February thoughts...

I'm trying to be more regular in my blogging, even if I don't have a whole lot to say I'm working on posting every week...or so.

Last week was a rough one, we lost our wirehaired doxie girl Pepper. Of the three dogs, she was the one who was undeniably "my" dog- even though she was blind and deaf, she followed me everywhere I went. In the morning, when I was in the bathroom fighting with my unruly hair and getting ready for the day, she would push her nose under the door and snort until I opened the door for her...she always wanted to be near me. She started showing the telltale signs of congestive heart failure a few days earlier, and she passed on Tuesday. She was a good girl, and I'm so glad that we had so long with her- she would have turned 15 in May, which is quite old for a dachshund. Our other two doxies- Brina, 15 (16 in June!), and Max, 7, are really eating up the extra attention that we've been giving them because we miss Pepper, so they're very happy.

The girl's basketball team at Joey's school won the district championship this weekend, and they go on to the regional tournament starting this Thursday. The coach gave Joey one of the district champion t-shirts since he videotapes all the games and rides to the away games with the team. Joey thought that was pretty cool, he's already looking forward to taping the games again next year when this season ends later this month.

Joey made a delicious treat for us last night while we watched the Super Bowl. He came up with the idea of marinating chunks of pork tenderloin in honey and brown sugar, then cooking it on the grill. It was SO good- we finished every bite! He's a creative cook, he always come up with something interesting when we have a special event. Pork tenderloin was on sale at Publix recently, with my coupons I got them for (literally) close to nothing. So, we have nearly a dozen pork tenderloins in our freezer that John and Joey have been preparing in a variety of ways...I just can't pass up a good deal!

John and Joey are going hog hunting in Northern Florida next weekend...I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea, but Joey really wants to go so I'm trying not to fuss too much. They're going with a very experienced hunter who is a deacon at our church and has a hunting trailer up there that they'll stay in. Thank goodness they'll be in a tree stand, because when I hear "hog hunting" I totally flash back to the scene in "The Thorn Birds" with Stewie being trampled while hog hunting on the ground...I think a tree stand is a good idea in this case, lol. However, they will be leaving early on Saturday and returning late on Sunday. It has been suggested that John's absence on Valentine's Day should earn me some sort of excellent gift...what do you think, lol? I'm going out with my friends Lisa and Lisa (L-squared) on Saturday, we'll think of a proper punishment for his poor timing. :)