Of cats and dogs.

I have to make this more to the point than story-teller-ish* as I've clearly done too much office work today and my hands are bothering me.  A whole post in and of itself, but I may not go there.

First the dogs.  Per Mary's request over at Bread and Roses.

I found the previously mentioned Chicago Dog at Captain Jack's Roadside Shack, which is new little joint in Easthampton on our way to blueberry picking.  I'm not sure if they have it regularly as it's not listed on their website as one of the items, but I will be going back to find out.  I did not take a photo - I often take a photo of very delicious things - as my phone was fresh out of memory, could not hold any more photos, and I was too hungry to erase something in order to make room.

From Wikipedia:

A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard; chopped white onions; bright green sweet pickle relish; a dill pickle spear; tomato slices or wedges; pickled sport peppers; and a dash of celery salt. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be "dragged through the garden" due to the many toppings. The method for cooking the hot dog itself varies depending on the respective vendor's preference. Most often they are steamed, water-simmered or grilled over charcoal, the latter of which are referred to as "char-dogs." 

The canonical recipe does not include ketchup, and there is a widely-shared, strong opinion among many Chicagoans and aficionados that ketchup is unacceptable. A number of Chicago hot dog vendors do not offer ketchup as a condiment.

I'll let you head over to Wikipedia to get the History and such.  While, as you can see, they do not typically have ketchup, I do prefer mine with as I am notoriously a Condiment Queen.    I could also take or leave the onions, and while I first learn of these spectacular dogs in Chi-Town itself, I have never actually had it on a poppy seed bun.  As there is quite a lot to do in order to get everything on there, I often take a bit of a shortcut and my home version has dill relish, tomato, sliced peperoncini, ketchup and celery salt.  Ooooh, my taste buds just water to think about it....

And now for the cats.

It turns out Stubby was doing it too.  I know that BatCat was the main culprit, but pee-puddles don't form themselves.  Turns out they really were having a Pissing Match.

So now we have two porch kitties.  I was fairly worried about Stubby for the first week as he could hardly be coaxed out from under the porch even to eat, but he seems to have settled in nicely enough.  Sure he still yowls occasionally.  And he did try to sneak back in just tonight, but he seems to be holding his own. I got them each a Kitty Cubby for the porch and their huge tree-shaped scratching post is now on the front porch.  The neighbors must think we are nuts.

In my opinion, the house still smells of cat pee.  I've had feedback that it doesn't, but I'm not sure if 1) they were just being nice, or 2) they didn't get a whiff because they weren't in the right spot.  There is heavy cleaning in our future, but once it is done then it is done.  And then we will be able to get a new rug and new couch and new chair... ok, I may be a bit wistful now... but when we can afford it, we won't have to worry about pee and fur and scratching!

*TW informs me I am no good at this as I have "been typing away furiously over there," but really, I did have a lot more to say.

I should post...

Sorry about the absence.  No good reason why, just generally unmotivated.  We have done some awesome things in the past two weeks: the usuals of farmers market, CSA pick-ups and dairy farm, but also went to a museum and local volunteer-run railway station with new friends, blueberry picking, town fundraiser, and found the best place for Chicago Dogs this side of Chicago (YUM!).  Have many photos on my phone, but have yet to transfer them for sharing.  Perhaps we just need a revitalization.  Mozart knows.  Every morning he says, "Go on vacation?!? Today!?!"  Nope, not today kid, but it's coming very soon.  Very soon indeed.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

He did it!  He pooped on the potty!!  Oh, how we have been waiting for this!  Now we can get down to the business of REAL potty training.  I mean, having a pee pee accident is not fun and all, but one cannot profess to really be into potty training unless and until one has successfully pooped on the pot!  *

It all happened like this: 

We got home and nearly immediately Mozart announced his 5 o'clock poop, "Mama, I pooping!"

"Oh, wonderful darling.  How about going on the potty?" I say.

"No, I good."

*sigh*  

We go upstairs to get cleaned up and I put in the frequently watched Potty Power video for our viewing pleasure.  He watches, he answers the overly cheerful lady's questions, he sings along, and then we go about our evening of admiring the equipment for sale in a recent volume of TractorHouse Northeast**, running amok with packing material while the moms make dinner, eating dinner, and playing with tractors.

Then, an unexpected announcement, "Mommy, I gonna poop 'gain."

To which Mommy replies, "Hey, do you want to go on the potty?!?"

"No."

And both moms exclaim, "Ewe!" and "Grossness!" and "We were hoping you'd use the big boy potty." and "Cuz big boys use the potty!"  

He did say vehemently that, "I am a big boy!", but declined just then to go upstairs to do the deed.

Shortly thereafter, he did go upstairs to get ready for bed with Mommy.  I go about feeding the cats and am readying myself to take a walk when I get paged from upstairs: 

"Mama!"

"Yes, darling?"

"I did it!"

"Oh?  What did you do?" I ask looking up the stairs to see a completely naked boy dancing with his arms outstretched.

"I POOPED!! I did! On the potteeeeee!"

"You did!?! Really?!?"

"I diiiiiiiiid! Come see!"

I oohed and awed.  I exclaimed at the stink, and waved my hands about acting as if I were to faint from it.  We had a grand time.  As I made my way back downstairs, I overheard him repeating, "I got Potty Power!" over and over.  Apparently Grammie and Papa were called to share the excitement.  

We are very proud of our boy indeed.

*Sorry, folks, you knew this was a blog about family life. And you knew that we have a toddler.  And with toddlers comes potty training and these kinds of fantastic milestones.  I do want to point out that I did not take a picture of said poop to share with you.  You have, at least, been spared that.

** This brilliant publication, while somewhat boring for me to read, is endlessly fascinating to Mozart:

 

Eat more kale, they say.

And I finally figured out how!

I have known for some time that kale is good for you.  That we should eat more. Loaded with anti-oxidants and all that.  And last summer I was turned on to kale chips, which was fine and all, but I find that they become fairly intolerable if not eaten fresh. And who wants to turn the oven on in the middle of summer to bake them - even if it is only at 275...  Globetrotter came up with the idea of storing them with the freshness packets (silica, I think) found in vitamin jars and seaweed snacks.  I've yet to try it, but I have some hope anyway.

Today, I think I came upon a winner, though!  I can't take credit for the idea (the thanks goes to a random lady at our CSA pickup), and I've yet to tweak the dressing to perfection, but this worked so well, even Mozart ate his entire serving!!  And there was NO COOKING involved.  Not one hot burner or pot holder to contend with on this ninety degree day.  I did not take pictures - somehow I've managed to take the allotted 1500 photos my SD card will hold (again), so I need to download the good ones, and delete the others so I can start over.

Basically, you wash it, cut the hard spine out, and then massage the raw kale until it loses its chalky appearance and turns bright green. Rip it into bite size pieces, toss with your dressing and enjoy as you would any salad.  I used sesame oil and lemon juice, which was quite tasty, but I didn't measure and it could have used a bit more zing, so I'll let you experiment with your own dressings - and do let me know if you find one that works well!

We will be having this again.  And I am no longer afraid that nearly all of our kale from the CSA will go to waste as it has done every year in the past.  Nor will I avoid it like the plague if it is one of the offerings!

Pissing Match

It seems that's what we've got going on over here.

About two weeks ago we decided we'd had enough of BatCat peeing in inappropriate places and we put her out.  That is, she is now an outside cat.

For a very long time, we did not know which cat was the culprit of the random peeing, but we long suspected that it was BatCat.  She just has that streak of vengefulness in her personality that Stubby doesn't. But the evidence was building against her as well: she was often seen scoping out the places that had recently been targeted, my parents suitcase was peed in when they visited (she had recently been seen in their room, whereas Stubby was afraid), at times she would be found in other unhit places, sniffing about with her mouth open, and then when she escaped outside, twice, for long stretches, there were no further hits.    This was not done without a lot of thought, procrastination, and multiple, multiple attempts at trying to find her another home.  But we had no luck.  And the list of items that we had to throw away was growing exponentially.*

When it first started happening we took both cats to the vet to make sure there wasn't a medical issue.  Nope.  He said it was clearly behavioral.  We did all kinds of things the vet suggested, and friends who are good with this kind of thing, but the problem continues.  We looked into sending her to a "no kill" shelter, but it turns out that they do have to put down cats with this kind of behavior because they just can't rehome them either.  We nearly got a commitment to take her from a friend who has a barn and a lot of land so that she could be a barn cat, but it turns out there is a fox den on her land and that would be just as certain of a death sentence.

We tried to put her out and let her back in at night, but that really just seemed to make the problem worse.  So out she went.  For good this time.  We feed her twice a day as we did before, but we take the food in after a period of time so as not to attract animals or ants.  She finds her own place to pee and poo.  She sleeps under the porch or in a small cat hut I put on the back porch.

BatCat seems to be holding her own outside.  She is hanging around and coming like clockwork for mealtime.  At first she hid under the porch most of the time, but now she can mostly be found on the step or lounging in the backyard.  She has not given up about wanting back in though, and nearly every time we open the door she makes an attempt at installing herself as a house cat once again.

Since the change, Stubby has seemed much happier and more relaxed.  They never did get along all that well.  Let's face it, she terrorized him.  We are also much more relaxed with out the constant threat of something else being ruined.

Then, yesterday, she got in.  It was for less than a minute.  TW was leaving, she snuck in, TW called out, and I went to find her.  I thought she'd have gone upstairs right away, but I found her next to the stroller, and put her straight out again.  That was that. Or so I thought.

This morning, when preparing to go to the Farmers Market, I found that the stroller had been peed on, so add to the list below one reusable grocery bag, an umbrella, a blanket, and several brochures of things I'd wanted to check out.  I doused the stroller with Nature's Miracle, and we have yet to find out if that needs to be on the list of lost items.

So one of two things happened.  Either BatCat is extremely vengeful AND extremely quick about it. Or it was Stubby.  If it was Stubby, though, was this coincidence?  Was it because BatCat got in and threatened what is now his territory?  Or do we have a second problem on our hands?  I have scoured the house to see if there have been any other hits.  I have not found any new spots.  In one of the old spots I found what, most likely (?), is a small drop of missed grossness, but not a full hit.

I am trying not to be paranoid.  I am trying not to think about what we will do with Stubby if he has also acquired this very bad habit.  He is afraid of the outdoors.  He is a Scaredy Cat.  I am more scared about his survival out of doors... So now I guess we wait.

*List of Casualties (may not be inclusive due to being forgotten, not disclosed by TW, or not yet found)

1. Booster Seat
2. Foam Play Mat
3. Play room rug
4. Two shelves full of video cassettes (including classics such as Fried Green Tomatoes)
5. Three Pairs of shoes
6. Over-the-door shoe holder thingamajig
7. Two bathrobes
8. Skirt
9. A bra
10. My favorite satchel 
11. Our entire stash of tea
12. File cabinet 
13. And multiple cardboard boxes protecting other items in the vicinity of target areas
14. Other things listed in above post and possibly a wool rug, which we can't bear to admit.

Dangerous Beasts!

Kiki's closed early today, so I figured I'd take Mozart to Magic Wings as it's been several months and every time we pass it, he exclaims that he wants butterflies.  He was thrilled when I picked him up and told him.

He continued to be thrilled all the way there, through a snack beforehand, and for the first half hour or so.

Then, God forbid, a butterfly landed on him:

"MAMA! It got me! BUTTERFLY DANGEROUS!!! I want Mommy!  I want her now!  I scared!"

The remainder of his visit was spent mainly in my arms rather than his usual running around, and then was ended rather abruptly when another one of those dangerous beasts landed on him.  He still wanted (and received) a stuffed butterfly from the gift shop on the way out - I figure, perhaps the toy will bring more benign thoughts about butterflies...

On the bright side we got home in time for me to make a proper dinner when I was planning something akin to sandwiches had we gotten home at the planned time.

Fire Tractors

Poor thing.  The Boy went to bed over an hour and a half ago.  He somehow convinced The Wife that it would be ok to bring his small fire truck and tiny new tractor to bed with him.  But until just moments ago he was playing with them both - in the dark, mind you - and having a running conversation with them.  When TW went in to remove the inhibitors of sleep there was protesting and crying.  But, as I say, that was moments ago and he is now fully asleep.

Earlier today I had another chiropractor appointment.  I can't recall if I mentioned it here, but for the longest time Mozart could not pronounce "chiropractor".  Instead he said "Fire Tractor".  Well, he's moved beyond that and now comes much closer to saying it, though you might be confused if you didn't have the context.  He now also knows that the chiropractor is a doctor and fixes things, namely Mama, and knows his name so that he can properly address him as Dr. Chiro, as well as the Secretary's name.  He also gathered that Dr. Chiro recently got a concussion from overhearing the secretary and I talking, so when Dr. Chiro came into the room, Mozart pipes up, "Hi Dr. Chiro.  Gotta bump on da head. Car did it. All better now?"

Can I just say how proud I am of this kid in times like this?!  Dr. Chiro said he has better conversations with Mozart than he does with his 11 year old nephew.  Proud Mama over here.

RAWR!

We took Mozart to see his first movie tonight.  It's been wicked hot and we all needed a break, so off we went to Monsters University.

As we went last minute we smuggled our dinner in to go along with the popcorn.  He did fantastically!   At two and a quarter, he was by far the youngest movie-goer of the evening by a good 5 or more years.*  I'm sure there were several groans of anticipated movie-interruption when we showed up, but he was an absolute star.  He paid attention, kept mostly quiet, and even laughed appropriately!

On the way home he was RAWRing intermittently for the whole 35 minute drive.  I was sure he'd fall asleep on the way, but he was so excited by the whole thing that he just RAWRed away the whole time.  And when we got home he was so tired, though still RAWRing, that he didn't even want stories or songs, and just went straight to sleep.  He is such a good boy.

*Disclaimer: Mozart had a four hour nap this afternoon, as did we, and we didn't wake up until 6:30p - we'd have never taken him to a movie that starts at his bedtime otherwise!

Happy Independence Day!

I'm a little late to wish you well on this 4th of July, but I figure better late than never.

I gotta say, spirit of the holiday aside, I am feeling really, REALLY grateful to care for myself independently today.  I feel somewhat human for the first time since last Saturday when I put my back out for the umpteeth time.  It was on its way out for a couple weeks - the beginning of strawberry season does not do this body good.  But since I love strawberries, I kept picking every chance I got and last Friday that entailed 3 hours of picking with a total of 8 quarts of strawberries.  I was certainly sore afterwards, but not too sore to attempt  to move a gigantic, albeit huge, bookcase that the neighbors had given us from their house to ours.  And it was all good until the very last foot of the move.  It tilted.  Did I mention it was huge.  A good foot taller than me.  So I compensated for the tilt with my position and *TWINGE* <-- yep, THAT put my back out.  TW had to step in to move it the rest of the mere 12 inches.  I held it together until the neighbors said their goodbyes... Then I promptly went upstairs, medicated myself, and hobbled - very slowly - into bed.  Where I stayed the remainder of the weekend with only 1-2 hour stretches out of bed.

As you can imagine, it was a long week for as short as it was.  I cut out of work at 1:30 on Monday, managed to stay the day on Tuesday, and took a respite in the middle of the day yesterday.  Each day I saw the chiropractor or a craniosacral therapist.  I love them both.  Truly.

Today I took it slow in the morning and we just hung around the house most of the day, but had to get to the farm to pick up our veggie share.  I did not pick strawberries.  (!)  TW and Mozart did pick peas and hunted for a time for the remaining strawberries.  I had my share of picking with the quart of basil that was allotted, and then read in the car and waited.  

On arrival home I put the basil into vodka for an infusion.  One of my favorite all-time drinks is The Legal Herb - a basil infused vodka martini that was served at this long ago fabulous restaurant in Minneapolis (can't remember it's name just now or I'd give it props!).  What with the strawberry vodka and now this basil vodka, I imagine you are thinking we are quite the drinkers!  No so, I'm afraid.  I did have a sip of the strawberry spirit to taste, and it was lovely, but it has remained untouched since.  I am just happy to have proper options to serve people (or us) when the mood strikes.

I also had an idea that I put into motion. It will either be brilliant as the week goes by, or I will have done the work for nothing.  I'm voting for brilliant: I took out my mandolin and sliced up zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, and onion and then filled several mason jars with said ingredients.  I'm hoping that this will get us to eat more of the veggies we get from our share.  One of my most-loved breakfasts is sauteed veggies with eggs and this will make it easy :D  And The Boy loves cucumbers, so he will always have some for snack or side-dish.  I'll try to report back and let you know if this planning worked out.