Posts (page 2)

I slept in very late on Saturday.  Much later than my normal 'sleeping in late time.'  Suffice to say that I ate lunch when I woke up! 

Rick and I took both dogs over to Frick for a trail run.  It was very hot but we managed to keep to the shadier parts and go only at a moderate pace.  The dogs got to run in the creek for a fair portion of the run and that helped keep them cool.  We came home, relaxed a bit, showered and then went out for dinner.

We went to the Thai Place in Shadyside and split an order of Pad Thai.  It was by far better than our little local Thai place that is just around the corner from where we live.  We stopped in two of my favorite stores--Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma before leaving to go to the Southside.   There wasn't too much interesting us there and we decided to go to the Waterfront instead.  We stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods and grabbed a few things and then we went to see 'The Bourne Ultimatum' at the movie theater.  The 9 o'clock show was sold out and we had to wait for the 10 o'clock showing.  Fortunately, we enjoy going to the restaurant upstairs at the theater and having a drink so that's exactly what we did until the movie was about to start.  Rick was quite disappointed in the movie--didn't like the ending.  I thought the ending could have been a bit better but it didn't stop me from enjoying the rest of the movie. =)

See that picture?  It was taken with my phone. Yes, that's right.  My phone.  I've always wondered how my phone could be a 2.0 megapixel digital camera and take such small, not so nice pictures when it is supposed to be a better camera than my first original digital camera.  Apparently sending the pictures to the Verizon Picture Place (which is free) shrinks them down to the blurred things that I've been forcing everyone to look at.  If I email them to myself, then  I get big beautiful pictures.  I'm only signed up for 20 picture messages a month to non-verizon members before I start being charged so I'll have to be very careful with them because I could see them beginning to add up rather quickly!  It's clueless I am sometimes.

Anyways, the kids were away for the weekend with family so Rick and I have been keeping pretty busy.  I had all day Friday to myself and I couldn't even make it through the day by myself!  I took Bob with me to Frick Park for a 30 minute trail run and then came back to shower and change.  Then, I headed down to Rick's office and we drove over to Lawrenceville together where he had to see a client for work.  We stopped at the Starbucks in Bloomfield for coffee and to share a slice of blueberry coffee cake (so-so, i'm not a fan of blueberries). 

Rick had to go back to work for awhile and I didn't want to lounge around the office with him as that would hardly allow him to be productive so I decided to go shopping!  I stopped at Michaels for a few things I need for a swap that I am a bit behind on (this is the last one I'm doing for a long while and the only one I've ever been behind on) and then went over to Barnes & Noble.  A friend of mine had gotten me a gift card to the bookstore for my birthday and I used part of it to pick up an interesting book.  Then, I went to Ann Taylor, where I didn't find much other than a light blue tank top that was on clearance.  They are in the middle of switching from summer to fall things so I'll have to keep checking back because I've got all the things I liked from their last summer collection.  At Macy's, I found a white skirt with big red flowers embroidered around the bottom hem that goes perfect with a red tank top.  Luckily, since the skirt is predominantly white and therefore there isn't much more time to wear this year, it was on clearance too!  

I had to rush home and get ready to go out with Rick because I had spent too much time browsing the shops.  Rick had gotten tickets to see 'The Full Monty' at the Benedum and we had dinner at Lidia's in the Strip before.  It was a middling restaurant.  The food was good to average, the atmosphere was a little strange to me for an Italian Restaurant.  It felt a little too 'open' and not the usual 'intimate' feeling one usually finds in Italian restaurants.  The show was fantastic and very funny.  I would recommend seeing it to anyone who enjoys seeing live theater. 

We stopped at Bossa Nova after the show for drinks.  I'm not sure how long it's been downtown, but it's definitely 'newer.'  They also serve tapas which we didn't try but many other people around us were.  Their drinks were a bit pricey for what we ordered but well mixed and very good.   The crowd here was very mixed too; an assortment of people coming from the show, a younger set trying very hard to look relaxed and an older set that was looking very bored.  Still, it was a nice place to relax and hang out in after a show.  =)

Yesterday passed in a wave of heat.  The kids played in the sprinkler again.  Maia and I made each other up in 'Fairy Makeup' which you should know consists of lots of pink and lots of sparkles.  Tristyn had his piano lesson and I brought along a bit of felt to make something up real quick.

Nice and Simple and more importantly--it can be finished quickly!

It's a crayon case for Maia who probably doesn't need one but appreciates anything that is 'made' for her.  Especially when she can watch me make it in less than 15 minutes.

Rick brought home pizza for dinner last night.  Thursday being laundry day and piano lesson day, dinner usually alternates between leftovers (blah) or pizza.  He met the new owners of the pizza shop, an older couple from Iran, which he said were very nice and quite interesting to talk with.  Rick said they all talked for about 15 minutes or so because he got there rather early.  I would like to meet them sometime myself. =)

I rode the Jail Trail-Southside last night.  About a mile in, there was an abandoned bike ride in the middle of the trail.  I looked around to see if the owner was nearby but I didn't see anyone.  Then, about a half mile later there was a shirt lying in the middle of the trail.   I couldn't help but wonder if something bad had happened to someone.  =(  It was very odd.  On the way back, the shirt was still there but someone had moved the bike to the side of trail.  Very strange.

Apparently, they are doing construction on the parkway again this weekend and they decided to start early last night!  After biking, I went to visit a friend up in Robinson for a little while.  On the way home, what should have been about a 20 minute drive turned into a 2 hour drive!    To cap things off, my exit was closed and I had to take the next one and loop back around.  It wasn't the end of the world, but it certainly messed up my plans to go to bed early for once.  Traffic will be crazy all weekend I suppose. =(

I woke up this morning in what seems to be the new normal fashion--a pile up on my bed--riley, bob, eddie and maia.  (Tristyn just looks askance at us as he heads downstairs) and remembered that we forgot to put out the garbage.  I was up and dressed in a flash and out the front door with Rick who was leaving for work.  We put everything on the curb and said goodbye.  After he left, I remembered that I forgot the stuff in the basement.  I hurried to get it out too before the recycling guys came.  I managed well enough but then I thought I had better set up the sprinklers before the sun started really shining on the yard.

Back inside the house, the kids had fed the dogs and cats and were waiting for their breakfast.  I got their breakfast ready and they ate like it was their last meal.  It was only about 20 minutes past their 'normal' breakfast time.  Sheesh!   Maia saw I had the sprinkler on and ran upstairs to put her suit on while I tried to quickly gather together my yogurt and cup of tea before she was ready to go outside.  Everyone knows Maia can't do anything without me right by her side---right?

So.   I relaxed on the deck, watching Maia play in the sprinkler, eating my yogurt, drinking my tea and catching up on blogs and emails.  It was very nice.  The dogs were lying companionably on the deck beside me and Eddie--well here's what Eddie was doing:

He likes to survey the backyard in the morning.  Since his little 'adventure' a few weeks ago when he was lost, he only will come outside if we are outside and he never lets us out of his sight.  He always makes sure to come in when we do, too.

Perfect morning...and then my internet signal needed reset.

I came inside to do it and get started on my chores.  Tristyn's piano teacher called under the pretense of moving Tristyn's lesson 30 minutes but I think he was really calling to remind me.  I 'discovered' I had left a load of laundry in the washing machine and it needed to be rewashed.  Then I discovered I had forgotten to run the dishwasher last night and now I have breakfast dishes piled up in my sink.  Somebody had a little too much fun with the toilet paper and pulled half of it off the roll and left little shredded bits of it everywhere on the 2nd floor --coughcoughBobandRileycoughcough--

So much for that perfect relaxing morning!

But I'll settle for partial success!   Today I made Spare Ribs with a Fresh Ginger Marinade (glaze?) and everyone (but me--how ironic!) liked them.  EVEN MAIA.

For the Marinade/Glaze:

Soak a 3 inch long peeled piece of fresh ginger in cold water for 10 minutes.  While that is soaking, finely dice an onion to make 1/2 cup.  Finely dice 2 cloves of garlic.  Then, cut the ginger into matchstick size pieces--about 1/8 of an inch thick.

In a medium sized frying pan, slowly saute onion, ginger and garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil.  You want a nice deep caramel color so it will take about 8-10 minutes.  To the pan, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice,  3 tablespoons of sugar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of water and a nice sized pinch of cornstarch.  Cook on medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes or until thick and bubbly.  Allow to cool some.  Brush on spare ribs every 20 minutes or so of their cooking time (325 degrees for 2 hours for roasting the ribs)

It made the whole kitchen smell fantastic!  I only wish I liked pork.

I'm still babying my pulled muscle so I stuck to using the treadmill on 10% incline again for 30 minutes.  The rollerblading yesterday didn't seem to hurt it--much--but I didn't want to repeat it again tonight.  I'm thinking maybe biking tomorrow on the jail trail.  Speaking of bikes...I fixed Rick's bike today!!!  He crashed it on Sunday at Frick Park--complete with flying head over heels over the handlebar.  When he landed, the bike came down on him and caught his right lower thigh in between the front wheel and the frame leaving a terrific bruise.  Thankfully that's all that happened!!   His bike was considerably worse off than he was; we feared we'd have to take it into the bike shop.   But I fixed it--all on my own!  And I'm not telling anyone how I did it either because it sounds like it was a much more complicated job to NOT tell. =D

All in all, a pretty ordinary day.  I picked up a sprinkler today at Busy Beaver for benefit of the front and back yard but the kids are benefiting too.

I tortured the kids again at dinner today.  The vegetable of the day was roasted zucchini, carrots, squash and cauliflower with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of cilantro.  Tristyn actually ate all of his vegetables and only made a slight face at the 'white broccoli that doesn't taste good like the green broccoli.'  Maia elected to eat only the carrot portion with her raviolis. 

Rick was a bit late home from work today--it's common at the end of the month so I got a late start today heading to the jail trail.  (Rick stayed home to play Twister with the kids)  But, nonetheless, I got in 75 minutes of rollerblading.   I didn't see anything 'unusual' on the trail this time like I did on Sunday--so no man riding a unicycle like the other day.  After today's heat spell and my workout the water I had waiting for me couldn't have tasted colder and sweeter had it just come out of the refrigerator!  It always makes me curious as to why when I am very, very thirsty that water tastes sweet.

Well, It's storytime in this house for certain children and I'm off to do so, followed by a long, cool shower and a big nice chunk of time with Rick since I haven't really seen him since he's come home.

Sunday, we ended up taking the kids to see Ratatouille.  They really enjoyed it.  I wish more very kid-friendly movies like it would come out.  Our family really enjoys going to the movies together. =)

Yesterday, was a day of errands.  My driver's license expired on August 6th so I had to go get a new picture taken.  Lucky for us, we walked into the driver's center and there was only one other person there.  I got to immediately go over to one of the clerks and get my picture taken.  All in all, the whole procedure took about 5 minutes from entering to leaving.  Tristyn sorely needed a haircut and Maia wanted hers done too, so that was our next stop.

Maia wanted to try hers pretty short.  Payless Shoes were next door and Maia loves to try on shoes so we stopped in there next so she could try them on.  She found a pink sparkly pair that she really liked but they only had them in sizes too big or too small.  She wants me to put 'pink, sparkly shoes' on the list of Things We Need to Buy for School.

(Tristyn's haircut can be attributed to a little too much squirming and wiggling)

We tend to have lunch with Missy on Mondays but since we weren't home, we met her at Panera.  The kids and I all ordered our usual:  Maia-peanut butter on a bagel with chocolate milk, Tristyn-broccoli cheese soup with sourdough roll and HiC, and me-chicken noodle soup with sourdough roll and a diet pepsi.  As usual, Maia ate about half of my roll.  She's a bread nut just like me.

From here, we went to the bookstore and the kids got to look at books.  Tristyn disappeared (not really) down an aisle and immersed himself in various books, while Maia brought me every (I think!) book off the 'Off to Kindergarten' display to read to her.  I ended up finding a great cookbook on the clearance table on the way out which of course I had to turn around and go buy.  It was 400+ recipes from around the world.  I picked one out straightaway to try making with dinner.

The kids played in the Eagle's Nest while I grabbed a few things from Giant Eagle including the few spices I didn't have that I would need for dinner.  The Eagle's Nest really is a great addition to GE because there is such a wide variety of things for the kids to do there while mommys are shopping.  Everyone leaves the store happy because no one got bored or frustrated.  Tristyn and Maia always do the daily (weekly?) project when they are in there and this time they made alligators. 

At home, we spent some time relaxing and playing after a busy morning/early afternoon.  We also tried Tristyn's 'experiment' which consisted of seeing what type of liquid would break up/dissolve goldfish crackers the quickest.

Here it is!  My second attempt at an Indian Dish:  Basmati Rice with Potatoes.   Some of the spices in it included --cinnamon stick, cardamon pods, cumin, bay leaves, tumeric and I think at least one other that I am forgetting.  It turned out really good though of course the kids weren't too sure of it.  =(    They are newly convinced pea eaters though, because they really enjoy eating fresh peas.  This time we got about 2.5 lbs of them to shell for dinner and had a good time doing it.

After dinner was cleaned up, the kids went off to play in their rooms while Rick went to lift weights and I jumped on the treadmill.  I got a good 35 minutes in on the 10% incline. 

The kids and I looked at old baby pictures in our old albums before bedtime instead of our usual couple of stories.  They were both fascinated at how tiny they were, but every time Tristyn saw the obligatory cute naked baby butt picture of himself he was really upset and embarrassed.  I wonder if those emotions will carry through to when he's a teenager in regards to those pictures!  Hahahaha.

Big Love was on at 9 pm and the kids were tucked in and the lights turned out with about 10 minutes to spare.  Rick and I spent the rest of the evening watching the show and relaxing. =)

After a very long night's sleep (bed at 10 pm!! and waking up at 8 am!!) I got out of bed fully revived and ready to go.  I had a cup of tea and some yogurt and made the kids breakfast.  Then, I loaded up my bike and drove down to the jail trail.  I rode from the start of the trail all the way to the Smithfield Street Bridge.  I crossed over it and got on the Station Square/Southside Trail and rode that all the way to the Hot Metal Bridge.  I didn't cross this bridge even though it would have brought me back to the start of the jail trail for two reasons.  One--it's not fun making the mad dash across the bridge in between cars (the bike bridge isn't completed yet).  I've done that before and it's scary! And secondly, I wasn't ready to end my trip that soon, so basically I turned around and backtracked the way I came for a total time of 56 minutes.

Not too bad this past week in regards to exercise I'd say. I chart from Sunday to Saturday.  This past week:

Sunday--1 hr 24 mins bike ride (with Rick)
Monday--rest day
Tuesday--30 minute run on treadmill
Wednesday--2nd rest day of the week--plus we were in Cleveland and did a lot of walking there
Thursday--30 minute walk on treadmill at fast pace and 10% incline
Friday--60 minutes rollerblading on Jail Trail
Saturday--30 mins of hill running in Lawrenceville area 

=D  Today's ride was a decent way to start the week =D

After I came home, I showered and made lunch for everyone.  Then Rick wanted to take his turn biking but he decided to bike in Frick and do some of the trails there.  He rode to the park, but the kids and I drove over and spent some time playing at the playground. 

Tristyn was in mid-swing when I took this picture.  It took me about 8 attempts to get it because either he'd be too far away or I'd get a close-up of the soles of his shoes.

After I pushed Maia on the swings for awhile (she's only willing to pump half of the time) she wanted to 'zoom like an airplane' and I got this picture of her taken.

You can kind of see their tie-dye shirts that they made in the pictures.  I think they did a fantastic job with them.  Thanks again Missy and Mindy!

Right now, everyone is taking a brief break before we get ready to go to the movies.  =D

Tada!  More pink petunias!   I haven't the slightest clue why I love petunias so much but I do.

Maia 'discovered' this visitor resting on one of our bare spots in our yard.  We tried to wave him away from the spot we are trying to patch and get him to land anywhere else on the rest of the green lawn but he wouldn't oblige.

Maia had dance today.  I'm getting really tired sitting in the car while she is in class because I always forget to bring something to do or read and it suddenly occurred to me:  what a perfect time to squeeze in an extra run!  I ran on the Lawrenceville side, zig-zagging my way down the hill for a block, across an alley for a block or two, then down another block, across an alley....and so on until I was all the way at the bottom.  Then, I repeated what I had done but only came up this time.   Then after I got to the top, I crossed Penn Avenue and ran a little bit on the Bloomfield side to even things out to a nice 30 minutes.

Once dance class was over, Maia and I stopped in Squirrel Hill to go to Starbucks.  This is our little Saturday treat--she gets a chocolate milk and I get a nonfat raspberry decaf mocha.  We didn't have a lot of time so we didn't linger long so we got everything to go and I got one to bring home to Rick as well.  Tristyn isn't partial to chocolate milk; he was just happy to have the 2 hours or so away from Maia.

While I made lunch, Rick squeezed in a run and took Riley with him.   Poor Bob!  He didn't get to go and all he did was run up and downstairs looking for them and crying.  He's definitely 'owed' the next time out!

We had a wedding in Waynesburg to go to; Rick's first cousin was getting married.  We got ready and then dropped the kids off at Missy's house where they got to do all sorts of fun things.  Much better than going to a wedding where they didn't know anyone!  They swam, played on the computer, made tie-dye t-shirts and then came back to our house with Missy and Mindy and got to have pizza for dinner. Then they got to stay up extra late playing, playing and playing!   

The wedding was very nice.  The bride's dress was beautiful.  It was one of those dresses that you couldn't help looking at and wishing girls and women got to get dressed up that fancy everyday.  There were many many guests at the reception--we heard the count was at like 380!--but the place it was at was more than accommodating and decorated very nicely.  Really, all in all, everything seemed to be picture perfect!

Hmmm...nothing too exciting today.  I did some things with the kids, ran some errands and 'taught' Catharine how to bake sugar cookies.  Dinner was simple tilapia, potatoes and baked asparagus with this strange cheese i bought a little while ago--invernia? inverness?  Can't remember right now what it's called but it has a taste and texture not unlike asiago.  After dinner, I drove to the jail trail and rollerbladed for just over an hour.  I did a few laps and really enjoyed it.  I've forgotten how much I like to blade but I won't be forgetting again so soon.  I'm thinking about doing that (or a long bike ride) on Sunday.  I won't have time tomorrow because we have a wedding to go to and Maia has dance in the morning.  I'm thinking a quick morning jog while she is in class would be pretty good though.

Anyways...on a different note, I finished the new Harry Potter book I picked up at Target a couple of days ago.  Can't say I was disappointed--but can't say I was impressed either. 

Edited to add:  I was trying to embed a video clip at the top of this post but vox doesn't seem to let one embed.  here's the link: http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=814197&fr=&cache=1