Don't Drink the Opinions

Relaxation

2009-11-12T13:15:00.001-06:00

Think Chickie likes to be able to get on the couch now? I think so.

Halloween

2009-11-02T10:55:00.002-06:00

We had a costume party at work this year for Halloween, so I dug out my Trinity-from-The-Matrix plastic coat. I've used it for three parties now, and I think this is it for this particular costume - the seams are falling apart. Not to mention that the Matrix was a while ago now, and I got some "What are you? A spy?" questions. But I also got some compliments, which is always nice!

Most people at work went all out with the costumes, and it was a fun day at the office. Click on the picture to see more from the party. If I have to have a costume next year, I'm going to go for something more breathable. That plastic gets sticky-sweaty.

On a side note, we put a huge bowl of candy out to avoid barking-wildly-at-the-doorbell all night. The honor system worked well for a while - I'm guessing as long as the trick-or-treaters were young enough for their parents to be there. But somebody came by after dark and cleaned us out, almost taking the bowl with them as well. I had been checking on it periodically, and the hoodlums-in-training made off with almost half of what we bought. Boo on them. Maybe they'll go into sugar shock...

Nice Girl

2009-10-26T10:03:00.003-05:00

Meet our newest guest, Nice Girl (aka Cindy Lou Who, the littlest greyhound in Whoville). She was going to be here for a few days, but she has My Tall Guy wrapped around her sweet, little paws so she's staying as a foster.

She's a senior girl - 12 years old. She came from a breeding farm that's closing along with several other oldies-but-goodies. She raced quite a while herself, and then had two litters of puppies.

She's thin and shaky but her spirit is willing. She's loves to be loved on, and has a good appetite in spite of her horrible teeth. Hopefully she'll be getting a dental cleaning in a week or so after she's been on antibiotics for a while - her poor mouth can stink up a room right now and I know she's hurting.

So far she's getting along with all the other girls - the only problem is when the rowdies rush past her - she's easy to knock down.

The Odyssey

2009-10-19T10:50:00.003-05:00

Since we added Chick to the family, we didn't really have a vehicle we could load all three dogs into comfortably. We liked our road trip to Santa Fe and want to be able to go on more dog-included trips. So we now own a minivan. Yes, you heard me - a minivan. A white Honda Odyssey.

Let the naming contest begin! Here are some of my ideas:

The Hounda
A Space Odyssey (It's not a 2001 - but still...)
Greyt White Whale

Got any good names? Share them!

All joking aside, it's easy to drive and park. It's roomy - the seats fold down or remove without a big hassle. I like the 'Mom' mirror that lets me see what everyone is up to without turning around. The dogs have given it two paws up so far.

The gas mileage doesn't suck - 17/25. It drops down from six cylinder to three or four cylinders when you're cruising along. It's got a nice row of bag hooks in the way back to keep your groceries from rolling around.

Not a glamorous vehicle by any means, but it's functional! Minivans have come a long way - I can't say that they'll ever be 'cool', but this one has been a pleasant surprise.

Chick - Adopted

2009-10-04T15:08:00.003-05:00

By us!

Our heads said that we didn't need to adopt another brindle girl, but our hearts said we couldn't let her go. Chick of the flop-forward ears is the newest member of our family.

Some potential adopters came by to see her last Monday, and as the week wore on we found ourselves hoping they would pick a different dog. When they did choose another greyhound, we pounced on Chick.

I'm going to tell everyone I got My Tall Guy a 'young chick' for his birthday. :-)

Happy Birthday to My Tall Guy!

2009-10-04T15:07:00.001-05:00

You may now go back to your regular scheduled programming...

Violet

2009-10-02T11:20:00.002-05:00

With people inquiring about Chick and Zsa Zsa, at least one of the two may be adopted soon. So we brought home Violet. She's a sweet, shy girl who had been at the boarding kennel for a while after being returned from her adopted home.

Violet has very expressive ears and quite the overbite. She's getting along find with the other girls so far, and has been showing a playful side with them. She is definitely shy of people, but she will approach us when we're sitting down. We need to work with her, but she's going to be a wonderful addition to somebody's family.

Storm Front

2009-10-02T11:11:00.001-05:00

Watching this storm front roll in was impressive. Bright blue skies on one side, dark menacing clouds on the other. The cooler air hit all at once, and then the deluge...

Five Years!

2009-09-28T16:31:00.003-05:00

Don't Drink the Opinions is five years old! It's hard to believe I've been blogging that long.

The frequency of my posting has waxed and waned, but here I am! I'm still puttering along and hopefully there are still a few people checking in now and then.

Last Days in Santa Fe

2009-09-25T20:35:00.003-05:00

It was another relaxed-pace morning on Thursday. But eventually we went out for a little bit of strolling around and we had lunch at Pasqual's again! We had breakfast food for lunch this time. Their whole wheat pancakes are divine - just the right consistency and a very good flavor. My Tall Guy had the Huevos Motulenos.

We had to rush lunch just a bit so we could make it back in time to head out for our spa appointment. Leslie and I had Japanese Organic Massage Facials at Ten Thousand Waves Spa, an experience I'd love to repeat. The spa is up in the mountains a bit, just a few miles from Santa Fe. Beautiful setting, and a very nice atmosphere. The facial was delightful, and I found hair barrettes made with kimono fabric that I had to have, along with a little glazed turtle.

For Dinner, we went to Maria's New Mexican Kitchen. With a hundred margaritas on the menu, you know we had to have one! The house margarita was decent, but paled in comparison to the Sauza Commemorativo margarita. I had a tamale plate - one pork and one vegetarian. Delicious, and just the right amount of food. Leslie had the veggie fajitas, and My Tall Guy had the combination plate with a little bit of everything.

Friday morning, the girls were in rare form for our walk - they were zippy enough that we walked almost to the Plaza and back - over 2 miles!

There was no lounging around Friday morning! We had a mission to accomplish for the last day in Santa Fe - find some art. We shopped until My Tall Guy dropped, and then after he was restored by lunch at Plaza Cafe, we did it again. The menu is eclectic, to say the least: New Mexican dishes, Greek dishes, and American comfort food. I went with a burger topped with portabella mushrooms and cactus. It was huge and quite tasty. Very good fries as well. I brought the remainder of my burger home as a treat for Delilah and Jezebel.

It took coffee at Downtown Subscription to keep us going, but we ended up with some great wood carvings, pottery, and a few other odds and ends. One of my favorite Canyon Road galleries turned out to be La Mesa, not that I managed to see more than a small fraction of them...

Still More Santa Fe

2009-09-24T09:21:00.003-05:00

I was hoping that my allergies would be better here, as they are sometimes when we travel. But that hasn't been the case at all - my fall allergies are still in full swing. I tried Claritin, I tried Zyrtec, but in the end I've had to rely on Benadryl. Which is a fine line to walk, especially in the dry air here. Take it too often, and my nose will dry up too much and I'll end up with nosebleeds. Don't take it enough, and I'll be blowing my nose every two minutes and I'll end up with nosebleeds. So far I've managed to walk that tightrope, but I'm not feeling confident that I'll escape unscathed.

Wednesday was a lazy morning of walking the dogs, reading, and breakfast at the house. Eventually we went to the Guadalupe district for shopping and lunch. The shopping wasn't inspiring, although I did enjoy one antique furniture shop. Lunch at Zia Diner was very good. We started with crispy asparagus with wasabi-ranch dipping sauce. I had stewed Moroccan chicken - a nice change of pace from all the enchiladas. My Tall Guy had their 'famous' organic meatloaf with green chile and pine nuts. I tried some of the crab-cake sliders that Leslie got, and they were very good too, especially with the mango salsa. I tried a pomegranate cosmo - it was decent, but not inspiring.

We headed back to the house with full bellies - I hadn't slept well so I needed a nap! More reading and lounging around filled out the afternoon for me.

The Rooftop Pizzeria had been recommended to us by friends. Since there was a good chance of rain, we ordered up a couple of pizzas to pick up and eat at the house. The first one had fresh mozzarella, tomato slices, roast garlic spread & basil. The second was their BLT pizza: apple-smoked bacon, tomato, mozzarella, provolone & blue cheese topped with avocado and lettuce with red sauce. We broke out a bottle of red wine and attacked the pizza with vigor. They were delicious!

Next up, investigating the spa treatments available - I need a facial!

More Santa Fe

2009-09-23T09:28:00.004-05:00

If might sound like all we've done in Santa Fe is eat... We've also been relaxing at the house - lots of naps for everyone, lots of reading for me, and some football for My Tall Guy. We've also been taking the dogs on walks around downtown Santa Fe and window shopping. I've usually remembered to take the camera, but apparently it's the remembering to take pictures with it that's the problem!

My phone doesn't get reception at the house, which is kind of forcing me to get away from it all. Although I am keeping up with email to an extent - reading but trying not to reply unless it's urgent.

But on to the food! Tuesday was a day full of New Mexican cuisine. We strolled to Cafe Pasqual's for lunch, and the wait was very short this time. Their soup of the day was chipotle pecan, which sounded too interesting to pass up. It was unique and tasty. My Tall Guy had a taco, tamal & chile relleno plate and I think it was all he could do not to lick the plate clean. I had polenta with portabella mushrooms, spinach, and a roasted red pepper sauce. It was definitely good, but not mind-blowing. We've decided we need to try their breakfast menu before we leave.

We checked out a couple of art galleries on Canyon Rd - wow, beautiful - and wow, expensive. We really like the wind sculptures and kinetic sculptures.

We had dinner at The Shed. I had a cup of mushroom soup, and chicken enchiladas with red & green chile sauce. Spicy chiles! My Tall Guy had a cheese enchilada and a green-chile turkey sausage taco. Our friend Leslie joined us in Santa Fe yesterday, and she had the grilled shrimp which was fabulous. The margaritas were tangy, and better than the ones at the Rooftop Cantina.

I think today I'll do some real shopping, not just window shopping.

Santa Fe Dining

2009-09-22T07:53:00.003-05:00

Sunday we went exploring in the beautiful, sunny weather. We found the art galleries on Canyon Road and the Plaza. We wanted to try out Cafe Pasqual's since it has been highly recommended, but even at 1pm the line was long and it was going to be 2:30 before they could seat us! So we'll go back there another day.

Instead, we went to the Rooftop Cantina of Coyote Cafe. It was a good choice - the weather was perfect and the margaritas were strong. We started with shrimp ceviche - yummy! I had the fish tacos - they were seasoned to perfection. A very enjoyable first meal out. We were so full after that, we had a snack at the house for dinner.

Monday we went to La Choza for lunch for more New Mexican cuisine. We started with chips and salsa (it was hot!), as well as a cup of green chile clam chowder. I had the blue corn burritos with red & green chile. My Tall Guy tried the cheese enchilada and pork adovada. Everything was delicious and the service was good.

We left room for dinner this time! In a change of pace, we went with Italian food at Il Piatto. A very good choice indeed. We split a fabulous heirloom tomato salad. My Tall Guy had one of the specials - frutti di mare over linguini. I ordered the pumpkin ravioli with brown sage butter & pine nuts. The ravioli was heavenly - a fine blend of subtle flavors. We shared a bottle of wine, and forewent dessert.

So far we haven't had a bad meal here - I'd go back to any of the three restaurants!

Brrrr!

2009-09-22T07:45:00.003-05:00

The weather here has been great - sunny and cool during the day. But I got up this morning to let the puppers out and it's 32 F! Weather says high of 52 today.

Brrrrr!

I didn't quite pack for freezing weather, but I do have the coats for the dogs. I'm going to try to delay the morning walkies until it's in the 40s...

Walking along the Santa Fe River

2009-09-21T09:13:00.001-05:00

On the Road - Dallas to Santa Fe

2009-09-21T08:33:00.006-05:00

It's probably not a good idea to start the morning of a road trip by knocking a sharp knife off the counter and onto the top of your foot. Especially not a road trip that's taking you to a town where you were planning on doing a lot of walking and maybe even some hiking. But there I was, cleaning up my foot and running to the pharmacy for some butterfly bandages.

Thankfully, My Tall Guy walked the dogs while I was on my errand, so we were ready to load up the truck not too long after I got back. We hit the road, the girls settled down in the back, and we were on our way! Until we turned around 20 minutes later to go back to the house for a forgotten laptop power cord. But this time, we were really on our way! A little later than planned, but we're apparently a little rusty when it comes to driving adventures.

And can I just say that I was a little surprised at the amount of stuff I packed for our two hounds. Beds, food, bowls, treats, toys, two sets of leashes, poop bags, coats (lows in the 40s!), and a baby gate. Here they are all snuggled in the backseat on top of their bedding:

It was a very smooth drive. We took turns driving and napping. Stopped for a few potty breaks, and stretching of two and four legs. There's a whole lot of Texas in Texas! There's quite a bit of New Mexico too, but the hills were more interesting to look at.

Ten hours later we were safe and sound in Santa Fe!

Yeller - Adopted!

2009-09-07T18:55:00.002-05:00

Yeller is such a sweet dog inside the house, and has gotten so much better about pulling on walks outside the house. I have no idea why we've had him for so long - almost four months!

But I guess he was just waiting for the perfect forever home. He will now be living with one bossy female greyhound instead of four of them! His new greyhound sister is turning 13 this year and looks fabulous. She was one of GALT's first few greyhounds. Amazing...

I'm going to miss you ya' big lug.

Tomato Surprise

2009-08-28T11:15:00.002-05:00

We didn't plant tomatoes - it just appeared behind the nandinas in the back yard - now it's huge! And it has little green tomatoes on it.

The last rain beat it down a bit, but it's more or less being supported by the shrubbery. Will it continue to thrive? Will we actually get edible tomatoes from it? Stay tuned...

Charging Ahead

2009-08-24T10:44:00.003-05:00

Trying to keep all of my electronic devices charged has become more complicated than it should be. I can usually remember to charge my phone on my nightstand, but everything else is haphazard, and my list of gadgets seems to be growing:

Kindle
Phone
Bluetooth Headset
iPod
Camera
Garmin Forerunner

I hate going to use something and finding out it's dead, so I've decided I need to create a charging station in my house. Somewhere that will become my one spot for plugging things in so I can get into a habit with it. But it needs to be more than a tangle of cords plugged into a power strip. I've looked at a few DIY plans and I might go that route - wish me luck!

Jimbo - Adopted!

2009-08-17T10:06:00.003-05:00

Jimbo got a new home this weekend!

I have a good feeling that he's going to be loved like crazy, and spoiled rotten. He deserves every bit of it, because he's just a complete darling.

And we're down to five dogs in the house!

Vibram FiveFingers

2009-07-31T11:06:00.002-05:00

The Tall Guy and I got pairs of Vibram FiveFingers KSO shoes not too long ago. They're even better than going barefoot, especially with hot summer sidewalks in Texas!

They were really difficult to put on the first couple of times - my toes didn't want to cooperate. But now they slide on pretty easily. I like being barefoot (which is a good thing with TKD!), so I really like these.

Why they're called five fingers instead of five toes, I'll never know...

They're supposed to be good for building up the stability muscles in your legs and improving posture. We'll see about that, but I do know that they're very comfortable to wear. I love being able to feel the texture of the ground underneath my feet without worrying about burning hot sidewalks or sharp rocks.

I've walked the dogs in them (and even jogged for short bits) and have gone to the lake in them. I like them enough to think about buying another pair in a different style (with the strap, but without the mesh all across the top - kind of a Mary Jane).

Push-Up Variations

2009-07-28T15:40:00.004-05:00

I had no idea there we so many different variations of the simple push-up. This post on the Art of Manliness blog documents over 35 varieties. Some of these look impossible! But then again, I struggle at times with the normal ones.

The video examples are worth gawking at even if you don't want to try them out yourself. There are some amazingly fit people in this world.

I'd still like to try the 100-pushups plan again sometime, but my shoulder needs some down time right now.

Awkward

2009-07-23T14:39:00.002-05:00

Awkward Family Photos

I keep finding it, and the forgetting about it for a while, and then finding it again. I think I could probably dig up some old family pictures that would fit right in. It's one of those sites that's hard to stop paging through...hugely entertaining time-waster.

Facebook

2009-07-23T13:24:00.003-05:00

I finally caved in to the peer pressure and joined Facebook.

No strong opinions about it yet - we'll see if it's more than just one more online site that I barely have time to keep up with. I've recently started up a social network group for GALT on Ning as well, so that's taking up some time. The flip side is that I put my Etsy shop on vacation for a while and stopped following a few message boards and blogs altogether.

And of course, there's this blog. I've been blogging for almost five years now and even though my posting frequency slows to a snail crawl sometimes, I still keep at it. So I figure this is going to stay around.

I'm still determined that twitter is not for me!

Drive Time

2009-07-21T09:27:00.003-05:00

My commute recently went from 25 miles to 1.5 miles. I had been working at a client's office for quite some time, but am now back at my company's office.

It's made a huge difference! The long drive would take anywhere from 35 minutes (on an extremely good day) to well over an hour (on a very bad day). My drive now is never over 8 minutes.

I've regained at least an hour and a half each day! It feels like luxury. I'm not rushing as much in the morning, and I have time to unwind in the evening (and don't need so much unwinding due to less traffic stress). It's nice to be able to run home for lunch with My Tall Guy too.