Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Today is a Good Day

There will be puppy news later in this post but for those of you not interested in puppy business here's what's going on with me. I am struggling to make some fabric art. A few moments of each day. But I am trying. I also purchased a size appropriate blouse yesterday to wear with the correct size black pants. Size 16. Still big. But a big change for a 2X (18-20) and sometimes 3X woman. And it helps to wear the right size clothing. People notice. But the correct size feels-- how to say this-- too close? In the past three months I got used to all my clothes being loose, even baggy.

I have to make a big decision. To get rid of the "too big" clothes or wash them and fold them and put them away "in case". (Just like I saved all the size 12 clothes I have stored in the attic for 20 years.) I never want to go back to that big size but things don't always work the way we want do they? I have considered making things from all the linen fabric in those clothes. Anyone out there "been there, done that" have any advice?

I have really missed blogging. There isn't much new to say. I just try to make it through each day and do some laundry or ironing or cook something good for dinner. We had tequila lime chicken on Cinco de Maya. I made these really wonderful peppers and onions. Soft and creamy and brown. Yum. And Mexican rice. The week before I made Chicken Francais for G and it turned out exactly like served at one of his favorite restaurants. I even pounded the chicken flat with my Christmas (gift) pounder thing. Next up, Chicken Marsala with portobella mushrooms. G likes chicken. I don't.

The dog is now 4 months old and forty pounds. We've entered the "I'm a big kid, I can decide where I want to go, leave me alone" stage. He wants to go visit the neighbors and eat their spring flowers, newspapers and their pant legs. I want him to stay home. Or at least come when I call him. So he's on the leash 24/7 and he is HATING that. Reny was born free and wants to stay that way. He was also born to run. Which is why his full name is Renegade.

At 4 pm everyday, he starts in biting. Very aggressive. Scary. Like Rottweiler biting. So we need to stop that. I have bruises all over from the bites. And no reason for it as the rest of the day he is a very mellow, if not stubborn pup. My guess is that by 4 pm he has used up all his puppy patience with all our "rules" and just lets go. And he's tired. It's not unusual for him to be bedded down for the night by 7 pm. And not up again till 6 am. He's a good sleeper.

We are changing him from 3 meals a day to two. He's going to HATE this. But the vet says he can have a rawhide bone (the biggest one we can buy) to chew. We have to take it away if the rawhide gives him the runs. He is still a young puppy.

G just got home with a new walking harness for Reny and a long, thin BBQ rawhide stick. The wrong thing. Why he can't do exactly what the vet suggested is beyond me. The house smells like a smoke pit. Yuck! And he bought a freezer bone. Like you make for a teething baby. G says Reny likes ice. Reny just likes anything that comes out of the fridge. And is handed to him. Reny eats wood. Bark chips. Rocks. Reny is no gourmet. So we are returning the freezer bone. I wish we could return the stinky rawhide stick but G gave it to Reny (for 10 minutes) and he already chewed the end off it. The store clerk said it took 2 months for her Husky to chew the stick. Ha!

Well, Reny is napping. G is "doing things" and I will go do something also. Then go to work and on the way stop and buy the correct rawhide bone. Plain. No smell. Huge. And not a thin, flavored stick that Reny can shove down his throat. And not from Petco. Men just DO NOT know how to shop.

4 comments:

Deborah Boschert said...

Raw hide is the devil. My dad likes to spoil his granddogs as much as his grandkids and always brings treats. Lincoln was crazy about the last rawhide bone Grandpa brought. He devoured 2/3 of it in less an an hour. Then he lapped up an entire bowl of water. Not good. I put him outside right away and -- as I expected -- he threw the whole mess up. The last 1/3 of the bone went in the trash and I hope (though there is no guarantee) that Grandpa will not bring any more rawhide. And don't even get me started on pig ears. Seriously.

Samantha said...

Pigs ears are BAD. I saw an ER Vets show and pigs ears can perforate dogs tummies. Not good at all.

There is a witching hour for kids (human) that tends to be between 4-6 where their behavior is downright evil. Maybe Reny has that issue?

Clothes... save your favorites (I've learned the hard way, I miss my peach corduroy shirt from Germany) and pack them away. After 2-3 years check to make sure you still like, if not- give away, if do- keep and check again in another year or so. Give away the non-favorites or make things out of them immediately.

Unknown said...

Hi! Cody, our yellow Lab, loves to chew. We were getting him the big "real" bones at WalMart - he works at time for hours and loves the marrow part and he can't seem to chew them up into little bits like everything else. He does, however, crack them with his power jaws, so once they split we thrown them away. When he was a puppy, he loved his Kong. Get one and put some peanut butter inside to get the kibble to stick, then fill it with kibble and seal the end with peanut butter - he'll go to town for awhile working to get all the peanut butter out. Lastly, my mom (who just came for a visit) brought him a Nylabone - I think we'll like this one too...he can't destroy it as quickly as the others, but it will take him some getting used to.

About the clothes...I'm following Dr. Phil's advice on this one. Get rid of the "too-big" clothes right away. Then, if your new clothes start to feel tight its an early-warning signal to buckle down. If the too-big clothes are gone, there's no easy way out and no temptation.

Deborah Boschert said...

I'm tagging you for the "7 random things about me" meme. Post, if you wish, and pass it along to 7 others. Be sure to comment on their blogs and let them know they've been tagged.