Holidays

So my friend Alyssa just blogged about holidays, and I wrote this book about them in her comments section. I realized that it is basically a blog post of its own, so what the heck. Here is a C&P of what I wrote there. Alyssa, stop reading here. There's really no need to see my rant twice.

With my family in NM, it's not like we have to worry about going back and forth on the actual holidays. :) Also, DH hates to fly, so clearly he won't be attending Thanksgiving with my parents any time soon. It's just such a short holiday that the only option for travel is air.

When I am with my parents though, my mom does the vast majority of the cooking though my dad and brother carve the turkey. She used to do 100 side dishes (exaggeration,) but we've come to realize that it is better to have a few that we all love and can enjoy rather than so many that we try to eat a little of each. This year the menu is: clam chowder for appetizer, green salad with bleu cheese, candied pecans, fresh pears and a pear vinaigrette, turkey, suffing and dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cranberry pomegranate relish, Brussels sprouts with procutto and pine nuts, broccoli casserole, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, and that may be it. I'm sure I'm forgetting something though. When I write it all out, it doesn't look like a scaled down meal, but you should have seen those tables when I was a kid! Everything is from scratch too.

To be honest, I hate holiday meals with DH's family. The biggest reason is that they don't do anything from scratch. I mean, they make the turkey, but the potatoes are from a box, frozen green vegetables, boxed pies. You get the idea. If they have wine, it is pink. Blech.

Last year we were in town, but his grandma, the matriarch, didn't want to do turkey and his sister didn't want to drive in, so we took grandma out for Italian (her choice) on Wednesday and then met up with friends on Thanksgiving. It was awesome!

This year I'll be in NM and he'll meet his family in IL for their dinner. I'll be sad to be away from him, but I will not miss their meal. I hope when we move houses and no longer have the cat that we can host. Then I can be in charge and control the processed crap.

Christmas is still to be determined. But let's just say that their boxed crap doesn't hold a candle to my mom's ham, homemade potato gratin, and red wine poached pears. We'll be in town, but they never have a schedule until the last minute. My folks come to town on the 26th, so we'll at least have a second shot at it if the meal blows.

Gotcha!

Today, September 18, is Henry's Gotcha Day! One year ago, Henry joined our family.


Look at how little he was! Only 8 pounds.

He's all grown up now, and I couldn't imagine our family without him.


And of course, we never would have found him without Stray Rescue. So, in Henry's honor, I cut my teeth on taking a dog to an adoption event.


Whisper is relatively new at the shelter, but she is such a sweetheart. All she wants to do is cuddle.

Please, please think about adopting. There are so many wonderful dogs that need homes, and I know my life wouldn't be as full without the four-legged members of my family.

Five Years

On this day, five years ago, Andy and I said our "I do's." It was really a beautiful day. There were mistakes, but you know, it just makes the day memorable. Who am I kidding? It really started when Andy proposed to me while I crutched around the Botanical Gardens with my broken hip. Ha!

To celebrate our anniversary, we went out to Mike Shannon's last weekend. It was a lovely evening. Last night we hung out, ate fish for dinner, and had cocktails while we spent quality time together. I gave him my phone upgrade early since his was on its way out. So his iPhone was part of his present. The other part is on its way: new inserts for his Ugg slippers. He loves those things, but I'm sure he has no idea what my parents paid for them and therefore why I'm so insistent that he get new inserts instead of just replacing the shoes entirely.

He got me his best present yet: a gift card to Talbot's.

Normally I'm very opposed to gift cards, but the fact that he knew I rarely went to nice stores for myself really meant a lot to me. That and the fact that he made a trip to the mall especially to get the card. Wow!

I doubt we'll do anything tonight. I'm working out, and he has art meeting. The first five years have been good though, and I look forward to what the next five might bring.

What up?

Yeah, yeah. It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've missed it, but with school starting, things have just been crazy. I haven't even been able to volunteer at Stray Rescue since then!

I did get to go down there today though and help get things ready for the Liberation Revolution Adoption Festival. The shift started at 6:00 this morning, but it was so good to be back helping the dogs again. I couldn't stay through the event though because I had a salon appointment scheduled.

A few weeks ago, Groupon was offering a GREAT deal on a salon package. Since I haven't found a place I love here, this was perfect for me. My appointment was today at Matthew Robert Salon on Manchester with Ruth. I loved it! The place was so nice, and Ruth did a fabulous job. My Groupon included cut, color, makeup application, and eyebrow waxing. It was a great deal. So here's the end result. What do you think?


Now that I'm all snazzy in the face and hair department, DH and I are going out for our FIFTH anniversary dinner at Mike Shannon's downtown. I think I'll have a martini to start and a glass of wine with my steak. One big dinner for this big event is worth it in my mind. Have a great weekend everyone, and I'll try to write more! I really do enjoy it.

A Fantabulous Weekend- Part 1

Let's start with the biggest events first. DH let Quinn (now Ginger) come live with us! I am so happy. She is currently learning all kinds of new things from our other dogs. Right now they are telling her that french fries are awesome and she needs to learn some hard core begging skills. Let me tell you how thrilled I am about this education. :P DH has been feeding his dog, Doc, table scraps for years. Then we got Henry, and I told him not to feed the puppy people food so we wouldn't have the begging problem. Yeah, that didn't happen. I'm sure Ginger will be getting at least one FF tonight. What do you think will happen when we have kids. Ha!

Anyway, none of that is of particular importance because I really don't think he feeds them enough to cause a problem. It's more of an annoyance. The happy news is that Ginger is home and I love her. Henry loves her. She doesn't bother Doc and Jerry. Here we are with a cute attentive picture of my whole family, DH and the cat included.


Here are Henry and Ginger hanging out together the first afternoon.

Doesn't he look happy?!

Finally, here are a couple pics of the pretty girl with her snazzy new collar. I think it looks awesome on her. We also got a matching red Red Dingo leash that's the same as Henry's. I love these leashes because they are adjustable length but not retractable, and the handles are padded. Seriously, I love them.

So Polite

Look at these guys as they wait politely for their snacks.

My husband was just as polite as he waited for his snacks.

I made fresh berry pancakes in honor of the holiday weekend and having today off! They were delicious.

WWE

It's Wrestlemania 2010 in my living room right now. We're doing Rent-a-Pet through Stray Rescue, and Henry is having the time of his life. Quinn is staying with us for the weekend. So far things are going great and everyone is having a blast. We went on a walk this evening, and the dogs have come back to play it out. I'll try to get pictures at some point.

PS, any good vibes you have to spare for me to help convince DH that Henry needs a friend closer to his own age would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping that he just falls in love with her sweet face though. :)

My First Time

I have been reading the Pioneer Woman's cooking blog for a couple of years now. Her recipes always look great, but they also often look complicated and like they require a much nicer cooking setup than I have. I finally popped my proverbial cherry and made my first PW recipe.

DH's birthday was Sunday, but he was out of town. I made him a special dinner last night though: Chicken with Mushrooms and Artichokes. It was great! The prep was easy, the supplies cost less than $30, and he felt loved and appreciated. I halved the recipe, and we had more than enough food. The only bad part was that the pan was so hot after being in the oven that the cream got over heated and didn't thicken up like it should have. Oh yeah, and I ended up eating pasta instead of broccoli like I should have. All in all, a success though.

If you don't already read this blog though, check it out. Her recent post about cinnamon toast is hilarious!

Great idea!

Mom and I need to get mani/pedis this morning before we start cruising around West Palm. We asked downstairs for a walk-in type nail place, but they weren't much help. I decided to hop online and see what I could find. This is where we are going.

Check that out! They provide glasses and openers for people to bring wine, prices are super reasonable, and we were able to make appointments online! Excellent. I'll be sure to update how the actual services are, but the reviews I see online are solid.

Can you tell how happy I am to be having a girlie vacation?

Breaking in the new stuff

DH gave his new chair a test run yesterday with a little help from Henry.

Making Babies

No I'm not pregnant. I did just find out that someone else is, and I am SO happy for her. She is a great girl, and while I've only met her IRL a few times, she is just one of those people you wish the best for. You know?

I'm trying to keep my head on straight and know that my time will come. It is pretty fun these days that DH and I talk about it. How we'll decorate the nursery has been a more regular conversation. Last night he asked the puppy what he would do when a baby came because he wouldn't be able to sleep between the pillows any more. I laughed. I will say that I'm enjoying the process of trying. ;)

Poor DH

So we have two dogs. Doc is a 16 year old Shih Tzu mix, and Henry is a 6 month (as of yesterday) Jack Russell mix. Needless to say, Doc is not doing as well as he once was. Well, in recent weeks, Doc's bladder control has gotten worse. Now I understand that DH loves this dog. I do too! He is, however, in denial about this reality. When I have had my eyes on the puppy for the past 15 minutes, but in that time some doggy poo or pee has appeared in another room, I'm pretty comfortable in my assessment that Doc did it. No, I don't think it is because he is bad. I think it is because he is old, has less control than he once did, and, quite frankly, may just not want to go out in the arctic temperatures. We just have to keep putting him out at regular intervals and making sure he is comfortable. The puppy is truly potty trained and is very good about letting me know when he needs to go.

Poor Doc and poor DH. They have been together longer than we have.

My Cousin's Wedding- Part 3

OK, so we just finished the ceremony. It's already cold, and we're not allowed in the Greenhouse. Eventually the wedding party finishes with pictures, and the reception gets started. Appetizers are passed, and there is a HUGE cheese and fruit tray close to the bar. My family and I start scoping out the drink selection. We notice the cash register and begin to assume that it is a cash bar. Total side eye in my family, but we'll go with it. As we approach, we discover that there is free beer and wine (score!) but they are charging for soda! Really? How strange. Hard liquor is also available for a fee. We're good with wine though.

Appetizers are: bacon wrapped scallops with maple syrup dipping sauce, spring rolls with a Thai peanut sauce, and crab cakes with a wasabi aioli. All in all, they were very good. Well, the food started around 6 or so. We began sitting down for salads around 7:15 or so. By this point, people are noticing that it is chilly in that greenhouse and we all wonder when they are going to turn on the heaters. Then the news starts flowing through the reception. There will be no heat. That's right, they will not be turning on the heaters. What?!

So, we eat our salads, then they decide to have the first dance. THEN THEY OPEN THE DANCE FLOOR! Who does this? Really? Full on dancing between salad and entree? What time is dinner to be served you ask? 8:30 or 8:45. That's a full hour between courses! OMG! So we get colder and colder. Actually, we start talking about busting in to the cake we're so hungry. The kids are tired, and we're all freaking cold. Eventually the food arrives. It is a buffet dinner. Wouldn't you assume that they would release the tables? That's how everyone else does it. But no. They don't even announce that the buffet is open! You just have to kind of notice that other people have their food. Niiice.

After everyone eats, it is time for toasts. Now I get to discuss what a tool my cousin's new husband is. First, he starts by thanking everyone for coming, etc. My cousin never speaks. He has also changed his outfit three times by this point in the evening. The best woman and maid of honor also give their speeches. K's husband talks again, and we are invited to start on cake.

Now I have to talk about the highlight of the weekend. Each table had its own cake that had been made by a friend of the couple. There was carrot cake, chocolate cake, apple pie, pecan pie, chocolate peanut butter s'mores tart, and, on our table, pumpkin cheesecake. Mmmmm. We were encouraged to trade and try several types. I got to taste three and they were all fabulous! Did it make up for the fact that we were sitting basically outside in the 30 degree weather? No. But it was some awesome cake and a fun idea.

Pretty much as soon as we were done with our cake, we left. We had originally planned to go out and socialize after the event, but we were all so cold and exhausted that we just went back to our rathole and went to bed. My plane left at 7:00 the next morning, so that was it for me. My cousin was kind of a bitch until after the cake course. My other cousin's wife and I were talking about how we don't remember letting ourselves get so caught up in the wedding day. Everyone else agreed that we were better about thinking of others and all that on our weddings. I think it was because our events were so much better planned. K's new husband is also a total tool. He ran around the reception saying that the food service people were messing up and that his heaters hadn't been delivered. However, the food people had a printed copy of the schedule, and they were right on it, and he had mentioned to my dad that there would be no heat well before the actual day. Whatever though. I hope they are happy together, and I am glad I got to see my family.

Here ends the story of the wedding. Little children, let this be a lesson to you. Even though you are having a wedding to celebrate your marriage, remember to show a little care for your guests. (And if your cousin gets Swine Flu because of freezing her ass off at your poorly planned shindig, you should have to work in her place.)

My Cousin's Wedding- Part 2

So, it was time to get ready for the wedding. To understand how hard that was, let's look at the invite. I have actually misplaced the card itself, but it was a 4x4 red piece of card stock with round stickers on it. On those stickers were handwritten the date, time, and location of the wedding. Also listed was the wedding website where we were to RSVP. Once at the website, we were asked to participate in the wedding (organizing the hike, taking care of the dog, etc.) The dress code was also listed as Fabulous. Fabulous? What does that mean? The illustrations showed us some don'ts. These included a Star Trek costume, a cassok, or sweats. How helpful, no? Now, I have always heard that the invite gives you the general idea of a wedding's formality. Well, this was really screaming low key wedding. My cousin-in-law though was totally planning on a dressy outfit as was my aunt. Hmmm. I ended up wearing black suit pants, a short-sleeved purple tweed jacket, and a purple turtleneck. Sort of a step up from business casual. Let me tell you that I ended up being quite grateful for my choices.

We get to the ceremony location. The service was scheduled to be outside, and my dad, a minister, was officiating. The weather was getting chilly, and there was a pretty strong breeze. It wasn't terrible though because the sun was shining. My family and I got our programs and kazoos. Kazoos you ask? I was also perplexed.

A few minutes past 5:00, the official start time, a lady walks to the front of the area. She gets everyone's attention and asks us to open our programs. We open the programs and there is music with lyrics in some language that isn't English. She says she is going to give us a German lesson and proceeds to explain to us how to pronounce all the German lyrics to Ode to Joy. She then tells is that this will be the recessional, and we are all asked to sing it as the couple leaves. If we really don't feel comfortable singing though, we can play our kazoos, WTF?

The ceremony itself was bizarre. First my dad greeted everyone in the pretty standard fashion. Then he said "K (did I mention K was marrying another K?) has a pretty cool groove." Then the cellist and electric marimba player played a jazzy riff. My dad then said, "K's vibe is pretty sweet too." And the musicians played another beat. Then he said, "but when they are combined things get even better." And then the two melodies are combined and they sound like ass. Really. At this point we're supposed to sing something, but none of us got that memo. I guess it was an interesting idea, but definitely not my style.

The vows were self-written. The groom read his on his iPhone, and the bride used paper. They pledged to be each other's soux chef, something, something, and henchman. Really? Henchman? The dog brought the rings except that the groom had gotten a tattoo of his on his finger. Klassy.

They then recessed, no one sang, and a member of the wedding party approached the front. Let's review now. The time is now about 5:20. The temperature is in the mid to low 40's and the wind is blowing. We are informed that the wedding party will be taking photos in the greenhouse and we are to "play lawn games" until the reception starts at 6:00. ????? You would think that my mom, brother, and I would be needed for photos, but no. We were thrown out of the greenhouse as not part of the family. How nice.

Next- The Reception, and here is where things get really good.

My Cousin's Wedding- Part 1

This weekend I went to New Hampshire for my cousin K's wedding. Below is my story, and I swear it's true.

On Friday, October 9, I was scheduled to depart from St. Louis at 6:30. My flight from St. Louis to Chicago was delayed by an hour. I was worried because I only had an hour layover, but it turned out that my flight from Chicago to Manchester was delayed by at least an hour, so that was ok. I get to Chicago, and I find out that the delay has been lengthened to at least an hour and a half. That puts me in to Manchester at 1:15, and then we have to drive an hour to get to Plymouth, where the wedding is being held. Ugh. It worked out though, and I ended up going to bed at about 3:00. I was awake long enough to appreciate the awesomeness of our hotel. Here is the sigh that pointed us to the staircase.


Here is the room next door to us. What room do you think we were in?


Here you go!


That's right. 201. Written in Sharpie! I thought I might have preferred to be in 207 and contemplated changing it. :)

I woke up for a few minutes around 7:00 to print my boarding pass for Sunday, and then slept until about 9:30. My mom and brother were out running errands and brought me a latte and a breakfast sandwich. My dad and I walked to the hotel where my cousins and aunt were staying. Their hotel was super cute. K couldn't be bothered to block rooms for everyone tough. So the wedding party and her immediate family were staying at that hotel, and everyone else was relegated to our craptastic hovel.

Here is the beautiful view from our walk. Unfortunately, you can't see the gorgeous color on the trees.



The whole family execpt K went out to lunch on Saturday at a Thai restaurant for my birthday. It was super fun. The only slightly negative part was that it was leaf viewing season and there was a ton of traffic getting to the restaurant.

We then all went back to the hotel to chill out for a while before the wedding. Part 2 coming soon.

What to do

They just posted the volleyball schedule for the fall. I see that there is an away game on Friday, October 9. That is the day I am supposed to leave for NH to attend my cousin's wedding. I only have two cousins, and it is important that I go to this event even though I will only be in NH for 36 hours or so. Boo.

The game is scheduled to be at 4:00 in West County. My flight leaves a little past 6:00. At best, that would put me at the airport half an hour before my plane was supposed to depart. That doesn't even allow for rush hour traffic or if the game ran long. I just don't see any way for me to be there. I mentioned to the head coach that I had an OOT wedding to attend when I was interviewing, but I never gave her the exact date. Should I e-mail her now to say that I noticed the conflict? Or do I wait until the first meeting on August 3rd. She hasn't even officially told us the schedule, I was just poking around no the website and found it. Advice?

I hate feeling like I'm taking a day off before I've even started, you know? On a related note, I have a doctor's appointment on a Monday afternoon, but I think I should probably try to move that until before or after the season unless there is an official coverage rule. That day there isn't a game, but I'm sure there is supposed to be practice.

PS Hell's Kitchen is starting RIGHT NOW!

Cards Game

We went to the Cardinals game last night. What a perfect night for baseball. It was an early start, 6:15, which we didn't realize when we were planning initially. Thank goodness DH called me at lunch time to tell me. Ooops.

When we arrived, it was 83 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and a breeze was blowing. We sat in the Redbird Club which is always fun. Those seats are such a treat. You have a good view of the game, and the inside area is really nice. They have some fod you can't get in the rest of the stadium, and on days that are really hot or cold, it is climate controlled.


DH and I in the Redbird Club in 2006, the first year of the new stadium.

Back to last night. It was a great game. My dad's birthday was June 30, so I e-mailed in a Happy Birthday message to the team, and they put it on the scoreboard in the 4th inning! (I have a better picture of this that I cropped and blew up, but you get the idea.)


Here we all are.

My parents.

DH and me.

While I still miss the old stadium, the views from the new one are really beautiful.



The night ended as a win for the Cardinals, so Fredbird celebrated.

Long Holiday Weekend

My parents are in town for the long holiday weekend. I love my mom. She is one of my best friends. My dad is, well, my dad. I love him too, but damn he can be irritating. Now that they are getting older, his behavior is almost worse! They usually visit at different times. Mom will come for a week to hang out, shop, go to the barn, and all that good stuff. Dad will come for a weekend and we'll go out to eat and see a movie. That has always worked well. For some reason, the last couple times they visited, they have come together. That means I get less time with mom (they never stay as long when Dad comes,) and we don't get to do all the fun stuff Mom and I enjoy. Oh well, at least I get to see them for a few days.

On another note, my horse is showing this weekend. I've 1/2 leased him to a girl for the summer, and she is taking him to the show. I can't wait to go watch on Saturday. I showed him at this show last year. Here are some photos.





It wasn't our best show by any stretch of the imagination, but we had fun. Oh I want to show again!

Did she get a dog or shirts from Old Navy?

This is what I said when I saw my mom's name on my caller ID today. Needless to say the girls who were close to me looked at me pretty funny.

Back story:
Yesterday I called her to ask if she might do me a favor today. I had seen that Old Navy was going to have their basic ribbed tanks on sale for $2 each! I love these shirts for wearing to the gym, as layering pieces, etc. But I knew my Saturday was going to be crazy, so I was hoping that mom would be able to help me out. She said sure.

We proceeded to chat for a while, and she said there was a newspaper story that she couldn't get out of her head. The paper's adoptable pet of the week as a 10 year old Golden Retriever whose family had to give her up after losing their home due to the economy. I asked mom why she hadn't gone to get her yet, and she said she didn't know. My parents are currently petless, and mom has been wanting another dog for over a year. I told her that she needed to at least make sure the dog had been adopted and if not to bring her home. Mom agreed but said she was worried that she wouldn't have time to get a dog adopted and settled AND go to Old Navy. I told her that there was no question: see about the dog!

This afternoon my phone rang, and I was excited to hear what the result was. She said when she got to the Humane Society, the dog had already been adopted. Mom was sad, but we were both happy that she had found a family. So, my mom's search for her next dog continues, but I guess I will enjoy my shirts when she comes to visit in a couple weeks. :)

A Quiet Smile

I spent an alarming amount of time yesterday filling out employment paperwork for the new job. I kid you not, the pile of stuff to go through was like 8 inches tall! Anyway, we were able to choose between two health plans. The price difference is only $20 a month, and we figure we would make that up right away since DH is on two Tier 2 meds that cost $10 less per refill on the more expensive plan. Anyway, the information the school gave us didn't have anything about maternity or visits to the gyno. So I went to the website to get a little more info. Well, it looks like the more expensive plan covers 90% and the less expensive covers 80%. The more expensive one has a MUCH lower deductible too. So, that's what we're doing.

But that isn't the part that made me smile. DH and I have always said we want a kid. We've only been married 3 years (4 in September,) and the timing just wasn't ever right. Well, a few times in recent weeks I've mentioned a baby. He's like, we don't have that insurance yet! I always reassure him that I'm not pregnant now. Anyway, I keep saying but next year.... He's good with that. We have a plan! Now this is all assuming we can get pregnant. Who knows. It makes me smile though to know that we are totally on a plan.

So if you see me smiling, now you know why.