Not so sloppy joes

When I was little I thought sloppy joes were gross, but I think that it was more than anything because they made your bun all mushy. I don't like foods that are hard to eat... lobster, crabs, wide sandwiches with buns that scratch the top of your mouth... anyway, these joes have a cinnamon-y flavor and are on a toasted bun. the red pepper and sour cream are a nice change from the traditional. check em out Not-So-Sloppy Joes

I got this recipe from my favorite new cookbook, the*fab-o* Real Simple: Meals Made Easy, s cookbook I think any harried working woman or busy mom should own. I think Rachael Ray has good recipes, but a lot of it is TMI, so I appreciate the ease and practicality of RS.

moving on up to the nw side

we are officially in our new house! it is very surreal... the past week has been a whirlwind. God gave me some interesting timing; a bermuda triangle of being in charge of my agency's largest annual event, a meeting for 150 people and moving followin right on its heels. looked in the mirror this a.m. and realized i've been "letting myself go" in a way. it was weird to put on makeup for the first time in days.

boxes are everywhere. a mess. my soon to be step-brother dale has the "juans" etc. working on our house coming night and day with no rhyme or reason scraping our ceilings, painting, refinishing floors, installing faucets and doorbells and a big mountain o' trash in the backyard. i love my new green bathroom. we have no furniture in many rooms. it's overwhelming, but I LOVE our new home and our new neighborhood, especially. it feels like a throwback. we are walking distance to a school, people walk and run on our streets, people say "hi" and everything is convenient. neighbors have introduced themselves and are very kind. robert and amy next door brought us cocoa with marshmallows and girl scout cookies with a bow around them sun. night when we were moving.

i've moved a lot in the past and hope i am done for at least 15 years. here are all the places i've lived:
pittsburgh, pa- born, 1976
cherry hill, nj- 1978-1980
cedar rapids, ia- 1980-1995- moved twice
milwaukee, wi- 1995-1999- moved 4 times
(madrid, spain- spring 1998)
madison, wi- 1999-2000
greensboro, nc- 2000-2002- moved twice
chicago, il- 2002
austin, tx- 2002-present- moved 5 times

I do not like the sellers

the people who sold us their house are well, a-holes. they told us that we could be in on the 20th of this month and we had all sorts of plans to get in and start getting things done, redoing our floors, etc. we tell them of this intent and there was no response. until today, thursday, two days before we are starting to move our stuff in! wtf??!! i told aaron tonight that we had planned to do these things and he really could have cared less. even though we technically own the house, they only verbally told us they'd be out on the 20th, no concrete written contract, so we're stuck per our contract.

they stink. we have been nothing but nice and accomodating to them and they are supposed to be these nice Christian people. it makes me wonder why they can't be more accomodating to us in returen. i mean their movers are coming tomorrow. did they spill nail polish in the house in the last 3 weeks? something's fishy. my blood pressure is through the roof right now i am so upset at their indifferent, self-serving attitude.

cabin fevah

winter storms in texas are pretty funny. seriously, there was no ice at our house til last night. it stayed cold and sleeted more, so we got today off of work, too. they are predicting 1-5" of snow tonight. this is a big deal. the weatherpeople are having a lot of coverage. school has been canceled already for tomorrow; maybe our work, too.

mike and i have gotten a lot done this long weekend for our move. i made a delicious chicken soup recipe in my new green le crueset dutch oven using grandma h's homemade noodles. i think this was my first soup i've ever made. i added carrots and it was delicious.


we had a big discussion about the dog's pee problems and i think we are going to try to condition her into an outside dog in the new house. hopefully, that will go well, because we love her, but she's got some leaking issues.

i feel really antsy. i watched pride and prejudice, one of the greatest chick movies i've seen in some time twice today.

Snow Day!

What a wonderful Monday morning surprise. It's a snow day today, or rather an ice day! To be honest with you, it is not icy at my house at all. It is just wet, but it's supposed to be getting worse. People are freaking out..the weather people are telling people to stay home... work is cancelled, etc. but it's better to be safe than sorry. I hate my husband's employer. He should be home here with me, but it's just me and the hound. I am worried for his safety driving home should it get worse.

ChaKim had their post-elopement party on Sat. night at Zilker Clubhouse. It was also quite frigid there, with no heat, but 5 or 6 glasses of Chilean wine later, I felt no pain... And, they had the funnest, yes funnest band ever, the Recliners They sing songs like "Fight for Your Right to Party" lounge-style. My favorite moment was when they sang the Love Boat theme. I might need to add wedding lounge-band lead singer to my dream job list. soon we'll be making another round... We are happy for our friends.

Hit the post-party brunch at their new house 1/2 a mile from our new house yesterday. Lots of Kim's friends from MN and IL were here. It's fun to talk with Midwesterners when I don't live there anymore. Met many I probably served a pint or two at the Shannon. Anyway, we also met some of ChaKim's young neighbors and talks of dinner parties and block functions really made me feel like we are getting old, but in a good way.

Excited for our move in two weeks. Did quite a bit of packing over the weekend. I don't think I've ever packed so much this far ahead of time. Usually it's just me and the trash bags. Proud of us. Gonna order my new table and chairs from "me and my house today" me hopes. it makes me happy to support a Christian store. And, pretty much I am the most unoriginal decorator ever because I will then have the same table, chairs and rug that is currently in the house! :) (see left)

Bella had a tooth pulled last week and is on doggy meds. She peed on our floor like 5 times yesterday. Ugggh. Not sure what to do about that.

Happy New Year!

3rd annual celebratory polar bear plunge into barton springs... you may have seen us on Fox 7 and CBS news... maybe it was the fake noses? i don't know. it is a fun tradition. we make drinks, eat black-eyed peas and take the icy plunge with a bunch of other crazy random people: