October 14, 2007

• The Beast and Baron Go To Chicago

  The Beast and Baron left at 6 am for his brothers house in a Chicago suburb. I called him at 6pm and he was already there, eating tamales and an Italian beef sandwich, something we crave because it’s the only place they seem to make it *right*. At least, the way we grew up with in the Chicago area. Crispy Italian bread, green peppers and perfectly seasoned beef with plenty of au jus to dip it in. Yum! Yum! He claims he will bring home some beef this time AND some of Chicago’s great Italian bread. I hope he remembers. He IS getting up in years now

  Baron has become quite the traveler. We gave him a bath here in the house the other day (he really smelled *doggy*) and it was the first time he actually saw himself in a mirror. He put his front paws up on the edge of the bathtub while I was rinsing him and saw himself. He barked like crazy and I started to laugh because I realized he had never seen a mirror before that. Something clued him in that it wasn’t another dog because he stopped barking at himself and actually looked like he was admiring himself. It was so funny that I stopped pouring rinse water over him because I was watching his reaction and forgot what I was doing.

  The next couple of days were nerve-wracking because the Beast didn’t want to have him *smelly* while traveling or meeting his brother and sister-in-law for the first time so he didn’t let him outside to play with Patches. That was something both dogs were unhappy about. One interesting thing happened though. The Beast decided that it was time for Baron to meet with Bozo ( what we call the lab next door). His owner was home (but not outside with her dog) but he was out of his fenced yard and roaming our FRONT yard.

  The Beast put Baron on his leash and took him outside. Baron had his tail straight up in the air (not a good sign…means he’s open to a fight because he wants dominance) so the Beast hit the tail down and Baron calmed down immediately and both dogs began smelling each other like normal dogs do. Patch was also outside. Being a bit older, the Beast did not have him leashed since he listens to the Beast’s voice commands IMMEDIATELY. However, Bozo made a wrong move. He started attacking Baron in an instant. Patch hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with Bozo…no smelling, nothing. But when Bozo attacked Baron, Patches attacked Bozo and, before the Beast could even break it off, Bozo went running away. Patches did NOT pursue him. He just was satisfied that he had defended his *pack*, I guess. But Bozo has been totally silent on the other side of the fence since the confrontation. I’m just happy that the barking has stopped between them.

  Patch went *off his food* the other day and I figured it was because I added some cooked tilapia. I don’t think he likes fish. Baron eats ANYTHING. I swear he would eat paint right now. That may change in a few more months but I worried about it when it happened because I wasn’t looking forward to the possibility of another vet bill. But, we started giving him his kibble with just the added rice and cooked carrots and he liked that fine. When I added the white meat of chicken and some chicken broth, he liked it just fine. So, I figured that he just does NOT like fish…or maybe he just doesn’t like tilapia ….LOL

  I admit, I’m not crazy about it either so…..I can’t blame him. I would really love to know how old Patches actually is because his teeth are formidable and look adult to ME but I am no expert. However, he acts like he’s still got a lot of pup in him so its tough to tell. Without Baron around today, he was very calm and spent a great deal of the day just laying in the sun. I went out and played ball with him for a while (he’s good about going to get it and bringing it back) and then started tossing his rope around, which he’s less willing to bring back. He finally laid down so I came back inside. He was good about getting into the crate in the garage this evening. I brought him in because it’s supposed to be in the 40′s tonight and we don’t want him to get too cold. He IS a double-coated dog but…..who knows what he’s been exposed to as far as weather goes since we don’t know his age. :sigh:

  The Beast is gone…probably for a week. He brought our trailer up there (for moving furniture, not the travel trailer) so his brother can move some of the furniture from his present home to his newly purchased home in southern Illinois. He is also going to help him replace and repipe his sump pump and replace some of the decking out back of the old home to prepare it for the market. Not a good time to do that but his brother has about 18 months before he can retire so they are not in a hurry. If they get done with everything quick, the Beast will *surprise* me by coming home early. I am hoping he doesn’t because I have some things I would like to get done without having to stop and help, admire or prepare anything because he’s here. I have papers in my file cabinet that need to be trimmed down because some of them date back to the 80′s and we no longer need them. I had to wait until I had my shredder here because some of the papers have SS#s or credit card numbers or just our bank numbers on them. I just feel more secure if they are shredded.

  I spent the day making a list of items I want to pick up at Walmart tomorrow. Some are cooking things I need for stuff I want to prepare and freeze for us. I always make waaaaay too much but my niece, Tara, has been a godsend that way. She is always eating my leftovers. I actually made a triple recipe of creamy rice pudding today and called her to tell her to bring a container tomorrow to take some home with her for her and the kids. She just loved it when I made it last week and so did the Beast. I didn’t realize how long it had been since I made it since I used to make it a lot when all four of my kids were home.

  I will be making my nut cups to take along with us for Thanksgiving when we go to NC next month. With all the people that will be there, I will have to bring at least 100 of them or more. Tara has volunteered herself and her two boys to help (with the proviso that I will let her bring some to her brothers in Tallahassee where she is going for Thanksgiving). I, of course, agreed since the more hands, the faster it will go. I have two pans with 24 molds and two pans with 12 so it should go fast and easy *praying here*

  I am also making some of my pumpkin bread, just because it’s the time of year for it. I have all the ingredients so I will probably do that on Wednesday or Thursday so it’s here when the Beast gets home. He loves it with cream cheese for breakfast. I haven’t eaten it myself in years…at least not since I became a diabetic. However, this time I think I will use Splenda to make it so I can eat it too. It’s an even trade so it makes it easy to exchange one for the other. I may even try making a pumpkin pie with it (Splenda has a brown sugar mix too) and see how that turns out.

  Well, we are caught up now, I think so I am going to call it quits. I have been up since 5 and haven’t had a granny nap so I am beat. Love you all and remember to tell those you love that you DO love them. You just never know…..

  Have a great week. Keep your fingers crossed for me since my wrist will be x-rayed on Thursday and I just might get rid of this cast finally.

  Love you all.

  • 11:48 pm
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