Monday, April 27, 2009

We're havin' a heat wave...

... a tropical heat wave. Last week we had some serious highs--it was like living on the face of the sun! All right, so there was no humidity and it really never got above 90 in the city, but this is San Francisco and we can't take the heat. It was quite balmy though...

Bright sunshine and blue skies might make for great people watching at Dolores Park, but warm weather is not fun for pigs. It was 85 degrees inside and with no fans and no breeze, the poor little creatures were in the hot seat. Here they are relaxing (on our new couch!) with some frozen water bottles. (Better pix of the couch to come...)


Last pic: That's Rusty cooling down his backside while he noses into a paper bag. Silly, smart, or just plain gross?

We've been keeping a close watch on Oliver lately. He still goes into the vet for monthly toothtrims for his malocclusion. He also seems to have chronic breathing problems/wheeziness, which are related to his teeth and the way he eats. Dr. Herman believes that he aspirates bits of food from time to time, causing bacteria to develop in his lungs. He's had several bouts with pneumonia and fluid in his chest over the past year because of it. He's on a new kind of antibiotic called doxycyclene, as well as a diuretic (furosemide) and an anti-wheezer (aminophylline) when/if he needs it. Dr. Herman thinks Olive is a bit of a mystery, but she's practicing good medicine on him and the BF and I are very attentive Food Guy and Pig Mom, respectively. Being a Pig Mom is hard work, and part of that means I worry about him all the time. He's just the sweetest, gentlest pig. And for the most part, he's happy, energetic, has a good appetite and loves spending time with Russ. Rusty continues to entertain us with his spunk and to amaze us as a butternut squash on legs. His last weigh-in: 1435 grams, which means he actually lost about 25 g! (For perspective, Oliver is a slim 1140 g.)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Miles and a Milestone

On March 15, I finally got off my pasty arse and ran my first race. It was the Emerald Across the Bay 12K (which is about 7.5 miles for us metrically challenged). The course was a fantastic tour-bus route around SF. It started across the bay at Fort Baker, went over the Golden Gate Bridge (epic!), through Chrissy Field, past Marina Green, and ended up at Aquatic Park/Ghiradelli Square. Pretty awesome. I felt great, had my iPod blaring, and soaked up the scenery... with "soaked" being the operative word. It rained the entire time! Everyone was drenched and freezing before we even boarded the buses to take us to the starting point. Puddles, mud, rain pelting you in the face--it was a soggy, sloshy mess and I had a blast! No pictures of me will be posted at this event, obvi. Thanks to the BF and fam for coming out to support me!

Happy birthday Mom!

April 4: It's not every day that yo mama turns 60. We all surprised her at dinner at an Italian restaurant, then went back to Steve's place for dessert. I wanted to make something special, but couldn't decide between something chocolatey/different and something fresh/fruity and seasonal. Since it was my mom's birthday, I thought it was appropos to employ one of the life lessons I learned from her when I was in my teens. [Picture this: you're at the mall and can't decide what to buy: the Hypercolor tee that changes color with body heat, or the fluorescent pink sweatshirt with "totally rad" on it. Mom's sage words of advice: Get them both.] Above are pics of the finished desserts. Spring cupcakes with lavender icing a la my hero Martha Stewart (left), and enormous individual strawberry shortcakes, recipe courtesy of celeb chef Michael Mina (right). I was a bit of a whirling dervish in the kitchen (naturally I overslept that day and was pressed for time!), but still managed to snap some pics of my progress:



1. Letting the shortcake dough rest; 2. Chopping; 3. Whipping; 4. Best part about whipping, licking the beaters; 5. Cooling; 6. Icing (and appropriately dressed in Culinary Academy apron!)