banana pops!

You know when you go to the banana section at the grocery store and there is always some goofy banana-type thing there too? Well . . . on a wim we picked up the package for banana pops ($1 at Walmart) and made them tonight. You cut the bananas in half, put them on sticks, freeze for an hour, heat up the chocolate package then dip the frozen banana in the chocolate.

It was a goofy thing to do with bananas but it thrilled Danielle and we all liked them.

time capsule

I am so snagging this idea . . . I was talking to a friend of mine about her weekend and she had gone to her neice's 16th birthday party. At this party they opened the time capsule from when the neice, Chanel, was 1. When Chanel had turned 1 year her parents had family members and friends bring cards for a 1 year old and cards for a 16 year old with letters to her, photos, little gifts, if wanted. Then the mom added a few things from her childhood. Some of the other things included were:

• Chanel's swimsuit as a 1 year old so she could see how little she had been at one time,
• my friend had given her some little amethyst stud earrings and a note that they would pick out something matching as a 16 year old,
• someone else had bought her 3 shares of Whole Foods stock, which has sent split a couple of times--3 shares is not a lot but to a 16 year old it's a nice chuck of change
• numerous, funny letters from her cousins and friends to her as a 16 year old

Trey and I thought this was just great and are thinking that we'll do this for Danielle's 5th b-day to be opened on her 21st b-day. So don't be surprised if you get a request for a 21st birthday card this July!

When it rains, it pours . . .

I just wish it would pour MONEY. LOL

I paid some bills Thursday evening and thought "it's a little tight but ok." Also Thursday evening the left side of my mouth had a little pain and I wondered "is this a result of this nasty cold or is my crown trying to come loose?"

Friday morning mouth was ok--hurt every once in a while but not too bad. I balanced the checkbook and realized--ekk--can't spend anything for the next 2 weeks without dipping into savings. At lunch I bit into something and went OHHH. Looked in my mouth and see that it's not the crown but the tooth right behind it is completely cracked . . .

The dentist is FULL, even the emergency list, until Wednesday morning at 8am.

Emailed Trey to tell him to get $$ for the tree trimmer from the other savings account and he reminded me that his tuition is due in a few weeks...My left front tire is bald on one side...the dog has a vet appt this morning. UGHHHHHH.

On the upside--this is prompting us to finally have that garage sale, finish the taxes and file the MSA/dependent care reimbursements now! :-) lol!

AND, we do count our Blessings--among them:

• wonderful daughter,
• recent trips to see family members,
• the upcoming Loin King (tickets already paid for-yea!),
• a prettier Spring yard
• cars that work
• always enough food in the fridge and a full freezer (you should see all the venison sausage we have)
• crazy cats that are sitting on my keyboard causing me to miskey . . .
• wonderful friends we don't get to see often enough . . .

Have a great weekend!

TGIF and men in trees :-D

Ready for the weekend and finally getting my house in order after 2 weekends of traveling and being sick. I still alternate between feeling ok and feeling yuck but I was able to get 2 loads of laundry washed AND (some long overdue) folding of some clothes last night. Tonight we have a guy trimming the 2 trees out front, the fig tree in back and removing one dead crepe myrtle for $500! I thought that was a pretty good deal--especially compared to some of the other quotes we got. They are also hauling away all the stuff. We're a bit late on it; been meaning to get 'er done since last Fall. Hope it doesn't damage the trees. (The Ashes are close to the end of their life but I'd hate to lose them since they are the major shade trees in the front.)

TGIF!!! Have a great weekend!

Webkins

In case you are looking for the (apparently) hot new kid item, Webkins--a new shipment is in at Kay's Hallmark in Barton Creek mall. I picked up an elephant for Danielle at lunch time (and I think the Easter Bunny might have one saved too).

There is a limit of 2. They are around $11.95 for a medium sized one.

Chicken picatta

Tonight I made one of the Grab and Go meals we got from Super Suppers up on Anderson Mill. (A few weeks ago we happened upon their sale and got 6 meals; the Grab and Go meals are half entrees and feed 3-4--perfect for us.) Since I'm still a little under the weather but had not thawed anything out I cooked the only one we got that you can use the microwave to thaw. It was the Chicken picatta and it was pretty good. I made garlic cheese biscuits and, being a nice wife this week, made (yucky, disgusting) lima beans for Trey and Danielle.

Trey was quite excited about the lima beans. In case you couldn't tell, I HATE lima beans. One of my earliest memories is a stand off with my parents and watching the sun set and the sky go completely black while sitting at the kitchen table in Nashville because of those nasty lima beans. So when Danielle tried them tonight (without my saying a word) and disliked them, I did not force her to eat any more. Trey made her eat 3 though. So if you ever stop for dinner, you can be assured you will not be served anything with lima beans.

Congrats, Todd and Nancy!

opps--sideways photo . . .

back amongst the living . . . sort of

I'm sort of recovered from my massive, awful cold. Trey thinks it was the flu because I had aches and a fever but I really thought the flu lasted for > a week. Plus, I was good--I got my flu shot this year! Anyway, went to work this morning--about 9, though, because I was slow moving. Probably overdid it and came home a little early. I should've left about an hour earlier though; My nose is "as red as my sweater" a coworker joked. Lovely--since I have a very nice wedding to go to this weekend. Guess I'm lucky I'm not in the wedding party so people won't be looking at me! I'll just have to dodge the camera snapshots . . . may you all have sickness-free weekends.

I hab a code.

Good soup recipe

Last night I made this recipe of Makeover Califlower Soup from Light & Tasty magazine:
http://recipes.lightandtasty.com/eRMS/recp.aspx?recid=24127

2 slight changes--I didn't have dill weed so we used 1/2 tsp of dill seed & we left out the parsley.

It was really good. We paired it with ham and cheese subs. Enjoy!

Fort Worth weekend

This weekend we went to Fort Worth for the wedding of friend, Tom, and Kristine. It was a fun wedding and we stayed overnight. Then we went to the Fort Worth Zoo (probably our favorite zoo so far) with Marla, Russ & Mazey. We came home and had to finish Danielle's school project, Her 1st Valentines Box

Because I said so

I saw the movie Because I Said So yesterday afternoon. I've seen qutie a bit of criticism of this movie and here is my opinion. It was a good movie but marketed incorrectly. It's a drama with a little comedy thrown in instead of a comedy with a little drama thrown in.

There are elements that I definitely disagree with -- an unmarried girl sleeping with 2 guys at the same time, a mother who treats her children as friends instead of children and a little boy being introduced to his dad's date on the first date -- and I think the reason people criticize this movie is more because those situations are uncomfortable rather than the actual movie production. It is acted well, you'll laugh, you'll cry, it tugs at your heart strings and it is a sad situation with the usual All-American Happy Ending. What leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth is that the movie is sad reality with a easy, happy ending and no consequences for the bad choices people make. If you go in with the thought that it is a movie--2 hours away from reality--then you can enjoy. But it is probably not a movie that I would watch again. And I definitely wouldn't watch with my child--until maybe adulthood when we could discuss as adults (but always as Parent and Child.)

the big D

I'm back from the Dallas business trip. We flew out late Tuesday afternoon and did not get the email from our Asst. Exec Dir that our Exec Dir had gone into the hospital. Tuesday evening we went to a nice dinner at Morton's, which is across from the old Texas Book Depository and the infamous grassy knoll. We walked through the JFK museum gift shop where I bought Danielle some paperdolls. Then Wed morning we logged onto remote email and read that our Exec Dir had passed away. It was quite a shocking way to start our long, all-day business meeting.

Waiting for the (late) airplane in Dallas Love field I decided to pick up a magazine when I heard "You sure look familiar" and turned to see my friend, Marla, standing behind me. She had been in Dallas for a business meeting and was on her way home too! The flight was pretty uneventful, though it was almost a half hour late and, of course being an evening flight from Dallas to Austin, completely full. I came home to beautiful flowers from Trey and Danielle--that was very nice.

I fell asleep around 10:15 or so. Today was a rough day at work and I was quite upset to hear of Anna Nicole's death. I know it is Hollywood junk but I've always liked her and it seemed things were straightening out for her.

We got a very lovely, sweet sympathy card from the vet office. I still miss my Hamilton kitty.

So my work is closed tomorrow in honor of Sam so we can attend his funeral.

Ugh--it's a lot of death type stuff around this week--I'll be happy when the weekend is here . . .

quick night out

Got to go on a quick night out with my girlfriend, Kathy. We had a bite to eat then to Party City for a quick errand then over to Pier One to browse. Didn't get anything at Pier One but Kathy picked up a couple of votive candle holders. It was fun to catch up with my friend.

I'm off to Dallas tomorrow afternoon for a business meeting. Will be back Wednesday night.

Cousins Kory, Susie & Drake over for Super Bowl

Trey's fish

my shortcomings

I get my geeky job; I can't always explain why or how something errored but I can usually figure out how to fix something. And if I can't figure it out, then I know that it's at a level that programmers need to fix. The thing is that I know it; it's come easily to me, it's my talent and I am fortunate for it. So I sometimes get very short and vent to others. Unfortunately this week I blew off a problem for a coworker until today. It is something that for some is not a big deal but because of another particular aspect, it is a big issue for this person. I also think that this coworker overheard my and another coworkers' venting and, if so, we most likely hurt that person. I feel very badly about this as I realize that I am fortunate for my natural ability. There are days that I only have to try a little and it all works out for me but not for them. I felt badly the entire way home and about an hour afterwards before I finally felt up to admitting it all to Trey.

So I told Trey all the details and he gave me some good insight on what I should do and also the male side of things. It's very interesting to hear how he sees things. He is also about the only person I'll allow (sometimes ;-) ) to tell me when I'm being oversensitive about a situation, comment, action.

I've also asked God for help and to help me be stronger and more patience. I really hope that I did not make my coworker's day worse. I have been miserable at work before and would hate to be a part of this person's misery.