Cut me some slack...

I've never seen a pink poodle.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you this right now...
I'd rather see than be one.

Guess I can't say THAT any more.

Yard Work

We woke up to rain this morning.  When it was all said and done, we had gotten 1.5 inches of the stuff.  The day was quite breezy, and by 6 o'clock it was dry enough that I was able to mow.  Again.  Ted mowed on Saturday.  Today is Tuesday.  And it's time to mow again.  I'll probably have to mow again on Friday.  But look how pretty our yard looks...

Speaking of pretty, look what popped up in our side garden this year.  Seriously.  I've never had tulips there before, and I didn't plant them.  That bed was even tilled a few years ago.  What a glorious gift!

But, before I get too excited, we have these pop up too...

Yesterday I "built" a raised bed garden.  That consisted of putting it together and adding 17 cubic feet of soil.  Oh, and fluffing up the dirt underneath it then leveling it.  I worked hard.  I even got a bleed.  Check it out...

Today I planted my leeks and a few marigolds.  I also have two tomato plants, a red bell pepper plant, zucchini and basil that need to go in.  Oh, and I bought a blackberry bush.  Not for the raised garden, of course, but for somewhere in some garden.

Is it weird to remember what you cooked for dinner one day in 1999?  Well, I remember because it was the first time I used my new Weber gas grill that I had purchased.  I had filet mignon (rare) and ranch style beans.  I have been waiting to use my new Weber grill to cook the same meal, but, well...things happen.  I ran out of gas from the old grill and ended up cooking Italian sausage on the new grill.  They turned out just as good as the filet all those years ago. 

Finally, speaking of food, I made a menu for the week and I have stuck to it.  Today was Italian sausage with pasta-y stuff (spaghetti, tomatoes, black olives).  Tomorrow is Julie's crock pot chicken with the carrots and sweet potatoes.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Happiness Abounds

Happy April!  We are nearly half way done and rounding the corner to spring...  Time flies when you are getting older!

Here are some things that make me happy...

Look at that lazy bones puppy!  He loves morning pats...

This was a very fun surprise!  One of moms' friends painted a lovely watercolor of Levi from a picture I took of him on his one-year birthday.  She painted some others too, but this one is my favorite!

The LOML (love of my life) on our anniversary!

A hand-cut and hand-painted anniversary created by Bryan and Marie.  She even added bluebonnets (even though she didn't know I am originally from Texas)!

Redemption

Cookie redemption, that is!

I gathered my ingredients.  Once the cookies were mixed, I sandwiched a Reese's peanut butter cup in between two scoops of cookie dough.  Baked them at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.  Absolute beauty coming out of the overn!

Nom-nom-nom-nom-nom!

Cookie Challenge

Okay, so my sister challenged me to a cookie bake off.  Well, it's not really a bake off, but a cookie bake.  We each made Double Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Pretzel Cookies with a touch of sea salt, then we were to share those cookies with three different families and then blog about it.

Here goes...

I gathered my ingredients.  Things are looking good at this point.

Between this picture and the end, something went wrong.  It always does.  I am not a successful cookie baker.  Usually my cookies are thin and flat, either over done or not done enough.  Edible, sure, but not anything to look at or even enter into a bake off. 

So here is my first batch pre-oven.  They are a crumbly glop of round bricks...

Once they are out of the oven, they look about the same...round bricks. 



Oooh, the batter must be too dry.  I will add some milk to the batter.  The remainder of the cookies looked like this...

So that's my tale.  I took a batch of flat cookies to Ted's coworkers, then I shared a dozen with a man who I thought was moving in across the street but he was really the brother of the man who is moving in across the street (his name was Jay; the new neighbor will be Matt), and I shared the dozen thick ones with my neighbor Diane and her family who said the salt on top was funky.  I called them fancy.  Ted's coworkers encouraged another bake off...maybe NEXT Thursday!?

Will I bake cookies again?  Absolutely!  Will I participate in another bake off?  Absolutely!  As a matter of fact, I am thinking about a chocolate chip cookie stuffed with Reese's peanut butter cup, a la the choc chip with oreo cookie Ms. How Sweet showed us yesterday.  What do you think about that?!

Randomness

It's the last day of February already! 

Happy 83rd birthday to Aunt Marilyn in Arizona!  Who knew I would marry into a family with a Marilyn AND become part of a church with five Marilyns?! Korn, Neie, Wood, Green and Foster.  Marilyns of the world - unite!

Random thought #1 - It takes a long time for coconut to go from point A to point B...a long time.

Random thought #2 - Nothing says love like bacon...

Random thought #3 - I got a Weber grill for Christmas.  It's all fancy schmancy, with a gas burner on the side.  What's the first thing I cooked on the new grill?  Fried coconut!

Random thought #4 - I got a request a while back on "Words with Friends" from BeefJerkyDiet to play scrabble.  I assumed it was my cousin Steven.  (He is a big beef jerky fan.)  The note said "Yeah!  I got a good one mom!"  Obviously it wasn't Steven.  It ended up being a young lady in Los Angeles who thought she had sent the request to her mom.  We're still playing...

Random thought #5 - the progressive dinner went off without a hitch!  The theme for the evening was tropical flavors.  (We are all tired of the gloomy gray skies and dirty snow.)  Ours was the first house and we served prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe, bacon hearts topped with sweet and spicy chicken, and fried coconut.  We then went to David and Leslie's house for a crab/pasta salad and a mixed greens salad with fruit bites drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette.  Next we drove to Lisa and Scott's house for a Caribbean-style chicken with brown sugar-peanut spice rub and a Caribbean salad with black beans, corn, cilantro and red bell pepper.  Oh, and this.



Get some.  Seriously.  Add a little Bailey's to it.  I also added a splash of milk.  You won't be sorry.  It's 9:30 on a Monday morning and I'm thinking about pouring me a glass right now!  (But I won't.)

The last stop was Dana and Jeff's for dessert.  They served a yummy fruit medley with whipped cream, macadamia nuts and shaved chocolate.  Everyone had a great time and we have agreed to do it again very soon.  Maybe a Mexican or Italian theme the next time.  It's the perfect way to share some laughs, make some new friends and not have to be responsible for an entire meal.

Random thought #6 - I'm thinking of changing my blog name.  I'm leaning towards either Merrily Merrily Marilyn OR Prime-Marilyn.  Which do you prefer, or do you have a better suggestion?

Final random thought of the day - we are going to see these guys on Wednesday.  I'm looking forward to it!

Finding My Own Sunshine

Gray.  Gray.  Dirty Snow.  Wind.  Gray.  Gray.

That's been our reality for a while now.  Ugh.  Come on Spring!  Wake up, daffodils!  Elbow your way through the snow and dirt and bring us some of your glorious sunshiny yellow happiness!!!

However, yesterday was Valentine's Day and I was finding sunshiny happiness every where I looked!  Here are just a few happiness-makers from the past few days.....

This lady's visit made me VERY happy!  We went to a dairy and were

about to see a baby calf being born.  Shhhhhhhhh.  (It was a boy!)

Oh, my handsome hubby is definitely a happiness maker!

And a pie-maker to boot.  Shoo-Fly Pie, anybody? 

Makes you want to sing that song, doesn't it?

Va-va-voom!  Worked all day in a flower shop then got the last delivery of the day...

Hubby got some happiness, too! 

But the sweetest, most loveably precious rays of sunshine came at the end of the day.....



Those smiles say it all!