Portland Auto Show

Is it seriously time for the Portland Auto Show again? I really feel like Joe and I JUST went to it! This Saturday we'll be going again. And there's no way we'll get out of there before the doors close Saturday night. I've talked about Joe's obsession with automobiles many times but this is like going to Disneyland for him. He can touch everything, sit in everything...it's pure heaven for him! We made it through last year pretty fast, faster than I had ever imagined. This year will probably be a doozy though. My in-laws are coming down to go with us so that means his dad---just as obsessed as Joe--will be there with him! OH. NO. At least Jayne will be there for support. We can (sometimes) usually get them moving faster. I actually don't mind it that much, I like cars too.....and since we'll be in the market soon, it's always fun to look. Thank goodness for my iPhone. That will help pass the hours after we've looked at everything 3 times! :)

Mmmm, The Best Bread Pudding

I've been craving bread pudding for some reason. I've resisted from making it so far---I only like making stuff like that if we're taking it somewhere or having company so that there isn't leftovers! Since I've had bread pudding on the brain, I thought I'd share the last bread pudding recipe I made. Everyone who had it said it was the best they've ever had. And with a name like Paula Deen attached to it, how couldn't it be?!

The Best Bread Pudding

2 cups granulated sugar
5 large beaten eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups cubed Italian bread, allow to stale overnight in a bowl
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup chopped pecans

For the sauce:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup brandy

Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter and pecans.

Pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.

For sauce: Mix together sugar, butter, egg and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir together until the sugar is melted. Add the brandy, stirring well. Pour over bread pudding. Serve warm or cold.

Happy Friday!

A funny YouTube video for the day. There are so many of these and they are so funny. And we thought Subie was the only cat who did stuff like that....

Happy Friday!

Nothing to blog about

I've been thinking about all sorts of things I want to blog about but when I sit down to do it, I get total writers block and can't remember what I wanted to write about. Obviously it's not very blog worthy if I can't remember so I guess you should consider yourself lucky that I'm not blabbering about pointless things. Like how Subie loves my Snuggie. Or how Joe just drank 2 cups of coffee instead of his usual 1 which will leave me short on coffee for my 'to-go' mug that I take with me to work everyday.

I'm happy it's Wednesday, sad that it's JUNEuary and not January and kinda jealous that today is Joe's Friday. And even more jealous that he's off until next Tuesday. And that's just his normal schedule, no PTO involved.

Other than that it's just another day...and another day closer to the weekend, which we all know is what I live for nowadays. :)

Sold!

That's a picture of Joe and the guy that Joe sold his motorcycle to. That's right, he sold his beloved motorcycle! But only so he can buy a new and different one. He's had it listed on Craigslist for months with no luck. On Friday an older guy called and said he had cash and wanted it. Joe was hesitant but offered to meet him in Salem because he was coming all the way from Sisters, OR. He showed up with his wife, loved the bike and ended up riding it home---over the pass and everything! I must admit, it was kinda sad seeing him ride away on it. That bike was Joe! It didn't look right seeing someone else ride it away.

After Salem we made a dreaded trip to Costco. It was so crowded. Miserable. Can I just say I hate the stupid sample stands? People block the aisles with their carts just to get a taste of gross microwaved whatever or a tiny slice of apple or a crumb of bread with butter. One of my new pet peeves!

After Costco we went and hung out with Kim, George and Sophie. We went to another new restaurant (well, new to Joe and I), Nostrana. Their pizza was amazing. It reminded me exactly of the pizza in Naples, Italy. So good! They don't cut it (just like in Italy) and bring scissors to the table so you can cut it. It was a great dinner. Another must try when in Portland. On our way there we passed by Voodoo Doughnuts. We had to swing in and check it out. It was after 5pm but the place was packed! Kim and I ran in just to see what all the hype was about and they had some pretty crazy looking doughnuts. We were only in for about 3 minutes but came out reeking like grease. Even the guys could smell it on us when we got back into the car! Ick.

Today: clean, laundry, clean some more, grocery shop...you know, all the fun, never-ending stuff!

The hunt is still on!

The hunt to find our new 'pre-loved' Subaru is still on. Joe was right, finding a Limited with a manual transmission is hard. They are few and very far between. We found one in Skokie, IL (about 20 minutes outside of Chicago) yesterday. Low miles, 1-owner, limited, manual....perfect car. We went as far as to contacting them to see if they could pick us up from the airport if we got one-way tickets to Chicago. By the way, one-way tickets to Chicago are cheap! We were going to fly out and drive it back. We thought it would be a fun adventure! But sure enough, they were selling it when I talked to them. SO FRUSTRATING. So then I asked our used car buyer if he could start looking for us and he got this weird look on his face and said, "Um, about that. We sold the one Joe wanted." No sh*t. Really?! Then he said, "I was hoping you wouldn't notice." Awesome. Glad to know they think I'm that stupid! Hahaha. At least we still have a few months, I'm sure something will come up. And hey, we might get to make a little mini-vacation out of it! Here's to hoping one turns up somewhere sunny, hot and close to lots of roller coasters. And beaches. :)

It's FRIDAY! TGIF! I forced myself to get up and workout this morning. It always helps knowing it's Friday. And I always feel better when I do get up, it's just so much easier said than done. I blame the darkness. And rain. At least there are always good excuses. When it starts staying light really late I use that one. "I stayed up too late because it was so light out, I need the extra sleep." Justified.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Post #2, can't resist

Ok, I know I just posted but I couldn't resist posting this. My dads company party was this past Saturday and every year they put disposable cameras on the table so people can take candid shots. They got the pictures developed yesterday and there was a picture of a man's scrotum taken underneath the table. SICK! Alicia posted the story on her blog so I just had to share. Perhaps that will be the end of the disposable cameras?! I think I would've been horrified had I been the one who went to get the pictures developed. Now only if we knew who it was.........

Our sweet Subie needs to go on a diet. Bad. We haven't weighed him lately but it's obvious that he has put on a few pounds in the last few months. It's hard to cut back though, he acts like he's starving to death when we don't give him his usual amount. He even bats at my hand if he sees I didn't put all of the kibbles in the measuring cup into his bowl. He wants every last bit of it. And after his morning feeding he patiently waits for his morning treats. We make him wait until 7 but it's all he can do to hold out. He begs for them! Joe's been trying to get him to exercise more, they chase each other around the house, but apparently that's not enough! I guess I have another item to add to my New Years goals list.

Safe and sound

Joe's home! He got home after I was already in bed which means I have no recollection of talking to him----I'm the soundest sleeper ever. I'm sure I did, probably had a conversation, but once I'm asleep I'm gone. I guess I'll consider myself lucky, especially considering what a hard time my dad and sister have sleeping, but it's kind of frustrating! Now Joe's sleeping soundly---he sleeps just as hard as I do---and I can't stand to wake him up. I think avalanche training totally wiped him out. Good thing he has today and tomorrow off!

I am SO excited that Jay Leno is going back to his 11:35 time! I love Jay Leno, but I think his 10pm show was really bad. The only thing that remained good were the headlines. I hardly am ever up at 11:35 on weeknights but I would hate to see him off the air completely so I'm glad he's going back to where his ratings are good!

I also have the travel bug again. Bad. I know, it hasn't even been 3 months since we've been back from Maui, but I'm craving a vacation. Our dreams of going to Cedar Point have been put on hold until at least May. They have a very short operating schedule. Guess it wouldn't be very fun to be in Ohio in the dead of winter though. Weather.com says it's currently 27 but feels like it's 16. Brrrr. I'm also ready to go back to Hawaii. Even if we did Maui again. We went to Maui February in '08 and it was an amazing time to go. Everywhere we looked we saw whales. There were so many you could even hear them in the water. It was the coolest thing ever! Other travel wants are Vegas with a trip to the Grand Canyon. I really want to take Joe to Vegas, he's never been! And we've both never been to the Grand Canyon so it would be a good time to see it. I also think a cruise would be fun (they're cheapest of all) as well as a ski themed vacation. We would both love to go to Colorado. Or even to Whistler once the Olympics are over. Joe said it's amazing, I want to see it! Travel is so cheap right now---I feel like we should be taking advantage of the bad economy and go for it! Plus, we have almost 100K miles we need to use and an Alaska Airlines companion ticket that expires May 31. We gotta do something!

I have two weeks of vacation that I can use come February 7, so I have now until then to spend my online time researching vacations. Probably my favorite thing to do. Even if we never end up going, I still love doing it. :)

Is it Friday yet?

Weekend recap

Ahhh, Monday already? When my alarm went off I thought for a second it was just a bad dream. No such luck. The weekend, as always, went way too fast. :( It was a good one though! I had fun AND got started on my New Years goals....got one of our closets totally cleaned out. It felt so good!

Saturday Kim and I had a Sister Saturday. We did a little shopping, got coffee and then had another foot/head/shoulder massage at Lao Shan Massage. It was 30 minutes of heaven! We went back to Kim's house to get George and Sophie and then left for dinner at Ken's Artisan Pizza. It was early but if you don't get there (and in line) before 5, you have to wait in a super long line. We got lucky and got a table right away. This was my first time eating there and I can't wait to go back. The pizza was amazing! As were the appetizers and two desserts we had! Another 'must try' if you're in Portland. I can't wait to go back with Joe.

Yesterday I got stuff done around home and then babysat Sophie while Kim and George went to the Blazer game. It was so much fun! She's getting so animated and active. It's so fun to watch!

Here's to hoping this week goes as fast as last week. Joe gets home from his Avalanche training tonight sometime. YAY! I like having the house to myself every now and then but he was gone too long this time. It was lonely! He has class until 4 today so he wont be home until late. He said on Friday they had to practice using their beacons to find something...turns out it was a ski patrol buried about 4 feet under the snow in a snow cave. They had to dig to get him out. I think he's learned a lot....hopefully how dangerous it is to ski in avalanche prone conditions!

"Uncle Joe's favorite!"

Kim has a new thing she does when she's trying to feed Sophie her Country Dinner. Since Sophie has stopped opening her mouth for it (she prefers puffs and real food more), Kim says something like, "Mmmm, Uncle Joe's favorite!" and she opens wide up. Every time! We had dinner with her last night and it was hilarious. If only Joe could have seen it. "Uncle Joe loves this" mouth opens up. "Mmmm, uncle Joe's favorite" mouth opens up. "Uncle Joe really likes this one" mouth opens wide up. Hahahaha, we have to get that on video! Uncle Joe did try this tasty meal-in-a-jar a month or so ago and said it wasn't that bad. Maybe she remembers that?! In addition to being the cutest baby in the world we also think she's the smartest, so I'm sure that's it. ;)

We had dinner for Julie's birthday at 360 Pizzeria in Vancouver. They have the BEST pizza! It was delicious as always. Tomorrow my sister and I are planning on having a Sister Saturday. Can't wait! Joe leaves for his Avalanche Training today. I'm not looking forward to him doing that, especially after hearing a ski patrol died in an avalanche just a few days ago. The ski patrol guy obviously has had training in order to be a ski patrol. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to ski that stuff and I'm terrified that Joe and Gil are going to think they're invincible once they're "certified." Hopefully I'm way off.

Ahhhh, Friday. My favorite day of the week! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Add another one to the list...

I need to stop all computer and phone related activities about an hour before bed. I find that when I'm online and then try to go to bed my mind can't stop going. Thinking about what someones Facebook status just said, realizing I forgot to search for something I wanted to search for all day....

I also want to stop using Facebook as much. I'm not really one to post status updates 10 times a day but I'm definitely guilty of checking everyones status a lot throughout the day. It gets addicting. Why wouldn't I want to know that someone just lost their job or got a speeding ticket or hates their boss (all from yesterday)?!

That's all. Couldn't go to sleep last night and think it was because I took my laptop to bed with me since Joe worked all night. I can't imagine life without the Internet but it sure has been a big waste of life! And sleep!

Half way through the week!!! Oh ya, I wrote something similar to that yesterday and then realized I contradicted myself because I said in the same blog post that I wish I could freeze time. Let me re-phrase that. I do wish I could freeze time....but I want to freeze it on Friday night at 5:01pm. Thanks.

2010

Is going to be a great year! Every year seems to get better and better. I remember when I was young I would wish the years away. I wanted to be 16, I wanted to go to college, I wanted to graduate from college. It all seemed to go so slow then. Now I wish I could just freeze time for awhile. I love life how it is right now, I really don't think it could get much better! Unless Joe and I won the lottery and could both retire. ;)

I don't have any resolutions for 2010. I never have been one to make them, probably because they just always end up getting broken. I do have some goals though......

1. Get all closets in our house totally cleaned out and organized. We're wasting space with my old prom dresses, random memorabilia that I don't want to throw away but never look at, etc.

2. Be better at planning meals for the week. Only go to the grocery store once a week. I hate having to go after work for random stuff.

3. Eat from every food group, every day.

4. Relax a little. If Joe is working nights and I can't make the bed before I leave for the day it's not the end of the world. Also not the end of the world if our house isn't spotless 24/7 and smelling like Pine-Sol (my fav smell=clean house).

5. Spend more time with grandparents, my side and Joe's side. Life gets busy and I don't see my grandma as much as I should, especially considering she lives in the same town as me. Same with Joe's grandparents. We spent 4 hours playing cards with them last time we were in Edgewood and we had a blast---need to do things like that more often.

6. NO DIET SODA OF ANY KIND. I've been known to be a diet pop junky. I've been weening myself and refuse to drink it in 2010. This is week 2 of being 'dry.' It can't be good for me, probably causes cancer and too much caffeine.

7. Limit caffeine to 2 cups of coffee per day. I don't need it, it doesn't give me energy---so what's the point?

That's all. I guess those are resolutions, huh? I guess I just don't like that word.

Off to finish getting ready for work......may today and the rest of the week fly by!

If we ever have kids....

I think I want to use cloth diapers! My friend Krystal uses them and she makes it seem so easy. I think they've come a long way since my mom used them for me. It seems like it would be so much more comfortable for the baby (when they're dry) and so much better for the environment. Be happy Joanna, I'll use cloth diapers so I don't have to re-use my bath towels. ;)

Anyway, here is one of Krystal's sons diaper covers. I'm sure it's more of a challenge than using regular diapers----wouldn't they be hard to fold? Considering I put Sophie's diaper on BACKWARDS on Christmas, it might take me a few years to figure it out!

I can't believe today is Monday. It's even harder getting up when Joe has the day off. His schedule is the best. He'll be leaving on Friday for his Avalanche Traning Course at Crystal Mountain. He's taking it with his cousin but I'm really nervous. Maybe because I had to sign a disclaimer stating that if anything happens to him I can't sue the company. I don't like this extreme sport stuff. And I'm really worried that after they finish the course they're going to have too much confidence and start doing really crazy stuff. Sometimes I wish he could still only do green runs...

The Subaru that Joe wanted to buy sold over the weekend. He was pretty upset considering we've been waiting for someone to give us a price since Tuesday. He found another one at Tonkin with the same exact options, same price but with 30,000 less miles and was on his way to buy it last night. Decided to call before he drove all the way down and they had just sold it. He's not a happy camper! Hopefully another one comes up soon. If he didn't want a manual transmission it wouldn't be a problem....he'll jump as soon as another one is for sale. Hope it's a decent color!

Here's to hoping this week goes really super fast. And that another 2005 or newer Subaru Outback Limited with manual transmission is for sale soon. I was really excited about buying a car this weekend, my heart broke a little when Tonkin told us they had just sold it. :(

K&J babysitting adventure

Last night Joe and I got to watch Sophie while Kim and George had a date night. For Christmas we gave George a gift certificate to Andina in Portland and a night of babysitting, so yesterday I called to see if they wanted to cash in. Lucky for us, they did! They said the restaurant was amazing, I can't wait to try it!

We had a blast with Sophie! Uncle Joe has really gotten attached, a lot just within the last few weeks. It melts my heart to see it! When he heard her start to cry (she was napping when we got there), he took off up the stairs as fast as he could. I wanted to be the one to console her, darn it! She looked a little confused when she saw him, kinda like, "what the heck are you doing here?" but soon warmed up and started smiling and was a happy camper. We played the entire time they were gone----I think she got really tired at the end because she just sat and snuggled on my lap and let me read to her. I love her more and more everyday! Can't wait till we get to watch her again!

I was exhausted when we got home though, it's hard work! Waking up this morning with no cares in the world and knowing that my sister is up and at it again with Sophie makes me realize how easy I have it. Being a parent is a non-stop job. They depend on you for everything, even at Sophie's age! Being a mom (or dad) has got to be the hardest yet most rewarding job ever.

Before we went to babysit, we stopped by Spanky's, a consignment store in Vancouver so I could drop off clothes. I cleaned out my closet and took 3 bags of stuff. They took about 70%, the other 30% is going to the Goodwill today. It's fun a fun way to make a little bit of money! The last group of stuff I took made me $70! I must admit it made me realize I need to buy a lot less. Especially when some of the stuff I took still had tags. Embarrassing. Granted they were Ross tags so I didn't spend a lot of money, but still...pathetic. Add that to the New Years Resolutions: buy less, don't buy unless I KNOW I'm going to wear it and if not, return it....don't leave in closet with tags on just to take to Spanky's 6 months later.

I'm pretty bummed that tomorrow is Monday. Officially back to the routine---it's been nice having short work weeks. Nice is an understatement--it's been heavenly.

Time for my Sunday morning routine---coffee and The Daily News. I go buy one every Sunday and sit with my scissors and go through all of the ads and clip coupons. I always have good intentions of using them and saving money but forget to take them to the store with me half the time! Maybe that should be another resolution!

Happy Sunday!