Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
pets

alice

Meet the newest member of the mutt brigade: Alice. We just got her today at The Somerset Humane Society. As you might be able to tell, she’s a Doberman mix. Mixed with what? Well, that’s anyone’s guess, but the Somerset people are guessing some type of hound. And, yes, her ass really is that fat. Guess who’s now on a diet?

Let’s see…she’s supposed to be around 5 years of age and is already fixed. Supposedly she is also house-trained. We’ll see about that. I certainly hope that is the case–that would be nice. Right now, she’s napping on the dog bed. If her breathing is any indication of what she sounds like when she’s sleeping, she won’t be sleeping in my bedroom tonight as I had originally planned. With the way she smells, that’s probably not a bad idea anyway. I gave her a quick bath this evening, but it didn’t get all of the stink off. I need to make her an appointment at the groomer’s pronto.

While she looks like a Doberman in the pictures, she is quite squat and doesn’t have the barrel chest that Dobermans have. She is also quite a bit shorter than a Doberman. I’m anxious to see what she’ll look like once she drops the extra pounds.

So far, she and Lizzy are getting along fairly well. Alice is pretty laid back. Lizzy’s not used to that, but I imagine she’ll adjust. Marley was totally pissed when he saw the new dog (but Alice didn’t seem to care one way or the other about the cat). It was almost worth adopting her just for that scene.

It’s nice to have a bigger dog in the house again. I guess she could be classified somewhere between medium and large. It was amazing how much safer I felt when Ripley was around. It is nice to have that security blanket again.

After Ripley died, I thought it might be a good thing to only have the one dog, so we were planning on trying that for a good, long while. But, there’s just something nice about having two of them and I finally talked Brian into getting another dog. We didn’t want to get another Doberman since Jake is still so young, but we did want something on the bigger side. But, obviously something that was good around kids. We were figuring on a mixed breed and this Doberman mix seemed to fit the bill, so here we are.

As is the custom, when I get a new dog, I have to pay for Brian’s next tattoo appointment (with the house money, rather than making him save up his hard-earned dough). Don’t ask me how this got started, but he’s already made his next appointment.

relationships

the backdoor cafe

Tonight we blew an equivalent of a week’s worth of grocery money on dinner. And, it was worth it. I’d been wanting to check out the Back Door Cafe for quite a while now. I decided that it would be the perfect place to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this month. While our anniversary isn’t until the end of the month, Jake was scheduled to stay at my parent’s this evening, so we decided tonight would be the perfect time to go out.

We were forewarned that their portions were small. How small? Well, I had to choke back a giggle when they put down my plate of “assorted cheese and olives”. I was picturing these big wedges of cheese and a little bowl of olives. Instead, the plate had four little cheese cubes and five olives on it. Unfortunately, it was so good, that I would pay the exorbitant price to have it again. Shortly thereafter, our dinners arrived, and I received the best compliment of the night when Brian dug into his Veal Saltimbocca and exclaimed, “This tastes like something you’d make at home!” Now, I’m hardly comparing myself to a chef, but I do cook. A lot. I’ve been known to follow a recipe or two in my day. So, being that we were at such a nice restaurant, it was cool to hear.

Actually, this was one of the best restaurants I’ve been to. Anywhere. Ever. They had great service–the chef even came out and talked to everyone, etc. I feel that all of that is part of the price. It was good entertainment, anyway. Definitely a “dining experience.”

Just to let you know how small the portions were, I ordered dessert. I probably wouldn’t have, but they had creme brulee on the menu. I’ve never had it, but have been wanting to try it so this seemed like a good time to do so (it’s not every day that we’re going to eat at the Back Door Cafe). It was excellent, too. Everything we had was terrific.

And, since we were there for our anniversary (they asked), they gave us two chocolate truffles as a parting gift. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into those tomorrow. The portions might be small, but I’m still full. So maybe the issue is that it is the perception that the portions are small because they normally give you too much food in restaurants.

I hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining about their prices, because I’m not. They had quite a few reasonably priced items on the menu. It’s just that we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary, so we ordered whatever we wanted for our food and drink. This kind of thing doesn’t happen every day. I’d like to go back there sometime and either stop in the bar for a drink or try some of their other (less expensive) items. But, this is definitely not a place where you’d want to take the kid, so it could be a while till we go back there.

Anyway, we had a great time this evening and the restaurant gets my highest recommendation.

work

all good things must come to an end

Alas! It had to happen sooner or later. Starting next Monday, I will be a full-time employee again. Coincidentally (or not!), I’m going full-time 6 days after 6/6/06. Additionally, this is all happening after working full-time for 6 years and then part-time for 6 years. Hmm.

Anyway, besides the 666 stuff, I’m doing this for a number of reasons, some of which will likely become apparent over the next year, some of which may never become apparent. Part of the reason I’m doing this is that I no longer have an excuse not to–now that Jake’s going to be going to school all day long in the fall (1st grade), I can comfortably work full-time and not have to worry about things like childcare (I have a pretty flexible schedule). He’d have to go to daycare in the summer either way, so that’s not an excuse that I can use, either. The extra money will definitely be nice. Who doesn’t like extra money? Ask me in a week…

friends

cookout

We went to our first cookout of the year today. Not the best weather for it, but at least it didn’t rain (while we were there, anyway–it’s raining now.). A guy Brian used to work with had a party and invited a bunch of people from Brian’s old workplace, so it gave him an opportunity to catch up with some of his old friends and to meet some new people that are now working there. Jake got to play with some kids, so he was happy. I got to pet two well-behaved dogs, so I was happy. I guess you could call it a good day for all of us.

food & drink

signs that you might be drinking too much?

OK. So I made my monthly trip to the liquor store today to stock up on essentials. I went to the same checkout lady as last month. Obviously not remembering me, she asked me if I was having a party. I replied “Nah, I’m just thirsty.” I sort of clarified that comment by explaining that I was stocking up on stuff. There was more banter along these same lines. Then, as I’m leaving the store, the clerk says “Have a great summer!” And I’m thinking, “See you next month!”