A Very Shelby Christmas

We had a very relaxing Christmas and Shelby the greyhound got to spend the holidays lounging and visiting with family.  Christmas Eve was at Grandma Gurney's house, while Christmas Day was with Pat's side of the family.  Her Christmas sweater and jingle bell collar were worn most of the time!

Week 1: Goals

To help me track my progress without tracking every bite of food I eat, I've decided to set a weekly goal and then report weekly results.

This week, my goal is to eat my 3 servings of dairy and to drink 64 fl oz of water, every single day.  The dairy will most likely come in the form of yogurt, either:

Yoplait Greek 100

or Fage Total 0%

I'm not officially sure if either of these are considered Simply Filling, but they are Simply Filling enough.  I don't mean to start off this project by making substitutions, but this yogurt is good for me, and that is really important.  Their non-flavored counterparts are on the SF list, and the fruit flavoring on both is made of sugar, fruit, water, and preservatives - no corn syrup, nothing weird.  Since I know I would never eat plain yogurt, this is going to work for me!  I'm happy that we have a fridge on vacation, too, so that I'll always be able to have a few containers of yogurt on hand for a protein-packed snack.

I'm also starting off with only 64oz of water, since that seems managable.  I think I'm supposed to be drinking like 100+ or something, but that's out of reach right now.  I'd like to start with goals I think I can really be successful about!

Simply Filling

I've decided to embark on a journey.  I'm having a tough time tracking my food on the WW Points Plus plan, so a great compromise is the Weight Watchers Simply Filling Plan.  

I made sure that this is something I can see myself following - I've spent time eating mostly this way, as well as following some blogs to see how other ladies incorporate the restrictions into real life.  I'm proud of the improvements I've made when it comes to stopping before I'm stuffed.  I no longer find a comforting feeling knowing I've conceived a food-baby every night.  Day.  Morning.  Whatever.

The great part about me starting this program now is that I've come to love most of this food, and regularly go for extras of the good stuff before more pasta or sweets.  I don't even really like desserts as it turns out!

This plan also allows for some leeway.  You still get your 49 PPV weekly for items of your choosing, which you can either consume or not.  It lets me still enjoy vacation next week, still drink my weight in Miller 64.  Ha!

So here's to a mostly-the-same new lifestyle choice.  I think I can pretty easily get Pat on board, too.

Some living room ideas

I've been playing around with some ideas for the living room since it will be the next room to get painted - and seriously, I think that paint can do so much to change the whole mood of a room.

Although I don't have any current pictures of the living room (note to self: take some!), I'm actually fairly happy with the types of furniture there are, however the accessories need a BIG update.  Here is a little mood board I put together to get an idea of where I'd like to be without switching out the big pieces.

Anyone who has been in the house will see that the key elements are already in place here.  The rug we have now is a nice, high pile white shag rug (although it needs to be spun because a couple of Shelby oops spots have turned grey).

That chair is SUPER close to what we've already got, and it's not going anywhere until its worn through in the seat.  And even then.

We'd really like to get a new couch, as Pat isn't finding ours very comfy anymore, and it's not really as white as I'd like - more of a cream/ivory - but we're carrying the basic idea for now.  Our current couch is a little bulky and rounded, where I'd really like something closer to the one pictured - cleaner lines, but still traditional, with slip covers or at least a skirt.

We've known for a few years that our hand-me-down coffee table is on its way out (my sister, the hander-downer, begs to differ), and I'd eventually love to replace it with a nice rustic square table that's an inch or so shorter than what we've got now.  Either our couch is too short or the table is too tall, but our knees go numb when we put our feet up.  I'm really loving the warm, worn color of the table pictured.

A simple basket is something I really want to add, like this one from Thrifty Decor Chick.  Sarah got that one at Target I think, and the chalkboard accent is adorable.  It would be really nice to have somewhere to put the blankets not in use since we don't like to leave them on the couch.  Not only does that look messy, but a certain greyhound likes to claim soft things as her own and that's just annoying.  And gross.  Because she sheds.  And mostly because she farts quite a lot.

When I first saw these watercolor world maps by Jessica Illustration on Etsy, I was hooked.  I'm still infatuated almost a year later, and I can't wait to add a big one to the back wall of the living room.  Maybe a birthday present? :)

I thought that the maps and the chevron curtains (I mean, zig-zag, right Lindsey? ;-)) would really pair nicely with the wall color I've chosen and add a bit of crispness to an otherwise pretty warm room.  The color on the "walls" in the picture is pretty close to Sherman Williams' "Snowdrop," which I have 2 gallons of - is that enough for a living room?  Who even knows?  Probably not, it never is.

The orange ikat pillows simply seemed like a nice contrast-but-not-clash to all of the blues and greens going on.

Lastly, we can't wait to switch out our ugly boob light in the top of this picture:

with a ceiling fan.  Not because we think they're pretty, because we don't, but because we just love the functionality of ceiling fans so darn much.  I was totally bummed everytime I thought of installing one because of how ugly I think they are, but I came across S.T. Lighting online and by George do they make a beautiful product.

They take any ceiling fan that has a light kit and they turn it into a beauty.  I called the number listed online and a very nice gentleman picked up - it's actually the owner's cell phone - and he couldn't talk long because he was onsite at a job, but I'll definitely be contacting him when I'm ready to pull the plug!

I'm in love with the living room I have planned - it's nothing extravagant, will never be seen in magazines, but it's comfortable and us and simple and livable.  I'm just sad that painting is the first step :-(

She makes my day

Those of you on Facebook have probably already seen this, but I just had to share incase anyone missed out. Seriously. So much happiness comes from having Shelby around.



Is there really anything else to say?

SCUBA: you're doin' it wrong

Everytime I'm in the shower, I get some really good ideas.  Drying off, though, apparently wipes my creative slate clean, and I'm done for.  I've tried to write in steam (always disappears).  I've tried to actually write in water on the shower wall and pretend I can see what I just scribbled.  That never works.  I've tried to take notes on my iPhone, but as it turns out - Apple has something against steam and even more of a prejudice against a steady stream of water.  I thought maybe a dry erase board with the good markers - you know, the fat boy Expo ones - would work, but I don't have a dry erase board handy.  So, a couple of weeks ago, I turned to my Facebook page and asked someone to experiment for me.

Of the 3 people that responded, I got 3, "Yeah, I've had that idea, too!" but no one willing to test the idea.  I couldn't stand it anymore and I didn't want to waste money on a dry erase board that might get all beady and not take marker in the shower.  After a particularly creative Google search, I came up with a diving tablet - what a good idea!

I immediately went to Amazon (my go-to place to price shop) and found this, the Promate Scuba Dive Underwater Writing Slate.  I ordered one and even though it got delayed in Texas due to their brutal weather, my Prime membership had a box on my doorstep by the end of the week.  And I am in love!!

The tablet itself isn't cute, and the pencil is WHOA GRELLOW (not at all like John and Sherry's grellow, but a much more neon-get-the-attention-of-fish-Mountain-Dew color), but the nylon strap and plastic C Clip type thing could easily be switched out to something that matches your decor a little better.  Hanging this would be really easy, especially if you have a piece of wall to hang it on (aka not tile to drill through) - but I'm thinking even if you have an all-tile bath, you could use suction cup hooks or even Command Hooks to hang this bad boy.  We're actually using our Walmart pocketed shower curtain liner to store ours - hollahhhhhh.

Walmart

This thing rocks.  But that's another post for another day - specifically the master bath post - so let's stick to the SCUBA tablet.

Already, I have oodles of to do lists and blog ideas that I can't show you - it would ruin the surprise :-)  The real reason that I can't show you a picture of my actual tablet are the drawings of the naked lady and the manbits - yep, that's right, poor man's porn, right on our SCUBA tablet.  JUST KIDDING.  There really are those cartoons, but it's just because me and Pat are apparently twelve years old.  (Plus, there's plenty of free porn on the Internet for whether you're poor or not.  It's just frugal.)

On that note, time to go make pizza.  FAMILY, be prepared - you'll all be getting shower-ready SCUBA tablets for Christmas.  You know, to jot down ideas for posts for me.  It's wayyyy easier for me if you could just think of stuff for me to write about, mmmkay??

Food: The easiest steak and cheese ever

1/2 lb - 1lb shaved steak

mushrooms - fresh preferred, but canned are fine, too!

3 cloves fresh garlic

salt, pepper, onion powder to taste (don't overdo it because

you'll be adding twice!)

tasty bulky rolls or subs

4 slices American cheese

KETCHUP (optional ;-))

I don't know if the title to this post is silly, because I'm not sure that there is a steak and cheese that's hard to make.  I also know that there aren't any pictures in this post (or a lot of my posts) because I don't know anything about photography and I also don't usually have anything by my iPhone handy.  I'm asking for a real camera for my BIG present this year, but I do have a small point and shoot that I'm going to try to have around.  Do any of the decent rookie-range DLSR's have Wifi or Bluetooth capability?  Seriously - that's the reason I don't use a real camera.  Because I have to use a cord.  Pa-the-tic.  But I digress.

The other day, we were wandering through Dave's and came across some very thinly shaved steak on sale for a great price.  (Seriously, $3.49 for a pound of ANY cut of beef is a good price in my book).  We snatched up the last package because I had it in my head that I could make a French Dip out of it.  Uh, duh, Codi - that's roast beef.  So, back to the drawing board I went and the beef stayed in the fridge for a few days while we made some other goodies (and not so goodies) for dinner - posts to follow ;-)

I ended up going with something I had never made, and honestly never really enjoyed, either.  Shaved steak sandwiches.  I figured, what the heck, it's going to be easy.  And it was.  But GOOD too!

I started out with a hot pan (about 3/4 heat), some oil, salt, pepper, onion salt, and garlic.  I added fresh mushrooms and kept adding just a little bit of olive oil to them to keep them coated as they cooked.  As the mushrooms finished up (neither of us is a huge fan of peppers or onions, traditional Cheesesteak additives), I simply moved them to the side of the pan and dumped in the steak.  This steak was sliced thin enough that it was almost stringy, great for this application.  The heat went down to about 1/2 heat on our hot burner.  A little more onion salt, garlic, salt, pepper, and oil was thrown on top so that all of the beef was coated in the same mixture of spices.

After only about 6 minutes of semi-constant moving with the tongs, the steak was browned throughout and there were a few crispy pieces.  I mixed the mushrooms throughout the meat at this point and simply laid a few slices of American cheese over the mix.  When it started to look gooey, I used tongs to mix everything up and then dump a scoop directly onto the bottom half of a bulky roll.  I like mine with ketchup on the side to dip in  :-)

These were seriously the tastiest steak and cheese sandwiches that I have ever eaten.  The amount of flavor in the beef was phenomenal, with a mix of spices that I probably won't be able to duplicate.  A cheese with a little salty tang like American is really nice with these, but you could use almost any kind of cheese that you had on hand, sliced or shredded.  Good quality bulky rolls rounded out the meat by giving you a little bit of starch.

Overall, we would definitely have these again!!

Shelby goes to the vet

Besides not winning Mega Millions, Pat and I haven't been up to too much.  I've been meaning to bring Shelbs to the vet for a while now, mostly just to get a relationship going with someone, but also to get her tested for heartworm.  When we got her, she had been tested and was negative, but the lady at Greyhound Friends told us she hadn't been started on a preventative.  So, when I got a day off this week, we packed up and made our way to a vet that had been highly recommended by a friend of my aunt who used to have a greyhound.

Shelby was a little wigged out by the traffic (we had to street park and then walk on the sidewalk to the office), but it was her first time in the big city.  Since she was freaking out less than she does around basketballs, it couldn't have been too traumatizing for her.  Once we got in the office, she was great!  I took out her medical records for the receptionist to copy and realized that she had gotten one dose of Heartgard (well, the generic) back in January and that we could have just kept her on it after that.  Doh!  Oh well, it may have saved the $45 test fee, but the same blood gave us the answer to her being Lyme negative, which meant that she could safely get the Lyme vaccine.  I was skeptical about the Lyme vaccine - it's not supposed to be very effective in horses - but Dr. B told me it was about 80% effective in dogs and that was good enough for me.  She had to get the Lepto vaccine anyway (strangely, she didn't have it?) and it was available as a combo with Lyme.  Sold!

So, now we go back in 4 weeks for her Lepto/Lyme booster, and also to get her Rabies 3 year.  My little dog is becoming a true pet!

Now she just needs a brother or sister I think ;-)

Major Appliances

When we were looking at houses, appliances were something that we gave a lot of thought to.  We didn't know for sure if our house was going to come with them, but we knew we had to budget about $5,000 if not.  It's funny that when you think of appliances, you don't (or I don't) think of a washer and dryer - so that was another thing.  We also knew that if we got into a house with really terrible/old/energy sucking appliances, we were just going to keep them for a little while and then switch them out to something more efficient. That may have actually been preferable since it wouldn't have been such a big upfront cost the day after our closing, but, alas, we ended up in the "K" house which included only a dishwasher.

I want to preface the bragging about the great prices we got by saying that Jacob at the Fall River Sears Outlet HOOKED US UP.  He was really great to work with (I wanted to ask him if he wanted to come out with us for a round of drinks after he got done), plus he knew his stuff and it seems like he got us the absolute lowest prices in his power.  It's nice to have someone that knows the computer system, knows the rules, and knows how far they can be stretched.  Especially since we went back on two separate occasions, I have no doubt that he saved us some extra loot.  If he hadn't been able to link our 3 orders, we would have had to pay delivery on each order (total of $139.98 saved right there) or qualify for big discounts on warranties.  So, Jacob, huge fist bump.

Without further ado, here's what we got and how we're feeling about them 4 1/2 months after the fact.

Refrigerator

SAMSUNG RF4287HARS

Oh yeah, that's right, we did it.  The Samsung fridge of my dreams.  Why we did it?  Because I was in love with it, it got really good reviews, and we got a deal on it.  From top to bottom, this baby is beautiful.  It's got the best shelves I've ever seen in a fridge (customizable not only up and down, but front to back), cool white/blue lighting that doesn't remind you of the cafeteria from 7th grade, and a third compartment.  The third compartment allows you to choose a temperature that is best for your application - we choose to put drinks in there most of the time (it is perfectly tall for beer soda cans and our juice bottles happily lay down) but that could change at any time.

We also liked the amount of space in the freezer (I look back on our shopping adventures for this fridge and I'm wondering why we were so worried about space - we are 2 people and will stay that way, but this thing could easily hold food for 5).  Other units may have actually had the same internal space, but there was a particular Kenmore model that looked like they weren't using the space very well when you opened the drawer.  And let's face it, folks - perception is reality when you're talking to me :-)

When we were buying, this fridge was going for $2800 or a little more from all of the major stores, only down to about $2300 from places I had never heard of, mostly online wholesalers.  We couldn't justify paying almost $3 G's for an icebox, and I didn't feel comfortable buying blindly online, so this is the appliance that actually started our discount search.

The one we got has a dent in the left side about half way down that's completely hidden by the counter it is next to as its only flaw.

$2,800 + tax + delivery (no extended warranty) $1994 including tax, delivery & a 5 year complete home warranty

4 Months Later: We still love this fridge.  In fact, we're even in love with this fridge (raise your hand if you're a boy and can explain the difference - I'll give you a dollar ;-)) There's nothing about a single compartment that we would change, I'm just mad that the front isn't magnetic!  I think that's the rule with SS appliances, but-but-but...I want to put my gold star up there!  Haha, no, it's ok.  It actually keeps things looking a lot better, and I still have one side that is accessible and magnetized for anything I actually need to keep on the fridge.

Stove/Oven

KITCHENAID KDRS505XSS

We chose this model because we were really interested in a dual fuel unit - we knew without a doubt that we wanted a gas stovetop, but had heard that gas ovens can be finicky and tough to get a good steady temperature in.  When it comes to baking, I really need all the help I can get.  We knew we wanted to shop Sears Outlet if possible, and it's a good thing because as it turns out, dual fuel models are $$$.  Consumer Reports gave the whole Kitchenaid line really good reviews (which honestly surprised me because I think of my stand mixer when I think of this brand name, not large appliances), so we had it narrowed down to their dual fuel line.  The choices were double oven or not double oven, and since they had a slightly dinged model (2 small dings that I finally caught in the right (wrong?) light after having them in the house for 2 months, plus one on the corner that we knew about) of the double oven, we took it since we knew we loved the idea of 2 different temperature settings.  In all reality, we are benefiting from the double oven most because of the electricity savings (we just use the top oven which is so much smaller than a standard oven would be), but eventually maybe I'll be baking two things at once ;-)

$2,499 + tax + delivery (no extended warranty) $1,851 including tax, delivery & a 5 year complete home warranty

4 Months Later: We still love the set up of this oven, with one exception - the stovetop configuration.  It is a 5-burner stove.  You will never be able to use all 5 burners at once, or even 4.  Kitchenaid put the 2 small burners in the back, and 2 large burners up front.  The 2 big guys should really be diagonal from each other since you could never fit 2 large pots or frying pans next to each other.  We can't figure out why they would do this to us!  Oh well.  The 5th burner is a fun long center burner that we mostly use with the griddle option.  Pat makes his English muffin sandy's in the morning on it :)

Dishwasher

KENMORE SOMETHING OR OTHER

Sooo...I have no idea which Kenmore model we got.  At the time, it was one of the highest rated on ConsumerReports with a moderate pricetag.  Now, since it's discontinued, it's gone.  I could get off the couch right now and check on the inside of the dishwasher, butttt...yeah.  I'll update later.  ANYWAY!  It doesn't have the silverware tray in the door, which I thought I really wanted, but as it turns out that could make the door really heavy and be harder on the hinges.  Also, it has a stainless tub, which is nice for sanitation and longevity.  We actually ended up getting this appliance new.  We knew which model we wanted, but when we went to Sears Outlet, the one they had had a LARGE scratch all the way across the handle.  We don't mind dings and dents where no one is going to notice, but this was obvious.  I think it had been a floor model and the constant opening of the door and slamming it against the ground probably wasn't helpful.  Anyway, since the dishwasher was recently discontinued (probably why it had been taken off of the floor), a NEW one from Sears was only $50 more than they wanted for the used one.  SIGN US UP.  I have no idea what it should have been before it got discontinued, but the savings were significant.  I'm actually surprised that we paid as much as we did since dishwasher features just weren't that important to us, but what's done is done.

$719 including tax, delivery & a 5 year complete home warranty 

4 Months Later:  This is a pretty cool dishwasher.  It washes dishes well, and isn't loud.  (What other features should a dishwasher possess?)  It's also nice, as it turns out, that the silverware isn't in the door.  Now that we've got Shelbs, I'd be too nervous that she would slice her nose off if the door got left open.

Washer

KENMORE 4027

Our washer is the only appliance we didn't get from a store, and therefore don't have a warranty with.  Right after we made an offer on the house, a trusted coworker said he was selling his washer and dryer, were we interested?  They had been used for about 4 months and had since been sitting in his garage because his wife wanted to redecorate (that makes her sound ridiculous, she's a super nice lady).  We knew they were Kenmore and we knew they were frontload and we know Sam takes good care of his stuff.  For $500 cash for the set, we went and picked them up (in the horse trailer, GENIUS!  Best moving transport ever).  We got the washer, the dryer, and the 2 pedestals for $500, so in theory we can cut that in half and say that the washer and pedestal was only $250.  We were preparing to get a pretty crappy washer for $250, but as it turns out, this was one of the highest rated washers from CR.  The pedestal alone was almost as much as we paid.

$1088 + tax + delivery $250

4 Months Later:  STILL LOVING!  The washer vibrates a bit, but we think that's probably because we have it on a concrete floor and we haven't gotten the feet adjusted all the way.  If we put a rug under it, the problem would be solved.  Do we care about the slight vibration?  No, because the dryer is in the basement and it runs so quiet/our house is so soundproof from floor to floor that we have never heard the machine running.  THANKS SAM!

Dryer

KENMORE 9903

So, if you read the washer blurb, you know that we got a dryer from a friend at work.  This isn't the dryer.  We realized that we only had a hookup for a gas dryer in our basement (no 220v), and the dryer we got from Sam was electric.  We could have run 220v to the laundry side of the basement, since we had an electrician come to do 220v for the oven anyway, but we actually wanted to have a gas dryer, just didn't originally think we could.  I don't know that this model is the specific gas counterpart to our washing machine, but it looks really close.  That'll matter to me someday when we have an actual laundry room :-)  This model had everything we were looking for (spaciousness, controls on the front panel, gas, a steam setting, and a wrinkle release setting), and the price was right.  I think there's a scratch on the top somewhere, but it's in the basement, who cares?  Especially since it'll be built into cabinets some day.

$899 + tax + delivery (no extended warranty) $744 including tax, delivery & a 5 year complete home warranty

4 Months Later: For the most part, we really like the second part of our washer and dryer set.  It has plenty of controls, works well most of the time, and looks good.  However, we've been experiencing some drying issues every once in a while that we think have to do with the door popping slightly open, which breaks the seal and then obviously shuts the dryer off.  We're going to do some adjusting of the door, and if that doesn't work to keep the dryer tightly shut, call the home warranty guys.  As long as the door stays shut, the dryer does exactly what it's supposed to - dry!

April Fools, Funny Videos, Best of LifeHacker

Yahoo has some great ideas for harmless April Fools Jokes that I wish I had seen before the end of work yesterday.

"Breakfast Prank

Does your family enjoy a hot breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast? Then prepare them a special breakfast on April Fool's Day using tiny quail eggs, fried sunny-side up, a small slice of toasted cocktail bread and fried sliver of bacon.

Serve the miniature April Fool's Day breakfast on the largest serving plates you own. Fold a bath towel as a napkin beside the breakfast plate, place large serving forks and spoons on the towel for your family to eat with, then call your crew for breakfast. The smell of fried bacon will whet their appetites and the prank will be on them.

Blue Water In Bathroom

While your famished family is foraging in the kitchen for real breakfast food, slip off to the family bathroom for a blue water April Fool's Day prank.

You will need small blue (any color) dye pellets, the type used to tint children's bath water, for this prank.

Unscrew the caps on the end of the bathroom sink faucets and shower heads and insert a couple of blue dye pellets, then replace the faucet end caps. When family members turn on the water, it will run blue for a few minutes. The shrieks, panic and laughter will last longer.

Source: Martha Stewart

Underwear Row

When family members open their underwear drawer to reach for clean undies, they'll get more than they bargained for if you stitch the waistbands together to create an underwear row.

Use a quick whip sewing stitch to connect the top corners of the underwear to each other, so when the top pair of undies is grabbed and removed from the drawer, an entire row of undies comes out.

If you don't sew, use small safety pins to attach the underwear tops together."

Seriously, how fun?  I've still got some time to get Pat with the colored water prank, I'm just trying to figure out how to get the color to either last longer, or not start for a bit - because honestly, this prank would best be executed in the shower.  The key to that, though, is that he needs to be IN the shower when the water turns color.  Hmmmm.


We spent a whole day of work this week looking at our favorite funny YouTube videos after this video went viral:

Poor girl probably still doesn't get it.


Here's some others that we came up with and couldn't get enough of!

And of course this crazy video (fake or not, I don't know, but it gets me every time. Pat's new go-to "jerk-phrase" is "I PINCH YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!") had to be seen after the big hype over the Mega Millions drawing - we all went in on tickets - a lot of tickets - and it was a dreary day on Saturday that was only compounded by the cold, rainy weather.

And of course, my favorite LifeHacker tips and tricks from the past week or so.  If you haven't spent any time on LifeHacker, seriously, start now.  Jump on over there.  It's way more interesting than this blog (but don't worry, if you click on the link I have provided, a new tab will open) ;-) I gave the link to the blog format of LH because I'd rather see the articles in chronological order.  For the "most popular" list, just omit the first "blog." from your address bar.  

(Interesting side note and poll!  I have my Facebook status updates set to Most Recent, just like my LifeHacker - do you like that set up, or do you like to see what everyone is talking about first?)

Find out which alcoholic drinks are the healthiest (with links to calorie charts!)

No kitchen should be without these tools and LifeHacker shows you how to buy them on a budget.

Draw Measurements on Clear Food Storage Bins

Nest Full Of Eggs

Also on the topic of food, they pointed me towards this article that showcases Food Network's 100 Greatest Cooking Tips.  Sweet!

Sleeping through the night

Miss Shelby has given us a real hard time about sleeping downstairs on her own.  We don't want this to go on forever - we'd love to have her sleep in our room - but we feel that she really needs to get comfortable in her crate because she's there during the work day, at least for the foreseeable future.  I'm super pro-crate training, but Shelby presents an interesting case.  She KNOWS how to live in a kennel.  She was a race dog, for crying out loud.  She knows that she's really not supposed to relieve herself in her crate, and we're happy to say that anytime she has, it's been our fault (like last night).  She either holds it, or cries and lets us know that she definitely has to go.  It's just hard...

...to distinguish the pee cries from the howling and screaming that goes on every night.  I don't have a sound clip of Shelby (I'll try to remember to take one), but she sounds exactly like this (mostly the black dog mixed in with some of the fawn dog).



It's a special little noise that apparently all greyhounds do, and it's much harder to sleep through than a simple bark might be.

We know that part most of her issue is that she misses us.  It's why she was so good the first few nights before she got used to us.  I think that she genuinely is lonely and scared that we might not come back to see her.  Any puppy goes through this, and even though she's 2, she's never had people before, so this is a whole new experience for her.  Another issue, though, is that I don't think she's incredibly comfortable - greyhounds are very bony even when they put weight on after racing - but we haven't found anything that she won't destroy.  Towels, blankets, crate mats, anything that goes into her crate gets shredded during her panic over being in there at all.  We're going to try a Primo Pad and hope that does the trick, but in the mean time we're running out of things to put in there for her.  She's ruined 3 fleece blankets, too many towels to count, a crate mat, and a down comforter.  (She won't, however, shred up the old sweatshirt I put in there for JUST THAT PURPOSE).  The less comfortable she is, the less likely she is to lay down and cuddle until morning.  It's a vicious cycle.  As soon as she gets comfortable enough in there to stop ripping things up during the day when we're gone, she can sleep with us at night.  Until then, we're all looking like this:

Bah Wilderness, MGM Productions, 1943

The kicker is that Shelbs gets to sleep it off during the day - Pat and I are stuck dragging through work, just dreading the next night.  Something's gotta give.

Home Goods Finds

I found some gorrrrgeous things yesterday at my local Home Goods, so I thought I would share!  And yes, these pictures, like all of my pictures, are taken on my iPhone 4 (snazzy, huh?)

This lovely mirror stood right around 4.5" high and I absolutely loved the finish.  The distressed paint along with the metal pieces gave it a sort of old industrial look, but what it actually reminded me of was a fishing dock.  I fell in love, and I'm even thinking of going back to get it and making a room work around it, versus the other way around.

These babies are just gorgeous!!  I kind of what them in every room.  Actually mostly in our bedroom, and the guest bedroom, and the living room, and the dining room/office/whatever it might become.  Not the kitchen - they can stay out of the kitchen.  And the bathroom.  But every other room!

They had a bunch of these stretched canvas word art pieces, and I really liked everything that this one said.  The one next to it that I didn't take a picture of would be adorable in a mudroom, and I'm actually thinking of putting something like this next to our not-yet-there coffee bar in the kitchen.  These were a little pricier than I'm happy to spend, but I still might go back and splurge on this next one...

I want this above our bed.  At $50, it's pretty steep for not-even-real canvas (I don't think, anyway), but I'm completely in love with it.  I'm wondering if I could make something like this?  I feel like Sarah over at Thrifty Decor Chick would have a good idea about how to do this, or possibly has already done it.

What I loved about this chair was that it just looked so comfy and natural - maybe not $200 worth of comfy and natural, but still.  I'd love to find something just like it!

If this goes on clearance, there is no doubt, I am going back to get it.  It's the perfect dresser height to be underneath a mounted TV in the living room, and it would actually also work perfectly for my coffee bar to be.  Oh goodness WHICH ROOM WOULD I CHOOSE?  Getting 2, even at a great price, seems tacky - especially since the kitchen and living room are obviously on the same floor ;-)

 

LOVING this bench!  I can totally see it at the end of our bed once the new colors/curtains/bedding go in!  What a cute little spot to sit and get dressed, but also to store extra blankets, pillows, even the DVD player (we only use the DVD player - actually a Playstation 2 - in the bedroom once every couple of months, so we tend to put it away and just plug it in when necessary).  Want.

Did you find anything good lately?  Did you hold off because it was a little pricey (like I did), or did you splurge?  Or best of all, did you fall in love and then find out that it was on crazy sale?