I haven’t been posting much about anything other than the ponies, but I’m going to start buckling down again and update more often with pictures from our travels about town.  Let’s start with Christmas -

I went Christmas shopping with a co-worker.  We have been shopping and then grabbing dinner for more than a few years now.  It was hard to squeeze it in this year, but I sacrificed a riding lesson to hit the mall.  It wasn’t busy when we were there, the Wednesday before Christmas, but I think everyone who was at the mall was inside Bath and Bodyworks.  That place was packed!  I was disappointed with the selection this year and was dismayed that they no longer offer the hand gel that has been a staple for my present purchases for years.

After waiting in line forever so he could purchase his selections, we went to Macy’s for dinner.  I like the restaurant at Macy’s, but Dean refuses to eat at a department store, so this is usually my only opportunity to visit.  The menu had changed, and they didn’t have the squash ravioli that I like.  Instead, I ordered a shrimp and pasta dish.

Mister Moose lives in the restaurant. He is not happy to have those ornaments dangling from his antlers, but he likes that people mistake him for Santa when he’s wearing the hat.

Chilling at Macy’s Grill.  Yes, I went shopping in my PJs.  Have to be comfy for all of that walking around.

Bread!  They changed the rolls this year, and they weren’t as tasty as the previous version.  If something isn’t broke, don’t fix it!  These rolls were underwhelming.

My dinner.  Pasta, shrimp, spinach, sundried tomatoes.  Very colorful.  I liked it, but I missed my squash ravioli!

Contemplating how I’m going to eat that entire plate of carbs.

Christmas Eve, chilling at the parents’.  Just waiting for a special arrival with all of the other guests.

Elly’s pile of presents from Auntie.  The Littlest Pet Shop went over big.  She was getting impatient with me because it took so long for me to get the toys out of the package.  Why oh why do they have to use all of that tape and plastic?

Cookies!  Elly and Julia made this plate of sweetness.

Chatting it up with Santa Bear.  He’s a flirty little thing.

More sweets!  I am so sick of cookies, candy, and cake!!

Just letting my food settle here.  Too much over consumption went on last week. 

Yours truly, snapping away.

Saturday evening, we met Karla and Roy for dinner at Gauchos.  In celebration of the event, I even pulled out a brand new dress.  Pretty festive, isn’t it?  I think it was perfect for the Brazilian steakhouse.  Never mind the strange looks cast in my direction.  I am sure the other diners were just awestruck by my high sense of fashion.   Without further ado, let’s dive into the meal. 

Take a gander at that menu behind me.  What do you see? Meat Menu, that's what!  That's about all you need to know about Gauchos - you are going to eat about an entire cow during your visit.

Green means go!  Once you flip this token over, be prepared to be assaulted by young men bearing skewers of meat.  They slice it and you take your little tongs and pile it onto your plate. They come in one wave after another.  If you don't flip the token over to No, you will have too much meat in the blink of an eye!

That thing that looks like a corn dog is in actuality a fried banana.  Who would have thought that bananas are tasty fried up with batter?  I would have loved to spread some crunchy peanut butter and chocolate sauce on them, but they were not available.

This is a little bowl of caramel.  When I asked the waiter where the ice cream and caramel were to eat with the fried bananas, he rushed off to get me this.  It tasted so good poured over the bananas!

What a lovely assortment of offerings from the salad bar!  Mushrooms, peppers, fresh Mozzarella, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm,  wild mushroom risotto - it made the head spin!  I didn't want to load on these, as there was all of that meat about to appear.  Oh, decisions, decisions.  The only thing I tried off the salad bar that I didn’t care for was the butternut squash soup.  This is usually a favorite of mine, but I didn’t care for it here.  It just tasted strange.

Look at that pile of partly consumed meat!  It's just one hunk after another!  Pork, chicken, lamb, beef!  It left my head spinning as all of that protein was stuffed into my mouth.

No means no!  Stop bringing all of that infernal meat over to my table!  I am stuffed!  Quit it!!!

Dessert menu!  You'd think that after all of that meat there would be no room for dessert.  Dean and I decided to split something, just to see if we could consume more food.

Here is the dessert Dean and I shared.  It's descriptively called "Puding."  It was a lump of tasty custard with dollops of strawberry coulis and caramel sauce.

This was a wonderful meal.  It was a little pricey, but darn, they force fed you meat all night long!  I couldn’t do this but maybe once a year, and I have to pace myself better the next time we go.  I made a lot of rookie mistakes, such as letting the meat pile up on my plate and get cold before I could eat it.

The wait staff was very responsive, and our waiter was wonderful.  He even gave the little me some attention, by bringing out a small plate and tiny spoon to set beside her.  And he brought that caramel, lickity split.  Thanks!

Roy and Karla were good sports about the doll and the pictures, too.  Thanks, guys!  Get used to it!  Aren’t you glad that we only get together a few times a year??  And thanks a lot for the gift certificates!!  You certainly didn’t need to get them, but I am ever so happy to accept them!  Thank you, and the ponies thank you, too!

Here it is!  The post so many of you have been waiting for!  Well, ok, one of my four readers has been bugging me to put up this particular adventure, so, Mom, here it is!  Your granddaughter, live, in pictures, at the Zoo Boo!

Rich and I arrived at the zoo right around 7pm.  The weather was a tad nippy, but not terribly uncomfortable.  I still had some hand warmers from riding earlier in the day, and surprisingly, they were still warm.  Bundled up in thermals, sweatshirts, and a jacket, I was ready for my twilight stroll through the park.

We breezed through the Members Entrance, and met up with the rest of the family.  It was very busy at the zoo - I have never attended a Zoo Boo before, and I wasn't sure what to expect.  There were a gazillion kids running here and there and all points in between.  Zoo employees were giving out orange plastic Meijer bags, but I didn't think to grab one.  I didn't think that I would be trick or treating.  Stephen had thoughtfully grabbed an extra, and he presented it to me so I, too, could collect some candy.

Here is Elly.  She wanted to be a bat for Halloween.  I think she made a pretty darn good one.

The zoo was decorated with a variety of spooky decorations. Here is a scary scarecrow. Notice my fashionable witchy attire.

Displays of painted gourds were set up all around the fountain and walking path.

I liked this one, celebrating the Year of the Frog.

Guess you gotta keep the football fans happy.

Vultures! But one of their noses fell off.

Halloween wouldn't be complete without America's spookiest family.

Not quite sure what this igloo has to do with Halloween, other than the fact that living in an ice cube would be a nightmare.

Penguins are behind me. Wait! I thought that crows are supposed to be the scary ones...

There were candy stations set up around the zoo. There were about ten of them. Everyone handing out candy was in costume, and some of them were very well done.

There were even huge inflatable balloons anchored around the zoo.

And creepy spiders hanging from trees.

Spooky ghosts!

And even some non frightening displays for those faint of heart.

Uh-oh. Something must be up over here....

Argh!!!! They converted the reptile house into a haunted house! At first Elly didn't want to enter, but she worked up the courage and changed her mind.

Why do they gotta have scary stuff like this??? I hate this kind of thing!

Elly found some bats to hang with.

Can you see that enormous alligator behind me????  It's about 100 times bigger than me!!!

They just had to work a pirate theme in there somewhere. I fit right in with these guys!

Always a favorite place for photo ops, they had drained the fountain and placed a pirate ship and sea monsters in the empty space.

See how scary it looks with the monsters instead of the water??

Here's at ya, kid! Posing with the bat girl!

The dinosaur gourds were very popular.

A very exhausted jack o lantern.

The Zoo Boo was fun, but I think I enjoyed it so much because I was able to hang out with the family while we wandered along the carefully mapped out paths. None of the animals were on display, other than the reptiles. There were security guards stationed along the route, to make sure nobody tried to sneak off and enjoy a little mischief in other parts of the zoo. Some of the paths were not well lit, and presented tripping hazards with the uneven ground.

I was very tired by the time I returned home, and it was way after my bedtime.  Getting up at 4:30 sucks.  It was the start of a sleep deprived and very hectic week.  I showed my candy haul to Dean, and he promptly made fun of my efforts.  For 2 hours of trick or treating, I didn't have much booty to show for my time.  Oh, well, it's not like I'm going to eat it anyway.  What I don't save for the horses,  I'll end up taking to work and giving to a co-worker. 

Check out the rest of my pix from the Zoo Boo '08

I raced off to Rich's on Sunday, so we could grab some dinner before meeting Stephen, Julia, and the baby for the Zoo Boo.  We went to Panera Bread, and I have to say that I was less than impressed.  Either my tastes have changed, or the quality of the food has gone down since the last time I ate there.

I ordered the You Pick Two, opting for the Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup and the new Tomato & Mozzarella Panini.

Here is the soup.  It was pretty bland and tasteless.  At least it was warm, which was soothing on a rather chilly evening. I had to break out hand warmers for my riding lesson, and they were still warm in the evening.  Those and the soup warmed me right up.

Here is the sandwich.  It wasn't bad, but the fixings were a little on the light side.  I like it when the insides occasionally drip out onto the plate, making a satisfying, sloppy mess.  No chance of that happening here, as the fillings were paper thin.  Guess they had to make some cutbacks to afford that high Birmingham rent

Here is the best part of the meal - an apple, cream cheesy pastry thingy.   The apples tasted fresh, the cheese was smooth and sweet, and the dough was slightly crunchy, which a sugary glaze.  I just should have ordered a bunch of dessert for dinner.  It's not like my mom was there to stop me from eating pastries for dinner.

Buu had his annual visit to the vet today.  In addition to getting some shots, I wanted the vet to look at the fatty tumor on his side.  We discovered that his weight is now 125, and that he has gained 10 lbs since last year.  The vet said that the weight gain may be responsible for the growth in the lump.  She will remove the lump, and also suggested that we have his teeth cleaned, but she wants him to lose some weight before she does anything.  She believes that his ideal weight is closer to 110, but she would be happy if he was back to 115.  Sorry, Buu, your food ration is going to be cut.  I think that most of the problem is that he waits until both Dean and I are home before he will eat, so he gobbles down his food and then goes to sleep.  Dean disagrees. 

Look at that tongue!  And the slobber on his chin.

Not quite sure he's happy about being here.

Whoa!  You need a mint!

What a good boy - he didn't mind when the vet techs took a blood sample, or when the vet gave him his injections.  He did dislike the vaccine squirted up his nose.

Dude! You're drooling on me!

The highlight of the weekend!  After 2.5 years of horse ownership, Dean finally came out to see my girl!  This miraculous event only occurred because I had to drop Sarah's thumb drive off at the barn.  While we were there, he actually got out of the car and came in to see the horses.   Yay!  I think he liked Harley the best.

Now he keeps telling me what a nice brown horse I have.  Idiot!  She's chestnut!

The temps plummeted on Wednesday, so I really bundled up before heading to the lesson.  After checking the whiteboard at the barn, I saw that I was scheduled to ride Blondie, so I assumed that we would be taking her to the show on Saturday.  M confirmed this, saying that the first class is a schooling class, so there’s no requirement for show bridles, and only Laurie and myself are ever in the equitation class, so the odds of someone complaining about the lack of a show bridle were pretty slim.  I don’t really care, disqualify me, just let me ride my horse and see if I can do it outside of the barn. 

It was a pretty large group lesson, with 5 riders, and so we practiced diamond cuts and staying out of traffic.   Blondie was a pill in her stall, but she was mostly ok once we got to the arena.  She ran into her canter, and dropped out of it when I tried to pivot her around Gio.  Not enough outside leg. 

Today has been a bummer of day.  Jen got into an accident on her way to finishing moving out of her apartment before the closing on her house, and called me, very upset.  Which made me very upset.  Some woman pulled out in front of her, and since it has been snowing heavily and the roads were slick, she slid into the other car.  She called me before the police had shown up, and I was afraid she would get the ticket because she rear ended the other car.  Nope, the other lady got the ticket.  Jen’s car is not quite right, so I’m not sure what she’s going to be doing for transportation.  At least nobody was hurt.  Hope her close goes much smoother.

Today is Buu's birthday! Not really, but since we don't know when it is, I decided that the day he came home with us is his b-day. He's sure changed a lot since he's moved in. Gained about 70 pounds, loves fruits and veggies, and digs taking naps on the bathroom floor. Being the head of security is a tough job!

I want to thank Arlene at Rottweiler Rescue again for saving my little baby, and for trusting us enough to send him home with us.  He was so sick when we picked him up!  He slept all the way home!  Now he's happy, healthy, and has the sweetest eyes you'll ever see!  Ignore that they are glowing like devil eyes....

I am a sleepy dog!

Well, we kicked off the holiday weekend in dramatic fashion, which seems to be becoming a habit around here. After a lovely day of running around town, stocking up on flashlights and water softener salt, we had a very tasty lunch at Steve and Rocky's.  Then I met Jen and Mike at the mall for a little shopping.  The three of us finished off our evening gorging on sushi and tempura at Happy Sushi.   Then things took a turn for crap.

Back home, I was settling in for some blogging when I happened to notice that Buu had developed a growth the size of a golf ball on his front leg.  This instantly set me into a panic, as it ballooned up during the day.  He has a permanent scab on that leg from nervous licking when we aren't home, a habit he's had since we adopted him.  Guessing that an infection flared up, I started looking for the number for the emergency vet.  I was afraid to leave it be until the morning because it was so big.  Helpful hint for pet owners; make sure you have the emergency clinic's phone number hanging on the fridge along with the number to your regular vet.

Getting Buu and Dean loaded up into the car, we arrived at the clinic a little after nine.  We didn't get back home until 12:45!  I am so tired.

Because Buu is dog aggressive, they took us to a room right away.  Something must be up with the local area pets, because the clinic was very busy.  We first saw the vet at about 10:30, and he scared the complete crap out of me.  After aspirating  the area, he wanted to take x-rays to make sure that the growth wasn't invading his bones.  Then he mentioned the "c" word, which completely threw me into a tizzy.  It was a very tense forty-five minutes until he came back with his diagnosis.  It was indeed an abscess, (whew!) and he wanted to drain it and then send us home.

His wrapped leg, dirty from collapsing in the driveway.

They had to sedate Buu to do the procedure, and the vet tech came and told us later that there was a lot of foul smelling fluid in his leg.  After they drained it, they cleaned it out, wrapped it up, and sent us home with a bag of medications.  This is when the real fun began.

It was raining softly when we left, and getting Buu into the car was an amusing sight. He was still groggy from the sedatives, and he just couldn't summon the energy to hop into my Jeep Liberty.  Good thing we didn't take the Explorer.  We finally got him in, just before Dean was going to resort to picking him up, and off we went. 

At home, things became very stressful.  Buu was too groggy to get out of the car!  Then, after we finally got him out without hurting him, he just slumped over onto the wet pavement and wouldn't move!  Try getting a 116 lb Rottie to stand up!  He was like a limb noodle, and I was getting progressively panicky about getting him into the house.   Dean could have picked him up, if we could have gotten the dog to stand up for a second,  but he refused to move.  I think at this point I was just about in tears, because the dog was getting wet in the rain, and I was so tired. 

Dean finally had a brilliant idea.  He went into the garage and grabbed a tarp.  We carefully maneuvered the beast onto the plastic, and then we dragged him into the garage.  There's a step into the garage, and of course he still wouldn't get up!  With me pulling and Dean lifting the back of the tarp, we got him over to the steps into the house.  Once the door was open, Buu got up and climbed the steps on his own power.  Then he walked over to his blanket and collapsed.  He hasn't done anything other that lift his head briefly since then.  It took about half an hour to get him into the house!  I think the clinic should have kept him a couple of hours before sending him home!  If Dean hadn't been there, I never would have been able to get him into the house!

Since we didn't want to even try to get him upstairs, Dean made a little nest of comforters and the two of them crashed downstairs.  This morning, Buu's a tiny bit more alert.  He's sitting up, at any rate.  I'm worried that he's a little dehydrated, because he drooled a lake at the clinic, but he doesn't seem interested in water.  Or greenies, his favorite thing in the universe next to his ring toy. 

Here's some info on his condition, which is called a lick granuloma abscess

X-posted to Manga Maniac Cafe.

I met Bryce and Mara for dinner tonight.  It's been a while since I last saw them, and it was fun catching up on what's new.

I left a little early so I could browse the manga aisles at Borders.  I had a gift certificate from Dean that was burning a hole in my pocket, and a 25% off any book coupon that expired today.  After combing the shelves, I decided to give Princess Princess by Mikiyo Tsuda a try, since I had enjoyed the first volume of The Day of Revolution.

As I was making my selection, Bryce found me.  After he made a book selection (A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin, and for everyone that hasn't read it yet, READ IT!), we collected Mara and stood in a really, really long line to pay for our purchases.  It amazes me that people are so out of it that they stand at the front of the line for five minutes, with the cashier trying to get their attention before realizing that there's an open register.

Bryce drove us over to Oishi, and on the way, Mara presented me with a stick thingy that was covered with wrapping paper.  The short drive over, I pondered what it could possibly be.  Not having an imagination, I couldn't figure it out until I tore the paper off.  I am the proud owner of a pure-bred stick horse!!!!  Brown with a blond mane, this steed is very noble and is much better behaved than my nasty mare.  I must ponder a name suitable for such a grand mount.  As an added bonus, I can now take part in the stick pony classes at the horse shows!!  (They also gave me Hello Kitty chopsticks, which I'm sure I'll be compelled to save for some special occasion)  Thanks!

At Oishi, we were seated and a rather clueless young waiter asked what we wanted to drink.  I replied water & tea, because I was really thirsty, and he started off without even waiting to see what Bryce and Mara wanted!  He was quickly stopped and everyone gave their beverage orders. 

For dinner, I tried the vegetable ramen without soup broth.  It was a little bland, so I ordered some kimchi to go with it.  My complaint about my meal?  Three hours after eating it, I'm dying of thirst.  I don't know if they use MSG, or whether my sinus medicine has dried me out. 

Mara ordered the vegetable tempura and Bryce got the teriyaki beef (right?).  The food wasn't bad, and it was very reasonably priced, but the service stank.  I don't know if our waiter was new or just had no customer service skills.

After eating, we ran over to Mirai and One World Market.  I stocked up on some junk food, and really wish I had been brave enough to try the red bean mochi.  Maybe next time.

Here's the part where I got stupid.  Bryce dropped me off at my car, and I forget to return the games he lent to me!! I am going to blame this lapse on still be under the weather.  We'll have to get together soon so I can give you back your stuff!!  Sorry!!!