Todd's the Man!

Today was Todd's birthday! He got to work and found his desk all decorated with birthday stuff. They have a celebrations committee at work and they decorate people's cubes for their birthdays & work anniversaries. Todd's actually a part of the committee, but obviously someone else was assigned to decorate his cube today. :o I invited AJ & Meera to dinner with us, because Meera's birthday is the middle of this month, and because we love hanging out with them. :) They came over bearing a gift! Three of us being goofy: I got Todd some stuff from Pampered Chef: Then we went out to dinner @ Piatti's in La Jolla. LOVE that place! I had gone there a few years ago with work people, but had forgotten about it. Then last summer we went to a Piatti in San Francisco and remembered there's one in San Diego too! The carb-lover in me love their homemade bread and especially their garlic and cilantro balsamic vinegrette oil dip! We had so much fun with AJ & Meera. We haven't had a chance to hang out with them, just us adults, since Andon was born. We love Andon of course, but it's also great to have a night where we could concentrate on each other again. We were reminded all over again why we love AJ & Meera so much, ever since the fateful day they showed up at our home fellowship Bible study several years ago. There's no better way to celebrate a birthday than with good friends and good food!

1. Very cool candle at the table.
2. ORECCHIETTE: Shell Shaped Pasta, Grilled Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Asparagus & Creamy Gorgonzola Sauce.
3. CANNELLONI: Pasta Sheets Rolled with Roasted Veal, Beef, Porcini Mushrooms, Spinach, Ricotta & Mozzarella Cheese.
4. SALSICCE Pizza: Home-Made Italian Sausage, Tomato Sauce, Scallions, Mozzarella Cheese & Oregano.
5. Risotto di Giorno with Shrimp.
6. CROSTATA DI MELA: Warm Apple Tortino with Vanilla Gelato.
7. AFFOGATO: White Chocolate Gelato, Espresso, Amaretto, Shaved Chocolate & Whipped Cream.
8. Chocolate gelato.
9. Torta with raspberry sauce.

On top of all that, Birthday Boy also got a complimentary tiramisu with a candle on it: Some parting shots in front of the restaurant:

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Hard at Work

Photo today: We have this really tall wall at the entrance to our house, basically part of our living room. I was sitting in a chair facing it today, and realized that the hugeness of the wall really makes my hall cabinet and photos really small, even though they're not. Wouldn't it be cool to have a HUGE mural painted on that wall? I've been working a lot the last few days, finalizing the budget at work. Couple that with remodeling estimates and I have numbers coming out of my ears. It's a little stressful but I actually like the work so it's not too bad. And it's very luxurious to have a job these days. :: nod nod :: Tonight we had a two hour meeting with one of the remodelers and we got the first estimate out of three for our kitchen and bathroom remodel. The price was a few thousand dollars higher than we expected. Now we know where the high-end is and hopefully we can get it done for less money than the quote. The good thing is that the price included some nice features already, so it's unlikely to go much higher.

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There Will Be Cheese-Moving

Photo today: With all the remodeling talk lately, it hit me today that my house will be chaotic for a couple of months, and that it will be different afterwards. I know I will love it in the end, but I'm worried about people moving my cheese... Uncertainty makes me uneasy. Dealing with the constant change in my house will be... unsettling. I like my cheese to stay put. :) If you don't know what I'm talking about and think "What does cheese have to do with anything?", I'm referencing the classic self-help book "Who Moved My Cheese?", dealing with changes in your life. Sometimes when I have a worried or pensive look on my face, Todd will ask me, "Did someone move your cheese?" Tonight my dad called just to wish Todd a happy birthday. It's still 2 days away but he told Todd he's sending him a card. This is really a break-through! I was so proud of my dad that I told him so. My dad sounded proud of himself too, hee hee. You gotta understand my dad to know how huge this is! He's a big idea guy, not little detail guy. When my mom was alive she was the one who kept track of everyone's birthdays and anniversaries and sent cards. My dad never paid any attention to it. He's just not a detail-oriented person. And over the years I've gotten used to him being the way he is. I don't resent him or anything, because he doesn't forget on purpose, it's just the way he is. And I love him for who he is. He has tremendous strengths in other areas that other people don't have. BUT tonight was really special! Not only did he remember Todd's upcoming birthday, but he took the time just to call and chit-chat, and he was full of joy. Definitely a moment to remember. Dinner tonight was Buddha's Delight with Tofu, Broccoli, and Water Chestnuts, except that Todd skipped the water chestnuts because he doesn't like them: Very healthy yet delicious vegetarian dish!

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I wanna be a notary public

when I grow up! Because it would seem like they make a lot of money for checking our identities and signing documents! Todd and I signed our home equity line of credit loan documents today, and some pages had to be signed in front of a notary public. First we called our bank but they said they don't notarize loan documents that aren't through them. So we called a couple of places around our neighborhood and they were the same price: $10 PER SIGNATURE witnessed/notarized. So we had to sign 8x in front of her. You do the math! It seems outrageous to me. That's why Todd had a "I got taken for a ride" look on his face in the pic! The third and final remodeling company came today to give their ideas regarding our remodeling projects today. He was actually the CEO of the company, and he certainly had some great ideas, especially in the master bath. I can't wait to see his designs, but I'm afraid they'll be pricier due to the great ideas. I think in home remodeling, great innovative ideas = pricey. His company actually custom builds the kitchen and bath cabinets themselves. When he named off some of the people who they've done cabinets for, we were impressed. They included LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers, and the late Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald's founder and CEO Ray Kroc. Next week they'll be presenting their designs to us, along with the price tag. ::gulp:: In other remodeling news... did you hear that Home Depot is closing all 34 of its EXPO Design Centers and laying off 7,000 people??? We were just there 3 weeks ago and they wanted us to start the design process with them and pay them $750! Good thing we didn't! Todd made Barley Sausage Skillet tonight and it was yummy, but chewy! Barley of course is a complex carb full of fiber and very good for you, but chewy!

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First Day of February

How could it be February already? Where did January go? Photo today: Todd and I made homemade pico de gallo with avocados added in, our specialty. Or actually, MY specialty! Todd says that he's never had pico de gallo or guacamole anywhere else that's better than what I can make! :: proud look :: That's really saying something, considering I look up to his culinary skills. :) We had our own little Super Bowl party and made homemade tacos with homemade taco sauce and homemade tortillas even!

1. Masa (Mexican corn flour) mixed with water.
2. Rolled into balls.
3. Pressed with a tortilla press.
4. Dry heated in a skillet.
5. The resulting beautiful tortilla!
6. The dry mix of the taco sauce - Todd found a recipe on the internet.
7. Chicken and taco sauce cooking and simmering.
8. Homemade guacamole, which is actually different than pico de gallo. More mushy!
9. The perfect ingredients for a perfect chicken taco!

Since January is now over, it's time to back up my January blog posts to my computer! I'm always paranoid that Blogger will crash one day and I'll lose my whole life story. Yes, you CAN backup your blog to your hard drive! This is what I do: In Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on "January" in your blog archives section so that all the January posts show up on one page. Wait for them all to load.
2. Go to the "File" menu and click on "Save Page As..."
3. Navigate to the folder you want to save it in, and name it whatever you want to name it.
4. Click "Save".
5. To make sure everything is saved, click on the "whatever_you_named_it.html" file in Windows Explorer and it should pull up in Firefox with your folder location as the address on top.
6. This method saves everything that makes up your blog posts into a folder, including photos, videos, everything! The html file simply has code that pulls all the information into your blog format.
7. Once it's on the hard drive, you can back it up to an EHD, CD, DVD, or online backup. I use online backup with Carbonite for all my files on my computer.

This method works for Internet Explorer too. IE will save the entire thing into a .mht file, including all the photos and everything else on your blog. So if you have a lot of photos that month, the file will be huge. Mine was 28 MB in January! After saving it, open the file and make sure everything pulls up in your IE. That's it! Now you have the peace of mind that if your blog service crashes or has some sort of unrecoverable disaster, you have a copy of your complete blog on your hard drive. I do this every month. I finished my Week 4 layout for Project 365: Full credits here. Last but not least, Digi Dare #118 is up! Play along this week, link us up at the Dare site, and you will receive a 30% off coupon for Sherrie Piegdon's products @ Pixel Gypsy Designs! I happen to also CT for Pixel Gypsy Designs, so I know you'll want this coupon! My layout for this week's Dare:

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