Why We Love Cats and Dogs

Last night we watched Why We Love Cats and Dogs on the Nature Channel. I thought it was fascinating, spouse liked it and Lucy slept through it. The woman in this picture is Sarah Wilson who was featured in one of the segments. She explained her definition of 9 types of dog owners and their behavior patterns. Anyhow, here are her categories and types (sorta Myers-Briggish).

FEELERS

1. The Angel - these owners want to save their dog with love. They often have trouble disciplining their dogs ... and despise force. Angels will put up with "naughty" behavior.
2. The Soulmate - these owners are loving and attentive. They always are concerned with pet's health. The dogs of this type tend to be well socialized .... b/c they get to go more places (trips, outings, adventures).
3. The Free Spirit - these types are not interested in controlling their dog at all.

I found this characterist about FS interesting: most are high powered executives.

Free spirits want nothing more than to let their dog call the shots when they get home.

THINKERS 4. The Idealist - these type set high, but often acheivable standards for both pet and owner. Rules are important. However, Idealists often pleasantly surprised with the "natural chaos" as it can remind them "loosen up a bit". 5. The Expert - will research a lot about how to own a dog. These types are often smart and often enroll dog in obedience, agility and training classes. 6. The Observer - these types just genuinely enjoy that their dog is a dog. This type often will lose track of time b/c they love to watch their animal. Jane Goodall is a Classic Observer. DO-ERS 7. The Dynamo - busy people who get a lot done in a day. These dogs are well cared for. 8. The Master - this type usually describes themselves as "dog owners" and by most common professions = coaches, teachers and leaders. These type often have a strong bond with pet. Often master communicates wtih pet really well, but also master often needs to control. 9. The Buddy - these type love high energy, sporty dogs. Buddies usually don't have trouble training a dog. Sarah Wilson's interviews of different combo's of owners with their dogs was fascinating and ....sometimes hilarious. The 2nd act of this show about a shelters. So it gets pretty serious...but then they tell can test shelter animals and describe cats and dogs naturally personality and make better family matches. This is just so responsible. Then the 3rd act was about actual family stories. It was interesting and a little surprising to me. But, in my opinion, the best line from this show was "Cats have staff and Dogs have family."

Valentine's Day 2009

While spouse was shopping at Findlay (downtown farmer's market ... his Saturday routine) I made apple cinnamon scones with dried cherries on top (usually I just make coffee). They were pretty good if I say so myself. Spouse gave me a dozen beautiful roses. We are having tilapia and snow peas for dinner tonight.

This week spouse reminded me that February is the month we first met 9 years ago. We met at a dinner party ... in the home we live in today. I just google'd a calendar from 2000 (I love how easy it is to get info off the internet) and I am fairly certain this party on Friday February 11, 2000.

This dinner party (salad, spaghetti, italian bread for about 20 -30 people) was in an empty apartment. Before the end of February 2000 the kitchen cabinets were re-painted "hunter jumper green" (as seen in this picture from today) but for the party they were still purple. The previous homeowner, who had just moved out a month earlier, was an interior designer. Anyhow, spouse also recently reminded me about the conversation we had that night about the kitchen cabinet colors. Still amuses me to think about that conversation.

Oh, and spouse also reminded me of the Euchre game we played that night. Ahh........, my spouse is so sweet. I wonder if he reads this blog?

LID + 1,000

Today is our 1,000th day since our dossier was logged in at the CCAA. This morning spouse and I worked out @ gym and then breakfast at Koka.

Tonight spouse and I have reservations at Oceanaire, a seafood restaurant downtown (pictures and description below).

Hopefully the weather does not change our plans. We are expecting a big windstorm today... winds possibly as strong as 50 mph.

Nowhere else can you overdose on luxurious ultra-fresh seafood, bask in exceptional service, and lose yourself in a classier era of Americana. From the moment you enter the Oceanaire you feel a sense of place and time akin to a classic 1930s ocean liner. No detail is left to chance. From cocktails in the lounge, to our raw oyster bar, to a main course of ultra-fresh fish, a rendezvous at the Oceanaire is the perfect occasion to indulge your unfettered senses. Our seafood is flown in daily from around the world. We source only top-of-the-catch fish from the world's most reputable suppliers. From the moment it lands on the fisherman's deck to the time it lands on your plate, each catch is carefully coddled to ensure our standards of quality and flavor.

Video from DC Trip

Attached is one video from the American History Museum. Still a mystery why I can't post more... but really I'm not good at videos yet so not a loss. So all I've got here is the presidents 1- 44.

The interior of this museum was not at all what I remember. It is contemporary in design. I thought it was really appropriate and quite beautiful too.

Travels of Angelica

Last Friday spouse and I saw Travels of Angelica at the Playhouse.

Here is the description from the Playhouse website:

By Joseph McDonoughWINNER OF THE MICKEY KAPLAN NEW AMERICAN PLAY PRIZE 1657: A writer wanted for treason barely escapes from England with his daughter to start a new life with a new identity in Virginia. Can he outwit his blackmailing neighbor and escape capture before completing his most important work? 2008: Two graduate students come to Virginia in search of clues about this forgotten author, hoping to make an important literary discovery. As the play twists and turns between the past and present, this time-traveling tale explores history, hope, heart and the possibility of a remarkable future. A new play by Joseph McDonough, author of One and Stone My Heart. Travels of Angelica is suitable for adult audiences. It contains some adult language and mature themes.

We both enjoyed the play. But we almost missed it. That night we went to dinner @ the neighborhood Thai restaurant and since we had an hour before the play we stopped at the Wine Bar. Well we were having so much fun talking to one of our neighbors we didn't pay attention to the time. Spouse looked at me and said "We've got 7 minutes" and I replied "Until we have to leave" and then he said "No, until the play starts".

Well I was halfway down St Gregory street still putting on my coat and gloves when spouse caught up and then passed me. I could not believe we were going to blow $52 seats (yes this was going through my mind as I was running) because we were talking to friends. Humiliating.

Fortunately we made it in time, in fact we weren't the last to be seated. It also reinforced just how out of shape I am too. I have not run that far (and it wasn't far at all) in a really long time.

Like most of the plays at PIP this one kept your attention and was unpredictable. The 2nd act brought gasps from the twist in the plot.

Today

This morning we woke to another 2" of snow... which for spouse and I means shoveling sidewalks and a parking lot. Fortunately no ice this morning. It was realtively easy. Afterwards we went to Koka (our neighborhood coffee shop) for breakfast. Surprisingly I made it to work on time. This first picture doesn't come close to capturing how beautiful Hinkle Garden (across the street from Krohn) but it is the best shot I could take from inside the building. After I got to work and while my computer was booting up I walked around and took pictures of Krohn. In my opinion this really is the best season for Krohn. It smells great, looks great and you can more fully appreciate the beauty inside when you are getting tired of winter.

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View of the Palm Room from the Lobby.

The Desert Room

Agave Sacra.

The elephant that will be a topiary for this year's India themed Butterfly Show.

Another picture of the elephant.

A long view of the Spring 2009 show "Enchanted Oasis".

Closeup of the fountain. The camel benches.

Closeup of the Lemon Tree.

China Packing Info

A blog I recently found www.waitingforlaurenelizabeth.blogspot.com had an interesting post I tried to copy and paste (didn't work) so I'm re-typing here. These parents (LID 2-17-06) traveled Jan 9 - 22, 2009 to get their baby. Anyhow here is their advice of what to pack.

Items we took and didn't use:

• Small funnel for transfering the powdered formula from the travel dispenser to the bottle... worked fine without the funnel.
• Cherrios ... Lauren didn't want anything to do with them.
• Disposable wash clothes ... no need since we used hotel washcloth while in the room and diaper wipes when out and about.
• Disposable diaper changing pads... just used the real thing from our diaper bag.
• Toothbrush and toothpaste for Lauren... there was no way we were approaching that trauma on top of everything else.
• Disposable razor for me ...time to shave ... ha, what was I thinking.
• Jewelry ... you can just use what you wera over there... this is no fashion show.
• Travel shopping bag ... every shop owner we encountered gave us a bag. Even Carefour (the Walmart equivalent in Guangzhou) has cheap re-usable grocery bags to buy at the registers.
• Travel toilet paper ... the two times that there wasn't toilet paper, I left the darn travel roll outside with Joe in the diaper bag so I never got to use it anyway.
• Stuffed bunny rabbit toy for Lauren...she wouldn't even give it a second look.
• Instant soup, granola bars and beef jerky...there is plenty to eat in Guanzhou.
• Since Lauren wasn't sick, we didn't even touch the well stocked bag of over the counter meds or antibiotic we brought for her.

Items we took that couldn't live without:

• Scented diaper disposable bags for the poopie diapers.
• Plastic baby spoons in a cool travel container...Lauren used them at every meal.
• Gerber baby prunes... got the plumbing working right away.
• Travel formula dispenser.
• Playtex drop-in bottles...they were SOOO convenient and work like a charm.
• Diaper pins for cinching Lauren's waistbands on her pants...otherwise several outfits we brought would not have worked for her.
• Tights for her to wear with dresses and pants that rode up... kept the local clothing police away... God forbid a babies leg show in China! ;)
• Long johns if traveling to Beijing in the winter!
• Thermos for keeping hot water for baby bottles ... used this daily.
• Staking cups ... Lauren loved them (tip...get the ones with little holes in the bottom so it can "rain" in the bathtub)
• Shoe box sized rubbermaid container for cleaning the bottles, nipples, sippy cups and plastic spoons every day in the room.
• Dish liquid and plastic tongs for doing the dishes.
• Travel packets of Tide detergent for cleaning clothes with stains you can't trust to the laundry. Lauren had sticky lollipop stains all over her coat a couple of times and Tide came to the rescue.
• Laptop computer and headset for making phone calls on Skype...this was my only connection to friends and family and I don't think I would have made it without this stuff.

How many id we take?

• Playtex drop-in liners - 200. We used about 125 including the 40 or 50 we gave to another family who ran out. We used them for formula, water and juice bottles.
• Diapers - 20 Huggies Over-nights. We bought Pampers in China and they worked out fine for day-time use. We used the Huggies over-nights each night and save about 6 for the flights home. We bought two packages of Pampers in China and brought about 10 home.
• Diaper wipes - 2 refill packs of Pampers Sensitive Skin wipes. By the time we got home we used every one of them, but we used them a lot as multi-purpose wipes when we ate out.
• Spending money - $4,500. We used about $2,500 on souveniers, Chinese outfits and shoes for Lauren, pearls, gifts, meals that weren't included and a couple of minor adoption expenses that popped up along the way.