Latte Switch

LIAM LATTE LICKING

It happened August 18th, and it has shaken up the routines. Mine, Liam's, Starbucks, friends who treat; the ripple effect has been unexpected yet in hindsight of course predictable. What happened? Decided I had to switch my latte...I have been a grande non-fat latte since 2004. A decade of one drink...ten years of no fat...At some point over the last year the non-fat had become non-friendly.

CAROL LOVES LATTES

I loved this drink for so long. Had a strong coffee element tempered by non-fat milk. And the best, it bragged of totaling only 130 calories. And I believe it.

I had a routine. Drink the latte. Liam waits. Liam barks for the foamy cup. I hand off. Gnawing stomach pain. Chug some Mylanta (actually CVS generic antacid) and it's a wrap for that day.

It was so routine that it seemed okay. No it was not. I started noticing how often I was replenishing my liquid antacid remedy. The latte was lacerating my insides. Starbucks coffee is strong and apparently over the years had become a tad too much for my stomach lining. So I attempted to fix it. I needed some fat protection.

First Fix Attempt- 

Grande Soy Latte

Thought I would try soy. A friend does the soy. A lot of soy was being ordered while I waited on line. It boasts of health benefits for women. I know some studies say no, not so, but I disregarded those in favor of the studies which supported soy. My new drink would be a grande soy latte. Tastes like a mocha coffee drink...sort of sweet...was okay. Caused a disruption in my ordering. My home Starbucks has my latte ready as I walk in the door. Frantic waving and apologies to stop production of the non-fat. My baristas are on board in no time. 

SWEET SOY, NO!

But there was a sad fallout . Liam hates the soy latte licks. He showed such disdain that he pushed and kicked the cup instead of wearing it on his nose. Sticking out his tongue to get the soy away. 

I kept it up for a week or two. I missed our drinking/licking bond. And I was missing the coffee component which the soy superseded.  I had to keep experimenting.

Second Attempt-

Grande Fat Latte

Is there such a drink? Not usually heard as an order but I ordered it. My thinking was that if there is a non-fat the opposite must be fat. I was asked if I wanted 2%. No I want the fat one..I explained I needed the fat. Who would order that? Not calorically correct in today's weight sensitive culture. I was told to say grande latte. Okay got it... and at a bigger calorie count of 190. That's the fat. Whew...I will still take it. No stomach pain. Or minimal. And the 60 extra calories will be fine, I think.

                                                                        Drink Fixed 

                                                                     Stomach Fixed

                                                         Dog/Parent Relationship Fixed

FAT FOAM

Liam is back as my latte licking partner. CVS might lose some antacid business. Think they will survive the loss. 

Here is an active latte foam licking Liam on video. Listen closely and you might hear the action. As he pushes away the cup it is with contentment not annoyance.

                          Woof, Woof

Summer in September

SEARCH FOR MORE SUMMER

Is there summer in September? No. The calendar may say so but summer began its wane July 4th weekend. The fireworks announce it blow by blow. The days lose a bit of time that third week of June and then the minutes pick up steam and become slices of an hour until we are looking at an early twilight by the end of August.
Didn't notice? The daylight is summer steady strong in June almost reaching 9 pm. Now we are dimming around 7:20pm.
And this last week's baking heat does not change my story. The hottest day of the year was this past Tuesday. Nice try. It was a fake summer day. Call it a hot fall day.

LIAM IN THE LATE LIGHT

After July 4th weekend, not long after Joey Chestnut shoves in that winning hot dog at the Nathan's Coney Island contest, we are looking at the demise of summer. Here he is...if you watch you will feel the end of summer in your gut.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/07/joey-chestnut-nathans-hot-dog-contest

The Stores know The first Monday after the Independence Day weekend shows a drift away from the citronella candles, bug repellents, and sunscreen. Sale signs are posted. A dearth of summer themed items available. Within a week or two all lose their prominent place in displays.

I have long ago adjusted to this trick of the alleged September summer. Liam and I sit out in early spring, jacketed and bug free. I start thinking summer crocs in March...these are some of my dress crocs; my everyday crocs are wider and traditional. Link and pic follow.
http://www.crocs.com/

DRESS CROCS

When my crocs arrive, I have my summer mindset. Revving up more in April and May, peaking in June and ending with July 4th festivities. BTW, they have been on sale for a while because summer is over.

Nature knows The grass starts growing again in late August just as it did in the spring. In June and July it is spiked and scorched; not a welcome bed for rolling and Liam avoids doing his rollovers. He did a roll recently and I knew summer was on its way away. Liam moves his spot away from the spring/summer venue and heads to the Buddha statue.
The Birds know His new rolling place is also the bird feeding area. The birds show up but do not speak.

The earlier You Tubes featured loud singing birds. Now a chorus from the crickets and a snort from Liam to signal the end to his roll. Our early evening sit outs have an urgent feel. Liam does not wander; he stays by my side, listening, sniffing.

LIAM, LABOR DAY WEEKEND

The Pumpkin Spice latte knows  It created its own Twitter account in August and left enough hints and obvious clues that we knew it was coming earlier this year, August 25th!  The earliest Pumpkin Spice latte ever. It did say it may be iced for use at the beach. Pumpkin Spice at the beach! See screen shot of its Twitter account.

IT'S THE REAL PSL

The Kids know  The play is more frantic, louder and longer and later. Squeezing every minute out of the shortening day.
Liam has missed the kids walking by on their way to school. Gets a peak in, through the hole he has cracked in the blinds.

SCHOOL KIDS ARE BACK

LIAM TRIES FOR A SIDE VIEW

We all know Time to hit the books and learn about new places, dogs and people. We are reading Travels with Casey and will share a review when done. It is a book about a journey around the country meeting dogs and people, famous and not so. Casey is the dog. The author and Casey's parent is Benoit Denizet-Lewis. A new book for a new semester. Not summer.

LIAM WITH OUR BOOK

LIAM READY FOR FALL FUN

Woof, Woof

Dog Days of Dogust

Had to include Liam's featured star turn on North Shore Animal League FB and Instagram pages. This is how we started the month. With fans! So apropos for the Leo birthday month. Yeah...

We received a birthday gift basket the afternoon of August 1and I did a photo shoot, got our best shot and posted. Within minutes we were on social media both Instagram and Facebook! What follows are pix of Liam exploring his gift and the montage ends with him posing for his winning look.

OOH, WHAT'S THIS?

MAYBE IT WANTS TO PLAY

THE PHOTO THAT GOT LIAM HIS STAR TURN

More fun. A neighbor dog, Tango, visited while her humans were on a mini vacay. She's a big girl, older than Liam and enjoyed a short sit in the yard.

SIDE TANGO

FRONT TANGO

Liam's take
My vacay day away was at Best in Show Pet Resort. You know it from before...here is the refresher link
http://www.bestinshowpetresort.com/
Mom and Dad watch me on the FB site. Crazy humans! They save my pix... But there seems to be an issue...They have identified me twice but in some pix I have a collar and others I do not!  Hey, they do not know their own child!! Really??? Can I be both these dogs? I have a collar and then I don't all in the same play session. And mom tagged me as Liam in all... Yikes! Which handsome doggie is me? Sight is my least acute sense so I am as much in the dark as they are...Mom and I share the captioning in the photos that follow

LIAM?

YES, THIS IS LIAM FOR SURE, IN HIS LAZY SIT

SOMEONE SNIFFING ME

FAKE LIAM ON LEFT?

THAT'S ME UNDER THE LEAPING DOGGIE

ONLY DARK DOG IN THIS GROUP

THAT'S ME

LIAM LEFT FOREGROUND LOOKING

And after my big weekend of fame and my vacay it was all about my parents.  I sort of watched and waited as they came and went. Jones Beach, Bayville, NYC and lots of baseball watching.

My Mom also had a birthday which she seemed to enjoy, a lot of the fun coming from her FB greetings, Instagram, Twitter, texts and greetings all ways...

She has been reading and last night was petting me (so she thought) but it was her herbal bear Denali. He is a therapy bear. Unlike a therapy dog he requires no training. He gets heated in the micro and functions like a heating pad. He also has ingested some herbs so they are released when warm.  Mom has some sort of muscle ache so maybe she is not too focused, but really, she thought I was a stuffed animal???
I finally sigh loudly so she will realize. She looks up and laughs. I am not that fluffy or puffy.

DENALI BEAR AND ME

Then we had the Cellini Feast fireworks. I knew it was coming ...I heard them talking. Mom calls it Chellini and Dad says Sellini.  I don't care how they pronounce it is an awful 15 minutes of scary booms. And right across the street! Many happy neighbors walk by to attend the display. Normally I like seeing everyone. Not this night. It means the terror is coming soon. And then it starts. An explosive shot. I shake and quake in my thundershirt. There is a theory that the pet parent should not cuddle and hug the dog because it feeds into the fear. Luckily Mom does not subscribe to this theory and holds me tight the entire time, whispering in my ear and stroking my chest.

It is really loud this year. Shorter but louder. My heart hurts from pounding. Mom says she is going to complain to the New Hyde Park Patch, our online newspaper
http://patch.com/new-york/newhydepark
She believes deliberately created noises are unnecessarily cruel for vets, dogs and anyone suffering from anxiety and depression.
We get through it. Wine, thundershirt, closed windows, loud TVs, full throttle AC; whatever we need to mask the sounds and ease the panic.
No Patch complaints have yet been made. Think those passionate feelings Mom expressed were wine infused.

IN MY THUNDERSHIRT, AFTER THE FIREWORKS, CALMING DOWN

                                   The fireworks are a memory. I live in the present. So onward.
                                   Till next year the Dog Days of Dogust are done for LiamLicks 

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER

Woof, Woof

Happy 7th Birthday Liam

YARD GUARD

Liam turns 7 on August 1st. Due to his size, exuberance and behavior he is often mistaken for a puppy. He has a good life, maybe even a great one. Following you will see views of a captioned photo album of Liam's life.

His couch friends

ROOM FOR ALL

A Garden
to guard, to protect, to soak up the old scents and add new ones for rolling, sniffing and meditation

LIAM IN FRONT OF RUTH'S ROSE GARDEN

THE GATEKEEPER

NO ROSES, BEGONIAS

A Pet Resort for vacation, grooming and socialization...
Best in Show
link follows http://www.bestinshowpetresort.com

A Yard
For rolling far away and up close

And back porch pavers-a sitting area
on a Saturday evening next to Mom... Yes readers Liam is back... For those who might remember our story DogGone see link for refresher... http://liamlicks.blogspot.com/2014/06/doggone.html
The dog is back...

SITTING NEXT TO ME

Thundershirt
During this summer's storms

ZOEY THE ZEBRA
KEEPS LIAM CALM

AND THEN SACRIFICES HERSELF
 FORGET ME NOT

POOCH PILLOWS

And lattes continue to fit the cravings of this little hound dog 

 

PROACTIVELY SEEKING LATTE LICKS

He got it, a slow process of going after the last lick, mindfulness, in the moment, present

and so it goes...The life of Liam

The lion king ... his Leo-ness king of his corner

LIAM, THE LEO, THE LION KING

And Happy Birthday to all rescues! DOGgust the 1st is the deemed birthday for all rescue and shelter dogs...Is that why Liam's birthday is August 1st?  No. We adopted him on January 1, 2008 and were told he was 5 months old. I counted back and came up with August 1, 2007, happy he was a Leo. In 2009 DOGust 1 was proclaimed the birthday of all rescue and shelter dogs. So it was to be Liam's birthday anyway!
Here is the announcement link http://www.animalleague.org/events-news/press-center/nsala-declares-dogust-the-1st-2009.html

Big party Friday August 1, 2014 at North Shore Animal League! DOGust 1, 2014
Here is the link for this year's celebration
AnimalLeague.org/Dogust
Join in the fun. 

Visit

Play

Adopt
Rescue
Free Adoptions for all puppies, kittens, cats and dogs over 6 months!

www.animalleague.org

Go NSAL!!!

 Woof Woof