Wednesday, April 14, 2010

quick update

I know, I know. Over a week again.

Dow and I went down to Florida, did a BUNCH of yard work, met friends, had a sort of vacation and flew home. I tutored today, bought groceries, came home and cooked. Finish cooking tomorrow then head to Dowma's house to pick up Bella and meet his family.

I promise I've got pictures from our time in Florida and we've *finally* picked a paint color and I'll get those posted, too.

I start at the ranch next Tuesday, so we might ACTUALLY get back to "My Dude Ranching Adventure," instead of just "What the Heck is LeAndra doing?".

Phew! Are you tired? I am!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

food guy

As I mentioned, during my leave from the ranch, I have been a Craigslist hound. I posted for healthy in-home cooking and low and behold, someone found me! Food Guy thought he was coming up with a clever and unique idea until he found that I was already offering the service he was looking for.

He is a single dad of two kids and training for a marathon. His dilemma was that he either had to eat out, which is hard because you have to try to make healthy decisions and it's expensive, or he had to cook for himself, but didn't have enough time. Voila! Insert me! It's probably cheaper than eating out and I'm making healthy, well-rounded meals from Cooking Light.

Every week, I make a meal plan that includes 5 different main dishes: beef, chicken, pork, fish, and vegetarian. Each meal comes with a starch and a vegetable, making sure he's getting the nutrients he needs to fuel his body for the marathon.

The hard part, though, is that his kids are picky eaters. The good news (for me, anyhow!) is that he only has them every other week, so I can make "adult" food when it's just him.

So, if you're having a hard time deciding what to make this week, check back here! I'll try to post the recipes I'm making for him. And at some point, when I have more time, I'll try to get pictures of what I'm making.

For this week, you'll have to be satisfied with links to recipes. Here's what I made and most of it was pretty quick and easy, good for weeknight dinners.

Happy cooking!


Friday, April 2, 2010

peeing in a cup

Everybody's had to do it at least once. And no, I'm not going to drag you through some miserable experience I've had, so keep reading...it's kinda entertaining!

Dow's mom came to town to pick up Bella, so we can go to Florida without worrying about her. And while Dow's sister is in the process of growing Dowma's first grandchild, Bella is currently her only grand-anything besides the grandcat, which means she gets a lot of attention and love. She even goes to the beauty shop when she goes home with Dowma. (Thank goodness - poor little, ratty thing.) Well, Dow noticed that Bella had been, well, um, licking herself a lot...in places we don't like to see dogs licking.

He called the vet's office to see if he could get her in before she left. No problem, they could get her in on Friday (today)...they just needed a urine sample.

A WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!

While this is probably no big deal for city dogs who are used to being followed around by a human on a leash while they do their thing, and often by humans who even pick up their doodee, this is not a normal occurrence for Bella. And trying to get her to pee while being followed by all three of us (I had to get a picture of this!) was no easy feat!

You see, Dow and Dowma went out there thinking that Bella, being the good dog she is, and really, really having to go would pee in a cup right away.
WRONG!

But at least they know which end it comes out...
Right?

Anyhow going back to how quickly or easily this job would be done, I need to mention a couple of things.

First of all, this dog is not a leashed dog.
Notice the rope. It's not latched onto her collar like a normal leash. Oh no, no, no! It's lassoed around her neck like she's a calf. You might feel bad for her, but honestly? She doesn't know the difference.

Secondly, she won't even go in the front yard. She goes out a ways where we won't step in it. Dow says, if he has to leave her tied up for a day or two (with food and water, of course!) while he's gone, she won't doodee until he lets her off her leash. Apparently, 3 days is her limit for holding it.

Basically, what I'm saying is, Bella likes to keep her area clean and doesn't like to go in front of an audience.

We were definitely NOT dressed for the occasion, considering they thought this would be a quick deal. It was downright cold out there! (It was 77 degrees on Tuesday and about 27 degrees yesterday, go figure.) Dow had just grabbed the nearest pair of shoes he saw, and considering Bella has this thing for running around with a shoe when she's excited, he couldn't find his Crocs.

Sooooooo......
He used his mother's. They're pink. I just wanted that in writing. Dow is wearing pink Crocs.

The shenanigans went on for at least a half hour.
Dowma was holding the leash, Bella would start to squat, Dow would lunge at her with a cup, and she would jump back to standing unsure of what was going on.

Or he would say, "Come on, Bella, go potty!"
But what Bella heard was "Come! blah, blah, blah", so she wouldn't go potty because she was awaiting her next command.

We finally gave up and made her come back in, regardless of the fact she reeeeeeeally needed to potty, lest she go without us, and decided to try again later.

Because it was getting late and the sun was going down (read: getting REALLY cold!), Dowma and I opted not to help Dow feed the horses and embark on attempt #2 to get Bella to pee in a cup.

And low and behold! He was successful! (See? I told you she didn't like an audience!)

Which means, I didn't get a picture of the actual event.

...and I spared you a picture of the actual cup of pee.

But just keep this in mind the next time you're dreading having to pee in a cup...at least it's easier than trying to get a DOG to do it!