About 4 years ago the sweetest little thing came into our home that has brought us such joy. If you know us, you know that I am speaking about our little white dog, Tofu. Most likely abandoned in Central Park, found and rescued by our son John and then turned over to us one sunny August day. I see a bumper sticker every now and then that has a paw print and the words, “who rescued who”? So true. She enriches our lives in so many ways. She has been with us in happy and not so happy times . I have cried my eyes out into her soft white fur and she has never failed to make me feel better with a nose kiss and tail wag. I believe that she helps Jim’s stress level come down to normal levels and well, I could go on and on. If you have ever been the recipient of a dog’s devotion, you know exactly what I am writing about.
The kids have on and off badgered us for another dog (even John, who does not even live with us) for a few years. Recently we had been talking more and more about getting another dog. Two weeks ago Jim emailed me a picture of a dog bed big enough for several dogs and that opened up the discussion again.
We really wanted to do another rescue, but because Tofu is older and set in her ways we thought it best to look for a puppy so that Tofu could remain “top dog”.
Last week we drove out to Branford to a house on the beach to look at a litter of Morkie puppies. That’s ½ Maltese and ½ Yorkshire terrier. Of course we fell in love with all of them, but Zach chose a chubby female that the breeder had named Hazelnut. I wrote the check and she is ours. She can’t come home for another 4 weeks and honestly none of us feels very patient. We cannot wait to get her home.

That's our girl, belly up, big yawn.

Love at first sight

Snuggly

Puppy love!

Hello

I made two small silly New Years resolutions back in January. Really silly, but do-able. I am still having some sleep issues and so one night before bed I took a warm bath and it really helped me stay asleep all night. So my first resolution was to take more baths. I thought jazzing up my tub area would entice me so I filled a basket with bath goodies and flameless candle, piled some fluffy white towels in the corner, bought a beautiful soap dish. Fail. I have not taken one bath since I made my plan. Every week I scrub the tub and tile and all that I am cleaning is dust. Boo.
My second resolution was to learn to bake and decorate cupcakes. For fun and giving, because we really cannot eat them in this house. I know that I am a few years behind the cupcake revolution but I have always been intimidated. Last year when the kids gave me my awesome mixer, all I could think of was cupcakes. A few weeks ago someone at work brought in some leftover cupcakes that she made for a bake sale. Boxed mix, canned frosting, and everyone went nuts. People love cupcakes, even sub par cupcakes. Last weekend I sifted through all of my cupcake files on my computer and chose the easiest recipe from Magnolia Bakery in NYC. Vanilla, vanilla. Guess what...I actually made a delicious homemade cupcake. I think that the frosting method can make or break the finished product so I followed this technique and came pretty close frostingcupcakes Next week I will try chocolate peanut butter cupcakes and use a pastry bag for the frosting. Yikes! Silly and fun. Today I will dust and clean out the bathtub again in the hope that a bath is in my near future.
It is snowing (finally) here this morning in Ct and so I planned yesterday to make a healthy big breakfast for Jim and Zach. Whole wheat blueberry pancakes and turkey sausage. It's 8:00 so I better get going. Have a great weekend!