Eating Out at Chili's

I took my dog sitters out to dinner a few nights back, using the two $25 Chili's gift cards I won at the New Iberia trial last weekend. My guests included John, Audrey, Laura and her 10 year old daughter, Portia.  We decided to take advantage of the "2 entrees and an appetizer for $20" plan, plus an order of chicken fingers for Portia.  I kinda thought $50 would cover that, but by the time we added drinks, tax and tip, the bill was $70!

$70?????????  I was livid by the time I got home.  How can people spend so much money on restaurant food?  Burn thru $70 in 1.5 hours.  Of course my people are worth that and more, and I had gift coupons, but I got to thinking what else one could buy for $70 that would last a lot longer -- like a new pair of Gortex tennies, 6 weeks of agility lessons for my dogs, a half tank of gas in my RV, enough groceries to feed me and John for a week.  But there it was, a Thursday, and Chili's was jam packed, with a full waiting room and quite a few families with children.  How especially do young families afford to spend so much money eating out?  Me, I prefer home cooking and a big fat savings account.

And I was disappointed in the food.  They no longer bring chips and salsa to the table. Portions were small. Broccoli was frozen. Chicken fingers had a weird batter and the corn on the cob was mushy.  My mango/tilapia had one cube of mango on a thin filet about the size of a coaster.  John's chicken fajita meat looked boiled, not grilled and his bell peppers were overcooked.  Audrey's salad had no green leaves.  It was all iceberg lettuce.  The service was mediocre.  We had to go looking for the waiter several times.



L to R:  Lucky Lucy as a puppy, Maxie,
Pepper propped up over Maxie's back (he does that),
Willow with her "pom pom" tail.

The best thing that came out of the event is that Portia brought her crayons and entertained herself by drawing a composite picture of my dogs, cut it out and presented it to me.  I intended to make a refrigerator magnet, but my laminating machine ate it and I've just spent an hour disassembling the machine and prying the plastic off the roller then trying to iron it back flat.  Here's a photo of the crumpled up piece.  Sorry, Portia but it's still the first time anybody drew my dogs, is mighty cute and I'm keeping it.

Upwards and onward!

More Papillon Paraphranalia

Fired clay head, with glass
spangles

I've accumulated a few more Papillion items and added them to my Papillon Paraphranalia page today -- a quilt and a license plate, and a photo of the aforementioned custom wind chime of Maxie acquired last year.  It took me awhile to scan in/scrape together the photos.  Hot, muggy, rainy days are good for doing this, and it sure beats pulling more weeds.

One treasured item is a quilt, given to me on Christmas 2010 by my neighbor, Judy Holley, a veteran quilter who does pet portrait quilts.  This one measures 3.5' x 4.5', based on this photo.  She can do one for you too. The background is a tie-die cloth that she made from scratch, using all natural plant dies.  This quilt resides on my guest room bed, but also has a pole slot on the back for hanging on the wall.  It's a signed piece I'm very proud of.




Maxie (L), Willow (R)
Christmas Portrait 2009



Last week, Kathy Roy (who bought one of my papillon puppies) and keeps in touch, surprised me with a gorgeous papillon license plate, which is now on the front of my Grand Marquis.

She got it off of E-bay, but then she located a source for all breeds of Dog License Plates.  I added a link to that page at Papillon Paraphranalia 

I'm always on the lookout for more items and will add my acquisitions to that page whenever I find something.  If anybody runs across a source for more items, please let me know.

Upwards and onwards!

Papillon Paraphranalia

Papillon sculpture by Lois Horan, 2" x 3"

It's hard to find a Papillon figurine, calendar, T-shirt, mug, etc.  I've been on the lookout for the past 3 years, asking around, checking booths at dog events, searching the internet for anything papillon.  Finally my cousin Lois, a Papillon breeder in Florida, hand-crafted me the pictured figurine, which she makes out of sculpty clay and sells for fabulous sums.  She used Maxie's photos as a painting guide, and while it doesn't look quite like Maxie and has ENORMOUS ears, it captures  the adorable "essence of Papillon", I think.  Thanks, Lois.  It's in my curio cabinet with a light on it.  I love it.  I'm going to try to make one myself one of these days.




Maxie posing with his statue, plus my
ENTIRE collection of Papillon memorabilia
not counting the wind chime.



Maxie's Wind Chime,
custom made for me from Maxie's photo.

Other items I've been able to finnagle are the embroidered pockets I commissioned from a club-mate and sewed on my Red Stick Agility T-shirt, two embroidered papillons on the caps I wear at trials, and a drink can holder (hidden behind Maxie's ear), a hand painted wind chime, and finally this year at Pet Smart, a 2011 Papillon calendar, which is made of dinky paper, and outrageously expensive!

If anyone out there is looking for a business enterprise, you could generate some Papillon paraphranalia and find willing customers, believe me.  I'm a sucker for it for sure.

I've heard there are companies that will embroider your dog on a T-shirt.  You just send them a photo.  Don't know what that costs but if I find out I'll post it here. Of course, you can have photos silk-screened on t-shirts, and do iron-on transfers yourself at home with your ink-jet printer.  I'm planning to try that as well one of these days.


Christmas 2010 my neighbor, Judy Holley, a veteral quilter who does dog portrait quilts, made this 3.5' x 4.5' quilt for me, based on this photo.  The background is a tie-die cloth that she made from scratch, using all natural plant dies.  This quilt resides on my guest room bed, but also has a pole slot on the back for hanging on the wall.  It's a signed piece I'm very proud of.



Maxie (L), Willow (R)
Christmas Portrait 2009



In July 2011, Kathy Roy (who bought one of my papillon puppies) and keeps in touch, sent me a gorgeous papillon license plate, which is now on the front of my Grand Marquis. I'm not sure where she found this, but the same one and many other dog breed license plates are available online at Airstrike Ink.
I'm still on the lookout for more papillon paraphranalia, and will add it to this page whenever I find it.