What Love Is...

I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you.
-- Author Unknown

Say What?!

I love it when Mike goes to bed before me, because there is a chance that I will jar loose some tidbit of sleep induced wisdom. In other words, he talks in his sleep. Not all the time, but enough to be really, really entertaining.

So last Saturday night, I climb into bed quite late and must have accidentally disturbed Mike from his rest. I heard him mutter something and, thinking he's speaking to me, I said, "What did you say, babe?"

He turns his head towards me and shouts, "I DON'T WANT TO RIDE THE ROLLER COASTER! I'LL BREAK MY GLASSES!"

Classic. Absolutely classic.

History Made!

It's official! We're a part of history!!!

A Quote for Today

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

- Washington Irving

BBQ 2009

Mike and I haven't been blogging much lately - or reading blogs, to be honest. Our main computer came down with the blue screen of death and has been in the ICU with the Geek Squad at Best Buy for a couple of weeks. They've charged us $200 and haven't fixed it yet. Or so I can tell - I called and sat on hold for literally half an hour and when it rang back to the main switchboard for the fifth time, I hung up. I had a party to get ready for and couldn't be bothered.

Never fear, though - in the meantime, Furio has promised to keep up on all of the blog goings-on for us. If you get a comment that is full of angst and meows - well, you know where it came from.

Meme hasn't been dealing well with my dad coming up for the bbq.

The party went really well, I only took about 10 pictures and all of them were taken before everyone arrived. We had a nice group of people who came - people like Lisa who are there for me every year. She knows it's the same weekend every year, blocks out this day months ahead of time and drives into Chicago to spend the day with me - and I love her for it.

I only gave out a handful of invitations this year. (Although evite added it to my Facebook page!!! I don't think it invited everybody, thank goodness! I'm still not sure how it ended up there, though!) This event is so important to me - therapeutic. I appreciate all the people who "get" how hard this time of year is for me and take time out of their weekend to be with me and help me cope. If I could, I'd hug every single one of them again.

Mike was wonderful - prepping and cooking all the food. He's always such a good sport about it and I know that if it would make me feel better, he'd throw me a BBQ every weekend without complaint. And my dad came in (of course - he'd never miss it) and it's always great to see him.

Anyway, just a few pictures and a chance to publicly say, "Thank you!" to everyone who came to the party - and I'll see you next year. Save the date! :)

My Quote of the Day

"Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible."

Someplace in Mik's Kitchen

About 2 weeks ago, I watched an old episode of Hell's Kitchen for the first time and was immediately hooked. I loved watching Chef Ramsay scream and curse at the chefs and the many personal meltdowns that ensued afterward. Since then, I also started watching Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares where he visits failing restaurants in England and the U.S. and attempts to revive them by changing the menu and remodeling the restaurant. Watching the shows in the past week has really inspired me to cook more at home and try some new things. A couple months ago, Sassy bought me a Bobby Flay book called Burgers, Fries and Shakes. This is my first attempt at one of the recipes. It's called a Trattoria Burger and is a grilled hamburger with fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced tomato, and basil leaves drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. It's basically a caprese salad on a burger.

Here's the picture of it in the book:


Tenting the burgers to melt the cheese:



And the finished product:


It was quite yummy. The fresh basil really adds to the flavor. I finished it off with some Iowa corn, thanks to Charlie.

Earlier in the week I prepared some steak with a caesar salad, and bbq pork chops (a la Carson's) with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Yesterday, I made grilled shrimp with a tequila-lime marinade over angel hair pasta.

I'm off work Monday, so I may use my bbq pit for some ribs.