We gave our dog Valium & other weekend tid bits

I'm not into prescription drugs, or any drugs for that matter, but we have a hyperactive dog who gets VERY anxious in cars and spins in circles in the trunk. That, plus we have an 8+ hour car trip to the Outer Banks ahead of us. I was shocked at how quickly our vet handed us a bottle of Valium for Indy. The words "long car ride..." had barely come out of my mouth and I had pills in my hand. You'd think they would have something specially made for dogs. Nope. Regular old human Valium!

Our vet suggested we test it out once before our vacation to see how many pills Indy would need to be calm for the entire car ride. He's a 90 lb dog, after all.

We want Indy to be less like this... (they're playing, I swear)

And more like this.

Over the weekend, I was gone both Saturday & Sunday from 8am-2pm refereeing at a girls' lacrosse tournament in the area, so that means Tim was on Daddy Duty alone. What better time to drug your dog, am I right? Tim gave him 1 Valium and he was perfectly calm for about 2 hours. Clearly he'll require a higher dose for our trek to OBX. At least we know. Now, if you could only drug a baby...

KIDDING. So just kidding. We're hoping Flynn's new comfy convertible car seat + lots of radio tunes chills him out. He usually sleeps in the car, but we've never driven more than an hour away. Should be interesting. 

If anyone has tips for car travel with a baby & a dog, do tell!

P.S. - The heat did not kill me. PHEW. I want to thank bananas, trail mix & lemon water for keeping me energized & hydrated all weekend.

One Last Summer Fling

This title implies that I had any summer flings to begin with. FALSE. I am a happily married lady. I meant it more as a metaphorical fling with summery things, like flip flops, strawberries and fireworks. Example) me and a bag o' limes got together and had a ball in the kitchen last night.

I have been having serious citrus cravings throughout my pregnancy, so when I came across this recipe on Martha Stewart's website, I started drooling and hit "print".

Key Lime Tart

Ingredients
9-10 graham crackers
2 T. plus 1/2 cup sugar
4 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 can (14.5 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (4-6 limes) or bottled lime juice
4 large egg yolks
Pinch of salt
Lime zest garnish (optional)

Meg's Notes: I bought a premade graham cracker crust, and therefore, skipped the first 3 ingredients except for the 1/2 cup of sugar. I used fresh squeezed limes, and recommend buying 8-10. Not all limes have the same amount of juice in them, and you definitely want to have enough of this key ingredient! Warning: if you decide to squeeze all those limes, your hand will be deformed for a good 5 minutes afterwards. But I think it's worth it.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If you need directions to make a homemade crust, see the link to the real recipe above. If you're taking the easy way out like I did, read on.

2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, lime juice, egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar and salt. Whisk until smooth. Pour mixture into crust and bake until filling is set around edge but slightly loose in the center, 20-25 minutes.

3. Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.

4. Serve and garnish with zest, if desired.

Meg's Notes: Don't use a broken whisk. It just complicates things. Also, it's about the same consistency as a pumpkin pie when done (a little jiggly in the center). I was so eager to try mine, that I popped it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Mmmm... simply subLIME.

So go have a summer fling of your own... with a dessert.
Less heartbreak. More deliciousness.