Sell out

I really need to post some of our Bermuda pictures, but they are all on Tyler's computer and he, unlike me, has to leave the house to go to work and he takes his computer with him. The nerve! So, instead of pictures of pink sand beaches and tales of snorkeling and collecting sea glass in island bliss, you get random anecdotes about my 14 sister. Who just happens to be completely darling (when she chooses to) and totally OCD (she can't help that part, I guess).

Mom and I were out running many errands yesterday, one of which was picking Tasha up from school. She got in the car and promptly told Mom that she had to drive very fast because her bladder was going to explode. Apparently she has a fear of public bathrooms and refuses to use them and instead suffers for hours at school. Why? I don't get it. (Maybe it was the time that the two of us walked into the men's room at Wingers. I was in the one stall and she was waiting her turn when a man walked in. She was pretty dang embarrassed. I hid in the stall, waiting until he was gone to make my escape, but another man walked in and I was still stuck in there and I eventually made it out, but not without a very awkward conversation at the sink. Maybe I understand her issue a little bit, although I got right back on the proverbial horse and use the bathroom at Harmon's that very same night!) Anyway, Tasha was yelling at the red lights and was pretty miserable. Unfortunately for her, Mom and I still had to stop at the craft store before we could consider our errands complete. I told her that they had a bathroom that she could use and that there was a 90% chance that she would live to tell about it. As we entered the store, I pointed her in the right direction and wished her the best of luck.

Many minutes later I ran into her near the yarn department, where she was playing with a purple bouncy ball with fringe all over it. I inquired after the condition of her bladder and she told me that she walked into the bathroom and right back out. She just couldn't do it. And that her bladder was really not too pleased with her. I laughed. Eventually we found Mom and were about ready to check out. Tasha really, really, really wanted us to buy the ball- now named Martha- for her and it was then that we spotted an opportunity for growth. (see: bribery) We told her that she could have the ball if she used the bathroom, and that there was no other way that she could get that ball. One fleeting look of terror crossed her face, then she looked at Martha and gave her (it?) a squeeze, and she marched off, determined. Mom had to go with her to guard the door to make sure that she would have total and complete privacy, but she did it. I am so proud!

So, for the bargain price of $7.99 (minus 40% because we had a coupon) Tasha has conquered a corner of her OCD-ness. Forget years of counseling and expensive medications- Tasha can use a public restroom because of a bouncy ball.

Two thousand stinkin' eight.....

I object. Mightily. Once again, I am sick. I didn't feel great on Saturday and then I spent Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and most of today in bed. I skipped Easter dinner! The Resurrection Potatoes! I missed them! I was not there to make the "Sauce o' Gold" for the ham- instead I was in bed with a fever and a migraine. Grrrrr. I mock my husband one little time for having a man cold and the universe mocks me back. I have spent the better part of this year sick- significantly sick- and I am tired of it. I am calling a truce. I invoke the 'I've already filled my sick days quota for the year' rule and declare the rest of 2008 disease free. Any questions?

In other news, ummm, we're going to Bermuda? Soon? As in, we leave tomorrow? Huh? It's rather unfortunate how incongruous this is with the first paragraph of this post, but I really meant it when I called 2008 stinky. It has not been kind! But, lest you be too concerned for me, I am on the mend and fully intend to enjoy myself thoroughly. We are taking a red-eye flight to New York tomorrow night and get to spend all day Friday and Saturday morning playing in the city. Tyler has never been (a 30 minute cab ride from the airport to the pier in October does not count) and it's been several years since I've been, so it should be fun. We plan to spend the day at the Met and will try to get lottery tickets to Wicked that evening.
(Mary- will you send some of your New York luck our way? Thanks so much....) If we don't get those we'll find another show to see. I'm rather excited....

So, our plane leaves in 27 hours. It might be time to start thinking about packing. Ciao!

B-b-b-blow me to Bermuda!

Once upon a time I had an aunt who I liked a lot but did not spend much time with. She left me a message on my phone one night saying that I should call her. So, being the responsible person that I am, I called her. She asked if I wanted to go to Bermuda. I said nothing. I was very confused, you see. She then elaborated and explained that her family was going on a cruise to Bermuda because they know a lady who got them a fantastic deal. Unfortunately her oldest son (who is my age) and his wife are not able to go, so they have an extra cabin and would we like it? She figured that given my lack of a structured job I would be able to take time away from work, and she hoped that Tyler could swing it with his job. I was concerned, thinking that Tyler had only been working at his job for 2 weeks and it would be difficult to suddenly take a week+ off, so I enumerated the potential problems to my aunt and promised to think about it. The aunt then said that there would not be much time to think- they had to have the name changes in immediately (within 24 hours) and that the cruise leaves in exactly one month. No pressure, right?

Well, incredibly enough, the school quarter will have ended and Tyler will be in the middle of his 3 week break, so he would not need to take any time off. We both already have passports and the price is so cheap that we had a hard time saying no. Such a hard time, that we didn't say no. We are going to Bermuda!! We fly to New York on the 27th of March and board the ship- Holland America's Noordam- on the 29th, where we will spend 7 nights in an oceanview room. We will spend 4 full days in port, so we will get to explore the area a fair bit and hopefully have some grand adventures. One of my cousins gets off his mission (in Greece) on the 25th and then goes on a cruise the 29th. Holy culture shock, Batman!

Ordinarily I spend months pining for a vacation, trying to convince Tyler that we need one (it's more like we need the promise of one- a date to look forward to), then many more months shopping around, comparing prices, learning about all the must-see places and the cool tours and things that are available. I get obsessed. Now I only have 24 days to fit 6 months worth of obsession into.

And with that, I'm off to peruse cruisecritic.com

Of plagues, peacocks and parties...

Well, the infamous 'man-cold' is now known as 'The Plague' at our house. (You must say it like that, FYI. It is not the plague. It is The Plague) I spent most of January doing a rather good impression of a grub. I was totally useless and am only now starting to feel better. Beware The Plague! Stay away from The Plague!!!

Right smack dab in the middle of my misery, my little sister Esta (Stephy, if you must get technical on me..) had a birthday. She had been having a rough couple of months, so, being the cutest and tallest sister ever, I decided to throw her a party. These plans were made before The Plague, and if the invites hadn't been sent out already, I probably would have canceled. But, the party must go on! Fortunately I had 2 days of being not quite as dead as I had been, a saintly mother who slaved for a day to help me cook, a birthday girl who didn't mind scrubbing my floor, and a husband whose office declared the day of the party a snow day, so he (in all of his luckiness) got to stay and be my lackey.

Esta and I decided on peacocks and tapas as the party themes, figuring peacock feather would look fabulous in my teal dining room and tapas would be fun because I've never cooked Spanish food and I've only had it once. In Canada. Riiight. So, I made a great big cake, we cooked and cleaned like crazy people, and the party was a great success. The end.






Oh! Did you want to see pictures? Fine. But let me tell you the menu first.

Green salad
Assorted olives and marinated peppers
Machego cheese and quince paste on baguette
Tortilla with chorizo sausage
Roasted potatoes with spicy tomato sauce and aioli
Moorish chicken kebabs
Spanish meatballs
Garlic shrimp
Tomato and mozzarella tart
Sherried mushroom empanadas
Sangria
and Chocolate cake

Yum. It was all so tasty! I was extraordinarily pleased with everything and I think Stephy and her friends really did have a good time.

And now, pictures.
The people. Where are the people?

Please note the peacock in the chandelier. You may roll your eyes only after you admit that it's the coolest thing you've ever seen.

The foods, in all of their glory.


The tortilla (a potato and egg, and in this case sausage omelette), sherried mushroom empanadas, tomato tart and garlic shrimp.

Ahoy! I made aoili! All by myself!

The very large cake. Serious adventures making that, bu I was very pleased with it in the end.

A cool shot of my Tony the Tiger shopping list, with a cake blocking some of it. Sorry 'bout that.
I think people had fun. I really, really hope they did. It was a very fun party to throw, and Esta is the coolest for letting me do it. Happy birthday Esta-olomew!

Man cold, part 2

Remember how I mocked Tyler about his man-cold? Well, it sure showed me! He has spent a full week in bed being thoroughly miserable and then was kind enough to share it with me. Hopefully my variation will be less awful...

I have been playing (the trombone, for those not in the know) in the Riverton Community Orchestra and the Riverton Jazz Band for the past few months. Before this, I hadn't really played in years- 6 years, to be precise. My chops are completely shot and my wrists barely survive each week, but it is still so fun.

We just got music for our next concert and I think it is so cool! Our concert is on March 15th, so the conductor decided that we ought to play 15 marches. Gah! If it were 15 Sousa pieces I would probably impale myself on a piccolo rather than perform, but it looks like there will only be 1 Sousa. We've actually got some amazingly cool charts. Mars, from The Planets (Holst), March of the Marionettes (Gounod), March to the Scaffold (Berlioz), March to the Cathedral (Wagner), the Grand March from Aida (Verdi), Pomp and Circumstance (Elgar), and lots of others. I am delighted to be playing so many standards- it makes me feel like a musician again..

In other news, holy adventures Batman. We are closing Twin Peaks down, so trying to figure all that out is an adventure. The plan is to move Any Horrible Occasion into our basement- I'm loving the potential commute! Tyler is on the job hunt, so we'll see where he ends up. And I am in the thick of party planning- this time it's Stephy's birthday party. I'll be sure to post pictures of the event...

Okay. I'm going back to being a miserable slug. Dang man cold!

A story about a boy, a lego, and a cake.

This is my baby brother Gus. He just had a birthday and is now 11 years old and is, obviously, very excited about it.
Gus, like many little boys, likes to play with swords, cars, video games, and legos.

When it came time for his party, it seemed like a good idea to make a birthday cake that he would enjoy, so I decided to do a lego cake because what could possibly be cooler than that, right? Cake is good. Legos are good. Therefore, all legos are cake. Er, something.
I started with a double batch of my favorite 'Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake', baked in 9" square pans. I crumb coated and frosted with highly yummy rich chocolate frosting.


Then I got to play with legos- actually rolled fondant cut 1” by whatever length happened to fit and look good.

Before too, too long, the whole thing was covered but I needed to add the bumps on top to complete the look.

It took longer than I had anticipated- there were a whole bunch of little dot things to apply- but eventually the lego cake was finished.

After much ooh-ing and ahh-ing, we lit the swirly candles, sang, and ate.

Apparently they liked it!

This might as well be Tyler.....

If you don't laugh at this, you must not know any men.



Poor mrface. He has a man-cold. It's tragic, really. Just ask him, but ask him later because he is sleeping now, will be wallowing a little later and plans to whine all evening.