Happy Belated Birthday

The other day, my boyfriend, Ken, asked me whether he'd given me a birthday present. He had fallen and broken his hip three days before my, I hate to say this, but my 50th birthday. Believe me, I wasn't thinking about my birthday when we were dealing with his surgery, hospitalization, and recovery, but I had to admit that he hadn't gotten me a gift.

So Saturday, he bought me a kettle grill, and Sunday we put it together and grilled some chicken hind quarters. As suggested in the June 2010 Martha Stewart Living magazine, I marinated the chicken quarters in butter milk, garlic, and I threw in some thyme...it was delicious. I should have taken pictures. I did 4 hind quarters thinking that we would each have one and have one for later. It was so good that we both ate two of them. I'm really looking forward to trying a lot of new grilling recipes. I have to admit that I don't have a lot of experience grilling and I'll have to learn a lot about it, such as how much charcoal to use, etc. And today, I got myself and instant meat thermometer. My old one took much time and it sucked the heat out of the cooking process. I'm confident that I'll get it all figured out.

I need to get my act together. I need to get my eating under control starting tomorrow. I also need to get some exercise in. So, tomorrow, it's back to the grindstone.

Pan-Fried Egg Rolls

I love egg rolls. Ok, I'll admit it, I love food in general, but I really like egg rolls, good egg rolls. And it's something I miss when I'm watching my diet. Well, the other day I found this recipe for Pan-Fried Egg Rolls, and I thought I'd give them a try.

They weren't too bad, but not what I've come to expect with good egg rolls. A big part of it is my inexperience making them. First of all, I think I had my layers of egg roll wrapper too thick. Also, I put too much cilantro in each egg roll. I didn't even taste the shrimp. However the sauce was good, and I usually don't even use dipping sauce. And I needed to blot the oil off the egg rolls better than I did. They were a bit too greasy.

This recipe comes from page 208 of the June 2010 edition of Cooking Light. It makes a dozen egg rolls, but I just reduced it and made two.

Ingredients
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce, divided
12 ounces fresh bean sprouts, chopped
12 (8-inch) egg roll wrappers
12 cooked jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, and split in half lengthwise (about 13 ounces)
6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons less-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
1. Combine 3 tablespoons chili sauce and bean sprouts, tossing well to coat

2. Working with 1 egg roll wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers to prevent drying), place wrapper onto work surface with 1 corner pointing toward you (wrapper should look like a diamond). Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons bean sprout mixture into center of wrapper; top with 2 shrimp halves and 1.5 teaspoons cilantro. Fold lower corner of wrapper over filling; fold in side corners. Moisten top corner of wrapper with water; roll up jelly-roll fashion. Place egg roll, seam side down, on a baking sheet. Repeat procedure with remaining wrappers, bean sprout mixture, shrimp, and cilantro.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 6 egg rolls, seam side down; cook 7 minutes or until golden, turning occasionally. Place on a wire rack. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 6 egg rolls.

4. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon chili sauce, vinegar, and remaining ingredients. Serve sauce with egg rolls.

Makes 12 servings (serving size 1 egg roll and 1.5 teaspoons of sauce. 1 serving has 103 calories.

Asparagus!!!

I love asparagus! It's my favorite vegetable, and I really like vegetables. It grows wild here in the Midwest...actually, I don't know if it's indigenous or like the pheasant, taken root after settlers brought it here. Since I've moved here, I haven't really found any asparagus hunting spots, and asparagus hunters are nearly as secretive about their spots as mushroomers are. So, I've nearly gone without for the past 4 years, and I refuse to pay the exorbitant prices for fresh asparagus in the grocery store.

Today, Mari and I went out hunting for it. Although Mari is an asparagus hunting novice, she has good instincts. We immediately found some in a stretch that we call Ibsen road...I won't describe it beyond that, for as I said, asparagus hunters are secretive. We found a ton of it, and I'm going to eat all of it. Actually, I nearly could eat a ton of it guilt free. It's what you put on it with which you need to take care. But I'm easily satisfied with vinegar and salt.

By the way asparagus is chock full of a lot of very healthy things including vitamin C. And of course, the hunting part is exercise, and we're in the sun taking in vitamin D.

As soon as I got home, I cut the asparagus and of course, Buddy was begging for scraps. I thought, "What the hell." And he loves chewing on the woody ends. Even Joey was chewing on them. Of course, now, I have chewed up asparagus ends all over my carpet, but it's no worse than anything else he leaves strewn around. Now I wonder if their pee is going to stink too.

"No pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater than central air."

The quote above is made by the demon Azrael, played by Jason Lee (Pictured) in one of my favorite movies, Dogma. The quote really resonated with me. I love central air. It's probably because I'm an overweight asthmatic. In central air, I feel I can breathe as if for the first time. I sleep incredibly well when in a room with central air. And haleluia, I have central air once again.

Actually, it was relatively painless. I boarded the dogs for a day, and I hung out with Ken until they were done. Surprisingly, they were done by 2:30.

It's amazing, once again, my house not only feels, but it looks cozy. I don't know how that works. When a place feels comfortable, it looks it as well. The dogs were happy to get home, and because I was more comfortable, I didn't mind playing with them. There's nothing worse than having a furry dog lean up against you when you're dripping with sweat. I'm sure they were even more miserable because of the fur.

By the way, the moderation diet does seem to be working. I'm nearly back to where I was before, and yet, I'm eating what I enjoy and I'm not measuring and counting everything. I'll talk more about this tomorrow.

No A/C

I haven't written lately, but that's primarily because I've been busy. However, I may not write anything for awhile. I'm certainly not going to be cooking much, my central air isn't working. I knew there was a problem last fall, when a motor had to be replaced in my furnace. The cause was a dripping A/C, but the furnace is also very old. I need to replace both the Air Conditioning system and the furnace. Today, I'm going to go to the bank to see if I can get a home improvement loan. I'll probably be sleeping over at Ken's most of the time until it either cools down or I get this situation fixed. It's supposed to get up to 91 degrees today. I'm so out of here. The basement is cool, so the dogs will be ok.

Getting into a New Routine

Since I've been done with school, Buddy has been very annoying, especially yesterday. He was driving me crazy. This morning I wasn't feeling as very well. The day before, Ken and I had dug a hole to put in my new mail box. I used muscles that I didn't know I had and I was sore. So, after I took the dogs out to potty, and had breakfast and did a few things around the house, I put the dogs back in the basement and I went back to bed. The dogs didn't bark. They weren't fussy at all. They did what we've done just about every day this school year. They've both been a lot calmer today. I think this is because we got back into some semblance of our old schedule. They need their midmorning nap, which is great because I wouldn't mind catching my own nap, or better yet, take the time to read in peace.

Today, my tomatoes came. It's a nice overcast day today, so I was able to get them planted right away. I've also put protection around them. I'm confident that they'll do well this year. I've very excited about it.

So far, my more relaxed approach to the diet seems to be working ok. I need to weigh myself, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow morning. I've always done it in the morning because my weight varies too much later in the day. If I find this isn't working, I'll definitely have to go back to counting every calorie.

On Fishing, Dieting, and Spoiled Dogs

The picture above is Ken with his recent trophy fish. It's a bullhead, but I'm a true Iowan. I don't think there's anything wrong with bullheads. They taste like catfish, actually, they are in the catfish family. He only caught the one the other day, but he can freeze it and when he catches more, we can have a fish fry.

I made some more of those homemade dog biscuits, and in the process, I believe I've created a couple of monsters. These two dogs won't leave me alone. They constantly want dog cookies. I have noticed that they haven't been eating as much of their dog food, and at least, I know what went into these biscuits and I know they're healthy. The next rainy day, I'll have to make multiple batches and freeze a bunch. I better not make any human cookies any time soon. That would make them insane.

Today, I didn't count my calories, but I was very conscious of what I ate, and only ate moderately. I'm going to try this for awhile. I'll keep up my high level of activity and I'll try that moderation thing and see where that gets me. If I find it's not working, I'll just go back to counting calories.

If you know me well, you'll know that I'm compelled to shake things up on a regular basis. I can't help myself. But there's a reason for this. In the past, if I slipped on the diet, I'd think, "What the hell. I've already screwed today up. I might as well really enjoy myself." I don't think I can go day-by-day. I have to go hour-by-hour, maybe even minute-by-minute.

Achy

It appears the dogs are waking me up later each day by increments of about 15 minutes. By the end of the summer I'll be waking up at a respectable hour. And then of course, I'll have to start getting up at an ungodly hour again.

This morning I woke up achy. I'm especially finding it painful to bend over. But given my activities yesterday, it's to be expected. I went to Ken's about noon. Had lunch there, let Ken beat me at a game of Scrabble, and then I talked him into helping me get more gopher dirt for my second raised garden bed. He was amicable about it yesterday, and we had good luck. We weren't out 15 minutes and we hit pay dirt, if you'll pardon the pun. It was such a good source, I talked him into going back and getting a second load, which we did and topped off that second bed. Only one more to go.

So yesterday, I took each dog out on a long walk. I mowed half my lawn, and I hauled tons of dirt a five gallon pail at a time. No wonder I'm a bit stiff. I think I was trying to get all my summer activities done in one day.

Today, I had both dogs walked even before breakfast. We were done by 7:30. I have to finish mowing the lawn, and then I'm going to go fishing with Ken. I've found that I don't really like fishing, but I like to sit outside and read. If he catches any, I'll cook 'em up.

Oh, I have started back on my diet in earnest. I'll take rice cakes, carrots, and water for snacks. I still haven't tried fruit again. I'll wait for a day when I stay home.

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime

Technically, Summer break doesn't begin until tomorrow because this is just a regular Sunday, but in my mind, now that I've got my grades put away (not counting answering student questions about their grades), my Summer has started.

It's weird. I wasn't such a fan of summer break when I was a kid. It meant I had to work more. But now, as a teacher, I love it. It's a time to rejuvenate, which is really necessary. The school year is incredibly intense mentally and emotionally. There simply is no down time. It's just a matter of juggling the fires that need to be put out.

The only bad thing about the summer is that I have to get by with fewer funds. We have our contract hours and then we can get additional overload hours on top of that. If my fast track had had enough students to go, it would be a lot more comfortable. And I always spend more during the summer. Undoubtedly, that's because I have the opportunity. So I have to come up with ways to cut back.

I could go broke buying nothing but dog treats. So, today, I started making my own dog treats. They're made with simple, cheap ingredients. The "cookies" pictured above are my dog treats. They both have peanut butter in them. And the dogs seem to like them equally well. I also like them because I like to have whole wheat around, but I never can use it all. This way, I can have it for myself, but it won't go to waist because I'll put it in the dog biscuits. I won't bore you with the recipe, but if you really want it, just drop me a line, and I'll include it. I've been thinking about giving a biscuit to Ken for a joke. Actually, he might like it. He's very fond of peanut butter, but there is no sugar in these things. I probably shouldn't. He might not think it was too funny.

The dogs got me up early again today. I'm sure we'll gradually make our way to a more slovenly and reasonable waking hour as the summer progresses. But it's given me time to get things done. Besides making cookies...err dog biscuits, I've taken both dogs for a good long walk Each one separately. I doubt I'll ever be able to walk the dogs together. And when I'm done writing here, I have to get that disreputable looking lawn mowed.

And now that it's summer, I'll be able to get back to the diet in earnest, and I'll probably try more than one new recipe a week. I can't wait to get going. :)

Party Hearty and Dog Tired

Last night was graduation. Believe it or not, commencement is always a gas. It's such a trip when we faculty members file down the aisle before the graduates in our robes and hoods, looking so serious and professorial when in fact, well let's just say, we are having a good time. But then, considering we've just completed, or nearly completed a ton of work and got through another tough school year, we deserve a little play.

After commencement, Mari and I had a party for staff and faculty at her house. It was a lot of fun. I had plenty of beer, but I wasn't falling down drunk. Ken and I left at about midnight, and I didn't get to bed until about 2:00. That wouldn't have been so bed except that I had gotten up Friday morning at 4:30 as is my practice when I've got a ton of work, and then to top it off, my dogs woke me up this morning at 5:30. What is that, about 3 hours of sleep.

Well, once I finally got the dogs down stairs for their mid-morning nap, I zonked out on the couch for about an hour. I feel surprisingly good considering. No hang-over, just tired.

I had better get my butt in gear, get cleaned up, and go over to Mari's to get the keg and stuff and my dishes. Then I had better get to school to finish up my work for the semester.

Once I'm done with that, my summer begins. :)

Feeling Better

I'm feeling better about my diet. Yesterday, I weighed myself. Yes, I have put some weight back on, but it wasn't as bad as it felt. I don't think it's just been the fruit these days. When we get to this end of the semester, I'm under a great deal of stress, especially in the Spring. I have students all clamoring for their grades, constantly stopping in and asking, while I'm trying to get all the grading done. All 150+ students think I should have their papers done now! Plus, I have a deadline. This is stressful. I need to give myself a break. Once the semester is over, ON MONDAY, then I'll get back to the diet in earnest.

Disgusted with Myself

I've been having a terrible time with my diet this last week. Part of it has to do with my stomach problem with fruit...But that's a terrible excuse. I need to get my focus back. I've been walking to and from school every day, but my clothes are getting tighter. I haven't even had the nerve to step on the scale lately. I refuse to give up! If I'm still having problems after this week, the final week of school, I'm going to see my doctor. I just hope he doesn't put me on an ulcer diet. There's no dieting on an ulcer diet.

The Battle for the Blanky

To say that my dogs are spoiled rotten is a gross understatement. There is nothing with which we can quantify their degree of being spoiled. Like most males that I know, Buddy does not like his stuff messed with. Whenever I need to vacuum, he throws his "toys" out of their basket as fast as I put them in. It's worse when I need to clean up the basement. No matter how disgusting it is, he doesn't want me to mess with his beautiful stuff. However, our greatest battles are over his blankies.

I'm not really sure how it happened, probably with one of his instances of thievery, but Buddy and Joey have their own collection of rags. There's nothing that satisfies Buddy like the sound of ripping material. However, their rags or blankies, get incredibly disgusting on a very regular basis. I have to try to pick them up off the floor as quickly as possible, frequently blocking Buddy with my butt, so that he doesn't snatch it away before I can throw it into the washing machine. Seriously, I have to do this about every other day. If I'm not fast enough, Buddy will play tug of war with me indefinitely. And if he gets the better of me, he runs upstairs with the gross thing, which means I have to run up and down the stairs once again. I bought this house thinking that having to go up or down the stairs in order to go to the bathroom would be good for me. I'm sure it is good for me, but the dogs are my primary reason for going up and down these days.

And the thing is, I don't leave them without blankies. I give them a different, clean set every time I take up the dirty ones. Anyone have any old towels you want to get rid of? I know where they can find a new home, in the dog house with Buddy and Joey.

Mother's Day

I hope all of you mothers had a marvelous day! We had a good time at my Mom's. I am a little bit jealous. All my lovely strawberries went into the pie that I couldn't eat. It's pictured above. However, I was able to eat Aimee's lovely rhubarb cake and Bruce's homemade ice cream. I would have tried Aimee's rhubarb cobbler too, but I had no more room.

Tomorrow, I'm back on the diet, but without the fruit for awhile. As a matter of fact, I should clean some carrots for tomorrow's lunch tonight so that I don't run short of time tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be very demanding. I have 3 2-hour tests scheduled back-to-back. Of course, my students shouldn't take all that time, but still, it'll be hard to get any lunch squeezed in at all.

I may not be able to write every day this week, but I'll try.

Morning Breath

Since my hiatus from fruit, I've been really bad about the diet. It's not that I can't diet without fruit, but I'm not enjoying it as much. I miss my grapes and strawberries. And my stomach had better be better by the time fresh tomatoes are in. I believe life is all about good tomatoes.

Even if I didn't know I was sticking to my diet, I'd still know because of my morning breath. If any of you reading this have quit smoking, you will undoubtedly recognize the situation. When I smoked I remember being shocked by how much better my mouth tasted in the morning when I quit. Well, I find the same to be true when I'm dieting...actually I don't recognize the freshness, but when I fall off the wagon, I recognize the bad taste, and my mouth has been tasting VERY nasty in the morning. I swear, something crawled in my mouth and died while I was sleeping. Or maybe my dogs snuck up and pooped in there...I don't know but it's really nasty. I know it's all about sugars, but it's got to make you wonder. Doesn't something that tastes this bad have to be bad for you?

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I'll be going to my mother's and I'll be seeing my grandmother (My grandmother is 95 years old). So, I'll be bad tomorrow too, but on Monday, I don't care how bland it is, I am going to get back on the wagon. School's almost out, and I'm going to literally work my ass off.

Everything Old is New Again

I talked to my mom this afternoon and I asked her how my fruit "allergies" manifested themselves in my infancy. She said that I was gassy and cried a lot. In her words, I was "colicky." She said that all fruits, even applesauce bothered me. Eventually, she was able to get me to handle a banana.

I'm better today than I was on Wednesday and Thursday, but the apple I tried this afternoon didn't set well with me. Strange, 50 years later and I'm still suffering from this sort of complaint. I won't have to swear off fruit forever, but I'll have to watch myself for awhile. I have a ton of strawberries in the fridge. But rather than throw them out, I'll make some strawberry pies and take them to Mom and Dad's Sunday for Mother's Day. Everyone had better enjoy these pies!!

The picture above is me. It had gotten a bit crumpled before it was scanned into the computer. I do have a picture of me crying, but I don't have it scanned in the computer yet.

When I got home from Ken's this evening, I looked down in the basement and that same hose that Buddy had pulled out of the drain pipe was now lying on the floor with the other end chewed up. I had figured out how to keep the end he used to pull out in place. So, he worked on the other end and got it pulled off. I had to cut off a small portion of the end, and it still fit, but now I need a hose clamp. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow before I can wash clothes.

Stomach Ache

Today was going well. I did get really hungry by noon. I usually try to eat my rice cake snack at about 10:00, but I got very busy and didn't get a chance to eat all of it, so by the time it was lunch time I was really ravenous. And I was still quite busy so I pretty much gulped down my lunch as quickly as I could.

For lunch I had taken some of the minestrone that I made yesterday, some grapes and some strawberries. It all tasted really good, but afterwards I developed a stomach ache, which I still have although it's improved since then. I'm hoping it was that I ate too much fruit. I've had problems with fruit before, and it doesn't really have to be that much fruit and my stomach will react badly. My mom told me that when I was a baby I was allergic to fruit. I can't help but wonder if this is where my sensitivity towards fruit comes from. Everyone always asks me when I'm dieting whether I eat a lot of fruit...well, I do eat fruit, but I'm afraid that I simply can't eat a lot of it. I think this is why I'm such a vegetable fan. Give me a good batch of butternut squash soup over a fruit salad any day.

My other concern is that this is more than just fruit. One of my students said something about stomach flu yesterday...God, I hope this isn't stomach flu. I have too much work to do. If it is, I'll have to go to work with it...Please, please, let this be my fruit sensitivity. I guess we'll know in the morning.

Turkey Reuben Panini

Tonight, I had to do some cooking. I have very few meals prepared, and as my schedule gets busier, the more I'll need to have ready. So, tonight, I made a batch of minestrone and some rice pudding. And I decided to try a new recipe, Turkey Reuben Panini. Don't bother with this recipe if you will only be satisfied with an authentic tasting Reuben because it's not, but it's not too bad. Next time I won't follow it exactly. I'll put in less cheese, and I won't rinse my sauerkraut. I like the strong tangy flavor of sauerkraut.

It was nice because the sandwich was low enough in calories that I was able to have a bowl of minestrone along with it...and the two combined were still low enough, that I am eating a serving of rice pudding as I write this. It's a good night when I can go to bed fully satisfied. This recipe is on page 186 of the April 2010 edition of Cooking Light. The recipe is actually for 4 sandwiches. I just reduced it to one sandwich. And it talks about a cast-iron skillet etc. I have a little panini grill. I just sprayed this grill sides instead of the sandwich.

Ingredients
2 pieces of thinly sliced rye bread
3 teaspoons fat-free Thousand Island dressing
2 slices thinly sliced reduced-fat Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon sauerkraut
2 ounces turkey

Preparation
Spread each slice of bread with 1/5 teaspoons dressing. Place one cheese slice on one piece of bread. Top with 1 tablespoon sauerkraut and 2 ounces turkey. Top with 1 cheese slice and bread slice. Coat outside of sandwich with cooking spray. heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sandwiches to pan. Place in cast-iron or other heavy skillet on top of sandwiches; press gently to flatten sandwich. Leave cast-iron skillet on sandwich while it cooks, about two minutes on each side or until browned and cheese melts.

Makes 1 sandwich at 268 calories per sandwich.

Will brake for Gopher Holes

This afternoon after school Ken and I went out looking for gopher dirt to fill my other two raised garden beds. We drove around for about 2 hours and we could only find enough to fill one of the two tubs we have in the back of his truck. It takes 3 loads with both tubs filled to fill just one of the beds. I know Bill Murry in his role as the Caddy Shack grounds keeper would be jealous of our shortage of gophers.

It's probably just as well. It rained recently, and the dirt is really really heavy. Ken can't lift because of his weight restrictions, and I thought that dirt was enough to give me a hernia. Well, it was good exercise, what little I did, and it's better than coming home, and crashing and then not being able to sleep tonight. I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping tonight.

Whew! Now for some R&R

You know how after a vacation you can feel like you need a vacation from your vacation, well that's exactly how I feel about this past weekend. I need to get to work so that I can get some rest! It was difficult getting up at 4:30 this morning, but this is the last week of classes for the semester, and next week is exam week. I'll be really busy, but it's time for this semester to be over.

Hopefully I'll have enough students for my Fast Track Composition I class that's supposed to immediately follow the semester and last for two weeks. I really could use the money. But if it doesn't go...well, I'll survive, and it'll be good to have the time off. I'll be able to get more exercise and to really work at the dieting thing in earnest. However, if the Fast Track doesn't work out, I'll have to watch not only the calories, but the bucks much more carefully.

Well, I better get going. I want to walk to school today.

Traumatic Day

Today was very tough for all of us. I had a tough time sleeping last night. Between having everyone here, the work, the training, and then the great escape, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. When I settled down for the evening last night, I zonked out for about an hour and a half sitting upright on my couch. Then when I did get up to go to bed, I had difficulty getting to sleep. A big part of it was having had the nap, but I also ached all over and I was freezing and it wasn't that cold out. Today, I realized that I had wind burnt cheeks and arms, which resulted in a fever. This isn't the first time this has happened to me.

So anyway, I didn't get a lot of sleep and the dogs woke me up at the crack of dawn, literally. I pottied them and brought them up to bed with me for awhile, but that didn't last long. I was exhausted this morning, but I decided to train them both early with the fence...Oh my, it was not good. After the escape I had to make sure they both learned their lesson. I set their collars at the lowest level to give a shock as well as the buzz and vibration warning. Neither of them liked it but Joey was truly traumatized. Buddy is quickly catching on and I was able to train him a second time today, but Joey didn't even want to come out of the house several times today. She was mopey, and distant with me. She didn't bark all morning. Buddy picked up on her attitude. So we were all sort of sad today.

This afternoon, I went to Ken's and spent some quality time with him, which fortunately did include a short nap. When I got home everyone was right as rain. I'll be training them both tomorrow, but I'll try to get Joey to play with me in the yard first and then I'll gradually get her to test the boundaries with only the vibration and buzz level. I feel so bad about having to do this, but I would feel worse if she ran away and got hit by a car.

In some strange way, I'm sort of glad to be getting back to school tomorrow.

Freedom and the Great Escape

Today was an exhausting, unquestionable success. We all worked our butts off, especially my brothers, Bruce and Scott. They mowed, trimmed, whacked, and everything else you can imagine to my yard...except spray weeds, which Bruce regretted not bringing his sprayer. He has very high standards for his yard, and mine didn't come up to snuff. We also cooked and ate outdoors. That was a lot of fun. And when we weren't working, we were sitting around the patio enjoying each other's company. And they put in the underground, invisible, electric dog fence.

It worked wonderfully. It appeared that both Buddy and Joey caught on right away. I didn't think Joey would ever again leave the patio where she didn't have to confront that snapping line of little white flags. The flags are meant to help train the dog visually. And it was so nice, after Buddy figured out the boundary, we were able to play fetch and he was able to run in the yard, really for the very first time.

After everyone but Ken left, he, the dogs, and I went into the house and just relaxed for awhile. We were both pooped, and so were the dogs. I eventually put them in the basement for the night. They were so quiet. They are never that quiet. I figured that they would sleep through the night.

When Ken was about to leave, I thought I'd take the dogs out for one last potty stop. Here is where I made my fatal error. Instead of putting them on leashes, I put there new collars on. Buddy and Joey wrestle around and chase each other a lot...well, when they went out like that, they got up such a head of steam, they went right through the fence line. Ken and I chased them for blocks and blocks with several close calls with cars. It was horrible. I probably would be chasing them still if it wasn't for some folks who helped us out. And I also would have had a tough time getting them home if it wasn't for the fact that Ken had gotten his truck. Buddy got the truck. I carried Joey home cussing her the whole way. Joey's the one who likes to run. She thinks it's all a game to have us chase her. Joey essentially coaxes Buddy. I'll really have to train her well from now on. And it'll be a long time before I take them out together with just their collars and no leashes.

I feel bad. Ken sacrificed his pieces of rhubarb cake trying to draw Buddy back. And we had him once with that, but then he slipped out of his regular collar.

What a night. I probably lost 5 pounds from all of that, but I also probably lost 5 years off my life as well. But we are all home now and all is well.