Breaking news

I guess it is time to finally let the cat out of the bag. Way back in March, I was knitting booties for a friend. At the end of the month, I got one of these:




8 weeks later, we met with our perinatologist and got to see our little critter in
lots of detail.



Top view is the back of his uncooperative head. Middle is a profile. He's looking downward and you can see his brain on the right of the photo. Leg is stretching down in the bottom left hand corner and spine stretches across the top. Bottom,is a profile shot of him looking upwards and to the left side of the picture.

It is ia little boy and we are thrilled to pieces. We have as much confirmation as one can get that everything is in the right place and growing on schedule. I've had the most amazingly boring pregnancy so far....no morning sickness, no nausea, no feeling bad at all. I had a bit of fatigue in the beginning, but I've long outgrown that....and all my pants. We've been busy getting the nursery put together and I'll post pictures when the furniture starts arriving this week.

Cat fur miracle!

I wouldn't usually rave about a random product that seems too good to be true at first glance, but this one is true and it IS as good as it claims! The Furminator is really THAT good! Our black kitty has a serious hairball issue and hates taking medicine to help. It's hard to get her to sit still for a good brushing as well. The Furminator was getting huge handfuls of fur out with just a couple of strokes. We have used all sorts of brushes on her...slicker brushes, combs, anything you can imagine and nothing has worked as well as this thing. I even used it on Zoe....who has the shortest, flattest, least likely to shed fur ever and was getting great gobs of loose fur off her as well. Zoe really went nuts over it, coming back again and again for more brushing when she will usually tolerate it for about a minute before she is done with it. If you have cats, you need this brush! I can only imagine that it is just as good for dogs!

Belated Fourth of July

We're only most of the way through the month and I'm just downloading photos from our trip. Turns out this is a very busy summer with work and stuff. We ended up in Naples, Florida with our friends, Bill and Helene. We mostly napped and ate fabulous meals, but we managed to get out a bit, even though it was sweltering hot and stupidly humid.



C shooting skeet in Everglades City.



We took a boat out into the Everglades, looking for manatees. Here is C with Bill and Helene in the background.



Cute manatee snout coming up for air. When we got too close to the mangroves at the edge of the water, the mosquitoes descended fast and furious.



An alligator making its way towards the marina.

More Changes

Our Brazilian Cherry is being delivered tomorrow afternoon to give it a few days to acclimate. It's getting installed on Monday. We are also getting a new upstair AC unit installed on Tuesday. It's getting pretty busy around here.

House update.

The painters are cleaning up on the main floor. Everything looks so clean and fresh! We didn't do anything too exciting...just an antique white on the walls and a linen white on the ceiling. My flooring guy is coming tonight to give us an estimate on hardwood for the upstairs. We will probably go with the Brazilian cherry again so everything connects with the stairway and downstairs. We also ordered a new couch this week. It'll show up sometime in July. I sold the couch and love seat to a local college kid that works for me, so we are pretty much sitting on the floor for the next month and a half. It's already getting a bit steamy outside, so my garden seems to be getting neglected again this year. If it cools off a bit this evening, I'll go out and do a bit of weeding in the front and deadheading in the back.

Spring cleaning

Things are feeling a bit stale and we've decided to get some painting done. Neither one of us feels like sanding and painting the ceiling in the kitchen so we are currently getting estimates from some recommended painters. I have this vague feeling that the process will be very annoying and dust filled. Anyone have pointers or advice?

Bacon Explosion

Maybe I missed this when it first made the internet rounds, but I have it now and I'm not giving it up. We can get decent smoking action from our little Weber grill. As soon as we both have a whole weekend off to digest we are making THIS!

Baby Project

No! Get all your dirty minds out of the gutter. I am not with child despite everyone's fervent wishes and hopes. Two babies, two different sets of friends. Gifts must be created. I bring you:


Hot pink angora baby booties! I think they are super cute. Super easy as well. Each one takes about an hour each to knit up. Pattern is thanks to Purl.

More about my Valentine's weekend

I'm heading into a huge crunch at work....minimum 6 months, but for now with no end in sight. C and I decided to have an over the top vacation to make up for it. We also really needed to escape the cold, cloudy weather here. We made it simple and stayed in the continent states. We ended up in Key West, Florida and spent most of our time at Little Palm Island. It was warm. It was wonderful. It ended all too soon.
We did a lot of lounging, reading, and soaking up the sun. I went on a snorkeling trip to Looe Key. It was the first time I had been snorkeling in "open" waters that were not near shore. It was a bit nerve wracking and I quickly got used to it. I was also out there by myself, as C decided to stay on the boat and chat with the Captain. I got to see a lot of barracuda, yellow snapper, many types of coral and a baby blacktip reef shark.


The sunset from Little Palm Island.


Many things to do on Little Palm Island.


Sunset from Key West


Key Lime Pie...on a stick...dipped in dark chocolate. YUM!


Tropical refreshment for a tropical vacation.

What I did on my Valentine's Vacation

More to come later when I'm not working crazy hours.

Pictures from the Long Inauguration Weekend.

No pictures, however, of the actual inauguration. We are locals. We are too smart to be caught up in the maddening traffic, numbing cold and overwhelming crowds. We will, however, provide good eats for anyone who wants to visit. We met up at Fogo de Chao for wine, conversation and copious amounts of meat.


Tom prepares to dig in.


Carrie, well into the face stuffing.


Jon, caught red handed in the midst of gluttony.

Martinis and wine kept us well lubricated.


Chocolate mousse cake....nomnomnom

What's for dinner?

Herbed lamb chops with onion compote and balsamic reduction
Parmesan polenta
Wilted spinach with garlic and lemon

Dessert: More chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter frosting.

Yum!

NomNomNom

Thank you, Martha Stewart, for the delicious recipe for chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter frosting.

Post Christmas Review

C and I had a lovely Christmas at home...just the two of us, quiet, peaceful and full of food. We picked up a virus in Oklahoma and the quantity of snot being produced in this household is amazing. C is feeling a bit better...mine has progressed to a full blown ear infection with a ruptured eardrum. I'm on oral and topical antibiotics so things seem to be getting better slowly. I'm headed into a long run of overnight shifts and will be working on New Year's Eve, always a fun time to work. Inauguration is fast approaching and we need to get the house ready for our guests who will be visiting then.

December updates.

We had a lovely early Christmas in Oklahoma. We got to spend a few days with each half of the family, opened presents and ate way, way too much food. Unfortunately, we left the same day my sister arrived....by a completely different airport and town, so we missed seeing her. Hope she likes the prezzies we left for her! My allergies have flared into a full fledged viral snotfest. Someday, my ears will clear and I will be able to hear again.

The Christmas countdown.

Time is speeding past. We have the Christmas tree and wreath up. All the Christmas cards are mailed. Still haven't gotten around to putting up lights....makes me feel like the Scrooge in the neighborhood. Even the older gentleman across the street....who is about have a leg amputated (literally) because of a chronic infection has been up on a ladder stringing lights on his house. Since we have to fly back to OK for an early Christmas, things are piling up fast and I don't seem to be getting much done. A big dent has been placed in the shopping list, but I really need to finish it today or tomorrow so everything can get shipped in time. Thank goodness for the internet. I haven't ventured into a single brick and mortar store to go shopping. Another bonus is Ebates. Sign up, do all your shopping online and you should get a tidy bonus check in a the next quarter.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

My entire day yesterday was taken up with cooking. I'm not sure how...there was only two of us. It was super tasty, however. Here was the menu:

Brined, herb encrusted turkey breast
Cornbread dressing
Creamy mashed potatoes
Gravy
Wilted spinach salad
18 hour bread
Zofia's cranberry salad
Pumpkin pie with whipped cream
Beaujolais Nouveau

YUM!

T-day countdown continues.

I just finished putting a pate brisee into a pie plate. I'll freeze it until tomorrow when I will make the pumpkin pie and cranberry salad. I still need to pick up wine and a few last minute perishables as well.

Thanksgiving is coming!

Cornbread is baking in the oven and the french bread has been cubed for the dressing. A chicken is simmering on the stovetop for stock...so I can make gravy. A turkey breast is brining in the refrigerator. I will make pie crust tomorrow and cranberry salad on Tuesday. What have you done to start getting ready for Thanksgiving?

Back from Travels

I spent part of the past week in Chicago for a conference. I stayed at the beautifully restored Palmer House.


My best bud from residency and I got to meet up with our friend, mentor and the grandfather of emergency medicine, Dr. Ron Krome.


C met up with me in Chicago and we drove to the wilds of Wisconsin to hang with Mark, Astrid and munchkins.


A cute little bat and kitten went trick or treating with us.


This tree was still in blazing fall foliage dress. Lovely tree and a lovely time.

Lame-O

Here I am in Chicago, one of the coolest cities to visit I might add, with K, my best bud from residency. We have spent all day being good, going to classes and filling our heads with learning. I have obtained two VIP passes to a private party at House of Blues. After a full day of conferencing, we are excited to get out and have some fun. We head to the hotel to change clothes and promptly lose all steam. We ended up ordering room service and vegging in front of the tv....VIP passes laying on the side table taunting us with our lameness. Bleh.

I'm leaving on a jet plane

Heading to Chicago this afternoon for a four day conference. C will be meeting up with me later this week and we will be heading to Bristling Acres in Wisconsin for some fun in the forest. Happy Halloween!

Funny and on point

I'm not very political in the public arena. This, however, is too funny not to share. It is the best description for Rush Limbaugh I have ever read: an overfed, thrice-divorced, prescription-drug-abusing blatherskite who rode anal fissures to a military deferment during the Vietnam War-

Zzzzzzz

Just started night shifts. I'm off to bed now. Hopefully, I will sleep most the day away. Then, I'll have dinner with C and head back to work. Fortunately these only come around about once every 2 1/2 months.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

My fantastic partners at work gave us the most amazing wedding gift: Certificates for a bed and breakfast as well as a balloon ride. The weekend of C's birthday was sunny and cool - perfect ballooning weather.

We met super early in the morning and the girls put C right to work setting up the balloon.

That flame was HOT and perfect for warming up a really chilly morning.

Here we are at the beginning of our ascent. You can see one of the other balloons right behind us.

Dawn breaks.

With C's flight experience, he also got put to work flying the balloon. Yay! More piloting time for the logbook!

The other balloon landing. We ended up continuing on and landing in the middle of a road.

Once again, C helped to land the balloon. I think he really enjoyed it. As much as it looks like I had him laboring all through his birthday, we spent a lot of time relaxing, swimming, taking some steam, and eating some really, really good food.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Birthday Camping.

As promised, a few photos from my birthday camping trip. We went to the Shenandoah Mountains. Since they are only 2 hours away, we don't take advantage of their proximity nearly enough. We took enough gear for a week and a tent large enough to hold a kindergarten class. Too bad we didn't have sherpas to move it around for us. We stayed at the Lewis Mountain Campgrounds...the smallest and most isolated of the campgrounds in the park.


A family of deer has taken up residence in the campgrounds. They have no fear and would walk within 6 feet of us.

C enjoying our tasty steak dinner on our first night. Unfortunately, it is too dark for anyone to witness our massive castle of a tent in the background.

We started out on a short 2 mile hike on Monday. Butterflies danced about us.

2 miles turned into 8 miles round trip. Our legs were about to fall off. The highlight of our trip was this great waterfall.

They are here!

Our wedding pictures are done. Now, we need to pick out which ones to order. If you feel like looking and/or ordering as well, feel free. The link is here. Please email me for the password. I don't need random internet loonies leering at our happy day.

Happy Birthday to meeeee!

C made me a great homemade German Chocolate Cake for my birthday. It's deeelicious! We also took a short camping trip to the Shenandoah Mountains. Pictures on that to be up soon.

Yummy!

Thanks to Astrid at The Lopsided House for the recipe for a delicious tomato tart. We loved it. I, however, cannot stop tweaking things and already have plans to carmelize the onions and add garlic the next time we make it.

Updated wedding site

Janet, our photographer, has been updating her website. Our preview pictures can be seen at www.jhsweddings.com. Click on portfolio, then Real Weddings 1 and then Amy and Chip. She has added some new ones that are very very pretty!

All the details

In case anyone really wants to know the details of our kitchen renovation:

Cabinets are maple with a hazelnut finish and no glaze.
Paint is Behr's Awning Red.
Granite is called Ivory Fantasy
Flooring is Brazilian Cherry in 3" wide planks.
Tile backsplash is Crema Marfil marble in both polished and brushed finishes.
Droplight is made of white onyx.
Venthood is Arietta, an Italian brand carried by Home Depot
Sliding glass door is by Anderson and the grilles are between the glass. (Yay for easier cleaning)
We have a Bosch dishwasher, apparently the quietest thing on the planet.
The range is a GE 30" Monogram Dual Fuel.
This whole renovation was triggered by the purchase of a Kenmore Elite Trio refrigerator.

We did hire a kitchen designer. He planned the layout of the kitchen, which was a bit limited by the space and the design of the house. After that, we were on our own picking out colors and materials, although he did point us in the direction of a really good granite place and a really good tile place. He also took care of the contractor. I really wanted to someone to do all the picking and choosing for me because: 1) I am lazy, 2) I was planning a wedding at the time, and 3) I was working a lot of extra shifts so I could have that wedding. In the end, I'm really happy with how the place looks so I guess I don't mind having done the legwork in picking out colors and such.

Guilted into updating

Lovely Astrid has finally prodded me into updating here. I had the day off, so I swabbed the kitchen and polished it into prettiness. Here are the results of the prewedding kitchen renovation chaos. Click on any picture for a larger view.



A dark view of the kitchen sink. We put in faux wood blinds, much nicer than the mini blinds that were there before.


Our bar area. I'm still bring liquor bottles upstairs. I love the deep red color of the walls. It brings out the red in the Brazilian cherry flooring.


Our breakfast area.


A pretty good view of most of the kitchen. That is the quietest vent hood I've ever been around.


C's coffee corner that is slowly taking over the entire kitchen.


Zoe helping with the coffee.


A closer view of all the fancy coffee gear. We have no more need for Starbucks.

What you are not seeing is that the ceiling still needs to be repainted. After recently going through all the old paint buckets the previous owners left behind and having to repaint the entire dining room because I couldn't find the correct color, I may just hire this out.

Thank yous and catch ups

Wedding mania, honeymoon torpor, and the ensuing chaos of fusing two households and getting back to work have made me delay putting any updates here. I need to say big thank yous to several people.

Our parents: Gene, Gail, Eldon, and Marilyn - for all the support and hard work you put into the rehearsal dinner and ceremony.

Leslie for being the best bride's slave in history. We loved what you did to the room.

Kathy for being my chauffeur the morning of and waiting around for me to finish my massage.

Gerald for being my buddy and speaking for me....I've watched the video and caught you choking up...it was hardly noticeable and it means the world to me.

Jon and Carrie for going above and beyond in helping my parents. WOW!

All our college buddies for coming such long distances to support us.

There are so many more, but I just wanted to start getting the love out there.

Here comes the bride!

In case you didn't notice, C and I took some time off. We went back to the homeland and got hitched. We had the best photographer and I've been anxiously awaiting word from her. I worked way late tonight and I just checked her website out of habit. Yay! We have picture up! Her pictures are amazing and I highly recommend her to anyone in the Arkansas/Northern Oklahoma area. J.H. Schroeder photography can be found here. Our photo set can be found here.

It's beginning to look like a kitchen

The guys have been back the past two days. The project is starting to wind down. The new patio door was installed. The hardwood is finished. The door just needs a bit of trim work done on the interior side.




The appliances are all in place, if not yet turned on.


I have under cabinet lighting!

Garden talk

Between the wedding and the kitchen, I have pretty much neglected the garden this year. I threw down some preemergent and then sprayed the lawn with a weedkiller/fertilizer combo. Other than pulling a few weeds and mowing, I've done nothing else. I made it outside today. It is glorious out there. Warm and sunny without being too hot and humid. My peonies will bloom any day now. The irises are starting to rev up. Some of these were planted last year and are finally blooming.


Cancan Red



Caprice



Champagne Elegance