Happy Anniversary

P and I celebrated our third anniversary on Wednesday.  As is our tradition we celebrate with a fantastic meal.  This year we we dined at Osteria Papavero.  It is a small, quaint italian restaurant in Madison. We discovered this place during restaurant week a few years ago.  We had a fantastic time.  Last time there was standing room only and we were jammed at a tiny table near the bathroom.  This time we had a fantastic view of the building with all its interesting art.  When we sat down we both said, "Last time we were here . . ."  We could have finished each other's sentences.  The food was delicious.  We started with a small plate of deep fried goodies (olives, artichoke hearts, sweet breads) served with Romesco sauce.  Paul had a pappardelle pasta with wild boar; I stayed a bit more traditional with roasted squash tortellini with a brown butter sauce.  We finished with a pumpkin bread pudding with a Bourbon caramel sauce.  Nothing says happy anniversary like good company and good food.

Fall in August

For the past week I have been wearing long sleeves and jeans.  Typically at this time of the year we in the middle of or approaching the "Dog Days" of summer.  Were the heat and humidity will not quit.  Maybe I missed it but I am still looking for the nice warm weather of summer.  On my walk to the bus in the morning there are one or two trees that have fall color to them in a few spots.  Last weekend I began embracing the fall.  I started to knit a fall scarf.  Last year it took my nine months to finish one scarf. I have a good start on this one and hopefully will get to wear it this fall.  I still want some warm weather but fall is my favorite season.  Let's hope for a long mild fall and leave the snow for Christmas.

Morley

Morley has gotten quite comfortable in his new surroundings. He has tons of energy, so we enrolled him in daycare.  Yes - daycare.  It is such a great outlet for all of his energy.  When he comes home at night he is quiet and calm and can focus on training or just on snuggling.  There are many things I do for this dog that I would have never done in the past.  The fact that I bought two dog coats in one weekend is case and point.  During the first few cold days I felt sorry for the little monster.  He did not want to be outside and frequently hid by the door out of the wind.  The moment we got him a coat the weather got warmer.  Shocking.  Along with the cold weather he has finally gotten used to the snow.  I would not say he loves it but he does play in it for short periods of time.  We have had much shorter walking adventures in the recent months mainly because he enjoys barking through the entire walk.  It is embarrassing and also really annoying after a while.  We are working on it :)  He is a very smart dog, however, and his repertoire of tricks is very good.  We are learning more each day.