Making The Most Of Life

Yeah, My Dog’s Name is Pig – Part 2

2011-11-27T17:14:00.001-06:00

I received a call from the hospital around 2 pm on Wednesday.She said he did well with the ultrasound. They did have to give him a mildsedative but they were comfortable with it since they had a good understandingof where he was at with his heart and lungs.

She said they were fairly positive that the fluid they foundin his lungs came from CPR and not from a heart disease. This was confirmed bya heart doctor.

But they did find that he had a large mast in his intestineswhich was being tested but she was sure it was cancer. Later the tests cameback and showed that it was in fact lymphoma.

We were given three options

Option one – surgery, however he was not really a candidate sincehe should not be put under. Also, since the cancer is right where his large andsmall intestines meet the surgery is very often attempted and then aborted dueto complications. That one was out.

Option two – Chemo. We just went through that with Daisy andwe knew Pig would not handle that well. All it would do is shrink the tumor,not kill it, and his quality of life during chemo would be very poor.

Option three – take him home, give him a steroid twice aday, and let him life out the rest of his days at home.

We went with option three.

The doctor wanted to keep him one more night but we wantedhim to come home so she discharged him to us and he came home on Wednesdaynight.

When the doctor was explaining his at home care shementioned that he would be taking a steroid twice a day. I asked if it wasimportant for her to know that he had been on and off steroids for the last twoyears due to his extreme seasonal allergies. She said that it was important andthey were probably inadvertently shrinking the tumor for some time now.

The first night home was a little scary since even though hewas off the oxygen for most of the day he still had not eaten or taken anymedicine in a pill form. That was something we would have to do.

I figured if he made it through the night we would be ingood shape for the next few weeks.

And he did make it through the night. And he is still makingit.

They gave us a “few days to three months” life expectancyand we will do everything we can to make him happy and comfortable during thattime.

He is extra thirsty but he is going outside normally so that’sgreat.

He is eating a bland diet so I cook him chicken and rice.This kills Daisy who thinks he is getting treats and she is getting dog food!

I will post updates if things change but otherwise we arenow a hospice center for dogs with Cancer.

Yeah, My Dog’s Name Is Pig.

2011-11-23T10:27:00.001-06:00

For the lastfew days Pig, our 11 year old English Bulldog was not feeling well. We werecoming home to piles of poop by the back door. We were waking up during thenight to let him out and still waking up to poop by the door.

Saturdaynight he was throwing up.

Monday wedecided he should go to the doctor.

Tuesday hehad an appointment at 10.

Just beforehis appointment I was following him around the yard trying to get a poop sample,and in true Pig fashion, he went in a pile of leaves and then buried it, makingme dig it out. ICK!

Shawn mentionedthat Pig was looking skinny so when he weighed in at the doctor’s office Iasked what he weight was against his weight the last time he was in back inAugust. He was down seven pounds. For Pig, that is alarming because he doesnothing but eat and lay around. Not really the best way to lose weight…

The Doctorwas concerned as well and wanted to take an x-ray of his abdomen. She took himto the back room and returned a few minutes later to ask if he could have amild sedative. I asked if she thought this would negatively affect him in anyway. Strange thing is I have never worried about that before. I really don’tknow why I asked but she said that it would be fine and gave him a very lowdose.

Within minutesshe returned to the room and said “You need to come back here, he is not doingwell.”

“What doesthat mean?” I asked.

“He’s notwell, you need to come with me.”

I typically concernedabout where I leave my purse, my kindle, my cell phone. In this case I justdumped it all on the floor of the room and ran out.

Pig waslaying on the table hooked up to many monitors and every nurse and doctor weregathered around him trying to get his heart to start beating again. They weredoing chest compressions and I am sure other things but I was just standingthere at a total loss of what to do or think. I rubbed his head and hands andkept repeating his name.

I finallygot my act together and realized I needed to call Shawn. He answered the phoneand I said “You need to come here right now.” That was about all I could say.He was in the room in under 10 minutes.

They wereable to get Pig breathing again and he started to vomit. Out came the vegie’she ate that morning and a lot of other nasty stuff.

When Shawngot there he was still on the table but he was breathing on his own.

They stillhad not gotten the x-ray so Shawn suggested that they try to do it now that heis calm since we would not be giving him a sedative again. They did what they couldand were able to get two decent films but they were not perfect.

We reviewedthe films and didn’t see anything.

They sentShawn and me home and kept Pig to run blood work and keep him on oxygen for afew more hours.

They calledaround 2:30 with the news that the blood panels all came back perfect. At thispoint the next step was to bring him back on Wednesday for an ultrasound of hisabdomen.

Then at 4they called to say they were not happy with his breathing and we needed to takehim somewhere he could be observed overnight.

The onlyplace I will take my dogs, besides their clinic, is to the University ofMinnesota Small Animal Hospital so Shawn picked him up and drove him out there.He was not at all comfortable in the car and the ride was very hard on him.

Theyadmitted him and put him right into an Oxygen Chamber. Shawn talked to the doctors about what thechart said and what he knew. They got Pig settled and then sent Shawn home.

At 8:30 lastnight the doctor called to give us an update. She was taking about how he wasdoing okay and explaining what the next steps were. Then she put Shawn on holdand came back a minute later to tell us that he was not well, he was coughingup blood, and maybe we should come out there right now. At that point she wasthinking there was a 20% chance he was going to make it through the night.

We droppedHeidi off at my parents and headed up to the U. By the time we got there Pigwas stabilized again and resting in the Oxygen Chamber.

The Doctorsat us down and explained that at this point she wasn’t interested in talkingabout end of live plans. She wanted to talk about the fact that he was stableand that in the morning we would do the ultrasound. She also explained thatwhat happened to Pig today was not something normal. And she also said thatwhatever this underlying issue is, the issue that had us bring him to theDoctor in the first place, was not what caused his heart to stop and most likelyis not something as simple as the flu.

We were ableto spend about 20 minutes petting him through the little arm holes in theOxygen Chamber. We talked to him and told him how much we love him and that wewere doing everything we could to make him better. Then we had to leave so hecould get some rest.

I told thedoctor that I would feel better leaving if he would just lie down. She wassaying that he wasn’t going to do that as long as we were there just as Pig laidhis head down on his water dish.

We were senthome and told they would call if he had any trouble overnight.

The phonedidn’t ring until 8 am so that was a huge sign.

The 8 amcall was positive. He was showing significant improvement from when he wasadmitted last night. He was on fluid and a water pill which made him pee in theOxygen Chamber most of the night. They could not walk him because his oxygenlevels were so low. But this morning he was able to go out to the yard and theywere able to clean him up.

Theultrasound is scheduled for 10:30 today. Right now, it’s 10:23 so I am surethey are prepping him.

Daisy isvery sad and worried. Every time I come into the house she has to sniff me.Even when I came home from dropping the carpool at the school. She has beenthere. She has a right to be worried.

But forright now, I am cautiously optimistic. I know he is in good hands, the best forthat matter. If anyone can fix my Pig, these Doctors can.

What's For Dinner? Stove Top Chicken Bake

2011-11-22T07:30:00.000-06:00

We made this easy dinner last night and it was a hit so I thought I would revisit the blog and post it! This is a nice quick meal for a busy family. I honestly felt compelled to make this because it has been in my coupon book from the paper for the last month and this week it came on a really nice sheet with a great coupon. I honestly thought there was a force telling me this was something I had to make!

Oh, wait. There was! Their name is Kraft...

Since we needed more than six 1 and 1/3 cup servings I sort of doubled it. I will post my doubled version here and the link to the original recipe at the bottom.

3 large chicken breast or one 1.25 pound package of chicken breasts - diced
2 16 ounce bags of frozen vegies - use something sturdy like a corn, carrot, green bean mix
2 10 3/4 ounce cans of Cream of Something Soup. I had Cream of Mushroom on hand so that's what I used.
2/3 cup sour cream
2 packages of Stove Top Stuffing, prepared

Prepare the Stove Top Stuffing by following the directions on the box.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Mix the diced chicken, vegies, Cream Of soup, and sour cream in a large bowl. And really, use a large bowl because this will be a lot more then you expect it to be! Trust me on this...

Place the chicken mix in a large casserole dish. I used my 9 by 13 dish.

Spoon the prepared Stuffing on top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly. Check the center to make sure it's hot. If the stuffing is starting to burn or get to crispy, cover with foil until the dish is completed.

I haven't run the nutritional value on this variation but I can't imagine it's super low cal. I served it with Pillsbury biscuits and a salad.

This is the link to the original version that I modified: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/stove-top-easy-chicken-76203.aspx

I am completely out of the habit of taking pictures of my food so no photo today!

What's For Dinner? Cream of Mushroom Pasta with Broccoli

2011-04-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

This is an extremely simple recipe that is similar to Alfredo and takes less than 30 minutes to make.

I threw it together one night many months ago and then found something that sounds like it on the Campbell's website a few weeks later so I will credit them as well. Their version is located here.

Here's what you need to make about 4 servings:
8 ounces thin spaghetti or angle hair pasta (linguine or regular spaghetti would both work well, use what you like and have on hand)
10 3/4 ounces Cream of Mushroom Soup (this is the standard sized can)
1 cup Milk
1 package frozen broccoli - chopped or florets
Pepper to taste

Prepare the pasta per the directions on the package. Add the frozen broccoli about 3 minutes before the pasta is done.

While the pasta is cooking, in a medium bowl mix the soup and milk.

Drain pasta and broccoli and put back in the pot. Pour the soup mix over the pasta and toss.

The hot pasta should heat the soup but you could turn the burner on low while you toss it just to give it a little more heat.

You could add chicken or leave it without and use it for your vegetarian meal for the week. Extra mushrooms that had been sauteed in a little olive oil would also be really good!

I served these with the Cheddar Bacon Onion biscuits from the PW website but I omitted the onions. The meal was very yummy and even with the biscuits I had dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.

What's For Dinner? Egg Salad

2011-04-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

We had about a dozen hard boiled eggs sitting in the fridge so I decided to whip up a batch of egg salad. I love egg salad but I don't think to make it very option.

Before I share how I make egg salad, I am going to share how I make a hard boiled egg.

First place your eggs in the bottom of a pot and cover with cold water. For the egg salad recipe coming in a few minutes you will want about 12 eggs but I just made Heidi four for this demo.

Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. When the water is at a rolling boil set the timer for 8 minutes. Let the eggs sit in the boiling water until the timer goes off.

After eight minutes move the pot to the sink and turn on the cold water. Let the water run until the eggs are cool. This takes about 3 minutes. You could also prepare a bowl of ice water and put the eggs directly in the bowl. It would be a better use of water but I never think to do this until the water has been running for a minute.

Now you have hard boiled eggs. When I started making eggs this way, I would only boil them for 7 minutes but I found that some of the yokes would be a darker yellow meaning they were not quite cooked so now I do 8 minutes and I don't have any problems.

If I am not going to use all the hard boiled eggs right away, I dry them off and mark them with an H. Then they go right back with the other eggs but I know which ones are hard boiled. I tell Heidi the H is for Heidi because she wants to eat them. Either way works!!

Now, the egg salad. Here's what you need for 5 to 7 sandwiches, depending on how much you put on the sandwich.
12 hard boiled eggs, shelled
1 cup mayo
1/2 small onion (optional)
2 stalks celery, chopped (optional)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Start by peeling the eggs.

Place the eggs in a medium bowl. I like my large batter bowl from Pampered Chef for this task. (I do not sell Pampered Chef, I just like their products, this is not an advertisement.)

Using a fork or a mashed potato masher, mash up the eggs.

Add the mayo and mix.

And there you have it. Egg salad with no crunchy parts.

If you like the crunchy parts, feel free to add some onion or celery. You will not find that at my house!

Spread a dollop on some bread and salt and pepper to taste. Add cheese or some fresh spinach if you like.

The egg salad will keep in a covered contain in the fridge for a few days.

Enjoy!!

Good Food, Good People, and Good Memories

2011-04-25T07:32:00.000-05:00

I remember waking up on Easter morning to get our baskets that were hidden somewhere in the house. I only remember finding them in the bathtub and the front closet so in my mind, that's where they were always hidden but my mom was very creative so I am sure there were many other hiding places.

I never hide Heidi's. This year we just put it on the table by the back door. And this year was the first year I thought "Man, I wish we would have hid that."

She woke up and came in our room. "Daddy? Can I get up?"

Shawn, without realizing it was Easter morning says "Sure."

No more than two minutes later, Heidi is sitting on our bed digging through her basket of goodies.

"What time is it?" Shawn asks.

"7 am." I reply.

"Ugh. I didn't realize there was going to be a basket. I should have told her to go back to bed."

But it was too late, she was up and digging in her basket. Within five minutes of being awake she was eating candy.

Any other Sunday, I would have taken the early morning candy consumption as a sign of a long day ahead but it was Easter and we had lots of plans. It was the sign of a good day!

We started our day getting ready to have Shawn's sister and her girlfriend over for breakfast. When they arrived we enjoyed biscuits (I cheated and used canned biscuits, don't tell anyone) and sausage gravy with fried eggs. It was very yummy but we took to calling the gravy soup because it was not thickening up very well and we were all to hungry to wait any longer.

Well, at least I was to hungry to wait any longer!

After we ate we gathered around the table to color eggs which turned out to be a blast! This might be our new tradition.

I boiled 16 eggs that morning. Heidi ate one while waiting for breakfast to be ready so we set out to decorate the remaining 15.

Shawn made this little guy with a Mohawk.

This is my bunny egg creation. He is adorable!

Kristen is holding the entire world in her hand. This ended up being one of the best eggs of the day.

Heidi got creative and etched her name in the shell with a marker. She loved this one and ate it first.

When we set out to color these eggs mentioned that maybe next year we would try the natural color approach but after looking at these little guys, I just want to do this again! Later today they become egg salad, I can't wait!!

After we cleaned up a bit we hung out in the back yard. Sunday was a nice day preceded by cold, rainy, even snowy days and I hear we are in for more cold, rainy days this week. We wanted to spend as much time outside as possible.

Mid day we packed up and headed over to my parents house for a late lunch of Taco Salad. Heidi got another basket and then we headed to the theater to see Hop. It was cute but I have certainly seen better kids movies lately.

We went back to my parents house to enjoy the ice cream cake Heidi made for dessert. I was not sure what to expect but it was great! I will post the recipe and hopefully a picture if there is any left later this week. It was basically ice cream sandwiches, fudge, and a cool whip/pudding mix.

We spent to rest of the evening hanging out in our yard enjoying what was left of a nice evening by a fire.

I would chalk that up to one of the most perfect Easter's I have had in a long time. And I hope we have many more Easters like this to follow.

What's for Breakfast? French Toast Bake

2011-04-23T10:06:00.000-05:00

This is a great breakfast for Easter or when you have overnight guests or when you have seven people living in your house like I do.

I saw a variation of this recipe on a news talk show a few weeks back. I could not remember what the show was so I just Googled Baked French Toast, read about 10 recipes, noted all the things I liked from those recipes, then I just winged it.

It was really good but I do have ideas for next time. When I make it again I will post a step by step photo blog. But for today here is the base recipe.

Before we start, this recipe does need to be started the night before and put in the fridge. The next morning it will take about 5 minutes to make the topping and then it will bake for 40 to 45 minutes. So, plan ahead!

Here is what you need to make 8 to 10 servings:
1 1/2 loafs of French Bread cut into cubes
Pancake syrup
3 cups of milk
8 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tbsp nutmeg
3/4 cup butter - melted
3 tbsp corn syrup
1 1/3 cup brown sugar

Coat the bottom of a 9 by 13 baking dish with pancake syrup and set aside.

Slice the french bread into cubes and put in the baking dish.

Mix 3 cups milk, 8 eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon, 1/4 tablespoon nutmeg in a bowl.

Pour the milk/egg mixture over the top of the bread cubes.

Cover with foil and place in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 and take the pan out of the fridge.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter. Then add three tablespoons corn syrup until bubbly. Add in 1 1/3 cup brown sugar and stir until melted.

Remove the foil from the pan and pour the brown sugar mix over the bread cubes.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and enjoy!

YUM!!!

Everyone in my house loved this version. Next time we are going to add pecans and maybe some fruit.

I know you will enjoy it as much as we did!

Brotherly Love

2011-04-19T06:52:00.000-05:00

I am just about to get in the shower when Pig barks at the door.

I open it and ask him if he needs to go outside. He just sits and looks at me.

I ask him if he wants to come in the bathroom. Sometimes he likes to lay on the floor while we are in the shower, especially if it is cold outside. But he just sits and looks at me.

I ask him if it’s Daisy who wants to go outside. He gets up and walks to the back door.

I follow him and as soon as Daisy sees me, she jumps up , wags her tail, and runs for the door.

When we first brought Pig home, ten years ago, I told Shawn that I do not like dogs that bark. Barking will only be allowed when they need to go outside or if someone is at the door.

Pig has his occasional random barking spell but Daisy took my no barking rule very literally and in her entire 9 years has barked at the door about 4 times.

Now, don’t get me wrong. My dogs do bark. They bark when the dog that lives behind us calls them to the fence. They bark when a dog, mailman, or kid is in our front yard. They even bark at the cats.

But Pig has always had to be the one to bark at the door if either of them wants to go outside.

This has led to Pig using his power to be mean to Daisy.

Back when Daisy was healthy, she would be lying on the couch and Pig would go to the back door and bark. She would figure this was her chance to get let outside, get up, and head to the back door.

When I would open the door, Daisy would go outside and Pig would run to her spot on the couch and lay down. He can be such a jerk!

That trick does not work so well any more. Daisy is much more thoughtful when it comes to getting off the couch. It is such an effort to get comfortable, she is only getting up if she needs to. Or if someone offers her food.

And, my rule is if someone barks at the door and I go open it someone better go outside. This has gotten Pig kicked out in the cold a few times when his little trick has backfired on him.

I have always loved the way Pig cares for Daisy. I have paid even more attention to this since she has been sick. Little things like how he barks for her make me sad for when she is gone and he is alone. They have been brother and sister for 9 years. Neither of them know life without each other.

But they are getting older. Daisy still has more good days than bad. She thrives when it is nice enough to be outside sniffing the air and chasing the cats. Then she crashes on the cold days.

She certainly still has more good days than bad but I can see her aging. And it still breaks my heart to see her struggle with the things that used to be so easy, like climbing the stairs or holding a peanut butter jar. I thought by now, over 6 months since her surgery, I would be used to seeing her with one arm, but I am not.

We don’t know how much longer she will be a part of our family but while she is with us all we can do is give her all the love and the best care possible. And Pig continues to do his part.

The Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment

2011-04-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

Friday night Heidi, Shawn, and I attended a Science Event for the Girl Scouts in our area. There were about 80 girls in attendance broken into twelve or so smaller groups. Each group went from station to station participating in a science project. At the end of the event each girl made a magic wand out of a light bulb, a stick, some wire, and a battery. This project earned them a badge.

But the project that our family enjoyed the most involved a balloon, a 20 ounce bottle, some vinegar, and baking soda.

Heidi wanted to show Margie, Kristen, and Taylor this little experiment after dinner on Sunday night. She grabbed a Mellow Yellow bottle from the recycle, found a balloon in her craft station, and set up the experiment on the kitchen table.

We put some vinegar in the empty bottle, about ¼ a cup. Then we put about ½ a tablespoon of baking soda in the balloon. Stretch the top of the balloon over the bottle so it fits securely then lift the balloon allowing the baking soda to pour into the vinegar.

The mix of vinegar and baking soda cause gas which inflates the balloon. It’s pretty cool!

When the demonstration was over, Heidi took the balloon off the top and deflated it right in my face. Let me tell you the smell of latex and vinegar is gag inducing!

She cleaned up the table, the best a six year old is able, and we all went about our evening.

A few hours later, Shawn is in the kitchen when all of a sudden we hear:

“ACK! HAHAHA!! Ick!!”

Margie passes through the kitchen “What are you doing?!”

Shawn “I am washing my mouth out!!”

Heidi and I are in the living room, confused but laughing any way.

Me: What happened? What did you do?

Shawn: I found a delicious Mellow Yellow on the counter without a lid on it. I decided to finish the last gulp before I tossed it in the recycle.

Me: Oh, no! You didn’t drink that did you?! (Between tears and snorts)

Shawn: Yes! It was a delicious Mellow Yellow. But it wasn’t!!

Me: No! It was Heidi’s science experiment! (More tears, grabs a tissue to wipe eyes.)

Shawn: It was vinegar and baking soda! It was horrible! It tasted how it smells!

Me: *snort*

Heidi: Momma! Don’t laugh! It’s not funny!

Shawn: Yeah, actually it is…

What's For Dinner? Angel Lush with Pineapple

2011-04-11T07:00:00.003-05:00

I found this cake in the coupon flier this week and it looked so springy I just had to give it a try. It's a Dole cake and came with a coupon for Dole Pineapple. The picture from the recipe had raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries but I opted for just strawberries since fresh berries are not really in season yet. I did not feel like I was missing anything at all!

Here's what you need:
1 20 oz can Crushed Pineapple, undrained (try to use the pineapple in 100% pineapple juice)
1 3.4 oz package Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
1 10 oz round angel food cake, cut into 3 layers
Seasonal Berries

Mix pineapple and dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Gently stir in whipped topping.

Place bottom layer of the angel food cake on a plate. Using a spatula, spread 1/3 of the pineapple mix on top of the layer. Place the middle layer on top of the bottom layer, spread 1/3 of the pineapple mix on that layer. Place the top layer on top of the middle layer and spread remaining 1/3 of the pineapple mix.

Place berries on top in a visually pleasing manor.

My cake had the pineapple mix dripping out all over so to make it look better I smoothed the mix around the sides of the cake.

Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to chill.

This cake will serve 10 to 12 but you will want to eat it half of it yourself!

We declared this cake to be Yum-tacular!!

Procrastination and Alzheimers

2011-04-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

I am procrastinating right now. This is one of those times when I actually think it will work to my benefit. And it has so far! If I had started this task on Monday, when I had planned to start it, I would have had to throw all my work away because someone made some big changes yesterday morning. If I had started it yesterday afternoon, like I had planned, I would have done double the work because more major changes happened first thing this morning.

I should be working on it now because I have to give a presentation on Friday morning but I just know if I wait another 20 minutes the dust will settle and my work will be valuable.

Plus, writing clears my brain of all the clutter and makes me more focused.

I keep thinking back to a hysterical moment from the other night, I am going to share it with you!

Shawn: I heard a story on NPR the other day about people who are bi-lingual. It seems they are less likely to get Alzheimer’s because their brain gets exercise flipping between languages.

Me: Well, that’s good for Heidi. Since we have that in our family, anything she can do to delay Alzheimer’s is good. Huh.

Shawn: What?

Me: Well, I heard something that delays Alzheimer’s the other day too.

Shawn: What was it? Sudoku?

Me: Man. I don’t remember!! That sounds like a bad joke but I really do not remember! (laugh, cry, snort… Wipe tears…) Ugh. It’s too late for me already.

Shawn: Wow. That’s amazing.

Then he continued to make fun of me for the rest of the night.

And now, I am going back to work. The best part is I actually remember what I am supposed to be working on right now!

Heidi’s Attempt to Educate Me

2011-04-07T08:13:00.000-05:00

Child on TV: I like Komodo Dragons because they are not afraid of anything.

Me: Is that true?

Heidi: Mom! There is no such thing as dragons!

Me: There are Komodo Dragons. They are big lizards, not dragons. It’s just their name. Like a Bulldog isn’t really a bull.

Heidi: Do you really not know why they call Bulldogs a BULLDOG? And why they call a Bullmastiff a BULLMASTIFF?

Me: Because they Bulldog used to work with Bulls?

Heidi: No! Because Bulldogs are strong like a bull. And a Bullmastiff is big like a bull. You really didn’t know that?

Me: Nope, I guess not.

Cinnamon Bread

2011-04-04T07:05:00.000-05:00

I so badly wanted to post a review of the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Bread today but I had a yeast problem yesterday.

The problem being inactive yeast. It was so beautiful outside yesterday, we had the back door open and the furnace never turned on which means my kitchen was probably about 65 degrees. Not nearly warm enough for rising bread.

Margie saved it some bit but putting the dough in a warm oven with a pot of water to create a warm and humid environment. It did raise but after I rolled it and put it in the pan, it did not rise again.

We ended up with very tasty, dense cinnamon bread. It was good but it was not what Ree intended.

I will try it again in a few weeks, maybe on a rainy weekend when my house is warm. I suggest you try it too!

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Bread

A Six Week Vacation

2011-03-25T16:12:00.002-05:00

After traveling, fighting a very nasty virus, and all the craziness at work, I finally made it to the gym today. I went one time three weeks ago, only to decide the virus was not kicked enough for my lungs to be working that hard. Before that visit, it had been three weeks so I really haven’t exercised in six weeks.

I am amazed at how out of shape I can become, both mentally and physically, in a short six weeks.

The treadmill was very hard. It took all my willpower to not slow it down and verbal threats to finish strong. My eyes kept drifting to the emergency stop button. But, with the help of Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory, I made it through all 30 minutes.

I huffed and puffed my way into the empty class room to finish off my workout with five Sun Salutations and as many sit ups as possible. I kicked off my shoes and went straight into my Sun Salutations. I knew if I laid down for sit ups, I would be a goner, napping on the floor.

When I was done, my face was bright red and I was sweating like it was going out of style. That’s how my workouts went last May when I re-joined the gym after a couple year vacation. I really didn’t think that six weeks would feel the same as a few years.

The difference between last May and now is in my head. I knew I had to go to the gym today. Not only do I not like the way my jeans fit but I exhausted when I get home from work and by 8:30, I just want to go to bed. I also have noticed that I am short with the people in my house. They are only going to take it so long before they snap.

On days where I get my heart rate up because I exercised, not because someone at work made me mad, I have much more energy at night and I am able to be nicer to my family.

In the end, everyone benefits from me making time to exercise. Too bad my lungs don’t believe me!

Anything For A Snack!

2011-03-02T07:06:00.000-06:00

It was just over six months ago when Daisy Mae woke up with a mysterious limp.

On March 16th it will be six months since Daisy became a Tri-Pawd.

I hesitate to post updates on how well she is doing. To be honest, for every ten great days, she has one bad day so over all she is doing fantastic.

I hesitate to post updates because every time I write a blog about how well she is feeling, the very next day she has a bad day.

I still obsess about stray things laying around that she might trip on and every little cough or noise she makes but overall, we have all adjusted to her new body.

To prove that point, for the first time in her 9 ½ years, last night, she jumped up on the counter and ate the cat food. I cannot picture how she could pull this off but Margie caught her in the act. One paw up on the counter, devouring the cat food as quickly as possible, taking care to eat every last crumb.

She is an amazing girl and we are all cautiously optimistic that we will be putting up with this silly, hungry girl for many, many more months. Years even!

What’s for Dinner? Unnamed Pasta Dish

2011-02-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

This dish is yet unnamed because I had not planned to post it on here.

I needed to pull together an easy dinner for my five of us. I had a partly thawed sausage roll and thought spaghetti sounded good but maybe with a little twist.

I started to pull things from the fridge and pantry and came up with a sort of goulash that my niece declared to be her new favorite meal.

So, no pictures this time, sorry!

Here’s what you need:

1 pound bulk sausage – any flavor, I used medium
1 pound Baby Bella Mushrooms – these are optional but I like the earthiness they add to the dish
1 jar pasta sauce – I used a garden veggie variety
4 cups elbow macaroni noodles – cooked to al dente
Mozzarella Cheese – about 2 cups

Brown the bulk sausage in a medium frying pan. Push the sausage to the side and add the mushrooms. Mix and heat through.

Prepare the pasta to al dente.

In a large bowl, mix sausage, mushrooms, pasta sauce, and pasta.

Pour in a 13 x 9 casserole or cake pan.

Sprinkle with cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Everything is already hot so you really are just melting the cheese.

Serve with garlic bread and a spinach salad.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

It was very good for a thrown together dish!

A Girl Can Change Her Mind – It’s Her Right!

2011-02-15T07:00:00.002-06:00

If you have ever read a post about Heidi before, you know she is very high energy and only stops her gymnast moves to sleep. Because of this she has always preferred yoga pants, sweatpants, and skirts to jeans.

She has owned a few pairs of jeans in her short life but I completely stopped buying them for her when I became fed up with spending $14 on pants she would wear twice and then hand down to her cousins.

She didn’t like them and I didn’t see a reason to make her wear them. She found them restricting and unnecessary.

I find them cute and versatile.

So I was completely taken by surprise when we walked into a Target over the weekend and she asked if she could try on a pair of dark blue jeans with purple hearts running down the leg.

I grabbed a 5 and a 6 and we made our way to the fitting room.

I had a few pairs of jeans to try on as well so we ducked into the family changing room and modeled for each other.

I found one pair that were very flattering and would be dressy enough for a business trip I am on this week.

Heidi pulled on the size 5’s and buttoned them up. She pulled her t-shirt up around her waist and looked in the mirror. She liked what she saw. She felt very grown up. But, would she be able to move freely?

I told her to do the splits to find out. She, without hesitation, dropped down in the left leg front splits and dropped smoothly to the ground. Just like she does when wearing yoga pants. Just like she does in her gymnastic and dance outfits.

She was sold!

Next stop – belts! Just because she likes them doesn’t mean they actually fit in the waist and are long enough!

Monday before school, she told me I needed to let everyone know she likes jeans now so she is sure to get them for her birthday.

And now I ask, what happened to my little girl? She is going to be 6, not 16. Right?

What's For Dinner? Sweet and Sour Meatballs

2011-02-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

I found this yummy recipe on Tasty Kitchen, posted by MyLittleNutmeg yesterday. Heidi has been asking to have the left over Turkey Chow Mien we froze a few weeks back so I thought these might be a good compliment to that dish.

Boy, oh boy, was I right! They were fantastic.

Here is what you need:
3 tbsp butter
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 package of frozen meatballs

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan, add the diced garlic and cook for about 60 seconds.

Add the ketchup, soy sauce, and honey and bring to a boil, stirring often.

Add the meatballs, stir to coat and heat through. If the meatballs are frozen, this will take about 15 minutes. If they are fresh, then just a few minutes to let the sauce kind of soak in.

It was the perfect side dish with the turkey chow mien. It would also be good in a crock pot for an appetizer at a potluck. Just add the meatballs to the sauce and let them simmer in the crock pot for about two hours.

It is easy, quick, and very yummy. Enjoy!!

Girl Scouts, It's More Than Just Cookies!

2011-02-07T07:50:00.000-06:00

When I was in Elementary School, I was in Girl Scouts. I absolutely loved it and made lots of friends. Those friends and I have lost touch and reconnected many times over the years but they really are the kind of women who I know would be there if I ever needed anything.

Losing my mom early in life taught me that having these types of women around me is vital.

When Heidi asked to join Girl Scouts, I was beyond excited! In addition to the lifelong relationships, many other life skills are fostered. This was very apparent this weekend.

Heidi’s weekend started out with a dance at the Middle School. The dance was for area Troops and was hosted by two older Troops. They do this every year and seem to have wonderful success. The girls who organize this event do all the leg work themselves. There were parents there “just in case” but the girls were responsible for taking tickets, serving food, keeping supplies for the craft stocked, decorating, and clean up. I have to say, they did a fantastic job!

There were about 200 girls in attendance and even though I saw a few tears from other girls, they all appeared to have a fantastic time. It was a night of bonding with not only their troop but other troops as well. Everyone was disappointed when 8 pm rolled around and they had to head home.

Saturday brought Cookie Go Day, the day to officially begin selling Girl Scout Cookies.

Heidi’s troop set a per girl goal of 100 boxes. If the troop sells 1200 boxes, the girls will get a pizza party. Some of the girls were worried about this because they have sisters in Girls Scouts so they are competing with them. Heidi became aware of this decided to step it up and sell more than 100, setting her personal goal at 105.

As of noon on Sunday, 36 hours after Go Time, she had sold 91 boxes and is well on her way to exceed her goal.

Sunday afternoon, we went out to sell to the neighbors. We had little luck as most people had already headed out for their Super Bowl Parties but we did find one family home.

Heidi knocked on the door and her friend Amanda answered. We had practiced what she should say, over and over again. She had it down.

But when Amanda opened the door, Heidi froze. She couldn’t even remember her name, let alone her speech! So, I gently encouraged her and then spoke for her. They ordered two boxes and I had to remind her to say Thank You.

At that point, I was thankful no one else answered their door. And I now realize we should have practiced by having her give her sales pitch at her Grandparents door instead of at brunch on Sunday.

It had not occurred to me how much she will learn from selling cookies. Not only about fundraising but about herself, her comfort zone, and her need to occasionally step outside of it.

My hope for Heidi is that she gets as much from Girl Scouts as I did. Lifelong relationships and important life skills.

Happy Hedgehog Day

2011-02-04T06:54:00.002-06:00

Wednesday morning

Me: Hey, Heidi! Today is Groundhog day.

Heidi: What does that mean?

Me: There is a Groundhog in Pennsylvania how will look out of his hole. If he sees his shadow, he gets scared and goes back to sleep meaning there will be a late winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, then there will be an early spring.

Heidi: Did he see his shadow?

Me: Nope. So, winter should be over soon.

Wednesday evening

Heidi: Mom, did you know today was beaver day?

Me: Beaver Day? Do you mean Groundhog Day?

Heidi: No. Beaver Day.

Thursday evening

Heidi: Mom, did you know yesterday was Hedgehog Day?

Me: Hedgehog Day? (snort!) Don’t you mean Groundhog Day?

Heidi: No. Beaver Day.

Me: I am pretty (snort) sure it was (wipe tears) Groundhog Day.

Heidi: I don’t know how to say that. Grouuuuu…. Growwww… Nope. It was Headgehog Day.

Me: Or maybe Beaver Day. (snort!)

Heidi: Yeah. That’s it. Beaver Day!

Shawn's New Toy

2011-02-02T07:00:00.002-06:00

Shawn is known for researching before he takes on a new project. Our bookshelf is full of home improvement books with broken spines. His email sent items is full of questions sent to friends with experience. Our Internet history is full of google searches relating to the current project.

So it was fitting that Shawn watched youtube videos on how to ride a unicycle before setting out.

The seat needs to be just right.

Getting on is tricky.

But he got it!

Ready? Set...

Let go!

One full revolution and...

No broken kidney. At least, not yet. We will see what happens when he gets out of the basement after the snow melts... Got to run, I need to update our life insurance policies.

Do They Sell Dog Weaves?

2011-02-01T06:56:00.000-06:00

Daisy continues to have her good days and her bad but I am happy to say she has many, many more good days than bad.

A few weeks ago I wrote about how well she was doing and the next day she got something like the stomach flu. Pig had the same thing just a few days before so we are pretty sure they picked something up but it took Daisy twice as long to get over it. And any time she is even a little off, I get a bit freaked out.

On the up side, look how well her hair has grown back in!

Except on her scruff which is not even trying to grow back. When she gets worked up some random little hairs stick up.

Does anyone know where I can get her a Doggy Weave?

Jar of Hearts

2011-01-31T07:00:00.002-06:00

This song is hauntingly beautiful and moves me like not many other mainstreams songs are able.

This video is wonderfully choreographed. The dancing is mind blowing. What can I say, I am a sucker for an emotional ballet street fight!

I could watch this video and listen to this song all day.

Holy 1986 Batman

2011-01-28T07:45:00.002-06:00

As I was leaving my office the other night, a group of four 16 year old girls crossed the sidewalk in front of me.

They caught my eye because they were all decked out for what appeared to be an 80’s costume party.

Complete with low cut sweatshirts, leg warmers, bright colors, and high side ponytails. They are certain to win top prize in the costume contest!

Then I realize something horrifying.

They probably are not on their way to an 80’s costume party. They most likely put a lot of thought into their outfits because that’s the style for 16 year olds right now.

I wiped the tears of dismay from my eyes and drove on.

A Pet's Only Clubhouse?

2011-01-27T07:00:00.002-06:00

We have a trampoline in our back yard. We bought it in the middle last May and had a lot of fun with it this summer.

This winter, I had expected that we would store it in the garage. Turns out there is a reason you see trampolines in back yards covered in snow. They don't breakdown into storable parts very easily so they sit in yard and are forgotten until spring.

I am not okay with that! Those things are not cheap and the weight of all the snow destroys them after a year or two.

So, we made a compromise. I am going to nag Shawn to shovel it off every time it snows and he gets to shovel it off every time it snows.

Sounds fair, right? Yep!

Heidi and Shawn have been able to use it a few times this winter. After the big fluffy snow falls, they go out back to shovel it off and end up jumping on it and if the snow if fluffy enough, they jump off it into the snow surrounding it.

But our pets love it the most.

Three of the five (yes, we have five right now) go outside in the winter for various reasons. The most common reason is the biological one. They head out the back door, down the path Shawn has cleared for them, towards the trampoline. Along the way, they take care of business but then, without fail, they all head to the trampoline.

They spend a couple seconds to a couple minutes walking around under the trampoline before high tailing it back to the house.

We have all wondered what it is under that trampoline that is so attractive to those pets. Was the cat using it as a litter box? Did something die under there? Did they have a secret Pet's Only clubhouse?

Last night after work, I finally decided I needed to know what was out there. I wanted to be invited to the clubhouse!

I arrived home from work, made the dogs come out of the house, and headed down the snowy path to check it out.

The sight was beautiful. Grass. Yellowed grass but grass none the less. I miss grass! And so do my pets so they go visit the grass every chance they can get.

I don't blame them!

Pig, in true Pig fashion, checked out the grass and then bolted back to the house. Too bad no one was there to let the baby in.

Daisy, in true Daisy fashion, checked out the grass, sniffed, sniffed, sniffed, sniffed... then tried to exit the grassy clubhouse through the snowbank face planting right into the snow. Since she never has been the brightest bulb in the box, she continued to hop forward into to the snow, instead of turning back.

Hop. Face plant. Huff, puff snow off face. Hop. Face plant. Huff, puff snow off face. Hop. Face plant. Huff, puff snow off face.

I, on the other hand, was doubled over in laughter watching her. I know. I am not a very nice mom. But if you can't find the humor in her situation, all you will do is cry.

Which is what Pig was doing on the steps. Crying.

So, I called her to come in and ran up to the house to let Pig back inside. He had been outside for a total of three minutes so I understand why he was so upset.

Daisy finally came in about five minutes later, covered in snow, and exhausted from all that excitement, I finally know why the pets love the clubhouse, and I am realizing that it's not the end of the world to leave that trampoline out in the back yard all winter. As long as it's shoveled off, that is.

The Amazing Bully

2011-01-18T06:44:00.000-06:00

This girl never ceases to amaze me. Everyday I wake up to her smiling face and every night I fall asleep to her gentle snoring.

Daisy Mae has made the adjustment from four legs to three in her normal, take things as they come, stride.

I do not regret our decision to stop her chemo after three treatments. Ever since she came out of her bad reaction on that last treatment, she has been doing very well. I actually think she has been more perky than she was before this all started.

My Victory Over Chipotle

2011-01-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have been really good the last few weeks about brining a lunch, not eating out, and getting to the gym at least 4 days a week.

I know that when I deprive myself of something I want; it makes me want it that much more.

Yesterday, this thought crept into my head. It said, Chipotle sounds good.

Then I saw a bag from Chipotle in the fridge at work. And that thought came again. Chipotle sounds really good.

Thursday, I was in the gym stretching after a very annoying run on the treadmill. I had packed a pair of low cut yoga pants instead of pants with a drawstring. I like these pants but they really are only good for yoga since they slide down with the slightest movement. I spent the entire thirty minutes on the treadmill adjusting my pants.

So, I am stretching, trying to keep my pants from falling off, and that thought gets really loud. It says, After that, you really should get some Chipotle. It would be really yummy and you totally deserve it for sticking out the workout with these annoying pants on.

I try to ignore it. I explain to the thought that my sandwich is going to be really good and I should just eat that.

By the time I made it to the locker room, I had made a deal with that thought. If the scale said a certain number, I would have Chipotle.

Walking to the scale, I changed my mind. The scale had to be 4-tenths lighter than that number or no Chipotle! And if I do have it, then no dinner tonight. I figured this would seal the deal.

I jump on the scale. I do a double take. It’s not the first goal. It’s not even the second goal. It’s 6-tenths lighter yet!

I was very amazed that the first thought through my head was not, Yeah, I get Chipotle. It was, That’s so awesome, I totally don’t want to run it with Chipotle now!

So, I went back to my desk and ate my sandwich, grapefruit, and yogurt.

And guess what? I don’t regret it. The sandwich was good and I knew I would not beat myself up at 3:30 when I was falling asleep at my desk from all those heavy calories.

Pete - The Zuzu Hunter

2011-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Pete got some new toys for Christmas. Actually, Heidi did but Pete sure found them interesting.

Zuzu Pets are little hamsters that move around the floor on their own. The squeak and chatter as they move. When they run into something, they turn around and head another direction.

We had resisted letting Heidi have these little guys for about a year. No real reason, mostly that this is a toy that can get out of hand very quickly.

And that is what happened. This year, without even asking for them, she got 4 Zuzu Hamsters and three play sets that all connect together.

The play sets are fun but so is letting them roam around the hardwood floors.

Pete watched them and protected his box. He didn't know what to think but he was certain they were not something he wanted in the house. So he attempted to kill them.

Such a proud cat. Maybe we should have given in last year when Pete was still a wild little kitten who wanted to play all the time. We could have set off a few Zuzu pets and he would have been busy all day trying to catch them.

What's For Dinner? Italian Breaded Pork Chops

2011-01-12T07:00:00.002-06:00

I love pork chops but last year I realized that I only knew two ways to make them - Browned on the stove and baked in the oven, smothered with cream of mushroom soup.

I set out to find a few new ideas so we can enjoy pork chops much more often. My current favorite are the Caesar Pork Chops but last night I found this Italian Breaded Pork Chop to be pretty good.

The pork chops come out with a nice Italian flavor and they keep moist. I served them with a rice dish, salad, and steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. I think it would have been very good with spaghetti as a Pork Chop Parmesan.

Here's what you need:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp milk
1/2 cup flour
2 cups panko crumbs
1 cup Parmesan Cheese - grated
2 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
Pork Chops - this breading will make 4 to 8 chops so make as many as you need.

Take out two pie plates and one gallon sized zip lock bag.

Put 1/2 cup flour, or enough to lightly cover all of your pork chops, in one pie plate.

Mix the eggs and milk in the second pie plate.

Mix the Panko, Parmesan Cheese, parsley, and Italian Seasoning in the zip lock bag.

In a heavy skillet, coat with olive oil and toss in the garlic. Let the garlic brown a bit over medium heat.

Dredge a pork chop in the flour, then in the egg mix, then place it in the zip lock bag. Close zip lock bag and shake until well coated.

Remove pork chop from the bag and place in the skillet. Repeat this process until all of your pork chops are in the skillet or your pan is full.

Brown pork chop for 2 minutes then flip and brown for 2 more minutes. Repeat with all pork chops in your pan.

Remove pork chops from pan and place on a cookie sheet.

Please pork chops on the cookie sheet in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the center of the chop is not pink.

Very yummy!! Enjoy!

What's For Snack? Carmel Puff Corn

2011-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

My mom used to make this when we were kids and Margie made it the other day so I thought I would post it here for you all to enjoy!

This is from the Old Dutch website:

Prep Time: 60 min

Servings: 12

Here's what you need:
1 Bag of Old Dutch Puffcorn
1 Cup of Butter (Not Margarine)
1 1/4 Cups of Brown Sugar
2/3 Cup of Light Corn Syrup
1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Combine butter, brown sugar, and light corn syrup in a 2 quart sauce pan.

Cook on medium heat until mixture has melted.

Once mixture has melted add the baking soda. (Note: This will cause the mixture to foam)

In a large roaster pan pour Old Dutch Puffcorn and pour caramel mixture over the Old Dutch Puffcorn and stir until mixed.

Place in oven for 45 minutes, stirring at least every 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven, pour on wax paper and break apart.

ENJOY!

It's My Favorite Song!!

2011-01-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

My Step-Mom used to tease me all the time about every song on the radio being my favorite. We would be riding in the car and I would say “turn it up, this is my favorite song!” or “Oh, it’s my favorite song!” over and over again.

But right now, I really do have a favorite song. It’s the song that cheers me up every time I hear it. It makes me laugh and sing along very loudly.

The other day, when pulling out of the parking lot near my office, I had to cut a guy off to get across three lanes of traffic. He was really mad at me. We were totally safe, I didn’t almost cause an accident, and I didn’t even make him miss his light, he just had to wait 2 seconds for me to get out of his way. He pulled up alongside of me and flicked me off and I just laughed at him. I was singing along to my favorite song, I was off work for the day, heading home to my family, and I was in a good mood.

I love the radio version but I really like the Gwyneth Paltrow version from Glee as well.

Enjoy!!

Oh, and the best line is "Oh, shhh... She's a Golddigger, just thought you should know!"

**Forget You, By Cee Lo Green (be aware the non-radio edit version of this song is not kid friendly!)**

What's For Dinner? Chicken Pot Pie

2011-01-06T07:00:00.001-06:00

One chilly evening over Winter Break I was flipping through recipes to find something hardy and yummy to make for dinner. I read a number of chicken pot pie recipes, noted the things I liked about them, and then made it as simple as possible to come up with this very simple, very tasty, chicken potpie recipe.

You can make this with turkey if you have leftovers from the holidays.

Here's what you need:
Pie Crust - I used Pillsbury's Pie Crust in the long red box.
2 cups diced or shredded chicken (about 2 breasts)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup - or any other "Cream Of" soup. Try one celery or one chicken or whatever you have in your pantry.
2 cups frozen vegetables - I used a mixed bag of corn, green beans, lima beans, peas, and carrots
Pepper to taste

I made two of these but only had three pie crusts. One had a top and bottom crust and the other only had a top crust. Both were equally good so try it either way. I highly suggest the Pillsbury Pie Crust, it keeps this meal in the 10 minute prep time.

For a bottom crust - Line a greased pie pan with a pie crust.
For no bottom crust - grease the edges of the pie pan.

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients until coated with the cream of mushroom soup.

Pour into the pie pan and cover with the top crust. Cut 4 to 5 slits in the top crust for venting. Cover the edges of the crust with tinfoil.

Bake in a 350 degree oven 35 to 45 minutes or until the top crust light brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. This will allow the inside to set up.

One pie will serve three to four people dinner sized servings.

Enjoy!!

Ode to Daisy Mae

2011-01-05T11:02:00.000-06:00

Last night, while cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and discussing now much Daisy has been wanting to eat lately, I made up this song.

Honestly, ever since we stopped Daisy's chemo, she has been starving. If Pig does not eat right away, he runs the risk of her scarfing down his food as soon as we turn our backs. If someone is in the kitchen, no matter how deep of a sleep she is in, she gets up to see if there will be hand outs.

She went from 120 pounds to 85 pounds in four weeks. Some of that was from her amputation but most if it was from her fat butt.

This is to be sung to the tune of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors.

You with the sad eyes

You look so hungry
Though I realize
You’re really just begging
For the food I have in my hand
You can lose sight of it all
But you only have three legs now
And you need to stay small

But I see your true colors
Shinin through
I see your true colors
And you like to eat yummy snacks
But don’t always beg for lots of food
Or you’ll get fat
Get fat, oh so fat
Like you used to be

If you see my begging, three leg dog, please know she is lying to you. We are not starving her.

What's For Dinner? Corn Bread

2011-01-04T07:00:00.002-06:00

A few weeks back I posted the PW's Skillet Corn Bread. That recipe is for southern corn bread. This recipe is for northern corn bread which uses sugar and is sweet, the way I like it!

Try both, I am certain you will like one or the other.

Here's what you need:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups cornmeal (I use yellow)
1 cup flour - all purpose, not self rising
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix milk, butter, and egg in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir until moistened. The batter should be a bit lumpy.

Pour into a greased 8x8 pan.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

If you like to use Jiffy because it is easier then try making your own with this recipe. Simply mix the dry ingredients together in an air tight container marked Corn Bread Mix and save until you are ready to make corn bread. I think this recipe is much better than boxed Jiffy!

Enjoy!

A Winter Trip To The Zoo

2011-01-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

One of our favorite outings is to the Como Zoo in St. Paul. In Minnesota, the zoo experience is different between summer and winter.

In the summer, the Lions are outside, in the winter it's to cold so they are in their den.

In the summer, the African Hoofed Animals are out in their yard, but in the winter they are in a smelly building we like to avoid.

Since we are a cold weather state, winter is really a great time to visit. The Tigers are up moving around and the Polar Bears are enjoying their brand new, state of the art, exhibit. Visitors do have to go outside to pass from building to building but all of the exhibits are viewable from inside the buildings.

And the best part, no one goes to the zoo in the winter so you have front row viewing at every exhibit!

We always follow the same path when we enter the zoo. First we go into the Habitat Trail and then we go clockwise. I think they switched the turtles out in the pond in the Habitat Trail! They used to be pond turtles but this time there were Alligator Snappers in there. They were very cool to see. Look at the head on that thing!

The Tamarian's look like little old men. Heidi remembered the time she was eating Cheetos and the Tamarian's were following her. Shawn wondered if the zoo keepers gave them mustache wax.

The Orangutans are a funny little family to watch. The baby was born in the fall of 2007 and weighs about 20 pounds. She is just like a typical three year old, very curious. There was a small, flat whole in this log. She kept putting her hand in there to get something out. We think she had stuffed some of her cardboard in there and was trying to get it out. It was a riot to watch!

Before we started going to the zoo in the winter, I had never seen the wolves in the Wolf Forest. I was starting to think they weren't really there! In the summer, when it's hot, they sleep in the shade and don't move around to much. But they are cold weather animals so in the winter they move around a lot and there is no brush for them to hid in. When we approached the exhibit, one wolf was standing on a pile of rocks calling out. He ran off before I could snap a picture.

This beautiful white guy was sleeping in the little shelter and was happy to smile for a picture.

The Lions were in their den, taking a nap. She is a stunning woman. It's amazing to be this close to this lady, only a sheet of glass between us.

When we visit Como in the summer, the Tiger is almost always sleeping in the sun. We might get to see him laying in the little pond, if we are lucky.

But in the winter, he is always moving around. Pacing back and forth and sometimes playing with his toys. This time he stayed on the ground but sometimes he will come up the rocks to the window so you are nose to nose with him. It's truly awesome.

All of the cats had large bones in their habitats. This one was still bloody and these guys were tuckered out. It would have been a sight to see them get those bones!

The new Polar Bear Exhibit is a million times better than their old one. They are able to go inside and still be seen by the visitors. Today they were in the training room taking a nap when we arrived.

The bears are twin brothers named Buzz and Neal, which cracks me up. They have been in their new exhibit since April. We got to see them for the first time late May, and it opened to the public in June. There is a learning center with a staff member or volunteer on hand to answer questions and show samples of fir and blubber. This is one of my favorite exhibits of all of the zoo's I have been at all over the country. If you haven't seen it, go very soon.

In the learning center, they have a seal den for the kids to check out.

When we were done with the Polar Bears, we went to see the aquatic animals and the real seals. This guy was posing for the pictures! There were two in the training pool. One was Sparkey but we are not sure which one but my guess he is the one posing for pictures.

As we exited the Aquatic Animals building we heard a presentation coming from the Polar Bear Exhibit so we headed back to see what was going on. A staff member was taking about Polar Bears in general, how they moved Buzz and Neal to Detroit while their new home was being built, and some specific things about these two bears.

All the excitement got one of the bears up and moving so we got to see him walking out in the snow. We didn't get to see him swim but I bet he was in the water after we left.

We had a great time, as always. If you are in the Twin Cities I suggest you check out Como Zoo this winter!

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-01T09:06:00.000-06:00

I have to say I am happy to see 2010 go but I am increasingly amazed by how fast a year can just fly by!

2010 was full of the typical ups and downs but I think this was the hardest year, personally, of my adult life.

Many people close to me lost someone they loved for one reason or another and we had the diagnosis of Daisy Mae's cancer and Heidi's tough transition to her new school.

But there were good things as well.

Daisy Mae is doing very well.

Heidi is adjusting to her new school and it really is the best thing for her.

We have a nice home, good jobs, great family, and fantastic friends.

I have really enjoyed all the cooking I have been doing for my family. And I am proud to say that, even though I had some ups and downs, I am officially 11.5 pounds lighter than I was on January 1st, 2010. Most people in their thirty's gain 5 to 10 pounds a year and I lost!

In 2011, I look forward to expanding my recipe book even more (and sharing then with you!), continuing to bring my organizational skills that I totally rock at in the office back home, losing at least another 11.5 pounds (but even more would be fantastic), and continuing the make the most of life with me awesome family but enjoying good food and fun outings and the little things that we come across every day.

With that, I am going to go spend the first day of this new year with my family. I hope the rest of you are able to do the same.

Best wishes for a Best 2011 Ever to all of you!!

What's For Breakfast? Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Pecans

2010-12-30T12:33:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had a craving for Coffee Cake and I was in the mood to bake so I pulled together a few Coffee Cake recipes and here is what resulted.

For Cake
1/2 cup soften butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sour cream or vanilla yogurt

For Filling/Topping
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cold butter, chopped into small pieces

In a large bowl (or using the kitchen aid) cream together the butter, applesauce, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup white sugar until fluffy.

Add vanilla to the sugar mix.

Add eggs, one at time. If you are using the Kitchen Aid, just add one at a time. If mixing by hand, add an egg, stir, repeat for until all four eggs are incorporated.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add about a fourth of the flour mix to the sugar mix. Then add about a fourth of the sour cream (or vanilla yogurt) to the sugar mix. Repeat until all the flour and sour cream have been added to the mix.

To make the topping/filling, combine the pecans, cinnamon, brown sugar, and cold butter in a dish.

In a greased 9x13 inch cake pan or a bundt cake pan, spread about 1/3 of the cake mix, then top with 1/3 of the pecan mix. Repeat two more times.

Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes.

Doesn't that look delicious? It has a nice nutty and cinnamon flavor and crumbles a bit when you stab it with your fork. Make this Friday morning so you have a nice Coffee Cake to wake up to on New Years Day!

Enjoy!

What's For Dinner? Italian Pork Roast - with Pictures!

2010-12-29T08:07:00.000-06:00

I posted this recipe last year without pictures so I am reposting it now since I remembered to take a couple of pictures this time.

This is a very yummy roast that is fairly simple to make and doesn't take much time. I highly suggest you give it a try very soon.
2 1/2 to 3 pound Pork Roast
2 tbsp Rosemary - I prefer fresh but dry works as well
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp butter
1small onion
1/4 cup olive oil

Heat oven to 350.

Finely chop rosemary and garlic together.

Make 8 to 10 deep cuts in the roast - about 2 inches apart

Insert small amounts of garlic and rosemary mix in the cuts

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Melt butter in shallow roasting pan

Place the onion slices on the melted butter

Put pork in pan and drizzle with oil

Roast uncovered 50 to 60 minutes until the internal temp is 155 degrees. If the roast has a bone in it, plan an additional 30 to 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and tent with foil. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes until the internal temp is 160 degrees.

Doesn't that look fantastic?

YUM! Enjoy!!

The 12 Days Of Christmas - Maybe A Few More...

2010-12-24T07:00:00.001-06:00

In true fashion, we got out as much as possible leading up to the holidays. Since I didn't want to post about Christmas all the way into March, here is one big summary post!

Our first holiday outing was to the Stages Theater in Hopkins to see Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, and PS, So Does May. It was very well done and funny. And our company fantastic! These girls have been like cousins since they were babies.

After the play, the girls got their Playbills signed by the cast. This is May, the girl who is always getting Junie B in trouble.

The cast was so very friendly. Mr. Stinky even posed with our little ladies!

And, of course, Junie B, herself! I hope this becomes a yearly tradition!

Heidi also finished another session of skating lessons. She really is better than me and is starting to gain on her dad! She is looking forward to starting Hockey next winter.

Shawn and Heidi made this awesome lawnmower out of Fiddlestix. It was a huge hit with the kids at our Dessert Party that weekend.

I find it very difficult to visit with everyone during our parties and I almost always completely forget to take pictures. I need to work on that!

The Second Annual Dessert Party was a total blast even though the weather was not great. Lots of people turned out and even more food. I hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

We picked out our Christmas tree. Heidi has a knack for finding a perfect tree.

We cleared and played in epic amounts of Autumn snow, which is something this family loves.

We discontinued Daisy's Chemo Therapy after a bad reaction that took almost three weeks for her to recover from. She went from laying around like this...

to running around and playing like this. We know we made the right decision!

Heidi danced in her classes holiday show. She takes it very seriously!

The class learned two ballet and two tap dances for the Holiday show. They all did a great job!

What a cute class!

Pig got in his required amount of sleep, and then some! Unlike the rest of the family, Pig does not like the snow.

Every year, we take in the Macy's display with Pam, Hunter, and Pat. Now that Macy's owns that store, it's is the same display but the kids seem to take in different things each year. I wonder what deep topic they are discussing...

This is the first year Heidi and Hunter visited Santa without one of them crying or refusing to sit on his lap. They were happy to personally tell him what they wanted.

And they followed the personal plea up with a written letter.

The grown ups enjoy a little shopping after the display. And the kids do their best to entertain themselves. And us!

Finally, we dressed Heidi up like this and went to the Holidazzle Parade because our friends were on the Wizard of Oz float. It was a nice night to be outside, as long as you kept your hat and mittens on.

The Holidazzle Parade is after dark so everyone and every float is adorned with lights. The parade it's self is about 20 minutes and the atmosphere is so fun everyone forgets how cold they are.

I hope you all take some time over the holidays to just relax and enjoy your family. No matter what winter holiday you celebrate, remembering your family and loved ones is what this time of year is all about.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Oh, Christmas Tree

2010-12-23T07:00:00.002-06:00

The Friday after Thanksgiving we ran up to the place that sells trees right at the edge of our old neighborhood. Since it was so early in the season, there were so many to pick from.

It was a bit chilly out but nothing ski jackets and hats wouldn't solve. We spent a good twenty minutes walking through the rows of trees, searching out the perfect one for our living room.

Heidi picked a beautiful, full tree that was even on all sides. Good job, Heidi!

It is amazing to me what she remembers and forgets from year to year. She said she didn't remember the tree store but as soon as we walked into the building to pay, she asked for a candy cane. So, she clearly remembered that part!

The tree guy and Shawn loaded our tree into the back of the van. A tree that fits perfectly in the back of the van fits perfectly in our living room. How convenient!

We got home and Pete jumped right into the van to approve the tree. Last year, he climbed the tree daily. We have a very good tree stand, thankfully! He would climb the trunk and sit in the branches!

Heidi was so excited to have the tree in the house. But we could not decorate it until it thawed out for at least 24 hours. The branches needed to relax a bit and the tree needed to go back to it's pre-hauling form.

I had to go to Florida that Monday so we didn't get to decorate the tree until the following weekend. It nearly made Heidi crazy!

Makayla helped me hang the lights. Twice. We got all the lights up and then realized the end didn't have prongs on the outlet! Somewhere along the way, we plugged a strand in backwards so we had to start over again.

Heidi helped place the ornaments in the high places.

And Makayla helped by texting her friends.

Wait. That's not helping...

Pete hasn't climbed it yet, but he does sharpen his claws on it since he is stuck in the house most days now. But he does approve, and that's all that matters!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

A Crash Course In Theology - For A 5 Year Old

2010-12-22T07:00:00.002-06:00

On the way to school one morning, a couple of days before Winter Break, Heidi and I are listening to the All Christmas Music, All The Time! Radio station when the song “What child Is This” is played. Here is how our following conversation goes:

Heidi: This is NOT a Christmas song.

Me: Um… Yes it is. This is a real Christmas song about the baby Jesus.

Heidi: No. It is not.

Me: Heidi, true Christmas songs are about baby Jesus and Peace on Earth, not about snow and reindeer.

Heidi: Well, if Willy were here, he would not think this is a Christmas song. And if Emily were here, she would not think this is a Christmas song. Kids do not want to hear this kind of Christmas music.

Me: Songs about snowmen and reindeer and walking in the snow are winter songs or songs about Santa. You know that Christmas is not about Santa, right? It’s the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus, in the East?

Heidi: Which way is the east?

Me: It’s behind us but that’s not what I meant. Baby Jesus was born in the Middle East, like where Uncle Ryan was when he was in the Army.

Heidi: Did Uncle Ryan get to meet baby Jesus?

Me: No. Jesus was born 2011 years ago. Ryan was there just a couple of years ago.

Heidi: Why the heck was he born so long ago?

Me: Because he was. (Nice answer!)

Heidi: Who put people on the earth anyway?

Me: God did. The story goes, God made the heaven and the earth, the land and the water, he put all of the animals on the land and then he made a man named Adam. It took six days so on the seventh day, he rested. The seventh day is Sunday so that’s the day you go to church and thank God for making the earth and people. After Adam named all of the animals he was lonely so he asked God to make him a person to live with. So, God took Adam’s Rib and made a woman named Eve.

Heidi: Oh, I read that book before!

Me: Yeah, so then Adam and Eve get to live in this beautiful land with no bad weather, all the animals, and all the food they want. But they can only live there if they don’t eat any apples off the tree. But they do so God tells them they have to leave. They go live outside of this beautiful place, called Eden, where they have to deal with weather and finding their own food. Then they have kids, and their kids have kids, and their kids have kids. But Adam and Eve are not Jesus’ parents.

Heidi: Oh, I know that. God is Jesus’ dad.

Me: Pretty much. His parents who raised him are called Mary and Joseph.

Heidi: I know Joseph but I don’t know Mary.

Me: (I wondered who she thought Joseph was if she knew Joseph but not Mary. Probably the Technicolor Dream Coat guy. I saw that musical when Donny Osmond was Joseph. That thought made me chuckle a bit). Mary was Jesus’ mom. God put Jesus’ in Mary’s tummy where he grew into a baby and then was born in a barn. People came and gave him gifts because he was the Son of God. This is what that song was about.

People who are Jewish, who celebrate Hanukah instead of Christmas believe everything I told you, except they don’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God, just that he was a man who lived 2000 years ago and did good things for people. (I was not going to get into much more than that, she is only 5!)

Heidi: Well, they are wrong!

Me: No, they are not. People can believe what they want to believe without being wrong. That’s what religion is about. Religious people all believe there is a God – some of them call it Allah, some call it God, or many, many other names. And they believe that when you die, you are judged by God who decides if you get to go to Heaven, which is Eden, or Hell, which is really bad.

Heidi: What is Hell.

Me: if Eden or Heaven is a place where the is no bad weather, all the food you want to eat, all kinds of animals and people all living together and getting along, then Hell is the opposite.

Did you know that some people believe that God is really a bunch of aliens who created the Earth and put us here to save us from their dying planet? And one day, they will come back for all of the good people and leave the bad people here?

Heidi: That would be AWESOME! We would get to go with the good people and we would never have to lock our car doors or worry about someone stealing our cats!!

Me: Well, that’s true but that’s not what I believe. (I am stifling a laugh)

(it’s quiet in the car for about 2 minutes)

Heidi: That’s just silly!

Me: What is silly?

Heidi: We have not discovered Aliens yet so I don’t think they put us here or we would have found them when we went to outer space. I don’t know anyone who would believe that.

Me: Well, again, everyone is welcome to believe what they want to. I don’t know any one we believes that either. It’s called Scientology. But there are a lot of famous people who really do believe that.

Heidi: I am really upset.

Me: Why?

Heidi: I can’t find my Frosty The Snowman Book! I think we gave it away!!

(I realize Frost the Snowman is playing on the radio now. I sigh, turn up the radio, and we both sing along to the rest of the song. Leave it to a 5- year-old to be able to jump from a deep, theological conversation, to despair over a lost Frosty the Snowman board book.)

(Please do not correct my version of how the earth was made and the birth of Jesus. Try explaining all of this to a child in the matter of 10 minutes in a way she will understand and you will probably get a similar version! This post was meant to be funny, not a religious lesson).

Happy 1st Day of Winter

2010-12-21T07:00:00.013-06:00

Happy First Day of Winter!!

It's hard for me to believe that winter is just staring when we have already had around 30 inches of snow fall over the last six weeks. According to the local NBC affiliate, on 12/7 we had 16 inches at the airport. Then on 12/11 17 more inches fell on us. Our 30 year average is 55 inches so we are half way there and winter is just getting underway!

It sure is beautiful and if it's snowing then it's not to cold.

Look at that blue sky above the snow on our roof. How can you not love it?

But we have gotten so much, we need to be creative about where we store it. Like in the wheel wells.

Or packed around the tree. It's comforting to know the bunnies will not be able to strip the bark off the tree this year!

But most importantly, all this snow gives children a place to be Queen Of The Hill and feel like they are the tallest people in the world.

Happy Winter Everyone!

Sister From Another Mother

2010-12-20T07:00:00.001-06:00

Let me tell you about my best friend Shannon. We met when we were in high school and working at K-Mart. I don’t remember the moment we met and I don’t remember the first times we hung out but mostly I don’t remember life without her.

She is like a sister. We have been through so much together, serious family issues to trivial clothing theft. She is a great Aunt to my dogs, cats, and daughter, and I always know I can count on her in an emergency. Out of all of my friends, she is the one who would not bail me out of jail because she would be sitting in the cell next to me. And I love her for that.

But most of all, I love her because she does not take herself very seriously. She has a knack for doing things that are embarrassing and when most of us would keep that embarrassing moment to our self, she posts about it on facebook, sends out a mass email, or tells everyone she knows. Like the time she updated our company’s issue tracking log by pasting in a link to a Christmas Wish List item. There was a pretty good chance no one would have noticed but she made sure they did!

Wait. Maybe she was just trying to get her Christmas Wish List out to a wider audience… Hmm…

Anyway, she is also able to talk people into doing just about anything for her. She never asks for anything huge but if you ever need something returned without packaging or a reciete to a store that has a strict no return policy, Shannon is your gal!

A few weeks ago, she was craving something sweet so she dug out a Quaker Granola Bar with Chocolate Chunks. She was very upset when she discovered there were no Chunks in her Bar. So, she sent them this email:

Where did you put my chocolate chunks? My granola bar was missing them! They are not nearly as tasty without the chocolate! When you locate the chocolate chunks, please forward some to me.

And got this response:

I'm sorry that the bars in your box of Chocolate Chunk were missing the chunks of chocolate. I can imagine how disappointed you must have been when you discovered this.

All she really wanted was for someone at the company to get a good laugh out of her plight but she got one better, a coupon for a free box of granola bars.

Next time I buy a car I am going to bring this girl with me. Maybe she will get me a free freshener.

An Unplanned Vacation, New perspective, and a Happy Hanukah

2010-12-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I talked about how I got my extra day in South Florida. Today, I will tell you the saga.

I had been sitting the in airport for just over two hours, awaiting my flight from Fort Lauderdale to Minneapolis. Delta Terminal Two consists of about 12 to 15 gates, a Dunkin Donuts, two gift / magazine shops, an ice cream cart, and a place that sells sandwiches and gyros. It’s not a place you want to spend more than about 20 minutes, forget about two hours.

I was lucky to find an outlet and a piece of floor, so I grabbed a gyro (which totally sucked because I had a gyro at this amazing Greek place two days prior and I never want to eat a fast food gyro with cucumber sauce that comes in a plastic cup ever again), and pulled up a piece of floor to catch up on the last three episodes of Glee.

I was about half way through the third episode when a coworker of mine approached. She had been sitting across the terminal and it turned out she was on my flight to Atlanta. Atlanta was home for her, it was a pit stop for me.

We chatted for a few minutes and watched the passengers from the incoming ATL flight deplane. They would clean up the cabin quickly and we would start boarding in a few minutes. We took turns running to the restroom while we had someone to watch our bags and discussed her team’s desperate need for more staff. All was going well. I find this coworker to be extremely funny and witty. We bonded on a trip a last year while watching The Biggest Loser and running on the treadmill. This trip, we enjoyed Authentic Mexican food and bonded over fresh made Guacamole. Both experiences were equally memorable.

It’s the most fun I have had in an airport in many, many months when the man at the gate announces that we will start boarding as soon as the mechanic gives the all clear. Probably about 5 minutes.

We discuss how I am certain I am not making it home. She looks at my boarding pass and says that as long as my gates aren’t 4 miles apart, I will be fine. I insist I should just go find a cab.

Ten minutes later the man announces that the mechanic is not able to reset the light but he is still trying, should be 10 minutes and will be on our way.

Twenty minutes later, after I have fully convinced my coworker that I am not going home, the gate man explains that we will not be taking that plane anywhere and everyone should come up to be reticketed.

There are about 10 gate agents there to help us. It is the first day of Hanukah and there are about 30 people flying from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta and then on to Tel Aviv, they get first priority. Some people are made about this, I am offended that someone could be made about this.

I hang out in line with my coworker and finally insist she call Delta to get rebooked before the next flight fills up. Her phone is dead so I loan her mine and within about four minutes she is rebooked. It would have been faster but the touch screen on my phone takes some getting used to.

She apologizes for ditching me, tells me that if I make it to Atlanta she would let me stay with her but since she lives so far out it would be better to get a hotel, I thank her sincerely for the offer, and tell her to hurry up before she misses that flight.

When it is my turn in line, I explain to Oscar, the gate agent, I want to get home but I don’t want to spend the night in Atlanta. If he is going to make me stay somewhere, I want to just stay here. He books me on the direct flight home the next day at 1:22 pm, arraigns a hotel and a shuttle, and gives me two $6 food vouchers. I ask him if I can have my luggage and he says, “Not unless it is an emergency.”

I ask “Are clean underwear, deodorant, and a toothbrush considered an emergency?”

“No.” He says.

Ok, well, I guess that settles that.

I take my boarding pass and my vouchers and head out to find the shuttle. I recognize a few faces gathered around and struck up a conversation with a gentleman in his mid-60’s. He had been living in Colombia for the last four years, since his wife passed, and he was now coming home to stay with his daughter for a few years. We talked about the weather in Colombia. He told me how people typically purchase one cigarette at a time from a man selling them on the street because that is all they can afford. A person with a pack of cigarettes was considered rich.

I asked if he drank really good coffee the entire time he was there. He explained that Colombia’s other major crop is sugar cane so any time you had fresh brewed coffee it contained sugar. It was like drinking crack, he said. Men walked around with coffee tanks on their backs and belts with cup dispensers on them. You purchase your coffee from them for a few coins a cup. I imagined a coffee man walking around downtown Minneapolis and chuckled.

Before I knew it, we had been standing there for almost 45 minutes. Where the heck was this shuttle?!

Oh! An excuse to use my fancy smartphone! I jumped on the internet, googled Hyatt Place in Fort Lauderdale, and gave them a quick call. After being disconnected twice, “The driver is on the grounds,” is what I am told.

I am doing fine in my fleece jacket and pants standing out in the 55 degree evening. But its winter at home and I have a hat and mittens in my backpack if it gets to cold. The rest of the group, however, were freezing and I was afraid they would become ice cubes pretty quickly. Ten minutes later, I call again. “The driver is on the airport grounds” I am told once again. “Tell him to hurry up” was my reply!

Five minutes later, after confusion over the other Hyatt Place shuttle, and me mentally trying to figure out how to get all of my new friends into a cab without leaving any of them behind, the correct shuttle arrives and whisks us away to our swanky hotel.

On the ride over, I am sitting with a gal who was in town for one day to have a job interview. Her flight down from Tallahassee was delayed and delayed and she didn’t get into Fort Lauderdale until 30 minutes before her interview. She had to hightail straight from the plane to the interview but she said she thinks she nailed it. I could tell she was bummed out that she was not getting home and worried because she was going to be over a hour late to her current job. Not to mention that she had not eaten all day and didn’t really have money to buy any food. I gave her one of my $6 vouchers. I am not clear why everyone didn’t get a voucher but I was told we could use them in the hotel. I was still full from my crappy gyro and was only planning to buy a bottle of water anyway. She was so grateful; I thought she was going to cry.

There were others on the shuttle who were also on the flight but we had not met them at the meeting place so we didn’t know them. We exchanged some stories about how we got to this shuttle and how many of us called the girl at the desk when we learned that the one man on the shuttle, who was not a displaced passenger, had the last name of Hyatt. We spent the rest of the ride asking him why his company didn’t send us a shuttle before we froze. He is not part of The Hyatt Family but he took the joking in stride.

When we arrived at the hotel, I asked for a toothbrush and toothpaste since mine was already on its way home. She was happy to accommodate me but got annoyed when she realized that all of the people behind me now wanted the same thing.

She explained that breakfast was complementary and would be served from 6 to 9:30 if anyone was interested. And there was made to order food available 24 hours a day. As I started to walk towards my room I overheard Mr. Colombia telling another gal that he was glad for breakfast because he could not afford to eat tonight and I instantly handed over my other $6 voucher. It was the least I could do. He was so kind and interesting.

He thanked me so much and promised to name his next son after me. I told him he didn’t want a son named Kara; Sue was a maybe, but not Kara. I wished them all good night and headed up to my room.

It was a very nice hotel and I had a great view of a dirt track. My only complaint was the proximity to the highway where people seemed to be drag racing in their loud cars. Luckily that stopped by about 10 pm.

After making a few phone calls to let Shawn know I wasn’t coming home, I booted up my laptop and made my way down to the lobby for a bottle of water.

I found the entire displaced flight crew all gathered around the bar ordering food. They were having a great time but I had socialized with strangers enough for one evening so I grabbed my water and got in line behind another man from the flight.

He was piling up candy bars and bottle of Dr Pepper. That was when I noticed his yarmulke. It was the first night of Hanukah and the only kosher food in the place were the packaged candy bars and soda. Man, did I feel bad. I paid for my water and left the lobby, wishing him a happy Hanukah. He was the person who should have been complaining but he wasn’t.

One man, trying to make his way to see his kids after four years in Colombia. One man, trying to make it home for Hanukah.

It really puts things in perspective.

I spent the rest of the night searching for the number to get Heidi into morning care at school and clearing my calendar for work. I slept the best I had in many, many weeks with no alarm to worry about. I spent my morning sipping coffee, working from the hotel room and at noon I packed it up and headed for the airport.

My perspective where it needed to be, I was extremely productive in the time I did get to work and I was not at all stressed out when I returned to the office on Friday.

My flight home was very nice. No one sat in the seat between me and the lady by the window so we had plenty of room to stretch out. And she didn’t smell like Patchouli like the man next to me on the flight down.

Delta and Google had teamed up to give us free WiFi during the flight so I checked in on Facebook for a few minutes.

And lastly, there was an in flight movie! Grown Ups, which I had been wanting to see. It was so funny, I am sure everyone around me thought I was nuts for cracking up constantly.

When the man behind me dropped his extremely heave, too big to be a carry-on, right on my head, I didn’t even yell at him. When he rubbed my head because he felt so bad, I didn’t even grab his hand and tell him not to touch me or I would rip his hand off. I just sat quietly, popped a few Advil, shed a silent tear, and waited for my major headache to pass. Once the shock wore off, I told the man I was fine. Really. He didn’t need to feel bad.

In the end, I truly believe I needed some perspective in my life. I needed to get stuck in Fort Lauderdale for the night, meet Mr. Colombia and the man trying to make it home for Hanukah and the girl on her job interview. I even needed to get bonked on the head with a heavy suitcase. Just to put my crazy, busy, stressed out live back in order. Just to make me confident again as I faced more hard decisions about Daisy. Just to get me ready for the holiday season. I have wished Shawn a Happy Hanukah every day since I returned home, just to keep me in check.

This was a long post but maybe my experience will be the reminder you need that it could be worse, life goes on, and what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger.

Happy Hanukah everyone.

30% Psychic, 70% Who Knows What!

2010-12-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

Have I ever told you that I am about 30% psychic?

I would be much better but I really don’t know that I had a premonition until after it happened. It’s a skill I want to hone in but I just haven’t really found a good place to add it to my mile long To Do List. College Education should probably come first…

My favorite example is of the day Shawn nearly severed his toe. This was way, way back before people had cell phones, when I was renting a house with my three best friends.

One of my roommates, Shannon, and I had gone out to dinner while Shawn was at work. We were driving home and I had this horrible feeling that we were going to get hurt really and it was going to be bad. So, I kept telling Shannon that she needed to drive carefully because I didn’t want to get in an accident. Thinking I was just nervous because I am a really bad passenger in a car, she told me we were fine and continued to drive home.

And we were fine. We made it home in one piece, no accidents or even near accidents. But I could not shake this feeling that something bad was going to happen.

We went in the house and started to settle in for the night when Shannon hit the play button on the answering machine. Yeah, I told you this was a long time ago! There was one new message from Shawn.

He had been closing the door on a trailer when a piece of sheet metal came crashing down on his foot, nearly severing his big toe and crushing the one next to it. He told me he would be heading to the ER once the job was done.

Once I finished listening to the message, the feeling was gone. It wasn’t until a few years later that I realized that the feeling of dread was connected to his toe.

Over the years, I have had many more times where I had some type of premonition but didn’t really get it until after it was over.

I travel fairly often. I never start to pack until about the night before I leave. When I am packing I start to get this butterfly feeling in my tummy. Every time I have had a trip cancel at the last minute, I realize the butterflies were never there. And last January, I was supposed to fly to South Florida, work from that office for three days, fly home for one night and then fly to California for vacation. Something like that should really get me stressed but I was so calm that when I got the stomach flu the night before I was leaving for Florida, I was not at all surprised. I rescheduled my trip and went to bed for three days awaking just in time to take our family vacation. I could have saved myself a rebooking fee had I foreseen that one!

My most recent premonition was also a travel related experience. I had gone to Florida for work again. I needed to be home for a personal appointment on Thursday night but I also needed to spend one full day in the office and one full day in a training session. So I planned to fly out on Monday, spend all of Tuesday and Wednesday there and fly home very late on Wednesday night.

I booked three days of morning care for Heidi so Shawn could drop her off at school on his way to work. When I filled out the paper work, I kept thinking, I should book her for Thursday too. Just in case. But since that would have cost me another $15 I opted to just stick to the original three days.

When I set my out of office reply on my email, it said something like “I will respond to my emails when I return” instead of “I will respond to my emails on 12/2, when I return.” At some point I reset my out of office reply to say “I am traveling back to Minneapolis and will respond to emails on my return, which I expect to be about noon central time.”

Why did I say “which I expect”? Why did I come across like I didn’t think I was going to get home?

As we were leaving for the airport, I was checking with other coworkers on their travel plans. Another Minneapolis coworker told me that she flew through the other airport and she would be transferring at ATL at about 8 pm. I told her maybe I would see her there since I am on the 9:45 pm out of ATL.

She said, “We should be gone by then. You are on the last flight out of ATL.”

I knew it right then. I should have returned to my hotel, kept the car another day, and rescheduled my flights because I knew I was not going home.

And guess what! The plane arrives at the gate and I still don’t think I am going home. And I am right.

Mechanical issues. No plane. No butterflies.

I am rebooked on a direct flight the next day. They put me up in a Hyatt, sent a shuttle bus to pick me up, and I returned to the airport the next day with my butterflies.

Tomorrow I will tell you about my extended stay in Fort Lauderdale.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

2010-12-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

We woke up Satruday morning to a whole lot of snow. I am not talking "a lot of snow." I am talking the most snow we have had in twenty years. It snow and blowed all day.

Do you remember that saying the Postal Service used to have about not being stopped come rain or snow or sleet or whatever? Well, the Postal Service did not make it to my house on Saturday and I am glad! They do not need to be out in that blizard just so I can get my pizza coupons, four credit card offers, and a gas bill.

Sunday I opened the front door to get my newspaper and Peter ran right out. Silly cat, even 17 inches of snow wouldn't keep him in the house. Yes, 17 inches at 8 am on Sunday morning.

The paper was just on the other side of the door so when I pushed the door open the paper slid farther away. Heidi was brave (crazy) enough to run out in her bare feet to grab it for me.

Shawn cleared the driveway twice on Saturday and then one more time on Sunday morning. Thank goodness for that new snow blower!

While he was clearing the driveway, Heidi and I bundled up and went out to join him. Daisy wanted to go out with us so I put one of her "recovery" shirts on her and brought her out with us. Pig stayed snuggled in a comforter on the couch. Anyone surprised?

I love this picture of Daisy running around on the driveway. She was so happy, she just loves snow. And we were so happy to see her enjoy the snow this time since the last snow seemed to annoy her. Just another reason why I am happy we stopped her Chemo treatments. Sunday would have been her sick day, she would have been passed out on the couch. But instead she was her old self, running around the driveway until her feet froze and she had to go in.

I can only think of two differences between the Daisy of Last Winter and the Daisy of Sunday - 1. the t-shirt. 2. she is missing a leg. But look how happy she is!! And skinny. That dog is so skinny!

Here is an idea of how big our snow banks got. Remember, Heidi is an average height 5-year old!

To keep warm, she kept busy by digging out the van and

Clearing the front steps. By this time, Pete was back in the house, do you see him in the window?

Then it was time to head over to the in-laws to clear their driveway and sidewalk. They only live about a block from us so we typically walk there. Since Shawn had the snow blower, he drove and Heidi talked me in to walking with her. The picture above is where a sidewalk should be. The city had not cleared them out yet and I am wondering if we will see a sidewalk again before the snow melts in April.

Always a good citizen, Heidi helped clear some of the snow that had fallen back into the road.

And then she became a kid and climbed the snowbank. She walked on the snowbanks almost the entire way to the in-laws house. Up the snowbank, down at each driveway, and then back up.

Queen of the mountain!!

Always safety first with this one, she did her best to dig out the fire hydrant.

Our walk was beautiful. The sun was shining. I think it was just above 0 degrees but with the correct snow gear on, we were fine. I don't have ski pants so I had on yoga pants and a pair of wind pants and that did the trick!

Heidi and Shawn were outside for over two hours clearing the driveways and walking. When they got home, they were cold but not frozen.

I know my co-workers think I am crazy for living here but come on, tell me that is not beautiful!

Can My Van Really Hate Me?

2010-12-14T07:00:00.003-06:00

My van hates the winter. It honestly wishes it could live in a warm place and all winter long it temps me to sell it to someone who would let it live out it’s days in a nice warm climate.

Too bad that’s not going to happen. But now, because it is trying so hard, I am having heart attacks every time any kind of light comes on. I nearly drove off the road when my windshield wiper fluid light came on. And I was shaking for about ten minutes after the gas light flashed the other day.

Here’s why.

It’s a very cold Sunday morning. Heidi has a play date with a friend of hers in North East Minneapolis.

We neglect to start the van as we are running a bit late so we bundle up, jump in the van and head toward the highway.

I am entering the highway and start to fiddle with the heater because even if I didn’t warm it up, I should be getting some kind of warm air about now. Not this arctic blast that is shooting from every vent, even the ones that seem to be turned off.

We are crossing the river as the battery light flashes at me. Weird, that’s never happened before. Mental note to tell Shawn.

We make it past the next exit, one more to go before we leave the highway, when the battery light flashes again, the temp gauge is buried on high, and the temp light is ding, ding, dinging in a total panic.

Heidi says, “What’s going on!!”

I say, “Well, it appears the car is over heating, we need to stop as soon as we can, I think we can make it down this exit into a gas station so we are in a safe place.”

I am as calm as can be on the outside but on the inside my brain is conjuring up images of Heidi and I stranded on the side of the highway in extremely cold weather. In my brain, I do something really stupid like remove the radiator cap and get burned by the molten lava that shoots out.

I scramble to grab my phone, because in my head, I think that I need to call Shawn RIGHT NOW! I cannot wait until we park and are safe, I MUST CALL NOW! But I am wearing mittens so the touch screen on my Smart Phone is not responding correctly. I end up prank calling his class room three times before I throw my phone in the seat.

As I exit the highway and head down the ramp, I engage my break and the world is right again. The beeping stops, the temp gauge heads down to middle, hot air is blowing out of my heater vents, and my ability to think rationally has returned.

I pull into the gas station and with the car still running (I am so afraid if I turn it off we will be stuck here, but we are walking distance from Super Target so that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, in hindsight…) I remove my mitten and call Shawn.

He tells me to take Heidi to her friend’s house and then come straight home. I did as I was told and made it just fine. The coolant was low but it’s been worse. Shawn thinks maybe the thermostat is a little sticky.

I think the van is trying to kill me.

Only time will tell us who is right.

One day last week, it was very, very cold out. I think it might have been Tuesday. I did let the van heat up for about 10 minutes. The temp gauge was at medium but it was colder inside the van then outside since the heat was blowing out like an air conditioner the entire time. I knew that was bad but I had to drive it anyway. I told Heidi to keep her hat and mittens on and hope we make it at least to Daddy's work.

By the time we got to the highway, about a mile from my house, hot air was blowing from the vents and the temp gauge was making it's decent.

Then yesterday the same thing happened. Only this time, we got down on the highway only to have it over heat by the first exit. I calmly told Heidi we were pulling over as soon as we could and exited the highway. I kept hoping it would get it's act together as soon as we slowed down but no luck.

We carefully cut off three different cars as pulled into the Caribou Corporate Headquarters parking lot. This time I was much more level headed but I also knew we were in trouble. I turned off the van and called Shawn on his classroom phone to tell him what was going on.

We decided to let it cool down for a bit and then try to make it the two miles to his work where I would park the van and pick up the truck. Heidi and I went into the Caribou Coffee store and had a coffee and hot chocolate. After I made a few phone calls, we played a game of Mancala and then went out to check on the van.

Now remember, it was -6 degrees Fahrenheit during the morning commute on Monday. The van sat in that parking lot for over 20 minutes. When I turned it on, it was still at medium heat!

We pealed out of the parking lot, cut off many more drivers and made it two more exits up the highway. We were just blocks from Shawn's school when I had to turn the car off again. Heidi and I were freezing but the van was begging to be shut off so we pulled over to the side of the road and let it rest for about two minutes. Then I decided, we are no more than three blocks from where we need to be, it's not smoking or steaming, so we are just going to go for it.

I turn the engine over and drive as quickly and carefully as possible to the parking lot. All the while I am thinking of what I will tell the cop when he pulls me over. Would he let me out of the speeding in a school zone ticket? I was being VERY careful.

As I pulled into the parking lot I started to hear a whap, whap, whap noise. I found the first parking spot and turn the van off. That's it. The Van won.

We were able to thaw out once we got in the truck but Heidi was 40 minutes late to school and not at all happy about it. And I got to my desk two hours after we left the driveway.

I keep telling myself - it could have been worse. We could have been stuck on the highway, not at a Caribou Coffee. I could have a husband who didn't know how to help, but I don't. We were a little cold, but we had our ski jackets, hats, and mittens on so we were not going to succumb to exposure. And in the worst situation, we could always call a tow truck because we have a cell phone.

The Van might have won today but it will be fixed and it will stay in our family. It is not getting shipped off to a warm pasture to live out it's life. That's not happening. At least not this year.

Excuse Me For Not Taking My Vacation Time

2010-12-13T07:00:00.005-06:00

I have been at my job for a ridiculously long time and therefore get an obscene about of vacation time. At the start of the year I plan out all the days I want to take off, pool 3 or 4 days for Mental Health Days, and promise myself that this will be the year that I will use my vacation days wisely.

Then November comes around and I realize I have way too many days left since I canceled three days of vacation and never took those mental health days. I start to panic. I already have the week of Thanksgiving off and the last two weeks of the year how much more time can I actually take? And that’s how I end up not working on Friday’s.

I used this last Friday to do some Christmas shopping. I had hardly started so my list was long. I made a list of all the people I needed to shop for, what I had already picked up, and some ideas of what they might like or what they had asked for. After lunch with Heidi at her school, I ran into Marshalls to start checking people off my list.

I used to work at Marshalls but they have since built a new store. I am always confused when I am in that store. Why are there different sections of women’s tops and four different sections of women’s bottoms?

I grabbed a cart and am wandering around the store. I notice they are playing Christmas music on the store radio. It is very busy and every aisle has at least one person in it. I am in the shoe department when a lady pushes by me saying excuse me as she shoves me into a rack. Well, that sure was rude, I think.

I do not see any super cute Puma’s I just cannot live without so I head over to the Holiday Decorations. I walk up just in time to witness a kid throw his arm wildly because his mom will not buy him something he doesn’t need. He knocks something glass off the shelf sending it to the floor where it shatters in many pieces. His mom throws him in the cart and pushes him away.

I am looking for an employee when someone pages a manager to the Holiday section. I stay near the mess to make sure no one steps in the glass when an employee and the manager show up with a broom. I over hear them talking about how they should stop selling breakable items since more of them are broken then sold. Nice.

Next I head towards what appears to be another women’s section with two more sections of tops, three sections of bottoms, and jackets. I also notice I can hear Christmas music coming from somewhere but the store speakers above this section are playing P!nk’s newest song. That’s odd.

I am flipping through a rack of jeans when a girl, about 17, plows into my cart because she is talking on her phone. “Oh! Excuse me!” she shouts to me and then into her phone she yells “I just totally ran in to some woman’s cart because she had it parked all up in the aisle.”

Yes, the aisles are very narrow but I had my cart to the side and if she were looking she would have been able to avoid me.

I make my way to the yoga pants section and another woman shoves by me. “I said excuse me!” She says to me. I just keep walking. But I do find a super cute new pair of gray yoga pants.

In the Men’s section I find two people hogging the main aisle to have a conversation. In the toy area I find kids under the age of 3 wandering around without parents. By the blankets, I witness people opening blankets and shoving them back on the shelf.

And then I remember why I don’t shop at Marshall’s very often. While you can’t beat their prices, it sure is an experience in culture.

The man at the checkout was very nice and reminded me that had I purchased everything in my cart at Sears I would have spent a lot more.

I left with my packages and loaded my good deals in the car. On my drive to the next store, I wondered who taught all these people that saying Excuse Me meant they could be so rude.

Maybe in 2011 I will remember to use my vacation time before November and just do all my shopping online.

Let It Snow!!

2010-12-11T19:58:00.001-06:00

I am pretty sure we got about 12 inches of snow at our house in the last 24 hours. Shawn cleared the driveway and paths in the back yard with his new snow plow. It took him about 90 minutes but I can’t even imagine how long it would have taken with a shovel.

When he finished, he had to do the driveway again because we had gotten another inch and then since his truck was in the road, he plowed out in front of the neighbor’s house.

We made the trek out to Target because Heidi had to get a gift for a birthday party that afternoon. There was no one on the roads or in the store.

Since I wasn’t in a hurry to just go back home, we wandered around the empty store for over an hour.

A few hours before the birthday party started, the mom called to let us know it was canceled due to the weather. None of us were surprised but I sure felt bad for the birthday girl!

We spent awhile watching our neighbors plow out their driveways and the stupid boyfriend of the girl across the street get his car more and more stuck in the snow bank.

By 3:30 we were all going crazy being stuck in the house. I could not take any more iCarly or Spongebob! I had been throwing out ideas to get out of the house but Shawn shot them all down, telling me the roads were too bad.

Shawn took our sister in law to work and came home to tell us the roads were okay so he would take us out to Ridgedale. I guess I wore him down! We all piled in the truck and made sure the 4-wheel drive was on.

It took us about 40 minutes to get there only to find out that they closed early. Heidi was very upset because she was going to get to go to Build A Bear to get some new outfits. As we were heading back home she fell asleep for a couple minutes and woke up happy.

On the way out we only saw one car that looked like it had been going too fast and ended up in the snow bank. We didn’t see any accidents but there were a lot of abandoned cars. We had taken 100 to 394 on the way out.

On the way back, we took 169 to 649 and saw a 7 car pileup, a number of stuck cars, and spinouts. We stopped for pizza and on the way up Bass Lake Road we could see that cars were not moving. Someone threw on their reverse lights ahead so we decided to go around by Best Buy. When we got through we saw someone exiting to Hwy 100 had gotten stuck in the snow bank and a plow was stuck on the other side of the exit ramp. No one was going anywhere any time soon yet some idiot pull right up to the back of the snowplow and then got out of his car.

Shawn and the kids are upset the snow didn’t come on a school day so they could have had a snow day! We haven’t had snow like this in a long time and I sure hope we get a few more storms like this before winter is over!

Here is what Shawn looked like after plowing again in the evening. I guess his beard is good for something!

Greystone Mansion And The Hollywood Sign

2010-12-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

We only had two full days in the Los Angeles area and we were determined to have make the most of it. I wanted to eat good food and Shannon wanted to see as many sights as we could fit in. The first day was dedicated to Disney and authentic Mexican food. The second day was Rodeo Drive, the Greystone Mansion, Hollywood, and the Hollywood sign.

Greystone Mansion is owned by the City of Beverly Hills and is used to film movies such as the Spiderman movies and X-Men. Heidi is looking totally rock star on the patio!

The landscaping is just amazing. I have dreams of living in a place like this, with full time gardening staff and house keepers. I would spend all my free time cooking in the commercial grade kitchen and someone else would do the dishes. Some day. Just have to win the lottery first...

Ah... Love the turtles! We were not able to enter the house because they were setting up for a party on one side and remodeling on the other. I wanted to see where Dr. Xavier had his school but that was not in the cards for this visit.

After driving around Hollywood a bit and checking out the Walk of Fame, we headed up to where our GPS said the Hollywood sign would be. We drove up and up and up and up this crazy narrow, windy street, white knuckled all the way until we finally got to the top.

We were expecting a parking lot where we would be able to walk up and get some good photos, like on TV but that's not how it works. The road ended in a neighborhood. The houses had gates at the end of the driveway to keep people out. We were not supposed to be there and the only way to get a good view of the sign was to trespass on someones property.

Shannon jumped out of the car and took a few shots from the street. This is as close as you can get.

I felt just awful. One of the property owners was trying to leave his house and could not get out due to all the cars from people trying to see the sign. Another had to call the police to shoo people out of his yard. I could not believe that people were squeezing through a space between the gate and a hill and then climbing the hill which was clearly this guys back yard.

I am sure the problem is compounded by GPS sending people up this road, to this neighborhood.

We were there for about 3 minutes before heading back down the hill. That was the most terrifying drive of my life, I never used the gas and I doubt that I ever took my foot off the break. There was on street parking but the street was only as wide as two cars. Many times, only one direction of traffic could move forward at a time. At one point, I was head to head with a cop, probably the cop called to chase the tourists away, and I had to back up the hill about 50 feet before he could pass.

By the time we got to the bottom of the hill, I was just ready to go back to the hotel and decompress for a bit.

It was in the low 60's most of the time we were there but this afternoon it turned cold and started to rain. The Vikings were playing the Cowboys that evening so Shawn was in the hotel room watching so we joined him for a bit. The game was so hard to watch, we ended up going for a swim in the hot tub instead.

Yes, a swim in the hot tub. The pool was outside, it was about 55 degrees and raining. Even us Minnesota girls, who were thawing out from a frigid winter, were not able to handle the unheated pool but the hot tub sure felt nice! And Heidi thought she was in there illegally so every time a staff member came outside, she hid along the side of the hot tub. It was a blast!

The next day we had plans to check out the ocean before we had to head home. But that's another post for another day...

Tourists Take Rodeo Drive

2010-12-09T10:43:00.000-06:00

Our second and last full day in the LA area we spent the day driving around, trying to fit in as many sights as possible. Our GPS, Sally, proudly told us we had arrived at Rodeo Drive, except she pronounced it like we were are a cattle wrangling show, which made me laugh.

We were obvious tourists in our hoodies, jeans, pushing a stroller but that just made it even more fun! Tourists Take Rodeo (cattle wrangling) Drive!!

Wandering up and down the Drive, we passed a commercial being shot, the Rolex store, and Tiffany's where we ducked in to check it out.

The day before, at Disney, Shannon picked up a huge pink gem ring for a friend of hers. She had the great idea to ask Tiffany's for a small bag to deliver it in. Not only did they give her a bag but they also had a small ring box. Very classy!

While Shannon talked to the ladies about the bag, Heidi and I looked around the store. Heidi touched every display case in the place and I got a lot of dirty looks which just made me laugh. I just know they get people like us in there every day, looking around because they are in town on vacation but not at all intending to buy anything.

When we left, the doorman all but shoved us out the door, pushing our stroller and carrying our tiny, empty shopping bag. Marking this as one of the many highlights of our trip.

Another stop on our Tourists Take Rodeo (cattle wrangling) Drive trip was the Coach store.

A few days before our trip, Shannon is asking what kind of bag I am going to use when we go out exploring. I had this white canvas bag that would hold anything, I planned to bring that.

She, on the other hand, had picked up a bag from Marshall's. She said I would probably tease her for it but it was similar to one she saw at the Coach store.

As we passed the Coach store on Rodeo Drive, she spotted it right inside the door. And, as she had predicted, Shawn did tease her for her sparkly pink stripper bag.

Seeing it sitting there, she just had to take a picture to prove to him that this was a classy bag. Not a stripper bag.

Do you see it? It's that pink, shimmery, ~~stripper~~ bag in the center.

Well, it turns out that Coach does not want people photographing their merchandise! As Shannon snapped the picture, a sales girl quickly approached her to scold her for taking the picture.

Shannon quickly turned on her heal and high tailed it out the door. We all briskly hiked away from the store before our cameras were confiscated!

I am already looking forward to our next Tourists Take Rodeo (cattle wrangling) Drive trip!

Another Hard Decision in the Daisy Saga

2010-12-07T07:49:00.000-06:00

The Daisy Saga has simply been one hard decision after another. From deciding if we needed a biopsy to the amputation to chemo.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, her last chemo treatment did not go well.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house, and when we noticed she was not greeting people at the door, we were concerned. We had also noticed that she didn’t care that I had been cooking for three days, she just slept on the couch the entire time.

She spent 18 days of the 21 day cycle sleeping on the couch.

I woke up on Saturday to a dog who was starving. Though she had been eating her normal meals since her last treatment, she wasn’t eating much more. On Saturday morning, she was ravenous. I gave her a pile of treats, her normal breakfast, and left over pancakes and she still seemed hungry! She spent the rest of the day wandering around the house, checking on things.

Honestly, this was the most active I have seen her since before her biopsy.

I spoke with the Oncologist. I spent many, many hours thinking about this. I talked with Shawn at great length.

I decided to stop her chemo.

This was not an easy decision but it all boils down to this. I have no idea how much longer Daisy will be with us. A few weeks? A few years? No one can tell me.

However long that will be, I want her to be the Daisy I know she can be. I do not want her to be sick or sleeping or just laying there. I want her to greet me at the door, spend time out in the yard with the snow, begging for my dinner.

I have made this decision based on her quality of life. I still feel good about saying that we have done everything we could to make her better even though we are not proceeding with the last three treatments. I know, in my heart, this is the right thing to do and that is what has always mattered.

What A Day in Disneyland

2010-12-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

I love vacations! I love to explore Minneapolis and Minnesota but I really love to explore the rest of the country. The only thing that would make it better would be having my dogs with me. But dogs as big as mine wouldn't travel well on an airplane so they stay home with our wonderful family and I know they are well taken care of.

And then I see things like this and miss them all over again! And this trip was before we found out that Daisy was sick.

Half way through the day, Heidi wanted ice cream so we started to head back towards the main street where we had seen an ice cream parlor. We start to realize the park is very quiet, no rides are running. The week leading up to our trip, California had experienced some really bad rain and mud slides. Things were still unstable and some mud had slid and knocked out the power to Disneyland! That's when all the suits came out. Usually all of the staff are in costume and blend into the atmosphere but when the power goes out people in black suits are everywhere!

We came across this group dancing and sat to watch for a bit. Before it was over, power was resorted to all of the park with exception of the big mountain.

After eight fun filled hours at Disneyland, we were all exhausted. The batteries on our cameras were dead and our feet, as well as our dollars, were spent. We decided to end the day with the Winnie the Pooh ride and then attempt to locate our rental car. What color was it again?

As we approached the ride we saw Winnie the Pooh signing autographs. The line was short but we opted to take the ride and then see him at the end.

After the ride, we waited in line for about 5 minutes. We were the next to meet Pooh when Pooh's assistant told us he was going to take a break and would be back in a few. We were bummed but decided to wait it out. It was the last thing we were going to do and we figured he wouldn't be to long...

About three minutes later, Pooh returned and he brought Eeyore with him!! What a wonderful way to end the day!! Heidi and I both LOVE Eeyore and were so excited to get to meet him!

We had two cameras, both with dead batteries, but sometimes with digital cameras, if you wait a bit you can squeeze a few more shots out before it goes completely dead and we were able to get a few shots of Heidi with her two favorite characters. That totally made our trip and we knew it was time to go home.

Amazingly, we found our car with not trouble at all and headed out to meet Shawn for dinner. For the first time in her life, Heidi not only fell asleep in the car but she never woke up for dinner. We carried her from the car to the restaurant to the car to the hotel before she finally woke up for a few minutes, just long enough to have her princess hair taken down.

Crazy hair!!

And in honor of her favorite part of the day, she adopted these super cute Pooh and Eeyore balls.

Disneyland is the most magical place in the world and we are already looking forward to returning!

The Magic Kingdom

2010-12-02T07:00:00.003-06:00

We spent the entire day at Disneyland and saw everything we wanted but I know we could have spent another day there easy. Then there is the entrance to the park where all the restaurants and shops are located. There is no charge for that area and you could spend at least an afternoon out there. And, of course, there is California Adventure where the rides target an older crowd.

The best part of Disneyland is that all of the rides are family friendly, there was nothing that was to scary or to crazy for a four year old. And the cars are generally big enough for an adult or two and a child or two so the family can ride together!

Every year we go to the circus where Shawn and Heidi pose for a picture by an elephant. We found this beautiful elephant in a candy shop and emulated the pose. I wish I could have this elephant in my living room!

This was Heidi's favorite elephant!

The Dumbo ride was the first ride of the day. She wanted to go again until we explained how many other rides were in the park.

We wanted her to stand by the door of this little house but she was worried that someone actually live there and would come out if she went up to the door.

When we finally convinced her no one was home, she reluctantly walked up to the door and ran away as soon as the picture was taken!

My favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride but that was a tough decision because I also loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit!

Buzz won out in the end because Heidi and I imagined how my nephew Willy would be reacting if he were in this ride. The excitement we imagined from him made us so excited!

I went to Disney World for a Marching Band trip when I was about 14. I have some memories of that trip but mostly just how annoying the It's A Small World Ride was. I was torn about taking Heidi on the ride in fear the song would be stuck in my head for weeks. But the ride was closed for repair so I was totally off the hook!

These topiary trees were outside the ride, so beautiful! I want these in my front yard! And a gardener too...

Our favorite area of the park was Toontown. That is where Roger Rabbit lives in the movie but also where you will find Minnie Mouse's house in the park.

Heidi took the time to check her email on Minnie's computer.

The Chip and Dale house was pretty cool too. Who hasn't want to live in a tree house?

Shannon was so kind to take Heidi on the roller coaster. Even though all of the rides are family friendly, I still was not able to get on the roller coaster and I was so happy Shannon loves them as much as Heidi!

A Princess Visits Disneyland

2010-12-01T07:00:00.001-06:00

Heidi, Shannon, and I all agreed that the most important stop while we are in Los Angeles was Disneyland so the planning started weeks before we even arrived in California.

We got up early, which was actually sleeping in a bit due to the two hour time difference, and headed out to Anaheim to be at the park as soon as it opened.

We arrived at Disneyland with only one little detour when the GPS got us to the grounds but not to the actual gate. That's just fine, the grounds are amazing!

Even purchasing your tickets at Disney is an adventure. The lady in the window was so nice and asked us if we had ever been to Disneyland before. We explained that while Shannon and I had both been to Disney World, this was Heidi's first time. She gave us all First Time Visitor buttons and told us that if it was our birthday we would have gotten Birthday buttons too. We saw people with Birthday buttons being wished happy birthday all over the park, that would have been cool!

Shannon, being the fantastic and thoughtful aunt that she is, scheduled a Princess Makeover for Heidi just after the park opened. This way, Heidi would be beautiful the entire day and we wouldn't have to worry about what time it was and which side of the park we were on when the appointment rolled around.

At the Bibbity-Bobbity-Boutique Heidi had the full Princess makeover which included hair, makeup, and nails.

She was able to pick from a number of different hair styles. She picked the Cinderella.

Her nail polish was scented like berries and it really did smell!

And her make up was pretty good quality. Oh, and how could I forget, check out that bling the pointer finger of her right hand!

Anything used on her was put in a pink bag and sent home with us - make up, hair brush, comb, nail polish...

and a princess sash!

They did a great job making all of the girls look like princesses for the day.

And she did a great job acting like a princess for the day!

Our LA Trip

2010-11-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Since I am in sunny Florida for work this week, I will have little to no time to update the blog. However, I am going to reflect back on our family trip to California in January since I have not done that yet.

Back in January, Shawn was sent to Los Angeles to attend a training session for work. He asked Heidi and me to come with for a long weekend.
I travel by myself a lot and that's fine. I travel with Shawn and Heidi about once a year, and that's fine too. But when I thought about Heidi and me exploring LA alone I got very anxious.

I did not want to pass up an opportunity to take Heidi to Disney but something about it being just the two of us made me lose sleep.

I twisted Shannon's arm and she came along for the ride.

This was Heidi's third airplane trip and every time she gets on a plane the first thing she does is review the safety card. She isn't called The Safety Queen for nothing! A few nights ago, we were watching TV when someone said "Safety first!" Heidi got a huge smile on her face and exclaimed "See, I am not the only one who says that!"

We arrived at LAX, picked up our rental car, and headed for the Sheraton Airport Hotel to begin our two and a half day vacation in Los Angeles. But first we need some sleep, tomorrow is Disneyland!

My Favorite Holiday!!

2010-11-29T07:00:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it's not about gifts and it has not been taken over by retail, it really is about family and good food. And I am all about family and good food!

Kristen and Taylor were the first to arrive. They like to hang out in the kitchen and visit with me while I cook. I love it! They are also willing to taste the food for a second opinion any time I ask.

Johannah loves Heidi's play room. Amazingly, with only two kids this year, the play room was clean after everyone left!

Spi-Heidi made a quick appearance early in the evening.

The food was pretty good. I tried a few new things this year. The Soul Sweet Potatoes from the PW website are a keeper but the Green Bean Casserole from the Progresso website was a total miss and will not be making a repeat appearance. I should have know better than to mess with a dish that normally yields no leftovers.

Pig loves any kind of family gathering. He takes position and waits for food to fall. We never have to worry about food getting stuck in the basement carpet with this guy around!

Briana really was enjoying herself, this is just her normal look :)

Or maybe she was just cold and needed to warm up by the fire.

I was very happy that Daisy came down to join the dinner. She is not feeling well right now and didn't even great the guests but when she heard that dinner was served she braved the basement steps.

Dad must have eaten to much turkey and passed out after dinner. (This is a family website, please ignore Justin on the right side of this picture. Jerk).

Terri's brother Dave joined us again. He always provides for the comic relief and this year, he had recently been in a car accident which, while a bit scary, made him even funnier. And Libby likes him too!

After everyone was full and the other kids left, Heidi and Terri put together a puzzle.

Shawn's mom was there too but she never made it in any pictures.

We cover our tables in butcher or construction paper and provide crayons for entertainment. There are always some good pictures in the end but they just end up on the trash. This year, Heidi cut out her favorites and decorated the hall for our party next weekend.

The main theme was the Hand Turkey.

Everyone does it a little differently.

But they were all so cute!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your friends and family and were able to enjoy a fantastic meal.

The Worst Roller Coaster of My Life

2010-11-26T16:49:00.001-06:00

It's been just over three months since Daisy started to limp. What a roller coaster we have been on.

Do you know how much I hate roller coasters?

Three months ago, Daisy was showing signs of being an old lady but otherwise healthy.

Then she started to limp followed by the diagnosis of Osteosarcoma and the removal of her left arm.

We have all adjusted very well and are halfway though her Chemo treatments.

We had been ticking up the roller coaster hill and then all of a sudden we dropped down the biggest hill since the beginning, into a dark tunnel.

I picked up Daisy from her third treatment on Wednesday evening. She was extra agitated in the van but I didn't think to much of it since the van is not a comfortable place for her. Traffic was bad and I had to run an errand so our ride home took almost a hour. She was pacing the entire time.

When we got home, she dove out of the car and ran into the back yard.

Then like normal, she crashed on the couch until dinner. At this point, we were not concerned.

But around 8 pm I noticed she was trembling so I cuddled up on the couch with her to see how she was doing. Over the next hour, she didn't get any better when all of a sudden she jumped up and ran into the kitchen. She was drooling so I took her outside and kept an eye on her. She didn't throw up but she wasn't doing well.

She came into the house where we noticed her mouth was swollen so we called the ER at the University. They told us to give her Benadryl or bring her in.

I gave her the Benadryl and lay on the floor with her for the next 30 minutes. She was still trembling so I called my brother to have him come stay with Heidi while we went to the Emergency Room.

I went to change out of my pajamas and pack up some stuff for our late night trip to the ER when I noticed that Daisy seemed to be just fine. Five minutes after asking my brother to come over, I called him back to tell him to stay home.

We decided to keep an eye on her until the morning but if she started trembling again we would take her in.

The next morning I talked to her Oncologist who told me she was having a reaction to the Chemo. They still want to go forward with her treatment in a few weeks. At that time she will have another set of chest x-rays, since we are at the midway point, and if they are clear she will get her Chemo. If the x-rays are not clear, then the treatment stops.

Ever since the reaction, she has not trembled again but her mouth is still a little saggy on the left side which cause water to drip out when she drinks and she is lethargic.

I think we have made it to the bottom of this hill and are about to start up the next one. That is unless I decide to jump off before the next treatment, take my dog, and go home. Which really seems to be a possibility at this point. Do I really want to put her through that again? Do I give her one more treatment and see if she reacts or do I stop now? It is a decision I don't want to make but one I will have to make very soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for:

My family
My friends
My health and the health of my family and friends
My dogs and cats
My house
My job

And many, many more trivial things.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. If you are here in the cities, please be safe. If you are traveling, please be extra safe.

And enjoy a second slice of pie. It is Thanksgiving after all!!

Thanksgiving Preparations

2010-11-24T07:00:00.002-06:00

Heidi asked me what is my favorite holiday. She has three: Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.

I have one. Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday since we purchased our first house and started hosting both sides of the family for dinner. It started out as a way to be able to spend the holiday with both sides and avoid the every other year or two dinner fiasco lots of families have to deal with.

I have very fond memories of holidays with my extended families as a child. But I also remember the drama that came with where to be when and coordination of schedules for people who might have to work on the holiday.

We moved in to our Minneapolis house during the month of September, 2000 and hosted our first dinner that November. I, being the control freak that I am, was sold on being able to set all the details myself. And in the end, I am pretty sure everyone was happy.

Our first few Thanksgivings included my family, Shawn's family, and a few friends who didn't have a place to go. Every year, our guest list changes. We have different friends, or no friends. We have all of Shawn's family, or part of it. But everyone knows, if they don't make it for dinner because they are seeing their other side of the family, there are no hard feelings and they will be welcome back next year.

That, after all, is the spirit of the holiday.

This year will be our smallest group by far but I think we will be enjoying the best food by far.

Our Thanksgiving has evolved from a pot luck to a meal made mostly from boxes to a few "from scratch" items to this years all home made dinner. I am so very excited!

I have been planning this menu for weeks. Searching for the best recipes, balancing vegetable dishes with starch dishes.

I finalized the menu over the weekend and completed all my shopping on Monday.

This is what we are having:
Turkey - Fresh!!
Ham
Mashed Potatoes
Soul Sweet Potatoes
Brown Sugar Carrots
Green Bean Casserole
Stuffing
Gravy
Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce
Honey Wheat Bread

I baked my bread for the stuffing and to serve on Tuesday.

Today I will be doing as much prep work as possible to make Thursday easy.

I need to prep the turkey and get it in the fridge. Making room in the fridge is going to be the hardest part of this task. I am using my first ever Fresh turkey and I am super excited about this! I am going to rub it with garlic, dry mustard, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon. Then I am going to put the neck and gizzards until the turkey rack with 2 cups of water, one onion cut in half, and two lemons, also cut in half. In the end of the turkey, I will also put sage, rosemary, and thyme in the end of the turkey. This will make for flavorful drippings for the gravy!

I am also going to make the cranberry sauce today giving it a full day to set up so it's not soupy.

I am beyond excited to make this meal for my loved ones. I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving with your loved ones!!

What's For Dinner? Potato Soup

2010-11-23T07:00:00.001-06:00

One thing Heidi will always eat is soup and a few weeks ago, we discovered that she really like Potato Soup. I went online to find a recipe and ended up combining the parts I liked from about four different sites. I ended up with some of the best potato soup I have ever had!

I made it about two weeks ago and then again over the weekend. This time, I doubled the recipe, put it in storage containers, and froze it for easy lunches.

A quick note about the pictures below - first, these were taken when I doubled the recipe but I am giving directions for a single batch. A single batch will make about 6 to 8 one cup servings, the double batch made 16 one cup servings, which I froze in two cup servings because we are hearty eaters! Second, this is my first post with the new camera. I am still figuring it out but I am already amazing at the improvement in the pictures!

That's enough rambling, let's get started!

Here's what you need:
6 Slices Bacon, Diced
1/2 Medium Onion, Diced
2 Garlic Cloves, Diced (or more if you are really into garlic)
2 Cups Chopped or Shredded Carrots or 2 Whole Carrots, Chopped
6 Whole White Potatoes, Peeled and Chopped into 1 inch cubes
1/2 Cup Instant Mashed Potatoes
1 Cup Milk or Half and Half or a combination of both
32 Ounces Chicken Broth

For all of the items above, if you are doubling the recipe just use twice as much, with the exception of the Chicken Broth. I would use 32 Ounces of Chicken Broth and 32 Ounces of Water but any combination totaling 64 Ounces will work, it's totally up to you!

Diced or slice the bacon.

Dice the onion.

And dice the garlic. Please ignore that scrap of peel in the pile, I did pull it out before tossing in the pot. And while you are at it, ignore that beat up chopping board.

Let me tell you, this chopping board may look worse for wear but it is that best thing I have even owned. I purchased it from Pampered Chef a number of years ago, with most of my kitchen gear. But the reason I love this particular chopping board are the rubber edges that keep it from sliding around my counter. It's the best and I highly recommend it.

Toss the bacon in a stock pot and saute.

After the bacon has produced a bit of grease, toss in the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent and the bacon is cooked through.

Remove the bacon, onions, and garlic from the pot and put on a plate.

I could just eat this plate of bacon, onion, and garlic and be done with it. Try not to do that...

Add chicken broth to the now empty pot and bring to a boil. Did you notice the broth is missing from the picture above? Yep, it is. I don't know where it ran off to at picture time. Some day, I will get it right but no promises!

Wash, peel, and slice the potatoes into about 1 inch chunks. If you are not a pro with the knife, just do your best to get the chunks to be about the same size so they cook evenly. The smaller they are, the faster they cook.

Throw the bacon, onions, and garlic back in the pot and bring to a boil.

Add the potatoes. If you are just not able to wait until the broth boils and you dump in your potatoes early, I will not tell anyone.

Add the carrots. I cheated and used shredded carrots from a bag. Use whatever you want but again, uniform slices are the key.

Mix it up really good and bring to a boil.

If you have a helper hanging around, have her put the potato scraps in the compost bowl.

When the pot is bubbling pour in the mashed potato flakes. This will help the soup be thick in the end. I know it sounds weird but trust me.

Just trust me.

Reduce to Medium heat and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring from the bottom every 5 minutes or so.

When the potatoes start to get soft, mash with a potato masher. You could use an immersion blender or a food processor as well but the potato masher will give a nice, lumpy consistency.

It will get thicker and thicker. After about 30 minutes it will be really thick. That's when you add the milk. (Not pictured because it's just to much for me to remember that I am supposed to be taking pictures every step of the way!)

And maybe some pepper. Taste it. Do you like your potato soup peppery? I do!

At this point, you could serve it in soup bowls, topped with more bacon, cheese, sour cream, more pepper, whatever floats your boat. Or, you can let it cool and scoop servings into gladware containers and freeze for later use.

What ever you do, give this a try. It is YUMMY! I promise!! If you make alterations, and please do, post a comment and let me know what you did!

Afraid To Cook!

2010-11-22T07:00:00.002-06:00

Have you ever been afraid to cook? I am not talking about being jun shy in the kitchen, I am talking about using a method or a tool that really made you really scared? Adrenaline pumping, sweat poring, heart beating, scared?

I have. Twice.

The first time was about eight years ago. I was not overly confident in the kitchen but for some reason I decided to attempt to make homemade onion rings. What possessed me to get a pan of oil frying when I had no clue what I was doing is beyond me.

The pan went up in flames and I freaked out. I mean really freaked out. I did everything they tell you not to do. I smothered the pan with the lid and then removed the lid to "check on it" only to have the flames get all excited by the new oxygen and triple in size.

I am lucky my brother was there to take control of the situation. I lost a very expensive pan but my kitchen came out just fine and the fire department did not have to be called.

The second time was just the other night. My new camera had arrived that afternoon and I had spent way to much time playing with it and not deciding what to make for dinner. Before I knew it, it was almost 6 pm and I hadn't even thought about making dinner.

I started to dig through the freezer and found two almost empty bags of Chicken Nuggets. Well, that will work, I thought as I dumped them on a cookie sheet.

Now, what to have with the nuggets? How about some fries? I was plum out of Orieda but there are plenty of potatoes in the pantry. But do I have time to slice them and cook them before Shawn and Heidi are back from dance?

Hmmm...

Wait! Great idea! Dig out the Mandolin. My cooking teacher told me I just HAD to have a mandolin so I picked on up last winter. I took it out of the box, noticed how incredibly sharp the blades are, and that was about the end of my relationship with the mandolin.

Until now. I dug that thing out, I washed it up, I installed the blades that were labeled fries, and started to slice that potatoes.

After the first slice of the potato, I noticed my heart was racing.

A few more slices and I am clenching my jaw.

One potato down and I am starting to shake.

And then this happened.

Man, was I glad it just took off my nail and not the tip of my finger!

To this day, I have never attempted to make onion rings. As of right now, I have no desire to use that stupid mandolin again. I want to keep my fingers. Thank you very much.

A Couple Of Goofballs

2010-11-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

I'm in the kitchen preparing dinner when I hear: Mom, mom!! Take a picture of this!!

I turn around and this is happening.

What's for Dinner? Caesar Pork Steaks (Chops)

2010-11-18T07:00:00.002-06:00

I realize this a bit nontraditional but trust me when I say it's good. It's a fun change to your typical pork chop or pork steak.

Here's what you need:
Pork Chops or Pork Steaks
Flour
Caesar Dressing (I like Kraft)
Parmesan Cheese (not pictured)

Put about 1/4 cup flour in a wide, flat dish. Dredge your pork chops or pork steaks in the flour, both sides.

Move the pork steak to another dish and cover with a thin layer of Caesar dressing.

I use a brush to evenly spread the dressing over the pork steak, cover both sides and the edges.

Place the pork steaks in a baking dish and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese. If you are me, this is the point where you frantically look around the house for the Parmesan cheese you just picked up at Super Target. You can't find it anywhere. Then you remember the bag of Christmas presents you already hid in the back of the closet and realize it's in there. Thankfully you have only been home from Target for 15 minutes so the cheese is fine. The next morning when you are in a rush to get your kid to school and cannot find your wallet, you realize it's in that same bag in the closet and you have to shake a 5 year old from your side to sneak back into that closet, into that tightly tied bag, before she notices what you are up too.

Oh, sorry. Where were we? Oh, yes. Pork Steaks.

Ok, so you have them covered in the cheese, now bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Now, try to tell me that does not look so very yummy! Try it next time you make pork chops or pork steaks. Please promise me. Then come back here and tell me what how much you loved them!

How Our Family Rolls

2010-11-17T07:00:00.002-06:00

We went as a family to vote. Heidi announced to all of the people around me who I picked for Governor. Thanks, Heidi.

I opted to park on the street instead of in the parking lot. This meant that on the way in we had to hike up the hill.

On the way out, there were other options.

No worries about her rolling so fast she ends up in the street. She rolled slowly and sideways. It took three tries for her to make it almost to the bottom.

But she had a good time doing it and that's how we roll!

What's for Dinner? The Perfect Baked Potato

2010-11-16T07:00:00.002-06:00

I have always been a bit intimidated by baked potatoes. I really have no idea why, I guess it's just one of my weird little things.

I decided to give baked potatoes a try and found it to be a very easy process. I reviewed a few tips online, put them together, and what I came up with was the perfect baked potato.

Here's what you need:
Baking Potatoes - one per person
Olive Oil
Sea Salt or any other coarse salt

Wash the potatoes and stab with a fork taking care to put holes all over the potato. This allows for air to move through the potato aiding in cooking all the way through.

Pour some olive oil in a dish. Roll potato in the olive oil until evenly coated.

Put the Sea Salt in a dish. Roll the potato in the dish until covered in salt.

Place on a baking sheet. Do not wrap the potatoes in tin foil. Foil will make the potato skin soggy.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 90 minutes. To check for doneness, stab one of the potatoes with a fork. If it slides right though, it's done. If not, bake for another 10 minutes and check again.

When you remove the potatoes from the oven, let them sit for a couple of minutes. The skin will be crispy and salty. The inside will be fluffy. Slice the potato down the middle and squeeze the sides to open.

Top with whatever you would like. I like butter, cheese, and bacon. Shawn likes the same plus sour cream.

These were, hands down, the best baked potatoes I have ever made.

Ootapillar

2010-11-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

In the car on the way to school one day Heidi asked me why Dairy Queen was not called Daisy Queen. I told her that the people who own it like the name Dairy Queen. She said that if she owned it she would change the name to Daisy Queen because that's just a better name.

I told her that if she ever owns a restaurant she could call it what ever she wants. Her plan is to become a Math and Science teacher who owns a restaurant called Daisy Queen.

Being that she wants to be a teacher, she enjoys playing teacher at home.

One night, as we were going through everything that came home in her back pack that evening, she took the opportunity to teach us some Spanish. It went something like this.

Heidi: Monkey is Mono. Say it like this "Mo No"

Us: Mo No.

Heidi: Hand is Mano. Say it like this "Ma No"

Us: Ma No

Me: Monkey and Hand are to similar, that's confusing. They can't be that close and mean different things.

Shawn: English is like that too. Map, mop.

Me: Oh, I see. (this might be a long road for me...)

The lesson continues with Heidi having us repeat more words Spanish words.

I notice she has skipped one on the O page.

Me: Heidi. You skipped Caterpillar. How do you say that?

Heidi: I don't know.

Shawn: I do. It's Ootapillar. Did you know we were going to name you Ootapillar? It was between Heidi and Ootapillar for a long time. We didn't decided until you were born and looked more like a Heidi than an Ootapillar.

Me: (laughing uncontrollably) Yep! It's true!

Heidi: No! No it's not!

Me: (crying) it's okay Ootapillar. Let's just keep going with this page.

Heidi: Please stop calling me Ootapillar. That can't be true.

Shawn: Okay. We will stop. Let's do this page now. Ootapillar, I mean Heidi.

Me: (snort!)

Heidi: (sigh) Okay. This is Elephante, Elephant.

She really needs to get use to our sense of humor if she is going to continue to live here.

2010-11-12T07:00:00.002-06:00

Saturday was Heidi's last day of Gymnastics for the fall session. She is in the community program and really seems to enjoy it.

Parents are not allowed to watch practice because it is distracting to the girls. They invite us to watch the entire practice on the last day to show off what they have been working on.

Heidi is in the back row on the left side of this picture. She is wearing black pants, a white shirt, and has her forehead on the ground.

They did every exercise they would do during a normal class. Here are the bridges will all hands on the ground, then one leg up followed by one arm up. This is the beginner class so there was a lot of tipping over!

Since Heidi is super bendy, flexy girl she has no trouble with her splits. They have moved her over to the mats for a challenge. She hates it because it hurts! :)

On the floor they showed their handstands, cartwheels, and rolls.

After floor exercises, they did the vault. I am in desperate need of a new camera, none of the vault pictures turned out at all!

Then came the bars but first, chalk up!

Each girl got a turn doing a flip on the bar and then practice bunny hops and tip toes on the low and high beams.

The big finish was jumping in the pit.

After class Heidi posed for one last picture on the bar to hold her over until next session in the spring. She will have to spend the winter doing cartwheels and handstands in the living room.

What's For Dinner? Meat Loaf

2010-11-11T07:24:00.002-06:00

I don't remember eating meat loaf much as a child. Maybe my dad will correct me when he reads this. But when Shawn and I were first married, he suggested that we have meat loaf and for some reason, it made me nervous.

For many years, I insisted that if we were going to have meat loaf, he would have to make it. And he did.

When I realized how much I like meat loaf, I would ask Shawn to make meat loaf on nights when I did not want to cook.

We have been working together for the last few years on our favorite meat loaf. That's what I will be showing you today.

Here's what you need:
1 pound of ground beef
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion, diced (I don't buy small onions so I use about 1/2 a large onion)
2 slices of bread (I like to use the heal of the loaf)
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry ground mustard
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg
ketchup, salsa, or BBQ sauce

Put ground beef, garlic, and onion in a large bowl and mix.

Tear up the bread and mix in with the beef.

Add Worcestershire, salt, ground mustard, pepper, milk, and egg to the meat mixture and combine. You can use a large spoon or remove your rings and dig right in. Either way works just fine.

Place in a bread pan. If you don't have a bread pan, any 8 x 8 pan would work.

Place in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, uncovered. Remove from oven, top with ketchup, and place back in oven for 10 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes.

Trust me, it's very Yummy!

Do you like meat loaf? Are you going to try mine? :)

Target Clinic

2010-11-10T07:00:00.002-06:00

When I come across something that I really like, I love to tell people about it and I recently discovered something I REALLY like.

Have you ever been to a Target Clinic?

I had not. But I am totally fed up with how much we have to pay to go to the Urgent Care are our family clinic so last week when Heidi was sick I needed to find something new.

First, let me tell you that an office visit at my clinic costs about $140. Labs are about $40. My insurance only covers Urgent Care once you have hit your deductible but for a healthy family, this probably will never happen. My insurance does give me a discount but it amounts to less than $15 off the total bill. Meaning that I will end up paying almost $200 to see urgent care for a cold.

It was Sunday night and Heidi was pretty sick. Not so sick that she needed to go to the ER but sick enough that we knew she was going to have to see a doctor in the morning.

Shawn was online preparing to take Monday off work so I had him see where our closet Target Clinic was located.

I had heard of Target Clinic and knew it was like the old Minute Clinics that don't seem to be around any more. I love Target and it had to be cheaper so what the heck, let's give it a try!

Turns out there is one in our local Super Target just 5 miles away. It opened at 9 am and a strep test would cost an estimated $60. SOLD!

Shawn and Heidi headed for Super Target at 8:30 the next morning. They had no trouble at all. They gave our insurance card to the receptionist and saw the doctor very quickly.

They were pleased with how nice the doctor was. She even let Shawn look in Heidi's mouth so he could see what strep looked like.

She was diagnosed with Strep, a Scarlet Fever Rash, and an ear infection. They did not pay anything and headed over to the pharmacy to pick up her antibiotics.

I received the explanation of benefits within 4 days. My clinic typically takes 3 to 5 weeks to submit to the insurance company.

The cost of the office visit was $59. The lab was $10. I did not get a discount or any coverage from my insurance but my total bill will be $69. Not $214 like I paid last time she had a cold.

So, what I am saying here is, insurance or not, you can't beat $69 for great customer service, good health care, and convenience.

We will be back. No more urgent care for us.

What's for Dinner? Beef and Mushroom Gravy with Rice

2010-11-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

When Shawn and I were first dating, a meal his mom would often make was Hamburger with Gravy over Mashed Potatoes.

While it is still one of Shawn's favorites, I never think to make it. The other night I had some hamburger that needed to be cooked and I was racking my brain for something to make. I didn't have the time or the energy to make a meatloaf, we didn't have buns for hamburgers, I was not in the mood for Hamburger Helper...

But I did have a jar of beef gravy that I pick up on sale that week. And we did have some instant rice in the pantry. And those mushrooms would need to be used in the next few days... This is what I came up with.

This is a quick and easy dinner that can be expanded to feed as many as necessary. That's what I love about it!

What you need:
Hamburger - 1 to 2 pounds, depending on how many people you are feeding. 1 pound will probably make about 4 adult sized portions.
1 medium yellow onion, diced - I used half a large onion because that's what I had on hand.
8 oz package baby bella mushrooms (optional)
1 large bell pepper, diced - I did not add this because I didn't have it in the house but it would have been a great addition.
Beef gravy - 1 jar. Homemade works too!
White Rice or Mashed Potatoes - 1 serving per adult to feed
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown the hamburger and onions together. Drain most of the grease. Push the hamburger to the side and brown the mushrooms.

Stir mushrooms into the hamburger. Add gravy. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Add the cooked rice to the mixture or serve the hamburger gravy over the rice or potatoes on a plate.

I like to stir the rice in to the gravy. If I use mashed potatoes then I spoon it over the top of the potatoes.

Serve with a side salad and some nice crusty bread. Enjoy!!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

Shawn and Heidi spent the entire month of October planning how to decorate the yard for Halloween.

The Saturday before Halloween, they spent the afternoon setting everything up. Grandma and Grandpa gifted the large headstone. Shawn and Heidi made the two smaller one.

Johannah came over to help too! She even swept my sidewalk!

Daisy enjoyed some driveway time. But that was short lived because even though she is down a leg, she is still very fast. I worried she would hop away.

Pig, on the other hand, knows he would simply die 4 minutes after being lost from his daddy and his couch, so we trust him a bit more. He played in the planter box under the bird feeder for a while then spent the next 30 minutes marking every inch of the lawn.

The girls stuffed this shirt to make Frankenstein's Monster

who turned out to be pretty cool. I wonder where his legs ran off too... (haha, ran off too...)

Before Old Hopscotch was banished to the house, she checked out the Spider and Heidi's gravestone. We talked about painting one to say "Here Lies Daisy's Fourth Leg" but I thought that was too sad. So, we went with Heidi and Jo instead.

The yard looked great! They put strobe lights out to light up the little grave yard which we hope to add to each year. We also had our Pumpkins lining the steps, little ghosts along the sidewalk, a skeleton and Frankenstein hanging from the eves by the door, and a spider and bat that dropped on fish line when kids approached the door.

Heidi and Shawn had a blast scaring kids as they came to our house and we look forward to next year because we already have new things to add.

The only bummer was Heidi woke up on Halloween morning not feeling well so we only went to about 10 houses for Trick or Treating. That's how you know a kid is sick! She went to the Doctor on Monday morning where we learned she had strep, an ear infection, and a Scarlet fever rash (which is common with strep).

They still enjoyed their Halloween and we have plenty of candy to show for it!

A Zombie Flower Girl Photoshoot

2010-11-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

Because I don't like to fight with Heidi about her clothes, because she is so incredibly picky, and because it's good to let them be their own person, for the last two years, Heidi has picked out her own Halloween costume.

Last year she found one in a catalogue. I was not happy with the price but I ordered it anyway. If she picked it, I could be certain she would not change her mind on the night before Halloween.

This year, she wanted to reuse many pieces of last years costume (good job, girl!!) and reuse her flower girl dress from a wedding she was in over the summer (two thumbs up!!) to become a Zombie Flower Girl.

She was the scariest Zombie Flower Girl I have ever seen in my entire life.

Though I applied her makeup, she designed the look. This costume is all her. And so is this photo shoot.

I can't wait to see what she comes up with for next year!

What's for Dinner? PW's Apple Dumplings

2010-11-04T07:00:00.035-05:00

Oh, my. These super easy Apple Dumplings are to die for. They are so yummy and so bad for you, they way all desserts should be!

I found them over on my favorite site, The Pioneer Woman. She is the best!

It's fall and I am loving all things apple and pumpkin. I hope we get apples on our tree next year because I am buying apples by the bushel full every week.

I also love cooking with my little helper. She is the best helper I could ask for, even if she puts her dirty socks on the work surface. She is so cute, I will forgive her!

Here's what you need:
1 5-year-old helper (optional but this is so simple, she could have done the entire thing herself!)
2 whole Granny Smith Apples
2 cans Crescent Rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon, to taste
1 can Mountain Dew or Mellow Yellow

Peel and slice the apples. I don't like to peel anything so Shawn did this step. And I used my apple slicer to make the slicing extra easy.

Roll one apple slice in each crescent triangle.

The little helper was the apple roller. She did a great job!

Place them in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Melt butter, add sugar and stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples.

Pour Mountain Dew or Mellow Yellow around the edges of the pan.

Cover with Cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with ice cream for that hot/cold contrast. Make sure to add the sauce over the ice cream (which I did not do until after I took the below picture.)

We had my parents over for dinner a few weeks ago and served this for dessert. I prepared it all the way up to adding the soda before we went swimming. When we returned and were just about to sit down for dinner, I finished putting it together and tossed it into the oven. It was perfect!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Major shout out to Ree for another winner.

Pumpkin Carving Festivities

2010-11-03T07:00:00.004-05:00

Halloween has become a favorite holiday in our house. We start celebrating in early October with trips to pumpkin patches and apple orchards and continue on to decorating as the big day approaches. We attended a party at dance, a party at school, a party at the community center, and got dressed up to scare the kids when they came to the house.

To help us celebrate, Grandma came over to help carve pumpkins.

I didn't realize my flash wasn't on so the early pictures are really dark.

I think this was the first year Heidi actually put her hand in the pumpkin without getting completely grossed out. She still let Grandma and the rest of the adults do most of the gutting.

She was much more into the carving! This was the first year she was strong enough to wield that little safety knife.

And man, did she enjoy it!

The finished product. The one on the left is Shawn's. Grandma and Heidi made the middle two, Heidi was the designer. And mine is the one on the far right. I was please with how it turned out but I didn't know how to make the nose, so Heidi did that part!

I read in some random magazine, probably Rachel Ray, that if you put Cinnamon on the wounds the pumpkin will last longer. We tried that on a few but I don't think it really worked. But they did smell good when we lit them!

What's For Dinner? Skillet Corn Bread

2010-11-02T07:00:00.002-05:00

I love corn bread but being from Minnesota, I want my corn bread to be sweet. This is not one of those recipes but is was still pretty good.

I borrowed it from my favorite website, The Pioneer Woman.

Skillet Corn Bread

Here's a picture of what you need but link over to PW to get the exacts!

Does you flour bag fall apart as quickly as mine do? I have taken to putting it in a gallon zip lock bag as soon as I open it because I am sick of having flour all over my cabinet.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.

Measure the buttermilk and milk in a cup. Add an egg and stir with a fork. Add baking soda and stir.

Pour the milk mix into the dry and stir with a fork until combined. Add the melted shortening to the batter and stir.

PW melts some shortening in a skillet. I cooked some bacon instead. I liked the bacon flavor that was added to the corn bread.

Slowly add the batter to the hot skillet. It will sizzle a bit.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Doesn't it look good?

I cut the bread into slices because that is how Ree did it. But after I cut it I immediately wished I had cut it like a pizza.

Like I said, it was not sweet at all. Adding a bit of sugar may have worked but I wanted to try this the way Ree wrote it.

Serve it with some chili on a cool Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!

What's For Dinner? Creamy Mashed Potates

2010-10-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

I much prefer homemade mashed potatoes to boxed and they really don't take much effort. This recipe is a bit more complex than what I would do pre-kitchen aid mixer but with the help of my little red friend, they were done in no time.

The trick is to slice your potatoes in a uniform size but keep them rather small. They will boil faster. Also, the nutrients from a potato are in the skin so I keep them on. Keep the nutrients and save the time with the peeler.
Another little time saver, red potatoes do not hold as much dirt as brown ones so they are faster to wash.

Start with about 6 medium sized red potatoes. I think that a good rule of thumb is one medium potato equals one serving. But that's just my guideline, if you like huge piles of potatoes, by all means, make more!

Slice the potatoes into uniform sized chunks, throw in a pot, and cover with water. Place them on the stove and boil until tender. They will take anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes depending on how big your slices are, what temperature water you add to the pot, and how many potatoes you use.

Just stab the potatoes with a fork every so often. If the fork slide though easily, they are done.

Throw them in a mixer bowl and use either the kitchen aid or a hand mixer with the flat paddle.

Mix for about 1 minute low-medium. The potatoes will be pretty smooth.

Add 1/2 cup milk. This can be heated or not. Mashed potatoes lose their heat quickly so heating the milk will help keep them warm.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and mix until well blended.

Now, you can keep mixing until they are really smooth or stop when they are still a bit lumpy. What ever gets you going.

Serve with anything. Anything at all.

Now, if you want to have Garlic Mashed Potatoes, you can add a few crushed garlic cloves to the potatoes when they are boiling. Taste them before you add the salt. If you want more garlic, just trade the salt for garlic salt.

For cheesy potatoes, simply toss in your favorite cheese. It's best to do this when the potatoes are still pretty hot so the cheese melts. Keep tasting and adding cheese until they are up to your YUM standards.

You could also throw in some sour cream and chives!

Give them a try!!

Daisy's Second Chemo Day

2010-10-28T07:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Daisy's second chemo day.

Since her first chemo day, 21 days ago, she has been her normal self.

She continues to enjoy laying in the yard or on the couch. She is back to sleeping in the bed full time. She is eating anything put in front of her.

Ten days after treatment she has to have her blood level checked. Everything came back good except her platelets were slightly low. I talked to the oncologist and she was not concerned at all.

Yesterday, at 5 am, she made her way back to the University for her second treatment. She still loves car rides, even if they are a bit more difficult for her. It's hard for her to keep her balance on the seat.

I picked her up at 5 pm. As always, they commented on how sweet she is and how much they just love her.

They also commented on how well she gets around. Everyone, even the people at the University, are all still amazed at how she has adapted to her tripawd status.

Lastly, they told me that she threw up again. As soon as they administered the Chemo drugs, she threw up.

No one is concerned about her throwing up adversely effecting her treatment and she is not throwing up at home at all. For her next treatment, we are going to give her some anti-nausea medication the night before to see if that helps.

But the good news is, she will be the first documented dog to receive this medication and throw up. That's something to be proud of!

We continue to be very happy with the staff at the University as well as Daisy's laid back, just go with it, attitude.

What's For Dinner? Lemon-Herb Roast Chicken with Pan Gravy

2010-10-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

I love cooking a whole chicken. It really is not that difficult and a whole chicken is the cheapest way to buy chicken.

I found this recipe on Campbell's Kitchen a few weeks back and we really liked it. I want to point out that we don't like everything, I just don't post the recipe when it totally flops, which happens every once in awhile. And I am slightly risk adverse when I pick recipes. There have been many times when I pick something that is outside my comfort zone, purchase all the ingredients, and then spend weeks talking myself into actually making it. Every time this has happened dinner turns out to be fantastic.

This is not one of those recipes but it is pretty good.

Here we go.

This is what you need:
1 lemon
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves or 1 tsp dried rosemary leaves (I used dry)
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves (I used dry)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 roasting chicken (5 to 7 pounds)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup water

Roast the chicken in a preheated 325 degree oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the gravy.

Zest the lemon to get about 1 and 1/4 teaspoon of zest. I found that this is basically half of the lemon. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice out, this will be about 1 tablespoon. Put both the zest and lemon juice in a medium bowl. I used my Large batter bowl because its my favorite.

Add soup, rosemary, thyme and garlic and stir.

Remove the chicken from the oven and baste with the soup mixture. Make sure to save at least 1 cup of the soup mixture for the gravy. Roasting the chicken before applying the soup mix will give the skin a nice crisp which really makes the chicken very yummy.

Return the chicken to the oven, uncovered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and put in a warm plate.

Place the roasting pan on the stove top over medium/high heat. Spoon out the excess fat so the gravy isn't to greasy. Add the wine and water to the pan. Scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil.

Slice the chicken and serve with the gravy. Try it. You will not be sorry.

No Stray Socks Here

2010-10-26T07:00:00.004-05:00

I have had this dream for many years. Maybe it has been my entire adult life. And for a few hours last night, that dream had come true. I was so proud, so happy to have finally reached my dream.

For a few hours last night every towel, every piece of clothing that was not attached to someones person, was clean, folded, and put away!

I honestly do not remember that last time I was able to say that. Or even, if I ever have been able to say that! There is always that one stray sock, that one washcloth in the tub, that one towel in the kitchen, that has always held me back.

But last night, for a matter of a couple of hours, every thing was not only clean but put away. This means that for an entire week, every time I am asked "where are my (pants, hoodie, socks, tights...)" I can confidently say "everything was put way as of Monday night. Did you check the (drawer, closet, cubbie)?"

How did I do this, you ask? Well, it was not easy. My final load of laundry was a total cheater load consisting of the following:

1 green t-shirt

1 Twins shirt
1 pair of striped knee high socks
1 pair of hockey socks
1 hockey undershirt
1 Dishcloth
2 Washcloths
3 flour sack towels
1 pair of Hockey tights
1 pair of running pants
1 bath towel
1 pink Rock Star shirt
2 hoddies, 1 pink, 1 blue
1 long sleeved green shirt
A few random socks
1 black undershirt
1 small black skirt

I had to distract my self completely while this load was being tossed in the washer but somehow I found the strength. I hope my achievement of this dream has inspired some of you out there to reach for the stars!

The Rock Star Climbs A Wall

2010-10-25T07:00:00.003-05:00

A few weeks back when we went to the Target Book Fair, our girl climbed her first rock wall. She was about 2 pounds lighter than the counter weight so it was hard for her to get the hang of it. She did decide that she liked climbing and wanted to try again.

On Sunday, we went out to breakfast with my parents at a place near an REI. After we finished eating we headed over to REI for a quick climb.

I was pleased to learn that one climb cost $10 but a membership for the family for life cost $20. With the membership, everyone in the family climbs for free any time they want.

Everyone who climbs borrows climbing shoes. Aren't they cute? They have some kind of metal weights or something in them. I am not even going to pretend I know about climbing!

Her guide was a man and she didn't seem to mind to much as he strapped her into her harness. She looks so excited.

They give a little demo before the first climb and continue to give tips to make all climbers better. Our guide was very good with kids.

Look at her go! She is about half way up the wall. It appears there are different difficultly levels on each side of the rock. We stayed on the front.

Don't look down!! She made it half way when the guide called up something about keeping her eye on her feet. She didn't hear him so she looked down to say "What?!"

Not a good idea! She saw how high up she was and totally psyched her self out.

She repelled down like a pro to end her climb.

We are all looking forward to the next time we go out for a climb. Maybe the entire family will get on the wall. Well, maybe everyone but me...