Fall Hike with Tuck

So the weekend of Halloween Darrell was out of town (who has a conference on Halloween weekend anyway) so Tuck and I were left to hand out candy (we went through 5 bags in 45 minutes and that was one candy per kid...pretty crazy huh) and on Sunday we decided to take our annual fall hike. Now this is not D's favorite thing to do..while he enjoys it I think he finds it annoying that every year I must make a big long journey just to see the death of nature. So this year I decided why bother him with such things and I'd take Tuck the weekend he was gone. It rained the night before and drizzled most of the morning. It was cold (low 50's) and it was obvious once we got there that we were going to get muddy about one week too late. But we had fun and felt good that I hadn't let another year slip away without getting that hike in.
Here are a few photo's.
A little wet.....



Some shots of the best trailblazer ever!

Love this one....we're on a mission to find who-knows-what.

Hope you all are good!

Two Months Later

Hi All!!!
Yes I have succumb to the world of Facebook and have completely neglected my blog.
Believe it or not, I am still alive and so is everyone else around here. Sitting here with my 13 year old perfect black kitten gearing up for decorating my house in my annual fall theme while husband tears apart the kitchen floor in a typical manly fashion. As you know this is my favorite time of year and I think this year it might get spoiled. The colors just aren't here and to top it off it is raining again today so the ones that have changed appear to be falling already leaving that dull brownness...Next weekend D is off to a conference so I will have the treaters to myself. I am planning (in my mind only at this point) to do some hiking with Tuck and maybe a friend but haven't decided where to go.
Some events since I last posted..ya, I know, over two months ago...D and I both had the flu, Tucker got Giardia and was bit by another dog (all in Aug and several overnight stays at the emergency room), I signed up for a half marathon (Philly Nov 22), Softball Monday nights, and finally bowl on Tuesday's. Finally slimming down as the work load at the office has been lighter in the last couple months. Along with the flu and training, I've lost almost 10 pounds...depending upon the day. We celebrated 12 year wedding anniversary and both D and I turned 36!!!, uggg...decide if your having kids already....body is totally breaking down in that department so may be just throwing in the towel anyway.
Alright, I here by promise to get back to posting every other week or so and including recipes. You can follow me on FB but I'll be elaborating on here. I can see that you all are well and I am stalking Misty's site for this big announcement...I didn't miss it, did I?
Love to all...Steph

NYC and Chicago

Just wanted to say hi to everyone. Have a few minutes while the guys are still sleeping.
Lots of stuff going on ....Tucker was in the hospital over the weekend with the dog equivalent of something like Ecoli. Was really sick but we got him back on his feet, too many $$ later.
Tuesday we went to NYC and saw Depeche Mode and had an awesome dinner here: http://www.gothambarandgrill.com

Dinner was AWESOME!
Concert was AWESOME!
Now in Chicago.. three days of concerts at Grant Park . Suppose to rain today so this should be fun! Starts at noon and ends at ten all three days.
Must have real food and coffee before we are off. Nothing like eating what amounts to fair like food for three days after having an awesome dinner on Tuesday. Reality is always difficult!

Beautiful Sunday

Ahhhh...Darrell is off golfing. I took a trip to the farmer's market this AM. So beautiful and fun! I'm workin this "to do" list. While I'm thinking of new ideas to use some of the fab stuff that I bought today, I'll get those recipes that I owe Big Al done as well. Hopefully that will stimulate some good recipe ideas.
Wanted to post a picture of the deck garden but didn't quite get there. Next week!. Matos, Basil, Mint, Rosemary, and Darrell's peppers are running out of control! Although, I would like to see a little more fruit on those tomatoes so I have "fertilize" on the to do list today as well. Alright, out- Have a great remaining weekend all!

Sitting at the Airport

Whew...I said I needed a vacation where I can sit and do nothing but you know what?, sitting and doing nothing is a lot of work. I'm at the airport and my trip was great. Got to catch up with most of the family, got to go to my favorite Sweedish Bakery (that made Darrell jeleous!) and had a great work day without getting caught in downtown Chicago traffic. While the TSA guy called me "miss" I was still feeling like a young professional (sometimes I think folks still think I'm 20 something). Anyway, all that and I'm beat, done, finito..stick a fork in me and put me to bed! This sitting around is hard work!!! Tomorrow back to the real thing!
See ya-

Catching up...

Alright, I can't believe it has been a month, actually more...let's see a couple bbq's and food related parties, including our own, a couple baseball games, softball twice a week, Darrell plays V-Ball on Tuesday's, a couple weekends of dog sitting, three babies born to friends...ya, that is about it for a month. Here is a super cute photo of Darrell and I. A good friend of mine from work was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and beat it. He, yes he, threw out the first pitch at the O's game for the American Cancer Society. It was a fun day. Great weather.

This weekend I am headed off to Michigan to see my sister..who is going through a bit of a rough patch, then I am off to do a presentation in Chicago. Wednesday I'll be back home and behind on so many things since I'll have been away for four days...oh well, doesn't help to start behind before you leave. What are you going to do. I see lots of birthday's and vacations taking place. Looks like everyone is doing well. Kids are all growing like weeds!!!!! Three weeks and we are off to NYC and Chi-town. Can't wait but really need that sit around and do absolutely nothing vacation.

Excited for Frozen Fun

House Hop this weekend....Bought an ice cream/sorbet maker. Getting ready with a practice round of lemon mint sorbet tomorrow night. Should be fun.

Still raining here. Went to O's game yesterday(Memorial Day) and yes, it rained...again. We won though and it was fun hanging out with the guys. Cold today with 50's. Tomatoes and Peppers are growing well.

Alright...hope you all had a good day off. ...gearing up for our trip to NYC and Chicago in Early Aug and also watching the French Open every night these days. It started this weekend. Hard to believe it has been a whole year since we were there. It still appears to be a chilly time of year there. They had to delay play today due to rain and then had to call a couple matches tonight since it got so late and they don't have any lights. ...man those were fun times.

Over and out...dog, and dishes, are calling. Then off to sleep.
Love ya.!

Sping has sprung....

April Showers bring May Flowers...right? Alright then stop raining!!!! This week was a mess. It rained every day and all last weekend. Darrell was happy as the allergies stay at bay when all the pollen gets washed away. Two weeks ago, I got the flowers out on the decks. Two tomato plants (only Patio Tomatoes....yes...they really bread tomatoes just to be on pots on a patio...and I must say for the last three years I have tried regular tomatoes and only the patio ones survive and keep those matoes comin'), rosemary, mint, and basil...bad story about the basil. This week's rain basically sent it swimming. Apparently basil doesn't like to swim!!! Completely dead!...oh well. Not sure that I can return that one to Lowes with the claim that "I just don't know what happened"..it's a little obvious!
Today is beautiful..however, Darrell is miserable again.. poor thing. I just love spring and it is a killer time of year for him.
Tuck was sick this week. I have no idea what he got into or what caused it but one trip to the doctor and a steady diet of my homemade chicken and rice and he's getting there. I am so blessed with such a good dog. This morning he came up to me in bed...yes he sleeps with us...I know but I have a weakness for adorable beagle puppies...anyway, Darrell called him to come up by our bodies for a snuggle and he came up to me, laid his body out lengthwise and dropped his big hound dog head and ears right up next to my face on my chest. As if to say "I love you Mom, thanks for making me feel better". Awwww....what a wonderful dog.
Final news of the last two weeks....I entered a cooking contest at work. You've heard me talk about upcoming flavor pairings in food. Something chefs around the country along with our chefs put together as far as trends go. One of the trends of this year is rosemary and fruit preserves. While I was completely swamped with softball and a trip to Chicago..I managed to create and crank out Rosemary Thumbprint Cookies. Ya, not really that hard to come up with. Just a touch of rosemary in those butter cookies covered in walnuts and then topped with a great black raspberrry preserve I found at Wegman's...they came out great and won hands down. They are even going to use the recipe for a McCormick Holiday promotion...who knew!. What did I win..well, for me bragging rights are really all I need but..a 25$ gift certificate to Wegmans. An upscale grocery store but has a great little kitchen area with cute dishes ect, and a copy of our newest McCormick cookbook (which I already had and now my Mom has one for Mother's Day...well, ya, it was an easy gift but what are you going to do).
Alright, I'm out. Have a great Mother's Day Weekend!!! Enjoy Spring!

Back from the living dead....

Seems that I always start the same way..."sorry it has taken me so long to reconnect".
Why stop the trend now.
I see you are all well. It has been really busy around here. As you know, I was in Florida. Al was here....we had a great time. He bailed me out of some serious painting. Sorry I didn't have my act together enough to treat you to some awesome dishes. Time always gets the better of me...but I thank you tons for your help. We got everything done before my sisters and mother got here. It was really great to have everyone here together without having to go and see this person or that person. One night we sat around, watched a movie, at dessert, cheese, crackers and chips/salsa for dinner. No pressure with no where to go. We had some girl talk and I think we really found out alot about each other. We don't get together like this often enough. The next week Darrell's friend from college was here. Somewhere in there Darrell went to New Orleans for March Madness and I went to Altanta for a plant trial...stay tuned on the next best Wheat Thin to hit the store shelves. Anyway, we are finally getting back to real life. Softball has started up again. Two leagues so I play Monday and Tuesday. We've been rained out for the past two weeks but this next week looks to be warm and sunny. Yeh! Maybe I can actually make contact with the ball without it killing my hands from the cold and me shaking from the wind. Bowling league is complete. We won the championship! I did my usual, once a season, 174. Timing was right and helped with the win. A great group of folks and I think Darrell is actually starting to like it. Last year...not so much. Anyway, you are all caught up. Dinner party tomorrow and off to Chicago on Wednesday. Baking contest on Wednesday and Softball Monday & Tuesday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...sleep in the sun!
Love you all....Steph

Gettin' Sun in Florida

Hey All, A brief update from me...down in good ol' Ft. Lauderdale visiting family. Got here Friday AM. I am not sure how....someone thought it would be a smart idea to book at 7 AM flight out on Friday morning when they had a concert to go to the night before. Rolling in on 3 hours sleep to the airport, I am so glad I didn't run into anyone I knew. I must have looked awful! Either way I slept on the plane a bit and then once I got down here it was all about the sun shine. First day and I got burned. If I wasn't so frickin' glow in the dark white with speckles of chocolate on me (aka freckles) I wouldn't have turned to medium rare quite so quickly. Saturday, I ventured to a spring training game by myself. Everyone was very concerned that I was going by myself.....who cares..your sitting in the sun with a couple thousand Red Sox fans decked out in orange...what are they going to do jump you? Its like 7 miles down the road...by the way...oh and I'm 35!!!!! Walk off homer in the bottom of the 9th. O's win 9-8...suck it Boston! HaHa. The rest of the weekend will allow me to catch up on some reading. I get NONE done at home as I always seem to have something to clean, cook, fix, walk, or organize so, ya, not really a reader unless it is a recipe magazine.
Maybe you all can answer this question....why does everything always fall at once?..It's not a big deal but can't we like spread some stuff out....three business trips in three weeks, this week's vacation and then...as you know...my sisters and mom will be at our house the first week of April. Al, is also coming but I think I'm paying him in some good cooking for a little bit of the paint brush!..
Alright all, over and out. Enjoy a bit o' the ol' saint patties day, will ya.

Groundhog, Smoundhog

Whatever...what does that little creature know anyway? Spring is all in the mind!!! Ok, you might need a hat on that mind/head but as long as you are starting to get in the spirit it is half the battle, right?
It's still cold...true dat...and the tulip tips are peaking their heads out of the frozen ground. There is even a tree across the street with red buds all over it...but best sign of all????.........MLB Spring Training!!!! I've got emails already for Spring Softball and? I'm going to FL to 1) see family but 2) taking an afternoon to bask in the sun and watch Spring Training (O's vs Boston Red Sox). I'm so excited!!!
Until I head south in two weeks Darrell and I are continuing to bowl on our Monday night team. Not bad. D has really turned into a good bowler. He is fitting right in with the rest of us Michigan natives....kind of runs in our blood.
Finally..the best news is that my family is coming to see us!!! We're so excited. Laura, Erin and Mom will be here the first week of April. In the meantime we went to go paint the last wall in the kitchen and realized that it was molding within. We had to tear off the drywall and the floor/tile. The clock is ticking 3 weeks and counting since each of us has a weekend that we will not be here. ....wish us luck. I really want the house to look the best it can. Who knows when they will all be back!
Well, I'm out for now. ....cheers.

Wow...Who's an adict?

So, I'm killing time while Darrell is at the gym, the weekend laundry project continues with the third to the last load (it is Tuesday) and I figure I will catch up with the family. I'm surfin' around, checkin' what's happen' with all of you and then I get to Misty's page. Every time I go there it is like I have a friend in the professional web design business...Misty, the stuff you have on your page is amazing....links, followers, picts...I have no idea how to do even a hundredth of any of that stuff. Then, cuz I'm nosy like that, I see she has a follower with a name of three bay girls, or something like that.. So I think "bay" as in Bay Area, where I'm from...sure I'll click on that. It has the Golden Gate Bridge after all. Then I see it is a bunch of mom's staying connected and I notice all the stuff they follow...I click on a couple of those (I feel like I'm digging a deeper and deeper hole here) and the links......My mouth drops to the floor as I continue to click..and click... People posting EVERY DAY, SEVERAL TIMES a Day. I can't believe this stuff. Who has time to type all this???? Who has time to follow all this??? This one site (which was awesomely designed btw) gave me hourly details including her trip to the morning potty where she had to open a window. TMI!!!!!!!
While I have often thought of creating my own blog where nobody knows it is me and I can just vent...and I mean really vent!! Swear words, way too personal stuff that nobody should know about but sometimes you feel like "if I just typed out my thoughts (that burning email that I shouldn't send to the jerk in the office) then I would just feel so much better and no one would know".....ya right. Holy smokes bat man. Not after what I witnessed today.. It would be my luck that my boss would be the next blog stalker and someday realize it was me!
Alright...well, while I will continue to waste precious time (as I actually got on here to make a Love Day dinner reservation) surfing spots that will tie my curiosity up for hours, I will stick to writing my thoughts down on paper and then sending them through the shredder.
Happy Stalking!

Taking a Time Out

Hi All,

Just wanted to let you all know that I have not fallen off the face of the earth....again.

I'm going to be taking a break from blogging for a while...reasons I will not bore you with. But please know that I'm checking this link to get to all of you and check in and see how you all are.

Use the following email if you want to send something along: technobluesteph@gmail.com. I'm using this for more fun stuff. Home is for bills or it gets trashed and work is way over loaded with the 80 pieces of crap, I mean important work documentation, so I'll check techno more often to say hi.

No worries, we are all fine here. As I am sure Sarah can attest to with the new shop, I just need to find more hours in a day and I just didn't want you to think I would be posting once a week as before. Maybe once a month or so.

Here is about what the weather feels like these days...Talk with you soon.

Happy New Year!!

Sorry for the delay in posting!!! I had 12 days off of work, McCormick was closed, and I have no idea how I didn't get a chance to post. Well, better late than never. Please accept my apologies. First, Christmas Eve. We really don't have any traditions, Darrell and I. I had heard from some of you and a couple friends that they always do Chinese Food on Christmas Eve. What??? No makin' dinner...hand me that phone. In retrospect, not really my best Christmas Eve dinner but neither was really anything about this year "my best". As you may have guessed it was really all about "getting by". Oh well. It's come and gone and it is just us anyway. Although I must say I love Holiday movies and watching Darrell open his gifts and kitten's playing with ribbon. Christmas Day was great. Watched movies. Christmas Breakfast- Pillsbury Cinnamon Twists and Coffee. Lunch- Shrimp and Crab Civeche with Tortilla Chips and Mimosa's. Dinner- Marinated Pork Tenderloin in a Cranberry Merlot Beet Sauce (thyme & bay leaf made this so yummy), Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans with Smoked Bacon and Onions. A delish Merlot, courtesy of my sis. Yum!

Darrell worked most of the time between Christmas and New Year so I managed to knock a few things off the to do list..primarily painted another room in the house. I hate to say it but I get a little bit better every time. This time, my top edge between the ceiling and wall didn't even need Darrell's help. It looks pretty dang good, if I do say so myself!

New Year's eve was spent with a bunch of friends at their house. I brought grasshoppers and ended being the only one to drink them...oh well. No big loss. We brought in the new year with Dick Clark and 10 of our closest friends. It was fun..BTW...someone needs to call ABC and tell them that even if Dick Clark has a contract he needs to go. He looks so bad, I felt terrible watching him. I guiltfully had to change the channel.

New Year's Day...Michigan looses..bummer. USC wins! Two bowls of Chili and a couple friends over and the day was done.

Today it was back to work! 10 cups of Mac & Cheese and my tummy about freeked at being back at work. The Tums were out for sure.

Here are a couple shots of my beautiful niece and nephew, ....our other ones....when I was in CA a couple weeks ago. And my baby.

Cheers!