It's Friday, Let's PRANCE!

Get your prance on because it's FRIDAY!

GIFSoup

Apparently this is a new workout craze for the over 60 crowd in retirement communities in Florida.  I love it! I have been known to prance around the office from time to time....seriously ask my friends.  =) And I am pretty sure this will be me in 40 or so years.

I am pleased to report that we kicked some serious boo-tay last night at our softball game, if you can even call it that. We ended up run ruling them after 5 innings.  We messed around the first inning and let them score a couple of runs, which kept us from the 3 inning run rule.  I guess it gave us a chance to get all of our errors out of the way so we'll be ready next week!

How awesome is this table?  This is my "little" brother's new coffee for his new grown up apartment.  I still can't believe that he is old enough to have graduated from college and have a big kid job.  My mom and grandpa made it out of beer bottle caps, Plexiglas, and broken down pallets.  I think it's the coolest coffee table that I have ever seen.  Perfect for a bachelor pad or a man cave.  I am thinking that there may be one on our back patio in the not so distant future.....I guess we need to get to drinking!

Speaking of Mom, it's her birthday today!  Happy Birthday, Mom!  I hope you have a fabulous day! I love you!

Now I am just hours away from a 3 day weekend filled with fun and sun!  

Things on a Thursday

Get ready.....it's time for me to release all of the random things that are on my mind right now.  This should be fun.

1. We had a bit of excitement at our house yesterday, and by excitement I mean I walked outside yesterday evening to see this:

That would be one of our pool tables (glass top) and umbrellas upside down in the pool. I guess you could say the wind was blowing a little yesterday.  Luckily the table top did not shatter, the umbrella popped back the right way and still works, and there does not appear to be any scratches or tears in the pool liner. [knock on wood]    The craziest part is I was sitting in the kitchen not 30 feet away from the pool, and could see the pool from where I was sitting.  The moral of this story is always put your pool umbrella down when you are not using it.  We usually do, but forgot to close this one after the weekend's festivities.

2. Last week I was perusing the grocery store and saw the holy grail of hot dog buns on a little table of bread products.  The geniuses at the Kings Hawaiian Bread Company have decided to not just make delicious little Hawaiian bread rolls....they have expanded their product selection to sub rolls, hamburger buns and HOT DOG BUNS.  I snatched up a package and could not wait to try them out.  I always keep a package or two of hot dogs in the freezer in case I get on a hot dog kick.  They're such an easy lunch on the weekends or busy weeknight dinner and they always come in handy this time of year. Saturday afternoon Eric was out fishing with his uncle and I found myself home alone around 11:30AM looking for something to eat  I am not lying when I tell you that I was like a little kid in a candy store when I was making my hot dog with the Hawaiian bread bun.  The hot dog was everything I had hoped it would be and I have since eaten almost all of them (not all at once).  I kinda wish I had one right now.

The hot dogs I had were Nathan's bun length, which made it even more delectable.  I was in hot dog heaven!

3. Part of the reason I am eating hot dogs on weeknights is because softball season is in full swing (no pun intended).  We started playing 2 weeks ago, and are 3-0! We got moved up to the A league this year, which means we have to bring our A game for sure.  It's church league, but we're basically up against high school baseball teams.  This is the 4th year we have played with our team, and we LOVE it!  I personally believe our success is partially due to our all-star female roster.  We have to have 3 girls on the field at all times and we probably have the best 3 fielding girls in the league.  Usually girls are your liability and are strategically placed where people don't hit the ball.  We play those spots, but we can all make plays at our spots.  Your's truly caught a line drive Tuesday night, much to the shock of the guy who hit the ball.  Those are my favorite plays. =)  After the game, Eric told me that if the guy had hit another ball like that toward me he was going to say something to him because it was not right for guys to place hit (aim) at girls.  I laughed and told him I could handle it. It's more interesting when you get to make a play, am I right?  At least I know he still wants to be my knight in shining armor and protect me!

We have another game tonight, and hopefully we'll have another win by the end of it!

Happy Thursday....it's almost FRIDAY!

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

I guess I had to come back to reality at some point and this week, and today was the day.  Awesome. [insert sarcastic groan here]  This past weekend was one of those weekends I wish could have gone on forever.  We had a ton of fun and amazing weather. I think it's safe to say that this weekend was the PERFECT kick off to Summer 2013!

1. Our Memorial Day catch of shell cracker and blue gill.  

2. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day on the Middle Pond.

3. Eric and one of his big shell crackers.

4. Saturday night shrimp boil.

5. Memorial Day feast of fresh caught fish (see pic #1), homemade hush-puppies, coleslaw, and pasta salad. 

6. When you're tired sometimes dinner just tastes better laying down.  

7. One of my shell crackers. 

I guess you could say our goal this weekend was to spend it on the water, some way, some how, and we successfully met that goal with flying colors!  Between fishing trips and lazy afternoons at the pool, we soaked up as much sun as we possibly could.  Lots of fishing trips meant lots of fish to eat, which we took care of (and still are).  We stuffed ourselves silly with some amazing fried fish and hush-puppies.  I mean, who doesn't love a good hush-puppy or six. =)  Note to self: start diet ASAPAG (as soon as [hush] puppies are gone).  

The only thing that could make the sting of having to go back to the real world a little easier to bear would be another long day weekend coming up....oh wait!  I DO have another three day weekend coming up this weekend!  3 more days....I think I can, I think I can!

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

I have several standby regular recipes that I know I can whip up any given night and they will be delicious, but I can only make those so often before we get tired of them.  It's no secret that I am always on the hunt for a new delicious recipe. Just a couple of years ago, in the pre-pinterest days (aka the dark ages) I would scour the internet for new recipes and found a few good ones, but more often than not they were just mediocre, and some were downright terrible. I tried, right?  At one point it got so bad Eric asked me (very nicely) one night if I could just stick to chicken seasoned with salt and pepper and a vegetable for dinner.  Ouch.  Plus just regular old chicken and veggies are just so BORING.  I need some spices and seasonings in my dinner!  Lucky for me I discovered pinterest a few short months later and our dinners have been much more delicious (and fun!).  Don't get me wrong I still run across the occasional loser recipe every now and then, but overall the quality of out dinners has improved greatly in the past couple of years.

One blog I discovered through pinterest quickly became a daily read in my blog roll. It's called Plain Chicken and she has some of the most amazing recipes.  Her most popular are her "Crack" recipes:  potatoes, sourdough loaves, burgers, dips, quiches.  Cracking them out means that she adds cheese, bacon, and ranch seasoning (one of the best seasonings known to mankind in my opinion). I have yet to make something from her blog that I don't like.

This weekend I was meal planning for the week (first time in a while), and needed some new ideas. I pulled up Plain Chicken to check out her weekly meal plan and was intrigued by the BBQ Chicken Pizzadilla recipe I saw. It looked easy and delicious which is right up my alley!  I had to tweak it just a bit because, but I stayed pretty true to the original recipe.

What you need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 chopped vidalia onion

BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet Vidalia Onion BBQ Sauce)

shredded cheese: gouda or mozzarella (I used pre-grated gouda because my po-dunk grocery store doesn't carry actual blocks of gouda....I was shocked to even find gouda there)

4 flour tortilla shells

How to make it:
1. Cook chicken, and cut into small cubes. I had Eric grill our chicken while he had the grill going for dinner the night before so it had a smokey BBQ flavor.
2. Lay one tortilla shell on a flat surface and spread BBQ sauce onto shell like pizza sauce.
3. Cover one half of the shell with chicken cubes and chopped onion.
4. Cover entire shell with a layer of cheese and what ever spices you would like.
5. Place shell in warm frying pan on stove.  When the cheese starts to melt, fold in half and flip once or twice until it holds together.  Be careful not to get your pan too hot because your shells will start to cook very fast and your quesadillas will be a little crispy.
Serve immediately.

These were so good!  They got 2 thumbs up from Eric which is always a plus, and he even said to put this in our recipe favorites category.  So he REALLY liked them.  I served them with more BBQ sauce for dipping (which we really didn't use).  I also made some guacamole (because I just love guacamole and avocados have been on sale for the past 6 weeks), which I ended up dipping my quesadilla in.  But then again I will dip just about anything in guac the way I dipped everything in ranch dressing when I was in high school. =)

Weekend Recap: Sweet Summertime

Hello Monday, we meet again.  I really don't want the week to start so I am going to pretend that I am sitting by the pool all day instead.  The only thing keeping me going is the 2 three day weekends IN A ROW that I have coming my way once I get through this week.  Yipee!

As for this past weekend, we FINALLY had some summer temps that made it necessary to spend as much time as we could near some kind of water.....and it was wonderful!

1. I got my weekend started right with a Bacon, Slaw, and Mustard Hot Dog from the street vendor outside my office building.  I believe I have a new favorite way to top a hot dog!

2. A little bit of Friday night football action.  Spring football practice came to an end on Friday night with a scrimmage game, which we won. =)  It was just enough footballness to hold me over for a few more months until the real season starts!  It also means I get my hubby back home for a few more week nights before summer practice starts. 

3. Puppy walks happened several times this weekend.  I have discovered that if I want a little down time without puppies jumping all over me the minute I sit down, a walk will do the trick....they sleep like babies when we get back home.  With it getting warmer we are having to either go early (on the weekends) or wait until later on in the evenings.  My lil Peanut does not like hot walks and has no problems plopping himself down in a shady spot when he thinks it's too warm. 

4. We spent Saturday with some friends on the Alabama River.  It was absolutely beautiful!  There's nothing better than good company, good food, and boat rides. Truly summer at its finest!

5. Alabama River scenery. 

6. The coolest lights I've seen in a while.  They illuminated the entire shed, but didn't attract bugs because the light does not shine.  I smell a project for Eric! 

7. Pretty Sunday afternoon clouds.

8. Mint toes by the pool.  I spent a majority of my Sunday afternoon in this spot reading Inferno (it's soooo good!).  

9.-11. While Eric and I lounged poolside, the boys played.  Hawk of course played fetch in the pool. It's his happy place. Peanut's favorite part of getting in the pool is getting dried off.  He runs over to my when I get the towel ready to dry him off.  We decided to make sure Hollow knew how to swim, which he can. Eric got in and took him out to the middle of the pool, and Hollow clung to him like the pool was hot lava.  When he put him in the water Hollow took off toward the edge of the pool like he'd been shot out of a cannon and was very happy when I pulled him out.  I am sure by the end of the season he figure out the coolest spot out there is the top step of the pool with Peanut.  

I guess it's time to get back to the real world, Monday is calling.  5 days til the weekend....I think I can. I think I can. I think I can!

Friday's Letters

Dear Warmer Weather, I am glad we've been able to have a little taste of you this week! And I am even more glad that because of my crazy schedule I was able to enjoy you a little bit this week.  I would not mind you sticking around this weekend so I can enjoy you at the river. =)

Dear Cavity, I am really sad that you decided to take up residency in my tooth.  I am not looking forward to having you fixed in a couple of weeks.....in my defense the dentist said there's nothing I could have done to prevent it; apparently I have really deep crevices in my molars. There goes my 25 year streak of no
cavities.

Dear Construction Zone Planners, I know I have a long commute, but I really feel like having to pass through 4 construction zones on my way to and from work each way is a little bit ridiculous, don't you?  I guess this is a lesson in patience for me....or just a really cruel joke.

Dear Candy Crush Level 133, I beat you. I BEAT YOU. I BEAT YOU!!! That is all.

Dear Eric, I am excited about the spring football game tonight!  I can't wait to see all of the hard work you guys have put in the last 3 weeks!

Dear Fishing Season, I am so over you.  Please end soon so I can have my hubby back.

Dear Little Puppy Dogs, I know I have said it before but y'all seriously crack me up on a daily basis.  Life would be so dull without your swimming/food bag eating/pinball doggie shenanigans!

 

Thufferin Thucotach!

Watching Looney Tunes as a child I never realized that Sylvester was actually referring to a dish when he uttered that phrase. But then I am the same girl who thought people only ate rice with Chinese food until I went to college. My food choices always stayed on a straight and narrow path, what can I say?

Last night I made and ate my very first succotash, and to my surprise I will most likely make it again! I wasn't looking for a succotash recipe, but I found this one by chance as I was perusing this week's Publix ad. Its 2 main ingredient were corn and mushrooms, both of which I love so I decided it could not be half bad.

From Publix Apron Meals collection.

Here's what you need:

4 ears of fresh corn

8 oz baby portobello mushrooms, de-stemmed and chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

2 Tbsp butter

3/4 tsp salt

1-15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 tsp pepper

Juice of one lime (about 1 Tbsp)

1/4 tsp Tobasco sauce

How to make it:

Cut corn off cobs and set aside.

Preheat large sauté pan on medium high. Melt butter in pan, and add corn. Cook corn for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Stir in mushrooms,garlic, and 1/2 tsp salt, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly until mushrooms are soft.

Reduce heat to low. Stir in tomatoes, black beans, pepper and remaining 1/4 tsp salt; cook 1-2 minutes or until hot. 

Remove pan from heat. Squeeze lime juice over mixture and stir in Tobasco sauce and cilantro and serve warm.  Makes 6 servings.

It was delicious! I served it with some provolone and tomato stuffed chicken breasts. I got the chicken recipe from The Southern Wife, and it was fabulous!. We decided that it would be a great taco filler (the cilantro and lime juice give it a tex mex flavor), and will be making it again!

Three Things on a Tuesday

I am still working on Frozen Tundra pictures, and am hoping to have them done sometime this week. Things have not quite slowed down the way I had hoped they would, but I should have a little time this week to finish!  In the meantime I will leave you with a few goings on in my life right now.

#1 We won our first softball game last night!  We actually run-ruled the other team as we were up by 17 after 5 innings.  I am a bit anxious about the season because we have been moved up to the A League again this year.  This happened a couple of years ago and we bombed because we didn't have our "A" team available to play that year.  Luckily we have most of our summer tournament team playing this year, so we should be competitive against the high school baseball teams (literally).  The good news is we have our superstar girls who are not a guaranteed out every time we step up to the plate.  =)  There's nothing better than stepping up to the plate and watching the outfield come up (because I am a girl) and hitting a perfect line drive over the pitcher's head into center field. This might have happened a couple of times last night.  But I am pretty sure I need some infield practice because I may have missed a couple of balls that I should have caught...thank goodness we were up by 17 at that point.

#2 I cannot wait to start my new book!  I was on amazon yesterday and saw that Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code author) had a new book coming out today called Inferno.  It's another Robert Langdon book, and I am super excited to read it! I decided to go ahead and pre-order it so it would be in my Kindle Cloud first thing this morning.  I finished the newest Sophie Kinsella book Wedding Night yesterday and am on a reading kick right now, so I figured I might as well keep going.  I am debating on whether or not to start this new book before the weekend because I won't get anything done once I really get into it.

#3 Last but not least, it finally happened.  I got the facebook message that I have been anticipating since this past fall which officially cements my "being old" status.  It was the announcement about my 10 year high school reunion. DUN DUN DUN.  Honestly I still can't believe it's been 10 years because it certainly doesn't feel like it.  And I certainly can't be THAT old.  Right?  Please someone tell me I am not old enough to go to my 10 year reunion! The good news is that with my parents being back in Memphis it makes it a lot easier for us to get there.  Thanks for looking out Mom and Dad!  I guess this means I need to find some old high school pictures of me to put out on the interwebs.  Luckily this might be a little difficult since facebook (thankfully) didn't exist back in the dark ages. =)

no worries....there's more where this gem came from!

Weekend Recap: Dance Recital Style

And just like that it's Monday again and I am asking my self where the weekend went.  I forgot to mention after I got back in town last week that it was dance recital week, which meant I was going straight from work to the high school auditorium for rehearsals every night last week, and Thursday I went from work to rehearsals to our basketball banquet.  I guess saying I was busy last week was an understatement.  The good news is we made it through both recitals relatively unscathed.  I run the music which I love doing because I have the perfect bird's eye view of the entire show, plus I am on a headset mic with one of the girls backstage, so I know whats going on backstage, too.  It's the best of both worlds really.  I must admit I get really nervous because I am always afraid I am going to hit the wrong button or start the wrong song.  Between numbers I always check the cd player, my paper and the volume at least twice...call me anal retentive, I guess!

Obviously I get the most anxious when my numbers come up.  This year the number I choreographed was the opening. The first performance left a bit to be desired.  Before they started I asked the girl backstage why the girls had not gone to the other side like they were supposed to.  She told them to, and apparently several of them asked which side they were supposed to be on.....WHAT???? These are middle schoolers who have rehearsed this number MANY times....they KNOW where they are supposed to start.   I told myself it was going to be ok and that they'd get to their spot in time.  Most of them did, but then I realized that we were missing about 4 girls on one side of the stage because they forgot to come out on stage.  Then I see them rush out as the dancing starts, and one of them is supposed to be on the other side of the stage so she walks across in the middle of the dance.  I think it was at this point that I had my Abby Lee Miller moment and told the girl backstage to tell my girls to stay after the show so we could rehearse that number before the evening show.  In a nut shell I was furious!  They never really got it together and it was quite a mess, but they made it through and the show went on (as it always does).   I finally calmed down and toward the end of the show asked her to tell the girls to be ready to rehearse as soon as they arrived for the evening show.  We had a little chat and I made sure they knew where to start, and the evening show went off without a hitch! I was jumping up and down when they got done because they did so well.  I think part of the reason I was so upset with them that morning was because I KNOW how well they could perform the number.  Note to self: run the number with the girls pre-show regardless of how confident you are in their abilities!  I am kinda sad to see the year end because I love teaching tap, but it will give me some time to recharge my creative batteries and put some new stuff together for next year!

While I was doing all things dance on Saturday, Eric did all things fishing.  The boy went fishing 3 TIMES in an 18 hour period.  He got up at midnight Saturday morning and fished until I got up around 7AM, then he left to go fishing again when I left to go to the first recital around 8:30AM and got home about 20 minutes before I did.  He came home and took a nap and then went fishing AGAIN about the same time I left to go to the second recital.  I think the lack of sleep had gotten to him at that point because he walked through the living room and asked me what time I was leaving then he walked out the back door.  A couple of minutes later I heard his truck go down the driveway, so I called him to see where he was going.  He said he was going fishing, and the realized he hadn't told me good-bye, or that he was going fishing!  What can I say the boy loves to fish...I won't complain because I love to eat them, too!

Sunday I got up and attempted to go to church.  I say attempted because I got ready and drove to church only to realize I was half an hour late and church was halfway over.  And this kids is why you go to church every week!  I had missed the 2 previous weeks because we've been out of town, and I completely forgot what time it started. In my defense they have changed mass times in the last 6 months, but mass has never started at 9AM, so I am not sure what I was thinking.  I guess I will just have to be extra nice this week.

We had a very nice Mother's Day lunch with Eric's grandma and mom, I called and had a wonderful chat with my Mom and grandparents, and then I crashed for the afternoon.  I spent most of my afternoon curled up on the couch and on the pool deck with my book (well my IPad, but I was reading). No going to the grocery, no Sunday afternoon cook-a-thon to prepare for the week, just me and my favorite author's newest book all afternoon.  We did have some friends over for pulled pork tacos for dinner, but the butt had already been cooked and one of our friend's who is a fabulous cook, put the rest of it together.  It was perfect ending to the weekend.

I was glad to have a lazy Sunday because softball starts this week!  Tonight to be exact, and I can't wait to get out and play again! Hopefully we'll get out to a good start.  Eric and I threw the ball for a bit one night last week to make sure we still had it. =)

I'm Back from the Frozen Tundra

I'm back! I took a little trip up to the frozen tundra last week.....literally. My "little" brother graduated from Michigan Tech on Saturday so the family trekked up to Houghton to celebrate. I knew it was supposed to snow while I was there, but I had no idea it would snow for 2 days straight!  We are talking lotsa snow in May and this lil southern bell was a bit chilly! However I did not let a little snow get in my way of having the whole Houghton experience. My goal was to see what made my brother fall in love with this little frozen town in the very top of the U.P. (upper peninsula) and I believe I can say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.  From beautiful beaches to complete wilderness and a quaint college campus wedged in the middle, I get it. I am still working through he 150+ pictures I took this weekend, but here are a few of my favorites!

The view from his apartment in a snowstorm....in May.

The graduate and I.  Is it just me or does he look like he's gotten taller?

Me on the banks of Lake Superior.  It was soooooooo cold down by the water!

The same spot on Lake Superior a few days later when the wind died down.  The water looked like glass! 

It's Pool Time! (Finally!)

How do you know that you have had a cooler-than-usual-spring?  When you live in Alabama and your pool is still not opened by the last week in April.  Crazy I know.  Last year we took the pool cover off St. Patrick's Day Weekend, this year we're barely getting it open before May.  Eric decided at the end of last week that it needed to be done if we wanted to start enjoying it soon, so off came the cover.  He did one round of vacuuming last week and then we got busy had had rain this weekend, so it sat for a couple of days.  Last night he got back to it and vacuumed it again.  It takes a few times to get it vacuumed out at the beginning of the year....it's even worse when a certain someone does not run the pool pump for a month in the fall and covers the pool when it's dirty...ahem....Eric...cough cough.  I helped by switching the pump on and off so he didn't have to walk back and forth from the pump to the pool 10 times.  It looked pretty good last night.  He said it needs one more vacuum, a good shock, and then we'll dump the salt in it and it will be ready!

It's looking a little less green every day!

Funny Story:
When I was manning the pump the other day Eric asked me to switch the pump from "Filter" to "Waste/Edgeout" to get the water to pump out of the pool instead of back through the filter system when he is cleaning it.  I thought that "Edgeout" was an interesting way to describe it, but figured it must be some kind of pool lingo that I was not aware of.  I looked at the pump to figure out how far to turn the dial to get it to "Edgeout" and realized that my sweet southern husband did not realize that the settings on the pump were written in 3 different languages......."Edgeout" was actually Egout, which is French for Waste. Gotta love 'em!