My Dear Dyson

It's almost been two years since you came into my home, sufficient enough time for me to give a credible review.

I just finished using you to vacuum the main floor and I would like to say thank you. Even after a couple of years, you haven't lost your lustre. I love your rotating ball, easy empty canister, and powerful suction. I don't even mind washing your filters every three months. Every time I use you, which is often, I think, "I love this machine."

Thanks, you've been worth every penny. (I hope I'm not jinxing a good thing--don't you go and breakdown now!)

Poor Child?

Mmmh? I wonder if she wrote this when no one was paying her any attention or maybe when she had been sent to her room to "cool off" (we had a few of those moments last week.) Well, at least she loves us.

Cooking Class

Saturday afternoon, Dave's at work, household chores are finished, what to do? How about cooking class? Featuring SOFT PRETZELS!

They turned out great. The girls liked them so much, they ate them all and didn't even save one for their Dad:)

Tapas

Dave & I expanded our culinary experience by eating at a tapas restaurant for the first time...AND WE LOVED IT!

If you aren't aware tapas is from Spain and basically you are served hot or cold appetizers one at a time. The food comes on small plates that have about 3-4 bites you share with your companion. It is a very leisurely eating experience(2-3 hours) as you don't have or even order your food all at once, only small portions one at a time.


As novices to the tapas experience, we were lucky to walk into the restaurant on the very day they started an all-you-can eat sampler menu. There were probably at least 50 hot and cold tapas items on the menu. You could only order each item one time, to encourage variety and sampling. It was perfect for us. Did I mention it only cost $15.95 per person?!

Suprisingly, our favorite dish was watermelon drizzled in honey and balsamic topped with goat cheese and pistachios. We also loved the bacon wrapped dates. Dave was crazy for the baked goat cheese, that you spread on thick-sliced grilled bread with tomato sauce. I liked the grilled lamb with orange yogurt sauce. Actually all the sauces were very good.

We want to go back, come with us next time!

Mind the Gap

This past week was tough on Paige. She only went to school one day this week because she was home sick with a terrible stomach virus. Poor girl couldn't keep a thing down. It was probably a good thing she couldn't eat because her two front teeth were super loose. So loose, that by the end of the week, both teeth were out. One went to the tooth fairy and the other went to dad. Dave, paid her double for the front tooth she chipped when she was 1. She wrote a note to the tooth fairy, it went like this:

"The TOOTH FAIRY,

i gave my Dad MY TOOTH Becas it was chipt AND it was cool it was my 6th TOOTH."

To commemorate the loss of her front teeth, I took her and Ashley to see the movie Tooth Fairy. Not really the best movie I've ever seen, but Paige loved it and that's what counts.

Bummer!

I have waited six weeks to eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup vanilla custard shake. Today was the day I was finally going to indulge. I ordered the shake, but when I brought it home and started eating it, I realized I was eating nougat and caramel not peanut butter. My shake got mixed up with Dave's, HE ATE MY WHOLE SHAKE AND DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE HE WAS EATING PB CUP INSTEAD OF SNICKERS UNTIL I COMPLAINED THAT MY SHAKE HAD THE WRONG CANDY IN IT!

Don't worry, I still ate the Snickers shake, but was just a little bummed it wasn't what I had been waiting for.

To Procrastinate or Not

I am a bit of a procrastinator. I say a bit because I don't do it all the time or in all facets of my life, but I do have a list and once things get put on the "Procrastination List" well, as the title might suggest, they stay on that list for a while.

Here are a few items currently residing on my Procrastination List. (I'm not telling how long some of them have been there!)
1- Sew the buttons back on Paige's peacoat
2-Clean out the Primary closet at church
3-Scrub the master bathtub
4-Move the water barrel to a better location
5-Finish passport applications

The list goes on, but you get my point. The funny thing is that as I look at this list, nothing is particularly difficult or time consuming, but these to-do items have made it onto "the list" so now they just have to wait. For me however, the irony of my Procrastination List is that although it is a source of guilt over things left undone, it also becomes a source of happiness, because if you need a pick-me-up, nothing is better than to do one item on that list. If I can finish and cross something off, TADA! I am feeling good and pretty happy with myself at least for the rest of the day. So in the end, maybe it's okay that I procrastinate?