I have always enjoyed watching for Greg's personality traits in our son. He is most definitely his father's son. As I spend my days with him, I sometimes see my father, Greg's brother, even my father-in-law in him. But I've recently begun to see and allow myself to appreciate the me in him. He loves music (well, he gets that from us both). He's endlessly creative.
He's constantly rearranging his bedroom (a passion of mine). He wants an apartment in the garage (yes this is the same child who shared our bed until he was 9). He's settled for setting up his closet as a bedroom, thus leaving the rest of his room as his apartment. "Now, I come out of my 'room' and there's still another door before I get to you." I remember trying to make a clubhouse out of my closet. I remember all of the arranging ideas that I knew better than to try.
Thank you God for my memories. For the memories of what I wanted to do, and the memories of the feeling of not being allowed to try much. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this incredible child's life. It really is an honor, and I don't want to ever forget that, not even momentarily.
"Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know." Leo Tolstoy
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
It worked!
Monday night @ midnight, Fallout: New Vegas was released (video game), and the night owls that we are were there to pick up the game. Gregory had a friend over, and Tuesday afternoon Hubby told him he needed to at least make an offer for the friend to play (bless his heart, he's used to having to wait for his turn & never even asked to play). Next thing I know, Landon (friend) is playing and Gregory is pouting and exuding negative energy. I assumed it was because he felt he had to hand the game over. I called him over to me to talk about it.
He sat down, face parallel to the floor, and I asked what the problem was. He just shook his head no and didn't speak. I didn't relent. He (& his dad) know by now that when I ask, "what's wrong?" I don't let it go. After a minute or so, with a cracking voice he says he's so stupid. I wasn't expecting that. I asked why he felt that way and he said he'd been playing for 2 hours without saving, and his character got killed, so he lost everything he'd done in that 2 hours. His broken heart was so heavy.
I picked up his chin with my hand and stared him in the eye. I told him he's not stupid and he responded "yes I am", several times. I started telling him he's not stupid, he made a mistake. That when I forget to buy tea bags (a hot commodity in the house) it didn't make me stupid. Told him I wouldn't allow someone else to be so mean to him, and I wasn't going to let him do it either. Looking him straight in the eye, I told him how smart, how capable, how lovable he is. Then I told him, "You are a smart, good person. Say it." He mumbled it quickly. "Again!" I said. He repeated. "Again!" "I'm a smart, good person." "Again!"...
After a couple of minutes, he was grinning while saying it, and then giggling. "Again!" With a smile on his face he says, "You know this is torture, right?" "Yep! Again!" We ended up laughing so hard our sides hurt. And most importantly, he was no longer believing the lies his "self" was telling him.
Thank you God for allowing me to be in and stay in the moment with him, and for the ability to help him out of a pit. Allow me to remember this lesson (what I thought he was upset about vs. the real reason) and the honor of watching him grow through it.
He sat down, face parallel to the floor, and I asked what the problem was. He just shook his head no and didn't speak. I didn't relent. He (& his dad) know by now that when I ask, "what's wrong?" I don't let it go. After a minute or so, with a cracking voice he says he's so stupid. I wasn't expecting that. I asked why he felt that way and he said he'd been playing for 2 hours without saving, and his character got killed, so he lost everything he'd done in that 2 hours. His broken heart was so heavy.
I picked up his chin with my hand and stared him in the eye. I told him he's not stupid and he responded "yes I am", several times. I started telling him he's not stupid, he made a mistake. That when I forget to buy tea bags (a hot commodity in the house) it didn't make me stupid. Told him I wouldn't allow someone else to be so mean to him, and I wasn't going to let him do it either. Looking him straight in the eye, I told him how smart, how capable, how lovable he is. Then I told him, "You are a smart, good person. Say it." He mumbled it quickly. "Again!" I said. He repeated. "Again!" "I'm a smart, good person." "Again!"...
After a couple of minutes, he was grinning while saying it, and then giggling. "Again!" With a smile on his face he says, "You know this is torture, right?" "Yep! Again!" We ended up laughing so hard our sides hurt. And most importantly, he was no longer believing the lies his "self" was telling him.
Thank you God for allowing me to be in and stay in the moment with him, and for the ability to help him out of a pit. Allow me to remember this lesson (what I thought he was upset about vs. the real reason) and the honor of watching him grow through it.
You didn't see anything...
Yeah, I'm going to pretend that I haven't gone 9 months without posting.
Yesterday, Vivian's baby sister Alden was born. Alena's baby sister will be born anyday now. Gregory turned 12 in July. Chase and Kayla are now 11. Mikey is 4 and going to school. JoJo just turned 3, and Stella will be 3 soon too. Alena is 2 and just too cute! Her mommy says anytime anyone knocks at their door, she goes running down the hall yelling, "Nana's here! Nana's here!" (I'm Nana)
Now you are up to date on the important stuff. :)
Yesterday, Vivian's baby sister Alden was born. Alena's baby sister will be born anyday now. Gregory turned 12 in July. Chase and Kayla are now 11. Mikey is 4 and going to school. JoJo just turned 3, and Stella will be 3 soon too. Alena is 2 and just too cute! Her mommy says anytime anyone knocks at their door, she goes running down the hall yelling, "Nana's here! Nana's here!" (I'm Nana)
Now you are up to date on the important stuff. :)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Gumbo
I don't like to cook. I'm not very creative, nor are the palates of my dining companions. I'm also not a recipe follower - I'm a pinch of this, dash of that kind of cook. But recently I've hit on something my hubby asked me to please write down. It's my gumbo. I've made it several times lately and he's asked me to make it when we've had friends over. So here goes my attempt to make a recipe out of my gumbo experience.
First, the roux (pronounced roo, like kangaroo). Traditionally, a roux is made with one part veg. oil and one part all purpose flour. I could get a nice medium roux this way, but if I tried for a dark roux, it would burn. Everytime. A while back, I'd heard of a "dry roux", using only the flour and not the oil. Rather than frying the flour, you are toasting it. I use the same iron skillet and the same amount of flour (1 cup per batch), stir it like usual to keep from burning, and slowly but surely it will darken (a medium heat, stirred almost constantly).
Another nice thing is I can make extra roux to keep for later.
Because I don't cook with them often enough to use fresh, I use Zatarain's dried bell peppers, onions, and green onions. I soak about 1/4c of each of those in a couple of cups of water while my roux is darkening. To that mix, I also add parsley powder(~1Tsp), cayenne pepper(~1tsp), creole seasoning(~2Tsp), and one chicken bullion cube (salt & black pepper as well {~1Tsp each to start}).
I use an 8 quart stainless stock pot, and for this size gumbo, I will use 3 boneless chicken breasts and 1.5 pounds of smoked sausage, both cut & browned before adding to gumbo.
Once my roux is dark enough, I slowly add the seasonings & the water they soaked in. This will bring the roux to a paste.
While I am dealing with the roux and seasonings, I have the browned chicken and sausage cooking in a couple of quarts of water in the stock pot. Once my roux paste is thin enough to pour (yet still thick - cake batter-ish), I pour it into the stock pot.
Then I fill the pot (again, an 8qt pot) with hot water and allow this to cook at a slow boil for as many hours as possible (at LEAST 3). Gumbo is something that gets better everytime it's heated. While it is cooking, it will thicken and you will probably need to add water after an hour or so. It's this step that determines how thick your gumbo will be. And if/when you add more water, be sure to allow it to cook down for at least another half hour. Also, check for seasonings every half-hour or so. I usually add salt & pepper as it cooks. We like our gumbo thick - on the line of a bisque or a cream soup. Some like it thinner. I'd say go with thicker if you're unsure - you can always add a little more water.
This is the pot at the beginning of the cook. When it's *ready*, it has cooked down to about 3/4 full.
More traditional gumbo would use chicken on-the-bone for stock flavoring. It would use andoulli, and fresh veggies(~.5c each), perhaps even okra (though we only use okra in seafood gumbo). All of these things can only make your gumbo better. But you can make a very good gumbo without. Just saying...
First, the roux (pronounced roo, like kangaroo). Traditionally, a roux is made with one part veg. oil and one part all purpose flour. I could get a nice medium roux this way, but if I tried for a dark roux, it would burn. Everytime. A while back, I'd heard of a "dry roux", using only the flour and not the oil. Rather than frying the flour, you are toasting it. I use the same iron skillet and the same amount of flour (1 cup per batch), stir it like usual to keep from burning, and slowly but surely it will darken (a medium heat, stirred almost constantly).
Another nice thing is I can make extra roux to keep for later.
Because I don't cook with them often enough to use fresh, I use Zatarain's dried bell peppers, onions, and green onions. I soak about 1/4c of each of those in a couple of cups of water while my roux is darkening. To that mix, I also add parsley powder(~1Tsp), cayenne pepper(~1tsp), creole seasoning(~2Tsp), and one chicken bullion cube (salt & black pepper as well {~1Tsp each to start}).
I use an 8 quart stainless stock pot, and for this size gumbo, I will use 3 boneless chicken breasts and 1.5 pounds of smoked sausage, both cut & browned before adding to gumbo.
Once my roux is dark enough, I slowly add the seasonings & the water they soaked in. This will bring the roux to a paste.
While I am dealing with the roux and seasonings, I have the browned chicken and sausage cooking in a couple of quarts of water in the stock pot. Once my roux paste is thin enough to pour (yet still thick - cake batter-ish), I pour it into the stock pot.
Then I fill the pot (again, an 8qt pot) with hot water and allow this to cook at a slow boil for as many hours as possible (at LEAST 3). Gumbo is something that gets better everytime it's heated. While it is cooking, it will thicken and you will probably need to add water after an hour or so. It's this step that determines how thick your gumbo will be. And if/when you add more water, be sure to allow it to cook down for at least another half hour. Also, check for seasonings every half-hour or so. I usually add salt & pepper as it cooks. We like our gumbo thick - on the line of a bisque or a cream soup. Some like it thinner. I'd say go with thicker if you're unsure - you can always add a little more water.
This is the pot at the beginning of the cook. When it's *ready*, it has cooked down to about 3/4 full.More traditional gumbo would use chicken on-the-bone for stock flavoring. It would use andoulli, and fresh veggies(~.5c each), perhaps even okra (though we only use okra in seafood gumbo). All of these things can only make your gumbo better. But you can make a very good gumbo without. Just saying...
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Blahh...
The funk I am in is trying to stay, and I am trying to shake it. I don't really know how though. Maybe writing my thoughts will help. Maybe not.
My thoughts lately have been mostly of the suffering of those around me. The forethought I carry with me now is that of my friend Lisa, whose daughter Vivian drowned 3.5 months ago. She's keeping an online journal of the family's experience. It can be hard to read and yet encouraging at the same time. She can't see it now, but Lisa is helping so many people by sharing her walk.
Seeing Greg in pain again has been a challenge. It breaks my heart to think of all he's been through, and that he's likely to need another surgery in the not-too-distant future. His pain is nowhere as bad as it was, but knowing how bad it can get is frustrating.
Another biggie is my cousin Brandy. She's 30 years old, has a 3yo son, and just celebrated her 5th wedding anniversary. And she's been dealing with brain cancer since last November. It's very aggressive and the aggressive treatment she's getting is barely keeping the growth at bay. Five years ago, we lost our cousin Geri to breast cancer at the age of 34. So the whole family is scared, but trying not to go there. It bothers me that I'll go a few days without thinking about her. I don't get updates everyday and days do go by without me thinking of her. Maybe that's my own form of denial. I really believed Geri would win her battle, and I am believing the same thing for Brandy. But doubt is an evil thing. Lies like if I don't pray for her she won't be healed. I don't think God needs me to pray to heal Brandy. I am very aware of His ability to heal her. At the same time, I am aware that it may not be in His will that she survive this physical battle.
I've never believed God needed me to pray for something to happen - never believed that x number of prayers cancels out x number of wrongs. I am beginning to see that prayer opens me up to see or understand (in some small way) His will. My prayers don't change God's plan, they just help me see and accept His plan. It opens up an opportunity for my relationship with God to grow in whatever experience I am having.
I feel a season of deep thought coming on. Big changes are coming for me & mine.
My thoughts lately have been mostly of the suffering of those around me. The forethought I carry with me now is that of my friend Lisa, whose daughter Vivian drowned 3.5 months ago. She's keeping an online journal of the family's experience. It can be hard to read and yet encouraging at the same time. She can't see it now, but Lisa is helping so many people by sharing her walk.
Seeing Greg in pain again has been a challenge. It breaks my heart to think of all he's been through, and that he's likely to need another surgery in the not-too-distant future. His pain is nowhere as bad as it was, but knowing how bad it can get is frustrating.
Another biggie is my cousin Brandy. She's 30 years old, has a 3yo son, and just celebrated her 5th wedding anniversary. And she's been dealing with brain cancer since last November. It's very aggressive and the aggressive treatment she's getting is barely keeping the growth at bay. Five years ago, we lost our cousin Geri to breast cancer at the age of 34. So the whole family is scared, but trying not to go there. It bothers me that I'll go a few days without thinking about her. I don't get updates everyday and days do go by without me thinking of her. Maybe that's my own form of denial. I really believed Geri would win her battle, and I am believing the same thing for Brandy. But doubt is an evil thing. Lies like if I don't pray for her she won't be healed. I don't think God needs me to pray to heal Brandy. I am very aware of His ability to heal her. At the same time, I am aware that it may not be in His will that she survive this physical battle.
I've never believed God needed me to pray for something to happen - never believed that x number of prayers cancels out x number of wrongs. I am beginning to see that prayer opens me up to see or understand (in some small way) His will. My prayers don't change God's plan, they just help me see and accept His plan. It opens up an opportunity for my relationship with God to grow in whatever experience I am having.
I feel a season of deep thought coming on. Big changes are coming for me & mine.
Just keep swimming...
Gregory and I took 2 of his friends, Zachary and Landon, with us to the aquarium in N.O. Friday. They'd never been to N.O. at all and we had a great time. My fat unbalanced self fell on the stairs there and sprained my ankle. We were already near the end of the tour and the first-aid crew fussed over me for a while. They got a bag of ice taped onto me and off we went for the drive home. My ankle/foot got very swollen and purple, but is mostly healed now. It didn't ruin our trip.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Tuesday
Today is my Love's birthday. So sweet of him to stay older than me. Today is an unusual birthday for him. There's no generator running, there's no storm hovering in the gulf, it's not even hot outside. It's now been a year since he hurt his back.
I'm finding it hard to break out of our summer *sit in*. We weren't protesting anything (other than the heat) we just stayed home. Now we have the chance to start getting out again and I'm finding it hard. I always enjoy the outings and I never regret going, but the *going* part is really hard. It's challenging because G's just as much an introvert as I am. He always enjoys getting out too, but drags his feet about going. I don't make him go, but I do present a good case and he usually agrees. Right now we need to go see my parents. That's an hour west. My dad had surgery last week, and he has rebuilt our old computer for G. We also have the chance to go to the aquarium in N.O. That's an hour east. I can't see us doing both in one week. But we need to do one. And we need to decide. My mom will be calling soon with the guilt inducing "when are ya'll coming?" Like the roads don't go both ways. I just hate driving so much.
My brains are feeling very scrambled these days. Some of it's hormonal I know, but I could really do without the constant anxiety attacks. Like I told a friend, I feel like I am okay, but so many around me are suffering so much. My friend Lisa whose baby girl died 3 months ago; Greg with his back; My friend Brandie and her ongoing financial battles; My cousin Brandy (30) fighting brain cancer - very aggressive and just barely being held at bay with chemo; My sisters and their ongoing fight with each other; Both my dad and FIL feeling terrible lately, but getting no results from numerous medical tests. And last week marked 10 years since my MIL and godmother died, followed the next day by the 5th anniversary of my cousin Geri's death. She had breast cancer and was 34.
There's something eerie about the shadows outside today. The sky is bright blue, but the shadows look like it's stormy. I'm not explaining it well. It's just weird.
I hope this day gets better. My gut aches.
I'm finding it hard to break out of our summer *sit in*. We weren't protesting anything (other than the heat) we just stayed home. Now we have the chance to start getting out again and I'm finding it hard. I always enjoy the outings and I never regret going, but the *going* part is really hard. It's challenging because G's just as much an introvert as I am. He always enjoys getting out too, but drags his feet about going. I don't make him go, but I do present a good case and he usually agrees. Right now we need to go see my parents. That's an hour west. My dad had surgery last week, and he has rebuilt our old computer for G. We also have the chance to go to the aquarium in N.O. That's an hour east. I can't see us doing both in one week. But we need to do one. And we need to decide. My mom will be calling soon with the guilt inducing "when are ya'll coming?" Like the roads don't go both ways. I just hate driving so much.
My brains are feeling very scrambled these days. Some of it's hormonal I know, but I could really do without the constant anxiety attacks. Like I told a friend, I feel like I am okay, but so many around me are suffering so much. My friend Lisa whose baby girl died 3 months ago; Greg with his back; My friend Brandie and her ongoing financial battles; My cousin Brandy (30) fighting brain cancer - very aggressive and just barely being held at bay with chemo; My sisters and their ongoing fight with each other; Both my dad and FIL feeling terrible lately, but getting no results from numerous medical tests. And last week marked 10 years since my MIL and godmother died, followed the next day by the 5th anniversary of my cousin Geri's death. She had breast cancer and was 34.
There's something eerie about the shadows outside today. The sky is bright blue, but the shadows look like it's stormy. I'm not explaining it well. It's just weird.
I hope this day gets better. My gut aches.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday
Greg stayed home from work Monday, and that always messes me up on my days of the week. Today most certainly didn’t feel like a Thursday. Last night's chicken w/shrimp cream sauce turned into tonight's dinner instead. I'd forgotten that yesterday was payday, and that's our night to eat out. So we had roast beef po-boys instead.
Greg's back is really hurting him again. He's had another MRI and it shows scar tissue. It doesn't look too much different than the first MRI. It's so disheartening to see him in pain at all. He went through so much last year. He's going to have physical therapy and he's taking an anti-inflammatory med that does help his pain. It kills me to see him limp off to work some mornings. He's quite a trooper. His surgeon says if the therapy and meds don't do the job, he'll have to have surgery again. This time they'd remove the disc and fuse the vertebrae.
Gregory started playing World of Warcraft today. He's been wanting to get started at it, but needed to wait for the new computer. He's really enjoying his online gaming friends. I think G will have friends over this weekend. My friend Brandie has a son who turned 13 yesterday and another who's 11 (2 of 6 kids!), and they love to sleep over. It's neat to see how differently Gregory relates to them. The older only wants to play video games. G loves his games, but he likes to do other stuff when he has a friend over too. He actually gets along with the 11 yo better because he'll play anything. They still do a lot of imaginary play - still use old costumes. They'll even make videos while he's here of short stories they make up themselves.
I didn't get very much done today. Got my plants watered, but nothing more than that. One of the many things that happened while I wasn't writing was the drowning death of Vivian, 2yo daughter of a friend of mine. You can imagine how difficult it's been the past 3 months. Her mother Lisa is keeping a journal at caring bridge. It's been a lesson in so many things to see how this family is creating a new normal in their lives. The family has taken down the pool and will be planting a memorial garden there. They've asked friends to bring plants for the garden. I'm grateful for something physical I can do to help. I've been debating what to give her. I'm pretty good at keeping plants alive, but cuttings are not my talent. Today I can across a small piece of begonia growing among some weeds. It's the perfect size and will require very little care.
Well, I titled this Thursday, but it's been Friday for almost 2 hours now. Goodnight all!
Greg's back is really hurting him again. He's had another MRI and it shows scar tissue. It doesn't look too much different than the first MRI. It's so disheartening to see him in pain at all. He went through so much last year. He's going to have physical therapy and he's taking an anti-inflammatory med that does help his pain. It kills me to see him limp off to work some mornings. He's quite a trooper. His surgeon says if the therapy and meds don't do the job, he'll have to have surgery again. This time they'd remove the disc and fuse the vertebrae.
Gregory started playing World of Warcraft today. He's been wanting to get started at it, but needed to wait for the new computer. He's really enjoying his online gaming friends. I think G will have friends over this weekend. My friend Brandie has a son who turned 13 yesterday and another who's 11 (2 of 6 kids!), and they love to sleep over. It's neat to see how differently Gregory relates to them. The older only wants to play video games. G loves his games, but he likes to do other stuff when he has a friend over too. He actually gets along with the 11 yo better because he'll play anything. They still do a lot of imaginary play - still use old costumes. They'll even make videos while he's here of short stories they make up themselves.
I didn't get very much done today. Got my plants watered, but nothing more than that. One of the many things that happened while I wasn't writing was the drowning death of Vivian, 2yo daughter of a friend of mine. You can imagine how difficult it's been the past 3 months. Her mother Lisa is keeping a journal at caring bridge. It's been a lesson in so many things to see how this family is creating a new normal in their lives. The family has taken down the pool and will be planting a memorial garden there. They've asked friends to bring plants for the garden. I'm grateful for something physical I can do to help. I've been debating what to give her. I'm pretty good at keeping plants alive, but cuttings are not my talent. Today I can across a small piece of begonia growing among some weeds. It's the perfect size and will require very little care.
Well, I titled this Thursday, but it's been Friday for almost 2 hours now. Goodnight all!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
7 months
I cannot believe I've let so much time go by without writing. So much has happened in that time. I could never summarize it, so I won't even try. Today begins anew.
We've been indoors much of the past few months. It quickly gets too hot for us in the summer. I haven't even gotten much gardening done. I began to dig out about 18 inches of clay to redo my front garden. At this time it's a trench running along about 75% of our front porch. It's been mild this week, so I may finish the digging soon. I don't like having that trench there. If anyone should step into it accidentally they could get hurt. It has been cool to see the tadpoles make a home of it after summer rains. This summer has been more about maintaining the plants than adding new ones. But I do hope to get some things in the ground before "winter". Ooh - that reminds me - the bougainvillea that I bought 2 years ago is finally blooming for me. It was blooming when I bought it, but hadn't since. It's always exciting when something finally gives back some color.
G's been steadily conquering the world (mostly the post-apocalyptic world) on his Xbox this summer. He's made lots of friends gaming online and even has a few IRL friends that he plays with some evenings. I love the teamwork I see in him and his friends. They really look out for each other in the games.
We got a new-to-us dog in April. She just showed up and decided she wanted to live with us. She's more active than Bullitt, but much more graceful. They have a hard relationship to describe. But she loves Bullitt so much that it annoys him. And that's not all bad, because it has curbed just a little bit of his own obnoxiousness. I think she may be younger than Bullitt (he's 3.5yrs) because she just has so much energy. And she can get bored. This morning, to keep them from barking and waking Gregory, I had his bedroom door closed. And I didn't realize that Greg had also locked the pet door. Between Greg leaving @ 7:30 & me rising @ 9 she had gone into our front room (the junk/hobby/office room where the cats have a bit of sanctuary from the dogs. I also use some shelves in there as a pantry). She got a hold of a box of mashed potato flakes. It was unopened. The mess began in the front room where it looked like she'd made a concoction of potato flakes, cat litter, and poop. The she took the box of flakes over the baby gate (which we'd never seen her go over) and had a party in the kitchen and living room with it. She had to have shaken her head big time with the open box in her mouth. It was everywhere. She also got into an unopened pack of rubber bands - nice and chewy. I'm sure she'll be recycling some of them soon. Thankfully this is not normal behavior for her. But that does make it harder in a way, since I don't really know what will trigger her to destroy something. I can usually spot the trigger after the fact, but she's hard to predict. She is a chewer. We knew that right away. She ate all of Bullitt's rubber toys. Now they have several lengths of knotted rope to play with.
We have a new computer and I'm still fine tuning stuff, like pictures. If I'm lucky, I'll get in a little nap before fixing dinner. I'm baking chicken breasts and making a cream sauce with some shrimp - Greg held back a few when he fried the shrimp Monday and we've not had anything "with a shrimp cream sauce" in a long time. :)
We've been indoors much of the past few months. It quickly gets too hot for us in the summer. I haven't even gotten much gardening done. I began to dig out about 18 inches of clay to redo my front garden. At this time it's a trench running along about 75% of our front porch. It's been mild this week, so I may finish the digging soon. I don't like having that trench there. If anyone should step into it accidentally they could get hurt. It has been cool to see the tadpoles make a home of it after summer rains. This summer has been more about maintaining the plants than adding new ones. But I do hope to get some things in the ground before "winter". Ooh - that reminds me - the bougainvillea that I bought 2 years ago is finally blooming for me. It was blooming when I bought it, but hadn't since. It's always exciting when something finally gives back some color.
G's been steadily conquering the world (mostly the post-apocalyptic world) on his Xbox this summer. He's made lots of friends gaming online and even has a few IRL friends that he plays with some evenings. I love the teamwork I see in him and his friends. They really look out for each other in the games.
We got a new-to-us dog in April. She just showed up and decided she wanted to live with us. She's more active than Bullitt, but much more graceful. They have a hard relationship to describe. But she loves Bullitt so much that it annoys him. And that's not all bad, because it has curbed just a little bit of his own obnoxiousness. I think she may be younger than Bullitt (he's 3.5yrs) because she just has so much energy. And she can get bored. This morning, to keep them from barking and waking Gregory, I had his bedroom door closed. And I didn't realize that Greg had also locked the pet door. Between Greg leaving @ 7:30 & me rising @ 9 she had gone into our front room (the junk/hobby/office room where the cats have a bit of sanctuary from the dogs. I also use some shelves in there as a pantry). She got a hold of a box of mashed potato flakes. It was unopened. The mess began in the front room where it looked like she'd made a concoction of potato flakes, cat litter, and poop. The she took the box of flakes over the baby gate (which we'd never seen her go over) and had a party in the kitchen and living room with it. She had to have shaken her head big time with the open box in her mouth. It was everywhere. She also got into an unopened pack of rubber bands - nice and chewy. I'm sure she'll be recycling some of them soon. Thankfully this is not normal behavior for her. But that does make it harder in a way, since I don't really know what will trigger her to destroy something. I can usually spot the trigger after the fact, but she's hard to predict. She is a chewer. We knew that right away. She ate all of Bullitt's rubber toys. Now they have several lengths of knotted rope to play with.
We have a new computer and I'm still fine tuning stuff, like pictures. If I'm lucky, I'll get in a little nap before fixing dinner. I'm baking chicken breasts and making a cream sauce with some shrimp - Greg held back a few when he fried the shrimp Monday and we've not had anything "with a shrimp cream sauce" in a long time. :)
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