Our dog is a foundling.  He and his siblings were dumped in our country neighborhood when they were babies, and we took him in.  It was a gamble, because Husband was away on a business trip, and we sort of fell in love and said yes to the dog without consulting the head of our household.  I told the kids we couldn’t give him a name until Daddy returned home and said we could keep him.

Daddy (Bless Him!) caved to five sets of pleading eyes, and thus ensued the search for the perfect name. I wanted to name him Guy Noir a-la Garrision Keillor’s famous character on Prairie Home Companion, but my next door neighbor goes by ‘Guy’ and I didn’t want Lara to think I was always yelling at her hubby.

The kids compiled a list of their favorite names and then I performed the “name test”.  I actually went out into the back yard and yelled the chosen name across the lower forty to be sure that a) it would carry all the way to the gully; b) I wouldn’t feel stupid yelling the name; and c) no other dogs or stray kids came running expecting a free meal.

We ended up with Max.  Short for Maxwell Noir.

  It’s Friday!!  I love Fridays because it is casual day in the office, my husband delivers and retrieves our younger offspring from school on Fridays, and it’s time for Hillary’s Friday Favorites Blog Carnival!  Hop over to The Other Mama and join the fun.

My first favorite for this week is Charlie from Operation Shrink Charlies’ Big Butt.   I absolutely adore this woman.  Why?  First, because I am on a mission to shrink my own big behind and she’s such an inspiration. If she can tackle weight loss with such panache, then so can I!  Second, because she is just so stinkin’ funny!  From this week – the Yellow Bellied Yoga Wannabe.  Go ahead.  Click on it and watch the video. You know you want to.

Yellow Bellied Yoga Wannabe from Flab to FAB Challenge on Vimeo.

My other favorite thing this week is, um, sort of embarressing.  I’m not even sure that Hillary would want anything like this associated with her Friday Favorite Carnival.  HOWEVER, Hillary does sort of give us leeway to shout out about anything that is our favorite this week, and there aren’t any actual written rules about delicate subject matters, so here I go with my second favorite for this week.  

I am totally in love with a new product for treating a certain uncomfortable side effect of living in a hot climate.  I am pretty sure I’m not the only one who suffers from this, ahem, condition.  It’s now spring summer here in Texas, which means we put away our tights and pantyhose so that we don’t expire from heat stroke as we migrate across blazing parking lots from our air conditioned homes and offices to our air conditioned cars. Combine this heat with the chronic Mommy syndrome of never having enough time,  patience or spare cash to replenish aging undergarments and we’re left wearing panties with bare elastic rubbing on bare skin, and we get – horrible, awful, painful chafing burns in unmentionable areas!  Some ladies take to wearing bike shorts under their skirts, but that exacerbates the whole heat stroke thing. 

I found something that works miracles, via an insert from another unmentionable product.

Monistat’s Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder Gel.

Smooth it on inner thighs and bikini area, and it creates a smooth, protective barrier without stroke inducing undergarments! It’s not greasy, doesn’t stain, and it certainly doesn’t irritate tender skin…and it really, really works.

Now, to relieve you from the shame and embarressement of the previous information, a snapshot of what’s blooming in my back garden.  Her name is “Sweeter Than Wine”

Ahhhh…..it’s going to be a great summer!