A Miracle Product for Dogs.

Our sweet little puppy has a bit of an anxiety problem these days. 

If you've ever met Tom Hanks, you know he is the chillest and the illest. At this point, we have probably taken a few dozen different pictures of him asleep in various positions, locations, and places in our house. If we're here, he is mostly cool as a cucumber. 

Recently, though, I've started working a bit more (hey, Pure Barre! Woo hoo!) and because of that, both Jordan and I have been spending more time away from our house. Last year, TH went from being kept in a crate while we were gone to having full reign of the house. He does really well with that - doesn't chew up or destroy anything - but we have noticed that he's started chewing hot spots into his poor little legs. He'll start chewing these hot spots while we're gone, but these days he keeps chewing on them even when we're home.  

We called our vet to ask her advice, and she recommended a product that they actually use in the vet's office. 

Enter: Comfort Zone. 

Comfort Zone is a diffuser that releases a pheromone they call Adaptil. Adaptil mimics the Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) that nursing moms release to calm their puppies. To use it, you simply plug it in. The rest is done for you. The scent is imperceptible to humans, but I am here to TESTIFY that it works for dogs. 

No joke - literally within minutes of plugging these diffusers in, Tom Hanks had a noticeably calmer demeanor. We have not seen or heard him scratching, chewing, or restlessly gnawing at his paws or hot spots - not even once - since we plugged these in. I am completely bowled over by these results. We have two downstairs - one in our bedroom and one in the dining room. Probably overkill, since they work for up to 500 square feet. One cartridge works for 30 days, and the plug-ins are good for up to 6 months. 

Mere minutes after the diffuser was plugged in.

Mere minutes after the diffuser was plugged in.

My disclaimer is that TH is already a pretty calm dog - he just needed a little push over the edge into Chill Town while we were gone. If your dog struggles with aggression or behavioral issues, this may not be the product you're looking for. 

But if your dog is skittish toward, barks at noises outside, or has separation anxiety (like our little fella), this may be a life-saver. 

I ordered mine on Amazon at this link. 

Thanks, Comfort Zone! We love you! 

This post is not sponsored - it's just that good a product. 

Things That Made Me Cry Last Week.

Hi, I'm Mary Catherine, and I'm a crier. 

(Hi, Mary Catherine.) 

It's always been this way. I think I inherited it from my mother, who is a particularly cry-y person as well. Growing up, there would be times when she'd start to tell a story or describe a moment she'd had during the day. She'd begin, then suddenly stop. The vein in her forehead would start pulsing. She'd frown. "I'm gonna cry talking about it!" would always be her next line. And then she would. 

See, people? I didn't stand a chance. I don't mean I'm sobbing all the time, but a little "tear-up;" getting misty; a few subtle tears dropping onto my shirt - and, okay, yes. Sometimes an actual, real, full-on cry. 

I saw on Facebook a few months ago that a husband had cataloged all the times and reasons his wife had cried in a week. Since that would make Jordan's hand cramp up, I'll just do it myself. Be prepared for the mixed bag of totally reasonable and totally unreasonable things to come:  

MONDAY. 

  • Re-watching Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Emmy speech in which she thanks her recently deceased father. 
  • Reading a Facebook status written by a Black girlfriend of mine about how she was being harassed in an airport for not giving up her seat in the terminal. It was close to an outlet and someone else wanted it. She was told she and all Black people are "entitled" and that it was a "race thing." (By the way, this actually happened in 2016). 
  • New York bombings. 
  • This precious daddy's affirmations with his daughter before school each morning. 

TUESDAY: 

  • Marc Maron's interview with Robin Williams, which was fantastic. 
  • Finding out an older friend of mine had been diagnosed with cancer. 
  • Tearing up with joy because the first signs of fall + a great song on shuffle + throwing the ball to my dog = wonderful moment. 
  • LOLing at this hysterical piece about Hilary's First 100 Days written by the writers of Veep.
  • Watching the helicopter footage of the police officer in Tulsa who killed Terence Crutcher. 
  • Waiting until I got into my house to cry a little over the sexist construction workers on my street treating me with total dismissal and rudeness. 

WEDNESDAY: 

  • Choking up on the way home from a bluegrass band rehearsal, thinking about how lucky I am to sing great music with sweet people and live in the mountains in this new chapter. 
  • Tears of frustration after spilling coffee on the chairs Jordan and I worked so hard on (don't worry - I got it out!!). 
  • Listening to Nadia Bolz-Weber's sermon podcast and appreciating the truth-bombs she drops. 
  • Laughing so hard I cried because the dress I ordered on Rent the Runway was giving me the appearance of having a large, loose layer of skin around my midsection: 
  • #skinflap

THURSDAY: 

  • Watching the First Lady tear it up and realizing they're actually leaving The White House.
  • DYING laughing watching Jordan watch this video, which he had somehow NEVER SEEN (?!?!):
  • Chopping onions. 
  • Tom Hanks accidentally clawing a bruise into my left thigh when things got too rowdy as we were playing. 
  • My car alarm malfunctioning outside an outdoor event I was attending, causing everyone there to stare at me despite my efforts to seamlessly integrate myself into the party. This happened once, I drove away, thought I'd resolved it, then I drove back. The second I opened my car door, it happened again. I eventually fixed it, but it was M O R T I F Y I N G.

FRIDAY: 

  • This piece of comedic brilliance.
  • Noticing that a ladybug was trapped and half-eaten in a spiderweb. I tried to free it. It did not go well. 
  • Listening to the sweet toasts given to a great couple at my friend Caroline's rehearsal dinner. 
  • And finally, to round it out, at the awesomeness of this excellent baby, who can't talk yet, but can rap: 

5 Reasons Logan Huntzberger Is the Best.

Everybody has an opinion about which guy Rory should've ended up with. But as the new series (!!!!!!) gets closer to its premiere date, it's time to set the record straight: Logan was, and always will be, the best. 

Here's why. 

1. Without Logan, Rory wouldn't have become Rory. 

Hear me out on this one, because I already hear the Team Jess/Team No Guy people coming after me with pitchforks. Sure, every boyfriend had an impact, but this was different. 

Without Logan, Rory never would've taken the internship with Mitcham. Without Mitcham, Rory never would've had anyone nay-say her. Without the nay-saying, Rory never would've dropped out of Yale and spent a year with the DAR, only to return to Yale with the fire of a thousand suns, more sure than ever of her career path. 

Logan's dad was a grade A ass, but that interaction and hiccup is what pushed small-town, goody-two-shoes Rory Gilmore to be the ball-busting world-beater she turned into. Without that hardship, she wouldn't have learned what she's made of. (She would have, just maybe not as soon.) Because of it, she knew she could overcome anything. 

2. He's cocky, but has good reason to be. 

Mmkay, yes. I'll admit it. He's kind of an ass sometimes. 

BUT. 

He is crazy smart! Like, sure, his daddy is rich and he has access to everything on this planet with a snap of his fingers, but he also actually learned things at school. He's quick-witted, well-read, and can totally hang with Rory conversationally. And YES, he takes it a bit too far sometimes (see above photo), but if you think about the privilege he grew up in, he's really not that bad. And he does always realize when he's been a "buttfaced miscreant," as our girl would say. 

(Clearly I'm getting into this as though this are real people. Just go with it.) 

3. He does man things. 

When Logan is wrong, he apologizes. He goes to his girlfriend's mother (not an easy thing to do) multiple times to prove his love for her daughter. He buys Rory gifts for no reason (#birkinbag). He whisks her off on fun dates and surprises her by unexpectedly coming into town from another country. He gives Luke his second Valentine's day present, originally intended for Rory, so that Luke doesn't look like the goober he is and has something to give to Lorelai. He shows up at the hospital after Richard has a heart attack and stays to help as long as he's needed. He made VERY SURE that Rory was ready before they slept together. 

The list goes on and freakin' on, people. 

4. He works hard and plays hard. 

This scene in particular is so awesome to me. I loved this goofy little display, even though Rory was kind of mortified by it. 

Though he certainly doesn't work at all during his first stretch on the show, when Logan finally hits his stride, he works really hard. His plans for he and Rory in California are evidence of how seriously he took his job and his relationship. But even in the midst of work, chaos, and sometimes disaster, Logan knows how to lighten the mood and just laugh. The party he threw Rory after she was bailed out of jail was a classic. Sure, it was a touchy -- dark, even -- time in Rory's life, but Logan managed to take something dismal and help her see that it wasn't the end of the world. 

5. OKAY YES, HE'S RICH AS HELL. 

Somebody had to say it. 

This is a factor. Not because money is everything, but because money buys you oppurtunities. Rory could easily spend her entire life jetting around the world, covering story after story for whatever publication she wanted. She could CREATE a publication. She could give millions of dollars to charities that put books in low-income schools, or start programs that foster more women in STEM, or build an entire city out of junk food. 

And, you know, there's also the whole "Go on a European vacation once a year and have a killer closet" thing. Not that she'd care about the second part so much. 

My point is, she'd have the world on a string. And I know she'd use it wisely. 

COME BACK, LOGAN. Hope we get to see more of you in the reboot. But, for now, let's just all agree: Logan is the best. 

#teamlogan

My First Camping Trip, Part II

Catch up on Part I here. 

SO. 

  • We boarded a bus that took us upriver. Before we'd gotten on the bus, our rafting guides were announced, and we were placed with the only female guide on the river, Emily (henceforth known as Guide Emily for clarity). 
  • When we got to the river, we realized why Guide Emily was the best one: most passionate and strong as a freakin' ox. Seriously, her arms were like tree trunks. 
  • James and Brittany, our fifth and sixth riders, were placed at at the back of the raft. Emily and I were in the middle, Parker and Jordan were up front. 
  • Right when we put our raft in the water, Emily started giggling uncontrollably from pure joy. 
  • Within about 3 minutes, we hit our first major rapid and got sucked into some kind of terrifying whirlpool vortex death machine. 
  • Brittany, back right, started choking a little on the water that was cascading in and over our raft. 
  • "LEAN LEFT! LEAN LEFT!" 
  • We followed Guide Emily's instructions and finally managed to free our raft from the pocket of suction, but not without everyone having been SOAKED to the bone and a little frightened of just how powerful water can be. 
  • We learned that white water rafting was a niche sport until the movie Deliverance came out, which started a booming tourism industry. 
  • I will NEVER UNDERSTAND why anyone would ever ever ever ever want to white water raft after seeing Deliverance. 
  • That's like saying, "Space travel?? SURE!" after seeing Gravity or The Martian. 
  • That's like saying, "Dinosaurs?? YES, PLEASE!" after seeing Jurassic Park. 
  • That's like saying, "Abandoned hotel through the winter?? WHY NOT!" after seeing The Shining. 
  • What part of that movie makes you say, "Hey, YEAH! I'd like to do that!" 
  • Is it the part where that little inbred boy follows them down the river? 
  • Is it the part where the only nice and conscionable man on that trip gets his arm snapped in half while rafting? 
  • Or was it this charming fellow that people wanted to see more of? 
  • Or MAYBE people were hoping to see these dance moves instead. 
Just adorable. 

Just adorable. 

  • Or maybe it was Burt Reynolds' open scuba vest that, to my 2016 eyes, looks like something that a gay man would wear to a nightclub on Bear Night. 
  • Either way, I don't get it. 
  • We got about halfway down the river when Guide Emily asked if anyone wanted to "ride the bull." 
  • This entailed someone passing their paddle back to her, climbing to the very tip of the raft, grabbing onto a little piece of fabric, and going through a Class 4 set of rapids with nothing else to anchor them to the boat. 
  • Obviously, I was game. 
  • I will now provide you with a series of pictures taken by the Ocoee Rafting Photographer - please note the change in everyone's faces as we start, then actually see the rapids, then get hit by them. Jordan is a particularly good one to watch. You can actually see him realize that his wife is probably going to fall in (I didn't) and start death-gripping my vest - meanwhile, I'm smiling like an idiot. 
  • So it was really, really fun. By the end of the trip both Emily and I had ridden the bull, though sadly her time didn't get photographed (which is a real shame because she had it way worse than I did). 
  • After rafting, we tried to go get lunch at the Tanning Salon/Pizzeria (no, I am not making that up), but it was closed. 
  • So we went to the only other restaurant in Ducktown: Hardee's. 
  • There, a very surly teenage girl took our orders. And when I say "took our orders," what I really mean is that she took one order and then walked away mid-sentence of the next one. 
  • #ducktown 
  • After we ate (and got milkshakes), we stopped by the gas station for some cold beer and headed back to our little home in the woods. 
  • Parker immediately resumed his work of trying to start a fire. 
  • Emily and I were more interested in lounging. 
  • Jordan went fishing and actually caught a fish on his first cast. But we still picked on him a little bit because he was dressed like a mix between Prison Mike and Survivor Man Michael Scott from The Office. 
  • Finally, after about three hours, the fire starter Parker bought, that had come pre-loaded with 1,000 strikes, broke in half. No more strikes. Struck out. So stricken. 
  • So Jordan came over to offer his support, and within minutes, the two of them had a fire started. 
  • We FOR SURE were singing "Parker started the fiyAH!" over and over. 
  • Just look at that thing! 
Such pride. 

Such pride. 

  • For the rest of the afternoon, we sat around, drank, made s'mores, talked, ate hot dogs, talked some more, drank some more. 
  • As night fell, we started to hear this long, high-pitched scream that sounded very human. 
  • Every 30 seconds or so, we'd hear it. That was scary enough until we heard the second scream from behind us, far off in the distance. 
  • Whatever these things were were talking to each other. 
  • WERE THEY HONING IN ON US?! We (Emily and I) were very unsettled by this. 
  • Jordan theorized that they were coyotes. But they sounded like women. Or like maybe this guy. 
  • We didn't hear anything for about ten minutes, then, suddenly, the howl was RIGHT BEHIND OUR TENT. 
  • ...
  • ...
  • ...
  • ...
  • ...it was Emily. Trying to play a prank so she wouldn't be so scared. But then she scared herself by imitating the coyotes, which was funny, but when the laughter died down we were all scared again.  
  • We all carefully crept into our tents and prayed for no coyote attacks. 
  • They spared us. 
  • The next morning, Jordan made "cowboy coffee" (pouring the ground straight into the boiling water) and, surprisingly, it was some of the best coffee I've ever had. Very impressed. 
  • We packed up the campsite and thanked it for providing such a great weekend. All I could think about on the way home was how thankful I am to have such an awesome husband, and sibling, and for Parker to have chosen a significant other so well. The four of us always have a great time together. 
  • 'Til next time, Ducktown! 

My First Camping Trip, Part I.

I SURVIVED. 

Big, bold headline to start. 

I am also VERY thankful that I had not seen Deliverance prior to this trip. Although I did immediately come home and stream it on Netflix, which was probably a poor choice for future camping trips. 

You may have read last Friday that I was striking out with Jordan, Parker (my brother) and Emily (his girlfriend) on my first-ever camping trip. So much fun, so many stories. So I'll give you a play-by-play of the weekend. 

  • We depart about two hours late because Jordan had a work emergency. 
  • As we're driving, it starts to rain. So we're late and it's raining, and because we're late, we have no idea whether or not there will actually be a campsite, since you can't reserve them in advance. 
  • Jordan is a little flustered and misses our turn, so we end up driving about 4 hours instead of what would've been 3. 
  • Off to a good start.
  • Jordan had planned to arrive around 4 so that we had plenty of daylight to "make camp," which is a thing outdoorsy people say to mean "put up a tent and build a fire." 
  • Instead, we have about 10 minutes of low-level daylight left when we get to the site at about 8 PM, so Jordan deftly assembles the tent with a little help from me, then gets to work on the fire. 
  • I start to gather firewood (small sticks, medium stick, and larger logs, as I'm instructed) and immediately discover two woodland creatures living by our campsite: a giant frog and a teeny tiny garter snake. 
  • Instead of losing it re: seeing a snake, I cover my total panic by stating, "SNAKE," in a very loud, clear voice. I knew upon seeing it that it was a garter snake, but it was still two tiny, shiny eyes staring at me from within the bowels of a dead tree stump. 
  • I pick up a log and five GIANT daddy longlegs crawl off of it. 
  • I also discover with horror that the last people to use the campsite decided to use the facilities, i.e. POOP, in the middle of the dirt road leading to where we pitched our tent. 
  • Human. Poop. 
  • Their toilet paper, which also should have been disposed of, is sitting in a crumpled pile next to the HUMAN POOP. 
  • We avoid it all weekend. 
  • Jordan grabs his headlamp and starts a fire using the few scraps of wood that I gathered (and dry, because it also rained while we were driving out there - yikes).
  • Because it is SO DARK, he also has to turn the headlights of the Jeep on in order to have something to see by. 
Why yes, it was dark as hell. 

Why yes, it was dark as hell. 

  • Having never been camping before, I was trying to talk myself out of being freaked out. The dark is not my favorite thing, particularly unfamiliar dark. Add "outdoor" to the unfamiliar darkness, and it's basically my own special little horror movie. 
  • To keep myself from being scared, I nervously chatter to Jordan. "Wow. This fire is impressive. Seriously! How did you learn to do that? Well, you're good at it. I feel so protected! Also, cute shirt. Did I get you that shirt? I can't remember. Blue looks good on you, though. You should wear more blue. I love you! What are you thinking about?? Do you miss Tom Hanks?" 
  • #myhusbandisasaint
  • Eventually, we got the fire going. I remembered that I actually know how to make/stoke a fire from my childhood home's wood burning fireplace, so I help Jordan and actually do a pretty damn good job taking our fire from small to medium. 
Look at me go! 

Look at me go! 

  • Parker and Emily were driving in from Nashville, so Jordan and I had a couple of hours to ourselves, we decided to make dinner using the MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) we bought. 
  • I had a penne with marinara, Jordan had something called Chili Mac. ...mmm. 
  • I am sad to report that Jordan's was absolutely better than mine. Like, not even close. Mine tasted like what I would imagine shards of fiberglass soaked in unseasoned water would taste like. 
  • Jordan's, though the name was MUCH grosser, tasted like what I expected - not great, but definitely not terrible. He shared with me. 
  • Emily and P rolled in at about 10:45 and we got the party ROLLING! 
They were in color in person.

They were in color in person.

  • They'd already eaten, so we toured them around the campsite (included the HUMAN POOP), they set up their tent, and we cooked some marshmallows. 
  • After some catching up and giggles, we all headed to bed to get good rest for the day ahead. 
  • We piled into our tents. Jordan's and my tent is mesh at the top, so we could see the stars We could also see the moon, which happened to be a full one that night and VERY bright. 
  • I felt stupid complaining about it, but the moon was so bright that it was as though a giant lamp was being held over my face as I slept. While Jordan slept peacefully, I flipped around in the tent all night like a fish.
  • I started with my head in one direction, then flipped so my head was at Jordan's feet to try to find some SHADE FROM THE MOON (yep, that's a real thing). 
  • At one point in the night, we hear a gunshot in the distance. I am convinced that someone is going to come shoot us to death and that I will wake up to a crazy mountain man's face grinning wildly through the mesh ceiling before he puts me out of my misery. 
  • The murderer does not show up, though several trucks drive by around 3 AM. With each passing car, I shoot up straight in my sleeping back and prepare for battle. 
  • They keep driving. 
  • I jam up my shoulder a little bit trying to sleep on my side, but it's worth it. I finally fall into a deep sleep for three hours or so, until we were all gently awoken by the sweet sounds of the crow:
  • Jordan and I got up a little ahead of P and E and got "ready" for the day. That entailed wiping down with some baby wipes, changing clothes, and brushing our teeth over the little river flowing behind our campsite. 
  • Once I was able to see everything in the daylight, I started to really appreciate where we were. Though the night had been a little sleepless, the area we had chosen was gorgeous and secluded, and it started to be exciting that we were really fending for ourselves out here.
  • Jordan got started on coffee while I started setting things out for breakfast burritos. 
  • When Parker did wake up (last, of course), he immediately asked for a marshmallow. And so his trail name was born = MARSHMALLOW. 
  • Once the whole gang was up and moving, Emily and I started preparing the potatoes and sausage for our burritos, while Parker started what would become an hours-long odyssey to start a fire with a fire-starter he'd bought at an outdoor store.
  • For anyone going on any future group camping trips, I can't recommend our breakfast highly enough. Let me just include this recipe really quick: 

One-Skillet Breakfast Burritos - AKA Camp Food: 

1 package of Andouille sausage
Carton of eggs
1 ziplock bag of chopped peppers and onions
2 russet potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese
Small tortillas

Crumble and cook the sausage while chopping the potatoes into consistent pieces. Add the potatoes to the sausage mixture and let them soften. Crack 6 eggs right into the pan and scramble the mixture together. When you're ready to serve, add chopped peppers and onions. Lay tortillas on a flat surface, scoop the sausage mixture in, and top with cheese which will melt upon sprinkling. PERFECT camping meal! 

  • Then we sat around, drinking coffee/tea and and hanging out for a while as Parker continued to work on starting a fire.  
  • Jordan made him what's called a "featherstick," and is supposed to be helpful. 
  • It turns out, starting a fire without a lighter is pretty challenging. 
  • I snuck off to go to the bathroom, i.e. tee tee in the woods, and was of course, immediately caught by a passing car. #classic 
  • After our breakfast pans were cleaned, we finished the coffee and started getting ready to go rafting on the Ocoee. 
  • We piled in the car and drove to Ducktown, which was about 15 minutes from our site. Ducktown is exactly as you would picture it: very small, very rural, lots of ducks.
  • (Just kidding about the ducks.) 
  • We get AMPED for rafting - I am the only one on our trip who's never been, and I am extremely excited. 
Emily, I know you're going to kill me, but this picture is way too funny not to share. 

Emily, I know you're going to kill me, but this picture is way too funny not to share. 

  • We get geared up - vests, helmets, and paddles - and board the bus for our river adventure. 

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2! Spoiler alert: