36 + 1 day = Wonderful Monday!

Except for a certain doggie being a bit of a pain in the rear this AM.... ahem

Yea! My b-day was so nice! I woke up, had coffee and blogged while listening to jazz (yes, jazz, I like it on Sunday mornings and when I cook). Then I headed out to get a mani/pedi (pedi looks great, mani, not the best I ever had so you only get this pic

will avoid that nail tech in the future) and to Barnes and Noble as I received a gift card from my aunt.

Here is what I got:

Dinner was WONDERFUL! We had a nice time and the food was great. For apps we had gnocchi (to die for) and calamari. I had seared tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes and snap peas. I normally would not go for fish on a Sunday but they didn't have info on where the steak came from exactly so I went for the fish and was not disappointed. For dessert, I split a Bananas Foster with my Mom. I also FINALLY had a pom martini.

We went back to my Mom's and I opened their gifts. Mom got me a fall decoration that I saw when we were at the Cape this year and a replacement of a seagull ceramic object that P broke at some point during one of our moves. I'll take a pic of the decoration b/c my fellow nesters will LOVE it! T got me a book about cheese (YUM), asiago crackers and cocktail napkins. My sister remembered that I complained about taking G-dog out when the grass was wet out back so she sent me these:

I have wanted them for some time.

All in all, a wonderful birthday thanks to my wonderful family.

Also a BIG GIANT THANK YOU to all who wished me a happy day. I could feel the well wishes across the blogosphere. :)

Kids, Kids, Kids!

You'd think I was complaining but I am not. This weekend friends of ours had a beautiful baby boy and we visited them in the hospital. The little guy took to me right away (supposedly did not do that well with one of the G-mom's, I'm just sayin) and totally made my ovaries hurt more than any other child has. Also my neice and nephew are in town from CA (their parents are too but while they are funny and good to drink with they are not as cute).
I love my neice and nephew. They are extremely well behaved, smart and imaginitive kids. I give all the credit to their parents and hope that if we do have kids that we can be half the parents they are. I also got to read my nephew his bedtime story. It was so sweet to me that he thought it was a big deal.
We will see them again tonight at dinner as well as P's G-mom so we will have 4 generations under one roof. I think that's a cool way to spend a Monday evening.

The Bells

Awhile back I wrote about my Cape Cod summer love (ok, not really love but you get the idea). I mentioned that there were bells involved at some point and that I would write about them later. It is now later.
So this guy that I met on the Cape who turned out to be the best kisser ever and I were out on the beach near our house one night. It was dark and I couldn't see my watch. I didn't worry though because I could always hear the church bells ring the hour. I had to be home by 11pm. So there we were, kissing on the beach on a blanket. The moon was out, the water lapped on the beach and his sweatshirt smelled heavenly, like suntan lotion and 'guy' (in a good way). So I listened for the bells to let me know what time I needed to be home. You can see where this is going. I of course lost track of time and never heard the bells. My Mom sent my brother out to the beach to look for me and of course he saw me but what was he going to say, "Um excuse me, but can you get your face off that guy because it's after your curfew and mom is pissed"? Considering he was all of like 7 or 8 at the time, I think not. So he of course reported back that I was kissing a guy on the beach on a blanket. (BTW, my brother was also the one that told my Mom about my tattoo and my bellybutton piercing. Thanks, T.) Eventually, I must have gotten it through my head that it was late and I did not hear any bells. So we made our way back to the house. He left and I went inside. Sitting at the dining table in their nightgowns (not pj's, nightgowns) were my mom, my aunt and my grandmother. They were all still up. My mom was all, "What were you doing out there this late, you were supposed to be home by 11pm, yadda yadda, yadda." I was all, "But it wasn't my fault. I didn't hear the bells!" They all looked at me, like "What is she talking about." I said, "You know the church bells. I was waiting to hear them and I didn't hear them. It's not my fault!"
All 3 of them burst out laughing, trying to compose themselves to be mad at me. My mom snorted then my aunt. Eventually I just had to walk away because they couldn't stop. Unfortunately, I still got punished the next day. I had to come in an hour earlier my last night on the Cape. From then on, every year, I was the butt of the joke about "The bells, the bells!"

I Will Be Sore Tomorrow

Again...minds out of the gutter.

Today I:
1. Ran to Farm Market and picked up basil, thyme (2 varieties), parsely (2 varieties), dill (he he dill weed), rosemary and sage; at least 3 of each.
2. Ran back to FM to pick up new pink gardening gloves I left behind at register (ok, yes I bought pink gardening gloves. They are cute and durable and made for women.)
3. Lugged about 7 loads of mulch from township mulch pile home.
4. Spread all but 2.5 loads on front gardens.
5. Planted new herb garden on side of house (if those rabbits eat my herbs I am making rabbit stew, Friday post be damned) and removed probably several hundred tiny grape hyancinth bulbs and many daffodill bulbs from herb garden area to be transplanted ASAP.
6. Swept driveway, sidewalk and front door sidewalk from P's edging earlier.
7. Ran to grocery store to pick up meat products for grill (again, Friday post be damned), salad, rolls and toilet paper.
9. Invited Mom, sister and brother (in town from Suburbia and BS5 locals) to dinner Sunday night. (I had already had 4 beers. my guard was down.)
10. Had several beers with dinner and in front of outdoor fireplace until rain started.

I know I did other stuff but it escapes me now thanks to beers.

Happy Mothers Day!

So now I am in the down stage after entertaining. It's when my body goes, "Ok, your done, here's a nice headache and unexplained nausea." The nausea is kind of funny because it used make me wonder if I cooked something wrong. I know now that it's because I work myself into a tizzy to get everything together and PERFECT. Have I mentioned I am a control freak? Anyway, after a nap I feel better and can tell you about our day.

I made the pics small so you may have to click on them to see better.

So, everything went very well and was very much enjoyed by all. I did not take this picture. If I had everyone would be looking at the camera.

From left to right, my Mom (she has the scorpion pic and will be sending it to me for your enjoyment. She got back from Honduras yesterday.), P's G-mom (she waitresses for fun and 'mad money' at 82) and P's Mom (incredible cook and I've learned a lot from her. . She speaks like 4 languages and is leaning more).

I only had one issue and it was that my pie crust fell in the oven while prebaking it. Luckily, I bought a frozen one at TJ's for just this emergency. It was quite good. I patted myself on the back for not freaking out when it happened. I'll still try the crust again but not in a straight sided mold.

These are pinwheels. The only thing left of the pie dough I made. :( When I was little and my Mom would bake a pie we would make pinwheels with the leftover dough. I used to ask her to make pie dough just for pinwheels. Each person had one on their coffee cup plate. Her mother taught her how to do it.

The triangle-like pastries are the tyropitas. They are a Greek pastry made with mostly feta and eggs, folded into phyllo. P's G-mom is Greek 100%, as it his Mom (yes, Peter is usually pasty white b/c he is also German). The other puffed things are something I threw together with the extra filling I had from the tyropitas. It's just puff pastry with tyropita filling.

The plate on the bottom are the cheddar-dill scones. No story here, they are just GOOD, a recipe given to my by a friend who is a fabulous cook. I also had banana bread b/c I didn't have anything for the top tier but you don't really need to see that.

This was an idea I had at the last minute. I didn't want to do anything big food-wise before the brunch but knew I would need a little time to finish up in the kitchen once everyone got there. So I made a toast and jam plate. The little toasts are just very thin white bread cut into small squares and triangles with a little brushed on melted butter, toasted in the oven. Then there is jam.

I don't have pics of the sausages or the quiche as all the pics were taken during the feast (with the exception of the toast and jam) and the quiche went fast as did the fruit salad. We also had fresh squeezed OJ, sparkling lemonade and coffee (could not have make it thru without).

That's about it. I am still tired and the Flyers are on. I am told there has already been a puck to the face and a big fight so I am missing out. Hope you enjoy my little food post.

Evile Ex Brother In Law

UPDATE: Ha ha! I found it! P is on the left EEBIL on right. I picked this one b/c EEBIL looks really bad and I think P looks pretty darn good. :)


I am suprised that many people were more interested in the scorpion than the EEBIL (Evile Ex Brother In Law). Since I won't post about Mom till at least Sunday, I'll tell you about EEBIL.
I spell 'Evile' with an 'e' because it can still sound like evil but you can also say it like e-vile as in an extra vile creature. I also like italics.
Let it be noted that I never liked EEBIL. On our first meeting we (me, L, my bf at the time (BFATT) and EEBIL) went mountain biking on the trails along the river. My sister was very, very new to the activity. She didn't know how to easily switch through the multitude of gears for different types of environments. Did EEBIL try to help her? No, he zoomed on ahead and I stayed with her, giving her tips on how to handle the mud, slate, stones etc. Oh, it started to rain too. I didn't get a good vibe from him and at that point in my life I was pretty damn intuitive, bordering on psychic. I told BFATT that I though EEBIL was the kind of guy to marry a girl, murder her and try to cover it up for the insurance money. They were married for 6 years and got a divorce about a year and a half ago after two seperations.
EEBIL and I were civil to each other through those years but it was pretty obvious that we disliked each other. He had no reason to dislike me, seriously. I tried to be the nice SIL and I'm a pretty good person. I have witnesses. I detested the way he treated my sister. I always knew why she delt with it and still do but we could never have that conversation. It would be way too hurtful.
Before they were seperated, EEBIL started a new business and really wanted P to work for him. P had been very successful at his current job but really wanted out as he hated the company. During this time it seemed things wer ok between L and EEBIL. So, against my better judgement P went to work with EEBIL. Not long after the offer was extended, L left EEBIL for the last time. There was lots of drama from EEBIL, my sister remained calm and stuck to her guns. P felt like he was helping EEBIL because that is the guy P is...to a fault. L was fine with P working with EEBIL, she still thought EEBIL was a good business person and that it was a good opportunity for P.
Cut to a year later, the business, not doing well, we have used a good deal of savings (ok almost all) to help suplement our income since P works on commission. Time to find another job. P does and EEBIL makes it seem like bygones are bygones. Cut to May 8, 2008. We still have yet to receive P's W2 because EEBIL decided not to pay the employment taxes for the 4th quarter. What does this mean, it means that if he gave P a W2 and the gov't looked into where the taxes actually were, EEBIL would be in a HUGE pile of trouble. So, now we have no regular tax refund, no stimulus check and still no W2. We did file an extension but I want my flippin' money!
EEBIL is a jerk and although I can count how many people I truly hate on one hand, he is in danger of becoming added to that list. Just wanted to close that little circle. I also liked using the EEBIL acronym. I have a really bad pic of him at home that I might just post when I get there. He he he he.

On a positive note...I am making the tyropitas tonight and I'll let you know how they turn out. :) Had to be positive at some point b/c BS5 makes me do it with his cheery outlook.

Mission (Half) Accomplished!

I got the front gardens weeded and raked out. They look much better. I planned on mulching them as well but I ran out of time and instead, planted a few things in the urns by the front door. I have to tackle the side garden but I think I am going to turn it into an herb garden so I need to get some herbs to prepare. It is mostly bulbs in that area anyway that flower in early spring so planting perenials should not be a problem. I also need to seperate them badly.
The back garden is a mess. I really don't think there is much I can do with it anymore but start over. It is really overgrown and there is a creeping weed that literally grows like a foot a night. Maybe Suburbia can come over and lend me her gardening skills.
We went to dinner at P's parents' tonight and his Grandmom is there. She is doing ok but they still have not competely nailed down what the problem is. She is getting better on steroids so we'll keep our fingers crossed that what they assumed was wrong is being taken care of.
I got P in a little trouble tonight but at the same time it was a good thing. We have a little issue with our taxes b/c P's former employer also evil ex-brother in law (was married to my sister, L) has not given P his W-2 causing us to have to file for an extention which means...no stimulus check yet. P has been being non-confontational about it and puts me off when I question him about it. I needed some help to convince P of the seriousness of the situation. So we had a long discussion with his family about it and although I felt a little bad about the 'ganging up' like nature, they gave us some good advice and I think P is finally getting through his head that this business (crap) has gone too far.
I heard from my brother T, finally. He let me know Mom is alive and well in Honduras (forgot to call and tell me) and she had some sort of confrontation with a large scorpion (also forgot to tell me). He forgets also when he is supposed to pick her up at the airport. I know she is coming back on Friday, I am just not sure of the time. I also know that even though she has not bothered to email me, she is coming to her Mothers Day brunch if I have to drag her. :)

This is my brother...

The one on the right.

I actually wasn't really sure if I had anything to write about today and then my brother sent me this picture. That is him at a trade show where he met Paul Sr.

T (my brother) is 8 years younger than me. So yes, he was a 'surprise.' T is a really good guy. He has been a volunteer firefighter since he was 16 years old. He is now in marketing with a company that makes fightfighting equipment AND he occasionally teaches at the fire school at Texas A&M. Pretty cool stuff. I have never seen him in action for a fire and I don't think I want to. He and his longtime girlfriend D also own horses.
When he was little he was the bane of my existance at times. We had to babysit him and he was a terror. One time he put a hole in our fish tank with a tack hammer (age 3). He told on us when we had a party at the house when Mom and Dad were out of town (even after my sister's friend bribed him with micro machines). He also spied on me when I was in the basement with my boyfriends then reported back to my Mom.
When he got older, he was more fun and we were able to appriciate each other more. As time goes on, I hope this will continue as he is a pretty cool guy and has a lot of the great qualities my Dad had. I will probably just always be the older sister who showed up to his graduation way hungover.

The Breast Fairy

Ok, this is actually a childhood story that took place on our way up to Cape Cod one summer. My brother was like 5 so I was 13 and my sister was 12. I am estimating. Anyway, we'd been listening to a tape of Bill Cosby's standup called "Those of you With or Without Children Will Understand." Bill was telling the story about how his little girl was concerned about the fact that she didn't have breasts yet as she was about to start middle school and some of her friends had already...ahem...bloomed in that area. So she was wondering when she would get hers. So Bill tells the story of the Breast Fairy who flies around from house to house and she has a bicycle pump, sometimes she pumps a little, sometimes she pumps a lot. My little brother turns to my sister and says.

"She must have had a hole in her pump when she got to you."

I think we almost ran off the road.