Poor Fitz!

Fitz has had weird toenails ever since we got him. I worried about them breaking, but the vets never said anything, so I just told myself I was worrying too much.

Today, Dexter and I were getting ready to leave on our anniversary trip to Chicago when Fitz yelped and we saw that one of his nails had broken off and the "quick" (inside) was exposed. We took him to a vet and helped hold him while the vet tech clipped the nail super short. He gave a miserable howl through the muzzle they put on him. I was thankful to be holding his back end because apparently it was not pretty up front.

Now he has a bandaged foot, pain medication, anti-biotics, and a mommy and daddy who are leaving him for 2 days. His mommy feels really bad about that. I'm hoping that his pain pills make him sleepy so he'll sleep away the time that Keriann is at work. Poor Fitz!

For the toast-lovers in my life

"Life as we know it and perhaps love itself is virtually impossible without the toaster. Toast, which is to say warm, delicious bread, slightly crisp where it wasn't to begin with, is more than anything the food of deep affection. Symbolic and simple. Unassuming, unpretentious, unbearably kind. The last thing one can eat before they cannot stand food at all. The first thing one considers when hunger returns. It requires almost no attention on the part of the person offering it, and is, for many people, the stuff life is made of."

-Susan Wiegand, Cooking as Courtship

Recent Events

October 2008: Started looking for a job.

December 2008: Graduated from college.

January 2009: Started subbing.

January - May 2009: Scoured the internet for ESL jobs in Iowa.

March - April 2009: Applied for ESL jobs around Des Moines and Iowa City.

May 4, 2009: Got a call to interview at West in IC. Was shocked to get this interview and no others since I have more elementary experience.

May 8, 2009: Interviewed at West with 4 fantastic teachers/administrators. Wore my fabulous interview suit thanks to mom and dad. Slouched. Wondered, "Why did I just say that?" as I answered questions. Was told the hiring process should be wrapped up by next week. Told friends and family, "If I am offered this job, it's all God working."

May 14, 2009: Missed a call from the West administrator while subbing. Called her back and told her all the times my kids would be out of the room. Called her afterschool. Called Dexter. Called my dad to learn about what one does when one is offered a fancy grown-up job. Convinced myself that she might just have a follow-up questions or be polite enough to tell me the position had been filled. Felt like puking.

May 15, 2009: Missed a call from the same West administrator while subbing in the same classroom. Breathed deeply and prayed I'd figure out what she wanted before the weekend. Called her back. Was offered the job. Tried not to pee my pants or seem to excited. Asked for the weekend to give her a final answer.

May 15-18, 2009: Prayed like a maniac.

May 18, 2009: Accepted the job. Thought, "Maybe we should move over there."

May 18-June 8, 2009: Thought about moving. Weighed rent vs. buy. Thought, "There is no way we would get approved for a mortgage."

June 9, 2009: Realized most leases begin in less than 2 months and decided to act. Went to the bank to find out about mortgage possibilities. Almost started laughing when banker told us we were preapproved. Noticed banker seemed much more at ease after finding this out. Celebrated by taking Fitz to Dairy Queen. (We celebrate EVERYTHING with DQ this summer. Things like, "It's nice out," or "Yay, we're not at work anymore.") Drove around westside IC and looked at homes from the car window. Picked up fliers for homes and threw them in the backseat when we realized how much they were. Called about an FSBO condo. Saw it that day. It was beautiful, but didn't have a good place for puppy potties.

June 14, 2009: Got a tip about an almost-on-the-market condo! Thanks, SV!

June 15, 2009: Saw the condo. Wasn't big on the light pergo floors or the white painted cabinets. Wasn't big on it being much more expensive than others in the neighborhood. Realized it was actually a bargain since it was uncommonly large for the neighborhood. Thought, "What do we do?!"

June 16, 2009: Decided we needed a realtor.

June 18, 2009: Met realtor. Chose homes to see.

June 18-22, 2009: Nearly hyperventilated in anticipation of seeing houses. Saw them. Some were easily rejected. Was faced with the decision: like-it/cheaper/smaller vs. like-it/expensiver/bigger. Made an offer on Bigger. Spent the evening upstairs where our phones get reception waiting for a call. Realized at 9:45 that we'd missed a call at 8:30. Nearly hyperventilated again.

June 23, 2009: Received counter offer. Was irritated. Calmed down. Made counter-counter offer. Received and accepted counter-counter-counter offer.

June 23, 2009 - Present: Doubted decision. Didn't matter since acceptance was legally binding! Regained faith in decision. Repeat. Thought, "Something must be done about those white cabinets!" Thought, "Our lovely walkout basement will be so empty!" Thought, "DISHWASHER!" Thought, "My rug will look nice on the light pergo." Started pondering how to decorate in all my (mental) freetime.

Tomorrow: Inspection and radon test.

Pedal for Nepal

A friend of mine has an uncle riding RAGBRAI for a good cause. "Uncle John" and his two friends are raising money for the Nepal Home for Children, a Christian missionary organization that provides vocational training for children in Nepal. They hope to find 2,000 people to donate a penny per mile ($.01 x 500 = $5) so that they can raise a total of $10,000.

If you're interested in giving and/or praying, here is a link to my friend's blog where you can find more information. Here's the link to the actual site of Pedal for Nepal.

Delicious Dinner!

When I suggested foregoing the peanutbutter-chocolate stuffed french toast that was on the meal schedule for last night so that we could make strawberry-rhubarb crisp for dessert, I just about had a mutiny on my hands. And the mutineers had a point--it was pretty good. You do need a tall glass of milk/tea/something else to go along with it, otherwise you may choke every few bites because your esophogas is coated in peanutbutter. We didn't make the jam syrup because I'm not a fruit-chocolate person (except about these), we left off the whip, and used smashed up full sized chocolate chips.

What surprised me most about dinner, however, was how good the "good-for-you huevos rancheros" were. Depending on how crisp you get your tortillas (the crispness of mine was determined by how many other things I was doing at the time that each particular tortilla was on the pan), you can eat it like a taco or like you're eating the plate your meal came on. I think we probably put on more cheese than the recipe called for, but we didn't use sour cream, so I think it was still pretty healthy. I didn't make the salsa from scratch like the recipe said because I was tired and because I bought a large vat of salsa the other day that I need to use up before it goes bad.

Here's what our huevos rancheros looked like--not as pretty as Rachael's, but this is actually food and not food-photo props. (Seriously, my cooked canned black beans never look shiny and cute. Maybe it's because I overcook them or because I bought them at ALDI.)

Menu Planning Wednesday

Since I graduated, I've been doing a really bad job of meal planning. This has resulted in too many trips to the store, too much money spent, too much eating out, too much convenience food, and too little nutrition. We joined a CSA with another couple, and since I'll need to plan meals that include whatever comes in my box each week. I follow this blog:

and every Monday, or Sunday night, she posts her meal plan for the week and uses a widget (am I using that word correctly) so that her readers can upload links to their own blogs. So, her website is a source of about 300 (or more) meal plans every week.

We get our box from the CSA on Wednesday nights, and since grocery ads come out on Wednesdays, I decided that I'll be participating in Menu Planning Wednesday throughout the summer. This was my first week, and this is what I came up with. I'm not planning to post all the recipes, but if something looks interesting, let me know!

Thursday: Stir-fry bok choi (from CSA), carrots, onion, edamame, soba noodles; canned pineapple

Friday: Boca burgers, salad (lettuce from CSA) with homemade vegetarian caesar dressing (no anchovies), beer bread

Saturday & Sunday: Eating on the road on the way to Des Moines--probably Subway or PB&honey sandwiches

Monday: Tofu nuggets, scalloped potatoes, salad

Tuesday: Peanutbutter-chocolate stuffed french toast, eggs, fruit

Wednesday: Leftovers OR if there aren't enough, we'll make what I planned for Saturday before I knew we were leaving (a healthified version of huevos rancheros, iced raisin biscuits, and a veggie purchased from the farmer's market)

We're also making yogurt in the crockpot for breakfast, "healthy" oatmeal cookies for snacks, and some quinoa and black bean salad for lunches.

Did I mention that my little sister is staying with us for a few weeks and she does dishes? That's awesome.

Who likes carob chips? Fitz likes carob chips.

Fitz ate the bag of carob chips off the counter today. I think there were two pounds in the bag.

Dexter took him on a walk. Fitz pooped. Dexter tells me it was like Hershey's syrup. My apologies to the person whose yard that was.

(He pooped between the sidewalk and the street. I searched for the name of the term for that area and found that many other people wonder what it is called and that no one knows. "Tree lawn," "inferno strip," and "verge" are possibilities from an "urban dictionary.")

Fitz also just puked up his dog food on the carpet as I researched the name for the section of grass. I apologize to queasy readers. At least this is a picture-free post.

Good Boy, Fitz

We've finally realized that it isn't just that Fitz is too naughty or too stupid to use his dog bed. It's just that we haven't put it in the right spot before. Look at what a good boy he is on his bed in front of the sliding glass doors, keeping an eye on the birds.

Blood Chocolate OR Carob < Chocolate

A while ago I read an article in Relevant Magazine about things we buy without realizing how they affect others in the world. One of those things is chocolate. About 70% of the chocolate grown in the world is grown in Western Africa, and 40% of that is grown in just one country, Ivory Coast. Working conditions on these plantations are awful, and most families are so poverty-stricken that their children are pulled from school (if they could have afforded school) and made to work on chocolate plantations. Children even younger than 10 years old wield machetes and cover fields in pesticides. You can read more about this issue here. Note that our own senator, Tom Harkin, regardless of whether you agree with most of his policies, is one of two senators spearheading legislation to reduce and eliminate the child labor on chocolate plantations.

I love chocolate, but I value human rights. I can't watch CSI or other crime shows if they have to do with children being mistreated because then that's all I can think about for days and it makes me sick. So, how can I go on eating chocolate that has been harvested by a starving West African child? I know that my not buying that chocolate won't solve the problem entirely. I can't rebuild a war torn nation's economy by boycotting its exports. I can, however, show my financial support for the type of labor I want to continue so that current conditions don't last into the future.

I made the flimsy decision not to buy chocolate unless it had been fairly traded and harvested without child labor. However, because of labelling laws, it can be difficult to discern where the chocolate comes from. New Pi sells Guittard semi-sweet mini chocolate chips in bulk, but I can't get a straightforward answer from the website about whether children harvested the chocolate or if it was fairly traded. They seem like an upstanding company and purchase their chocolate from a variety of places, but I want to be sure.

I thought one way to solve my chocolate dilemma would be to buy carob chips, sold in bulk next to the chocolate chips at New Pi. I had a dessert in mind, so I bought a lot. Tonight, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies to try out the carob chips.

FAIL.

The carob chips didn't make it into the cookies. Thank goodness the cookies will be edible. The chips might have been okay if I hadn't been expecting something that tasted like chocolate. They tasted a little like dark chocolate, but in the grossest way possible. These are no longer a part of the solution for me. My cookies now contain Hershey's chocolate chips. They were my brand of choice before I discovered the slavery issue because they are cruelty-free in respect to animals.

Did you know about this chocolate dilemma before? If not, do you think it will change your buying habits? If so, do you have a new go-to brand that is easily accessible and doesn't break the bank?

Also, do you want a pound or two of carob chips?

My day, which was a happy one

1. Slept through the night despite my cough thanks to Tylenol PM

2. Listened to my puppy chew on his rope in bed for 15 minutes before I was supposed to wake up

3. Had a sub job

4. Talked to coworkers about their lives

5. Dexter gave me a delicious cookie from the cookie shop at the mall when I got home (and I was sooo hungry!)

6. Dexter cleaned the bathroom (without being asked or mentioning it to me)

7. Dexter did the dishes (without being asked or mentioning it to me)

8. Fitz graduated from Puppy Obedience

9. Fitz got a giant special Kong as a graduation present from Mommy and Daddy

10. Went to DQ (I got a chocolate cone dipped in sprinkles) and ate on a picnic table by the river with my husband and my puppy

11. Fitz got to eat the giant milk bone from the trainer

12. Fitz's daddy shared the last drips of his blizzard with him

13. Fitz tried out the new Kong and it's a hit

Mistakes and triumphs with Rachael

A few weeks ago, I was so proud that I made this recipe from Rachael Ray. It was her show 30 Minute Meals that got me interested in cooking--there was none of that "magic" like on other shows where they throw some veggies in a pot and open up a different pot and there's a meal. I even got a subscription to her magazine for Christmas last year. This recipe has polenta, which is Italian so it's fancy. It has kale, so it's healthy. And it has cheese, so it must be tasty, right? Unfortunately, I was not so impressed with the recipe. First, I oversalted the polenta. Second, I used white hominy grits (grits are the same things as polenta, just with a less fancy culture attached--it must be true because AB told me) instead of yellow, which made it kind of look like spinach on grey barf. I also couldn't taste the "white sauce" that made up the layer between the kale and the cheese. I dreaded eating the leftover so much that I left it in the fridge until Thursday night. It looked like this:

I made the picture small so it's less gross.

I don't want to give RR a bad rap though. So, here's a link to her garlicky bean enchilada recipe that I love and use a lot. I modify it, not because it's bad otherwise, but because the first several times I made it I didn't read it closely and I'm used to making it my way now.

We also made this delicious dinner a while ago after I learned about jicama during a "Pick a Better Snack" presentation at a school where I subbed. The carrot-jicama salad and burrito filling are inspired by this RR recipe. The couscous and black bean salad is from allrecipes.com. I love to make it with quinoa as well. Dexter wouldn't eat the jicama salad because he was freaked out by the existance of this apple-potato-food, but the black bean salad is his favorite.

Home Ec Sparknotes: Edition #1

I have a little addiction to "self-help" books. Whether it's getting organized, becoming more productive, or eating healthier, I just have to know what this "expert" thinks I should know about becoming a better me. Thankfully, I'm not at all driven to read every word of each book or to implement all the ideas. I skim and then usually put the information I find into one of two categories.

Category #1: I already knew that. Doesn't everybody?
Category #2: That's a stupid idea. Why would I do that?

If you are a self-help writer, I'm sorry to make light of your work, but usually, these are the categories that most of the information in these books fall under. However, once in a while, I do file information under Category #3.

Category #3: That's a really good idea. I wish I would have realized that earlier!

I don't know if it's pride or good judgement that keeps Category #3 sparse, but that's the way it goes. I tend to do a lot of this skimming at a table in the library and leave books there that seem, upon further inspection, to have no hope of containing #3 information. The stack of books pictured above did not go through this pre-inspection before leaving the library. I thought I'd share my findings with you in case one of these books pops up in your catalog search at the ICPL.

Organizing Idea Book by John Loecke

This book contains some #2 with photos of "organized" spaces that still look cluttered to me. Or, more often, the organizational ideas were pricey and would work much better in a beautiful, well-designed mansion. I live in a duplex with shallow pantry shelves, so I did not find many of these ideas applicable. The pictures are fabulous and could probably get your imagination going on variations that would work for your home and budget.

Get Crafty by Jean Railla

I appreciated the "quiz" at the front of this book that helps you decide what kind of crafting to get into. Because I said I like to read books in a sitting, it recommended I do short-term projects like cooking. Lots of the questions pointed to cooking, which might suggest that the quiz paints a precise picture and gives good suggestions. However, because I like math and being dirty, it suggested gardening. If you saw my garden last summer, you would know that this is not an area in which I will likely experience success. This had a few cute ideas, but more commentary than I appreciate.

Organizing for the Creative Person by Lehmkuhl and Lamping

I checked out this book for Dexter, who resists all organization projects relating to his desk. I hesitate to call it a work area, because the other day I couldn't find his keyboard under all the crap (his and mine) on the desk. I was disappointed with the content. The key message was, "You're creative! That's great! Maybe you're disorganized. That's just part of your right-brainedness and it's okay. But if it's screwing you up, here's stuff that organized left-brained people do to keep it together." So, I didn't find any great creative-person-specific tips within.

Don't Throw It Out: Recycle, Renew, Reuse to Make Things Last by

If I owned my own home, this would be a great reference book. It includes information on how to clean things or fix things that you might think were broken or inefficient. I didn't find anything that pertained to me currently, but I kept running across things where I thought, "I'm never going to remember this, but I bet I'll want to know that someday." This might be a good reference book to check out when something goes wrong with an appliance or you're doing spring cleaning. Or, maybe it would be good to buy to have around for reference.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

The table of contents was not very conducive to skimming. I think this book is geared toward "reading" and possibly even tries to make skimming impossible. There are subject headings and chapter titles, but all I could read was "positivity, goals, blah, blah, stuff, blah." Maybe I need to try again when I grow up a little?

Totally Organized by Bonnie McCullough

Skim-friendly! It only took me about half an hour to get through this one, and although she didn't give any specific advice that I applied, I did think of a new way to organize my files while I was reading it. It's also more family-oriented than it is poor-recent-graduates-with-no-kids-oriented, so you might find more things applicable. It was also written in the 80s, so it could use a revision. Maybe replace phone-time-management with inbox-clutter-control?

Feed Your Family for $12.00 a Day by Rhonda Barfield

Barfield offers meals that seem fairly balanced and buys plenty of fresh fruit and veggies. She also makes deals with local produce salesman to buy boxes full of slighly damaged produce for $2. Some of the things she does just aren't practical unless you are willing to be a little obnoxious about finding a good deal, but she does have a big recipe section where I've marked several pages. I would have liked it even better if I still ate meat.

The Starving Artist's Way by Nava Lubelski

I had a bad attitude about this book before I opened it up. If you're truly living like a "starving artist," sacrificing your self for your art in a desperate yet arrogant way, isn't it selling out to write a book about how to do cool starving artist stuff? Either way, I was pleasantly surprised. Did you know that some grocery stores sell canned octopus? Well, if you need a recipe to use some up, you can find it here. It has a great table of contents, so it's good for skimming. It's got sections for recipes, home decor, wearables, cosmetics, events, and gifts. Some of the ideas are kind of stupid and tacky or probably too expensive for a "starving" person to pull off, but some of the ideas are cute, creative, and unique. It could use a few more pictures for partly-arty people like me who have a really hard time picturing how to do things or how things look from descriptions. There are also lots of references to famous artists in the book--one for every project I think--so if you want to have some good art trivia and to obtain it in a way that's more fun than an art history book, this may be your source.

Blitz It Friday: After

This is the list of things to do I made while eating breakfast:

1. Wash comforter (Fitz...ahem...dirtied it last week)
2. Clear and wipe kitchen table (glad I did this early on--helped me when I folded my towels and set out my ziplock/gladware containers to group before putting away)
3. Put away clean dishes
4. Do dirty dishes
5. Take recycling to garage
6. Clear off and wipe down counters
7. Pick up living room
8. Fold towels and put away
9. Put comforter in dryer
10. Vacuum/sweep/mop
11. Dust

I did the list mostly in this order. I was glad I had it since after the first few tasks I looked around and started to get that overwhelmed, "What now?" feeling. The timer went off as I folded the towels. I didn't put away one towel that goes upstairs, and I didn't get to floors or dusting. However, now I am ready to clean since all the picking up is done. I do still have some books out on the couch. I have a $120 fine to pay if I don't return two of them to the university, so they need to be in sight. I need to finish "reviewing" the others for a future post and take them back to the library.

I didn't post an "after" picture of the piano because blogger kept flipping the image. There's a picture of Levi, an antique camera, our wedding album, and a piece of our coffee table that we broke off that still need to be put away. But, that will be easier when we move our beautiful Ikea shelf downstairs to join the living room furniture.

Possible projects for the rest of the day?

1. Clean out coat closet (which has a very nice, half-empty shoe rack on the door and paint supplies and shoes all over the floor)
2. Finish cabinet reorganization project (resulted in a few very organized cabinets and on set with a bunch of random crap piled up)
3. Reorganize pantry

Organizing supplies that might help:

1. A basket for Fitz's leashes, treats, and kong
2. A sturdy container for Fitz's toys that he can reach and that isn't too ugly
3. Spice organizing device (probably won't get this soon--I've been debating about what kind to get and how much to spend for a long time--any suggestions?)

Blitz It Friday: Before

I've been on an organizing kick lately. It would be a lot easier if I was a neat and tidy person anyway, but I'm not. So, before I organize, I always have to pick up the house. One way I used to trick Dexter into helping me was to set a timer for 15 minutes and told him we only had to clean that long. Then, when it went off, I'd finish up a few odds and ends and he'd feel guilty quitting. That wasn't really intentional on my part, that's just how it always turned out.

I came across this blog the other day that takes it up a notch. She calls the "cleaning time" a "blitz" and does it for 1 hour. I have the day completely off today, which hasn't happened in a long time. We're having Easter at our house on Sunday, and today is my main preparation day since I'll be making a trip to Des Moines tomorrow to have my sister-in-law-in-law-to-be cut and color my hair. I've decided to kickstart the day with a "blitz." My goal is to get the living room and kitchen completely picked up. They're not too bad, so if I really work I might get floors clean and pianos dusted.

Here are the before pictures.

The plan?

1. Eat breakfast.
2. Take dog outside.
3. Set timer and start cleaning.

Fitz's First Outing to the Dog Park

Although we've had Fitz's dog park tag for several weeks, we hadn't gotten up the courage to go until today. I was afraid that Fitz would eat the other dogs or that the other dogs would eat Fitz or that he wouldn't come to me if he was being bad or that he'd do some other naughty dog thing that I haven't even thought of yet.

Dexter and I both had some free time in the middle of the day today, and I persuaded Dexter to go. I put on the tennis shoes that Fitz had chewed on in case of an foot-poop incident, we armed ourselves with leftover hot dog pieces to give him incentive to come when called, grabbed his water dish, and away we drove.

We were afraid to let him off the leash once in the park, and the raised fur on his back didn't encourage me to let him go either. Some people on a bench realized we were newbies and told us some soothing things to help us chill out about letting him go. Fitz was a little calmer, and I was afraid he was raising his fur because he felt like he was at a disadvantage because he was on a leash, so we took the fateful step and unclipped the leash. The first few moments were a little nervewracking as the group of dogs sniffed and growled, but soon they were running around and being friendly.

Here are some highlights from the day:

He ran, he sat and showed off the dirt on his tongue, he chased birds,

and when he was pooped, he plopped contently down in the sand.

He's been doing a lot of snuggling and curling up the rest of the day.
Fitz and his mommy and daddy like the dog park!

Mansfield Park

My reading list from the past few months.

Thanks to b.a. for the idea to share it this way.

Thanks to two nice naps with Fitz, I finished Mansfield Park by Jane Austen a few weeks ago. I had read it before, sometime in high school or at the beginning of college, and I hated it. The premise is that Fanny Price goes to live with a rich uncle when she is nine years old because her own family is so poor. She is ignored and mistreated most of the time, but has a kind cousin, Edmund, who cares about her feelings and gives her good advice. She loves Edmund, but since he only thinks of a sister, she is his confidante when he falls in love with seemingly sweet Miss Crawford. She waits and waits in pain until the end which ends like a romance should. I always wondered why Jane Austen would have created such a weak-willed, pathetic heroine.

I have a knack for forgetting most of the details and part of the plot of any story I read or movie I watch. This is a little unfortunate since I love reading so much, but it works out nicely when I want to read a book and can't get to the library or bookstore. We got Mansfield Park on Netflix, because my nice husband lets me put movies I want to watch on the subscription he got for Christmas. It had lots of "scandalous" insinuations that I was sure weren't present in the book, but despite the parts I suspected weren't true, I enjoyed the movie. I decided to give the book antoher whirl.

Although it wasn't the fastest moving, most romantic love story in the world, there were a few things I liked about it. First, it was realistic. There was no unlikely match between a rich older man and a poor younger woman--just two like-minded people who are in love. And one of those people wasted time liking someone else because he let her flashy exterior distract him from her selfish heart. People aren't perfect, and even the main characters that you root for throughout this book are imperfect. Second, the book ended with repentence from some of the characters. Edmund repented of his interest in Miss Crawford and Sir Thomas Bertram (Edmund's father) repented of the way he had treated Fanny and the way he had raised his children. Beyond repentence, Sir Thomas went forward and did good, inviting Fanny's younger sister to live with them and be provided for. Lastly, I could see why Fanny was so timid this time around, and had compassion on her in her anxiety rather than disdain.

If you're interested in the movie, this version is entertaining, although it is not terribly thorough and adds some unnecessary (ie: not in the book) sexual undertones. This version, with Billie Piper, made for Masterpiece on PBS looks like it will have more undertones and be even less accurate. This mini-series version is on my Netflix instant queue, and I've watched four of the six episodes.

Are there any book-to-movie combinations you love?

Flatulation or Flagellation?

When I was in seventh grade, the ELP teacher came into our class to recommend some books to us. He read a few excerpts aloud to get us hooked. In one book, he came across the word "flagellation." Giggles erupted across the room. Seventh grade boys may not know many four syllable words, but "flatulation" is one of them, and its auditory resemblence to "flagellation" was just too much to handle. Since then, the two words have always connected themselves in my mind.

The other day, when I was flipping through an issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, I came across an amusing and possibly helpful tidbit I thought I'd share with you:

"Yep, we're going there. Look, the truth is, some of our favorite foods have gassy side effects. Add these natural remedies to the pot, and you'll save your butt.

Toss a handful of capers into tomato sauces.

Add caraway seeds to sauerkraut and coleslaw.

Boil fresh bay leaves with grains and dried beans.

Season broccoli and brussels sprouts with fresh chives."

Second-hand Cooking Magazines

I've just finished going through about a year's worth of Rachael Ray magazines, rereading them and cutting out the vegetarian recipes I wanted to try. I feel bad just throwing them away since there's so much meat left to them, excuse the pun, so if you'd like to look through some picked over RR recipes, let me know. Pretty soon, I'll also have some Taste of Home Simple and Delicious magazines that will still have some good recipes left in them, if you're interested in those as well.

Fitz: Mommy's Cleaning Helper

About a month ago, I set some goals to improve my housekeeping habits. My motivation to get each room in order and painted was to tell myself I could get a dog when it was done. Now, I have a dog! So, one might think that my house was clean and my walls were blue, green, and tan. Unfortunately, that's not entirely true. We haven't painted for over a month, and I haven't met my goals for things I wanted to make sure got done by the end of each day.

However, I realized when using a dog as a motivator, I made a mistake. "I can get a dog," doesn't keep my house clean. "I have a dog," does.

Here are some things we've learned the hard way to keep out of reach:
-Dexter's underwear
-Dexter's undershirts
-Pajama pants
-Cardigans
-Bras (these are filched from on top of the dresser--they're a great chew toy and worth the effort to get)
-Plastic cups
-Travel mugs
-Pens
-Make-up brushes
-Lip gloss
-Empty food wrappers
-Empty tupperware

One thing we DO try to leave on the floor as a distraction while we're gone is Fitz's kong. This toy is great because it's durable, and you can stuff whatever treats your dog likes best inside. At first, Fitz wasn't very good at getting the fillings out, so he'd lose interest. Then, he got better and was persistent for a really long time. Now, he's really good at getting out the big treats we've been jamming inside, so I think we're going to have to switch to filling it with peanutbutter and smashed treats to make it a little more interesting. Thanks Aunt Amy for such a fun toy!

I have improved as a result of setting my goals, however. I (usually) don't wait as long to do the dishes, and I at least have to have few enough dirty dishes to keep out of reach down in the sink. I'm even better about picking things up off the floor and wiping surfaces off since when I cook I always have a wet-nosed helper nearby. I definitely put my clothes in the hamper or closet, especially clothes I want to wear ever again.

I've even started making my bed every day because it's one of Fitz's favorite relaxing spots, and I think that between the sheets is definitely one place I want to avoid massive amounts of puppy hair. Keriann helped me meet my goal of getting each room unpacked and picked up. She coached me as I unpacked in our office, which ended up only taking an hour and a half. If I had known it would be that quick...

My new goals:
1. Do lots of little organization projects around the house so that staying picked up is easier. And so our closet doesn't look like this:2. Post (and follow!) a weekly cleaning list.
3. Paint the rest of the house!

Fitz's Pictures

For lots of picture of our first day with Fitz, view our Picasa album here.

Just for an update: Fitz was a very good boy at PetCo and has a tag with his new name and address!

Fitzwilliam Jacobs

Photo by Aunt Keriann

Gustav = Fitz

After a long and painful deliberation, we finally came to the decision that our new puppy's name is Fitzwilliam. Colonel Fitzwilliam is a minor character from Pride and Prejudice that we both really like, and Fitzwilliam is Mr. Darcy's first name. We also think Fitz sounds a little bit Irish, and he's got reddish hair. We actually liked Gustav pretty well, but we wanted him to have a name from his new mom and dad and a name that was often used in Scandinavian royalty just didn't seem to fit his personality.

He's been such a good boy all night! It will be interesting to see what he's really like once he gets more comfortable here. He loves looking out our sliding glass doors at what's happening in the back yard (like his cousin Pollyanna), and he didn't beg at the table at all during supper. He just laid on the floor like this:

At first, he wasn't interested in his chewy. His analysis at the shelter said that he ignored them. Since then, he's been gnawing on it all night.

Now, all we need is a tag with his name, and it will be official!

Puppy Preparations

After we left the animal shelter last night, we went on a date at Graze, a restaurant on the ped mall in Iowa City. I had bought a $25 gift certificate to Graze on Restaurants.com for $4, so it was a pretty decent deal. We had the Pesto Veggie Pizza, Spinach and Three Cheese, and the unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you are) named Half-A** Ice Cream Pie. We were a little too distracted by the prospect of spending Wednesday night with Gustav to enjoy much time looking into each other's eyes, but that was just fine.

Afterwards, we picked up Keriann and went to PetCo, Gordman's, and Target to get our puppy supplies, which are shown above. (I'd noticed when I went to Gordman's last week looking for something else that they had a decent puppy section.) From PetCo, we bought some Natural Balance dog food (which uses organic free-range chicken), some Bear Biscuits (which are apparently also fed to bears in zoos), some blueberry, yogurt, and almond flavored bite-sized treats (which I think might be a little too girly), a harness, a rope for tug-of-war, and puppy shampoo (which came with a free pet perfume, which I left on the shelf for girly dogs). At Gordman's, Dexter found a cool tire-shaped frisbee toy. At Target, which we realized has better prices and selection than PetCo, we got a green argyle collar and leash, a stake and spring chain for our backyard, food and water bowls, tennis balls, and rawhide bones.

We read that Gustav didn't seem to be super interested in toys, but we wanted to have a few around. We saw him bring a tennis ball into his kennel yesterday and heard that he likes to play fetch. We'll have to go play in g-ma and g-pa's backyard this weekend!

We're going to pick him up today at 4:30, but still haven't decided on a name. Pictures of Gustav at home to come!

Our Growing Family

Dexter and I will hopefully be welcoming a new member into our family tomorrow. His name is Gustav (we may change this) and he is a vizsla/retriever mix. We met him today at the Iowa City animal shelter and are sad we had to leave him there overnight as part of the application process. Hopefully, he'll be ours by supper-time Wednesday night!

If you'd like to see more pictures of Gustav or read about his agility skills, you can go to www.icanimalcenter.org, click "Adoption" on the top, "Dogs" on the left side, and "Gustav" in the center of the page.