Bieber Fever

Well, if karma exists, I have a lil coming my way. I took my Little Sister to the movies to see Justin Bieber Never Say Never. It was at the $1.50 theater. She was so excited. She was dancing in her seat. For the first half hour, I thought, this isn't so bad. But then it hit me. It kinda was. But she was happy, so that's good.

Last night I made meatball subs. I bought hoagie buns, made home made meatballs, covered them with marinara, and melted cheese over them. They were pretty darn good. We watched The King's Speech, but I fell asleep. That's kinda my thing.

Tonight Jim gets the house to himself (and Trooper) for studying. My girlfriend and I are going to get dinner and go see Water for Elephants. Jim's first exam in Thursday morning at 9am. I'll be handling all of his non-law school needs, so please direct any calls to me. He'll get back to you after May 13th.

And finally, Trooper and I are both highly allergic to Oregon. My allergies have been getting worse by the day. Whatever super pollen is in the air is not fun. I tried Claritin and it did nothing. Last night I borrowed one of Trooper's Zyrtec and was able to get a good night's sleep at least, but was not fully cleared up. It goes against my general rule of taking medicine, but it had to happen. Darn that plant sperm. (Did you know that pollen is actually plant sperm? Yep, millions of sperm flying through the air, hoping to land on a flower.)

Good Dog

So, I tried to film Trooper's awesome training skills, but he got me. He didn't do stay. He was crazy last night and I had the camera, so maybe that was confusing. Or he really wanted more freeze dried salmon. Enjoy!

Books and More

First of all, our dog has been the happiest, craziest puppy tonight. When I got home, he was throwing toys in the air and sprinting around the apartment. I quickly got on my running clothes and took him on a jog. He was straight up sled dog. I let him run a lap around the dog park and he was still a nut. I wish everyone could see him running with his ears blowing in the wind and his tongue hanging out. Then he randomly sees a soft green patch of grass (and potentially stinky patch of grass) and rolls around on his back. And I laugh so hard. As he was rolling in the grass tonight, he was trying to catch moths in his mouth. Utter happiness. What a good doggie.

I am so excited, The Pioneer Woman's biography (something about Black Heels to Tractor Wheels) was finally in at the library! It's really darling. If you like her blog, you'll love her book. It's the kind of book that is fun to read on the couch while drinking wine in your jammies. I finished our book club book, Room. It was interesting. It was told from the point of view of a five year old boy who'd never left this one room, where he and his mom were being held hostage. I wouldn't say I loved it. By the middle of the book, I just wanted to find out what was going to happen to them. I appreciate that my Book Club made me read a book that I wouldn't have ordinarily. We meet next Thursday, and I look forward to our next book.

Oh, I forgot to post one of our fave recipes that I made the other night. I don't know if I've posted it before. Giada's Pasta with Peas and Sausage. Make it for dinner!!

The Kids are OK

Thank you for the notes and calls of concern about my health. I am feeling fine! Yesterday was business as usual. Trooper and I even went for a long run after work and got in our ab workout. Well, he ran, but no sit ups for him. Nothing burst inside me that I am aware of.
We also received the results from Trooper's lab work. He is parasite free! No hookworm or heartworm, so we're back on the Heartguard Plus. When you are an adventure dog like him, you need full parasite protection. It is pretty amazing how the steroids have calmed his itching. His hot spots are scabs now and hopefully will be cleared up soon. By mid-May we plan to start him on the Atopica and wean him off of the steroids. I've made an appointment to get Troops groomed on Sunday and plan on getting him cut pretty short. I've been pretty allergic too. There is a lot of pollen in the air and hope short hair will avoid those allergens from getting caught on him.
On Sunday I've signed up for a sewing class at Piece by Piece. I'll be making a simple dress/ tunic! I'm pretty excited!

Special Needs Family

Disclaimer: We are all okay! You don't have to call us to check on us, even though you love each of us so much.

Yesterday was a long day. In the morning, I took Troopie to the vet's before work for a blood test. He was, as always, a hit. The vet tech said he was very muscular. I told her he'd been working out. She said, "He's perfect!"

Now on to the part that you don't need to worry about. Since Friday night, I have been having a tummy ache/ abdominal pains, some of which is in my lower right side. To the point of not sleeping to well. It comes and goes. I was fine during my 5K. At work on Monday, I decided I'd go to the Urgent Care at 5pm. (I don't have a doctor here yet.) By around 1:30, I couldn't stand it, so I left. It took 2 hours to get seen at Urgent Care. They did a urine and blood test. I seemed fine. The doctor felt around and decided it may be an ovarian cyst, so he ordered an Ultra Sound at 6pm. My blood and urine were fine. The Ultrasound showed a small ovarian cyst, but nothing for concern. So the doctor called me at 8pm to say that I may be in the early stages of appendicitis, and if my pain gets worse to go to the ER immediately. I've been fine today, able to sit through work without any major pain. Let's hope the appendix can hold on through finals, which end on May 12th. (Yay.) I found a doctor who takes my insurance and have made an appointment for an all around physical on May 12th. If the ol' appendix bursts before then, well, we'll just have to deal. Hopefully it was just indigestion.

Sunday Project

I made a tablecloth today! Don't you love this print? It's a Heather Bailey design from fabric.com. I bought two yards of fabric (we have a small four person table) and stitched the sides so that it's a rectangle. Soon I'll be on to pillows and curtains.

Run For Wine

I wish I lived on a vineyard where the sheep mowed the lawn around the organically grown grapes. Sigh.


Yep, you knew this would happen. Have you ever seen such a photogenic and well behaved animal?

Yesterday was a busy but fun day. In the morning, I took my Little Sister to an Earth Day Celebration. It was sunny and lovely out. She liked it because she got a lot of free stuff. I tried to work in some conservation themes while we were there. I think she had fun. Then I ran Jim over to his friend's house for a day of Bachelor Party fun. And then it was off to the King Estate Winery Run! It was a great time. It was the toughest 5K I've ever done, but was proud of myself for getting in under 30 minutes. The hills out there are ridiculous. A lot of people were drinking wine before the run, and I'm so glad I didn't! It was hard enough as it was. We stayed and had a little wine after. When we got back to Eugene, Trooper and I went over to our friend's house for take out and dog play time. We were long asleep by the time Jim made it home for the Bachelor Party festivities!

Jim's at the library and I've been on non-stop domestics. Laundry, mopping, cleaning, sewing, etc. Trooper is catching up on his beauty sleep. I'm going to make a ham, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, deviled eggs, and a strawberry rhubarb crisp for dinner. Neither of us subscribe to the whole Easter deal, but we both believe deeply in ham and potatoes.

Happy Earth Day

I took this picture at 5:30am this morning. When I woke up, I looked for Trooper. And there he was, cute as a bug in a rug (or as a puppy squished between two pillows) in the guest bed. It is amazing how much relief he's had from the steroids.

I celebrated Earth Day by riding my bike to work for the fourth time this week. I really could've ridden all five days, but I was lazy on Wednesday. Both the sun and bike riding have helped my mood greatly this week. It was so nice that we walked Trooper over to the dog park after work and let him run around. Now Jim's making me a pizza and I'm watching the Newshour (really interesting series on Autism which can be seen on Newshour's website). A little while ago, I ran out to get Jim a beer and came home with a giant ham to make on Sunday. I guess that happens.

Bark in the Park

Trooper and I are running in a 5K for Greenhill Humane Society on May 15th. If you'd like to donate to help their doggies and kitties, here's a link to our page: http://green-hill.donorpages.com/BarkinthePark/AmandaZika/

Legal Beagle

Because I am lazy, I am going to quote my lovely husband the Legal Beagle on Trooper's allergist appointment (sent in email form):

"The hotspots on his back are infected, and this is most likely exacerbating his itchiness. She prescribed him an antibiotic to treat it. Our current plan is to restart him on the remaining steroids we have left over from last time and to keep him on the zyrtec. Dr. Ashley said this will give him the quickest relief, and she also wants to see if he gets the head tremors again -- if he does, then she will prescribe a different type of steroid. Once I am done with finals, she said we should stop the steroids and start cyclosporine as a longer term treatment method. This will probably be about a $60-70 per month cost, initially.

I asked about a food allergy test, and she said that they are ineffective/unreliable. As for an environmental allergy test, the treatment is only about 70% effective, so we decided against that for the time being."

She seems to think it's environmental allergies and we are hoping the Atopica (cyclosporine) will provide him relief for the few years we're in Oregon. I also liked how Jim's finals were included in the long term plan. (His first one being two weeks from today!) Jim was home with him earlier and has already noticed a decrease in pink skin and itchiness.

I'll keep everyone posted!

Troopie Update

First of all, we all loved the salmon party the other night. Trooper licked his bowl for about five minutes after. Jim even liked his (see the recipe in my last post.) I think the dijon mustard fooled him into eating it. Along with the panko. It was an easy recipe and tasted great.

Trooper, oh, Trooper. He's been itching day and night. He's been keeping Jim up and last night he even kept me up. Itching and itching. We also need to get him back on Heartguard Plus, which is a run around. Apparently they need to test for heartworms since he's been off for three months. It's unlikely he'd have heartworms, but if he did and we gave him the Heartguard Plus, it could be fatal. Scary. So he has to go to the regular vet to get the clear for the medicine. I was emailing our regular vet and also our allergist, begging for some suggestions about relief for his itching. The allergist emailed and said she'd had a cancellation tomorrow and we could come in. Jim doesn't have class tomorrow, so he'll be taking him in. Poor pup. I hope there is some relief in sight. We have a special needs dog.

The weekend is almost here! I am running in my winery 5K on Saturday at King Estates, and Jim's going to be spending the day doing Bachelor Party things with a friend who's getting married in May. We don't have any definite Easter plans except study (Jim) and eat cheesy potatoes (me.)

Happy Birthday, Part II

How did Trooper come into our lives?

I had been looking on Petfinder for many months. I'd wanted a doggie for a long time, but we were worried about how much it would cost, etc. Then, one day in April of last year, I searched for Australian Shepherds in our zipcode. And Trooper's mugshot was the first dog to come up. When Jim came home from work, I said, look at this dog. Usually, he'd say, that's cute, but we should wait. Well, when he saw Trooper's picture, he said, why don't you call about him. I did. The foster mom said he'd be at PetSmart on Sunday at 1pm, but that another man had called about him, so he'd have first dibs. Jim and I arrived at PetSmart at 12:45 and waited. And finally Trooper walked in. A little girl was walking him and he just trotted right in. I introduced myself and he was so happy. I sat and petted his dirty lil self. His foster mom told us that if the other man didn't come by 1:15, he was ours. So we walked around the shopping plaza and came back. Jim said he was ready to bribe her for him! But alas, he was ours. We took him home that day! His foster mom teared up. She'd said her husband had wanted Trooper, but they already had too many dogs. And that's how we met our little love.

We took Troop to the dog park and gave him some salmon for dinner. He LOVED it! He has been playing with his antler nonstop. Sometimes he randomly runs up to it and pounces on it, like he's hunting an elk.

I was able to ride my bike today. In fact, we didn't turn on the Yaris once. The sun felt so good. The sun is up by 6am and it's not dark until after 8pm here. So nice to have spring here!

Oh, and here's the salmon I'm making for us. Panko crusted. (No panko for Trooper!) I'll let you know how it is!

Trooper's Birthday Party

Yep, I had a lil doggie party today. How can you not when you have a sweetie like Trooper?


I made human cupcakes. I use the cake and icing recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. That's one of the best cookbooks around.


And I went to Curious K9 and bought doggie cakes. These drove Trooper NUTS. We caught him getting on the dining room table twice while we were in the living room talking. He ate half of a human cupcake and a few chips. Hopefully he doesn't have a tummy ache tonight.


He had fun playing with his pals. Trooper loves Jack Russell Terriers, so Bailey was a welcome addition to the wolf pack.


After everyone left, I made us Ina's Mexican chicken soup. It's pretty yummy!

And I didn't even blog about muddy kickball. Yep, on Saturday night we played kickball in the rain. I basically stood in the outfield in two raincoats hoping the ball would never come my way. It was slightly like a Subaru commercial.

TGIF

Friday is here! Last evening I took Trooper to play with his best dog pal before dinner. There was a lot of chasing and tug of war, which was nice because we've had rain, rain, rain. The good news is that it looks like after Saturday we'll have a week of no rain! I've heard that the rain lasts until around June. Sigh. Trooper did NOT want to go outside this morning. Poor pupster. Did I mention that Monday is Trooper's one year birthday with us?! I am planning to retell the delightful story of how we met him on Monday's blog post. On Sunday, we invited two doggies over to celebrate. I am envisioning party hats and dog cupcakes.....
I started the day off right, I hope. I woke up early and did a yoga DVD. Let's hope that work flies by so that I can come and relax with my favorite guys. I was supposed to go to the Big Brothers Big Sisters gardening day tomorrow (there's a garden at the federal court house in Eugene) but my Little Sister canceled. Her dad recently moved back to Eugene and she's super excited to spend time with him. I think it's great and happy she has her dad around. I guess I'll just have to spend the day crafting! If it's not raining tomorrow, we've been invited to a kickball/ capture the flag birthday party tomorrow evening! Fun!
Happy Friday! I'll drink a glass of wine for all of you tonight!

Hump Day

I think I've blogged before about Jim's love of Giada's Spaghetti Carbonara. On Sunday, when I came home with the groceries, he saw pancetta and got all excited. I told him that I'd actually intended for that to be used in a soup and he looked sad. So, I rearranged our week's menus and made him his fave dish tonight. Giada doesn't call for the pancetta, but I now can't imagine it without it.

I went to snap this picture when Trooper was sleeping, but he woke up. It's still darn cute. That's his elk antler that he fell asleep on. Poor pup is still itchy. I didn't think the Zyrtec was working until he went off of it for a few days. He's back on and I think it's helping again. He'd scratched a spot raw on his back. We heard him whimpering when he was trying to scratch himself. How heartbreaking. Jim's been the best puppy dad and is cleaning it a few times a day. He said that the first time he disinfected it, Trooper snarled at him and looked like, oh I want to bite you, but I won't because I love you. I'm looking forward to his allergist appointment and hoping he'll get some relief. For now, he's sleeping on his doggie pillow. I took him on a short jog after work, and then he was my shadow. Sewing? On the floor at my feet. Walk to the kitchen? Right at my ankles. I said he's the Garfunkel to my Simon.

Does anyone else count down to the weekends? I am trying to make an effort to not do that. I am worried that one day I'll realize, why did I count down to the weekends and not just enjoy every day? We'll see how that goes.

Happy Birthday, Karen

Today is Jim's mom's birthday, and we shot this lil video for her. Enjoy!

Hot Spot

Well, the herbal remedy does NOT seem to be working. Jim noticed a really bad hot spot on Troopie today. So bad that it was bleeding. Luckily Jim was home and was able to clean it right away. He called the allergist, but Trooper can't get in until April 25th. He was scratching all night. If the spot doesn't look better we may have to go to the regular vet in the mean time to avoid any infections. We started the Zyrtec again and hope that will help. Damn that nettle. We did kind of feel like we were teaching Potions at Hogwarts when we put it on his dinner. I made Trooper run for 45 minutes tonight, so he's tuckered out now. He's also been getting really bad eye boogers. Gross. We were wondering if those are part of his allergic reaction to. I just want him to be comfy cozy.
I made a new flatbread dinner tonight. I bought garlic naan at TJ's, and made a little flatbread pizza thing. I put cheese, sauteed onions, greens, white beans, and shrimp on the bread and baked it until the cheese melted. I thought it was tasty and healthy. Nothing mind blowing, but I like to mix it up.
I have been watching the show Parenthood. I love it! I don't even have children and find the stories and characters really interesting. Jim's reading away and I'm about to put the DVD in until I fall asleep. Trooper is sleeping and hopefully getting some relief. (He is anxious if we do things in separate rooms at night. When we both are in the same room, he passes out.)
Have a Happy Wednesday, readers!

Weekend in Pictures

This picture is out of order, but I'm not savvy enough to figure out how to rearrange my pictures on my blog. Can you see the heart shaped egg? This morning I made eggs in a nest. Jim asked how I knew about eggs in a nest. I said they made them on V for Vendetta. And I saw the heart shape cut out on Martha Stewart.


We made it to see the exhibit on campus yesterday. It was fun. UO is an arboretum, so there are tons of cool trees. But they aren't labeled, so I have no idea what this tree is.


This was also on campus, and I believe it's a cherry tree, as there are tons flowering here right now. I liked how it looked dead but had flowers popping out.


When we got home Jim made my fave dinner: cheeseburgers! And a cold IPA.


We stopped at the Healthy Pet and bought Trooper new goods. We are avoiding poultry, beef, and grains, as those are common dog allergies, just in case. We decided on a salmon diet and will mix in other foods as appropriate. We bought a liquid nettle to put on his food, which is supposed to be a natural antihistamine. I'm also putting fish oil on his food again. And the best thing we bought was this elk antler. They are pretty tough and don't hurt their tummies like rawhide. Pup hasn't had a chewie in months, so he went NUTS!

In fact, he fell asleep like this. (I just wish this wasn't blurry!)



Jim has spent this lovely Sunday at the library. Trooper and I took an hour long walk and then a 30 minute jog. We learned that this tree at the bottom of our stairs is a Mt. Fuji Flowering Japanese Cherry Tree. There is a garden near here with labeled trees. I appreciate tree labels. Anyway, I am obsessed with this tree. I like how the moss and lichens are growing on it.


Too much exercise? Soaking up the rays while napping on the balcony.


This is Trooper's new food. He gets mostly dry food, but we like to have some wet to put any medicines in and give him a treat. We're integrating it very slowly as to not upset his tummy. Jim likes the label and imagines that Trooper will feel like those wolves while eating it. Then he'll chew on his elk antler. What a wild animal.

Nature Day

The sun is shining and it's gorgeous out. I woke up and went on a run. Then I took my Little Sister to a program at a park in Eugene. It was called Walk on the Wild Side and was hosted by Nearby Nature. It was so much fun! They had snakes and lizards for kids to see, craft tables, a garden walk, story time, and snacks, for $5 a family. My LS did all of the crafts and even touched one of the snakes. She saw a peacock for the first time in her life. It's interesting to see her compared to other kids. On the way to the park, she didn't know what month comes after April. Then when we were making crafts, this boy that looked no older than four told his mom he was drawing a Phoenix. I tried to give her a healthy lunch by packing tuna sandwiches and apple slices, but she wouldn't eat. She kept saying she wasn't hungry, so I returned her to her mom at 1 with no lunch. I even bought her natural Sierra Mist (no high fructose corn syrup!) but she wouldn't drink it.
After I dropped her off, I took Trooper and his best pal to the dog park. They ran around for about an hour. Now he's pooped and soaking up some sun on the balcony.
The vet has recommended that Trooper goes off the limited diet until we can do allergy tests. He's still itching and the diet doesn't seem to be helping. Yay to eggs and chicken and treats again! There's a wonderful pet store in town, The Healthy Pet, that's owned by a vet. They recommended a few herbal supplements to try to work as a natural antihistamine. I would like to try that for a few months. He's itching a lot and Jim gives him treatments every day of hot spot spray, antihistamine cream, gold bond powder, soaks his paws in salt water, etc. I hope that lil mutt knows how much he's loved around here!
I am hoping to go check out the art museum on campus this afternoon. I'd like to savor this lovely Saturday as much as I can, as I think the rain is back tomorrow. Such is life in the Pacific Northwest.

Book Club

A successful Book Club! There were six of us here. We finished Water for Elephants and are now going to read Room by Emma Donaghue. More blogging this weekend, I promise!

Tuesday

I couldn't think of anything more exciting than that to title this blog. We are just getting through the week as usual. Trooper and I are both still recovering from our hill run on Sunday. At around 8pm that night he jumped off the couch, looked at us, and ran in to bed. What a goof. I took him on a 40 minute run today and he's curled up like a fox with his tail over his nose.
Not too many exciting recipes so far this week. I made halibut sandwiches for dinner. I buy Trader Joe's beer battered halibut (so yummy), and Jim loves when I put the fish on a hoagie bun with melted cheese, tomato, and tartar sauce. We do pretty much the same thing with Trader Joe's Breaded Eggplant. (Just no tarter sauce.) Jim likes complex carbs. A lot. And I gave him potatoes on the side. Carb party.
In other good news, I bought tickets to Florida for the week of August 13- 20. I'm heading there to meet my new teeny niecie in Mt. Dora. I will also work in a whirlwind visit to my other friends and family in Florida since I am making the long journey. (It's seriously like traveling internationally to go to Florida from Oregon.) I am already counting down the days until my vacation.
Jim went to see a house for rent today. We are hoping to not have to share walls with anyone next year. The house was apparently dirty and gross. We'll keep looking. If the heavens are shining on us, we'd also like a fenced in yard. One sweet day we shall! And a garden area. Now I'm just getting greedy. We'll get there eventually!
Tomorrow we've made it half way through the week. Thursday night I am hosting my first Book Club meeting! I'm so excited. We are going to have between four and eight gals. Fun!

Successful Weekend!

Another lovely Sunday evening to finish our weekend. What did we do? On Friday evening, a few gals came over and we watched Morning Glory. It was cute, but I fell asleep before it was half way over. (Falling asleep during movies is kind of my thing.) Yesterday I took my Little Sister bowling and to McDonald's. (I'm sure you all know my frustration with that. She will only eat Happy Meals. I can't bring myself to eat there, but if it makes her happy and gets food in her tummy, I give in.) Then Jim joined me for the first Saturday Market! Eugene's Saturday Market is at least three blocks (one produce/ food, one crafts, one food court). It started pouring but we still bought Indian food and ate in the rain/ sun breaks. There weren't a lot of fruits and veggies and flowers out yet, as it's all seasonal, but the local characters were out in full force. Men in dreadlocks playing the accordion, etc. After that, we had a few beers at one of our favorite bars, The Bier Stein, with some lovely friends. When we got home, I made dinner and fell asleep during another movie (surprise!) Today was sunny (great, but looks to be the last sunny day for a few days), so a friend and I took our pups running. Not just running, but running on a trail with many hills. It was intense. I thought I was in good shape, but hill running is another story. Trooper did great. We went 3.2 miles, and at the end he was a slow poke. He'll be getting a little extra kibble tonight. On the way home we treated ourselves with a stop at an awesome bakery in town, Sweet Life. Now I'm just drinking my wine while a paella I made for dinner is simmering on the stove. Trooper had a bath and is sleeping, and Jim's reading getting ready for the week. Hopefully tomorrow will be a Happy Monday!

We Miss Jim!

I am so spoiled. I never spend too much time away from my husband. He left yesterday and Trooper and I both miss him! Our very nice friend invited us over for dinner. If Trooper had been home, he would've stared out the window until bed time watching for Jim. Instead he was distracted by his best puppy friend. Tonight we're also getting together with some gals and Trooper will be able to play with him again. They play tug and chase each other until Trooper gets tired. It's pretty darn cute.

Otherwise, the weather has been gorgeous and I was able to ride my bike three times this week (I would today but I'm coming home at lunch to get Trooper out) and jog outside. If only I didn't have to sit inside an office all day!

Have a Happy Friday!