November 25, 2009

Our poor wine... We had a wine fridge for a minute but due to a minor electrical issue, it died. So now the bottles are sitting on our kitchen counter, taking up what would otherwise be a very useable portion.

November 24, 2009

My next yarn project. I'm not showing the colors because it's a gift for someone that isn't here yet. But his mom is very nosy! ;)

November Updates

This month hasn't been too eventful, much like our lives...

Josh had a minor procedure performed on the 12th so he was down for a couple of days following. Future note to self: if bed rest is prescribed for Josh ever again, stay in a hotel. ;) It wasn't that bad. I love you sweetie! He's still recovering but for the most part, he's a-ok. This was about the same time that he won a small radio contest: local radio station 101.9 The Wolf asked a random question about the TV show, Fringe (which we're huge fans of), and Josh knew the answer. He won five free car washes at a car wash that we need to locate... Better than nothing though, right??? More on this in a sec...

On Tuesday night (the 17th), I took Legion to his first conformation class. In talking with his breeder, he'd really like to see us show him. I think it'd be a good experience for us though, even if he never makes it into the show ring. It'll get him more socialized, he'll be more used to strangers touching him, and it'll make the bond between he and I stronger. Because Josh won't be particpating much in the showing because of his work schedule...or lack thereof... He's only been to one class since but the trainer said that she was really impressed with him. There's a local fun show in December that I'm still on the fence about entering him into. But attending the show will be a great source of info for me. There's another show (for points) in Livermore in January that I/we will be taking Legion to. It's a rare-breed show so I'm hoping to get some feedback about his looks, etc.

Back to the contest: After Josh won the car washes, he was then entered into a bigger contest to win a Sony Blu-Ray home theater system (blu-ray player with surround sound components), Season 1 of Fringe on Blu-Ray, and a 32" Sony LCD. Uh, freakin' sweet!! Well, who really wins those contests anyway? Apparently, Josh does!! He was called early on Thursday (the 19th) morning to be told that he'd won. He was so stoked that he picked up the tv that morning and had it all hooked and set up by the time that I got home. I love my quirky husband. I then put the old tv and receiver on Craigslist for cash or trade for wood. We get a phone call on Saturday morning that the owner of some local Elliot's food stores wanted to trade wood for the receiver. Score for us!!

Also on Saturday, we went over to Ernie and Marsella's to celebrate Tiny Gramma and Grampa's 80th birthdays, as well as their 61st wedding anniversary, with the family. I think that is so awesome and, I can't speak for Josh but I'm sure he feels the same, I truly hope that we can have that kind of longevity in our relationship. Especially when we're seeing so many fail around us....

We were surprised last week to learn that Dan, Tami, and the kids will be coming out for Thanksgiving. I'm so excited to see all of them and squish the three kids!! It's a welcome addition to what was going to be another small Thanksgiving with the local family. Can't wait!!!

And I'll close this post with some pictures.

Our baby boy. Yes, that is Josh's shirt and yes, Josh was the one that put it on him.

Legion, with a Legion-sized stick.
The boys, sharing a dog bed. We do have three, one for each of them...


And of course, we can't forget about the little miss.

November 23, 2009

The boys are enjoying the heat from the fire. They're so good together....or bad, depending on who's not watching them. They play together so well and if Legion isn't influencing Hayden to get into mischief, it's Hayden getting Legion to! They're just like two brothers: they play hard together but big brother gets tired of little brother's antics and he'll let him know. How happy does Hayden look in this picture?!?!?

November 22, 2009

Josh was able use Craigslist to trade his old receiver and four surround sound speakers for over a cord of wood! Good thing too because we weren't going to buy any this year because it's a lil' pricey...

November 21, 2009

I think I might be part polar bear...or just cheap. I'd rather bundle up in a long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie, sweat pants, socks, my slippers, covered with a blanket, than turn on the heater.

November 20, 2009

Winter is finally here!! Short-lived though because the "huge storm" that was supposed to pass through, wasn't so impressive. C'mon mother nature, I'm ready for some window-shaking thunder!!

November 19, 2009

Our new addition!! Well, really it's Josh's.

November 18, 2009

Little Legion gets breaksfast, and dinner, in bed now because he's all of a sudden having issues going in his crate when we leave. He doesn't want to... It's out of nowhere so while we're scratching our heads trying to figure out what in the heck happened, he's pleading with us not to put him in the crate. Too bad, little boy. We win.

November 17, 2009

Even though this show has completely jumped the shark, it's still one of our guily pleasures.

November 16, 2009

New recipe for dinner!! It's a pork chop stuffed with home-made stuffing. Yes, I made it myself. Thankyouverymuch. And yes mom, those ARE brussel sprouts. ;)

November 15, 2009

Okay, so technically, Josh took this picture. But I'm stealing it for the 365 pictures. I'm glad we got our couches for our DOGS and feel lucky that we're able to share, kind of, with them.

November 14, 2009

Grampa's little girlfriend. If you look closely at her back feet, you can see the polish still on her little toenails. :)

November 13, 2009

Josh took one for the team yesterday so he gets a special breakfast. Poor guy!!

November 12, 2009

Happy Veteran's Day!! Hayden likes to spend his holidays like any other day: lounging around and trying to look as pitiful as possible so his mom will feel sorry for him and give him a cookie. It's a wonder he's not overweight!!

November 11, 2009

He's so handsome!!

November 10, 2009

Josh works late and this is what my dinner looks like. Gourmet!!

November 9, 2009

Our little monster!! We weighed him a couple of weeks ago and he was at 66.4 pounds, so I'm sure he's pushin' 70 pounds now, if not more. He's now about 3/4 of an inch taller than Hayden and his paw is as big as the palm of my hand... I'm taking him to a conformation class on Tuesday because we're (read: I'm) looking into showing him. The Cane Corso breed is going AKC in July of next year so it should be interesting!

Apple Hill, 2009

Josh and I got bored on Sunday so we decided to take an impromptu trip to Apple Hill. The weather was great: not too cold this time. We didn't take the dogs because we're still keeping Legion relatively calm. Or should I say we're trying to keep Legion relatively calm. He's pushing 70 pounds now and uses his body as a ram when he wants to get somewhere.

High Hill was crowded...

Pretty sun through the trees



Cheese faces!

The Fudge Factory...that is NOT part of High Hill Ranch, per the very conspicuous sign.



Apparently, there's a vineyard at High Hill. We stopped to taste some wine and take some artsy pics.



Beware of the watch-cat. He's vicious...with the tail swishing.



As soon as Legion is cleared to go back out in the world, we'll take the kids back up with us. That should be very interesting...

November 8, 2009

Josh and I went to Apple Hill on Sunday. Sans kids because Legion is still on house arrest. We had a really good time though. We plan on heading back up in a couple of weeks with them. Hopefully, Abbi won't slip her coller this time and head straight for the pond at High Hill... We had this cute little ornament made for us at one of the shops. We needed to get a new one to show our new addition.

November 7, 2009

We had my parents over for dinner on Saturday night. We bbq'd pork & veggie kabobs, had a tater and a green salad. It was really nice to have them over because it'd been a while. Like 40 Legion pounds ago... Grampa gave him the nickname of "Trigger" because he's our little horse. Of course, the dogs were spazs when Gramma & Grampa were there and passed out as soon as they left. I just wish they could see how sweet and calm Legion can be. Rather than the in-your-face dog he is when other people are around... We forget that he's still a puppy because he's Hayden's size now so all of the obedience will just come in time.

November 6, 2009

I've become a "don't buy what's not on the grocery list" person but I think I almost sqealed when I saw this at the grocery store. I had some the same night and surprisingly, it doesn't taste like cardboard! Even though it says it's one point, that's not for the entire bag. But I'll take my 2.5 points for the entire bag! Thankyouverymuch.

November 5, 2009

My reading material for the next year, I'd guess. My mom was clearing out her library so I snagged a few that I hadn't read yet. Much to Josh's delight... BUT he has to consider the savings to him that this will mean. I don't think that helps when he has to walk past this box o' books every day...

November 4, 2009

I mis-placed my little card adapter thingy so that's why there's been a lapse in the pictures. No worries though! I found it!! Now back to your regularly scheduled pic o' the day.

Lame! Lame!! Lame!!! I can already foresee the nightmare that this is gonna be for the first couple of months. There's an option to buy a monthly pass, so I'm planning on doing that.

November 3, 2009

No regular-sized biscuits for our dogs! We went to the pet store last night to get some advice for Legion's issue and we always have to get them some sort of treat or toy while we're there. So even though the little miss gets her nose bent out of shape when we put her back in her crate after we've come home from work (a time when she's typically out for the night), all is forgiven when she gets a tasty treat like this.

November 2, 2009

Yarn project #6. I've finished five out of six projects this year. The unfinished one is just something that I'm working on for myself and doing it whenever I have extra time...or yarn. I'm pretty proud of myself!!

November 1, 2009

Crockpot season is here!! I went out to lunch with Michelle after popping in a roast with potatoes, onions, and an onion soup mix. Seven hours later, the house was smelling heavenly and we had an awesome dinner. And yea for leftovers!!

October 31, 2009

BOO!! I hope that everyone had a great Halloween! Gramma and Grampa dropped this pumpkin off for their grand-dogs earlier in the month. Unfortunately, it didn't make it til Halloween. But we were able to enjoy it for several days. Thanks for carving it, Grampa!! Hopefully, a cane corso template will be available for next Halloween. HA!

We didn't get many kids again this year. We were hoping that it was the rain that kept them away last year. Dunno what the deal was this year... Aside from Nikki & Julio coming from next door with their three, we got ONE group of about seven kids. And that's it... Guess we didn't need that Costco-sized bag of candy afterall. I know that my co-workers will enjoy it though!

October 30, 2009

I'm really hoping this doesn't taste like it looks: like cardboard... I think though that when it's paired with a good sauce and seasoned with the right spices, it'll be fine. Throw in a piece of baked chicken and a nice glass of wine, and I doubt we'll even be able to notice the difference. Now getting Josh to be more open-minded about it is another thing...

October 29, 2009

We've been celebrating the Halloween holiday by watching scary/suspenseful movies. Sometimes, these movies are lame. As is the case with this movie: Wrong Turn 3. As if we didn't get a clue from the first two... Lots of blood, crazy human traps, and bad acting. Next up: Drag Me To Hell. We're not expecting an oscar winner...

October 28, 2009

Since our dogs have cost us an arm and a leg this month, we've had to get creative with the food we have on-hand. We pan-cooked some pork, seasoned it with an Asian spice sauce, put it over some angel hair noodles seasoned with the same Asian spice sauce. It was really good!

October 27, 2009

Our puppy is big... He activates the passenger-side airbag in the truck. He weighs more than 60 pounds. He's as tall as Hayden. He takes up one full cushion on the couch. And we love him so very much!

October 26, 2009

Worst.Call.Ever. We weren't home on Saturday to actually watch this UFC match so we'd been avoiding MMA news outlets, cautiously reading text messages, and hoping phone calls wouldn't ruin the outcome of the title fight. Shogun got ROBBED!!! At least, AT LEAST, three out of the five rounds were dominated by Shogun and yet Machida retains his title. He even thought that he should have lost but in his cocky Machida attitude, he says "The judges said I won." Poor Shogun. He hasn't had much luck since coming over from Pride, which seems common when fighters do that... I hope they do a rematch. Like, NOW!

October 25, 2009

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. This movie got mixed reviews but both Josh and I thought it was awesome. With the exception of the two ghetto robots... Lots of explosions, noise, in-your-face action, and hot girls. But would it be a Michael Bay movie without all of those things?? I think not!

October 24, 2009

Last night, Josh and I went with friends, Mike and Shelly, to Scandia for a little putt-putt, indy cars, and batting cages. I got spanked...again.... Time to hang up my putter.

October 23, 2009

Our baby is growing.... Hayden is 2 years, 4.5 months. Abbi is 3 years, 8.5 months. Legion will be 5 months old on the 27th. We don't even bother picking up the stray kibble as they're eating because one of the fur-covered vacuums will make sure to clean up after all of them.

October 22, 2009

Josh and I went on a date to our favorite movie theater (30 minutes away...) to see Paranormal Activity. This movie was suuuuuper hyped here and was all over tv to "demand" that it get played in our area. Seriously, I coulda waited til it came out on HBO, or even network tv. It was lame. Although, I put on my Super Chicken cape and put my hat over my eyes at the very end because I knew it was going to be scary. And from what Josh says, it was an image that I would have had much difficulty getting out of my brain before I went to bed last night... We shoulda gone with my choice and seen Where the Wild Things Are in IMAX...

October 21, 2009

Okay, I'm trying the whole Project 365 thing again. Starting on a completely random day...


My UGG slippers. I can't live without them on chilly days/nights. It's like slipping your foot into a warm cloud of goodness. Ahhhh... And yes, there really is a difference between these and the Dearfoams you'd get at a department store. ThankYouVeryMuch.

Happy Anniversary To Us!

We celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary on October 13th. Since money is kinda tight right now (thank you to our three dogs....), we did a casual dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Rancho Cordova. We were also looking forward to the mizithra cheese spaghetti. Yum! It was still relatively early so Josh suggested that we head over to the indoor mini-golf place in the same complex. Neither one of us had been there before so it sounded fun. It's called Monster Mini-Golf and its perpetual Halloween and black light decor would be a stoner's both dream and nightmare. It was fun though, even though one of us got severely SPANKED in the scoring...me.....







I think this took me 10 or 11 putts to get the ball in the hole...







The name of our next dog. Can you guess what it is???



The evening was very nice. Josh got me a very sweet card and a bunch of our "wedding flowers." Yeah, he's kind of a nice guy. I think I'll keep him around for another year. At least. And as I'm looking at the pictures as I post them, I realized that we were all matchy-match with our sweatshirts. Blech!

Future note to self: black light environments do not photograph well...