A Day that Deserves 2 Paws Up

Hello readers. You may have heard about me from time to time on this blog. I'm the 3rd wheel in this family. My name is Niko Harper Svezia and I feel it is about time I made my voice heard here. I would like to share with you a story from Friday, a day that may go down as the best I've ever had.

I must first state how difficult it has been living with only this clown of a father I have ever since my mom left. He was telling me something about how she is in some foreign country and she'll be back or something like that. It's ruff for me to understand him because I don't really speak English very well. In fact, just making this blog post is difficult for me because of limited grasp of the language, very minimal computer knowledge, and almost non-existent typing skills (I lack fingers). But I digress. I really do miss my momma and I hope she comes back sometime because this joker is driving me crazy and I love her, mainly because she lets me sleep in and not wake up at 8:00 (It's summer for crying out loud, sleep in!)

I've heard about this blog thing and at first I wasn't a fan. Mainly because when my mom said, "I have blog" I thought she said, "I have a dog." My mind immediately went into revenge mode, and I was going to make the Elvis revenge seem like small potatoes but I quickly figured out what she was talking about. I've read some of the posts from time to time and they were much better when my mom was in charge (What is the deal with those pictures he edited? He's such a rookie!) Anyway, I thought that I would make a blog post about the best thing to happen while my mom has been gone. Actually, it's the only thing I've liked other then seeing my grandma and grandpa Svezia, my Aunt Emily (Dad calls here Auntie Em. Real clever, I bet no one has ever thought of that before) and some guy called "Nuts" who is dad's Godfather or something like that. I thought he would be more like the guy from the movie called "Godfather" but he definitely didn't live up to that.

So mom and dad usually take me for a spin in the car from time to time. They usually say, "You wanna go bye-bye" like I'm a little baby. They must forget that I'm 28 years old, which is older than both of them. I really enjoy going on these excursions because it gets me some fresh air and I can cruise for chicks. Here is a picture of me checkin things out. Notice the green Polo mom made me wear. Yeah, like I need that. The ladies adore me! I must get it from my dad.

So we usually take a spin so they can get something to eat or something like that and I usually get bored if there aren't any babes to scope and I can't wait to get back home. But there is this one place we go and it rocks! It's some place called "DQ" or something like that. These humans have to have initials for like all their food places: DQ, KFC, BK, McD's. Why do they spend so much time and money naming these dumps just reduce the name to a couple of letters? Anyway, I love DQ because they give me my own treat! Even though I'm not really good at knowing where I'm at (can't read, limited mental capacity) I always know when I'm at DQ and I'll be getting a treat. I get super excited as soon as we get to the talking box and I can't wait to get my treat. I mean, I'm almost completely out of the window! I love it because it's better than the crap food they feed me: Kangaroo Meat (something about an allergy I have, I think they're cheapskates). When we go to this Hardee's place, I know I won't be getting a treat and I don't even waste my time hanging out the window. As soon as I get that DQ treat I devour it in just minutes. Ah, it is soo heavenly!

So dad takes me on Friday and they give me a treat and I mow through it like I'll never get another one, because I may not due to these tough economic times. I don't know what that means, but I hear it on the news all the time and I figured I'd give this blog some political/economic insight for once. So we go back home and I'm trying to figure out a way to trick dad into leaving his food unattended. This one time when he was eating in the living room I pawed on the door and he got up to take me outside and when he did I ran into the living room and stole a piece of pizza. He's so gullible! So he's getting ready to eat, and guess what he has!?!?! Another treat from DQ!!!!!!! A 2-fer!!!!! I was so excited I couldn't eat it immediately! I ran around and played with it for like 10 minutes! Best day ever!!! I'll tell you something about DQ, they treat you right. Wow, that's pretty catchy! I'm so creative.

Oh, I can edit pictures too. Here is a picture of mom and dad with a nice sepia tone to it. Enjoy!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have dogs, please tell them that I would like to sniff their butts. Actually, only the ladies, I probably hate your male dog, I hate most dogs, except for the ladies. Actually, only the cute ladies, I do have standards. Bye now.

Pictures and Reflections on a Dinner

Joi has become quite skilled at editing her pictures with Photoshop. What you may not know is that I too can edit pictures with Photoshop and decided to let you see what I've been working on. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Here is Niko and Koty at a luau in Hawaii. Those 2 had quite a time over there. Unfortunately they felt uneasy when they saw an animal being roasted. I wonder why they are so sympathetic towards eating animals? I used a nice Vintage action on this one.

Here is a self-portrait of Joi and Niko. I always tell Niko not to tilt his head into the picture because it cuts the person next to him out. Some kids never learn. He really has grown hasn't he? Seems like only yesterday he could curl up right in my lap. I decided to use a Sepia-tone action on this one.

This is kind of a silly one those two took in the car. Like mother like son I guess. Since it was a silly picture I used a silly action: cartoon. I'm so funny!

For Connie's birthday we went to the Melting Pot to eat. Here is Niko and Joi enjoying their food. We didn't tell Niko that he was eating meat. We're so mean! If you look closely you can see how much of his adult teeth have come in. Really quite impressive. I decided to give this one a nice 70's feel. He probably won't like this because the 70's cuts a little too close to his anti-Elvis sentiment.


On an unrelated note, last night I got out of the house (Niko was sick of me) and I went out to eat to a dainty little tea room called Golden Gate in Granite City. I would feel less masculine for using the adjective "dainty" but I'm not sure there are any more manly words that could be used for a tea room. I went with mom, dad, sis, and her 2 friends Lynn and Debra. I just want to say that I've got a cool family and Em has 2 really good friends in those 2. We had quite little meal and then off for desert at Mr. Twist (or Twistie Mister or "It's a twista It's a twista" (you know, from "The Wizard of Oz")) which is a landmark in Granite City. I also learned 2 very important lessons last night: 1)Next time you go to a pharmacy and the person working there is a "tech" or "technician" don't ask them a question about what medicine to take because they are not allowed to answer questions like that and if they do they can get fired. 2)If you are making a citizen's arrest and you have tackled the culprit to the ground and he says he needs to pull his pants up after you chased him, don't let him because it is all just a ruse so he can escape.

Thoughts

Dave again

I've never hear someone say the word "potato" in a way that rhymes with with the "ah" instead of long "a". So when I pronounce a word and someone pronounces it differently and they say to me, "You say 'potato(long a) I say 'potato(ah)' what I am hearing is, "Dave, you are saying that word the way 99% of people say it and I am saying it in a made up way just so I sound like I know what I am talking about."

Why do some people say the name of the state that I live in (Illinois) like it is making a lot of sound? (Think about it)

Soda, pop, or Coke?

Here is the link for the interactive map with a county by county breakdown

Did the name "bug" for the insect come first or did the verb "to bug" come first? Did the insect get the name because it "bugs" or did the verb get the name because the annoying behavior is similar to a small bug flying in your face? Speaking of that, only in the last 10-15 years with the increase in computers could the phrase "the bug from my mouse caused a crash" not sound so silly.

Isn't it weird that there is a tennis racket but you have to be quiet at a tennis match? I wonder if someone has ever said to an unruly tennis crowd, "We don't need all your racket because the competitors brought their own!"

I wonder if shirts and pants make fun of shorts for being an adjective. How little naming effort were they given?

Cold spells and heat waves but not cold waves or hot spells? I guess because the waves would freeze and witches don't like the heat, with all the black clothing and such.

I wonder how tough it is to compete in the cotton swab market for any company other than Q-Tip? Interesting fact: the "Q" stands for quality. Isn't it interesting that cotton swabs appear to be designed for and are usually used for the cleaning of ears, yet medical experts recommend people not to for fear of eardrum puncturing, possibly causing death. Which makes me wonder: were they designed for it or not? If they were, I wonder when it was discovered that it could be a bad thing and how awkward the inventor felt for creating an ear cleaning device that punctured people's ear drums! If they were designed for that, I wonder who the first guy was that decided to stick a piece of cotton on a stick into his ear and then went and told all of his friends? There was a push in Canada last year for warning labels to be placed on cotton swabs telling people not to put them in the ear canal. If you or someone you know has punctured your ear drum from the use of cotton swabs, please do not think that I am mocking the situation. I just find the whole cotton swab/ear canal danger to be interesting.

Illinois not IlliNOISE.

Bye now

Can You Hear Me Now?

It's Dave again. Some of you are very quickly clicking off of this page because you were hoping to gain insight into the world of home decor, photography, or great buys and instead you are stuck with me. Sorry. The brains behind this operation will be back to blogging soon (not soon enough). I don't want to steal any of Joi's blog thunder for when she gets back, but I do want you to know that she and her group have finally made it to Spain (only 1 day late). She will update you on all of the gory details.

This post details something that I am not too proud of, and it is not something that I want to be known for but we can't all choose our legacy. Joi has asked me to share this incident with you and I figure it is the least I can do for her faithful readers. This is a bad sign because it is only post #2 and I'm already out of material. Keep in mind that what you are about to read is 100% true. I have not made anything up, nor would I want to.

Backstory: Our dog decided one night many years ago that he did not want to sleep in his crate anymore, and he chose not to write us a letter or have a nice sit down meeting one day to tell us about his lifestyle change. He decided instead to bark incessantly all night even as I moved his crate to everyone room in the house and tried everything I could think of at 1:00 am. Finally we broke down and put him in bed with us and he has been sleeping with us ever since. He is very fond of curling up and laying down very close or on us while we sleep with me usually being the lucky "winner" of this attention. This is pretty similar to how it generally looks:
Niko has also figured out that I am more apt to wake up and take him outside either in the middle of the night or in the morning. Until only a few months ago he would either a) sit on my chest to wake me up or b) paw me in the face to wake me up. But I always felt he was trying to tell me something other than wake up or I need to go outside. I felt he was sending me a message about something that happened in his past that he was not happy about and one night he let his hostility be known.

During one particular night Joi, Niko, and I were all sleeping like usual. Niko decided to sit on my chest which of course woke me up thus completing part one of his devilish plan. It is probably around 2 or 3 in the morning and I have been asleep since, most likely, around 9 (living the fast life!) so I'm pretty solid in my sleep. I am getting my brain together while he is on my chest in preparation to take him outside. All of a sudden he made this weird, yet familiar sound and my instincts immediately kicked in. It is said that in moments of extreme danger ordinary people can act in an extraordinary way to avoid that danger. There have been stories of people lifting cars
or swinging on a vine over a pit of crocodiles or alligators or staplers

or igniting the sun

But on this night my extraordinary act was my quick reflex response. I know what that sound meant coming from my dog, that sound meant throw up and I was right. So I quickly turned my head and it did not get me in the face, rather it went in my ear. I quickly yelled in a combination of startlement, shock, disgust, and surprise. In doing so I was able to wake up Joi and I very calmly explained to her that her dog just threw up in my ear...in a very loud voice. Unfortunately for me, Joi had already bought and decided to use her ticket for the slowboat to China to get me a towel. After what seemed like an eternity (I've heard that having dog throw up in your ear really makes the time drag on) she returned with a towel and the clean up began. After a series of drying, Q-Tipping, and washing I felt as if his "message" was gone. Needless to say the 3 of us had different emotions
entertainment

disgust

pride


You may be asking yourself, "Self, what in the world could have possibly driven this dog to do such a horrendous thing?" Well, the answer is simple: Elvis Dog

May this be a lesson to everyone: dogs can be very vindictive and understand how to gain their revenge.

It's only 2:15?!?!?!?!?!

It's about that time, ladies and gentlemen. It's that time to re-insert the "dave" into "daveandjoi". That's right.I've been here before with this award winning post.

I hoped for my return to be very profound and amazing, but I have nothing profound or amazing to share with you. I would rather share with you the boredom that is my life without Joi. Joi wears many hats for me: wife, best friend, soul mate, roommate, mortgage mate, car passenger (occasional driver), dish washer (I serve as dryer) and bed hogger. But lately I came to the realization that she is also my manager and I am like a celebrity. I am not a celebrity in the sense that I have money, good looks or fame (0 for 3) but in that I really don't know what I will be doing until my manager informs me or "books me" on a daily basis. Sometimes she books me for appointments or what we in the business call "in-stores". For instance, the other day I had in-stores at Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and Office Max (or Depot(I can't ever remember the difference(Is there a difference?))) I went there and met a few people (cashiers) and signed a few autographs (receipts). Other times she books me on projects. Sometimes I'm in a star or co-star role (painting) and others it's just a guest spot with very few lines(choosing the paint). This relationship does not exist because she has been bossing me around ala Kate Gosselin (pop culture reference = bonus point) but rather my complete willingness and comfort in just "going with the flow" that I have always demonstrated.

Now that my manager is on vacation my schedule is wide open and today is my first day without her. Yes, I have been without her for a few days at a time but this is the longest we have been apart since we started dating. I am aware of how pitiful this makes me sound that it is currently 2:00 pm and today feels like the longest day ever, and yes I am aware of that so I don't need you to comment on that. She did leave me with a few appointments but I don't want to blow through them on the first day.

Luckily, I have a co-manager Niko who is booking me on smaller, more common appointments: going outside. We're going at a clip of 1 trip out every 30 minutes with sometimes the pay-off being a dribble and others being a bigger pay-off. Since he doesn't give me any indication which ones are major or minor I have to take the bait. This is turning into a boy who cried wolf situation, or rather a dog who pawed on the door to go outside. Look for that story to be written in the near future (probably in the next 12 days).

All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready To Go

In case you've been out of the loop, or are new {hi!}, I'm on my way to Spain today! I will be spending 13 fun filled packed days in a lovely country with my best friends and students! I've really got the best job in the world because this trip is free. : )

I cannot wait to come back and show and tell you guys all about it. Please keep reading because my better half promises to give you some material to keep you entertained! And, don't worry, he is much, much funnier and wittier than I will ever be-promise.

I'm going to miss David, my family, and my doggie more than I can even begin to express but this will be the experience of a lifetime {here's the itinerary post}. Talk to you guys in July!

Garden State

In an effort to get more practice with my camera before Spain, David and I have been taking little day trips to fun places. First we went to Forest Park a couple weeks ago and the other day we visited the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I picked the second hottest day of the summer so far and let me tell you, I felt the heat. David says for every degree hot it is, I complain that much more. Ha. He's probably right. I better get over that bad habit soon because the forecast in Spain is way hotter. Lucky me. : )

The gardens are super expansive and meticulously up kept. We don't get there every year, but it is a nice place to take in when you can. Next time I'll remember to go in a much cooler time of year! I am happy to say that I finally took my camera off of the settings and shot in manual half of the day! I set the ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and manual focused all on my own. I have tons to learn, but I am happy I at least took the first baby step. There are numerous problems with their composition, but they're mine and they make me happy.

We ended the afternoon at a cute little cupcake bar, Jilly's, for lunch and what else--cupcakes!

We had some mini burgers and a black bean, tomato, and cheese quesadilla and then bought some cupcakes to go. I almost ate an entire one today and have to admit that I think the Cupcakery in the Central West End is better. To make absolute sure I'll have to visit that place again real soon for comparison purposes! ; )

Bird's Eye View

A little birdie creature was sitting in our landscaping not.moving.a.muscle. today and totally freaked me out. I asked David to hand me my camera as I stood waiting on the porch, fully prepared for the birdie to attack me. Irrational, maybe...but his lack of movement was intriguing and weirding me out at the same time! Since he stayed put, I was able to snap a couple pics of him from about 2 feet away. Aren't those eyes just a little bit creepy? I know you're thinking it!

I at one point asked David, "Could this bird be dead? I mean, can birds die standing up?" The bird really was that still...don't laugh. ; )

Finally after I changed my settings on my camera and the flash went off, he hopped away. David claims he saw the same freaky little bird in the backyard the other day and he wouldn't move then, either. Weird, huh?

xoxo

Breast Day Ever

Ha. Okay, so I tried to veto the blog title post but since it's Nuestra Vida Dulce, and nuestra=our, Dave's suggestion goes. Please don't unsubscribe or stop reading now. ; )

I bet you can guess what we did on Saturday. Every year St. Louis holds the annual Komen Race for the Cure in June and my family and I always participate in it. We started this tradition in 2005 and have done it ever since. Long before Maw Maw was ever diagnosed with breast cancer we were dedicated to this cause and now even more so. As the years have gone on, the race has become the largest Komen race in the country!!! Go St. Louis. There are absolutely no words to describe how beyond amazing the experience is. Young, old, men, women, survivors, and supporters...the streets are packed. Most every person is in a great mood and while you're in a hustle and bustle with 65, 000 other people it still just feels welcoming and right. It's a great chance to see the positive in mankind that day and you can't help but get a little a lot emotional, especially when you see the sea of pink survivors everywhere. It is inspiring and everyone should try and participate if ever given the chance. Someday there will be a cure!

We started out extra early this year so Maw Maw and Aunt Norma could participate in the survivor processional. This meant we had to be on the metro at 6:30 a.m.!

Aunt Norma is Maw Maw's sister and she too is a survivor! She's a tiny little thing with a big personality. : )

Once we got there, Maw Maw and Aunt Norma walked in the processional for the first time with the hundreds of other survivors. Talk about emotional! What a sight to see.

After Maw Maw and Aunt Norma did their thing, we all walked around picking up some free swag before the fun walk started. Lots of companies hand out bags, magnets, hats, frames, you name it and they have it. I'm not one for a lot of junk, but I did pick up this cute little bag. Bless David's heart for lugging it around all morning!

My time also included stalking the reporter stand to watch my favorite anchors and the nationally known Hoda Kotb! She was the honorary chair woman and a 2 year breast cancer survivor!

At about 9, the actual walk began {no run for this girl} and we made our way down the streets of St. Louis. You could hear bands playing, see people cheering, and hear people singing. Again, you always feel so overjoyed. It's very fun to people watch while you're cruising the walk.

At one point, everyone comes to the top of a hill and all you can see is people for miles. Everyone stops to take pics but they really don't do this view any justice. It's something you have to see to believe.

Since we walked the actual streets of St. Louis I managed to snap a couple architectural pics. They're not much, but I like 'em!

As we neared the finish line, David turned into a human coat rack and carried Maw Maw and Aunt Norma's loot for them. I swear, I love that man to pieces.

He also served as Maw Maw's personal assistant and lent her his arm for stability so she could make it to the end. Again, I have the best husband in the world. Love him.

With the finish line approaching, Maw Maw and Aunt Norma were greeted and congratulated by the Rams' cheerleaders and got yet another free bag. They're so cute and we're so proud of them. : )

We ended the day with our metro ride back to our cars and a tasty lunch at O' Charley's. Their chipotle chicken strips are my favorite!

Here's to another great Race for the Cure with many more to come! Congratulations to all of the survivors out there and to those just diagnosed, don't give up the fight.

To those we've lost, may your memory live on.

xoxo