My Old Man

So my husband is officially getting old.... while I'm still closer to 20 (for a few more weeks), he is rapidly approaching thirty. It is so strange to think I knew him as a teenager, and now he's 27.

It turns out I'm the only one that loves him. Me and my grandma. We were the only two to wish him happy birthday. His mother gets half a point for texting him, and his grandpa did send a card he got a couple days later. I forgot to wrap him anything, so he didn't have anything to open except my card (he doesn't appreciate singing cards as much as he should). His gift wasn't wrapped; it was his National Geographic subscription for the year, which had already come earlier this week. And you cannot pry those out of my husband's hands until he has read cover to cover.

So Brian is not very good at having birthdays. Every time I would ask him what he wanted to do, he turned it around and would let me decide. We went to Bob Evan's for a large brunch, and then ended up coming home and napping for most of the afternoon. Brian chose grilling out for super, but then after grocery shopping, the rain clouds gathered and changed those plans.

Brian did choose his own cake. German chocolate, sans the coconut icing. It was actually quite good-he chose bunny and butterfly sprinkles (left over from Easter). The cake is the most important part of the holiday for my husband. It would disappoint him the most if he didn't get one.

We also celebrate Kiki's birthday with Brian. She is four years old!-and enjoys icing!

The next day, on Sunday we attended a Cole Brother's Circus. They set up every year on some grounds just across the street from us, so we thought we would have to check it out. I think I have a somewhat romanticized view of circuses. It wasn't quite what I expected (I haven't been to one in like a decade), but it got better as it went along. We had to walk past PETA people protesting, and it was very hot, and started long past the time on our ticket. But once the show started it was fairly entertaining. My favorite things were the little dogs doing their tricks, the "butterfly" trapeze-like artists, and of course the elephants.

Guest Post: Brian Introduces You to Coriander and Our Other Pets

Shannon has been bugging me about doing a post for a while now, so I figured I'd do the official post about our new dog.

We acquired Coriander on June 11th. She is a mixed breed, probably somewhere around 25-40% Beagle (her sire looks like a Beagle, but is quite a bit larger and lankier, with smaller ears) and her dam looks kind of like some kind of Collie, but not in coloration. Cori is about three months old and well behaved for her age, obeying commands about 60% of the time. Despite being a fairly calm puppy, the cat is not happy about having a new animal in the house.

So far I've learned that our dog likes:
Being near Shannon and me
Eating sticks
Drinking water
Chasing and chewing on tennis balls
Chewing on ropes
Sleeping in the cat's bed

She does not like:
Treats
Ear medicine
Baths (although since she discovered she could drink the water she doesn't mind as much)
Being growled at by the cat

Dog breeds that scare her include:
Staffordshire Terriers
Bulldogs
Golden Retrievers
Miniature Poodles
Papillons

The last two are particularly embarrassing.

In other critter news, I also put a Percula clownfish in my tank. There is a local breeder that has been supplying them relatively cheap to the fish store across the street, and Shannon has been wanting me to put a fish in there for the last few months, so I thought I'd surprise her with one when she got back from her "Girls" trip. In the background of this picture are my colony of Aiptasia, which is kind of like the dandelion of the Cnidarian world.

The other thing that may not interest people as much is that I also have a red alga that has been growing vigorously, and looks pretty cool. As near as I can tell, it looks like some kind of Laurencia sp. but I'm not 100% sure. Other things in this picture include a red anemone and about a dozen little white feather-duster worms.

Shannon also wants me to not forget to mention the cat. I think Kiki feels a little neglected because she can't come sit at the dinner table with us anymore due to the dog, but she's been coming out and roaming the house again, so she isn't completely anti-social, just bitter.
Now, I've been a good boy so I'm going to help myself to some ice cream.

Aquarium Update

The shells are from our trip to Assateague Island. As you can see there are still no fish yet, Brian's still getting the tank set up.

These are the red crabs that killed the snails in these cool shells so they could have them for their own.

This is the newest addition, some kind of little tree. It's closed up in this picture.

And finally the new bubble anemone-it's a little sick right now (it was on sale-and since the tanks still adjusting it seemed like a good idea to try an anemone that is on sale in case there are any problems) but it is still pretty.

Our plants (or My Husband is going to be an excellent gardener when he gets some land)

Brian's got a few fresh herbs and vegetables growing.

Red Lettuce

Arugula

Romaine Lettuce

Oregano

Basil

Parsley

Brian's Aquarium

Brian has been setting up a salt-water aquarium for a few weeks now. He started with the live rocks, and then added some snails and crabs. Things are really starting to come alive. Here's a preview: