Random Musings this New Year's Eve....

1.  Do you know what this is?:

This is Harry leaving the vet yesterday. After waking his mom up at 2 a.m. with a horrific pile of Giardia-induced diarrhea in the middle of the dining room.

2.  Do you know who this is?:

This is our Giardia Superhero.  It's his seventh case of Giardia in 15 months.  Oh, don't feel sorry for him - he gets it from eating freakin' poop! A $242 poop meal.   But with that face, it's hard to stay mad for long!

3.  I know it's not even January yet, but Baby Jesus of Bethlehem, The Zadge is really sick of winter already.  This is right outside of The Zadge's window today:

4.  Tiger Woods is probably sending Charlie Sheen a huge Thank You present today.

5.  Remember all your help in picking out the light fixtures for the kitchen?  They arrived today.  They sent the wrong color - oiled bronze instead of chrome.  And they are too big.  And they look cheap.   Back to the drawing board.

6.  Oh, and the plumber ordered and installed the wrong sink too while The Zadge was cavorting back East.

7.  The Zadge is very, very weary of her kitchen construction.

8.  The Zadge's fun friend The Kaiser is on a plane right now to Denver to help The Zadge ring in the new year.  Stay tuned for fun photos...

9.  2009 was a good year for The Zadge - she started her blog and bought Old Vicky and had lots of fun visits from friends and family.

10. 2010 - Can we bring The Zadge a new boyfriend? Please?

Rockin' Around the Christmas Bread!

Watching The Fin waddle all over Moomskers' house.  Catching up with all my great peeps in D.C. when I wasn't sitting in traffic getting honked or middle-fingered at. (oh yes I did just end a sentence with a preposition)   Being stuck in the middle seat on an oversold United flight, only to find that my aisle seatmate was a tall, hot, two-dog owning, roofing contractor from Reno who chatted me up the whole flight and then asked me for my card. These were some of the highlights of Christmas Week 2009.

But perhaps THE highlight of the week was the Famous Moomskers' Christmas Bread.  Moomskers - a phenomenal cook and baker -- makes this bread every Christmas.  And even when The Zadge is launching a full frontal attack on the Gelationous Muffin Top (yes, I even tried to join Weight Watchers during my stay at Moomskers' -- they REJECTED ME!), she indulges in a daily slice (ok, sometimes two) of this deliciousio confection!!!

This is all that was left of three loaves, after 2 days! Trust me, this stuff rocks! Here's the original Moomskers Recipe:

MOOMSKERS' BUTTER NUT BRAID

Basic Sweet Dough:
1 pkg. dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
½ cup (1 stick) margarine [Zadge note: personally, I'd use butter!]
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk, scalded
1 egg, slightly beaten
4 ½ to 5 cups flour (at least 5, sifted)
Melted butter

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add margarine, sugar and salt to scalded milk;
Cool to lukewarm. Stir in egg and yeast. Add 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. (By hand with a wooden mixing spoon.) Add enough of remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured board (I use my countertop) and knead (about 3-5 minutes) until dough is smooth and does not stick to board. Place in buttered bowl and brush top with melted butter. Cover. Set in warm place and allow to rise until double in bulk. (about 1 ½ --2 hours) Punch down and let rise again.

Filling:
 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) margarine or butter (I always use margarine)
1 ½ cups pecans, finely chopped
Cream butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla.

Divide dough in half and roll each into a 9” x 18” rectangle. Spread with butter filling and sprinkle chopped pecans (reserve ½ cup for top, later.)
Cut each rectangle into thirds, lengthwise. Roll each strip lengthwise, sealing edges well. (They never seal all the way.) Braid the three strips together and shape into a wreath about 8’’ in diameter to form one small coffee cake. Place on buttered baking sheet. Let rise again for ½ hour. Bake 20-25 minutes in 375 degree oven.
(Watch carefully..it gets golden brown fairly quickly.) Repeat with other dough.

Decorate with Orange Snow Icing and remaining pecans.

Orange Snow Icing:
1 cup confectioners sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. orange juice

Mix and dribble over coffeecake. Sprinkle with remaining pecans.

The Pretty Faces of Christmas 2009

It is always a bit of a stressful whirlwind when The Zadge flies home - flying into Baltimore, driving down to D.C. for less than 24 hours (23 of which were spent sitting in traffic), driving up to Delaware (and sitting in traffic for an hour at the Bay Bridge), then driving back to Baltimore to fly out to Denver (fun time, the day after the latest terrorist attempt!) But these lovely faces make all the hassle worthwhile:

The Zadge's BFF:

...and The Gush, one of The Zadge's most-favorite people in the whole universe:

...and Baby Gush, the sweetest little 18 month old guy you'd ever want to meet:

...and Mia, my oldest and dearest friend in D.C.'s daughter, with her new braces:

...and of course my cutie-patootie nephew and Moomskers!:

...and my other cutie-pie nephew:

...and the littlest nephew, The so-cute-I-want-to-bring-him-back-in-my-carry-on Fin!:

... and Harry and Jackson's cousin, Jilly Boo Jones:

....and Jilly's sister, Willow (we call them Jills and Wills):

.....and the lights on the tree were pretty:

....and so was the sweet window art by my nephew:


All these beautiful friends, family and dogs make the trip so worth it!!

The Funny Faces of Christmas 2009

The Zadge had a great time with her friends and family this Christmas.  In addition to all the laughs, there were a lot of funny faces:

What? You don't have night vision goggles and a Nerf gun? 

Lunch with great friends in D.C. brought about funny faces from adorable three-year old Clara, who apparently doesn't think much of my iPod collection:

How about The Fin in his new Rastafarian-style lid?:

The first week of walking can be hard work:

Say whaaaaa?:

Twelve year olds are incapable of making a normal face for the camera:

You should have seen The Zadge's face when she first saw these screaming yellow Sponge Bob pajamas, paired with bright purple socks:

and finally....."Hmm, I wonder what Santa will bring me tomorrow?!"

There were lots of pretty faces too....look for those tomorrow!!

A Taste of the Christmas Highlights

The Zadge flew back East (Delaware, not Asia) this week to spend Christmas with her family.  She first stopped in D.C. to see some friends and then drove up to Delaware to await Santa's arrival.  (Being the animal lover that she is, The Zadge frankly was more interested in the cute reindeer than the obese old man in the red velvet suit).

There were lots of highlights and laughs -- photos to follow in the next day or two -- but this one just warms my heart:

Hoping you all had as wonderful a Christmas as I did with The Fin and The Sista!!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all love, happiness and health this holiday!!!

Hoping you were Naughty and Nice!!

Sending you all lots of love and merry wishes this Christmas Eve!! Click here for some sweetness!  Ho ho ho!

The Usual Suspect

Old Vicky's Major Facelift has caused the house to be, basically, an utter disaster - dust on every single surface in the house, plastic coverings throughout the house, cramped rooms stuffed with excess furniture. The Zadge has been trying to maintain some semblance of order, but it is tough.

As part of the effort, today I washed the hallway carpet runner that Harry and Jackson use as their hangout post to chew their bones and just generally chillax.  When it came out of the dryer, I put it down in its spot and went up to put in another load of laundry.

I came downstairs 5 minutes later and found this on the newly cleaned rug:

Eeewww!!! Obviously dog grossness of some sort.  But what kind? And from which dog?

In terms of grossness, it luckily was dog vomit, as opposed to something coming out of the other end!  And of course, who is the prime suspect?

Our man Harry!!  Afterall, he does have quite a solid record of prior crimes of a similar nature.

So I cleaned it up the best I could and then took it back up to the washing machine from where it just came.  Then I walked back downstairs and found this:

This is The Shone's dog bed covered in an identical form of dog grossness (yes, those are partially digested rawhide pieces).  THIS threw a wrench into the whole criminal investigation of which canine was responsible for the grossness.  Prime Suspect Harry rarely goes on that dog bed, knowing it is The Shone's Throne.

But could my angel be responsible for this grossness?  The dog who hasn't puked in the house in years and years?  Although I still had a very strong suspicion that my Serial Vomiter/Pooper was the culprit, I decided to halt the investigation and close the case.

After about 30 minutes, I went back up to the laundry room to switch loads.... and then, when I came back downstairs, I was stunned to find this:

Baby Jesus of Bethlehem, this was the mother-load of dog vomit!!!  It was everywhere - all over HARRY's dog bed, all under the dog bed, all over the fireplace hearth, everywhere!  GROSS!!

So I cleaned up the freakin' THIRD load of dog vomit, re-opened the criminal investigation into the mysterious dog-puker, charged the original suspect with First Degree Dog Grossness and closed the case.

Oh, and walked back up to the laundry to throw yet another dog bed cover into the washing machine.

Ms. Swiss Miss Turns 29! Again!

The Zadge went to a joint birthday party last night for her partner-in-crime, Ms. Swiss Miss and her friend Adrienne.  The birthday girls were a vision in matching red outfits and glittering tiaras:

Ms. Swiss Miss insisted that The Zadge call her "Queen Swiss Miss:"

Isn't she cute?!:

Now this look?  Not so cute:

The Zadge loves a good Cab.

Remember when I told you I was in love with Jody, my gay hairdresser?  Well, now he has competition.  Meet my love-of-the-day, Steve-the-Cabinet-Guy:

That's Steve at 8 a.m. this morning installing my cabinets.  I never thought early morning banging and drilling of square wooden boxes could make me as happy as, say, a new Nikon camera or a tropical vacation resort, but Baby Jesus of Bethlehem was The Zadge happy to see this today!

The hardware isn't on yet, and the crown moldings at the top still have to be installed, but here they are:

Can you see the cute beadboard back of the windowed-cabinets?

And here's the view of the partially finished island, where the farmhouse sink and dishwasher will be, along with a breakfast bar:

This beadboard will go on the back of the island, on the stool side:

And here's the big cabinet on the left where the refrigerator will go, and the microwave/dog food cabinet next to the backdoor (which will be painted glossy black along with the two window sashes):

....and The Zadge's personal favorite part of the cabinet installation - THE WINE RACK!!

Let the good times roll!!!

To paraphrase Paul Revere.....

"The Cabinets are coming! The Cabinets are coming!"

Normally, The Zadge, a bit of a photography nut, would not think that this photo is worthy of posting here, or anywhere, for that matter:

But these boxes made The Zadge sooo happy when she got home tonight from The Top Secret Day Job because they contain her new kitchen cabinets!  And anyone who has been through a kitchen renovation knows that the cabinets drive the renovation - both in cost and in time.  If the cabinets are finished and delivered on time and undamaged, you are golden!!  Because the countertops, and the appliances, and the backsplash, and the painting, and finishing the floor all depend on the cabinets being installed.

And even though it was dark in my soon-to-be-new kitchen (no lights installed yet), I saw, in addition to the boxes of cabinets, that the carpenter had started to install all the trim around the windows and doors:

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All of this makes The Zadge believe that there is a light at the end of the dust tunnel!

Whole Paycheck

The Zadge grabbed a quick cocktail tonight with her buddy The Phenom. Ok, maybe it was two cocktails.  The Phenom, in addition to being a successful lawyer (her second career after starting a freakin' brewery), is also a former bike racer and a current mom to the cutest identical twins you've ever seen:

The Zadge and The Phenom talked girl stuff for an hour or two, and then headed home.  Whole Foods, the pricey, organic grocery store, was right next to our watering hole, so I thought I'd drop in and get Jackson and Harry their favorite treats:

Labs are inherently big chewers and The Shone and Harry love, love their post-meal marrow bones.  Frozen raw, bloody bones cut from a big ole' cow.  Gross, I know.  But for the love of god, does it keep the boyz busy for hours!!  And that my friends is worth any amount of gross-out factor.

So I pop into Whole Foods and pick up four packs of the bones and one pack of rawhide chews.  For me, one bag of ice - having a refrigerator stuck in the middle of a construction zone not connected to any water supply means no automatic ice maker.  And here's the total:

Baby Jesus of Bethlehem!  Forty One freakin' dollars and some change for the crap bones of a cow and a $1.99 bag of ice?!  That's more than The Zadge and The Phenom's happy hour bill for martinis and appetizers for two!   I think I am starting to understand why one of my colleagues, upon learning that I take The Shone for accupuncture for general "senior" wellness, said, "When I die, I want to come back as one of your dogs."

Safeway's marrow bones would undoubtedly be cheaper than Whole Paycheck's, but Safeway was not next to the happy hour watering hole.  Convenience has a price.

And it's worth it for the two hours of peace that it bought The Zadge tonight:

A Spring Awakening in December

The Zadge needs a little culture in her life now and then. So Friday night, she and PugMama went to see "Spring Awakening," the 2007 Tony Award winner for Best Musical.

I didn't know much about the play, other than I heard it dealt with teen sexuality in 1890s Germany.

All I can say is "Wow!"  I thought it was fantastic:  a historical story, set to rock music, teeming with modern themes.  The actors were young and cute and talented - which would explain the huge percentage of teenagers (eewww) who were in attendance.  The music was rocking, the dancing was innovative and the subject matter was risque.  I think PugMama was slightly embarrassed:

Here's a clip from the Tony Awards, featuring a montage of three of the songs from the play.  Mind you, the song that brings down the house every night is called "Totally Fucked."  It's the last song in this montage and because it was on public TV, it has been totally "blah, blah, blahed".  Nonetheless, still a good taste of the show.  See it if you can!

Just when you think he's all grown up....

They say Labs stop being insane puppies when they turn two. Okay, some say three. But for my sanity, I listen to the "Two Year Old" people.

Because Harry turned two about four months ago. So, according to the Two Year Old people, he should be calm and easy to live with. And that would be nice. Now, I must say, he is much improved compared to, say a year ago, when I sent him to the Denver Correctional Facility for five and a half weeks to live in a cell with a brutal murderer. Oh yes I did. That's a story for another day.

But apparently the "Three Year Old" people are actually correct. After a nice evening of culture (more on that later too), I came home last night to find this:


This is the new hat I bought at REI last week so I could weather the sub zero temperatures Denver was suffering. Do you see the cute light blue ball on the top of it?

No, you don't. Do you see the light blue ball carnage all over the couch? Yes, you do. You may recall that he seems to have an affinity for hat balls.

Three years old and he'll calm down. Only eight long months to go.