Well, as promised a week and a half ago - I finally have the blog I was to post last Tuesday.

Make sure you click and enlarge this great drawing!

He really was more embarrassed than hurt, but as you can see, his nose was scraped up pretty good and a little swollen.

Kevin's chair

First of all, I have a super funny blog coming tomorrow - but I need to draw a picture to go with it because we didn't have a camera with us when this event happened.


Nine days before Kevin came home I started to reupholster this chair that Kevin had dumpster-dove (?) for several years ago. I wanted to have it done before he came home, but I went slightly over that date.

Here's a few pictures of the reupholster process: Dirty, icky, disgusting - out to the trash.







Anyway, it's been done for a week or so now, but I just didn't know where to put it in my home. Here was the dilemma: Where should the chair go? I thought in the Living Room..... Nope. Too crowded. Covers my curio cabinet. How about our new piano bench? Cute, but, no? The new head chair at our table? In Allan's room? My bedroom? The girls dressing room? No, but the color kinda looks good with it.....At the computer? The Family room?Or the laundry room....which is our downstairs bathroom, so probably not. That would be a bit awkward. So this is where it is going to end up. Kevin's room.
I was thinking of leaving it in the garage, but here is what my mind envisioned after a day or so..... Get it? It wasn't going to stay in the garage. Speaking of my garage. As most of you know, we recently got a new garage door (12 yrs in the waiting), but it has two special features...(and most of you probably already know because you have a neat garage door) one.....a thermostat (lights up in the dark) And two, a light that senses when you walk in and it turns on automatically! Sweet. I love it!

Kevin at Shar's

Yesterday I went to Shar's. Shar's Kitchen Center in Gilbert.
http://www.sharskitchen.com/

I enjoy her class most of the time and get a kick at how good of a salesman or woman, I should say, she is for her store. She is knowledgeable and a quick talker. I took Kevin with me, mostly because he was bored and hasn't started his job yet, and I told him he'd get a free mini loaf of bread - fresh-ground whole wheat bread. Almost every product she described as she was cooking, he would lean over and ask, 'Do we have that?'. I'd either nod yes or shake my head no. And if we didn't have it, he'd want me to put it on my shopping list. It was becoming a comedic thing.
Shar: Who has a Bosch?
Kevin: Do we have a Bosch?
Me: Yes.
Kevin: But do we have the 7th generation Bosch?
Me: No.
Kevin: Don't we need the 7th generation Bosch that has a new locking bowl feature and the suction cups on the bottom to keep it from slipping around the counter?
Me: (a stare - meaning no).
Shar: How many of you own a Mill? It is so healthy to grind your own wheat. All of the nutritious stuff is just taken out in the white flour process.
Kevin: Do we have that?
Me: Yes, just an older model.
Kevin: I don't remember a grinder mill.
Me: We have one, it is square in shape - not this round one she is showing.
Kevin: Don't we need the round one? I sounds like it works the best.
Me: (2nd stare).
Shar: Now to make the perfect loaf of bread - after you've used your freshly ground wheat - you need dough enhancer. This will help make your loaf of bread fluffier, lighter and have a better texture.
Kevin: Do we have that?
Me: Yes. (phew).

On and on it went. I would write a couple of things on my shopping list so Kevin would feel like I was listening to his concerns of our lack of kitchen appliances/gadgets. Things like; measuring spoons, super thin spatula for scrapping the Bosch bowl sides while it is mixing the bread, thermometer for the perfect meat every time, a strawberry/mushroom cutting thing, a new hand mixer with a timer built right in AND with 10 speeds! (actually, that was kinda cool), baking sheets with a cooling tray and so forth and so on. Most of these items she 'can't keep on the shelves of her store - they are just flying out the door and sometimes we have to order them to make sure we get one'.

Eventually Kevin took a short little nap. He missed the whole Quinoa Pilaf section. There were lots of gadgets for that recipe. Again, phew.
The recipes Shar shared with us yesterday were this: Macadamia Nut crusted Chicken with Roasted Pineapple Relish; Quinoa Pilaf; Whole Wheat Feather light dinner rolls; Strawberry and Almond Salad; and Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake. Everything was good. I could have done without the pilaf - it has peas and carrots. Not my favorite. Luckily the samples you get are really one or two bite sizes - so I swallowed without really chewing.

I did break down and bought two things. The magnetic measuring spoons and the strawberry slicer. Oh and I picked up some Ultra-Gel. This thickening agent that works really well.

Here is Kevin's loaf of bread and the gift I got (for bringing a friend)- a magnetic measure equivalent chart. (Shar - I can't keep these in stock - everybody wants one and for $1.99 you're getting it for cost). Phew! Good thing I got mine free. I almost felt I needed a body guard to walk me out to my car in case someone tried to mug me for my measure equivalent chart! Oh, wait.....I have Kevin.
My handy-dandy mushroom slicer. Sweet.

boring bike ride

Bicycle Log: Boring. 3.59miles. Because it was boring I decided to start taking pictures of things I found along the road. I bypassed many pieces of trash but found a few things that some might consider trash, but could be used by those who would be brave enough to pick them up.
Piece of rope for, um....roping your dog, hoisting something to your roof, camping or boating uses, making a Barbie swing, flogging your children, oops, CPS might be called......

Sanding disc - not used yet.....If I was a sander I might have picked this up but as we all know - sanding is my least favorite thing to do of any wood project. I abhor sanding.

And a spoon. This is spoon number 3 that I have found.
One I brought home, the other 2 have been left lying where they lay.

I'm sorry - I've been trying to turn this thing for half-an-hour. I guess I didn't save it right. This was my Steeler fan t-shirt 2 years ago when the Steelers were in the Super Bowl. I think we won. I can't remember. And honestly, I could care less. I just like their helmet design. That's it. I don't know any of the players or the teams they beat to get to the Bowl game, I just like their logo. Not wanting to spend any money on a t-shirt 2 years ago, (remember, I'm not a huge fan), I made the logo on a scrap of material and double-stick taped it to an inside out t-shirt.

After the game - I had to give the shirt back to whomever I had borrowed it and for 2 years my double-stuck taped logo lived on my nightstand drawer front. Well, I got to pull it out again today. I told Kevin I was even going to wear it to church. He didn't believe me......see for yourselves.....

My outfit. My secret location. Go Steelers.

Doug fixed breakfast on Saturday morning and look what we found!!!....

By the way - that sweet nightstand has a twin match and they were made by Dougie.

I told you I had started riding my bike again 2 days ago. Here is what I wore that morning: It was a gift from Jill at Christmas. As you can see, the neat feature of these gloves/mittens are just that.....gloves that quickly change into mittens. And they seem to have kept my fingers warmer when they were all together touching each other. (Toby was sad this picture wasn't just for him). But for any more riding? That's as far as it went. Yesterday, Wednesday, and today, we have had a cold Arctic blast that has brought cold, cold weather. Trudy, I'm sure you and Don are just laughing at our 'cold' complaints. This morning, though, it was a bit nippy at 28 degrees!! And that was at 9am. I'm not sure what the temp was yesterday morning, but I would guess it was about the same. So, my bike riding will continue shortly.

Our pool man, Taylor, came by on Friday and guess what? Yep, he had a heart scab. I know he's looking forward to being on my heart wall.

One of the other things I've been working hard on was a birthday cake for a neighbor girl. She turned 16 and was having a Fear Factor Party. Wah, la.......

The two cake bakers/makers at their best. I wonder if I can look any worse?

(I'm gagging, really)