Down the Rabbit Hole

It has been quite an eventful week here at Chez Blackwood.  We've been here, there and everywhere and life doesn't show much sign of slowing down.

After I left you last, we dropped off the pups at the House of Disease and headed down to Florida to visit some friends and see the shuttle launch.  Unfortunately, the clouds didn't cooperate and at 4:14 am they made the decision to cancel the launch.  This was a pretty big bummer, but we loaded ourselves back in the car and started the drive back to our friend's house.  When I glanced over at a red light and notice that Colby's blinks had become extremely extended, I made the decision that I needed to be driving.  If anyone is going to kill me, I want it to be me, you know?  So, we got home around 7:15 in the morning and all collapsed into bed for a pre-Super Bowl nap.

The Super Bowl was amazing to watch, made even more so by the fact that I was able to find lambic at the liquor store next door, so I could pretend to drink beer with everyone else!  It was an incredible feeling to see the Saints win, and I think all of us Louisianians are still having a really difficult time believing that actually happened.  We managed to settle ourselves in for another short winter's nap, then woke up again at 3 am to drive to the Jacksonville beach in the hopes of seeing the shuttle launch in the distance.  And I can't lie--I wasn't all that hyped up for the launch, but I have to admit, seeing that shuttle blast up into space and bend around the horizon was awe inspiring.  We could even see the two rocket boosters drop off the shuttle and fall back to the ocean.  Crazy cool.

We got back home all in one piece later that day and picked up the dogs, who seemed fine at the time, but since then, poor sweet Jack seems to have incubated a lovely case of kennel cough.  He's been through much worse, so for now I'm just keeping an eye on him to see if it gets any worse over the next day or two.  Everything I've read says to keep infected dogs isolated from other dogs, but that's really just unrealistic in our house, so we'll also watch Ellie and hope that she doesn't come down with a case.

This weekend was another one filled with fun.  We celebrated a friend's birthday on Friday with good food and strong margaritas, then Valentine's Day rolled around and we decided to stay in and make our own delicious dinner.  Chef Colby started the parade of gourmet delights with homemade bruschetta, then followed up with bacon wrapped filet mignon with goat cheese and a balsalmic vinegar reduction, garlic and basil penne, and grilled asparagus.  It... was... fantastic.  The only thing that could have possibly been better in a restaurant is the fact that someone else did the dishes!

Last night I went to my first wine shop book club meeting and enjoyed a glass of merlot and wonderful conversation with some great ladies then came home to not one, but TWO king cakes.  And of course we've been watching the Olympics and I am completely flummoxed by the figure skating scoring system, but was thrilled to see Shen and Zhao win after hearing their beautiful story.  Part of what I love about the Olympics is the joy of rooting for the home team, but also the support and love you begin to feel for competitors from other countries.

This week will be spent prepping for my parents to visit next week and my weekend trip to Atlanta to visit my dear, sweet friend Melissa who I haven't seen since my New York City bachelorette party.  I usually take the couple of days before my parents get here to frantically clean and organize the house, but since I won't be here I'll have to trust that Colby doesn't cause too much destruction while I'm gone.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, and don't forget to indulge today on Mardi Gras!  Drink an Abita, eat some Zapps and then proceed to feel immensely guilty and attempt to atone for all of you indiscretions over the next 40 days!

Comments

[shani]

Glad you got to see the shuttle launch; I was worried that Colby would be horribly disappointed!
Give Jack a get well hug for me too:)

[Melissa]

King cakes, wine (although I'm more of a Cab girl than Merlot,) bacon wrapped filet...you and I have similar tastes ;o) It sounds like you've had a wonderful week! I do hope poor little Jack gets to feeling better soon. I just had a king cake arrive at my doorstep about 15 minutes ago, so I'll definitely be indulging in some of that Mardi Gras goodness today. Happy Mardi Gras!

[Julie]

I, too, am completely flummoxed by the figure skating scoring system. The whole night we just couldn't believe that teams that had FALLS scored better than those that didn't. We have since decided that there must be some super secret figure skating scoring rules and that we just are unaware of, because REALLY? (I was pulling for Shen and Zhao, too. I thought they did an amazing job, even if I didn't really know what techniques I should be looking for.)

[Jessica]

I did indulge a little bit today. i had a Pacziki and it was DELISH. OMG I love those things. Now I need to figure out what to give up for Lent.