Bailey really likes butter. I find this a little strange for the average lab mix, but there it is. On her very first visit to my parents' house (we'd had her less than a week if I remember right), she took a swipe of the butter in the butter dish while it was sitting on the dining room table. Bryan looked mortified, while my parents and I were in hysterics, but it taught us pretty early that we needed to keep an eye on her when there was butter in the vicinity.

About a year, year and a half ago, Bailey stole the Tupperware butter dish we had on the counter. I came home one day and found both the top and the bottom all chewed up, tucked into a corner of the kitchen. We sighed, bought a new one and started putting it on the back part of the counter.

Today when I came home, what did I find in the living room but yet another chewed up Tupperware butter dish? This time it was on the back part of the counter, near the microwave, so it clearly took quite a bit of effort on her part to retrieve it and take it off to chew on. If anything, this one is more chewed up than the last one.

So once again this weekend, we'll go get a new butter dish. I think we're going to have to keep it up on the high counter. And hide the stepstools and ladders from Bailey.

Addendum: I just ordered two Tupperware butter dishes off of eBay. Apparently Tupperware doesn't make butter dishes anymore, and the way Bailey goes through these things, I figured we'd need at least two of them.

And did I mention that Nationwide Arena plays the most awful crap music during stoppages in play? Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"? Dido's "Thank You"? I like chick music as much as the next chick, but not at an NHL game.

Bryan asked if we really have to go to Columbus (as part of our NHL Arena Tour). I said that we do, but I'm not looking forward to it, and I think it would be in our best interests to bring our own iPods.

The Wild are playing the Blue Jackets, and even though it's only the first intermission, I'm utterly disgusted by the bullshit excuse for "officiating" that's going on tonight. There was a scuffle nine seconds into the game, and since then, it's been one call after another on the Wild. Can anyone explain to me why Boogaard got called for cross-checking (excuse me, I just checked the game summary and apparently it was interference. As if that makes a difference.) when it looked like Chimera was the one who ran into him?!

To top it off, the fabulous FSN Ohio broadcast hasn't included replays of any of the "penalties", the only replays we've seen have been the goals. And the announcers are real rocket scientists, saying things like "Columbus will have to keep playing 60 minutes of hockey." No, really?! They can't just play 40 minutes? Who knew?

Even scarier, I just saw an ad for a rural online dating service. I thought it was fake, but I just checked it out and lo and behold, "farmersonly.com" is a real site.

Damn you Center Ice for forcing crappy FSN Ohio on me instead of the much better broadcasts from FSN North!!!

...And the Boogeyman is back! Last night's fight against Eric Godard was more like the Derek Boogaard we expect to see. Clearly there was some bad blood there, since Boogaard usuallly skates away as soon as his opponent is dropped.

My friends Matt and Karen were at the game, so of course I'm jealous - a great Boogaard fight, an exciting game and a shootout win!

Bryan got orders today and we'll be staying in San Diego for another year! He's been assigned to an extension of his current position on the Sea Otter, which is probably a good thing, since it looks like he'll be the only one of the Plankowners (original crew that comissioned the ship) that will be staying. His Senior Chief, who took over command of the boat last summer, will also be staying, but it looks like everyone else will be leaving.

This is good news for us - we wanted to stay in San Diego, at least for a little while longer. I have a great job and we like it (except when it's 25 degrees at night). Longer term is uncertain - cost of living here is absolutely insane. The gas station on the corner is charging $2.73 a gallon for regular gas. (Anybody remember the days when there was "regular" gas, which was different from "unleaded" gas? Sorry, I digress.)

In other news, Bailey had an allergic reaction to something, so when Bryan got home yesterday afternoon, her face was swelled up like a pufferfish. A quick trip to the vet yielded a Benadryl shot and a cortisone shot. The vet said if she wasn't back to normal this morning, we'd need to bring her back. She's about 85 percent better, but definitely not back to normal, so I called them a little while ago, and I guess the vet is supposed to call me back when she gets in.

We have no idea what did it - a bee? Some other bug? The vet said most spiders don't have strong enough jaws, so that rules out Bryan's and my first guess. (We have an unpleasant number of spiders that turn up in the house.) I guess if it were a different season, the vet said she might be concerned about a rattlesnake bite (yikes!), but for now we just don't know. We did find a little lump on her hip last night that felt like a bug bite does on a human, so maybe that's it.

Bryan has duty today, so I had to call in sick to work to get the vet thing squared away since I suspect we'll need to bring her back in. I'm going to have some pissed off patients, but what can you do? I suspect that when the doctors call in sick, they don't obsess about it as much as I do, they just call in and move on. I, on the other hand, am leaving specific instructions about which days they can book patients on my schedule at a time when I'm supposed to have gone home. Ugh. I hate being Type A.

Disneyland is currently running a special version of both Space Mountain and California Screamin' featuring music by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Bryan and I headed up to Disneyland last weekend and had the chance to check both out.

I know you're waiting for me to say "Rockin' Space Mountain and California Screamin' ROCKS!", but I'm afraid the response is a little more lukewarm than that.

It's okay.

Space Mountain features "Higher Ground" and is very well lit inside. No more stars, planets and blackness, you can see exactly where all of the track is, you can see other cars and there's lots of concert-like lighting and other visual features. They blend the track well with some scaffolding that goes above the track, to give the impression that you're at a concert.

"All Around the World" was the song chosen for Screamin'. Since there weren't any special visuals for the coaster in either the regular or the "Rockin'" version, it's just a different soundtrack, and one that I found to be a little distracting. I thought it sort of detracted from the ride to be honest. It didn't seem well synched with the twists, turns and accelerations of Screamin'.

All in all, I preferred the Space Mountain version and didn't think much of the Screamin' version, although Bryan disagreed with me, preferring Screamin', but seemingly indifferent to the modified version of both coasters. Thus far, general reaction seems to also be sort of "it's okay, I guess", if the postings on boards like MiceChat are any measure.

Overall it works pretty well, but I think it's mostly likeable as a novelty. I'll certainly be looking forward to the return of the regular version of both rides.

Sunday was an excellent day to hit the park - we made it on Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, it's a small world (holiday version), Haunted Mansion (holiday version), Pirates, Soarin', Screamin' , Golden Zephyr, the Sun Wheel, Orange Stinger, Tower of Terror, Jungle Cruise and Star Tours, all of which had a 20 minute or better wait time. The park was still decorated for the holidays, which made things extra fun.

We need to renew our annual passes, and it looks like our next trip up will probably be in February when Gavin and Elaine are in LA.

{Rant On}

Bryan and I have been married for about a year and a half now, and The Question keeps coming up.

When are you going to have kids?

It doesn't help that pretty much everyone we know either just had or is in the process of having a baby. Seriously. Every single month from December to next July, we know someone who has either just had (congrats Adam and Amanda!) or will be having a baby.
Thus, The Question.

The Answer?

We Don't Know. Stop asking.

Acquaintances ask. Friends ask. Family asks. My freakin' patients who barely even know me ask.

First of all, all this questioning makes the assumption that we even want kids. Who knows? Maybe we don't. Maybe we do. Maybe we want one. Maybe we want ten. Maybe there's a reason it's not being discussed in detail with the general public.

Or if we do, maybe we're waiting until a slightly more stable time in Bryan's career - at this point, he's gone at least one week out of three, which makes parenting difficult (not to mention conception!). I don't relish the thought of being a single parent every third week. Maybe we want to be able to live in a city that has a reasonable cost of living - and I assure you, San Diego does not qualify. Or maybe we've been trying since the day after we got married. Maybe I want to get to more NHL arenas before having to take a child into consideration. Maybe we just like being able to sleep in on Saturday mornings. Maybe we've secretly had twelve kids and just forgot to mention it in the Christmas card. Maybe it's just nobody else's business.

This is not a democracy. There's no "Cast your vote as to when Bryan and Gina should have a baby" section on the web page. This is a semi-benevolent dictatorship and it will remain that way. We get to decide if and when any babies will be had.

At any rate, this is my semi-polite way of saying "Please stop asking." If and when there's any news to share, you'll be the first to know. In the meantime, I have hockey games to watch.

{Rant Off}

No sweeping resolutions this year. I'd like a relatively quiet 2007. We didn't do anything much exciting for New Year's Eve - after all the driving back and forth between here and Seattle, I was more than happy to spend the evening at home. We saw the new year in with sparkling cider and I was in bed by 12:10.

I think we're off to a good start, though. The Wild spanked the Ducks (hard for anyone to do!) on New Year's Eve, and tonight's game against the Thrashers looked like the team I want to see! (Side note to Teri: I finally figured out that the jersey piece de resistance thing you got me was actually an Atlanta Thrashers jersey - I knew it wasn't Wild, but couldn't figure it out until tonight.)

I hope the new year brings good hockey, maybe a chance to meet Derek Boogaard and health and happiness for friends and family.

No, really. He can.

I've been really impressed with Derek Boogaard this season (for more than just the obvious reasons, you small minded people!). He's actually been playing this year. Last season he did a great job of intimidating, but he didn't have a lot of ice time, and when he was on the ice and the puck came toward him, he sort of swatted it away (in a seemingly "gah! keep it away!" manner) as quickly as possible.

This year, he's making some plays! Tonight he got a sweet shot on goal (and I'm really pissed it didn't go in), and almost had an assist. Bryan (who knows more about these things than I do) pointed out that if he'd gotten the goal and the assist and ended up in that fight that was brewing, Derek would have had a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick."

Nevertheless, I've been very impressed with how Derek Boogaard is playing this season. I'm even more impressed with him for the fights he hasn't gotten in. Yes, I know it's crazy coming from the girl who learned to love hockey while watching Derek kick Trevor Gillies' ass, but I really mean it. I don't mind a good fight now and then, but I'd rather watch him get out there and PLAY than fight. He's obviously put in a lot of time and work, and I hope there's more to come!