Basil in a bag

I found Basil scrummaging around in my bag and had to pick him up for a minute. Plus I cut my hair, or, well, I had it cut. Sorry Abby, I really wasn't going for an identical cut!

Monopoly

So Dennis got the urge to play a boardgame this weekend, which happens next to never, so he and Abby came over for Monopoly. As you can see in the photo, Abby kicked our butt, with Tom coming in second...and Dennis and I both going bust. Oh well, I was banker and real estate agent, so I was happy. Dennis and I tried to not play with the $1 bills, because as we were brought up, it's just "chicken feed". Anyhow, it is so fantastic having family so close! I love it!

So grown up

Yipee!!! I'm feeling very cool now that my business cards were delivered!!! How fun is that? Not sure who I'll give them to besides family for showing off, but I'm excited nonetheless.

Weekend

Here is an updated family photo for Dennis and Abby...and their pups. We had a BBQ at their house yesterday and then went shopping. I finally got 2 pairs of new jeans...been waiting awhile for that one. I LOVE having them so close, it's great!

Babies everywhere

So I've had these fish, called Endler's Livebearers, for quite awhile now. I got these fish, through the mail (ordered on the internet), because a) they have babies; b) their babies are live, not eggs; and c) they cannot eat their babies as many other fish do. We've had the occasional flurry of babies, 5-6 at a time, which is great. Well, Basil has really taken to watching the fish--so much so that he has his own chair by the fishtank. The other day though, he started freaking out and attacking all sides of the tank. I went to see what was happening and found babies all over the tank. A few of the mom fish must have gotten together and had all their babies in one day. It looks so awesome now and there must be at least 20 new ones in there. Very exciting...sorry about the photo, but have you every tried taking pictures of fish?

Pepper update

The peppers have been researched by our dear friend Dan Julian who is obviously concerned about our welfare and an expert on all things peppers. Please click on peppers to have the best description of these devilish things!

Homesickness on the mend

My lovely little mom sent me homemade zucchini bread! And she made me these ladybug scrubs for work! What a fantastic surprise to find when I got home. Colin really likes them as well, as you can see. I guess I'm trying to wink too, not sure what happened with the left eye...oh well. I look forward to wearing my new duds to work tomorrow!

Just too hot

We had to throw away the wretched hot peppers that set Tom on fire.

Changed

So I got fed up with the other website sever...Friendster, and am now part of the wonderful world of Blogster, thanks to Brandon and Alison. Anyhow, looking forward to playing around with this one and have already copied most of the stuff from the other website. This one is better already, but what a pain to change it all! Oh well, we're up and running now.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

So Friday Tom and I visited the local Farmer's market. Bought some lovely corn-on-the-cob, tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers. They were cute little red/yellow/green peppers, seemingly harmless. Not so! Tom cut up the peppers and put them on the BBQ with the chicken. I touched my tongue to the edge of one and was on fire. I warned Tom to be careful after cutting the peppers not to touch his skin cause I had just licked my finger and could feel the fire coming off my finger from the oils. Next thing I know, chicken is off the BBQ and we're ready to eat; well, I was. Tom was in physical pain as he had scratched his chest, belly button, and lower lip...with the jalapeno oiled fingers. We tried eating, but Tom was huring to bad he could hardly make it though dinner. I tried washing it with soap, rubbing it off, ice, a baking soda/water mixture (hence, the photo), but nothing really helped. He had to leave dinner to get in the bath where I proceeded to try sugar and milk (my mom's suggestion), but even after mixing, stirring, and baking at 350 for 10 minutes, he was still burning. It took another few hours until it actually got better and he was still feeling the heat the next morning. We learning our lesson about the cute little jalapeno peppers, and if anyone knows how you're really supposed to get that burning horrendous oil off, let us know! An internet search said rubbing alcohol, but it was too late.
So I managed to work in labor and delivery for 1.5 years with barely a sniffle. I'm at the health center 2 weeks and have a nasty cold! That's what I get for changing from healthy laboring moms to snotty little kids who like to touch me with their wet fingers. I'll survive thanks to Dayquil and Nyquil. The job is still fantastic though and I love having normal hours and the range of things I am involved in at the clinic. I am going on my first home visit in the morning and looking forward to that. I've met so many amazing people already from literally all over the world.
Now we're just looking forward to September and a visit from our parents! Yipee. There better be some good zucchini bread on its way!

Zucchini Bread

So someone at work brought in some zucchini bread. Being nice, I had some, and immediately my train of thought went something like this..."This isn't very good; my mom makes really good zucchini bread; my mom's is better; I don't like this one; maybe it would be better toasted with butter like at home-home; home; home; home; I miss home; sure would be nice to be at home; yah, I miss home(sniff)". So zucchini bread put me on the track for a little bit of homesickness...who would've thought. It was even worse when I heard about my dad brining home barkdust...I hate dealing with barkdust, but just hearing about it made me want to be back. I guess just because it's one of those everyday things that I miss. You're expected to miss the big events like birthdays, holidays, etc., but it's the little stuff in-between that is harder than the big ones. So that's me; I'm better today-got myself together, but probably due to turning around when I saw the zucchini bread again more than anything (told you it wasn't good).

Cruise photos

Cruise photo from formal night, sunburn included