Public Service Announcement....

Thank goodness spring is approaching! I just thought I would clear up a little misunderstanding with a few folks (you know who you are). In the last week I have had a couple people tell me that they weren't going to the gym to work out as it is "cold outside." See, the beauty of a gym is that it is an indoor workout and it doesn't matter what the weather is like outside....since it will hopefully be getting warmer soon, it shouldn't be much of an issue, but I just wanted to clarify that as it seemed to be a confusing issue for more than one person! :) See ya' at the gym!!

Because I clearly really need another hobby....

...I am taking a cake decorating class at Michael's. It is very fun! I have learned quite a bit and tonight we each brought a real cake to decorate with frosting we made and I thought I would post my first finished product. I went with a St. Patty's Theme and drew a shamrock on the cake with some edging. It's definitely not perfect, but a start. I think if speech therapy goes south, I might look into working at Walmart doing cakes! :) Hopefully there are many more cakes to come!!

Springing Forward!!

This weekend I was in Wichita and was there to welcome springtime hours. Yea for more daylight in the evenings!! My parents. sis and I all met up there Friday night as Meg was in town for a college friend's shower and bachelorette party. Friday night we went to dinner at "Abeulo's" and caught up with our southern relative (Meg).

Saturday we went to Jimmie's Diner (so good) for breakfast and then did some packing up and sent home a few more items in my apartment before the movers come at the end of the month. Saturday afternoon I went to spend time with friends and had a good time seeing them, and their little ones, including my friend Kylie's newest addition Graham. It's really fun to see friends as they develop into "mommys"....quite the difference from the time we spent in college, more Mickey Mouse for sure! :) From what I can tell they both are doing well in their roles of mom and their kids are some of the cutest around...See for yourself; here are a few pictures...now I am off to bed to try and catch up on sleep since I was shorted an hour last night!

Country Living...

I would just like to comment on the fact that I feel as though I have been uprooted out of living in a "city" and implanted in the "country." No, we don't drink out of a stream or poo in an outhouse, but I definitely feel as though my parents little subdivision is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Although I am sure many of my true country friends would disagree, I have several reasons why it seems to me I should associate myself with living outside of "town"....

1. At the back of my parents' yard is a tree line and behind that there is a field. I suspect things are planted and grown in this area. Not sure what yet, but I will let you know if I figure it out. I don't know why else there would be a bunch of dirt back there.
2. I drive by hay bales on the way to work, which are clearly destined to go to a farm somewhere.
3. I frequently drive by barb-wire fences....which I associate with being in the country to keep livestock in or out.
4. When I turn off the highway to get to my parents' house, I drive by a sign that points to my parents and says "Topeka- 2 miles"....implying that at that point I am outside of Topeka, in all of it's glory.
And my favorite...
5. I drive by a sign that honestly says, "Stop Disease. Have your farm or ranch sprayed today."
....which I fully plan on doing given the instance that I ever become remotely associated or affiliated with either a ranch or farm. Don't hold your breath on that...with the exception of the farm my mom grew up on....I would not say I have an "active role" on keeping that operation running...

So, moral of the story....it takes 4 minutes to get to "town" and the first thing that you see as you go over the hill and see Topeka is "Chipotle"....which is really how it should be! I don't know how I could live without it.....even though I haven't had it since I have moved here....so maybe "country living" isn't so bad...

Dinner party...

For you other working moms out there, I wanted to share a recipe that I love that I made tonight for my "kids". Kids in my case, really are my parents.....otherwise known as my roommates. Now that I am cooking for other people I can better understand how moms feel when they have to think of for other people to eat. When I lived by myself, I basically ate whatever sounded good, even if it was just a lean cuisine. Not the case when you have other mouths to feed. Fortunately the kids liked what I made....and it's pretty easy.

I made a variation of Diet Coke Chicken, which is a Weight Watcher recipe that I first learned about in college. It's simple, but I add veggies that make it more like a stir-fry. All you have to do is have approximately 4 chicken breasts, or the equivalent to that in tenders, and you cut them up into 1.5" pieces. Put that in the skillet and then put a cup of ketchup and a can of Diet Coke over it....add whatever veggies you choose if you want; I put in onions, peppers, carrots, celery, water chesnuts and pinnapple chunks. Let it cook through and allow the sauce to thicken. I serve this over rice and it's a tasty item for dinner! If you follow WW points, it's 5 pts for about a cup serving, with just the chicken....add more for rice/veggies. Hope you all might try it sometime if you are looking for a tasty and healthy meal for your "kids", whoever they may be! :)

On the mend....

I am blogging from bed, that is in my parents' basement, and I should be napping. Or at least according to them! Little do they know....shh! They have left me here and are at the movies seeing "Slumdog Millionaire"....I have been sick since Monday and finally went to work Thursday. Boo- I hate being sick! Not a very nice patient; whiny, demanding, fussy; definitely not my proudest moments. It's just not a pretty picture. I definitely felt like I was four years old again....temperature being taken, people telling me to drink fluids, etc. I was supposed to be visiting friends in Wichita this weekend and am hoping to make the trip next weekend instead!

Last weekend I went to Dallas and visited my little sister Meg, where I apparently got some sort of bug. Nevertheless, we had a good time! Meg had to go to work for a few hours Saturday so I made some chicken enchiladas and lasagnas for her to put in her freezer to cook since she is so busy with work right now. She tried a lasagna this week and said it was good. We saw "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "He's Just Not that Into You", both good girlie movies! We ate at good restaurants and even went downtown to celebrate Mardi Gras....a very good weekend.

Needs more cheese on top of both the lasagnas and enchiladas!!

Meg at a great pizza place we went to for lunch with our cheese bread..
Me and a margarita (very good!) at a mexican restaurant Meg took me to..

One of my favorite characters we saw in Downtown Dallas during the celebration....

Sisters in downtown Dallas....not sure why Meg looks so much taller!!

So, this weekend I am doing a lot of nothing and trying to get totally better before I have to go to work Monday. It snowed overnight, so I am definitely being an indoor girl! On Wednesday mom and I were supposed to go to a cooking class at the Hyvee here where there is a classroom upstairs and a lady that put on different classes. This week's class was about how to make homemade cinnamon rolls. Well, since I was on my death bed, I couldn't go, but my mom's friend went with her and today my mom baked them for breakfast. Pretty good!! I am hoping to go to future classes there!! Looks tasty, huh?

Pretty nice hotel....

I have now been staying at my parents' house for almost two weeks. Overall it has been pretty good. It kind of resembles a hotel. No, there isn't a mint on my pillow and the toilet paper isn't folded into a triangle with a clean bathroom when I get home from work, but it's not too bad. I am cooking most of the dinners, but that is something that most days I enjoy doing and my parents both have to work later than I do, so it seems to make sense.

My mom and I go to work at the same time and several times she has made me breakfast, which greatly helps out when you oversleep in the morning by 26 minutes, like I did one day this week. Fourteen minutes to go from the bed to the door with a shower included doesn't leave much time. Oops! Ever since that little slip up, the front desk lady here (mother) calls my cell phone if she can't hear me moving around in the morning.

As a current basement dweller however, I have mastered figuring out who is walking around in the dining room, which is above my bedroom. Depending on how fast and loud the footsteps are, I can peg which roommate is up there making all that racket. There is also a new rule that has been instated by me since I took over this ship- no one can get ice out of the ice drawer after I go to bed because it sounds like the whole house is under attack!

Since I do spend a lot of time in the living area downstairs, I have been guilty of calling upstairs with my cell phone or texting, such as, "Please let me know when my laundry is done." La-zi-ness on my part!! It brings back memories of freshman year of college in the dorms when I would be up in my top bunk and call friends rooms instead of getting down to go talk to them. ;)

My quality of life has greatly improved this week for sure. As it is winter in Kansas, it is pretty cold, especially at night. Since my parents new house is very well insulated, they don't need to run the heater very much to feel warm upstairs. HOWEVER, it has been freezing in the basement; which I made known to anyone here who would hear me complain. Apparently they don't care when you are living here for free. So, I wore hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants and socks to bed with three comforters- brr!!! Well, last weekend my mama was sick of hearing about it, so she got out a space heater that my sis used in college and also very generously bought me an electric blanket, which has been great! I can't sleep with the space heater on for fear that it will burn the place down, but the blanket is AWESOME!!! Hence, the oversleeping the other morning...The other day my mom said to me, "You seem to be in a better mood since you got that electric blanket." I thought to myself, "Well, you would too if you didn't have to worry about one of your limbs falling off from frostbite anymore!" Life is good!! :)