To Philly and Back Again.... a Rezer Tale

Well, vacation #1 of 2008 is over and done. It was quite the adventure, and I know that we all had a fantastic time. Got to spend some quality time with Mom and Dad, visited friends for an overnighter in MD, went out to a SUPERB restaurant in Philly called POD (thanks Christine!) and got to spend time with cousins and other family.

Sarah drove the whole way cause we took her stickshift (and I can't drive it yet), but it really wasn't too bad a drive. We stopped half-way on the trip there, but did the whole journey on the return trip in one day. It would have been totally uneventful if: #1 Ethan hadn't wet through THREE pair of pants during the trip and #2 we hadn't left the first set of wet clothes at the Cracker Barrel in Washington PA. Ugh. Luckily they are sending them back to us via US MAIL. Hopefully they're not too nasty when they arrive. :-)

Our night out at Christine's restaurant POD was phenominal. She's a server there and knew exactly what to order and not only did we get a few free dishes, we also got the 20% discount! We ate, and ATE, and ATE... it was easily one of the top 3 meals I've ever had, and possibly even higher. The food was all fantastic, and I even had an eye-opening encounter with FANTASTIC sushi. Seriously. I had it once or twice before and it was BAD, so I swore I'd never eat it again. But this was DARN GOOD. It was prepared specially for us and was "off-menu", and man was it tasty! Even my non-alcoholic drink was good -- White Peach Soda with Mint. MMMMMMM.

Time down in MD was good as always -- Mandy made a superb roast with all kinds of yumminess, and we got to spend time hanging out with she and Keith as well as the Cunninghams. After dinner we played a great game called Ticket To Ride -- kind of like RISK meets connect the dots. Awesome! :-)

The next morning Keith made soem KICK-BUTT specially-made omelettes and then after some hugs, we headed over to the Vaughns for lunch -- home made chicken soup, veggies, cheese and crackers. It was good to see them and spend some time, even if it was only a few hours. During the visit, I even got to visit Ken's private bar in the basement and sample three homebrews - an English bitter, a real ginger beer and an American Porter. What a TREAT! It's something I'm really interested in getting into, and hopefully this time I'll actually do it!

It was sad to leave them all, espcially our friends in Maryland, but nice knowing that we'll be seeing them again in April or May, and my parents will be coming for a visit in a few more weeks! That definitely makes parting such less sweet sorrow... :-)

Well - back to the grind...

What Time Am I?

You’re the time of day right around sunrise, when the sky is still a pale bluish gray. The streets are empty, and the grass and leaves are a little bit sparkly with dew. You are the sound of a few chirpy birds outside the window. You are quiet, peaceful, and contemplative. If you move slowly, it’s not because you’re lazy – it’s because you know there’s no reason to rush. You move like a relaxed cat, pausing for deep stretches that make your muscles feel alive. You are long sips of tea or coffee (out of a mug that’s held with both hands) that slowly warm your insides just as the sun is brightening the sky.

The carnage continues

Our dogs are either:

1) The unluckiest canines ever
2) The biggest clutzes ever
3) Have a death-wish (or at least have some sort of sado-masochistic streak)
4) All of the above.

We had to take Marie to the emergency vet last night because she ripped the dew claw on one of her front legs. Blood. Nasty. Limping, whining. And she NEVER whines. EVER.

Greyhounds have a tremendously high pain tolerance and almost NEVER show pain unless it's pretty severe. They are so "ho-hum, la-de-da" about medical procedures -- so much that they are the donor of choice when blood is needed for another animals.

Just last month (on my birthday) we had to take Donny in because he stepped on something outside and punctured his front paw between the toes. Now Marie. And these animals have had a history... Donny's had shoulder and leg problems before, plus had some teeth extracted -- greyhounds have notoriously bad teeth. And a few years ago Marie had some surgery and stitches and stuff to repair a gash in her chest. Maybe some of you remember... ugh.

Well, we got lucky cause the vet tech was able to fix her all up by trimming up the nail and getting the bleeding to stop, and it wasn't as bad as originally thought... although still quite painful. We are going to have to do something about our backyard. I don't know if this is all happening because they're tearing around like crazy back there, or because of all the exposed tree roots, frozen ground and lanscaping rocks... who knows. Anyone know a good landscaper?