Milo, Logan Square, Chicago
Over the holidays my brother’s dog, Milo, was visiting with his family. I took a few photos of him but never posted them. He does look a bit like Vegas but not as much as I thought before I sat here and compared their photos.
Tags:Animals·Chicago·dog·logan square·milo
Originally we were going to spend Super Bowl 43 at Jen & Chad’s house, but Jen and Quinn are visiting relatives in California and Chad was traveling on business and got stuck there longer than he’d anticipated. So Dallas and I volunteered to host the party at our house.
It ended up being a fabulous food party. Dallas made 4 pounds of slow cooker pulled pork and blue cheese cole slaw to eat on the sandwiches or on the side. I made cocktail wieners and guacamole. Loden made cheesy potato casserole and mini football-shaped brownies. On each one there were the frosted football details. Kristin made cornbread and chicken fingers. Jill made pumpkin cake and chocolate chocolate chip cake. Liz made cookies. And everyone brought beer and wine. So much food and drinks. So delicious.
The game? I thought it was ok. Everyone keeps saying how it was such a good game, but I don’t think any of us really got into it until the 4th quarter.. and specifically Brian and Loden were just cheering for their numbers at the end (they both won money). I don’t really even remember any of the commercials. They weren’t that great this year. Some were even old commercials that were already playing on TV. We did like the Cash4Gold commercial, though. It sparked a long discussion about Snuggies and ShamWows.
Killian and Liz brought their new dog, Sandy, over to the house. She’s only about 6 months old and they’re still training her so they couldn’t leave her at home the whole time. I thought she was going to be a crazed puppy, but she was really relaxed and listened very good. .. and no accidents! Sandy is the 4th dog (Maggie, Milo, Jackson) to visit our house and we’ve only lived there 3 months. Guess that means we have a dog-friendly condo. Jill and Brian brought their extra Wii controllers and the Mario Kart game. After the football game we all played Wii.
Abby and Phil’s wedding was Saturday night (more on that later) and I was so exhausted that I couldn’t bring myself to take any photos yesterday. I know. Crazy!
Tags:abby·Animals·brian·cash4gold·chad·Chicago·cole slaw·cooking and baking·dallas·dog·guacamole·jackson·jen·jill·killian·kristin·liz·loden·logan square·maggie·mario kart·milo·phil·pulled pork·quinn·sandy·shamwow·slow cooker·snuggie·superbowl·wii
This past weekend Dallas and I watched Jackson while Kristin was attending to family affairs out in the suburbs. Dallas and Kristin were roommates and at the end of their cohabitation Kristin brought Jackson came to live with them. He was still just a baby when Dallas moved out. I’ve seen Jackson a few times since then, either at Kristin’s house or at Jen and Chad’s house. When he’s at Jen and Chad’s it can get intense because Jackson plays hard with Cortez and Drake.
I was kind of afraid how he’d be in the house after hearing the puppy stories and seeing him roughhouse. Turns out Jackson is completely mellowed out. He was as good as we could ask. Mostly he just sat on his bed in the sun and watched the world go by. What a life. We walked him around the neighborhood and he was a great walker. He didn’t really tug at all. It was funny how his habit was to jump in deep snowbanks up to his face and pee.
One odd thing was that he didn’t want to go down our stairs. He’d just look over the rail and wonder how we kept disappearing. Dallas was downstairs watching TV for a while and Jackson just sat at the top the stairs and whined. I tried to put pieces of dog food on the stairs and coax him down but he wouldn’t go. I tried to tug his collar but he was too strong (he weighs over 100 pounds, I think). Finally Dallas helped me and he was able to go down but then when he wanted to go back up it was the same ordeal. I don’t know if the hardwood and the steepness of our staircase frightened him, or what. The floors are brand new, so they are a bit slippery and he did bump his chin a time or two. Poor thing.
Dallas and I have talked for years about getting a dog and I think we’re finally ready with the new house and all. Even though Maggie and Milo have visited us since we moved here, having Jackson for the weekend convinced me that we totally have all the space we need for a dog. Jackson is a big guy (he could lick my head from the backside of the couch!) and he didn’t really seem all that big in here. I don’t want a huge dog, but I think we have a nice home for one anyway. If only we had a yard. Oh, well. It was kind of nice to go on walks. Gave me an excuse to get off the couch.
Jackson approves of Angel Soft, but not the stairs:
Tags:Animals·Chicago·dallas·dog·dogsitting·jackson·kristin·logan square
River North, Chicago
I used to take the #11 bus down Lincoln Avenue and Wells Street from my neighborhood to River North a lot. It took a little longer, but it was relaxing and I could always get a seat, unlike when riding the train. The bus passes by City Cat Doctor and their funny parking signs. I always wanted to take a photo, but never wanted to get off the bus then get back on just to do it. One day after work a few days ago I was walking around and came back across City Cat Doctor and took these photos.
Saw this salamander at my parent’s house in Waupaca when I was walking their dog, Benjy. I showed it to the dog and he didn’t even care. I couldn’t decide if it was cute or gross. Kind of cute, but I touched it and it was pretty slimy.. gross.