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After swinging by the farmer’s market I was fully laden and prepared for a minimally cooked dinner. Lacking the energy to make gazpacho, I elected to shred some organic romaine and top it with cherry tomatoes picked from the backyard, a few cubes of feta, and a mild raspberry vinaigrette as it was the only salad dressing in the house. It was satisfying, cooling, but an ordinary salad. This was more than made up for by the sweet excellence of the corn on the cob. All the corn so far this year had been rather disappointing, until last night. After husking, the corn was boiled for exactly seven minutes, then lightly buttered with unsalted butter and sprinkled with a tiny amount of kosher salt. The short cooking time did not provide for any development of starchiness or mushiness, two qualities over evident in most of the corn this year. It was simply sweet summer heaven. For dessert, the natural finale was mixed fresh peach slices and blueberries, a sweet conclusion to a satisfying and healthy meal for a hot August night.

I miss my dog “Mutombo” that I had for 14 wonderful years. He was a pit-bull/greyhound mix and had the brindle stripes. He was the gentlest dog I have ever had and not once ever snarled at me. I (and Mutombo) had lived in the Phoenix valley for the past 2 years. That Christmas a friend had gotten my dog some “dog pajamas.” I for the life of me could not figure out why I would ever put them on my “manly” dog. That January while driving through the mountains from Phoenix on my way to Flagstaff, AZ to attend Northern Arizona University, my car broke down many, many miles from the nearest town. It was 11:00 p.m. at night and it was about 5 degrees out. I didn’t want to leave Mutombo at the car, so I put him in his cute dog pajamas to help him stay warm and started walking down the road. A little while later a car stopped and gave me a ride into town. The guy couldn’t stop laughing about my big dog in his “nighty!”

My last vacation was a nine hour adventurous trip across the border to O-Canada! The border crossing was a breeze, and the customs personnel were very nice and polite. The weather was amazing in Canada as we drove to Niagara Falls, somewhere in the high 60s. Upon arrival in Niagara Falls it was amazing to see the beautiful green blue water we have ever encountered, it looked so refreshing; little did we know we would experience that first hand. The hotels on the falls were quite a sight as well. Upon looking out the hotel room window to the left were the American Falls, to the right all light up with a full blown rainbow were the Canadian Falls, and right in the middle was a beautiful neon red CASINO sign! Needless to say it was a bit cheesy and tacky, reminded us almost a little of Atlantic City! The Canadian falls at night are wonderful they are light up with lights and you can hear the continuous rush of the water; quite soothing to sleep to! There was lots of stuff to do around the falls if you were into seeing the same kind of tours, and you could venture up the road a ways to a very tack strip of stores/shops, food, wax museums, and other adventures. We did what we normally would do on a vacation look for something different – JET BOAT TOURS! Well that sounded fun. Little did we know that we would be drenched head to toe sitting in 56 degree water jumping through Class 5 Rapids. That was the most amazing jet boat tour we had ever been on, the water rushing over you head; actually experiencing brain freeze from the outside in, not like eat ice-cream from the inside out! And we paid a decent amount of cash to be frozen, laughing hysterically, and totally stinky from the wool sweaters the company gave us that lord knows how many other people worn. IT was the most fun of our trip to Niagara Falls!

I taught three to six year old children. You have to gain their trust by being gentle and soft spoken, because being in the water can be a very scary place for them. We would play games and sing songs that they would know. When they accomplished a jump or the skill of blowing bubbles, the smile they give is truly wonderful. It would light up the pool. They would be so proud. It was all so endearing. They always saw me in a swimsuit…when they would see me at a store they would say I looked different with clothes on…I would watch them grow up from being very scared to jumping into the deep end. It was a job that I truly loved and miss. It also gave me some insight as to how to handle the fear of water with my two boys.

This has been one of the most boring days in my life. After coming from a 29 day vacation, it seems like nothing has changed. Same people, same amount of work and same attitude by the higher ups. What has change is my attitude towards my body. I am eating healthier and doing more exercise. Today I am thinking about going to the Gym and what I am going to be eating for lunch. I have a part time job besides my regular job and I have been thinking all day if I want to quit that job or not. I should not because I need the money but I also want to spend more time with the wife and three kids. They have been so good to me that I know they deserve some quality time from me. This has been my day so far.

May dog owners now treat their pets like members of the family, or children. They spoil and pamper their dogs just as they would a small child.  The dogs are fed the same food the owner eats, taken to the store, allowed to sleep in bed and even dressed up.  Anymore, it is not uncommon to see someone pushing a dog around the store or mall in a stroller or carrying one in a purse.  Many dogs are not only fed the same food as the owner eats, some owners specially prepare meals for their pets.  So many people also dress up their dogs that there are now some websites dedicated only to dog clothing.  You can find sweaters, hats, winter dog boots, and even Halloween costumes.