Davey's First Earthquake!

Oh yeah baby! If you didn't think I was dorky before then this post will be the final nail in the coffin! :) Here's David shortly after the earthquake yesterday. In no way, shape, or form is he freaked out in the slightest. As a matter of fact, he was patiently waiting for me to stop snapping photos so we could get back to playing.

As many of you probably already know, Oklahoma had a strange outbreak of earthquake activity yesterday. Honestly, I had no idea until the big one rocked the area around 11:53 PM. Officially, this would be my fourth earthquake but for Davey, it's his FIRST! Okay, so this is a little ridiculous-of this I'm fully aware- but when your puppy is almost 3 years old, there aren't many "1st" left to experience.

Strangely enough, I was sitting right here at the computer when the tremor began. It had been pretty windy all day long and its not all that unusual to get an occasional freaky gust of wind that makes you wonder. At first, I thought that's exactly what was happening, but our house has never moved before. So naturally I thought that maybe this was a sign that a tornado was approaching. That is until the blinds started knocking against the window and I began to feel like a long-distant passenger on Amtrak.

Here's the unnatural part- I didn't run for protection this time. Nope. I just sat there and road it out. Weird, I know. But at the same time I trying to be logical. You see, we have a full basement. This means that hiding to protect oneself from a collapsing roof will do you no good if you're just going to end up in the basement because the house shifted right off the foundation and has you plummeting to the depths below.  Yep, those are exactly the nice and healthy kind of thoughts I experience during natural phenomenon's. After the rocking stopped, my maternal (albeit delayed) instincts kicked in and I went to find Davey posthaste. Thinking that he needed to be comforted and soothed, I quickly found him in the dining room frozen by the back door staring at me as if he was caught doing something bad. As soon as I started talking to him, he quickly pounced on the closest toy to take full advantage of my undivided attention.  So much for comforting the scared baby. Of course, like any good Momma Puppy, I made him sit for a series of photos that would forever mark the occasion.

Yeah, I got to say... I think I captured the mood perfectly.

Lost and Found

Me: Honey? I just bought some pepper the other day and now I can't find it. Do you know where it might be?

Alex: Nope.

Me: Well, I know that you used it to make the cinnamon pepper chicken 3 days ago, so it's got to be around here somewhere.

Alex: Yeah. No clue. Did you try the spice rack?

Me: Um it's a big bottle so it won't fit there.

Alex: How about the counter top?

Me: Yep. Looked there.

Alex: How about the spice cabinet?

Me: Ah, that was the first place I looked and its not there.

Alex: Then I give up.

Me: Great. Thanks.

I found the pepper a while later. In the fridge. Along with a bag of crasins and the peanut butter.

Cornbread Infatuation

Cornbread. Oh, how I love cornbread. If I was a poet I would inscribe my love for cornbread on some ancient parchment in hopes that someone would turn it into a delightful song. If I was an artist I would paint, draw, sculpt the many ways in which cornbread has touched my life. Alas, I can do none of these thing so instead I bake.

Last week we received our copy of Food Network Magazine. I was super excited to find that Ree Drummond (aka the Pioneer Woman who's at the top of my blogging friend list) was featured in her super cool kitchen along with a few recipes for my beloved cornbread. After coveting Ree's counter tops I decided to make my culinary obsession. That night for dinner I made pan-seared herb chicken salad...

This salad is extremely easy to make. Make the chicken however you'd like. Sometime I grill it but this time I made it in the pan because of all the different things I was making at once. Tonight I used a romaine based salad mix but it tastes just as good with baby spinach leave. Add craisins, bacon, walnuts, blue cheese crumbles, and fresh raspberries. I usually top it off with Brianna's Raspberry Vinaigrette but this time I made a fresh citrus dressing with the Good Season's dressing packet. Here is the recipe:

Citrus Salad Dressing/Marinade

1/4 cup orange juice

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup oil (canola and oil are the best)

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 packet of Good Seasons Italian All Natural Salad Dressing mix

I did not create this recipe. I merely found it on the Good Season's box. But it is very tasty.

And then there is the cornbread. Ahh... cornbread.

This time I made the cornbread in a cast iron skillet. It turned out really amazing and only took 20 minutes. I have yet to taste a fluffier, lighter-textured cornbread. Here it is straight out of the oven:

I dusted it with some sugar on top, which is a little unusual but it's because this time I topped it off with a freshly homemade strawberry jam. Oohh, the strawberry jam was nothing less than phenomenal. Alex and I have been day-dreaming about all the things we could put the jam on in the future.

It was like desert for dinner and yet it wasn't. This might just be my new strawberry shortcake. Or pancake topper. Or crepe filler. Or cupcake filling/frosting. 

Here is the recipe for both the cornbread and the strawberry jam. Both are the brainchild of Alex Guarnaschelli.

Skillet Cornbread with Strawberry Jam

FOR THE CORNBREAD

1 1/4 cups coarsely ground cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup whole milk

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE JAM

1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

1 lemon (but I used 2 since they were small)

Juice of half an orange (but I used 1/4 cup of OJ)

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of sugar

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Step 1: Make the cornbread: Place a 9 inch cast-iron skillet in the oven ad preheat to 400 degrees. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder ad baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk the milk, buttermilk, eggs ad almost all the melted butter, reserving about 1 tablespoon for brushing the skillet, in a separate bowl. Add the wet to the dry. Mix well.

Step 2: Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and brush the bottom and sides with the reserved melted butter. Pour the batter into the skillet, return to the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 10-15 minutes, then sprinkle lightly with sugar for texture.

Step 3: Meanwhile, make the jam: Cut the strawberries width-wise into 1/4 inch thick slices (the slices should be think enough to bend slightly). using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from 1/3 of the lemon with a light touch, leaving the pith behind; transfer to a large bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl. Add the orange juice, salt, sugar and strawberries ad toss. Cover and refrigerate until the cornbread is out of the oven.

Step 4: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the strawberry mixture and cook, stirring, until the juices reduce and thicken slightly, about 10-15 minutes. Slice the cornbread and top off with the strawberry jam. Serve. Eat. Love.

I promise. It is delicious. 

June & July Movies

June and July were slower than average movie months for us. We watched a ton of Blockbuster/Redbox movies but only made it out to the theaters 4 times.

Transformers 3

This was the very first IMAX 3D movie that we have ever seen. It was really incredible. It's hard to believe that almost the entire movie is CG. It's also a huge plus that our IMAX theater is super brand new complete with faux leather seats. I guess it's the largest one in the states. I liked the movie better than the second one but not as much as the first. At the end of the movie, you'll be asking yourself the same question you did at the end of the last one: How in world did Carley (and Mikaela) keep their clothes so incredibly white during all that high-impact action?

Harry Potter 7.2

Yes, Severus, for you it did all end. I loved it nonetheless. I cried. I laughed. I was so sad to see it finally come to an end. I talked about it for a good 3 days straight at work (but that's probably because 90% of the staff is 18 and Harry has been their life). It's a good thing I have all the books and the DVD's so I can read/watch it again and again until my brain has turned to mush. 

Captain America

This was an Alex pick and since I dragged him to see Harry the week before it only seemed proper to accompany him. Really, I'm not all that interested in the comic book movies but it was still pretty decent. It was really neat to see how Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America were all tied together. Chris Evans has a super amazing body. Wait until all the credits have passed because there is an extra clip at the very end.


Horrible Bosses

Super funny. Not at all appropriate for individuals under the age of 18. The profanity is off the charts but not in the F U kind of way. I really enjoyed watching Jennifer Aniston play a bad girl. My favorite character was probably Dale. The bad guys all get theirs in the end.

Meow Mix

One of the great things about having a dog is that he's a constant feeding experiment. So far I've discovered that he LOVES raw chicken and steak, carrot peelings, white and sweet potatoes, craisins, peanut butter, goldfish crackers, and pizza crust. He does not care for cucumbers, celery, watermelon, lemon wedges, or apple pie filling. This, however, does not make up a significant part of his dietary needs. They are more like snacks, or more accurately, opportunities for us pet owners to entertain ourselves for a few moments. The rest of Davey's mundane food fare consists of Science Diet Large Breed dog food. You know- the expensive stuff. 6 cups a day. A 35 pound bag lasts about 20 days. On super special days, like his birthday or Christmas, I'll buy a super cheap can of Pedigree "Country Stew" and mix it in with the dry stuff. Now watching that is some fun stuff because he knows. As soon as I walk in the house and he sees the can its like watching a heroin addict who's been clean for a week try to get a fix. He whines. He paces. He shakes with excitement. He drools. And when it's finally all mixed together he devours every morsel and then licks the bowl for 10 minutes. Everything in the world is right again and tomorrow's meal of just plain old Science Diet kibble suddenly seems like prison food.

For the most part, Davey is not a picky eater. We use to feed him 3 times a day in much smaller portions when he was a tiny guy but now he prefers to eat in the late evening. He eats at his own pace but that doesn't stop his peculiarities. He ALWAYS removes the first 3 kibbles from his bowl and places them on the carper in almost a triangular pattern. I'm not sure if this is his way of adapting the Italian tradition of placing 3 coffee beans in Sambuca (a Italian Liquor) for good-luck, or maybe its an unknown dog ritual passed on from mother to pup that has continued through the centuries, or if he's offering up some kind of canine tithe. Then he'll only eat half and saves the rest for later, about an hour and a half later. All of it is a little odd, but over the last 2 years I've become use to it.

Okay, so the other day, David really had us worried. We took him running in the morning like we usually do. He had left about a cup of food left over from the day before. When he and Alex got back from their run he drank just a tiny bit of water, the remaining cup of food, and then took a long nap. We both went to work, came home, put out some fresh dog food and water, and continued on with our nightly routine. In the morning we noticed that Davey hadn't touched his food or his water. So now I'm starting to get a little worried. I watch him all day which isn't hard because all he did was sleep. When he was awake I message him down to see if something hurts on him but not a peep. I try to get him to eat ice cubes but he doesn't seem interested. I offer up one of his Salmon treats and that's a big green light but he's not interested in the stuff that he really needs like food and water and its been about 36 hours now. So in my desperation, I walk out to the car, grab a handful of cat food and walk back in side.

Wait a minute, cat food? Yes, I have cat food in the trunk of my car. No, I do not have a cat, officially. I am so very allergic to cats its really not funny. But I like cats. The reason I have cat food in my trunk is because there is a year old, black male stray cat that lives in the storm drain in the parking lot of the restaurant where I work. My co-workers all have different names for the little guy. Some call him Snape, some Midnight, and other call him a slur of profanity because he likes to lounge on their brand new clean cars. Anyway, I call him Kitty Kitty. Honestly, he doesn't care what I call him as long as I feed him. But back to the story...

I walk in the house with a handful of Meow Mix and Heroin Dog greets me at the door. Suddenly he knows. I let him sniff my hand and the drooling and shaking and whining starts immediately. I'm not sure where this comes from since I know for a fact this is the first time that he's ever had cat food. I sprinkle it in his bowl and like magic the mighty appetite has returned. He polished off every morsel of food and slurped down 2 large bowls of water. I breathe a sigh of relief and a dozen thoughts flood my mind. I remember back when my sister was 2 and I caught her eating cat food on the porch.  I think back to when we first brought Davey home and all the "food rules" that we agreed on, which by the way have all been broken including the chocolate rule. And I think of all the exasperated moms that come in my restaurant with picky kids. Maybe I should tell them about Meow Mix too.

Chocolate Wasted

Alex and I went to Harry Potter 7.2 yesterday at the new IMAX theater down the street from our home. I was a little leery about seeing it in super 3D. I'm not totally convinced yet that every 3D movie is worth seeing in 3D. Several co-workers insisted that not only must I see it in 3D but also on an immensely humongous IMAX screen. Let me say, that it was well worth it. There will be no spoilers from me this time. I will only say that I laughed a few times, cried a little more, and was blown away by the 3D effects.

After the movie we headed off to dinner and then home for some dessert. Our desserts are always changing. Sometimes we have lemon and grape granita. I'll probably be making some watermelon granita this week. Sometimes its strawberry shortcake or mousse or a half dozen other things that might strike our fancy. Last night we had a deep desire to get "wasted" on chocolate.

It's pretty simple to do. First, you make a batch of fresh chocolate brownies. Let them rest for maybe 5 minutes. You'll want them nice and hot. Then you scoop out big scoop of chocolate ice cream. We choose Bryer's this time, but there are some nice fancy, rich chocolate ice creams that are just as wonderful. Then, you top off the ice cream with some chocolate covered pretzels and Hershey's chocolate syrup. It's a wonderful chocolaty gooey crunchy divine treat. So divine that I ate some more for breakfast this morning. There has got to be some perks for being an adult, right?

Well, here it is. "Chocolate Wasted". Heavenly for dessert. Glorious for breakfast.

Trolls

My brother, Tommy, sent this to me yesterday and I couldn't help but publish it. He has the happy talent of telling imaginative stories. I did a slight edit on one or two incorrectly spelled words but the rest is all him.

Enjoy!

MY MIND WANDERS...by Tommy A. Harris

    "You see those trees moving over there boy?"

    "Yeah!" he states slightly.

    "You know what it is? It's an army of trolls rolling through. They're marching following the storm..."

The view spread in front of us was that of an encroaching thunderstorm. To the west the light was punching through but quickly edging it out to the north was the dark rolling clouds that spat lightening every forty or fifty seconds...

    "Those are trolls moving the trees over there?! What are they doing that for?" he asked more interested.

    "Well, trolls are large and angry and clumsy with reeeaaally bad tempers and fat hungry stomachs. Seeing as they are following a storm, with all that rain the ground gets pretty slippery and the trolls crash into the tree, sometimes even breaking its limbs off or splitting it in two. I've heard of trolls getting so angry they pull trees up and throw them into the storms..."

The trees from the balcony were swaying back and forth at a good pace. I thought for a second I could see the trolls passing! It made me smile so I let out a quick gasp. The storm was making some noise, I think the wind was letting out a ghoulish sound with loud knockings and heavy thuds from the forest getting rattled.

    "Did you SEE That!!!" I yelped. "I swear I saw one!"

    "Where is it? Can I get up in my chair? I can't see them too good!"

    "You better! Climb up here." I quickly assured him. "You don't always get the chance to see a troll. The higher the better!

    "What are they doing?"

With a second chance to elaborate on the habits of trolls, I dove all in!

    "Trolls can only move during storms. Did you know that? They hide from the sun. A troll has really thick and rough skin but it hurts when they get in the sun. It's like the troll gets a bad sunburn right away. That's why they live under bridges, to hide from the sun. Another reason they stumble behind the storm is the rain keeps them all slippery and it's nearly impossible to cut their skin on branches or sharp stones or even swords..."

At this point I can see him to my side looking down the bay towards the bridge that crosses the laguna to the island which just happens to be blocking our view of the ocean. I just wait for his next question chuckling inside.

    "There aren't any trolls under our bridge!" he almost asks me.

    "Well there might be now. They move during the storms to stay out of the sun but if the sun comes out right now, I bet they all scatter into the trees on the river or under the docks and probably under that bridge... It will be a real pain to get rid of them then!"

    "Why can't we get rid them? Can't you just make 'em leave?"

    "I don't speak troll. And I'm not fighting something that will pull up a tree just to lay in some mud! You just have to stay away from the bridge and wait for the next storm so they can leave. I don't think we'll get any trolls this storm though, they seem to be moving that way.

I point away towards the riverside woods. He asks a couple of questions that I don't answer and says hes going to tell his mom he saw trolls. Lightening strikes behind the clouds...

    "Did you just SEE that pheonix?! I say as a new smile grows across my face...

New Zealand

Apparently New Zealand has been upgraded from country...

to scent...

I wonder what the "United States" would smell like?

Dead Fraggles

This picture is a little deceiving. These chewing dog ropes are much bigger than a softball but a tad smaller than a soccer ball. Anyway, Davey loves to chew on them. He'll get a section of rope loose and then use it to fling the ball into the air to practice catching it. He also loves to play tug of war with it. An average life span of the ball lasts about 3 weeks.

The balls are good fun and keep him occupied but they're kind of messy. I vacuum almost every day because in reality it looks like Davey got a hold of a Fraggle in the middle of the night and practiced tossing it around for a bit of good fun. Just in case you're not sure what a Fraggle looks like, here's an example:

Almost always the dead Fraggle is scattered across every inch of living room and hallway space and is in small 4 inch carefully separated pieces. It's kind of like waking up to find that every carpet fiber has been carefully decorated with Christmas tinsel. 

Yesterday, I got lucky. This time the stringy wreckage was centrally located in my bedroom and I was able to catch him before his master decorating skills were eagerly employed.

Harry Potter

I suppose it is easier to start in the beginning. Way back in 1998 when Harry Potter was first introduced to the United States, I was 22 and unmarried. Although I was going to school to become a teacher I was focusing on teaching only high school history, so the idea of reading Harry Potter was, for lack of a better word, not in the least bit interesting. I felt the same as each movie was released. I had no interest whatsoever in spending a single penny on a movie adaptation of a children's book. A few years back my dad gave me the Sorcerer's Stone movie as a Christmas present. I said thanks, but I really was less than thrilled. Okay, so flash forward to about a month ago. We haven't had TV service or cable access for more than 2 years now and its been great. Every so often I go through our DVD collection and watch some of the movies I haven't seen in a while. Out of the very back corner I pulled out the movie my dad had given me for Christmas like 4 years ago. It was still in the wrapper. I was super bored and thought that I had nothing to lose. So I watched it and thought it was okay. The next night I went over to Blockbuster and rented the rest right up to HP 7.1. Each movie got better and better but I had lots of questions. The kids that I work with all grew up reading Harry Potter so I thought that they would be the best ones to answer my questions. Well, after 2 whole days of talking about Harry I decided that it was time for me to read the books for myself. My co-worker let me borrow 3 at a time and I made her proud by finishing the entire series in 2 weeks.

Yes, they are that good. So good, in fact, that I'm going to ruin it for anyone reading this whom have not read them yet for themselves. You've been warned. :)

First, I should say that I am extremely impressed by J.K Rowling's writing talent. The Sorcerer's Stone was her first written book. It flows magnificently. The characters have personality and flair and seem so very real. More importantly each book has a wonderful message. My favorite message came at the end of Book 1 when Dumbledore tells Harry that one of the problems of evil is that it fails to recognize how powerful love really is. I couldn't have said it better myself.

It took me a day and a half to read #1. As soon as I closed the cover on the first, I immediately opened the cover on the second. Again, at the end of this one, Harry begins to wonder what the difference between him and Voldemort since they seem to have so much in common and yet one has become so very evil. Dumbledore gently tells Harry that the difference between good and evil is choice. No matter how similar one's background me be we all have a choice to be one way or another. Harry may have been pre-destined and pre-chosen to defeat Voldemort but in the end the reason he is the one is because he makes the decision to be that person. Of course, this becomes much more apparent as the story progresses.

Ooooo.... I really liked the Prisoner of Azkaban too. I liked all the action at the end and of course, Snape getting knocked out but then helping Harry in the end after the Dementors attacked them. The time traveling part was probably my favorite.

I think the books are getting better and better. I think I liked the ending probably the most when Harry fights Voldemort again and when Snape lifts up his sleeve and exposed his Voldemort scar/tattoo and revealed that he was a Death Eater and double agent. I totally didn't see it coming that Moody was actually a bad guy in disguise. I honestly thought that Bragman was the one who put Harry's name in the pot. 

Interesting that Harry is so angry in this book. It might be the age. Last semester I encountered quite a few 15 year old boys that were angry and some of them couldn't really put it into words why only that they just were. So kudos to Rowlings for placing Harry's rage in the right age group. Cho was a little annoying, but whatever. Totally enjoyed Ginny putting Harry in check. She's definitely a good match for him but that won't come until later. A friend at work told me that Rowling's actually meant to kill off Mr. Weasley in this book for some reason never did. I LOVED the action scenes in the end of the book starting with Harry breaking into Umbridge's office and getting caught all the way up to his raging against Dumbledore. I stayed up until 1:30 am to finish this one.

Ahh... the Half-Blood Prince. I think out of all of them, this may be my least favorite. I wanted more Snape or Snape-like training or secrets or something. The Ron-Hermione Harry-Ginny infatuation got a little old and I think it made the story drag a little. I won't deny it- I cried at Dumbledore's funeral. At this point, I can't imagine the story going on without him. He has been such an essential part of the story that its hard to imagine Harry without him.

Finally, the last book. I didn't pick this one up immediately after finishing the previous one like I did with all the others. Honestly, its because I wasn't ready for the story to end quite yet. Reluctantly and yet with high anxiety, I picked it up about 2 hours later and began the final journey. So as you probably all know, Harry 'camps' for about 400 pages. Most of it wasn't a surprise since I had already seen the movie. The last 300+ pages, on the other hand, were fantastic! My desire to know more about Snape was easily satisfied. I cried- alot- during the last part of the book. Dobby dies. Fred dies. Tonks and Lupin die. Neville's grandmother is finally proud of him. Snapes memories are heart-breaking. Oh! and when Mrs. Weasley starts fighting Bellatrix the hairs on my arms stood up. Who would have guessed that she was such a bad-ass this whole time?! It was so cool to see the teachers go from teacher-mode to warrior-mode. My last and final tear came at the very end when Harry tells his youngest son that he was named after Hogwort's 2 finest Headmasters and that Severus was the bravest man he had ever known. Lots of tears there.

So it's official that I LOVE Harry Potter. I'm actually a little sorry that I waited so long to read it. Unfortunately in the during the last 2 weeks of HP adventure I have failed to wash a single load of laundry, wash a dish, or sweep a floor. If only I had a wand and a good cleaning charm, I might be set for life.

May Movies

With classes officially over, Alex and I have begun a new summer season of going to the movies every Monday night. On May 5th, we started with the 5th installation of the Fast and the Furious. So far I think it's the best one. It was entertaining, funny, had good action, and a pretty decent plot. Even though its the 5th one, it's actually the 4th part to the story. Hang out past the initial credits because there is a sneak peak/extra footage.

Next, on May 9th, was Alex's pick. I'm truly indifferent about Thor. I had no desire to see it to begin with. It was an okay movie. If you really, really want to see it, wait for it to be released at Blockbuster or Redbox. It's not that it was bad, but I'm glad I only paid matinee price to watch it.

On May 16th, I got to pick. I like vampire movies that have a slightly different take on the usual. Like Daybreakers instead of Interview With a Vampire. Anyway, I'm not sure this particular movie will do so well in Wichita since it has such a huge Catholic population. I can't imagine anyone truly watching this movie and saying, 'Yep, that's how it is in the church.' But it does have a controversial tone- like for instance the Priests are trained vampire killers who happen to be celibate. It was a decent intro movie but I'm not sure they'll make another one.

On May 23rd, for Alex's 37th birthday, he wanted to go have lunch at the Carriage Crossing in Yoder, Kansas and then go see Pirates 4. We woke up, ate breakfast, took Davey to Swanson Park (a wonderful park by the way) for a long walk, came home, bathed, got in the car and drove a half hour to Yoder. Yoder is the closest Amish community to Wichita. It was started in the late 1800s and currently has less residents then when it began but more businesses than ever. Go figure. Anyway, Carriage Crossing is run by some Amish folk and has really great food and amazing pies and cinnamon rolls. It was well worth the drive. Then we headed back to Wichita to catch the 5 pm showing of Pirates. I liked the movie. It was completely different from the last 3. I really liked the mermaids, probably because when I was 6 or 7 years old I really wanted to be one, but mostly because they weren't very nice. I'm not sure if there will be a 5th movie. I'm completely okay with them stopping at 4. Hang out to the end of the credits. There's another sneak peak for you.

We missed seeing a movie on May 30th because we both had to work, but no worries- we have the rest of the summer to make up for it!

Beautifully Entangled

Dear Valentine,

For 11 years, 6 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days we have been inseparable.

Through thick and thin, good and bad...

And beautifully entangled for 4 years, 3 months, 1 week, and 3 days.

My love, my friend, my flesh, my bread and my wine.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Thunder in January

Last night, Alex and I went to a Wichita Thunder Hockey game. Initally we got our tickets for free from our real estate lady but decided to upgrade our tickets for a mere $5. It was SO worth it. Did I mention that it was our first professional hockey experience ever?

There were over 4,000 people at the game, most of which were packed into the upper balcony (i.e. the free seats). The Thunder played against the Laredo, Texas Bucks and totally kicked their butts! Our seats were only 5 rows behind the goal so we got to see tons of action. Of course, there were fights- 2 almost fights and one big one that happened right in front of us. Both the Thunder and the Laredos had to sit in the penalty box for the last 2 minutes of the game for that one. Some of the coolest moments were when the refs actually leaped over the puck to keep the puck in play and when some of the locals decided to show off their colorful art of the spoken language. A "lady" (and I use that term lightly) named Cindy constantly reminded the Laredo goally name Jung that he indeed "SUCKED" the entire game, which he did to our benefit. And how could I forget! We even got to witness a "Hat trick". So you haven't got a clue as to what that is? No problem. Neither did I. It's when the same player makes 3 points in one game. It rarely happens unless you're Wayne Gretsky. In honor of the players accomplishment, fans throw their hats onto the ice as a sign of respect. I'm not sure what they do with the hats afterwards, but it was neat to see. In the end we won 6-3.

School is back in session once again. The break didn't seem nearly as long as I wanted it to be. As always, the first week of class is always the easiest. For the most part the classes are shorter and most of the time you discuss the next 16 weeks of homework assignments. I'm excited that the overall work load this semester doesn't seem to be as heavy as in the past and what makes me the most excited is that there is very little busy work. I hate busy work.

The down side is that I have a 30 page research paper due at the end of the semester on ANY historical topic that I chose. It could be a theme, and event, a time period, a person. So far I'm leaning toward the history of Migrant Workers focusing mainly on the Bracero Movement. My second choice is the inner workings of households in the 1870s. And my third choice is Advertising in the 1940s (pre WW2). I have to have at least 5 primary sources and at least 10 secondary sources. In the end I'll have double that. As overwhelming as it seems at this point, I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm always up for some great ideas as to what to write about. What historical topic would you chose?

Happy New Year!

2011.

That can't be right, can it? It must be a typo.

So since the last time I wrote, I have finished up another semester of school. Here are my final grades:

     EDUC 3003 (Special Ed):                                        A

     EDUC 3152 (Middles School Methods):               A

     PSN 1003 (American Government):                      A

     SOC 3073 (Criminology):                                        B

     HIST 4781 (Portfolio Review):                               A

I made the Dean's List again. I was invited to join another Leadership Honor Society but I declined because of the fee's involved. I'm set to graduate December 2011 which means I have only 2 more semesters to go.

I finished re-transcribing one of my journals for the second time. The dog nibbled on one of the corners and my OCD refuses to allow me to have a tarnished journal sitting on the shelf so I engaged in the tedious task of re-writing each entry word for word for most of the parts a third time. After that, I started to transfer the daily notes  I wrote myself from a day planner way back in 1998. That was painful. My spelling was atrocious and my thought process was in desperate need of a dose of maturity.

I also finished reading two more books: Kushiel's Dart and Kushiel's Chosen. Strange fantasy-like books about a courtesan who has an incredibly high tolerance for pain and is also a spy. I like them enough to read the third book but not enough to recommend to just anybody. 

I also turned the first year (2008) of this blog into a scrapbook. I finished that project up a few days ago. In the end, 2008 filled 26 pages front and back. I added a sidebar of random facts about us, other pictures, and favorite scriptures. I'm thinking of doing the same for 2009 but this time I will work in chronological order instead of backwards from December to May, or seasonally. I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out.

Christmas was very quiet for us this year. It was the first year that we spent all by ourselves. We did something a tad different for presents. I bought my own presents, Alex bought his own presents, and then we wrapped them up and traded to see what we "bought" for each other. Apparently this year, I felt Alex needed a new belt, a new pair of jeans, and 2 more DVDs. I have to commend Alex for being so observant when he picked out 2 pairs of pajama's that I've been eying for a while, a commentary/bible study on the book of Romans that goes with the series I've been using, a beautiful pad of Christmas card stock, and the fourth book to a series I've been reading.

We didn't do anything for New Years. Alex worked until 1:30 am and I spent the night at home with an eye infection. I spent a good part of the morning on January 1st looking for an eye doctor that was open. The last number I dialed happened to be the home phone number of a doctor. He quickly agreed to see me. I drove down to his office, the visit lasted about 5 minutes, he gave me some antibiotic for free and didn't charge me a single penny for the office visit. I asked him if he was an Angel. He just laughed and asked to see me again on Tuesday.

I usually don't make "resolutions" but I do have a few goals for 2011 (There it is again. I'm still not convinced that's the right date.). First, I'd like to finally learn a second language and since my husband is a horrible language teacher, I think I'm going to buy the Rosetta Stone program and teach myself. Part of me wants to buy Gaelic so when I'm around my in-laws and Alex is being a tushy I can talk to him about it right then and there. But the other part of me wants to be practical and learn something I might actually use on a regular basis, like Spanish. I'd choose Serbo-Croatian but Rosetta Stone doesn't make a program for Serbian. 

The second goal is a simple one: to graduate. I feel like I can pretty much check that one right off the list to begin with. It's almost cheating to put it on the list.

And finally, I would also like to pay off two more bills and be that much closer to being debt free. Alex enrolled in his company's 401K last week so we're starting to put away for the future again. 

Well, here's to a new year! May the next decade be more amazing than the last!