22 Years ago today . . .

I married a wonderful man.


Happy anniversary Sweetie!

Here's to another 22 years!

Where's my camera when I need it?

Yesterday Rominal, Bailey and my brother Eddie went to Lake Texoma and played around on a friend's boat.

That is huge!

I should back up and tell you why.

Rominal can't swim. Rominal is scared to death of water. Rominal won't even stick his feet into our friend's pool. He is that scared of water.

But on Sunday, he got on a boat. He wore a life vest the entire time, but we were out on the lake for hours, scooting all over the lake.

Cue the Saturday night live song, "I'm on a boat!" We were singing this song throughout the day. (Caution - this video contains bad language)



We drove, motored, boated (what's the proper terminology for boating?) over to an island where everyone anchors their boats and we got out and played in the water by the sandy beach. At first Rominal said that he was going to stay on the boat, but eventually he got his feet into the water.

Again - that is HUGE!

Then, slowly, ever so slowly, he went into the water. Eventually he was in the water all the way up to his shoulders (all the time still wearing his life vest). We all played in the water and Rominal was there with us.

I would even venture to say that he enjoyed the day. Several times when we were scooting across the lake, Rominal was standing up feeling the wind on his face. He looked very "Miami Vice" like. Well, except for the whole life vest thing.

He has now promised that the next time we go to our friend's house who have a pool, he will get in.

Provided that he has some floaties on.

21 Years!

21 years.

That's half my life. It's hard to believe that it's been that long that I've been married.

To this wonderful man.






Happy Anniversary Sweetie! I'm looking forward to the next 21 years!

Sorry for the silence

Our computer server, or I should say, one of them, crashed last week. My hubby, AKA Captain Electronics, has been working on it when time allows. The only problem was that during this time he also had a major problem at work that involved all of his time.

So, needless to say, I've been unable to post. I've got things to tell/show you too - like pictures from the first day of Spring - when we got snow, however, I am leaving tonight with the Girl Scouts to take them to the Texas A&M Vet School Open house tomorrow. So, no time for posting.

Maybe if I survive this trip, I'll be able to post on Sunday. Wish me luck - I'll be in a hotel room with 5 girls tonight after having spent 4 hours driving down to Texas A&M.

Dallas Arboretum

We had the best day today! We got up early and went to the Dallas Arboretum. It's on the shore of White Rock Lake in Dallas.

I took so many pictures - over 300! I won't bore you with all of them, but here's just a few. Ok, maybe a lot.

I liked this picture because of the title of my blog, kiss that frog. Bailey's friend (and one of my Girl Scouts) Tiffany, took the picture.


Here's Bailey and Tiffany.


And Bailey

And Tiffany - she cracks me up.

Here's Bailey and Rominal

I love getting pictures of them holding hands when they don't know I'm looking.

Here's Tiffany

And Rominal

Oh, and me.

I should say that these pictures are all straight out of the camera pictures. I haven't done a thing to them. Mostly because I am just too lazy, but also because this afternoon when we got back we had to do a Girl Scout cookie booth, so I haven't had much time at home today.

Here's the girls at the top of a hill, looking oh so cute.

And here they are rolling down the hill. They had the best time, and they rolled down this hill at least three times.

Who says you have to act your age?


I tried to get them to imitate this statue, but they wouldn't do it.

I need to remember to not wear my sunglasses anytime I'm going to have my picture taken, they left funny marks on the sides of my nose.

I love this sculpture. Makes me smile.

The grounds were so beautiful.

We had such a great day - beautiful weather and beautiful flowers.

A moment of silence please

Let us please observe a moment of silence please for the fallen goatee.

This was Rominal on Christmas day.


And this is him now.

So, despite my survey and begging, the goatee is gone.

He is quite happier, but I do miss the goatee.

Weekend Recap

Well, let's see. We had such a busy weekend! We had guests all weekend, which I love. My Dad, my bonus-mom Peggy, and my Dad's cousin Carol all stayed at my house Friday night. Unfortunately, Carol had to leave Saturday morning - she missed out on all of the cooking we did Saturday night.

But before I get to the cooking we did, let me tell you about Bailey. She's been wanting me to blog about this ever since it happened. On Saturday afternoon she competed in the Academic UIL meet for the local middle schools. She had never done this before, so we weren't real sure what to expect. Basically, students go and take tests on various subjects (whichever ones they choose to be a part of) and are competing against kids from other schools. The subjects were things like math, spelling, reading, comprehension, science, etc. Bailey chose to only participate in science.

She ended up getting 3rd place! She was so pleased!

And I'm sure you can't tell, but her father was quite pleased as well.

I think this now means that she will participate in a district wide event later on this school year. We'll see.

Now for the cooking. I made some bread this weekend. Yum!

Actually I make this bread every weekend these days. I freeze the loaves and then pull them out as we need them. It took quite a lot of convincing from bonus-mom Peggy and my mom to get me to finally understand that you can freeze bread. I can be a bit stubborn sometimes. Don't tell anyone.

The other cooking Peggy and I did was to make some recipes from The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook. We made her cheese grits, the prune cake (I'm not getting the right name of it here) and her homemade ranch dressing. Everything was great! Peggy made her yummy bread-crumb covered chicken to go with this. We feasted like kings. I have some pictures that I took of the various food items we made, but since my camera is old and not that good (hint, hint - Rominal, are you listening?) the pictures didn't turn out.

I'm sure it's the camera and not the photographer that is to blame, right?

Sunday night was a special night. Every year Dillards has a special "invitation only" shopping party after hours. Somehow, I get invited every year. I'm sure it has nothing to do with my shopping habits. It's become a tradition for Mom, my friend Donna and me to go. We look forward to this each year.

We go in with a plan - I first hit the men's department and quickly pick out stuff for Rominal. Then I take the stuff (can't be more descriptive than that because he might be reading this. Hi Rominal!) over to the free gift-wrap area and drop it off. I have to do this quickly because as the night goes on the gift-wrapping people get overwhelmed and at some point they tell you that you have to come back the next day to pick up your gift-wrapped items. That's another trip out for me and that is just not going to happen.

Besides free gift-wrapping, they have snacks and goodies throughout the store - so if you missed dinner like I did this year, you can make up for it by eating small bites of cheesecake and chocolate covered strawberries. Dairy, fruit and chocolate - all of the food groups - so I'm covered.

The best thing at this shopping party the raffles. Several year ago, Mom won the grand prize which was a Coach purse, wallet, key chain, sunglasses and case. Luckily for me, the purse didn't quite work for her and I am currently using the purse. Last year my friend Donna won a prize which was a basket of pajamas and socks - all fun stuff.

Honestly, it only bugged me slightly that my guests keep winning things, but not me. Even though I'm the one with the actual invite to this special event not them. But I'm not a bitter person. Really I'm not.

This year Mom and I (Donna couldn't make it this year - I did invite her, even though she'd probably just go and win something again) were both lucky enough to win something! Mom won a $100 gift certificate for shoes and I won some coffee mugs, coffee and a blanket with sleeves. More about this blanket in a minute.

My brother Eddie needed some coffee mugs, so he was able to use them as well as the lose coffee that came with it.

The other thing that was included was 2 Senseo 10-packs of coffee. I don't have this kind of machine. So, if anyone is still reading this incredibly long post - and you have a Senseo machine - let me know. I'm not saying that I'll do anything about it, but just let me know. Hee hee.

Now, back to the blanket with sleeves. You know the ones I'm talking about - their commercials are everywhere. Rominal just laughs every time the commercial comes on. He just doesn't understand what the big deal is. Well, in the basket that I won, there was one of these blankets - not the same brand as in all of the commercials, but I would say a nicer version of it. I got it out last night and OH MY GOD! I get it. I totally get it. I was instantly warm and within two seconds I had a cat on my lap that would not move. Rominal just shook his head and laughed at me. He still hasn't tried it yet and I don't know if I'm going to let him because then he'd fight me for it. And I'm willing to fight for it.

So, that's my very long weekend recap. If you have made it this far then thank you very much for hanging in there with me. I hope you had a nice weekend too!

Trip - where did we go?

With all of the Pioneer Woman excitement going on, the post below about my recent trip kinda got lost.

If you are visiting here from The Pioneer Woman, then welcome! I'm glad you found me! Feel free to hang around a while - and if you are so inclined, please leave me a comment.

Now back to my originally scheduled post.

In an earlier post, I gave you a hint as to where we went before Thanksgiving. Did you guess where we were? Here's the picture hint to see if you can guess.

If you guesses Las Vegas, then you are correct! Give yourself a big pat on the back!

We went there with some good friends of mine. It was a celebration of his birthday.

Since I'm not sure how they would feel about having their picture on my blog, I won't post pictures of them.

I will however show you just one of the desserts he got on his birthday:

He got this at a lunch we had a restaurant called Olives which is at the Bellagio Hotel. We ate outside, right on the fountains of Bellagio. It was such a lovely day to sit outside and watch the fountains and enjoy lunch.

We had a couple of days in Vegas this trip, so we got to do a lot of things.

One night Rominal and I went to see the Blue Man Group. We had seen their tour when it came through Dallas a couple of years ago and we loved it. This show was great as well.

We went to old downtown Las Vegas this trip - we missed that on our last trip.

As you will recall from our last trip to Las Vegas, Rominal left with some unfinished business.

He didn't ride anything at the Stratosphere. He wasn't about to leave Las Vegas this time without conquering his fears.

It's difficult to see, but that's Rominal sitting on the far left of the Big Shot ride - which is 1,081 feet in the air above the Las Vegas strip. You will notice that he is sitting alone - the rest of us did not have the guts to join him.


Here he goes!

He's made it up to the top!



He was so glad that he rode this. He even opened his eyes after a bit.

Luckily, the other two rides were closed due to high winds when we were up there, otherwise with all of his new found confidence, he probably would have ridden them too!

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.

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.

Survey Says . . .

***UPDATE - ONLY A FEW MORE DAYS LEFT TO VOTE TO SAVE A GOATEE!****
Please help me save my husband's most adorable goatee. If you have voted yes over to the right, please feel free to vote again.

If you want to vote no, (and I'm not totally convinced that both "NO" votes aren't Rominal's), then no need to vote, thankyouverymuch.

Thank you again for helping a girl out!
************************************************************************************

So, I am busy today playing with my new mixer. I'm currently making bread, but the day has just started so who knows what else I will make today.

I have a favor to ask of my readers. For my birthday, Rominal grew out his goatee for me. I love it, I think it makes him look even more handsome. I think he looks quite distinguished with it.

He, on the other hand, does not like it. He does not like the gray and he thinks it makes him look old.

Now that my birthday is over, Rominal is threatening to shave it off.

This is desperate times people. I need your help.

So, dear readers, what do you think? Don't let me persuade you (chose the goatee), please be honest. Goatee or no goatee. (Say yes to the goatee!)

I've put a poll out to the left so you can vote anonymously, but feel free to leave a comment as well - you know, something along the lines of how much you love the goatee. 'Cause you know you do.

To refresh your memory - here's some pictures to reference in your decision. These were all taken within the last couple of months, and the last one was even taken this morning.

No goatee:

Still quite handsome I will admit.

Or with the goatee:

Oh yeah!

Please vote today to save a goatee.

Various Things

Wow - quite a long time has gone by since I last posted. Sorry about that.

So, are you curious as to how I've been spending my time since I clearly was not blogging? Well, first thing is this:



This is one of our cats, Zephyr - also known as Orange.



Don't let this picture fool you. He's a stinker.

This cute little creature has decided that he must mark his territory throughout our house. He started with peeing on my daughter while she was holding him. She was not amused. This is behavior that I cannot condone. I've taken him to the vet twice now, in hopes of finding something, anything that will make him stop peeing in my house. We now have the little heathen on pills, a hormone spray, and special stuff that we put in the litter box to make him want to go there. Even with all of this I still occasionally spend a few minutes cleaning up a pee mark. Yeah, I live a grand life!


Luckily, Rominal hasn't killed him yet. We plan on replacing the carpet someday (someday sooner rather than later now) and therefore Rominal has been a good sport about this whole thing.

So, if anyone has any home remedies out there that I should be trying, please advise.

Our carpet begs you.


Luckily, during all of this drama, Rominal's attention has been focused on this:



Our new gas grill.

Even though Rominal still prefers charcoal, he can appreciate the ease and convenience of a propane grill.

Say it with me now in your best Hank Hill voice, "propane and propane accessories." Thank you.


Here's Eddie and Rominal setting it up.



And our first meal cooked on the grill - oh yeah baby!

Yummy! Can't you just smell them?

The new grill wouldn't have been possible without the very last minute help from our friends Melissa and Bobby, who own a truck. This grill was so big it wouldn't fit in our van. They came to our rescue. We owe them a steak dinner too!

Potato Salad and The Best Grilled Chicken - Ever

My friend Donna makes this amazing potato salad. But, she doesn't read my blog - so it's now going to be Wendy's potato salad. Ha! That will teach her!

This is a very basic potato salad, and I think it is best served immediately, when the potatoes are still warm. It's also good cold, but I like it warm.

First, I hard boiled 10 eggs. Why 10? Well, that finished off one carton of eggs. It would have been ok with 9 or 11. See how flexible I can be!

And you know how to hard boil eggs, right? Really? If so, please tell me. I'm never sure if I'm doing it right. I don't like hard boiled eggs, so I rarely do this.

This time I put them in cold water and put them on the stove. Once the water came to a boil, I took them off the heat and covered them for 15 minutes. It seemed to work out.



In the meantime, I quartered a bunch of yellow potatoes. I left the skins on. I boiled those on the stove - with a generous amount of kosher salt - say maybe 1-2 tbs.



When the eggs are done, separate the yolks from the egg whites and save both. Put the yolks into a bowl.



Here's the whites. We will chop those up in a bit.



Now, back to the yolks. I add a couple of spoonfuls of Hellmanns Mayonnaise (I believe it must be Hellmann's - trust me on this), and several squirts or spoon fulls of mustard.



Toss in some salt, pepper, and paprika and mix everything together until it looks like this. Be sure to taste it for seasoning. The potatoes need more than you think.

When it tastes just right, pour it over the warm potatoes and add in the chopped egg whites (although I don't add them all in, because I really don't like them that much, and I'm the on doing the cooking after all.) And if you are a bit rough on the potatoes and some break down a bit, that is just fine.

Toss some paprika on top and enjoy!

We served this with The Noble Pig's Best Grilled Chicken - Ever. Here's the original recipe. And I have to say - it was the best!

Here's Rominal - and yes he is holding a beer. When has that ever happened? Not to worry, he's going to pour that beer into the pan in the grill. We buy the cheapest beer to grill with - since he doesn't drink.

Here's the finished chicken - oh my!

And here's Rominal's plate, and his drink (Dublin Dr. Pepper), all ready to go.