Friday, November 30, 2007

When Is 'Enough' Enough?

Where is the line between not settling and setting your standards so high that you miss out on great opportunities??

That question could be applied to any facet of life but today I'm specifically talking about relationships.

Here's an excerpt from a previous post...
"I was engaged once...for over a year. Here's a tip: If you're engaged over a year, I'll bet the farm you don't really want to be with the person you've chosen. Get out before you waste more (of both of your) time. Not sure what I was thinking with this one. Everyone knew he wasn't for me (including me and, of course, my mother). According to my mother, we were always fighting. I wasn't in love with him either, but he was (is) a really good person. Not a love lost, but we learned a lot from each other. I credit myself with making him a better man for his current wife."

Yes, every situation is different, blah, blah, blah. But how are they alike?

I stayed with a 'good' man even though I knew the relationship would not be enough for me, I assumed I could make it be enough. I asked myself why I would need more than a perfectly good man.

It wasn't that the guy wasn't good or good enough or good for me, he just wasn't for me. He (may) have thought that our personalities clicked but from my perspective they did not. Of course you can't expect the person you're with to act 100% according to your expectations. Probably not even 75%, but what is the 25% like? Is that 25% tolerable? I wanted to believe it was. It wasn't.

The man I have now is a 'good' man also. Granted, some of the 25% are things that get on my nerves but the other 75% make it so much easier to deal with.

I still say, when in doubt, don't.

So what is the answer to the initial question? For me, the answer is when that 25% really is tolerable, things that you know you can live with...forever

********************************

Anyone participate in NaNoWriMo this year? I started. I even got my step-daughter into it. We attended our first write-in and I came out with over 700 words! That was three weeks ago. (No yay.) The deadline is midnight tonight. My hopes of completion are fading fast. One thing they have on the NaNoWriMo site is how to donate when you're broke. I particularly liked the first option that talks about getting sponsored by family and friends. This would be a good way to ensure participation and maybe even completion. Don't be surprised if next year I come to you with a special request. ;)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Kindle Some Things

When they perfect this, i.e. make it more “book-like,” then I want one.

By book-like I mean that:
1. It opens like a book which will help with evening the weight distribution
2. There are two screens so it looks like two pages

By the way, check out this cute 'usability' short.

I've been working late nights lately, which sucks but is kinda cool at the same time, only with respect to how productive it has made me. Not only have I been fixing problems left and right at work, but then I get home, say at 11 pm, and I still have energy to wash bottles, get kids' clothes ready for the next day, talk to hubby, and watch tv. Amazing.

The epiphany I had last week when I got home after midnight was Thursday was this: I am darn good! All these years I knew I was 'ok' but now? Now I know differently. This realization could change my life!

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Grenada

I visited Grenada last week. It was my first time there. Got there late Monday night and left early Friday morning. The purpose was to take part in the surprise festivities being bestowed on my uncle for his 60th bday. My attendance was the last in a string of surprises. I went without hubby or babies. A whole week without any of my babies is a looong time, BUT I did surprisingly well. Thank goodness for technology. Anywho, I met a ton of family and family friends, and got to hang with girl cuz AND boy cuz, among others. The trip was intensely relaxing - much needed. We slept, we ate, we beached and beached some more. Definitely one of the best trips I've ever had. I came back with a renewed sense of family and ambition.
The real star of the vacation = my baby cousin.
You see these people are crazy!
A flower outside the hotel where we stayed.
The plane I was forced to take between San Juan and Grenada.
Real Grenadian chocolate.
My first taste of local food was at The Nutmeg in The Carenage. The chicken sandwich was mmm mmm good.
A goat similar to the one nicknamed "Christmas Tree."
Part of the cocoa factory my grandfather used to run.
Some hors d'oeuvres at one of the dinner parties we attended.
Me and Auntie.

Monday, June 25, 2007

6 Years

No, hubby hasn't done anything out of the ordinary, he's just mine.

Yesterday was our anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been six years already. Time really flies when you're having fun! :) Where would I be if I didn't get married? Maybe I would still have my BMW, but that's besides the point. lol

We didn't have any plans for the day. In the morning we took the kids to the beach. The day was perfect. In the evening my mother-in-law took us to dinner. We chose Indian food which turned out to be an excellent choice.

(If you want to see Shelby half buried you'll have to check her blog!)

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Leftover Cake


There was way too much cake leftover from Saturday's surprise "party." I brought two-thirds of the cake in to work today because there is no way it would get eaten fast enough at my house.

Friday, May 25, 2007

It's My Birthday! It's My Birthday!

33 years of non-stop blessings - that's what I've had - from my grandma to my comfortable life growing up through my schooling and into a decent job, to the present state of blissful marriage and the best kids in the world.

A few months ago someone who my husband tried to help (a few years ago) fix his wife's computer, came and told us that his wife accused hubby of ruining said computer. Every few weeks the guy would come with new reports that the harddrive had been swapped (by my hubby), that the place where the bought the computer did an analysis and said the current harddrive was severely corrupted, that hubby had registered the computer in his name, and even that hubby was using their Internet service! They made official complaints to our pastor and head elder and even went so far as to file a police report, or so they say since we have never seen the report. Hubby always maintained his innocence but the guy's wife refused to talk to hubby or even to let us go with them to where they bought it so we could have everything explained directly. No go. Keep in mind that this has been dragging on for months. Last week the guy came back to us with a big smile on his face bursting to share his latest findings. Apparently he had yet another "computer expert" come over and look at the computer. They guy explained everything to him, even wrote stuff down so he could show his wife when she came home from work, and the kicker is that the guy got the computer back to the state it was in before hubby ever looked at, thus proving that it was indeed the original harddrive. That was the biggest relief for me and I'm sure even bigger for hubby who was wrongly accused. I don't know what the guy's wife said to the irrefutable proof of innocence. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow after church. That is, of course, unless the story has changed yet again.

Yesterday my kids' school's director called to tell me that I've been overpaying for Shelby ever since she started going to daycare. That means we get at least $120 reprieve from this month's school fees which is always good news.

Today my co-workers took me to lunch at Macaroni Grill, then we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean. I heard that the reviews weren't good but it didn't matter - it was Johnny Depp. Lots and lots of Johnny Depp. I have loved that man since 21 Jumpstreet Days! *sigh* Anyway, yes, I liked the movie enough. It was fun to watch. A bit slow in some spots but overall I'd give it a (probably biased) thumbs up. Nice way to spend the afternoon. No plans for myself for the weekend though. Maybe take some more pictures. Oh yes, I took pictures of the kids last Sunday. We went to a park and I had them bring changes of clothes. Hubby's mom came too. Had a pretty good time. I'll have to upload some of my favorites when I get a chance.

Monday, May 14, 2007

I had a good weekend, and you?

My baby, Sid, made me a card and a picture of a flower. Shelby didn't make me anything, that little diva! Hubby brought me blueberry pancakes from Grand Lux, which were yummy as usual. At church on Saturday the mothers got a rose, a carnation, and an evening treat of sandwiches and soup and numerous tributes. Sunday afternoon I spent with family celebrating my cousin's graduation from law school. Her husband bought her a BMW 330 as a graduation gift. I asked my hubby what I'm doing wrong as a wife why I don't get gifts like that. He basically told me that he gave me two kids and I should be happy. lol.

Ok, you know nothing ever really goes smoothly for me, right? I had everything packed and ready to head to Miami for the graduation - the baby bottles, cars for Sid to play with, and just as importantly I had my camera and even a backup camera. On the way down hubby asked me if I had the battery. Umm, that's when I realized I did forget to bring it. He told me it was ok cause he picked it up for me. I breathed a sigh of relief only to find out later that he was only kidding. He thought I was kidding! Yeah, I had to use the backup camera. :( Fortunately the "after party" was at cousin's uncle's house which happened to be close to mine, so I swung by home first. After that, it was on. Hanging with family is always nice for me. We talked, we laughed, we ate, and...I took pictures! The latest one on Shelby's blog was actually taken Saturday afternoon but it's one of my favorites. Take a look.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

I got my camera!

Thanks to moms for my early birthday gift - a Canon Rebel SLR XTi.

There's so much more I need now. *sigh*

Monday, April 30, 2007

You Sure You Want To Know?

My weekend was off to a bad start with a mild case of food poisoning from the nastiest chicken philly I ever ate, EVER, for lunch on Friday. I still have some of the twisty stomach feeling today which is why I'm really watching what I eat for a while. Saturday hubby woke up with flu symptoms - fever, chills, aches. Out of four feedings, Shelby threw up three of them. Fortunately the rest of the kids were fine.

Sunday we videotaped our first official wedding. Although it didn't feel so official (but hubby made us wear black and white since he considered us 'help' and not merely attendees even though two of four of our kids attended) cause we knew the bride and a large portion of the attendees. It was a lot of fun for me, even though, yes, I wasn't feeling 100% the whole time. I got footage of the bride and bridesmaids, etc. getting dressed. It was like hanging out at a friend's house. Well, I was at a friend's house and everyone there knew me.... The wedding started late (not surprising) but because of that the ceremony was extremely short and to the point. The reception was ok. Lots of love, lots of laughs, just enough food.

We ran two videocameras the whole time so editing and aligning all of that footage should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it though.

On an even better note, I (my mother) ordered my Canon XTi. If you're interested slickdeals.net has a 25% off coupon for Dell for specifically that camera (incl. lens). There are always cool deals on that site. I check it pretty often. They lean heavily towards electronics but there are tons of other specials, like for clothes and shoes, etc., too.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Tabouli? I don't think I've ever heard of it.

Speaking of food, this weekend I made a rotini spinach salad. I surprised myself and I think hubby too. It was quick, easy, and tasted really good.

There are two commercials that really bug me. The first is the for Qui.znos where some girl says something like, "And that's what every woman wants - a lot of meat." How classless can you be? I don't blame her but I think it was poor taste on Quiz' part to put that in their ad. The second commercial is a new one for Sta.te Fa.rm. It has something to do with being a good neighbor. It shows some girls outside jumping rope and their helpful neighbor, a middle-aged man, goes and finds another rope for them without being asked. After he throws it to them he says, "Because two are better than one." Right. The camera goes to the girls and then goes back to him. I swear he looks like he's enjoying the whole scene more than he should, watching these little girls bouncing up and down.

Check out Sidney's and Shelby's latest pix - I took them to the park today.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Thank you for the nice words. You all are too kind, really. :)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Facebook Fiend

Yep, that's what I've turned into. I'm on FB every-durn-day!

A lot has been going on though. At work we have a mid-may deadline so we're working hard towards that. Mocha came to Miami for some sunshine so I got to see her. What a sweetheart she is! I'm on the market for a D-SLR camera. Actually, my mother promised to buy me one as a birthday (May 25) present! Yay! In the meantime I'm still using my Canon PowerShot A400 (as you can tell from the pix below). Can't complain about that camera - it has served me very well. The kids are good. Sid keeps losing his homework before he even leaves school! Yeah, not sure what we're going to do about that. Shelby is a bonafide rugrat now. She crawls everyone and grabs everything. Her smile is infectious. Her laugh is like a sunny day.
I had to dump another pair of jeans. I got to replace them though. Macy's had a sale (surprise, surprise) so I got a few pairs of jeans and a couple of tops. I was (am) a happy camper. See the smiles?

By the way, the cooking has reached a new level. Today, a co-worker and I made a couscous salad with chicken. It had couscous (of course), cilantro, parsley, olive oil, chicken broth, and scalllion. The chicken someone picked up for us from Chicken Kitchen.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Nobody likes a wet blanket so I'll try to keep this post at least somewhat upbeat.

Had my appraisal at work this week. Got a "meets expectations" mark. Fine, whatever. I didn't go above and beyond last year so I can't very well expect to get "exceeds expectations." The one surprise was a coworker rolling me under the bus without giving me fair warning first. At least if he spoke to me first I would have defended my position and my review may not even have been affected. Now, instead of having a discussion with a peer I have to state my case to my superior.

(Not doing a good job so far of not being a wet blanket, huh?)

Some really good news is that I have a sort of landline at my house again and I can call Canada for free! (I say "sort of" because it uses the internet to make the calls.) Hubby hooked it up Wed night and my first call was to my cousin who just got out of the hospital after having had minor surgery. I made the call after 11 pm and was surprised when she answered. The talking didn't stop until after hubby said to himself "forget this" and left me and went upstairs to bed.

(That was a bit better, wasn't it?)

I still have the sniffles and Shelby still has her ear infection, but it seems like we're both getting better; her faster than me.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Re: SP

I must apologize to SP for saying she never met Shelby. It must have been so long ago that I forgot!

Thursday, March 22, 2007

I Haven't Been Neglecting My Blog

Ok, maybe I have, just a little. Things have been crazy. Yes, I know that's everyone's excuse but for me it's true! :) Since my last post I've been scared about things, angry and upset about things, anxious about things, and happy about some things. After this Friday I'll either be crying or heaving a great sigh of relief....

Anywho, at work I haven't had much of a break to do anything. I was moved to a new project so I've been trying to get my mind around it so that I can actually be productive asap.

At home my laptop is still dead. Also, I've been sick with my yearly upper respiratory infection. I started taking vitamins and extra vitamin C and they have helped tremendously. I really don't want to take the prescribed antibiotics (one of my co-workers convinced me to go to the doctors). Shelby and Sidney are sick too, and I took them to the pediatrician. Shelb is the one I'm concerned about because it's been a couple of days and her cough doesn't seem to be getting any better. I'm supposed to bring her back next week Wed or so for a checkup but I may take her Monday instead if over the weekend she still doesn't improve.

Online I was introduced to Face.book yesterday by nyabg. I like it. I like the fact that once you add friends you get their newsfeeds. Very cool. Also, while I seemingly threw my blog to the side I have been trying to keep Sidney's and Shelby's blogs updated with pictures.

Businesswise we (hubby and I) got our first real (read: paid) wedding video gig. It'll be fun. It's scheduled for the end of April. Hopefully all will go well and we'll get referrals.

SP still hasn't met Shelb in person. Since she met her man she has been completely MIA!

On TV I've been watching ANTM but I'm not impressed this year. I love Brittany's pictures. I can't stand Renee. Jael needs speech lessons. The other girls haven't made much of an impression I guess cause I can't even think of their names right now. As for American Idol, the girls blow the boys away every time. There are a couple of guys I like but still they don't compare. (Btw, I was SO SO glad when Antonella got the boot. She just didn't get it.) My favorites are Melinda, Lakisha, Jordan, in that order. Melinda's performances are amazing. Granted, I didn't watch this week's episode yet but I'm sure she brought it like she always does. That girl is nothing short of amazing. Makes me want to run around the house singing...but I know better. hehe. It's funny enough watching me stomp around after an episode of ANTM.

A note about shoes: How could I forget to mention that the sandals I bought when I got pregnant have finally snapped - literally. I was at the park on Sunday for a church family fun day when I stepped out of the car and my foot slid out of my shoe. I ended up having to wear my stepdaughter's flip-flops. She's a size 7. I'm a size 10. Yeah. But believe me, they looked better then trying to wear hubby's soccer shoes. The happy ending to this story is that I had to buy new shoes. I got the cutest $20 sandals and a pair of Rockport's at Macy's. You know pix are forthcoming.

Friday, March 02, 2007

A Pre-Update Update

Took my sister out for her birthday last Saturday night.
My old car.
MY NEW CAR! (Can't beat a $200 lower payment.) Oh, the green Explorer next to it is ours too.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Back in the Cube Farm

Yup, I went in to the office. Shelb spent the day with strange women. When I left her this morning she was sleeping so that made it easier for me to go not having to look her in the eyes and tell her 'bye'. But when I went to pick her up (almost nine hours later) and I asked how she was I was told she was a bit cranky in the morning. Poor thing woke up and probably didn't know where she was or who the people around her were. Sid said he went in to see her when my mother stopped by but that was so late in the day. Shelb went most of the day without a familiar face. :( As for me, every chance I got I was looking at pictures of her on her blog. Maybe tomorrow will be better for both of us.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Is It Possible?

Is it possible to help people and make money at the same time? Of course. But why are we instinctively hesistant to believe there are people out there who really do want to help people even though they make money doing it? Why are we inclined to believe they only want our money? How can they gain our trust if they truly are sincere? What can they do to be believed?

No one says anything when Jane, who loves to quilt more than anything in the world, decides to sell her creations, hold classes in quilting and maybe start an online forum all about quilting, it seems like the most natural progression in the world. But when an alternative health care pro, for example, who hates standard medicine and what it stands for, opens his practice and does the same thing as Jane, all of sudden it's not that he cares about what he does or believes in what he does; instead what you hear is that all he wants is to draw more people to his front door so he can make more money. And there's nothing he can do short of working for free that will make people believe otherwise. Or is there??

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

I've Been Lazy Lately

And that is so unlike me! :)

Today I did a 'mom' thing. I went on a field trip with my son's class! *gasp* And I didn't go alone. I took Shelb. We went to the Museum of Discovery and Science. The movie showing at the IMAX was about Sharks. You can imagine how cool that was being in 3D. A couple of the kids got scared by the realness and bigness of it all. Shelb didn't care. But she refused to wear her 3D glasses. Not sure why. After puking on me a few times she went to sleep.

It was a long day for me. I ended up staying at the school and helping them prepare for licensing next week. Plus Shelb got introduced to the ladies who work in the babies' room in the mornings.

Just finished reading: Tigana
Currently reading: Spandau Phoenix

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I Wish I Could Take Credit For These

TEN THINGS TO PONDER FOR 2007

#10 Life is sexually transmitted.

#9 Good health is merely the slowest rate at which one can die.

#8 Men have two emotions: hungry and horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

#7 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

#6 Some people are like a slinky... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

#5 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital dying of nothing.

#4 All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

#3 Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars, and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents???

#2 In the 60's, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER ONE THOUGHT FOR 2007: We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the millions and millions of cows in America , but we haven't a clue as to where thousands of
illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the
Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration.

Monday, January 22, 2007

D-Day

...is Feb 5.

This Weekend

New pix here...
And here...
And here...
We spent Saturday in Naples with hubby's family. His aunt's husband was celebrating his bday plus his retirement from a previous state job has just kicked in. We had a good time eating and talking as usual. A lot of the pix above of from that gathering. There were three babies there all under six months old. They were the real stars of the day but I didn't post any pix of the two besides Shelb cause I didn't ask their momma's first.

Sunday I took Sid and Shelb to another bday party. My girlfriend's daughter turned two and they had the party at Chuck E. Cheese. You can bet Sid was excited to go when he heard! As soon as he got there he was ready to play. When he realized money/tokens were involved he came over with his palm open asking me for some. Shelb on the other hand didn't know what was going on, but she was excited too. I guess she enjoyed the music and all the screaming kids.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

You haven't heard me talk about my cooking escapades lately because I haven't had any, unless you count boiling spaghetti or grilling hot dogs. No? Didn't think so. Oh, wait, there was the vegetable lasagna I made, but how easy is that? My mother keeps bringing me recipes from Publix to try. They look easy and good but I haven't gotten around to any of them yet. I guess I'm preoccupied with thoughts of going back into the office. I know that day is coming very soon. I told hubby the other day that we should move to Canada but as usual he wasn't hearing me. Unless I go to him with a plan he will continue to not hear me. Hmm, sounds like a challenge.

I'm on my son's PTA Board. Sometimes I still can't believe I'm a mother! And even moreso now a motherx2. A girlfriend of mine said to me yesterday, "You and K make such pretty babies. Why don't you have more?" Ha HA! This from a woman who bore five kids herself. Yeah, K laughed even more than I did.

I'm really feeling a major trip right about now. The first one should be to Holland. After that I'm open. I've never been to Grenada and since meeting up with my fam I've had this curiosity to go and see what it's like. Of course, Jamaica is always an option. Canada too. Japan, as improbable as it looks right now, is also on my list. I think I have enough pseudo-travel plans for this year.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Made My Day

In the daytime, while I'm driving around running errands is when I think about what I want to post later in the day. These days everything that comes to mind is forgotten by the time I get home! Old age??

On a positive note, when I dropped off Sid to school this morning one of parents saw me and told me that everytime he sees me I look like a superstar. See, now that is totally believable. :)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

I...Don't Know

Usually I do these tests multiple times (like Miz JJ) but this time I didn't feel like it. So, this is what I got the first time around).
Testriffic.com

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

K's Kids

Today is K's bday. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Here he is in all his bday glory with his cheesecake and his offspring.


Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Updates

The past few days have been quite emotional. Here's a high-level list:
  1. Shelby was blessed.
  2. I met family members for the first time.
  3. I hung out with my sister and one of her partners.
  4. Of course, we entered a new year.

Meeting Mocha and the fam was somewhat surreal. I was both nervous and excited to meet them in person. My father is the youngest of five children - he has three brothers and a sister. I never knew him. One of his brothers was my GP when I lived in Toronto. The other siblings I didn't know either. Everything so worked out that the two unknown brothers and their wives and some of their children would be in my neck of the woods for New Year's. So I invited all of them to Shelby's blessing. Saturday morning, sitting in church on the balcony, I was watching and waiting for them to arrive. I left to change Shelby's diaper and when I came back I noticed the pews were no longer empty. The first person I saw was my cousin MusicMan who I recognized from the pictures. Next was Mocha's dad, and beside him was his brother, MusicMan's dad. They all greeted me with hugs and kisses and I continued to my seat which was in front of them and to their right. Service had just started so I couldn't stop to talk. As I sat I looked over my left shoulder at the men I had just passed and glimpsed another familiar face just behind them. It was Mocha smiling at me and I couldn't help but smile back. Her mother and MusicMan's stepmom were sitting with her and they smiled 'hi' at me too. I turned back around and all I could think was They're really here. They're right behind me. If I turn around they'll still be there. And, of course, not wanting to stare, I surreptitiously stole sidelong glances until it was time to go down to the front. I got up to leave and motioned for everyone to follow. Once in the foyer we waited for the person praying to finish. We didn't move too much or talk more than necessary, we just waited. At the appointed time I led they way to the front, Shelby was blessed then we filed back out. Once back in the foyer out came the cameras and the hugs and talking started. My mother was trying to tell me that we had time for everything later and that we should go to finish preparing for lunch, but she didn't understand. She didn't understand that I had been waiting all morning, actually for months, to get my hands on my cousins. I'm sure it sounds strange but I just wanted to hold them. I was so happy that they found me, that they wanted to find me. I didn't want to wait another minute to relieve some of that nervous/anxious energy by going from person to person claiming my hugs and soaking in their smiles. We eventually left and had lunch together and with a few of my friends who also attended the blessing. Many times throughout the day I was almost overcome with emotion at the whole thing, thinking about how things have been and the progression of events that led to our meeting all together how we did. MusicMan lives in Japan so he was reuniting with his father and Mocha. Mocha and her parents were meeting MusicMan's stepmom for the first time. And I was meeting everyone for the first time (well, Mocha's dad said the last time he and his wife saw me I was four or five years old).

The next day, Sunday, we didn't talk but you can be sure that first thing Monday morning I was making phone calls to find out what the plans for the day were. I got to Mocha's hotel by noon and all seven of us spent the day at a large mall browsing from store to store. The day reluctantly ended at 10:30 that night after lots of laughter and more food. We got to scratch the surface of getting to know each other and from what I've seen I want to know more. I can't wait for more opportunities to learn even more about them. We have at least 25 years to catch up on! I wish I had met my cousins earlier. Tomorrow MusicMan leaves to go back to Japan so I'll be making a trip to deliver some tamarind balls to him before he goes.

And speaking of family, I've spent more time with my sister over the past four days than over the past few years. She came down with one of her business partners, Ms Ashley, for the blessing and for work. Sunday they invited me to their first photo shoot and we ended spending the rest of the day together. I got to know Ms Ashley a little and decided that I like her a lot. She is a sweet person with a great attitude. Tuesday they came over and stayed for dinner. I stuffed Ms Ashley with lasagna and cake and ice cream. :) Hey, she said she like it. We sat around and talked some more but they had things they had to do before leaving the next day so we said our goodbyes. We'll be talking again soon I hope.

Spending time with the family and special friends was the best way to start the new year. I couldn't have asked for a better beginning.

There were a few good times had last year (having Shelby and meeting the fam), but I'm still glad to see 2006 go. Happy New Year, Everyone!

Monday, January 01, 2007

Recipe Responses

@Chele - I'm trying to remember where I got the lemon pepper chicken recipe from! If I remember correctly this is what I used: 2 chicken breasts halved, lawry's lemon pepper seasoning, freshly ground black pepper, and lawry's seasoned salt. I cooked it in the oven on 325 for about an hour. The sauce was made from 1/2 bottle Cavit's Pinot Grigio, 6 tbsps unsalted butter, and half of a lime. I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for a while (less than ten minutes). Then I poured the sauce on the chicken when it was done, turned off the oven, and put the chicken back in for 15 minutes. What I would change next time: make extra sauce and cook the chicken a bit less cause it came out dry (but teh sauce really made a difference.

@Anonymous - I was asked to post the recipe for Contessa's Lemon Fusilli with Arugula. Here is a site that has it.