Tessie: you are the only, only, oh-ONLY!

You may not know this, but Tessie has a song named after her.

Or she was named after it.

I can't remember.

Either way, when we put it on she KNOWS it's her song.

And you can't stop her from dancing.

Hogwarts

Tony and I have started reading the Harry Potter books. A bit behind the times, I know. I just finished the second book, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." Tony is mid-way through book #4. Once we both finish a book we rent the movie, make some popcorn, and I light all the candles I can find (if only I could make them float...). Now I admit: I had seen the 1st and 2nd movies already so I sort of knew the story there -- but that's as far as I got. Despite all the hoopla surrounding this series, neither Tony nor I actually know what happens in the rest of the tale. So don't spoil it for us! Following tonight's viewing, over toothpaste and dental floss, we decided that if we were at Hogwarts I would be just like Hermione (bossy and overly-eager to share an opinion, but - let's face it - usually right) and Sadie would be my creature; very prim and proper but also kind of stealth. Then we decided Tony would be Ron. I think he was hurt I didn't say Harry, but I just really see Ron there. Good-hearted, loyal, and charming but with a broken wand, mixed-up spells, and Milo (sweet, but loud and annoying) as his companion.

Now, like I said, we haven't finished the series yet. So if either of our characters doesn't make it to the end please don't break it to us yet.

That's Hot.

Today it was 115 degrees.

That is too hot to cook.

So I whipped up a bunch of no-cook appetizers for dinner.

It was actually delightful.

And you know what they say about sharing a meal of finger-foods with your lover...

A Saturday Morning

Today I made blueberry muffins for breakfast.

They were delish.

What jump-started your weekend?

She's got a bone to pick

When we brought Murphy home we got him a special chew toy so that he would feel welcome.

But Tess took it away from him and claimed it as her own.

Then we got a second bone for Murph so he wouldn't feel slighted.

I guess Tessie thinks Murphy feels welcomed enough.

Crime Scene Investigation

I was supposed to bring dessert to our friends' house for dinner tonight. So I made a batch of brownies before Tony and I left to run errands. I left them cooling on the counter. When I returned I observed this:

And on closer inspection, I noted this:

There are four suspects.

The questions is who is tall enough to reach the counter whilst also being large enough to consume a full SIXTEEN HUMAN SERVINGS of brownies without vomiting or, I don't know, dying instantly?

Who could it be?

Dear Anna

I have changed my mind about encouraging you to get a Puggle.

Or any pet at all for that matter.

Mostly they are fun and cute.

But sometimes, they do this:

Now I can't say for sure who is guilty of this crime.

It could be the one who can't bring himself to look at me.

Or the one who seems ashamed of himself.

Or the one who looks smug.

But to be honest, I think it's the one who looks really, really proud of herself.

I can't prove it.

So we'll never actually solve this mystery.

Or the mystery of why my husband has been home for over an hour and that poor dead creature is still out on my patio.

Movie Night

This is what movie night looks like









After Tony has pulled three all-nighters
in five days.

Ah, finals week.

Just one of those days.

Today was just one of those days.

The kind where, as you head out the door to work, you realize that your car has a flat tire. So your husband, who has an exam that morning, has to drive you to work.

Then after his exam, but before the other two exams he has this week and needs to study for, he has to take your car in to have the tire replaced and, let's face it, you've been putting off replacing all your tires for way too long so...time to bite the bullet and, $500.00 later, you've got new tires.

Only then, as your husband pulls into the driveway in HIS truck-- it dies. For no reason. So you call AAA. Only to realize it actually didn't convert over from Indiana like it was supposed to, so now you've got to purchase a whole new $150.00 membership if you want someone to come out and look at the truck. And, let's face it, you guys don't know anything about cars so...new AAA membership it is.

Along with this bright, shiny new membership, the truck is going to get a new pump! Whatever that is. It costs $850.00 and the damn truck won't run without it.

Remember when you woke up this morning and didn't know you'd have to spend $1,500.00 to get your cars to run today? That was nice.

This is serious.

Netflix is down. No instant streaming.

I had no Desperate Housewives to entertain me while I cooked dinner.

I had no Family Guy to distract me while I washed the dinner dishes.

And just now, I had to put in my DVD of Arrested Development by hand.

BY HAND.

What is this 2009??

Sauced

Last night, I made broccoli to go with our chicken. But despite the raisins and garlic I added, it just wasn't quite right. So, inspired by the recent cooking class Tony and I attended two weeks ago with my parents and siblings in Portland, I decided to try my first pan reduction sauce.
Should you wish to make such a sauce yourself - and I suggest you do, they are delicious! - simply follow this step-by-step guide (use whatever amounts are appropriate for the number of servings you need):

1. Brown, and thoroughly cook, your chicken. Remove to a plate.

2. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

3. Add Madeira.

4. Allow the wine to release the brown bits.

5. Deglaze the pan.

6. Simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency.

7. Add tarragon.

8. Reduce heat and add cream.

9. Stir to combine.

10. Cook to desired consistency and remove from heat.

11. Drizzle over chicken and broccoli and ENJOY!

Spring Break (woo-hoo!)

You know how when you're in college and you hear the words "Spring Break" (WOO-HOO!) you think bikinis, pina coladas, and body-shots (!).

Well, no one tells you but when you get older "spring break" means yard work

home-improvement projects

The closet in the office finally has door on it!

and the thrill of getting a full eight hours of sleep at night.

Kinda makes you think, what happened to my life...?

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Every morning Tony and I start our day with a glass of freshly-juiced vegetable/fruit juice; we call them "greens".

And today it seemed so nicely festive. Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!

You know your yard is out of control when...

animals are actually dying because they can't escape your bushes.

Murphy

This is Murphy.

He is two years old.
Well, we actually don't know how old he is, so I decided to give him the same birthday as Tessie so I could remember it.

Incredibly, Milo and Sadie much prefer him to Tessie.

Murph and Tess are great pals.

But his best friend is Tony.

And, yes: we are done with animals. The next addition to the family will be a baby, but that will not be for quite some time.

Wine and Cookies

We have made it through the dreaded Second Quarter. The one everyone says, "If you survive second quarter, you'll survive all four years." Tony did wonderfully and actually managed to raise his - already stellar, if I may brag a little - GPA; despite missing a week of classes while he was in New York City at the mid-winter meeting of the American Podiatric Medical Students' Association (APMSA). Have I told you he was elected to be his class's APMSA delegate for their four-year careers as medical students? Well he was - to brag a bit, again. He's also head of the Public Relations Committee for the entire APMSA and president of the Practice Management Club, but I digress.

Having reached this milestone, some of you (okay, it was just my dad) have asked us about the differences between law school and medical school. Both require endless hours of studying, are extraordinarily stressful, and leave you with a continuous, nagging feeling that you just haven't done enough and you are not going to pass. So, at least for Tony and me, the difference between our doctoral programs boils down to our coping mechanisms.

Well that and the fact that Tony came home on a weekly basis reeking of the dead people he dissected that day. I will not miss his Gross Anatomy lab.

At the end of a tough day of law school, you know - the ones where you were the student called on to answer the professor's questions for the ENTIRE lecture while the rest of your class breathed a sigh of relief and started shopping online...oh I loath the Socratic method - all I wanted was a glass (bottle?) of wine.

For Tony, as some of you may recall, it's my homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Being unemployed, I started the school year happily whipping up batch after 40-cookie-batch...only to have Tony eat three cookies and leave us with 37 that we didn't really want (and everyone knows that cookies are really best fresh out of the oven). Thus, though I love my husband to distraction, I grew weary of incessant baking.

Necessity being the mother of invention (and yes, it turns out, freshly baked cookies are a necessity in medical school) I tweaked my recipe slightly so my cookies freeze in dough form and bake directly from frozen - in only eight minutes! Now Tony can toss just a couple frozen cookies into our toaster oven, usually at 2:00 in the morning it seems, and have warm, freshly-baked, homemade cookies on demand.


This one accomplishment is pretty much all I have to show for the past eight months.