A Perfect Match

My hubby is practically a gourmet chef.  You want grilled salmon with dill sauce, no problem.  Cheese enchiladas with chili con carne, no problem.  We go out to eat and he can taste something and then recreate it at home.  He is an amazing cook.  However, if you are in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner....Houston, we have a problem!

This weekend, he asked me what I wanted for dinner on Saturday.  I said grilled cheese.  No problem, he says.  He goes into the kitchen and then asks if I want to come cook wth him.  Sure thing!  I get in there and discover that he doesn't know how to make grilled cheese. So, I got to teach him how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.  I found that incredibly endearing.

It was a reminder to me of what marriage is all about.  Sharing strengths, offsetting weaknesses and learning from each other along the way.  We stood side by side and talked about our cooking experiences and built memories to talk about in the future.  A grilled cheese sandwich never tasted so good!

Jake Griffin

In 1999, I lost my beagle that I had for 11 years.  She developed mammary gland cancer and I had to put her to sleep.  I did so on the day we were leaving for a family vacation.  While on vacation, my hubby found "the dog I always wanted" and we came back from vacation with a dappled dachshund puppy that was 5 weeks old, weighed 2.25 pounds and fit in our hands when they were cupped.  I was determined not to fall in love with him because I just lost Bailey.  It took him less than a month to win me over. 

He did so with his head that seemed too big for his body, his floppy ears, his one blue eye, his sweet disposition and the look of total adoration that he gave me on a regular basis.  I had him for 12 years and lost him this weekend.  As far as I can tell his heart gave out.  He was fine and then 2 hours later he was not.  The good news is that he enjoyed his life right up through the last day on earth.  I have been thinking of all the cute memories of him that we have enjoyed over the years.  I will share some of them with you.

It took him so long to learn to bark that we thought he might not be able to.  Once he learned he made up for lost time!  Every day when I came home he barked to let the household know that I was here.  It was a happy bark which made me laugh each and every day!  I would come in and say, "that's right, tell them...Mommy's home!'.  He always wagged his tale and ran into the kitchen to tell Griff I was home...barking all the way.

When he was tiny, he would follow me around and grab my pant's leg with his teeth.  I can't tell you how many times I drug him through the house and how many pairs of my jeans had holes in the bottom of the legs. 

I love french onion dip.  When I would eat chips and dip I would give him the occassional chip.  One day, I gave him a chip with dip on it.  After that, he would not eat any chip unless it had dip on it.  If you gave him one without dip, he would spit it out and look at me as if to say, 'really, did you really think I would eat that?  Dip please.'  It never failed to make me laugh. 

Jake believed I belonged to him and constantly tried to ensure that Griff never got closer to me than he was.  We called it the 'dog width apart' rule.  If we got closer than a dog width, he did everything he could to get in between us. 

We went on a family vacation when Jake was less than a year old to Florida.  While we were there, we took him to the beach.  He learned to dig there and would dig wherever I patted the sand.  He would dig furiously to see what he could find.  Not long after that vacation he began to pop rocks.  That is what we called it when he would find a small rock and rake it with his foot until he managed to throw it behind him.  He would then pounce on it and start raking it again.  He could amuse himself for hours that way. 
 
We took him on long walks over the years.  He would jump up on the curb and try to walk the entire way on whatever curb he could find.  He was very sure-footed.  When he was 2 years old, we got another dachshund, Roxy.  We called her Jake's girlfriend and he was enamored with her from the first time he saw her.  She was the only one that he was ok with walking in front of him when we took them on walks.  Anybody else and he would practically run to be in the front of the path but not Roxy. 

When he was a puppy we started a game.  Every time I made the bed I put him on it and he would roll over and have me rub his tummy.  He played that game up until the week he died.  It carried over to other times such as when I would pick him up to carry him downstairs when he got old.

So many good memories wrapped up in that little dog.  I am trying to dwell on them.  Rest well my little Man Dog.  Your mama loves you!

Summer

Summer is passing by...all too quickly.  The 4th of July is next week.  That always signified the middle of summer to me.  The funny thing is that it doesn't feel like summer to me.  The highs have barely been in the 70s here.  This is not summer to me.  Summer is feeling like you are baking when you sit outside.  I know that sounds like it should be miserable but sit outside in that heat with a glass of iced tea and it is a wonderful thing!  I miss that heat. 

Exclamation points

I think I might be addicted to exclamation points.  Is that a bad thing?  I find that a period just doesn't convey the sense of excitement that I want to convey in the written word.  But can you overuse them?  Is everything worthy of an exclamation point??

I am not a smiley face, emoticon person really.  But I do love exclamation points!!

Experiencing New Adventures

Yesterday hubby and I drove 100 miles and visited the Professional Football Hall of Fame.  I care nothing about sports but I married a man that is RABID about them.  So I have learned to watch sports.  Yesterday I had fun watching him!  He was like a kid in a candy store.  He smiled for 2 hours non-stop while we went through the exhibits. 

Emmitt Smith's HOF inaugural photo.

We looked at all the exhibits - Griff explained the significance of some of them to me.  The photo below is the Vince Lombardi trophy - given when you win the Superbowl.

We will plan a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next.  

Dog update

Just a quick update - Jake is doing awesome!  His tumor swelled and he apparently decided to handle surgery on it himself.  So, the tumor is now gone, the skin is almost fully healed and he is feeling great.  So, no major surgery looms in his future. 

Thanks for all the concern and well wishes.  I love that my family and friends know me well enough to understand how much emotional upheaval I was going through when he was ill.  Thank you all for caring!

Here comes the sun!

I am amused to look back at my blog and see how many of the posts contain info on the weather.  Having been a southerner all my life, I had no idea how much I took the sun and warm weather for granted.  It is almost reason for celebration when spring gets here and we start seeing more of the sun here in Ohio.  This past Friday half our department did not come to work - that's how excited people get to see the sun!  And I completely understood and was jealous that I wasn't home with hubby and pups. 

But, the sun has shown it's face around here now.  So, things are looking up - as Dad would say.