Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

Twelve years ago, or three if you count Leap Years, Steve and I took the plunge and got married. It was a whirlwind romance that had him proposing after two months and us getting married after eight months. Needless to say, many thought I’d lost my mind. I think only my sister and dad thought I was doing the right thing. Fast forward to today and we haven’t killed each other yet! To celebrate, we’re spending the day doing some of our favorite things. First, we’ll go to Kansas City (where we honeymooned ’cause we were poor), we’ll eat some great food, shop at Nordstrom’s then end the day with a delicious meal and some good wine. I think I’d marry him all over again. After all, I do have him trained!

Happy Leap Day everyone. Celebrate the extra day by doing something fun and impulsive.

This week on the Today Show they’re revisiting casts of old sitcoms. Yesterday was Happy Days (a show I didn’t watch or like) and today was One Day at a Time (a show I watched and loved). It got me thinking about all the sitcoms I loved as a kid. I know if I were to re-watch them today I’d think they were awful (well, maybe not all of them) but as a kid I didn’t miss a single episode. Without a VCR or TiVo I not only had to be in front of the TV in time for the show to start, but I had to watch all the commercials. So here’s a list of some of my favorites. What were yours?

The Brady Bunch

One Day at a Time

Good Times (loved the theme song)

Sanford and Son (another great theme song which is on my iPod now)

The Jeffersons

The Facts of Life (my dad used to say “all those kids are smart asses”)

Fantasy Island

Love Boat (where old sitcom stars go to revive their careers)

Magnum, P.I.

Bewitched

Family Affair (I even had clothes from the Buffy and Jody line)

The Carol Burnett Show (love, love, love that show)

Green Acres (loved it so much my sister’s nickname is “Ralph”)

I could go on and on, since I watched a lot of TV, but now I want to know what you used to watch. As you can see, most of my shows are 70s-heavy since that was the bulk of my childhood. So, what were your favorite shows as a kid?

Iron Chef look out, you have some competition. Lately I’ve been experimenting with rye berries in an attempt to add more whole grains to my diet. I love nutty, grainy salads such as tabbuleah and barley so I was curious about rye berries. I’ve been making a Greek-type salad which has won rave reviews from friends but I wanted to do something different so today I tried a sweeter salad. The results were great! I’ll share the salad with you, but please note I made this up so quantities are approximate.

Sweet Rye Berry Salad

4 cups cooked rye berries (1 cup + 4 cup water. Boil for 1 hour or until tender)

1-2 T honey

2-4 T rice wine vinegar

diced dried apricots (around 15 whole)

2-5 T Craisens

2-3 oz. reduced fat blue cheese

2-3 T toasted slivered almonds

Salt/pepper to taste

Rinse rye berries and drain well. Place in large bowl and add ingredients. Taste and tweak to desired flavor. Refrigerate and eat when cool. Yum!

I do the same thing for the Greek salad only using the following ingredients:

2-3 oz. reduced fat feta (I don’t use fat free ’cause it’s gross)

2-3 T chopped roasted red peppers (I use the ones in the jar)

2-3 T chopped Kalamata olives

1- 1 1/2 T Greek seasoning

Garlic/pepper to taste

Mix well and drizzle with olive oil (just a little for flavor). Can be served cold or hot.

Thank you, Gap Inc., for once again pissing me off. First, you close your adult and children’s stores in our local mall, now you’ve decided to change the lengths of your jeans. I am not excessively tall (5′8″) but I have long legs. I used to be able to go into the Gap and buy the Long and Lean style in a long length. I actually bought two pair late last summer and the length was perfect to wear with boots. Then, suddenly, all jeans I tried on were too short. Yesterday, Steve took me with him to Rogers, AR where I anticipated purchasing new jeans at their Gap. Nope. I tried on 6 pairs and all were too short. Several were even too short to wear with flats and all were marked “long” length! I was beginning to wonder if I had suddenly became a freak of nature.

Upon our arrival back home I went online to check out the lengths. I found the answer to my problem: long length was listed as 34 1/2″ inseam which is what I wear with flats. Now I have to buy the Extra Long or Tall length. Grrr, this is going to mean only online shopping and a return hassle since there isn’t a store nearby. I ordered 6 pair since Steve and I will be in KC next weekend and I can return the ones I don’t like. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that at least one pair will work!

As I mentioned, a couple of posts ago, Steve and I gave each other new boots for our anniversary (which is officially 2/29). I wore mine all week until the weather got bad and I didn’t want to risk getting them wet! They have been comfortable since the first day and now I’m a huge fan of the brand, Old Gringo. Unfortunately, they are a bit pricey so I’ll stick to this pair until I can afford another. Who knows, maybe this will become a tradition for us. Here’s a picture of my boots:

Here’s how I really feel about winter:

Thanks for the picture, mom!

This weekend Steve and I reintroduced ourselves after a long absence. He was only out of town for four days, but we’ve been spending less and less time together as he’s been traveling we’ve had many social obligations. Friday, Steve had to work in Branson so I went along and passed the time shopping at the outlet mall, which was very disappointing. I managed to spend $20 on underwear for Steve and $13 on a new workout shirt for myself. Whew! Stop the spending insanity! Friday night we had a very nice dinner at D’Arpino’s, one of our favorite mid-priced Italian restaurants. It was a nice way to start the weekend.

Saturday evening we hosted a potluck dinner for friends Sarah, Dennis and Sean and had a fun evening of great food and friendship despite the awful weather. It rained so much that we awoke on Sunday to a wet basement which we haven’t experienced in quite some time. We started the fans and dehumidifier and things are drying out quickly.

Sunday we spent the day together drinking coffee, reading the paper and running errands. We finally solved each other’s problem of anniversary gifts. This year, we bought each other a really nice pair of boots from local retailer PFI Western Wear. Many of you may be shocked that I would shop in a western store, but the truth is that I adore cowboy boots. My faithful Frye Harness boots will still be worn regularly, but now I have a beautiful pair of chocolate, black and turquoise cowboy boots to add to my collection. Steve got a gorgeous pair of chocolate ostrich. We do love taking advantage of a good sale. Yes, it’s a bit unconventional of us to just buy the gifts right in front of each other and wear them immediately, but we had a lot of fun doing it and are now looking forward to a relaxing weekend in KC to celebrate 12 years of marital bliss. It may sound boring, but it’s always a fun time for us.

I have the day off from school today so I’m planning on running errands that didn’t get done yesterday, working in the formerly soggy studio, and doing some laundry. Hope your day is productive too!

It is done! My scale model table is finally finished and ready to turn in today. It’s steel with a copper planter and, yes, that’s real grass planted in the middle. The top measures about 6″ x 4″ and it stands 2.7″ high. Sadly, it’s too small for Barbie so I guess it will just be a table to sit on my table.

Last night, while enjoying dinner at Mick and Carrie’s, they tuned me in to what must be one of the funniest things I’ve seen on the Internet in a long time. funnyordie.com has a series of three short videos entitled Drunk History. The synopsis is simple: get somebody drunk, then ask them to tell you about a famous moment in history. While the Alexander Hamilton/Aaron Burr story is amusing, the Ben Franklin stories are hilarious. Check it out for yourself, but be warned of the language. Don’t play it at work!

Drunk History Vol. 2

Except for the fact we have power (thankfully) and our bathroom isn’t in the middle of a remodel, it feels like the January 2007 ice storm all over again. School has been cancelled for the second day and I’m pretty much homebound. It’s not all bad, as I’m getting a lot done, but I am getting a bit restless. Maybe I’ll attempt an outing later this afternoon, but I doubt it. It’s really bad outside. Here’s picture of the tree in our front yard with about an inch of ice coating it:

Oh, and did I mention it’s currently 20 degrees and windy?!