Friday, May 27, 2011

A few of my favorite things...

So we've established that I'm on a diet and that DH is partaking of the torture we are willing enduring.  It is a high-protein and veggie diet (read: very low carb).  How did I never, ever realize how many carbs we ate on a daily basis?!?  How many? Wwwwaaaaayyyyy too many!


Well, let me get to the good stuff.  Lately (read: last week and a half), I am really craving salmon, I even ate it for breakfast one day!  And, I'm following this recipe for it that I found recently which is really easy, super tasty AND doesn't leave the house smelling like fish.  Let me know if you are interested in the recipe!
Before...
After! Ta-da!!
And my two favorite side dishes: roasted asparagus (hey, it is worth the funny pee smell) and tomato slices with lemon olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled on top - YUM!!!!

Aren't you wishing you were on a diet now too? :)  Probably not, but at least now you know that if you come over to our house for dinner, our diet won't affect you in a negative manner!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Playing catch up

My apologies for being MIA for a month.  Lots of stuff in my lap the past few weeks and I haven't been very good about taking care of all of it, the ball-juggling was temporarily out of service but I seem to be getting a grip on things again.  


So what's been happening?  What did you miss?  A little of everything.


Life in General
The biggest reason there haven't been any posts? Not even of what I have been up to in the kitchen?  DH and I went on a diet *GASP*!  I know, I can barely believe it myself.  I have been soda-free for 16 days *double GASP* - and it is killing me!  (Hi, my name is Jenny and I am a Mountain Dew addict) Because of this diet there haven't been any exciting recipes to share but hopefully I'll come up with something soon.  My pants are already a teeny-tiny bit looser (yay!)... but this is hard.  Thankfully, when I have a bad craving day like today, DH tries really hard to provide the moral support needed from a diet buddy.  At my office some of my coworkers know what I am doing and are also very supportive and full of praise ~ this kind of back up is one of a kind and truly appreciated.


We had the carpet cleaned at the house... they didn't do as good of a job as I expected but it does look somewhat better than before.


I was in a car accident.  Long story, not in the mood to tell it but if you ask me about it one-on-one I will share all the details.


Milestones
Aggie turned 10!!  Sounds silly to say but I am grateful everyday that I have him in my life.  Before becoming his human companion, I had only experienced "shared" dogs, you know, like when your parents get a dog for you and your 3 siblings to "share", get what I mean?  He is my little puppy doodles who constantly wants to follow my commands to make me happy, stingy with his kisses, always hungry and willing to eat whatever is offered (or not), a constant visitor at the vet's office for a number of issues, amiable with DH and myself but not with most other humans, old-man cute and most recently a pirate.
Yes doctor, I'm on the treadmill every day...
My brother-in-law turned 29 (for the second time)!  Just remember: Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.


My older sister, also known as Candela and her husband had their 20 year wedding anniversary!  I totally spaced it even though I had a reminder in my phone and just realized it the other day as I was going through all the important dates in my calendar - what a doofus!  But I think it is an awesome occasion with the proof of their success evidenced in their three kiddos, not many people achieve this milestone anymore so be proud of yourselves and may you be happy together for many more years!  
Chains do not hold a marriage together.  It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.  ~Simone Signoret
It is really hard to find a picture of just the two lovebirds, so instead here is one with their kiddos as well.  Please notice that the youngest child in blue is smiling (a rare thing for him in pics) this is because I bribed him with $1.
My other brother-in-law (Candela's hubby) had his birthday!  I think (but am not sure) that he turned 43.  Happy birthday viejito!  "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Jack Benny


Transitions
My intern Mary finished her internship with us and graduated from her MSW program.  I couldn't be happier for her but miss her every day.  In the process, she completed a much needed program evaluation on one of my star programs, an invaluable contribution! 


After 6 years with AT&T I switched to Verizon.  DH made that transition over a year ago because of his phone so it wasn't that bad.  My contract was done and my phone was falling apart.  Why is this a transition big enough to mention here? Because I went from my beloved Palm to a Droid Pro.  Mind you, I started using my first Palm back in December of 2000 and have been a loyal user but with the company being defunct there was no other option (and no, the iPhone was not an option, I don't like Apple products).  It hasn't been as hard to adjust as I expected it to be, but the Droid Pro and I are still just getting to know one another.  You can still hear me asking a few times a day: babe, why the f@$k is this not working like I want it to.... ah life.