Woooooo!

And the Saint’s take the Super Bowl!

I had a hard time earlier in the week admitting that I was rooting for them, but as the game grew closer I knew I had to do it.

They may have beat the Vikings – and Brett Favre – out of a Super Bowl game, but damn it, I just couldn’t root for Manning. And my ever-clad rule is this: If I don’t have any real vested interest in who’s playing then I will always cheer on the underdogs. I wish I’d have bet every person that wanted to lay down money on the idea that the Colts were going to take it by a long shot – Man, I’d be loaded today.

And since I know ya’ll are dying to know what we ate, I’ll tell ya. Ribs that we rubbed and marinated, roasted acorn squash and baked potatoes. Simple, I know, but it rocked.

I am also “woooing” the fact that Jim and I went granite shopping on Saturday and we both found a color we love.

The original idea was black. Not shiny, glittery or sparkly Art Deco black or 80’s black, but the blackest black we could find for drama and simplicity.

Yeah.

And then we both fell in love with Peacock Verde:

It looks black at times, but then the light hits it and these cool greens and golds appear…it’s gorgeous. Way more dramatic than the boring black.

Oh, and for the record…Lonnie’s Stonecrafters gave us the best price BY FAR. If you’re having granite done in the Rockford, IL area we highly recommend you check them out. Friendly, knowledgeable and great prices.

Go us.

Our Humble Abode

Jim has reverted into Mister Re-modeler Mode again…Yay!

After helping to whip one of the units in my rental property back into amazing shape, he’s decided to tackle one of our hideous fireplaces at home.

(and the crowd goes wild!)

It’s the biggest re-do needed in our living room & I’m pretty excited about it. He currently has half of the wall ripped out, as to hide all the wires to our flat screen.  That will be a huge improvement right there. We’re thinking of doing something bold to the fireplace surround, such as a flat black granite. We have such a gorgeous living room size-wise and window-wise…can’t wait till we (Jim!) can get this done.

There is still painting, intercom-removing, etc. to do, but the fireplace is the big thing.

I can’t wait!

there are no words for the pain in my heart

Recovery

What a long week. I spent most of the week battling some sort of cold or flu bug; nothing really became full blown and now it’s down to what I think may be a sinus infection. Ugh. Am taking raw garlic in the hopes it will boost my immune system, which seems to be helping slightly, though I’m not sure how popular I am at the moment.

Then, of course, there was the snow…the seemingly never-ending snow. I didn’t see Jim for about 2 days, which does not lighten my mood any. Yesterday we just succumbed to our mutual tiredness and didn’t do a damned thing all day. Well, that’s not entirely true; I made us a big breakfast of Dave and Michelle’s Farm Fresh Eggs, bacon, homefries, roasted jalapenos and rye toast.

For dinner, I was craving something different & Lord knows we have enough food in this house! I made us some quick-seared shrimp in garlic, ginger and Thai chile paste, along with some udon noodles in peanut sauce plus a soup that I just winged it on. A little garlic, ginger and scallion with chicken broth, fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, udon noodles, shrimp and broccoli…it turned out delicious!

To my credit, I did get a few loads of laundry done in between watching a lot of bad television.

I’m loving reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, a Christmas present from Jimmy. I’m almost done with it! Then it’s on to The Dome by Stephen King that my parents got for me…very excited to read that too!

Today we really need to go pick out flooring for one of my rental units. Fun, fun. At least we both got a good night sleep last night (plus a nap yesterday, which was awesome) I’m feeling somewhat better today, as is Jimmy. No Vikings today – that’s next week, but I’m sure we’ll watch the games that are on, if we’re home.

Tomorrow begins another week. *Sigh*

Happy New Year!

Hello 2010!

And yes, I stand behind the movement that says we call it Twenty Ten as opposed to Two Thousand Ten.

Jim and I had a great day & evening. My parents came over for a bit in the afternoon and Kathy stopped by with Italian Christmas cookies, bless her heart. Jim was ecstatic! They’re his favorite.

For dinner I made a nice prime rib & it was done PERFECTLY – medium rare and juicy. Yum.

We hung out and watched a couple movies and we actually stayed up to see in the New Year. (There’s been a year or two we haven’t made it quite that far!)

Now we have a three-day weekend and I have lots to do!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy and Safe New Year!

…and to all a great night!

We had a wonderful time last night! And the food was pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.

I made Bloody Mary Shrimp – a mix of shrimp, celery and scallions tossed with horseradish, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and a little bit of vodka.  I served it in Chinese spoons so everyone could just slurp them down & they were a huge hit.

I also made mussels in tomatoes, garlic and herbs that we served with some crusty French bread, and we made up a tray of some common cheeses, such as brie and Gouda, along with some more unusual ones, such as 1000 day old Gouda, Limburger, and French Morbier, which was my favorite.

I had hot cherry peppers and jalapenos from our garden this summer, that I’d canned, and I stuffed those with prosciutto and Provolone.

Jimmy’s favorite is Salmon Gravlax, which is a nice piece of salmon that’s been cured for a few days in fresh citrus juice, fresh herbs, salt and sugar. Sliced paper thin, it’s served on crackers with a spread made of cream cheese, sour cream, fresh lemon juice and capers. It was gone by the end of the evening!

My parents were the last ones here, so we pulled out the game Taboo and cracked ourselves up playing a few rounds of that!

We truly hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas & we’re looking forward to a great New Year!

God Bless.

Merry Christmas to All!

We want to wish all our friends and family, along with all the visitors to our little blog, a very, Merry Christmas.

Peace and Love.

Wishing you much health, love and happiness in the coming year!

A Heartfelt Thanks to God – with a Capital G – and My Warriors

Apologies for the lack of posts recently – yet once again, real life invades and the blog takes a back seat.

My Zulu Warrior is doing great, considering she has the C word and that we know and are dealing with it one step at a time. Many more vet visits, many more tests ahead. She is an awesome fighter befitting her name and we are very proud, if not somewhat in awe, of her and her Maker.

Snow attack this past week had Jim out wrestling the heaps and heaps of white fluffy stuff. I am reminded yearly of his stamina and his own awesomeness; it is a sight to behold a man that can withstand over 30 hours without sleep and still come home and function. Days go by that he exists solely on caffeine, nicotine and fast food. He is the other warrior in my world and again, I am thankful to our Maker for blessing me with such strength when I myself feel sometimes lost.

I was blessed by Jim’s presence Thursday night, unexpectedly, and had nothing prepared for dinner. It ended up being homefries, eggs, rye toast and roasted jalapeno’s and I must say that we both enjoyed breakfast for dinner with much bliss – it was delicious.

I truly do not believe that people close to us appreciate Jim’s long hours, hard work and many sacrifices he makes in the name of creating a living for himself, myself and our little family.

I know it though, and appreciate it daily. I thank God – with a capital G – that he has the strength, stamina and constitution that he does. I flew in the door last night and practically tossed our little Warrior in her cat box to try to make our 5:30 Doctor appointment. Jim had finally come home and fallen into a blissful, and I’m sure much needed, sleep nearly an hour before. But he was instantly alert and out the door with me, to share in the reality of our life and our “kids”. While I was gearing myself up for having to go it alone, he sleepily tossed on his coat, boots and hat and was out the door with us.

That, my friends and family, is why I love him.

Jim is amazing, my Warrior is amazing, my God is with us, and we soldier on.

Thanks to everyone that has called or written with their love and concerns; it is appreciated more than we can ever express.

Stressed, Yet Thankful

 

What a week it’s been.

Woke up in the middle of the night on Wednesday to the sound of one of our cats throwing up. I got up and found what looked like a massacre in our hallway – vomit everywhere, plus spots of bright blood all over.

I won’t go into any more of the gory details but to make a very, very long and traumatic story shorter, she just got home from the hospital today. Our vet here had seen her first & realizing the gravity of the situation, referred us to the University of Madison Veterinary School of Medicine. We took her there on Thursday & the poor little girl has been prodded, poked, shaved, operated on, and a whole lot more.

Not to mention that I have been a crazy, hysterical mess worrying about her.

But today we got the okay to go get her, so, though we sadly missed a family Thanksgiving party we’d been planning on attending, happily we got to go to Madison and pick up our baby.

She is now home, accompanied by an arsenal of meds, and trying to rest peacefully.  We will actually have to give her fluids with a needle and a bag starting tonight, which I have to be honest is a little scary. But Doctor Chon at the University is amazing, so I think we’re as ready as we can be.

She’s an amazing cat, so I have faith in God that he’s watching over her.

Another Great Sunday

Grabbed some Dunkin’ Donuts coffee after heading out of the house first thing this morning.

Stopped at a ton of dealerships and checked out some new rides – we agree on most things car related, so no problems there, even though I’ll be paying for it and I’ll be driving it, for the most part. I found a number of possibilities, so now it’s just a narrowing down process. I’ve only done a test drive on one, which was yesterday & I took Jim by this morning to see it. He likes it, but it’s a bit more than I’d like to spend.

Let’s be honest – it’s all more than I’d like to spend since I’ve gone so many years without a car payment. And I absolutely refuse to buy brand new as I think that’s an incredible waste of money. I did it with my Hyundai, but I’d never do it again…why do I want to pay $10,000 for depreciation the minute I drive it off the lot?

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

Leasing is another great waste of money, so I decline.

So, I found some great deals yesterday and today…just have to do some test drives and do the banking end of things…it’s the details that drag me down with all their tediousness.

Of course we dropped the Hyundai off this morning – I’ll see what it costs to get her fixed and just do it. (barring any multiple thousand dollar repairs). She was a VERY smart investment – one of the better ones I’ve made – and worth every penny. Let’s hope I do as well with my next vehicle.

Oh, and the Vikings? They won, of course! I’m starting to really dig this Favre guy…tough for me to say, but true.

Jim grilled us up some awesome filet mignon’s last night – we had rosemary potatoes and roasted tomatoes and jalapeno’s too…unbelievable how great he is on the grill! It’s marinated pork chops tonight, I think…they’re ready to go, so what the heck!

Sunday, Sunday.