Bunny Heaven

Paula the Bunny has passed on to Bunny Heaven.  She had been slowing down the last couple weeks – very subtle changes but I noticed because I kept a close eye on her.  We were outside with her yesterday morning and she ran up to us to see what we were doing.  And then at about 11 am Jim was washing the patio and he picked her up to move her out of the way.  He put her in her hutch so she had a good view of him working.  He went out about an hour later and she had died laying in her hutch watching over her kingdom (the backyard!)

We are all sad – we loved the funny bunny!

Lucky #88

One of my coworkers is Chinese and when she saw Drew's football number she said that #88 is considered to be VERY lucky in the Chinese culture!  She said Chinese people fight to get that number in their phone # and their license plates because it is considered so lucky.

I then asked her -- why did Drew get injured if it is so lucky and she said, if he wasn’t #88, it would have been much worse an injury with his arm ripped from his body and ending up across the field!

Yikes!

Friday Nite Football

What a beautiful nite it was on Friday when Drew had a football game.  He had only been practicing for 3 days after returning from his sprained shoulder, so he only got one play in.....BUT - he almost sacked the quarterback and made him throw an interception!  Check him out in the pic - he is #88 - my giant boy!

Sour cream apple pie

Looks like a pack of wild animals got to this pie!

 
This may be my new favorite pie.  My friend, Renee, loaded us up with some apples from her tree and I decided to make a sour cream apple pie.  I wasn't sure about it - sounded a little weird.  But it was easy and DELICIOUS!

 

Crust

• 1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz. box), softened as directed on box- or make your own

 
Filling

• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 egg
• 6 cups 1/4-inch slices peeled baking apples

 
Topping

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash salt
• 3 tablespoons cold butter or margarine

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Unroll pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie. In large bowl, beat sour cream, granulated sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and egg with wire whisk until well blended; stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined pie plate. 

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F; bake 30 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix all topping ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.

Sprinkle topping over pie. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 4, bake 25 to 30 minutes.

Space Shuttle

I went out with some friends today at work to watch the space shuttle flyby.  We have a hill right behind our building and there were hundreds of employees up there watching the event.  You can see them all in the pic above and you can see my company in the background.  It was a super cool thing to see and something that I will always remember!

Pepper - roni

Pepper is staying with us this weekend.  He gets very tired from all the activity at our house!

Cross Country

Grace joined the cross country team at school and this is a pic from her second meet.  She is coming in right in the middle of the pack which is awesome since she had done NO training!  Not one run!

Mom and Dad

Love this pic of my mom and dad from the photo booth at my cousin's wedding in Aug 2112!  They look so hip and attractive!

Home Sweet Home

Bunny was hanging out in her hutch today, which she doesn't usually do.  She is one happy bunny!

Jackson

Jackson - Rockin' a Stache!

Puppies?

I am sitting here working and look up to see:

• Ahi outside eating a whole bowl of rabbit food!

• Daisy inside eating a golf ball!

What the heck????  Do they think they are naughty puppies?  Wonder who will barf first?

Shorty Update

Everyone knows that Grace's nickname is "Shorty" because she used to be the shortest one in the house.  Not even close anymore!!! 

Yesterday she went to the doctor and she has grown AGAIN!  She is now 5 foot 8 and 1/2 inches.  So she has grown half an inch since the middle of summer.  And before that, she had grown an inch in 2 months!  She is now 4 and half inches taller than me!  And 3/4 of an inch shorter than the average American man.

Have a Seat!

I love my adirondak chairs!  The green ones are at the cabin and the new fuschia ones are in the back yard at home.  I also have white ones in the front yard at home.  It looks like I am starting to collect them!

Snuggle Up!

Just finished our new blanket for football season!  I made it extra long for the tall people in the family!

Love Letter

Mari just sent me this picture of a love letter that Drew wrote when he was in preschool!  I think he wrote it to himself from Mari!  So cute!

Hollywood Stones

Me, Jim, Grace and Tina took a trip to the cabin this weekend for a little R & R.

For the first time since owning the cabin (11 years), we had time and were in town for the local chili cook off.  So we went down and spent a few hours.  Jim and Tina taste tested the chili from the four booths - they liked the one by Habitat for Humanity best!  Grace and I checked out all the craft booths.  Then we all got a drink or a sno-cone and sat down to listen to the music.  That's when the giggling started!

The band was called Hollywood Stones and was a Rolling Stones cover band.  The singing was fair but the attempt to imitate the real Rolling Stones was atrocious!  The picture above is the lead singer "Dick Swagger" playing the role of Mick Jagger.  His pants were too tight, his lipstick too bright and his moves too bad! Check them out - its good for some laughs!

http://hollywoodstones.com/

Boys with Beers

The black shirts are the official t-shirts of TNDC - they say:  "In dog beers, I have only had 1".  Doug just got his and since he doesn't drink beer, his says, "In Doug Root Beers, I have only had 1"!  Thanks to Coach Cindy for being so crafty!

Breakfast

I had mentioned that we get free food at work.  This is the breakfast I fixed up for myself this moring:  steel cut oatmeal with walnuts, raisans and brown sugar and cut fruit.  I LOVE when someone cuts my fruit up for me, because that never happens at home!

Mystery Solved!

I have two stories to tell about enchilada sauce!

1.  I finallly solved the mystery of why our black bean enchiladas are so HOT!  The last couple times I have made them, we have been hooting and hollering while eating them because they are so spicy.  I have made them for years and never had that problem.  This morning, I took some enchilada sauce out of the pantry and noticed is labeled "picante hot".  AH HA!  Mystery solved!

2.  This week I made some home made enchilada sauce which was delicious!  Super easy too.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoonsvegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 cups vegetable stock
•  10 ounces tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minute. Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds. Add stock, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. The sauce will thicken and smooth out. Adjust the seasonings. Serve atop your favorite enchiladas.

Random Act of Kindness

I can't believe I almost forgot to blog about this incident:

On Saturday morning, I drove down to Auntie Debbie's new house to go for a walk/hike with her.  She has been wanting me to come down since she moved in and I never have time.  This weekend, I made time.  And we had a delightful morning with the dogs.

When I left, I stopped at her local Starbucks to get a couple teas because I was going to meet Jim at Grace's soccer game.  While standing in line, an older gentlemen walked up and waited behind me.  I turned at one point and smiled at him, thinking nothing about it. (NOTE:  I was sweaty and grubby in a t-shirt, shorts and hiking boots).

When I went to pay for my tea, I handed the gal a $100 bill and she said, "I only have 5's for change."  I responded that 5's were fine with me.  At that point, the older gentlemen stepped up and said, "I will pay for your drinks!"

I protested and said that it was ok, but he insited!  I told him that my husband and I both pay for stranger's coffees at xmas time but no one had ever done it for me!  I was so excited.  It felt so good to be on the other side of a random act of kindness!

Pay it forward people!

Yummly

My neighbor jut hooked me up with this website:

http://www.yummly.com/

It searches the web for recipes.  I haven't used it a lot....yet.  But it seems cool.

Kongs

This morning while working from home, I put left over chicken in the dogs kongs and let them have at it! 

They LOVE their kongs!  They each went to different sides of the room and worked on getting their treats out of the kong.  After about 20 mins, they were both almot empty....since Daisy's kong is a "genius" kong, there was a little bit of chicken left in it. 

Ahi promptly stole Daisy's kong and carried it all over the house while barking at it because she could not get the little bit of chicken out!  Hilarious!

Priest Grade Skateboarding

The Priest Grade is a super steep roadway up by the cabin.  It would not even be built today because it is too steep for current roadway standards.  But because it already exists and because local residents always throw a fit when they talk about shutting it down, it remains open.

Some moron decided to skateboard down it and have his buddy record it:

http://contour.com/stories/sierra-nevada-dh-skate

My hands were sweaty the whole time I watched it!

Dog Shaming

This picture needs no additional words!

Marinara

naked tomatoes!

Today, I made some delicious homemade marinara with tomatoes from my neighbor, Butch.  First we skinned them and then simmered with onions, garlic, basil and a bay leaf.  YUM!

Football - Junior Year

Today is the second football game of the season and they are playing in Oakland.  These are pics from last weeks game.  Hoping that Drew will play next week, which is a home game - if anyone is interested!

What did you forget....today?

This morning, I was instant messaging with my girlfriend, Heather.  I was lamenting about how my day was already spiraling out of control because I got to work without my badge....without a bra....and without underwear!

And she had the funniest response:

"So are you out in the parking lot going commando?????"

I was cracking up!

Luckily, I was not...only because I forget my underwear so much that I have FINALLY gotten smart and have back up underwear and bra in my gym bag!

And I found a security guard in the parking lot at 6:30 am, when I arrived, to let me in!

Hope the afternoon and evening progresses a little smoother.

A little update

Here are some updates from our family:

1.  Drew's shoulder is getting better.  Starting today, no more sling.  Hoping to play football next weekend.
2.  Grace had her first migraine, which is not something to be happy about!  She missed a day of school but is feeling better today.
3.  Jim cut off the tip of his pinky finger while cutting an onion last nite.
4.  Knock wood - I am fine!

Early Morning

I missed my bunny when I was gone this weekend.  This morning, I was watching her take in her kingdom!

The boys thought they lost her this weekend (that she had escaped) and Jim was sick about it.  He didn't sleep all nite worrying about her.  And the next morning he got up and walked the neighborhood thinking that she liked to come out first thing in the morning so he might see her.  Turns out, she had dug under the fence into the side yard where Jim keeps all his gear (tools, fishing stuff).  She was probably hiding out under the crab pots.

Naughty bunny.

Bass Pro Shop

While Illinois, we took a trip to the Bass Pro Shop at Gurnee Mills.

After some shopping, Grace, Jack and I went to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days of Summer.

Adam and Gwen Wedding - September 1, 2012

Grace and I went on a trip to Illinois for Labor Day weekend for my cousin, Adam's wedding.

The wedding was at a resort in Wadsworth, Illinois.  We stayed at the resort so it made it really easy for us!  Unfortunately, the wedding had to be moved indoors because of the rain from Hurricane Isaac.  It rained for about 4 hours on the day of the wedding.  It was not raining at the time of the wedding but it was still sopping wet outside.

The highlight of the wedding was the photo booth, complete with props.

Uncle Dave and Auntie Patty!

The ever charming - Sam and Jack

Family visit

Maureen and Rosemary playing with baby Drew

The day after Adam and Gwen's wedding, my Aunt Maureen had a picnic at her house.  It was a beautiful summer day - not too hot or humid and with a nice breeze.  It allowed us all to catch up on each others lives.

It was fun to meet her new Boston Terriers, Josie and Libby.  And we got to see Rexi (Adam and Gwen's dog) and Tupac Chicken Man (Jess' dog).

Max!