Weekend Recap: A Word of Advice and Sweet Puppies

I am quickly remembering how much I love the fall.  I've been giddy with excitement looking at the 10 day forecast lately.  Upper 70s - lower 80s for highs and upper 50s - lower 60s for lows.  It makes me do a happy dance every time.  And the possibility of a high of 78 and a low of 51 this coming Saturday for Homecoming?!  I won't know what to do with myself!  Let's just hope the forecast doesn't change between now and then (which is entirely possible).

It's cotton pickin' season around here, too.  This might be the most snow we get all year!

Any who, I wish the result of the football game on Friday night could have been as wonderful as the weather.  Unfortunately it wasn't and we ended up losing 14-11 to a team that our school hates to lose to.  I didn't even go to school in our town and I HATE losing to them.  Apparently some people took it worse than others, for example the random guy who I had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting next to.  Word to the wise,  I know people get excited about football (especially in our part of the world), however if you would like to be extremely opinionated on the matter, you should remove yourself from the general population of fans.  Why?  Because you might be sitting by, I don't know....the coaches' wives.  And when we see you and hear you acting like a fool and making us and most everyone around us uncomfortable, you need to check yourself because adults should not act like that, especially at a high school football game.  I came really close to saying something to him (and might have fantasized about pushing him off the bleachers once or twice), but I kept my mouth shut and finally another father sitting near us who knew who we were and who he was finally told him he needed to calm down. It turns out the guy doesn't even have kid playing on the team, which to be honest makes his behavior even more bizarre.  Now don't think it bothers me anytime someone is critical of whats going on down on the field. There are may times myself and the other wives question things right along with other fans. At least once a game we would like to have a headset so we could communicate with our husbands about what they are calling (and offer our 2 cents of course).  I don't mind people getting upset and wondering why they ran this play or that play aloud, but 10 minutes after the game is over and you're still going on about how stupid this was or that was and carrying on like we just lost the biggest game of the season, yeah that's a bit much. Have a little tact about it please. This was a rivalry game, yes, but it was not an area game, and it will not affect our playoff chances.  We had a bad game, so what.  Heck we beat the #5 ranked team in the state last week, perhaps we were out of adrenaline this week. It's hard to get teenage kids hyped up like that 2 weeks in a row. Last week's game WAS an area game so it was WAS a lot more important. So to all of the overzealous fans out there, please cull yourselves so you don't embarrass yourself because you never know who you're sitting by.  That person might tell her husband about you to let him know who the crazies are and you might not like the consequences.  Yep I do. =)
*steps off soap box*

Sorry for the rant but I had to get that off my chest.

The rest of our glorious weekend was spent enjoying it.  Saturday morning we brunched at 1220 Cafe like we have for the past several weekends.  Their breakfast is amazing.  I had a bacon and cheese omelet that was delicious! I really hope that this is just the beginning of a beautiful weekend tradition around here.  I even got up at 6:45am voluntarily so we could go!

Eric spent the majority of his weekend at the hunting land getting it ready for the coming hunting season.  It's only a few weekends away and I can tell he is already excited about it.  I relaxed, went to a baby shower, and played with puppies.....so many puppies.  We have had 3 new puppies come into our lives in the past month.  And the best part?  None of them live with us! I get to play with them and love on them and then they go home so I don't have to be the one getting up in the middle of the night to let them out!

The boys seem to be enjoying having new friends around for the most part.  Peanut likes them until they try to jump on him and then he's had enough.  It has taken a lot of self control from Eric and myself not to want to get one ourselves, but I keep reminding him of how wonderful it is to have mature, trained dogs that we don't have to worry about and that usually gets him.

Warning:  If puppy picture bore you to tears, you can end here.  If you would like a major cuteness overload then keep going.  However, I can't guarantee it won't make you want to go out and get a puppy. And yes I am about to pose pictures of our dogs with their friends like they're children.

This is their new buddy Ringo. He's the youngest (8 weeks) and the craziest of their new friends.  He belongs to one of Eric's buddies. I brought him over to play on Sunday while the boys were at the hunting land and we semi-managed to get all of his energy out.  I have forgotten how much energy puppies have!

This little monster is Bandit and he belongs to our neighbors.  He's been around for a month or so and by far Peanut's favorite of our new friends.  Mainly because he is Peanut's size.

No you're not seeing a side-by-side picture of Hawk today (with green glowing eyes-yikes!) and as a puppy, although it sure looks like it.  This sweet face is our neighbors' newest addition.  One of the techs at the vet I took Hawk to last week called Eric to tell him about this sweet girl, who was an owner surrender and in need a of a good home.  Our neighbors have talked about getting a lab for a while, their daughter adores Hawk, so we went to take a look.  And by we I mean us girls, which meant the boys knew she was coming home with us.  She and Hawk could be carbon copies...and hopefully will make beautiful lab puppies someday!  Clearly Hawk adores her!

And just because this picture makes me laugh so hard.....this is why Peanut feels the way he does about Ringo.....

Pistachio Bark

If you know me, you know that approximately 75% of the recipes I've cooked over the past 3 years have been courtesy of a little site we all know and love called Pinterest.com. If you aren't using it, then what the heck are you waiting for?!  It's not that I didn't cook good things in the years BP (before Pinterest), let's just say that the product quality of what I cook has increased significantly since then.  Yes I still come across duds every now and then. I tried out a new pasta salad this past weekend that was just ok, and the leftovers are still in the fridge awaiting fridge clean-out day aka the night before the garbage comes aka tonight. But then there are some recipes that I come across that are 5-Star-I've-Already-Made-A-Second-Batch-2-Days-Later-Winners aka recipes that get promoted from my Recipes I Want to Try and Sweet! Sweets boards to my Recipe Favorites board.  I'd like you to meet the most recently promoted recipe on the Recipe Favorites board:

Pistachio Bark meet the Cagle Chronicles, Cagle Chronicles meet Pistachio Bark.

When I saw the recipe I thought chocolate-check, nuts-check, Oreos-check, caramel and salt-check check.  It had all the players, so it had to be decent.  I changed a couple of things from the original recipe.  For example: I was not spending $12 or more on 16oz of chocolate bars like the original recipe called for so I substituted 2 bags of semisweet chocolate chips for $5. I was able to make a larger pan with 24oz of chocolate to work with, plus I got $.10 Fuel Perks....Score! Because I was using chips and not a chocolate bar I added some Canola oil to thin the chocolate out just a bit.  Enough with the chit chat, let's get to the good stuff, le recipe.

adapted from this recipe

What you Need:

2-12oz bags semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Canola oil

1/2 cup Kraft Premium Caramel Bits or chopped caramel squares

10 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

3/4 cup shelled pistachios, chopped

generous pinch of sea salt

How to Make It: 

Line a large baking sheet (approximately 12" x 16") with parchment paper. Set aside. Have your caramel pieces, chopped Oreos, chopped nuts, and salt readily available so you can use them as soon as your chocolate is ready.

In a large bowl, melt chocolate chips in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 second cooking period. Once chocolate is melted, add 1 Tbsp canola oil and mix thoroughly.

Spoon 2-3 Tbsp melted chocolate into a small bowl and set aside. Pour remaining chocolate onto parchment paper and gently spread with a spatula until it's roughly 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle caramel pieces, Oreo pieces, and chopped nuts on top of chocolate.  Lightly press toppings into chocolate.  Reheat chocolate you set aside earlier if necessary, and mix in 1 tsp canola oil to thin it out.  Drizzle thinned chocolate over toppings.  Sprinkle salt over the entire pan.

Chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Break in to pieces and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Ready to be chilled!

NOM NOM NOM NOM! 

This stuff is amazing, there's no other way to put it.  It has something for everyone in it and it's soooooo good!

....and this is why I run. =)

When the Fun Never Stops

What a week!  The past 10 days have been nothing short of jam-packed around these parts.  I feel like today might be the first potentially "normal" day we've had lately.

But first, how 'bout that fall weather?!?!  The past 4 days have been absolutely beautiful here!  To say that I was jealous of the nice weather most of my family was experiencing a couple of weeks ago is an understatement.  I was literally pissed off a couple of weeks ago because it was 95 with 100% humidity here and at least 30 degrees cooler at my parents' house which is only 5 hours away.  I guess our weather was just waiting until the official start of fall to cool off.  I've always claimed to be a fair weather runner -I can't deal with hot and sunny- I need coolish without direct sunlight, so this time of the year is my favorite time to run...obviously....

The numbers don't lie!

Last week we started off with a JV game Monday night (and a win for us!); lucky for us it was at home so it was not a super late evening, which was nice because I was up and on the road early for a conference in Orange Beach.  Tough life right? I've decided I would like to schedule all of my future conferences at the beach.  This trip was doubly great for me because I was able to spend the week with my BIL and SIL...probably the last time I'll see them BBC (Before Baby Cagle) arrives next month!  It was a fun and relaxing trip and I have a new favorite tv show now as a result.  My SIL was binge watching The Blacklist on Netflix so of course we managed to watch 7 episodes in 2 days.  The season premiere was Monday night and I could not wait for it!  The only thing missing was Eric.  Darn football got in the way!

I even got to help celebrate my SIL's birthday with them!

I got home Thursday night to a carport full of folks there to watch the Auburn-Kansas State game.  It was exciting until AU started to pull away so I excused myself to go to bed because I was exhausted. Friday morning I got up and got ready for work, but realized there was something going on with Hawk.  He had a huge ball of swelling on his throat.  We decided to take him to get it checked out, mainly because of the location of the swelling.  He wasn't acting like anything was wrong but better safe than sorry, right?  The vet ruled out a cyst on his salivary gland and a poisonous snake bite.  The said they weren't exactly sure what it was but gave us some meds and instructions to come back if it's still swollen after he's done with his antibiotics.  We're 6 days into it and the swelling is almost completely gone.  I think something bit or stung him, but I guess we'll never know. We did find out that our boy now weighs 90lbs!  He's finally gaining weight again!  He was less than 80lbs last time he went to the vet.

It looks like I'm just holding skin in this pic, but it was a giant ball of fluid!

I ended up staying home Friday to keep an eye on him which I really didn't mind.  I got a lot done around the house and got things ready for our weekend visitors....

Aren't they cute!?

My parents came to town this weekend and I was so excited about it!  For Father's Day I got my Dad tickets for the LPGA Classic in Prattville which was this weekend.  We spent Saturday afternoon walking one of the most gorgeous golf courses I've ever seen and watching some of the best female golfers in the world tear up the course!  It was so much fun and the weather was absolutely beautiful!
 

This pic does not do the course justice.  The entire thing has these gorgeous rolling hills and zero trees.  It's part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.

Sunday my dad had to catch a plane to go to a work conference, so Mom and I drove him over to ATL and then headed South to the Tanger Outlet Mall in Locust Grove, GA to shop til we dropped.  We scored some great deals which included matching bright green sweaters that we unknowingly picked up on different sides of the same store. I've always believed great minds think alike.  =) I even got a start on some Christmas shopping!  I know, I know, but according to my calendar there are only 92 days until Christmas, and if I can check a few things of my list now, I have a chance of not having to run around like a chicken with my head cut off in December,

Basically it was a wonderful week/weekend and I was NOT ready for the work week to get started again, but the weather has totally made up for it. Plus it's already Wednesday and I am just now getting around to posting about this past weekend so apparently I must be having fun since time's flying!

Weekend Recap

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there.  I'm back.  I wish I had an exciting and fun excuse for being absent the past couple of weeks, but I don't.  My bad. I'll try to pick up the blogging action this week....try to. This week is going to be a little busy, but I will do my best.

So first things, first.  I got my hair cut.  I realize that for most people this is NBD, but for me it is.  I am terrible about getting my hair cut and I am always putting it off because I don't think about it until the day of and I can never get an appointment for that day.  This past time that strategy has translated into going 17 months since my last hair cut, yes it had been almost a year and a half since I'd last gotten it cut and it was driving me crazy.  I decided last Wednesday I was going to bite the bullet and luckily the salon I like had an appointment open on Friday.  I told the girl I needed a trim and to cut whatever we needed to cut to get the split ends off. She suggested 2 inches, but when I told her how long it had been she changed it to 3 inches and had me pre-book my next appointment.  10 weeks seems so soon though!  An hour later I was out the door with a shaped up-do that I love!

The picture on the left was back in July, so add almost a couple of months of split ends and you can imagine why my hair stayed in a bun for most of August and September. The picture on the right was post Friday afternoon hair recovery effort. 

I think we're finally getting into our fall football season groove.  This weekend it finally felt like football was here (despite the oppressive humidity that is STILL HERE). After 2 really far away games, think 2+ hour drive one way, we had a home game Friday night.  Eric had me a little concerned about it, but the boys handled the game quite nicely and routed their opponent 42-14. It was great to finally have a game at home (I'm not counting the very first one because it was way too one-sided to really call it a game).  This week they've got another doozy.  I can always tell how good a team is supposed to be based on how long the Sunday afternoon meetings are.  The past few weeks they've been in and out in under 3 hours, this week they were there for 6 hours.  I realize that as the season goes on and they get more game film it takes a little longer, but they certainly take their time prepping for more difficult opponents.

Celebrating the win Friday night.

A certain coach I know made the Friday NIgh Fever Highlight Reel on the news. You can't miss that big bald head!
Also check out the temperature at 10:30pm Friday night....this is why I won't keep my mouth shut about the heat.

Saturday morning we were up and running so Eric could get some meat smoking on the grill.  Since we were up we decided to try out the breakfast at our favorite little sandwich place in town.  We'd heard good things about it and had been meaning to try it out for months.  Let me just say that it was fabulous and we will be back.  Eric opted for the breakfast sampler: eggs, sausage, grits, biscuit and gravy; I on the other hand went all out and had French Toast with whopped cream and pecans with a side of bacon.  It was amazing and we both left in a food coma that lasted most of the morning.

Yah...it was as good as it looks.

We spent Saturday afternoon on the porch watching football games.  I was not looking forward to this weeks's games since most teams were playing smaller non-conference opponents.  However, many of the little guys decided they were going to give the big dogs a run for their money this weekend.  We watched several games that went down to the wire and several favorites go down.  I must admit I was expecting Florida to blow Kentucky out of the water at the Swamp Saturday night and that ended up being one of the best games on.....I still think Kentucky got the shaft.  Florida still could have scored on 4th and 12 but delay of game should have been called.  But nobody asked my opinion on the matter, plus I had nodded off and woke up when I heard cheering on the tv as Florida scored so I didn't know it happened until the next day.

Since I sneaked out and went to church Saturday night we got to sleep in Sunday, like 10 hours of sleep which rarely happens around these parts.  We piddled around all morning until Eric had to leave for meetings.  I hit up the grocery store and parked my behind on the couch for an NCIS marathon.  The pups didn't mind because it was too stinkin humid to even try to go outside.  We vegged until about 6 when I just knew the neighborhood would be shaded enough for a cool evening walk.  Ha.  Let's just say I felt like I had run a few miles as much as I was sweating when we got back from ONE measly lap.  Seriously humidity, you can leave us at any time now....it's September.

This week is going to be a doozy: I'm doing to traveling for work, Eric's got a big game on Friday, and we have some special visitors coming in town this weekend that I am so excited about!  It should be a fun one!

Labor Day Weekend Done Right

I don't know if we could have packed anything else in to our wonderful, fun, relaxing Labor Day Weekend.  From THS football to college football to a cookout/mini-concert extravaganza to a relaxing afternoon on the river, we did just about everything we could think of during the past 3 days. Long story short....it was awesome.

We started our weekend with an away game Friday night.  And it was waaaaaay far away....2.5 hours away.  Since I did not want to have to drive home from the game by myself I had decided not to go, but some of the other coaches wives offered to let me ride with them so we headed down south, like 20 mins from the Florida state line south for the ball game.  Unfortunately the game did not turn out the way we would have liked it to, but they were a good team and the boys played well.  A win surely would have made the 2.5 hour drive home a little better.  Neither one of us got to the house before midnight.

It was rainy during the game so my phone was tucked away for most of it.  This was the only picture I have from Friday night.  This is the line of traffic to get into town at midnight Saturday morning.  There was a super slow train that decided to block the ONLY way into town from the interstate. 

We took it easy Saturday morning.  Since it was kickoff weekend for college football we did not have anything planned for the day that did not involve being in front of a television set. A couple of neighbors came over and we threw some deer meat, hot dogs, and chicken wings on the grill. Most of the games we were interested in watching were decent games to watch, although having Alabama and Auburn kick off 30 minutes apart made for some tricky tv watching.  The good news is both teams won and that's all that matters.

Sunday we were ready to get our Labor Day celebrating on.  Since Eric had football practice early Monday morning we opted to celebrate on Sunday.  We had a several friends over and Eric smoked some Boston Butts on the grill.  I have decided this year I do not want to spend my weekends in the kitchen, so I will not be making tons of dips and appetizers and desserts this year each weekend.... I'm keeping it simple.  Saturday I made a dip, Sunday I made cookies.  That's it.  We still had tons of food and I was able to enjoy myself. We had our friend Kevin Adair come play some music Sunday night and one of the guys Eric coaches with brought his drum set.  They played for nearly 4 hours and it was awesome!  Kevin is a really talented musician; if you're ever in the Auburn area you should check to see if he's playing somewhere.  It's totally worth it.   His song I Can't Make You Love Me, is currently my absolute favorite!

Of course we had the UT game on in the background. =)

The party wrapped up around 11:30pm and we headed to bed.  I guess it wore me out more than I thought because it was 8:30am before I started stirring.  Usually when Eric gets up earlier than I do (he had practice at 8am Monday) the dogs wake me up shortly after he leaves.  Not yesterday.  They were still sound asleep when I got up.  I guess we weren't the only ones who enjoyed the weekend.  When he got home we vegged for a few hours... I even got him to watch Legally Blonde!  By the afternoon we were both ready to get out of the house so we packed up the boys and headed to the river for a couple of hours of riding, fishing, and swimming. At the river I made up for the lack of pictures from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Captain Hawk

This one prefers to hide behind blankets on the ride. 

Me and my boys at the cat fishin' hole.

Hawk: Throw the stick, Dad!  Throw the stick!

Playing on the sandbar. 

Have I mentioned how beautiful this place is?!

Labor Day fun with my love!

That's our weekend in a nutshell. I hate to admit, but sleeping in really threw off my sleep schedule.  I was up until almost midnight last night like I have been the past few nights and 5:30am came waaaaay to early this morning.  But for a weekend like that is was totally worth it.  Plus we only have a 4 day week which is like an extra bonus after a 3 day weekend!