Off With His Head!

Is anyone else as excited about the upcoming Royal Wedding as I am????  Everyone called Princess Diana and Prince Charles' wedding a 'fairy tale', but I believe this wedding is the true definition of a fairy tale.  Kate Middleton is commoner!  Just like 99.9% of the world, she has zero Royal breeding and probably always dreamed of and pretended to be a princess....and now it is actually happening!  It doesn't hurt matters that she is SO beautiful and I truly believe they are in love, unlike so many Royal marriages.  I can't wait to see her dress, the flowers, her arrival, and most importantly her tiara.  Does anyone put on a show like the British?  I mean seriously.

Due to my excitement I have been watching everything Royal on TV (taking a break for General Hospital of course), and much to my delight The King's Speech showed up from Netflix yesterday...which I highly recommend if you haven't seen it yet.  I am absolutely fascinated by the lives of those who are inaccessible.  Maybe that's why I love celebrities so much...

Today I went out to water the herb garden (I know, I know, you are probably saying, "Wait, wasn't that a gift for Steve, and so he should be doing the upkeep?" but that doesn't seem to be how it is working out) and noticed that all of the leaves were gone from the parsley plant.  What the heck?!?! 

Upon closer inspection, I noticed a little guy who looked just like this:

going to town on my parsley.  That little jerk helped himself to all but one leaf of my precious plant.  Due to my new Royal training, I thought to myself, "How would the Queen handle this?" and so I decided to go old school and let the punishment fit the crime.  OFF WITH HIS HEAD!  Let him be an example to the others that this behavior is deemed unacceptable by the Kingdom and will not go unpunished.

On a brighter note, some of the herbs are doing great.  Look at this basil! 

That makes me want to cook Italian food!

And, look at this! 

We have Jalapeno Peppers growin'!

Tune in tomorrow for my thoughts from the wedding.  I will enjoy some tea and biscuits while I observe. 

Sun, Fish, and Bathrobes

We went to Galveston for the weekend to celebrate Steve's happy happy birthday.  He cut out a little early from work so we could get to the hotel and get a little sun before meeting our friends for drinks.  Well, as is true EVERY SINGLE time we go down there on a Friday, there was a car accident and the drive took twice as long as usual.  Actually, since it is taking us that amount of time more often than not, I guess it took the usual.  Blah. Due to the long car ride, there was no time to get any of that sweet, glorious, Vitamin D filled sun....well, today anyway.

After a few beers, a hamburger, and a lot of laughs, we headed over to our friend Gary's fishing hole.  I guess this is what a birthday party looks like in your late 40's. 

I only packed flip flops and sandals thinking we would either be on a dock or by the pool the entire weekend and was not prepared for the thorns and bugs that were all over the ground at the fishing hole.  I got back in the car until we could go to the pier and then spotted these guys:

I thought, who wants to be fishing when you could be riding a horse.  And here I am without a saddle, or bridle, or a bit, or even knowing if these horses are broken.  They kept walking across the field toward me so I got out of the car, made some kissie noises, and my new buddies came right over to me.

 

This is what I'm talking about!

When it got darker we went over to the pier where we could fish under the lights, but I only lasted about 15 minutes.  It was so cold due to the 30+ mph winds that blew ALL weekend.  After retreating to the car to stay out of the wind, I realized my iPad was in my bag...at the hotel.  What was I supposed to do?!?!?  You know how you try to imagine your life before a cell phone and it seems absolutely unbearable?  Well, that's how I feel about my iPad now.  (and my cell phone....hence the big purse.)  Gary left around 10, then Dale left around 10:15 (and assured me that Steve wouldn't be far behind because the fish weren't biting), and around 10:20, Steve caught 8 keeper trout in about 30 minutes.  Finally at 11:45, Steve called it a night...I was already asleep in the car.

The next day the plan was to lay out by the pool, relax and then go fishing at night.  The only issue is that my very favorite past time (laying by a body of water with a good book, a cold drink, and some sunscreen) is not a favorite of my husband's.  After about 2 hours...what a good sport...Steve presented me with an idea.  "How about we go to the fishing hole, you can lay out and drink beer, while I fish and catch crabs for us to eat?"  Obviously, it didn't take me long to agree; 3 of my favorite things...sun, beer, and crabs for dinner, YES PLEASE! 

While Steve was catching crabs, he had a line out hoping to catch a big redfish.  I was busy trying to get the crabs out of the net and Steve said, "I think I caught a bird on my line."  I turned around to find a bird flapping its wings on top of the water.  It had wrapped itself up in Steve's fishing line.  I am NOT a bird lover.  In fact, I would venture to say I STRONGLY dislike birds (I try not to hate things).  To me, they are noisy, messy, dirty, and annoying....plus they bite.  Being from Florida, my least favorite bird of all time is the Sea Gull.  Ugh.  Worse than pigeons.  You can't even enjoy a snack on the beach without them squawking at you, trying to (and sometimes succeeding) steal your food, and then pooping on you as a 'Thank You'.  Filthy.  Well, guess what kind of a bird was caught in Steve's line.  I'll give you one guess. 

Steve reeled his line in - with the bird attached - and tried to untangle the bird without touching it.  I quickly realized that it was much more tangled than we originally thought but saw its nasty, sharp little beak snapping at me and the thought crossed my mind to say, "well, sucks to be him, cut the line", but he caught me on a generous day I guess.  I went back to the car and got a towel, threw it over his face, held his beady little head, and Steve and I got him untangled.  It was really bad and if we had just cut the line, he would have never gotten it off by himself.  Once he was untangled, I let him go and he flew off to join his friends. 

Steve ended up catching a decent red too.

After dinner, we headed out to the fishing pier to fish under the lights, but this time, I was prepared.  I took the robe from the hotel and sported it like a mink coat while we fished.  After about an hour, the towel Steve had draped over his shoulder got caught by a gust of wind and flew into the water.  We both tried to hook it with our lines, but it quickly soaked up lots of water and sunk to the bottom.  I next uttered a sentence I never thought I would ever say (or ever have to say), "Now Steve, that does not mean that you can use my robe as your hand towel!"  I saw him checking out the robe and decided I would need to lay down the law before he tried to wipe his nasty fish hands on my sleeve.  After my outing in the robe, I believe Hugh Hefner has it right.  Maybe that needs to be my new fashion staple.  I have an interview on Thursday; perhaps I should wear a robe so they will know what to expect from my professional dress. 

We had a really good time in Galveston and of course, hit more traffic from another accident on the way home.  I need a DVD player in the car or something so I won't be so bothered by the traffic; it makes me cranky.  I am such a 5 year old...

What is that smell??????

I got up this morning and finished Steve's birthday present (herb garden).  Before I presented it to him last night, I explained that the interview went long and he assumed I was going to say I didn't have a gift for him....um, I do believe he is the one who "doesn't have time" to buy me presents.  Read here for just one example.  After giving him a "I can't believe you would even think that" look, I took him out back to show him the supplies that would soon be his herb garden.  (I just realized, if I was a good person, I would have taken a picture of that so you could get the full experience....I'm trying to get better, I really am!)  He was very excited...maybe I shouldn't have said I would finish it and told him it was an 'experience' gift.  Oh well, he liked it nonetheless, and I give the credit to my concept selling skills; help them imagine what could be. 

Remember when I wrote about how much I HATE yard work?  Well, turns out I'm not so crazy about gardening either.  The dirt the lady at Home Depot (Are you surprised?  That's where I go when I don't know what I'm doing.) told me to buy smells like pee.  That's right, urine.  I have smelled dirt that smells like dirt (you know, that musky, dusty smell) or manure (poop for you non-agricultural people out there), but never pee.  Now that I have sampled an array of the scents of dirt/soil, I must say that pee is my least favorite of all.  It smelled like a dog marked its territory on my bag of soil about 1000 times.  Being the good wifie I am, I powered through and only gagged a few times. 

The pot we already had was fairly tall, so I had to buy another one similar in height and then I filled the bottoms of them with bricks so I wouldn't have to use so much soil.  What do you think?

The planter on the left is the one we already had.  I bought the gold one to spice it up a bit.

I made the brown one our "Mexican" type planter (Cilantro and Jalapenos), the gold one has Rosemary, Parsley, Basil, and Lavender.  I don't cook a ton with lavender but I love the way it smells.

It's good to know we can have some life in our backyard.  Here's a peek of what we are working with:

Do you think we should put in a pool?  It is literally about 4 feet wide.  I told Steve I would love to lay out in the backyard, but I would only be able to get sun for about 1 hour every day.

There is just enough room for Steve's grill.  What else do you need????  We have already discussed that our next home will have a backyard with room for a pool and an outdoor kitchen (no more cleaning ducks and fish in my kitchen!)  Because I love yard work so much though, Steve will either have to do it or we will have to have a yard service.  Just putting that out there right now.

Keep your fingers crossed that these herbs make it....it's getting hot and I'm not great with plants. 

I'm off to pack for the weekend in Galveston to get some sun...and I'm sure fishing will sneak in there at some point too.  





Happy Birthday Mr. President!

Well, at least the President of this house.  Today is Steve-O's Birthday!!!  We are going out for dinner tonight, so last night I decided to make him a special birthday meal.  I made Cajun Pasta and Crème Brûlée.  Yes, you read that right Crème Brûlée!  It was quite possibly the best meal I have ever made.  Thank you and God Bless you Pioneer Woman! 

Here is the Pasta:

Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum.  Oh, and the pasta was incredible too.  (Wine distracts me....so yummy.) 



Rather than using chicken like she did in the recipe, I used some of the fish that we have (one day I'll take a picture of our freezer of fish and meat we have caught/hunted).  This pasta was so freaking good, but I had to save room for DESSERT! 

I am not normally a big dessert person, but this is BY FAR the BEST dessert I have ever made...and quite possibly ever had.  I truly outdid myself!!!!!  ...I say that in the most humble way possible. 

Take a look for yourself:

I wish this was a scratch-and-taste type thing, because it tastes MUCH better than it looks!

The only problem is that now I know how to make it and how easy it is.  What's to stop me from making this every month, or every week, or every day, or every hour?  Our blow torch was out of propane last night so I had to finish off another one today for this picture, and about 30 seconds after this picture was taken, the dish was licked clean. Yes, it was 3:30 in the afternoon, but it's a holiday of sorts...Steve's Birthday.  Please ignore the fact Steve didn't eat any of it.  In my mind, we shared it.  OK, I have to stop taking about it, or I will run back to the fridge for seconds...then thirds...then fourths.

I had a job interview today that lasted a little longer than I expected...but that's a good thing...and so I didn't have time to finish Steve's birthday gift (I'm making him a herb garden).  Perhaps I'll get a job soon though and that will be the best birthday present he could possibly get....I'm not cheap to have around.  :)  As soon as I finish planting the herbs, I'll take pictures and share them with you before they die (I have a pretty black thumb). 

Off to spend time with Steve on his special, special day...just had to share the deliciousness that took place last night...and this afternoon apparently.

Tootles!

This makes me laugh harder...

OK, I'm done now.

This just made me laugh...

Oh how I love Family Guy.  Happy Tuesday.

Fun and Busy

We had the most fun and busy weekend.  Why can't every weekend be like that? 

Friday night I cooked and so we hung out at the house and drank some wine.  Have you noticed yet how much we love wine?  In case you haven't....WE LOVE WINE!!!!  Red wine though.  White gives me heartburn and then I am a miserable whiny girl.  hahahaha

Saturday we went to the driving range to hit some balls.  I hit the best I have ever hit in my life!  Onlookers may have thought I was home from the LPGA tour, that's how great it was.  Well, maybe not that great, but I was consistently hitting balls further and straighter than I ever have.  Guess all of those practices in our indoor driving range are paying off.  After hitting a little over a bucket of balls, my arms were tired and so was I.  I blame my CFS. 

One night in college, while watching TV in bed, a commercial came on that changed my life.  Here's how it went:
TV - "Is your child tired all the time?"
me - "YES!" (mind you my 'child' in this scenario is me)
TV - "They may not just be lazy, they may have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."
me - "OMG...I must have that!"
Then the TV went on to list all of the symptoms, and being the amateur medical professional that I am, I proceeded to self diagnose myself. 

When Steve and I first started dating and we were laying all of our flaws out on the table to see if there were any deal breakers, I told him about my condition.  He was very understanding and started to wonder if maybe he suffered from it as well.  I switched into amateur medical professional mode and asked him several questions about his energy level.  Well, in my professional opinion, I felt safe diagnosing him with CFS.  (I have also diagnosed my dear friend Tracy, and she continues to be strong and fight the good fight against CFS one day at a time.)

Steve and I have thought about planning some sort of a fundraiser to cure CFS.  The first thing that came to mind was a walk.  It would have to be a very short one...like 2 blocks or less...and we would have volunteers with golf carts driving around in case our walkers got fatigued.  The walk hasn't taken place yet because every time we start to plan, we get tired and table the discussion to another time.  Living with CFS is no joke....so debilitating. 

After hitting golf balls, we came home to rest and get ready for the party our friends were throwing that night.  What a fun party!  There was tons of food and lots to drink.  A group of girls I have just started to get to know were there and we had the greatest time. 

Sunday we slept in a little...one of us had a little too good of a time at the party.....yes, it was me....and then went to an Astros game with some friends of ours.  We were in great company; the Bush's enjoyed the game with us (George Sr and Barbara).  We are so fancy.  OK, so they weren't sitting right by us (or even on the same level), but I could tell they were enjoying the game, as was I, and so I felt in some way we were a little connected.  Makes sense, right?  The former First Lady had a big fabulous floppy hot pink hat on and took down stats during the entire game.  In between innings, they flashed the "smooch cam" (or whatever it is called) on different couples in the park and made them kiss on the jumbotron, and they were the last couple they showed.  The President took off his baseball cap, Mrs. Bush lifted the brim of her floppy hat, and he planted one on her.  So cute. 

This is not from this weekend, but look at those seats.  Directly behind home plate.  Best seats in the house.

After the game we had to run down to our rental because they were having a leak under the kitchen sink.  It was an easy fix and I was able to check the back yard for any signs of a dog.  It looks like our tenant kept her word and got rid of Patches...Hurray! 

Being a couple who lives with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I was proud of us for our active weekend and didn't feel the least bit guilty about spending the rest of the day curled up on the couch. 

Watch your back Martha.

Yesterday, I caught the cooking/baking bug.  It must have been the yummy blogs I read that gave me the inspiration. 

After 5 hours in the kitchen, I was exhausted and told Steve I need one of those chef's mats if he wants this to become a regular thing.  My feet were killing me!

I made a DELISH lasagna for dinner.  The recipe is from The Pioneer Woman.  I made a little change to it though.  Rather than using beef and hot sausage, I used some of our venison/boar meat we have stocked in the house.  When Steve and Dale ground all of the meat they seasoned it different ways and some was spicy Italian, so it worked perfect.  I highly recommend this recipe...it was very yummy!

This is all we ate, so if you want some lasagna...come on over!

We are going to a party/BBQ this afternoon, so I made this pasta salad (also from The Pioneer Woman) to take.  It is so yummy and refreshing.  My favorite part are the little buttery, salty nuggets of Feta.  It looks pretty too.

My last creation were these adorable Easter Bunny cupcakes.  I used carrot cake (get it...bunnies...carrots...) and cream cheese frosting.  The ears are marshmallows that I cut up and then put sprinkles on.  They didn't turn out quite as cute as they looked in my head, but not too bad for a first try.  I prefer to cook rather than bake 10 times out of 10, but this blog has me thinking I can do fancy things with pastries. 

The whiskers are chocolate sprinkles and were a PAIN in the BUTT, so after making 2, I decided the cupcakes didn't really need the sprinkles after all.  (I think this is why I don't like baking...I have no patience...I also don't like to measure.)

This was my work station.  The wine definitely helped keep me motivated.  After I made a few, I would reward myself with a sip. 

The finished product.  I didn't want them to dry out in the fridge so I left them on the counter overnight.  This was a mistake.  All of the marshmallows got soft and started to fall off.  Steve helped me perform several Earandectomies (yep...just made that up) and now some have "floppy ears" (read: they are laying down) while others maintained their perky ears.  They are now in the fridge until the party. 



I love to cook and haven't done too much of it lately....but that is all about to change.  Steve better loosen his belt a notch.

Nothing makes me laugh harder

I love this commercial:

It makes me laugh every time.

The other day, Steve acted out the commercial while it was on.  I seriously almost peed my pants.  Tonight it came on again and because he was sitting, he only did the sound effects.  That brought back the memories which played like a movie in my head and I laughed just like it was the first time. 

I'm so glad he gets me...

Died and gone to Heaven-ish

The visit with my parents went really well.  It was so great to see them (I'm not sure we had ever gone that long between visits before) and I'm glad my dad finally got to experience The Ranch.

You would have thought he was 15 again.  He climbed up on the 4-wheeler and didn't get down all weekend.  Now, this is a man who just had surgery about 2 months ago and finished his radiation treatments just before that, so I was a little worried about what kind of shape he was going to be in; he seemed to have caught his second wind.  What is it with men and heavy to mid-sized farm equipment???  Steve's eyes light up when he talks about his bulldozer and my dad was very eager to run any errand or do any job that required one of the many "tools" on the ranch. 

My mom loves to watch deer in nature, so I promised to take her up in the tree house to watch them come into the feeder one of the evenings.  Steve and Dale built the tree house; it is about 3 stories high and requires you to climb a ladder that has recently come unattached from the tree, so it is more rickety than usual.  All four of us decided to go, and although it is pretty stable, I have never had 4 adults in it before.  For the first 10-15 minutes (OK, more than that for some of us) we were holding our breath hoping this pleasant night out wouldn't result in disaster.  The fact that it was a windy night, and so the tree was swaying quite a bit, didn't help matters.  Obviously, we all made it out alive....I guess we invented Extreme Deer Watching. 

We ate like kings (fish tacos, ribs, pork butt, venison/wild boar burgers, waffles, pancakes) and put on about 30 lbs over the weekend, but no biggie...eating for the next month is overrated anyway.

One of the days, my mom and I went to the next town with Steve's mom to do some shopping (which was a very short trip...there are only 3 stores and one was closed) and were surprised by a parade-ish display of about 100 horses either being ridden or pulling wagons.  You never know what will happen in the country. 

After we got back to the big city, my dad was itching to go to Bass Pro Shops.  Going to Bass Pro is an experience with my dad.  He walks up and down every single aisle of the fishing section VERY slowly looking at every single solitary lure, worm, pole, reel, bobber, etc.  In the time that he browsed 4 aisles, my mom and I looked at bows and crossbows in the hunting section, looked at the huge new tents for sale, played the shooting game, checked out the fish tank, and scoured the sales racks in the clothing section.

Out of fear that every future trip will be spent at the ranch, my mom is already planting seeds of wanting to visit San Antoino, Austin, and the hill country the next time they come.  Good luck mom, it's good to have another person on my team. 

I didn't forget the point.

I realize that lately this blog has NOTHING to do with it's title.  The reason for this is that we don't have any projects in the works.  Here is my explanation/excuse why:

Steve and I are chomping at the bit to buy another home to fix up and have as a rental, but want to wait until I have my Real Estate license so we can put the commission toward the closing costs or improvements.  I have taken the necessary classes, completed my application, and am waiting for the OK to go get my fingerprints done and take the test.  My application was sent in before Christmas and I got an email a few weeks ago that my education requirements were not fulfilled.  I called to explain that I am a college graduate and do not need to take the extra 3 classes and was told that I need to send in my transcripts.  Transcripts????  What, are we in High School?  In the almost 10 years that I have been out of college, I have never ONCE needed my transcripts (and I have had my RE license in 2 other states).  The lady proceeded to shame me for not having an extra copy on hand and suggested that I order some for future use.  I told her that I went to a major university and no one but them has ever questioned it.  Grrrrr......

So, I ordered transcripts from UF (which involved signing onto the UF website using my student ID number...which of course, I didn't have so I had to call UF to get it), paid my $12 per transcript (I took the lady's advice and ordered an extra, although I'll probably never need it), and received them on Friday.  I will send them in tomorrow and hopefully will be able to get the go-ahead from the state very soon.  Of course, now I need to go take a review course since I haven't looked at any RE notes since Thanksgiving.  This has been the BIGGEST hassle...I would have expected it from Illinois, but not Texas...and I'm hoping it is almost done. 

We took out a home equity line of credit to use toward the next property so we don't drain our checking account again.  Everything is in place but this damn license!

On a happier note, our tenants continue to pay their rent on time and are keeping the property up (I did a drive by to show my parents).  I also haven't had any complaints from the neighbors, who I think have my number on speed dial, so everyone must be playing nicely. 

I called her about the dog shortly after I wrote about it here, and asked when she was sending the pet deposit.  She said she discovered she is allergic and they were getting rid of it that day and would let me know if they decided to get another one.  I told her that there would be no more dogs and I was very relieved they were getting rid of this one.  Well, Dale went back about 3 weeks later to finish up some work and realized that the dog, Patches, was still there.  I was FUMING and sent her a text asking when I could expect the deposit for Patches.  She told me that her son had begged for them to keep him until the food ran out and that it had, conveniently, ran out that day and so he was off to the pound.  I was hoping she wouldn't be there when I drove by with my parents so I could go check if the dog is still there, but she was home.  I think I will do another drive by when I take my parents back to the airport and check, whether she is there or not. 

If this is the biggest problem we run into with them, I think we are pretty lucky. 

So, the moral of this story is that until I am able to take the Real Estate test, you will continue to be exposed to whatever I feel like talking about.  Stay strong...the houses will return eventually.

I'm Hooked!

A new show premiered on BRAVO last night, Pregnant in Heels, and it is so great.  I should probably give the disclaimer that I love every single show on BRAVO, but this one is very unique.  Here's the concept:

This woman, Rosie (who helped Bethany on Bethany Getting Married?), was pregnant in NYC and realized how little is out there in terms of fashionable maternity clothes; so she opened a store.  In doing so, she realized how high-maintenance these Upper East Side moms-to-be are and how little some of them know about babies.  Now she is a bit of a baby expert and helps expectant moms with anything they could possibly need. 

In the first episode she met with a couple who hadn't bought anything for the baby yet because they thought baby toys and furniture are too "babyish" and don't fit their sleek modern apartment, and a couple who wanted help choosing a baby name.  They had a panel of experts and then a focus group for this people!  Wait till the end, you'll never believe what these people choose. 

I am so addicted to reality television, and this show has enough to laugh at that it is a great success in my book.  Check it out and let me know what you think. 

Here's a little preview to wet your pallet.

Pregnant in Heels Season 1 - Hormones, Emotions, and Drama - Video - Bravo TV Official Site

Memory Lane

While resting in bed this morning, trying to fight off a cold that is attempting to invade me, the new commercial for Sonic came on and immediately my mouth started to water and my mind was filled with fond memories of the Windy City.  They are featuring hot dogs the way they are made in certain cities and the Chicago style hot dog is one of them....yum-o! 

When I lived in Chicago, I experienced many of it's delicious native foods, but the hot dog is by far my favorite.  This hot dog reminds me of a gorgeous Spring day (the kind that makes you want to cry because you survived the Winter), walking up to Wrigley in your favorite Cubbies shirt/hat and smelling the sweet smell of all beef kosher hot dogs wafting through the air (don't mind the smell of stale beer...it goes away after you drink a few).  If you are me, once inside, you head straight to the hot dog vendor and then find your seat.  This sucker is loaded full of yummy goodness and is very messy to eat.  Don't mind the rubber neckers, just dive right in and try not to stain your shirt with mustard. 

If you have never had the pleasure of eating a Chicago style hot dog, here is what goes into one:  (Warning: Do not deviate from this blueprint in any way...it is perfect just the way God made it.)

First, you must start with a steamed poppy seed bun.

Next, you add a boiled all beef kosher hot dog (if you can find Vienna brand...it is always best).

Then, you add some diced white onion.

Next, add some NEON green relish.

Note: It MUST be neon green or it will not be authentic.  Yes, it looks scary at first,

but suck it up...you can handle it.

The next step is the fresh tomato slices; cut these slices in half...they fit better.

Then you add the dill pickle spear.  (Yes, non-Chicagoians, this is weird...just stick with me.)

After that comes the sport peppers.  These are spicy, so I just add a few, but go nuts if you feel so inclined.

Then add a dollop of mustard.  Never, I repeat, NEVER ask for ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago.  They will shame you, throw things at you, beat you in the alley, and put a permanent hex on your home. (OK, maybe not, but they will give you a very hard time....I like ketchup...sue me!)

Last, but not least, comes my favorite part.  Add a dash of celery salt over the entire thing....pure genius.

This is what you have made:

If you do not live in or around Chicago, I urge you to run, not walk, to Sonic and try one of these dogs.  Your idea of the hot dog will be completely changed and the common BBQ/picnic/tailgate/etc. will be ruined forever (unless you bring your own condiments...which I recommend.)

You're welcome.

A few things...

Since I have this small soap box to stand on, I thought I would share a few of my observations/thoughts/opinions from the last few days.

1.  I wish I had watched Grey's Anatomy on mute this week.  A musical episode?  Really????  Who thought that was a good idea?  The episode would have been really good if it weren't for all of the singing.  They had nice voices, but it was just so silly.  If you didn't see it and feel like torturing yourself, have a look.

2.  American Idol got it right this week.  I was a little worried that this season was going to be a bust when Casey got voted off...thank goodness the judges saved him...but America redeemed themselves.  Although I liked Thia, she was turning into a one trick pony and really didn't have a shot at winning the whole thing; there's just too many good ones this year.  I could not be happier that Naima is gone though.  I never cared for her voice and then she started dancing....really!??!!  The reggae this past week was really the end for me...as if I wasn't already over her.  Good work America.  Go to 1:35 to see the dance heard round the world:

3.  I'm a pretty amazing fisherwoman.  Steve, his friend Gary, and I went to Gary's property in Galveston Friday night and I slayed them!  We caught 18 speckled trout and 1 flounder.  I caught at least 8 of the trout and the flounder.  Because I was making the guys look so bad, I sat and read a book for a little bit so they could catch up...can you imagine how bad it would have been if I hadn't taken my little break?  We went back to Gary's house and he and his wife threw a little fish fry for us.  Delish!  Here's our catch:

Please excuse their blurriness.  Reason number 3,485 I need an iPhone.

4.  I'm really excited for my parents to come to town on Thursday!  I haven't seen them since my wedding and I really miss them.  They were supposed to come a month ago, but my dad had some complications from his latest surgery, so it had to be postponed.  We are going to the ranch because, although my dad has never been there, he is a tad obsessed with it and is already planning to have a house on it when he retires.  Hopefully my dad will be able to kill a hog or something and my mom and I will go sit in the tree house and watch the deer as they come in to the feeders.  We'll see if he still wants to live there when he sees how far it is from civilization. 

 How cute are they?????

5.  Steve's habit of eating sunflower seeds is officially my least favorite of all of his habits.  As we speak, he is sitting next to me cracking the seeds and then spitting them into a coffee cup.  First off, the spitting sound is repulsive.  Second, guess he gets to then clean said coffee mug.  It is terrible.  I think I'm going to pick up a bunch of de-shelled seeds at the store so and throw the rest of this bag away. 

On that note, I'm gonna go make myself busy in a different room....I can't take that sound anymore.