Just Doing Some Living

It was a mellow week around here, in a good way.

1/ I've been doing a little bit of reading. I FINALLY finished The Secret Garden...a book I started about three months ago, and I just got Steal Like an Artist in the mail this week. I also started The Year We Left Home.

2/ We've been going on afternoon walks with the dogs (armed with anti-coyote weapons, of course). Yes, that is an unlawful open container in my hand, but I don't think the police even know that our neighborhood exists, so I won't be going to jail any time soon. I love living in the boonies, and I love that our family lives across the street so we can crash their delicious slow-cooker family dinner on a random Wednesday night.

3/ We had a get-together at my Aunt's house and enjoyed amazing appetizers, salad, pizza, and dessert. I over-ate in the worst way, and we had so much fun watching these two little rascals play together in the grass.

1/ I bought a container of Nutella on sale. A sweet little indulgence, and not real healthy, but I consider it one of life's little pleasures. Everything in moderation.

2/ Dylan had some time to kill near the Scottsdale airport one day this week, so he stopped by Costco and brought me home this big block of Dubliner cheese and also a big TV with Internet for the bedroom. Our other one blew up, and the interim TV was really tiny and had a green stripe down the screen. But I am so excited about this cheese! The Irish really did something right with this stuff...it is awesome. I'm also trying to enjoy it in moderation, but not doing such a good job of it, depending on your definition of moderation.

3/ The sun is rising when I leave at 6am now. It's really pretty on most days, and it's nice to not go to work in the dark.

4/ This little rascal-dog did something very bad this week. I don't want you to think less of him, so I'm not going to share the details, but it did involve murder.

These creatures make me so angry in the morning. I let them out to pee, and then they jump into my bed and get cozy and go back to sleep while I get ready for my day. I threw my pajamas on them just to teach them a lesson, and they just gave me a look as if to say, 'you're the one waking up to an alarm while it's still dark and we're quite warm and comfortable over here...who's the fool in this situation?'

Happy Friday!

My Favorite Morning Meal

I'm never very happy about my 5am alarm, and I think you can understand the reason why. But I do have something that I look forward to in the morning, and I think about it when I wake up, and it makes me smile. It's my breakfast. The same thing I've had morning after morning for months now. I don't know what it is about it, but I feel like my life cannot be sustained without this milkshake. Allow me to introduce you.

Always be sure your house is stocked with Kirkland Signature's House Blend coffee beans.

And first, heat up some water in a teakettle.

While it's heating up, prepare your AeroPress, and make sure you purchase a grinder that will grind up the beans very fine.

Then, cut up one banana into a Magic Bullet.

Your next three ingredients are this: 1 spoonful of all natural peanut butter, 3 spoonfuls of Carnation Instant Breakfast, and a dash of honey.

I'm pretty sure you can find a healthier protein powder or some other substitute for the instant breakfast that contains no artificial flavors or is otherwise healthier...but I find the end result of this process to be so perfect that I'm just not interested in discovering that substitute.

By this time, the water in the teakettle should be bubbling, so go ahead and press the coffee. Then add exactly seven ice cubes to the Magic Bullet.

In goes the coffee.

Followed by the milk of your choice. We've been buying soy milk, but I'm going to try out almond milk next.

Then blend that baby like there's no tomorrow.

Pour into your favorite (green) cup.

And enjoy!

As you can tell, this is an extremely labor intensive process, so you must be a morning person, and it has to be worth it to you...which it really is for me.

Interestingly, I was telling Dylan yesterday that I've just been feeling so good lately. Like I have lots of energy and my mood is good. I never realized that being tired all the time wasn't normal until now.

I'm not saying it has anything to do with this particular shake, but it does keep me more full than a bowl of cereal by at least an hour. I still scream 'I'm hungry!' by about 9am (better than 8am!), prompting a discussion on many a morning about my ravenous appetite and how disproportionate it is to my stature. And then a remark about how I'm only motivated by food (so true!). But I'm always prepared with several healthy-ish snacks so I don't have to suffer till the lunch arrives at noon.

Also, I used to drink a Diet Coke or Coke Zero every morning for my caffeine boost because I don't really like coffee. Then I decided I'd rather not dissolve my teeth with the acidic soda and pickle my insides with all the nasty chemicals. So, I haven't had a single soda since the end of January. And I actually like coffee now!

And then I started eating healthier anyways, like staying away from packaged and processed crap and fast food. I don't swear off of it completely and deny myself some of life's simplest pleasures, but I'm doing much, much better than I ever have.

So maybe I'm just excited about the changes in our life, or maybe it's all the long hours of sleep, consistent exercise, and healthier diet. But I'm really enjoying this energy boost. I don't stay awake past 9pm on most nights, but I don't even realize I'm tired till I get into bed and start reading or watching TV. It rocks.

The New Weed Guy

No you guys, I'm not talking about the ganj.

I'm talking about our weeds.

The kind growing all over our yard, front and back. Guess whose responsibility it will become to rid our landscape of these ugly plants? You guessed it...this guy. (And by guy, I mean girl).

Gone are the days of leaving a to-do list for my husband that's ten miles long. I tried that this week already, and though he's made great strides in completing each task, it's just not going to work with his new job that keeps him busy in the air and on the ground all day long. So guess who gets to take over the grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, taking the cars in for maintenance, sticking around the house for the repairman, taking packages to the Post Office, bringing the dogs to the vet, making appointments, etc., etc., etc. Everything except for the heavy lifting and the jobs that require power tools. You guessed it again.

I am more than fine with that. I've always wanted to be that person, actually. I know you think I'll get bored of this stuff, but you'll just have to let me figure that out for myself. I love being in my house more than anywhere in the world. No matter the kind of day I've had, I always get such a feeling of comfort and relief when I walk through the door. Sometimes I think there's an Ativan mist installed in our air ducts. That's how content and at peace I am in our house.

Not only will I have to tackle a lot of household duties starting in a few weeks, but I'll also be running my errands behind the wheel of Vic, the big white car. I love Val, our little red Slo-Ride, but she's just too economical to sit at home. And while I disagree with driving a large, heavy car with added extra power that only runs on premium fuel, it is what will make the most sense since I'll be the most idle person in our house. I'm not sure how long Dylan can handle driving the Slo-Ride. We'll have to wait and see what comes of this arrangement.

For now, that is all.

Two More Mondays

The title of this post has nothing to do with its content. It's just the most prominent thing on my mind.

But shall I tell you about my weekend? Okay, then.

My sister-in-law threw the loveliest shower for Elaine, our glowing bride-to-be, on Saturday. She really outdoes herself whenever she hosts an event, and it always involves custom decorations ordered from Etsy and many hand-crafted  items as well, such as burlap placemats, mason jars with pink straws, and a clothesline with pictures of Shawn, Elaine, and Ava (their chihuahua). Elaine was so happy and collected some good loot, including the second edition of the 'Riddle Wives' cookbook, a project that Anne spearheads for every bride. We had a great time visiting with one another sans children and playing no games at all. Probably the best shower I've ever attended!

Here are the ladies with the glowing bride. Shade your eyes in preparation for my yellow dress. I look pretty well-composed for having balanced the camera atop a box on the countertop and running to take my place before the timer was up and the shutter released, right?

Then on Sunday I had the pleasure of photographing the sweet little Meabon family with their tiniest new addition...baby Quinn. The girls did so good, and I think we were able to capture some pretty sweet moments. I had a really fun time with my second-ever amateur photo shoot. (The first one was also of the Meabon family...I love them for being my guinea pigs).

And then my husband came home and we spent a leisurely afternoon at the house walking the dogs, cooking dinner, and hanging out.

And that's where I'll stop sharing stories because I don't have much else pleasant to tell you after the start of the work week. Except that my husband is home for a while and he is taking my car to be detailed and have its oil changed tomorrow. What a dove.

Revisiting St. Patrick's

After a quick viewing of The Palmer Post and the theft of some photos (because what is family for if not to steal their photographic talent?), I decided to revisit our past weekend with some images of our friends. We are lucky to have a big bunch of them right here in town because, randomly, almost every college buddy of Max and Dylan's ended up somewhere in the greater Phoenix area. I don't give them enough face time on the blog, and somehow, I'm really bad at capturing photos of our get-togethers. Lucky for me I have that girl across the street I call sister-in-law!

I was a little weak with my green, but I had on a mint shirt under that blue jacket...promise.

If you look closely, Dylan's shirt says "Irish I was Drunk." Perfect for the world's biggest fan of plays on words.

This weekend has turned out to be pretty excellent, too. More on that next time.

COLOR me

This spring's fashion really speaks to me. Like I find almost everything I see to be irresistible. Mostly because I've always worn tons of color, even when black, tan, and gray were the only fashionable hues.

I want to dress like these people every day.

{from ModCloth Blog}

Because I read too many fashion blogs, and also because I wanted to try out my new Photoshop skills, here's a little presentation of just a few of the things I've been craving lately.

1/2/3/4/5/6

If we're being honest, I'm actually already in possession of the chambray shirt. It's comfortable, and it goes with everything. I think everyone needs one, actually. But I'll be holding out on the other items as a lesson in self-control, even though I am desperate for a comfortable pair of loafers. 

An Impromptu Adventure

Yesterday, once Dylan and I had both arrived home (separately, mind you), he discovered that he'd left his iPad in the seat-back pocket of the airplane on which he flew in from Chicago that morning. We live about an hour from the airport, and we had both been right there earlier in the day. But, luckily some honest person turned it into the airline, and since Dylan really needed it today for work, off we went back down the road from which we had both just come to retrieve it.

So we made the best of it, and loaded up the dogs to hit up the dog park on the way. Joe loves to mix it up with his friends, while Ramona just follows me around. But it's so funny to watch Joe chase dogs three times his size.

And then we called in an order for pick-up at the Spinato's in Tempe after swiping the iPad from baggage claim at Terminal 3. Back when we lived in the condo, Spinato's in Scottsdale was one of our favorite pizza spots, and we really, really miss it. We opted this time for the L'Italiana pizza, something we hadn't ever tried. And let me tell you, it was the best pizza of my LIFE. And I'm not even a picky pizza person. If there's sauce, cheese, and crust, I am happy. It's always been my favorite food. But this spinach/tomato/feta combination was second-to-none. I never thought I'd fall in love so hard with one particular pizza, but this was for real. I think it was the secret spices that they sauteed the spinach in or something. Who knows, but it blew both of our minds.

It was slightly inconvenient to head south during rush hour (thank goodness for the HOV lane), but in the end, it was so worthwhile. Last night was the only night Dylan and I would get to spend together over an eight-day stretch, and if we'd just stayed home, we would have both just played on our respective computers and then reconvened to watch a show or two at some point. And actually, we did manage to fit in a viewing of the latest 'How I Met Your Mother' before my strict 9pm bedtime.

And with that, I am going to go for my jog before the sun goes down and then re-heat some pizza and fall in love all over again.

Clean Bill of Health

Do you remember nine years ago when I was 21 and had a melanoma cut out of my jugular? I remember it quite clearly, and I've spent much time in the dermatologist's office since then. I've had plenty of chunks cut out of my skin and biopsied in that time, but nothing has come back too severe, thank you God. Usually, I sort of even forget I had the biopsies done until someone calls and tells me everything looked OK under the microscope, and I think "oh yeah, that's good."

Well two weeks ago, when I went under the knife yet again to have two chunks removed (I know...so severe sounding...it wasn't even close to surgery), I was really nervous about what they would find. Not for any other reason except for the abundance of tragic cancer stories that have come into my life and affected some acquaintances and also some near and dear to me in the last few months. Life is so scary and so fragile. And I was SO scared.

I thought I would hear the results within a few days, even though I was told to wait two weeks before calling. So I've been waiting and wondering...and bugging the heck out of people who knew I would be fine but to whom I kept expressing my worry. But yesterday, finally, that two-week window of time had come to a close, and I was able to call to receive my fate. And I am fine. Anything nasty and atypical was completely removed, and I'm good to go. Hallelujah.

And now I am able to forge ahead full steam with nothing (or at least less) to worry my little head about. Because it's going to be an exciting year in this house. And here (in addition to Dylan's new job) is why: I, too, am making a career change to do be what I've always said I wanted to be: a stay-at-home-mom without any kids. (That's kind of not really what's happening, so here's the entire story.)

You know how when something kind of big happens (like not in a good way) and really wakes you up and makes you realize that some things you were worried about are really not a big deal at all, so you just do what you want (and need) to do? That's what happened to me. (This was unrelated to the previously mentioned skin adventure, but also related to health. Physical health, not mental health, if you can believe that.)

So four weeks and three days ago, I put in the standard eight-week notice at my job. Which leaves me with three weeks and two days, in case you didn't feel like doing the math. I am not totally falling off the radar...I'll probably come back around a little bit after the business moves buildings and there's more space (so more flexibility), and I'll probably fill in on those kind of days where three people are on vacation, and we can really only afford to have zero people gone at one time. But, I am taking my much talked about sabbatical. This probably leaves you wondering a lot of things about me. So now I'll present you with a proper Q&A:


1. What the heck are you going to do with yourself since you failed to figure this out before leaving your job, as a sane person would have done?

First and foremost, since we still have six months left of flight benefits on American and, over the last six years, I've only used them a handful of times, I am going to take full advantage and fly all over the place. Can I come visit you and crash on your couch?

Second, I will unpack the house and give it a deep cleaning. Yes, we have lived here for three years and still have at least four or five boxes of stuff in the garage that I haven't unpacked just because I haven't felt like it. And I will scrub this place up and down. Chandeliers, baseboards, fans, and blinds will be shining, and I will find a home for all of our material goods. Something other than random piles in the various closets of this house. I spent a small fortune at The Container Store yesterday in preparation for this huge cleaning and organizing session that is about to take place. I plan on watching a few episodes of that Hoarders show so that I'll be scared into throwing away tons of crap. The garbage collector is not going to know what hit him.

Also, I am thinking about volunteering at the animal rescue down the road and possibly taking a fun class or two at SCC. Kristin and I like to say that I'm leaving my job to be a stay-at-home aunt, and I plan on being the best stay-at-home aunt in the world. We will have so much fun. I also have friendships and family that I feel like I've neglected, so I've got some reconnecting to do. And have I mentioned the garden I plan on growing and those chickens that I tend to? The backyard needs a lot of work. And don't forget all that reading, writing, and crafting I do. Oh, and lots of working out, meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking to whip the members of this household (well, Dylan and me anyways) into shape.

I know you're probably thinking that I am mental and that this stuff is going to get boring really quick. And I don't fully disagree. I know I'll miss the social aspect of my job a TON. My work peeps are my peeps. Like those kinda people that know more about your bodily functions than they should. (Did you just eat a polish sausage and then burp? Cause that's how it smells right now. Where did you go for so long...were you pooping on company time?) And I'll miss the sense of purpose that going to work provides. And also that paycheck that allowed for so much shopping, my favorite past-time that I must now learn to live without. So that's why I'll probably cut out the shenanigans before too long and find something real to do with my time.

2. Lu, you're nutsoball. How does your husband even deal with you?

He's so cool. And patient, too. He likes to say, "Whatever makes you happy" a lot. He's very supportive but not like in an annoying, gushy sort of way. He tries to provide me with sensible advice, and when he suggests that I should work part-time at a chain drugstore because the high earning potential of pharmacists makes part-time work worthwhile, and I tell him something that I'd rather be doing instead (something awful and blog inappropriate), he just says, "Ok whatever makes you happy." So he's just a good, special person, and most people probably would not put up with me as well as he does.

3. I've heard you say things like, "Grown-ups go to work. It's just what they do." You have no kids at home, so don't you feel like a drain on society and maybe a little bit like a hypocrite?

Well, this isn't happening without good reason and also, I desperately needed change in my life. Stagnancy was making me unhappy, and happiness is everything. So hypocrite or not, there you have it. And, as Dylan points out, I've put in a lot of work outside the home and brought in a decent income for our family over the last four years, so it's like I've "banked" the time off. Whatever makes me feel better, right?


Friday the 13th will be here before I know it. It's so bittersweet, but mostly sweet. When I synced my phone to our desktop the computer the other day, the iCal for the work schedule popped up and it said "LP's last day" on April 13th. And I felt so sad. It was a totally unexpected reaction. So I don't really know where this new life will bring me, but I'm excited. Wish me luck.

St. Pat's and Stuff

I went into this weekend not knowing at all what to expect, but it's turning out great! I started with meeting Dylan for happy hour at Four Peak's on Friday. Our schedules coincided perfectly that day...which is quite rare. Dylan's Saturday trip was cancelled at the last minute on Friday night, so I had him with me ALL DAY on Saturday.

He spent the morning watching that gold mining show while I flipped through the latest issue of Real Simple. Then we loaded up the rhino and headed toward the river to meet M, K, and the munchkins for a picnic. While en route, Ramona thought it would be convenient to throw herself overboard. She was on her leash and chained to the rhino, mind you. So, luckily I had turned around in the nick of time to observe her suicide attempt, and I shouted loudly. Dylan stopped immediately and rescued her. She was dangling like a fish over the back wheel but was snatched up before she was asphyxiated by her collar or tangled up in any rotating rhino parts. Lucky girl. The rest of the adventure followed without incident.

We then rushed down the road to meet up with my dad at the Tom's Thumb trailhead. It was a pretty long and difficult hike, but the unseasonably cold and windy weather was perfect for the occasion. We are planning to do a rim to rim hike at the Grand Canyon in the fall, so I'm working these two guys into shape!

The McDowell Mountain Preserve

Dylan on top of the world

Thumbs-up at Tom's Thumb

Then, we ran back home for some desperately needed showers before heading to the Probstfelds' house for a St. Patrick's Day party. Like I've mentioned before, Anne is the best hostess. She had homemade shepherd's pie, soda bread, lamb stew, and corned beef and cabbage. Also desserts. Oh my gosh. It was amazing.

Someone didn't quite know what to think about the surprise that the leprechaun left in the toilet.

You know how much I love to be lazy, so I packed in one busy and terrific day this weekend, and today will be my day for catch-up (on chores and leisure activities both). But first I'm heading over to Fountain Hills with Max and the kids to meet Dad for breakfast. Mom is partying with her sister and my cousin in Chicago, so she's missing out today. Sorry, Mom!

Hope your weekend was as filled with fun, family, and friends as mine was. That's the best way to spend the weekend, right?

Freaks of Nature

After waking up at 5am all week, I was unable to fall back asleep after the sound of Dylan's 4:30 alarm this morning. I'm completely awake. Also, on Friday morning, Dylan was watching an FX show on his iPad while I was doing some online shopping...pre-6am. For no good reason. We are strange in this house.

So I'd like to use all this time to congratulate my dear husband. Remember how miserable I was from September thru December because I saw him once a week, for like one week night, while he did his captain gig for the airline? That was awful. But then at the start of 2012, after the rush of the holidays, he was able to drop all his flying days and just stay home, month after month. I thought it would drive me crazy to be the only one going to work in this house, but I really just didn't want him living in Chicago, away from me and in an apartment with about 10 other pilots. And it turns out that his time at home paid off with great reward.

You see, Dylan's always stayed closely connected to the Scottsdale airport, and he used to fly a business jet based there before we got married. Then the jet was grounded (or sold?) just before our wedding, and back to the airline he went once no more work was to be found in Scottsdale. It was 2009...not many people were buying 6 million dollar jets at the time.

But he's wanted to fly a private jet ever since. And, with all his spare time, he was able to get down to Scottsdale and help them out with some stuff, and voila...a new jet was purchased by a local businessman and brought down to Scottsdale during this time. And, after a couple of months of coordinating some stuff, Dylan was named captain of the operation. This is AMAZING news for Dylan and our whole family (so just me, too). I have never been so happy for or so proud of anyone before. You are the best, Dylan.

I think I've kept it no secret that Dylan is maybe the nicest, most generous, and most moral person I've ever known. He is so deserving of every good thing to come his way. He's waited a long time for this, and after years of striking out just due to bad luck, he finally got something that he wanted. He's tried to keep it quiet and kept asking me not to share a whole lot about it. I think we were both afraid of jinxing him. But the papers are signed and the deal is done. And I can't help but spread the good word. Now let's just hope they hang on to this jet for a long, long time.

I made a trip up to the airport one afternoon this week to see D in action in the hangar. I have this weird fascination with taking pictures in the cockpit of every airplane that Dylan flies. In fact, I know there's a even snapshot or two of K and me in the cockpit of one of Max's airplanes from way back when.

Signature photo in the left seat.

The cockpit picture...it's like the novelty that won't wear off. Here I am in the Embraer when I hitched a ride up to Monterey last summer. Here I am a few summers ago when I met the Beechjet up in New Mexico. We had tickets to fly there anyways for a family reunion, and then Dylan got called to fly a contract trip to the exact same city that day. {Unfortunately I was not invited to sit in the back of the business jet, so I flew solo via Southwest and met him there.} I have several more of the same picture, but I'll stop there. For everyone's sake.

No, I was not embarrassed to pose for this cheesy picture.

Flying a corporate jet means that Dylan will be home a lot more. But he also has to be available to fly, and he usually only gets a few days' notice. So we can't really plan anything. Ever. I remember hating that so much about his last job, but after having him back at the airline for a few years, I've realized that this is the lesser of two evils by a long shot. Because if he were still in Chicago, the only thing we could plan on is for him to always be there and miss out on everything happening here anyways. And probably a downgrade back to first officer very, very soon due to Chapter 11 reorganization. So you'll find me flying solo to many of our social affairs, and we'll have many more 4am alarms in our future, but we couldn't be happier about it. What a relief...and how excited we both are.

Detour

I called my mom on the way home from work today, and she just happened to be at a McDonald's right off the freeway with my nephew. They were stopping for some ice cream and jungle gym time between school and swimming lessons. Even though I live across the street from the munchkin pictured below, I can't ever refuse the opportunity to hang out with him.

The slide looked so fun, I decided that I wanted to take a turn. 

And then, wouldn't ya know, my dad decided to forego his planned haircut and hang out with us instead. I don't normally go to McDonald's to hang out with my whole family, but things just fell into place that way today.

My mom even treated me to a large iced tea and the snack-size McFlurry, which is absolutely the most perfect portion size.

With the days getting longer, I was able to fit in a jog after this adventure, too. Just when I was taking my last few paces up to the house, K rounded the corner in the Sequoia with the munchkin in tow. When I stopped to chat, I found out that he has now added "Lulu McDonald's" to his vocabulary in addition to "Lulu chickens." What an influence I make on him.

And while I'm talking about nephews, our fourth nephew made his debut appearance today. Judah William Miller was born at home totally midwife-style. So awesome. We hear that everyone is healthy and doing great. Congratulations Cody and Abby!

Tomorrow is a big day for the teeth in our family. Joe will be going under anesthesia to get his teeth cleaned {and hopefully will return home with fresher breath}, and I will be hitting up the dentist for a filling. Luckily I'm no stranger to dental work, and going to the dentist doesn't even phase me anymore. Piece of cake.

The Cabin

My family has a cabin up in the cool pines of Northern/Eastern Arizona. I really, really love it there, and I hadn't been since Labor Day {that's the one that happens in September}. Remember the flat tire? Anyways, the boys in my family {as in my husband, brother, and father} took off on Friday morning to do some extreme off-roading for Shawn's bachelor party. So my mom and I did a quickie cabin weekend.

I think there's a drug in the air in Show Low because we are always so relaxed when we're at the cabin and hardly think about the things that need to get done. Here's our itinerary from the 24 hours we spent up north: make a huge batch of lentil soup to bring home {a double recipe for each of us}, go on a long walk on the golf course, watch the two-hour season premiere of Army Wives, hit happy hour promptly at 3pm, lay on the couch and read magazines/play on the computer/watch 'What About Bob,' go to bed, wake up and watch 'Family Stone,' shower then go on another long walk, eat lunch, drive home. Blissful.

Snug as a bug in a rug. Much time spent in this position.

Our favorite waitress at the clubhouse offered a very generous pour of the Torreon Chardonnay.

The dogs took this weekend to relax, since they hardly ever get any time to just lay around.

Obviously when your life is as full of responsibility and stressful as Joe's, you just want to take a load off every now and then.

Thanks for a great, relaxing time, Mom!

What do you have planned for your week? Are you on Spring Break? I think I need a spring break, or a fall, winter or summer one. Or even a lunch break. Or a permanent vacation. Then maybe I could re-charge my batteries and have a prayer of staying awake past 8pm to view 'Horrible Bosses' in its entirety. We are starting it right now, but neither of us is holding out much hope that I'll make it too far past the credits. It's okay though...we just went to our favorite happy hour at...where else? Sushi Brokers. So the week is starting off right. Make it a terrific one.

This Week in My World

Just be warned: you will be underwhelmed.

The sunset on a random, eerie night while I was walking across the street, both to say hi to my family and also to coax my husband down from our other neighbor's rooftop patio so we could eat dinner. 

The girls have moved into their coop. I came home one afternoon, and Angie was freely roaming {and pooping all over} the bathroom. The storage container just wasn't doing the trick anymore.

Then, ten minutes later, I found her perched atop her water dispenser, and that was it for me.

The ladies aren't quite ready to be exposed to the elements, so we moved the coop into the garage for now. But at least they are contained.

Several nights a week, I ask my sweet boy to "Please make me one of those coffee cocoa things." He has this special tool that makes the milk all fluffy, and then he works magic with coffee, cocoa, and honey, and it is the highlight of my night.

I could sure get used to having this guy around every night.

And in health news, the plague hit our pharmacy today. We had 11 sick people, and the common denominator was our lunch yesterday. I won't tell you the likely culprit, but it rhymes with Mason's Jelly. The illness manifested itself as a milder version in my body, where everything stayed in its proper place in my digestive system, but I just felt icky and had a complete aversion to food. This scared a lot of people because on a normal day, I receive many eye rolls for repeatedly shouting, "I'm SO hungry!" A foodless day is probably not a bad thing, though. Clean out the ol' pipes.

Does this seem like the longest week ever to you? It is going by SO SLOWLY. Normally by this point I get excited that it's almost the weekend, but right now I just can't believe that the week is STILL NOT OVER.

P.S. Will you be purchasing the iPad 3? I still really want one, but I just can't do it. I want the money for too many other things. Plus, Dylan says I can use his {iPad 2} whenever I like, and I still have yet to even touch it. So maybe I'm not as into it as I think.

Amateur Hour in the Kitchen

Because I idolize The Pioneer Woman and watch her Food Network show every Saturday morning, and also because I was on my dessert-making kick, and furthermore, because I think red velvet rocks, I decided to make her Red Velvet Sheet Cake.

I also felt like photographing the process, so here you go.

{Some would say that it seems I had quite a lot of extra time for a Monday evening. Those people would be correct.}

First, I sifted together this stuff.

Then, in a separate bowl, I mixed together this stuff. {Yes, that is vinegar. Seemed strange to me, too.}

Next was the fun part. I took special care to keep my clumsiness under control so as not to put my stone countertops and floors, cabinets, clothes, and body in a world of hurt. I used the entire bottle of food coloring. Shockingly enough, I was supposed to use one and a half bottles...but I just couldn't fathom that.

Yikes! I was scared, but I did survive.

The next portion of the recipe required me to bring in the big guns. By this point, I had four separate bowls of stuff. {Eh, vegetable shortening is so gross.}

Finally, it was time to combine it all together. But only very slowly and methodically.

And then slop it onto the cake pan. Doesn't it look so weird? I don't think my camera could handle all the red.

This picture makes me think about all the random things on my island countertop at any given time.

Mmm, fresh out of the oven.

While the cake cooled, it was time to make the frosting.

Heating and constantly whisking whole milk and flour.

Creaming together butter and sugar. And then you combine everything, but I forgot to shoot a picture of that.

After the cake had cooled, it was time to turn it over on the cutting boards so it could be frosted.

But then this happened.

And then this.

So, I used a spatula to coerce the remaining pieces of cake out of the pan and quite logically I pieced it all back together, much like a puzzle.

And darn it, I just went to town with my frosting.

If you can ignore the red bits in the frosting, I'd say you'd never know it was once in about seventy billion pieces.

You sure can tell a difference between homemade cake and the box kind. It's much milder and not so overwhelmingly sweet. I had to convince myself that that was a good thing.

I cut the cake into about 50 pieces and took about 40 of them to work. They were all gone by the time we finished lunch, so I guess it wasn't terrible. Some people complained that their pieces crumbled apart. I can't believe that would happen.