under da sea

More like things from the sea in an aquarium. Husband and I went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium a few weeks ago. It was the first time I had been to a zoo that did not have giraffes, lions, hippos, zebras, and rhinos. There was also a serious lack of monkeys…I mean come on who doesn’t love monkeys? They do however have some pretty cool aquariums including a large shark tank. I am just getting around to editing what I shot and am rather fond of these jellyfish and anemone.

thnxgving

The meal has been eaten and the leftovers are stored away. I am sitting here with a glass of wine watching the Broncos play the Giants. It has been a nice relaxing day of cooking and watching football. Just me and Husband. This is my first Thanksgiving spent away from family. It has me feeling a little sad and a little guilty. Now that all three of us kids live out of state my mom was alone today. When I spoke to her today she told she is okay and I should not feel guilty…but I can’t help it. We were also invited to Husband’s brother house with the rest of his family. We so wanted to go but flights from Seattle to Dallas were ridiculously expensive. Again the guilty feeling creeps in. I have grown so used to having a house full of people and I am really missing that this year. It felt weird to cook the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of us. I guess it would have been even weirder not to. I made our favorite things and did it the way my mom would. If I can’t be with her at least I can carry on her traditions. Tomorrow we will cook up the leftovers with a Mexican twist to carry on Husband’s family traditions. It has been a trying year for Husband and I. We have a lot to be thankful for. You know…a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs, and all that jazz. Mostly I am thankful that we have had each other to lean on these last 12 months. Our relationship has been one of the only things that we have not had to worry about. It is good to know that even if we have nothing else that we will always have each other. It makes all the crap that life throws at us a little more bearable. Okay…I am done being sentimental and am going to go have some pie. Mmmmmmmmm pie!

more cupcakes...these ones are pink

Today felt like a good day to make cupcakes. I found a recipe for pink champagne cupcakes a while back and had been wanting to give it a go. It is a pretty straight forward recipe so I was not anticipating any issues. I ran out this morning to get the ingredients one of them of course being pink champagne. The store did not have the kind that I wanted so I buy a brand I am unfamiliar with. The recipe only called for 2 cups and I am hoping it is drinkable because I am going to end up to drinking the rest of it. Lucky for me the bottle decided that that would not be necessary. I have opened hundreds of champagne bottles with nary a problem. While in my possession this bottle took a five minute car ride and spent the next two hours sitting on the counter in the kitchen. So I’m a mixin’ and a beatin’ all the cupcake stuff together and I get to the ‘alternately add flour and champagne’ part. I turn and grab the champagne bottle, tear off the foil, and while grasping the neck of the bottle with my left hand I apply pressure to the cork with my right thumb. Now normally this is when the cork comes out with a loud pop and no geyser of bubbly goodness. But today I got that geyser of bubbly goodness…the one that sprays 80% of the kitchen and over the bar into the living room while I yell “SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!” and leaves me with just under the 2 cups needed to make these damn cupcakes. Sigh. So after a half hour of clean up I get on with the cupcake baking. They turned out pretty tasty and are a nice shade of pink. I hand colored the sparkly sugar on top…that was a pain in the ass.

blustery

I used to really like that word. It is a word that Winnie the Pooh would use if he were to write a weather report. Now it is a word I heard everyday from the King5 weatherman. In the true sense of the word most days are blustery up here. Wind and rain are big news this time of year. The blustery weather is wreaking havoc on old trees and old power lines. City crews are working around the clock to cut down the old trees and sure up the 65 year old poles that hold up the power lines. It is a good thing because a little gust of wind seems to send both toppling over onto houses. If a little bit of rain causes so much damage…I am terrified of what happens in the event of snow. The city has a small fleet of snow plows and they have been practicing plowing and snow removal. From what I saw on the news “practicing” equals driving around at night in the plow trucks. I am confident that all that practice will pay off when and if we get another storm like last year (wink wink). I am hoping we do get some snow though. While looking for something under the bed in spare bedroom I found my snow boots. They looked lonely and sad. Had we still been in Colorado I would have already had two big snowstorms to stomp around in. Who knows…maybe I will get to wear them.

sunny

With the vibrant colored fall leaves and the plethora of spring flowers one is tricked into thinking there are four seasons here. But it is exactly that...A TRICK! There are three beautiful months known as summer and nine long, dreary, wet months known as rain. And right on cue with the time change it appears that my Seasonal Affective Disorder has kicked in. WOOHOO! The last week or so I have been out of sorts and a little hard to be around. Stressed out, depressed, and short tempered is not a good mix. Lucky for me husband is very patient and is not yet to the point of wanting to smother me in my sleep. Last spring he bought me this little Swarovski Crystal bear as a little bit of sunshine on rainy days. A little bit on “sunshine” is exactly what I could use right now.

GOOSE!

I am not sure how we got on the topic... Husband: There is one animal that is the worst when it gets cornered. Me: Oh yeah... H: Yeah...I think it is the goose. M: A goose? H: Yeah. M: Geese are pretty mean...but I think you could take one down with a swift kick or something. Are you thinking of maybe a mongoose or a badger? H: No. Why are you laughing so hard? M: I am just picturing you getting attacked by a goose.