Meetings

My meetings have started to pick up again. SAFY is back into final prep stages for our golf tournament and we are looking for sponsors, about to start sending out emails, mailing brochures and such. If you are interested in playing…please let me know! Or donating for that matter…sponsorships start at $100. Last year Ryan and I bought a hole and put “In memory of Ruth Worlow” on it. I took several pictures of it on tournament day. Anywho, Komen Race for the Cure is up and running as well. I’m volunteer co-chair again and have recruited Rosalyn to be on the committee too :o) We found out at our meeting that the race is on the same day as the Texas/OU game this year…great…traffic I am sure will be a nightmare…lucky for me, I’ll be out there at 3 in the morning and will miss most of that.

Baseball

As most of you know, Ryan and I have become quite the Rangers fans. We have bought a mini plan the past three seasons and thoroughly enjoy going to the games. In the past couple of weeks we have been lucky enough to go to two that have had pre game or post game concerts. The first was the Robert Earl Keen concert and the second was a Brandon Rhyder concert. Once again, whoever came up with that idea is brilliant. All these people in one place, ready to listen, and in May, the weather is perfect for it. We are going again this Sunday and excited. We aren’t sitting in our normal seats. These are on the second level in the outfield…full on sun…high is supposed to be 90 on Sunday…I think that really means it’s going to get up to 97. Guess we’ll see. I plan on wearing a tank top and shorts in hopes of getting a base tan before we head off to Hawaii!

Mother's Day

So on Mother’s Day (aka May 10th, our sixth wedding anniversary, and Wesley Huhn’s 3rd birthday) we woke up and ate a light breakfast at the coffee bar at the Hyatt. Loaded up the convertible, and headed to Arlington. It was a very peaceful morning. We picked up my mom at her house and headed off to Pappasito’s. Thankfully we had made a reservation. Lots and lots of folks there. They had created a little kids play area near the front doors…with a clown, sandbox, bubbles, jump ropes and hula hoops. Someone really was thinking! Matt, Trisha and the boys got there soon after we did and we all had a wonderful lunch. Afterward, we went over to mom’s and visited and enjoyed each other’s company. About four o’clock, we left and headed over to Larry and Rita’s to drop off their car. For Rita’s mother’s day gift, we bought her cobalt blue glasses from Crate and Barrel. We set her table with them, put them in her cupboard and headed back to Irving (Larry and Rita were at Krystal and Howard’s for Wesley’s birthday). It was such a wonderful, peaceful day.

Six Years!!!

Ryan and I had a very fun anniversary. Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to Arlington for me to get a manicure and pedicure (thanks to a gift certificate my mom gave me at Christmas!). Afterward, we stopped by Larry and Rita’s and changed out the Nissan for their Toyota Solara convertible :o) Then we ate lunch at Birraporetti’s. I had forgotten how much I love their ceasar salad and their bread with garlic butter! Yummy! Afterward we decided to walk over to get my wedding ring checked and cleaned. On our way we had to stop by Petland. Okay, for all you folks who have been trying to convince us to get a dog, we finally agreed on one. The cutest little Yorkie Poodle. They put us in this little enclosed area and let us play with him for about fifteen minutes. He was only 8 weeks old, black and a little brown on him. Absolutely adorable. And they are supposed to be one of the best dogs you can get if you have allergies. We found out how much he cost, then gave him back and walked on down to the jeweler promising each other sometime in the next year or so, we would go get ourselves a yorkie poodle. So as we walked into Village Jewelers, I kinda started itching around my neck and face (where I’d held the dog of course). I had an issue with some new face soap about a week ago so my skin was already aggravated enough. They took my ring and told us it would be about ten minutes so we went next door to Celebrity Bakery for some dessert. By the time we got to the counter, I felt hot and miserably itchy. Went into the bathroom and saw I’d broken out into a raised rash. Immediately washed as best I could then got a few paper towels cold and put them on it. I usually keep Benedryl in my purse, but of course was out. I patiently was trying to wait for Ryan to finish his strawberry (but didn’t really taste like strawberry at all…we are spoiled rotten to Sprinkles now) cake. By the time we got back to the car with my ring, my skin had finally calmed down and we were able to drive all the way home without having to stop for some anti-itch cream. We got home, packed our bags quickly and headed right back off to do a bit of shopping and go check into our hotel. We took the back roads instead of the highway since we had the convertible. First stop, the St. Bernard Outlet. For those of you who have never heard of St. Bernard, it’s nice ski/sportswear stuff. This time of year they have lots and lots of flip flops. Ryan bought four pairs of Reef and North Face flip flops for only $5 a pair! Adam called while we were there and we picked him up a pair too! I found a pair of winter Merrell’s for $20! I bought the same exact pair in a different color at REI for $80 back in January. Ryan also bought a pair of sunglasses…not sure if they were on sale or not. When we looked at the receipt, it said at the bottom, “You have saved $167.59.” No joke! We were both extremely excited with our purchases. We stopped at a couple other little shops, then made our way to the hotel so we could get ready for dinner. As we were checking in the girl was making small talk with us. We were like, yeah it’s our sixth anniversary. She said congratulations then we went on about our way. 19th floor all the way on the end away from the elevators with a view overlooking downtown. Nice! Our reservation for Bob’s Steak and Chophouse was for 6:00 so I immediately jumped in the shower. We got to dinner right at 6:00. On the table was a large jar of pickles and peppers in a brine. Apparently a tradition at Bob’s, a little odd though. Then came the bread, salad, and then the steak. Oh….yummy!! I had the 9 oz Filet and Ryan had the 22 oz bone in ribeye. It was wonderful. I had garlic mashed potatoes. Ryan’s taters were cut into discs, fried, then covered with sautéed onions and a peppercorn gravy. They were wonderful as well. And for the first time…we didn’t have dessert after an anniversary dinner. Just too full. So we left and drove around the uptown area. Amazing how much more you see without the top on your car! Stopped and walked around a couple of shops, then headed back to the hotel about 9:00. We walked into our room and Ryan immediately was like whoa! On the dresser was a bottle of champagne and four chocolate (white and dark) covered strawberries along with a card drawn in highlighter and signed by Misty and the other person at the front desk. So anywho…here is our plug for the Hyatt at Reunion Tower…great customer service folks! We enjoyed a glass of champagne then went downstairs. They have a really long hall with tons of pictures arranged in a timeline of Dallas’ history. Spent about forty five minutes roaming around looking at that stuff then went back upstairs and enjoyed the rest of the champagne. We had a wonderful sixth anniversary!
Oh…sorry no pictures…forgot the camera…more about Mother’s day later this week…

So a few months ago before the time change, I used to get up every morning about 6:30 or 7:00, eat my cereal, drink my coffee and orange juice, watch the news then get ready for work. But since the time change (yes, I know how long ago it was) I have not been able to drag myself out of bed in the mornings! I have just been so lazy. So Sunday night before I went to bed, I laid out my clothes, got all the stuff I needed to get ready for work out, cereal on the table, programmed the coffee maker, and set my cell phone alarm to wake up bright and early. Only when the regular alarm went off, Ryan informed me I in fact had not reset my alarm. Up I jumped, ate as fast as I could (still convinced I was going to start eating my cereal at home every morning) got dressed and got to work on time. I had discovered I did not save the alarm time on my cell phone and that I had accidentally set the coffee maker time ahead two hours so my coffee while made, was cold already…I was stubborn enough that I stuck it in the microwave and took it to work with me anyway.
Last night I was convinced to get things done to make today easier. Again, set out my clothes, re-programmed the coffee maker and cell phone to the right times, we made our dinner for tonight, got to the grocery store, trash taken out, and some stuff for Hawaii too.
This morning went much more smoothly. My cell phone alarm went off like clockwork, snoozed once, got up, ate, drank my coffee on the couch while watching the news, then got dressed and was at work about fifteen minutes earlier than normal. I was so excited! Felt awake and in a good mood. About 11:15 I started getting hungry though so I went ahead and ate lunch. Then it hit me. So so sleepy. People joke about taking a George Costanza nap…well I’m not kidding, I just about did it. I have laid my blanket out in my cube before and done stretches when I have had a pulled muscle or something, is curling up underneath my desk really all that different? Or if it didn’t look so gloomy out, I had contemplated walking over to the car and taking a little snooze. Instead I checked out the weather, and read the local news. Oh well. Lunch break is over and I’m about to get back to work. One thing working for me is the air. The building has switched to summer mode so they have the AC on so it is plenty cool in the office.
Gearing up for storms tonight. I’m thankful for the rain that is for sure. Yard already looks better this year than it did all of last year combined.

Pie, me oh my, I love pie

When I got home from work, I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store so I just made do with what we had at the house to eat. Hmm…veggie drawer has three squash, five onions, lots of limes, a plum, some carrots. So I decided to make a squash casserole. Cut up the squash into discs, diced an onion and sautéed them in a large skillet with a tablespoon of butter till softened. Then got one can of cream of chile poblano soup, about a cup and a half of bread crumbs, and about a cup of cheese in a large bowl. Mixed all together with a bit of salt and pepper then baked in the oven at 350 for about fifteen minutes. Turned out pretty darn good. And was a lot easier than many recipes I’ve seen for squash casserole. The cream of chile poblano soup really added a nice flavor to it. Ryan and I both had seconds. Also found some pork chops we’d grilled a couple months ago. Defrosted those, and sliced them up for tacos/quesadillas. Not a half bad dinner for just making do with what you have on hand.
Anywho, while cleaning out the freezer, I found two pie crusts (yes Howard, store bought, I know...boo!) and some peaches I’d put up last summer from Fredericksburg. Also found several bags of frozen strawberries and cool whip. So I made a strawberry/peach pie and then was going to make an apple tart pie with a recipe I got from one of Aunt Roberta’s cookbooks. I just bought the apples at Kroger Monday night. Started cutting into them, and it looked like the seeds in the core had molded! It was disgusting. Even took them to Ryan and was like, “have you ever seen anything like this?.” So I threw out the apples, but, my cream cheese/powdered sugar base had already been whipped and crust cooked. Hmm…my fruit had already all been used. Off to the pantry. I found a package of vanilla pudding. Thought, it is worth a shot. So I made the vanilla pudding and stirred in some Pendry’s hot oil cinnamon. Then poured it over the top of the whipped cream cheese base. Tonight when we get home we will get to discover if the pies go into the trash. I’m concerned about the strawberry/peach pie tasting like freezer burn and the other one just being flat out bad. Guess we’ll see.
So happy today is Friday! Looking forward to the weekend for sure. It’s somebody’s birthday on Sunday…I wonder what she wants? Maybe someone will magically send me a text message or an email to let me know :o)

Much time and little to do…wait, strike that, reverse it

So last Thursday morning, the door bell rang promptly at 9:15. Two very nice gentlemen went straight out to the back and got to work removing our old Heat/AC unit. I started a roast for dinner then dozed off to sleep. Woke back up about 11 to another knock at the door. Sales/Paperwork guy. Got the paperwork signed off on, then politely asked how long he expected they would be there. “Oh till four or five.” Ah geez. I should’ve made it to Home Depot Wednesday night to buy all the supplies I needed to be productive painting/caulking, etc. Oh well…I’ll just have a lazy day. I took a few camera phone pictures throughout the day. But most of my time was spent on the couch watching what I am assuming was the second or third season of the Biggest Loser. All episodes back to back. The guys came in at two and announced they were going to grab lunch and would be back in about thirty minutes. Not long enough for me to get out and back on time. And I’m sure it would’ve been okay for me to leave while they were there since they were outside anyways, but still…just didn’t feel like it was a good idea. Anywho, they got back and finished up about fifteen minutes after five. Heat works, AC works, now have removable air filters, house is less dusty, and a programmable thermostat I know how to work. Yeah!!! Glad it is taken care of.

Last Saturday night Ryan and I were very excited to spend the evening with friends. Jennifer and Bryan came into town from Houston so a group of us all met at Melanie and Justin’s for a cookout. We had a wonderful time! Always so good to see our friends.

Sunday before they left, our group went to lunch. Melanie and Justin got to show off Aaron (their seven and a half month old son). He is adorable. Growing like a weed! We decided to go to Chili’s for a quick bite. Ryan had the honey chipotle chicken crispers, and I had this appetizer sampler thing with mini chicken crispers, southwestern egg rolls, and mini burger bites. We all split chips, queso, salsa, and ranch. Everything was wonderful and we came home and took a nap. I noticed yesterday as I ate my leftovers, things seemed very very greasy. So I looked up the nutrition information…only to find out we had each consumed over 100 grams of fat and 2000 calories on our entrees alone! That doesn’t include the large amount of chips, salsa, queso and ranch. Anywho, I highly encourage you to educate yourself about what you put in your body when out to eat. http://www.brinker.com/gr/nutritional/chilis_nutrition_menu.pdf
Many restaurants have it available online now too. Anyways…back to not obsessing over what is too late to change…

This week we have quite a fun week! Here is the first half…Marshall came over for dinner on Monday night and we all went to Mi Cocina. It had been a while since I’d been there and I miss it! Lucky enough for me, the M Crowd restaurants have not gone public with their nutrition info yet! Last night was our rest night. Got to workout and watch the biggest loser. I just love that show. So inspiring. Definitely doesn’t always go how you want it to, but the purpose of the show is just so motivating. Especially when they show how far all the contestants have come in 16 weeks! Tonight we are headed out to the Ballpark in Arlington to see Padilla battle the A’s. In fact, I’m about to walk over to Subway in a few minutes to pick up sandwiches for us to take into the game with us.