Blowin' Coats

This picture of Howard was taken a few years ago. See all that hair? That was only half of it. No, make that 1/4 of it. Oh, who am I kidding. It's only .03125 of the hair that comes out of these dogs every spring. I've always used a rake on them and it works great when I can get them to sit still for a brushing. And although I liked the rake, they did not.

I heard good things about the furminator but I didn't like the price tag. $35 for a small brush. The furbuster is basically the same thing but much cheaper. $20 for a medium brush. It works great and Howard and Lexie like it, too. But I'm still left with the same dilemma. What am I supposed to do with all this husky hair? I mean, besides donating it to the family of birds on my back porch?

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Last Thursday was a rainy, dreary day here at the home of the lazy dog. WD was at work and Big pup was at school. It was just me and Little pup. Home alone and hungry. Not a good combination. Little pup suggested that we make chocolate chip cookies and I suggested we make Mexican Wedding Cookies. And I won. Because I'm the mommy and I said so. (And because we were out of eggs but that's beside the point.)

As I shaped the dough into a log, Little pup licked the bowl clean, and I told him what it is about these cookies that makes them so good. "I love how the salt in the butter--and the extra you add to the dough--pairs up with the powdered sugar. I love that sweet and salty contrast of the cookie. It's so good. It's perfect with a cup of hot tea. And, you know, The Barefoot Contessa says under no circumstances should you ever use imitation vanilla, but unless she wants to personally deliver vanilla beans or pure vanilla extract to my house, I'm using imitation vanilla. And I bet Jeffrey can't even tell the difference..."

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Are you talking to yourself?"

Hmmmph. A 4 year old just doesn't appreciate good conversation.

Mexican Wedding Cookies--also known as Russian Tea Cakes

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1 cup softened butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar (plus extra for rolling cookies in)

2 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, salt and pecans together, set aside. Beat butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla. Gradually mix in dry mixture. Shape into a log and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place cookies onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Let cool. Dredge cookies in powdered sugar.

Talladega

I don't even know what to say about yesterday's race. Talladega is always such a roller coaster ride. If your driver is leading the race, 5 seconds later he could be in 20th place, wait 5 seconds and he's leading again. That's part of what makes Talladega so exciting. You never know what to expect.

Elliott Sadler had such a good race car at the last race in Phoenix (minus the blown engine), I was hoping this car (a new car never raced) would be just as good. And it was. After running consistently in the top 10 the whole race--and even leading a couple of laps--it really looked like he had a shot at winning the thing. But he lost momentum after that last yellow flag and got caught up in a wreck of cars at the end of the race. He would up finishing 29th, falling 3 points in the standings to 26th. Boo.

Highlights:

• I liked seeing Jon Woods' new paint scheme--a brown car with the word Honey Buns emblazoned across the hood. Awesome.
• We had leftover corn chowder to eat during the race. Another awesome.
• The CEO of Aaron's wanted the fans to join him in saying "Gentlemen, start your engines!" Awwwww, I loved that. Makes me wish I was there.
• How cute was Denny Hamlin pushing everyone up front? Very.
• And, also, nobody broke their arm while the race was on. That's always a good thing.

Kyle Busch gets the win, Reed Sorenson gets the red lantern, and we're under the lights Saturday night in Richmond.

For Pixie

This is Pixie. She died earlier this week. Although she was technically my cousin's dog, she was a country community dog. She lived a long life and will be missed. Here's one of my most favorite and comforting poems, The Heaven of Animals by James Dickey.

Bye Bye 3

Me: Yay! You're 4! Are you gonna miss being 3?

Little pup: No! I want to be 4!

You know, I don't think I'm going to miss Little pup being 3, either. Because Little pup being 3 really kicked my butt. Let's all raise our juice boxes to a less whiney, less stubborn, more agreeable year number 4.

Happy 4th Birthday Little Pup!

Four years ago today, Little pup entered the world at a hefty 9 pounds and 2 ounces.


Just days before when I had my final ultrasound his weight was registering off the charts. Knowing how difficult my previous delivery had been, my doctor gave me the option of having a c-section, at which point my bladder leapt for joy. I chose the c-section and wow. Wow. It was over in minutes. All of a sudden I had another perfect baby boy.


And my bladder got to see daylight. And WD.
How cool is that?

MOTD

The creative well runneth dry here at the home of the lazy dog. So I thought I'd share some text messages I've received over the past couple of months.

If u come over bring socks.

Turn on The View. Its Laurie Berkner.

Heres ur one chance fancy don't let me down.

Tell the boys the moon is 0% full.

Once again how long to micro a potato?

Giada is using kroger cream cheese.

Found socks so no hurry.

Scintillating, no? That was rhetorical! So don't answer that--unless you also think it's AMAZING that Giada De Laurentiis uses Kroger brand cream cheese--then you can answer!