Saturday, February 28, 2009

What we've been doing

I know I sometimes give the impression that I spend my days alone, watching an endless loop of Gilmore Girls reruns and obsessing about my cat's every movement. That's not really the case, though. I actually get out &, ya know, do stuff & hang out with people. Here's a little photographic evidence.

Tim and I went to LEGO-palooza at the local planetarium. Why? Because we love Lego! How could you not? As a happy bonus, it was free. Many of the creations - especially those made my adults - were very impressive. I wish you could see the detail on this Arabian-inspired castle.

The guy who made this even decorated the interior of the castle: spiral staircases, checkerboard floors, furniture. The only thing I might have liked more was the Harry Potter Quiddich scene.

This thing looked even cooler in person. The talented woman who created this made one scene inspired by each Harry Potter book. I should have asked her how long it took to make them, but my jaw was too busy hanging open.

We also went to a car show where Tim got to sit in an Audi R8. If you look closely you can see him in there, grinning like a school boy.

We spent a lot of time sitting in an A3 while Tim said, "See? Isn't it nice? Don't you like it? Don't you?" while hope radiated out of his pores. We also checked out Porsches, BMWs, & Maseratis. I must admit that the suede interior of the Maserati felt kinda ... pervy. But the back seats recline, so surely it must be worth the $150K price tag. Could someone tell me why the Maserati logo looks like a W? I know it's supposed to be the business end of a trident, but it's confusing. Also, the new Jaguar logo kinda sucks.

If I keep insulting the little details it won't bother me that I cannot afford these vehicles. That's my excuse & I'm stickin' by it.

We are pushers ... Rock Band pushers. The last few times we've eaten out with friends, we've still ended up back at our place playing Rock Band. Here's a pic of Tim teaching the finer details to our most recent addicts, Dana & Benni.

When Kevin & Shawna tried Rock Band for the first time back in January, it was as if they'd taken Video Game Crack. They were instantly hooked. Sometimes they stop by twice in one week just to get their rock on. It's a sickness, I tells ya.

Although we love going out & seeing people, sometimes we're happiest when we're at home alone. It's even better when I've been experimenting in the kitchen. Last week I made my first souffle. Cheese souffle, to be precise.

Doesn't that look luscious? Neither Tim nor I had ever eaten a souffle before, but we were very happy with the results of this baby. Mmmm ... fluffy cheesy goodness ...

Ya know, sometimes staying home isn't so bad afterall.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

How to feed a cat in 10 steps or less


Sunday afternoon I was sitting around, playing about on the computer, when I realized that it was February 22nd. That was the same date that we adopted Millie last year. That meant is was - tah dah! - her first Cat-iversary! Woo hoo!

It's strange to think of our lives without Millie around. That's especially true in the mornings. Millie has a VERY specific morning schedule that we must adhere to, lest she pester me until I get it right.


1. After Tim leaves for work, Millie plants herself by the open bedroom door & looks at me as if to say, "Get up, lazy bones. I feel the need to feed."
2. I walk out onto the landing & scratch Millie on the head. As I descend the stairs, Millie takes a fake swipe at my leg with her paw. She never actually makes contact with me or my clothing when she does this, so I totally don't get it.
3. Millie waddles to food dish & looks at me expectantly. She may meow as I get out her food.

4. I put a scoop of dry food in her bowl. Then I must pet her. The petting is an important step for her. If I don't pet her, she'll give me The Look. If I've already left the room, she may find me & give me The Look. And if that doesn't work, she'll poke my leg with her paw. If I ignore her, she just keeps prodding at my leg & The Look gets slightly more severe.
5. Millie eats just a bite or two, then waddles into the living room & positions herself in front of the glass doors.
6. By this time I have usually opened the drapes so Millie can look outside. If not, she will find me and remind me to do this (see step 4).

7. Millie stares outside. She may also meow - her way of asking to be let out on the back deck.
8. If Millie goes outside, it's only for a minute or two - just long enough to make sure there are no squirrels invading her precious deck.
9. Millie returns to the kitchen to eat more of her breakfast. But, again, she wants to be pet while she eats. No, not just wants - needs. As mentioned before, she will hunt me down, stare at me, and repeatedly tap my leg with her paw until I give in to her whims.
10. After a few more strokes along her back, Millie settles in and happily eats her breakfast.


Other than this, Millie is very laid back. She naps in sunbeams. She hangs out on the couch while we play Rock Band. She curls up by my side every night so that I can cuddle her like a doll from my childhood. She's a wonderful cat. She's just picky in the morning.

Hey, we all have our quirks, right?

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Nothin' says lovin' ...



Last Sunday was Tim's birthday & I wanted to do something nice for him so over the past couple weeks I've been busy in the kitchen cooking up lots of tasty stuff - mainly baked goods. Arguably too many. We had 7 people in this house for Tim's birthday party but they barely made a dent in it all. I gotta admit that it was fun to make, though. I just need more people to come over & help me consume my creations!

Here's a little taste (heh heh) of what I've been making.

Dulce de leche. Also known as Confiture de Lait, milk jam, or simply wonderful, caramel-y goo. This is the easiest thing in the world to make. Do yourself a favor & try it.


The famous chocolate chip cookies from The New York Times. These babies require some unusual ingredients & have to sit in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours before you bake them. Honestly, I think the recipe is a bit fussy, but I rather liked the big chocolate disks & the way they melt out in thin layers throughout the cookies.


Almond bundt cake. Hope you can spot it in the pic. This was Tim's official b-day cake and, like the cookies, it required some unusual ingredients (good luck finding almond filling!), but it certainly was tasty.


Touch of Grace biscuits. Yes, that's a biscuit in the photo. These were by far the MESSIEST things I have ever made in my entire life. Even messier than pie crust. When I was done, there was a thick layer of flour all over the oven & my hands were covered in gluey gunk. But oh my ... so yummy. Light yet moist with a touch of sweetness.


Tutti Fruiti ice cream ... or at least that's what Tim calls it. Following Tim's suggestion. I made strawberry ice cream & mixed in candied cherries (Tim's favorite) plus candied orange & lemon peel. I don't know if it's technically "tutti" but it sure is creamy, fruity, & delicious.


Somehow we've managed to consume most of this stuff in the past week. There's a good deal of ice cream left (it keeps better than anything else), as well as one cookie & a slice of cake. I suppose Tim and I have probably put on an extra pound or so in the past week. Oh well! I guess I'm just trying to put the "love" back in love handles.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

4th Elope-iversary



Yes, it's that time again. Time for spice cake cupcakes! Woo hoo! I have yet to locate the official twin-packed Hostess variety of spice cake cupcakes (What happened to them, Hostess?!?!), so yet again I'm making them from scratch. With cream cheese frosting. Yum.

Last night before we went to sleep, Tim and I talked about the whole "elope-iversary" thing. He said that "elope" doesn't seem like the right word for what we did, but we couldn't come up with anything better. I guess it was kinda-sorta a shotgun wedding (with the Department of Homeland Security figuratively holding the gun), but that doesn't sound quite right either since we actually wanted to get married to eachother. And since we had a proper wedding ceremony 2 months later. Any ideas?

We really do think of April 2nd as our real wedding anniversary since that's the day we said the vows & all. February 4th is just a footnote in our story. An odd little anecdote. We didn't even take photos of the elopement. It was just a legal thing we had to get out of the way to stay together. Just papers that had to be signed. Heck, I didn't even take off a whole day from work. It's not a big deal. Right? Nevertheless, I kinda like to acknowledge it now. I was so nervous leading up to it, but when it was all over a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. Tim was here. With me. Finally. And he didn't have to go away again. When you've been engaged for a year & doing the long distance thing for longer, that means a HELL of a lot, lemme tell ya.

Speaking of weddings, lately some people have expressed an interest in seeing our wedding pics. Nope, not just you, Mom. "People" plural. While I was in Tulsa over Xmas, I finally got a disk that contains some of our professional photos from our wedding day (not elopement - wedding!). The photos are a bit jumbled & out of order on the disk and some really good pics are missing (we will HAVE to fix that), but I spied a few good ones amidst the mess, so here they are. Enjoy!