Help Me Get Over A Cold

I'm pretty sure this is the second cold I've had in 6 weeks.

Gross.

So I'm a sniffling, snoring, sneezing mess of a person today.

What can I do to get over a cold faster?

So far I have been:

Sleeping 20 hours out of the past 36 (yes, really, I slept that much!!!)
Drinking green tea
Took echinacea
Tylenol PM
Sudafed
Used a Netipot

WHEN WILL THIS COLD BE OVER??? Ahhh...

Life In Pictures 3.1 - 3.6

Rusty. Has. A. Mind. Of. His. Own.

Ugh. Dogs, I tell you.

This morning I was at the computer, you know, blogging, when I heard the porch door open. I was like - what the heck? Who in the world has decided to visit our house at 8:45 am?

So I went out into the dining room and the door was ajar, Rusty has now decided to try and let himself out.

And here I thought he was mightily afraid of doors. Nope, guess not.

Happy weekend!

True Blood Fans, I've Got Something For You

Ahhh... Eric with his shirt off... we've finally come to my favorite book of the series!!!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!! OOOHHHHH. EEEMMMMMM. GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

I can't wait.

And now for your viewing pleasure, please click here.

Waiting Sucks: Eric

In Love With A Chair

Can you really be in love with an inanimate object? Like you know, a chair?

$349 from Urban Outfitters And I love it even more in Gray. WOOT!!! Plus it's fairly affordable. Gotta love it!

Oh and this cafe stool too from Urban Outfitters - $99

And this super awesome Gramercy sofa - $649

Ahhh... LOVE Urban Outfitters! And I haven't even looked at the clothes yet!

Snow Banks

So this winter has been awful snowy. I mean, just awful! Two snowstorms of at least 12 inches of snow each, plus more in between - I mean, really, now, Mother Earth? Really? This is the latest picture of the snow banks in our yard - and it's been about a week since the last snow. Check out the four foot fence... And then we do have a deck back there... Somewhere!!!

And now I heard last night that we're supposed to get another foot of snow next week. Where are I supposed to put more snow???? GAH!!!

It's going to be FOREVER until my tulips come up. Oh, well... at least the poo is still frozen.

Dog Food

I know I've written of this before. Rusty has horrendous allergies. They don't go away in the winter time like mine do. We wash blankets, swiffer, vacuum and still, there's no end to the itching. There seemed like there was no end to the awful antibiotics that we were getting monthly (sometimes twice a month) from the vet for close to $75 each time.

So I did some research. And more research and known that going raw was going to be the best for Rusty. I've wanted to feed raw since we've had him, but before it just wasn't possible and now, finally it is.

There's different raw feeding model types - there's the BARF diet, there's prey model raw and then there's the stuff that you can get out of the freezer at the pet store.

I decided to try Nature's Variety first, but then quickly decided that it would become more pricey than Rusty's regular dog food in no time at all.

Then I found Woody's Pet Food Deli in South Minneapolis. Ground whole raw range free turkey. That's what I ended up with, but I'm not done yet.

Rusty goes through about 25 pounds in two weeks. Yes, that's 25 pounds of RAW MEAT in two weeks. That's a lot of meat! See, you get this bag of freshly ground meat (bones and organs included. Yes, dogs can eat RAW bone - raw bone cleans teeth and it has calcium, it's also soft enough to chew through and digest. NEVER GIVE A DOG COOKED BONE, the bone can splinter and break, causing trauma).

So Rusty generally ends up in the kitchen like this, waiting for me to give him meat and yummy stuff.

And our kitchen looks like this.

With the ground meat, I make 4 1/2 cup patties for his meal - I quickly found out that I'm pretty lazy so this isn't exactly the best method for the McTatty/Bimmer household. But you, my readers already knew that, right?

So I then went to prey model raw.

I buy the economy packs of turkey, chicken and beef (sometimes venison if it's available), get as many organs as I possibly can (yes the gross beef liver, pork liver, chicken liver and any other organs available, I've even bought beef heart, gross I know) and now I throw the whole pieces, along with cuts of organ into the plastic tubs. He gets veggies with his meal too and bananas. Carrots, peas, peppers, cucumbers and other veggies on sale are usually found in his dog dish. He also gets a fish oil supplement for his skin and coat.

We feed pretty much 60/35/5 as in 60% raw meaty bones, 35% organs and 5% fruits, veggies or supplements.

Quite honestly - $20 of meat and organs in the grocery store will last us 4 weeks in dog food. $20 is WAY CHEAPER than his $70 26 pound bag of food.

And he hasn't had an ear infection or even dirty ears once since we started this in January. And no antibiotics. None. His allergies have gone away. He's lost weight and has the energy of a puppy.

I can't say enough good things about raw feeding. It's the best dog food that we've happened upon in a very long time - and I'm happy to report that the Rusty MONSTER is doing awesome. His health is superb and his favorite meat is turkey.

Happy Birthday Bimmer Man

Ok, well for the blog... It's really happy belated birthday, Bimmer Man, but still. By the way Bimmer, you took your own birthday picture. So yes, it does get put on the blog. Any picture on my camera is fair game. But I think you already knew that!

I got the best surprise ever - I was uploading pics for the blog when I found these AWESOME photos.

And I do have to say that we have the best friends. They're nice, caring, open, honest and most importantly - they have a sense of humor. We've known the Dog Lady (as Bimmer calls her) and her husband for a very long time. Bimmer has known Stelly for longer than he's known me - so longer than 9 years (ACK!! 9 YEARS!!). We've been friends through tough times - fraternity days, crazy weddings and hundreds of miles. We actually introduced these two and now they're married (WOOT!!) and now they (ok, mostly she) rescues dogs. And cats.  And I'm very, very proud to have them as friends:

Today's Random Story:

Awesome liquor store clerk: Hey, McTatty, do you need a bag?

Me: Hey, no, I don't need a bag, I have a purse.

Awesome liquor store guy: Dumbfounded look on his face when he sees me do this:

Gah. So Unmotivated.

I need to get to the gym.

Need.

Like now.

Ok, so this afternoon after work.

I am going to do it.

I will be there at 3, after I've done another load of laundry, Swiffered, had lunch and let the dog out.

I will do it.


Really.