Play Date

James and I decided to head to SpeedZone last night to have a little fun. I had never been and was amazed at how cool a place it was. They had putt-putt golf, an arcade, food and go-carts. I thought we were going to do the go-carts, but we didn't ride them at all. I was okay with that. Instead we played 18 holes of putt-putt golf. James stomped me, but I had a great time anyway.
I said, "I'm going to take a picture." This is the pose I got.
Here I am on stroke 6 or something...

After we played putt-putt we headed into the arcade to play a little air hockey. By the time we got our play card, all the air hockey tables were taken. We decided to test our luck on the basketball game and to both our surprise, I was awesome at that game! We had so much fun there, that we took turns until our $10 was gone and decided to call it a night. We had 63 tickets from our basketball game and went to the counter to see what we could get. This is what $10 will buy you at the arcade...

...a tootsie roll pop and 3 little tootsie rolls!!! Oh well, we had a blast!!

Cheesecake Factory

James and I usually go on a date on Wednesday nights, but due to several things coming up last night we weren't able to make it. So, today James called and said he wanted to make up our date by going to the Cheesecake Factory. So when we both got home from work, off we went. The closest one to our apartment is across from North Park Mall, which is a very nice area of Dallas. They sat us at a table for two that was literally just far enough from the occupied table next to us that I was barely able squeeze through without knocking off a plate on the other table. Once I sat down and looked at the floor due to my embarrassment from my tush having grazed the other table, I saw that a giant foot was next to mine. I then looked up and realized that I was sitting just inches from a HUGE, VERY athletic looking man. Across from him was a short, plump Asian man. They had a table covered in a variety of food and beverages. I waited until the non-athlete was talking so loudly about his wealth that he could not hear me and then coughed out the word "famous?" to James. He said "oh yeah, but I'm not sure who". We ruled out a Dallas Cowboy, because they were playing at that exact moment. We spent the next hour of our date eating some yummy food, but couldn't carry a conversation because the other guy was basically yelling about how rich he was--totally obnoxious. The athlete would nod and say "yeah, $h!t, or f$%k occasionally. They left before we did and of course we then talked out both of our thoughts. We really think he is a Maverick and the obnoxious, short guy was his agent or whatever else professional athletes have. When they left, I asked the waiter who they were and he said, "I have no idea, but definitely an athlete. The other guy payed, so I don't know who it was."

Now, I know the story would be waaaay better if we actually knew who it was that kept elbowing me through dinner, but we don't. The moral of the story is that The Cheesecake Factory should not put their table so close together!

Yummy!

James and I both love sweets, but we are both very capable of eating too much. We really try to eat healthy during the week and then splurge on the weekends. Now I have found a yummy recipe for a sweet that won't do us too much damage and they are fun to make. I thought I would share.

Chocolate-Almond Meringues from Healthy Appetite on Food Network

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup superfine sugar
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl and beat until foamy. Add sugar and almond extract, beat until meringues hold soft peaks, about 3 minutes. Fold in chocolate gently. Fill a resealable bag with mixture and snip corner of bag to pipe meringues by the tablespoon onto cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes and let cool completely before removing from parchment paper.

Each meringue is only 30 calories and super yummy! An additional bonus, I found that chopping chocolate can be quite therapeutic. : )

I hope you enjoy!

A Total Bummer...

I know you have all been on pins and needles since my last post. Well, I was hoping to post some very happy news this evening, but I'm afraid that's not the case. If you know James at all, you know that he LOVES Corvettes and has since he was a little boy. He has been shopping around for "the right deal" for a while and had finally found it. He found the perfect car for a really great price in Arkansas and has been working this week on getting it all sorted out. The car was supposed to be put on a truck and delivered here tonight. Due to some kinks with the dealership, the truck was rescheduled to be here Tuesday. James was a tad disappointed, but thought no big deal.

I really wish I could say that's what the bummer is, but its not. Not at all! James got a call this morning from the manager at the dealership who reported that one of the service techs decided to take the car for a little ride...in the rain...and wrecked it!!!!! Can you believe it?!?! I was just sick as James was telling me. James is definitely upset and really struggling with what to do. The dealership said the ball was in his court. He sent us pictures of all the damage and it's really not that bad, but still! He already returned the money and said they will have it fixed ASAP and cut even more off the cost if James still wants the car. I'm sure any advice you could give him would be appreciated.

As for now, we are just sulking over it and will decide in a few days what to do. Perhaps the decision is obvious...

A Little Hint

James and I will be sharing some very exciting news sometime in the next few days. Any ideas what it might be? Stay tuned!

A Lizard, The Dog and Some Tears

**As you may have noticed, I have not mentioned the names of the girls that I am keeping and don't plan to online. I'm sure none of you know them, but just in case....


Just a little funny story from my day--The girls had a friend over to play, another 7 year old girl. We were playing "Spy Girls" and one of the girls headed upstairs. She yelled, "Rachel, there's a lizard in the house." Well, anytime the Lab hears yelling he runs towards the voice, so of course he ran to the lizard. He toyed with it long enough for myself and all three little girls to get to it. He then bit the body from the tail and left the tail squirming around on the floor. This immediately upset the 4, almost 5 year old. She began yelling, "Major, stop! I hate you Major! You are a poopoo pants, Major! I grabbed her up and she clung to my crying, with the words "I hate Major" coming out in between tears. We all sat quiet for a few moments, with the 4 year old still sitting in my lap crying, when we hear a hacking noise. "Oh No! Raaaaaachel!!!!!! Major just threw up!!!!! My thoughts immediately returned to my own first experience witnessing my beloved dog eating his own throw-up. I COULD not let the girls watch Major eat his throw up!! I told the girls who were already standing over the huge pile of throw-up to go to the play room. "No, the lizard might still be alive. We need to look in the throw-up for the lizard." At this moment, Major begins doing his job. You know, the job of clean-up. More tears began to flow, but thankfully 2 of the girls decided not to watch. Meanwhile, 4 year old stands a foot from Major with tears rolling down her face taking it all in. It's all really gross to me, but to be honest I was rooting for Major to finish the job, that way I wouldn't have to. After the clean-up and everyone had calmed down we had to have a serious talk about the differences between humans and animals. Yep, it's all in a day's work!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

James and I are really getting into the groove of our lives back together. Although many things feel the same this time around, it has a totally different feel all at the same time. Very hard to explain, but very good. James continues to work hard and love his job. I finished my first full week with the new job and it really was a great week. It's so wonderful to slow down and see life through the eyes of children. A few events from this week with the girls--swim lessons, a fashion show, buying wigs from "Everything's $1", painting fingernails, playing "Pretty, Pretty Princess", 2 near potty misses and a huge scoop of bubblegum ice cream (yuck!)

We have had a good weekend so far. On Friday we had some friends over for dinner and watched the Olympics until way too late into the night. It was great to host people in our apartment and get to know them even better.

Cousin Tyler had his college graduation celebration yesterday in Greenville, so we went out there and chowed down on some wonderful Woodall steaks and Martha's amazing chocolate pies. Thankfully, she sent a half of one home with us!!

James seems to always be catching up on sleep, so he sleeps VERY hard. Last night he woke up about 3:30 and was wide awake. I can't think of a single time this has happened before. Since he was wide awake, he thought that I should be too. He actually woke me up and asked if I wanted to play Scrabble because he couldn't sleep!! I kindly declined and suggested he go watch t.v. in the living room. He came back to bed about 6 and slept until my alarm went off. Needless to say we are laughing about it today, but also napping and being totally unproductive. We love Sundays!!

I hope you all are catching up on rest and getting ready to start another week. Love to all!

New Furniture and First Day

Yesterday was a very interesting day in our household. First off, it was to be my first day with my new nannying position. I have been very excited for a while about this job and getting it going. I only had the girls for a few hours since school has not yet started and we won't get into our normal routine until next week. The girls are both very sweet, gentle and creative. I think we will have lots of fun together. An additional 7 year old is hanging out with us this week too, so I'm sure it will be even more fun and interesting. No better way to start a new job than to hear, "Oh by the way, Cookies and Cream (one of the school hamsters they have kept this summer) is out and we can't find her. Keep your eyes open for her." I was thinking "okay, no problem. I'm sure the lab has his eyes open for Cookies and Cream too." Needless to say, I didn't find Cookies and Cream yesterday.

Now on to the new furniture. James and I ordered a new bed and dresser for our bedroom from IKEA and it was delivered yesterday morning. Yippee!!! I thought you might like to hear a few comments that came out of our mouths yesterday. Funny now, not so funny at midnight last night. Here they are:

"Crap!!"
"We have to take it apart again and start over."
"Forget it!"
"Let's just burn the dang thing".
"Fine, you do it then."
"I'm sorry." "No, I'm sorry. I'm the one that told you to screw all 42 of those into the wrong place."
"What were YOU thinking?"

And on and on and on it went. I am happy to report that after all of that, we have a beautiful bed (I really could not love it more) and a wonderful, big dresser. I will say that when we fell into bed last night, we both agreed that we will never, ever buy furniture that comes in a box again.

I am proud to say that I was able to put the bed together by myself and had it all made up when James came home for lunch. This was before the nightmare of the dresser started.




This is what I had done on the dresser before James came home for lunch and I was feeling all proud of myself. This is also the first time I realized I had to take it apart and start over. Ooops! Aaaahhh! Finally!!
Now, you all must come and see it for yourself! I'm heading out to pick up the girls. Happy Tuesday!

We're Home

James and I are home from vacation! We had a wonderful time, but are also very happy to be home. Our resort was absolutely beautiful, but huge! Instead of gaining weight like on most vacations, I'm pretty sure we lost weight because all the walking we did. The weather was beautiful. It was so cool and breezy at night, that we never wanted to go back inside. We only got a few minutes of rain one night. I could go on and on about everything, but I will let the pictures explain the trip. They are in no particular order.

A picture of us on our last evening after a fondue dinner. These little statues lined the major walkway.
I think this might be what heaven looks like.
The wonderful ocean. The waves were basically non-existent, so we were able to spend lots of time in the water without being knocked over.
James and I having a little fun on the beach.
Here we are on our last morning, waiting for our van to pick us up.

A little of the resort

James with one of the statues
Our room and bathroom were absolutely wonderful!
A little picture of us before dinner one night.

That's all for now! Hope you all are having a great week!