My April Vacation

Tip and I went out of town last Monday. We went down to Lake Conroe and just vegged. Shopped a little at the Outlet Mall [more about that later]. Didn't see anybody, didn't call anybody. Shoot, I had to go OUTSIDE the cabin to get cell reception!

I went to the Activity Center for 'net access twice: on Tuesday to post the last half of the Agave story. Then on Wednesday to do some banking chores.

The only reason I went to the Outlet Mall was b/c I drove away from the house without my blouses. I SWAN, y'all it was an accident. I got two tops at one store and a tee shirt at another.

Then I made the mistake I always seem to make at the Outlet Mall, I drove close to Kitchen Collection. They broadcast a siren song on a frequency only audible to gadget whores. I might as well admit it here, I 'm Holly and I'm a gadget whore.

The Dearly Beloved swears this last whisk is the one that broke the “camel's” back. He is threatening to take all my lovely whisks and line them up on the tailgate of his truck on a dark background and take a picture for his blog. No doubt he will poke great fun at my collection of lovely whisks. He just does NOT understand my need for whisks of different makes, models, materials, sizes... Besides, this is the first whisk I've bought in over a YEAR! And I needed a back-up to use on the calphalon.

But, that wasn't my only purchase at KC. They had Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixers on sale. I've been lusting for a stand mixer for a couple of years now. I made the plunge and bought one, along with the ice cream maker attachment. I was lookin' through the recipe book, and couldn't find the directions for Frozen 'ritas, though. I DID find a recipe for Mango Sorbet. I figure I can add Rum and lime juice and voila': Frozen Mango Daiquiris!

I also got gifts for several friends there. And of course, I got just a few gadgets for me. But even the Dearly Beloved agreed we needed at least one of them: more hooks for the pot rack.

I mostly passed my days, working Tipper on his obedience with the E-collar. I forgot his “place” board, and it was really too wet to use a towel or sofa cushion, so I let him slide on that one. But he is coming on command with or without a buzz from the collar. He's re-learned heel. He sits on command again. He relearned in one week what it took him a month and a half to learn the first time around. I just need to keep up with his training now that we're home.

He got to chase squirrels with an actual chance of catchin' them at the cabin. At home there's always a fence between the dawgs and the squirrels. Here: no fences. He'd spot a squirrel, take off at a lumbering lope and the squirrel'd be ½ way up the pine tree by the time he was sniffin' around the base wonderin' where that critter'd disappeared to. Ah well, it was fun to watch.

The cabin had a corrugated tin roof. A couple of afternoon it started raining. I looked at Tip and said, “Nap-time.” He'd beat me to the bedroom. It was great!

We just set our own schedules. Sometimes I'd wake him up in the morning and sometimes, he'd wake me up. We ate when we got hungry. He has different eating habits when he doesn't have to worry about the dominant dawgs stealin' his food. He eats at a slower pace and will even leave some in the bowl for a snack later.

All in all..it was just the rest and relaxation I needed. Now, maybe I can clear up the log-jam of posts running around in my head.