Weekend Wonder

In between Motrin and naps, I did accomplish some things today, with the help (and driving skills) of Paul. I am the recipient of a lot of good-natured ribbing; since Paul retired, I do very little driving. My friends and colleagues worry when I drive, my husband tells me that I have become a 'little old lady' in my driving habits and frankly, if I never drive again, I would be ok with that. I love driving but when it's short stints, I am happy to let Paul drive. And that's what he did today. This weekend denotes the end of my birthday reign. January is a rather terrible month in which to have a birthday. By the time my day rolls around, our Christmas bills are staring us in the face and shopping for a birthday gift is a very low priority. But it was time to get my tripod!

We headed out this morning and did some shopping at Sam's Club. We got gas, picked up edibles for the weekend and the week and then stopped at Norman's on the way home. Norman's Camera is a local place with great cameras, accessories and lenses. A candy store for camera fanatics. WOW. I checked out the tripods and with the help of a very knowledgeable staff member, settled on a mid-grade Manfrotto tripod and Manfrotto head with pan and tilt. I liked this combination best. It is very flexible, lightweight but will last a long time.

We all took a walk before lunch. Mr. Snowmoleious had a glorious time rolling, pawing, chewing, digging and enjoying the snow. He ate gross and dirty snow, sniffed and hunted for bunnies and gave himself a good cleaning in the snow. I love walking with a dog; I see the world through a completely different set of eyes.

For dinner, Paul is making Prime Rib. Doesn't that sound delicious? It is in and cooking as I type. We are having whole grain cous cous, green beans (LOVE) and a healthy salad. Wine will be a surprise. :)

Mr. Snowmoleious

As Paul wrote about in a prior post, we no longer believe Samson to be a GSD; rather we believe that Samson is a 'Canis Lupus Snowmoleius.' I was skeptical since Samson looks SO much like a GSD but today on our walk, I think I am a convert. But first, a little stage setting.

It started out quite cold this AM, with windchills well near Zero but the sun came out and it is up near 26 degrees. The ice is starting to melt in some places but there are sky high piles of snow around driveways and especially near street corners. With the sun shining brightly and the windchills up in the high teens, we did not believe that the weather could get much nicer than right now (all context folks). So off on our walk we went.

On the walk, the first thing I notice is that Samson has no interest in walking on the nicely East Grand Rapids plowed sidewalks; no, he would rather leap and bound through the sky-high piles of snow. And he took a brief rest on top on the hill. This is no small feat, by any means. Leaping and bounding through that snow is a ton of work. By the end of the walk, he was TIRED.

We kept walking around the block and another odd and hilarious idiosyncrasy is his interest in large blocks of snow. He would pick them up in his mouth, chew on them and then dump then, moving on to the next huge chuck of snow/ice. Keeping in mind that this is not the clean, pristine snow. Nope, he likes the gross stuff with mud and dirt and whatever other grossness comes from the street. Ugh.

By the time we hit the home stretch, he was in full SNOW MOLE MODE. Sticking his snout deep within the snow piles, he would leave it there, as if to be taking in all the snout snow he could. I believe that had we not broken the spell and called to him, we would all still be there.

Hitting the last block, it was time for another snowmole search, and then, a rest. We believe that Samson has a distant relative, Coke, who also exhibits Snowmoleious tendencies.

For dinner, Paul is making Pan-seared filets in Cabernet sauce. We have some asparagus to steam and will probably have a nice salad to go with the meal. We have some hockey to watch and a storm on its way. Rain, ice, sleet and snow. We had to get our walk in when we could!