Daily Ramblings

First Halloween!

2009-11-01T17:05:00.008-06:00

What a great Halloween we had! Nicholas really enjoyed his first holiday, but I think it pooped him out. He wore a great jack o'lantern onesie that Mrs. Reneau gave him; he also had jack o'lantern shoes, hat, and bib, courtesy of his Grandma Jenni. As a result, he basically ended up going as a pumpkin patch:

Grandma and Grandpa Malahowski came over for Dad's birthday and Halloween fun; we didn't have as many trick or treaters as in the past two years, I think because of the flu issue, but we still had a great time hosting lots of kids in fabulous costumes!

I had already baked the annual pumpkin patch brownies:

In addition, Daniel made his wonderful tortilla soup in the slow cooker, I made cast iron skillet Mexican cornbread, and I baked a pumpkin pie with homemade crust (of course!) for dessert. I made ghost napkin rings for the placesettings:

I don't have pictures of the rest of the house, but needless to say, it was mega-decorated inside and out! On with Thanksgiving preparations and fun fall cooking and crafts!

Bedrest, week 2

2009-08-03T13:42:00.004-05:00

So we had a little excitement the other night.

I had been a good girl, staying in bed and resting up, when my blood pressure spiked for no apparent reason. I hadn't even been up to use the bathroom in awhile, and suddenly I felt flushed and... well, FUNNY. I took my bp, and it was up to 145/102. It was after-hours Thursday evening, so I called the on-call doctor at my ob's office. He told me to keep an eye on things and, if it got any worse, to go on in to Labor and Delivery at the hospital. Daniel and I waited about 20 minutes and then took my bp again-- 156/101. Off we went... ultimately, they ended up keeping me overnight in the hospital (overnight means I went home at about 4 pm the next day) to monitor me and run some additional tests. The good news is that all of my labwork came back just fine, and as there was no protein in my urine, I can definitely say that I don't have preeclampsia as of this post (but they are still keeping an eye on my labs to make sure it doesn't become this). My bp ended up coming down, and what was great was that the doctor doing rounds on Friday was MY ob, who I absolutely love. Not only is she great at what she does, she has about the best bedside manner of any practitioner I've ever seen. She let me go home, and said that I should be on the lookout for warning signs such as visual disturbances, abdominal pain, or a headache that doesn't go away with Tylenol, or if my bp goes to 160/110 and stays there for a couple of hours. I'm to check my bp twice a day; while it's definitely elevated more at night, we haven't entered the scary zone since coming back from the hospital (knock wood).

Staying in the hospital was a drag (even though I was in bed, sleep was hard to come by and sporadic), but there were some positives: a) I didn't have to have an IV; I've had IVs and I can deal, but I have also had to sleep with them and I'm not fond of having to do so; b) it gave me a chance to become much more familiar with the hospital surroundings, which I think will be good for when it's actually showtime; c) I got to meet so many members of the nursing staff, and they are just wonderful there, and d) Daniel, as always, really came through for me in terms of getting stuff from home to make me more comfortable, staying up with me playing Scrabble, and all of those things good husbands do. He really deserves props for how he's been during this bedrest thing; he's been making the most wonderful meals that beat the heck out of the room service at the Four Seasons, visually and culinarily, and he's been so great about keeping up with the housework on top of his own job and taking care of me, and with never a frown or a complaint. I struck gold with him, I did. I know I've said all this before, but really, I can't brag about him enough.

Nicholas continues to do so well; he's not even born yet and I'm already so proud of him. He had a couple of fetal monitors when I was in the hospital, and he performed like a champ, moving so much that he was actually scooting the monitor sensor across my belly even with that tight band attached! Both times, he started out asleep, but he always wakes right up and moves when I look down and say, "Little BOYYYYY!", and it worked again for the monitors. He's also been hiccuping every day, sometimes several times a day, which is evidently a good thing because it means he's practicing breathing in the amniotic fluid and working out his little lungs in preparation for his first breaths. His size is great; he was estimated at 5 lbs, 3 ounces at his 34 week ultrasound, and even though I've lost weight on bedrest just due to the reduction in edema, his body parts that protrude from time to time have become markedly bigger. I actually had a dream last night in which I could see an outline of his foot on my abdomen, and it was six inches long. His foot isn't REALLY that big yet. I hope.

So a little bit has happened...

2009-07-30T17:42:00.003-05:00

Well, it HAS been awhile, hasn't it??

I haven't really been in the blogging groove in awhile, but kept it open in case I felt like getting back into it. Now's as good a time as any, as we are expecting the birth of... our son, Nicholas! I am 35 weeks into the pregnancy today (I mentioned it had been awhile, no?), and anticipate his arrival in mid to late August per my ob's estimation (official due date is September 3).

I am on bedrest as of last Friday; when I went to my appointment that day, my blood pressure was high, I had such bad edema that I had gained 7 pounds in two weeks with no dietary changes, and there was protein in my urine. As a result, I cannot do ANYTHING but lie in bed or the couch, take a brief shower each day, and get up to use the bathroom, as we are trying to prevent full-blown preeclampsia or worse. So, in addition to my "advanced maternal age", I can now add the label "high risk pregnancy" to my medical history. I'm super-lucky, though; Daniel has a new job and is still working at home, and has been such a trouper as far as multitasking work, keeping the house running smoothly, and taking care of Yours Truly. The baby is doing great; they are monitoring him a little more closely, but his activity is awesome and he's almost fully cooked at this point. I didn't have computer access for awhile, as we have a desktop that is upstairs, and I cannot go upstairs. Daniel, however, went out and got a Netbook, so I'm back online! Hooray! It's going to be a long few weeks, but I know that it could be worse and I'm grateful that the problem is being managed and that Nicholas is okay.

The timing of this was lousy; Keb came down to see me for the weekend, and we pretty much had to ditch our going-out plans during her stay here. I must say, though, that it was a treat to be sequestered with my best friend! She also left me with two great books that I have already read-- and she left three days ago. :)

Now that I have time on my hands, I'll probably update this blog more. Ironically, my updates will be far less, um, interesting, as my repertoire is somewhat limited. :)

My suitcase is definitely making it home!

2008-10-15T15:26:00.003-05:00

Now my flight's been delayed two hours!

Fortunately, I have an Admiral's Club membership, and they have an extensive salad menu. I had a nummy lunch. I am also in my own cubicle doing some work (and procrastinating by blogging).

Nobody's done it yet, but I'm waiting for someone to blow up at one of the agents for the delay. That always seems to happen, and I don't understand it. The way I see it, if a flight is delayed, either because of violent weather or mechanical difficulties, I would just as soon the pilot not take off right then, thank you very much. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? You think you're gonna have to live there? It's not as if the agent has anything to do with the decision, at any rate. And blah, blah, blah, you're inconvenienced and you have an important meeting/ wedding/ bris that the delay might cause you to miss out on. Guess what? (*stage whisper*) So does everyone else on the plane. You are not as special as you think you are.

Just a little PSA from Yours Truly.

Debates, Part III!

2008-10-15T15:17:00.002-05:00

... which I'm hoping that I'll be able to see tonight, as I'm stuck in St. Louis. My flight's been delayed an hour and a half.

... which doesn't particularly bother me, as 1) I have two reports to finalize that need to be dated today, and 2) it increases the odds that my suitcase will end up in the same city as I.

T minus 2 1/2 days until I can see my husband again... I miss him when we have entire work weeks apart.

Can't wait to see what happens during the pres debate tonight. I love election years!

Delays, delays...

2008-10-14T17:27:00.003-05:00

My title conjures the image of the mad scientist on the old "Bugs Bunny" cartoon; you know, the one in which Bugs makes an unlikely watery journey on his mattress to the Draculean castle, wherein the orange furball of a monster with sneakers (but no arms or nose) chases him menacingly until Bugs resourcefully distracts him with a TNT-fueled mani/pedi. Ah, good times...

NOT good times, however: I flew to Springfield, IL last night and the inevitable finally happened. The airline lost my luggage.

Why, oh, why, you ask, do you still check a bag, with the amount of travel that you do? I realize it's not the best move. I have a lot of toiletry items that, frankly, would be a pain to pare down, and I am a product snob when it comes to the prefab travel-sized toiletries. So the irony was not lost on me when my luggage was: the only emporium open in town was Wal-Mart (gasp!), and I was between a rock and a hard place from a product standpoint. After learning that the 8 pm flight was the last flight of the night (an odd concept when you come from DFW, the land of We Have a Flight to the North Pole Every Fifteen Minutes Around the Clock), I realized that I would have to attend my business meeting the next day in the clothes on my back, while the airline worked on locating my wayward suitcase. First off, I assessed what I had:

my briefcase with my work, the most important aspect, but not enough for Vainly Yours
a Nars lipstick in Gypsy in my handbag
my travel outfit: jeans, a red zip-front sweater, black headband, black flats, silver necklace, diamond studs

Not nearly enough to feel comfy the next day if I slept in the aforementioned outfit. The nice man at baggage claim, however, told me that there was a 24-hour Wal-Mart in town, and printed out MapQuest directions there.

At the risk of sounding like even more of a snob (but I'm sure I haven't reached my max for this post yet), I hate Wal-Mart. I think I've been in one twice in my life, and I avoid it like the plague because I find it depressing. Now, don't get me wrong: I am not anti-discount stores. We have a Super Target near our house, and I go there on a regular basis. They have the best Lean Cuisine selection I've ever seen, seriously cute handmade greeting cards, and I'm a nut for their holiday decorations, to the extent of buying a ridiculous amount for each holiday like a demented Martha Stewart on a seasonal-ornament-tree bender. I have a workout outfit from there that is cuter than a puppy stuck under a blanket. Wal-Mart, however, I think is just... well, CHEAP. The customer service is abysmal, the products are horrible, the stores are sloppy, and the denizen are often downright frightening. I just don't do it.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, however, and I am happy to report that I was able to get things to sleep in, new undies, and toiletries and makeup/hair stuff a go-go, and felt pretty normal when I left for my site. As a bonus, my jeans were dark and trouser-cut, so I didn't look as unprofessional as I would have if I had worn my navy track suit and flip-flops as I had considered doing prior to my flight. Some products, however, impressed me more than others. Following is a comprehensive list of my purchases and the subsequent product reviews:

Clothing: I thought about buying a business suit. The clothes were so bad, frankly, that jeans were a much more attractive option. But I did need a
Nightgown: It was hard times finding an attractive thing to sleep in, and I didn't even need it to be attractive, but this was Bad Housecoat City. I did find a not-horrible nightie, but I will probably toss it because it is just kind of cheap and synthetic-feeling... and it's cotton.
Underwear: Clean undies are a must. These are pretty atrocious, though, and I am also treating them like disposable clothing.
Clean and Clear facial cleanser: Not so good for the eye makeup (it burns! it burns!), but kind of tingly and effective for the face. However, I use Proactiv, and I've found my skin doesn't really do as well with anything else.
Purpose facial moisturizer: In the words of Dom Deluise as Caesar in "History of the World, Part I": "Nice, nice. Not thrilling... but nice." I've been using Laura Mercier, but it's been irritating my skin lately. If you have a recommendation of a good lightweight moisturizer, by all means, let me know-- but not if it contains the word "Mer". Even a product snob has her budgetary limits.
Disposable razor: Yeah, I'm sticking to my Mach III.
Rimmel mousse foundation: I've heard a lot about this line and have never used anything in it... oh, MAN, it was bad! I mean BAD bad (cakey icky bad bad). Under that heading, I was also not fond of their mascara (brownies in my eyelashes), their eyeliner (cheapy icky), or their eyebrow pencil (on the whole, not awful, but I love me my Anastasia brow powder duo).
Cover Girl pressed powder: Not a horrible product, not horrible at all... but I prefer my T. LeClerc loose in Banane because it counteracts facial redness very well. In the CG line, I also bought a blush that ended up being the same color as the skin on my face and you couldn't see it, and an eyeshadow trio that, although kind of cheap and flakey and a little too sparkly for a powder, ended up looking kind of pretty once I blended the living daylights out of it.
Contact case and fluid: Oh, fine-- those are the same everywhere you go.
Velcro rollers: I found velcro rollers! Oh, hooray! I always use these after blow-drying and before putting on my makeup as it seriously saves time versus styling but still looks polished. The paddle brush was pretty cheap and not great, but did the trick.
Dep styling gel: A bit too heavy for me. I like Aveda root lifter spray. I also use Aveda hairspray, which still leaves your hair silky and able to receive fingertips, but the little travel hairspray I got made my hair a little too crispy-crunchy for my taste.
Toothbrush and paste: Just regular toothpaste, but the toothbrush is AWESOME! It is a little travel toothbrush that UNFOLDS into FULL-SIZED and is ANTI-BACTERIAL. I'm keeping it in my suitcase...

...which arrived in the hotel while I was at my site! Fingers crossed that it makes it back home with me tomorrow, since I have another overnight trip the following day...

Oh, good night NURSE, but I'm high-maintenance.

Oh, yeah... I have a blog!

2008-09-15T07:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, I haven't posted in a long time. I mean, a LONG time. Blame it on blogging burnout, blame it on an excess of things to do at home, or blame it on the rain... we'll just call it summer vacation, shall we?

Lots has happened, and I have taken pictures; I will get to uploading these in due time, but some of the things that have happened (which may or may not have corresponding pictures but which I will try to elaborate on when I have more than a couple of minutes) are:

1) Daniel and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary! We actually give each other gifts each year according to the "traditional" gift ideas that you can Google if you're curious; the 3rd is leather. This ended up being fun; I am just happy that Daniel did not buy me leather underwear, which would have been a one-way ticket to Low Self-Esteemville for anyone over a size 2. The best gift of all, of course, is that I am married to the greatest man in the world!
2) Laurie Barnard got married in Dallas, with a loverly reception at the Warwick Melrose hotel. Highlights included the first dance that the couple did the choreographed routine from "Dirty Dancing" to, and when Daniel choked on his chicken and Puddie saved his life with the Heimlich.
3) We went to a Ranger game with Kevin and Anita, and our Rangers... well, let's just say they didn't bathe themselves in glory.
4) I learned how to fabricate a chicken properly.
5) I'm almost totally caught up at work!
6) We went to a couples shower for John and Nicki, who made it up from Houston to the event at Cacharel despite the hurricane!
7) We've been taking Mom and Dad's dough at "31", tee-hee! (Sorry, Mom, you guys beat us for so long that you know I had to mention it on the blog.)

Accompanying pictures and new posts to come!

Random things I see

2008-07-10T13:36:00.003-05:00

I've been on this career path for a long time now-- since 1997. I've done a lot of traveling for work. A LOT of traveling. As of this posting, I have over 1,400,000 miles on American Airlines alone; they granted me Lifetime Gold when I hit a million, and if I hit two, then Lifetime Platinum is mine (I've also medallioned on Continental and Delta). During the past decade, I've gone to a lot of cities. A LOT of cities. Some of them I've visited often enough that I've become freakishly, randomly familiar with places I've never lived (Honolulu! San Angelo!), and have some favorite haunts and sightseeing locations in those places. I even have places where the valet at the hotel has greeted me by name. Every once in a while, though, I find myself in an unfamiliar city... but I'm finding that that kind of occurrence is becoming more and more seldom as I continue down this road, and this week was the first "new" place I've been to in quite some time. When I'm in a novel location, from time to time I'm in the car, usually either en route to my hotel or to the airport, and something piques my interest on the way-- and if my schedule permits, I'll stop and check it out. Today, on the way to the airport in Springfield, IL, I felt compelled to pull over into... A GRAVEYARD.

For heaven's sake, why? Why?

Because of who was planted there:

Whose tomb is this? I'll give you three hints:

1) stovepipe hat

2) log cabin

3) "Other than that, how was the play?"

I'm lucky enough that I earn my living doing something that is always, ALWAYS, a learning experience-- just when I start to get bored with, say, kidney disease, I get to train and learn about, say, impulsive aggression; added to which, every once in a while I feel that what we're doing is helping people. I have to say, though, about the tomb... that, right there, is why I love my job.

My least favorite commercial

2008-07-10T10:05:00.002-05:00

He married his dream girl
He married his dream girl
But she didn't tell him her credit was bad...

So now he's hanging out in the basement playing guitar with his friends 24/7 and b*tching about his significant other instead of getting his own ducks in a row. Way to step up to the plate, deadbeat.

At least she's doing the laundry, loser.

53. See a great musical

2008-06-30T07:24:00.003-05:00

In lieu of a movie for "chick flick Sunday", Mom and I went back to the Bass (for the second time in a week!) to see...

SPAMALOT!!

Great show! I've been a Monty Python geek since birth, and loveditloveditlovedit!

Here is a link to a fun cow-tossing game on the Broadway website:

http://www.montypythonsspamalot.com/homepage_games.php

This about sums it up.

2008-06-25T22:49:00.004-05:00

I'm in Sacramento right now, and after my site visit I went and had some nummy seared ahi tuna salad at Cheesecake Factory and then went to a couple of stores before heading back to the hotel. Here's a pic of what I bought:

A halter top and "The French Laundry Cookbook"-- yeah, that's pretty much me in a shopping nutshell.

I must say, anyone who has ever uttered the incredibly naive, "Whoever can read a recipe can cook" has never flipped the pages of Thomas Keller's tome. I must say I'm somewhat intimidated (and I grew up with a gramma who would cook, say, a whole squid for dinner)... but I can also see why every other chef on the planet refers to this book as "food porn". I want to make food that looks like that (I also want basic photography skills, but one thing at a time).

Oh, and the top is actually VERY red and white-- lousy pic quality. Parents gave me the same top in navy with white polka dots for my bday, and it was such a hit that I needed a second one in another color. Ann Taylor Loft-- they also have it in solid red, navy and white stripe, and yellow and white stripe, FYI. I went for the red and white because a) I already own a solid red halter top, b) the navy/white stripe was too similar to my polka dot top, and c) the yellow and white was a little too... transparent.

I also bought Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" (cannot believe I have not read that yet) and Ruhlman's "The Making of a Chef" and "The Reach of a Chef" (I've already read "The Soul of a Chef"-- twice). I'm thinking that this sort of binge-shopping at the bookstore is why I haven't read every book that we own yet (see "100 in 1001").

54. Go to the ballet

2008-06-25T21:32:00.004-05:00

Now, needless to say, this is not the first time I've been to the ballet, far from it-- a lot of the things on my "101 in 1001" list are things I've done before (gone to the ballet, musicals, played in a civic orchestra, been involved with community service, etc. etc.), but I had them on there as there were certain things that I haven't done in too long and I've missed them. Daniel and I double-dated with Mom and Dad last Saturday night to the Bass, where we were able to sit in the American Airlines box-- fancy and awesome! We've sat there before, but it's always a treat. We have our own little private anteroom and (usually) access to the Green Room and free champagne at intermission, but there was a private party there (grrrrr). Dad: "La Salle Verde est occupe." Me: "Pourquoi?" Dad (in English): "Parce-que there's a private event there." Me (mouthed): "Merde." What can I say? At least I remember the important words.

Ballet was lovely; they had members of the Bolshoi and the Brussels ballets there, and did Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" in a very classic-ballet-meets-interpretive-dance kind of way, and selections from eight other smashes. Here's a link to a review:

http://www.star-telegram.com/performing_arts/story/715299.html

Anyone who hasn't been to the Bass, it's FABULOUS. When you go, get there early for wine/champagne and people watching in the atrium; true to form, it took my mom exactly five minutes to find her gays and a new signature drink (which ended up being something lovely that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, like someone who wears too many designer labels simultaneously).

The interior:

Gorgeous, huh? The exterior is also fabulous:

I love the Bass. Been there a lot and I still stare at the ceiling, slack-jawed, and have an infantile urge to drop something off the mezzanine.

21. Add our own touches to our landscaping

2008-06-13T14:56:00.016-05:00

THAT. Was not a small project.

Our landscapers finally finished following the plans that our landscape architect designed; we have a guy outside as-we-speak finishing the massive work that needed to be done to our sprinklers, and all that's left is to wait for the plants to fill out-- should be a couple of months. They weeded, planted, and mulched out the yin-yang-- here are the pics (until the plants fill out, the mulch is kind of dominating the beds, but that won't be the case for long). In a couple of them you can see my husband wielding a SCYTHE to chop down tree limbs-- I think he likes those specialty garden tools!

We (well, mostly Daniel) had already done some things to the backyard, and a large part of our yard was already heavily landscaped by the previous owners, but it still needed a lot of work. We have Asian lilies between the box window of the kitchen and the bay windows of the breakfast nook:

We have a narrow area next to the driveway in back, and opted for little trellises of morning glories, some other pretty blue flowers, and lavender that is positively growing like mad and smells HEAVENLY when the wind blows:

The area back by our bedroom was mostly done, but Daniel added the trellis for the jasmine behind the statue and we threw in a lilac bush and other goodies:

The side of the house below the office and next to the garage by the driveway was already bricked, but we had some plants added and mulched. The top part next to the oak tree is going to cover over with jasmine, and the lower part has variegated liriope, Texas sage, and other sundry plants. There was one huge area that was CONCRETE just under the dirt and we had no idea what to do there; now it is covered with river rocks.

Another angle (and my husband avec weapon-like garden tool):

There was another awkward, narrow area next to the driveway that was basically a weed garden; that is now river rocks as well:

On the front left, we kept the hedges and crepe myrtles, but added some more perennials, as well as some impatiens:

On the right side of the house, some new plants next to the fountain, Japanese sky pencils behind (should grow to about 10 feet), and various other things:

The mailbox area was tricky because it is SO shallow in some areas due to the water main access in that area; we now have roses with some perennials behind them:

Our Japanese maple was moved to the center section because, apparently, it will be happier there, and some more plants were added. The sprinkler was fixed in the middle, which the landscaper said was the cause of our bald spots, so hopefully, the grass will grow in as the landscaping plants do:

The crepe myrtles that were in the center were moved to a new area on the right side of the driveway:

In the back yard, there is now a new area carved out for our VEGGIE GARDEN! Yay! But right now it's dirt with bricks around it:

Another area of the back (with the sprinkler guy's stuff in the foreground):

That's our yard! I am soooo impatient for the plants to fill out; in a couple of months I'll post the "after" pics for the mulch-covered areas!

Moving on...

2008-06-13T14:43:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile, but this has really been the first time that I've wanted to... been keeping pretty busy; my project just reached the total enrollment goal, which is a huge milestone... and it means I'm going to be doing so much traveling over the next few months, but it will be good. One of my sites is being audited, which I've always found to be a great learning experience, but one that requires a lot of preparation.

I haven't cooked as much as I usually do, but I'm hoping to remedy that. I did make a great veggie lasagna from the Northern Exposure Cookbook (of course-- everything in it is so good!). Instead of a marinara sauce (in these troubled tomato times), the veggies (one each zucchini, yellow summer squash, vidalia onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and a ton of sliced mushrooms) are sauteed in olive oil and then layered with a parmesan-laced bechamel sauce, noodles, mozzarella, and so much chopped fresh basil-- it's heavenly! The veg were so pretty in the saute pan that I had to get a pic:

The final lasagna:

We've seriously been eating it for a week. Going out for Tex-Mex at Rio Mambo tonight (http://www.riomambo.com/distinctive-mexican-cuisine.html) -- if only to eat something different, haha!

Look for lots more recipes coming soon, heavy on the veggies. I buy a ridiculous amount of fresh produce in the summer, when the dreary selection of tubers in the winter gives way to spring crispness and then the luscious selection of vibrant, flavor-rich fruits and summer veg! I just love lots of colors on a plate! Thinking about doing ratatouille this weekend... mmm...

Zach

2008-06-04T14:06:00.002-05:00

Daniel and I have been in Chicago with Andrew and Erin after the tragic loss of our nephew Zachary Evan Malahowski, who was stillborn last weekend. It seems so insignificant to even try to blog about trivial things after such an event; he is our guardian angel and we will never forget him. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and support; your cards, emails, and phone calls mean SO much. I have even more respect than I had (which was already considerable) for my brother and sister-in-law; they have handled this with such grace and strength that I am in awe of them, and they inspire me to be a better person.

Everyone give your loved ones a big hug and tell them you love them; life is so precious and there is nothing more important than the people who are close to you, particularly family. Please pray for my family as we regroup and try to move forward.

Bienvenido a Miami, or, TGIF

2008-05-23T13:08:00.003-05:00

I am a walking zombie.

So I get into Ft. Lauderdale after an hour and a half delay last night. By the time I worked out and got to sleep, I was looking at perhaps five hours if I was lucky. This is not, I hasten to add, unusual at all when you are in a different time zone every few days, and I can deal with sleep deprivation as it has become the rule rather than the exception in the past ten years-- waking up at 8 am is sleeping in considerably for me, even on the weekends.

However.

Someone, SOMEONE, thought it would be a kicky prank to pull the fire alarm thingee at the hotel at 3 am last night. THREE IN THE MORNING. I was, also, on the twelfth floor. So, just in case there was an actual fire, they evacuated the building and had everyone stand out on the street until they cleared us to go back in (12 flights of stairs, people). Now, I was lucky enough that I could throw on clothes. I saw a lot of sleepwear last night, let's just leave it at that.

THREE A.M. And I had to commute to Miami, on top of that, because I don't do the Miami airport if I can at all help it. My flight home boards in an hour and I am counting the minutes. We have to go to Houston first thing in the morning, but at least tonight I will have a couple of hours to relax at home before heading out again! I would love to personally throttle the jack&*^ who set off the alarm, BTW.

Boca Raton, FL

2008-05-21T14:11:00.002-05:00

I'm in-house today during my one day at home from the span of last Friday evening through next Monday; I am doing the EXACT SAME TRIP twice this week for scheduling reasons that I find frustrating, but nothing to be done about it, and at least I get to fly First Class and stay in a really cushy suite with superlative crab cakes. So I go through all of that trouble to renew my license on Friday, and leave for my flight to Ft. Lauderdale on Monday secure in the knowledge that I have my act together. Well, only theoretically, as it turns out. I left my new temporary license in my other, non-travel purse. UUURRRGH! Fortunately, I am always a woman with a plan B, even if I have to make it up on the spot-- you cannot, cannot, cannot travel 100,000+ miles a year for 10+ years without cultivating the ability to improvise-- trust me! Obviously, National would not rent to me, so I took cabs to my hotel and to and from my site and the airport. I was freakishly worried that they wouldn't let me back through security in Ft. Lauderdale-- and hence home-- last night (they let me through on the outbound in DFW, but I know only too well that ATA agents are none too consistent from one airport to another). Fortunately, they did, but I had to submit to "extra security screening" (read: I got to second base with the female security agent in front of a crowd while holding my arms out, palms-up, in an imploring stance) for coming through with an expired license. Yeah, I'm not sure what made me seem a bigger security risk-- the chin-length bob or the twinset from Talbot's. No matter, though-- I would have gladly hopped up and down on one foot and made sounds like a monkey as long as they let me through.

At least this happened on the Boca leg of my trip; tomorrow I am commuting between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, and that would be a cab fare that would make my company... less than pleased.

Ah-- my report finished exporting from the database... back to work!

61. Finally change my name at the Social Security office

2008-05-16T17:07:00.002-05:00

Oh, that was gruesome. Just gruesome.

Ali learned a little lesson about procrastination today.

My bday is on Sunday, and my license expires then. After my trip to Louisville earlier this week, I went to the DMV to renew and they told me that I was flagged because I had not changed my name at the SS office yet. So I had to go do THAT today before high-tailing it to the DMV for a second time. The entire experience took FOUR. HOURS.

Between the two, the SS office is far swankier, which surprised me for some reason. Nice facility, and even though it took a long time, it was because of the sheer volume of applicants; their process was actually impressively streamlined. When I went up to the window, I said to the guy, "Wow... this was actually one of the least painful experiences I ever had at a government office." He replied, without missing a beat, "Oh, we can make it a LOT more painful for you."

Well played.

3-Mustard Chicken

2008-05-15T13:42:00.007-05:00

I love to follow new recipes, and I think they are a great way to learn how to cook ingredients that you're not familiar with, or new preparation methods. I think the best way to expand your repertoire as a cook, though (and to explore in-season produce that just looks good that day at the market) is to come up with your own-- this dish, I made last weekend and it fell under the "I don't have time to go to the store so let's see what random ingredients I have lying around that wouldn't actively suck together" umbrella. Sometimes these little experiments are successful, and other times... well, that's why the Pacific House delivery menu is in the drawer by the coffee maker.

I like to cook with a little alcohol, but there was no wine in the house-- but there WAS sherry. I also consistently have a big bag of shallots in the fridge, and sherry plus shallots equals the basis for a great sauce. I took a little nip myself while chopping the shallots-- it was a hard week what with the travel and the comp virus:

I had chicken breasts, so I dipped them in a little egg and then a flour-salt-pepper-paprika mixture to coat and browned them in a little olive oil before taking them out of the pan and letting them drain on paper towels. I used the pan scrapings and oil to saute the shallots and a couple of cloves of garlic, and then added a random sauce that I came up with. I can't come up with measurements because I do everything by taste when I don't cook with a recipe-- I don't even use measuring spoons. I combined in a bowl some chicken broth, dry sherry, three different kinds of mustard (dijon, stone ground, and a touch of dry), some tarragon, kosher salt (because I used low-sodium chicken broth and it was evident), black pepper, and a bit of honey, as the result was way too bitter prior to that. I poured in the pan to simmer a bit and I thought the sauce was actually pretty:

I put the chicken breasts in, covered, and cooked... well, for a long, long time until it looked right. I also added a little cornstarch to the sauce, which made it thicken nicely (I don't like to thicken with flour because I think it typically ruins the flavor of a dish):

Meanwhile, I had some new potatoes that were going to go bad if I didn't cook them soon, so I decided to make rosemary roasted potatoes as I have a rosemary plant and it smelled good. I peeled the potatoes and parboiled them first-- that's the trick to making roasted potatoes soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Then I diced them and tossed them with a little EVOO, kosher salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary before putting them in the oven on 350:

When it came time to plate, there really wasn't any color but I had no fresh veggies save a small handful of spinach leaves, which I blanched in hot water and then pureed in the magic bullet with a little milk and seasoning. The result was pretty pathetic, so I won't be repeating that part-- I'll probably do spinch salad instead. The final plating:

Visually, it was pretty sad. The chicken turned out well, though-- Daniel said that he liked it better than any chicken recipe I've ever made, particularly with the tenderness of the chicken next to the crispiness of the potatoes. I'll work on the presentation a little more next time. :)

Ohhhhh, I watch some bad TV.

2008-05-12T20:15:00.003-05:00

I'm in my suite in Louisville right now and just wrapped up my work for the evening. I turned on the telly and settled in to check my "fun" email account (e.g. non-work email), and realized that it is MONDAY and the SEASON FINALE of the BACHELOR is on tonight. I am now all in a tizzy, and I am actually nonplussed with both of his choices, but it does not lessen my sense of excitement and anticipation. I think this is a sign that I need to start my 101 in 1001 item "Don't watch tv for a week" immediately thereafter-- that's pretty sad! Now, I will technically not have very much time to watch a lot of tv this week (my bday is next weekend and I don't even have time to celebrate it until June), so it might be cheating a little. When someone gets THAT excited about reality television, though, methinks drastic measures need to be taken!

Ableskiver (Danish pancakes)

2008-05-11T13:12:00.012-05:00

I'm part Danish. My Grandma Malahowski's father was fresh off the boat from Denmark and was actually a woodcarver; my parents still have a lovely pedestal that he made himself. Grandma was prone to breaking into song in Danish from time to time, apropos nothing, which was fabulous. I have a porcelain pendant of the mermaid on the rock in Copenhagen; it's one of my favorite pieces. I get my fair skin and green eyes from that side of the family, and we all burn like crazy in the sun. Most importantly, though-- I inherited the recipe for this dish.

You have to use a funky pan-- you know me and my penchant for recipe-specific kitchen implements:

Bet I could use it for escargots, too. I've never cooked snails and Daniel and I both love them-- I think that should be on the docket for when I come back in a few weeks. I digress-- back to our regularly scheduled breakfast--

Use your favorite pancake batter recipe; I think buttermilk or sourdough work better than plain, and it's good to add cinnamon. It should be noted that I don't have a written recipe; when you've seen it done enough growing up, you can duplicate. You heat up the pan, grease the round parts, and put a dollop of batter in each, giving it room to puff up. When it starts to do so, drop a bit of applesauce in each one, which makes them incredibly moist and delightful:

When they start to bubble and separate from the sides of the pan, flip them over-- use toothpicks so they stay round:

Serve them with jelly or jam and powdered sugar. Did I mention I have a powdered sugar duster?

The finished product-- must be accompanied by a mug of coffee and an episode of "Bugs Bunny" for the perfect Saturday morning:

It should be mentioned that the recipe for a standard batch of pancake batter will make a gazillion of them. Never fear; they freeze beautifully.

58. Find a new vet

2008-05-10T16:40:00.002-05:00

Daniel's taking Lucy to the cat hospital down the street next week for her s-h-o-t-s, and her temperature taken with a thermometer in an unspeakable place. I'll be on the road, but there with her in spirit. She hates the vet.

I'm writing in small font because I don't want her to know; she'll get nervous and puke more.

Get to mark it off the list, though.

Fear.

2008-05-10T15:20:00.004-05:00

I've been traveling so much that there have been things I've been meaning to blog about but haven't, leading to today's conceptualized diarrhea of the blog, if you will, but I keep thinking of things. I had this conversation with Daniel about fears the other day, but thought I'd extrapolate herewith.

Everyone is afraid of something. As a child, I distinctly remember the first time that I heard the quote, "You have nothing to fear but fear itself!" It petrified me. I was around 4, and as soon as I heard that, I pictured the word FEAR in towering, looming, somewhat furry block letters, like something you would see in an episode of "Sesame Street" that was brought to you by the letter F. Yes, I was afraid of the word "fear", if only because I was particularly impressionable and freak-outable, even by someone like FDR (who I thought looked a little like my grandpa, who was absolutely NOT scary, but who can say why the young mind works as it does?).

I'm happy to report that I've outgrown that particular phobia, to be replaced by more-- well, if not entirely useful, certainly more rational aversions. Or are they? My list of fears is as follows:

heights
spiders
death
aliens
roundabouts

Some of these seem rational, some not-- which is in fact the case, but as I think about it, not the ones you might think. Confused? Be prepared to be more so:

Heights: I am actually more afraid of fake heights than I am of real heights. I would go on the rock climbing wall. I would do that zipline thing that you do over the jungle. I am not averse to sitting in the window seat on the plane or going to the observation decks of notable buildings. I wouldn't go sky diving, but that is because I am more afraid of breaking something (see "death"). However, if I am playing a video game wherein my character is teetering on something narrow and waaaaaaay off the ground (as in Hades' challenge in "God of War"), my palms get so sweaty that the controller slips and I almost pee myself.

Spiders: While not rational (my father always used to laughingly point out the discrepancies in our relative sizes-- mine and the spiders', not mine and my father's), this is not uncommon. While I think I have less of an "ick" factor at play than a lot of girls-- I will cook squid and organ meats, after all-- I think this has more to do with the fact that they move inexplicably quickly relative to their sizes, they have too many legs, and they are completely unpredictable. Puppies are unpredictable, but they have floppy ears and fluffy bellies. Although I've seen spiders with fluffy bellies, and let me tell you, that is not a feather in their cap in the cuteness department.

Death: I am afraid of death, but I'm not really afraid of dying, save the amount of fear necessary for self-preservation. I'm more afraid of the death of people I love. Being left behind stinks. In a similar vein, I am more afraid of my own death in terms of how it would affect my husband and the other people I love. Debbie Downer is going to jump off of this topic immediately, and move quickly onto:

Aliens: They seriously freak my %$&* out. I cannot be left alone at night with a movie that has aliens in it, else I will still be awake at 3 am, scrunched at the head of the bed with all the lights on and something useless but comical like a potato masher in my hand. It's not that I see aliens as a clear and present danger; I think that a more general notion is that I fear any being with the combined traits of intelligence and malice. That's not to say that aliens are by necessity malicious. I'm just not going to play 20 Questions with them long enough to ascertain their intent if I find myself in that situation. I saw "War of the Worlds". You just don't mess around with that sort of thing.

Roundabouts: In the words of Raymond Babbit, I am an excellent driver. I've been traveling for ten years straight, and rather consistently find myself having to drive in unfamiliar cities under all kinds of conditions: blizzards, thunderstorms, 2 am, and it really doesn't phase me at all any more. That said, I will go SIGNIFICANTLY out of my way to avoid roundabouts. When it comes down to it, they are often lovely, but I'm just not that comfortable with that level of anarchy. I mean, think about how clueless the average person is when confronted with a four-way stop sign; there's a lot of "you-go-no-YOU-go", but the rules are actually clear-cut: you go in the order that you got there, and if you both get there at the same time, the one to the right goes first. Now, that stupidity is magnified 100-fold at a roundabout. One of two things happens: a) nobody goes, so everyone just sits there at their little yield signs looking perplexed and nervous, or b) EVERYONE goes when they oughtn't, so you either can't get on or you get stuck in the middle going 'round and 'round. It's HORRIBLE.

"What about the one down the street in Southlake?" asked Daniel when I explained this.

"I've made my peace with that one," I replied. "There are only ever three people there at any given time, and the speed limit is, like, negative twenty with a school zone on top of that."

It must be said, also, that most roundabouts are unnecessary. Rather than a spoke-and-wheels design of multiple streets to navigate, most are basically just glorified four-way stops that some imbecile decided to plop a fountain in the middle of because beauty is prized more than functionality. Maybe that's it; perhaps it's just a metaphor for today's superficial society. I think a cigar is just a cigar, though; they make me nervous.

Anyone else share any of the above fears-- or, better yet, those that are FAR more ridiculous?

Random thoughts cont.

2008-05-10T14:49:00.002-05:00

I went to Sacramento this week for three days.

Two hours before I had to leave, I was on my work laptop reading a company-wide message from IT warning us about virus attacks. As I was in medias res with the email, a pop-up window informed me that I had an incoming virus that was NOT CLEANABLE... and then it started downloading more like blazes! I had nineteen by the time I logged off the network! Well, once I talked myself down from the ledge, I contacted IT and they said that I had to overnight my laptop to them (the one and only downside to telecommuting is that you are the IT person, the receptionist, the assistant, the janitor, and pretty much everything that I had someone else take care of when I was in an actual office. Fortunately, the mishaps are few and far between and the benefits of working at home far outweigh the negatives, IMO.). The upshot of that was that I had NO computer for three days in California-- and with my workload, that's a big effing deal. So, here I am, working all weekend at home. I had to take a little break mid-Saturday (now) lest my head explode, as I see all the other kids outside playing in the fresh, fresh air. At least I have my laptop back, and am able to work-- I have no idea what I would have done otherwise, since I'm on both coasts next week and have four reports and I-cannot-begin-to-tell-you-how-much administrative hooha to deal with on top of that (expense reports, various kinds of training, trip planning, documents to finalize-- the usual). But at least now I can do it, so all's well that ends well.

Work crisis aside, I'm happy to report that my laptop has arrived back home, safe and sound, and seems to be virus-free (and, I daresay, much more speedy as would be expected). I was able to take care of a surprising amount of work sans laptop as I had various phone calls to make and trip schedules to finalize, but I also had more downtime in the evenings than I usually do; I was actually done with everything I could do by 5 pm each night. For once, I had time to sit and read the McPaper (the USA Today that they give you at the hotel), and came across a rather interesting article on a story that's been getting a lot of play lately, about the woman who remembers, in vivid detail, every single thing that has happened since the age of 14.

Think about that. Researchers say that, out of 365 days in a year (according to a "20/20" program on the same), most people remember about 9 days in vivid detail. Not this one; she had journals that she kept for twenty years and was able to say the date, the activity, the day of the week (OY), and the major world events that happened. As a result, though, she thought that this was much more of a curse than a blessing, and was anxiety-ridden with the memories that could not be repressed. This topic fascinated me, because of a cognition class that I took from UT's Dr. Gilden in the psych department (as an aside, this was a VERY challenging class, taught by a professor who really knew his stuff and made it interesting, but was in a whole other league intellectually-- he actually had a second PhD in astrophysics because he found it interesting. Never worked so hard for a "B"-- In. My. Life.). A large aspect of this class dealt with memory, both short-term working memory and long-term memory. The function of memory is pretty obvious to anyone who ever saw "50 First Dates". However, there is also a rather important aspect to NOT retaining everything: being able to repress traumatic (or even mundane) memories helps us to move forward and grow as humans, lest we get psychologically stymied. And that is exactly what happened with her. Interestingly, they found that she also tested on the low end in terms of abstract reasoning, which I found fascinating; I mean, what use in remembering everything if you have a difficult time generalizing what you experience to be able to use the information to learn from your mistakes rather than dwelling on them? If you miss the big picture, what good is the potential lesson? Still, they found two other people who had the ability, who did NOT find it to be a negative "gift", which shows, I think, how much is left to personality and interpretation. Wasn't it Abraham Lincoln who said that most people are about as happy as they decide to be?

So, dear readers, what are YOUR thoughts on this phenomenon?

Quick food update!

2008-05-05T16:35:00.007-05:00

So I actually found myself with a spot of downtime, and as I won't have a chance to cook anything for awhile, here's the rundown on what's happened the past couple of weeks in the kitchen:

I made scrambled eggs with lox and sweet onions from the Williams-Sonoma Breakfast and Brunches cookbook. I am, it must be said, a HUGE scrambled egg snob. I get it from my food writer grandmother. Most people, as in 90%, do not know how to cook eggs. Eggs are way delicate, and should be cooked on low, low heat. Scrambled eggs should be creamy; they are not "pan scrapings". If it takes you less than 10-15 minutes, you're doing it wrong. I generally don't even like to order them from room service, and definitely never from a buffet, as they vex me so. Only instance I've ever seen of their being done right was at the Cavalieri in Rome. There; I'm off my soapbox.

I made Szechuan chicken (from the Northern Exposure cookbook) in my wok and sticky rice in my rice cooker; a big production as it involves reconstituting dried shiitakes and a bunch of other onerous steps, but the result is worth it:

I made, not from a recipe, but from how Gramma taught me years ago, homemade pate with shallots and aspic. I find pate interesting, because if you get it from the store, ready-made, it is expensive, but if you make the chicken-and-not-goose-liver variety, it costs about a buck to make:

I made salmon steaks with a potato crust, NE cookbook:

And eggs florentine with gruyere, NE cookbook again:

Which brings us to present day! Hi-ho, hi-ho, and back to work I go!

Blogging deadbeat, part II

2008-04-29T16:06:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I've been lax in posting-- unfortunately, I'll have to be lax a little while longer. I'm taking a little hiatus from the blog just to catch up with life in general; I'm going through one of those times that we all go through where work and life responsibilities all hit at the same time, and free time is going to be at a premium for the next couple of weeks. Don't worry; in a couple of weeks I'll get back on track, and I'll have pictures and updates galore-- it's just crunch time. Posting my daily food and exercise is outside the realm, but fortunately, no longer necessary-- I dropped the five pounds I was aiming towards... stress, it seems, is not a bad diet. :) I'll get back to cooking, taking pics, posting about random hooha, and all that jazz the week after next-- stay tuned!

Food and exercise log, Friday and Saturday

2008-04-19T20:48:00.006-05:00

Friday was a pretty good day. Breakfast was frozen waffle city; HOWEVER, this is one of my favorite things to do to Eggos. Pop two in the toaster oven. Chop up a few pecans, a dash of wheat germ, and empty a can of fruit on top, and voila! Healthy, low-sugar alternative with high fiber and protein:

Trust me. It's yummy. Had it with a cup of coffee with cream and Splenda.

Lunch was leftover lasagna from the other night and a box of raisins (get your fruit in where you can):

For dinner, Daniel picked up a rotisserie chicken and we had it with fresh rosemary and a brown rice side. For exercise that day, another 30 minutes on the glider.

Saturday, breakfast was a sad little South Beach cereal bar I ate on the way to my hair appointment-- good for a cereal bar, but sadly lacking as a meal. Lunch was the leftover pasta side from the San Francisco Oven sandwich the other night and a can of peas; I hate to admit this, but I eat peas (and corn) from a can without heating it up, and consider it a guilty pleasure. Peas not pictured:

That's Fresca on the side. My brother has gotten me addicted to Fresca, my now-favorite calorie free soda.

For dinner, I made the orechiette pasta with chicken, parmesan, and fresh rosemary from this month's "Real Simple" magazine, which was YUMMY:

I am finding that I eat a lot of pasta. That's fine, considering that I work out most days. Not today, though-- took the day off. The hour and a half I spent tooling around Market Street replenishing our storm-diminished refrigerator was, I found, cardio enough.

Food and exercise log

2008-04-17T21:57:00.004-05:00

So. I skipped breakfast today-- not something that I usually do, and not something that I advocate. I stand by the previous statement that it's the most important meal of the day.

That said. For lunch I had a Healthy Choice steamer bowl of chicken marinara pasta, a little fruit cup, and a can of V8 that I didn't quite finish. Needless to say, after we had to throw away the contents of our refrigerator post-storm, I have only been to Sam's Club and not the regular grocery store, and it shows. For some reason, Blogger is not uploading the image; however, rest easy knowing that the presentation of the frozen meal was... less than stellar. (Update-- must have been tstorm related-- I have picture-uploading access again!)

Got hungry at around 3 pm as 400 total calories is not alot to cruise through the day on, so had a mini-bag of popcorn.

Dinner was a chicken salad sandwich from San Francisco Oven.
Also had entirely too much white wine with the hubby on the porch during our thunderstorm.

My back is still killing me, so exercise was 30 minutes on the glider in our exercise room as it is low-impact and I can do it without cringing.

My observations:

1) The issue doesn't seem to have anything to do with overeating. If anything, I don't eat very much a'tall throughout the day; I don't snack excessively or eat too many sweets, and my portions are small. The liquid calories, however, could stand to go bye-bye, so I'm nixing the wine for the time being.
2) I could seriously work more produce into my diet-- canned veggie juice and canned fruit do not a healthy diet make, and I shudder to consider my sodium level after today.
3) Exercise level is not bad. It would have been easy to blow it off completely given the current injury state, and for that I give myself props. However, I definitely see more results when I do more high-impact aerobics and strength training-- 30 minutes of low-impact is pretty minimal. When I can lift more than our cat without crying in pain, I will work this back into the routine.

3 Squares a Day!

2008-04-16T21:29:00.004-05:00

Daniel and I have decided to get in shape and stop feeling like, well, slugs.

In the spirit, I'm starting a temporary blog called "3 squares a day"; in the spirit of eating right and getting in shape, we are going to start becoming more accountable in terms of our daily choices.

One of the biggest tenets of diet programs like Weight Watchers, South Beach, what have you, deals with recording your food and exercise intake.

I'm kicking it up a notch. Until I get to my ideal fitness level, I'm actually going to record, pictorally, what I eat, and record my fitness activity. Kind of the ultimate in accountability, if you will.

This isn't about bigtime deprivation. It's about lifestyle change. I will still cook. I will still cook good things. I will still cook GREAT things. All of these have a place, I believe, in a healthy diet-- it's all about portion control. No cutting out food groups; I've done Atkins, and all that does is make you feel woozy. I've cut out yummy things, and all that does is make you feel sad.

It's about making good choices with every meal; eating when you feel hungry, stopping when you're no longer, and getting adequate exercise. We'll see how it goes, but this has always been my prescription when I've been in the best shape. Wish me luck!

In the words of millions, the diet starts tomorrow! Massively tedious blog entries to come!

Ow, friggin' OW!

2008-04-14T11:31:00.004-05:00

Perhaps the 20+ hours that Daniel and I spent gardening this weekend contributed to it.

Perhaps I should not lift something heavier than I am, like our recycle bin this morning.

I threw my back out something FIERCE. I am sitting here with a lumbar pillow and a heating pad, and my blood is currently 90% naproxen. Travel this week should be... interesting. Thank God my briefcase has wheels. I'll live. I've done it before. But good night, NURSE, back pain is horrible.

In other news, Daniel and I watched the "Rock of Love" finale last night (he grudgingly but supportively)-- thank heavens we can get back to quality programming now, like "The Bachelor" (tongue firmly in cheek). Oh, how I love me some bad reality train wreck tv!

Blogging deadbeat!

2008-04-11T13:23:00.009-05:00

Okay, so I have been VERY remiss in blogging lately, but it's been crazy. I'm going to make this one, big, honking (I never know what that means but it becomes part of the vernacular when you live in Texas, and I find it colorful) blog post to get everyone up-to-date with what's been going on, with pictures to boot. Here we go:

First off, I spent a FANTASTIC weekend the weekend of the 29th up in Chicago for Erin's baby shower! Her friend Carol is, I must say, my IDOL. This girl throws a mean shower, and really has her act together in the decorating/baking/Martha Stewart times 100 department. Her children are ADORABLE and, at 4 and 2, speak French as well as English and have fantastic manners to boot. The rest of Erin's friends are fantastic as well; she and my brother are really blessed to have such great people in their lives! The shower was just great; instead of those horrible, gross, stupid games that are so often at baby showers, everyone had a white onesie that they got to decorate with paint and fabric pens-- how creative and cute is that?? My nephew, I'm telling you, will never have to wear the same thing twice after this shower. Erin's parents were in town for the weekend as well-- I just adore them!-- and my parents came up just for the day on that Saturday. We had a great time dining out at all sorts of places, and Andrew loaned us God of War, for which I both thank him and curse him as those kinds of games are like crack to me.

Andrew came to Dallas the following weekend, so we were truly spoiled to get to see him two weekends in a row! Again, we ate out more than people ought to in one weekend-- but I'm not complaining!-- and we went to go see "21" and played card games back at Mom and Dad's. "21" was interesting. Honestly, although I can understand why casinos would not be in favor of it, I personally don't think that there is anything empirically wrong with counting cards. I don't think people deserve to have the snot beaten out of them just because they happen to be gifted in an area that is not illegal! Let me tell you, if I knew how to count cards, I certainly wouldn't be hanging out at the slot machines, that's for darn sure.

I've had a couple of trips-- just day trips to New Orleans and to Shreveport-- but have had a gazillion flights cancelled due to 1) weather and 2) the MD-80 cancellations. The next few weeks should be jam-packed with harried make-up trips-- it's going to be a busy time.

Oh, yes... I have cooked some things... there was a broccoli and goat cheese quiche:

A spinach and cheese crustless pie (I've been grooving on the savory tart/pie-type things lately, dunno why):

... and coconut macaroons:

On the literary front, on various plane flights, I finished reading Robert Jordan's "Crossroads of Twilight" and the prequel "New Spring" and started "Knife of Dreams". To give some background, these are all books from the "Wheel of Time" series, one of the more popular fantasy series since Tolkien. It's a really, really addictive series, but it's been going on for something like eighteen years and many books now-- "Knife of Dreams" is book 11, not counting the prequel that was written right before that one. Each book is between 600 and 1100 pages long, or thereabouts, so it's not a small commitment to get into this series. Book 12 was about halfway written (or at least conceptualized), and then Robert Jordan died. It was a great loss, as he was just a master storyteller, but evidently, when he knew that he was going to die, he dictated the particulars of the plot to his wife/editor. Now another fantasy writer has been commissioned to finish the series, and Book 12 should be out in Fall 2009. I am SO thrilled that it will be completed, I cannot even say!

Oh, in other news... we had our first tornado experience the night before last! At 3:45 am, we were awakened by the tornado sirens and the most CRAZY lightning either of us had ever seen! It was nonstop for a long time, and looked like daylight. Unbelievable. Then we heard it... sounded light a freight train. Our house, as many of you know, is heavy on the glass in every room-- we have A LOT of windows. Fortunately, we have a downstairs guest bath that is an interior room and has NO windows, and a bathtub to boot; when you live in Tornado Alley, that's the next best thing to a storm cellar. So, I grabbed the cat, Daniel grabbed a large couch cushion, and we spent some time in the tub. Lucy was such a brave trooper-- didn't so much as claw, just curled up and purred nervously. In the end, the only damage we had done was that the top of our chimney was ripped off and then placed ever-so-gently on top of our outside air conditioning unit-- the tornado didn't hit is, just went by overhead and evidently touched down on the NE side of DFW airport. We had no power, no phone, nuthin', until last night, so we took advantage of the down time to do massive yard work yesterday. Oh, and we had to chunk just about everything in the fridge, although we salvaged some hamburger meat that Daniel cooked on the grill last night-- you do what you can when you have no electricity! We had a cooler with ice and some of the fridge food; I find it interesting and telling what people salvage in such an instance:

Heavens, yes... don't let anything happen to the chocolate soy milk or the mudslide coffee creamer! Reminds me of when I ran away from home as a child and packed my bathing suit, a Barbie, and eight tootsie rolls... you know, just in case.

Anyway, that's what's been happening-- I'll be better about the updates henceforth!

Easter Eggs-Stravaganza!

2008-03-27T15:19:00.007-05:00

We had a GLORIOUS Easter weekend at chez Cherek in Sun City-- okay, an Easter 24 hours, but it was fun-filled and great to see everyone! Almost the whole clan was there; Kevin rode with us, and Christi and Nathan came up from Houston, Carrie was there... needless to say, there was much bonding and game-playing! Daniel and I made Easter sugar cookies the night before as a "house gift"-- thanks to the Williams-Sonoma cookie cutters and royal icing kit (and Easter M&Ms, edible silver dust and silver dragees-- we have an impressive baking drawer). Here are the pics of the cookies:

This was the most Easter-y gift bag I could find in our gift wrap closet, and I lined the different layers of cookies with strips I cut from a cello bag that had butterflies on it that matched the butterflies on the side of the gift bag:

I wish we had taken pics of the festivities this weekend; one of these days I'll get around to taking pics of actual PEOPLE instead of food! It just seems that when you're spending time with everyone, you don't want to stop to take pictures because you'll miss out on the fun! I promise I'll get better, though!

Cooking off-nights

2008-03-20T10:38:00.002-05:00

I had the question recently of whether I cook EVERY night. No. Lord, no. First of all, on the days that I am traveling, obviously I'm not cooking. When I'm at home I would say that I make a full-blown from scratch meal twice a week. Two other nights might be leftovers, as each recipe usually makes 4-6 servings (but often that's lunch, too). On my non-cooking nights, these are the typical meals:

Boil pasta, mix with a jar of store-bought pesto, sprinkle some pre-grated (NEVER from the green can, ugh) Parmesan, and serve with a quick salad and garlic bread. I don't make the garlic bread from scratch; I get the Texas Toast in bulk from Sam's and pop a couple into the toaster oven.
Rarely do we get takeout, but when we do, it's either Pacific House chinese or I Fratelli pizza, or something along those lines. Fast food is only ever consumed during road trips, but every once in a long while we'll get Subway.
We might go out to eat once a week, and we usually like to try something new-- last time was a neat Salvadoran place that's local and makes killer pupusas. We also went to a place this past weekend where we tried ANTELOPE. Yummy.
Bertolli dinners for two are FANTASTIC and I make them often-- open the bag, cook for ten minutes, voila. Serve with garlic bread (above). See also Michael Angelo's veggie lasagna or California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza (if you're going to do frozen pizza, it's the best).
When Daniel is out of town and I'm home alone, I will have either leftovers, a "big salad" of the chef's variety with whatever's in the fridge, a Lean Cuisine, or a bowl of pop-the-top soup.
I have been known to make Tuna Helper-- my WT box meal of choice.

Backlog of food cooked recently

2008-03-20T10:19:00.005-05:00

I keep taking pics, but haven't put them on the site, so this was this week:

Cumin Py Mai Fun noodles in a wok (with chicken, sesame oil, scallions, and all kinds of goodies):

Linguine with clam sauce and broccoli steamed with capers and garlic for my dad last night:

And, for brunch this morning (I love working at home where you can eat brunch at home in front of the fire!), a Dutch apple pancake-- I served with a side of Canadian bacon:

In other, less fun news, I did something to my foot. It feels like a minor sprain and I can put weight on it, but it is definitely messed up. I am going to have to postpone the 5K as I should not be running three miles on it. I'll have to look for a different race at a later date and work on non-weight bearing cross training for now!

62. Find an accountant

2008-03-15T13:48:00.003-05:00

Pam at H&R Block ROCKS.

We went and had our taxes done today. We actually just ran home to make a pitstop to pick up some charity receipts we had forgotten, but as Daniel looks for them, may I just say that I am SO glad we found someone to do this for us? This is how complex we are: we bought a house this year, we both work at home and our contract employer does not reimburse utilities, so we needed the square footage of dedicated office space for two people and those receipts (but for the apartment for part of the year and the house for the rest of the year), we make charitable contributions, we have various investments, etc. If we had tried to do that ourselves it would have been GRUESOME. If we weren't gone several days a week it would be one thing, but it is simply not worth what little time we have together to waste a whole weekend doing that ourselves. Plus, she was cool in that she knew more than us about which forms we should use and which things would be worth itemizing versus not itemizing based on various factors (and hidden things that we didn't even know were tax benefits), and she was really good at walking us through every step of the process so we were involved and weren't just blindly assuming that everything was right. We'll definitely use her next year!

6 word memoir assignment

2008-03-14T16:55:00.003-05:00

Janna tagged me for a blog thing, and I'm supposed to write a six word memoir with a picture and then tag five other blog friends. I don't know five other people with blogs, I only know four, and one of them is Janna and one just had a baby a couple of days ago, so I'll just post here! This is a six-word memoir of my temporary illness:

Deus ex machina for my phlegm.

Fun! Now, that felt a little haiku-y; I think I'll write some haikus about bronchitis:

Daytime TV sucks;

I watched "Rock of Love"--

Four episodes in a row.

Coughing, hacking, yuck.

My nose is quite red.

Paris would say, "That's not hot."

I'm so sick of soup;

From chicken and rice

To ramen in a foam cup.

Still furnishing the house!

2008-03-14T13:12:00.008-05:00

I think we're coming into the end zone at this point. We have been on the hunt for a sideboard for the dining room, especially in light of the fact that we have a ginormous mirror that has been parked on the floor leaning against its designated wall for the longest time, awaiting its piece of complementary furniture, but none of the sideboards we've found have been long enough for the space. We found one that we like from Hooker Furniture and just need to find out where they are selling it and what the dimensions are:

The darker wood is the same color as our dining table, and we actually have a two-toned piece by Hooker in our entry hall, adjacent to the dining room (and yes, those are Christmas candy canes that we still have in the candy dish-- we have even more in our wine bucket on the bar, too):

As I was messing around with the digital camera, I saw the photos Daniel took of our 48-hour snowstorm that happened while I was in Houston last week-- when I left it was 50 degrees, and when I returned the following night it was 55. You gotta hand it to Dallas-- while our weather is weird, at least when it's bad it doesn't last long, like the ice storm that had us sequestered at home in Austin for almost a week last year! I'm sorry I missed the snow, though-- it was really pretty!

Yes, I realize that this is not a major snowfall compared to that being experienced by several of my readers, but let me ask you this: is it 75 degrees in YOUR city today? This was a WEEK ago! Weird, weird, weird weather in Texas... I'm telling you.

89. Stay in bed for an entire day

2008-03-13T13:09:00.007-05:00

Yeah... bronchitis was SO not what I had in mind for #89, but whatev. Television during the day, by the way, is perfectly awful, as it turns out-- to the left I am actually watching the "Millionaire Matchmaker" marathon on Bravo. Oy. Vay.

I was supposed to be in San Diego right now, but I woke up with just a wicked case of bronchitis, complete with fever and a voice that is a hybrid of Kirstie Alley's and Marge Simpson's. On the bright side, I. Love. Our. Bedroom. It is the coziest, most soothing-iest place to be sick on the PLANET. I finally found new window treatments in a chocolate brown gauzy scarf fabric that matches our bedding a bit better, and found pillows that worked on the brown leather recliners a little better than the old ones (currently residing in the armoire above left). The final result (I need to find a plant for the table, and I was thinking maybe a large white orchid or something along those lines, and a great piece of artwork for the wall-- we'll find that at some point, no rush):

It's very dark, but you get the idea; also, Daniel's in the process of re-painting some plantation shutters that the former owners of the house left behind for the 3 windows in the sitting area. It's dark today because I am in Serious Sick Cave Mode (SSCM). If you come down with an upper respiratory infection, I strongly recommend the healing properties of a mug of hot cocoa-- it makes everything better. Make it from scratch-- it's so much better than from a mix and not a lot more work. I take a spoonful of Hershey's cocoa powder and mix it in a mug with just a spoonful of sugar and a little water to make it syrup-y (just a spoonful of sugar because I like mega-marshmallows and it keeps it from being too cloying that way). Pour in some milk, stir, nuke for a minute and a half, stir in a dash of vanilla extract, and top with marshmallows. During the holidays, I'll use a candy cane as a stir stick as well. Hot cocoa really does make you feel better, especially if you don't feel like eating much more than broth.

I haven't blogged in a while because a) I have been as sick as a very sick dog the past couple of days, b) I was working before that, and c) Steve and Kevin came to visit this past weekend. Naturally, there was cooking involved, and not surprisingly, I took some pics. I made a batch of my FAVORITE chocolate chip cookie recipe, the famous internet-scandal Neiman Marcus cookies:

They ROCK because the flour is a combination of wheat flour and finely milled oats, and in addition to the chocolate chips, you take a huge honkin' Hershey bar and grate it into the actual batter. For brunch for everyone on Sunday I made a leek and Canadian bacon quiche from the Williams-Sonoma "Breakfasts and Brunches" cookbook (in the new tart pan that I bought this weekend). A really big difference-maker in the quality of quiche is to make your own pie crust; like the cocoa, it is SO much better and not a whole lot more work:

On Sunday night after everyone left, I cooked basic home-cooking stuff for my fella: I made ginger-orange pork chops:

And homemade not-from-a-box potatoes au gratin:

Anyway, more updates later... I am going back to bed to see if I can get back to normal sometime soon, as I'm off to Florida next week!

Dinner on a snowy (?!) night in Dallas...

2008-03-04T17:01:00.015-06:00

Last night's featured meal was from the "Eating Well Rush Hour Cookbook". I made stuffed pasta "ruffles" with tomato and basil sauce. The "ruffles" are basically just lasagna noodles that you split down the middle, roll up with a great mixture of goodies, and stand on their ends before cutting a little "x" on the top so they bloom when you cook them. Now, one of my favorite things ever is any kitchen gadget that only does one thing. I have an avocado peeler that I cannot think of anything else to use for, and for that I love it. Last night I got to use my nutmeg grater-- fresh nutmeg beats the heck out of pre-grated any day. Granted, you can use the grater for other things, but it has a neat little compartment at the top in which to keep your partially-used nutmeg:

The other elements of the stuffing over there on the right are spinach, ricotta, ham, salt/pepper, and parmesan. Here's the final dish with the sauce (I use a pie plate because it's shallow enough). Also, always use fresh basil-- I have a basil plant in the box window of the kitchen:

On the side were balsamic roasted onions:

And a loaf of French country bread:

The dessert was a "swirled raspberry cream". This was labor-intensive; the raspberry puree had to be mashed through a strainer to get out the seeds while the whole raspberries soaked in sugar and Grand Marnier:

In the meantime, I mixed gelatin and lemon juice and then made a makeshift bain-marie to dissolve:

The puree was mixed with powdered milk, confectioners sugar, and cream cheese in the food processor, and then the gelatin was added... I swirled the liquor-laced raspberries in with it in individual cups and refrigerated until it was set:

To top things off, it snowed during dessert! Today, it should be noted, it is 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, just like two days ago.

New chairs!

2008-03-04T16:38:00.005-06:00

So we've had our dining table for a few months now:

... but didn't have any chairs because we didn't like the chairs that go with it (they were too "country" and just didn't work with our other stuff). After much, much searching, we finally decided on some and ordered them today after we voted!

The chairs are also from Pottery Barn, so we were able to go into the store and make sure the wood matched that of our table. We wanted 8, and lucked out-- they discontinued the chairs and have EXACTLY 8 left! Hooray! They should be delivered in the next couple of weeks.

If you haven't gone out and voted, there's still time-- get out there now! I get very emotional when I vote. A lot of people freakin' DIED to give me the right to be a part of the process, and so many people in the world don't get a say in what happens to them-- it is a gift, it is a responsibility. If you didn't vote in the primary, make SURE you get out there in November and cast your ballot. If you don't, and I'm not kidding, you pretty much forfeit your right to complain about anything that TOUCHES on public policy-- I have nothing but contempt for people who complain but don't even bother to vote. There are lots of reasons not to vote in the primary, but NOT in November. Start researching the candidates now-- you have months to do so!! And I don't want to hear about not having time-- I had to work in Dallas earlier today and I have another trip later this week, but I made the time. I'm off my soapbox now.

Actual Oscars

2008-03-03T15:09:00.002-06:00

This, however, is what I actually wore on Oscar night this year:

It IS navy, though.

Imaginary Oscars

2008-03-03T14:52:00.008-06:00

I was supposed to go to Shreveport today, but all of the flights to and from were either delayed due to the crazy, tornadic weather or cancelled altogether. I just wrapped up some things for the day and took a little break to explore my hypothetical red carpet outfit on neimanmarcus.com. Oh, but they have some lovely gowns! I think I'm going to go with the Carmen Marc Valvo:

I so enjoy evening gowns in navy; I find it classy and understated without defaulting to predictable black.

The gown has a lovely cascading back:

I can't stand dyed-to-match shoes for formal gowns; that is so junior prom circa 1987. Rather, I would go with a gold strappy Louboutin sandal.

I'll skip the necklace as I don't want to overdo it, but these earrings are fabulous:

And I'm thinking I would need something on my wrist.

With the clutch that I would like, it would evidently cost me about $25K to go to the Oscars. However, I'm sure that the designers will lend me the duds for free so they can get some red carpet exposure.

Yeah, I need to wrap it up for the day.

Date Night In

2008-03-01T20:40:00.004-06:00

We're in the middle of a Saturday date night at home, but Daniel is doing the dinner dishes from the dinner that I cooked right now (my husband is a dear that way), so I have time to quickly post before our film. One of my favorite EVER cookbooks is the "Northern Exposure Cookbook"; someone took the time to go through all of these episodes of the show and come up with recipes for the dishes mentioned. Tonight I made the black bean enchiladas. First, I whipped up some guac to have with chips; I just eyeball this and do it sans recipe, and it varies. Tonight, I used avocado, medium salsa, finely diced garlic, salt/pepper, chopped cilantro, and lime juice:

The enchiladas recipe made for a BIG tray; that's okay, as we love leftovers for lunch. The secret is that the ground beef/black bean mixture inside the FLOUR tortillas has a bit of tequila in it. Also, the chili powder that I used is the homemade stuff that Daniel made a while ago; yes, my husband made chili powder from SCRATCH using dried peppers. It is phenomenal.

Sounds like he's done-- I'm off to snuggle in front of French cinema!

Saturday brunch

2008-03-01T12:28:00.004-06:00

So I wasn't able to do Saturday brunch last week (see previous post), but today I made the sourdough blueberry pancakes from the Williams-Sonoma "Breakfasts and Brunches" book. I used the sourdough starter that I used for the sourdough waffles (http://alicherek.blogspot.com/2008/02/saturday-brunch.html); you refrigerate the yeast mixture that you used previously and just "activate" it the night before using again by adding flour and lukewarm water and letting it sit overnight at room temperature until it is bubbly (I just had time to do this last night as I didn't get back from my San Diego trip until 9:00 pm-- long work day that started at 4:30 am California time. When I'm only gone for one night, I never try to acclimate to a new time zone, and I usually get up at 6:30 CST at home. But I digress...). These pancakes were yummy and easy to make; you just whip up the batter, let it sit for an hour, and then thrown on the hot pan and drop the blueberries on top until it's time to flip. The recipe calls for butter in the pan, but as there is melted butter in the batter and a pat of butter on the final product, that is overkill to me; I used Pam:

One of my biggest peeves when making things like waffles and pancakes that you 1) make a lot of, and 2) need to serve piping hot, is that it is hard to keep the whole stack hot when you're cooking for twenty minutes. I've learned to solve the problem by putting a large plate in the oven on 200 degrees and putting the pancakes in there to stay warm while working on the rest of them:

These were good! I usually make the buttermilk variety and have never made sourdough pancakes before; the batter gets perfectly crisped on the outer rims without being overdone, and the tanginess of the sourdough is a good foil for the sweetness of the blueberries on the underside of each pancake and the maple syrup on top.

Random thoughts...

2008-03-01T10:27:00.003-06:00

I'm a doer, so boredom is not an emotion that I feel altogether that often. However, last weekend I was put largely out of commission by a migraine that lasted for four days. If you get migraines, you know what I'm talking about. I've had friends and family who have mused, "Hmmm... I'm not sure if I've ever had a migraine before." Believe me, if you're not sure, you haven't. It is to the headache what the motion picture is to the photograph, and a horror flick to boot. Any light-- ANY light, as minute as that coming from the alarm clock-- is excruciating to the point of making you vomit, literally. The meds that you get work if you get an aura beforehand, but if you miss it and wake up with a full-blown migraine, it's pretty much too late and it can last for, as it turns out, days. Sleep is pretty much out of the question-- have a friend put on a pair of those spiked climbing boots and jump up and down on your left eye, and try to catch a couple of winks at the same time. So basically, there's nothing for it but to lie there clutching your head for hours, and boredom is probably one of the worst side effects. I was thinking a lot about boredom as a result, and noted that, when you're busy, time flies by, but when you're bored, it c-r-e-e-p-s by ever so slowly. Then I thought about procrastination-- isn't that just a way to keep from getting busy, and hence a way to cultivate boredom? And why would you want to cultivate boredom? Then it struck me: people that procrastinate fear death. That has to be it.

Of course, that way, life lasts longer-- but is it a life worth living? I mean, really.

Yeah. Migraines are the worst.

68. Learn physics

2008-02-24T13:15:00.003-06:00

I'm still in the process of this one, but had a breakthrough today. Some background: as a liberal arts major, I never had to take physics (all of my science credits were in astronomy; while physics is involved in that discipline, I never took an actual PHYSICS course). I always felt as though I missed out a little, though; I was a philosophy minor, and physics is in a lot of ways the scientific analog of philosophy in terms of Cool Things to Discuss in the Coffee Shop. I always wanted to learn more about it, but never quite got around to it, save interesting nonfiction reading such as "The Physics of Immortality" and "E-mc2: the Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation" and similar.

I'm digging this 101 in 1001 activity so much, as it's really kick-starting my getting around to things that have not been gotten around to; when you work 50+ hours a week and travel every week to boot, it's easy to put other pursuits on the back burner unless you kind of give yourself a kick in the pants. I'm reading "Physics for Dummies" and got the corresponding workbook. Don't laugh; it's actually not a "Cliffs' Notes" lazy-man's approach so much as a step-by-step basic overview (the equivalent of an intro class, if you will, which was my goal), and with the accompanying workbook, I really feel that I'm covering the basics. Today was, intellectually, an exciting one in terms of a piece of my academic history in which I had been feeling bereft since I was 14. To wit, when I was in 9th grade, I was part of an extracurricular academic honors group that was invited to go to College Station to participate in the high school math/science tournament. Obviously, none of the people in my junior high class had studied physics, and while the biology part went swimmingly, the more advanced subjects were way over our heads. I remember, specifically, this one question that asked "If a ball were rolling on a table at such-and-such a speed, and the table was x meters off the ground, how far away would the ball land from the table when it rolled off?" Everyone in my little group actually took their hands and mimicked a ball rolling off, and then eyeballed the resultant length. Needless to say, our answers were, um, wrong. We all had a laugh, but it actually really bothered me that I didn't even know how to approach answering that question. Well, as of today, I now can not only calculate the answer to that very problem, but I also know that gravity, as a vector, would act upon that ball once it rolled off the table to result in a change of velocity that I can also calculate to the tee. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon- and with a migraine that I've had since yesterday morning.

34. Run in a 5K race

2008-02-20T15:46:00.003-06:00

I just got back from the gym (love working at home, where you can do that if you desire!), where I've just begun training for the Victory over Violence 5K in Ft. Worth on April 12. It's a great cause and a good race, and it's fun to have a medium-term goal like that (in case you haven't surmised, I am very goal-oriented). I've run several 5Ks before, but it's been literally years and years, so I'm doing a "couch to 5K" training program from the Internet. The program is three days a week of running, two sessions a week of cross-training on any other kind of cardio for 30 minutes each, and 2 days a week of strength training (I'm doing one day of lower and one day of upper body). I'm running on the treadmill at 4.5 mph, because ultimately my goal is to come in at around 45 minutes for the 5K, a good goal for a non-runner that's ambitious but not unrealistic. I also set the hill program to "random" since most 5Ks are not done on treadmills and you have to account for erratic incline when you train. The running program, mileage-wise, is as follows for the 8 weeks of training:

Week 1: 0.5 miles, 0.5 miles, 1 mile
Week 2: 1 mile, 1mile, 1.5 miles
Week 3: 2 miles, 1.5 miles, 1.5 miles
Week 4: 2 miles, 1.5 miles, 2 miles
Week 5: 2 miles, 2 miles, 2.5 miles
Week 6: 2 miles, 2.5 miles, 2.75 miles
Week 7: 2.5 miles, 2.75 miles, 2.5 miles
Week 8: 2.75 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles

Race day: 3.2 miles, followed by a long, hot bath and a hot toddy.

Right now I'm only working out 4 days a week; because it doesn't take very long to run half a mile to a mile, I'm doing the two days of strength training and one cross-training session on my running days, with one additional day of cross training. As my mileage increases, so will the number of days I'm working out. I must say, I have to drag my butt to the gym right now; if I waited until I "felt motivated", I simply wouldn't go at all! I really, really enjoy it once I'm there, though! Isn't that just the case with everything worth doing in life, really? Running is such a metaphor.

Why I love my husband, part 5000

2008-02-20T11:14:00.005-06:00

I love that Daniel loves Lucy-- love me, love my cat. She is his little buddy. So I am on the road all day yesterday, and when I come home, this is what I find:

Can you see where this is going?

Yesterday in Metairie, LA, I spotted...

2008-02-20T10:01:00.003-06:00

... a sign outside a shop that said, "We buy broken gold and silver. Gold teeth, broken chains, broken rings."

Gold.

Teeth.

It's "The Bone Collector" meets "Pirates of the Caribbean"! Funfunfun!

85. Drink a bottle of Dom Perignon

2008-02-17T16:18:00.006-06:00

Yes, yes we did. What do I think? Well, I can certainly see that it is a more refined taste than a lot of run-of-the-mill champagnes that I've had; a common word to describe the finish is "pearly" and I think that's about the best descriptive. Is it worth 190 clams? Oh, for God's sake, absolutely not. Fun to try once to say that we did, but it pretty much supports the concept that most people pay ENTIRELY too much for what they consider to be "good" wine, whereas the true aficionado knows that similar quality can be found at a far lower price. High price does not equal superior wine, at least after the law of diminishing marginal returns kicks in. Anyone who tells you otherwise is seriously into showing off and little else. It was fun to try, and we researched and read about the history of the wine first, and it brings a lovely sense of occasion to an evening. Honestly, though, I've had some really good $10 cavas, and for the "high end", you'd do just about as well with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot or Perriet-Jouet. Love the label, though.

Naturally, you cannot sample a wine without some kind of food. I used the leftover crab meat to make a bubbly hot crab dip out of random ingredients we had around, and the result was good with some garlic crackers:

I also made a great meal from the "Eating Well Rush Hour Cookbook", which boasts good flavors with relatively low calories and fat and, theoretically, recipes that take less than an hour. That is, parenthetically, if you happen to keep a mise en place chef hanging around for all the dirty work. Sorry, I can't perfectly remove the pith and membrane from navel oranges quite as quickly as they infer that I can.

This meal consisted of pork tenderloin medallions with a port-cranberry reduction, a nice homemade rice pilaf (I used jasmati rather than plain white rice-- it's more fragrant), and a salad of escarole, red onion, and navel oranges.

For dessert, and this was seriously good, you take nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt, whisk it with crystallized ginger and dried ground ginger, and put it into dessert cups in the freezer for another 30 minutes. The pic is blurry because, frankly, I had had three glasses of Dom by the time the night was over:

You get the idea, though.

Saturday brunch

2008-02-16T10:46:00.004-06:00

Very little to-do is typically made about breakfast. I have to eat it or I fall down (love having MVPS), but I don't typically make a production over it (although I make a lot of omelettes, but those take five minutes). I decided to start making a big-deal Saturday breakfast with a new menu each week; helps kick-start a relaxing weekend after a hard week of work and travel for both of us! This week's dish was from the Williams-Sonoma "Breakfast and Brunches" cookbook: their sourdough waffles with walnuts recipe. The sourdough starter actually has to be made a couple of days ahead of time so that it can ferment (alternatively, you can buy it at a gourmet store instead of making from scratch, but it's easy to make from scratch); I threw it together after my flight arrived on Wednesday night; it takes no time at all and is basically just a mixture of yeast, lukewarm water, sugar, and flour that starts to bubble and turn sour after a couple of days. I toasted the walnuts separately before sprinkling them onto the batter and used a heart-shaped waffle iron (of course-- Valentine's week continues, don't you know). Here is the finished dish, garnished with strawberries, raspberries, and a high-quality organic maple syrup:

Daniel's still sick and I'm starting to feel a little under as well, but it's nothing that waffles and coffee can't fix. :)

Valentine's Part II

2008-02-15T13:11:00.004-06:00

I'm cooking for tonight in between work projects; I just baked the dessert and it's cooling. I love making holiday-specific baked goods; this is kind of a Valentine's Rocky Road brownie recipe from the "Great American Cookie Cookbook". I changed it a little in that it called for mixed nuts and Valentine's M&M's on top of the puffed marshmallows on top of the brownies, and I'm more of a pecan girl when it comes to nuts for brownies-- some nuts just don't work with the flavor profiles. I'll cut them into squares and put them on a platter after they cool:

Daniel still has a fever, so we opted to delay the champagne and just do the food. I started with a salad of field greens, edible flowers, chevre, chives, and a balsamic vinaigrette:

I steamed king crab legs and melted little ramekins of butter to dip the meat in:

And made steamed asparagus on the side:

It was an easy-to-make quick dinner which, hopefully, had healing properties!

Valentine's Part I

2008-02-14T17:13:00.008-06:00

My husband is ever so sick right now (*sniff*), so we are doing our Valentine's dinner tomorrow night instead! We exchanged gifts, though; he gave me a FABULOUS pamperfest with chocolates, bath petals, jammies, and a lavender sachet... and I gave him a basket of things to use in conjunction with the new car. SO very feminine/masculine!

Naturally, there are decorations out the wazoo. I haven't polished the silver yet so I don't have the table set for tomorrow, but here is the centerpiece:

I also put lights in the ficus in the family room that are shaped like candy hearts with little sayings on them:

And there is a candle:

And candy:

In the meantime, I am making Daniel quick meatball soup from companyscomin.com called Texas Convict Soup. It's really, really good; you just add the mix and pasta to 4 cups of water, meatballs, 2T of olive oil, and 28 oz of crushed tomatoes, and let it simmer, after which you garnish with parmesan and parsley. Almost zero hands-on time and so yummy. It's simmering now:

This was the final soup in the bowl with cheese and parsley (I'm a huge believer in making food pretty even if it's "everyday" cooking; it doesn't take that much more effort but shows people you care! I am so 1950s!):

The "real" cooking and baking for VDay will happen tomorrow, and there will be more pics!

New table!

2008-02-14T09:37:00.004-06:00

Okay, okay, so we weren't really actively looking for a new coffee table for the family room, but our old one, while functional and not awful, didn't really go with the decor of the room:

The TV stand is black, the fireplace and hearth are black, the valances (not shown) on the windows have a black background, and the rug has a black border. Lucy is proud to model in the "before" picture.

The other day we went to Stacy Furniture again (looking for completely different pieces, natch), and they were having a doozy of a President's Day sale; we saw this puppy for a song:

The hardware actually matches the knobs on the cabinets and drawers in the bar of the family room and under the bookshelves, and I like the bottom shelf because you can store stuff under there so that it is still-accessible-but-not-cluttery.

Here's the after pic. Lucy is not modeling as she is now napping (it's 9:30 am) and the first pic was taken at 5:30 am; she's nocturnal like that.

Souvenirs

2008-02-14T08:30:00.002-06:00

Daniel and I like to get each other Christmas ornaments from the places we travel. I was in Sacramento this week, and we already have a California ornament. However, as it is the state capital, I could not resist these mints:

I was torn between the mints and the Arnold "Govenator" action figure.

In 'N Out Burger

2008-02-12T18:03:00.000-06:00

So I've been to California a lot. Aside from half my extended family's living out here and umpteen family trips to the West Coast growing up (and an undergrad acceptance to USC which, to my father and brother's relief, I opted not to take), I have had MANY California sites during my 10-year span of traveling almost every week for business. And yet, in all these years, not once had I ever been to In 'N Out Burger. Now, for those of you not familiar, there is A LOT of hype about this place. I'm not a huge fan of fast food; I tend to eschew the greasy sustenance of the impecunious as I have an aversion to both zits and thunder thighs, and I'm entirely too busy to succumb to the kind of sluggishness that such a diet unfailingly inspires. However, after I finished up at my site in Sacramento, I decided I would take the plunge and check it out. That's my meal to the left-- healthy, eh?

I gotta say, I wasn't all that impressed-- Erin, I completely agree with you that there is something amok with the sauce that they use. Don't get me wrong; I like a good burger. Daniel threw one on the grill the other day with this cumin rub, and I caramelized some shallots to throw on top, and we put them on these fancy onion buns-- not too shabby. The meal I had today was, in essence, just another fast food yuckfest. I mean, it was fine for what it was, but I really don't understand what all the hype is about. I'm left with a ho-hum view of the product and a desire to spend a little extra time in the hotel fitness center--RIGHT NOW.

Random Reviews

2008-02-11T13:43:00.000-06:00

"Juno": cute movie. The lead girl did a FAB job, and her dialogue was very witty. I dunno about the best pic nomination, though.

"No Country For Old Men": GREAT movie until the ending. WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT ENDING?? Did the Cohen brothers simply tire of writing?

"Atonement": My personal fave so far. My brother correctly commented that the soundtrack alone makes it a fantastic movie. I am seriously, however, considering starting an "I Hate Briony" club, complete with website and newsletter. Bad girl. BAD GIRL.

I am so coveting Keira's green dress, btw.

The Grammys last night: Amy Winehouse, get thee back to rehab. Yes, yes, yes.

14. Finish furnishing the house

2008-02-09T09:27:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay, so we're not done yet, but we got one step closer-- our chair arrived from Pottery Barn! Please excuse the lousy picture quality; Daniel is deleting the excess memory from our digital and I used my camera phone for these-- better quality pics next time, I promise. For reference, the swatch is the Monroe Stripe:

We liked the stripe and the texture of the fabric because our living room was too "solid", and it brings out the berry of the chair and a half from C&B. It's a lot less yellow than it appears in the photos below-- it's more neutral.

That's the chair in our room; we liked the armless aspect of it because you can still see the telly, but the room isn't ALL ABOUT the television that way.

And that's the chair in the room as seen from the gallery above. We still want to find a decent-sized round occasional table for between the two chairs, and a new entertainment center. We're still looking for dining room chairs, too, and possibly a sideboard-- and then we're done with the house furnishing! (As far as art and other, smaller pieces, we want to collect those over our travels, etc., rather than just putting in a hodgepodge of meaningless, cluttery "stuff", but the basics of furnishing will be done.)

My goddaughter is a hoot.

2008-02-08T10:19:00.000-06:00

So the other day, Keb and Steve were eating dinner and Katelyn, who had already finished, went in to watch "Blue's Clues". When Keb looked in to see what she was doing, she found that my goddaughter had completely disrobed and was sitting in the chair with her apparel at her feet.

"Why are you naked, Katelyn?" asked Keb.

"Because I wanted to be, Mommy," Katelyn replied.

You just can't argue with that logic.

Weekend with the Chereks!

2008-02-08T10:05:00.000-06:00

So we had the most FABULOUS time last weekend with the in-laws; Daniel's parents and Carrie came up and we had a wonderful Saturday in Dallas with Kevin and Anita. They live in the West Village area, which is ever-so-trendy and fun:

There's a LOT to do there, and by golly, we did it.

<---- We had lunch at Mi Cocina; FANTASTIC tortilla soup!

We went to a cool wine shop where each label was neater than the next. --->

<--- Carrie, Anita and I went clothes shopping in the various boutiques to take advantage of the crazy sales.

And we took the trolley to the Nasher Sculpture Museum, where we saw all kinds of cool stuff.

Carrie just took a pic of me from inside this sculpture:

<---- And I took a pic of Daniel (white shirt) looking up at the climbing-the-pole sculpture with the fake sculpture people (also looking up).

Great weekend-- I am so lucky to have married into such a great, fun family! Love you guys!

Sunny Florida... and Not-So Sunny Houston!

2008-02-07T13:32:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged in a few days because I have had the most CRAZY travel week ever! So on Tuesday, I woke up at 4 am due to the thunderstorms in Dallas (little Lucy hid, wedged between the trundle bed and the regular bed in the wicker guest room). Couldn't get back to sleep, and then I had an a.m. flight to Houston for a day trip. Went to Houston without incident, and then had to fly Continental (...) to Ft. Lauderdale in the p.m. My original flight wasn't going to get in until 10:30 pm, which is already late considering that I had to get up the next morning, early, and drive an hour to Miami. I had no upgrade because all my status is on American, and Continental has MINIMAL LEG ROOM. Well, because of the weather in Houston, which was muchmuchmuch worse than in Dallas, I was delayed on. the. runway. for. three. hours. Yep. I got to my hotel after 1 in the morning and went to bed at 2. The next day, it goes without saying, was a long one in Miami-- with an hour commute on either side.

On the plane the guy next to me had a bag of Doritos and offered me some. I declined, saying, "You'd better hold on to those-- we'll need them in a month when we're still here and the passengers start eating each other."

Fortunately, my hotel in Ft. Lauderdale that I always stay in rocks. Here's a pic from their web site, but the room and view are identical to the room I stayed in-- they might have actually used that room for the pic:

Pretty nice, huh? It's a huge suite, too, with a really nice travertine bathroom, huge bedroom, dining room, and plasma tv's on the walls. Very, very reasonable rate for the area and what you get, too.

Anywho... I'm in the airport now and heading home-- I cannot wait to see my husband and kitty!

Qaly Malahowski, 1993-2008

2008-02-05T08:06:00.000-06:00

We miss you and love you, sweet doggie.

65. Take 10,000 steps a day for one whole week

2008-02-01T12:47:00.000-06:00

Boo-yeah! This one was incredibly hard, especially for one who a) has a desk job, and b) travels over 100K miles a year. That, my friends, is a lot of sitting. And I did it this week with days like yesterday: I woke up at 5:30 am in California, found out my dog died (more on that in a post just for her-- because she deserves her own tribute), monitored my site, had a delay coming back from San Diego, finally got home at 9:30 pm, and still finished 10K steps on Day 7. How? I had parked at A20 but landed at C31-- and I WALKED all the way to my car from my gate and then drove back to C to pick up my bag. When I STILL had a few thousand steps to go, I jogged around my house for an hour, until 10:45 pm. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. It seems silly, but if self-esteem comes from the pursuit of attainable goals, this one made me feel pretty proud. 70,000+ steps in one week with three days of travel-sitting! My calves are SORE.

Ships and the City

2008-01-30T15:52:00.000-06:00

I am in San Diego right now on business, and unfortunately unable to go to my "usual" restaurant (the Beach House in Cardiff) and go to my touristy places (e.g. Seaworld) as I am swamped with work. While I wait for my room service, however, permit me to take you on a tour of my hotel room.

I usually stay right on the water, but the view from this place is not bad, not bad at all. To the left I can see:

<--- the harbor, where I believe that is an aircraft carrier, as it is a Navy ship and has, well, aircraft on it. I'll ask my dad, though; he's landed on aircraft carriers many times and would know.

To the right I can see:

---> the city, and also the rooftop of this very trendy-looking apartment complex, not unlike Melrose Place. There is a couple up there now, and I am imagining them to be the Thomas Calabro/Josie Bisset duo wherein he is dancing around his torrid affair with the (special guest star) Heather Locklear character. I could be wrong.

There is, oddly, a plethora of sinks in my hotel room; I am guessing that it was designed by some kind of obsessive-compulsive hand washer. There is one in the bathroom, of course:

But there is also one in the bedroom:

As well as one in the bar:

This is strange considering the size of the hotel suite, which is not huge:

Why? Why?

My salad's here-- back to work.

Baby Malahowski at 20 weeks!

2008-01-29T09:04:00.001-06:00

Behold my adorable nephew!!

"Hey, guys-- just chillin'!"

Everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for you, buddy!

"Um, yeah... we don't recall being consulted."

fun with blog quizzes 3

2008-01-28T22:53:00.000-06:00

Seriously, I was typing the entire time, so my theory is that the quiz itself is flawed by the time limitation.

Nonetheless, out of the list of countries that I missed, included were the following places that I have actually BEEN: Bahamas, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City, Saint Martin, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands. I am letting myself off the hook to a degree in that I purposely left out commonwealths and not all of the above are "countries" per se... but still.

fun with blog quizzes 2

2008-01-28T21:43:00.000-06:00

This was hard; I started to choke after running through all of the variations of ROY G. BIV.

fun with blog quizzes 1

2008-01-28T20:45:00.000-06:00

You've Experienced 84% of Life

You have an amazing amount of life experience. In fact, you've seen and done more than most people.
So congratulate yourself on what you've done so far. The future is only going to be more of the same!

How Much Life Experience Do You Have?

Now, honestly, I don't know how much I agree with this assessment. Yes, I do feel that I have experienced a lot; however, it's not as if this were a lengthy questionnaire. I'd feel more confident in my 84% experience rating if there were, say, 1000 questions, and included unusual items such as, "Have you ever been in a talk show audience?" or similar. The questions they ask are pretty unimaginative, and certainly not comprehensive.

91. Play with sidewalk chalk

2008-01-28T15:51:00.000-06:00

Oh, yeah... coffee breaks are FAR more immature when you work at home:

And yes, I played a little game of hopscotch. Although I kind of forgot the rules, so I mostly just jumped around a lot. Thank God for the big wall around our property.

Please note the "Festivus Pole" on the left of the driveway. There WAS a basketball hoop on top of it when we closed on the house (the previous owners took it, leaving just a pole), and the pole WAS embedded in the driveway. We didn't like the location because, if you miss your shot, the basketball could ostensibly go over the wall and onto Glade Road-- we lost our volleyball that way during wine-addled late-night shenanigans with Carrie and Nathan. But we couldn't figure out how to move the pole, as it was METAL and filled with CONCRETE. So I was backing out of the garage one day and... yep. Knocked it over with the SUV. Not a dent on the car, but the pole CRASHED to the ground and scared the bejeezus out of me. The bottom was very rusty; I was going 5 mph! I called Daniel from the driveway and said, "Remember how you said you hated the location of the basketball hoop?"

Now we have this pole in our driveway. It's been there a while. We can't lift it. We'll deal with it eventually--maybe in the second 101.

101 in 1001, 2.0

2008-01-28T14:46:00.001-06:00

I posted this on my previous blog (www.geocities.com/alicherek), but wanted to carry it over since this is an ongoing project! FYI, the only one to date that I have checked off is the one about the fruit flies. I could have gone all year without learning what I did about what happens to a peach, btw.

1) Get back down to 135 pounds! I'm not far away, but at my height (5'7") every pound in this range makes a BIG difference. And the last really are the hardest!
2) Get completely caught up with work, so my to-do list is only ever my CURRENT report or my CURRENT expense report, etc.
3) Organize all loose photos into albums
4) Have a baby :)
5) Read every book that we own-- I have bought dozens that I haven't gotten to!
6) Watch every DVD we own-- ibid
7) Write a magazine article and get it published
8) Become fluent (or close to it) in French
9) Become fluent (or close to it) in Spanish
10) Maintain a different scrapbook for each new year
11) Listen to every CD we own (see above)
12) Stay at a great B&B with my husband
13) Visit a new foreign country with Daniel that neither one of us has been to before
14) Finish furnishing the house
15) Get a financial planner and budget investments, including kids' college
16) Try the rock climbing wall at the gym
17) Get involved with a local civic orchestra
18) Find a new church and register as members
19) Get involved in community service again
20) Meet ALL the neighbors on our street!
21) Add our own touches to our landscaping
22) Use the water slide at the gym-- although I've never seen another adult do so
23) Start a vegetable garden
24) Find a local stable and go riding
25) Go ice-skating at the Galleria at Christmas
26) Learn how to butcher a chicken PROPERLY
27) Learn how to make creme brulee
28) Host a really great party
29) Learn how to rollerblade
30) Learn how to ride a bike (yes, you read that correctly!)
31) Learn how to drive a stick-shift
32) Learn where fruit flies come from-- it eludes me
33) See every movie that has won the "best picture" Oscar
34) Run in a 5K race
35) Learn how to do that racing turn at the end of the pool that competitive swimmers do
36) Become a decent chess player
37) Make homemade ice cream
38) Learn how to make sushi
39) Learn how to bake a gorgeous cake
40) Learn how to make a chicken galantine
41) Learn how to cook sweetbreads
42) Catch up with my huge mail pile
43) Do 3 acts of kindness completely anonymously (to the recipients, at least-- I'll report on my blog as generally as possible)
44) Master every video game we own!
45) Learn how to play bridge
46) Find a food that makes our cat stop puking
47) Learn to make a perfect consomme
48) Go to the zoo
49) Go to the FW Stockyard Show & Rodeo
50) Learn how to play the guitar
51) Go to the symphony
52) Go to the opera
53) See a great musical
54) Go to the ballet
55) Adopt a family at Christmas
56) Actually complete every Flylady zone cleaning item in a one-month period!
57) Learn to play my favorite piano piece
58) Find a new vet
59) Find a new internist
60) Put up the basketball hoop and play with my hubby
61) Finally change my name at the Social Security office
62) Find an accountant for tax time-- when you own a house, BOTH home office, work as consultants, have investments-- time to stop doing it yourself
63) Repair all purses and accesssories sitting in a pile in my closet
64) Run 5 miles straight without walking
65) Take 10,000 steps a day for one whole week
66) Learn how to sew, even if it's only a hem on my pants
67) Clean out our fountain so that the water is not yucky, and actually have it running when company comes over!
68) Learn physics
69) Learn calculus
70) Spend an entire week without watching television
71) Learn 100 new words that I only had a vague definition of before, and use them on my blog
72) Do 100 push-ups without stopping
73) Do 500 crunches without stopping
74) Take a class in something completely new
75) Paint a painting
76) Go bodysurfing
77) Fly a kite
78) Play paintball
79) Learn how to play raquetball
80) Plan a surprise date for Daniel
81) Go fishing
82) Go on a camping weekend and sleep under the stars
83) Get a complete makeup makeover
84) Go hot-tubbing in the snow
85) Drink a bottle of Dom Perignon
86) Get dressed up and eat pizza by candlelight on the formal china
87) Make fondue and eat it in front of the fire
88) Carve our initials into a tree
89) Stay in bed for an entire day
90) Finger paint
91) Play with sidewalk chalk
92) Play Twister
93) Take a road trip without planning anything-- even the destination
94) Go to a good restaurant and let the waiter order everything
95) Go to 6 Flags and spend all day riding roller coasters
96) Go to see every major team in Dallas play
97) Take an RV trip
98) Celebrate a totally random holiday
99) Watch an eclipse
100) Watch a meteor shower
101) Have a water balloon fight