Customized Engraving

corporate plaques

They give you an engraved key chain, nameplate, or bookmark for free if you put their link on your website. Et voilà! I'm such a sucker for freebies...

Sunday: Spring walk at the dog park

Doggies to look at for hubby, blooming redbud trees for me!

..and another Potato Chip Scarf!

Blue, soft, looks good on a rhino - what more can you want?

KC Pet Expo

We went to the Pet Expo - they had basically (mostly?) lots of pet adoption and rescue groups with a few of their adoptable animals - mostly dogs who enjoyed a TON of petting and treats, also some cats (*squeak* kittens!), a booth with African hedgehogs, and a lone bunny - no guinea pigs (sob!). Also some horses, donkeys, alpacas, and vendors selling pet related stuff - food, treats, medications.

There was a very exciting (and wet!) dock diving dog competition where dogs jump after a toy into a basin full of water and the length of the jump is measured - that was fun. Also a dog agility course (especially fun to see the teeny tiny dogs jump over teeny tiny hurdles!), a dog fashion show - fortunately mostly for leashes and collars, no silly costumes - , a reptile show and an "acrobatic" cat show (cats jumping through hoops - or not!) which would have been better if the presenters hadn't been half asleep.

Here's a couple of videos I took of some particularly eager dock dogs:

Review: It puts the lotion on its skin...

Alright, I received this lotion about a month ago to review (don't you just love freebies!). It's called "Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion" and it's supposed to be the bomb. And, I'm happy to say, it is!

They sent me a nice sized 4 oz. bottle and a couple of little to-go-packs. In the brochure it said that this lotion is supposed to shield your skin from chemicals like soap or detergents while moisturizing and hydrating at the same time. I've been having a LOT of trouble with eczema on my hands this winter, due to the cold weather and me being an idiot and not wearing any gloves outside or even inside when I'm cleaning or doing the dishes. This stuff? Cleared up the eczema and itchiness each time within a day, without being greasy or smelly and without any cortisone (among the ingredients are aloe, some sort of silicone, vitamin E, and chamomile). I've also used it on my legs where it worked wonders as well.

The only problem is that now I'm addicted and a 4 oz. bottle sells for a whopping $25 which I won't ever spend (well, at least not until next winter when I can't find my gloves again...)

Spring-ish

Exploring the neighborhood: Heritage Park!

Big tower

weird-necked geese

first buds of spring!

THE DARK LORD HAS RETURNED...

... and with that, my favorite guilty TV pleasure. Hubby escapes to the farthest regions of our abode and puts on headphones. The cat starts pulling out his fur again. The fish? Desparately try to throw themselves against the aquarium walls. And why? Because of this...

Hell's Kitchen! Yes, it's horrible, overblown, FOX reality TV (chef wannabes vie for the chance to run one of British potty-mouth chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurants). Yes, it's absolutely, pathetically predictable (the risotto! nobody EVER gets the risotto right!). Yes, the contestants are often morons who crack under the pressure like a badly cooked quail egg. Yes, a lot of the lines look like they've been taken out of context or even scripted, and there's a ton of commercials during that hour.

And yet... it's SO bleeping funny! The swearing! The sweating! The crying! The dramatic voiceovers - the announcer actually introduced Gordon Ramsay with "The Dark Lord Has Returned!" The delightfully horrible concoctions those guys cook up (today, somebody's "signature dish" contained scallops and white chocolate shavings, among other, unspeakable things). Ah, fun!