Fri., Sep. 14

It wasn't the most pleasant of days in this house. Jabba, we decided after two IN-KENNEL puddles today, needed a smaller kennel. [Jeremy solved that problem by rigging it. I'll take a picture of that for tomorrow; it's interesting.] Justus was acting up in rebellion for a few minutes this morning that required a lot of time and energy to quell. And, on top of everything, the pinched nerve in the upper back/shoulder/shooting down the right arm to the fingertips-whole-thing dissolved me to tears a few times! There's nothing like having a million things to do and having pain in every second. Uggh. Thankfully I did make it to the chiropractor, so the adjustment, some ibuprofin, an icepack, and an hour-long "Let me lie on this ice pack until I'm ready to function again" were effective enough that I was able to finish the day. Uggh. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.

Big news! Today one of the fashion shows I like to watch did a makeover-type show for a young lady built a lot like me! That was helpful! Since I'm SO fashion-challenged, even if it's not the first time I've heard the suggestion, it's really good for me to hear it over and over.... Now just for a chunk of $$$$$$$ to play with, to put to use everything I'm learning! ha. Then we got a dog.

:*(

Anyway. Supper tonight was interesting. I made a Mexican soup called Cocido; Judy Kinnison got me the recipe off the Internet, I think, for the soup after Jeremy and I showed interest in it during our Date Night a couple weeks ago at the restaraunt. She'd ordered the Cocido and neither Jeremy nor I had ever heard of it! It's a little like beef stew, but with a beef stock broth instead of any thickness, then Mexican herbs, and you serve it with salsa & cheddar STIRRED INTO YOUR BOWL, and tortillas/tortilla chips. Traditionally it's made with beef short ribs and served in a wide, flat-bottom bowl. In each bowl you put one or two ribs and a 3" corn-on-the-cob piece. Alas, at the grocery store I could find neither short ribs nor corn-on-the-cob. Sssso, we had it with country-style ribs and corn from a can, equally good. I mean, equally GREAT. W-O-W. Justus expected to eat his obligatory "two parent-built bites" and fill up on chips and cheese.... Half way through the meal he dumped his plate of chips and cheese in his bowl and dug in!! lol

There has been a good amount of AquaDotting going on today:

Here are Natasha's AquaDot creations from today. A boy, a train, a cat, and a mouse. The cat and mouse are 3-D, with 'stand-up' helps attached, also made from AquaDots! Hm! The boy has a flesh-colored dot on each side of his face: his ears. Natasha said at first she thought it was puffy cheeks, like a hamster. "Why do hamsters keep food in their cheeks to eat later?" I couldn't answer that, but explained that squirrels do it too. She then said, "Well, I think it's weird, like Sayler, keeping your food in her cheeks to eat later!" LOL!! Oh no!
There are two of these green butterflies in the house; this evening both of them were in the kitchen so I took a picture of one. I wonder how long I will allow them to stay. They're just so pretty I can hardly stand to swat them!
Tonight we had a training session with Jabba. We sat in a circle and practiced: "Jabba, come!" He actually seemed to be getting it. Poor dog, he's 4 mo. old and doesn't have a clue how to obey. Sssssssso frustrating when pet owners drop the ball. We're trying to NOT.