Try this Lasagna!

Tonight I made Giada's Asparagus and Pancetta lasagna. It's a favorite around here. I prepped some of it yesterday and put it together today. So yummy! I am still working on organizing the guest room. Organizing my craft area made me pull out a box of Christmas decorations and that made me want to decorate for the holidays! As long as the room is in order at the end of December that's all that matters. I feel like I'm getting a bit sick. My throat hurts and I'm run down. I guess biking to work today may not have helped. Hopefully the lasagna will make me feel better!

Nutcracker Lite

Today I took my Little Sister to see a shortened version of the Nutcracker. It was at a theater in Springfield. It was a ballet school with teeny girls to girls on point. It was really cute. My LS said she'd never been to a ballet before! I think she liked it. She liked their costumes too. After, she wanted to get her public library card (her mom filled out the form for us.) Due to where she lives, she couldn't get a library card. Her area doesn't have a public library to use due to tax reasons! She was so upset she wouldn't even talk for a few minutes. After we got in the car I convinced her to look at books at Borders and she perked up, so our day ended on a higher note. I roasted us a chicken for dinner and we ate the remnants of Jim's Turkey Day stuffing. Trooper seems to be missing Sheila today. I think he really loved having her here. Jim put together a shelf for me and I bought totes and organizing cubes to put in it. My goal is to organize my crafting area. I worked a bit on it before dinner and left the rest of the chaos for tomorrow. My craft supplies had been in our guest room closet so I had to dig through boxes to retrieve supplies. The hope is that they will all be more accessible and organized now. Hopefully! I'll continue to work on it tomorrow as I have a tired pup on my feet right now.

Where does the time go?

Is that the big question of adulthood? Where does the time go? When I taught classes, I had a lot of holes in my day where I'd get to do little tasks. Although I ended up grading papers and other stuff on the weekends, I had time during the week to run errands or other things. So now I'm adjusting to what every other adult does in the world! By the time I work out, walk the doggie, do laundry, and get groceries, I think, where did my day go? What do people with kids do? Yikes! Jim studied at school all day. I even took him a coffee to help the studying along. I think his last day of regular classes is on Wednesday and then it's finals time! I think he's done around Dec 14 or so. Jim made us a Giada recipe for dinner: pasta with sausage and white beans. It was so good! Then we went to see Harry Potter!! It was really good. We were sneaky and took Gingersnaps in a tupperware container in my purse. Jim just took Sheila back home (her owner gets in tonight.) I was sad to see her go. I teared up a little. She's a good girl. I just won't miss Trooper being an a-hole to her.

Thankful for a Feast

I am only posting this pic (from Tuesday night) to show you the life that Trooper is used to. A life where he is the alpha dog. That's why he's been trying to dominate Sheila. He won't let her chew on his bone, sit on the couch, have us pet her, etc, etc. Instead he just wants to hump her. A lot.


After I ran my Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning (which my results aren't even online; not sure why my chip didn't work!) We were cooking and the doggies were taking their job of sleeping very seriously. (Please ignore the clutter.)


What's Thanksgiving without green bean casserole? This is Trader Joe's recipe, with Portobello mushroom soup (and no MSG!)


I made Brussell Sprouts with shallots. I forgot to take a pic of Jim's wonderful stuffing!


I also made everyone a bag of Gingersnaps. Yum!


Jim made this fabulous cheese tray. Sorry ladies, he's taken.


Just some of the awesome dishes we had. Those sweet potatoes were amazing. Oh, and there's some of Jim's stuffing! We are thankful for all of the things we have in life, including our good friends, family, each other, and Trooper Zika.

Sheila and Trooper

Doggies

We are so happy to be dog sitting an adorable girl, Sheila. Her owner is a law student. She said we could just stop over and let her out and feed her, but I couldn't imagine a doggie being alone all night. So she came over here! She's older and bigger than Trooper. He has a bit of only child syndrome, so this should be good for him. She mostly sleeps and wags her tail. She laid down to eat her dinner! Right now she's snoring. Jim made one of his stuffings (the one that will go in the bird in the a.m.) and I'm about to make my cookies and pumpkin bars. I'm pretty excited to not have to work tomorrow. I have my Turkey Trot at 9am and we are heading over to start cooking around noon. Dinner is planned for around 2 or 3pm. If we get home at a decent hour I want to watch Little Women. I watched it last Thanksgiving when Jim went to see his CASA kid and I'd like to continue that tradition. I'll be taking my Little Sister to a shortened version of The Nutcracker on Sunday, which should be fun. Okay, I have to get to my baking! (I've got a bottle of wine to help me along.)

First Snow

During the night it snowed! I love the first snow. We woke up at 5:45 to work out and it was so pretty and quiet out. We didn't even get an inch. Trooper loved the snow too! He wanted to play all day. When I walked him this morning he was playing with the frozen leaves and eating snow. The drive to work was slippery because they don't salt here. People were driving 10 mph. The Eugene schools were closed! The snow was mostly melted by the time I left work. After work we bought our Thanksgiving supplies. We are taking a cheese plate, brussel sprouts, green bean casserole, stuffing, a cheese plate, and pumpkin bars. Yum!! One more day of work until the big Turkey Day!

Biking in the Rain

This morning it was not raining so I decided to start riding my bike to work. I am going to aim for riding at least once a week. It's only 2 miles away and takes me about 15 minutes. On my way there a woman passed me on her bike! (I've actually had a man jog past me while riding.) It's a little extra exercise (those of you who know me are probably thinking, really? do you need to exercise more?) and it will save us a little gas. Well, while I was at work the rain started. I rode home in the dark (don't worry, I have lights and only ride in safe areas) and the cold, cold rain. As I approached our house, Jim came from the other direction to escort me home. He has rain pants, which I really need. My pants were soaked through! After I took Trooper out (in his new raincoat!) I jumped in my jammies and poured a glass of wine. I'm making spaghetti carbonera for dinner (such a good cold weather food!) They are calling for an inch of snow during the night. Schools to the east of us have already called off school for tomorrow. Maybe they should spend a winter in Northern Illinois :) Jim's driving me to work tomorrow so that he can take the car and do our Thanksgiving shopping. Having Thursday off is really motivating me through the week. And our potential Harry Potter date!

Pork Chops Marsala

Jim is currently in the kitchen prepping pork chops marsala and creamy polenta for dinner. I'm pretty excited. I just took ginger snaps out of the oven. Jim loves spicy desserts that aren't too sweet and LOVES ginger snaps. I made the Better Homes and Gardens recipe. I liked Ina's, but the candied ginger chunks were a bit too much for me.
Saturday was a very busy day. Jim worked on his memo at home until 15 minutes before it was due. I had to work from 8am to noon. I rushed from work to pick up my little sister for BBBS bowling. After bowling we went to the park. She has fun doing kid things like swinging and playing on the jungle gym. (Which I played on as well. I'm very sore today. I fell twice. Parents were staring but it was for a good cause.) In the car she asked me if I had a boyfriend. I said, actually, I have a husband. To which she responded, do you like him? (I guess that is a legitimate question.) I said, I love him more than anything. She's a funny kid. After I dropped her off I ventured to Trader Joe's (which was a nut house, but I wanted to get shopping out of the way.) Then I came home and took Trooper on a jog. We came home at 4:45 and Jim had just submitted his memo.
We went to Toshi's Ramen for dinner, which was awesome. You order at the counter and they bring your food to you. We had potstickers and we both ordered different types of ramen. Oh my gosh, it hit the spot! I had been so cold all day (probably from playing in the park). The noodles and broth were so good and they even put a pad of butter on top which melted into the soup. Yum! After dinner we met some friends for a drink. Jim was turned away from one bar due to his expired license. We went and had a few drinks at another. I was so tired but it was fun.
Jim took the WHOLE day off from law school work! Today we've been catching up on household things (four loads of laundry and still going), shopping, and getting the fenders put on my bike. We went to the campus gym (yesterday Jim saw a naked baby in our apt's fitness center; the mom said to him, the baby peed herself and I really had to get this workout in. Then the baby tried to play with the free weights, a tort waiting to happen as Jim said.) We're looking forward to a nice evening together.
I signed up for a 4 mile Turkey Trot on Thursday morning! Looking forward to trotting pre-turkey.

New Job

Jim's step mom, Judy, sent Trooper this new rain jacket!!

I've officially been offered my temp job as a full time permanent position. We are both happy to have a reliable income and benefits for both of us. I'm already daydreaming about the massage I'll be treating myself to on my birthday :) (I'm sure that my readers can tell that I don't blog too much (or at all!) about my job. I prefer to keep work at work!)
Jim's at school studying until late tonight. Trooper and I are even going to take him his dinner (just veggie burgers and sweet potato fries.) And he doesn't know it yet but I bought him some beer for when he gets home. Yep, I'm a great wife.
Last night I went to Territorial for a wine tasting. We really just bought a bottle of wine rather than flights. It was relaxing and one wonderful friend and I looked through old Bon Appetits and discussed our Thanksgiving meal. We're really excited to be cooking it together! Jim stayed home and wrote and studied.
Tomorrow morning I have to work until noon and then will be going bowling with my little sister. Jim and I are actually planning on going on a date tomorrow night! We are going to go out to dinner (a rare occasion these days!) which is my treat (I'm the breadwinner here!) to celebrate the new job and Jim finishing his memo (assuming he gets it in by 5pm tomorrow.)
And we are officially going to Illinois from January 6- 10! Get ready!

Hump Day

Trooper seems to be so much better. He has only itched a few times since I got home from work. Last night he slept all over my half of the bed and I curled up in a tiny ball to let him sleep. Whatever my doggie wants, my doggie gets. I hope this medicine works! He had fun watching me (and so did Jim!) do the Jillian Barberie yoga workout on the Comcast OnDemand. (Which is really kind of tough!) I made tilapia, risotto, and TJ's version of green bean casserole for dinner. Tomorrow night I think I am going to a wine tasting. I think my friend and I are going to plan out our Thanksgiving menu while there, which should be fun.

Back to the Vet

Last night I saw On the Rhine at WOW Hall. It was a neat place. It was kind of like a church. And my kind of crowd! Lots of older folks with some kids sprinkled in. Loudon Wainwright's daughter opened for them. The lead singer has a beautiful voice and they live in Ohio (birth place of baby Amanda.) I enjoyed hanging out with Mahala too.
This morning was a bit stressful in our house. After 2 days of Benadryl, Trooper was still itching all night. Our car tags and Jim's license expired in October. To register our car here we have to do extra paper work since the bank owns it. This involves a lot of steps that my lovely husband has been taking care of. He can not get his license because his passport expired and he does not have a birth certificate (but his mom ordered us a new one today!) And with one car, I needed a ride to work (too wet to bike) so he could get to the DMV and vet. All this with Jim's memo due on Saturday. Whew!
Luckily, the vet thinks Trooper just has allergies that may have become infected due to too much itching and licking. So he gave him steroids and antibiotics. Hopefully that will help!
We are staying in Eugene for both Thanksgiving and Christmas due to our finances. It looks like we'll be having a bit of a Thanksgiving potluck with some other law school couples and I'll be working the next day. Any of my readers are welcome to come visit! We are thinking we are heading to Illinois after Jan 3 but before Jan 18. Otherwise, it will be a long while before we travel again!
Okay, I must get to making pizza and finishing laundry (I'm still catching up on laundry from two weeks ago!) Ciao!

Muchaca

Right now we have beef simmering on the stove top to make Muchaca (sort of shredded beef that we'll use to make tacos.) I made it a bit differently (is that the adverb form of different?) than the recipe. I'm using a different cut of meat as there was no skirt steak at Albertson's. Actually, when I asked the butcher, he was a bit of a meat snob and said skirt steak is "too fatty and no one buys it." So I bought other steaks of some sort. I also did not marinade the steak for 8 hours. I've also got an apple bread in the oven. It's the same recipe as zucchini bread but with shredded apples instead. It seemed autumnal. Jim is in our room studying away (finals are only a month away!) We gave Trooper a benadryl to help him get some itching relief. Poor pup! He's passed out in his crate right now. This afternoon I timed myself on my bike to see how long it would take to get to work. It's only 2 miles away. I'm hoping I can ride my bike once a week or so to save on gas and get some extra exercise. It only took me 15 minutes. Jim put my bell and lights on for me (since it's almost pitch black by the time I leave work at 5pm.) Next he'll just have to put on my fenders. Tomorrow after work I'm going to see a band called On the Rhine with a friend. It may be a late night (for me at least!) so I hope to blog again on Tuesday.

Little Sister Day!

Today was my first day out with my LS. We had a really good first outing. We went to a raptor exhibit that was really neat. Then we walked around a park. It's really fun to have a little friend who likes to pretend she's an animal or throw leaves and sticks in the river. Then we went to the library. She wanted to hang out even longer but I reminded her we'd have time together next week. I hope she had a good time. We're having a little pizza and football party at our apartment. I think we're having 10 people over or so. Should be a good Saturday!

November

It looks like there was a frost in the night. Trooper and I just took our morning walk and it was chilly! Trooper is still itching on and off. Poor dog. We may take him back to the vet. Jim's feeling a bit better. Tonight I am meeting my little sister! I'm excited and nervous. I already have ideas of things to do if she'd like to hang out this weekend. I've also invited a few girls (maybe just one) over to watch Grey's Anatomy (hope we don't bother Jim!) tonight.

Just the Three of Us

We are back to being three. I was at work all day and poor Jim got sick! He wasn't feeling well when I left and biked home at lunch and stayed on the couch where I found him at 5pm. Poor guy! I made him some chicken noodle soup for dinner. I get to meet my little sister on Thursday evening! I'm so excited. We are meeting at the office downtown. I've been looking into free things to do around Eugene. I even found a program at the library where kids can read books to dogs! (I want to read books to dogs!) We are also happy because our wonderful friends in Seattle have agreed to dog sit for Trooper when we go to Illinois in January. Trooper will get to hang out with Debbie, Lyndsey, and Unckie Jojo. Now we'll just keep workin for the weekend!

Last night with our Visitors

We are going to miss Karen and Dave! Trooper is laying between them on the couch right now, so cozy. He LOVES having them here! So do we. They drove up to Corvallis today to see a friend while we were at work/ school. We just finished a nice lasagna dinner. We're bummed to see them go!

Winery Fun

Today we went to King Estate winery. It's a really nice winery that has a really tasty restaurant. It's such a great treat! We ordered flights of wine and had a late lunch. I had a cheeseburger that was SO good. We took the tour of the winery. On the way home we showed Karen and Dave our favorite store here, Market of Choice. I just made a lasagna for tomorrow night and we're going to have a pizza for dinner tonight. I have to watch 60 Minutes!

Fun Filled Weekend

We've been having a great time with Karen and Dave. On Friday after work, we took Trooper to the dog park and walked around by the river. We went out to eat at Cornucopia, which was really good. On Saturday morning, Karen and I went to the Saturday Market. The weather was great and we had fun looking at all the booths. I bought myself a cool shirt and we loaded up on produce, flowers, and pie. We came home and at sammies and then loaded up to drive to the coast. We even took Trooper! We drove to Florence and explored some sand dunes (pics to come) and drove north a bit to a lookout where we were able to see a herd of sea lions swimming! It rained a bit during the drive but we all had a nice time. Jim made one of my favorite things for dinner (chicken picata!) and I cooked the swiss chard and mushrooms we bought at the market. We drank wine and played Scrabble. This morning Karen helped us give Trooper a bath with T-Gel, blow dry him, and put Noxema on his skin. He looks handsome and hopefully will feel less itchy. Jim's at school and when he's done we are heading to the wineries. I only wish it wasn't Sunday already! Luckily they don't fly out until Tuesday morning.

Family Visit

Karen and Dave made it safely! They arrived around 8pm last night. I made pasta with smashed peas and sausage for their arrival. I have to work today (boo!) but am looking forward to hanging out with them all weekend.

We Love our Doggie

We love Trooper so much. Right now he's sleeping on our bed. Jim went to find him and said, "You should come look at him!" He was just sleeping, but still darn cute. Most of my readers know that Trooper came to me at a very important time. Just about one month before our wedding (which was stressing me out a bit to plan) and a few months before a major move. He's been my constant companion since we came to Eugene and has always given me someone to talk to and hang out with. We love that pup!
After work I took Trooper to the dog park with a friend and her dog. Trooper wasn't in too much of a playing mood until her pup got him running a bit. Then we walked our dogs on the path until it got dark (which is so much earlier and about to get MUCH earlier). It's been really helpful to have made some girlfriends here to talk to.
When I was finishing my walk, Jim called to say the can of salmon we bought was weird (it still had skin and bones in it). So I ran to Trader Joe's and bought a frozen pizza and ravioli that I sauteed in olive oil. Now Jim's back to work and I'm hoping to get in a little sewing before I fall asleep.
Tomorrow is back to work and then cleaning in preparation for Karen and Dave's arrival! Yay!

Little Sister

I am so happy about my little sister match! I met with my case manager today. I won't be blogging too many details about my little sister for privacy reasons. I will say she's 10 years old and is really excited to be getting a Big Sister. We are aiming to meet with the family sometime next week. I think we're going to be a good match and she sounds like she could needs a Big Sister. I also think she's going to LOVE Trooper.
Troop seems to be feeling better. I woke up to him sleeping in the guest room. His itching and scratching has decreased quite a bit. He's been sleeping a lot. He's probably tired after a week of itching!
I had a beer with a friend after my mentor meeting. I have been lucky to meet some really cool people since we've arrived. It helps a lot!

Busy Gal

After work I had over a girl I've been working with for her birthday. I cooked her chicken parm and cheesy orzo. Jim had a dinner at school that involved boring things like tax and estates laws. We had a nice dinner and wine. Trooper loved having the company. Tomorrow after work is my Big Brothers Big Sisters meeting!! I started the application in August and am very ready to be a mentor. I think I'm having a drink with a friend after that which will be nice. Before we know it it will be the weekend! Jim's busy studying as usual and I'm getting ready to watch tv. Good night!