• 15 minute posts,  the dogs

    Cody Swims

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    It’s been a wham bam week. I thought once Art Camp was over I’d get back to normal and things would smooth out a little but it hasn’t.

    Bug got a sunburn during the Watercolor Pool Party and then went off to Sailing Camp on Monday. For some reason between swimmer’s ear (we’ve been at the pool constantly) and jumping in the bacteria-filled bay she developed a pretty painful ear infection. She’s been at her Dad’s but bouncing back and forth to my house while he is working so I can take her to Urgent Care while he can’t.

    It has not been fun for any of us. She has a pretty low pain tolerance to begin with so that has meant a couple nights of crying and trying to fall asleep with her ears not touching the pillow. Poor thing. At one point we were both sleeping on the couches in the living room and she fell asleep sitting backwards with her forehead propped up against the back of the couch. She’s on antibiotics and some drops but it’s slow going. I really hope she takes a turn for the better over the weekend. Also, we do not have insurance right now. So good times!

    So I thought I’d cheer myself up with some pictures of Cody swimming! Cody loves the water. I think he is part polar bear and would live in the water if he could. We took him swimming in Payam’s mom’s pool and that was a lot of fun. Except the part where he tried to swim to me and climb up my body as a step stool. I’ve got Cody claw bruises all over my body that make me look like I’ve been abused, which is not so good for sundress weather.

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    This is a picture from our walk around the neighborhood fake-lake.  Payam really doesn’t like it when I let Cody swim in the lake (it’s kind of dirty and gross)  but I have a hard time resisting Cody’s charm on a hot day. I mean, could you say no to that face? How about that 120 pound body that is pulling you into the lake. If I didn’t let go of this leash he would pull me in with him!

    The bad part of the lake-swimming is that Cody needs to dry off before he comes in the house and spreads his muddy lake fur all over Payam’s expensive Persian rugs.  This can take a while and that means he has to stay outside a little longer in the summer heat. You just can’t win.

    But he is a happy dog!

  • my Persian emersion,  the dogs

    Persian BBQ and Yogurt with Swords!

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    I seriously had to ask Payam whether my readers (all 300 of you! Woot! Up from 200!) would rather hear about my bathroom redeaux (aka organizing the tweenagers crap with an Ikea hack) OR Persian Barbecue.  Of course he said barbecue because he thinks talking about house porn on the internet is boring. (Even though he’s just as addicted to HGtv as I am.) Maybe bathroom re-organizing is boring. I don’t think so. I think it’s the best thing EVER. I’m sure I’ll be back here with that another day.

    Barbecue it is!

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    I’ve been super spoiled two days in a row because we broke out the barbecue like it’s summer or something. Last night was Persian BBQ and the night before was frozen grocery store hamburgers. Don’t knock ’em. It meant NO cooking for me! I know, I should have made some kind of potato salad or maybe squeezed some balsamic-glazed bockchoy in on the barbecue… but phooey! I was not paying attention at all because I was off doing my own thing on my computer which is COMING UP WITH AN ART CAMP THIS SUMMER! (Yes, I totally am. Stay tuned.)

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    The dogs were quite interested in this new development. “I CAN HAZ SOME, DAD?”

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    Inconveniently, we ran out of dog food so I did actually do some cooking for the dogs. I threw some chicken in the instant pot and made a pot of sticky rice and they thought it was THANKSGIVING DINNER! Most spoiled dogs ever.

    I do love our little patio. Everything is blooming right now and what used to look like a dilapidated abandoned puzzle of pots is now looking like a lush garden. Well, minus the grass and maybe a few hundred more plants. I can dream. Sometimes I miss having a real backyard but then I get my water bill and I think pavers are fine.

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    After Payam had de-skewered the grilled chicken and steak he made a pot of Persian Tadique rice. If you know it, you love it. It has this crust on the top that is crunchy and buttery and pretty much as addictive as chips. Everyone loves it except Bug which is fine with everyone.

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    Then we all sat down for dinner. (Note that we had paper plates. Mama was taking the night off! Oh yeah.) And this is what happened when I asked them to pose for me.

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    Payam is pretty much thinking, Can we get on with this already? I’m starving. He’s a very good “instagram husband.”

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    And then we dug in!

    I love to put yogurt and Salad Shirazi on top of my rice which is sort of a faux pas to real Persians but they look the other way and let me do my gringo thing. Salad Shirazei is actually “Salad from the province of Shirazei” which is a place but it’s basically chopped up cucumbers, onions, cilantro, tomatoes with lemon and oil or vinegar. It’s delicious. Like salsa but not.

    A funny story that we constantly remind Joon of: Yogurt is called mast. So if you have yogurt with cucumbers it’s called mast o khiyar but Joon, being a little girl with few words, once called it “mast o sham sheer” which translates to “yogurt with swords.” We all think that’s a way better name for it so that is what we call it to this day! MAST O SHAM SHEER FOREVER!

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