The verdict is....

Desi is most definitly pregnant! We are not able to know litter size until the week before when the x-ray is done, but our vet feels that Desi is going to have at least as many as last time.... YIKES!

Keep you fingers crossed that the rest of her pregnancy goes smoothly and that we can have a normal delivery.

It is good to be the King!

MeowMeow would like you all to know that he makes all of the rules and holds supreme power over all beings in the house. :)

Nekkid kitty's rule!

Green - Is it the new "black"?

Are you green? I am proud to say that we live a green lifestyle and I continue to research and make changes to become even greener. (Is greener even a word? LOL!) It seems that in our society being green is becoming the trendy thing to do. I am just happy that people are thinking twice about the decisions they make and the footprint that they are leaving.

What are some things that you and your family are doing to be crunchy?

Here are some of the things we do:
- We use CF bulbs where appropriate.
- We cloth diaper Oliver.
- I breastfeed Oliver.
- We use BPA free plastics.
- We use only natural cleaning products, laundry detergent and other household products.
- I use natural makeup.
- We recycle.
- We buy organic and local whenever possible.
- We don't blast our air conditioning and only turn it on if we are miserable.
- We reuse packaging when possible.
- We have energy star appliances.
- We do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers.
- We use rechargable batteries when possible and rechargable lawn care toys such as the hedge trimmer and weed wacker.


Reduce - Reuse - Recycle

Oil Prices

My favorite magazine (The Economist) has another article absolving speculators for the rise in oil prices. Full disclosure: my company is a market maker on the NYMEX for oil contracts. Politicians attempting to correlate the rise in trading volume (Hedge Funds, pensions, etc now trade oil futures contracts) to a rise in the price are making a huge mistake:

The market for nickel provides a good illustration of this. Speculative investment in the metal has been growing steadily over the past year, yet its price has fallen by half. By the same token, the prices of several commodities that are not traded on any exchanges, such as iron ore and rice, have been rising almost as fast as that of oil.

The way Oil Futures contracts work is that the CFTC forces those not equipped to take physical delivery of the contract (and I believe the NYMEX Crude contracts are for sizeable amount of oil) to close out several days before the actual contract expires. Thus, speculators only bet on where the price will be - they CANNOT actually affect supply by "hoarding oil".

Any change (taxing speculators, excluding those not capable of taking physical delivery, and the other hairbrained ideas floating through Congress) to the futures market would be a bad idea.

At least higher oil prices make "greener" forms of energy more commercially competitive. I would favor changes to the tax code which subsidize the oil industry as a way to further level the playing field for solar/wind/tidal/geothermal/nuclear power. An end to sugar tariffs from Brazil would be another start, as ethanol produced from sugar is more cost-efficient that from corn.

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone had fun today and celebrated with an excellent fireworks show.

Cheers!

Summertime.... and the livin' is easy!

Bring on the barbeque! Tonight Dan and I will pack up our boys and head on over to RibFest. One word to describe this culinary summertime delight is YUM!

The RibFest is in The lovely town of Naperville Illinois which just happens to be Dan's hometown. This annual festival is always in July and attracts some of the premier barbeque chefs and their teams. These teams travel all over the US to compete in barbeque contests many of which you can check out on The Food Network.

A little piece of trivia for you.... Did you know that our good friend (and Dan's ex-roommate) Nathan is a certified barbeque judge? That is a job that I would love to do in my spare time.... all of the barbequed ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork you can eat. Talk about gluttony, but I digress.

Tonight's entertainment is Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Dan happens to love them, so it was an easy choice to make tonight RibFest night. The boys will be entertained by the petting zoo, circus acts and other assorted happenings going on in the family area.

Oh no! Say it isn't so...

Starbuck's is closing 500 additional stores :(

Wall Street Journal article

I am going to assume my favorite drive-thru is safe due to the amount of soccer moms who frequent it on an almost daily basis (me included, though I am a future soccer mom!)

Usually I do not endorse or support big box stores, but right now my snack of choice is a venti iced caramel macchiato and a raspberry apricot thumbprint scone - YUM! In fact, I think I need to go out right now and indulge!

My new name is "Nomamano!

This is according to my three year old son Ethan. Whenever I ask him a question he responds with "No mama no!" Hence the new name ;) Those of you who have toddlers understand this change in name phenomenon as well as I do. For some unknown reason Dan's name has not been changed to Nodaddyno and I wonder why... Could Ethan be playing favorites at such a young age? More then likely yes, he is a total Daddy's boy and lives for Dan.

Dan and I are very grateful that for the most part Ethan is a complete joy as a a toddler and was as a baby too. He is very sweet and kind, sensitive to others and does not stress about anything (except potty training, but that is a totally other post). Thus his "Nomamano!" attitude really isn't much to handle at all.

Future Domer?

oh my! Our little guy is growing up so fast! Do y'all agree with me that these photos should be brought out in the future on prom night? :)

Note that he is reading a Notre Dame book - He is his daddy's son!

...and then there were two.

My house is a bit quieter and I have shed some tears, my beautiful Fire was picked up by his new mom today. He was happy to see her and happy to jump up into his new kennel. I know he will be spoiled rotten and loved forever... just not by me and that makes me sad.

I am sad that Fire was not destined to stay with me longer, but that is how life is sometimes...

Saying goodbye to Flynn.....

I reluctantly met up with Steve today to return Flynn. I absolutely would have loved to keep Flynn forever! He is a super lover boy vizsla who has that special vizsla magic that you can feel.

Now I keep telling Desi that she needs to give me a boy puppy just like his daddy ;)

Tru Great Ballz of Fire

Actually, his new name should be, "Tru Great No Ballz of Fire" - Fire was neutered on Thursday at the clinic just down the street from Dan's office. It is a new place we are trying out for future use. We were pleased with the outcome of Fire's procedure and feel that we will continue to use them in the future.

If you haven't seen a large dog who was neutered as an adult, it can be a bit of a surprise. When the neuter takes place, the attending veterinarian removes just the testicle out of the scrotum and what is left looks like two pancakes flapping in the wind. Poor Fire!

He came through the surgery just fine and other then a hot ride home (the air conditioning in Dan's Equinox needs a recharge) he is resting comfortably. His new owner is picking him up tomorrow afternoon and it will be her responsibility to continue keeping Fire quiet for another day or two until his incision is a bit more healed up. After that he should be good to go.

Mission Organazation!

For those of you who know Dan and I personally, you know that we are not always the most organized of folk! Well today I have made a resolution, call it a self promise if you want, I will call it a faint glimmer of hope that one day I will be an organized neat freak!

In the crazy, fast paced life that we live (and love) there is not often time to really break each room down piece by piece and organize it, therefore I am making it a goal to get one or two rooms totally in order from top to bottom. This will include a thorough cleaning, organizing of any storage space, adding storage space where/when needed, putting the finishing touches on decorating and any other odds and ends that need to be completed.

My timeline is to finish the entire house before Desi's litter is born (assuming the breeding takes.) Wish me luck on my latest endeavor! I will post photographs of my progress.

Thanks in advance, Meow-Meow

I saw this link on ESPN about the health benefits to owning a cat:

But that's what researchers at the University of Minnesota have determined. Indeed, as reported by the Web site of the Star Tribune newspaper, their study concludes that feline-less people were 30 to 40 percent likelier to die of cardiovascular disease than those with cats.

As much as pooch lovers may want to believe differently, the study determined that dog owners had the same health risks in this regard as non-owners.

So, in addition to being such a wonderful pet for Ethan, thanks for reducing our
chances of cardiovascular disease.

On the subject of felines, Jodi found this hilarious post on CraigsList

Important Dates to Remember...

for Desi :)

Ovulation Date: June 21, 2008
Palpation/Pregnancy Check Date: July 21, 2008
X-Ray Date: August 18, 2008
Whelp Date: August 23, 2008 (this is going to be a tough one... it is my parents 35th wedding anniversary party YIKES!)