5 Unrelated Things

1. Panini Press: While browsing around Pioneer Woman's site, I found a recipe (or seven) that I wanted to try. It was a recipe for a chicken ranch panini. It sounded simple enough, the only problem being that I do not own a panini press. PW states that you can use a frying pan to cook the sandwiches and place another heavy frying pan on top to make paninis, but this sounded like a recipe for burned fingers to me. I am quite certain someone with better motor skills could pull it off, but after the Snickers Popcorn debacle, I was afraid to give it a go. After thinking for a bit I realized that I could use my George Foreman grill in place of a panini press. It worked amazingly. I am a genius. Let's all pretend that I am the first one ever to think of this and that nobody else in the big wide world out there has done this for years, 'kay? Don't burst my bubble by saying "Oh, duh! I've been doing that for eons!!" It's Monday. Go easy on me.

2. Bibi: My brother in law has a new dog. Her name is Bibi.

She was stray and is very shy and skittish but very sweet. He invited us over to meet her. The kids--especially James who has wanted a German Shepherd for forever--really liked her. They were very gentle and quiet with her. I know, I know it was shocking to see my horde dial it down. When Bibi had enough, they busied themselves with my brother-in-law's four other dogs. (Not an animal hoarding situation here, trust me. If I believed in reincarnation, I'd totally want to come back as a dog and live in that house.) It was a fun way to spend a few hours. I can't wait to see what a great dog Bibi becomes when she's more comfortable.

3. The Dumb Dog: It's been awhile since I've had much to say about Tilly. She seems to be maturing and settling down. Well, a little anyway. Yesterday she managed to open the lever handle on the front door and escape. This is not an easy task, y'all, as that door is heavier than our interior doors and tends to stick a little. But she managed. I was in the kitchen doing some dinner prep and walked into our foyer and the front door was hanging wide open. The dumb dog was long gone. My beloved and I searched for her and eventually found her; she was trying to get at the Chow down the street and he was trying to get at her. Thankfully there was a glass door between them. Also thankfully, the Chow's owners are nice folks who not only had no issue with our dog boxing at their glass door, they came out and gave her a treat. Great. Now the dumb dog has been rewarded for running away.

4. Chot a Gatuh: My newlywed niece's husband took my brother-in-law and nephew alligator hunting. (This is completely foreign to me. I don't know from hunting--especially gator hunting.) They bagged a ten foot alligator. Let me say that again: they bagged a ten foot alligator.

That's a lot of gator bites. Um, not that I've ever eaten gator bites, but my beloved has and he declares them awesome. I declare myself squeamish and I'm not sure I have it in me to try them. I'll keep my murder and consumption of meat limited to farm animals.

5. I don't really have a fifth thing: I don't have a fifth thing to tell you but "5 unrelated things" sounds better than "4 unrelated things" and I am too lazy to change the title. Although, I suppose this counts as an unrelated thing, so technically I could have five unrelated things. Man. It's exhausting up there in my brain! Aren't you glad you're not me?!