You ain't nothin but a (basset) hound dog

When Andrew and I started dating I immediately fell in love with his Basset Hound Bessie. Her droopy eyes, big ears and funny feet just made you wanna love on her all the time. She became our constant companion as a couple, going on our long walks around West Jefferson and nesting in the dirty clothes hamper when I'd stay the night. Bessie has just always been a part of our relationship. We talk about her like she is a kid, have tons of pictures of her and constantly make her the center of attention.

And sometimes we forget that she is a HOUND and no, that's not always a good thing. Sure its cute when she buries a bone out in the yard only to dig it up a few days later and re-bury it somewhere else. Sure its funny to hear her howl at the top of her lungs when she catches a scent or sees a cat running across the street. But she can also be really troublesome. She is extremely smart, sometimes too smart for her own good.

Her favorite troublesome act is getting into the trash. Sometimes you forget that she is so talented at this act and accidentally leave her out of her cage for say a whole day and come home to find the WORST mess ever!!! She'll eat pretty much anything that is in there, eggshells, moldy bread, pieces of onion, food that was tossed from the fridge and paper that someone has wiped something on that smells like food. Then once she has strewn garbage from the back door to the front door of the house, she will go to the bathroom in the house. And she always does it on the carpet upstairs, number one and number two.

I dread the days when I realize I've accidentally left her out only to come home to a horrible mess and at least 40 minutes of cleaning ahead of me. She gets mad when you leave her all day and this is her way of acting out. If its not trash, she'll eat a whole loaf of bread or other bakery items such as cookies and donuts. She's also eaten bird seed and suet cakes (no, I am NOT kidding), an entire unopened bag of dog food, a box of dog bones and Hershey kisses with the wrappers still on. I am sure there are more things but these are the only ones I can recall, I bet if Andrew was telling this story he would have lots more!

For the most part she is a really good dog, but on her bad days.....she is a really, really bad dog!

I'm participating in the writers workshop over at Mama Kat's and using prompt number two, so get on over there and do the same!

Fight For Preemies

I was not a preemie baby, but to some extent was as sick as one when I was born. My due date was May 15th but I did not arrive until May 30th because back then (1985) they late you cook for an extra two weeks. My mom was induced and her labor was easy, but apparently I didn't want to come out yet and when I did I was mad. Three days after my mom, dad and grandma brought me home I was feeding and quit breathing. My dad was out of town for work and my panic induced first time mom and grandmother rode with me in an ambulance to the hospital. They put me in an isolation chamber and ran a number of tests (including a spinal tap) on me only to find I had a staph infection, given to me by one of the delivery nurses. For days my mom and dad were not allowed to hold me or touch me. I had IV's coming out of my feet and monitors all over my body. I cannot even imagine how scared my mom must have been, especially since for the first few days my dad couldn't make it back home to be with her (his boss was a jerk). Finally though I was able to come back home, only to come down with jaundice and get sick again. But thankfully 3 1/2 years later when my mom had my brother he was healthy and born on his due date. She didn't have to go through that fear again.

Today is Preemies Awareness Day, Sponsored by March of Dimes as well as Bloggers Unite who put together this blog-a-thon.

Babies I would like to remember today:

Jefferey Ross Harold South - Born premature on Sept. 21st 2009 and too tiny to stay with us. His actual due date was May 16th, 2009. His mother Ashley is one of my good friends from high school and I was devastated to hear of her loss after her and her husband had been trying for over a year to have baby. She has a 6 year old daughter and is now pregnant again with her third baby, due in September of 2010.

Adam Keller - My best friend Melissa's son who was born 3 weeks pre-mature by C-Section because he was breech. Melissa was on bed rest for most of her pregnancy because of pre-term labor. He was in the NICU because of swallowing a bunch of mucus when he came out but recovered fine and is now a bouncing silly, nearly two year old cutie! (Melissa, I stole this info from one of your blogs...lol).

The unborn babies that were lost way to soon for my grandma and Andrew's mother - both of them had miscarriages very early into the pregnancy.

How the times have changed

I hung out with my best group of college friends on Saturday for the Ohio State game. We drank and ate and the girls sort of watched the game and chatted the evening away. Its funny how our conversations have changed since college. We talked about different things we've been cooking, cleaning tips, gas stoves compared to electric and home maintenance. Five years ago we would have only worried about what shoes we were wearing to the dance club and who was going to help straighten our hair. Its funny how much things have changed. We all have significant others, one of us is married and another will be married by this time next year. None of us live at home anymore and we all have full time jobs. I don't feel we have changed in bad ways, but that we have all matured in some way or another without realizing it.

I find that I've changed a lot in my habits and spending as well. I don't shop nearly as much as I used too and if I do, I'll admit its at a consignment store or goodwill. I did spend a good $30 at Target the other day on clothes but I needed socks and new white shirts to wear under some of my winter clothes. I shop at Aldi now for groceries and I get excited when I get a good deal on food or something I really needed for the house. I don't think that would have excited me five years ago. I don't drink during the week anymore, I go out to eat maybe once a week, I've given up fast food and I don't drink pop anymore either.

Its funny to look back and see how things have changed.....how have things changed for you?

Bake me a (cup)cake as fast as you can

I've always loved baking, but as a kid and a young adult I typically stuck with easy stuff like brownies from a box and cookie recipes from the back of the chocolate chip bag. The last few years though I've started to teach myself (and learn from my mom) how to make things from scratch. Things that I used to make from a "just add water/milk/oil/eggs" kit. I don't use Bisquick anymore to make biscuts, no more chocolate chip recipes from the back of the bag, and no more cake mix! Most recently I made cupcakes for Andrew's family Halloween party. I made the yellow cake from scratch and the icing was a new recipe I never tried before. You had to heat up milk, sugar and flour to make it and it had a very light flavor. Rich icing tends to make me feel sick if I eat to much of it so I tried this recipe out. The cupcakes were a hit at the party. Making cake from scratch takes a lot longer than the stuff from a box, but it tastes 100 times better and stays moist longer. Rotating the adding of milk and flour is what gives the batter such a nice texture and the icing dries hard so you don't have to worry about it running everywhere!

I did prompt number 5 from Mama Kat's so get on over there, find a prompt and do the same!

Here we go Steelers, here we go!!

Those who know me best know that I'm a crazy Steelers fan. I try not to miss a game and I'm always up on whats going on with the team. I yell at the TV during games, wear a jersey or shirt every week when they play and even more than once a week if they win. This season they are now on there 5th straight win after whooping the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium last night.

I know maybe its crazy that this is the number one thing I love about fall (well the season changing and the leaves falling is nice too). Its been interesting not living at home during football season, even in college I went home to watch games with my dad and I've watched a few with him this year. Andrew doesn't understand my odd obsession with football....he makes fun of me when we watch games but he is starting to recognize players and different things that go on.

Yes, you read that right, Andrew doesn't like football and yes I'm dating him.

Here is further proof that I am Pittsburgh Crazy!!!