Sweet Sunday

Today is one of those delightful days with no obligations on our agenda, coffee brewed, B cooking eggs-in-the-hole for breakfast and me working on a decent (but no insurmountable) to-do list. Plus we get to keep up with lawmakers working on the debt ceiling.

I'm going to try my hand at making zucchini bread today -- I made some last summer and this year I'm sharing it or freezing it (instead of hiding it in the fridge until it a pre-honeymoon cleanout). Zucchini bread is healthy because there is zucchini in it, of course, and it's delicious because almost everything else in it is also in cakes. Yum.

Also on the docket for today:

• Clean up the yet-to-be-unpacked extra room.
• Clean up the random "I'll deal with this later" heaps I've left scattered around the house.
• Find a hat for the Day at the Races Party next weekend for B's work. There is a hat contest and I must win! I love hats and they fit me well.
  
• Figure out some heavy school stuff -- mostly how exactly I'm paying for school. I'll need to apply for a private loan, it seems, but I've got to look over some other options as well. This is certainly not a roadblock to starting school in three (!) weeks, but it's a critical bill to figure out.
• Cut coupons and find the best deals ever for things we need using my awesome Sunday Tribune. Notably we need colored pencils (for the Anatomy and Physiology coloring books I ordered on Amazon for review and a coloring fix before school starts).
• Correspond with people to whom I write letters.

Hope your Sunday is marvelous!

Produce and accomplishments

Phew! I've got one statistics class left! There's plenty to keep me busy until then, of course. But just one class left -- I am thrilled. A few highlights from our past weekend of merriment:

• A delightful trip to Michigan -- We were able to enjoy the fun of Lake Michigan and a pool with one of our awesome nieces and fun family. We also enjoyed sitting around, reading, sleeping late, playing Scattegories and being silly. A wonderful break.
• A visit to Big Head Farms while we were in Michigan! This is where our Community Supported Agriculture share comes from. We drove over to the farm, picked peas and peppers until it rained, and got to see our farm friend's operation at their home. It's pretty spectacular. We came away with even more appreciation of what it takes to grow food, a desire to never become farmers, and a renewed commitment to eating all our veggies.
• One last Michigan bit -- I snuck away from the family for a bit to work on stats. I found a perfect little cafe where sat outside and chugged along at my work. I had an iced coffee and a cookie. I set up my laptop, my headphones and all my school supplies. I must work remotely more often. It was superb.
• One year down! We got married a year ago Sunday! We celebrated with dinner at Mrs. Murphy's Irish Bistro -- the "scene of the crime" as my parents say. Our dinner was summer-fresh perfection, plus we had a sweet treat to end the meal. I can't believe we've been married for a whole year -- how'd that happen?

Back to my studies for another 40-some hours. Here's a pic from the farm -- I'll post more soon, I think.

Phew!

Almost done with my stats class -- 3 classes (and two tests, several online assignments and two projects!) left!

This weekend we're off to Michigan for a weekend of relaxing by the pool or lake, buying fruit, and reading non-school reading. Hooray!

In happy apartment-improving news:

1. We've got a new couch on its way!
2. We've got a new shelf in the pantry room, which makes the kitchen about a billion times less clutter-filled.
   
3. We've got big plans for the (current) junk room, which shall soon turn into something not-full-of junk.
4. We're love, love, loving the air conditioning. Central air is a pretty amazing thing and we're absolutely loving it right now.

Keep cool, friends!

Food!

I'm proud to say that in the B & Mandasaurus house eating has been good lately.

Some of the highlights:

• This evening B made pesto using sweet basil from our CSA. He tossed it with some pasta for a delicious dinner and saved a bunch more for future yummy times.
• I used my ice cream machine to make a batch of strawberry ice cream. I'm not sure words can describe how rich, sweet and creamy this stuff is. It's made from strawberries, sugar and a ton of cream, half & half, vanilla and some sugar, which means a tiny bite is super satisfying. Next we're hoping to make a sorbet.
• My lunches and dinners (for the days when I work and go directly to stats class) have been top-notch. We've prepared pasta with peas, pasta with tomatoes & prosciutto, rice pilaf and other standout dishes that take easily to being carried across town and microwaved. I also like to carry snacks like yogurt with berries, crackers with hummus, carrots, radishes, and the like. This makes the days when I leave the house at 7 a.m. and return at 10 p.m. much more bearable.
• Fizzy water cocktails -- I've been really into the hydrating power and bubbles of seltzer water lately. I toss just about anything in with it -- berries, orange slice, peaches, juice, herbs. It's a bubbly treat -- one that even pleased B's 89-year-old Grandma Fergie (who thought it was wine).
  

Happy Monday -- hope you get a delicious treat today too!

Spa-rrific

As part of my terrific birthday gift from B, I had the most relaxing night ever. B bought some awesome goods from Lush, cleaned the tub, set up candles where we normally have bottles of soap and drew (you draw a bath) me the best bath ever. Half an Avobath Bath Bomb and half a Freedom Foamer Bubble Bar = best bath on earth. And Freedom Foamer supports marriage equality! Hooray!

We've got a spa tub so the bubbles were out of control. I felt like a movie star -- surrounded by bubbles in the best way possible.

I'm a huge nerd who believes in the power of relaxing (whether you relax by cracking open a beer, taking a run, cooking, napping or whatever). This bath was as good as it gets. I felt all the stress in my legs and shoulders melt away, all the sticky marks from my bionic diabetes stuff disappeared, and all the things running around in my mind calmed down too.

I hope you get a bath (or some kind of relaxing something-or-other) soon too, friends!

Correction to image: We don't have a claw foot tub or a puppy. But Mr. Meowgi did think the bubbles were pretty cool.

Long weekend long on fun

Today is a free day -- all day, no major to-do lists or obligations. This is excellent news for B and I who've been ridiculously busy lately. Hooray for free time. This three-day-weekend, though, has been a complete blast --

1. Friday night - Taste of Chicago with Courtyard Hounds! We went to the Taste despite wacky weather reports and it turned out uncrowded and lovely. We enjoyed some Taste portions (sample sizes - one of the Taste's best features) and a concert by the Courtyard Hounds (2 of the 3 Dixie Chicks).
2. Saturday - I volunteered with Chicago Cares serving lunch at a women's shelter with one of my awesome mom-to-be friends. We had an excellent time and did some good. Also, I got over my fear of macaroni salad by making it. Afterward we went to a family event and got to spend some quality time with one of our awesome nieces.
   
3. Sunday - My parents came to town. My Dad and B had tickets to the Cubs-Sox game. My M.O.M. and I went along breakfast at The Salt & Pepper Diner and a few beers at Murphy's Bleachers and the fest in front of the ballpark. Then my M.O.M. and I set to work. We made a headboard for our bed. We used an old, unattractive headboard my M.O.M. got for $5 at a garage sale. We covered it with foam, then fabric (actually a tablecloth), staple-gunned it all together and stuck it on the bedframe. It looks awesome - as B says "It makes the bed look like a bed!" And we can lean on it. And admire it. And gloat about making it. After our craftiness my M.O.M. and I took a stroll and found a yard sale with Fiestaware - $10 for 16 pieces! Whoa. We carried our gear home and met up with the baseball fans for dinner and beers.
4. Monday - An awesome day so far: grocery-buying, lounging, silly DVD-watching and letting the cats run around in the backyard. B talks about getting a grill, but I think we're way too wrapped up in lounging to buy a grill or do whatever it takes to make a grill work. Not that I don't like grilling...