The One About Shoes

This post may initially seem shallow and superficial, but it isn't. Not completely.

Shoes are important here. We protect our feet from rough terrain, too smooth ice, slippery surfaces, the heat and the cold, and we do so with SHOES!

While it is nice to have the fashionably, pretty shoes, it probably goes without saying that C and I go for function over fashion most days.

So, after months of searching for some good shoes with little results, I finally found some that I love. Which resulted in the purchase of three pairs. A big shout-out to the Tradehome store - I always find shoes that I love there. As opposed to Off Broadway Shoes, where I usually regret my purchases and the pain they cause my feet.

Oh, and I have very, very good taste in shoes, as far as the supportive ones go.

In the montage above, we have Earth Shoes (the brown leather shoe shoes), J-41s (which are shoes made out of Jeep tires and designed by Jeep), and Merrells (the brown leather/suede mary janes). I've done some research into Earth Shoes (popular in the 70s) and they are supposed to be designed to support women as they walk using the reverse heel technology (the heel has less of a sole than the ball of the shoe). They feel weird, but they make me stand up straight and the leather is so pretty and wonderful. The J-41 shoes are more of summer sandals, although since they have a covered toe, I can wear them to work. They have the most comfortable foot bed! And they are made by Jeep, out of Jeeps - so is there a more perfect shoe for this family? The Merrells are just wonderful - I've had my eye on these for almost nine months and there they were - the last pair and on sale! Both sister B and I have Merrell jungle mocs that have lasted us six or seven year - and mine have survived a puppy named Bella's teething (last pair of shoes she ever touched!). We love them. Merrell just makes good shoes.

A very cool picture. My slippers are the ones on the right and they are awesome. They are lined and have a real gum sole. C found these and got them for me for Christmas after I begged for a pair of LLBean slippers. These are so much better! Only one downfall: I can't wear them outside and definitely not into the garage where different chemicals on the floor can eat through the gum soles. C's slippers are on the left and they are almost as cool. They are much cheaper and much more functional because he is really hard on slippers. But he likes his too - especially when he's letting the dogs out at 6:30am every morning.

A needed close-up of the Jeep sandals. So very very cool. I may even wear them with socks just to experience them even sooner that the weather will allow. Don't tell anyone.

Dog Bones

We visited Tractor Supply this morning. Which is across the street from Petsmart. And we can't ever deprive the dogs of a fun ride. When we arrived at Petsmart, Bella tried to eat all of the other dogs, but her paws have no grip on the tile - if they would have, I would have been in real trouble. We had to watch Boris closely as well, because he likes to mark in the store. We went with the purpose of getting them some bones and treats and sure enough, Boris began sniffing each of the bones on the shelves as if he was choosing his own. Very cute. At least two different couples stopped us to ask what type of dog he is. I am assuming that since Blue Heelers are such a working/farm breed, that they don't usually come into Petsmart. Perhaps the local co-op, but not Petsmart. And Bella, she looks like something (retriever), so people don't usually ask. But if you are a people, it should be noted that Bella is the sweet one.

We picked up two almost two foot long bones for the dogs. Boris wouldn't stay still long enough for me to capture a good picture. He is still so excited, dropping his bone on the floor and banging it into the walls. Maybe these will last more than a day!

The cow femurs always last longer. Most dogs chew on bones this way, but heelers are known to be real "handsy" dogs.

Bella's huge claws and webbed feet holding her bone in place. She was trying to get this one out of my hands before I had all of the wrapping off. Silly dog.

This is much more accurate. Bella and her two bones. She probably growled when Boris went to grab one!

Jeep Update

Well, C has been working really hard on our CJ (Jeep) lately. He's also been helping his boss, J, fix up his "other" Jeep as well. So the boys have been living in the garage. I don't know what they eat or where they go to the bathroom and I probably don't want to know. Thankfully, C has been really good about managing the time he spends in the garage and the time he spends with me!

This is J's "play" CJ. Which means that this one can get dirty and scrapped up. He is also working on another one that is more restoration quality than rough and tumble. I do think that those are our doors on the tub though.

This is our CJ Jeep. The motor came from the maroon Jeep Grand Wagoneer, the tires are huge, and C had just painted the frame at this point.

This is our brown tub. It is practically rust free, or so the boys tell me. I think that work on this begins any time now.

This is one of C's Christmas presents. He got a pipe bender and one die for Christmas, along with a really cool bench grinder that his dad thought he needed. We'll be getting him more dies (different sizes) as needed so that he can make roll cages, step sides, and bumpers! He's really excited about everything that he got for his garage!

Merry Christmas Sneak Peek

C's mom was nice enough to take a few pictures of our family for Christmas cards this year.

These are not the contenders.

Perhaps C wasn't super excited about sitting for pictures.

Yes, we are those people who include their dogs in the Christmas card picture. What can I say? We love them. This is a "getting ready" picture.

Everyone look to the left! There is a MAN WALKING ON THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE! BARK AT HIM because he obviously has NO CLUE that this is YOUR TERRITORY, Boris. No clue. Poor walking man. Then we took some more pictures - one of which should be arriving in a mailbox near you (if I have your address).

Merry Christmas!

The Es Came to Visit

We really enjoyed seeing the E family on their way through on Saturday. We don't get to see them enough, but that's okay, because someday, AM's kids will watch mine on the commune where our houses will be just close enough to set up a sort of red-tablecloth-on-the-clothesline-means-hello type of coded communication. And cell phones, we'll still have those of course.

Anyway, beautiful baby girl and beautiful boy and some of the rest of us:

AM's short hair, and the beautiful Miss B (in pink shoes).

Little E is in perpetual motion, so this is the BEST photo I could get of him. He looks concerned, so I'm betting that he needed his pencil sharpened. He also may or may not have had pants on in this picture.

This is why C thinks having a baby is easy. You just hold it, right? And keep watching your scary alien/war movie. Hand her off to Mom when she gets cranky, hungry, wakes up, etc. Yeah, no, that is not the way it works, C.

Miss B and me. I think that is almost a smile. You'll have to check out AM's blog for her real smile; complete with dimples. She's so much fun and her brother is a hoot. Mom and Dad are pretty amusing too - we love when they come to visit!

The Dogs at This TIme

We watched Mom and Dad's dog, Abby, for ten days while they were on their anniversary cruise over Thanksgiving. She gets along really well with Bella and Boris, but she can irritate C a little bit - just by being a small dog. There are quite a few things that a small dog can get away with that a larger dog cannot (jumping on your leg, sleeping on your bed, picking fights, etc.). Abby is, through nature (genetics as a dauschund) and nurture (my parents' training) a burrower with a sense of entitlement. What this means is that she likes to sleep under covers. A problem in the R household because C has the tendency to move around a lot and could possibly roll over on Abby, and Abby, sensing an injustice towards her might lash out with her teeth. Not that this has happened before at all. No way. We've solved this by letting her sleep under the fleece blanket at the end of the bed. On the other side of the peoples from Boris.

There has also been a pack hierarchy shift. Abby and Boris are about the same age with about 50lbs difference between them. Bella is alpha female in our family. Abby will place her tiny head in Bella's mouth to show submissiveness. That's not the problem; the problem is that Abby has actually dominated Boris for the last two years and then something shifted. I'm not sure what changed, but Boris has asserted dominance and Abby isn't sure she likes it. I've caught them baiting one another with toys during this visit so that they can snarl and fight a little bit. Really, they're dogs! Am I going to have to call the Dog Whisperer?

Mom, Dad, here is some fuzzy proof that C LIKES playing with Abby. He does. He plays a little rough, but she seems to like it.

Abby is the guard dog. She has no fear. She's charged dogs way bigger than her. She even bit Bella on the snout when she was stressed out. You can just barely see her green ball at the right edge of the photo. Boris, that is HER ball, DO NOT touch it. Just sit there and look like a cute blue heeler.

This is what Bella does. And she is really good at it. Hardly even snores.

Super fun game: Guess who is the rightful owner of the dog bed. Does size matter? Is it the dog that "fits" in the bed the best? The one that looks the most comfortable? Does the bed match one dog better than the other? I thought this was way too funny to pass up!

Thanksgiving ReCap

We had a very nice, low-key Thanksgiving. Last year, everyone travelled to us to celebrate and the festivities seemed really big and a whole lot of the food travelled to us as well. This year, my parents were in Belize City on Thanksgiving enjoying a seven day cruise to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary (it was in September). So, C's parents and my sister B and boyfriend J came to our Thanksgiving. It was perfect in it's simplicity. C is great with the bird, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing, I made two pies, B brought a third pie, the rolls, and green bean casserole, and C's parents brought L's seven-layer salad and some other yummies. We all ate too much because it really tasted good! I can't remember the conversation (because it really tasted good!).

This year, for some reason, I wanted it to look Thanksgiving, so I got the tablecloth and cloth napkins. Everything looked really nice with Grandma's china and the lead crystal candle holders C and I received as a wedding present.

J and sister B with the "starters." He asked for the peanut butter - it was not part of my beautiful plan. It's a good photo of sister B's really short hair - J's may be longer at this point! They are so cute!

Food collage: my apple pie (homemade), the tasty turkey, my pumpkin pie (mostly homemade), and L's awesome seven-layer salad. Then my beautiful table again.

The table, candle holders, and three glorious pies. The pies were gone within 48 hours.