cooling off

It is H.O.T. here in St. Louis. We have all of these heat advisories and Eloise's dog walker sent out an email about shortening walks to keep the pup's cooled off. I still have to wear the monster out. So Lola and I ran to the park early this morning, found a stream and she jumped right in! She had so much fun jumping in and out, diving under for rocks, swimming after sticks and shaking the nasty creek water all over me.

Last time we did this Elle had the "d" real bad afterwards from some kinda nasty bacteria or something in the water. Cross your fingers we can skip that this time!

rough month

Well, it's almost over. At the end of June, Pat is officially finished in the CICU (for now at least...). I always forget how long and painful these months are. Of course I get lonely - but I mostly feel bad for Pat and his lack of life outside the prison..I mean hospital.

But of course he manages to stay happy, positive, and keeps me smiling too. I was feeling lonely/pitiful/like I was about to go stir crazy and lose my mind...and the next thing you know I find these at my door!!

Have I mentioned that I have the best husband in the world??

So - in return I baked him a banana pudding pie. I have found that it is hard to discover things that are Pat's 'favorites'. I always ask - what's your favorite dinner? drink? ice cream? candy? blah blah blah.

He usually says "I don't know..." . BUT - one day I made banana pudding and he was talking about how much he loves it. When I saw this recipe I immediately thought of him. I am sure it doesn't make the month of misery much better - but at least it was tasty!

(okay. so this isn't actually my picture or my pie - mines not nearly as pretty as this...it's stolen from southern living.com!)

fix one problem, have another

I am telling you. We finally get our waterfall from the ceiling fixed, the cabinets replaced, and next thing you know, we have a river coming out from under our fridge. Really? Really.

So I called my fix-it-man. I was nervous that there was a phone charge for the advice given, you know those fix it people can be a little pricey...

here he is! and thankfully I haven't received a bill yet...

Dad knows how to fix e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

I mean it.

I was trying to remember ever having a plumber, electrician, or anyone come to our house when I was growing up to fix something. It's never happened. Ever.

So see...he really can fix anything.

And this is his offspring. Trying to be like him. After given his expert (and free!) advice over the phone, I got to work. We were hopeful at first that I really had fixed the leaky pipe, but no such luck. After we pushed the fridge back, the stupid copper pipe bent again and water kept running.

But see this handsome man here??

He is my local fix it man! He's free too, thankfully. Last night he bought some fancy bendy pipe, attached it, and tadaaa - our ice maker is making ice, and our hardwood floor isn't turning darker shades of brown or buckling even more at the seams! Wohooo!!

Thanks fix-it-men!!

What would I do without y'all?

wine-o's

Pat and I finally broke into the big bottle of Riesling I have had around for a while.

here it is

huuuuuge bottle of wine..

with an itty bitty cork.

I mean smaller than normal bottles...and this bottle is so big - guess they had to cut back to save money somewhere!

a good laugh

This is a little old. But hilarious. I laugh every time I see these pictures on my cellphone (sorry if they're crappy quality - it's the phones fault).

This is from our trip back to STL from Jeffrey and Joy's wedding weekend.

We thought we would let Lola (eloise, elle, lois...whatever name I am in the mood for at the time. somehow it is getting more and more distorted each day...) stick her head out the sunroof.

best

idea

we've

ever

had.

this is the test run. she's feelin' it out. thinking about it. keep in mind we're on the interstate. i'll say we are going 70ish miles an hour (to keep mom from worrying).

and it's a go.

she's lovin' it. i just wish you could hear the noise her flappy face was making. it just makes the situation all the more entertaining.

close up on those pearly whites.

(yes. we brush her teeth...ok? it's not weird. it's good hygiene)

Anyways - if I am am feeling down and gloomy I just take a peek at those pictures (or the one of courtney and I 'soberly' flying down the stairs on our booty's - always get a good laugh from that one too)

Pat was on night shift last week. Eloise and I were a bit lonely. So we cuddled, in bed, every night, and her dad wasn't here to kick her out. Aaaand she may or may not be sleeping with her head on his pillow - she is in heaven, just snoozin' away - with her nose 1/2 an inch from my face. But remember - we brush her teeth so it was minty fresh ;)

respiratory distress??

120 breaths per minute

I think that sounds like some respiratory distress...but not so sure in dogs?

Eloise and I went for our 2ish mile run then stopped at the dog park, played, and ran home. At least 20 minutes after being here she was still breathing out of control. So...I counted her respirations.

I was very impressed at how fast she was still breathing, and am still not sure that I counted correctly, she was breathing faster than I could count.

So we got out this handy (dusty....ignore that please) fan and she found her a nice spot with her favorite toy and started cooling off.

The things I do for this fur baby.

Look at my green thumb!!! Outdoor plants only. I kill all indoor plants except for african violets. But those things are impossible to kill - obviously - since mine's still alive.

Pat works all day and night, then night shift this week - what should I do today!??! heeeelp!

summer time

This weekend Patrick and I were both off work (love it when that happens!). I had to work Memorial Day so we celebrated early.

I just love summer time. It is so much fun to grill out, hang out in the blazing hot sun, go for walks, eat outdoors, and make homemade ice cream!

We made deviled eggs, grilled some yummy ribs (and had to go get a new gas tank during the grilling..oops), had some baked beans and corn. Then, the best part, ICE CREAMMMMM!

Patrick picked out this attachment for our mixer after we returned stuff from our gift registry. This is its first time to be used and it was so easy! It was supposed to be frozen for about 15 hours...well how about 1 year and 4 months??...ha. Which means it worked extra great :)

We made peach, sort of made strawberry but it didn't freeze all of the way, and then buttermilk sorbet - sounds weird...tasted a little weird too, but it's one of those things you keep tasting - it's served with strawberries which makes alllll the difference.

yum yum yum. deeeelicious.

Another favorite thing about summer time?

A worn out pup. 2 1/2 mile run, quality time with her canine friends in the dog park, and a walk home in the 80 degree weather. She's officially worn out - Thank. The. Lord.