Friday, April 10, 2009

Spring break antics

This week, Andrew and I made a quiche. You can find the recipe here. It's a spinach and bacon quiche with Swiss cheese. I also made my own crust, rather than buying the pre-made one.
I've never made a quiche before (because I heard it was hard) but it came out beautifully! We had it for dinner but I ate some leftover for breakfast - yum!

I also rented the first season of 30 Rock. I've been wanting to watch this show but never had the time to watch it or I forgot it was on. I'm definitely hooked. It also helps that Blockbuster is only $1 per night!

Since it's beginning to get warm (it's been in the 80's a couple of times already), I decided Marley would probably need a haircut soon. I've clipped his feet and kept him trimmed up, but he hasn't had a shave down since I first got him back in August. This is the day after I got him from the pound and they shaved off all his fur...

Figuring it would be fun, I bought pet clippers and cut most of his fur down to a quarter of an inch. I think he looks really cute with his puppy cut!

This week off also gave me to time to work on Marley's tricks. He has mastered "paw" which has been a favorite with house guests.

A new trick I have been trying with him has been "sit up." Andrew's dogs "dance" when they want food, so this is what gave me the idea. I suppose you could also call it begging...
With a little help from some leftover chicken, Marley is doing really well with "sit up!"
This post is for Ellen, who was upset I didn't post any Marley pictures last time. :)

~ Carol

Monday, April 6, 2009

And the walls came down...

Today is my first official day of "spring break" and what no better way to spend it than by being woken at 7am with loud hammering above my head?? After several notices on our front door for the past month, they finally began re-roofing (is that a word?) the building. I knew it was only a matter of time after hearing the banging on the other buildings and I suppose Murphy's Law dictates work on my building should begin on the first day of break. Oh well. I must hand it to the 20 Mexican men, though. They have been working (with breaks I'm sure) for over 12 hours. It's nearly 7:30 pm! In addition, it must have hit a high in the upper 80's today! I was going to get a picture of all the work they did but they seemed a bit weary of me taking photos. Here's the mess on the lawn in front of my building:
I can't believe I haven't written on this blog since December. You may not believe me, but I do feel bad about it. I love writing and I really just need to schedule time for myself and DO IT. I have no problem taking pictures or writing, it's just posting. In fact, posting on a regular basis was one (of many) new year's resolutions that I made on December 30th when I was flying back here from PA. I've had the airplane napkin pinned to my wall by my door (remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it):
Thus far, my resolution successes have been: use online banking, only eat 1 school lunch per week maximum, and train Marley to shake and stay. As for my aspirations, I'm in talks with a doctor about eye surgery and I'm slated to attend Andrew's brother's wedding at the very end of May. (In case you didn't know, I've never been to a wedding before!)

--It's 7:45pm, dark, and they're still hammering away up there!--

On to more exciting news... I BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR!!!! It's an '09 Honda Civic EX in "Atomic Blue." After months of research and two hours of haggling, I bought it March 26th. With the CA sales tax rising to 8.25% on April 1st and the Jetta losing air conditioning at an unknown time during the winter, it just made sense to finally take the leap. Here are the last pictures of my '97 Jetta GL, with about 122,000 miles on it:



















And here's me before taking my new car home:
With only 23 miles on the car, Andrew and I took a road trip to Anaheim to see Billy Joel and Elton John in concert. They put on a great show that lasted 3 hours and among their own hits, they even included the Beach Boys "California Girls" and The Beatles "Back in the USSR" and a personal favorite, "Birthday."

And now, in the California sunshine:
I'm not used to all this electronic stuff!!No bump in the middle on the floor, for added comfort in a full car:Under cover and away from other cars (and check out the dumpter for the roof stuff):
Sorry for all the car shots. I couldn't help myself!! :)

~ Carol