Bugs 2

Today I ate lunch with a couple of co-workers outside. We figured it would be good to get out of the office for a little bit and take in some vitamin D. That was a good plan until I looked down at my homemade pizza only to find some small flying (or not flying) insect roaming in my food. I nearly ate the stupid thing, but ended up seeing it in time. The good news is that I had already eaten most of my lunch.

When we got home tonight Dave offered to grill burgers. It's apparently been longer than I thought since we last grilled. Dave pulled off the cover and found there were spiders crawling inside. I'm not sure how this happened, but Dave ended up getting bitten by a spider. Poor guy. We're headed into colder weather, so not too much longer of mega-bug season. Yay!

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

I am not a huge fan of bugs. I generally prefer to "take pity" on them - scoop them up, and throw them back outside. Most often we have occasional ants in our house. Again, not a big fan.

A few weeks ago I was sitting on our couch when I felt something crawling up my leg. It was a stupid little ant. I realize that for most people this may not be a big issue, but I was just not a happy camper. In fact, as Dave will more than willingly attest to me having a "bug face". It's sort of a scrunched up "ick" face.

At any rate, earlier this week I found a centipede crawling around our floor. Sadie wanted to eat it, but I scooped it up and tossed it out in the bushes. Today I got to work and I thought I was removing some dust off my desk, when to my surprise the "dust" (i.e. some small insect) starting flying...and I squished it...with my bare hands. I'm sure I made my bug face, but I was a bit proud of myself. So, while everything has a purpose and a place, I am just not a bug fun. And that concludes my blurb about bugs!

New Foods

Lately Dave and I have been busy with food. (I'm drawing something of a blank on my grammar/phrasing tonight.) Last weekend we made homemade salsa, earlier this week I made freezer raspberry jam, and today we tried zuchini bread. I am quite proud of this accomplishment; however, I must admit that our attempts need to be worked on. They were all first time trials.

The salsa was hit and miss. Some bites were quite good, while others tasted a little like tomato paste (which was not actually used in the recipe). We made fresh salsa 2 years ago. I never tried it because by the time we were done making it I was too sick of the smell. This time we blended the ingredients to make it more of a sauce-type salsa.

My jam turned out pretty well. I've yet to taste it, but I'm really pretty proud of myself for that one. For anyone who has ever done freezer jam, you know it's not all that complicated. Yet, it is a big deal for me. For what it's worth I did hand mash the berries.

We ended up with 2 zuchini breads. Dave made zuchini bread and I did a double chocolate zuchini bread. Neither one turned out as well as we would have liked. The taste wasn't too bad, but the crust was tough, not burned though. It was also a little dry. Like several other dishes, food explorations, whatever our attempts need to be re-tried andor tweaked.

During our vast time together, Dave and I have discovered that we rather enjoy cooking. We don't always know what to cook, but we like to "play with food" and try new things. I enjoy trying new recipes and Dave is definitely the creative cook. He's the type who throws things together and wings it. To his credit, most of what he's "made up" has turned out really well. We semi-jokingly talk about starting a restaurant; however, if and when that event occurs, it won't be anytime soon. Frankly we enjoy just cooking for ourselves, our family, and friends.

In conclusion - We do not generally get recipes right the first time; we both have some really good dishes; for now we will keep plugging away with developing our culinary skills...at home for now; and you haven't had our "fancy" cooking (or it's been a while), let us know and we'll see what we can do. :0)

P.S. Here's a random pic (from a year ago) just to get a picture attached to a post while we're still waiting to get newer/updated pictures posted.

Home Security

Home security systems are nice, but it's even better when you have an in-home "guard" for free 99. Sadie used to be a little quieter, but lately she's been on this barking kick. Sometimes it's warranted, but occasionally she just barks at nothing. (At least nothing we can see.) This morning Sadie started barking again - Dave said it was because there was a hot air balloon outside. The kicker is that Jack chimed in today.

Usually Jack just gets annoyed and/or ignores Sadie's "random barking," but this morning he was sure riled up. Jack's pretty mellow and usually goes with the flow. Admittedly though, there have been a couple of times where he got wound up for no apparent reason. At any rate, it was actually pretty funny.

Labor Day "Lessons"

1 - 3 day weekends are the best!
* Good time to catch up on sleep.
2 - (Virtually) No one is on the road at 3 AM.
3 - Okay time for a yard sale.
* Good way to de-clutter
* Not too bad a time of year for a yard sale.
* Better when people buy more, but still a good way to de-clutter.
3 - Thanks to Murphy's Law, there is a decent chance you'll be sick when you have a day off.
4 - Movies are a great pastime for extended weekends.
5 - Long weekends are never long enough, but are always highly anticipated. (Love spending time w/ the hubby.)

Drama of the Week

In case you didn't hear, earlier this week Dave's branch was involved in an armed robbery. No one was hurt, but it was definitely traumatic for everyone there. Although no one was physically injured, this has taken a toll on all of the employees. Needless to say, it has been a tough week. However, being the troopers that they are, everyone has still shown up to work. We are very thankful that everyone is doing okay and hope things can continue to get better.