We never do because he’s a total bed hog who mercilessly steals covers. Plus he got a new fleece-covered doggy bed for Christmas so he sleeps in comfort. But last night I was feeling like a total softie so I let Jack hop into bed with me while I read Sherlock Holmes.

Things quickly became problematic. Jack passed out long before I hit the second page of my short story, his heavy canine head resting right next to me. He likes the feeling of a nice down pillow under his bony head, but it grosses me out to share pillows with my dog. I mean, he’s a DOG, for one thing, and he smells like movie popcorn, for another. I can’t for the life of me figure out why my dog smells like cinema-fresh Orville Redenbacher, but regardless I don’t want him stinking up my pillows.

I moved his head to my shoulder in a misguided act of kindness, but as Jack drifted further and further into the depths of doggy dreamland, his breathing got heavier and louder. His breaths sounded as if they were coming from miles away as their barreled down that big ol’ snout of his. His nose sounded like the blizzard in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It is particularly distracting trying to read about a 19th century detective in rainy London when your dog’s loud breathing snoring makes you think of claymation snowstorms.

So I gave up on Sherlock and turned out the lights.

I awoke the next morning to find that, in his efforts to cuddle with me throughout the night, Jack had actually turned me 90 degrees and I now lay with my head hanging off one side of the bed and my feet hanging off the other, a pillow shoved under my right side and Jack snoring loudly on my left.

“Morning,” I grumbled bitterly and promptly shoved him off the bed. Lesson learned.

***

I tucked Jack into his kennel tonight, thankful for the fact that I only had to share the bed with The Boyfriend instead of an inconsiderate zoo animal. As I closed the door of the crate I thought exasperatedly, It’s just so much more pleasant to sleep with a HUMAN, who at least has evolved enough to understand the concept of a SHARED living space.

I mean, sure, when The Boyfriend and I first started living together, I had to train myself to stop sleeping diagonally across the bed. Some people don’t like that. Apparently. But now we’ve worked through that. And now I also know that it’s not reasonable to take the entire comforter and turn myself into a one-man blanket ball just because it’s really, really, really cold outside.

The Boyfriend smiled fondly at me as I clambered into bed. “I was thinking about all the little things I love about you, and here’s one: your sleep twitches.”

I laughed. “Really? I twitch that much? It’s noticeable?”

“Yeah, it is. You twitch all night long,” he said in that fond voice you use to talk about your partner’s secret quirks. Then, turning to look at me with wide, worried eyes, he said in the slightly panicky voice you use when you realize your partner may be somewhat disturbed, “You twitch a LOT.”

Jack let out a snort from his kennel.

I started off the year as a recent college grad who was holding down three part-time jobs and trying desperately not to become hopelessly discouraged. Looking through iPhoto it appears that, besides working a lot, all I did from January to April was cook and eat. Which makes sense — I had no money and the Boyfriend was still in school — what else are a poor post-grad and a senior college student supposed to do in the cold Upstate NY winter? During these first few months of 2010, I did make scallops for the first time, jump back on the bacon bandwagon, and enjoy several lunches on our back porch, but aside from that there was nothing particularly new and noteworthy in the early months of the year.

April is when it all turned around for me. On the evening of April 1st — April Fool’s Day, mind you — I got a call about a job I had interviewed for in February. The interview had gone so well and I’d immediately clicked with the team, but funding fell through and so did the job. This phone call, however, signaled the rebirth of the job and the hiring of one very thankful Page girl! I’m currently exploring the Development side of non-profit work and I find it suits me well.

This spring brought me a new job and it brought a college diploma for The Boyfriend. And in keeping with the Spring Whirlwind, the Boyfriend, Roommate and I had to deal with the end of our apartment lease in May. The Roommate made plans to abandon us and move downstate to live with her boyfriend, taking Sid, her fabulous cookbook collection, and all of the clothes I used to borrow with her. Meanwhile my boyfriend and I struggled to find a landlord who was willing to rent us an apartment even though we have a dog. Yes, even dogs as cute as Jack are unwanted by landlords.

The stress of not potentially not finding a place that was okay with Jack’s size and overall canine-ness wore away at us throughout the spring until we finally found a gorgeous place in a quiet neighborhood:

I really love our apartment — the location, the size, the style. It’s really perfect for us and our growing zoo.

In June I turned 23 for the first time with the help of my family and some sombreros.

Compared to Summer 2009, July and August were fairly quiet. The gang made a trek north in August to do a little camping — our first group trip together.

And by “camping,” I mean eating, drinking, boating, swimming, eating, kayaking, campfiring, drinking, S’moresing, eating, and sleeping in real beds.

(Jack only went swimming twice: once when he fell off the boat trying to rescue the Boyfriend and as seen above when he ran into the water trying to rescue the Boyfriend and I from our kayaks. That’s puppy love.)

October was a banner month: the Boyfriend got his EMT certification, had a birthday, and carved his first Jack o’lantern.

Jack is so proud he’s fighting back tears.

My big moment in October was the 17th, when my sister and I took a supersecret trip up to Saratoga Springs…

…to get tattoos!

I was incredibly nervous, but it’s been a wish of mine to get a tiger lily tattoo for a few years now. Tiger lilies bloom in the summer right around my birthday and my dad brought my mother a bouquet when I was born.

The pain is not as bad as you think. The actual art of having someone draw on you is far more impressive than the sting of the needles. (By the way if you’re in the Capital Region and looking to get a tattoo, go to Needlewurks. They are professional, friendly, talented, and clean!)

My sister got a Linnea flower after her name.

As the months turned colder and cuddling became more necessary, I began to greatly miss my pudgebucket, Sid. So in November I dragged The Boyfriend to the animal shelter where we found Penny:  

Who, like her doggy brother, is an odd mix of lazy and crazy.

“Excuse me, are you gonna eat all that?”

To round out the year, in December the Boyfriend and I celebrated our anniversary on Cape Cod.

And finally, Santa topped off the year nicely by bringing me one of these for Christmas:

(image courtesy of gdgt.com)

It’s love.

“This is humiliating.”

The problem is HOW to utilize this fantastic piece.

He could be a Martian from Planet J…

…or a lively phonograph…

…or a cold, resentful queen.

Decisions, decisions!

“Dream on, lady. No way I’m going trick-or-treating in this.”

Life was getting me a little down, but that didn’t stop me from eating some tasty dishes:

Salmon thanks to our resident fish-fryer, The Boyfriend:

Spaghetti and turkey meatball masterpiece:

Heard of oats in a jar?

What about sundae in a jar?

An entire plate of chocolate chip pancakes The Roommate made (nah, I shared):

And finally, plenty o’ green monsters:

I was drinking green monsters, but I was a blue, miserable monster.

But then the clouds parted and something wonderful happened.

I won’t share too much just yet because it seems to good to be true, but things are turning around for this Page girl!

The weather is acting accordingly. Thanks, Albany.

My boys and I spent a warm Easter Monday at the park. Normally we go to the dog park by our house, but Washington Park was buzzing with people and puppies!

Jack is normally a total princess about the water (bathtubs and cups included), but today he spotted some ducks and bolted in!

Attaaaaack!

Retreeeeat!

Someone needs to work on his swimming skills. Perhaps we could enroll him at the Y?

It was so beautiful out, despite a quiet threat of rain. The weatherman is predicting 84 degrees for Wednesday! Woohoo!

Dinner tonight was simple with cheddar and broccoli pierogies with steamed veggies and pesto.   

I’m off to bed soon because Granny has work, a meeting, and three apartment showings (!!) tomorrow. But I’m baaaaack to blogging and it feels good!

Earlier today I ventured into the sunshine for an adventure with my boys. There was some fetch…

Awesome. I think next weekend we’re planning a REAL hiking day trip. The park was fine for today though. I was just happy to get some sun. So was this guy, who spazzed and sprinted like it was his job.

Pant, pant!

When we got home The Roommate, being her incredible self, was in the middle of making dinner. “I think we need to eat something real,” she declared. I was behind this sentiment 100%. Especially when this was the result:

Pork chops with cooked apples and onions, asparagus, and mashed potatoes. I said yes to all of the above:

My belly was so happy after this. I decided to go healthy for dessert and munched on a clementine. I have a thing for snack foods that involve work, like clementines, string cheese or peanuts. I think I like being kept busy and it takes longer to eat. Weird? Maybe. I’m cool with it.

Off to get to some stuff started for the week while we watch the Oscars. I think every one of us should strive to look as hot as Sigourney Weaver when we are 60. That is all.

The two apartment couples spent a night in on Saturday. We watched Spanglish and ate copious amounts of cheese. The Roommie and I decided early on that we wanted cheese, wine, and crusty French Bread for dinner.

Counterclockwise from the orange cheese: smoked Cheddar (if you have not tried it, you MUST!), Brie, herbed goat cheese, and smoked Gouda.

In addition to olives and bread we had grapes and an apple.

Sometimes I think it might be nice to lose five pounds, but with so much cheese in the world, is it worth it?

NO.

With our cheese we shared a bottle of Malbec.

I don’t know anything about wine, but I like Malbecs as far as red wine goes. Later we popped a bottle of Mondoro, which is sweet sparkling wine.

Jack and Lola were happy to chill with us in the living room (and wait for pieces of cheese to hit the floor). We wore the younger pup out — Jack fell asleep on my shoulder halfway through the evening.

But Lola was ready to hang out!

Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lola. (Do you know that song by the Kinks? I’ve been singing it all week.)

I ate more cheese last night than I’d care to admit. Despite the large block of dairy digesting in my stomach currently, I’m thinking sometime in the future this apartment needs to have a wine and cheese party. Ever hosted/been to one??

I’m watching L.A. Story which is one of my all-time favorite movies.

It’s hilarious and the ending is so sweet. It’s a feel-good movie that’s not too sappy. It means even more to me know because The Boyfriend gave me a copy for Christmas. I used to have a VHS copy but then my old VCR ate it (oh yeah, I still use my VCR!) and I was crushed. So The Boyf tracked down a copy for me! He’s so thoughtful!

Jack is looking bored. It’s so sunny out but the wind is a-roaring, which makes for very cold Albany weather. I want to take the monster to the dog park but that wind is making it difficult.

Pleeeease?

He’s so social and loves hanging out with his buddies. I’ll layer up in a bit and make the trek out into the arctic temperatures.

If my morning looked stressful, check out my afternoon: dog park, grocery store and meal planning for the week, and baking (?!). Phew.

I remembered my camera today. Lunch in action:

Greens and mushrooms with leftover tofu and YUMMY peanut sauce as salad dressing. Pretty sure I have to start making this weekly.

Fruit and cottage cheese. Cottage cheese doesn’t photograph well.

PB&J Larabar.

This held me over well through my second job, the ride home, and dinner prep. Tonight was taco night (a Boyfriend favorite). The Boyf and The Roommate had ground chicken in their tacos, but I’m trying to stick with the meatless thing so I did black beans instead. We had salsa, homemade guacamole, tomatoes, cheese, and salad greens, too.

Tacos have a high deliciousness factor, it’s true.

Nothing too complicated, but veggie-ful and hearty. Perfect Thursday night dinner. We’re only a night and a day away from the weekend, folks! I can’t wait for a little break. I’ve added a hot laundry date to my list of fun times. And lots of play time with this monster:

Lunch was thrown together before work:

My review? Delicious! I love most Larabars, but this flavor is near the top. I was really excited when I saw them in Price Chopper this weekend.

After my snack I started work on dinner.

Stir fry! I didn’t mention this earlier, but I’m avoiding meat, too. Normally I don’t eat much meat at all, but lately I’ve been ordering meals with bacon on them or craving chicken on pizza. It’s weird for me and truthfully I prefer a diet light on meat.

The Boyfriend made (unpictured) sweet and sour chicken to go with the stir fry, but I went with marinated tofu.

We ate our dinner with brown rice and this incredibly yummy peanut sauce:

The sauce was a recipe from this book:

I’ve had this book for a few years, back from the time when I was a vegetarian. It’s extremely resourceful and I recommend it for anyone, from a newbie vegetarian to a cheeseburger lover who needs a reference cookbook on grains. I took the recipe for my mushroom barley soup from here.

The players:

Barley

Mushrooms, carrots, onions, and garlic. I let it all simmer together while we ate dinner.

The photo may be a bit unimpressive, but the smell was incredible. I cannot wait to eat this for lunch tomorrow!

So what is the result from my first day of hitting the “refresh” button on my system? In one day I’ve definitely inspired myself to get back on the meal-planning and veggie-eating wagon. The only bump in the road was about seven minutes ago when I was cleaning up the kitchen. I saw cookies The Roommate made this weekend and moved to grab one before remembering my challenge.

Not being one to deprive myself a treat, I searched for ways to calm my sweet tooth and decided to whip up chocolate banana soft serve. If you read food or fitness blogs you may have seen this wandering around the blogosphere. All you need is a frozen banana and a blender/mixer/food processor.

I used my immersion blender with decent results. A food processor is just better, but my kitchen already looked like this and I didn’t feel like lugging the thing out:

   

Delish! Jack and I ate dessert in the kitchen together. His tasty treat was the last licks of the peanut butter jar.

I’m off for an episode of Criminal Minds with The Roommies and then bed!