I am a Freak for Jason Mraz...There I Said It!

I am an avid fan and follower of the singer Jason Mraz...along with his blog...website...Twitter Tweets...YouTube interviews and concert footage...ETC! As I have given up smoking and eating cake I guess you can say this is my one vice. ANYWAY...every Friday his Joyologist, Tricia, requests that their Twitter subscribers send questions of which Jason will answer 12 on his blog the following Monday. I have faithfully done so for three weeks in a row. Finally my question was answered! Here is my question and the response it yielded. I guess I should explain that as the "Joyologist" Tricia is the raw food chef and yoga instructor for the previously mentioned Mraz.

macrow03 is in for a treat: What is your favorite dish made by Tricia? Would you share a recipe?











Hell Yes! Behold, Tricia’s Delicious and Nutritious Kick Ass Kale Salad

2 heads of kale
1/4 cup sesame oil
3T olive oil
1/4 cup Nama-Shoyu, Tamari, or Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
3-10 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup sesame seeds or hemp seeds

She adds:“I am bad with measurements and do it mostly to taste, so you may need a little more Nama-Shoyu for a saltier taste and use as much garlic as you wish……

Wash kale and break it into bite size pieces. Place dry kale in a large bowl and add oils. Now this is the most important part! Massage the oils into the kale. You will see the kale breaking down. Do this for at least a full minute. Then, add the Nama-Shoyu and massage again. Then toss in garlic and seeds. Mix it all up. It is ready to be served. Although, it sometimes tastes better on its second day!…

Enjoy! People even have been known to use this on their non-raw tacos and burgers. I love it with Mary's crackers and sunflower seed cheese.”

Thank you Jason Mraz and Tricia! You made my week!

Michelle and the Kid's Visit July 2009

We had a great visit with Michelle and the kids this weekend...time goes by too quickly! As usual we did a bunch of art work and made Grandpa birthday cards. We also played a lot of games...like Monopoly, Rummykub, Trouble, Yahtzee, and Uno!

We came up with our personal game strategies...

We did a little shopping...fun times in the car...with absolutely no fighting!

We went ice skating...

Then Stevens and Hundley took a spin on the merry-go-round...

We went out to lunch at Chappy's...(photo by Wells!)

Nancy and the kids set up the tent in the 98 degree heat...of course Trav was there to help!

We celebrated Grandpa's Birthday!

We posed for a few family photos...

We even learned a few things...

And before we knew it...it was time to say good-bye!

Don't Forget the Kitties

It all began with Maverick...aka Merv Perv. He was the coolest cat ever. He went through every major life change of my young adulthood with me...going off to college, living on my own for the first time, moving from South Carlina to Alabama, getting my first apartment living by myself, getting my first "real job', getting married, and buying our first house. He and Kitchen were very tight. From the time I decided he needed a companion to keep him company during my longs days at work, the two of them were inseparable. When Kitchen was a kitten and climbing all over him, I am sure that he wanted to kill me! After she matured and chilled out the two of them were great buddies. Her proper name did not start out as "Kitchen". It was actually Phoebe...Kitchen is just one of those things that evolved and stuck. Her records at the Vet's office even says "Kitchen". I remember my Nephew Wells thinking her name was so funny. He told me he was going to get a cat and name it either Bathroom, Dining room or Living room. Something told me it was time to introduce a new cat and I am glad we did it when we did. Kitchen was not accepting the new kitten Kiki...and took a long time to warm up. In true Maverick fashion he let that crazy kitten climb all over him without a word of protest. It was not long after we moved into our house that Marverick fell mysteriously sick. He died in the car with Jason on the way to the Vet. Losing this cat was very traumatic for both of us and I am sure for Kitchen as well because she loved him so much. He was the coolest cat you have ever seen. He was always in the room with us and loved for you to scratch him under his arms. He was most famous for doing what we called, "Mr. Smooshy Face". This is a video of our Merv Perv being coaxed into doing Mr. Smooshy Face.

Kiki is a character...she loves to chew on things...which is really irritating! I can't tell you how many times I have had to replace my computer mouse! We think she wishes she was a dog. She even drinks out of their water dish. She does not understand why those stupid dogs always get to go outside and she doesn't. Every once in a while she freaks out and goes on a loud meowing frenzy. She is not very affectionate except on her own terms. When she does want attention...there is no getting rid of her! She will torture you until you give in and pet her. She loves to play with the light from a pen light or laser light. We have to do it only when the dogs are outside because Livingston also likes it and he turns into a 75 pound puppy bounding around the room...someone could lose an eye!

Kitchen is getting older now...working on 14 years. She has lost a lot of muscle tone in her legs and has a hard time jumping. She has become exceedingly affectionate, which is not the way she has always been. It is a nice change...although she too can be relentless when she wants attention. She is a little devious too. She has figured out that our dog Cede will not walk past her. She will lay in the floor on the rug in the doorway into the Kitchen. Cede will cry and cry and that cat will not budge. I wonder if she will ever figure out that all she has to do is walk forward. Kitchen will just move out of the way! Anyway...we think Kitchen enjoys this a great deal! With having three dogs, we have to feed the cats up on a little table in our Kitchen. Since she can't jump up there anymore, we have to put her up there. Probably her biggest quirk is that she constantly wants new water. She even has a long drawn out "I want water" meow. It is funny!

The cats used to be the center of attention around here...the dogs have definitely taken the spotlight away from them. We do still love our kitties. They are unique and fun to have around. Hopefully one day they will forgive us for bringing dogs into their house!

It's Your Turn Now Wells

This is the third of my three favorite people. It is hard to believe that this young man will be 11 years old in September! Here are just a few of my favorite moments that I was lucky enough to catch on tape over the years:

Martha

Four Year Old Hundley Sings for Aunt Martney

I went to visit Michelle and Family a few weeks after Stevens was born back in March 2004. Hundley and I spent a lot of time together...real "girl bonding time". We were hanging out and talking one day and she wanted to sing a song for me. This video is part of that song. She was the cutest four year old girl ever!

On a side note, I am very happy to report that I have just learned how to clip separate videos into one video...LOOK OUT WORLD!

Martha

Mr. Stevens Speaks His Mind

These videos were taken in March of 2009 and I am so excited to be able to share this with people. This child is one of the funniest little dudes you will ever meet...of course I think this because he is my nephew and one of my three favorite people in the world! His mom has always said that he has tried to make her laugh since he was a little tiny baby. This is him honing his craft. Take it away Mr. Stevens!

Our Foster Hounds

After adopting Livingston, we decided to give fostering hounds for Basset Hound Rescue of Alabama a try. We have been very lucky to foster some great hounds in our work with BHRA. (http://www.bhra.org/) We missed each of them terribly when they left us, but knowing that we were part of their journey to their forever homes is very rewarding. Here is a little information about each one of these special hounds:

Caylee
Caylee was our first foster and she was the coolest little thing. She loved to play with toys and spent a lot of time gathering them up. In this picture she was sitting on the couch behind me...yes I was on the floor as usual. The toy box was on the floor next to me and I felt her reaching around me and grabbing stuff out. When I turned around this is what I found. She was gathering up her loot. She is a great dog that we get to see every now and then when her dad attends BHRA functions. She has a great home and we could not be more tickled for her!

Susie
We were enjoying fostering Calyee so much that we took in a second foster a week or two later. Her name was Susie. She was a hoot and boy did she love to play! She and Livingston ran around all the time and had the best time! She was adopted by a lady that we know named Sandra Campbell. She has a GREAT home with lots of brothers and sisters to play with!

Abby
Jason called her "Carl" because her "basset chatter" sounded like Carl in the moving Sling Blade, um hum. She was pretty...this is the first one Katie did not like. They even got into a fight on our back patio one morning while I was in the back of the house getting dressed. It is the only fight we have ever had here that started when we were not present. Since I was alone, it was very scary. We got through that one with just a few scratches. No big deal!

Holly
Poor little Holly. She had a rough life. When she came to live with us we discovered a cut on her neck when she was sleeping belly up in our wire crate. In this picture she has a big bandage wrapped around her neck that is hidden under her droopy skin. She was adopted by some people who met her at our BHRA Halloween picnic in Dothan. Unfortunately she ended up back at BHRA suffering from terrible wounds from what we think was a dog fight. She was nursed back to health but ended up on the losing end of a dog fight which finally took her life.

Molly
This was the coolest dog ever! She was a big ole girl with the best personality. I think we will always regret her as "the one that got away". We should have adopted this girl. Luckily she found a great home with a wonderful family!

Gertie
This dog latched herself to me immediately. She followed me everywhere I went and was right up under me every time I sat down. When I took her to her new dad, she did not want to go with him and it broke my heart to force her to stay. Of course, when he gave her a hamburger on the ride home he won her over forever...

Sylvie
We had Sylvie for a very short time, but she was a sweet girl! She went to a great home with kids and I am sure is the queen of her castle! She looked like a red and white basset...but she was technically classified as a tri color because of the one brown spot on her side.

Trudy
She was a sweet girl and got a great home up north in Pennsylvania, I believe. We called her "Houdini" because she was a brilliant escape artist. One day our dogs kept getting out of our fence. We thought that maybe some children in the neighborhood with nothing better to do were letting them out. Nope...it was Trudy! We finally got to see her in action. She would raise herself up on the fence, nudge the latch with her nose and they were OFF! It was mortifying and amazing all at the same time. Needless to say...we fixed it where she could not do THAT anymore!

Bailey
Bailey was our first "foster failure". She was a Basset mix and had a lot of issues. She tore up our furniture, had terrible separation anxiety, very fearful, fought with Katie and eventually we had to make the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep. The final straw was when she just about took one of Katie's ears off. She was a very sweet dog who loved her people and we will always miss her.

Shanaenae
She was a very sweet girl and did not last long at our house before she was adopted!

Mercedes
This is our final Foster Failure...Steve! She is a now 11 year old diabetic basset. We just could not send her away to a new home again. We figured at her advanced age she deserved to stay in our house with us. She loves us, especially Jason, and she loves our dogs.

These are just a few neat photos...sort of a trip down memory lane...

Can you imagine coming home to this mess?

How 'bout this one? This is Trudy frantically running in
circles in the feathers from the pillow they had destroyed!

But there are good times too...like a bunch of snuggle buddies on a cold winter's night...

the crowd gathering at meal time...

buddies to pal around with...

and nap time photo ops! (again...guess where the people usually sit!)

If you have ever thought about getting involved in animal rescue...we highly recommend it! It is a lot of fun and very rewarding! We are not currently fostering because we are caring for two special needs hounds at the moment. Cede is Diabetic and Katie is Epileptic. We hope to be able to foster again one day. It truly is a lot of fun.

There is nothing better in the world than a crew of adoring bassets that look up to you!

Martha