me and my new highlights and glasses. i left the salon this afternoon with my hair dripping wet, and it dried in 10 minutes in my 1,000 degree car. i had to sit on top of my library books to keep from burning the back of my thighs on the leather seats. 

it adds an extra bit of excitement to driving when you kind of slide back and forth across your seat on sharp turns..

4. jeff and i made a song the other day when it rained. apparently if you love it, you can also download it.

Upload MP3s using free MP3 hosting from Tindeck.

lake day

spent my 24 hour break at the lake with the fam yesterday. first time out in the boat in 2011.

royal makeover

well we have been fully inundated with the royal wedding all day long around here. didn't wake up at 4am, but i did DVR it so we could watch it at 8. then we watched the today show that was all about it. then we watched a royal wedding special. then we watched royal-themed oprah. faj is the one who's the most into it. but wasn't her dress beautiful? such a princess dress. 

..andd can you tell what this is? a carpet sample? a rabbit pelt?

a close-up of ripley's new hair cut!

 no one can look at her without laughing.

she keeps scratching her bows off which is unfortunate since they're the cutest part. i got a hair cut too, but she shows me up. 

she's like a mere shadow of her former self..

who your friends are

random assortment of easter pictures. MMMEAATTTT!

we smoked 2 chickens, a turkey breast, a pork butt and 2 sets of pork ribs from noon to 7.

matt's roommates come to all of our holiday dinners now. david and johnny. they are so much fun.

ripley wanted to get in on the easter action so we dyed her paws pink, blue, purple and orange. only the pink and blue really showed up well.

 

it was delicious.

even if they could

random picture day! this is the lettuce that i have fretted over all winter. naturally, i would never think about the freeze warning until i had just turned off my light and put my head on my pillow. can't count the number of times i ran outside in my jammies to cover up this patch of lettuce. the onions seem to be hanging in there too.

 i feel like i write about this all the time, but i've been making weekly fritatas for a while now. no crust, no real recipe. three eggs, a splash of milk, some kind of cheese and whatever random vegetables are on hand. it's almost become a game of how effortless it can be and still taste good.

 the biggest time savers are sliced swiss cheese cut into squares and not using any crust.

 this one was yellow bell pepper, red onion, asparagus, yellow squash, zucchini and swiss. our house fav though is potatoes cut up really small, white onion, bacon and maybe some random veggie thrown in there. really anything with bacon turns out delicious.

 and we end with this picture of jeff doing the 'double ear pet' on a rainy day. we watched ina garten make comfort food while we sipped tea and watched the rain.

ripley kinda looks like a pony if you squint.

piqued

just started using pinterest. you use it kind of like an internet bulletin board. it's actually a very cool alternative to having folders of bookmarks. you can see all of the things easily and share them with other people. i still have a whole bunch of invites if anyone is interesteddd.

so ripley went on a little adventure today to the groomer at petsmart. i went to pick her up at 11 when they said she would be done, but the woman told me she was going to take longer because it took them so long to dry her. she was so afraid of the blow dryer that it took a bit to get her out from under the table. poor pup.

when i came back an hour later, she was getting her hair cut and looking absolutely miserable. she was up on a table with a short leash to keep her from moving and every part of her was shaking. it was pretty sad.
but nowww look how fluffy she is! and they put little bows on her head. we waited until everyone in the family saw them and then jeff took them off.. i don't think she liked them anyway. this picture sums it up.
and this picture is mainly for gram and spanky, but this is me earlier this week with great grandma's necklace on. lucky we have the same taste in costume jewelry.

soldier on

these are two classic ripley pictures. lately she's been spending a lot of time outside on the front porch just taking it all in now that it's cooler out.

isn't it silly when you put something somewhere and at the time, you're thinking 'this is an odd place for this, i'll never think of this when i'm trying to find it.' i did that with both of my pairs of sleep shorts and i've torn my room apart and can't find them. there aren't thattt many places they could be in this teeny house, but they're missing. and i knew i wouldn't be able to find them whenever i put them away. just silly.
love this picture of the pillow queen. humans aren't allowed to sit on her couch because it's so furred up.

you should be free of me

first of all. is there anything better on a rainy day in texas than mexican hot chocolate? no. it's like cinnamony, peppery hot chocolate. not too sweet. so yummy.

well today i decided on a few recipes and bought a million things at HEB. had an interesting experience in the checkout..

checker: did you know President Obama is trying to make it legal for illegal immigrants.. i mean prisoners.. to vote?

me: ...

it was bizarre. maybe my request for paper bags and purchasing organic eggs tipped him off.

i made butternut squash risotto for the first time and it turned out very nicely. you have to stir, stir, stir it for a long time though. i always thought that was a little unnecessary when i read the recipes in the past. not so. if you leave it for more than a minute, a thick sludge builds up on the bottom and it all starts to stick while the top bubbles away.
it's one of ina garten's recipes. i adore her. the haircut. the laugh. her no nonsense demeanor. she is so fun to watch. and everything she makes looks so tasty.
we had thunderstorms and lightning tonight. what a perfect night for risotto. even majjy came around to it in the end. she didn't think she liked the texture.. though i don't think she had ever had risotto.

new skirt! new haircut.
this is my sunburn/little spot i put sunscreen on. not sure what happened to my ankle.
and..

laughin' with your pretty mouth

could it have been any more beautiful outside today, austin?! i made dill bread and it rose in the sun..

ripley and i hung out all day with the doors and windows open. the front windows still don't have screens, so kitty was able to come and go as he pleased which was kind of nice.

i figured out how to use the swiffer to comb up ripley fur off the rug that the vacuum left behind. what a domestic day.

at one point during the day, i knew it was a little too quiet. then i realized ripley was missing. i looked on the back porch.. nothin. living room? nope. majjy's room? no. but the door to my room was cracked.. ! lo and behold. two scoundrels.

if i wake up with fleas, we'll know why.

word of the week in this household: crooksy. maj accidentally made it up the other day and jeff and i are running with it. it can be used in many ways.

"did you see the girl's outfit? it was so crooksy."

"don't be such a crook."

p.s. here are the facts about what the health care bill means for us over the next several years. there are plenty of things that will happen before 2014.

a number of things will begin within the next year:

*Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.

*Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

*Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26.

*Uninsured adults with a pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.

*Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.

*A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.