The dirty little secret that nooooooone ever tells you about butternut squash...

So, it's fall (or as Kevin likes to say 'nothing says fall like 105 degree temperatures. ...smarty pants!). And being the fall-loving girl that I am, I've been thinking about all sorts of scrumptious, can't-hardly-wait-for-fall dishes I want to make and enjoy. Mmmmmm....it's time for SQUASH! ROASTS!! PUMPKINS!! SOUPS!!

The other day I ran across a yummy sounding recipe for butternut squash lasagna. (insert Scooby Doo 'HUH?' here). I think I'm going to have to make us some of that!

I read the recipe and, to be honest, while it didn't *sound* difficult, there are lot of steps involved to make the lasagna. (thank you, Michael Chiarello!) Oh well, I thought, we're making it for Sunday dinner and what are Sundays for but making special recipes that you don't have time to create during the week? Right?

We were so excited about making the squash this weekend that we went during the week and did all of our grocery shopping so that we could make sure we had all of the ingredients on hand for the Sunday cookfest. (Okay, okay ... I did forget mozzarella, but Kevin was running an errand anyway and picked some up on his way home this morning).

Because the process is so involved, I thought I'd knock out the first step - roasting the squash - earlier this morning before it got too hot. I re-read the recipe: Cut the tops and bottoms off of two 3-5 pound butternut squash. Use vegetable peeler to remove the tough skin on the outside of the squash. Cut squash in half; scoop out seeds. Lay squash flat side down on cutting board and cut into 1" chunks. Season squash with specified ingredients; place on roasting pan and roast for 50 minutes until tender. See what I mean? That doesn't sound so difficult, does it?

Until...

Have you ever tried to cut a butternut squash? Let me tell you, it is woefully misnamed as there is nothing 'squashy' about it (until it's roasted, of course). I placed the squash on a cutting board, took out the largest serrated knife we own (barring a saw from the garage, which, by the way, I was sorely tempted to use!) and *tried* to cut the top from one of the two squash. Uh, yeah...RIGHT. I made it about a quarter of the way through and the knife got stuck. Plan B: use the electric knife!! Once I was able to (very carefully) remove the first knife, I assembled the electric knife and assumed it would now be a piece of cake to cut that darn squash. WRONG I changed the knife blades in the electric knife to blades that, no kidding, resembled a small saw, and tried again. Well, it F-I-N-A-L-L-Y worked! But make no mistake, it still wasn't easy!

Then came the peeling portion of the preparation. REALLY? I'm not sure which is worse, attempting to *cut* the squash, or attempting to *peel* the squash. It may be a toss up. Several times I stopped to count and make sure all of my fingers were still attached. They were, but only by the grace of God!

Now that we have two peeled butternut squash, it's time to cut them in half and scoop out the seeds. Let me say this about that, the next time the damn seeds can stay INside for all I care. At one point, I literally held up a squash half and threatened 'You'd better be worth it!' Once again, I employed the use of the electric saw ... er ... knife with less than stellar results. Well, eventually the results were stellar, but not until I wrangled with those darn squash for a while. WHEW!

Next step: lay squash flat side down and cut into 1" chunks. Uh, yeah, I think NOT! I decided to ROAST the squash first, and then I'll cut it into chunks - when it actually lives up to the name 'squash'. I couldn't fathom putting the poor little electric knife through anymore; the motor was already hot and I swear I thought I saw a little trickle of smoke escape from the handle. I *know* I heard it whimper.

Here it is, looking all yummy and innocent getting ready to have the dickens roasted out of it:

Even Slippers seemed to be disgusted by the whole affair. Her look says it all ("What do you mean it's a 'vegetarian' lasagna? Where's the meat?)

I can only hope it's all worth it in the end. I'll letcha know how it all turns out. Either way, now I know why people buy those small bags of peeled, cored, and chunked butternut squash. *IF* we make it again, that's what I'll be using! Next Sunday we'll stick with an easy recipe - I've experimented enough for a week or two anyway.

Bon Appetit!

Periodicals

(Why are they called 'Periodicals' anyway? Isn't that really just a snooty-nose-in-the-air name for magazine?)

Well I know it's fall because we're right smack in the middle of our fall magazine drive fundraiser at school. Yes indeedy, time to re-up our subscriptions to most of the 13 magazines that we subscribe to. Yep, you read that right - 13 magazines. (Kimberly, our mail carrier, absolutely hates us at the beginning of each month!) I say most of our magazines because when I looked up the end dates for all our subscriptions, I found out some very interesting.

Apparently I've re-subscribed to the same magazines year after year not realizing that often the subscriptions are for two years, not just one. When we do our fundraiser, the staff is able to purchase magazines at a heavy discount, so it doesn't occur to me that the meager $10.00 I'm paying for a particular title is actually for more than 12 months. What a deal, right? Anyway...what I discovered is that the current subscription for one of my magazines isn't due for renewal until 2020. Guess I'm a little ahead on that one. A couple others are due for renewal in 2016. Another one in 2014.

OKAY! I admit it, I'm a magazine junkie! And so is Kevin. We're not really interested in a 12 step program to curb our addiction. In fact, we squeal with delight each time we receive a 'fix' in the mail. There is just something about a brand new issue of a beloved magazine arriving in the mail: smooth, crisp, un-read pages; a glossy cover with a fabulous photo on the cover; page after page of wonderful ideas/recipes/stories. Sheer Heaven!

So, now that I don't have to renew my subscription to a couple of things, I'm thinking of ordering a new title or two (sorry Kimberly!) for even more monthly inspiration. In reviewing the vast quantity of magazine titles to choose from(who says magazines are suffering during this economy?), it struck me: Who thinks up these names anyway?

For instance, did you know that there is a magazine called 'Hot Bike Baggers'? Do you even know what a 'hot bike bagger' is? No, me neither. How about 'Gun Dog'? Does that arrive on your doorstep? Nope, not mine either. Then there's always 'Dirt Rag' - which I misread at 'Dirt Bag' until I typed this post. And why, I ask you, do we need 21 different 'Game and Fish' magazines? I kid you not. They go by state: 'Fish & Game Kentucky', 'Fish & Game Pennsylvania', 'Fish & Game California'. I realize that different regions probably do have different types of fish and game, but really? Do you fish differently in Iowa than you would say in Maryland? Isn't the method at least similar enough that you could capture all 'Fish and Gamers' if not with one magazine, at least one per *region*? And what about the other 29 states? Is there no fishing or gaming in any of those states? Or are they just not allowed to do so because they don't have a magazine?

Curios questions, these.

I think I'll stick with something simple such as Sunset magazine. Maybe I'll subscribe to it until 2020 when, no doubt, there will be even goofier magazine titles out there from which to choose.

A Philosophical Debate:

Are orange pants ever a good idea?

Let me start by saying that I am a girl who loves orange. Pretty much any shade of orange really, except for possibly a neon fluorescent shade, but other than that, I'm definitely and orangophile.

I have a couple of really cute sweaters in varying shades, a couple of tops that are either out-right orange or have orange in them, and a couple of scarves that are in the orange-ish vein - you get the idea.

Something I don't have is orange pants. Frankly, I'd never even given orange pants a thought. At least not in a very long time. We're talking sometime in the mid-70's when my excuse for having absolutely no fashion sense at all was that I was but a mere child. Nope, orange pants weren't even in my vocab.

...until today.

I happened to get out of the office at lunch today and headed over to the mall just to get out a bit. I was looking at a rack of new arrivals for fall when I happened to spy a top I already own:

paired with a really cute pair of orange corduroy pants:

At first I thought "Those are so cute! I *have* to have them!" ...and then I started thinking. Orange. Pants. Orange pants. Are orange pants ever really a good idea? Hmmm. Maybe they are. If you're 5'10" and a size 2. Huh. I'm neither 5'10" tall, nor am I a size 2. Maybe orange pants aren't such a good idea. At least for me. I mean, do I *really* want my caboose covered in orange corduroy? Isn't that just inviting some sort of talk that should really be avoided? I think so.

Needless to say I thought better of it and left the orange pants hanging right where I found them. Next to my cute top that I wear with *navy* pants - muuuuch more flattering.

Oh, and I found an adorable pair of *navy* peep toe pumps for $5.00! Now those, you can talk about all you want ;o)

Cinema 2341

Last weekend we did something I've been wanting to do for a very long time: we hosted an outdoor movie night in our driveway.

I thought about doing it last summer at our old house, but time just seemed to sort of slip away and we never did it. I also think I was a bit hesitant because 1) I didn't know who would actually show up (some of our old neighbors got along, some of them didn't) and, 2) our house was right smack on the corner and it was kind of a busy street sometimes. It was hard to tell who might be coming and going and if it would be a busy night, which would disrupt the movie (lots of car traffic = lots of noise!).

Anyway, we really do want to foster a wonderful neighborhood climate in our new home, so this was the perfect venue.

We made flyers for all of the houses in the neighborhood, and our little friends in the 'hood colored them in and delivered one to each house. I borrowed some of the equipment from work and Kevin combined it with our DVD player to show the movie on the garage door. We bought a white, king-sized sheet and some PVC pipe and Kevin fashioned the perfect movie screen. Here are a few pics of the set-up (sorry, we got busy and it got dark before we could take more photos of everyone enjoying the movie):

End of Summer BBQ

A couple of weeks ago our little neighborhood held an impromptu end of summer BBQ. Because there are lots of little ones, their parents got together and decided to rent something fun for the day. And boy was it ever fun!

At first we thought they were renting a jump house, but because it was so hot, they went with something a bit, um, cooler. A water slide! The kids - and adults - had a blast.

The BBQ started about noon or so, and we finally pulled the plug about 8:30. The kids stopped playing on the slide around 7:00 because the sun was just starting to go down and it got a little cool to be in the water. To warm things up, we pulled out our fire pit, put it on the front lawn, spread out lots of blankets and provided the provisions to make s'mores.

It was a great way to wind down a busy summer. The BBQ was a casual affair where, because we all live in the 'hood, we came and went as we pleased. Kevin and I came home for a bit to make a potato salad to share for dinner. One of the neighborhood pups went missing for a bit and we all headed out on a hunt for him (he didn't get too far, just a few houses down the street). People left and came back as it suited them. It was great! Here are a few pics of the event.

Once in a ...

blue moon.

Beautiful, wasn't it?

Goes to Eleven

On Saturday, August 18th, Kevin and I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary! Neither of us can believe it's been that long, but then again, neither of us can remember a time when we weren't together.

To celebrate, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner and some jazz at a small restaurant in Old Town Pasadena called redwhite+bluezz. If you've never been and you live in the Pasadena area, go. Right now. I'll wait.

The food was amazing, wine delicious, and music very smooooooth.

After dinner, we went for a drive along my favorite bridge and then headed home. When we pulled in the driveway, some of the neighborhood kids shouted 'There they are!' and came running over. We kinda felt celebrity-ish ;o) One of the neighbors soon followed and handed us a wonderful bottle of chilled champagne to celebrate our anniversary. How sweet is that? Thanks, Julie!

Honey, I love you more now that we the day we got married. I've loved every chapter in our book so far and can't wait to turn the next page. Here's to eleven more...and then another eleven...and, well, you get the idea. Muuuahhh.

Shout out to 'cuz Dallas

Girl, you need to get a different phone!

Every time I send you a message, or reply to a message that you've sent me, it gets returned to me as 'undeliverable'.

Deb suggested that I try to email you from mom's old email account, but I didn't want to freak you out, so I haven't.

When you read this message...

Thanks for your kind and caring words about mom and more recently, dad. It's been a long and painful 11 months (can you believe everything started nearly 1 year ago? Yep, it was October ...), but we're all starting to recover. Maybe. Somewhat.

Anyway - I just wanted you to know that I've received your emails and tried to respond but haven't been successful. You can either leave me a message here, send me one at the regular email and I'll try again, or send a message through mom's old email and we can try again that way.

Take care and send everyone our love!

Are you there, blogger...It's me, Randa

Well.

Sooo...

Holy smokes it's been a long time since I've blogged!!!

I'm so sorry. Just after my last blog post I was off work for the summer and on the 2nd of July, Kevin and I made the big move. And yes, I do mean B-I-G. I don't think either of us has ever worked harder in our entire lives than we did preparing the house to move into, and then actually moving.

I've told everyone that this was the most difficult move we've ever made. The difficulty was not because of the emotional circumstances of moving into the house, but in the sheer magnitude of 'stuff' that we moved. It wasn't like a typical move in that we didn't move into an empty house. Because we kept some of mom and dad's furniture and home goods (not to be confused with Home Goods, Deb and Vicky - don't get too excited ;o), we basically had to take everything that we'd kept out of the cupboards, combine it with our things and *then* put everything back where it belonged. It was something of a monumental task, especially considering we'd put a lot of work into the house before we moved: stripping wallpaper, painting, refinishing the hardwood floors, adding carpet to a couple of rooms.

BUT. Now that it's done, let me just say this: It's AMAZING! Not only is it a darling house, it's our home. It's our *family* home where everyone is welcome and surrounded by love. Mom and dad are definitely both here with us and it's such a nice warm, comforting feeling. More than once we've said 'Well, George (dad) helped me with this', or 'I could just hear mom laughing when I did that'. It's ... good and right. Pat said 'it's a good mix of Grandma & Papa and Aunt Ran & Uncle Kevin' - I think that about says it all.

As for the 'hood, well, it's wonderful. A couple of people asked me how it felt to move back into this house since it was the house I grew up in. I said it felt normal. Many of the neighbors are still the same, several of the kids I grew up with in the neighborhood now live in their parents and grandparents homes, and the new neighbors who've moved in over the last couple of years are great! There will definitely be lots of fun times in our neighborhood in the years to come. In fact, we've already had several neighborhood get togethers over the last couple of weeks and it's we've had a blast. There are lots of kids around so it will be fun watching them all grow up. We hosted a neighborhood movie night this past weekend (more on that in another post), and it went really well. On Monday, my boss asked how the movie night went and I told him it was great. He said he'd love to do those kinds of things in his neighborhood, but he didn't think it would go well. As he put it "not everyone lives in a golden knoll like you." Ahhh, so true =)

I know I said this a few months back, but I really will post some pictures of our new home very soon. We've got nearly everything put away and spruced up - just a little bit more to go. WooHoo!!

Weekend Breakfast

Normally I'm a make-from-scratch kinda girl, but with the craziness of packing, painting and moving, I'm really loving a little extra help in the kitchen!

This macadamia nut pancake and waffle mix is absolutely delicious. I was able to buy it at Ralph's for a while, but they are no longer carrying it. Somehow I don't think it fits in with their new "lower prices" theme. It is a bit of a high-end 'extra' but, in my book, is well worth a little extra cost for something so yummy!

More later on the packing-painting-moving bit. While it is currently monopolizing any free time we have, things will be calming down - at least somewhat! - in the very near future. Moving day: Monday, July 2nd.

Let the countdown begin!!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

As you may recall, Kevin and I were going to move in with dad before he passed away. Originally we'd set a target date of the end of March, but discovered that was a somewhat unrealistic goal. I'm not sure if you're aware of it or not, but trying to paint, pack up two houses, and work two full-time jobs, well ... it's a bit stressful to say the least. By mid-February we knew we'd have to extend our target move date to June.

In the meantime of course, dad passed away. But - we will still be moving into the house. It was kind of the plan that, when the time came, Debbie and I would split things down the middle. We would buy Deb out of her share, since her family's roots are in TO, and Kevin and I would keep the house. Sounds easy, but trust me, there are a ton of paperwork issues. However, the fact remains that when all is said and done, this is what will have happened, and Kevin and I will live many long and happy years in our family home.

Initially when we were going to move in with dad, we were just going to paint a few rooms. Now that dad's gone, we're painting them all, which, while it will look fabulous and be hugely rewarding when we're finished, for the moment, we're absolutely and utterly exhausted.

But.

We're beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel and realize it's not a train on the other end. These last nine months have been a crazy, confusing whirlwind. Now that we're beginning to reach the end of the tunnel, we are ready to get back to our somewhat normal lives and relax for a bit.

This weekend we will pretty much be finished with the painting. We still have one hallway, one ceiling and lots of trim work to complete, but we're getting there! Tomorrow, the furniture that we're donating will be picked up; Monday, they will begin removing the carpet and getting ready to refinish the hardwood floors; the following Saturday, the bedroom carpeting will be installed. Then, all (all?)we have left to do is finish packing our current house, move furniture, and put things away. We've been taking some photos along the way and I can hardly wait to begin sharing them with you!

Luckily school is nearly out and we'll both be on vacation soon. Our goal is to have everything finished by the time we return to work in August. Wish us luck!

Blue Heaven

Kevin and I bought our 10 game package of Dodger tickets again this year. We've skipped the last two years because we didn't want to line the former owners' pockets any more than they were already being line. But, since we now have new owners, we're back in the park.

We both love being at the Stadium. While it's huge, it's still warm and welcoming ... in a 'I'm-here-with-50-thousand-of-my-closest-friends' kinda way. Here's a shot from the first game we went to this season. Gorgeous, right?

Photo Finish

The morning of Dad's memorial service, some of my co-workers had planned to meet at Santa Anita Park and have breakfast at Clocker's Corner. I thought about going, but then thought that, with the service later that day, it would make the day too hectic.

Then I thought about it again and changed my mind. Both mom and dad had loved going to the horse races. Dad more so than mom, but they'd spent a lot of time there during a time in their lives, and had enjoyed every minute of it. I decided that I couldn't think of a better way to start a day that was going to focus on honoring my dad. I asked Catherine to add our names to the reservation list.

At nine that morning, Kevin, Vicky and I headed over to the track. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the horses were out on the track working out while we ate breakfast. Just to the right of our table, at a pub table near the track, stood Bob Baffert - horse owner and trainer extraordinaire. Everyone whispered about him being there, and pointed him out to the others. I knew him the moment I saw him. Many a time we'd watch television on a race day - specifically the Kentucky Derby - and Bob Baffert would be there with one of his horses, preparing for the big race. He's pretty much a fixture at Santa Anita, so it wasn't surprising he was there.

As we got up to leave, I diverted and walked over to the table where Mr. Baffert was standing with a friend. I introduced myself and told him that he didn't know me from Adam and, though I was sure it wouldn't make a hill of beans difference to him, my father had always enjoyed following him and his horses. I told him that dad had passed away and later that day we'd be having his memorial service and we'd been out there that morning to honor dad. I told him that my dad would love knowing that I'd talked to him, and I wanted to shake his hand and say thank you for the years of wonderful memories. He looked pretty stunned. He smiled, shook my hand and said thank you. We left and headed home to prepare for the service.

A couple weeks passed and I spoke with an acquaintance who had also been at the track for breakfast that morning. He asked how dad's service had gone and I told him that it went well and we'd all enjoyed spending time together telling stories about dad. He said that he'd wanted to say something to me before we left the track that morning, but that I'd gone over to talk to Bob Baffert and he didn't want to interrupt. He said "I don't know what you said to him, but he was quite touched. After you walked away, he turned to his friend with a huge smile on his face and said 'That's the sweetest thing that will happen to me all day.'" How nice is that?

It was so nice that Daniel told me what was said after I walked away. Knowing that I made someone's day, made my day, too. So often we never know how we touch other people's lives by what we say and do. It's really a shame that we don't take the opportunity to tell each other more often how much what they've said or done has impacted our lives. I'm going to try to be better at doing that. Join me, won't you?

Dad

I know. I haven't been around in a while. Things have been ... hectic. And sad. And overwhelming.

When I last posted in March, I mentioned that dad had gone back into the hospital. He was there for just a couple of days, and then was released to come home -- but honestly, he still wasn't feeling well. Two days after he came home, he lost his balance and slipped in the bathroom. His caretaker caught him before he actually hit the floor, but as he was sliding down, he hit the exposed pipe under the sink in the small bathroom. He said that he sore, but that he was fine.

But we knew he wasn't fine. Shortly after mom passed away, dad rallied and was really doing well! It took him a while to gain some of the strength he'd lost, but he had gotten to the point where he was up and walking every day, getting in some exercise, and interested in going out and about to see what was going on in the world. He would beam when he told us each day how many 'laps' he'd done around the house. Eight today! Ten today! He was encouraged and was thinking of small projects he could do to keep himself occupied. But by the beginning of March, he began not feeling well and was losing a lot of his drive.

Besides the physical illness, he was overwhelmed with sadness. Between losing mom, his own declining health, closing his longtime, home-based business ... it was all just too much to handle at once and an ominous depression took hold of him. One night he was so sad and lonely he told me that he 'just wants to go be with mom'. My heart just broke. There is nothing quite like seeing your dad - once so strong, so full of energy and life - grow sad, ill and depressed. And worse still, knowing there isn't much you can do to help.

After his fall, he remained at home for a few more days until the following Sunday morning when he called and told me he thought he needed to go to the hospital. I readily agreed. Both Deb and I had been trying to talk him into going to the hospital for several days, but he'd refused. Once in the emergency room, the battery of tests began. Pneumonia: check. Atrial fibrillation: double check. Fractured rib: ahhh, check. We weren't back where we started from exactly; we'd moved, in fact, a few giant leaps backwards. They were going to take dad to have an ultrasound done, so Kevin and I left the room for a bit. When we returned, they told us we had to leave. They were having a very difficult time regulating dad's heart rate and blood pressure. His heart was racing while his blood pressure remained dangerously low. By the time they allowed me back into the room, nearly an hour had passed, but at least dad was stable.

He was admitted to the hospital on March 25th. As luck would have it, his doctors were the same kind, gentle, caring doctors who had taken care of mom. We got lucky twice! Over the next couple of weeks, dad would have a good day or two, then a bad day or two. We see-sawed back and forth for two weeks. During that time it became clear to us that, though we didn't know when it would happen, dad wouldn't be with us much longer.

Sunday, April 8th. Easter morning. We got up early and began preparing to have everyone over to our house for the day. The plan was for all of us to go over to the hospital and visit dad. We were going to bring the boys' birthday gifts so that he could watch them open them. I'd been trying to call him all morning and he didn't answer his phone. About the fourth time I tried - around 9:30, his nurse was in the room and answered the phone. She said that he was sleeping, but his vital signs were stable. Around 10:00 a.m., the phone rang. Before I even picked it up I had a feeling what was about to happen. I answered the phone and on the other end was Dr. Arenas. She whispered in a small, sad voice that dad had passed away. I already knew it. I'd woken up really early that morning with a sense that dad would pass that day. The week before he passed away, I was on spring break. I had the honor of being at the hospital every day to visit him - which was a blessing, but also a curse. I am so thankful that we had that time together, but it was hard for me too because each day I could see him getting worse, and hear his voice fading away.

We all met at the hospital to say our final goodbyes. Dad looked peaceful - at last. No more pain, no more struggling to breathe or eat. No more missing mom. Their 53rd wedding anniversary would have been that upcoming Thursday and we all agreed - dad just didn't want to have an anniversary without mom, so he decided to join her so that the could celebrate together.

I will always love you, dad, and keep you in my heart. I'm so lucky to have had you and mom as my parents. One day we'll all be together again. Until then, you and mom keep each other company and keep a watchful eye on us. I promise we'll make you both proud.

End of Winter: Brrrrrrrr!

This past winter has been unseasonably warm - not just here in southern California, but all across the country. Over the weekend, there was a news story about the warm temperatures in Washington, D.C. - people were sitting at outdoor cafes having lunch ... in shorts and T-shirts! I think that's absolutely unheard of for mid-March in that area!

Tomorrow marks the first day of spring - already! As if to remind us that it really IS still winter, Mother Nature brought in a good, cold winter storm this past weekend. Brrrrrr! The last three days have run the gamut: very cold temperatures; drizzle; heavy, pelting rain; pea-sized hail; and SNOW. The foothills were so clouded over that we had no idea it was snowing up there ... until yesterday morning when the clouds cleared out a bit and - lo and behold! - there was a beautiful dusting of white powder all along the foothills. It was down so low that we could have driven up to it in just a matter of minutes. Gorgeous!

So much for in like a lion, out like a lamb!

Looking forward - and wishing you and yours - a wonderful spring.

Here We Go Again

Dad hasn't been feeling well the past couple of weeks. When I talk to him in the morning on the way to work, he thinks he might feel a bit better than the day before; by noon, he's doing okay, but not great; by evening, he just doesn't feel well at all. We've been encouraging him to get in to the doctor, but he believes that the next day, he'll feel better.

Well, he hasn't.

Early Saturday morning, he called to say that he thought he should go to the emergency room because he just wasn't breathing well. I told him I'd pick him up, but he felt (and rightfully so)that he'd receive more immediate attention if he arrived by ambulance. I told him I'd meet him there.

Poor dad. As we sat in the ER and waited for all of tests to come back, his anxiety kept building by the moment. We both knew that he would end up being admitted, and were just waiting for the final word. And then, there it was: he was being admitted for pneumonia in both lungs and a urinary tract infection. Oh boy, here we go again.

If I may ask, please keep dad in your prayers. He's sad and depressed, misses mom more than any of us know, and now he's not well on top of all of that. We love you dad, and are all praying for a speedy recovery. We want you to come home soon! ...and WELL!

Coming Out of the Dark

In preparation for our big move, we're painting some of the rooms at mom & dad's house - the biggest room being the den.

The den is an add-on that mom and dad had built in the early to mid-70's. It's a nice, big room, but it hasn't been updated since it was first added on, and was definitely in need of a makeover. The room has wood paneled walls and brown wood blinds on the windows, which make for a 'woodsy' feeling, but definitely make the room fairly dark.

After much discussion, we've decided to paint over the wood paneling and spray the blinds white to update and liven up this wonderful space. It's a huge job which required a great deal of prep - time which none of us really had - so we hired a painter and his crew to prep and paint both the walls and the blinds. And we are SO glad we did! It's a HUGE job, but they worked really, really hard and had the whole thing finished in just TWO DAYS! Amazing. While we're not finished with this room by any means - we still have furniture to change out and things to hang on the wall, here's a quick peak at the difference between the (old) dark, and the (new) light. These photos were taken before the finish coat was added and before the blinds were hung, but still ... you can easily see what a difference it makes!!

Den Before:

Den After:

Pretty incredible transformation, right? I can hardly wait to see what it's going to look like when we have everything put together.

Things are coming along, but it's quite a long process. We have all of the wallpaper off the walls in the master bedroom, and the wall repairs done. Now it's just a matter of washing the walls down, taping the woodwork off and then actually painting the walls. We'll be finishing that up soon - which will only leave us two more rooms to do: the dining room and the mancave. Kevin and I both have spring break coming up, so hopefully, we'll be close to finished with all of the painting by the end of April. I think that's a fairly realistic goal. After that, it will just be a matter of packing up and purging cupboards and drawers from both houses, and getting rid of some furniture.

Bottom line: by summer we'll be all moved in. Let the pool party begin!

Tres bon!

In October, I bought a Groupon for a crepe restaurant in Old Town. None of us had ever heard of it before, but it was a pretty good deal: 4 glasses of wine and two appetizers - a $78.00 value for just $30.00. Who could resist? Not me, so I bought one!

With everything going on in our lives, we just hadn't had a chance to set a date. We kept thinking we'd get around to it eventually, but time has passed so quickly we just never got around to it. Until yesterday.

We talked with Bev and Ken on Saturday and set a time to meet at the restaurant yesterday around 6:00. We were surprised to find a darling little European-esque cafe just off the beaten path down a short alley. A couple of tables outside, a couple of tables and a bar inside, and that was about it. It had a certain charm, though, and Edith Piaf singing softly in the background - and really - who could ask for anything more than that?

Being Sunday, there weren't throngs of customers, but with just one waitress working, there was quite a wait. It took over half an hour just to get two glasses of wine. I will say that the wine was excellent, as were the appetizers, dinner and dessert. We left full of good food and good conversation which made for a very satisfying evening for all.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend Creme de la Crepe; just make sure you have plenty of time on your hands when you go!

The Cow Says: Moo, and the Pig Says: Oink, and the Rooster Says...

More syrup, please!

In January, we were trying to decide what to have to celebrate an office mate's birthday. Jeff suggested a waffle bar, which I sort of poo-poo'd a bit. Why? I don't know really, I guess I thought it sounded like a lot of work (Huh - not nearly as much work as the Grilled Cheese Festival. Hellooooo - what was I thinking?). But have it we did ... and it was a huge hit! One of the things that made it the most fun was the waffle maker itself. Jeff brought in his waffle maker which makes, you guessed it, barn yard animals! There's a cow, a pig, a rooster and a barn. They're a hoot! ... and when the waffles are ready, that's exactly what it does - hoot.

We had so much fun the first time around, that yesterday before we left work, I suggested having 'Barn Yard Waffle Day, the Sequel'. We kind of planned it at the last minute, so with the exception of Jeff, Linda and myself, the waffle bar came as a pleasant surprise to everyone in the office.

Once again, it was a huge hit! I have to admit, though, that I felt a bit guilty. Every time someone walked in, they all sniffed deeply and replied, "Mmmmmm - waffles!" They smelled so good everyone was salivating. Next time maybe we'll make enough for the whole staff.

Oh Lordy - what have we started?

A Wintry Night

We've had a mild winter to say the least, but today we had a big blast of winter weather to remind us just what season we're in.

Kevin had an umpire meeting tonight so when I came home, I changed into soft, warm clothes and whipped up a huge crockpot-ful of beef bourginon. Tomorrow morning before leaving for work, all I have to do is turn on the pot and let our mouth-watering dinner cook slowly all day long.

Mmmmm....I can almost smell the savory deliciousness right this moment. I can hardly wait!