Sam vs. Tea

Last night Sam got under the table, tipped it when I tried to get him out, and spilled my tea. I wasn't a happy camper. With the possibility of us having kids and the four dogs, one cat, I am not sure whether I can handle it or not. I will try but last night was just way tooo stressful for me. It didn't help things for my husband to tell me earlier in the day that Belle was too old to train. I guess that just started the stress and depression. If he doesn't think she is trainable, what will happen when we have a baby? Panics-ville for me.

Sheetrock in the Kitchen

DH is putting finishing touches on the sheetrock in the kitchen. It is interesting how people have different terminology for the same thing. I call it 'spackling' and he calls it 'mudding' and yet it is the same thing.




The cabinets arrive tomorrow. We don't even have the floor down yet. They will have to sit in the basement and the garage until DH is finished. I am torn between whether or not I want to see them before we are ready to install them. I don't want to get my hopes up yet.


DH let Auntie Goldens come over today. I am having issues with it. I do not really like some of the things she has said in the past and I don't like DH giving in to her so often. I do not recollect one time that I know of when she was turned down to play with the dogs. It isn't that she comes over and plays with the dogs, she mollycoddles Sam, just because he has the same father as Bogey did. She lets him jump on her, she ignores Sizzle and Harry.



Now I am having issues with Sam because she favors him. I can't stand him anymore. He disgusts me because he is the reason she is so much in our lives and he is her leverage tool to get to DH. He has never had a puppy that he sold to anyone die before. I asked him, "What if it was Campbell? Or another puppy? Would you do the same?" He said he would not. That makes me feel more ill will toward Auntie Golden. It wasn't his fault that Bogey died. It wasn't Auntie Golden's fault either. But it isn't DH's responsibility to monitor her passion for our dog. I feel like she is trying to take Sam away from us. I notice a difference in Sam's action and attitude after she leaves.



I am at wits end. I tried to explain peacefully to DH about how I feel. The way he treats this I feel as if I am being brushed aside. Hmmmm..... have to think of something to do to get my point across.

Ok, I get the message, so what do you REALLY want to tell me?

This has not been the best day for me. It started with last night. I came home from work, stopped at the grocery store to buy a few things. Before I knew it, the time was 7:30, I hadn't eaten since lunch and was feeling sick. When I got home, I ate a few multi-grain chips, had a microwave meal, and played with the dogs out in the yard. I went to bed and Sam decided to be up on the bed with me. He was panting in such a way that I got sea-sick. That feeling lingered into today, only subsiding after dinner.

Between DH's break-time phone call and my dinner, I fell asleep. Sam, Sizzle, and Harry took it upon themselves to chew up Belle's new toy, a black bear with squeakers that Auntie Goldens gave to them. Fuzz was everywhere. Oh, there is a preface to the toy destroying machines. Last night they destroyed Wisteria's toy that I left down in the bathroom. Ok, my fault. This morning they had chewed up Wisteria's favorite mouse, the one she kicked out of her crate. That was her fault.

After the black bear episode, I scolded three Goldens and sent them downstairs to the kennel since they couldn't behave.

I had to leave the house to return a cooler that DH didn't want, to purchase an item that was not located yesterday at Kroger, and to purchase Father's Day cards. I was gone less than an hour. I came back to find what Belle did. I got photos of her misdeeds.

In the bedroom I found the Special K cereal box, contents shredded. In the kitchen, she ripped open a ziplock bag to get to its contents, I have no idea what she got.

But downstairs, that was the piece de resistance. (or whatever the French term is) Yesterday I had purchased a box of 8 packs of crackers, each pack had 6 peanut butter and whole wheat crackers. I took 1 pack with me this morning to work, just so I wouldn't get so hungry on the way home. She ate every cracker.

After I picked up all her trash, she had the audacity to burp in front of me. Goldens!

Company Picnic

Today I had a company picnic. Since it was at a local park I thought it would be a good idea to take one of the Goldens with me. DH said I could take Belle or Sam. Belle wasn't feeling too good so I took Sam. DH loaded up a soft crate (the type we take to shows), a folding chair, water, and Sam's care bag into the car. Sam jumped in and off we went. He seemed to really enjoy the day. He didn't bark or make a nuisance of himself. He was polite and everybody LOVED him. He walked around the lake a couple of times, saw Canadian Geese for the first time, picked up a few pinecones, and made a lot of friends. The only phrase that describes how he acted during the picnic would "Perfect Angel"

He didn't play ball like he normally does, he was distracted by all the people. A couple of different children came up to say hi, he loved it, they loved it. What can I say but that he is the 'Perfect Angel' and not the typical Golden of our household.

Right after I got home Auntie was there to pick him up. I wasn't quite sure why, since I had him in the back and he hadn't been reintroduced to the others, they had to go through the dominance factor. If it was up to me, I would not have had them go through the stress and just had Auntie meet and greet the pack inside, then take Sam from the back. BUT it wasn't my choice, it was DH and Auntie's choice, I was left out of the decision process.

Auntie stayed for a short time, then left with Sam. They will have a fun week together.

Christmas Dinner

For Christmas I wanted to try something special for dinner. I did not want turkey since that is a popular dish around the holidays. I kept looking and found this recipe at SouthernLiving.com and it is definately a keeper! I served Holiday Roast with Gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, and Memphis Rolls. Yum! What a dinner. As you can see, Sam is in anticipation of leftovers.

Ingredients
1 (4 1/2- to 5-lb.) eye-of-round roast
2 tablespoons minced garlic object
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons pepper object
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 (15-oz.) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons Greek seasoning
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup low-sodium beef broth

Preparation
1. Cut 12 (1-inch-deep) slits in top and bottom of roast.
2. Stir together garlic, next 3 ingredients, and 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil to form a paste. Rub mixture into slits. Cover and chill at least 8 hours or up to 12 hours. Let roast stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
3. Brown roast on all sides in remaining 2 Tbsp. hot oil in a heavy-duty roasting pan over medium-high heat 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Stir together tomato sauce and next 3 ingredients; pour over roast in roasting pan.
5. Bake, covered, at 325° for 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 135°. Remove roast, reserving sauce in roasting pan. Keep roast warm. 6. Whisk together flour and beef broth until smooth; whisk into sauce mixture in pan. Cook mixture, whisking frequently, over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes or until thickened. Serve gravy with roast.

Yield
Makes 8 to 10 servings

Southern Living, NOVEMBER 2007

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1673177

Green Beans
1 pkg frozen French cut Green Beans
Olive Oil

Boil green beans in lightly salted water until bright green. Remove from heat. Pour off water, use vegetable strainer if available.

In skillet, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss green beans until coated and hot. Serve.

(note - the green beans can be made ahead of time, cooled a little bit, and reheated in olive oil if you are trying to prepare things ahead of time.)

Am I back to my normal routine yet?

Today I went to work, school, and home again. The Goldens were anxious for me to come home since I went straight from work to school. I stopped at the Dollar Tree to get glow-in-the-dark bracelets for Halloween. Luckily they were in packages of 6, $1 per package. I am hoping that 9 packages is more than enough for our neighborhood.

After I got home I did a little cleaning, started peeling apples for an apple pie (I had been planning to bake it last Saturday) and put pork chops in the oven. The pork chops were on the menu for earlier in the week but I was just too stressed to make them.

The Goldens were very nice and quiet while I peeled and sliced apples. They wanted to get in the way of the pork chops (of course, raw meat) so they could have a snack. The funny happening was when I was cooking the pasta, I boiled the milk, water, and butter. Opened the seasoning packet and poured it into my pan. Sam immediately started looking on the floor because I had poured something out, it should be on the floor. He looked for a couple of minutes before he gave up.

I left my husband's and my lunch in the microwave to cool, he will put them in the fridge when he gets home. Yum, tomorrow's lunch is pork chops and angel hair parmesan pasta. And a slice of apple pie if we remember to take it with us.