another anniversary

(my current view)

in the hubub of these past couple days etc, i totally forgot about another important anniversary. yesterday i (should have) celebrated the 4 year anniversary at my current place of employment. jeez.... and of course i didn't think about it til today, so instead of yesterday my coworkers and i celebrated my annivesary today with chinese. mmm....fried rice. ironically we ordered from the same chinese place that gave another coworker food poisoning last week. but hey, i live on the edge.

my coworkers also had a brilliant idea today... for a little history, i've been plagued with the worst headache of my life the past 2 days. while its not a migraine, i think i'd rather take one of my migraines over this headache....yesterday it was so bad that i couldn't even lay down because the skin at the back of my head hurt too. it was bad. medicine didn't help. sleep didn't help. i went to bed last night worried i had an aneurysm and maybe i should stay up and clean because i wouldn't want anyone to see the current state of my apartment. yes, it was that bad. well, this morning i was chatting with my coworkers and trying to arrange my head just right so it wouldn't fall off my neck, when i mentioned i hadn't had coke or coffee for the past week because of this cold. i didn't see the importance of my statement until marka brilliantly tells me i'm probably suffering from caffeine withdrawal. wow. lightbulb. i immediately had a cup of coffee.

then when i got home i forced myself to drink some coke. (yes, forced...) my headache has amazingly abated. brilliant. and i know you're going to say "why dont you just stay off caffeine, after all, you've gone this long", but i know myself. when i'm feeling 100% again, i'm going to want coffee in the morning. i'm going to want something other than sprite and ginger ale for dinner. i'm going to crave chocolate. and then i'll be back to caffeine addicted again. so yeah. * voice of addiction coming through * but amazingly enough, i'm okay with it. that horrible headache has finally faded to something a lot more manageable.

to celebrate my anniversary and my exceptionally large paycheck (8 days in a row of overtime will help that), i bought myself something at harborfreight.com. i know you're all checking it out now and saying..."hmmm....thats weird. what tools is alicia buying herself?". well, i'm not telling you. its a cool idea i've seen a couple places, and if it doesnt' work out then i dont have to admit failure. well, i'll admit it eventually, but i'd rather try it out first.

i also had another lightbulb moment today. so, the short story is that i have graves disease, which causes hyperthyroidism. when left unchecked (like i did), your body essentially becomes permanently revved up...metabolism, heartrate, thoughts, etc. i had become so used to feeling like that, that when i finally went to the doctor to get it in check, and my really high thyroid levels started lowering, i felt slow. i had a radioactive thyroid uptake treatment in december, which essentially killed off my thyroid, and also the high levels of hormones it was producing. my body is slowly moving towards being hypothyroid. which is the opposite of what i felt. so, just imagine the normal person's energy level being 50. my energy level for years was 100 or more. putting me at a normal level made me feel like i was running at lets say a 30 (even if it was 50/a normal level for anyone else). now that i'm getting to be hypothyroid, i'm running at 40, which really makes me feel like i'm running at 10. does that make sense? my doctor of course is overjoyed because for the first time in the 3 years i've been seeing a doc about this, my levels are normal without the use of meds. of course, now they're falling. and continuing to fall. when they get too low, i'll have to go on meds to bring my levels back to normal. but anyways, this short story is becoming long. so, my lightbulb moment was related to this - perhaps because my thyroid levels are falling is a good contributor to having no energy or motivation. add a simple virus on top and i'm wiped. add no caffeine and i'm surprised i've made it out of bed the past couple days. so simple, but i didn't think of it. weird. and crazy. and hopefully having coffee in the morning will be a temporary fix for awhile. (to answer your unasked question, i'm going back for more blood tests in a week or 2 and every 3 weeks after that til my doc says i need to be on meds. i have a feeling it'll be within a month, just with how i'm feeling etc. )

anyways, whew. long dissertation. still tired, but somehow i feel happier just knowing more of the possibilies why i'm feeling like this. plus, tomorrow is friday. i think i'm dragging my sewing machine out this weekend. dont tell atticus.

"now you're back and you'll do just fine. so dont resign, cause after rainy days the sun will shine." ~ millencolin

wednesday

i feel like a broken record here, but sometimes life mimics a broken record. still feeling sick (not as bad though - yay for mucinex!), and its just wednesday and i'm on my 3rd day of overtime in a row. *big sigh* i'm trying to think of the money. and i'm easing my guilt of not being home by telling atticus i'll buy him more toys. otherwise haven't felt like doing much this week - not even checking emails and reading blogs. yikes. personal slump.

anyways, i'm trying to get back into the creative swing of things and i'm looking for some input for margaret's birthday. long story short, i'm going to be using this totally awesome method (or at least trying to do it) to make something for margaret. it'll turn into either a bag or a picture to hang on the wall eventually (shh....)....but i dont know what to make the picture of. it has to be something simple but something margaretish. any suggestions?

in other news, atticus loves my macaroni. yes, plain macaroni (cooked in chicken broth - i think thats the clincher). we've shared most of a box of cooked macaroni these past couple days....makes me laugh.

yay for beautiful roses, brightening up my apartment!!

"promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." ~ christopher robin to pooh

anniversary

today is the first anniversary of....

BALD DAY!!

did you guess it?

yes, one year ago today, i was getting my locks shaved.

i went from this (taken the day before bald day)...

(look at those curls! *sigh*)

to this....

its been a long road back to hair....

month 1....

month 4...

(such a horrible picture - i dub it "mugshot 2009". but it still makes me laugh so i kept it. it was taken after a sleep study, in which ironically, i got very little sleep, hence the hair and the attitude).

and today....

please excuse the picture. i dont really have anything recent that shows how much hair i have so i just took the picture now. i am sick and i haven't taken a shower. oi.

but there you go. happy anniversary hair!! i can now put you behind my ears and wear almost pig-tails. i dont think i would ever willingly shave my head again, but i'm glad i did it. and i'm even more glad my hair is coming back.

in other news, my doctor called in sick for my doctors appointment. irony at its greatest. i opted out of rescheduling. after arguing with group health nurses to get my appointment yesterday i am in no mood to go through that again. plus, i probably just have a cold that packed a bigger wallop than normal. today i actually was able to cross off 3 things on my "to do" list (which is so long its ugly), so thats good. PLUS, i found a couple cans of soup in the cupboard that aren't expired! woohoo!! chicken noodle supper, here i come!

"sometimes it seems you just dont understand, the way i think & who i am. when i'm told, i'm told what i'm supposed to be, you think you know whats best for me. i want to see you standing next to me, seems you got nothing much to say. and when you're dying lying next to me, i'll turn my head and walk away." ~ unwritten law

*sniff*

trying to stay classy while being disease ridden...the symptoms of which have spilled off one page onto the next so i wont bore you with them. back to the doctor tomorrow.

tomorrow is a anniversary of sorts - can you guess which one??

"never try to teach a pig to sing. it wastes your time and annoys the pig." ~ mark twain

neigh

i have something between a regular cough and a horse cough. and it wont stop. of course it didn't really start til i was on my way to work this morning. all day i made a strong case for using lysol. in fact, i wasn't even offended when my relief sat behind me with the clorox wipes out and i laid my radio receiver directly in her clorox wipe-covered hand.

and silly me...i think "alicia, just go home and relax and it will get better." HA. i should know better. but now that i'm home and relaxed and atticus is chilling and sleeping beside me, i really dont want to brave that wide open world again. despite the fact that i cough about every 15 seconds (yes, i timed it). i know i will be regretting my decision to not wade through the aisles at safeway every time i wake up tonight, but thats how it goes. tomorrow, i promise myself, i will be up early and will get cough medicine. at least enough to make people not shrink from me in fear. enough to stop the "man you sound sick" messages i've gotten today.

and the funny thing? i feel fine! i tired out more quickly, but otherwise...fine! i couldn't believe the difference yet another several hours of sleep made. oi.

let me go to a happy place, which looks a lot like this...

(view from one of my hotels in astoria, oregon)

or even this...

(view from INSIDE my other hotel in astoria, oregon. yes, that is a spa and a fireplace you see.)

*sigh*

back to reality. off to my own bed.

"i dont want the world - i just want your half." ~ they might be giants

sick

i am sick today. blah. took my first full sick leave day in over 2 years. *sigh* you dont know how much i wrestled with the "do i call in / dont i call in" question this morning, despite the fact that i starting coughing every time i moved, which would set off my skull throbbing, and every part of my skin that was touching something hurt. yes, i still wanted to go to work. not to work, but to *not* call in sick. but thats me for you.

i am feeling a little better now though. about 20 hours of sleep will do that for you. plus, all the people i know and care about who also know i'm sick texted me to see how i was feeling. if that didn't make me feel at least a little better, i dont know what would. i had hoped today i could sit back with my laptop and catch up on blogs, but everytime i get on the internet i'm falling asleep in about 5 minutes. oh well.

and poor atticus. poor neglected atticus. he doesn't understand why i'm laying in bed all day. he wants to go outside!! he wants to chase the tennis ball!! we compromised a little by having me tie him up outside so he could relax in the sun for awhile.

i haven't done much sewing recently - the past 2 weeks have been dedicated to work and then cleaning during my weekend to make up for my work week. this week i didn't even get a weekend...i worked it. i think that has a lot to do with the virus i'm currently harboring. but....katie finally got her christmas package, so i can show you her owl bag!!

i saw this bag a couple of months ago, and kept coming back to it and staring at the directions and considered starting it...i mean, its a cool looking bag. but i put off making it because i was in the middle of a streak of projects that didn't turn out, and i didn't want to attack anything that had a lot of steps to it. but, i finally started it, made my own modifications (i try not to add eyes to anything thats not a stuffed animal - eyes on inanimate objects creep me out a little), and this is what i came up with...

up close...

(notice the owl fabric as wings on the owl bag?? i enjoyed the irony).

i used the last of my other favorite fabric for the insides...

(followed the bird fabric theme).

so..woohoo...an owl bag for my best friend!! it was actually a lot of fun to make because it came together so quickly.

yesterday i got a belated valentines day present from katie as well - a box full of tastycakes!! she knows me well. i just hope to get better soon so i can enjoy them.

i saw today i was mentioned in the following blog as part of a giveaway (no i didn't win, but the blogger appreciated my comment and it was mentioned): look ma no patterns. one of my new blog "finds" online that i should add to my following list. the question on the giveaway was "what non-swear word do you use in place of a swear word?" made me laugh, so i commented. that was one blog that as soon as i started reading it, i couldn't stop. i appreciate her craftiness and her writing style. good stuff if you want to check her out.

anyways, thats enough writing for now. i'm starting to get sleepy again.

"okay, take a deep breath, i told myself. dont go all hormonal. get the facts straight. have a mental donut." ~ stephanie plum

moving on...

its times like this that i wish i could write in an elegant and meaningful way or take pictures in that creative way or something to fully get my thoughts down and to share. but i dont have those talents, so i'll make do with what i have.

i have experienced just about every emotion i thought possible in the last 5 days. i have also witnessed things that have made me proud of my work family, proud of the community, and super proud of one particular man. i have seen comraderie and intelligence and sweat and tears come together to form and to fight and ultimately, i hope, to win. it was an amazing thing to witness and see in action...how dozens and dozens of people can be organized and used for their talents to make a system work.

i think being a part of that helped me.

i am moving on...

one of the things i noticed about living on this side of the country is the lack of hugging that goes on. is that weird to say?? maybe its because everyone i know in the east i've known for most if not all of my life, and thats how we say hi. how we spread joy and help relieve sorrow. how we ask for things and how we depart.

people dont do that here. maybe its because the circle of people i know is just about all work folks. and i really dont want to hug most of them. but i still notice that lack and think about it occasionally.

so therefore, when i actually get a hug here i will remember it forever. i've gotten 3 hugs in the past 3 days, and each one meant the world to me. in this time of recovery and in the aftermath of tragedy, each one helps. each one got me a little farther along in that decompression process that i've seemed to put off for what feels like the longest 3 days of my life.

i feel like i can finally breathe without suffocating and eat without nausea and finally smile and mean it. i worry that tears will come at inappropriate times, like while picking out cereal in the grocery store, but i know they have to come sometime. i've found that just because i feel better doesn't mean they wont eventually fall. so yes, if you're walking along the aisle of safeway and come upon a chick furiously wiping her eyes and nose while staring at frosted mini wheats, feel free to say hi.

i know i'll still be dealing with this situation for months to come. if not at work, then in my head. but i am still moving on.

as i'm typing this i'm listing to my hotel roommate snore through her vodka soaked dreams. it makes me laugh (silently of course), and be ever so thankful for the blessings in my life.

"i was so excited there was pie in there, i choked on my grape." ~ karen burress

unspeakable

have you ever felt relief so great and so heavy that it actually feels worse than grief? all day i've had a pit in my stomach and a rock in my lungs. i can barely breathe for the relief. 12 straight hours of physical symptoms related to good news. i can't seem to get rid of it.

i can't even force myself to decompress. if anyone saw me walking atticus this evening they would wonder who the moping idiot was. sitting here i'm still a moping slightly bluthering idiot. and i dont feel any better or any less heavy.

i can't think straight and i'm scared to fall asleep wondering what torment my subconscious is going to bring. and all because i'm so stinking relieved.

i can't even think of a better word to use. "relief" just doesn't seem to cover it.

but i AM loved.

sarah, with her impecable timing, always knows how to bring light into my life.

waiting for me when i got home...

of course i'll be your valentine sarah!

"tears are the safety valve of the heart when too much pressure is laid on it." ~ albert smith

another day

another day of overcast skies and walking atticus in the downpours that only occur when we're outside. *sigh*

"for how can one know color in perpetual green, and what good is warmth without cold to give it sweetness?" ~ john steinbeck

garfield

i think mondays should be banished. even when they fall on a thursday.

but despite how my monday started out (frustrating), and ended (2am because of a 12 hour shift), it wasn't really all that bad.

work reminded me how much of an impact i have on people.

and coming home reminded me that a dogs love is unconditional. not a bad wrap up to a long day.

double chins & all...

"ketchup is amazing." ~ jonathan chubb

how is it sunday again?

seriously, how is it already my sunday night? my weekend flew by. i'd say i didn't get anything done but that would be a lie. my bathroom is super duper clean. even the floor AND the bathtub. all my sewing stuff is put away (organized would not be an appropriate word here). i'm itching to get it back out again, but i told myself i need to have at least 3 projects to do and have them all cut out before the sewing machine comes up out of hiding. and mending my pajama pants does not count as one project. hmm....i have my food made for the week. for both me AND atticus. warm food too - not sandwiches. i went grocery shopping. i FINALLY re-did katie's present and went to the post office. (after she gets it i'll post some pictures! woohoo!) i dyed my hair (no more witchy gray!!). laundry is done. living room is kinda clean. sheets are changed.

i think thats all i did. oh yeah, and i just finally watched the ending to prison break. and i cried for about 5 minutes at the ending. jeez. never saw it coming! *big sigh* oh, and i spent like 4 hours this morning drinking coffee and catching up on blogs. mwahahahaha....oh, the single and childless life.

whew. the weekend sounds a little bit more productive than it feels, even with the sitting around. and i didn't have to dig myself out of 3 feet of snow, so i am counting my blessings.

looking for a picture to include....can't have a pictureless entry...

this picture makes me laugh. i'm sitting on my huge-o bed (behind that bright flash) taking a picture towards my closet, which is one huge mirror, so you can see that atticus has chosen to fall asleep on the floor. apparently its more comfortable than a king-size bed. dont look too closely at the fact that my blanket's askew, and please please please dont look in the open doors of my closet. :) just look at the irony called atticus.

"its like a perfume, called 'spirit of alicia', smells like pickles and coke." ~ katie bates

happiness...

okay, i know this is amazingly shallow, but sometimes happiness CAN be bought. and it looks a little like this:




and like this:




as you can probably guess....my fabrics came!!!!!!

now its time for a little show & tell....


my kiddo choices:




this i saw for a specific kiddo (subject to change!) ....



for a somewhat older kiddo....(shhh!!!)

(and i already know what i'm going to make with it! of course thats also subject to change...)

kinda whimsical & fun fabric...

(i've been digging turquoise lately, dont know why)

sophisticated and pretty fabrics:





up close with the more sophisticated palate (i really wish i could take better pictures):





and my MOST FAVORITE fabric of all...



[insert drum-roll here]







i dont even mind that they're not claussens.

so there you have it....$50.79 worth of fun.

"get a good thing, hold it close to your heart." ~ joy electric

my work baby

my work baby.

encouraging the un-sick to come to work. it worked for the 6 months i ran it last year. crossing my fingers it works again this year - for all 12 months. we'll see!!

dedicated to the 2 hours of overtime i worked today, and the 150 hours of overtime i worked in 2009. my paycheck loves you but my dog does not!!

"there is a good life right across this green field, and each generation stares at it from afar..." ~ john mellencamp

done thinking

i've always thought atticus has expressive eyes.

sometimes sad, sometimes worried, sometimes inquisitive....

and sometimes they're just plain happy.

"screw the hippies!!!" ~ m.w. 1147

reasonable expectations

i've been thinking about reasonable expectations a lot recently. basically, is what i expect or what i think right truly reasonable?

for example, i think its a totally reasonable expectation to be able to walk my dog and NOT find a chicken bone on the ground. or thrown in the bushes etc. due to the overwhelming instances in which atticus has stuck his head in the bushes and come out with a chicken bone (or breadstick etc), apparently i am wrong. the rate of this occuring has shaken my foundation a little on other things which i previously thought reasonable.

and they may be generic things: like honesty, integrity, etc. having people not afraid to voice their opinions or tell me what they feel. being able to trust that a confidence will stay a confidence. or it could be something along the lines of the above: things like people putting their trash IN a garbage can, not throwing their beer cans out the window, and on and on. but still. is what i think unreasonable?

its all rhetorical really. i'll never get my questions answered. but its something i think about.

"love is a croc." ~ a batman cartoon title

and it goes on

i love blog comments. they're fun. thanks. :)

dont really have anything witty or highly observant to say tonight. i did feel cool at work when 3 times i had information ready for a certain difficult-to-please person. i could tell by their voice they were impressed. wont ever hear about it, but there you go. awesome.

i'm also wondering a little if atticus is eating my fried zucchini because it tastes good or because it just tastes better than dog food. i'll ponder on that awhile. i gave him like 6 slices because i was too lazy to put them in the fridge, and he ate all of them plus he licked the crumbs at the bottom of the container. and mind you, he had dog food sitting in his dish at his convenience. hmm...

now that i found out i can buy tastycakes by the case online i'm not worried about eating the rest of my stash. mmm...cupcakes, krimpets....



demon dog, staking his claim in the kitchen.

haha...kidding. its just a bad picture of atticus in mid yawn. he does sleep on the rug though - apparently he doesn't like laying on linoleum....he'll curl up on any one of the rugs in the kitchen or in the entry way and sleep like that.

super tired again. my schedule is working backwards this week. monday through friday my start times are: 2pm, 12 noon, 10am, 8am, 8am. while really it only knocks 2 hours off my normal routine every day its still tiring. tomorrow is wednesday. 10am here i come...

"the best thing you can do for your children is teach them not to hate." ~jerry springer

observations

a couple of observations from today...

since when can't you ship alcohol to people? i got shot down by usps & ups. what in the world. now i have to unwrap katie's christmas present and redo everything. argh.

flat rate shipping makes no sense. i paid less to send 4 or 5 satchets in a flat rate box than to send 2 in a regular box. riddle me that one batman.

i appreciate people who can get my hidden message without winking to say "yes, i got your hidden message" or otherwise being stupid about it. maybe i should say: God bless maturity.

i am growing up. to explain: i had to listen to an a 23 going on 14 year old coworker prattle on about who knows what and it didn't bother me like it normally does. normally in my head i am yelling "oh grow up!". but instead, i treated her kind of like my 7 year old niece: i waited until she was done with her drama, i said "thats cool", and i immediately forgot about it. (until of course i had to come up with a list of things to write about for this).

i have to be honest, the shirt i am wearing is too big. while in goodwill i made a dozen back and forth arguments with myself for buying vs not buying it. buying it obviously won. today, i realize, yes, it IS too big. but, i definately think i'll wear it again. its soft and comfortable, and it buttons at the right spot (normally buttons are either too high and i look like a school marm, or too low and i look like i'm trying too hard).

i hate drunk drivers. a friend/coworker was hit by a drunk driver on monday night. shes fine, but dealing with the headaches of insurance companies etc. but yeah, i really hate drunk drivers. i hate them more because of my line of work. i find it ironic that someone who was reported as dui later hit a dispatcher head-on. every one ever caught DUI needs to sit on a victims panel. every single one of them need to take 911 calls with people literally dying in the background because they were hit by a drunk driver. chaps my hide is what it does.

i joke a lot about how washingtonians need as many words for rain as eskimos do for snow. todays rain would have described a cold and moderately heavy rain. brrr..... i tried to take a video of the sound of the rain on the tin roofs outside (that we park our cars under), but i couldn't send the file to myself (from phone to computer) because it was too big. i could post it to youtube and somehow get it that way, but thats over my head. so, because i can't share it, i'll describe it: it was a nice, sleepy sound. made me want to go to bed. and because i couldn't share the video, i'll share a picture of atticus after walking for 30 minutes in the rain:

not the best picture, considering what i had to work with, but there you have it. plus you can see part of my totally awesome winter welcome mat. attie is sitting on the snowman part.

i love burger king's zesty sauce. it is absolutely delicious. i love dipping french fries into it. thats my newest craving....burger king zesty sauce and french fries. weird.

today a friend described me to another person as "super, non-felon, non-hippie, and although she really likes extra pickles with her cheeseburgers, hes never found it to be a disability of any sort." i need to figure out a place to post that other than this blog. it made me laugh and laugh and laugh.

i have been in washington too long when twice in one week i run into non-work people i know while running errands. i didn't think i knew people other than from work?!? well, apparently i do. and they inhabit the post office and the grocery store.

my brain has finally started to shift to a lower gear. it only took 90 minutes after i got off work for it to stop running full speed. now its time for sleep.

"i suppose our capacity for self-delusion is boundless." ~ john steinbeck

sunday

today is my sunday. this is what happens when you dont have a typical 9-5 job. but in reality, sundays go by so fast, no matter what day of the week they're on.

but i did get some things done today:

these are all mostly extras. today i finished 2 vanilla, 2 mango, and 2 pink grapefruit. now i'm deciding what to do with them. i even went so far as to attach labels to them, indicating their scent. now i dont have to keep them separated.

i finished margaret's birthday present (not pictured).

and i made this....

its a totally awesome "little bag of secrets!". inspired by penelope waits. i plan to put sarah's hearts in it, just for giggles. it was a fun little bag to make (a bit time consuming), but it turned out so cute. i wish i could take better pictures, these dont due it justice.

i also made fried zucchini & tomato sandwiches for dinner. inspired by nate hengst, but tweeked into something made more for me.

back to work tomorrow. for those of you wondering, it IS possible to work 4 different shifts in a week. (which is exactly what awaits me this week!)

"what is it about silence that makes people uneasy? why do people only feel comfortable when they're filling the air with words?" ~ morrie schwartz

today

i had a good day today. that sounds pretty simple. but its true. i finally finished my friend katie's christmas present (which i will post sometime after i send it to her) & shopping for her (yes, i said christmas, i'm a horrible friend), saw a movie with my friend marka, and then made some more things!

i think i needed the girl time. we saw "its complicated", which i think is really a comedy more for the middle aged crowd, but it was still funny. i laughed at marka's laughing as much as i laughed at the movie. i left the theater feeling like a big weight had lifted off my shoulders. what that weight was i dont know. i just know it wasn't there anymore. it felt great!

it was fun shopping today as well. i went to joanns intending on just getting a bias tape maker:

(look like instruments of torture)

and (of course?) ended up getting much more. including this wonderful stuff.

i used her great idea, a little hocus pocus (read, rice & oil)....

a little patience and thread, and ended up with these!

drawer & closet satchets! they smell yummy! i made melon, coconut, and black raspberry. the black raspberry ones are my favorite, and i will be sending those to my college friend, sarah, who lives all the way down in texas. basically because she has 3 boys and a husband and probably never gets anything girly. and because shes sarah! i started a heart garland for sarah too, but i dont know if i like it. its not turning out right and its extremely time consuming. i figured i'd step away for a day or so and then get back to it. we'll see. before we know it, valentines day will be here and i will be sending yet another belated package.

anyways, i'm currently relaxing with one of these:

and one of these:

have a happy wednesday!

"you gotta laugh. if you dont laugh you start crying." ~professor ron collymore

cooking for atticus

i know its weird, but i've discovered i'd rather cook for atticus than myself. maybe cause i'm happy with just a sandwich and feel like i have better things to do than spend time cooking for one, i dont know. but i do know i've spent more time in the last month cooking for my dog and other people's dogs than i have for myself.

last night i tried out something i read about in my non-biscuit cooking-for-dogs cookbook. its a simple idea really: dogs can eat nutritious things people eat. amazing!! i tried it out, mainly thinking that even if atticus doesn't like rice, veggies, and chicken (oh, who am i kidding with the chicken), at least i'll eat it. so i went to work cooking. well, "work" because i have a rice cooker with veggie steamer on top, and i use a george foreman grill (i hate it but it gets the job done). in actuality i worked on a sewing project while checking on the chicken every couple minutes.

RICE AND CHICKEN: DOGGY STYLE

i started with about 1/3 to 1/2 of his normal serving of dog food. mmm...dogfood.

added a scoop or 2 of rice...(calrose, not brown, for those of you wondering. i want to eat all my calrose first before moving onto brown rice)

i only added a couple veggies. one because i dont want to smell broccolli farts, and two, atticus doesn't eat raw carrots. i didn't have much hope for the vegetables.

then came the chicken! mmm...chicken. cooked in a raspberry chipotle sauce. (no, i didn't make that. and technically i was supposed to make the chicken plain, but if i'm going to eat chicken, it better have something on it. i figured if atticus can drink out of the toilet, then he can suffer through some marinade. it looks burned cause it kinda is. i was caught up in my fabrics...)

then i mixed it up with some really hot water. eww. looks gross. smelled kinda gross too.

the first thing he did was pull out the carrot. haha. silly dog. i took a bunch of pictures and he kept looking at me, so i left then. didn't want to give him eating anxiety. came back about 5 minute later...

success!!! even the carrot was gone!!! (i can only assume he also licked the floor clean)

high on my food success, i visited fabric.com's clearance section. 14 yards of fabric for $50, which includes shipping (cause it was free!!!). this lot includes some pickle fabric (woohoo) and fabric bought specifically for my 2 brothers-in-law, which hopefully will lend some inspiration come birthday times.

and so this whole post isn't only about dog food...heres a sneak peak at my next birthday-present-in-the-making. and no, i wont tell you what it is. :)

"the more i get to know people, the more i like my dog." ~frederick the great