Thank You, Sugar Bear

So this weekend was exciting--I ditched the WW lifestyle for one night and one night only and the General (aka Sugar Bear--he needed a food related nickname to fit in with me, The Dumpling, and Shortcake) took me to the Melting Pot last night for my birthday. We double dated with Doug and Jacalyn, who are celebrating their wedding anniversary.

This was my third trip there, the last one being in February (again with Doug and Jacalyn) and the one before that my birthday last August. Oh man was it GOOD...

Jacalyn requested a 2 burner table, since we only had 1 burner in February and it seemed a bit of a rip off that we couldn't have 2 pots of fondue. When we arrived, we discovered they had put us at a private table in a private "room"--the sole table behind the wine rack in the bar. There was no one else around. I discovered when I got up to find the restroom that the rest of the restaurant was hopping and NOISY, but we were in our own little oasis back there and it was awesome.

And we got 2 pots of fondue, not one. For our main fondue, Jacalyn and I got the spinach and artichoke fondue (which The General tried and actually really liked!) and Doug and The General got the cheddar fondue. We all got salads (since we were paying for it, I wanted to take the General's salad home with me for today, since I am going to be eating salad all week to make up for last night--haha). And then it was time for the main event... LOBSTER TAILS, FILET MIGNON, SHRIMP, and of course, Jacalyn's and my personal favorite: mushroom caps. They make this delicious cream cheese based sauce thing and when you cook up your mushrooms and stuff them with that cream cheese, it is oh-so-good. And since the General is not hot on mushrooms, we got 'em all to ourselves... Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Dessert was fantastic. We got the flaming turtle fondue and the smores fondue. Dippers were strawberries, rice krispie treats, pound cake, brownies, marshmallows, and cheesecake. It was so good, it was sick.

I literally did not feel well when we got home. It's been a long time since I've eaten rich food like that. But I didn't care. It was worth every tasty nibble that I felt ill afterwards. Next month's dessert fondue special is cherries jubilee--cherries and dark chocolate. We might have to go over there just for dessert. They are having a day to sponsor St. Jude's hospital and it might be nice to go then. We'll have to see.

Man is that place the best... The services was not spot on last night, but we had 2 managers in and out constantly checking on us, so that was good. And we can win free fondue for a year with our little comment cards, so that's cool too! You bet we'll be filling out those.

Today I'll be eating salad and working hard on the back bedroom. And then tomorow we're having a little BBQ with the Stanley clan, which will be fun. And then Tuesday is Richmond day--final interviews, lawyer meeting, baby stuff! So we've really crammed it in this weekend. :-)

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Fun Name Meme

From R. W.

1.Your rock star name (first pet, current car)
Lady Caliber (Love it!)

2.Your gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe)
Cherry Garcia Crocs

3.Your Native American name (favorite color, favorite animal)
Green Panda (Sounds more like a superhero than a Native American name)

4.Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born)
Katherine Star Lake

5.Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name)
KosSu

6.Superhero name (2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
Pink Lemonade (hahahaha)

7.NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers)
Richard George (Sounds like a real Nascar name!)

8.Dancer name (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Isis Reese (I'm abbreviating Reese's PB Cups to something more last name sounding)

9.TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Collins Chicago

10.Spy name (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Christmas Rose

11.Cartoon name:(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now)
Strawberry Tee

12.Hippie name (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Eggo Weeping Willow

13.Movie star name (first pet, first street where you lived)
Lady River

Whoever else wants to do this, have fun!

A Look At Politics

To me, this video pretty much says it all about political punditry in the now. Enjoy.

Still Here

Nothing interesting going on in general. My cat, Buster, is sick with kidney stones. I closed the cover on book #80 on the year last night. I'm re-reading the Stephanie Plum books because they make me laugh. Laugh so hard that when I'm reading in bed, I wake up the General.

Still plugging along on Weight Watchers and the adoption. Looking forward to the long weekend. Blah blah.

Oh, and I'm a year older than I was 3 days ago :-) Hard to believe I am now magic 33. I'm an OLD LADY. But my birthday was fun, complete with Carvel cake. Woo hoo!

Work is crazy, clients are crazy, life is, in a word, crazy. But I'm on an upward swing again mentally after a long dark period of about 4 months, and it feels good.

Woo Hoo!

So on Sunday I was doing some shopping at Walmart for our adoption meeting on Friday (we needed fire extinguishers, etc.). I was heading past the electronics department and I decided I'd just have a look-see about Wii Fit. As I drew close, I noticed a fat lot of white boxes. Drawing even closer, I saw WII FIT as large as life. I hadn't even passed the Keeper of the Keys, so I asked her, "Can I buy that Wii Fit please?" And she obliged.

I felt shiny as a new penny when that thing was paid for and in my cart. I have been looking high and low since they came out, even contemplating paying extra for it on Ebay to get my hands on it. But I kept telling the General, "I suspect that I'm just going to walk in somewhere and get randomly lucky finding it."

And I was right. Who knew?

So I brought it home and figured the whole thing out--more synching with the Wii and putting the little feet on it for use on carpeting, etc. But man, is it ever fun! And just a wee bit insulting too. After it did my BMI and weight, it blew my Mii up like a balloon, and I yelled at it, "Hey! I've lost 30 pounds!" The Wii scoffed at me.

After an hour's worth of play, it basically kicks you off, telling you to rest. And it also told me I'm not strong enough to do yoga yet.

The genius behind it, though, is that the more you play, the more exercises it unlocks. You start out with only 3 or 4 per section (balance, strength, aerobics, yoga) and as you play more and more, it adds a new selection to one section or another. You also get a little piggy bank with the number of minutes played, graphs that show what you've unlocked and that chart your progress weight and activity wise. And it can all be password protected if you don't want others to be able to access your information.

The General was even able to get on it and create an account.

So far, I am loving the balance games--especially the ski jump. I also turn out to be a crack hula hooper. The step routine is a challenge, however! And I apparently, as I mentioned, suck at Yoga, except for the deep breathing.

So, I look forward to having a lot of fun with it and seeing myself improve day to day. I've been adding it to my other exercise, and it sure beats sitting around trying to figure out what to do besides sitting around.

I Take Umbrage With That, Sir

Mr. Talmadge Gleck, you have created a monster.

Prior to meeting you, the words "Fountain Dew" were never a part of our vernacular.

It's official.

Fountain Dews are a part of our way of life now.

And if the WaWa is not obliging, we bring home a couple cans of Dew and pour them into a plastic cup.

It makes them taste better, apparently.

Thank you.

A Nice Treat

It's been a nice time for me while the General has been away. I feel like the prettiest girl at the dance--several invitations to come over to people's homes, etc. Yesterday, though, I had the most fun: Cindy and Manda brought over their little ones for a couple of hours and we all got to spend some time together. It was nice in a smaller group to get to know Cindy and Manda and it was a lot of fun to watch the little ones in action.

I had forgotten how at that age the entire world is a giant playground with your name written directly upon it. Honestly, if someone had told me 2 two-year-olds were coming to play at my house and asked me what I thought would be the most fun for them to play with here, I would never have selected the living room curtains. But those curtains were the hit of the afternoon.

I figured I would observe so I would have a good idea of how to baby-proof our house, and both Cindy and Manda gave me helpful hints. So did Ada and Alex. Particularly when they decided to hurl themselves over the back of the couch and slide headfirst onto the floor, narrowly avoiding my metal and glass coffee table.

I also learned such valuable lessons as "Ceiling fans and mylar balloons don't play well together" and "if a bunny doesn't say 'meow', he must surely say 'woof woof'" and "if there's a bowl of sand and seashells on a table, it is clearly intended for me to play in and possibly sprinkle liberally around the room unless I am forced to stop prematurely by the big meanies on the couch".

To be sure, Baby Willa imparted some nice lessons too, such as "all breasts are created equal" and that I really just want a 6 month old forever. :-)

Hope we can do it again sometime soon! And "Happy Birthday, Alex!!!!" He turns 2 today.

Anyone Interested?

Calling all my friends in the DC area.

Anyone want to go tubing the weekend after Labor Day? Check out this website:

http://www.rivertrail.com/TubingAC.html

I would really love to go, and if anyone else is interested, I think it would be a fun group activity. It's also pretty reasonably priced, considering they throw in a lunch.

Let me know!

FYI

I don't know what is going on with my various blog rolls. Sometimes I'm on my blog and they're working, sometimes they aren't working. I went to "Help" but didn't really see much of anything about the issue. Bramble River Baby was updated today. Other than that, I can't tell you much!

Reasons Why I Love My Husband

Each day, Michael and I try to name at least 3 things the other person did that day as a reason why we love them. Lately, he's been pulling some real doozies, and these will endure far beyond the day he said them and make me love him more.

The other day we were having a conversation about something and he said, "Susan, your husband is real precocious." And we got to our interview with the social worker and he tells her, "I'm a bit of a handful."

Hahaha I love that. And I love my precocious handful of a husband. :-)

Laissez-les manger le gateau!

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Ugh!

I had a gift card to Barnes and Noble and usually they have unabridged audio books for about $8, which meant I could get 3 of them. I picked up Ali Smith's The Accidental because I like to read audio books I can't escape from. When I'm reading reading, I can get away from a book I don't like, but when you're stuck in the car for hours and it's that book or whatever craptastic radio station you can find, the audio book looks pretty good. Which is how I got through Kerouac's On the Road earlier this year.

I'd tried reading The Accidental a while ago and couldn't get into it. So I started reading the audiobook. And while the beginning is definitely difficult, I was totally into it.

So I finish the first 4 CD's and I reach into the box and pull out the next set, and guess what? It's discs 1-4 again. I have 2 sets of discs 1-4 and none of 5-8. AUGH! So now I'm going to have to go back to B&N next time I'm up north and try to get the situation rectified and if they can't fix it, I'll have to try calling the publisher.

Dangit, though, man! Magnus just got extremely lucky, several times, and I want to know what's going to happen.

Plus, this is the first audio book I've read with an ensemble cast, and I REALLY like it! Here's hoping it won't be too long before I can find out the ending.