Quick Table Re-Do

One of my major recent projects involved rearranging my house to accommodate a new giant crate for this girl. With a huge crate taking over my small dining room space, I was left with an empty corner and awkward space.

why hello ginormous crate. thanks for coming in and taking over everything

oh no, I didn't want a dining room there. go ahead, it's all yours.

I decided to re-purpose the space and add a new seating area. I wanted to find a chair and a small side table that I could refinish to add some character to the room. The problem? I wanted to do it all before my parents came to visit... which gave me approximately two weeks to find a chair and a table on the cheap, refinish them, and re-decorate the space. No biggie, right?

Enter thrift store marathon. I literally visited every thrift store within a 20 mile radius multiple times, and I had Craigslist on lock-down. It was rare if I went more than a few hours without checking for a table or a chair online, each under $20. (thank you, Craigslist for iPhone!)

Well, luck was on my side. After a few stops, I found this beauty for only $4 at a thrift store!

She wasn't all that pretty, and she definitely needed to freshen up, but I knew that a quick coat of paint would do the trick!

And Ta-Da! It did! I sanded her down and coated her with two coats of spray paint, and she was done.

I am not a professional re-finisher (as I will prove when I show my chair re-do) so I know I didn't do this the correct way. I should have primed it first, and I probably should have done a clear coat or seal too. But I like to live on the edge. And by edge, I mean the edge of laziness mixed with "is this really necessary?"

But she still looks great. I paired her up with my new found chair (story on that coming soon) and we were set to impress.

Look- she even made a happy home for Mr. Armadillo! Don't they go so well together?

A happy table, a happy armadillo, and a happy awkward corner. Perfecto.

p.s. more pictures of the before and after space to come...

Welcome to the family, Atlas

You already know we are dog people. Our two furry kids, Jack & Rory pretty much take over our lives. (and I'm actually pretty surprised that I haven't written more about them here...)

proof that for 5 seconds, Rory was smaller than Jack

We got Rory as a puppy and have experienced just about every problem you can face with a little wall-chewing, turkey-eating, fur ball running around under your feet! But we've also loved every minute of her growing up. We're cheesy like that.

she's a goof. a BIG goof. and we love her.

We're also huge suckers for the huge puppers. Big dogs make us drool. But, since they can easily (and literally) eat you out of house and home, we can't commit to buying another one just yet. Instead, we decided to start working with a giant dog rescue called Big Dogs, Huge Paws. They are based in Colorado but are quickly expanding to Texas. We decided that we really wanted to be a foster home to dogs that had nowhere else to go. These gentle giants just need a place to live while they try to find their forever home. We went through the foster approval process and were finally matched with a dog...

Everyone, meet Atlas:

just chillin out max and relaxin all cool (don't mind the dead grass)

She is an 8 year old Brazilian Mastiff, weighing in at 101 pounds. Oh, she may look like a grumpy old lady (and she can be sometimes) but really she's a sweetheart looking for a new family. Her family had to move over seas and couldn't take her with them. Sad deal.

We got her at the end of May. Literally the DAY before my family arrived. So if I wasn't already in a full on, last minute finish-projects-clean-house-get-groceries-do-yardwork frenzy, I was now. Luckily we knew it was a possibility, so our house was all foster-ready. (more on the total house re-arranging coming soon!) Surprisingly we made it through the family visit just fine (although my family chose to rename her Alice) and have gotten in to a good groove ever since.

Here is how Atlas spends most of her time:

Sleeping on her bed with her toys. And snoring. Did I mention she snores? Loud. But I guess you can get away with that when you're old. I'll let it slide.

What about you? Looking for a Big Dog of your own? Check out BDHP and take a look at the dogs they have up for adoption... you might find yourself a new forever friend! http://bigdogshugepaws.com/

Big Day

It was a big day for the little girl yesterday...who, might I mention, is not so little anymore. She weighed in at a whopping 99 lbs! Thank goodness we just barely avoided the "over 100 pounds" extra charge!

She was finally spayed (yes, Bob Barker- I choose to spay and neuter my pets) and when we picked her up, it was exactly like David After Dentist in Dog Form. I definitely felt bad for her, but it was hard not to laugh picturing her saying things like this:

She's recovering very well, but I still laugh at her wearing her Cone of Shame!

Teaching a new dog old tricks

Writing about Rory and her new "trick" had me thinking... maybe I need to use her obvious creativity and intelligence and actually make her useful. I mean look at what this Berner can do:

Rory can sit, wait, lay down, shake, high five, and back up. Not that impressive compared to ol' Koda here. Or maybe I can teach her to be more like Mishka:

Man, dog tricks never get old...

Rory & Me

When I first saw the movie "Marley & Me" I thought- how can a dog be so crazy? So destructive? So hyper? Maybe it's because I had grown up with only little dogs so their craziness/destruction/hyperness was proportionally much smaller than this giant yellow lab in the movie. But it just didn't seem like well-trained dogs would act like that...

...and then I got Rory. Don't get me wrong. Rory is a great dog, just like Marley was. She is loving, fun, and full of energy. But leave her alone without toys and BEWARE!

In her short life, just shy of two years, she has already managed to: eat my drywall, chew my cabinet door, eat a rug, rip the back of my couch, and leave her lovely hair everywhere. None of this is all that bad, considering most was done while she was a puppy.

But now... now she's older, wiser, trickier, and well trained. Now she knows what is right and wrong. She listens to commands (mostly) and everyone tells me she is very well behaved for her age (ha!). Now she knows what she is not supposed to do, and has to be extra crafty so she can do it anyway. Case in point: last night. As I was cleaning up dinner, I started to plan ahead for my meal the next night. I decided to make some turkey chili, so I took a 1 pound package of ground turkey out of my freezer and set it at the back of my stove to thaw. I continued to clean and then ran to the store to get a few things. Shawn was at the house, but fell asleep on the couch.

When I came back from the store, I was so tired. I noticed that Shawn had decided to go to bed and had left the dogs out unattended. The first thing I said to them was "wow- he must trust you more than I do!" Then I noticed both dogs licking a wet spot on Rory's dog bed. I went to examine it and saw no evidence of what they had destroyed/consumed so I brushed it off, figuring Rory found a hidden rawhide somewhere. In my desperation to get to bed myself, I put away all the groceries and completely forgot about cooking the turkey for chili.

Fast forward to this morning. I wake up and immediately think of the thawed turkey. I rush to the kitchen only to discover that it's gone. I check the freezer and fridge to make sure it didn't mistakenly get put away. Negative. I scan the room, checking the floors for this tube of frozen poultry. Nothing. It has officially disappeared.

Then I remember the wet spot. Could it be?? Did Rory manage to get on the counter, grab the frozen ground turkey, and eat the ENTIRE thing- packaging and all- before I got home?? Well, at this point, I wouldn't put it past her. She was smart enough to eat all evidence of her crime so I can't really prove anything. I'm half amazed and half annoyed. This dog is a criminal genius.

So much for chili tonight. I guess we'll order pizza.

Another recipe-- for the dogs!

Here's another recipe for you to try... only this one is for the dogs.

I made these dog treats for a few friends and all the pups went "Bananas" over them! :)

(From my cookbook: "The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook Kit" by the Bubba Rose Biscuit Company)

Banana B'Oats

1 1/2 cups Oat Flour
1 1/2 cups Brown Rice Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Oat Bran
1 Egg
1/2 cup bananas (mashed and pureed)
1/2 cup water


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Roll into small balls (about 1") and place on ungreased cookie sheet (they can be close because they don't spread). Press each one down with your hand to flatten cookies.

Bake 18-22 minuted or until edges are golden brown. Let cool completely on wire rack. Store at room temperature in a loosely covered container.

****

Some changes I made to my version ...

I didn't have oat bran, so I increased the amount of whole oats by 1/2 cup. That made them a little dry, so I also added a little more banana. The bananas I used were extra ripe ones that I had thrown into the freezer to use later. When I microwaved them to thaw them out, they were super easy to smash/puree. It worked out really well and was a great use for the over-ripe bananas I no longer want to eat myself.

These cookies turned out great and were almost mistaken for human cookies! (although it wouldn't hurt you to eat them!)

I hope your furry friends enjoy them as much as mine did!

Happy Birthday, Jack!

My little boy turns 5 today.

He's a hairy little guy who loves to chase squirrels and look out the window. He is the protector of the yard and lap dog extraordinaire. I can't believe he's already five... they grow up so fast, don't they? ;-)

Today he went in for a birthday grooming and tonight I think I'll treat him to a little cheeseburger dinner!

Happy Birthday you silly pup!

Pup-stache

Love this!

Although I know it would never actually look like this while my crazy dog played with it, the concept is adorable! It's the pup-stache!





Saw it here.
Get it here.

Lend a helping paw

You want an example of the unconditional love of a dog?

Watch this video.
A dog gets caught on a highway and gets hit not once, but twice by passing cars. Another dog spots him and manages to get over to him to help... you'll see the rest:



The other version of the video I saw said that the workers at the end of the clip helped get both dogs off the road, and that both dogs survived. Now THAT is unconditional love, and the reason dogs are often thought to be better than people.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

You know what is worse than sticking a red sock in a load of white laundry?

Sticking a dog towel in a load of your clothes.

You know why?

Because everything may not be pink when it comes out, but it sure does stink like dog. And no amount of body spray will cover that smell. In fact, the scents will just blend together to make you smell like a dog that rolled in fruit salad or something.

Believe me, it's not a good thing. Your co-workers will agree.
So lesson learned: all dog towles go in their OWN load of wash. DO NOT MIX.
(Perhaps there needs to be a written warning label somewhere on dogs...)

Vote for Rory Belle!!

Belle of the Ball

Meet my new puppy, Aurora "Rory" Belle:

This is Rory at 10 weeks. She already weighs 20 pounds and will be huge by adulthood. She is a Bernese Mountain Dog, which apparently is rare in Texas. She currently loves to lay in the grass, bite your feet, and chew on everything. Let's hope she comes up with some new hobbies soon.

Oh, and don't look at her too long. She will mesmorize you with her eyes and steal all your treats. She's good like that.

For the love of dogs...

**disclaimer: I try not to be negative or judge others, but this recent online discovery has made it impossible for me to not judge. I'm sorry.**


Ok, I am a dog lover. I have grown up with dogs (not like in a weird cavewoman raised by the herd kind of way) and I know I spoil all of my pups rotten.

HOWEVER, and I state this with utmost certainty, I will NEVER create a "MySpace" page for my dog. I can't believe that one person decided to do this, let alone hundreds of people that would make it necessary for an entire website to be dedicated to them: MyDogSpace.com.

Are you serious? Not only is it bad enough that you, as a human, took the time to create a profile for your dog that includes things like "Hobbies: chewing, running, digging in the yard" but I can't even begin to understand why you would think it's ok to post on other "dogs" pages with posts spoken as your pet. "I love to run outside and my mom says I have the loudest bark on the block!"

Really? You've got to be kidding me. Let me guess, you also created a profile on "DateMyPet.com". Well, let me give you a little hint- sitting around pretending you're a dog on a computer is NOT going to get you a whole lotta dates. Try coming back into reality as a human and meeting someone in the real world.

Dual Purpose Humiliation

This is the perfect costume for my dog, Jack:



Then not only would I make his life hell on Halloween, we could do it all over again on St. Patrick's Day! I love it!

And your little dog, too

I watched the show "Greatest American Dog" for the first time last night. I almost changed the channel because, well, it's probably not the "Greatest American Show" on TV. But then, something changed my mind. A huge elephant.

Check out the bravest little dog I've ever seen:

I don't know about your dog, but Jack certainly would NOT just sit there and let a gigantic elephant get that close to him. And none of the other dogs on the show wouldn't either!

This little pup didn't move or even bark at it once! Amazing.


Watch the full episode here (if you really care that much): Greatest American Dog