My dog is a pirate gangsta.

Our dog Aggie has a gazillion health issues.  He had cataracts in both eyes which led to blindness, a retina being detached, glaucoma and having his left eye removed = pirate.  

He is also allergic to the state of Colorado, meaning prairie grass, aspen trees, flea saliva and pretty much anything living so he has a ton of skin conditions which have led to the thinning of his fur.  DH thought it was hi-la-rious to buy Aggie a sweater that would help keep him warm in the style of a hoodie = gangsta.  

A couple of weeks ago the temperature in Denver was frigid, below freezing, single digits and teens which meant Aggie needed to wear his sweater, I was the recipient of several picture text messages which made me think of Coolio's Gangstas Paradise (it's okay to sing along)

"...As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there's nothing left, 'cause I've been blasting and laughing so long that even my momma thinks that my mind has gone..."

Whatcha' doin', fool?

Thug life

Don't make me bust a cap in you...

Breakfast makes me sleepy

Trust me, these are all better than the other ones DH comes up with like: "you are just so cute, yes you arrgghhh!"  Aren't you happy I shared?

If you want me to, I do.

Have you heard that the 7 year itch has now become the 3 year itch?  Apparently, after 3 years people are bored and annoyed with each other - things like weight gain, toe-nail clippings on the bathroom floor and snoring are passion killers so I'm in trouble because I'm pretty sure I've done all three of those, although mine are cute and endearing snores... and love handles... but not the toe-nail clippings, those are just gross no matter what.  This is also the time when couples start taking each other for granted so let me spell it out for you:

Feeling annoyed/bored + Taking for Granted = Aw, crap!

How do you avoid this?  You don't really.  You remember that marriage like everything else in life ebbs and flows.  Sometimes you are going to be annoyed, you are going to take and be taken for granted, and times may be rough and tough, but you are also going to be charmed, marveled and loved.  And it isn't all on the other person - cause you aren't a slice of heaven either all the time, mmmm'kay?


But this doesn't really matter for my relationship because today is our 9th wedding anniversary (if you are keeping count, with dating that means a total of 15 years together) BOOYAH!!  How do we do it, you ask?  Hmmm, let me share with you my wisdom: I have no freaking clue!  I think it's because neither one of us is willing to give in and let the other person just be happy - kidding!  Also, I got lucky and DH just adores me no matter what (love handles and all), he really has so little freaking clue I just keep him so distracted he forgets to take any action but sometimes he realizes how little clue he has, conversation a couple of nights ago:


Me: Hello?!?! You are now supposed to reciprocate the compliment I just gave you. 
DH: Oh! Were you fishing for something here? Well, I'm sorry cause I just really suck at that game, I suck at being a fish.
Me: Really? How so?
DH: This is me, swimming along in the pond, totally clueless looking for something to eat: Hi worm! Mmmmm, I'm hungry... do you know where I could find some food, worm?
True story.

I really debated about what I should write for this post.  Should I do an open love letter to DH?  Should I impart words of wisdom from the lessons I have learned over the years?  Or should I just rub it in people's faces that we've made it this far?  Obviously, I had to go with the last one, cause I'm not a sage so no wisdom here (although I love to think I have some) and let's face it, if I'm going to get super mushy no one really needs to see/read that except the intended.  

Thanks honey - for all the years, the laughter and tears and to many, many more!

My house has so many decorations it looks like an elf pooped Xmas all over it... and maybe has diarrhea.

I know! A complete turn-around from last year's post!!! SO many things have changed!! I don't have the bah-humbug attitude this year but I also have a whole different relationship (if you can call it that) with my relatives.... my how things change in 12 freaking months!


I am almost done with decorating inside the house and have done most of the decorating on the outside as well, there is a strand of lights however that is just being an asshat and won't cooperate with the "vision" I have for the lights.  We have a completely decorated tree, garland and wreaths hanging at almost every window, stockings are hung, decorations on bookshelves and flower arrangements in every room.  I have gotten presents for a few special people, wrapped them and delivered most of them.  Our "happy new year" cards designed by yours truly have gone out to many but I'm not done yet.


The past couple of years I realized that we weren't being very good about incorporating traditions from both sides of the family so we have focused on bringing DH's Swedish heritage into the mix including ordering a pair of tomtar and going to Georgetown's Christmas Market to look for and purchase a yule goat because what says Christmas more than a yule goat, right?  The yule goat's job is to protect the presents, so we needed a big one - the cat did not get off on the right foot with this new creature under the tree who hindered her playing with ornaments and wrecking havoc but they seem to have made peace with each other.  The trip also gave us some outdoor festival fun that included wassail (which I will try to make at home and if so, recipe and post will follow), ribbon fries, a fried snickers bar and window shopping. 


If that weren't enough, I am having a Gingerbread House-making Party this upcoming Friday.  Thanks to Ikea for having convenient "brick" or gingerbread pieces and I will have to make the "mortar" or royal icing the day of.  Luckily guests are bringing all sorts of candies to decorate.


Finally, I am considering making some St. Lucia buns for Tuesday since it is after all St. Lucia day but it all depends on my mood and how productive I feel, if it happens I will make sure to blog about it with pictures included.

That's Norse the yule goat under the tree on the left.

What prompted this change you ask?  Well, not entirely sure but after Thanksgiving I was just in the spirit of things.  Life is in a better place that's for sure.  Things like my job have worked out in a positive way and I have an additional 10 hour a week part-time job that so far is proving to be a lot of fun.  We are both in pretty good health, physically and mentally.  You can also do a lot of growing in a year (although since our diet we have both shrunk physically - yahoo!).  We have a lot to be grateful and happy for.  Mostly, things just seem to be falling into place, after so very long of feeling like they were all lopsided or topsy-turvy they have started to balance out and how could that not make you feel festive and joyful? 


My hope for you is that your life is also happy, lived in good health and festive for this holiday season and if you feel like sharing, please tell me what gets you in the Christmas spirit!

When I'm good I'm very, very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better.

Well, I've been bad keeping up with the blog because I've been better at just living and having fun.  When we last "met" I was going to do my first 5k at the Dirty Girl Mud Run and then headed to Costa Rica for work.  Here for your enjoyment are before and after pictures of Team Boobees (with one missing Boobee who had to do the run a little later)... just about everyone said they'd want to do it again next year, it was a ton of fun and we are always happy to take new recruits!  Thank you ladies for being game!

Shortly after all this, DH and I headed to Seattle, a colleague/friend who I like to call "Onion" and I were presenting at the National Immigrant Integration Conference and my boss came along for good measure.  As we were walking towards dinner one evening my boss said "the four of us are the start of a good joke: a Jew, a Mormon, a Catholic and a Lawyer walk into...". We got to explore Pike Place Market, the Gum Wall (no one added to it but we did dare each other to lick it), several restaurants and stores, the aquarium and Occupy Seattle, only because you couldn't miss it.  DH and I stayed an extra week to spend some time with our favorite extended family members The Rues, we celebrated both DH's birthday and Halloween in Seattle and also went off exploring on our own into Victoria where they also had an Occupy camp which seemed a lot better than the Seattle one and then Vancouver, by the way, Vancouver has the best sushi e-v-e-r!

Onion pretending to lick the Gum Wall

One of my favorite places in the world: The Rues backyard

DH and I on Halloween - we went to Battle of the Funk Bands!

What Canadian nature looks like, right smack in the middle of Vancouver.

When we returned our dogs acted as though we had abandoned them in the worst way possible, yes, it's horrible when you get to stay in your own home, sleep in your own bed, eat your home-made diet all with the company of a full time pet sitter, we are just terrible, terrible people.... as will be evidenced in a future post entitle something like: Our dog is a Pirate - Gangsta, complete with photos.  


Since then we celebrated my birthday (gracias for the many birthday wishes, one of the perks of Facebook, email, calls and texts) and Thanksgiving.  This year, has been my year to question things and try my best, no matter how uncomfortable to break out of the mold/rut/comfort zone - I mean I just posted a picture of me in a witch costume for Halloween, the last time I got dressed for Halloween was back in 19 - I don't know when, but hey, I did it.  So, this year we did not roast a the turkey, nooooo, we roasted a Turducken - gasp!  In years past, DH has always asked it we could cook the turkey in a new way, either deep fry it or make or a Turducken or something different... so this year it was the year of Turducken.  It was a pain in the a** but not for me, for DH who had to de-bone each bird... here are before and after pictures:

Splayed out for all to see - stuffing included

Had a hard time making it look like a turkey again but here it is

In all it's cooked glory: TA-DA!! Try not to look so jealous!

So, I have you mostly caught up now - posts to come on the upcoming holidays, our wedding anniversary and some miscellaneous stuff (how to be a good or bad house guest, the perils of Facebook, cooking and more), maybe if I say it here I will actually follow through with writing them, let's hope I keep up with my end of the bargain. 

Life is a marathon, not a sprint

This is what my boss said to me the last time things were really hectic at work.  In April, I was in the process of hosting a team from Costa Rica, running a 9Health Fair and preparing for a work trip to Costa Rica - all in a span of 72 hours.  Now, I've never run a marathon (and no plans to do that as of yet) but I know what a marathon is: an endurance race that tests and tries the body eventually taking it beyond its breaking point.


Well, never has that saying felt truer than since that day.  The last five and 1/2 months have been CRAZY.  Stuff has happened, stuff's gone down.  Let me see if I can organize it as clearly and concisely as possible - with the caveat that things in life happen simultaneously and there are constantly balls in the air that we are juggling so clear and concise may not be entirely possible.


Right before those crazy 72 hours in April, I had submitted to my employer a proposal to create a new position (mostly doing what I do now) and hire me for it because of the transition happening with my job.


I returned from Costa Rica, and decided to give up soda (like manna from heaven that I haven't tasted since -that's right people, what you are about to read has been handled caffeine free) and then mid-May started a diet, to wit: 25 lbs lost and counting.  During this time and until now, we all know that I fell from Grace and had to deal with our legal system.  


What you don't necessarily know is that I was also looking for a job and going on interviews because of the aforementioned transition - while also continuing to work at my current employment.  I've also been sick on and off with a couple of colds, a cyst that thankfully went away on its own but not before causing me tons of pain, extremely dry eyes due to which I couldn't get a current prescription for new contacts and also had to have my draining tear ducts 'plugged' up - literally, oh! and who can forget the root canal I had to have last week and the growth that was cut and burned off my big toe this week because well, life wasn't fun enough just yet!  


After the deal with the toe (I know TMI just be grateful I'm not posting a picture), I came home after work to find that our home had been broken-into.  Yep, broken-into.  Thankfully, Hailey, Zoey and Aggie were not hurt and are fine.  What was stolen?  Several things, most of them I'm sure replaceable (still figuring out what's missing) but among those was my work laptop - with 3 years of work on it.  Can you say UGH?!?!?!?  Also, our sense of security, safety and sanctuary for our home seems to be MIA.  What I gained?  ANGER and I'm on the precipice of completely losing it, holding on by a thread (although ask DH and I'm sure that point is be debatable) and desperately looking for perspective.  Because it doesn't end there folks, no, that would be too freaking easy.  I leave for Costa Rica on another work trip in 9 days and have tons of work to re-do and replace, thanks asshats who stole my laptop.  In 7 days I am completing my first 5k - which I hope will serve as catharsis and fun - lots of it.  Thanks to my wonderful Team Boobees for doing this with me - I love you all and we haven't even started yet!  


Oh wait!  Somewhere in there, like between the cyst and the dry eyes I got a job!  YES!! Okay, well kinda because my current employer has decided to keep me on as a permanent (non-grant funded) employee!!!  We still haven't figured out exactly what I will be doing although it will involve more of what I already do so I'm still in a little bit of limbo but it is great news!  See, not all of it was bad.  And it really hasn't been all bad.  DH and I had friends over for dinner and lunch throughout the summer to visit with, our friend Travis came and stayed with us for a little bit, DH and I lost weight, we've had a bounty of harvest from our garden, and we've had some interesting and fun adventures this summer and as I type Hailey is sleeping on my lap, purring and I can hear both Aggie and Zoey snoring not far from me.


See, this is why life is a marathon, because it requires us to endure until the end without quitting at any point before the finish line and without cutting corners.  This doesn't mean that we can't complete the marathon, one sprint at a time.  

Close encounters of the Law kind

I love lawyer shows.  My heart belongs to a lawyer.  I listen to law cases discussed all the time at least until my eyes glaze over and then I just pretend to listen.  I work with law enforcement day in and day out, I even have a few cops I would <gulp> call my friends... but I have never had to deal with the law until this summer, prepare yourself for: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE LAW KIND - cue Wilhelm scream.

Okay, for those of you who don't know, I was in a little fender-bender in May where I grazed the car in front of me in order to avoid being rear-ended full on by an asshat in rush-hour traffic and creating a multiple car crash (because my car would have hit the one in front for sure).  This got me a ticket for "careless driving" which I was totally POed about because I was being careful trying to avoid a BIG accident.  I kept hearing from people, "you should have just let that car hit you, you could be avoiding all this mess" - and by mess they meant having to go to court because the ticket didn't give me a monetary amount that I could pay immediately (not that I would have).

My attorney (also know as DH - Dear Hubby) and I went to court.  My attorney thought I could explain the situation and plead down to something more reasonable, be happy and done with it.  But nooooooo, turns out the City Attorney we dealt with is a total bully and thought he would force me to pay with a different charge of "following to closely" (which I wasn't).  My attorney advised me to plead not guilty and stand up for myself.  At this point, half of me just wanted to make the mess go away but it was overpowered by the half that wanted to stand up to the bully so I went with counsel's advice.  The judge was so shocked she did a double take... yep, that's me, shocking judges since 2011.  I gotta tell you though, I felt super-duper important standing there speaking to the judge with my attorney slightly behind and to the left of me offering me advice like when the judge asked: jury or judge? My attorney whispered: jury. And then I answered like a puppet sans hand stuck up my body (for a more natural effect).  After that I went to see the clerk and set a date for my trial - fun times.

Two weeks later I get a jury summons.  I have somehow always been lucky enough to have gotten out of jury duty.  Could I have this time? Yes.  But I chose not to, I decided that if I was going to have a jury trial might as well understand the jury experience, right?  Let me just say that the difference between Arapahoe County (where I live) and Denver County (where I had my traffic thingy) is like ice cream and cake - both desserts, both sugary.... but nothing alike.  To begin with the courthouse in Arapahoe County is nice, it looks and smells clean, you can tell it is well cared for and the placing is actually welcoming... in Denver County the building makes you feel like you are up sh*t creek without a paddle right away with a slight smell of urine in certain corners.  Jury duty was interesting, it was fun listening to answers and thinking "you're not going to make the cut buddy", the judge I was assigned to was really nice, what I imagine I good judge to be like, overall a positive experience. Denver... not so much.


Two weeks before my trial asshat City Attorney adds some BS charge about changing lanes unsafely or something - ugh!  Night before my trial - I got to do what the pros call "prep" more like torture, but I do have new insight and appreciation for what DH does.  How did it end? My attorney has told me to answer: truth and justice prevailed.  My interpretation of that: stand up to bullies and you just might get to kick them in the nuts once in a while, like in this case!

Falling from Grace

It has been an 'interesting' few months... and by 'interesting' I really mean scary, sad, and uncomfortable.  Don't get me wrong, this hasn't been an ongoing and ever-present thing throughout the past few months but more of something like the Whack-an-Alligator game that you find at places like Dave & Busters where you whack the gator and it retreats but sure enough it comes right back out while speeding up.  It also hasn't been the only thing going on in my life, (more to come in future posts) so when the alligator attacks from the hiding hole it can exacerbate other irritants.  


What happened?  I fell from Grace.  What does that mean?  I fell out of favor with someone who can seem/feel God-like, at least to me.  How did that feel?  Scary, really scary.  Like I was taking a bungee jump with no bungee cord.  It meant consciously making a break from indoctrinated behavior, thought process and automatic response.  Sad, because I had chosen to ignore deplorable flaws as long as they didn't apply to me or affect me too much but now they can no longer be swept under the rug or hidden in the back room like we used to do to our 'touched' relatives.  And most of all uncomfortable, because falling from Grace meant hurting another in the process (not on purpose but inevitable), letting go of things I thought I knew and taking a big leap while trusting that the person I've become could do this.  All in all, let's just say wwwwwaaaaaayyyyy outside my comfort zone.


Falling from Grace has also meant awesome discoveries, like true and kind love, what having a tribe looks like, affirmation, confirmation and solidifying of affection/relationships, how to forgive myself and learning that I am strong enough to hold on to what I deem true and right... for me.  It has allowed me to grow as a person, I've learned to take the hit (although painful) instead of hitting back, and boy is it hard and tempting to hit back - I know that the alligator is hurting and therefore lashing out.  Could I hurt it some more by whacking it back?  Absolutely.  But I'm trying my best to resist even grabbing the mallet to avoid doing any further damage.


Unlike what we are taught by most religions, falling from Grace hasn't been a punishment, it has been a journey of discovery.  I have however willingly and conscientiously chosen to disobey and rebel by not conforming to the norm, I have chosen myself.

Things I learned by going to school in Wisconsin

Recently, DH and I had an old college friend and one of the best men in our wedding (a Wisconsin native) come visit for a few days.  We reminisced, of things and people like beloved Patrick Blessing, Pearl Harbor parties in the basement of Merriman house, Ripon police officers and more.  In many of the stories we found little pearls of wisdom that we believe we would not have acquired had we not gone to school in Wisconsin, to wit this list:


1- You can always find something portable to use in a hotel room when someone (possibly you) is feeling sick and needs to vomit and can't make it to the toilet, e.g. an ice bucket, a trash can, the dirty laundry bag, a glass, the pot for the coffee maker, etc.


2- Never, ever leave someone who is super intoxicated (read: if you can still stand but they can't) alone to meander off and find their own room, dorm, etc.  You want to be responsible, two drunks are always better off than one alone.


3- If you want to be a good roommate, floormate, friend, etc., you must at all times keep on hand quality supplies that can help you clean up a puke-fest mess created by drinking too much vodka and eating pizza while celebrating someone's birthday.


4- A "tall" drink as they call them in Colorado, does not mean the same amount of alcohol you would have in a regular size but with more mixer, it means you make a bigger drink with more alcohol and the same amount of mixer you would use in a regular size as they do in Wisconsin.


5- Wisconsinites are trained from when they are wee ones to make Bloody Marys, this is why they make the absolutely best ones!


Now I realize that all of these are related to alcohol, but hey, aside from getting a good education at Ripon, I learned how to be a responsible drinker there!  And for the mommies out there, I am sure some of these will come in handy!  Please feel free to add on any that you might have, would love to hear/read them!

Mock Moussaka

This weekend I was sick (and still am), I had energy in short fits but I wanted to make a good/hearty dinner for us on Saturday so I tried my very own version of Moussaka.  You can do it little by little and never use up all of your 'sick' energy.


I had never had this dish before but many years ago when I still watched Iron Chef one of the judges and Iron Chef Cat Cora used to mention it often from their Greek heritage and I always thought it sounded interesting.  So I looked up some recipes for it and decided my version would be 'mock' because I didn't want to cook it with traditional Bechamel sauce (since flour is a no-no at this time) and maybe instead with some Alfredo sauce, also I used beef instead of lamb but other than that basically the same recipe... if you like eggplant (or even if you don't), this is the dish for you.  

If this were Lasagna, these eggplant slices are your noodles

Peel, slice and then salt your eggplant.  You can place it in a colander or on a rack (as above) to get it to sweat and release the bitter flavor it can have, do it for about an hour.  When you are ready to cook it, wipe it clean (don't wash or it will soak up that water) with a towel.

Meat mixture with no tomato sauce added as of yet...

Roasted eggplant laid nicely as my 'noodles' in the casserole dish

Meat sauce with tomatoes layered on top of eggplant

BEFORE - Home made Alfredo on top (only cause I was too lazy to go buy some Alfredo - oxymoronic)

AFTER

YUM!

Adventure in Buena Vista

As part of the adventure in me trying to stay at my current place of employment, I am trying to 'diversify' some of what I bring to the table.  A recently took on the task of becoming a Mental Health First Aid instructor, meaning not only am I able to provide mental health first aid but I can teach others how to do so.  

This required me to go to Buena Vista, CO for a whole week (at the cost of my employer), participate in and pass the class.  I thought it would be a piece of cake, to pass you have to take a test and then do a presentation - you of course get graded on both and then either pass or fail.  Since I do presentations all the time I thought 'no worries': wrong! The instructors start telling us how not everyone passes, they give us a scoring card so we know what we will be graded on for our presentation, things like: "if you go over or under 6 to 8 minutes your allotted time" things aren't looking good for you buddy.  All I'm thinking is: great, I'm trying to impress my employer and might end up costing them a bunch of money and me failing the class, awesome. 

To top it all off I develop an eye infection late on the second night for which I head to the ER on the third night in Salida, 30 minutes away, driving myself wearing glasses that are a couple of prescriptions old - don't say it! I know what you are thinking cause I thought it myself too.  But, I won't keep you in suspense, eye infection and all - I passed!  If it makes you feel better, I put my contacts on to drive back down to Denver although it stung the crap out of my eye, but I like to say, better to put up with a stinging eye than not being able to see really well while driving, right?  This here, this is the case I'm building for lasik surgery...

On the other hand, I met a great group of people (most of whom I won't see again probably), was able to stick to my new eating habits (I have lost 12 lbs. since I started!!!) and had some great time to myself.  Also, I enjoyed flipping channels on the TV like a zombie all night long, something I haven't done at home in over 2 years since we decided to eliminate cable/TV from our lives, but it proved once more to be a total time suck and reminded me why I'm glad we don't have it at home.

I was really glad to be home at the end of the week, that is until I started coming down with something Q the brother-in-law kindly passed to DH who then was generous in giving it to me and am now feeling totally BLAH, upside though: the cold medicine has me so wired I was able to get this blog posting done, ah life!

A few of my favorite things...

So we've established that I'm on a diet and that DH is partaking of the torture we are willing enduring.  It is a high-protein and veggie diet (read: very low carb).  How did I never, ever realize how many carbs we ate on a daily basis?!?  How many? Wwwwaaaaayyyyy too many!


Well, let me get to the good stuff.  Lately (read: last week and a half), I am really craving salmon, I even ate it for breakfast one day!  And, I'm following this recipe for it that I found recently which is really easy, super tasty AND doesn't leave the house smelling like fish.  Let me know if you are interested in the recipe!

Before...

After! Ta-da!!

And my two favorite side dishes: roasted asparagus (hey, it is worth the funny pee smell) and tomato slices with lemon olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled on top - YUM!!!!

Aren't you wishing you were on a diet now too? :)  Probably not, but at least now you know that if you come over to our house for dinner, our diet won't affect you in a negative manner!

Playing catch up

My apologies for being MIA for a month.  Lots of stuff in my lap the past few weeks and I haven't been very good about taking care of all of it, the ball-juggling was temporarily out of service but I seem to be getting a grip on things again.  


So what's been happening?  What did you miss?  A little of everything.


Life in General
The biggest reason there haven't been any posts? Not even of what I have been up to in the kitchen?  DH and I went on a diet *GASP*!  I know, I can barely believe it myself.  I have been soda-free for 16 days *double GASP* - and it is killing me!  (Hi, my name is Jenny and I am a Mountain Dew addict) Because of this diet there haven't been any exciting recipes to share but hopefully I'll come up with something soon.  My pants are already a teeny-tiny bit looser (yay!)... but this is hard.  Thankfully, when I have a bad craving day like today, DH tries really hard to provide the moral support needed from a diet buddy.  At my office some of my coworkers know what I am doing and are also very supportive and full of praise ~ this kind of back up is one of a kind and truly appreciated.


We had the carpet cleaned at the house... they didn't do as good of a job as I expected but it does look somewhat better than before.


I was in a car accident.  Long story, not in the mood to tell it but if you ask me about it one-on-one I will share all the details.


Milestones
Aggie turned 10!!  Sounds silly to say but I am grateful everyday that I have him in my life.  Before becoming his human companion, I had only experienced "shared" dogs, you know, like when your parents get a dog for you and your 3 siblings to "share", get what I mean?  He is my little puppy doodles who constantly wants to follow my commands to make me happy, stingy with his kisses, always hungry and willing to eat whatever is offered (or not), a constant visitor at the vet's office for a number of issues, amiable with DH and myself but not with most other humans, old-man cute and most recently a pirate.

Yes doctor, I'm on the treadmill every day...

My brother-in-law turned 29 (for the second time)!  Just remember: Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.


My older sister, also known as Candela and her husband had their 20 year wedding anniversary!  I totally spaced it even though I had a reminder in my phone and just realized it the other day as I was going through all the important dates in my calendar - what a doofus!  But I think it is an awesome occasion with the proof of their success evidenced in their three kiddos, not many people achieve this milestone anymore so be proud of yourselves and may you be happy together for many more years!  
Chains do not hold a marriage together.  It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.  ~Simone Signoret

It is really hard to find a picture of just the two lovebirds, so instead here is one with their kiddos as well.  Please notice that the youngest child in blue is smiling (a rare thing for him in pics) this is because I bribed him with $1.

My other brother-in-law (Candela's hubby) had his birthday!  I think (but am not sure) that he turned 43.  Happy birthday viejito!  "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Jack Benny


Transitions
My intern Mary finished her internship with us and graduated from her MSW program.  I couldn't be happier for her but miss her every day.  In the process, she completed a much needed program evaluation on one of my star programs, an invaluable contribution! 


After 6 years with AT&T I switched to Verizon.  DH made that transition over a year ago because of his phone so it wasn't that bad.  My contract was done and my phone was falling apart.  Why is this a transition big enough to mention here? Because I went from my beloved Palm to a Droid Pro.  Mind you, I started using my first Palm back in December of 2000 and have been a loyal user but with the company being defunct there was no other option (and no, the iPhone was not an option, I don't like Apple products).  It hasn't been as hard to adjust as I expected it to be, but the Droid Pro and I are still just getting to know one another.  You can still hear me asking a few times a day: babe, why the f@$k is this not working like I want it to.... ah life.

It's just another meatless Monday...

Ohhhhh... what did I make? My first all-vegetable Lasagna!  I saw a recipe for one yesterday while I was trolling through food blogs and it looked really tasty except DH hates mushrooms (I know, right?!?)  and I am no fan of red bell peppers (roasted or not) and the recipe included both.  I gave it some thought and decided that I was always liked the combination of cauliflower, yellow squash and shredded carrots and thought that might make a nice filler for the dish.  DH suggested artichoke hearts which might have worked but I was all out of frozen ones, the flavor of the canned ones is always metallic and therefore: YUCK! and I had absolutely no gumption to head on over to the grocery store to buy some.  
Preheat the oven to 350.  Start with some onion (a whole medium one) and garlic to taste.

Chop up the yellow squash.

Shred a couple of big carrots, or if your store offers shredded carrot packs go with that and this is about half a big cauliflower.

Add the cauliflower to the pan first and then the squash - let those two hang out for a little bit in the pan and then let the carrots join the party.  This is a good time to add salt and pepper to taste and I also added crushed red pepper flakes for a little extra kick, you choose how much.  When it looks like they are all melding together and having a good time, add a couple of cans of tomatoes (I used fire-roasted diced ones).

I added two eggs to the ricotta cheese below, salt and pepper to taste and then mixed it all up.

And then... Put a little sauce in the dish before adding the noodles.  Place a layer of noodles, a layer of ricotta cheese mixture, and then sprinkle some shredded mozzarella cheese and then the veg.  Repeat until you run out of ingredients or room in the dish.

Ready to be placed in the oven - just cover it with foil first.  Let it cook for 20 minutes, take the foil off and then let it cook for about 15 minutes longer to melt the cheese on top.

Why is it that I can never serve a perfect slice of lasagna?  Some of it always tries to escape as I scoop it out of the dish... Ta-da! Serve with a side salad (and maybe some garlic bread?) and enjoy!

Salad that Rocks!

To my knowledge, not many people think to themselves: hmmmm, salad.  But more and more, I certainly do.  Let me walk you through my process:

Start with the greens, I love using pre-washed mixes (especially if they include shredded carrots) but also regular greens like spinach, romaine and the likes. For tonight I used leaf lettuce

Then you can build upon that with anything your heart desires in this case I have strawberries, green onions, avocado and tomato - don't forget to add a little salt to the tomato and avocado to really bring out their flavors!

See, doesn't this look pretty already?

It doesn't end there for me, I also add some dried cranberries, walnuts (but any nut you like will do), goat cheese and blueberries.

 Pre-goat cheese... don't you just LOVE the colors in this?

For dressing I have been using balsamic vinegar and lemon olive oil (that I find at Whole Foods) I love the citric flavor that it brings to the salad, but again whatever your heart desires is what you should add.

Ta-da! Dinner (or part of it if you share it with others) is served! Yum!!

An Adventure in Costa Rica

Okay, so when I mention to people that I have to go to Costa Rica for work they think it comes along with a "wink, wink" and a "nudge nudge" kind of deal but it really doesn't.  Do I get to extend my trips by two to three days to enjoy it? Yes.  But most of the time we are getting stuff done and not for a normal work day of 8 hours but for 10 to 12 hours a day, we work hard and then we totally play hard.  Also, I didn't just luck into getting to do this project.  It took a lot of phone calls, emails, meetings and when finally in the country driving around like mad (which as you know is not hard for me), more meetings and lots of selling to get it pieced together.  We lucked out that we had a great supporter on our side pushing for it every minute and helping with the networking: my mom.  

But I digress (what else is new?), this last trip came with a bunch of stuff loaded into it.  First, we were busy for the past 4 months putting together a 9Health Fair which is a ton of work, coordination and logistics - then a team of 4 Costa Ricans came to observe and participate in the fair and not even 24hours after the fair was over a team of 5 of us plus a spouse made our way to the airport for a week at the XXV International Congress on Psychiatry to present - see why this is a crazy post?

After a long, long day of presenting the 4 women on the team (my friend K, la Jefa, Betsy and myself) decided to go out to dinner.  Betsy said that she found this place called Park Cafe in her library-owned Frommer's Guide that was right around the corner from the hotel, and the staff at the reception confirmed that it was really close by.

We had a hard time finding it had to finally stop and ask for directions, the answer we got was: "You see that house that you passed way over there on the other side of the street with an Antiques sign hanging out front? That's it." Huh? Yeah, the restaurant is housed in the middle of an Antiques store... so we walk back to the place and there are two men standing outside.  One dressed like a waiter looks very friendly, the other is wearing a winter jacket on a warm night with his hand stuck into it in a Napoleon Bonaparte-like stance, wonder what he is holding in that hand... but don't ask.  We ask the waiter guy if this is the restaurant and if we can come in, reservations you say? Nope, we don't have those.  So he asks us to wait for a minute while he checks.  

Out comes a dude dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, hair totally messed up and scruffy looking instead of the waiter - this is the chef and owner who starts rambling in a British accent about not having reservations and this is why all the restaurants in Costa Rica are going out of business and serving awful frozen food because no one makes reservations and if they do they don't keep them and he is waiting for a party of 16 people and they aren't here and he is hesitant to let us in but he will and we will just get the lovely food he has set aside to prepare for the large party that hasn't arrived on time (can we say "take it easy on the coke as in cocaine" class?)... and by this point the 4 of us are looking at each other like we really don't want to go in and yet WE FOLLOW HIM INTO THE RESTAURANT.

As he continues rambling, we walk past beautiful looking antiques to the center of the house where they have an inner courtyard with a water fountain and a few four-people tables.  We get seated in one corner of the courtyard, the chef gives us his suggestions for what to order and when the staff gives us our menus and leave for us to consider our options in whispers we start to discuss what the H we have gotten into and how we might be slightly terrified with what is going on but looking at the menu it all sounds so GOOD so we do the most logical thing: we order.  Two appetizers to share to start with and although we exercised restrain I think we would have all been more than happy to lick the plates clean: the food was phenomenal. 

We are feeling really happy with deliciousness in our bellies and the chef comes back to help clear the table (slight terror feeling coming back), we starting telling him how awesome the apps were and he's all: I'm not fishing for compliments, sorry about earlier I'm just a little stressed, more ramblings (Did he coke-it up some more?!? And did he maybe add something "extra" to our dishes?!?)... and off he goes back to the kitchen - phew!

Our main dishes arrive and are mostly wonderful (my duck was not the best ever but still good), this is turning into a total roller coaster of emotions, from happy/blissful to terrorized/worried and back to happy.  We discuss how it is quite possible that our food is spiked, that tomorrow we will wake up and this will have been a dream OR we will come by the restaurant and find that it's gone and was never here... can you tell we were a wee bit out of it?  And mind you, alcohol was not involved in this situation at all.

The dessert was a flight of the most flavorful things I have ever tasted, the souffle was nicknamed "chocolate flavored air that melts in your mouth", the pear tart was divine and the bread pudding was something that I could happily eat at every meal, every day of the week.

The quality of these pics is terrible since they were taken on my phone's camera - but you get the gist of it.

Ravioli of Crab with Curry Sauce and Spicy Mango Salad, Zucchini Tempura

Roasted Scallops wrapped in Prosciutto with Risotto of Wild Mushrooms and fresh Parmesan

Red Snapper on a bed of Asparagus served with Salmon Gnocchi 

After....

A Dessert Flight includes: Strawberry Shortcake, Bread Pudding and a Chocolate Souffle, not pictured: Passion Fruit Creme Brulee and the best Pear Tart in the world!

Yeah, it's not like we liked it or anything...

As we were taking off the chef asked: "are you sure you'll be okay and safe walking to the hotel"? We just ate at your restaurant sitting on the edge of our seats in apprehension, unease and alarm - yeah, I think we can handle the walk back to the hotel.  And the craziest part of all? I can't wait to go back...