My newest appliance

For Christmas, my sister Kelly got us a indoor grill. Kinda like a George Foreman grill, but bigger and nicer. Well, after having the thing take up space on my counter for the week after Christmas, I realized that I probably would never use the thing. I have a cast iron grill pan that I love and I just didn't think I would ever even take the grill thing out of the box. This theory was further supported when I cleaned out my pantry and actually found a George Foreman grill that I've never used. (The George Foreman went into the "donate" box for the next time the Blind or whoever comes by. See? I'm getting rid of stuff!)

So I lugged the thing back to the kitchen store at the mall where she bought it and exchanged it for this:

(It's a panini grill, if you didn't know.)

Tonight was our first visit to Planet Panini . I bought all the fixin's and made Reuben Sandwich paninis (because I love the ones from Haggens). First I slathered two pieces of rye bread with butter, then on the inside I smeared a little horseradish. Then I piled on the pastrami, which was of excellent quality (thank you Trader Joe's), some sauerkraut, thousand island dressing and some swiss cheese. The top went on and into the grill they went. It didn't take but about 4-5 minutes and our sandwiches were done. The outside was so crisp and golden brown and everything inside had gotten all toasty warm and melty. Hubby had taken his sandwich out to the living room to finish watching some show on TV and I kept hearing him say "Boy, this is good." Usually he wolfs down his food so fast I often wonder if he even tastes it so it was a treat to get positive feedback. And you know if he's stopping to comment during the devouring, it HAS to be good.

Already my mind is racing with the possibilities of what to panini next. The combinations are endless! I mean, think of all the kinds of bread that there are: different textures, different flavors, different crusts. Then there are the fillings: deli meats, cheeses, vegetables, spreads. A margherita panini? Fresh beefsteak tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, fresh basil. A pizza panini? Spicy pepperoni, olives, sauteed mushrooms, cheddar. A greek panini? Fresh basil, olives, feta, gyro meat. Oh holy night.

I daresay we're going to get a bit more use out of this panini grill than we would have the other one.

I'm a blogging dummy.

So I'm trying to make my blog all pretty and stylish and I really have no dang clue. Yah, it looks all easy and there are a zillion free templates you can use, but to get them to work? You'd think it'd be easy. It's not. Bear with me. If anyone's reading, that is.

Already something to look forward to!

As if a whole new year stretching out ahead of me isn't enough to look forward to, I just remembered that January starts up the tennis season! Yippee!! Wait...you think I'm kidding?? Oh no, my friends, if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I LOVE tennis. I LOVE watching tennis and I swear someday I'm actually going to go to a Grand Slam. I cried - at work, no less - at the end of Andre Agassi's last match of his career (US Open 2006). I LOVE TENNIS.

And The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, starts in approximately 11 days, 5 hours and 9 minutes in Melbourne. Ahhh, the Australian Open. If I had my choice of Grand Slams to attend, it just might be my first choice. For a variety of reasons. First, it's in Australia. Duh. Second, January in Australia is SUMMERTIME. Hot and sunny there when it's cold and crappy here. Third, it's the most laid-bad, almost raucous, Grand Slam of them all. It's really like a big party where people just happen to be playing tennis. Looks like SO much fun. Even if you don't like tennis, I bet you'd have a good time there.

So, starting on January 14th, my TiVo will start capturing all the action, my children will be wailing and gnashing their teeth because Mommy will be hogging the TV (for once), and my laundry be will be the most caught up it's been since August (the last Grand Slam). For you see, being the total ADHD person that I am, I can't just sit and watch TV. I have to be doing something else at the same time, and folding laundry is the perfect thing. That way my hands are busy and I'm doing something productive so I feel a little less guilty about all the hours I'll spend watching a fuzzy little yellow ball being whacked back and forth over a net.

T minus 11 days, 4 hours, 49 minutes.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Wow. Another year over. And this one really flew. But it's been a good year. I can't remember too many awful things that happened, which is a good thing. Call me Pollyanna but I just feel like each year gets better and better. Maybe my expectations keep dropping. Or I'm happier with less. Or I'm just chronically optimistic. Whatever the case, I feel incredibly blessed by my life. My family, my children, my friends, my job...everything. Far more than I probably deserve.

I'm always kind of excited about New Years because it's a time of newness. New calendars. New goals. It's like starting over with a clean slate, even though the first day of the year really isn't much different that the one before. I guess it's more of a mental thing. I really find myself wanting to dive into the depths of my closets, junk drawers and garage and just clean stuff out. Throw it away. Quit hauling it around and stepping over it and rummaging thru it. I mean, if it's sitting in boxes and the recesses of the closet, is it serving a purpose? Is it really that valuable? It's funny because for the last few months, I've really felt this pull to minimize things in my life. No, not my friends or my oxygen intake. Just the stuff that is taking up space. I want what I have to be of quality not quantity. I read a book earlier this year (The Lady in the Palazzo) and one of the ladies in the village had a quote that I just loved: "The less you have, the more important it becomes." It was how she lived her life and while she may have had very little materialistically by choice, she had a very rich life through her friends, family and experiences.

So for 2008 I want more quality time with my family & friends, more happy memories, more laughter, more sunshine on my shoulders, more sand in my shoes and less STUFF. But that doesn't mean you should forget my birthday.

Happy New Year!!

Random Thoughts

Wow, that's quite a list of books that I've read this year. Not as many as I'd hoped - my goal was 100 books in 2007 - but I think I kind of overshot that one not realizing that would mean reading on average 2 books a week. My current book is #34 on the list, which isn't bad. In my defense, several of the books that I read were 700+ pages each, so that's really like TWO books. Anyway, I'm nerdy and last year created a spreadsheet to keep track of my literary accomplishments and will continue to do so in 2008. It's kind of fun to look back at what I've read. I've already got a stack of books waiting to be read in 2008, not to mention my ever-growing wish list at the library.

Since the New Year is almost upon us, everyone starts talking about New Years Resolutions. I haven't made actual resolutions in years, because frankly, I can't take that kind self-abuse. I mean, why set myself up for failure? Instead of resolutions, I try to set a few goals to accomplish over the next year. I think of it as my List of Intentions. What's on it this year? Hmmm....let me think.

1. Finish up a couple craft projects that have been patiently waiting for my attention.
2. Quit spending so much time on the damn computer.
3. Make my husband go on a vacation with me.
4. Be more active!
5. Revamp my wardrobe.
6. Learn how to use my camera and take some really awesome pictures.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there will be more. But my head is starting to pound from all this thinking. Or maybe it's my cold that's making it hurt. Time for more Sudafed!

Happy Festivus!

So the other day, Hubby rolled all the coins from our coin jar (aka the pickle jar in the closet) and gave me the coin rolls to take to the bank to cash in. I swear, the man is finally catching on and realizing what I'm all about. He told me to take the cash and buy myself some of this:


And God love him, I did. Bless his little heart, I think he may have actually been listening a couple weeks ago when we had a "talk" about me and my needs. I don't recall actually telling him I needed top-shelf vodka, but far be it from me to question his interpretation. I think he hit the goose on the head.

The Next Ansel Adams

Let me tell ya, I have been having SO much fun with my new camera! It arrived about a week ago and I think I've probably taken 200 pictures already! Granted, not all of them have been good and I've deleted quite a few, but I'm still learning how to use all the features. Even with my limited knowledge, I've managed to snap some really good pictures. The clarity is amazing - so much better than my point & shoot Canon.

Here are a few of my recent masterpieces:

The kids at the park

Murphy, the cat

Zoe Grace

I will continue practicing and learning how to use all the features so that hopefully I can get some good pictures that can be blown up. I'd love to have some that we could use in our house. That'd be cool.