Thanksgiving Day - Recap

I thought I would do a quick photo tour of our Thanksgiving. Mostly because it's 12:00 here and I'm hungry - and looking at these pictures isn't helping any.

We had the most wonderful time and we shared our Thanksgiving with the most wonderful people!

Here's our turkey - cooked on the grill to save me some oven space.

Bailey took this picture of one of our trees - I thought it was so nice I had to share.

Brittany brought over matching t-shirts for the girls to wear for Thanksgiving. The back of the shirt had a picture of the two girls when they were quite young. That was a big hit!

We had dressing . . .

and mashed potatoes . . .

And sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top . . .

and cranberry sauce (not from a can) . . .

And (yuck) green beans with mushrooms (I made this because I know that Rominal likes both green beans and mushrooms). This dish did not take up any real estate on my plate.

And Donna brought her yummy salad!

And we had rolls . . .

Here's Patrick's plate - It was such a beautiful composition we had to take a picture. Oh - and see the ham in there too - I forgot to get an individual picture of that. Donna and Mark brought the ham.

Mom made The Noble Pig's Upside Down Apple Pie. It was fantastic!

Mom also made a yummy pecan pie!

And she made a pumpkin pie that had pecans and crushed ginger snap cookies - it was great too!

I'm missing pictures of the pies Donna made - a sugar free chocolate and a sugar free pumpkin - both were great!

So, now that I've seen all of these pictures of food - I'm going to go eat!

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope that everyone is enjoying their day with your family and loved ones.



We have been out of town, so that's the reason I haven't posted in a while. To give you a hint as to where we were - here's one picture. See if you can guess where we went.



Any guesses?

I'll post more about that later.

As for now - we are busy cooking this among other things:


We are cooking it on the grill, because my oven is filled with other goodies!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

To my family who is not here with me today - I miss you and wish you were here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Think you had a bad day?

My poor hubby. What a day he had yesterday.

It all went well until it was time for him to leave work to come home. I should start by saying that he works in downtown Dallas. We do not live anywhere near downtown Dallas. So, his daily commute consists of driving 30-45 minutes to the bus station and then riding the bus another 30-45 minutes until he gets to work. He does the same thing coming home.

Luckily for him, he doesn't mind being in the car and in all of that traffic. Me? I'd have pulled out all of my hair by now.

Yesterday he called me as he was walking to his bus stop around 5:45 to catch the 6:00pm bus home. Bailey and I were out running errands so we made plans for him to pick up something that resembled dinner on the way home.

Around 6:20pm, he texted me saying that the bus still hadn't arrived. He said that there were other people standing around waiting as well. We joked around and he said he was fine.

Around 7:15pm, he said it was time for me to start driving downtown to pick him up. Again, in the perfect of traffic conditions, this is about an hour drive. Bailey and I head that way.

About 15 minutes later, he calls to say that the bus has arrived and he is now on the bus. Yeah! Bailey and I head back home.

About 30 minutes or so later, he calls to say that he is finally in his car, driving the remaining 30 minutes to our house. As we are talking on the phone, guess what . . . Can you guess? What would make this day even better?

Yup, he gets pulled over.

Turns out that there is a stop sign when you pull out of the bus station that he didn't completely stop at. He will argue (and has argued to me) that this turn is like a chute that makes you go one way onto an access road and merge into traffic. He said that it is more of a yield and no one stops there. He said that there was no one around, well, except for the police officer hiding in the dark between some buildings up the road a bit.

He was issued a ticket for $215.00 for not stopping.

He arrived home around 8:30, very tired, and even more cranky.

In case you missed it, this is not his first run-in with the law. Read here, and the follow up here if you'd like to catch up.

I'll keep you posted as to how this all plays out, and if he will continue to take the bus to work.

What's that I smell?

Our weather in these parts was nice and sunny last week, and now it is quite chilly. This morning it was 37 degrees outside. That's my idea of darn near perfect, but I do like the cold.

Last night after work I had just a few minutes to acquire dinner and scarf it down before I had an evening meeting I had to attend. I stopped at the grocery store to try to find something already prepared and suitable to be called dinner.

You will be interested to know that I settled on some yucky fried chicken for me and hubby, and Bailey had sushi. Not raw sushi, because it is a grocery store and not a sushi restaurant, but California rolls.

Anyway, as I was walking briskly towards the entrance of the grocery store (I walked briskly because it was chilly) I overheard a little boy say to his mother that it smelled like Christmas outside. I stopped and smelled the air and he was right. It did smell like Christmas in the air. I stood outside for just a second and breathed in the smell of crackling fireplaces and hot chocolate.

Luckily, I did not smell the frantic last minute shopping.

Ice Skating

Melissa (our most wonderful Cookie Mom) and I took the some of the Girl Scouts ice skating yesterday. What a wonderful time we had!

It's so amazing to see how much the girls have grown over the years. Here's Bailey her first year, back in 2003. She is wearing a "retro" uniform - it was mine when I was in first grade.

Last year was a rough patch with our troop. The girls had hit their teenage years. I hate to admit this, but for a while there I thought that last year might be the last year of our troop - or at least the last year that I could handle.

Yesterday's ice skating trip was the first activity we did this year. It was going to be the activity to set the tone for the rest of the year.

Based on yesterday, I'd say we have a fantastic year to look forward to. The girls got along great and were patient and kind to each other.

Luckily, we had a quick lesson before we had free skate.




This kid was a natural at ice skating! Look at her jump!



I however, was not. Look Ma! No hands!

Best of all, the only thing broken was my fingernail when I went crashing into the wall trying to stop myself.

The girls even put aside their typical teenage embarrassment issues long enough to ride on the carousel that is inside the mall. It was even their suggestion to ride it!

Of course, Melissa and I had to ride as well. We were totally ok with being embarrassed.

The girls were even such good sports that they got their picture taken with Santa. Here's a hint to anyone out there wanting to get a picture with Santa in the mall. Go now. There were no lines.

It was a great day!

Goatee Update

Shhh! Is my husband around? No? Ok, then let me fill you in on the great goatee debate.


Not sure what in the world I'm talking about? Read this.


Just to give you an update - the goatee is still in place. However, it's existence is threatened daily - probably just to tease me a bit.


I'm beginning to think that if I act casually and ignore it's that it is there, then maybe it might survive. Whenever I bring it up or comment on how lovely it is, then he threatens to shave it off.


So, be very quiet in order to save the goatee.


However, should you ever see him in person - do tell him how handsome he is.

Crunchy Edamame Salad

The other night I made the best salad and I just had to share it with you here.

Wait. Do you ever get the feeling that you are being watched? No? Is it just me?


First I mixed together a basic mustard vinegrette. I think any dressing you like would work well. I will give you what I made below.

Then I took the frozen shelled edamame and cooked it according to the directions. In my case, I had a microwave bag and nuked the edamame in the bag. Once the edamame was cooked, I put it in a bowl and poured the dressing on top and let it hang out in the dressing while I chopped the rest of the stuff.



Seriously, you don't get the feeling you are being watched? That just gives me the creeps! NO? It's just me? Ok - shake it off, Wendy.


I peeled and chopped up a jicama so that the pieces were little cubes about the same size of the edamame peas, and I dumped that in with the edamame.

I then chopped up an English cucumber (these are the ones that come wrapped in plastic). I also chopped it up to be the same size of the edamame. No need to peel this cucumber.

I mixed everything together and then because I happened to be cooking fish that night I had some lime out and ended up squeezing one lime all over the salad. I also happened to have some cilantro out and chopped that up and put it in the salad too.

Add salt and pepper to taste and eat away! I've since had this salad the second night and it is just as good.



Here's the ingredients:

For the dressing (I'm guessing on the measurements, just add stuff until it tastes right to you.)

• Some sugar - about 2 spoonfuls (see how technical I am?)
• Dijon mustard - 4 spoonfuls
• Apple Cider vinegar - 1/4 a cup, maybe?
• Olive oil - drizzle in until the dressing is right - 1/3 a cup maybe?
• Salt & pepper

Salad

• Shelled Edamame
• Jicama - the one I got was about the size of 2 fists put together.
• English Cucumber
• Lime juice
• Cilantro
• Salt and pepper
  

The next time I make this I think I will add some chopped red pepper. It just needs some color.

See - I thought someone was watching me - not very intently in this picture though. I guess bored him to sleep.


Enjoy!

Wii Active

So, I often post about my weight loss struggles here on my blog. However, it's been a while since I've mentioned it. Lately, I've been more likely to talk about things I'm baking or making. Not a good combination when I'm trying to lose weight.


Well, I have a discovery for you. If you have a Wii, please go get the Wii Active. I have the Wii Fit and the Wii Fit Plus, but I never really felt like I was getting a total workout using those. While I could play them for a while, I wasn't sweaty when I was done using them. The Wii Active is different. You will work up a sweat with this. You will be sore the next day. It comes with a leg strap that you put the nunchuk in for certain exercises, and it comes with a rubber band for weight work.


The Wii Active has a 30 Day challenge which I am currently doing. It gives you about 30 minutes of exercises each day to do. The exercises range from jogging, to arm curls, to in line skating, to leg lunges. I promise you, you will feel it, and at the end of the time, you will be sweating.


My brother David and his wife Lauren were in town last weekend. David tried out the Wii Active while he was here and he liked it so much he has already ordered one for him.


Here's Lauren watching David work out. It's fun to watch other people work out.





And here's David on my treadmill while doing the Wii Active. Note that David is wearing the leg strap that came with the Wii Active.


I'm not sure what he is doing with his arms. I assure you, it's not necessary.






I should explain why David is on the treadmill while doing the Wii. I have found that for the times when the game has you run, it's less frustrating to run on the treadmill than run in a circle or in place. I think I get a better workout that way. And the game can tell if you are faking it and not actually running.


I like that the game will give you different activities each day. One day you might box as one of your activities, another day you might play tennis. It keeps me interested and I am definitely feeling the workout.


My only complaints about the game is that it doesn't weigh you the way the Wii Fit does using the balance board. Also, there are not any activities specifically for your stomach (I'm thinking sit-ups). However, they are coming out with a Wii Active Plus in a bit and maybe these things are addressed. One more thing, I think the rubber band that comes with this is a bit lose. I'm thinking about getting another one that would provide more resistance and thus be harder. You can use any band with this if you already have one.


Anyway - that's my two cents about the Wii Active.

Resigns? Not fired???

Don't let the door hit you on the way out. . . .

Louisiana justice who refused interracial marriage resigns

I bet you can guess how I feel about this story. No need for me to explain.

More Halloween pictures

Please humor me while I show you some more pictures - in a random way.

On Halloween, Bailey's friend Kenzie came over and they each carved a pumpkin. Here's Kenzie with her pumpkin.


And here's Bailey with the her pumpkin. They both did such a good job!



We roasted the pumpkin seeds the next day (we washed them and let them dry out really well first). I put some olive oil, salt and pepper on them and put them in the oven at 375 for about 25 minutes - stirring them every 10 minutes or so. They were so good!



I took this picture to show off my pretty flowers. Here it is in November and they are still blooming!


Here's a close up for you.

And I took this picture to show the river rock boarder that I have. It's my nod to Colorado. I love river rock. It makes me think of Estes Park and the river that runs through it. I love to see the pretty rocks in the water.

Sunday morning my baby woke up with a sore throat. She didn't tell me about it until Sunday night though. Turns out she has strep throat. Awwww - poor baby!

Here's a picture of my back yard. It's hard to tell in this picture, but there are tiny white and yellow flowers all over. And what is fun is if you look closely, you will see 50 million bees flying from flower to flower. If it is quiet, you can even hear them buzzing around. Kinda cool.

And that's all for now. Have a great day!