dogs vs cats

I was out of commission for a few days with a nasty bug, leaving my family to fend for itself. As I laid there listening to my household members carry on without me (which they can) I was able to observe and reflect on cats and dogs. See some people are cat people, some people are dog people. I have both. I love both but they are two very separate creatures.
I learned that my cat is LAZY. She did not move from the bed I laid upon once. I have no idea if she ate or not. From her perch ON the bed she watched as the big yellow beast (which is what I know she calls the dog) would barge into the room whenever the door was open. Luna was perplexed as to why the person who does EVERYTHING is doing nothing. On the other hand the cat could have cared less. Luna LOVES the bedroom, it off limits which the cat knows. So when the cat gets accidently trapped under the bed and the large yellow beast charges in I hear sudden quiet. I hear shuffling under the bed. I hear what eerily sounds like the alligators on Swamp People, a low terrifying rumble-that is not coming from the dog. Then I hear excited whining. See this is the difference, my cat is solitary-a loner if you will. Dogs by nature are not. Luna is always delighted when the small furred thing ventures out. She hopes it will play, she hopes it will bounce,she hope it will be her partner in crime of all things NOT to put in her mouth. She thinks whining and yelping at it under the bed will somehow magically get it to move. It never does. Luna eventually has to be dragged out before the cat has a nervous breakdown and the cat back on the bed as only she is allowed to do.

Two very different creatures indeed. I would post a picture of the two of them together, but well you know, I don't thing that is going to happen.

Surviving Camping

A camping essay in pictures and captions, in no particular order...

"Swamp People" Black Hills style...

Stalking the elusive baby turtle

A tin pot full of.....crawdads....Big Fry was challenged that if he got at least 15 he could boil them as the campers across the spot from us told him. He was on it...

"It's like this mom, I reach slowly under a rock, wiggle my fingers til I feel something pinch me and I pull it out, and then I grab it."

And here we are mini lobsters.

A nice glass of reisling and "Life is Good" t picked put by small fry. The same t-shirt I promptly splattered grease on and didn't notice until I got home.

The STARCRAFT-the name makes it sound like some exotice spaceship. It isn't. The curtains remind me of the dishes I got for my wedding, country blue and pink.

Comfy chair for hubby, I don't think he moved the whole time.

And there we are.

Wish us Luck

Tomorrow we are going camping. I love camping, hubby does not. He does it for the fam. Needless to say it is a balancing act of keeping everyone happy without me going over the edge. AGAIN it is the hottest weekend of summer so far that we chose to go on, it always turns out that way. We are debating taking the dog or not, not sure how the heat is going to go.
The most exciting part is the FOOD, I am thinking of the list now. I basically survive on cheetos, smores, grapes, hard boiled eggs, and sangria. The boys love the KIDS cereal in the min-boxes.

On a side not Big Fry had an older girl-around 14-don't quote I am not accurate with tweener/teen age estimation, tell him during the races that he had nice eyes. When he told me and pointed her out I told him that was nice and to never talk to a girl in short shorts again til he was 40. Or I may have to direct him to Karen's other blog. He can get some straight talk from her:)

Not a bratwurst

Ok, so I didn't make brats but I did make this, all you need to do is add the bread to your individual salad, otherwise any leftovers were soggy. It was yummmyyyyy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/grilled-panzanella-salad-recipe/index.html

Finishes, falls, and bittersweet wins

Small Fry-A man with a plan

Big Fry and Gate Buddy-warning story below may cause lump in your throat.

We ended our 4 day marathon of racing. It was an overall great weekend, no rain, a little too much heat and sun, but we all survived. Small Fry had all his tough Aberdeen competition make the trek over. He struggled but made it to the main races and on Sunday kicked it into gear, which meant taking a fall in the final race and getting some serious track/road rush and disappointment. When this kid makes a "goal" and visualizes what he is going to do, he can hardly stand it when he doesn't.

Big Fry is finally after 5 years of racing moving up from Novice to Intermediate. This change usually takes most kids one summer-even Small Fry is an intermediate already. The kid is RACING. Handle bar to handle bar, and pedaling hard. It has been wonderful. He racked up his 8th and final win to move on at the Saturday evening race. It didn't come without a lump in the throat.

Before the Saturday races we had a moment of silence for an out of state racer, aged 13, who passed away 3 weeks ago, his brother was there racing. As the day goes on Big Fry introduces me to a kid he met the night before, they become gate buddies. Somehow I come to find out he is the brother of the 13 year old. The first race they come flying and he wrecks, the second race he heads out and falls again. Each time he comes back to his family crying. I can hardly stand it. I remind Alec to be a good sport. We finish the morning race and Big Fry gets his second to last win needed and we head to the other track. We are talking about his new gate buddy and how sad it is etc. Silence fills the truck, I can hear him thinking. He says, "I really want that last win tonight.", I already know what he is going to say, "But I almost want him to have it more." That my friends is sportmanship and true emapathy. I would like to say Big Fry DIDN'T get that last win-He did. I could tell it weighed on him heavily. This morning his friend said, "Thanks for moving up, I can get that other guy today, now that you are gone!"

He did.

Just a quick post

We are vegging out and regrouping ourselves for one more big race today. We are coming off a 5 race extravaganza, more on that later. Here are a few tidbits from the last few days, and strangely they are all connected.

Carey's Little J cannot WAIT for his bday present, when I read what it was I laughed my butt off. I opened my email this morning to find that my lovely 12 year old had AGAIN ordered something off of Amazon-I am hoping accidently-and guess what it was? Yep, a lovely airsoft gone. He has big plans for it. This "accidental" one-click-ordering reminded me of the time he ordered swords. Remember this? See pic above...

And I joked about how I could use them for an Elektra costume? Well we watched Elektra the other night ( A tweener's favorite) and I jokingly told Small Fry that my goal was to someday look like Elektra. You should have seen his face, shock mixed with a little bit of sympathy, and he flat out said, "Well it is good to dream big mom". Yeah, and this leads me to Karen, posting about her pants being to tight...

Every summer I think this is IT, the summer I will look like Elektra because I have time to work out, time to plan and eat healthy meals, to be stress free. And I have FINALLY figured it out. This thought is BOGUS. Summer is a time to enjoy. The ice cream, the margaritas on the deck, the NOT DOING time. Still good cooking but with actual desserts one or twice. Getting together with friends, having extra foofoo coffee because I have TIME. Camping and pool food galore that comes in little baggies and packages. FINGER FOOD. I kind of feel like Templeton from Charlotte's Web and why the heck not. Enjoy without REMORSE-pants are pants! These guilty pleasure thoughts led me to Bobbi's post about brats...

LOVE them, think I will make some tonight, AFTER we spend one more day in the sweltering heat watching cool skull helmets, frilly helmets, colorful jerseys, and parents screaming at children. Falls, finishes, and bittersweet wins, which I will share tomorrow.

Sounds That Intrigue Luna May

Dishwasher door opening-the contents in the dishwasher are intriguing and yummy if she actually gets her tongue on it. (Yes, you can say "eewwww")

Pantry Door opening-this closet holds lovely treats

M&M's hitting the floor-these must be gifts from heaven (I had to race her to get them all before she did)

Freezer door-the box from which lovely cubes of very cold water come from

Door bell-Pavlov's rule of "cause and effect" is a human and canine basic skill. The doorbell rings and a multitude of guests, tall and small, arrive. This creates opportunities for jumping and barking.