Tuesday stuff

We bought a new dishwasher this weekend. After checking out what was available, I ended up going with Whirlpool again. There were fancier models out there, ranging anywhere from $500 to $1200. I checked out the new 2-drawer versions (looks like a leaking disaster just waiting to happen...?). But Whirlpool seems to be the only brand that has the good sense to realize that if you put the silverware tray IN THE DOOR, you don't take up any extra rack space inside the tub. Everytime I opened up a prospective model and saw a big silverware holder stuck right in the middle of the bottom rack, I closed the door and kept looking. I went with whirlpool. It works for me. Apparently I am very picky about the layout of the interior of my dishwasher. The fancy features....not so much. I tend to use the normal wash cycle 95 percent of the time, anyway. Now if they come out with one that will load/unload itself, then I will reconsider my brand loyalty...haha.

We have been cleaning out a lot of stuff around the house again while doing all of this moving of the kids, buying the bedroom furniture...etc. Hubby took a carload of stuff to Goodwill. We have a big Goodwill store conveniently close by. We take everything that has any usefulness left in it there. Mostly it was books, as Stephen cleaned out his stash of books here at our house. The ones he didn't want to have to move into his new place. But one of the items was a computer monitor still in good working condition. We have gone with flat screens, since I love how they take up less space. Unfortunately Goodwill does NOT accept computer monitors.
Go figure.....I have no idea why. Anyway, the big-ass computer monitor that has been sitting in my living room floor left the building briefly. But it came back. Its the monitor that WILL NOT leave......I am at a loss as to what to do with it now. Any suggestions?

Also...I did take pics of the new bedroom furniture. I just haven't downloaded them from the camera. We have been insanely busy around here lately. But I will do that when I get a chance to sit down and catch my breath. The good thing is that I am enjoying it immensely. I LOVE it, and it makes me happy. Its all good!

A crabby kind of night....

It was a crabby kind of night. And no, I do not mean that either of us was in a grouchy mood. Nor do I mean that there was any sort of an USTT (Unpleasant, Sexually Transmitted Thingie).
I had some amazing crab dishes at the restaurant (Chef's 505) last night. We started off sharing an appetizer:
"Smoked Gouda Cheese Crab Dip topped with Toasted Pita Points."

It was indescribably delicious. And although I had one heck of a time trying to decide what to try off of the entree menu, I finally settled on the crab cakes. The Crab dip was so incredible why break the crabby theme of the evening? The crab cakes:
"Twin Pan Seared Crab Cakes covered in a Lobster Sherry Cream Sauce served over Chefs Vegetables and a Sweet Potato Hash."

Holy cow! Or Holy crab! It was absolutely divine. Hubby had a slight disappointment. He ordered a 16 oz porterhouse with pineapple chutney. He was expecting beef. It turned out to be pork. But he said that it was juicy and tasty, and he enjoyed it. I tried a bite, and thought it was excellent. We ended the evening with a shared Espresso Creme Brulee. Oh My God!! If I had known, I might have just ordered 3 of those to start with and had myself a sugar coma.

Anyway, we enjoyed it. If any of you come to visit, remind us and we will take you there.

Happy Birthday, Bruce!!!

Today is Hubby's birthday (I won't reveal the age...surely its somewhere around 29 though...haha). Its also our 26th anniversary. I haven't bought him presents or cake. We have been much too busy to go shopping, spending most of our spare time utilizing this new gym membership (we are really enjoying it, and wondering why we didn't do this a long time ago). And as for cake....well, yeah, that ties into the new gym membership, too. We have been making serious efforts to clean up our eating habits, and that has been going rather well. We have been too busy to sit around and eat junk food...Haha. There's that, and the fact that we have also been too busy to go grocery shopping, so there is not much stuff in the house anyway. Whatever, its all good. The point is that we are having fun.

But I wanted to write a Happy Birthday/Happy Anniversary post to Hubby. You are my soulmate and my best friend. There is not another human being on the planet that I would want to spend 26 years with. I hope we have a couple of hundred more to go. Face it, dahling, you are STUCK with me. Remember how we changed our wedding vows to "always and forever" instead of "til death do us part"...? (We really didn't like the mention of anything as depressing as death to mar our celebration). Well, you may not have realized it at the time, but speaking those magic words bound you to me for all eternity. Not even death can spare you my eternal (infernal...?) presence....HAHA! We are in this together for the long haul.......

Anyway, we have a million things to do this weekend that are NOT exactly celebrational (ie the grass cutting, dishwasher shopping....oh the joys of home ownership). But we are going to a fancy restaurant for dinner tonight. I hope. We forgot to make reservations, but hopefully we can still get in. Its called Chef's 505, and its supposed to be amazing. I'll let you know how it is......Much love to my Beloved Hubby!!!!

Sadly enough...

We will be spending our weekend shopping for dishwashers! I am doing my online research for reviews, suggestions, and sales today. Apparently the control panel of my old dishwasher has gone completely haywire, and its not worth the cost of replacing. Not when the dishwasher itself is 14 years old. So....yeah....not exactly the kind of shopping that I love, but it MUST be done.
And that is all I have to say about that.....

I know Dad and Barb want pics of the new bedroom furniture. I will get that done as soon as possible. I'm still in the moving/rearranging clothes and stuff into all of the drawers at the moment. I have more drawer space than I am used to and that...is a glorious thing!!!! LOL.
Happy Friday Ya'll!

Rant Recanted...

I'm better now. It would appear as though my dishwasher, although still in the throes of death, will work on one of its other cycles. The cycle that I usually use won't pop open the tray that holds the detergent. So while that sucks, at least it buys us a little more time to figure out what we want to do (meaning repair/replace...). Maybe we will have the time to deal with it over the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, Saturday is Hubby's birthday and our anniversary. We thought about taking a short weekend trip to the beach or something, but after talking it over a day or so ago, it appears as if we were both thinking the same thing: We've been so busy that it feels like we haven't had any time at home. A trip in this hot weather is not all that appealing. We would both be happier staying here, having some down time, and just having a hot date that evening instead....HAHA! How funny that we were both thinking the same thing, kind of afraid to say it lest we disappoint the other by not wanting to go. Its official...I LOVE this guy. We both admitted that a trip to the beach will be much more thrilling when the worst of the heat is over in September. Its still plenty warm enough plus there is the added bonus of all the kiddies being in school. It is wonderfully uncrowded then.

One other thing...The rest of my bedroom furniture is scheduled to be delivered on Thursday.
Yay! I can finally get my house put back together. I've been informed that I better LOVE this because it happens to be my anniversary, birthday AND Christmas presents for the rest of the year. Thats ok, I will take it.

Time for a Rant!!

Its way too freakin' hot. I am ready for summer to be over and done with. I am sick to death of work, and am just dying to shout out loud, "Take this job and shove it." And the worst thing...? My dishwasher has decided to stop working. I just had to wash stuff by hand. In the sink. And I hate icky dish water with a passion. Little unidentifiable bits of food floating around in soapy water makes me slightly queasy. This WILL NOT go on for long. Either it gets repaired or we shop for a new one right away. I pointed out to hubby that this is tantamount to his having to cut these gazillion acres of grass that we have with a push mower. No way THAT is going to happen. So....yeah....this situation has to be rectified.

I didn't get horrifically drunk

This is the E-card that my daughter sent to us after our weekend visitation at her place. We got to go see her play kickball on Sunday. She plays with this team that she has been on for several seasons now. And I have to say (quite proudly) that SHE IS GOOD! One of her teammates informed me that Erica is their best girl kicker on the team (my child can be slightly competitve). Its a co-ed team, by the way. But anyway, they totally won that game with a score of 16-8 and Bruce and I had an absolute blast watching it (from the shade, because it was like hotter than hell out there). I think my daughter was a wee bit nervous to have us there interacting with all of her friends (heehee). But we behaved (for the most part), and we didn't embarrass her (too much), so she sent us this little thank you card for behaving ourselves. There was beer involved. Apparently drinking a wee bit (or a lot) is part of the kickball experience, so....yeah. But we didn't get horrifically drunk or obnoxious or anything. HAHAHA! Her friends were all very gracious and accomodating, explaining the rules, updating us on the score and the number of outs, etc. And even though we were perfect angels (really...seriously) Erica still managed to drag us away before we could go to the after game party....Oh well. Maybe next time. I have NO idea why having us hang out with her buddies seems to make her so very very nervous. No, really, it was so hot that nobody seemed to be really interested in going out to the bar afterwards. Apparently, the hangout of choice is an outdoor place, and the heat made that kind of out of the question.

We also got to check out her new house. New as in just moved in, because actually its a really old house. But its cute and it has character and charm that most newer places just don't have. Hubby helped her out with a lot of things around there that needed doing. Like replacing the ceiling fan in her bedroom that would only work on the absolute slowest speed. And buying and assembling a new bookcase. And lots of other things that I don't remember because I didn't do any of that hard, yucky stuff. I did take her shopping though. That was my contribution to the weekend. There was also quite a bit of good food involved, as well. She made us homemade ice cream. From SCRATCH!!! It was cake batter flavored and Oh my GOD that was the richest, creamiest stuff I have ever had. YUM! Store bought stuff pales in comparison to this. I will never feel the same way about Bryer's ever again.

Ok, but one more thing that I wanted to say: Congratulations Hannia!! My new daughter-in-law had been looking for a new job for a while now. And....she just got the news today that she GOT the job that she interviewed for a week or so ago. Its with the state, and she will basically be doing what she is doing now (with the county), but she will be working from home most of the time. I am so happy for her. My son is working from home already. So now...except for his having to go to class occasionally, they never actually have to leave the house. How cool is that? My son likes to point out that when he goes to work, all he has to do is to walk upstairs to the study. And....he frequently goes to work in his pajamas. HAHA! Must be nice. But I am happy for them. Things seem to really be falling into place and that....is a good thing.