Right on the top of my mind as I write this — Florida friends, I hope you all are safe from that hurricane!

Maggie and I had a bit of a close call this morning. We were out for a walk, and as we rounded a corner, and were suddenly faced with another woman walking two big dogs. She was walking one dog on each side of her (in front of her) and the one on her left instantly barked, growled and lunged.

I reacted, jerking poor Maggie behind me. I didn’t give her a command, I just reacted to get her behind my body and out of that dog’s line of sight. Or I think that’s what I was doing — it was pure instinct and happened in seconds. It was way too close. I didn’t hear or expect anyone there, and she obviously didn’t hear me and Maggie. However, I did have Maggie at my side, I never release her to smell and do dog stuff until I see a clear path. I really can’t say if she had her dogs under control. What I do know is that I’ve seen her waking one dog — an older pit — for years and while she always crossed the street when she saw me, but her dog never reacted. Nor did he today. My sense was she always crossed the street as a precaution or because some people are afraid of any and all pits. I really don’t know.

But I guess the other dog, the one on her right, was new (she told me that), and she didn’t expect this reaction. And while I didn’t hear her coming and she didn’t hear me, I’m betting that dog probably knew we were coming for long seconds, but she doesn’t know him well enough to realize he was loading to attack.

Fortunately, she was able to wrestle that dog back enough that I could cross the street. Once I did that, she turned the dog on a street going away from us. All of which was the safest way to handle it so the dog didn’t go right back into attack mode.

I believe she was caught off guard and will find a way to handle it. If I hadn’t seen her for years consistently and thoughtfully walking her first dog, I’d be more annoyed. And she didn’t hesitate to apply real force to stop the dog, but she didn’t freak out or scream at him which would only have agitated the dog more, which I also respect. This was just an unexpected situation and could have ended badly, but since it didn’t, we both learned something so it won’t get to that point next time.

On the other hand, our walks are usually uneventful :-). There really isn’t even a message to this story, it just scared me (and Maggie) for those few seconds, but it was the first time I had it happen with someone who I think is a responsible dog owner. It really illustrated to me how easily things can go bad even with good owners if we’re not paying enough attention. It’s scary how easily it can happen.

How’s your week going?

Well there was a weekend. My bright point was seeing Turbo and going to brunch with his family. Turbo has had a week or two of virus roulette and they took him into the doctor’s on Saturday because the cough is hanging on. Um, any parents out there know this story? Yep, the doctor said he’s fine and send him to school on Monday because coughs linger. I hate that cough that lingers for like seven years, but Turbo has missed a week of school so the doctor is probably right.

But we had a really nice time! Turbo educated me on Monster Trucks and Superheroes — I learned a lot, LOL! Next Saturday we get to babysit him for a few hours at our house so his parents can go — and I’m quoting what my son told Turbo — play in a big mud pool I through that was an interesting description, but it seemed to satisfy Turbo. If anyone is wondering, the “mud pool” is located in a spa that is fairly well known in our area

Otherwise it was a weekend that came and went like most do.

Oh, and Wizard thinks like he likes the white chocolate macadamia not cookies the best. But he said he’s going to have to eat more of both cookies to be sure. My own opinion is that the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are technically a better recipe BUT NOTHING BEATS DARK CHOCOLATE. That’s just my opinion, but it’s the right one

I spent more than my fair share of time trying to wade through freeways on Sunday and had a good idea for a book. Now can I remember that idea???? LOLOL! I think I might if I think hard enough, but I’m too wiped out by the heat, freeways and a nose bleed (probably from the heat) to think about it as I’m writing this blog. Maybe later I’ll break out my notebook and free write to see if I my mind will spit it up. I’m not actively writing, but it’d be nice to get some ideas together just for fun.

So how was your weekend?

TGIF!! Let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week. It’d be helpful if I could remember things that happened this week   Oh well, here’s mine:

1. Yesterday, I made the batter for the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I’ll bake them today (I refrigerate overnight). I also baked sourdough and generally found ways to make myself tired because I see to have two switches: Lazy or Nonstop, LOL.
2. The chocolate chip cookies I made are good, but yesterday my stomach sent out some surrender messages. Wizard tentatively said, “You think it’s the cookies?” I sad-faced him so hard. Of course its the cookies, but can’t I be in denial just a bit longer? Does he need to say it out loud? This is a easy fix, if I want cookies, I just make some that I can eat and I’m good. I’ll make some cookies I can eat and be fine. I’m just glad that I can eat special things now and again and it doesn’t usually bother me. The white chocolate ones don’t really tempt me as much.
3. I got my hair done yesterday and my hairdresser said she’s leaving. Dang it, this is like the third one in a few years. But I’m happy for her as she’s moving to another part of the country where she can do more of her hobby of barrel riding.
4. This is the time of year when I (and probably most others) get really tired of the heat. And totally not connected to the heat, but I’m dropping it in here anyway: I need to teach myself how to manage and update my website and deal with my blog, but I don’t want to. I just don’t. Once years and years ago, I was able to do some of it, but then I got busy, happily hired professionals and forgot everything I knew. I’m whining, resisting and procrastinating with every fiber of my being! It’s not even that I’m not even that I’m not capable of learning it, I just don’t want to.
5. The plan this weekend is that on Saturday Wizard and Youngest will go to his brothers while I get some things done here. And Sunday, Wizard will go racing and I plan to go out to see Oldest, Special K and Turbo. I haven’t done that in so long, and sometimes I really love going by myself. Wizard loves going by himself once in a while too :-). I’m looking forward to a nice low-key day.

That’s my five and now I’d love to hear yours! I hope all of you have a great weekend!

Maggie is developing some interesting quirks.

So now at night, I suddenly feel the bed shake, open my eyes to see two little paws and two eyes staring at me.

The first time this happened, I figured she had to go outside, and took her to the door. She declined and wanted to wake up Wizard. I told her to no and to go back to bed, so she did. I didn’t hear anything else from her that night.

The next night, she did it again. Standing at the edge of the bed so I can only see her two paws and eyes staring at me. And I swear I could hear her whisper, “Mom, is it time to get up? Is it? Huh? Can we get up?”

So of course I answered her (or I answered the voice in my head, it’s hard to tell the difference in the middle of the night, LOL), “Go back to bed.”

“Okay,” (again that might be one of the voices in my head I’m hearing and not Maggie actually talking) and she sinks down out of view like she’s melting and goes to sleep. I don’t hear anything out of her until morning.

She’s repeated this every night for a week or so now. She doesn’t seem upset, agitated or appear to needs anything. Maybe she’s just checking in, or maybe I’m talking in my sleep and she’s checking on me? I don’t know. It’s not bothering me since she goes back to her bed and seems to go to sleep. In the room, Maggie has a dog bed with a blanket and another spot for her beloved comforter. She goes to sleep in the dog bed, and when I get up, she’s in the comforter. It’s the same routine each night. I’ve learned not to ask why with Maggie, she’s just special :-). Part of me really does think she’s just getting older and a bit more quirky. She’s a little more tired these days, but still does zoomies and walks around 10 miles a week with me. Her appetite is good and I’m not seeing a sudden escalation in separation anxiety or anything else concerning.

She’s just a funny little dog.

Here she is working hard while I’m in the office writing the blog:

How’s your week going?

I’m writing this around 6;30  pm Sunday night, and so far, all is well with us. We’ve had a good amount of rain from Tropical Storm Hilary (formally a Cat 4 Hurricane). So far we haven’t had much winds, but the tropical storm has just officially passed into CA in the last hour or two. The good news is all our drains are working well so far and we are very happy about that.

The only concern is the hills behind us, but it would take a pretty significant event to bring any of that down, or send down floods of water. The secondary concern is winds which are just really starting in the last hour. Hopefully they won’t be too bad.

It could be a boring night or an interesting one

Due to the storm, Wizard and youngest cancelled the trip to see Wizard’s brother. So I only made one of the cookies I was planned. It’s a chocolate chip cookie and it’s a big, heavy beast of a cookie. Very thick with hills of chocolate chunks and valleys lined with roasted walnuts. Delicious but heavy. In my always-trying-to-be efficient brain, I doubled the recipe. That was crazy as it was then too much for my stand mixer, LOL! I had to whip up the wet ingredients in my mixer, then get out my giant bowl to transfer the wet ingredients into, then fold in the dry ingredients, and finally add in the chopped chocolate and walnuts. It was quite a workout on my arm, neck and shoulder. The recipe called for loosely shaped 6 ounce dough balls. That is just too big for what I wanted, so I made the cookies 3 ounce and was happy with that size.

Overall I’d reduce some of the egg yoke in there (that’s in addition to whole eggs ), and maybe a touch more salt because with so much chocolate, salt really balances it. But the cookie is very good if you want one you can sink your teeth into.

Also, the Trader Joe’s thick, dark Belgium chocolate I chopped into uneven chunks for that cookie is a game changer. That’s going to be a staple in my cookies if I can get my hands on the chocolate (the TJ is an inconvenient distances from my house — which is what we call first world problems, LOL)

So now have cookies on my counter, more in my freezer along with another dozen and a half unbaked dough balls ready to be thawed and popped in the oven. I’m set if I run into a cookie emergency

I’m going to try the white chocolate macadamia nut ones this week sometime.

Weirdly it’s been a really nice weekend, despite a little uncertainty about the storm. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get serious overnight here, and that everyone else in the storm’s path is safe.

So that’s my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF!! Time to dust off our imaginations and come up with five random things to share about our week. Here’s mine:

1. There’s a Cat 2 hurricane heading for Southern CA. Um…what??? I heard that and thought it was a joke. It is expected to downgrade significantly before hitting land (assuming it does). However apparently strong winds and heavy rains are likely. Okay…not weird at all for So Cal in August. Mother Nature, is it possible you’re having a stroke? You might want to consult a medical professional like immediately. Just saying…
2. I feel I need to point out that I’m not excited by refrigerator shopping. We went out yesterday to get started. Our current fridge is okay, but very old, so we budgeted for a new one before we get in a situation of the old one going out. And since we know some people are experiencing delays in getting things delivered, we’re figured we’d better get on it. I found one I really like, but then Wizard went and ruined it by making a valid point about the ice maker. The upside is as long as the old fridge hangs on, we are not in a rush and I can figure out the best option in our price range that satisfies us both.
3. So the other day I came went into the kitchen after doing some yoga, and Wizard was making himself some breakfast. I’m innocently drinking water, when he blurts out, “When did I start looking like a walrus?” I choked so hard. Then laughed — not at him as he does not look like a walrus. But the sheer randomness of that comment totally undid me. He’s been frustrated this week with some of the limitations that come with the years which I can understand and go through too — but I can NOT figure out how he decided he looks like a walrus. Or why he chose a walrus. I mean I have so many questions, LOL! I did reassure him once I caught my breath,   I’m not mean just easily entertained!
4. I don’t think I ever mentioned this: Remember I had an infection that was causing nose bleeds? Well my doctor wanted me to see an ENT. I called the  ENT, and the very first appointment they have is in early November. I’m just shaking my head. Oh and I was nice to them, I believe they are really that booked as most specialists are in our area, but I keep thinking about people with a more urgent need to see an ENT. As for my stuff, it can wait but I’m  still grumbling on the inside because I’m always impatient to just get things like that done and off my mind. However, my x-ray came back fine, and we stopped the bleeding, so no one is worried. This is like a common sense follow up as some of the symptoms have persisted. But who knows, by November the remaining symptoms could be gone and the wait will be a win for me.
5. This weekend’s plans may be affected by — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — the hurricane (yes, yes, I know it will lose power and we’ll be fine, but this is so weird to me). Right now I’m planning to make two kinds of cookies — chocolate chip with walnuts and what white chocolate chip macadamia nuts from new to me recipes that are supposed to be dupes of the famous Levain bakery in New York. Then Wizard and youngest are planning to go to see Wizard’s brother to help out with a small project, and I’ll send some cookies if they come out. If they do not come out, then there might be two hurricanes in So Cal because baking ingredients are getting crazy expensive in my humble opinion! Just kidding, my opinion is never humble, LOLOL!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a truly wonderful weekend as we all deserve it!

So I finally made myself some iced latte at home — and gave myself an ugly case of insomnia, LOL! I’m a danger to myself sometimes. So now, I’ve decided to leave iced lattes to the professionals because I really prefer sleeping to not sleeping. I have a history of pretty severe insomnia which has improved a lot in the last few years and I’m not willing to let that beast regain control of all my night hours. Oddly I can drink a regular cup of hot coffee around 2 or 3 and it doesn’t bother me, so I clearly made the iced coffee too strong — but again — not willing to trigger that insomnia beast!

And speaking of sleep, the Princess of our Universe, otherwise known as Maggie, no longer sleeps in her kennel. And she has decreed that we have only ourselves to blame. The night she got so sick, she called out and we did not come in a timely manner. Sadly, that is true and we have the mental guilt scars to prove it. We have excuses (surgeries and illness), but none of that changes that she was very sick, in a lot of pain and “trapped.”  What happened is that the next night she went to sleep in there, she was fine until a bit after midnight when she woke up, panicked and was clawing to get out. This time, we responded instantly and immediately let her out. We tried it the next night, and she started panicking about 30 seconds after she went in. That’s a behavior we’ve never seen before. I talked to her vet, and we agreed it doesn’t matter if she sleeps in the kennel, but we do work with giving her treats and fun in the kennel so she’s not panicked again if she has to go in one at the vets or boarding. She also said these kinds of fears or paranoias are not uncommon in older dogs. Maggie now sleeps in her dog bed by us and she’s fine. And since she is a bit older, it’s easier to hear her if she needs us.

What amazes me is how much control this little sweet dog has gained over us and our household!

On the other hand, when the desk was delivered, I had her leashed and on a sit by my side. That’s for safety — a curious dog can get in the way of folks moving heavy furniture and cause serious accidents. She was such a good girl, doing exactly as I asked. So it’s not like all her behavior has deteriorated, it’s just the kennel thing.

So that’s my tired and probably pointless rambling. How’s your Wednesday going?