Patience

I really have been dying to post here, but I have so many big things going on right now that I can't talk about for about another 24 hours!

No, not pregnant, just making lots of big plans!

Soon...

Need Help?

If anyone has a furniture placement or decor dilemma, please send me your questions and pics and I would love to help!

Empty wall space?
Need a centerpiece?
Need to change up your table for spring?
Want to update your room but have little or no budget?

Housewifery: Days 3, 4, 5...

I've been getting up pretty faithfully between 9:30am and 11:30am... this probably sounds late to most of you, but since the HusBean is currently working a 3p-11p shift, we often don't go to bed until close to 3a.

Then, of course, Stinkerbell gets up around 5a, the cats want to eat breakfast around 7a and again at 9a, so I'm actually doing pretty well getting between 6-9 hours of sleep, none of it more than 2 or 3 at a time.

It is officially Spring everywhere, but here in Georgia it's really acting like it. I've been drinking my morning mug of coffee and reading on the back patio every morning and already have some pretty distinct tan lines.

On Tuesday, I had my friend Rochelle and her beautiful boxer Miss Foxy Roxy over for lunch. We enjoyed my Grandpa's Mac and Cheese recipe and Rochelle brought deviled eggs. Roxy and Buster had a GREAT time racing around the back yard.

I brought out the spring decor for the front door and got the fall/winter stuff put away.

I also started the process of sorting through all of our stuff to get rid of the things we don't ever use that have no sentimental value. For non-sentimental items, my rule is if we haven't used it/worn it in two full years, it gets retired. My plan is to have a yard sale and whatever doesn't sell will get donated to the Goodwill.

After Rochelle and Roxy left, Buster and I sacked out on the couch for a couple of hours and then I made a quick run to get some frozen yogurt at the new place in town and deliver some food to my (now former) boss.

I took a quick trip to a Ross where I found two cute sundresses... one for $9.99 that I think is super cute (HusBean said it was "hideous") and another for $14.99 that is REALLY comfortable (HusBean approved of that one).

Wednesday I followed my morning coffee/book routine with about an hour of playing the piano. Scott joined me on bass for a few songs toward the end... I was planning to play along with one of my Pandora stations, but couldn't find the appropriate cord to hook my laptop up to the boombox, so we played along with my Michael Buble playlist on my ipod instead.

Lunch was a green leaf lettuce salad and an open-faced fried green tomato sandwich. HusBean loves to cook as well and had made the tomatoes at 3:30a and left me a few. I put them on a piece of toasted sourdough with a little mayo and a slice of cheddar.

Anytime we clean house, all the miscellany gets shoved in to our bedroom and we shut the door. This means that there are huge piles of clean laundry and other household flotsam just hanging around in there to be tripped over. I started getting some of that put away yesterday, too.

According to my meal plan for this week, Stroganoff was on the menu for supper last night, and since I had made the sauce on Monday evening all I had to do was boil up some egg noodles and put a loaf of garlic bread in the oven for 10 minutes.

This morning I enjoyed my coffee outside and let the cats come out and sunbathe for awhile while I weeded and dug up rocks for my mini-rock-wall. It doesn't look like much, but last summer I planted some calla lilies there and it was quite pretty.

I'm having leftover Asparagus Pesto for lunch while blogging and catching up on facebook.

I'm hoping to make playing piano an every-day thing, and also hoping to make some more headway in the mess that is our bedroom today. I may also get through some of the stuff in the garage.

Housewifery: Day TWO

On Day One, HusBean and I went to the grocery store shortly after we got up. I threw on a pair of jeans, a tshirt and sweatshirt, and put my hair up in a bun. He threw on a tshirt, some shorts and flipflops.

While we were in the store he made a remark that suggested that I shouldn't dress crappily just because I don't have anywhere to go.

After punching him, I agreed.

During the morning routine I started water boiling for coffee. We use a french press and I made a combination of Trader Joe's Gingerbread and Starbucks Cinnamon and Starbucks Caramel coffees that was quite good.

The necessary things that needed to be accomplished today were picking up all of my food and miscellaneous stuff from work, taking Buster to the vet for a checkup (he hasn't had one in 2.5 years), another grocery store trip since the one we visited yesterday had no basil, pine nuts or dill, and make dinner for my friend Kimberly.

After my mug of coffee and my requisite facebooking, I cleaned myself up and put together an outfit based solely on an awesome pair of shoes I haven't had a chance to wear yet (it's hard to take a picture with your phone when your arms are only so long. I refuse to do a myspace-style in-the-mirror pic).

I managed to get in and out of Pier 1 pretty quickly, taking a picture with my boss since we didn't have a chance on my last day.

Buster had a fantastic vet visit, the vet told me that if Buster didn't have so much grey hair he would never believe that he is 12 and not 5 or 6.

After acquiring the dill, basil and pine nuts at Walmart (I'm surprised they had it!) I came home and made stroganoff for Wednesday night and did the remainder of the dishes.

I made the asparagus pesto and then got a call from Kimberly telling me that her clutch had just broken (the 2nd time in 8 months!) and she was waiting on her dad for rescue.

I am ending my day watching Dancing With the Stars and enjoying my meal.

Housewifery: Day ONE

I'm sure that my HusBean's biggest secret concern about me staying home is that I won't actually get up in time to do anything around the house. I am known for my sleeping.

As I mentioned (at great length) yesterday, the animals have developed a routine that forces me to get up and be awake in decent time. I'm guessing the latest I will ever sleep in will be 10am (I know, to some of you that is CRAZY late, but I have been known to sleep until 2p if I went to bed late).

One of the things I am wanting to be intentional about as a housewife is menu planning. We love to cook and we love to eat, but when I was working full time I was often too tired at home to prepare anything, so I spent a lot of money at the various food establishments near my work.

I am hoping to do a weekly menu plan on Sundays, grocery shop that day for all the ingredients, and then make ahead one or two things on Sunday night that can just be reheated or added to later in the week for a quick meal.

Something that is going to help me during this first week is that I have made plans to host a friend for dinner Monday night and another friend for lunch on Tuesday.

This will force me to get up both days (on Monday Buster has a vet appointment anyway, so that will get me out of the house) and be presentable.

Here is this week's plan:
Sunday Lunch: Tortilla Soup (I'm either going to use a chicken-substitute or leave it out)
Monday Dinner: Asparagus Pesto w/ fresh pasta and salad
Tuesday Lunch: Ecuadorian Potato-Cheese Soup
Wednesday Dinner: Veggie Stroganoff
Thursday Lunch: Taco Salad
Friday Dinner: Grandpa's Baked Mac & Cheese

I am only planning one meal for each day because we will invariably end up with leftovers and those will do fine to fill in the other meals. I may end up switching around the potato soup, taco salad and/or mac and cheese depending on what Rochelle decides she would like to have for lunch.

I'm intending to make the stroganoff tonight and refrigerate it, it will keep all week and is easy to microwave and eat with rice, pasta, or whatever. I'm also going to make at least a test-batch of pesto tonight, maybe the asparagus, maybe just a random-herb concoction that I will freeze if it turns out well.

I will post my versions of the Tortilla Soup and Asparagus Pesto on our food blog once I make them, as I always adapt things to what I have and take out or substitute the meat.

WAKE UP!

It is the morning of my final day at work. I don't have to be there until 3pm and could technically sleep in, but HusBean has invited people over for this evening and we need to do a little sprucing up around the house.

I got up this morning with the animals (this is what will keep me from sleeping in all day once I'm not working anymore) around 9am. The key to not being driven absolutely CRAZY by my furry children is a carefully developed plan:

1. When Stinkerbell wakes up and gets out of the bed, immediately lock her in the laundry room. This is usually around 5am. This will ensure that she doesn't leave any presents anywhere inappropriate and doesn't bite the dog and wake him up early.

2. When Maui wakes up and starts his yowling routine, GET UP. Don't prolong the inevitable. He will not shut up regardless of if you shove him off the bed, yell at him, or try to lock him out of the bedroom.

3. Wake up Buster and send him outside to do his business.

4. While he is outside,
a. let Stinkerbell out of the laundry room
b. make her breakfast (microwave some frozen veggies or cut up fresh veggies and fruit)
c. feed the cats - supervising closely because when Maui finishes eating (always first) he will head-butt Chou and Minx out of their bowls
d. start Buster's home-made "puck" microwaving
e. start unloading the dishwasher

5. Let Buster back in - mix in a little kibble and some water and garlic powder into his puck.

6. finish unloading/reloading the dishwasher, make coffee

By this time, I am well and truly awake. I might need a nap later in the day depending on when I went to bed, but now I am ready to continue my day.

If I try to go back to bed in between any of these steps, I will want to turn my children into furry little cupcakes.

Input, Please!

Does anyone else have brilliant ideas either in the shower or as you are drifting off to sleep?

Whether they are truly magnificent by the light of day is always the question, but it's fun to actually get some of them written down.

As I was fading into my nap this afternoon I thought it would be a good idea to try and blog every day once I'm a housewife. Of course, I know that I won't succeed in doing it EVERY day, but trying is the main part of the idea.

With that in mind I thought it would be fun to have themes for a few days of the week so I can start to partition my many interests and hobbies.

Here's some I came up with, feel free to add other things you'd like to read about or see...

Media Monday - reviewing media I'm into currently (movies, tv, books)
Table Tuesday - a different table setting every week, themed or not, suggestions and challenges and requests accepted...
Food - sharing recipes or reviewing restaurants
Home Decor - solving decor issues a-la HGTV style... ideas for decor on a budget or just inspirations by request, home decor projects... could lump in table settings with this or keep them separate.
Fashion - trying my hand at styling... putting together outfits or sharing good finds
Memories - sharing stories that are humorous (at least to me)

I'd like to organize things so they are somewhat predictable, for my millions of readers (ha ha ha) and for myself, but I'm open to suggestions on topics, category names, etc.

Throw 'em at me!

Dreams and Aspirations

When our cable/dvr is working, I watch a fair amount of television. Okay, a LOT of television.

The three-plus weeks of non-dvr meant that my nightly date (sometimes postponed to the morning thanks to the technology of dvr) with Craig Ferguson didn't happen. I realized that I have really missed Mr. Ferguson's wacky, random humor, the Secretariat Dance, Sid the Cussing Rabbit, and all of his other antics that make me chuckle.

I also appreciate the wide variety of guests on The Late Late Show. If you are not a frequent (or at-all) viewer, you may be unaware that Craig Ferguson received a Peabody Award for his episode "An Evening with Archbishop Desmond Tutu". He has also hosted all manner of tv, movie and music stars, both famous and up-and-coming.

Last night's episode featured Martha Stewart as the only guest. I won't delve into my perceptions of Martha's lack of a sense of humor, but it reminded me that I have always wanted to stay home and BE a "Martha Stewart"... focus on crafts and projects.



Now that I am married, HusBean doesn't mind the crafts and projects so much but wants to see me actually FINISH some of them and maybe not make the house look WORSE in the meantime.

As I am heading in to my new career as housewife, I am excited about all the various things I can do in conjunction with actually making our home look like we give-a-$#!+.

In the past year I have thought seriously about starting an event coordination business and am wondering if anyone would pay me to do table-setting design and what all it takes to get an interior decorator's license.

During my last year at P1 I've really enjoyed getting involved in setting the tables that are "extras" - they haven't been listed or pictured in our planner with any specific direction... that's when we get to be creative.



I can always tell that I've set a great table when we sell through all the components on the table (and sometimes the chairs featured at the table) quickly and have to set it again with something else.

When I was young I wanted to be an astronaut. Now I want to be Martha Stewart with a sense of humor. Here's hoping I can still watch a lot of tv and get some stuff done around here.

Response and Resolve

My previous issues with our current cable/DVR service have been detailed at great length.

Within an hour of my posting the most recent blog, I had a comment (you can go read it for yourself) from a Comcast representative, eager to help me.

Since then I have exchanged several emails with two very eager and helpful representatives, followed by a timely, friendly and efficient visit by a tech yesterday afternoon.

I have a working cable box and most importantly, DVR feature! I enjoyed The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last night and was able to FFWD through the commercials with great glee. (I also had DVR'd GLEE while napping, and watched that too)

I think it's pretty smart of Comcast to have an eye/ear on the internet and be quick to respond when people are referring to them in a public forum.

Good on ya, Comcast.

Educate Thyself

(WARNING - This post is a rant. It may bore you.)





In my previous post, I mentioned a "chat" I had with a Comcast representative because of an outage we were experiencing. You may notice the date of that posting was Monday, February 21st.

At the time, the rep assured me that the outage was 98% fixed and we should have our service restored shortly.

By the end of the day on Tuesday (2/22) we still didn't have service, so my HusBean called Comcast and held for about 20 minutes before speaking with a representative. After we assured her that we had done the appropriate turning off and on and unplugging, etc. she scheduled a tech to come out and help.

The tech was supposed to come between 4:30p and 7p on Friday. A tech showed up at our house Thursday morning at 9a (we weren't even home) and then another tech came at 1p on Friday (2/25). Fortunately I had come home from work early and was actually here.

The tech came in and did his own requisite turning-on and off and unplugging of the cable box, then went outside and discovered what we had suspected: when the local cable & internet competitor had put in their lines in our neighborhood that week they had cut our connection. He fixed the problem, and then traded out our existing DVR/Cable box for a "new" model.

It takes about 24 hours for a box to download all it's scheduling info, so by Friday night I expected to be able to schedule a dvr recording of the Academy Awards which were happening on Sunday. I was having trouble trying to find ANY shows to record, so on Saturday (2/26) I called and spoke with a Comcast rep that instructed me to unplug the DVR box and plug it back in, which supposedly fixed the problem, but now I had to wait another 24 hours for it to re-download its information.

Sunday afternoon before I left for work I was able to finally select the Academy Awards to record to the dvr and then Monday (2/28) when I tried to watch it, the dvr recordings screen said it was 34% full but showed no listings for any recordings.

Tuesday (3/1) we went to Fayetville for a concert, came back Wednesday (3/2) and then spent the next 4 days dealing with The Chou's kidney failure (he's made a good recovery). Starting on Sunday (3/6) the display on our box showed "EAS" which means "Emergency Alert System" and usually happens a few times a week when they are running a storm alert or a test or whatever.

There was no storm this week, and the box would not shut off or play channels or anything. When we called Comcast and put our information into the touch-tone system it told us we were behind on our bill, so we thought maybe that was why we had no service.

We've been discussing lessening our services to save some money, so I decided to get the whole thing straightened out tonight because I was sick of the issues. When I looked at the cable box, it was suddenly showing a channel number again and so I turned on the tv and discovered we had service again, but the dvr showed nothing.

I tried to call Comcast and after again putting all the required info into their touch-tone system was told that they were too busy and to try again later.

Then I tried to log-in online to pay the bill and change the service. I tried to first sign-up for online account management, but it said we already had a profile and gave me the user id. Of course, I had no idea what the password might be since I had never USED the user id online before, so I followed the instructions to re-set the password. Then I was given an error message and sent to a chat with a rep.



I explained to the rep WHY I wanted to get online in the first place and that we've been having issues. The rep fixed the password problem and then offered to pass me on to a service issues rep.

I then spent about an hour and 45 minutes with the 2nd rep detailing all the issues. The 2nd rep agreed to credit our bill for the total time we were without service, helped me (theoretically) fix the dvr/cable box (by.... UNPLUGGING IT AGAIN), and change our service.

I discovered that we had been paying for "Digital Preferred" service, which is basic cable and then a certain set of additional channels. I don't ever watch any of those channels, so that was an easy thing to cut. I also asked what the $4.95 monthly "TV Guide" charge was for, and was told that it is for their magazine subscription (not the actual "TV Guide" magazine we know, but their own specific publication - which I have been quite faithfully dumping in the trash on receipt every month).

I asked that we stop receiving that as well.

I recommend that anyone using Comcast (or ANY company or service) be empowered to actually check out what you are being charged for. Find the breakdown of your service package and see if you actually USE/WATCH the services/channels they include.

Is there a magazine subscription that just got lumped in? We've been paying $4.95 a month for 2.5 years for something that quite literally is garbage. That's just under $150. That's a lot of money to be throwing away.

And yes, some of you will ask why I didn't pay attention to any of this before and it is because I never had the energy.

Well guess what? SUPER-REESE HOUSEWIFE is here and TAKING CHARGE. Rawr.

Repetition

Our cable has been out all day today. Once I was assured that the bill had been paid by my HusBean, I decided to see if I could find out the problem and have an expected time of resumed service.

In the past I resolved a similar issue by doing an online chat with a Comcast representative. I decided to do the same today since I pretty much ABHORE dealing with people on the phone.

I pulled up the chat box and typed my "problem" into the required field:

Our cable box won't turn on. My husband paid the bill, are we having an outtage?

Once the representative came on, they asked me my "problem". Again, I typed in "Our cable box won't turn on. My husband paid the bill, are we having an outtage?". I followed this immediately with the HusBean's full name and phone number (since that is what they ask for when we call).

After the required mumbo-jumbo response of how I chose the right person and an assurance that my issue would be resolved, the representative asked for the full name of the account holder, last four of the SSN and account number.

I repeated the full name of the HusBean, gave his SSN and said I was looking for the acct #.

The representative asked for two minutes to locate my account and pasted in a paragraph about how if I need help I can go to comcast.net (how did he think I got here in the first place?) and they are a great help.

He then confirmed that we are having an outtage.

Gosh, thanks.

Maybe I'm just being bitchy, but I don't think I should have to repeat ANY information when it is typed INTO THE SCREEN.

A Continuation...

I think I've mentioned before that I have moved many times. (previous post listing the first 23 times I've packed up)

24. Key West, FL - a house we rented for about a year and a half before moving to
25. Augusta, GA in October 2008. We've lived here the longest (me and the HusBean together that is) and will likely move late spring or summer.

Where to? I'll let you know when we figure it out!

Changing Direction

I feel like my life is really up in the air in a lot of ways right now.

*WARING - LENGTHY RAMBLING AND MODERATE CUSSING AHEAD*)

The HusBean and I are both considering changing jobs (not necessarily job fields, but perhaps that eventually too).

It's not news to anyone that I can be brash and sometimes offend people with my tone. I'm working on that, have been since I was told in 2nd grade that I was "mean". This is and will be a life-long struggle for me. The interesting thing is that people that REALLY know me laugh hysterically when they hear that someone thinks I'm mean.

I WILL NOT, however, EVER be someone that tells you what you want to hear unless it is actually the truth. I am not a bull-shitter or ass-kisser. I just can't do it. Several relationships and important friendships in my past suffered because I let little lies here and there creep in and they grew and festered and poisoned everything. Immediately following the finale of the epic and dramatic 8-year relationship I decided NO MORE LYING, to ANYONE, for ANY REASON.

This doesn't mean that I'm going to march up to you and tell you that you look fat in those jeans. I'm not out to hurt anyone's feelings, and any time that I have done so I am truly sorry. Unfortunately my sarcastic sense of humor (Hi, Dad!) sometimes gets away from me and people take things the wrong way... and then I'm in trouble.

I have truly enjoyed being in a management position the last 5 years, I am great at getting things done. Everything in my life is tackled from a project-management point of view and I like to accomplish things as fast as possible while still doing them right (after all, if you don't do it right to begin with, you're just wasting more time).

I am not interested in babysitting at work. If there is a task to be completed, I will explain the objective AND the most efficient way to get there. If you want to do things your own way and they turn out to be more efficient than my way, that's great! We'll likely do things your way from now on (in that particular task). HOWEVER, if you do things your own way and it is a waste of time, don't be surprised when I ask again that it be done the efficient way.

Ultimately there are two types of people that work with me. 1. Those that are willing to work hard and fast and do things right. 2. Those that don't particularly want to work hard, and therefore not interested in fast or right, either.

I get along GREAT with the first type. We get a lot done together (I don't just order people around and then sit back and watch, I am generally up to my eyeballs in whatever it is, too) and we respect each other. When you do an awesome job, I will tell you how much I appreciate your work, and I will brag on you to everyone else, too!

The second type invariably gets angry with me, gets their feelings hurt, and does whatever they can to avoid working with me in the future.

All of this in mind, I am considering starting a project/event management business.



I have some interesting (to me) health issues that have recently come to light that are likely affecting our ability to procreate.

I haven't decided how much of this to share publicly at this point, as we are still figuring out the plan of attack. What I WILL say is that I am interested more in removing obstacles than throwing prescription drugs at them.



I'm finding that the older I get the more I realize what is truly important to me.

I have always been "artsy". My parents are both musicians and it has been passed along to me in full force. I was in choirs as early as I was allowed, and following high school (where our choir took 3rd and 4th in state competitions) I have been in a Christian-Rock band (Three Days Waking), a swing trio (The Swing Sisters) and an acoustic trio (Ella Mental) in addition to a little bit of writing here and there.

My Barbies lived in what my parents referred to as a "Pueblo Community" - printer paper boxes turned on their sides and stacked, each box becoming a room in a giant Barbie-apartment. (Apparently an early flair for home decor?) Many of my mother's socks were sacrificed and re-purposed into mahvelous tube dresses (this was the 80's), and most of the dolls ended up with punk hairdos because I couldn't resist cutting their hair and the coloring the remains with felt markers.

The Pueblo Community was stacked underneath two wooden doors that were bolted into the wall and turned into a miniature train setup.

My walls and ceilings were covered with drawings (usually abstract).

I got in to scrapbooking about 10 years ago, have done some abstract paintings from time to time, and started making floral arrangements and wreaths.

I have REALLY enjoyed doing home decor (my job helped inspire what was already a budding interest) and specifically table settings of late.

While living in Key West I started developing an interest in cooking. Thanks to our friend Jenny who is a chef, I learned that making the "fancy stuff" can be easy, and The HusBean and I both developed appreciation for many new tastes. Since moving to Georgia, The HusBean has really gotten in to cooking (in addition to the hot sauce business) and when I have time I enjoy creating recipes for things and making the recipes that have pleased friends and family in the past. (We post most of these over on our food blog.)


I apologize for the rambling-ness of this post (but hey, I WARNed you up top), but I guess it all boils down to realizing what you enjoy doing and what is important to you.

What is important to ME? God, Family, Friends, Honesty, Hard Work, Music, Food and Creativity.




Oh yeah, and animals.

Holidaze...

[For those curious, I did make a Habanero Sweet Tea, by brewing a big 'ol batch of iced tea (I use Lipton's Black Pearl bags) and sweetening it with a habanero simple syrup. It turned out quite nicely... refreshing with a little bite right at the end.]



It is four days before Christmas, and this is the first year in quite awhile that my holiday-motivation has not ever totally arrived. I'm thinking this is primarily because working retail has resulted in me decorating for the holidays since the first week of October and I'm probably Christmas-ed out. That, and I've just been working so much that my off-hours are spent mostly just sleeping and eating and trying (unsuccessfully) to keep up with housework.

I DID decide to go the red & green/classic/sentimental route with the tree and decor this year, which helped. The last four years I had done it all in purple and silver, and I just wasn't feeling it this year.

Another thing I'm skipping this year is sending out Christmas cards. For the last four years I've sent out a big batch of cards and intended to this year, but seeing as it is now less than a week until Christmas Day, I realize it's not going to happen and I'm actually ok with that.

I'm pretty certain that those that usually receive cards from us know we love them regardless, and if they don't know, they probably aren't going to notice that we didn't send one anyway.

Similarly, anyone receiving our presents by way of USPS won't be getting them until after Christmas...

I'm considering doing a "Christmas Letter" type of blog post in the next few days, if I can get my mind focused enough to pull all the thoughts together.

In any case, I hope you are all having safe holidays, enjoying each others' company and celebrating whatever holiday is important to you and your family.

Hot-Iced-Tea

Sorry for the month-long sabbatical (better than six months, eh?)... I took a trip to Atlanta and then four days later went to the west coast for a week and then worked a 54 hour work-week and then... I slept.

Scott and I just came in from weeding the pepper garden, harvested our first home-grown habaneros and some cayenne and cowhorn peppers, and an early girl tomato.

Last night I dreamed about habanero sweet iced tea. I think I'm going to try it.

Roughing It

The last two weeks at our house have just been torture.

Having four great cooks in the building has raised our daily culinary integrity significantly.

Here's a few of the menus in the last few days: (you can assume it's made from scratch unless specified otherwise)

(This Morning)
Blueberry Muffins (Krusteaz mix) with a Streusel topping (created by Jenny) topped with Trader Joe's Cranberry-Apple butter and fresh Starbucks coffee.

Pumpkin Muffins (Trader Joe's mix) with a Streusel topping (created by Jenny)

Wonky Chicken (secret recipe by our friend Andrew), Asparagus grilled with rosemary infused olive oil (Jenny), grilled peaches with goat cheese and balsamic vinegar (Jenny), fresh watermelon from a farmers' market with balsamic and feta (Levi), Cucumbers soaked in balsamic and white balsamic (Jenny & Levi), chocolate-covered coconut balls (Me).

Goat cheese stuffed chicken breast (Levi), Alfredo (Levi) over whole wheat spaghetti (boxed noodles), french bread garlic bread (Me.)



Balsamic chicken (Levi), Basmati rice with balsamic, sauted onions, fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden and feta (Jenny), tzatziki made from lemon and green cucumbers from our garden (Me).

Semolina Fettuccine (Scott) and Homeward Bound Marinara (Scott).

Moroccan Lentil Soup (Levi), Hummus (Levi), Tzatziki (Levi) and pita bread (store-bought).

Fettuccine Alfredo (noodles by Scott, sauce by Levi)

Any rotten day has been instantly improved by stepping over the threshold into a house of such culinary delights.

Anyone hungry?

Living Alone?

I am technically an only child. I do have a 4 year old half-sister, but I grew up as an only child.

I am pretty good at finding my own entertainment, I had lots of Barbie dolls, stuffed animals, and have always been an avid reader. I was late to school nearly every morning because I stayed up the night before reading.

Despite almost always being able to find something to do, I was still lonely from time to time. I enjoyed the weeks I would spend with my cousins in Eastern Washington, even if school was still in session and I had to attend class with them at their small one-room church school. Even better were my visits during the summer when the four of us could play all day, exploring "The Ditch", playing in the playhouse, performing a "circus act" in the hayloft of the barn.

Once I reached high school age, I had already decided to follow in two of my cousins footsteps and attend a boarding school in Southern Oregon. I had visited in the years before and really liked the look of the place.

I went off to school as a 13-year old (turning 14 in the second week of school). Another freshman was my roommate. Considering that this was the first time I had to share my living space on a regular basis, I think I adapted pretty well.

I enjoyed community living so much, that the summers between my sophomore/junior and junior/senior years I stayed at the school and worked to pay my bill there.

Following high school, I spent a summer at home with my parents. It was hard to get used to living with them again after only visiting for a week at the longest during the prior 3 years, but we managed to coexist and that fall I moved into an upstairs apartment in my aunt and uncle's house which I shared with my cousin and a college student from Japan.

I only stayed there for part of the school year before moving back home to Portland. In the years that followed, I took every opportunity to spend my time with my peers, spending weekends at friends' houses, whole summers at others.

When I rented my first apartment at the age of 24, I lived alone for about a year, with frequent long visits from my boyfriend. At the end of that year lease, we decided to move across town together and add a third roommate.

The three of us lived together for the next 2.5 years, becoming fast friends with our next-door neighbors in both apartment complexes we spent time in, and in both, some of our friends moved TO that apartment complex to live near us.

From 2001 to 2005 we held near weekly "Dinner Nights" with up to 12 guests. On long weekends I organized camping trips for groups of 10-16 that took us to the Washington coast and Central Oregon. The same group took an annual "Beach Day" every spring to Tillamook, Cannon Beach and Seaside.



A smaller group of us even took a trip to Disneyland, which I planned and organized starting a year in advance.




I met my husband on another group trip - to Las Vegas. Just previous to that I had purchased my first home with one of my best friends, who had been my roommate already for about a year and a half.

When I moved to Key West with Scott, we quickly became close friends with a local bartender, and she started spending time at our house on a regular basis, sometimes up to three and four nights a week.

On our first anniversary, instead of spending a romantic weekend alone, we drove five hours to NC to spend it with a couple that had been IN our wedding.



This week that same Key West bartender, now one of our very BEST friends, moved here to GA with her boyfriend... to our house.

When first telling coworkers and friends of the imminent arrival of semi-permanent house-guests, they all thought I was crazy.

While this may be true, I think that looking back it's pretty clear that I have done everything I can to surround myself with people whenever possible. Even though they brought yet ANOTHER cat with them (total: 1 dog, 4 cats and a skunk), we are thrilled that they are here and the time we get to spend with them (I won't lie, a lot of that is because we are all foodies and GREAT cooks).

I LOVE having extra people in my house. I have always hated having the house all to myself. It's not that I get bored, I can still find plenty to do, but even if we're not engaging, just having people IN the house is a great feeling.

Here's to everyone I've ever spent extended time with, whether in a living situation, a trip of some kind, or just a dinner evening - Thanks for the memories!

A Glorious Return

It has been brought to my attention by my one very loyal and faithful reader that I have neglected this forum for far too long.

I am a Facebook junkie and I admit it freely. There is something very convenient about being able to spit my thoughts out in little bits as I have them (I'm sure it's my ADD - although my husband says "EVERYONE HAS ADD!") but I know that can also cause my writing to suffer overall.

Luigi - I raise my Wendy's baked potato and Frosty to you in salute and promise to do better henceforth.

It may not be pretty, but it's on the way!

You Mashed That Sucker Flat!

One of my favorite songs growing up was "You Done Stomped On My Heart." Apparently written by Mason Williams, the version I grew up with was recorded by a bluegrass band called Smokewood. We had a vinyl record that I played over and over, once we finally got a copy recorded to tape I carried that around with me for years and have since lost it.

So far the only recording I've found online is an old John Denver rendition on youtube, not near as great as the Smokewood version, but for some reason the lyrics started floating through my mind this evening...

I told you that I loved you, You said "it's so good"
I called you my Darling, I thought I always would.
But now you've gone and left me, I don't know what to do...
And so, my little Darling, I write these words to you:

You done stomped on my heart

and you mashed that sucker flat

you just sorta, went and stomped on my aorta

You started going out with guys, I felt us drift apart

And every step you took, it were a-stomp upon my heart.

I only hope that someday you get them low-down blues.

And in some smoky honky-tonk you look down at yer shoes.

You think all about that tender heart you crushed beneath them soles

And with them clod-bustin' stompers you left my heart so full of holes.

You done stomped on my heart

and you mashed that sucker flat

you just sorta, went and stomped on my aorta

You started going out with guys, I felt us drift apart

And every step you took, it were a-stomp upon my heart.

The P1 Sale is Upon Us!

Ok, not quite yet, but we've started our markdowns to get rid of all the 2009 stuff so we can bring in the new Spring 2010 stuff!

This chair? Dining height, great as a hostess chair, reading corner chair, accent chair in your living room, whatever. (I personally have one in my guest room and am thinking we should maybe pick up a 2nd in case we ever have a formal dining room...)
Original Price: $199.95
Now: $99.98

And then there's this little cutie... I'm not a big fan of wicker generally (being from the northwest), but it's quite popular here in The South. I would actually consider this chair in my house, it is quite comfortable with a nice deluxe cushion.
Original Price: $199.95
Now: $49.98!!!

This rug is about 32"-36" across and nice and thick. Would be very cute in a bathroom, or next to a kids bed...
Original Price: $49.95
Now: $24.98











It's also a good time to snatch up stuff for your fall decorating next year. Decorative stones, candles and floral are at 75% off and will go to 90% later in January.



I purchased this sconce and it is hanging above our couch in the living room.
Original Price: $40
Now: $9.98











Yes, Christmas items will be going on sale starting on the 26th (I have to go in at 5am to get it all set up - oh joy!).

Now go grab these dealz!