Hayley Daily

Some Honest Truths

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:27:00 +0000

In the midst of crazy-busy weeks, it's helpful to remind myself of some truths such as:

Feed the cats first. Otherwise they'll go berserk.
Feed the husband second. Otherwise he'll drive you berserk.
Ben can never have enough hugs. Give him one more.
Go for a run, even if you don't want to. It's relaxing.
Take a bubble bath. It's also relaxing.
Make time for visiting with coworkers. It gives perspective.
Call your mom. She loves you.
Leave clothes in the dryer and dishes in the sink. The world won't come to an end.

What This Week Looks Like...

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:50:00 +0000

Not really. But kind of.

Source

Peponi (Coldplay...Swahili Style)

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:54:00 +0000

We love Coldplay. A lot. {Concert review here.}

But we also really love this cover of Coldplay's Paradise and think you will, too:

Time for Relaxing

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:04:00 +0000

Home, home, home and time for some relaxing. A long, hot soak in the Jacuzzi tub, perhaps?

Don't mind if I do, thanks...but first I need to replenish the bath salts. Ever since I learned how to make bath salts from scratch, I can't imagine spending the money on store-bought.

Here's a quick tutorial for making homemade bath salts. And when I say quick, I mean, quick. It takes about 5 minutes to whip up a batch.

Homemade Bath Salts

1 c eEpsom salts
3/4 c baking soda
Fragrance oil (your choice) - you may have to go to a natural foods store to find this. For Dallas area residents, I buy mine at Natural Grocers but it's also sold at Central Market and Sprouts.

Mix together baking soda and Epsom salts. Add fragrance. My recipe calls for 3-4 drops, but I add more.

Why more? Well, we like the scent, we have a very large bathtub and check out the name of our fragrance:

Yes, I need a lot of patience. So I sprinkle plenty on my salt mix.

Stir everything together until it's completely blended. Pour into a container of your choice.

See how easy it is? One year I poured the salts into glass ornaments, tied on ribbons and gave them as gifts to our coworkers. Nothing easier or nicer than lovely-scented homemade bath salts.

What's your favorite way to relax?

Always Document!

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:20:00 +0000

Sometimes I find a recipe and think it's something I ought to make. However, when I finally get around to pulling it out, I don't have the ingredients I need or it doesn't sound as interesting as it originally did.

And that's how Great Kitchen Experiments begin.

More often than not, the Great Kitchen Experiment is a great success (but would we really expect anything less?!) and The Boy asks me to make it again. My reply is that I don't know what I did - it was An Experiment.

He finds this more than a little frustrating. His new plea when I head to the kitchen is Always document! Don't experiment without documentation!

After our purchase of 1/4 of poor old {tasty} Ribeye, we ended up with lots of ground beef and wonderful steaks, but also some cuts that we'd normally not use, like roasts and short ribs. The roasts have been chopped and are slowly making their way into pots of chili and the like.

The ribs? They are proving to be more difficult. We are simply not rib-eating people.

I found a somewhat-interesting recipe, pinned it to my Pinterest for future reference. The other day I finally got around to making the recipe and learned I didn't have half of the ingredients that were required.

I winged it - and we liked it. And this time, I documented.

Beef Short Ribs and Chipotle Pan-Fried Potatoes

Beef short ribs (I used about 1.5 lb)
Leftover wine (approx 1 cup)
Beef stock (approx 3 cups)
1/2 large onion, chopped
Garlic (about 2 cloves)
Diced tomatoes (equiv to 1 can)
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
3/4 c sour cream
1 T chopped chipotle
1 T adobo sauce
Olive oil

Brown short ribs in a small amount of olive oil. Place in crockpot, bone side down. Top with onion, diced tomatoes, garlic, stock and wine. Cook on low 8-9 hours.

Remove ribs from crockpot. Remove meat from bones, cutting away any fat. Chop into bite-sized pieces. Remove sauce from crockpot, strain out any bones and fat. Reserve sauce for later use.

Boil diced potatoes until just tender. Heat 1 T olive oil in skillet, add drained potatoes. Saute approximately 5 minutes until nicely browned. Stir in chipotle, adobo, sour cream and sauce from crockpot. Heat until warmed through. Serve with rib meat.

This Cat is Too Much Trouble

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:47:00 +0000

When the furbaby girl ended up snaggle-toothed, it started a world of trouble.

First a visit to the vet, which included a right proper fit on the drive over and the loss of the tooth we were taking her in to have pulled.

Very helpful, that was.

Then we (the people) had a very nice chat with the vet while she (the cat) had very ugly words to say.

Quite rude, that was.

The end result of all of the drama was three bottles of medication, including some homeopathic remedies, and a bag of special treats for her to eat to help with her dry skin. All fine and good. Right?

No. Not right at all.

She abjectly refuses to eat the treats. Ben, the feline vacuum cleaner has gladly stepped up to rid the house of unacceptable treats. So that's that.

But she also hates the medication. The vet warned us she might not like it and suggested we mix it in with some wet food.

Side note: The only reason we have wet food in our house is because of similar drama (full blown dental surgery) with Ben several years ago. Somehow once you start with "the good stuff," kitties never let you go back.

Somehow I have to find a way - twice a day - to disguise three liquid medications in the small dollop of wet food Bridget gets to enjoy every morning and evening.

Squish, squish, squish. Mix, mix, mix. Wet food is stinky, by the way.

And she still doesn't like it.

So every day I now find myself crouching on the floor, begging her to eat her treats until she finally decides to give it a try. Every.Day.

I'm starting to think this cat has got me trained.

That Makes Two of Us

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:01:00 +0000

Busy night - very busy night. Bane of my existance, really, are busy nights. Nights when you have to cook, do laundry and work on a running-late work project.

Ick.

It's all the more aggravating when you go into the bathroom to brush your teeth and discover a sock that was dropped during the journey from laundry basket to washing machine.

GRRRR.

Hey! There's a sock on the floor, says The Boy.

Oh no! I reply.

Is there supposed to be a sock on the floor? he asks.

Very funny, I tell him, feeling aggravated. You know it's supposed to be in the washing machine. I don't want to talk about it.

Oh, good, he says. You don't want to talk about it and I don't want to hear about it. Everyone should be happy.

Ben's Favorite Time of Day

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:35:00 +0000

Ben lives to eat, sleep, torture Bridget and watch us put on tennis shoes.

Strings are very interesting.

Very very interesting!

{Excuse the photobomb by Bridget. Rude kitty.}

Hey! It's another shoe...

Life is great when you're a kitty.

My Mom Says So

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:33:00 +0000

When I have a particularly funny post about life, or marriage, or the travails of "parenting" furbabies, my mom will comment (offline) that I reminded her of a modern day Erma Bombeck.

That makes me happy, but I love Erma Bombeck. She may have written in the 1960s-70s, but she's still relevant and funny today.

I stumbled across this wonderful Erma quote this weekend.

I just have to say that if I remind my mom (or anyone else) of this Erma, then I'll be very happy:

When I stand before God at the end of my life,

I would hope that I would not have a

single bit of talent left, and could say,

"I used everything you gave me."

Improvising is Sometimes Best

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:12:00 +0000

On a recent long weekend, I decided to work on reducing the bits and bobs in my pantry. It was a little out of control.

{One of my UK friends, J, had reminded me a while back that she shops on an as-needed basis and rarely had the storage/organization problems that I do. While I'll probably always be a bit disorganized, and probably shop for more than I need, I appreciated the reminder that less can be more.}

So I pulled half-empty bags of this and small packets of that out of the pantry and surveyed what I could make. And, as these things often happen to go, the cookies that I made up from my leftovers and overstock are now some of our favorites.

That means, of course, that everything I used up I now have to restock. Even worse, one of the items is a seasonal product, so I bought all remaining stock and have stored it in the freezer. My clearing out project has led to some major hoarding.

Oh well. One bite of these cookies and you'll see that it was worth it!

Shannah's Oatmeal Goodness Cookies

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1-1/2 c golden brown sugar, packed
2 t. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 c old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c golden raisins
1/2 package cinnamon chips
1/2 package dark chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add vanilla and eggs, mix until light and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir until well blended. Add nuts, raisins, cinnamon chips and dark chocolate chips. Drop batter by heaping spoonfuls 1-1/2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will feel soft but will firm up as they cool. Let stand on baking sheets 2 minutes before transferring to racks to cool.

Make your husband very happy by freezing the batter so you can bake fresh cookies whenever you want. Simply stick your loaded baking sheet in the freezer until the raw cookie dough balls are frozen solid. Remove from sheets and place parchment sheets directly into freezer bags. Be smart: label the freezer bag with the baking instructions! Remove the air from the bag (straw, suction power, seal quickly) and freeze until the need for cookies becomes overwhelming.

Unseasonably Warm Days Mean...

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:10:00 +0000

It's late January and, by all rights, it should be cold here in Texas. But it's not. Today it's 74F and that most definitely calls for something light and refreshing...something like freshly squeezed lemonade.

I used to be a instant powder lemonade mix kind of girl. Not any more. Once you learn how to make it properly, you'll never want anything but freshly squeezed.

Here's my fool-proof method for Southern lemonade. And you don't have to wait for a 74F (or hotter) day to enjoy it!

Shannah's Southern Lemonade

4 fresh lemons
1 cup (scant) sugar
8 cups water

Wash and dry lemons thoroughly. I find it's helpful to use a little bit of dishwashing soap to get any wax residue off the rind. Slice the thick ends off the lemon to reduce thickness of the peel. Cut the lemon into four-six large pieces.

Place one chopped lemon in your blender, along with two cups of water and a half cup (ish) of sugar.

Pulse 5-6 times until the mixture is foamy.

Pour into a pitcher, straining the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the peel and pulp.

Repeat with remaining lemon, sugar and two more cups of water. Add additional two cups of water to the pitcher. Stir and enjoy!

I promise - this is the best lemonade you'll ever have.

Lazy Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:18:00 +0000

Someone loves to be lazy on sunny Saturday afternoons.

Someone rolls around like an idiot to show off.

However, someone refuses to pose for the camera.

(But she's still pretty cute anyway!)

How You Know

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:51:00 +0000

You know it's been a long week when you have to have two of these:

Before you can have one of these:

I'm already daydreaming of a weekend where I can do some grocery shopping, house cleaning and cooking.

And that's another way you can know it's been a long week: Your daydreams are related to household chores!

You Can't Push a Rope and...

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:09:00 +0000

...you can't predict what a cat will do. Or so they say.

I say that you can absolutely predict what a cat will do - the complete opposite of what you want them to do. The end result is that you behave like a crazy person trying to outsmart a creature with a brain the size of a walnut.

For example, consider the case of the snaggle-toothed furgirl:

Try to pet the kitty; the kitty will run away.
Try to get the kitty to open its mouth; discover that kitties can clamp their jaws tighter than a crocodile
Set up a cat crate in the laundry room behind closed doors; the kitty will refuse to walk within 20 feet of that door.
Speak in normal tones to the kitty; the kitty will hide under the bed.
Catch the kitty and put it in the cat crate; the kitty will bump its head and paws around the opening until it figures out how to open the crate.
Speak in soothing tones to the kitty on the drive to the vet; the kitty will reward you with blood-curdling yowls and complaints.
Arrive at the vet and describe the snaggle-tooth situation; open the cat crate and discover that the kitty's efforts to open the cat crate dislodged the tooth - making the vet visit largely pointless.
Apologize to the kitty; ensure evil looks for all your efforts.

There's just no winning with a cat, I tell you. You end up frustrated and the cat just ignores you and takes a bath. On top of the fresh-out-of-the-dryer laundry.

Just One of THOSE Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

This is not the week we were planning.

We knew we had quite a bit on our plates at work - continuing education conferences, project deadlines, evening events and the like.

But we were looking forward to a how-to class at our favorite restaurant to insert a bit of fun into the mix. When we arrived last night, we learned that the class had been cancelled. Bum-mer.

Add to that a crazy tusk-like tooth issue going on in the little furgirl's mouth, requiring a trip to the vet (not our favorite activity, or hers), and we're having a mostly busy-not much fun week.

Poor snaggle-toothed girl. And poor vet who's about to see her in a few hours...Bridget can be very NOT NICE with strangers. Particularly when they are trying to tell her what to do.

Why Don't We?

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:49:00 +0000

From the completely random file:

Why on earth does English not have a symbol that adequately describes strong amazement?

I've just noticed my over dependence upon make-do symbols, like:

?!?
?! and
!?

{Selection of make-do symbol depends on strength of emotion and whether I'm more vehement or befuddled.}

Ideas, anyone? How do we get a symbol introduced into our language that conveys what we need it to convey? (Or is that ?!!?)

Fab Find

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:06:00 +0000

Look what I found at the grocery store!!!

Great, huh? Simply add 1 T of butter or olive oil per serving of pasta for a smooth, tasty pesto sauce.

My find is safely stored away with all of my use-as-much-as-you-need-at-a-time treats: tomato paste, wasabi and, now, pesto!

We're Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:57:00 +0000

Bring on the zombie apocalypse. Or the collapse of the world as we know it.

Our freezer is stocked with (mini) pies and ready for anything. What half-crazed maniac (or starving zombie) wouldn't prefer a piping fresh personal homemade pie over causing mayhem?

Awaiting baking:
Apple, Blackberry, Blueberry,
Cherry and Pecan Mini-Pies

*** Edited to add instructions ***

For a step-by-step in how to put together the mini-pies, please refer to my earlier post here.

I wanted to stock my freezer with (relatively) quick ready-to-go mini pies, so I prepared my pies, put the lids and rings on the unbaked pies and labeled with the pie type and baking instructions. Now whenever The Boy comments that he'd love some pie, I merely need to pull one of these suckers out of the freezer, remove the lid and ring, let it come to room temperature, and bake.

Filling recipes:

Apple Pie - makes 3 mini pies

2 baking apples (I used 1 small granny and 1 small gala), peeled and chopped
Scant 1/4 c cinnamon sugar
1/4 c brown sugar (not packed)

Blackberry Pie - makes 2 mini pies

1/2 pint fresh blackberries
1/4 c sugar
1 t lemon juice

Blueberry Pie - makes 2 mini pies

1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1/4 c sugar
1 t vanilla

Cherry Pie - makes 3 mini pies

1 can pitted cherries (not pie filling)
1/2 c brown sugar (not packed)
1 c sugar
2 T flour
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt

Pecan Pie - makes 3 mini pies

1/2 c pecans (whole or chopped)
3/4 c brown sugar, packed
3/4 c dark corn syrup
2 eggs
1/8 t salt
1/8 c unsalted butter,melted
1/2 t vanilla extract

Beat eggs with a wire whisk or fork until foamy. Add salt, butter, corn syrup, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well. Pour into prepared mini pies, top with pecans.

Going Green One Glass at a Time

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

In the midst of my Pinterest addiction, I'm trying really hard not to be a woman who simply pins. I want to be a woman who pins and does.

Inspiration, after all, doesn't have much value if it's merely an idea that never gets acted upon.

Thus, I present a Pinterest-inspired recipe: Green Smoothies.

I know, it sounds gross and looks quite suspect. But I made my mom try it.

She, who raised her eyebrows in a sign of "I suspect this might be gross" when I was whirling things together, thought it tasted "different."

"Different" means that it's pretty good tasting. Give it a try and see if you don't think this is different - and good tasting!

Green Smoothies

2 cups coconut water (Available in either the natural food section or the Hispanic food section. Prices vary from $2.00-$6.00 for a 14 ounce container.)
1/3 cup almonds
2 cups spinach
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint
1/2 orange
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
2 cups frozen mango cubes (Cheap alternative: frozen mango pulp, widely available in the international section of the grocery store's frozen food section.)

Place the ingredients in the order listed in a blender container and whirl until smooth.

Divide mixture among 12 muffin cups. I found it really helpful to spray the pan first with cooking spray and to use a ladle to avoid splashes.

Freeze until solid.

Growl when you realize that they are too frozen to remove from the pan. So thaw slightly, then pop out of the muffin pan and into a plastic bag for long-term storage.

When ready for a refreshing drink, place 1 cup coconut water or regular water in a blender followed by two of the green cups and whirl. If you don’t have a powerful blender, you might need to cut the frozen smoothie cups into quarters first.

See that glass of refreshment? I'm downing it before heading out on my 24-mile training run this morning.

Apparently, I am Hard Core

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:10:00 +0000

The Boy and I are continuing our prep work for the 2012 Cowtown Marathon. Seven weeks and counting!

Seven weeks means there's plenty of time for some additional long endurance runs and speed training to improve our overall performance.

Side note: I hate speed work.

Correction: I HATE SPEED WORK.

I'd say I feel better for saying that, but I don't. Why not? Because I know I still have two more speed work sessions to go before marathon time.

Speed work involves running at a faster-than-normal pace for a mile, walking a bit to recover, then running at a faster-than-normal pace for another mile. (You continue this for how ever many miles are on your personal training schedule.) Running geeks: Yes, I realize this is also called tempo running. Either way, it stinks.

Because the truth is that speed work is ok for the first mile or two. But for the next three, four, and ... it really is awful. Eventually, you feel like you want to throw up. Fortunately, I haven't yet. Give me time.

We were both too tired from football fun and festivities to do our speed work over the weekend. That's how I found myself running-until-I-wanted-to-puke at The Boy's office at 5:45 am on a workday.

Workday morning runs are hectic - it's hard to remember to pack your lunch, all of your work necessities, plus all of your workout things. I managed to arrive at the gym with my clothes but without my iPod.

Bummer.

There's not much worse than having to run-until-I-want-to-puke without any music to keep me from thinking about running or puking.

Double bummer.

Midway through our runs, other folks arrived to squeeze in a pre-work morning workout. I was too focused on not puking - or falling off the treadmill - to do much more than glance when they walked in.

But we had a chance to exchange pleasantries later in the locker room. One of the girls told me,

Yeah, I told my friend when we got here that you were a

hard-core runner. There's no way I can run without anything

to listen to or do besides watching my time. You rock.

If only she knew.

Source

Music, Glorious Music

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:17:00 +0000

On a whim, I stopped in at a local Dallas church to listen to a cello concert this weekend. It was part of a salon-style Performing Arts concert series.

Over the course of an hour and half (give or take some), the principal cellist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Adkins, led us on an exhilarating and emotional ride. He was accompanied by noted concert pianist Stephen Nielson - a beautiful performer as well.

Yes, I love classical music. And the cello, when played well, can make me cry.

I should have put Listening to Cello Music on my 50 Things that Bring Me Joy list. Because it does. Every time.

I'm Just Looking for Section 212

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:46:00 +0000

If you are going to go to a game - a very big game, like the Cotton Bowl - I think you would be wise to print out instructions on how to get to your seat.

You need instructions in case you find yourselves in a situation like we did, attending a pep rally on the plaza outside of one of the end zones - completely half a stadium away from the entry gate specified on your ticket.

Now you may think that you have two options if you find yourselves in that situation. You could

Walk back to your specified entry gate or
Ask an event worker (or if you are like me, multiple workers) if you can get to your section from an entry gate near the plaza and believe what they tell you.

Click on the photo to read.

Apparently, there is also a third option: You can ask Jackie for directions.

If you take the third option, you are simultaneously in for a treat and the craziest experience of your life.

Following the instructions that three stadium employees gave us, we entered the stadium through Gate B and went up the escalator to walk across the upper level walkway to our section.

The only problem was that there was no upper level to our section. There was a dead-end balcony.

Back we headed to the escalator where a friendly stadium employee was shouting, If you are lost, come see me. We will help you find where you are going.

A logical person, who is lost, would surely go see him, right? Right. So we did.

What followed reminded me of my misguided attempt to learn the residential mailbox requirements from a USPS worker nearly three years ago. Only this time, it went something like this:

Jackie: Let me flip to the map on this page.
Me: Ok.
Jackie: First you want to go up the escalator so you can look at the cars and the fountains. Have you heard about the art? The art is great.
Me: Yes, I've been on a tour. The art is great. But I'm trying to find Section 212. Once we go up the escalator, then we can just go across to our section?
Jackie: Yes, you have the magic ticket. This ticket will let you in the suites and the clubs. If you didn't have this ticket I would make you go back downstairs. But make sure you look at the cars and the art.
Me: We will. So we go upstairs and walk to the suites and across, right?
Jackie: No. Let me flip to the map on this other page and show you.

{This went on for a very long time. I'm not exaggerating.}

Me: Ok, thank you for your help. (Not really)
Jackie: No problem - just remember, if you get lost, come back to Gate B, Mezzanine Level and ask for Jackie. I am here to help!

So we went up the escalator and looked at the cars and the fountains.

We looked at the field.

And we discovered that we couldn't walk across the suites from the upstairs level. We had to go back downstairs - to the Mezzanine Level to get to our section. You can bet that we didn't go back to Gate B and ask Jackie for help.

All we wanted was to find Section 212.

The Cotton Bowl

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:42:00 +0000

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we took my parents to the Cotton Bowl last week. We had lots and lots of fun, even though we didn't win the game.

But this post isn't about all of the people that were there.

Nor is about the purple overload that surrounded us during the K-State pep rally.

Nor the crazy ways people found to wear purple.

It's not about the band.

Or the cheerleaders.

Or the football-field length flag...though that was pretty impressive.

No, this post is about making sure you get a family photo at the game.

To get a proper family photo at a bowl game you need to:

State your desire to have said photo made before the game begins.
Ask when you're going to have said photo made at least twice during the first and second quarters.
Worry aloud about whether or not you'll get said photo made at all.
Remind everyone that you want to have said photo made before halftime starts.
Worry aloud again.
Get impatient that no one is paying attention to you when you state, ask, worry and remind.
Shoot "Mom Dagger Eyes" at daughters who roll their eyes.
Select a willing stranger to take said photo towards the end of halftime.
Tell your family - in a not very nice way - that it's time to take said photo.
Wait for 25 million people to walk in front of you, around you and into you while seemingly oblivious to your attempt to pose for said photo.
Pose for said photo - then realize you are missing two men that are part of the family. Wait again.
Nearly give up in frustration when the camera times out and shuts off because no one can pose in a timely manner.
Shoot "Mom Dagger Eyes" when family members complain about the length of time it's taking to have said photo made.
Smile for the sixteenth time for the family photo.
Urge daughter to check and make sure the photo turned out well before returning to your seat.

And when she checks the digital record, you discover this is your family photo:

Ah, those Arkansas football fans. They're real jokers.

The Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:43:00 +0000

My parents came to town for a lightening-fast trip to attend the Cotton Bowl. {More on that in a future post.}

After they left, The Boy and I took this weekend to fit in a goodly amount of relaxing. Around the Hayley House there was:

Napping:

He can sleep anywhere at anytime.

Attempted-but-mostly-Unsuccessful-Napping:

I would sleep, but Mama's home and she's very interesting.

Cookie delivering:

How cookie-making Grandma Mo says "Thanks" for Cotton Bowl tickets

And, thankfully, cookie eating:

So glad she baked some for us!!

There was bread baking:

Does anything smell better than yeast? Seriously.

And fresh bread eating:

Perfect lunch: fresh bread, herbed cheese, garlic-stuffed olives and smoked salmon.

New discoveries...like learning that my Brazilian Lemonade (made with fresh limes) is pretty awesome as Southern Lemonade when made with fresh lemons:

Quarter 4 fresh lemons (peels washed thoroughly). Add 1 cup (more or less to taste) sugar
Pulse 4 times with 6 cups water in a blender. Strain and serve.

And lots of dish washing. A necessary evil when you finally have time to cook, and cook properly, at home:

Truism: When acquiring important things, it's best to go for the heavy duty.
This is true for pots and pans and also for bras.

We had a lovely-lovely-lovely weekend.

How was yours?

Worthless but Beloved

noreply@blogger.com (Shannah) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:49:00 +0000

It's my own fault. I should have remembered that one of the best places to take a nap is precisely where Mama doesn't want you to take a nap.

Like on top of the mattress cover right as Mama's in the midst of changing sheets.

Sigh.

Full of naughtiness, for sure. But it's impossible not to fuss on them because they're so darn cute!!!