When You're Here, You're Family

Have you been to Olive Garden lately??

This past weekend we went to a friend's house for dinner. My friend Lori was having a "clear out my freezer" dinner party before she moved away the next morning and we were invited.

Let me tell you...that was actually a delicious and fun meal. Everything was pretty random but it ended up being a great idea to help her get rid of extra food (without tossing it) and an excuse to get together on her last night here!

Anyway. While I was there and she was finishing cooking, I caught a commercial for the Olive Garden. Their new four cheese sacchetti dishes had me drooling (and not just because I was starving, the house smelled delicious and dinner wasn't done yet)! These dishes looked AMAZING!

So...The Hubble and I decided to do a little shopping in "town" on Tuesday and while we were there we went to Olive Garden. I had trouble deciding between the shrimp dish or the one with chicken. I ended up going with the chicken dish because it offered a garlic cream sauce over the shrimp dish's Parmesan sauce. (I'm a sucker for garlic).

I would post a picture of it, but I ate it so fast I didn't think to take a picture and the website doesn't have one I can steal borrow.

This meal was delicious! I loved it so much!

We also tried their new mini desserts. Here's a picture!

Photo Courtesy of Olive Garden

Being that we aren't too into chocolate we got the 3 without chocolate. We all ended up liking different ones the best. The Hubble loved the tiramisu, I loved the lemon and Little Butt loved the strawberry. Win, win, win!

Anyway. As much as I would love to sit here and talk strictly about food, I try to save that for my other blog.

No. Today I want to talk about people.

When we were there we were seated in a narrow room with booths lining each wall. Some elderly folks sat across the aisle from us. There were 3 of them. 2 ladies and 1 gentleman. The 2 ladies were sisters and the gentleman was the husband of one lady. LOL! That sounds confusing. 

Okay. I'll name them. Mason (the gentleman) and Mouse (the older sister) were married. Then there was Pistol sitting across the booth from her sister and brother in law.

These people had to have been mid to late 60's or early 70's. 

We overhead them talking to their server about beers and wines. Well...The Hubble knows his beer and I tend to know my wines so I couldn't help but eavesdrop. We even tried to intervene to help answer the questions the server couldn't but they were focused and didn't hear us.

So we went about our meal. Until Pistol caught my attention to tell me how cute Little Butt was. 

Somehow, we ended up talking to these people through the duration of both our meals. We learned a lot about them. These were some awesome older individuals!

We asked them questions...they asked us questions. They talked to Little Butt. We ended up covering everything from politics, military life (Mason is a 30 year retired Navy Captain) and believe it or not...tattoos and piercings (they brought up that topic). 

This was one of the most awesome experiences I've had at a restaurant and I really feel the Olive Garden motto of "When you're here, you're family" is true. We definitely felt like we were meeting up with family members when we were there.

I guess I need to talk about this because early on I heard them toast. Pistol raised her glass and said that as long as she had beer, she didn't need hair. She even mentioned maybe having a head shaving party.

Pistol was here visiting her sister before she starts Chemotherapy. 

I've been thinking about them for days. They really touched me. Especially Pistol. 

She is a spitfire of a woman and I hope that she is able to beat this thing. 

We will probably never see them again...but for one afternoon, one meal, they were family. They were so kind and accepting. They are special.

My thoughts are with you Pistol. Thanks for the great meal!

Tag! I'm It!

Photo by Sudhamshu

You better start running while I count to 10! I'm comin' to getcha! 

LOL! Just kidding. But not really. Maybe.

Anyway. I found out last week that I was tagged by 2 lovely ladies. So I am here to share my answers with them. And since you are here, I'll share them with you as well!

The lady that tagged me was The Annoyed Army Wife. I heart her mucho. She had to answer 8 questions from someone else and now I have to answer 8 questions from her then you have to...are you getting the point here? Let's get to it!

1. What side of the bed do you sleep on?

Well. Do you mean when we are looking at the bed or laying on the bed?? LOL! I sleep on the right side. The funny thing about this is that my side of the bed used to change depending on which side of the bed was closest to the door. I always used to sleep closest to the door. I don't know if it was for a quick get away or what. This is the first place that I've slept furthest from the door and it's kind of weird for me. But I'm enjoying it.

2. Do you have an alarm clock that you can dock your iPod in? If so, which one and do you like it? Yes, I'm in the market.

LOL! No. But I need and iHome thing for The Hubble so if you could let me know what you hear back I'd appreciate it! We use our cell phones for alarms and computers/stereos for music.

3. Should I get an iPhone when my contract expires on my current phone (in less than a week)? OccDoc has one and I really like it. I think I'd get an iPhone 3 if I do it. 

Ummm....I would never go with AT&T so my answer is no. I've heard the Droid Incredible with Verizon is awesome. My dad and stepbrother both gave up their iPhones just to get the Incredible.

4. What's your favorite cookie to bake, if you bake?

I bake a lot but don't really bake a lot of cookies. The one I've made most often is The Hubble's favorite. Just regular chocolate chip cookies (I use Ghiradelli chocolate chips) with Heath toffee chips thrown in. So good!

5. What's the most annoying noise in the world to you?

Forks and knives scraping on a plate. Just thinking about it makes me cringe!

6. Who was the first person to break your heart?

My dad.

7. What time do you wake up in the morning usually?

Whenever Little Butt wakes up. Anywhere between 7am-8am.

8. What time do you normally go to bed?

Around 10pm or 11pm. But it takes me a REALLY long time to fall asleep.

The next set of questions is from Kaylee from Devil Dog Darling.

There were only 5 questions for hers. Here they are:

1. WHO do you think would make the best celebrity president? 

Eeeeew. I don't really care for celebrities. Ummm...let's go with Gwen Stefani since she's the Captain of my lesbian boat. The country would be insanely well dressed and we would be pretty rad. But we would also probably be taken over and have to learn to speak Chinese.

2. WHAT kind of crafts do you most enjoy doing?

I love baking (is that a craft??). I taught myself to knit a couple years ago. I like scrapbooking but I never do it. I also love to draw. Lately I've been getting into photography.

3. WHEN you were a child, did you ever see yourself living the life that you are now?

Well, considering I lived this life when I was a child I guess so. I don't really remember anything before the age of 12 so I don't know what I envisioned for my life. But it's not incredibly different from the way I grew up.

4. WHERE do you visit most often in your dreams?

No particular place. It's the people in my dreams that really matter. Like, last night I dreamt that I ran into Amber from Goodnight Moon! at some random store. We knew who each other was from our blog pictures but neither wanted to be the firs to say hi. We ended up being really good friends in my dream. Random right?? Good thing she rocks. (And I promise I'm not completely creepy!)

5. WHY is it so hard to come up with these questions? (In place of why... Tell me one thing that not many people know about you.)

Oh geez. Ummm...I have no idea what people don't know about me. How about...I talk. A lot! Like, I talk to random people in stores. I have to catch myself sometimes and tell people that I talk way too much. However, this talking a lot, to whomever, ensures that I make friends pretty easily. So I guess it's not all bad. Unless you are The Hubble and you are waiting for me to finish a conversation I struck up with a cashier somewhere. He tends to get annoyed with me. ;-)

Now. For my questions to you. I'm just going to come up with 8 so I kind of cover both tags.

1. What is an amazing book that you have read recently?
2. Seen any good movies lately? If so, what was it?
3. What are the last 3 songs you have listened to?
4. What is the very first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
5. Do you have a 'before bed time' routine? What is it?
6. What is your favorite snack?
7. Do you order the same thing off the menu every time or do you change it up?
8. What is your favorite hobby?

Okay. Now I tag 8 people. You are:

1. Amber at Goodnight Moon! (You know I had to after that dream!)
2. Gwen at Chew & Digest Books
3. Sarah at Mowenackie
4. Nicole at Flip Flops and Combat Boots
5. Jessica Lynn at Jesstagirl and Her Officer
6. Annie at Nana GoGo
7. Sarah at Confessions of an Untenured Teacher
8. K at Uncork and Unwined

I hope you all decide to play along. But if not, I understand.

And just one last side note. This here is my 100th post!!! Thanks for sticking around!!! 

For Further Reading Check Out:

• I've Been Tagged...and So Have 8 of You!

Couch to 5K: Week One

Photo by emples

Success!!

At the end of last year I discovered a program called Couch to 5k. 

This is a running program that helps you go from the couch (never running) to a 5k in about 9 weeks. 

One of my goals for this year was to be able to run a 5k.

I did a 5k in February. The Race for the Cure actually. It was so much fun! But I only ran about a mile in the beginning (I had no idea I could even run a mile straight). I ran a little bit more at the end but didn't cross the finish line running. I felt like I was going to die at the end so I ended up walking across the finish line. 

I keep starting this program and something gets in the way. 

I think the furthest I've gotten in the program was week 4, trying desperately to get to week 5.

I ended up getting shin splints REALLY badly at one point last year. Then I've started it off and on since January. Butt all the moving and traveling kind of kept me from completing it. 

That, or I just didn't have the dedication to the program that I needed to complete it.

So now, I'm determined. I really want to do a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving this year. I want to run it. The whole thing. That only gives me 7 weeks. 

Can I do it? I don't know. I hope so.

I have started out strongly and I know that doing that kind of thing pushes and motivates you further than you normally go on your own. so I have high hopes.

I think writing about it may help. I hope so.

So this week I did really well and I'm proud of myself.

The program only requires 3 days a week. I figure Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are good since Little Butt goes to daycare those days.

Monday was Columbus day though. The daycare was closed. And The Hubble was home. It's difficult for me to leave the house when The Hubble is home. But I did it! I did my first day on a holiday and left Little Butt and The Hubble to their own devices.

Wednesday there were no issues. Little Butt went to daycare and I did my thing. Although, I was SO freaking tired. I didn't sleep the night before (I have issues with insomnia sometimes). I felt like I was dragging and there was a nice breeze for wind resistance. I sucked bad that day. I got a really bad cramp in my right rib area too.

Friday, The Hubble had his graduation from the Career Course here so I couldn't go to the track. HOWEVER, I went this morning on my own. Yes! I went on a Saturday and it was amazing!

Week one of the C25K program is:

Warm up 5 minutes

Run 1 minute, walk 90 seconds (repeat for a total of 20 minutes)

Cool down 5 minutes

30 minutes total.

I do time and distance. 2 miles on the track is 8 laps. I make sure I do 9 laps. 

Here's how my week broke down:

Monday: 2 1/4 miles 31 minutes 6 seconds

Wednesday: 2 miles 30 minutes 34 seconds (I told you I was dragging!)

Saturday: 2 1/4 miles 29 minutes 57 seconds

I can't believe I shaved about a minute off my time from Monday to today!!! I'm so stinking proud of myself.

Wednesday was really bad. But at the end I took a good 5 minutes or so and did some yoga stretches. That really invigorated me. 

I don't know if my better time today was because of the added yoga stretches or because I had 2 days to rest in between Wednesday and today. 

I guess we'll find out on Monday! 

Have you started any new programs or projects recently that have made you proud of yourself? What were they?

For Further Reading Check Out:

• 2010 Goals: August Update
• My Fitness Page
• Couch to 5k: Week Two

Visits and Family Fun

So my parents came to visit last week.

Now...we live in the middle. Of. Nowhere.

No lie. We really do.

I was pretty worried that they would be bored once they got here. I mean, the mall (or any shopping other than Wally World) is an hour and a half away!

However, as always happens, our schedule filled up at the last minute and we were pretty much busy non-stop. We were even double booked the first day they were here.

The parental units arrive at around 11pm on Saturday evening. We had just come home from a graduation party (can you believe The Hubble graduates his career course tomorrow??? I can't!).

We talked a bit before all hitting the hay for the night. When we woke up it was time to get moving! We were going to a baby shower and a chili cookoff that day so I needed to do some cooking. I made pigs in a blanket (little smokies wrapped in croissant dough) for the baby shower and The Hubble and I worked together to get a vat of chili going (it had to cook 6 hours and the chili cookoff was at 5pm).

The baby shower was the first stop. It was a lot of fun actually. We did the game where you were blindfolded and had to try to find itty bitty safety pins in rice. We also played "pin the diaper on the baby" which was a more suitable game for a girl baby than my original "pin the penis on the baby" game I came up with for a friend who was having a boy a few years ago.

I was extremely surprised to find out there was going to be running games as well. They had an egg race game (you ran with an egg on a spoon and tried not to drop it). I am a clutz so I opted out of that game.

But I did participate in the 3-legged race!

Can you believe I allowed that to happen? LOL! It was fun...we came in third of 4 couples. Lame. Oh well...at least we weren't last. And we didn't fall (although we almost did). I think that's a feat in and of itself.

Even Little Butt gave it the ol' college try. That didn't last long though.

After the baby shower we ran home to get the chili and showed up only an hour late! Everything was delicious and I ate WAY too much. Mmmmm...chili.

The next day was Monday. I made my mother get up and go for a walk with me. She did well. I made her walk with me on Wednesday as well.

We did a lot of hanging out with friends. We had a playdate with B and Princess. We had a spouse coffee to go to on Wednesday but I started getting sick and decided to stay home and have a screwdriver to stave off the sickness instead of going to the coffee.

We watched Iron Man 2 and Little Butt is obsessed! We even went to Wally World and she got a sticker from the greeter. She put it on the palm of her hand and "shot" people as we walked through the store. I won't lie...it was pretty awesome.

The other super fun thing we did was that we finally had a fondue party! I've been wanting to have a fondue party for almost a year now but I didn't know anyone who would play along with me. I found out my friend L (the one who is having the baby) has a fondue pot. So we enlisted a couple other people and had a party. OMG it was good!!! I bought The Melting Pot Cookbook and we had the most amazing meal! Bourbon Bacon Cheddar fondue to start. Coq au Vin cooking style with chicken, shrimp and beef for the main course. With the main course we also made dipping sauces: an her aioli, a roasted red pepper sauce, a spicy cocktail and a spicy honey mustard sauce. Yum!!! For dessert I ruined an entire HUGE bar of melting chocolate (in two attempts) by trying to add some Bailey's to it. It just curdled. No fun. On the second attempt I even tried to add cream to it but it just started separating. So I ended up making a white chocolate amaretto fondue that we dipped strawberries, marshmallows, rice krispie treats, and pineapple into. Did I say it was DELICIOUS??? Because it was.

The fondue was on Friday night. Oh, my parents watched Little Butt on Thursday so The Hubble and I could go on a date. It was nice. We went to a local bar/bistro with some friends. I'm glad we got to do that.

On Friday I also did a bunch of baking so I could send some treats home to my sisters back in Texas.

The parentals left on Saturday and we had the rest of the weekend to relax.

All in all I would say it was a really good visit. But sadly, the only picture I thought to snap was when I was introducing my parents to Dexter. All I had was my phone. Here's how much Little Butt loved hanging with Pawpaw:

And that was our week!

Do you enjoy it when your parents visit? When was the last time you had a family member visit? Was it fun?

Wordless Wednesday: The RAWR Edition