Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep....the sound of the alarm going off at... 5:00am! Now, this in and of itself is a very normal occurence around our house, since Drew is supposed to be at work by 5:45/6:00 ish. However, yesterday it meant that I would be getting up as well. You see, just the night before, we had discussed a new beginning for Drew: taking his lunch to work. In order to ease the transition for him, I offered to get up and make his lunch for him.
I groggily pulled myself out of bed, and put together a delicious meal for my husband (with cherry yogurt-his fave-and freshly made christmas cookies as well). I handed it to him as he walked towards the door, gave him a kiss and crawled back into bed. Not too bad for having to get up so early, except...
Fast forward to 7:40...beep, beep, beep beep, beep beep...the sound of the alarm going off again. In my tired stupor (I had been up just a couple hours prior), I hit the off button... Fast forward again, this time to 8:20, and you would see me sitting up in my bed panicked because I have overslept!!
I leapt out of bed, quickly showered, apologized to Annabelle for her lack of morning playtime, and ran towards the door... only to find Drew's lunch sitting on the ironing board. That's right, I got up, put the lunch together, and he left it sittting at home... TOTAL frustration!!! Luckily, since I was running late, I was able to take his lunch as mine.
I got in the car with 7 minutes before I was supposed to be at work (it is about a 15 minute drive), go to put the key into the ignition, and IT WON'T GO IN!!! Now, I have experienced a locked steering wheel, and other pesky car issues, but the key would not even barely go in, not at all...either the key slot had shrunk, or my key had expanded. I ran inside to get the spare...NOTHING. I tried everything, jiggling the steering wheel, jamming the key in (that tactice worried me a little, so I only made one attempt), messing with the gears, locking and unlocking the car to reset the alarm...NOTHING. After about 10 minutes of pure frustration (and pure crankiness at this point...I hadn't had my coffee yet), I went inside to call work and let them know I was running late. I put on a pot of coffee (if anything was going to happen, this was a necessity), and called my mom-she is the best in these types of situations. She informs me that this particular issue has never troubled her, and I should relax a few minutes and try again.
Well, I decide to take my fresh cup of coffee and go to my trusty friend google. I soon discovered through a quick search that all I needed to do is bang on the underside of the steering column with the heel of my hand with a few swift hits to realign the steering column mechanisms. It seemed a little too simple, but I went out to try it. ABRACADABRA! My car was fixed. I was now on my way, just a mere 45 minutes late. Only, I had forgotten my last box of Christmas presents to be mailed to Nashville, meaning that it definitely would NOT be getting there by Christmas. UGH.
The rest of the day at work went by pretty smoothly (thankfully), but upon return home, then Mondays continued. As seen in my husband's previous post, we had the Great Fire of '08, and then an argument about nothing. It was probably brought on by the fact that we haven't seen each other much in the past few weeks (since Drew has had to work so much), and there isn't really a lot we can do about it...which leads to a lot of pent-up frustration from me on top of pure exhaustion from Drew...the whole fire issue didn't really help all of that.
Luckily, the kitchen was cleaned up without any residual damage (minus a wok that has a lot of soot and gook left on it still), and Drew has a day off on Christmas (his first since the 7th). In the meantime, we will just keep taking it one day at a time, and hopefully will avoid future cases of the "Mondays."
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Great Fire of '08
Good evening boys and girls. Today we're going to learn about something we all enjoy. However, it's something that can be dangerous, so it's important that you all know how to do it correctly. So what is this thing of which I'm speaking? Why, it's STIR-FRY of course!
So, the first thing you have to know about stir-fry is that you need to read ALL the directions before starting.
The wok can get pretty hot, and the food cooks quickly, so you need to have all of your ingredients prepared and ready for use before you begin.
Next, heat the wok on high until it's very hot, then put in some of the oil and spread it around the bottom. Peanut oil has a high threshold for burning, but you may notice a little bit of sizzling going on.
(Please understand that we don't have a real picture for this moment, we were a little occupied)
So, the first thing you have to know about stir-fry is that you need to read ALL the directions before starting.
The wok can get pretty hot, and the food cooks quickly, so you need to have all of your ingredients prepared and ready for use before you begin.
Next, heat the wok on high until it's very hot, then put in some of the oil and spread it around the bottom. Peanut oil has a high threshold for burning, but you may notice a little bit of sizzling going on.
(Please understand that we don't have a real picture for this moment, we were a little occupied)Now that you've got everything all heated up, it's time to add your ingredients. Stir-fry can cover a wide range of tastes, from vegetables, to seafood, to chicken... pretty much anything you can think of.
The food cooks really quickly, and it should smell delicious.
It only takes a couple minutes to finish cooking, so you don't need to set any timers or alarms.
Now that your meal is cooked, you should have a spectacular sight in front of you.
The only downside to stir-fry is shared by all types of cooking. You have to clean up.
Now, enjoy your meal.
The food cooks really quickly, and it should smell delicious.
It only takes a couple minutes to finish cooking, so you don't need to set any timers or alarms.
Now that your meal is cooked, you should have a spectacular sight in front of you.
The only downside to stir-fry is shared by all types of cooking. You have to clean up.
Now, enjoy your meal.
Monday, December 15, 2008
6 months!
Yesterday, Drew and I celebrated one of our first major milestones of married life...it has been six months since we said our "I do's." We didn't commemorate with anything too spectacular--a nice dinner out and some Christmas shopping--but we did take a few moments to think about the past 6 months and everything that has happened since June. It has been a wonderful time as we have finally experienced seeing each other for an extended period of time and really learned the intricacies of our daily needs and wants. It certainly has not been perfect as we adjust to Drew's long work hours and a limited social circle outside of each other (in this new place), but it has been fun, and I can say that I love Drew more every day that I am married to him. Here's to another 6 months! (and then we will be in Tullahoma celebrating Shelley and Cason's nuptials--YAY!! :-D).
Monday, December 8, 2008
Christmas decorations
While I'm in a posting mood, we were busy this weekend. Emily gets a little giddy around the Christmas season. She literally counts down the minutes until she can play Christmas music. So it's only natural that on my weekend off she'd convince me to decorate our little pad. It took a little convincing, and I wasn't necessarily happy about it at first.
So, I decided to get a little help. Annabelle tried to run from her responsibilities at first, but I "convinced" her to pitch in a hand... err... paw.
Yeah, somebody didn't tell her I qualified for the state wrestling tournament three times. All kidding aside, we did get some serious work done. Check out our tree with the amazing color-changing star.
We didn't slack around outside either. Our house is one of the brightest on the street. Of course, there's still a bit of time before Christmas, so we'll see if our little home holds up. Emily's promised not to spend any more money on Christmas decorations, so we may have to get creative. For now, we're happy with how it looks.
So, I decided to get a little help. Annabelle tried to run from her responsibilities at first, but I "convinced" her to pitch in a hand... err... paw.
Yeah, somebody didn't tell her I qualified for the state wrestling tournament three times. All kidding aside, we did get some serious work done. Check out our tree with the amazing color-changing star.
We didn't slack around outside either. Our house is one of the brightest on the street. Of course, there's still a bit of time before Christmas, so we'll see if our little home holds up. Emily's promised not to spend any more money on Christmas decorations, so we may have to get creative. For now, we're happy with how it looks.
Thanksgiving cheers...
So Emily and I had our first ever Thanksgiving on our own. Well, I say "on our own," but we had quite a bit of company. Sarah, Ruth, Matt, and Katie decided to drop in and share in the feast. It was great having them here, even though I was working for a majority of the time. Annabelle was definitely ready for the occasion. We had to keep a close eye on her so she didn't run off with some food like the Bumpus's dogs (if you get that reference, you're a beast). 
Emily and Katie got a little crazy with the place settings.
Of course, I had to help out too.
Of course I'm kidding. I got to play an integral role in the process. I carved the roast beast... I mean turkey (wrong holiday).
Anyway, we had a great meal. It was so nice to sit down with family and relax for a day. It was one of many wonderful Thanksgivings to come, and I look forward to forming our own holiday traditions as well as bringing along some new ones from both of our families.
After Thanksgiving Day Sarah and Katie headed back home, but Ruth and Matt hung around for the weekend. I was on call on Friday and Sunday, but we still found some time to spend time together. We went to Tombstone. That's right, site of the shootout at the OK Corral.
It's also the setting for one of the most quotable movies of all time. "Are you gonna do something, or just stand there and bleed?"
I admit, I could have come up with a tougher looking pose, but look at Emily! She looks pissed! All in all, it was an amazing week. We can't wait to have more visitors! We love Tucson, and there are tons of things to do out here. If you get some time off, please come out and join us for a few days.
Emily and Katie got a little crazy with the place settings.
Of course, I had to help out too.
Of course I'm kidding. I got to play an integral role in the process. I carved the roast beast... I mean turkey (wrong holiday).
Anyway, we had a great meal. It was so nice to sit down with family and relax for a day. It was one of many wonderful Thanksgivings to come, and I look forward to forming our own holiday traditions as well as bringing along some new ones from both of our families.After Thanksgiving Day Sarah and Katie headed back home, but Ruth and Matt hung around for the weekend. I was on call on Friday and Sunday, but we still found some time to spend time together. We went to Tombstone. That's right, site of the shootout at the OK Corral.
It's also the setting for one of the most quotable movies of all time. "Are you gonna do something, or just stand there and bleed?"
I admit, I could have come up with a tougher looking pose, but look at Emily! She looks pissed! All in all, it was an amazing week. We can't wait to have more visitors! We love Tucson, and there are tons of things to do out here. If you get some time off, please come out and join us for a few days.
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