Tuesday, June 30, 2009

So behind

I am way behind on blog posts. Many are started and saved, but I haven't gotten around to finishing and publishing them. I really have great intentions and then get sidetracked by so many other things. I am hoping to catch up on life this weekend since I'll have an extra day (yay holiday weekend)! I feel like such a slacker, but at least we have been out doing things, hence the delay. I have yet to post about Todd's 40th party, the finished deck, more recipes, our trip to Chicago for a couple days at Wrigley, and our last minute trip to US Cellular field this past weekend. Ack! So much to catch up and so behind. My mid-year resolution is that I will be better at posting and not a month behind! :)

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Kool Dogz

Late last year I bought this thing at Target on clearance for $5 called Kool Dogz. We finally had the opportunity to use it and the dogs love it! We have been freezing treats in this for them every day since it has been sooooooo hot! They stay outside in the morning and one of us comes home at lunch to let them cool off in the AC for 30 or 40 minutes and then they go back out with the Kool Dogz contraption. It has worked out well on all accounts! And they seem to share without fighting. Amazing!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Hobbies Prioritized

So, I haven't been baking as much lately, or maybe I am just making the same old standby recipes. But, I did try a few news things in the last few weeks and I bookmarked like 50 new recipes to try. If only I had more time to spend on my second favorite hobby...

First, I made a peach crisp adapted from allrecipes.com. I bought a 5-lb box of peaches, definitely way more than we could eat. So, I decided to try my hand at a peach dessert. I am not a huge peach fan, but they are okay. I mean, given the choice, I would choose apple or some other fruit over peach. But, the crisp turned out pretty well. Todd says it was better the next day, so it probably needs to sit and gel for awhile. But, we ate it hot out of the oven with vanilla ice cream. Next time I will add some sugar to the peaches since I used fresh instead of canned.

Second, I made Little Blueberry Upside Down Cakes. These were a hit with Todd. The recipe made eight "cakes" and I think they were all gone within 24 hours of when I baked them. I got one, maybe two. Again, I bought way too many blueberries for us to eat and wanted to use them in something really yummy. This recipes caught my attention right away. I had to cook a little longer than the recipe said, but they turned out great. This is on our list of new favorites.

I didn't take any pictures of my creations. While I love recipe blogs and would love to have my own someday, I am not good at pictures of food. Some people are so good at it, but I have never been that great a photography and I don't really have the time to spend practicing on something that doesn't fully interest me. However, several blogs I follow have amazing pictures and some even have tutorials on food photography. Maybe one day I will get a decent camera and take up photographing our baked goods. But for now, I am happy to have running as my main hobby to burn off all the calories for my second hobby and the photography can wait until another day.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Vacation Bound...soon!

Outer Banks, here we come!


Finally! The vacation is booked. We can't go until July this year even though I desperately need a vacation now! But, at least it gives me something to look forward to. It really isn't that far away considering how fast the summer is going. I mean, it is already mid-June. I feel like the summer is usually long, but unfortunately it seems to be going by crazy fast this year! Usually by this point in time we have been to visit family, spent a long weekend in Iowa, been to a Cubs game or two, and taken some weekend trips. But, nothing this year and no days off work. I think that is why I am really looking forward to being away. We have just been too busy with work and home projects (please, please let our deck be done soon!) to be gone. Todd is going up for tenure and has to have everything turned in before we go on vacation. So, he'll be working on that a lot between now and then.


Until then, I look daily at the picture of the view from the deck of our oceanfront rental house to keep me going...

The Wrath of Murphy

I am eating my words that Murphy is good in the house. He was fine being free in the house all day Tuesday and Wednesday. I went home at lunch and after work to no problems at all. However, he must have reached his max indoor time Thursday. Todd went to check on them at lunch and found this…

Picture 1 – Plant in living room torn completely out of planter.

Picture 2 – Basket of random paperwork and computer supplies in front office that was sitting in the bookcase. The basket was completely shredded (you can see the wooden base left in the picture). Some of the paperwork was a lost cause, too.

Picture 3 – Todd’s version of Super Nanny punishment for dogs. Murphy had to sit in the corner in timeout while listening to Lucy get lots of treats.

It turns out Murphy somehow has a massive ear infection and got a shot and four medications at the vet Thursday night. Since he usually stays in the house without any problems, we think it was a combination of being inside for so many days and the pain from the ear infection that led to the destruction. Poor Lucy was shaking in her boots the whole time. She is the “sensitive dog” in the family and knows when someone is about to get in trouble and never wants to be the one to get it. Murphy had no clue he did anything wrong at all.




Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Coolest Gift Ever!

What a cool and creative gift! My friend and running/half-marathon training partner, Mandy, made me the coolest gift ever. It is a framed collage page of our running events from this past spring -- post-race pics, a pic of us finishing the IU Mini together, and the train we got stopped by on the way home from the Indy Mini packet pick-up (which was so funny, but you had to be there). I tried with and without the flash, but the picture does not due justice to the page she she scrapbooked. (Meaning, ignore my bad picture-taking abilities.) I love it! Of course, I am not creative at all and wish I had half the talent to do something like this. Thanks, Mandy! Here's to the fall running season!

Quilt Square

Our friends, Chris and Rita, are adopting a baby from South Korea. While they wait and prepare for their new little one (we hope comes sooner than later), Rita is creating a quilt called the "100 Good Wishes Quilt." They asked friends and family to send meaningful fabric to create a quilt for the baby. It is so cute and a really great idea to welcome the baby home!

I had a hard time trying to come up with something clever, but finally decided on Cleveland Indians fabric. We used to go to baseball games with Chris and Rita, and Todd has been known to talk crap with Chris over their favorite teams. Chris and Todd also played on the same softball team, while Rita and I cheered in the stands. Rita is a huge Indians fan (much like us - they are our minor league team) and Chris is a Cardinals fan (boo!). I tried to find some of each fabric, but couldn't find any cotton Cardinals fabric and only found the Indians fabric after some searching. Anyway, I sent them our fabric and good wishes. The squares they have received so far, including our creation, are all shown on their blog. So cute! I am excited to see the final project and pictures of the baby with the quilt!