around a huge giant circle...

 When I first met Paul, I knew I found a good thing.  He was so innocent and respectful, so pure.  I'm not saying we didn't have a few beers now and then, but he was such a country boy.

I was in eleventh grade when we met, (I know!!! ). He was in college...I was 16 1/2, he was 19...almost 20.   He didn't KNOW I was so young, because being a 16 year old girl, who lied her butt off to get into that bar where we met, well, I wasn't going to volunteer that information.  It was the very last day of his Christmas break from college, and his brother bugged him to finally come out, he wasn't a "going out" kind of guy...I was there with my cousin, because I was 16, and admittedly boy crazy.  

I picked him out that night, he was the cutest guy there.  This place was a huge nightclub/bar, and back then, you only had to be 18 to get in, so it wasn't such a stretch that I sweet talked, aka lied, to get in...I had practiced saying my birthday, the whole real birthday, except for fudging the year, subtracting a few.  It worked.  So when he went up to the bar to order two O.V. splits (remember Old Vienna?)(they were 2/$1 that night...we're OLD), and my cousin pointed out that his shirt tag was sticking out, dared me to go tuck it in.  Now, I wasn't drinking anything, I was completely and 100% aware of what I was doing, he was cute, and hey it was a DARE.  So I tucked in his tag.  He handed me on of his beers, and that was it.  We talked and talked, we danced...I still swoon when I hear that song, "If I could fly, I'd pick you up, I'd take you into the night..."(Benny Mardones).

Anyway.  He called me the next night, and we actually wrote letters back and forth, he was in college about an hour away.  When we saw each other, one of our favorite things to do was go for rides.  He knew all these country roads where he grew up, his grandfather owned a local telephone company and he worked during the summers, so he knew all those roads...we stopped at cemeteries, and parks and outlets and rivers...we went fishing, and exploring.  It was different for me, I was from the suburbs, and I would just go to the mall, but he didn't care for the mall.  

Anyway.  Last evening, the kids all went to a youth meeting, and we went for a drive, and a walk with the dogs, and to visit a small cemetery.  It was like we went around in a huge circle....

We walked along the old Erie Canal...YES, they did want to "go get it!"

Sunny got really dirty...

We let them go in the canal in a part where a running stream intersected, the water was cleaner there...Sunny got all washed off!

It was a nice outing, a bit over two miles of walking, but on a nice even path, no evil hills.

I made pizza rolls for dinner, with homemade dough.  This was the easiest dough I've ever made!

The recipe is from The Food Network:

It was so simple, no proofing of the yeast first, just put it all in the Kitchen aid!  I only kneaded it a bit, I had read earlier to go lightly on the flour, so I did.  It's supposed to make two pizzas, I divided the dough into eight pieces for the pizza rolls.  I filled some with barbecued chicken (leftover grilled chicken, with melted butter and bbq sauce), some with Buffalo chicken, some with pepperoni and cheese, then some with hot sausage, crumbled and browned up with peppers and onions.  (That was the best one!).  They look rather sloppy, I was just getting the hang of how to assemble them by the last few, but next time I make them, they'll look better.  I don't usually eat the carbs like this, but oh dear they were good.  Jonathan made a huge pan of cauliflower and cheese (instead of Mac and cheese)....it was a good dinner.

Sonja got her first vaccination yesterday, I don't know why she was in such a hurry, as she just HAD Covid 19, last month.  She doesn't feel well, and I wish there was more info out there on side effects so close to having had a confirmed case of it.  

It's a rainy day here in central NY, rainy and chilly.  I have a cake to make, and am thinking of dragging the sewing machine out again...