It was such a nice weekend. When did the beautiful weather decide to grace us with its presence? Weather like this makes me forget how much I want to leave Florida.
We had a wonderful time at the park on Saturday with Theresa and little Cash. He's getting so big, at fourteen months! My little one decided he didn't need a nap before the park and played in his crib for an hour instead, and was not the happiest little one while we were there because of it. The playground that we originally went to only had one baby swing so we went to another smaller one and that was definitely a good decision. Pictures are below, and we all had a fantastic time.
Later we came back to the house and the boys joined us for dinner. I made Chicken Bryan, steamed broccoli, couscous and Caesar salad, and then the boys decided that PW's Apple Dumplings were a must to complete the evening, so they went out for supplies and I popped them in the oven while they went out to smoke cigars.
Today! Spencer was in an awesome mood today, and we went to Lenoce's again for breakfast and then for groceries. Came home and realized Mr. Spencer cut his first tooth! I was super excited and made sure to update the baby book (I'm not so good at that) and then he was crawling around and decided to pull himself up to his feet on the coffee table! Another First!
I made Alosha's Taglierini with Bay Scallops tonight for dinner, and it was fantastic. I had to make a couple changes out of neccessity. I used fettuccine nests instead of taglierini because they didn't have tag at Publix and I don't like linguine, and I didn't have french bread or bread crumbs, so I toasted a couple pieces of potato bread and ran them through the food processor. I couldn't find chervil anywhere, so I put Italian parsley. It was still fantastic! Served with a simple salad and white wine, and I have a little leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Yum!
Can't wait for next weekend already!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
A Beautiful Saturday
How is it that I sweat my butt off, and as soon as it "technically" turns to Autumn the weather is entrancing? I'm sitting in my backyard in the grass because I don't have a decent (or any) lounger while the dog stares at the palm tree daring whatever's up there to come down. There isn't anything in the tree -- a slight breeze is blowing and the fronds are rattling and she assumes that some critter is moving among the tree tops.
It is an amazing Saturday afternoon. Christen is working an extra shift today, and usually that means I'm finding nothing better to do than troll Target or the mall, looking for something to do. But today Spencer and I went over to the in-laws' house for a little bit so they could adore him some more, and now he's laying down pretending to take a nap while I hang out here and continue to be amazed by the weather.
The plan today is that Theresa and Cash are supposed to come over and we'll go to the park so the boys can play and we can adore them. Of course, considering that pictures are supposed to be taken, Spencer went and smacked his cheek on the coffee table last night and gave himself a little bit of a black eye. Today it's just a red scratch, but I was worried that it was going to be worse. I'd say he lost his footing, but wouldn't it be more correct to say he lost his handing? He was trying to fit himself under the coffee table and his hand slipped and bam! No worries though, it doesn't even hurt him when I push on it. But so much for flawless pictures! :)
I drove through Pollo Tropical for lunch today. They're more prevalent than McDonald's on this side of town, and I've always wanted to try one but never had the guts (don't ask, I have trouble with such things). So today I drove through and got a cuban sandwich wrap and a large sweet tea and it was delicious! You should all locate your closest one. :)
Anywho, my feet are falling asleep so I'm definitely going to need to get a lounging chair for out here, but for now I'm going to have to get up and move around. Hopefully later I'll post park pictures!
It is an amazing Saturday afternoon. Christen is working an extra shift today, and usually that means I'm finding nothing better to do than troll Target or the mall, looking for something to do. But today Spencer and I went over to the in-laws' house for a little bit so they could adore him some more, and now he's laying down pretending to take a nap while I hang out here and continue to be amazed by the weather.
The plan today is that Theresa and Cash are supposed to come over and we'll go to the park so the boys can play and we can adore them. Of course, considering that pictures are supposed to be taken, Spencer went and smacked his cheek on the coffee table last night and gave himself a little bit of a black eye. Today it's just a red scratch, but I was worried that it was going to be worse. I'd say he lost his footing, but wouldn't it be more correct to say he lost his handing? He was trying to fit himself under the coffee table and his hand slipped and bam! No worries though, it doesn't even hurt him when I push on it. But so much for flawless pictures! :)
I drove through Pollo Tropical for lunch today. They're more prevalent than McDonald's on this side of town, and I've always wanted to try one but never had the guts (don't ask, I have trouble with such things). So today I drove through and got a cuban sandwich wrap and a large sweet tea and it was delicious! You should all locate your closest one. :)
Anywho, my feet are falling asleep so I'm definitely going to need to get a lounging chair for out here, but for now I'm going to have to get up and move around. Hopefully later I'll post park pictures!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Free Handbags!
I'm excited, and I never win anything so I doubt I'll win this either. But still, free handbags! Go there or be square! Handbag Planet!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Love me, cancerously (God, I love Ludo)
I changed my mouse out on my office computer, and I swear it’s worse than before. They supplied us with the old ball-roll mice, and finally after almost four years I changed it to an optical mouse and the scroll is so stiff! I’m giving it a couple days to see if it’s just because it’s an old, unused mouse, but gee wiz.
We’re adapting well to Christen’s schedule change. I usually get up first because he’s still incapable of getting up right away, so I get ready and then he stumbles into the closet to start getting ready, and I get Spencer up and changed. He’s usually awake when I go in, and it’s nice to have a few minutes with him before I have to leave. I used to look in on him before I went to work but he slept late so I didn’t get any interaction. I get him ready for the day and put him in the playpen so he can watch Daddy getting ready, and then I leave. Christen has been having daycare feed Spencer, so his mom gets the honors this morning. It has made the morning a little less hectic. Spencer doesn’t freak out if he doesn’t eat right away, so it’s not really a big deal, and I usually have his bag packed the night before so changing his diaper and his clothes is the only “getting ready” that he requires. I hate getting ready around someone, so thankfully the delay of Christen getting up helps me get moving so I don’t have to deal with someone else.
Work is good too. I’m surprised at myself when I realize that, although I hate leaving my family, I actually really enjoy my job. I’ve never really disliked it in the 4 years I’ve been here, but I really have started feeling less stress and more hunger to know more, to do more. I think the change came when I came back from maternity leave, but then I was so stressed because I hadn’t done it in three months that it took a little while to feel comfortable again. They’ve been laying more on me, and usually that would stress me out but instead I kind of feel like knowing how much I can handle. Being able to handle it really makes me feel like more of a grown up. I’ve also started keeping cases that will eventually necessitate some travel, and I’ve discussed that with Christen and he’s amiable to the idea that I might have to be out of town for a day or two every once in awhile.
I made Pioneer Woman’s Penne a la Betsy last night, and it was delicious! I had made vodka cream sauce before and thought it was going to taste like that, but since there’s just a little tomato in this sauce it really has a completely different flavor. Especially with the shrimp and basil … mmmm …! Tonight I’m going to try my hand at her enchiladas. If those go well, I’m going to try them as chicken next time but I didn’t want to mess too much with the recipe until I know what it’s going to taste like since I don’t know Mexican flavor combinations too well. I could have used ground turkey, but I don’t have any in the house after the last meat run and I really don’t feel like buying yet more meat right this very instant.
We’re adapting well to Christen’s schedule change. I usually get up first because he’s still incapable of getting up right away, so I get ready and then he stumbles into the closet to start getting ready, and I get Spencer up and changed. He’s usually awake when I go in, and it’s nice to have a few minutes with him before I have to leave. I used to look in on him before I went to work but he slept late so I didn’t get any interaction. I get him ready for the day and put him in the playpen so he can watch Daddy getting ready, and then I leave. Christen has been having daycare feed Spencer, so his mom gets the honors this morning. It has made the morning a little less hectic. Spencer doesn’t freak out if he doesn’t eat right away, so it’s not really a big deal, and I usually have his bag packed the night before so changing his diaper and his clothes is the only “getting ready” that he requires. I hate getting ready around someone, so thankfully the delay of Christen getting up helps me get moving so I don’t have to deal with someone else.
Work is good too. I’m surprised at myself when I realize that, although I hate leaving my family, I actually really enjoy my job. I’ve never really disliked it in the 4 years I’ve been here, but I really have started feeling less stress and more hunger to know more, to do more. I think the change came when I came back from maternity leave, but then I was so stressed because I hadn’t done it in three months that it took a little while to feel comfortable again. They’ve been laying more on me, and usually that would stress me out but instead I kind of feel like knowing how much I can handle. Being able to handle it really makes me feel like more of a grown up. I’ve also started keeping cases that will eventually necessitate some travel, and I’ve discussed that with Christen and he’s amiable to the idea that I might have to be out of town for a day or two every once in awhile.
I made Pioneer Woman’s Penne a la Betsy last night, and it was delicious! I had made vodka cream sauce before and thought it was going to taste like that, but since there’s just a little tomato in this sauce it really has a completely different flavor. Especially with the shrimp and basil … mmmm …! Tonight I’m going to try my hand at her enchiladas. If those go well, I’m going to try them as chicken next time but I didn’t want to mess too much with the recipe until I know what it’s going to taste like since I don’t know Mexican flavor combinations too well. I could have used ground turkey, but I don’t have any in the house after the last meat run and I really don’t feel like buying yet more meat right this very instant.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Pics of the Boy -- you know you wanted them
I finally got Digital Image Pro on the new (ish) laptop, and I'm therefore gracing you with pictures of Spencer. You know you wanted them :)
3 months (5/31/08)
4 months (7/4/08)
5 months (7/17/08)
6 months (8/13/08)
(8/21/08)
(9/7/08)
7 months (9/14/08)
Enjoy!
3 months (5/31/08)
4 months (7/4/08)
5 months (7/17/08)
6 months (8/13/08)
(8/21/08)
(9/7/08)
7 months (9/14/08)
Enjoy!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Meat, oh glorious meat!
`So I went to a butcher yesterday to check out their prices on the three staples in my cooking: boneless chicken breast, ground beef, and shrimp.
I left with $60 in meat.
Chicken was $2.99 a pound. But if you bought 10 lbs, it was $1.49 a pound. Done. Beef was on sale for $12.99 for five pounds. Done. I decided to make Chicken drumsticks stuffed with ricotta and herbs (although I might change it to goat cheese) for Sunday football. 99 cents a pound for five pounds. I bought 2 thick cut pork chops for sometime next week. And they had peeled and deveined large shrimp, so I got two pounds. I’m highly allergic to the raw shellfish proteins, so I was excited for that, and it was about the same price as if I bought them shell-on in the grocery store.
I came home, split all the food up into individual freezer baggies. I now have 18 meals of meat. Well, 17. I made beefy mac & cheese last night for dinner.
Sadly, I still have to buy fish tonight because I only buy that fresh and I planned on making fish tonight for dinner. Tilapia with browned butter sauce, asparagus, and wild rice. Yum!
***
In other, non-meat related news, Christen’s shift changed to 7:45-4:45. I don’t remember if I’ve blogged about this yet and I’m too lazy to check. He started on Wednesday, and so far it’s going well. I’m happy that he’s home early, and I know Spencer is happy he’s home early. That way we can all sit on the floor and he can climb all over us, which is his new favorite hobby. The only real problem with the arrangement thus far is that Spencer is used to getting up around 8am, and now he has to get up at 6am. But he’s not used to going to sleep any earlier, so he threw a fit yesterday when I put him down at 7pm even though he was falling asleep while he ate and was being generally crabby. Hopefully the schedule will even out a little soon, because I really don’t want to have to deal with that as an on-going problem. I love spending time with him; I don’t want him to be crabby, you know?
I left with $60 in meat.
Chicken was $2.99 a pound. But if you bought 10 lbs, it was $1.49 a pound. Done. Beef was on sale for $12.99 for five pounds. Done. I decided to make Chicken drumsticks stuffed with ricotta and herbs (although I might change it to goat cheese) for Sunday football. 99 cents a pound for five pounds. I bought 2 thick cut pork chops for sometime next week. And they had peeled and deveined large shrimp, so I got two pounds. I’m highly allergic to the raw shellfish proteins, so I was excited for that, and it was about the same price as if I bought them shell-on in the grocery store.
I came home, split all the food up into individual freezer baggies. I now have 18 meals of meat. Well, 17. I made beefy mac & cheese last night for dinner.
Sadly, I still have to buy fish tonight because I only buy that fresh and I planned on making fish tonight for dinner. Tilapia with browned butter sauce, asparagus, and wild rice. Yum!
***
In other, non-meat related news, Christen’s shift changed to 7:45-4:45. I don’t remember if I’ve blogged about this yet and I’m too lazy to check. He started on Wednesday, and so far it’s going well. I’m happy that he’s home early, and I know Spencer is happy he’s home early. That way we can all sit on the floor and he can climb all over us, which is his new favorite hobby. The only real problem with the arrangement thus far is that Spencer is used to getting up around 8am, and now he has to get up at 6am. But he’s not used to going to sleep any earlier, so he threw a fit yesterday when I put him down at 7pm even though he was falling asleep while he ate and was being generally crabby. Hopefully the schedule will even out a little soon, because I really don’t want to have to deal with that as an on-going problem. I love spending time with him; I don’t want him to be crabby, you know?
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