Yes, it’s a brand new year…

I heard from my humans that this year is the Year of the Tiger… Does that mean that indirectly, it’s the Year of the Cat??

Anyway, both Rusty and I can’t be bothered… for the moment.. ZZzzzzZZZz….

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not that we were overfed during Christmas/New Year. It’s just that we’re tired from entertaining our new toys…

Where's Pippen?

What a great weekend!  For starters, we had our first snow!  Even though I’m not a fan of the snow.  We ended up getting 7 inches, which was so odd because DC, just minutes up the road from us, got a tenth of an inch!  How does that happen? 

Typically, I ride on Saturdays but took the day off to do something I’ve been pondering doing for quite some time – going to a meal assembly kitchen!  The one I went to is called DinnerZen.  They aren’t a franchise but if you want to find a meal assembly company in your area, you can go to www.mealassembly.net .  People, this stuff is the answer to your ‘what’s for dinner?’ prayers!  I’ve been buying prepared meals from Harris Teeter, Wegman’s, etc for awhile but nothing beats this.  Why?  As you know, I HATE grocery shopping.  I also hate bringing meals home because when you bring meals home, you have to eat them right away or end up having to microwave them.  Microwaving just takes a bit of the point out of bringing home just-made food.  Also, right when I get home is the only time I have to run.  Granted, I could run in the mornings but let’s face it, I ain’t a morning person.  It’s just not going to happen.  So, what makes me happy is being able to run for a half-hour once I get home.  Then, I can get dinner started.

If you don’t know what meal assembly is and you detest having to deal with figuring out what to do for dinner and you want something that is both cost-effective and time-saving, meal assembly is for you.  I got 12 meals (an entree and a side) that feed 2-3 people (and trust me, it really does feed that many) for just under $145.00.  I put those meals together at DinnerZen in just under 2 hrs, and that was without my knowing ‘the drill’.  I can go to the grocery store and come out with $150 of groceries for a week and still really come home with nothing.  And our average meal when we eat out or I bring it home costs $30.  So, I figure on this program, I’m time and money ahead AND I will be able to get a run in to boot. 

You go online, pick your menu, pay for it, select a date and time to go in.  When you get there, they have a tub set aside for you in the giant refrigerator and as you put your meals together, you park them in there.  Each station you go to has ingredients set out with correct measuring spoons and cups for you.  You simply read each step, for instance, “Take one quart ziplock and put two blue scoops of rice into it” and so on.  You can leave ingredients out that you don’t like, like onions (not a favorite of Bob’s) or use less garlic (not a favorite of mine).  Each meal you throw together takes about 10 minutes.  You put it all in a gallon ziplock, label it with the pre-made labels with the cooking instructions, put it in your tub, wash your hands and move on to the next station. 

The atmosphere was great.  I was the only single there – other women had their men there helping them.  But, as we all know by now, I’m a big girl and don’t need Bob at my side at all times to get through a day or for myself to feel loved so having him off defending our country that day was just fine with me.  I’m sure there are men who enjoy doing it.  It actually is kinda fun.  So, high five to them.  I definitely enjoyed it more than I do grocery shopping.  Atmosphere was spa-like and tunes were great.  So, long story short, I think I found my answer to my ’what’s for dinner’ prayers.

Note Pippen on chair to right. Sassy is busy plotting evil.

By the time I got home, the snow had already accumulated about 4 inches.  Having put all my nifty meals in the freezer and dinner (raspberry chipotle tenderloin) in the fridge, I actually got a wild hair to do some stuff around the house.  While our cleaning lady is no longer MIA (as reported earlier), I decided to knock out some larger tasks like a full on cleaning of our wood floors.  I also knocked out the master bath (which is mine, actually) and our bedroom and vacuuming the upper level.  Bob texted me saying he was coming home early so I got a nice fire going (thank you DuraFlame) to greet him.

Next day, Bob was able to go in for reserves a little later.  It was his very last day of reserves and he was going back in to say goodbyes to some folks he’d missed the day before.  We arranged to have breakfast very early and sat down at IHOP at 6:30 a.m..  Afterwards, I went back home to do some unfinished business (vacuuming stairs), then got ready for my noon lesson with Jess (yay!).

Yesterday was my first ride in three weeks!  I asked Jess if I could ride Lenny as much as possible moving forward since every hole in my riding pops out on him.  I would much rather get good on the toughest horse in the barn so that everyone else is easy.  Now, mind you, Lenny is an easy ride in terms of his temperament and his way of going, he is just the toughest to stick with in the air and on the landing.  We practiced over small jumps and by the end, I was ‘getting’ it but there is still plenty of room for improvement.  I’ll get there….  It felt great to just be in the air in the barn.  I don’t see how people go day in and day out with only their office and their home as their existence.  The crisp air felt great and of course, just being on a horse felt great.

Not sure if you folks have seen this before but both Rusty and I were practising some WWE moves back then…

Meanwhile, my human is not posting much these days as she has to fix her computer… I wonder if it is because it has too much “poop”?

I know it’s been a very long time since I’ve put up a post. Well, at least this is the start of me blogging again.

The house has changed as 2 small humans have come to live with us. I don’t know how they got here but according to my humans, the small humans are like puppies; who need a lot of love and care.

They shout, eat and poop alot but unlike puppies, can’t seem to walk or run yet. My guess is, the humans will have a long time to train them up.

Meanwhile, the humans have placed a lovely mat outside the house and I love it. It is a great place to have a sunbathe in the morning. Without fail, I will give the mat a little hug when I’m done with my sunbathing.

I love my mat mat…

Nelson is a notorious seat-stealer. In his little world, there are few things better than the warm spot on furniture left behind by a body (or butt). I swear he looks for strategic opportunities to soak up freshly-generated body heat. Often he will appear to be sleeping on the far side of the room, but no sooner do we stand up and turn our back, and he is curled up in the spot we just vacated – warm and cozy. This morning I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep, which rarely happens to me. At one point I got up to use the bathroom, and when I came back to bed, this is what I found:

I just love him!

Jackson is afraid of some strange things… but this weekend I discovered what I consider his strangest phobia yet. He is afraid of my new lotion bottle from Bath and Body Works. Yup, that’s right – a bottle of lotion.

The first time I opened it, he was sitting next to me and it made a loud snapping noise. He jumped up and ran into the other room with his tail between his legs. Now, whenever I have the bottle in my hand he won’t come near me. He runs into the other room, and if I call him he’ll creep out of the room and just peek his head around the corner, with his ears down and his tail between his legs. It makes me sad to see him scared like that, but at the same time it’s so ridiculous that it’s kind of funny. As soon as I put the bottle down, he comes running to me and wants to be picked up and cuddled. Silly dog.

I didn’t know that I was “broken”… The humans said that I’m now “Fixed” or “Twoodled”…

I’m not sure what that means but all I can say is that this “lampshade” makes me look like a super hero dog!

Don’t you think that it makes me look cool?

Human: Yes, Rusty has lost his “balls”. However, that doesn’t make him less of a dog. By Sunday, he was jumping and running around like usual. His aggression has not abated yet and yes, he still has the “hots” for the pillows and bolsters in the house..