Jan 30 2009
I finally got a picture of her ears! I had to be quick! Isn’t she cute? I think it is so funny when she has one ear up and the other one is still flopped down! I better enjoy it while it lasts because it won’t be long until both of her ears are permanently up!
Jan 29 2009
I am not sure why this is recipe is called Creamy Gumbo. I am not sure if the person who shared the recipe with me called it that or if made it up myself. It’s really more like etouffee, but for some reason I have titled the recipe Creamy Gumbo. Who knows? Whatever you decide to call it, it’s tasty and easy to throw together! It comes out seeming like a special meal you put a lot of effort into!
1 c. crawfish (You could do a lb. of crawfish tails without shrimp.)
1 lb shrimp, cooked
onion
1 stalk celery (optional)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup (or if someone in your house doesn’t like mushrooms you can use cream of chicken, but I wouldn’t know a thing about having to do that)
1 stick butter (I leave this out, but I bet it makes it really good.)
Chicken broth
Creole seasoning (Think Tony’s.)
1 tsp. minced garlic (I use garlic powder because it’s easy.)
2 green bell peppers (You can buy the kind that are frozen and already chopped in a bag and you don’t even have to thaw them before putting them in the pot!)
Mix all ingredients together and simmer on the stove. Serve over rice. I also serve mine with cornbread.
Dinner is served!
Jan 27 2009
I have had a few knitting projects going with very little time to knit. Things have been quite hectic around our house and Olivia likes to play with my knitting, so it’s hard to knit while she’s awake. I finished the scarf I knitted for Richard and I also finished a black ribbed hat for him. I finished the hat early this morning and had some time while Olivia was sleeping to work on these socks. I really like working with the little needles and I love this yarn. I bought several skeins of sock yarn right before Thanksgiving and am still working on these two. My sock project has gotten interrupted several times, but hopefully I am back on track now.
Today we were out of school. I knew there was inclement weather in our state and that we were having rain with near-freezing temperatures, but when I took Olivia out this morning (AT 4 AM) the sidewalks had no ice on them at all. I fed her, played with her for a little while and then I put her back to bed and I started getting ready for school. I put a little extra effort into getting ready this morning because we were scheduled to have our state standard visit today. I even remembered to take the colander so I could clean out the fish tank in my classroom. I had planned to be at work by 6:30. I was sitting in my car waiting for my windshield to defrost. When it defrosted I pulled out and turned on NPR. As I was pulling out, they announced on the radio that my school district was closed! WHAT?!?!? I was in shock. I was so irritated because there was no ice. All day I have tried to tell myself that in other parts of the city maybe the roads were bad, but there is no chance of that considering the temperature rose to nearly 40 today. Tomorrow is when the truly inclement weather is coming, so I may wind up getting to being home for 2 days in a row! However, I better get 4th of July lesson plans ready because I’ll be celebrating it with my students in my classroom! Do you think they’d mind if we shot fireworks on the playground?
Another project I completed today was taking Olivia to the vet for more vaccinations. The vet said she is the most beautiful dog he has ever seen and that her behavior is the most well-behaved he has ever witnessed in a puppy her age. Okay, so he didn’t really say those things, but he wanted to. Olivia has had a rough night after her shots this afternoon. She has not been the active little puppy we’re accustomed to. I think we’ll both be glad when she is back to her old self tomorrow!
Jan 24 2009
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Olivia has been caught red handed just a time or two! She is a really good puppy, but she is a puppy so she is very curious and wants to chew! As you can see, she loves to chew on shoes. In the picture of her under our chair she has my house shoe with her. As a matter of fact, last night Richard and I were getting ready to go eat and run some errands and she went into our closet and started chewing on the exact pair of shoes I was going to wear. Smart girl. |
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Olivia has figured out that she can unroll the toilet paper and it is apparently really tasty! She also likes dryer sheets and paper towels. Yes, we do feed her. |
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Olivia has also drug her toy basket across the living room a time or two–growling all the way! I brought this plant in from our balcony for the winter. Dirt is another one of Olivia’s favorite snacks. She gets in big trouble though for eating dirt because her mama has to vacuum up the mess! Normally she just puts her front two paws on the container and eats the dirt from there, but this time, she decided it would be best to get all the way in the container! |
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This is Olivia chewing on one of my magazines. She is wearing one of the sweaters I knitted for her. It is actually my favorite but as you can see she has already outgrown it in length. It’s hard to tell from the picture but I did a really pretty diamond stitch pattern on it. I think I am going to wait to knit anymore sweaters for her because she is growing too fast for it to be worth the trouble! Although she has gotten into a few things, Olivia really is a great puppy! The only thing she has actually torn up is our wall. She ate through the dry wall the other day. I thought she was chewing on a bone and then I realized she was chewing on the wall. It’s a good thing my husband is handy! |
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Jan 23 2009
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I came home after work today and was playing with Olivia. All of a sudden she looked up at me and one of her ears was standing straight up! I flipped out with excitement and ran around trying to find the camera and immediately started trying to get pictures of her ears! I got a few but what I really wanted was a picture of the one ear flopped down and the other standing up. It was too cute! This is the first time either of her ears have stood completely up. |
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It wasn’t so long ago that Olivia’s ears looked like this. It was actually one month ago today to be exact! What a fun month it has been! P.S. She now weighs 8 lbs. |
Jan 23 2009
Central Arkansas Winters are rarely anything to get excited about. I live in the kind of place where everyone rushes to the grocery store when the weatherman predicts that we might get some sort of wintry mix for a couple of hours one day. I am a firm believer that there should be snow on the ground during the winter, so you can understand why I don’t care much for Central Arkansas Winters.
Not only do I not like our weather because I don’t think we get enough snow, but when it is 65 degrees in January the bugs don’t really get uncomfortable enough! For example, yesterday afternoon when I took Olivia out after I got home from school, a MOSQUITO landed on my sweatshirt in JANUARY. “Are you sure it was a mosquito?” you ask. I have lived in Arkansas my entire life. YES I am quite confident it was a mosquito. In JANUARY.
Winter weather, please come! We need you to control our insect population!
Jan 19 2009
Only 54 days until race day! I am still enjoying every run and am so glad I am training for this race. If you need motivation to stay in shape throughout the winter months, sign up for a spring race! Knowing I have to be able to run 13 miles in March has definitely kept me motivated to run consistently.
I got a new running toy. My long runs are now long enough that I need to be drinking water throughout the run, so I got a handy dandy little belt that carries my water bottle for me. It may not make a fashion statement, but it does say “I’m a serious runner.” And a serious runner I am! Maybe one of these days Olivia will be able to go a mile or two with me!
Jan 18 2009
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I am in the process of knitting Richard a new scarf. This is the first thing I have ever knitted for him. Well, I take that back. One of the first scarves I made was supposed to be for him, but we both agreed that it wasn’t manly enough. It was a royal blue that I thought matched the lining of his casual coat and I thought it would look good, but I thought wrong. So, I added that scarf to my collection. Now I am knitting a “manly” scarf for him. I am knitting it in a navy blue wool in the broken rib stitch pattern. |
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I bought this book at Barnes and Noble in the bargain section for $6 a few months ago and absolutely love it. It is a great resource! It is where I got the pattern for the scarf I am knitting for Richard. It is also where I got the patterns I used to knit Olivia’s doggie sweaters (which are now too short for her–she has grown 3 inches in length!). |
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My goal is to finish this navy scarf, a matching hat and a black wool hat for Richard by the end of the month! Let’s hope I can make it happen! |
