PlazaJen: Passion Knit

According to my husband, I got snarky in St.Louis. I think he was just jealous because I had (cue music!) MEM'RIES and there were landmarks and reminders and new things, too, and I didn't shut up the entire time I was driving us towards, around and through Clayton, where I used to work.

Back up a second, though, because I almost skimmed right by the banquet, where I did NOT wear a duck-bill tiara, or anything hunting-related, but it was a night containing a mixture of regret and relief. For at every major banquet like this, there are auction items. Like carved & painted decoys, wildlife prints, all sorts of guided hunts, and - drum roll - a pedigreed BLACK LAB PUPPY who was 14 weeks old, male, the stockiest, beefiest, CUTEST DAMNED THING with HUGE FEET and the sunniest, sweetest disposition and granted, I had had a number of beers, but I told James we had to pick the dog if his ticket for "pick of the auction" was drawn. He agreed completely. And then we didn't win pick of the auction, and some dude chose a wildlife print. (?????ookay....) But then the dog came up for bids. And nobody was bidding. And it dropped down to $100. And there we were, bidding ON THE DOG. At $500, I thought our lives were going to change forever, because the bidding had stopped, we were the high bidders & two roads hung in the balance, while that sing-song cadence of the auctioneer's voice swirled around me and all I could think was "HOLY SHIT" in both a good and bad way, because puppyworld is as wonderful as it is hellatious, and there's so much work and we hadn't even been THINKING about getting another dog and then with a crack, the path of New Puppy Ownership broke and fell away as the bidding suddenly surged forward, and we had said "no higher" with big eyes to each other, and someone went home with a gorgeous dog ($675 was the winning bid, and the winner DID get a month's worth of free training.) So. Maybe in a few years we'll do it at one of these things. Technically, the dog was Polly's half-brother, out of the same sire. I should point out as soon as James stopped bidding, the dog stopped and peed all over the floor, which was funny & a good reminder to us about allllll the cleanup puppies entail.

So, Sunday was a day for nostalgia as well as seeing all the new stuff that's sprung up - we went to Trader Joe's, where you can get wine for $3, and we also got snicky-snacks and then we went to PetSmart (ok, duh, we have those in Kansas City, but we were feeling sorry for the dogs kenneled up at home, imagining them talking to each other & saying how they were SURE we'd be out any minute to play and feed them s'more.) We had fun laughing with all the toys and picked out "Dirty Rotten Kitty" for Polly, and then two jumbo bones - which are being devoured right now. Then we were off to Crate & Barrel, where I waxed nostalgic about working at one in Minneapolis, and we left with three bags o' fun purchases. THEN, no, it doesn't stop, the fun keeps going! We went to Imo's for pizza and salads and it was SO yummers, even though I accidentally got some of James' anchovy on my last piece and I was kinda ooked out by it - I can eat anchovies by the truckload in caesar salad, but not so much on pizza. We drove home, and now another work week is going to begin, already!

I wrote a blog on Saturday afternoon about our road trip out (which was more fun than the drive home, you know how you just get tired & irritated & READY to get home.) - I'll post that sometime later this week when I'm short on things to talk about! I have to get to reading all YOUR blogs and get caught up on everyone!