Stanley's Boycott

Unfortunately Stanley hasn't been feeling too well over the past week or so, as has been determined by some unpleasant gifts of vomit that he will leave for us around the house. Poor guy...maybe it's the heat.

So, when we ran out of dog food for him, Scott decided he would go with the kind that indicated it was for sensitive stomachs. Brilliant!

Or so we thought. This picture shows a shocking scene in the Maurer household. Never before in Stanley's history has dog food sat in his bowl for longer than 5 seconds, after which he inhales his food at a rapid pace over the next 30 seconds. And voila - finished.

Stanley has been known to eat anything and everything, especially when walking in the neighborhood. He scrounges around and will hide garbage in his mouth to eat when he gets home, trying to keep it a secret from us. So, yes, our dog will eat garbage nastiness; however, he refused to eat this oven-baked natural dog food. Last night, Scott gave him his dinner, and when Stanley just sniffed it and walked away, both of our jaws dropped to the floor and we just could not believe what we were seeing. We thought that maybe he was feeling sick again. Yet, when Scott dropped a treat into the middle of the food, Stanley managed to fish the treat out without eating the food. No dinner last night and again this morning for breakfast...still not good enough. A little later in the day, he was semi-desperate and ate just a few bites. Scott went out and bought his other food and mixed it in with the remaining food in the bowl, and 30 second later - finished.

Bottom line - he's not sick anymore, just a picky dog food eater!

Big Weekend in the Big Easy

So Scott had a revelation this month. He has 4 vacation days that must be used by the end of the month...hmm, what to do?

Well we decided that it was high time we headed even further south to New Orleans. Jonnett booked us a room in the French Quarter at the Hotel Monteleone which, we later discovered, is apparently haunted.

We spent Saturday walking around the French Quarter, and had coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde. We also went to see some cool Napoleon artifacts at the Louisiana State Museum.






So after the Hurricane, I think we weren't quite sure what to expect. A stroll down Bourbon Street revealed that the French Quarter is alive and well. After everything that's happened, it's nice to know that the streets still smell of pee and vomit, and the girls are still available for "moderate prices." Seriously, though, the rest of the quarter, with its architecture and culture, is amazing. We had a great time looking around, and it really felt like we had stepped back in time.

Before leaving on Sunday, we took a walk in the garden district. The houses there are incredible (and for sale), and many seemed to have a lot of history associated with them. Some of the homes had ballrooms, many have slave quarters (which was beyond random), and one had a marker indicating that Jefferson Davis (president of the Confederacy) had died there. I guess that in the South, starting a revolution and attempting to dissolve the Union makes you a "truly great American."




To sum up, New Orleans was great! We had a great time, the food was amazing, and we'd love to go back soon. Any takers? Follow this link to the rest of our pics.