awwww what a cute puppy, Michele! (for full disclosure, I'm not sure there's ever a puppy I haven't said that about...)
I used to dog sit for someone with a spaniel named Faraday (after the scientist). Also a super sweet Bermese Mountain dog named Ruby. Just thinking about her melts my heart! And her little mutt brother, Bleu. My family has always gone with one-syllable names for our dogs: Duke, Star, Thor. Dewey is a cute name though, I think it kind of fits the picture!
So I'm going out to dinner with a friend tonight and am perusing the menu at the restaurant - it is a greek diner. Is moussaka as bad for me as it looks? What exactly is a bechamel crust? Cheese, right?
Oh, yeah, layers of eggplant and meat with a bechamel sauce and baked (which I guess makes a bechamel crust). Bechamel sauce is a white sauce, a roux usually not with cheese (if it had cheese it'd be Mornay sauce). I'd opt for a Gyro instead, but the gyros are my favorite Greek dish!
Shannon, does the menu by any chance have psari plaki? I ate this once at a Greek restaurant in Astoria & really liked it. It's fish baked with tomatoes & oregano & I'm trying to remember if kalamata olives were involved.
If we go to Kellari Taverna in midtown, I get seafood, particularly grilled calamari or grilled octopus. Here's the dinner menu:
Shannon~yes the sauce on a Gyro is mainly plain Greek yogurt flavored with garlic and I think lemon. A Gyro usually is lamb, onions, tomato & sauce folded in a pita. Stay away from the baklava!
All puppies are cute, Iris! It's ok to call them all that! Veeeery cute puppy, Michele, how exciting you're bringing him home! Of course you all heard how my dog Emma got her name - first owner named her Emma, second Sandy, and we called her the one she started answering to first (neither when we first got her!). My family's dog when I was a kid was Huxley, after the English writer Alduous Huxley. My dad is a British lit teacher I thought we should name our next dog after another British lit figure and continue the trend, but we never got to. My parents current dog is Pal, which is what the seeing eye organization named him (his was a "P" litter, I know his sis was Patsy). Very lame, and I tried to convince my parents to change it (they got him at 8 weeks old), but they wouldn't. I think I prefer names "after" someone, or a place, like those mentioned - Huxley, Faraday, Javier Perez (Lol).
I've been on a mission to pick blackberries. Yesterday for work I was at a remote sight and ran into a huge blackberry patch. Sadly I had others with me, and oh yeah, as I said, working, so I only got to pick a few. I started looking around my own neighborhood's empty lots on my walk with Emma last night and sure enough, tons of blackberries. I've got plenty for fresh eating and am starting to individually freeze some for smoothies. Yum, fresh berries. My mom would take us to U-pick places as kids and the habit stuck!
Yum Megan!! Love blackberries-- had some this morning. Love to pick them too!!
I worked for vets for 15 years and saw my share of funny names! Way too many boring names too! A couple that stick in my decrepit memory are PITA (Pain in the A**), and Head (his name was really SH*T HEAD!!). I couldn't imagine naming a dog that but he was a maniac!
This morning Jozi (my Great Dane) is acting like something is majorly wrong (again). She is either hurt (back, neck, paw?) or going to seizure (she had her first and so far only seizure a couple of months ago). I gave her some pain meds in case she was in pain and I hope she is much better when I get home from work (she refused food or treats and was just shaking with her teeth chattering-- poor baby).
I also somehow twisted my ankle yesterday. I might have done it at the gym during hip hop class but I didn't notice it then. I was rushing around after for an evening commitment and noticed it then. Grr.....
Tomorrow is puppy day! We are trying to get on the road by 5 am as it looks to be at least a 5 hour drive each way. Dd has her junior prom that we need to get back for to help. It should be an interesting and busy weekend and dh leaves the country on Monday for business! Anyone want to come help with the puppy next week?-- I have no idea how I'm going to get home to let him out during the day but I'm going to have to figure something out!
Well, we switched the restaurant at the last minute because I panicked over the choices - they didn't have a lot of the better for you Greek entrees, mostly the cheesy, saucy ones. We ended up at a taqueria, where I had citrus grilled mahi-mahi tacos. Pretty simple - fresh, soft corn tortillas, grilled mahi-mahi, roasted pepper/tomato/onion, two slices of avocado. No cheese, a few black beans, a small amount of seasoned rice. It was build your own so I actually didn't eat much of the tortilla, ended up eating most of the fish separate. I felt pretty good about the meal choice. And I made it all day yesterday without a single piece of Easter candy. Still bloated and ick today, but I'm counting yesterday as a win. Thanks for all the Greek entree suggestions yesterday!
This week has been pretty much terrible all week long. DSS got greens and purples at school Mon, Tues Wed after the weekend smackdown, then got a red again yesterday after being at our house Wed night. He got his Easter basket Wed & DH played with him some and it was like that gave him permission to go back to doing whatever the heck he wanted. His teacher called XW and described him as 'back to his old habits'. He is at our house on Sunday - I'm pretty sure that we are going to be back to the 'no-play' punishment regimen again.
Saef - I saw your recommendation of Jon Kabat-Zinn on another thread and looked him up - he has a book on mindful parenting that I'm about to buy. Just trying to decide if I want the hard copy I can write in but have to wait for delivery or the Kindle version I could be reading in under one minute. I also want "Full Catastrophe Living" but I'll finish this one first.
Shannon-- have you read 1-2-3 Magic? The technique is used at my school by many of the parents and staff. Not sure how/if it would work for your DSS but you might want to check it out. Sorry for the continued difficulties.
Shannon, yes, "Full Catastrophe Living" is a really great place to start with Jon Kabat Zinn's work. I have a couple of his books in audio versions because he includes a guided meditation; I found listening to him talk me through it to be really helpful.
I've turned to meditation as one way of dealing with life's difficulties, when I can't change or affect something, but I can work on my reaction to it. I am definitely still a beginner, but I am seeing a lot of promise here. It's the opposite of using the gym to combat tension. Sometimes I want to sweat it out & work out my frustrations; other times I really need quietness & calm.
Michele, I hope we'll get some more puppy pictures, after you get Dewey (or whatever name you've chosen) home & acclimated. What a wonderful thing to be able to say: "We have a new puppy." It just makes me want to go awwwwwwwwwwwww in response.
Megan, I'm salivating over your blackberries. And happy because it means Florida will be sending little plastic containers of them up here to NY for sale in the grocery stores, and I do love some Greek yogurt glopped on top of a bowl of blackberries at breakfast.
You've made me feel guilty! I have had a copy of "Full Catastrophe Living" for months now and haven't touched it. Will definitely take it to the dog sit (16 days) next week.
Anyone watch the Royal Wedding this morning? I saw about 30 minutes of it and had the strangest reaction to the hymn "Jerusalem" - started crying! Just brought it up on Ytube and apparently the English Rugby Union uses it as their "song" - very stirring! Was humming the tiny bit I know all day.
DH was aghast that I would be watching this spectacle blah, blah, blah (his Irish 1/4 seems to be dominant whenever the British monarchy comes up). But "women buy into the fairy tale of marriage" (his opinion on weddings).
Talk about putting a pin in my tiny balloon of awe at what is supposed to be a spectacle.
I told him if he wanted breakfast he'd better play nice and that shut him up.
I'm having a very frustrating day. I was going to go and look at bikes but, with the way things are going, best to wait a bit. Right now it seems the whole world is sold out of things that I want or I can't access those parts of the world that still have them.
I wonder how they are all sold out of my size in a summer shoe at the end of April?
SIGH. Think I'll walk over and have an ice cream cone (single scoop) as compensation for not being able to get my summer shoes. I'm washing my parka right now. This is all a little surreal.
My in-laws left this morning, headed back to SLC (where it snowed 12" last night!). We saw them heading out as we were headed in to their place for a round of golf. We stopped long enough for a quick good bye and to inform them of the snow. They are NOT happy about the snow or the cold temperatures.
Golf was pretty good. We might try to get in another round on Mother's day and then on our anniversary we'll be in San Diego and we have tee times at a really nice resort. That night we'll be attending a wedding. That should be a good weekend. Next Saturday we're participating in a 5k walk/run to help raise money for the police department to buy a new police dog--to replace the one killed a couple weeks back. DD will come home for that (and I suppose also for Mother's Day). I'm sure we'll have pedicures, too!
Tonight we're headed to Orange County for DD's concert and of course out to dinner before hand. I just wish it was slightly closer to drive. It's hard leaving there and driving 2 hours in the dark to get back home and it's hard getting home around midnight when you're used to getting to bed by 10 PM. Geez, I sound old!
Sorry about the shoes, Dagmar. Hopefully you'll find something.
Not my weekend for shopping. Now the bike I want, while featured on the store's website, is not available to view as a floor model. I'm now trying to find out if I order it online, take it to the store and have it assembled, and then don't like it, will they take it back at no extra cost.
We don't seem to have much service in the retail sector in Canada. One of the people I spoke to at one bike store (which is supposed to sell the bike I want) was quite rude and unhelpful.
I find anything I do online with Americans is so much smoother. If they can't immediately help me they find someone who can within 24 hours. If there's a problem someone comes up with a solution, again within 24 hours. Canadian retailers, both online and in-store, would be wise to look at the Americans as their service model.
My family has always gone with one-syllable names for our dogs: Duke, Star, Thor. Dewey is a cute name though, I think it kind of fits the picture!
I thought we should name our next dog after another British lit figure and continue the trend, but we never got to. My parents current dog is Pal, which is what the seeing eye organization named him (his was a "P" litter, I know his sis was Patsy). Very lame, and I tried to convince my parents to change it (they got him at 8 weeks old), but they wouldn't. I think I prefer names "after" someone, or a place, like those mentioned - Huxley, Faraday, Javier Perez (Lol).
My mom would take us to U-pick places as kids and the habit stuck!
