goodbye 2013

Last day of 2013!   We've had a relaxing break at home, and even tackled a home project.  We now have 3 shelves in our workout room to be able to store and organize the cable box, new bluray player and dvds.  This project will make all the difference in getting us both to use that room more often - netflix streaming while I work out, yes please!

Its not as exciting as a holiday trip, but something that we'll enjoy for many days/weeks to come.  We've come a long way in our at home projects, found the studs pretty easily and only ended up with one extra hole in the wall (a HUGE win for us!)

We have no big plans for tonight, just fixing a pot roast, and will have champagne at midnight (or maybe at New York's midnight) and protect our big bad dog from the fireworks in the neighborhood.   We've been hearing them all week, and he's not a fan....

I had to post our pizza picture from yesterday, it kind of (if you squint) looks like a firework (or maybe an amoeba).   Its our first attempt at a completely homemade pizza.   We had a tough time getting the dough to spread out and part of the odd shape is because we then had a tough time getting it onto the pizza stone, it stuck to the peel.

The flavor of the crust was good, but since it was uneven parts were still doughy.   We ended up having it as an appetizer and ended up going out for a pizza....It was made with a lot of love, but we need to work on the skill level....we'll try again with the other part of the dough (and after reading a bit more on how to do it).....some of the most memorable meals are the cooking fails....

I'm glad this is one of the last meals of 2013 and not the first of 2014 -- we might worry that it shows what the year will be like, I try not to be superstitious but do find myself wanting to make the beginning of the year great to set the tone for the year.

Have fun celebrating and stay safe!!!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.    We've watched way too many Christmas movies, the classics for us are National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story and Home Alone.  We also baked cookies (with mixed results), and this week have been able to celebrate with both sides of the family.

My last day to work for the year was Dec 20  -- hooray for working at a university!   We debated taking a trip, but decided to just enjoy the break, celebrate with our various groups and stay close to home.

Our festivities started on Saturday when we celebrated with Kevin's mom's side of the family -- lots of food, family and fun that day.   I'm not the biggest fan of a white elephant gift exchange, but learned to just take it as a fun activity and don't get my heart set on any one gift.   We do get a lot of fun stories from it each year.

My parents came up on Monday and we had Christmas with them, my sister and her fiance (still love that I can call him that now!) that day, complete with some homemade Texas chili -- sis' fiance and Kevin made the chili while my sis and I baked cookies - chocolate cookies with mint Hershey kiss on top, and a few with reese's bells instead (K's idea).  

We spent Christmas eve with my in-laws and exchanged gifts with them last night.  This actually worked pretty well so today we could focus on thei kids' gifts.   We went back over to my in-laws for Christmas dinner and opened gifts with our niece and nephew and played with them.  You really do need 3 adults for each kid, for the assembly of some of their gifts-- the dollhouse our niece received took several of us to assemble -- and was a hit with both kids!    I still hear about the Barbie McDonald's my dad had to assemble the middle of the night and all the stickers he had to put onto it...but boy, did I love that toy!

 Our gifts were easy open and go for our niece (thank you Melissa and Doug) and the books and puzzle we got our nephew will be enjoyed later in the year.

They were overwhelmed with all the toys and also loved playing in the box the dollhouse came in!

Its been a fantastic few days, and I know that I'll enjoy the next few days off....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Parade is on tv and this year I don't have to cook since we're headed to my in-laws for dinner, hooray!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

We have so much to be thankful for and are excited to have a new member of the family - we have a future brother-in-law since my sister is now ENGAGED!!!

Stores have been trying to get Christmas started earlier and earlier, but we resist - only Christmas thing  I've done is buy a new tree topper.  December can be all about Christmas but November is reserved for Thanksgiving in our house!

Charcot-Marie-Tooth

I started this post way back in March 2013 but didn't know what to write.  I was inspired by a documentary we watched this week to go ahead and finish it.

Until I met K, the abbreviation "CMT" only meant 'country music television' to me.   It has another, much more important, meaning: Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome.   Its a terrible to remember name for a disease that is much more common than either of us realized.

Kevin has it and others on his side of our family also have it.   His is less advanced so you may not notice it about him, but it affects his everyday life.   After being together for almost a decade, I'm still learning what all it affects in his life - from difficulties buttoning items (I've learned not to buy things with buttons for him whenever avoidable), holding onto things and operating his ipod, to poor balance and the knowledge he'll likely need assistance walking one day.

 There are so many things it affects for him, and as I said his is less severe.  Some of the adjustments he's done for so long he couldn't even tell you it was an adjustment.   His aunt found some attachments to put on lamp knobs that changed his day!  They've also found magnetic connectors for necklaces (less used by him, but used by the women in the family with it).  I know that the things I'm mentioning sound trivial, and in many ways they are but they can be an everyday battle.   I'll do something with my fingers and he'll look at me astounded asking how I can do it, and I just can with no thought to it...things I find easy are out of reach for him.

I want to help raise awareness about this syndrome, as common as it seems to be we probably know others with it and don't realize it.  I was inspired by the documentary we watched this week, about a young woman who has a much more severe case and has become the face of CMT.    It is worth a watch ($4 on amazon prime, also available on hulu).   More info here: http://www.bernadettecmtmovie.com/   As they say its the most common disease you've never heard of.  

A while back, Kevin's aunt (who also has it) was featured in a magazine about her life with CMT and how she finally met a pen pal she me through that same magazine.

I hope you learned a little bit about it, I know that I still have a lot to learn about it!!

November

Hello!   We've been here I just haven't felt like posting.   We are still having adventures and enjoying the cooler weather.

Some highlights from the first half of the month:

We took advantage of the weather and gaining back the hour the first weekend of November and made our annual trip to the Renaissance Festival.   We had a wonderful day taking in the sights and tasting different food and drinks.  Our food discovery of the day was at the Polish food station - pierogies, we split a plate of 6 and half were potato cheese, the other half were meat - they also had sauerkraut and mushroom but we weren't brave enough for that.   The girl working the station who recommended them said people come back for them and I can see why!    They were delicious, and we planned to get more, just never got back to it. I will have to look for pierogies elsewhere so I don't have to wait another year for them.

The entire festival is outside and we spent the day soaking in the weather and enjoying being away from technology-  there are no tvs and terrible cell coverage (which is bad if you're trying to meet up with people).  

We even had an excuse to go shopping.  We picked out some items for our niece and nephew and were able to wear them all day and knowing they would make their day when we gave them to them, the best way to shop since otherwise I buy things and then wonder at the end of the day what will I do with it?    Nephew wanted a dragon for his wrist (red and black) and we also got him a small wooden sword, and niece got a princess crown with gauzy strips off the back - very much a princess.   I wore the dragon and crown (thank goodness its adjustable) and K carried the sword on his belt.

We gave them their gifts yesterday, niece is posing with her crown, but nephew wouldn't let me take his photo - though he loved the gifts, and gave each item name, Diablo for the dragon and Gladius for the sword - his idea to find a Latin word for sword, love his curiosity!

Yesterday afternoon we went to Michael's to get K's' diploma framed, and we saw some characters.   A guy who worked there (but didn't do any work that we could see) saw History on the diploma and talked K's ear off about also being into history, but then went on to talk about a move screenplay he's writing, a trilogy, about an undead character and set in the Old West, then WWI, and finally WWII.   I didn't know what to say.  We also saw a guy come in with a poster to be custom framed, and I was expecting something signed, homemade or unique -- nope, a Mona Lisa print...and he was serious about his choices......no idea why you'd frame that in your house....We had quite the stories to discuss afterwards.  You have to find the humor in your day, I'm sure we look crazy to others some days...

Over the past few weeks we've been watching a lot of movies & specials about the Kennedy assassination.   I've learned quite a bit about it and find it fascinating, and I know we'll watch more with the 50th anniversary being observed this week.  I'd recommend the "Parkland' movie (centers around the hospital where both Kennedy and Oswald were taken).  Until 9/11, I didn't have a moment where anyone I talked to could tell you where they were, but I know the Kennedy assassination was like that for our country - my mom can still tell you where she was.

I can't promise I'll be better at posting, though I will try to share  the funny moments.  I'm dubbing my Michael's experience "the people of...", after all those 'people of Wal Mart" photos people share.....  

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!   It looks like its going to be a wet one in Houston, which means I need help getting rid of all the Halloween candy we bought....

I carved a pumpkin earlier in the week and am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It took me a while to figure out what to carve and in my car on Monday morning it came to me, rather than a face of any sort I'd do the Texans logo! 

A quick google dive and some enlarging of images and I had a good template.   The tool kit rather than knives is the only way for this accident-prone girl to go.  

Not bad for a Monday night's work.

GO TEXANS!   

Birthday

Last Friday was my birthday and I had a great day.

I took the day off from work. I did that last year too, starting to call it my 'birthday holiday', and I highly recommend it.

We didn't have any big plans, which was fine with me.  Having a relaxed and lazy morning was just what I wanted.   I slept in a bit, watched some morning tv and then got ready for the day.  I tried to get my car a/c fixed - its been acting up for a few days - but wouldn't you know that at the dealership it decided to work and we can't find whats wrong til it isn't working for them to see it, so back home I went.   K was going to pick me up from the dealer since I didn't want to spend my day at the dealership (my vacation days DO seem to revolve around car repairs sometimes....).

My only real plans were to get a mani/pedi, and I was able to convince K to join me for his very first pedicure.  He wasn't sure if he'd like it, but he was a good sport about it and I do think he liked it, whats not to like about being pampered?!

We had a wonderful dinner at a new to us restaurant, called Raffa's.   It was so delicious.  I'm indecisive about where to go eat and even driving up there we weren't sure which spot we'd eat at -- its in the same area as the place we went to for K's birthday in June.   I'd wanted to check out Raffa's but never had, we looked at the menu and decision made!    I love trying a new place, and it was very unique food - we had to ask about several different words on the menu (confit, beure blanc) - I had an inside-out crab-stuffed flounder and K had butternut squash ravioli with duck confit.   After dinnner we stopped into a wine bar in the same area.  A great way to try wine, I ordered one but didn't like it when I had just the taster portion so our bartender asked what I liked (whites on the sweet side) and picked out 3 possibilities for me - sweet, sweeter, sweetest -- I preferred the middle one, I just wish I remembered the name.  Turns out K liked the one that I started with -- which is why wine by the glass is perfect for us -- can hardly fine one we both like...

It was a great day, and instead of a cake we got Culver's custards over the weekend.

K shifted his grading to the weekend and this week so he could spend the day with me -- October birthday means it coincides with midterms...

Oktoberfest

We are finally having some fall weather! It was so nice, we just knew we had to spend Saturday outside. We've been wanting to go to an Oktoberfest and a google dive a few weeks ago told us there was one going on in town on Saturday.

Its only the second annual and was held in the parking lot of a mall so we weren't sure what to expect.   We got there right at opening time (2pm) and did good by not buying tickets ahead of time since the cash ticket option sent us to a general admission tent and we were able to go in through a gap in the fence rather than wait in line with the pre-sale tickets.   I'm still not sure why we got in so much sooner than the main entrance line, but took advantage of it.   We also made sure to get food and drinks before it got too busy - very glad we did since there was a HUGE turnout of people (and lines for food and drink after not too long).

There were several food options, we had a hard time deciding but we knew we had to get something German and so we tried a 'saussibon', it didn't look very appealing in the photo - the way the sausage is rolled it reminds me of a cinnamon roll, but looks can be deceiving because it was quite tasty - the sausage was not greasy at all, it was served on a pretzel roll  and it came with homemade potato salad (again we went German rather than trading it out for chips).   We split one sandwich (just in case we didn't like it).   First time I've had a pretzel roll....won't be my last.

We got settled at a table -- bordering sun and shade since the wind actually made the shade kind of chilly and this way we had the best of both worlds.  We got a pitcher of Oktoberfest beer from Austin (live oak I think) and enjoyed the surroundings.  There was some recorded music playing (some German, some remixes), lots of costumes, and great people watching.    

Craziest moment of the day  - the guy next to Kevin getting a bunch of beer dumped on him by his "friend" as punishment for taking a pour from his pitcher of beer.  oh, early 20-something logic...

Boss' Day

I had a great boss' day! I knew my staff was planning something and they STILL surprised me. There was a sign on my door - it was there when I walked in - impressive since I'm the first one to arrive.   They'd also brought in breakfast to share, gave me a wonderful card they'd all signed and the perfect gift for this time of year - caffeine and chocolate!!   

I am lucky to have great staff members and felt very appreciated, my favorite part was definitely their kind words.   Being a boss isn't easy, and its good to hear feedback that I'm doing well at it.

To all the bosses out there, hope you had a great day!  

I like my brother's take on it, he replied to my post about happy boss' day that it should be 'happy bosses' day (a day when bosses have to be happy), so true.

I blame my lack of posting on the fact that its my busy time of year with work :)

NNO

We participated in "National Night Out " with our neighborhood yesterday.   Our small section was having a get-together and we participated, though we were skeptical if anyone would show up.  We walked down to the little park near our house with our fold up chairs, a small cooler with waters and a box of cookies (thank you Sam's!). We didn't see anyone at the park but walked up to it and a woman and her daughter were there -- putting up signs to show it moved to a nearby cul-de-sac. Good decision, since the park was wet and had lots of mosquitoes.

Once we got to the right location, we met lots of neighbors!!  We enjoyed visiting with everyone and the cookies were gobbled up.   We'd have stayed longer but it was so humid and mosquitoes started eating me up after the sun went down.  Our cold front came through overnight, too bad it didn't come one day earlier -- the NNO would've been even better!

This weekend was also decision time about the tree I'd won during my streak of winning things. We really tried to find a place for a tree in our yard, but just couldn't find a spot.  I spoke to the HOA on Saturday and found a great solution - we donated it to the neighborhood to replace a tree lost in the drought.  I'll never know which tree is 'our' tree, but I'm so glad it can be put to good use, i felt like such a scrooge saying no to a tree!

We went to see the movie "Gravity" this weekend, I was not really interested in seeing it, but am glad that K insisted -- WOW, I have no idea how they filmed it, I really thought we were watching people in space!   We saw it in 3D, not sure it was necessary but was a fun way to see it!

It was a weekend of meeting people, on Friday I met my dear friend Delena's baby girl for the first time, and silly me I forgot to take any photos.  She is a cutie! 

NFL

NFL week 1 is finally here!   Our tv has been tuned to NFL red zone all day and Kevin is a very happy guy!   He had to call Comcast to get red zone working -- all their lines were busy, wonder how many other people had to do the same thing.   You can tell that its back in the grocery ads and what people are wearing at the store -- lots of jerseys...

Its a fun time of year.  

The football season really starts for us tomorrow since the Texans play their first game as the Monday Night Football game.  Its on the west coast and a late kick-off so I already know I'll be a sleepy girl on Tuesday.  Hopefully and happy sleepy girl :)

I've been enjoying the countdown the Texans post on their facebook so i grabbed the latest one, each time I saw it they had the player with the # to match how many days out --- starting way back with 99 (Watt).

Whoever you root for, enjoy football being back!

We also saw Book of Mormon this weekend -- I was more excited about that then I was for football.  Its a pretty rare musical I can convince K to go to with me, and this one was right up his alley.  Very irreverent and not for delicate ears, it was hilarious.  He was wondering if they'd say the f word.....yes, front and center and more time than I could count......If you'd told me when I first saw South Park that one day there would be a musical by these same guys I wouldn't have believed you.....

Staycation

I know I say this every month recently -- but really, how is it already September?!?!?!

I'm happy to say good bye to the summer months, though September still means summer weather in Houston...but cannot believe how fast this year is flying by.

The first week of classes went well for both of us and we were both glad to have a long weekend -- I think me more than K since with his class schedule he's at home on Mondays anyway.

We took advantage of the extra day by taking a day trip to Brenham on Saturday.   It took about an hour and a half to get there and we visited the Pleasant Hill winery.   The winery is almost only a wine making place, not a grape growing place - though I did see vines outside and they do buy Texas grapes,   We were able to join up with a tour already in progress -- they start at half past the hour - and saw everything we wanted to see -- including a cellar built into the hill.   Our main purpose was to taste the wine, and we enjoyed it.  They even had different tasting tracks for dry vs sweet, perfect for us since K likes the dry and I prefer the sweet.  After our tasting we each bought a glass and sat in the front room of the store area to enjoy it.   We  chatted with some other folks who were splitting a bottle and got some ideas for other day trips - there are several wineries within a short drive of Houston.

My favorite wines: Collina Bianca and Sweet Collina Rossa (both sweet), K's favorite: Sangiovese.

We'd hoped to also tour the Blue Bell Creamery.  We weren't able to since they're only open for tours during the week - another trip.  We could've gone and bought ice cream but decided against it -- we can buy it at the store and have it at home instead (we did just that on Sunday - Dutch Chocolate - while we watched Breaking Bad).

After the winery, we went to get something to eat.  We'd hoped to try an Italian place the owners recommended, Volare, but were very disappointed to see we'd missed their lunch hours (til 2) and were too early for dinner (reopens at 5).    We will have to go back to try it -- it looks like a house from the outside.   Instead we found a nearby 'saloon' (BT Longhorn Steakhouse) and sat at the 1880s bar and had  sandwich/burger.

After dinner we headed home.  Day trips are the best of both worlds -- a little get away and no worries about finding someone to watch our dog, reservations, packing.   We'll definitely be doing more this fall.

back to school and Hatch

Its back to school week in Houston.  Students and teachers of all ages head back to the classrooms today and all week.  Kevin is ready for his classes.  He has one more day til they start since he'll be teaching Tuesday/Thursday.

Good luck to all the students and teachers (and parents)!  I know I'll see lots of 'first day' pictures on my social media feeds.  Especially for those whose kids its the VERY first day, it'll be an emotional day.

I hope that fall weather isn't far behind.  We made homemade chili yesterday to go along with the football game and it really got me ready for fall.  Its my favorite season and one that is too short here -- ready for sweaters, drinks to warm me up.......if we could just get rid of summer.

We've been trying a new ingredient - Hatch chilies - and love them!   So far we've used them in burgers, yesterday's chili, and plan to use them in a soup later in the week.  I see now why people rave about them, and hope their season lasts long enough for us to make a few more dishes with them.   Maybe next year we'll roast and freeze them...

Football is back

For 2 more weeks it is still preseason, but its back and we are excited!

I was able to attend the first preseason game in Reliant Stadium last night with Kevin and had a great time!  (He and his family have had season tickets since before I MET him.  I don't have my own ticket but get to go to several games when someone else in the group doesn't want/can't use their ticket -- its the perfect arrangement!  I get to go often enough and have some time to myself on game days that he goes and I don't, I get some stuff done at home and cheer them on from home.)

During the off-season they installed even BIGGER tv screens in each endzone and I'd seen video online showing them in action, but the videos don't do them justice.  I knew they'd be enormous, but you really can't tell how big until you see them in person.   I found myself having to remember to look at the FIELD instead of the screen it was so tempting to just look at the screen.     As K was afraid of, much of the time 2/3 of the screen are covered in ads -- they took away the static ad space, but there are times when the whole screen is used and its impressive.   I love the new Texans 'transformer' sequence and our nephew will really love that one!   They did a lot of crowd shots and we love watching their faces change when they realize they are on the big screen.   On the way home, K and my father in law did say there were things they didn't like about it - some of the informational items were hard to find or sometimes moved (game clock for example).   I must admit I didn't notice, and just loved it.  

I didn't like the NFL's new bag policy.    You can't bring a purse in anymore, only a very small clutch (4.5" x 6.5" - mine are not that small!)  or stuff in a clear plastic bag - either one you can buy or a ziploc.    My mother-in-law had gotten a bag from the NFL and she let us all toss our few items in it - it'll become our 'community purse'.  My approach will be the less I bring the better, but even then there are items I need -keys, money, phone and I'd carry K's glasses case.   I realized after I got there I should have brought chapstick, and I'm used to having gum, Advil, the list goes on and on 'just in case'.  I'll get used to it, but its starting to feel like air travel -- you have to have a special bag packed for their specifications.   and I'll admit it, I felt a little bit naked without my purse.... I do feel badly for anyone who brings a baby/toddler to the game - all the diaper bag stuff in a ziploc is not going to be fun.     I'm not really sure what it saves, we had our bags searched before so its not really making us safer...   I will say that they publicized it well, and we were surprised to see a few people outside the stadium with huge purses.  I'm sure they were turned away at the gate....they'll learn it soon....Know before you go - the bag policy is NFL-wide.  Here is some info on it.

The game was great, and I loved getting to see former UH quarterback Case Keenum in action for the Texans.

Vacation food

I like splitting up the vacation recap into several posts; it lets me relive my trip a little longer.  This one is all about the food :)

We enjoyed the restaurants at the resort – they had quite a variety to choose from - and also were able to find some places to eat across the street – I love being able to walk to eat!

We stumbled on a seafood place, Snappers, and it was so so good.  I have to brag on their salad and dressing – Kevin cleaned his plate!   He’s not much for salads so this really is saying something.   After we ordered they brought out some long chips and spiced hummus, delicious.  I had to resist eating it all so I’d be hungry for the meal.   I had a lobster risotto with scallops and shrimp – I think it was my first time to have risotto and won’t be my last.   Kevin had a great piece of fish.

We also ate at a Cuban place, Bella Habana.  I have to say my thoughts about this place are mixed.  We ordered tapas (small plates) and the food we got was all good, but I was surprised at how many items they didn’t have  - both for food and drinks (they couldn’t make a mojito for me, which was really disappointing).  They even said they didn’t have chicken…. who doesn’t have chicken?  Then later the only dish that we’d wanted that called for chicken came out so I’m not sure if they did in fact have it…..so confused.    We did enjoy the place and the staff were very friendly.  They only took cash and so after we ate I went to the ATM to get some cash while K stayed at the restaurant and he talked Cuban history with the waiter and I think the cook came out at one point too, made his day.

The place we went to the MOST (besides the beach) was the beach bar right next to our hotel, called the Toasted Monkey.   They had live music almost all of the time and it was really comfortable.  We enjoyed just going over there and relaxing, and their chips and queso were good, and trust me I know good queso!  The people watching was so fun there too!

I had 2 favorite meals at the resort – fish tacos at the Flying Bridge our first full day there, and a Italian food at the Palmetto on our last night.  Totally different food and each time what we wanted – quick and easy the first day and a little fancier the last night.

We spent nearly our whole trip at the beach, but we did want a break from the sun one day and so went to check out a local winery.   Florida doesn't grow grapes so this place, Florida Orange Groves Winery, makes wines from all other sorts of other fruits – you name it, they probably make it.  We did a tasting and were able to taste 6 different kinds – we both tasted their Hurricane Class 5 wine and then were able to taste 5 of our choosing – we chose different ones and tasted each other’s so we actually tasted 11!    I liked the wines (my favorite was the mango) and really liked their ‘smoothies’ – a mix that you mix together with wine and ice to make a frozen drink – really good for the summer.  We bought some (blueberry, cherry, and mango) to bring home.   I especially like the wine pouches they sell – think capri sun for adults!  The wine is in a small pouch, perfect for the beach or anywhere you don’t want glass.   

On most of the drive to/from Florida we stopped at fast food places, not great I know but we wanted to get in and out quickly.  We made one exception and I'm so glad we did.   We debated trying to drive home in one day and when it became clear that was too much driving in one day for us we decided to stop for the night in Baton Rouge.   We wanted something good to eat and so I got to searching on my phone - criteria were local and near I-10 and we found the BEST place, even better than if we'd been searching for it...Parrain's (means godfather in French).   They have all sorts of Cajun food (which I love) and we were seated right at the end of the bar, right next to where they make something called chargrilled oysters.  We chatted with the guys working with the grill and they told us what everything was and let us try one.  I haven't been a fan of oysters, but they were delicious!   It was a great way to end the evening and the trip....we're going to have to think of trips that take us through Baton Rouge at mealtime so we can go back.

I'm a numbers person so here a few numbers from our trip...

miles traveled: 1,985

states we were in: 5

nights away from home: 7
total swimsuits we wore: 4 (2 each so one could dry while we wore the other one)

we won’t count the number of calories we ingested :)

St Pete Beach

We had a great beach vacation.    We went to St Pete Beach, FL (near St Petersburg and Tampa).  Whenever we plan a vacation we have to decide if we want to explore a new city and see the sights or just relax, and this year (like last year) going somewhere to relax was what we wanted and this was just what we needed!

We did work in some adventure because we decided to drive rather than fly. I won’t lie; it was a long drive (18-19 hours each way) but a fun one.   Kevin loaded up his iPod with music and we had a cooler with drinks and a few snacks and didn’t worry about how much stuff we were bringing since we didn’t have to get it into carry-on or checkable luggage.   We both enjoyed getting to see part of the country neither of us had seen as adults (we were amazed that parts of Mississippi and Florida had hills!)   I didn’t think to take pictures on most of the drive, but let me tell you we saw lots of I-10 and a surprising amount of rain - every time I drove it would rain, and we were starting to worry we’d see a beach through rain.

We broke up the drive into 2 days, and decided to just stop when we felt like it and find a room.  It worked really well for us both ways.  

Most of the way there we drove in rain, but as we came across the Tampa Bay bridge the sky finally cleared and we had great weather the entire time we were there.

Once we were at St Pete Beach we were very happy that everything we needed was in one spot.  We’d chosen a resort, Guy Harvey Outpost, that had restaurants (and bars) on site and where we could walk right out to the beach and it gave us everything we wanted.   They even had a happy hour each day with free drinks out by the pool bar - we took advantage of that the first day!

We fully enjoyed the amenities at the resort and also made sure we got out in the town a bit too.   The day we arrived, Kevin heard live music and we walked across the sand to a great beach bar next door– the Toasted Monkey.  We made several return trips there and also enjoyed meals at different restaurants just across the street (loved not getting back in the car!) on different days:  a delicious seafood place, a very rustic Cuban place, and a small diner that had Greek and Italian food along with salads.

The most appealing part of the resort was that we could walk right out to the beach and spend most of the day there.   We had use of a cabana – basically two connected lounge chairs with a table top with cut out cup holders in between and an adjustable shade – each day, and made good use of it.   Some people had the shade all the way down but I like to be in the shade and would sit and read when I wasn’t playing in the water.  We were able to reserve the cabana online the night before and could walk right to it in the morning; we could even order a drink through a website on my phone!  (We did that only once)

our cabana

Our resort was the smaller of two resorts run by the same company.   We could walk down the beach to that resort and enjoy the restaurants there.   We ate down there a few times and were very happy we were staying at the smaller one, we were able to enjoy both and didn't have to put up with all the noise from the larger one --- they had a DJ out at the pool doing games for kids and giveaways, we also saw one wedding party coming through on Saturday night.  Nice to visit, but glad we weren't staying there.  That resort also had a huge slide on the beach that we could use – I LOVED that slide!    Our resort also had an adults only pool, we’d walk by the kid pool on the way back from the beach and very happily go to the quiet of the adults only pool, only thing it didn't have was a bar.

The water was wonderful.  It was a bit rough the first couple of days – our plans of taking a dolphin watching tour were nixed since it was so rough.  We had fun just swimming and we bought boogie boards to do some body surfing – Kevin got pretty good at catching waves.    We joked that there was a ‘water taxi’ there was so much current pulling you southward.  When we wanted to ride the slide we’d get in the water and let the ‘taxi’ take us down towards the other resort.  We also made sure to walk up the beach before getting in so we wouldn't have such a long walk back.

I think that's enough reading for now :)   I plan to do another post about specific places we went.

we're back...

I didn't mean to, but I seem to have abandoned the blog again...

We had our much needed vacation and are back and feel very rested and relaxed.   I have been working on pictures this morning (and avoiding going to the grocery store) and plan to do a full re-cap soon.

The best idea I've had in a long time was to tack on a couple of extra vacation days after I knew we'd be back in town, and they've been well worth it!  I had time to get the house back in order and spend a little time adjusting back rather than coming back from vacation and immediately going to work.

As a teaser, here is one photo of what my view looked like much of last week..

PS -- if you can, watch Kids Jeopardy this week.  At first, I was disappointed that the few days I'd be able to watch were kids rather than the regular version, but I actually like it.  I know more of the answers and the kids are so fun to watch -- Sallie on yesterday's show was so excited each time she'd buzz in and put her whole body into pushing the buzzer.

Jeopardy

Bad news...I'm home sick for the second day in a row.

Good news...since I am home I get to watch Jeopardy!  

Smokey sings/cries to the Final Jeopardy song, and we got it on video...you can't see him very well but can HEAR him which is what matter for his reaction

Hope your week is going better than mine!

I'm still somewhat technically challenged...I went to load it to youtube and was like "what is a channel?" and can i have it be something besides me google profile?!?   I gave up and just loaded it but as private.....

4th of July

Happy Independence Day!

We started our day with fresh made blueberry muffins -- using some of the blueberries I picked with my dad a few weeks ago.   They were delicious and pretty to look at.  I had looked at several recipes and chose one on Pioneer Woman's website, and they are the 'awesome-est' muffins....  I would have never thought to put yogurt in muffins and didn't tell K until after he'd tasted them (he liked them too).  This recipe is a keeper.

I even logged the recipe into myfitnesspal to figure out the calories, and that helped me stick to only 2 of them...though I wanted another one!

We have a pretty laid back weekend planned -- I took Friday off to give myself a 4 DAY WEEKEND!

A neighbor invited us to a block party today, so we'll check that out - 4 years in we're still getting to know our neighbors - and I hope to see some good fireworks tonight.  Smokey hates them, but I love fireworks, and some of the people in the neighborhood go all out and buy fireworks so we get to see a show without leaving the house!!

another (almost) Wordless Wednesday

I nicknamed Smokey our "hot dog" this weekend.  It was over 100 degrees and he still wanted to be let out the back gate so he could go off-leash and explore.

I had to tell him no, it was too hot and we'd already been for a short walk.  Its tough to say no to that face....

I think this was the happiest he was all weekend.   Kevin had a quick one-night trip to Austin with friends so it was just me and Smokey at home, and Smokey sulked the whole time....a little taste of what he does when we're both on vacation.  K got back mid-day Sunday and all was right with the world again.  I haven't had the heard to tell him we'll both be gone on vacation soon.....

Sunday was also our anniversary -- six years!   We had a very low-key anniversary.   I looked up the traditional gift - candy/iron.   I'm not sure how those two items go together.   We substituted frozen custard for candy and had it for dessert after I'd made spaghetti and salad for dinner.   I'm thinking we may've had spaghetti last year too....obviously we like it!

easy way to shred chicken

Here is a cooking tip that I recently discovered and its quite the time saver.

You can shred chicken with a stand mixer.

I used to shred the cooked chicken using two forks -- hold the chicken with one fork and scrape pieces with the other one until it was shredded.   It was time consuming and quite the workout.   I made a double batch of a casserole once - one for us, one for our neighbors who'd just had a baby - and thought my arms might fall off from all the chicken shredding.

I read (on a blog I'm pretty sure) that you could shred chicken with a stand mixer, and I had to try it.
It works SO WELL!  Just cook the chicken as you usually would and then drop it in the bowl and let the large paddle do the work for you.   It didn't seem like it would work at first -- it just pushes the pieces around ,but give it a little time and it does work!

I wish I'd thought to take a photo of before/after, here is the blog I think I read it on - they did put up a photo, and apparently its on pinterest too.

We've done it twice now - once for the casserole and once this week for chicken tortilla soup.   Kevin said the soup was better this way (and I have to agree) since the chicken was all the same size and you got the same amount in every bite.

I'm going to be on the lookout for recipes calling for shredded chicken now!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my better half!   This year's birthday is going to be much warmer than last year.   We were on vacation in Lake Tahoe last year and needed jackets and loved every minute of it.

Spending the morning lecturing may not be as fun, but is a pretty good way to start a birthday, and we'll be going out for a nice dinner.  

Kevin got my gift to him working.  I didn't realize getting him a new ipod would turn into 'tech support' time for K, luckily he is very techy and has more patience than I do, so he made it work.....

I love you so much and wish you a wonderful day!

Belated Fathers day

Happy Father's day to all the dads!  I'm a day late, because we were celebrating with the dads in our lives all weekend. We saw my dad on Saturday and celebrated with the Tucker dads on Sunday.

We spent the day at my in-laws and went swimming with our niece and nephew.   I hadn't played "Marco Polo" in years, we had a great time with them.

Our nephew is the sweetest, he was making cards for his dad and grandpa and asked if there was an uncle's day, and made a special card for Kevin...so Happy Uncle's day too!!

Saturday recap

We had a busy weekend and have some accomplished projects and bumps and bruises to show for it!

We tried to go blueberry picking last weekend but waited too late and they were picked out by the time we were going to go (thank goodness we checked the website before driving out there).   This weekend we tried again, and succeeded!  We went early in the morning to make sure we’d be there on time.   My dad and I went; Kevin and my mom stayed in the nice cool house and got to sleep in.  I’m glad we went early! There were so many people, and we probably should’ve been there even earlier.  We were lucky to get buckets (They ran out of buckets at 7:30 am)   Together my dad and I picked right at 20 lbs of blueberries.  I see lots of blueberry goodies in my future.  I could have done without the hour wait to pay for them – we did use our time well by me getting in line while my dad continued to pick.  Next year, we’ll leave even earlier.  Though I actually hope next year they’ll be open during the week, I think that is a big part of why they are so crowded this year.  In case you are interested, the place we went was Moorhead blueberry farm.

Later that day, after my parents left Kevin and I continued putting together a garage cabinet we’d purchased – all part of our goal to organize the garage.  This was the hardest item we’ve put together and the item fought back.  I ended up with cuts and a bump to the head before we finished.  We did finish it (finally) and it looks great.  We’re glad we have to wait on missing parts for the other item, gives us time to heal before we have to get started on it.   I think that putting together furniture could be a contest on a dating show -- you really see if you can work together!

I slept so good that night, lots of sun and hard work will do that to me.

new word

We invited a word the other night....a "pee-piphany"   - when an idea or realization comes to you when you are using the rest room....

Well, turns out we only thought we invented it....its already in the urban dictionary.

Now I need to figure out what the word is for when a great idea or solution comes to you in the shower or when you're driving -- that happens more often for me.

Have a great Saturday!

almost Wordless Wednesday

This is what Kevin sees every afternoon.  Smokey waits for me to get home and walk through the door.   He knows I'm home before K does since he can hear the garage door.  

He's a silly dog, but he's our silly dog.....

Kevin's random ideas

Kevin doesn't have much of a presence on the blog, to remedy that we'll start sharing Kevin's random ideas...he has some doozies that I just have to shake my head and laugh at....

here is the first installment...

This morning he said we should've named our dog "sir"  -- can you imagine calling our dog in public?  people would think we're crazy....if its a girl "ma'am"

We love to talk about what we should've named Smokey as we've seen his personality come out...my favorites - Hoover or Kirby since he sucks up food (as long as it isn't dog food) like a vacuum cleaner.

I know there are other good ones, I just can't think of them now

HOW is it already June???   I'm not ready for summer to be here, but here it is....

Team Tucker

We call ourselves "Team Tucker" sometimes when we set ourselves on a project and complete it - sort of a verbal high five to ourselves.   Recently we've had several successful projects.

Over the years we've gotten MUCH better at installing things -- some of our first projects were definitely learning opportunities - and we had a very successful and quick project recently. We installed an under cabinet radio in the kitchen and it has changed my mornings. I can now easily find out about the traffic, news and weather and its already come in handy -- I knew about a large wreck and was able to adjust my route as needed. We can even attach an ipod to it.

Our most recent project, we spent the morning of Memorial Day going through and re-organizing our garage. It looks like a completely different garage, we were able to get nearly everything up off the floor and have clear paths to our cars. I really wish I'd done a before/after photo....oh well. We set most of our 'to donate' items down at the end of the driveway and nearly all of them disappeared overnight -- some were perfectly good items, just things we didn't need any more.  Happy to see them get some more use with someone else.

We are making use of some old items we had -- we replaced our food storage (I call them all “tupperware” even though ours are Rubbermaid) items in the kitchen and held on to the old ones to use in the garage - clear storage makes me happy since I can see what is in it, and it won't fall open like cardboard boxes, or hold the items hostage like a tin that was storing a few tools. That tin finally went into the trash. I have to take organizing in small pieces, but love when I can make a space more usable for us!

The garage project was the end of a really productive weekend.

I was able to see a college friend in town on Friday (Hi Lisa!). Anytime people come to town they have a taste for Tex Mex and I am happy to go along and get to visit with them.   I had time to kill before we met, and she'd given me the good suggestion of going shoe shopping, so I found some cute polka dot flip flops -- ready for summer!!

Saturday we got up early thinking that our tv was going to be delivered. We were wrong (its rescheduled for later in the week), but instead of going back to bed we went for a walk/jog – I’m so excited that Kevin has decided he wants to get back into working out and we’re doing it together. Its tough during the week since we are doing it before I leave for work, but we’ve found it’s the best time of day to do it and we can’t talk ourselves out of it/ lose track of time. Feels so good all day to know the workout is behind us, and a fun way to start the day!  I call it a walk/jog since we're both just getting started, he used to jog and I am working my way up to doing it.  
On Sunday, we went on a very quick trip to my parents’ house to pick up some furniture for K’s brother. He’s moving into a new house and needs items for him and the kids to use and my parents had some furniture they need to get rid of so it was a perfect set up for the furniture to leave their house and go to his. I hadn’t realized that my in-laws had never been to my parents’ house, so it was fun to get to show them around a bit too. I haven’t talked about it on this blog yet, but my parents are in the process of getting ready to move out of the house I grew up in.  It is weird to realize that in the not too distant future I won’t be able to go into the house I grew up in….we’ve been helping them go through stuff, we started with finally cleaning out our bedroom (I shared a room with my sister til I went off to college), there were many “blasts from the past” and I had no idea my parents had held onto so many of my school projects. A few I will keep – I made a book for the city’s 50th birthday (20 years ago!) - but most went straight to the trashcan. I hope to recap some items a little later on the blog, though most of it I didn’t photograph since we were busy going through it.

I am so excited for the next chapter in my parents’ lives and seeing them getting ready to move and my brother-in-law’s adventures with the new to him, previously occupied house, reminds me why I am in no hurry to move.    I do want to go through our stuff like I'm getting ready to move, its amazing how much we accumulate when we can do 'out of sight, out of mind'.

I know this post is sort of all over the place, oh well...thats how I think some days (read: most days)...its scary how well my sister can folllow my train of thought and sometimes it just loses K.....which remind me, Happy birthday sis!!!

win streak

I most definitely can’t say I’ve never won anything. Sometimes I get on a roll and win things left and right!

This spring I’ve won the following: pair of Dynamo tickets, a tree(!) to be planted in our yard in the fall, and a computer monitor.

I won the computer monitor at work a month ago and finally got it yesterday… we were starting to think I’d won an invisibile one…as soon as I was notified it was here I went to get it and K set it up today. I'm surprised the other winners haven’t been bugging the guy about when they’ll come in….

Too bad my winning streak didn't extend to powerball, nor did it secure me a parking spot at work while our garage is rebuilt -- I had a 1 in 3 chance of winning and didn't win :(    I'm looking forward to the long weekend ahead and hope all my readers (I know I have a few) have a great one too.   Update: Kevin's win this week was not getting on a jury.  He did have to stand in the hall outside the courtroom for over 2 hours (pleading out we think), but was done by late lunchtime....

Jury Duty day

Kevin has jury duty today....he's been dreading it and I know we both hope he doesn't get picked!  There is a part of me that has been looking forward to it since it means I have a carpool buddy today - the HOV lane is such an easy commute.

He did find a way to make the morning a little better.  A donut shop has been going in down the street from us for it seems like months and he saw a banner that it was opening TODAY, so of course we had to stop in and get a donut for him.   We also picked some up for my office to make everyone's Monday a little brighter.   I've never heard of the company before: Southern Maid.    I waited until I was in the office to eat one, so it wasn't piping hot anymore but still good..  It looks like they'll be busy.

I also got to point out someone that I see most mornings to K.  A guy has the school bus pick up his young son in the parking lot of the donut shop (also a gas station parking lot) -- everytime I see them I wonder WHY does he wait at the gas station and concoct stories to pass the time in the car.   We pull up and I see the car and I point it out to K and wouldn't you know it they are IN the donut shop -- I actually RECOGNIZE the dad.    They now have a new place to hang out in the morning.   K teased me that I should ask them, but no I am not brave/crazy enough to ask that of a complete stranger.....Anyone else make up stories about the people they see on their morning commute?

I wish I could take HOV every day, leaving the same time as usual and with the donut stop we got downtown earlier than usual.  Early enough I could do a post office errand I've been needing to do and still get to work on time!

a little funny thought for your day..

We were going to wash my car and the dog on Sunday and discovered the nozzle was full of leaves,  and even after lots of washing and work the nozzle still doesn't work.  we went ahead and washed the car, and Kevin has a great theory for where the leaves came from - Smokey did it to avoid a bath!     not true I know, but a funny theory....thanks sweetie for helping me wash my car!!   it was so dirty I'd nearly forgotten what color it should really be....

adventures in grocery shopping

May already?!?     I haven't forgotten about this little blog of mine, just haven't felt like getting on the computer at night after being on it at work all day and haven't felt like writing anything.  I did have something happen this weekend that I decided was blog-worthy :)

When I was in line at the grocery store I suddenly felt something wet splatter on me - seemed like it fell on me and I could not figure out where it came from.  It had gotten my checker and the person in the aisle next to me too.. turns out it was a beer can that got a hole in it in the checkout aisle next to me (learned a valuable lesson: don't pack the conveyer belt too tight, things get smashed when it funnels to the checker and that smashing is what caused the can to burst).   I fared better than my checker - she had to clean it out of her ear....it was truly terrible beer too, Old Milwaukee I think.  Poor checker was going to smell like it all day....I got to head home from there so it was just a funny story for me.

It was the oddest thing to happen to me at the store in a while but not the oddest thing ever.  I've actually had to have an incident report completed at a store before when I slipped and fell on spilled laundry detergent (looking at you Wal-Mart) .  I can laugh about it now - including the misspellings on the incident report, but that day it really hurt and left a mark on my leg, no good since I had a wedding to attend later that same day....

What is the craziest thing that has happened to you at the store?

Do you want to see something really funny?  The local weatherman got the hiccups on live tv.  Kevin saw it live, I didn't even think to look for it online (of COURSE its online), thanks to my brother for sending to me!

http://www.khou.com/entertainment/Meteorologist-David-Paul-gets-the-hiccups-on-air-205310971.html

K kept saying that other news sites would pick it up and sure enough, today he sent me a CNN link to the video. 

Poor David Paul.  He actually kept his composure and tried to get through his segment really well....I'm sure I wouldn't...I hate the hiccups.

Baby Shower success and recap

The shower that we've been planning was held last Sunday and was a great time.   Now that it has happened, I can post descriptions and some pictures.  I didn't want to post details before because we wanted to keep some surprises for our momma-to-be and as I said before, she is one of my loyal readers (hi D!)

The whole shower was a group effort -- the only way to throw a shower since you have ideas from multiple people and can draw on many skill sets. Its also fun to plot and bounce ideas off each other.  We also talked each other down, we're not full time party planners and while some ideas are great in theory we'd make ourselves crazy trying to pull them off!

I was finally able to actually make use of Pinterest - I've had an account for a while but mostly just pin recipes I'll probably never make.  I really liked the 'shared board' so we could more easily keep track of ideas and share them without having to dig through tons of emails and we could get ideas for items and use them as inspiration.

The general theme was Owls and woodland friends, to go along with the nursery theme the parents-to-be have picked out.   We went with earth tones and colors from the nursery bedding (greens, blues and little bit of red).   We took an approach of 'less is more' and made some things do double-duty, for example using door prizes and small gifts for D as decorations.   We also decorated with some large tissue balls and banners made with scrapbook paper and ribbon.     To go along with the woodland theme we scattered pine cones and stamped out leaves around the tables and also made a bouquet with branches (free in my yard!). A kind of silly touch that I loved was a feather boa for the guest of honor - feathers, to go with the owls.

Everyone wrote words of wisdom for the new mom and as take-away gifts my very crafty friend made scented sachets (home grown lavender!) stamped with owls.

The menu went with the theme as well, down to the eating utensils.

The food included a fruit tray and a veggie tray, crackers and cheese balls made to look like pine cones.  We also had deli spirals, nuts and caprese k-bobs.

For desserts we had two kinds of dessert -- owl cupcakes (chocolate) and the cutest mushroom cupcakes (vanilla) I've ever seen!

Serving dishes didn't really go with the theme, we had to pull out probably every dish I own -- we made good use of them all, we did have the plates and napkins coordinated - brown (like they were the ground or a tree).

We had clear cups for the drinks so you could see the birch straws that we'd found - guest of honor had actually found and showed them to us and they were TOO perfect not to use!  

For beverages we had mocktails - sangria and bellinis, and even had some champagne and wine in case a guest wanted a real cocktail (guest of honor insisted).

 We had a great time visiting, and played a few games (my favorite: celebrity baby names - where do they come up with those?).   She received many wonderful gifts, hope she can get them all home to Atlanta.

It was a wonderful day and I cannot wait to see baby girl M!

Kevin had a very important job that day too -- getting Smokey out of the house.  They spent the day with Smokey's grandparents (K's parents) and I know he had fun -- he had not one but TWO walks and was so tired that night, I know he had a great time.   He even got hold of a cupcake that night (my fault).

weekend recap

We had a great weekend!   Saturday we dyed eggs with our niece and nephew, a first for them and the first

time in many years for both of us, so much more fun than plastic. The colors were more vivid than what I remember, but the technology hasn't changed, that little metal tool to dip them still works NOT AT ALL.   Big slotted spoons worked MUCH better.     I think they turned out really well, and how they looked was less important than the fun we all had in making them. Thanks to my mom-in-law for providing the eggs, dye and her house for potential mess.

That evening, Kevin and I attended our very first MLS soccer game, and had a great time.  Our seats were really close to the field, we could see all the action. We even got to see goals! All the goals were on the other end of the field, which for the second half was a GOOD thing since it was our goalie that was near us.    The home team won!

I spent Sunday with my dear friend, getting ready for another friend's baby shower.  No details yet since we want to keep some surprises and the mama to be is one of my loyal readers.  We had a great time, and each time we get together we say ' we really must do this more often'.

Hoping the rest of this week is just as fun as this weekend.

Sunglasses review

I am always reluctant to get new sunglasses, just ask Kevin.   I still wear my old scratched up ones even though I bought a replacement quite a while ago (I still liked the old ones better than the new ones).  This time when I decided I needed sunglasses - I've been spending more and more time outside with the weather warming up -  I wanted to be sure to get a pair I would really like.   I decided to buy them online, I do most of my other shopping that way, so why not and I got a pair through Firmoo. 

 

Shopping for the glasses was really easy; instead of trying on pair after pair at the store I just browsed the website and selected a pair that I liked.  Here is the pair I chose.  I did have to create an account, which I will most likely not remember (that’s what ‘forgot password is for!) and easily went through to checkout.   I received email updates about the status of my order – confirmation, processing and shipped, and had a tracking number so I could see where they were.   I knew they were in my mailbox at least a day before we took the time to check the mail.   All told, I had them in about a week.

I’ve been wearing the glasses for a couple of days and like them already.    Here is my best movie star pose self portrait - it is nearly impossible to get a picture of sunglasses without reflecting whats in front of you!   They feel sturdy, which is great since I tend to be hard on my glasses.   Also, they sit really close to my face so light doesn’t come in from the top/bottom/sides like some glasses I’ve tried and the legs are tight enough that they’ll sit on my head and not fall off.  They even came with a case to protect them and a tiny keychain screwdriver and screws which could come in handy for repairs on any of our glasses.  Surprisingly, someone asked me not too long ago if I had an eyeglass screwdriver, I didn’t but now I always will, on my keychain!

The glasses are a little larger than I thought they’d be, but I like them and isn’t that the style, oversized?  The website has a virtual try-on that you can use so you know how they’ll look on your face.

I will definitely purchase from them again, and can recommend them if you need sunglasses or regular glasses (prescription or non- prescription).  They even have a first-pair free program, all you pay is shipping and you can get a refund/exchange if you don’t like what you select.

They have a full selection of prescription and non-prescription clear glasses too.  My prescription is so specialized I don’t think I’ll ever order my prescription glasses online – I had to go back several times to the eye doctor to get my current pair just right, but if you have a simple prescription they’d probably work fine. 

I can offer the first 6 commenters a $30 voucher code for glasses from Firmoo; simply leave your email address so I can send it to you.

Disclaimer:  I was able to receive the sunglasses free (including shipping), and all opinions are mine.