64 Crayons

Michael and I were out of town all last week. As I said in an earlier post Michael's Dad had surgery. It went very well! He is doing so good. We are all very thankful that everything turned out so well.

He is at home healing now. But I am sure he is going to get antsy as he can't drive for 3 weeks. And he can't do lifting until February. Michael and I have business over in Denver 2 times in January so we will bring them another batch of movies. I gathered up most of my old movies (Quiet Man, North by Northwest, From here to Eternity, Giant and a couple of Michael's old westerns) plus all 5 seasons of Alias and brought that over last week. I am hoping that keeps them busy for a while but will bring over more in January too.

While in Denver, Michael bought his sister, Mom and I Christmas coloring books and then each a box of 64 crayons. And so every evening we would color while watching a movie. It was so much fun to color! We also got a chance to go to World Market while in Denver - okay 2 chances as Michael's sister had never been there so we took her. Really Michael and I are so lucky they don't have one here in Grand Junction as it is our favorite store and often can't resist spending money there. Our main reason for going there though is that Michael needed to pick up coffee beans. He loves their coffee! I also had some tea while there so we picked up some PG Tips which is Englands number 1 tea. I am a black tea drinker and the PG tips was quite good. We also picked up a few stocking stuffers for each other. But really we drool through the whole store as there are so many things we like.

Being gone for a week really made things busy before we left where I just didn't have time for much. And now that we are back - my to-do list is looking a little dauntless. I decorated Monday. And today I working on gifts. But also dug out all my recipes and will start baking tomorrow. I have lots to get done by this time next week. I told Michael that I am not really feeling it this year the holiday spirit and anyone that knows me probably has their mouth hanging open in shock about now - just as Michael did when I told him. I am hoping it will come as the more traditional holiday things I do. Michael said we need to watch Polar Express. I hope we can get the tree up tonight or tomorrow night and then watch the Polar Express after so we have the glow of the lights while we watch the movie. I am sure it will hit me at some point.

What else...Food of course!

Last night I think Michael and I were in food heaven. I made ham and bean soup and it turned out excellent. Better then ever. My mouth is watering as I type about it. We had a ham a few weeks ago and saved that ham bone and it just made that soup.

Saturday was Michael's birthday but we were coming home that day so I made sure we celebrated on Sunday. I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. And then for dinner his favorite - Beef Stroganoff. It turned out really good too. I took a cheap steak and cut it in strips and put it in the crockpot with onions, garlic, a cup of beef stock and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. I cooked it so it was falling apart tender and then added the ingredients to make the sauce (except the sour cream) the last hour and half. And then the last 15 minutes added the sour cream. It turned out really good. For dessert I made what Michael is calling Maple Heaven Cake. I am not happy how it turned out though so until I get it better I won't be posting recipe or pictures. But it basically was a yellow cake with maple and vanilla extract. And then a butterscotch buttercream frosting (that turned out perfect). The cake was a little dry. I think I either over mixed or over baked.

Tomorrow I making teriyaki chicken and noodles for dinner. And enchiladas for Friday night.

I think that is a good catch up post.

Why haven't we heard from Michael??

Well - the answer lies in the fact that I really haven't had much of a chance to sit down and type anything out for the last several weeks. Thankfully though - I can sit down at the keyboard this morning to type out a few things because Darby is still sleeping and the java has entered my blood stream. :)

Speaking of Java -- I came across a brand that I have fallen in love with: Peet's Coffee. A friend of mine introduced me to it a long while back and thankfully I've been able to find it in the stores here locally. I did find a few dedicated Peets Coffee and Tea stores in Denver that I'll have to check out. The coffee itself is simply impressive -- a rich flavor, but not overpowering, it holds it's flavor throughout each sip and doesn't leave a bitter after taste. It's robust, but not nearly as strong as some of the other espresso flavor coffees I've tried. Nevertheless - it's become a favorite.

My projects have really been keeping us busy lately. I just spent a week in Denver in court on a high profile case over there. There were parts that were frustrating though -- mainly because of some certain parties that chose to make things a lot more difficult than was really necessary. It was their way of ensuring that their "point" was being made, which only made them look incompetent and silly.

As Darby wrote about -- the dishwasher started smoking the other day. And like all good appliances and computers -- the moment I showed up and started it up -- it behaved. There must be something about me because the same thing happened with my folk's television after I left. It was behaving the entire time I was there, but the moment I left -- it went screwy. I think I need to have my cosmic aura checked -- maybe I could market this and sell it. *laughs*

The weekend will be spent partly recovering, partly working, and partly getting organized as to what's on the plate for the coming week. So much going on right now - we have several "to-do" lists and the calendar reflects a really wide assortment of things on tap. Being busy is good when you're self-employed, but sheesh -- I wish there would be a larger break so that I can get my feet to touch the ground every so oft.

Not much else to report -- if I can encourage Darby to get out of bed, we may venture down south to the Dollar Tree -- just to get her out of town for a bit, enjoy the bright sunny day and hopefully relax a bit.