A Little of This and Lot of That

The husband and I had us a little relaxing get away this weekend.  It was heavenly...  Until we got home Sunday night, and Chloe, who can apparently smell relaxation, woke up and refused to go back to bed until 4:30 AM.  

Sometimes, I think I should have named her Murphy.

We enjoyed peace and quiet, golfing and shopping.  I'll give you one guess who golfed and who shopped.  I do not chase the little white ball.  I have scads of better ways to waste my time...

We had dinner in Acme.  Not to be confused with Acne.  I did not see the cartoon weaponry and munitions plant, but it has to be there somewhere.

We also drove to (almost) the top of the Leelenau Peninsula and watched the sun set.  It was pretty cool.  My husband is full of useless trivia regarding all things astronomy so I learned why the sun looks orange and why the sun appears to move more quickly once it's close to the horizon.  I promptly forgot, so don't ask.

The park where we watched, was named after Mr. Peterson.  Who was buried there.  I found that a little peculiar, but peculiar can pretty much be counted on when you're that far from civilization.

And now the laundry beckons, so I release you from the cruel and unusual punishment that is reading this pointless blog post.

My apologies...

A Labor of Love

In honor of the Labor Day, I thought I'd participate in Shannon's MeMe.  It's about...well, labor. And not the kind you get a day off from, either.

How long was your labor? 

Approximately 30 hours.   Fun, right?

How did you know you were in labor? 

I was in excruciating pain whenever I would lay down.  It was impossible to sleep.  Oh, the foreshadowing...

Where did you deliver?

In my bedroom.  Yes, we planned it that way.

Drugs?

Unless Gatorade has a very dirty secret, no.

C-section? 

No.

Who delivered?

I did.  To the waiting arms of two amazing midwives.  The third midwife was dispensing gatorade and rubbing me.  A lot.  

If you want to play along with this meme, just cut and paste the questions into your own blog, and leave a comment so I can read yours! 

And, Happy Labor Day - I hope you aren't laboring like this today.  Or if your 10 months pregnant and really want to be?  Then I hope you are.

Are You Ready For Some Pizza Dip?

Oh, how we love the pizza dip. We were introduced to it by our friends at the Pampered Chef, but I have tweaked it and made it my own.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. block cream cheese (You're welcome, Boomama)

1 15 oz (ish) can of pizza sauce, or your own homemade

1 8 oz. bag mozzarella cheese (Or more. Less is more doesn't apply to cheese.)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 Tbs. finely chopped rosemary

1 Tbs. finely chopped thyme

1 Tbs. finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Regarding the herbs - Use fresh. If you can't use fresh, do it anyway. If you really can't, 1 tbs of Italian seasoning would be a very sub-par substitution, but I will not guarantee your results using dried. Trust me on this one... Also - I suppose you can roughly chop your herbs, if you prefer, but don't hold me responsible for large green things in your teeth. I don't want to have to chew my herbs, I just want the flavor. But by all means, do what you feel is best with the herbs. I'm no herbologist.

Now. If you are fancy and need to peddle kitchen gadgets while making this dip, you will mix the herbs, parm and cream cheese and spread that in the bottom of a pie pan or similar sized casserole dish or whathaveyou, then pour the pizza sauce over that, then top with cheese. This method dirties a lot of said gadgets, though don't be fooled I own two or seven of all of them. What I've been doing, is dumping everything in my small crock pot and letting that gadget do the work for me. It only needs to heat through, so you don't have to leave it in there all day. Keep a close eye on it, even on low it might burn if left too long.

This dip can be served with fresh crusty bread, or bagel crisps. I get mine at Sam's and I think they are New York Bagel brand. I used to use Nonni brand, but that must have been when I was a Costco girl, because I can't seem to find those anymore. Honestly, you could just go ahead and eat it with a spoon, but then it might not qualify for the DipTacular... So spread it on something and enjoy!

If you need more artery clogging goodness, click on over to Boomama for the Diptactular.

Baby Steps Out Of The House

Yesterday, I managed to get myself, Chloe and Uncle Matt all out the door before 7 AM.

Impressive, right?  Don't mind me while I pat myself on the back.

It's so much easier when I can do it fresh out of bed, and it doesn't hurt that I didn't have a choice in the matter, either.  Taking Uncle Matt to work has it's advantages.

So we ran errands like nobody's business today.  We were gone for 4 hours.  We both needed a nap by the time we got home, and I needed a chiropractor for all the lugging in and out of my precious cargo...

Starting next week, Chloe and I will be attending Community Bible Study once a week.  We'll be driving through approximately 27 communities, likely passing several other studies, to get to a community 1 hour from here, in order to be with great friends.  We will have to be up and out of here bright and early and will be gone all morning.  I'm really looking forward to being with friends, being out and being in God's Word.  I know Chloe will love being with other children and having a chance to play with someone other than me. 

Thursdays may end up being our favorite day.  Or they may be a reality show in the making. I'll let you know how it goes.