Pumpkin Carving... Small Scale

Sunday afternoon is my favorite time. Neither Eric nor I ever make plans for anything... it's our time to spend together and relax. This weekend I had those pumpkins that hadn't been carved yet, nor had they been sacrificed to the Great Pumpkin, so we decided to make quick work of them. Eric didn't carve the normal face, instead choosing to go with a picture of a witch. I, however, wanted to pay homage to my current "home" state... and made a pumpkin fitting a Kansasonian. Either way, it was a wonderful fun afternoon. I even roasted the pumpkin seeds.... and they turned out great!

He's losing his mind!!!!!

Eric starts in on his

What a diligent worker

Pumpkins is shore messy bidness!

I think I'll make a witch

Toothpick alternative

Finished products (Alison doesn't have any candles in her house right now)

A true Kansas pumpkin.... check out the teeth. :)

A Sleuthing Day Off

So yesterday was my first day off where I wasn't going anywhere, visiting family, shopping, or doing anything else that grownups need to do. Eric was working a 24 hour shift, and so there went all my other normal cooking/cleaning chores. My new Nancy Drew game from HerInteractive (I say that just in case I'm not allowed to say brands on here.) came in the mail at 11am. I decided that it was going to be a marathon video gaming day. I felt a little guilty about my laundry that needed to be folded, but in the immortal words of my sister... "the laundry will still be there tomorrow, today you need to play Nancy Drew." (Maybe not a direct quote, but definitely the meaning was there.)

Game pic of one of the suspects~ oooh, did she do it?

So my day was spent shirking my duties and enjoying the soothing sleuthing sounds of Nancy's voice telling me... "I can't do that yet." Can I just say... I LOVE LOVE that bow!

Obviously it wasn't all Roses

But in the end... relaxation is key. It was a good time and... yes, I did solve the case. (The butler did it!)

Welcome back.... to the grind.

This has been a very hectic week, and it's only Wednesday. Eric is still at work.... if you look at the time that I'm posting this you will see he's been there for almost 15 1/2 hours. Too bad he's not hourly LOL. Well it started with a bang on Monday, the retail giant I work for decided to cut every one's hours (except mine I guess) and so we are supremely short-staffed, and to make my day even more wonderful, I lost a gem out of my wedding ring. Eric found out he's: on call, working about 13 hours a day opening and closing, and..... we're being restationed. Sooo, WHAMMO! On the bright side, it could only get better, right?
Tuesday went by so fast in a blur of "holy crap I hate my job" and "I wish it was the weekend" that Wednesday was soon upon us. Today was much of the same, work was hectic, we were understaffed, I'm pretty sure I got called every name in the book (behind AND in front of my back) by customers and associates alike. Eric got "volentold" to have guard duty tonight.... as well as all day tomorrow... so I get to see him on Friday now. Sigh... these are the times when I wished I actually drank.
Well, no pretty pictures tonight, just an update on why I never call anyone... I'm usually too tired or already asleep. LOL
Better luck next week I guess, thank God tomorrow is a day off.

To Carve Or To Eat

These are the cute little punkins that I bought from my store yesterday. I didn't know if I wanted to cut into them with Eric or cut them up to roast. After a few mins I decided there were so many things I could make with fresh pumpkin, that I had to roast at least two of them. If only to get the scrumptious pepitas out of them so I could have a good for you roasted snack...

Well.... for those of you who know, Eric came down on new orders and we are moving to Georgia... I found that out while roasting the seeds, soooooo....

 Alas. These are the really "Europeanly Done" pepitas. If I had pulled them out ten mins earlier they would have been edible, but they were burnt. How sad.

I did however manage to save the roasted pumpkin and make some delicious iced cookies. Eric took some to work this morning and I took some to work today... They were a hit! (as free food often is)

My roasted pumpkin

Eric (badly in need of a hair cut) enjoys a warm pumpkin cookie!



Hookey and Brunch

Well with every intention of getting up and going to church this morning, I woke up at eight and got myself going. I poured an ice-tea and checked email. My husband, who hasn't had a good night's sleep in a while because of vacation and travel and whatever else was ailing him, was sound asleep in the other room... snoring loud enough to make the cat want to spend time with me instead of curled up on our bed. I figured I'd let him sleep a while. When he was still asleep about the time that we would need to leave for church, I realized our plans were going to change for the day. So... taking a page out of my dad's cookbook, I made us brunch when he woke up. And, dad, honestly you have to try these little changes to your "omelet"...

1. mix a little bit of the cheese inside the eggs, and make with 1/2 milk and 1/2 water to get the souffle effect

2. saute mushrooms, garlic, and onions to put on top

3. sprinkle the end product with Parmesan cheese, the mushroom mixture and some chopped parsley

4...... and the piece de resistance.... drizzle a little white truffle oil over the completed product

After eating a bite, Eric exclaimed that he would pay "10-12 dollars for this meal!" LOL, he's a nut and I love him. Watch the truffle oil in your house though, if I let him Eric would drink the stuff, it's that good.

Of course I know we're leaving in the morning dear....

No one will ever accuse me of not loving my husband as much as I can love him. He is the man who grounds me and makes me a little less "spinning out of control anxious over every little iota that is happening in life" and a little more "everything is gonna be just fine". That being said, we are going on vacation tomorrow morning and there is N..O..T..H..I..N..G done in my house. I have been working all week while he's been on vacation, so he's already in the "vacation" frame of mind I guess. Either way I am spinning a little since nothing has been packed, the house hasn't been cleaned, Hopkins' instructions for care haven't been typed or printed for the wonderful woman who is taking care of him, I haven't chosen my travel outfit/book/shoes, and there is still much laundry to fold. And, this is my husband....

helping... In his own way I guess.

laundry to fold and put away

Kitchen to clean

But the man does have some great ideas.... I think I'll relax a wee bit, understand that it will all get done on time and maybe have a rum and coke. AAAHHhhh vacation begins.

My Finner Hurts!

I'm pretty sure that if Eric hears that phrase anymore over the next couple days he'll wish his "finner" was hurting. Poor man has to put up with me.

While at work yesterday I encountered what is often to referred to in the retail world as a "rush"... I like to refer to it as "S#%^ hit the fan". I was in a super hurry while putting away the money in our drawer and got my pinky finger stuck.... this is not a drawer like in your kitchen, more like if you had a huge metal filing cabinet with a sticky drawer that did not want to open. well, I got it open, then my finger got stuck, then I couldn't get it out. I was able to pull it out finally when another manager came up to see what I was doing. At this point my finger was throbbing sooooo badly and I was holding it because of a fairly deep cut that was bleeding down my hand. She looks at me, and knowing that I often overact to make a point, figured I was just playing around. Little did she know I really wanted to invent new four letter words and punch something to take away the pain. Instead, she helps me out by saying "Awww, does wittle ewe need a WAAmbulance??" I turn to face her and say "No, but I could use a bandaid". LOL serves me right for always crying wolf, now I know to let people know right away if it is a real "hurt" or a fake one to make a point. :)

Hard to see well, but it's purple in the middle :(

The hole on the other side of the purple (BTW... NOT my table cloth, that is from work)

Coco Bolo's

I didn't have to work for a whole day today, so we decided to take the afternoon and go to the Big City for lunch. Neither Eric nor I knew what we wanted to eat, but I was convinced by the attitude of both of us we needed to eat soon! (We both get a little poopy when hungry) I remembered that down in the college-town area there was a restaurant that Mom and Dad had read about on a web site. That in itself was a hilarious story involving non-existant jazz clubs and good food.... but I digress. We decided to go to Coco Bolo's, not knowing at all what to expect. The weather was a bit breezy and their patio was super nice and inviting. The smell of fire roasting food was the first thing to hit you when you walked up to the door. We opted to sit outside, still not knowing the food type. While looking at the menu, which had cute foodisms like "south of the border" and "tween two halves" for samiches. They have both Cubanesc and Texican fare. We chose the appetizer trio and Pork Cuban Sammiches with Taters Las Cruces.... note: the taters had no description so I was expecting potatoes on a cross. We got the appetizers and immediately fell in love with a new kitchy restaurant locale. The Cuban sammy was scrumdidilyumptious too. All in all it was a good exploration out of our normal area, and a great food find.

Cuban Grilled Pork Sandwich and Taters Las Cruces... not on a cross obviously :)

Eric surprised that the taters were that scruptious, like a mix of huevos rancheros (without egg) and an enchilada over hash browns

http://www.cocobolos.com/

Only in the Mid-West

No picture goes with this post because the imagination is much better, especially if your imagination is anything like mine. Today I recieved a call from my manager at a large retailer here in Kansas...
Her: "Is this Alison?" (Frantic and out of breath)
Me: "Yes, this is me, what'cha need?" (Suspicious of what is coming next)
Her: "This is a bad time, isn't it?" (In retail in my town it's NEVER a good time)
Me: "No, just doing admin paperwork go ahead, what do you need me to do?" (Rolling my eyes at the ceiling)
Her: "Ummmmm, could you go outside in the parking lot.... and...."
Me: "Yes?" (Tapping my foot at this point)
Her: "Check to see if there is a horse trailer with no truck attached to it left there?"
Me: "Excuse me say what? A horse trailer?" (Both feet dropped to the floor)
Her: "Yes"
Me: "Um, ok I'll go look and call you back."

I venture outside to the parking lot, not sure what I will encounter. Our parking lot looks like it does every day, filled with trucks driven by rednecks who support everything from "Rifles for our Children" to "Love Corn, it Loves You." But, alas, there is no horse trailer.

Me: "Hey, so ya, no trailer."
Her: "Are you sure you looked?" (A little more frantic)
Me: "No, I had my eyes closed the whole time." (Dripping with sarcasm)
Her: "OK OK, shoot."
Me: "Did someone lose a whole horse trailer?"
Her: "Ya, it's something like that, crud gotta go." (Completely defeated)

The only thing I can surmise is that a band of horse trailer thieves are making their way accross the mid-west toward the west coast. Watch yourselves people, you might just fall victim of these feindous people!

Let's Try This Again.

I was going to name this blog... one hundred and one reasons not to take your wife on a fishing trip with you, but, this works just as good. Eric wanted to go fishing again this afternoon, and being a lazy Sunday afternoon in Kansas, it was perfect weather. We packed the radio, water, fishing poles and Eric's tackle box of death...see below... and headed off to the lake.

I felt so sorry for Eric, having brought me along, hence wanting to call this blog "101 reasons yada yada". I, being the most accident prone person on the face of the earth, started my fishing expedition off with a bang. Walking down to the lake I tripped on a rock and twisted my ankle. As soon as I reached the water's edge Eric had my fishing pole ready. Two casts later he was detangling my line. Four more casts later he was detangling my line. Two casts after that... I was detangling my line. Fooled you there didn't I. While fishing I discovered for the first time in my life bugs didn't like me. On my way to the car to get the bugspray (which, much to my chagrin wasn't there, but Clorox wipes work just as well in a pinch) I got tangled in the brush and cut my leg.

Ah, at least I am positive that my husband loves me. He was patient enough to help me get set up again and the rest of the day was relatively uneventful. We only caught one keeper, but I'm pretty sure his next fishing trip will be more relaxing for him.... I won't be there. :)

Not a keeper... but at least it's bigger than a sardine.

A gorgeous day on the lake. (and a pretty darn cute husband too!)

Rule #1 of fishing with me... THOU SHALT NOT MAKE FUN OF MINE OUTFIT

This is what happens to people who make fun of my hat.

Hunter and Gathereringer???

Eric, being home for a whole two days, decided he needed a break from the rigors of our house and to go fishing. I was working at WallyWorld the whole day, so he left in the morning promising "you will be able to make what I catch for dinner tonight." I have never had anyone hunt or gather for me, so I was feeling a wee bit excited about the fact that we were going to eat what he caught. On my lunch break I recieved a text message with a picture of a HUGE fish on his hook. Things were looking good for dinner!

Well, apparently the zoom feature was in use on that picture. Bless his heart, he caught four fish with enough meat on them to make about three fish McNuggets. I'm sure if this had been Biblical times we would have had plenty, but for two grown adults, I ended up supplementing his dinner with a pork chop. Either way, we had a few bites of fish which were delicious, and he promised to catch more next time.

Homecoming, long overdue

So my husband is home safely after two months of hard work in Alaska. I'm pretty sure his hard work consisted of: eating out every night, fishing, relaxing, watching tv, oh.... and a little work for the ARMY. But, nonetheless, I am super happy he is home. Tonight, to celebrate, I made steak with chimmichuri sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, and romaine salad with dressing from the Olive Garden. Omygoodness, what a feast... in the immortal words of my father. You would have thought that he had been a starved man who wasn't given more than a crust of bread while he was gone. But, it feels good to cook for someone again, the world is back in order.