In Search of....the perfect dog toy

If you don't own a dog, I bet you have wondered WHY are there so many dog toys out there. Maybe you have also wondered why someone would spend so much money on dog toys. Well, I am here to let you know.

Go ahead and laugh.
I know it is so obvious, but we are first time dog owners.
When we picked up our sweetie, we headed off to the pet store. Naively, we picked out a few toys.

Many times, our doggie appears to be very stupid. However, when it comes to her toys, she has a knack for finding the weak spot and gnawing away. She is also a ripper. Here is the short list of toys that she has gone through...



This toy is still alive. It no longer has legs or a tail. However, it has lasted longer than any of the other toys. In fact, when this toy bites the dust, we just might get another one like it. The kids call it an Ikea dog. I am not sure WHY. It squeaked when it was new and somehow, it still squeaks. That is a major achievement with her. The Kong donut tennis ring is still around, but it lost its squeak within 5 minutes of play. Not quite worth the money that we forked out for that one. Of course, the Kong still is in one piece. I can't figure out what to put in it besides their treats. Everyone says to put peanut butter in there, but of course, that is out. Sunbutter is a bit too runny. She does like it, but it led to her trying to steal Iz's sandwich off of his plate.




This one I found at Harris Teeter for an awesome price. She liked it, but only after most of her other toys were destroyed. When she finally took an interest in it, she began chomping off big hunks from the ends. I was afraid that she would swallow them, so I had to toss this one in the garbage. We have since tried a stronger and sturdier nylabone and it seems to be holding up ok. It has teeth marks on it, but that's ok. If this one doesn't last, we will have to start buying the heavy duty super expensive bones that they make.


Tennis balls designed for dogs. These are great while they last. Her favorite thing to do to these is rip the covering off of them. We found a bunch of these at Harris Teeter on clearance and we thought it was a bargain. Not much of a bargain when she just rips and strips.

Then we saw a seemingly awesome toy. Boy did that thing look sturdy. It had nylon rope and tennis balls on it. We got home and gave it to her. She love it soooooo much that she shredded the thing in minutes. I don't know HOW she did it. That thing looked super strong!!

We bought a cute kangaroo, but she ripped its head off. There have been a few more toys that have crossed our threshold, but those are some of the more memorable ones.

I just spent big bucks on a dog toy and in less than 10 minutes, she has ripped part of it off. The main ball is still in tact, but since she ripped part of it off already, I am not convinced that this toy will be sticking around long. I bought this toy because it was supposed to be very sturdy. People highly recommended it to me. In fact, when I entered the store and made a beeline to that particular display, the proprietor said, "Oh, I see you have a power chewer." Apparently, the toy was made for a dog a bit more ladylike than my girl.

Well, at least ice cubes are cheap and Bully Sticks seem to last. Don't even ask about the bully sticks....

And I bet you're wondering why I would keep buying all of these doggy toys, right?!?! Well, you see, she has not begun to chew on my household goods yet, so I am just trying to keep her interested in ANYTHING but my furniture.

So, if anyone out there is a dog owner and has a very sturdy toy, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give me some ideas for my Belle.

Not a Thing....

I have pulled up my page to blog a number of times, but I just haven't been able to.
I have been thinking and thinking of fun things to say, but there is not a thing to be funny about.

On Monday, Ski, Iz, and I made the trek to Durham.
We got there later than we hoped, but that was ok. We had nothing planned. For a little bit we vegged in front of the tv and watched "Cash Cab" which Iz thought was cool. He even got some questions right. Then we hunted for dinner. We made a quick stop at Whole Foods and then we found a cool little Middle Eastern place. Well, it wasn't that cool. But I love middle Eastern food, so I thought it was pretty neat. Ski and I split our plates of gyro and kafta. They had the most amazing tahini and hummus. We ended up eating outside because if you wanted to, you could smoke a hookah. No one was doing that, but we thought we had better eat at the outside tables just in case. But seriously, I have decided that dh and I should move to Durham to get our Masters at Duke so we can eat all of our meals at this place. The hysterical thing is that they have a "no Ketchup" rule and even t-shirts that say this, but the guy plunked down a bottle of ketchup at our table with our order.

After dinner, we tried to find coffee, but couldn't find a Starbucks until 10:30 and they had already closed. ;( So, we went off to the hotel for bed. I then woke up at 4:30, 5:00, and 5:30 when I finally got up and took a shower. I am NOT a morning person. I do not sleep well anywhere that is not my own bed.

Iz had breakfast and we all went off to get coffee (or juice) and we ended up at Iz's appointment 45 minutes early. The long and short of our appointment....Iz badly failed the skin test for egg. He developed a huge welt and the allergist said that even if his blood work looked good, we would NOT be doing an egg challenge. When he had his blood drawn, he barely flinched and he DID think it was cool to watch the blood run through the tube. He got a cool floppy dog from the treasure chest and a build-a-bear dog from the lobby table for Chidren's Hospital patients. He also got two cool Hurricanes posters from a guy in the lobby.

It will be a month or so until we find out the results of blood work. Unless there is something earth shattering in that blood work, it looks like we will be status quo (no diet changes) until next August. I am learning not to get my hopes up too much. Not sure if that is a good thing or not.

For Bo

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE YOU ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

More Than Just for Paper

Ohh.....the wonders of childhood!!!
Swinging on a tire swing from and old tree....
Hunting for frogs along a creek bed.....
Playing hide and seek with your friends....
Tossing a stick to your dog....
Jumping on the bed....
Spinning in your dad's new office chair.....

Hmmmm....which one of these might cause you to visit the Urgent Care?

Bleary eyed, I was awakened by my dear Iz with his sad voice saying...."I hit my head on the desk." He didn't cry much and moments later he was gone. But within ten minutes, he was back saying "There's blood!!!"

Now, you must know that the sight of a tiny speck of blood in my family causes a reaction beyond belief. Iz is especially prone to this overreaction. It is usually due to the fact that he has picked at a scab or eczema and NOW THERE'S BLOOD!!! I am almost always in the "buck it up" club and tell him that if he hadn't been picking, there wouldn't be blood so next time, don't pick. I learned long ago that the best response to a not so iunjured but fussing child is the kind that checks him over quickly and says, "You'll be fine, dear." So...when my child presented in the doorway with the cry of "Blood!!!" I knew better than to overreact.

Ski got to him first and took a look. When he said "Oh my..." I knew I was in trouble.

Everyone fetched the necessary equipment for an injury and brought them forth -- a nice big towel, the trusty brown bottle of peroxide, and my bowl of cottonballs. While there was not nearly as much blood as I know a head injury can produce, there was a bit. And as I looked, I doubted that this problem could be solved with the materials I had on hand. I cleaned as best as I could and the flow of blood seemed to be slowing. So....after dressing myself, I proceeded to call my ped. Unfortunately, they only remove stitches and don't put them in. At least that saved me an hour trip to the other side of town. So, off we went to UC -- or as Iz calls them, his "arm doctor."

Wouldn't you know, we had the same dr as we had the last time. It makes you feel like a very bad mother when you see the same dr for an injury to the same child in only a matter of months.

In the end, he got 6 staples in his head because his older brother and sister thought it would be great fun to spin him in Daddy's office chair. And hopefully, the spinning in chairs will not be happening again. He has a deep scalp laceration. Oh, and my kid is a super trooper. He said "Ow" once while the staples were going in and smiled the rest of the time. He got treated to fries, cranberry juice, and some soy icecream. And mom and dad get to wake him at 12 and 4am for two days. And Iz gets the honor of being the first in all 8 of us to have had staples.

Adventures in Dating

I love date night. There is always something interesting going on. Even if we go somewhere boring, something unusual is bound to happen. Tonight was no different.

I inherited a strong desire for pie from my mother. Of course, I grew up in an era of automats, Woolworths lunch counters, and pie carousels. Mom's favorite thing to do was to shop with her mom and stop for coffee and pie. At a very young age, she introduced me to the delights of pie noshing. To this day, I crave pie. Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to find a place that makes good pie. Ski knows that I long for a good piece of pie so he is always trying to hunt a place where we can have some. I think it is a lost art. Pie evidently only comes in a box from the deep freeze at Wally World or something.

Tonight, we walked into a place that had a case with cakes and pies. I thought yipee... My heart raced at the thought of bakery delicacies melting in my mouth. As I perused the menu, I saw what looked promising. There, among other more mundane pies and cakes was listed coconut crème pie. I began thinking of mounds of whipped cream like substance billowing over a yellowy pudding-like coconut concoction and nestled into a delightfully flaky pastry crust. Ohhhh....it is one of my very favorites!! While I had my eye on that and was dreaming and drooling, Ski spied blackberry cobbler. Ski is nutty about blackberry cobbler. He thinks that the messier a food is, the better it tastes. It doesn't get any messier than blackberry cobbler with ice cream melting over a flaky crust hiding extra gooey blackberry goop seeping out. The melting ice cream makes lovely swirls of pinkish purple and the warm/cold combo is just heavenly.

The waitress came and we placed our orders. We chatted while we waited.

In a little while, the waitress deposits two plates in front of us and is gone in a flash.

What is this?!?!?!
My pie resembles nothing I have ever seen before!! It is almost frightening to look at. BTW, the above pic is NOT my pie. It is merely a vision of what I had hoped and dreamed for.

My heart begins to beat rapidly as I realize that the pie I ordered has been made by someone who has no clue what coconut cream pie is. How can that be?!?!? Did they let the guy who washes the dishes try his hand at making pies tonight? As I am so sadly disappointed, I look up to take a peek at Ski's dessert. Now HIS looks like dessert. But, he gives me a look and a disappointed sigh and says quietly...

"This is not what I expected."

Yes, they made blackberry bread pudding and sold it as cobbler.
How could they?!?!?!

I ask if he wants a bite and he asks me the same.

Selfishly, I am hoping that he loves my pie and will beg me to have it. Such is not the case.

As we are deciding whether he is just being nice to offer to eat my pie or whether he actually prefers mine to his, the host comes over.

"How is everything?"

We look at each other -- thankfully with food in our mouths.

We both nod.

"Are you sure?"

I say, "Yes, it's good!!" as Ski mumbles something similar.

"Oh good....for a moment, I thought that there might be something wrong." Relived, he wanders away.

Ski looks at me sadly and says...."I just lied!!!"

We switch desserts and when the waitress comes and asks cheerily if we are enjoying everything, Ski just nods and I say "yes."

Ski says with great shame..."I just lied -- AGAIN!!"

Me?!?!?
I don't care.
I have no guilt!!!!!
Well, what am I going to say?

--Do you call that coconut cream pie?!?!?! It is like and easter egg without the benefit of chocolate. It is like pecan pie with coconut instead of pecans. This is NOT coconut cream!! Where are the fluffy topping and the pudding-y yellow insides? Are you INSANE?!?!?! This is NOT coconut cream!! Give me a cookbook and I will show you what coconut cream is!!

--And since when is bread pudding a cobbler? Where is the sickeningly sweet goop? Aren't Southerners supposed to know how to make cobbler?!?!?!? Even Wikipedia knows how to make a cobbler!!!

So, yes....its food and its edible, but NOT what I wanted.

Ski wanted to buy some cupcakes. They looked innocent enough. I begged him not to.

And for those of you who don't know what a pie carousel is, here's a treat for you...

Pie Carousel from glass on Vimeo.

BTW, did you notice which one pie is missing the most?!?!?! I'll tell you....it isn't lemon meringue!!

Oh, and for my family who thinks I love Key Lime pie....
I like a REAL one once every say....10 years or so.

Of Cats and Dogs and Other Things

Or.....
How I can relate to my son.

A few years ago, I started running with Ski. My running didn't last long. First of all, my knees couldn't handle it. I have torsion in my legs and have always had issues with my knees. That constant pounding on the pavement was just a little too much for them. However, before my legs gave out, I discovered that I had exercise induced asthma. When I went to see my dr, he asked me a bunch of questions and told me I was pretty much textbook. That was a few years ago. Since then, I have had a few times when things popped up here and there. Driving in the car, I would have a major coughing fit. Sitting outside, I would do the same. Having a ds with asthma, I knew that this was not a great thing. Also, I would frequently have coughing fits as I laid down at night in my bed. Of course, like most people, I put off seeing my dr about this. Just a coughing fit now and then... Well, in the middle of June, I had an asthma attack daily for two weeks. I would try to go without using my inhaler and finally, I'd give in. I finally called for an appointment with an allergist who could not see me until the end of July. I went to my gp and he patiently listened to me and although my lungs sounded clear, he took me seriously and gave me some medications to get me through until I saw the allergist. His parting words were, "Be sure to tell the allergist that you recently got a dog."

So, this past Monday, I saw the allergist. My lungs sounded great to him. My nose, however, must be astonishingly blocked because my gp wondered if I could even SMELL out of my nose and the allergist also commented on how swollen and pale it was. Not encouraging words to hear. I basically failed two asthma tests. One told the dr that I had tons of inflammation in my lungs. After the second test that I failed, the nurse came in and told me that she was going to give me 6 puffs of Albuterol. I was incredulous. I said "SIX???!!!!" I normally take only two at a time and that makes my heart race like mad. Thankfully, she must have heard the panic in my voice and only made me take 4 puffs. I was able to barely pass the test, but I became incredibly silly. Just ask Ski. I laughed uncontrollably and I had a difficult time calming myself down.

In addition to the breathing tests, I got 66 skin pricks on my back which were both ticklish and painful all at once. I also had about ten intradermal shots on my arm which just plain hurt. Of all of these tests, I discovered that I am really allergic to cats, dust mites, and also walnuts (no surprise here) and pistachios, but I am hoping that pistachio is a false pos.

I have new asthma medications and get to have a joyful week on steroids -- or as we call it, "joy juice." Lets just say that at the moment, while typing this, I'd like to sit here and have a good cry. If you'd like to know more about steroids, just ask Simon. He loves them....

All of my life with the exceptions of a few years early on in our marriage, I have had a cat in my house. My mother loves kitties and we have had at least one forever. We have one now, the size of the Hindenburg, that lives in my house. Interestingly, since the dog came to live with us, the kitty has been mainly upstairs and had taken to sleeping under my bed. She is now banned from my bedroom. I need to clean out my bedroom thoroughly and cover my mattress, boxspring, pillow, and probably get a new comforter since my old one is dry clean only. Oh, and then there's the blinds and curtains. Everything needs to be either covered or easily removable and washable. Sounds like fun, huh?!?!? So, since we have this kitty that my dd would die if anything EVER happened to her, and dust mites are basically everywhere, we are seriously considering that I do immunotherapy (40 shots -- once a week).

And lets talk about walnuts. Do you know how much I hate those things?!?!?! My mother is nut obsessed. Her favorite candy is chocolate covered nuts. In fact, my mil I think is her long lost sister in terms of the nut/cat thing. Dh and I spent our childhoods picking nuts out of everything. And guess which nut was the ONLY nut my ds tested negative to on his allergy tests!! You've got it....WALNUTS. Well, I don't care. They now have good reason to stay out of my house. Oh, and I noticed that when it said walnut it said "Walnut (English/Blk)". Black walnuts taste like dirt!!! Blech!!!!

Hungry for drive-thru?? Got $42.69???

These guys have more nerve than I'll ever have. I'm told this idea has been around for a while using rap, but this is great stuff. Oh, and my sweet B used to run drive thru for Roy Roger's in PA (even got a mega-high score from a secret shopper--though not perfect--'cause the company doesn't EVER award a perfect score). Anyway, this is in her honor......(I love watching the order screen (= )