The Past Month

I probably should have just taken an announced blogging vacation. Oh well. I honestly just wasn't feeling the blog vibe. We have been kind of busy... I guess. Not with anything too exciting though.

Grandma Pearl is all moved into her new place, in Morton, WA. It really is a good thing to have her closER. But please don't call her close. I'm really not trying to be a negative-nelly but really - 121 miles, which takes over 2 hours because of highway 12 isn't what I would call close. Especially when I already have a two hour commute for work 4 times a week,which is 320 miles/week.

And then, if you want to take Grandma to lunch or do ANYTHING, that would be in Chehalis - so add another 90 minutes of driving. Ok, I am done. But so you understand why it's frustrating to me -because of the pressure I put on myself to go up often, which is a person problem I know. So originally I thought I'd go up once a month, well of course I'm going more. I love to see her and spend time with her, the drive is just stressful to me.

Anyways, the last time I went up I made some banana bread. 4 huge loafs. It was great to see my mixer could handle it!

It was at maximum capacity though.

This is one of my new favorite recipes. It has sour cream in it and it makes it SO moist. I would really recommend putting away the banana recipe you have always used, you know the one - it's good but the ends always are a little dry and you usually have to eat it with butter - that recipe - put it away. And just give this one a try, you will not regret it. Banana Bread. I took this recipe x4 all in one batch and it worked just fine.

Speaking of new recipe - that's another thing I've been doing - trying new recipes. Mom & I took a cooking class a couple of weeks ago from Sur La Table. "Fish for Beginners" was the class. Anyways, it was great. I'm glad I took the class. There are a few others I want to take in addition - knife skills being one of them.
Here are some of the new recipes:

Drip Beef, I made it the 1st way. Kyle loved it so much this is actually what he wants for his birthday dinner. DONE.AND.DONE. This was so super easy, makes the house smell great, and provides good leftovers.

While working out on one of my Wednesdays off this was made on the Today Show. It's Grilled Mayan Shrimp with Spiced Mango and Avocado Salad. I think Kyle would have liked it with a little more spice. I'm not sure I am a big fan of grapeseed oil - maybe use less next time? Also, I should have cut the avocado and mango into smaller pieces but I was in a hurry. MANGOS - they are in season right now and are GREAT!

Kyle's almost done with his GMAT prep class... so he's been doing a lot of studying for that. Of course Ferdie & Holly help.

And I've been doing a lot of walking. I'm toying around with the idea of walking another marathon (or maybe half... I don't know). Holly has been a trooper and keeps me company. It's amazing how much better her walking etiquette is from when my Mom and I were training for the marathon awhile back. We couldn't take her with us because it was impossible to keep our pace. Now she does great. During the week I take Holly on a 3,4 or 6 mile loop. It definitely makes her tired, but she does it.

I bought something new for the dining room table. We were getting a lot of orange around the house, so I wanted to bring back some reds. I love the different textures. And it works perfect in a glass bowl I already had.

Did I talk about our new TV? We got one. Well - actually - Kyle got one. With some help from my Dad, we bought a new TV and then our old TV went up to Grandma Pearl's and is now hers. More on that later.

Oh, and a couple of weeks ago I saw Michael Buble in concert. Sandi, Pam, Mom and I went.