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Olive's little boyfriend

There's a new pup in town. Sam.



And Olive is in love.



When Olive is outside and Sam is not, she will sit by the fence and bark in anticipation of their next playtime.



Every time I see them together I cant help but think of that song from the Fox and the Hound. "they are the best of friends, spending so much time together...." In this case it's two dogs, not a dog and a fox, but you get the idea.

Nadine

I want you to meet my friend. She's a new friend, but quickly gaining BFF status. I want to take her everywhere with me. She's pretty. And shiny.



She is practical and functional and will do just what I tell her to do.



No longer will I have to wish and hope for her because now she is mine.



Nadine, ladies and gentleman:



Made possible by President Obama and his first time homeowners credit. Don't worry, we will be doing something responsible with the rest of it, ok? But we each had to get something fun with it right?? Dave will hopefully let you in on the fun thing he got soon. Because it's really fun.

Saturday

We had a crazy whirl wind of a weekend full of family and fun, but Saturday was particularly a good time. Allow me to explain.

It was my day to sleep in and it was glorious. Dave and I trade weekend days because the pup needs to be let out far earlier than we would like to get out of bed.

Had some buttermilk on hand so I whipped up some buttermilk pancakes. Dave said they were delicious but I thought they were too buttery. I need to modify that recipe.

Our nephew Asher came over to hang out with us for a few hours. As soon as he stepped into the yard, Olive jumped up and licked his face which was extremely traumatic for the young lad who then wanted to be carried anytime he was around her.

We went to the park. The weather was perfect. The swings were inviting.



I made mac and cheese for lunch. It was not Kraft. It was real. It was good.



Goofiness ensued.



Asher's dad came to pick him up.

We went to Macy's. We bought a fun little appliance that I have dreamed about owning for a long time. Details to follow in a future post.

We came home to get ready for a big 30th birthday bash.

Olive lounged in the shade of the Indigo bush.



I took pictures of my new appliance. And hugged it. I may have kissed it too. I don't remember.

We went to said 30th birthday bash. It was for Dave's brother Matt. They had 30 different kinds of root beer set up at a tasting station. So clever. And fun!

We sampled root beer.

We ate cowboy caviar.

I met people who I went to college with but didn't know at the time.

Dave wanted to stay all night and play Lord of the Rings pinball, but we went home.

"`Cause Saturday night's the night I like
Saturday night's alright alright alright"

I love Elton John.

No Thanks

I have received my fair share of flu shots in my life. I used to get one every year in fact. But the more I learned about them and the more family members who do exorbitant amounts of research told me about them, I decided that flu shots, or vaccines of any kind, are no longer something I want coursing through my body. For me, the benefits do not outweigh the risks.

I’m not going to get up on my soap box and tell you why you shouldn't get a flu shot, I’m just going to share a few things that I have learned, things that have convinced me not to get one.

First of all, they are filled with all kinds of chemicals and preservatives that I would rather not be exposed to. Here is a list of ingredients I got from Dr. Mercola’s website: (the quote following the list is also Dr. Mercola)
• Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
• Phenol, also known as carbolic acid (this is used as a disinfectant, dye)
• Formaldehyde, a known cancer-causing agent
• Aluminum, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease and seizures and also cancer producing in laboratory mice (it is used as an additive to promote antibody response)
• Thimerosal (a mercury disinfectant/preservative) can result in brain injury and autoimmune disease
• Neomycin and Streptomycin (used as antibiotics) have caused allergic reaction in some people.

“Vaccines are also grown and strained through animal or human tissue like monkey kidney tissue, chicken embryo, embryonic guinea pig cells, calf serum, and human diploid cells (the dissected organs of aborted human fetuses as in the case of rubella, hepatitis A, and chickenpox vaccines).”

No thanks.

Second, the Center for Disease Control and other government agencies, I believe, use scare tactics on the public and frankly I think that is just rude. Particularly with the new H1N1 vaccine coming out, I’m deeply concerned about the safety of the flu shots they stand behind, especially one that is so brand spanking new. The side effects from the H1N1 vaccine can be worse than the actual flu which in most cases is just a bad cough and some other mild flu symptoms.
Now, I tend to be a little conspiracy theory prone, but I truly believe that they use scare tactics to make money. The more people get flu shots, the more money the vaccine companies make and the more they line the pockets of the people at the CDC or lobbyists pushing the drug companies’ agendas.

We’ll use Olive as an example. When we first got her, I did all kinds of research on vaccines for dogs. Now, I think dogs need a certain number of vaccines because, for instance, they eat rabbit poop in the back yard all the time. I mean….Olive never does that of course, she’s perfect, but other dogs do I’m sure. And they need to be protected against Rabbis of course. Based on the research I did, dog vaccines last anywhere from 5-7 years, far longer than the “every year” recommendation that the vet will give you. I actually spoke to my vet about this and he said my findings were true, but because the drug companies put “every year” on the box, that’s the recommendation they have to give. Do you know how much money they would lose if they switched the box to read, “every 5-7 years” ?! My conclusion is that money definitely takes precedent over safety for the drug companies supplying the vaccines. I don’t know about you, but that scares me.

So based on what I have learned over the last few years, we choose to say NO THANKS to the flu shot and other vaccines.

Hopefully we will always have the right to say NO THANKS to things that we believe are harmful and unnecessary.

Yawn

The Smash

The Smash, as we lovingly refer to Smashburger, is delicious. We consumed large burgers there the other night as we celebrated Dave's birthday.





If you go, please get the Smash fries. They are seasoned with rosemary and thyme and olive oil and are amazing. You wont be sorry. Thank you.





After dinner we headed to the theater to see the Tim Burton produced movie "9"



It was weird. But in a good way. Which I guess comes with the territory of anything Mr. Burton has had a part in.






The "birthday week" continues this weekend. We are very serious about birthdays round these parts.

9-9-09



Happy Birthday Dave!

I love you. Forever.

Again please

We had to go again. We just had to. We didn't consume nearly enough greasy food on a stick. Our feet didn't hurt as much as they should have. Our skin didn't reach that wonderful shade of red by the end of the night our first time there. So we had to go again.

How could we pass up the opportunity to see butter sculptures?



And loud, stinky animals?







This place changed my life



If you have never had cream cheese sandwiched between pickle slices, deep fried, and dunked in ranch dressing, you need to. Your life will be forever changed. Thank you Rachel and Callie for sharing this bit of delicious heaven with me. Speaking of Rachel...my good friend who lives up north in the woods came to the fair to hang out for a while.



I miss her.

This place did not change my life.



If you ever come across an exhibit promising to showcase wonders beyond your imagination and it includes things such as, "the human bat" and "spider girl," run, do not walk. Run far far away and don't look back. You have been warned.

I experienced a bit of deja vu at the fair this year. We saw these cloggers:



Which were the exact same cloggers that we saw here. Weird.

AND...This is a picture of Dave at the fair last year:



And this is a picture from this year:



Odd. Insert Twilight Zone music. Spooky.

Since yesterday was the last day of the fair, it really was goodbye until next year.



Dear Minnesota State Fair,
Thanks for being my friend year after year.
I heart you.

Dear Plants



I have been feeling bad about the large amounts of neglect that I have bestowed upon my poor plants. This little letter summed it up so well that I had to share it.

I think there is still time to save them.

Trying to muster up the motivation to want to.

sigh.

picture courtesy of Design Mom

things that make me happy

Free Park-N-Rides





Corn on the cob grilled and then dunked in butter and sprinkled with salt.



Lots of pinball machines under one roof.



That makes me happy because it makes Dave really happy.



And trying new things. Particularly something called a "fudge puppy."





Pretty much anything Minnesota State Fair related is going to make me happy. I've already made a paper chain to count down the days until next year's fair!