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.

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

A week ago, my great grandmother passed away. She lived a long life, full with family. Read her obituary below...

Margaret M. (Poulson) Knight 1916-2009
Friday, June 19, 2009 11:46 AM EDT(H-ponline.com)

Margaret M. (Poulson) Knight, 92, of Warren, passed away at 7:10 a.m. Thursday, June 18, 2009 at Heritage Pointe in Warren. She was born on Saturday, Oct. 28, 1916, in North Grove. Mrs. Knight was a charter member of the Idle Hour Club, a member of the Home Extension Club and a member of the Sigma Phi Gamma. She had also been a representative for Avon and Dutchmaid. She was a 1935 graduate of Warren High School in Warren. She worked at Coolman's Drug Store for 15 years. She enjoyed quilting, gardening and playing cards with family and friends. She attended the United Church of Christ in Warren. She married Mark Charles Knight on May 29, 1936 in Warren. She was the daughter of the late Grover Poulson and the late Edna (Rennaker) Poulson. Survivors include daughters, Carol (husband, William) Byrd of Huntington, Cindy (husband, Tim) Fitch of Warren and Janet (husband, Dean) Schmidt of Warren; one son, Waldo (wife, Margaret) Knight of Warren; sisters, Hazel Ruth Brooks of Warren, Freda Finley of Huntington, Mildred Gilbert of Warren; brothers, Daniel Grover Poulson of Warren, Harold Poulson of Warren, Ira "Bob" Poulson of Liberty Center, James Poulson of Poneto and William Poulson of Liberty Center; 14 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Mark Charles Knight; father, Grover Poulson; mother, Edna (Rennaker) Poulson; sister, Lois Eltzroth; brothers, Howard "Everett" Poulson and Ralph Kenneth Poulson; and also a great-great granddaughter.

Arrangements are being handled by Glancy-H. Brown & Son Funeral Home, 203 N. Matilda St., Warren, where the family will receive friends from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday, June 21, 2009 at the funeral home. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday, June 22, 2009 at Glancy-H. Brown & Son Funeral Home, with Pastor Scott Nedberg officiating.Interment will be in Woodlawn Cemetery in Warren.
Memorials to United Church of Christ in Warren, Parkinson Foundation or Family Hospice of Northeast Indiana.


I was lucky to grow up near my great grandmother, and have special memories of holidays at her home and trick-or-treating there every October.  She passed on several of her interests to me.  She was an avid quilter, making quilts for each of her grandchildren.  She collected family recipes and published a family cookbook for us.  And she also completed family genealogy, completing photo albums for each of her great-grandchildren including photos of both sides of their family histories.  Most of my starts in these hobbies came from her. 

20,000

Our car hit a big milestone yesterday. On the way to the mall the odometer hit 20,000 miles. We have had the car for less than a year (about 11 months). It's a casualty of living on the East coast, and closer to home.

Three years of matrimony

We had our three year anniversary on June 17! It actually seems like we've been married a lot longer than that.

We chose to celebrate at Ole Tapas Lounge and Restaurant in Newark. Brian has been there a few times with work, and we also went a Wednesday months ago (half priced tapas on Wednesdays at the bar).

This is possibly our favorite place in Newark-it's delicious and a real dining experience.


We tried the following:

• a castillo monesma wine


• unnamed chef's complimentary starter (!!free!!) of bread and tomato


• a trio of pork tapas (pictured above)


• Empanada del Dia


• Montadito del Dia


• Alcachofas Gratinadas: artichokes with Idiazabal cheese


• Patatas Bravas: fried potatoes with spicy mayonnaise


• And for desert: Churros con Chocolate: crisp churros with hot chocolate and Espresso

Girls Trip

So on the last day of school I met my mother, girlfriends, and their mothers up in Philadelphia for a quick weekend trip around the cities around here.

I'm not going to give the whole play-by-play, because Ashley does such a good job recapping the trip in her own blog, but I do want to post a few of my favorite pictures.

Lots of Bs

Last Friday night I got the idea that we should focus on only picking activities for our Saturday outings that starts with the letter "B". Don't ask why, I know it was a pretty dorky idea, but it worked out well during the morning.

First-we Biked into town. My first time on a bike in a while, realized how uncomfortable they are. We ended up going about 7 miles.

We first made a stop at Bing's Bakery. I was in the mood for my first ever Black and white cookie, and we otherwise just wanted to check it out. I loved the shop, and got lots of ideas for Brian's Ph.D. celebration in a couple of years.

Then, we went to a Bistro, for lunch. The Adrian Bistro was a coffee shop at the beginning of Main Street with some really good food. I had a delicious BLT, and appreciated the quiet, personal atmosphere.

After that we thought about going bowling, but the lanes were already packed at 11:30 in the morning due to some kind of tournament, so we did a little window shopping and then headed back home.

Later that day, we aborted the B-theme to attend a couple of festivals. All the shops and organizations of Newark came out for the annual Newark Night, which offered lots of food offerings for my hubby. We then headed up to town for the Wilmington Greek Festival, my first foray into Greek culture. I certainly enjoyed the fest, which had a good crowd of happy people eating, drinking, and dancing. We enjoyed the pork souvlaki, baklava, ouzo, and Aris, and will definitely pencil in the festival on next years calendar right now as a must-not-miss.

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Keeping with the B-theme, I was able to try another bagel place today, and think it was definitely my favorite so far. The Sunshine Bagel place in Middletown has a great turkey sandwich (especially on onion bagel).