Friday!

Friday already? I mean.... Yay, it's Friday already :-) I just got back from the gym so I'm happy with myself. Although I would be happier if I'd made it more than twice this week.

I went to my first Pilates class on Tuesday. Really enjoyed it but later that night my 'coccyx' (pronounced cock-six) was really sore. For those who are asking 'what on earth is your coccyx'? it's actually your tailbone. And I've had issues with mine (and my lower back) ever since I gave birth to Kristen. Just minutes after the birth I bruised (or cracked, not sure which and they never x-rayed me) my tailbone when I pushed up on the bed just to sit up straight. I heard a 'crunch' and oooh it didn't feel good. I knew I'd done some damage somehow! I couldn't sit straight down for 3 months, had to sit on one cheek or the other :-( Well anyway, I'm telling you all this to say that after the Pilates class my tailbone felt very bruised again that night and is still rather sore if I sit on a hard seat. I'm hoping it goes away by next Tuesday, which is the next class (actually there's one tonight at 5pm, but that's not a good time for me).

So, other than the gym, not much else going on around here. Went to Book Club last night and had a fun time as usual, although the book we just read was not so fun. I didn't enjoy it at all but I managed to get through it so I could join in with the discussion. The book was 'The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold. I'll just say, it was not my kind of read. Next month's pick is The Red Tent which I shall start reading tonight.

We've had some lovely weather this week, yesterday it was 81 degrees here. Yes, I caved and had to put the a/c on! Today is a little overcast but still warm, and next week temps should stay in the 70's. Hard to believe when people elsewhere are still getting snow and having freezing cold temps! I must admit, I do love Texas for the winters ;-)

look up to the sky

Kristen is studying Mars in her Quest class at school. Last Saturday the teacher had arranged for us to go on a small field trip to the University of Texas campus to check out the Observatory!

Viewings were from 7pm to 9pm. It was just getting dark by 7pm so the first thing the 'grad student' who was showing us the telescope did was show us Venus. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I looked through the telescope, but what I saw was just a very bright crescent shape, like a very bright new moon really.

I think Kristen was a little disappointed too, she was probably expecting to see things that looked a lot closer. Still it was a fun thing to do, and it got us out of the house for a couple of hours on a Saturday night (although truth be told, I like staying 'inside' the house on a Saturday night) ;-)

Don't mind Jason 'up there' - he's just looking at URANUS! Ha ha , of course I'm just kidding.

Spring is in the air!

OK, because I've had absolutely nothing to blog about this week - seriously, I've done nothing but go to the gym and do housework... makes for boring blog posts, so I refrained from doing so. . . . I thought I'd share something that I did the week before last, that I never got around to blogging about. Spring is in the air! Not just the weather - I mean these... Spring Rolls!

Have you ever tried them? Not sure about in England, but over here you can buy these made fresh daily at your local grocery store, usually at the ones that have a sushi bar. They are very simple, just a rice pancake wrapped around shrimp, with lettuce, carrots and noodles inside.

As you can probably guess by now, I didn't buy these from the store.... I decided to try and make my own when I saw that they sell the rice wrappers. So, here's how I did it....

The rice wrapper is actually pretty stiff when you buy them, you could easily snap them in half... handle carefully and submerge one in hot water for about 30 seconds. It then goes very very soft, (and a little sticky) so work quickly and lay it out gently on to a dish towel...

The shrimp is often shown at the top of the roll so this is what you place on the wrapper first... then add a lettuce leaf, this is going to roll around the inside filling with the wrapper...

next add some grated carrot, and then some rice noodles (which you've obviously cooked just minutes ago according to package directions) With these first rolls I did I also added a slice or two of fresh avocado on top of the carrots (the second batch I made the following week I didn't have the avocado, and I must admit it tasted much better with it in).

Once you have all your fillings in, fold over the wrapper to cover all of the filling, then fold in the sides and continue to roll up. The wrapper will stick to itself just like clingfilm (clingwrap) does.

And voila..... there you have 6 freshly made Spring Rolls! Urmm, yes I know there's only 5 on the plate, that's cos my mouth was busy eating the 6th one - y.u.m.m.y! Oh and I highly recommend you try dipping them in Hoisin Sauce. This is how they were served to me in a restaurant once, and it just makes the dish.

So there ya go, lots of pics for you today. Here's wishing you a great weekend. And seriously, if you like this kind of stuff, give them a try this weekend. They are super easy and very fresh and tasty.

Mid-week!

Not much news. . . . . . I'm just waiting for Spring!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday. Did you spread a little love? I know I did ;-) and I got lots in return too. Usually we don't do anything special for Valentine's day, Jason and I don't try to go out to dinner (we always think it will be too crowded, and we'd rather just stay home) and usually the day falls during a school week so I don't do anything special at home either. This year though, it fell on a Saturday, so I thought it would be fun to plan a lovely Valentine dinner for my little family, including my mom-in-law who I invited over (cos Papa is in CA - "hi Papa, we miss you"!).

I got creative and did 'heart-shaped meatballs to have with spaghetti! Wanna see?

I found a recipe online for oven-baked meatballs and used my heart shaped cookie cutter to shape them. I just filled it with the raw meat mixture (I didn't roll it out and then cut them, the mixture was too soft for that). I was hoping they would hold their shape as they baked. Later for dinner I added them to a can of spaghetti sauce, and voila! . . . . .

A cute little dinner. I only did a small amount of spaghetti for each of us. I didn't add garlic bread or salad to the menu, and my reason for this was that I didn't want us all to get too full on dinner that we couldn't enjoy the yummy dessert I had planned. . . . . .

FONDUE!!

Kristen couldn't wait for this part. I made Bailey's Irish Dream (just like they do in the Melting Pot, actually I got their recipe from HERE!) As you can see we had strawberries, grapes, bananas, marshmallows and cake to dip in. We rolled the marshmallows in cookie crumbs too, just like they showed you on the recipe site. This was super delicious. After the fondue we had Irish Coffee (decaf coffee with Baileys!). Oh and throughout the meal, mil and I were drinking Mimosa's :-)

I'll leave you with a picture of the beautiful flowers my hubby gave me....

ENT!

I never did update about the ENT did I? Well I'll make this quick and let you know how I'm doing. Last Thursday was when I went back to see the ENT so we could discuss my CT Scan I'd had done the previous Friday. I must admit despite feeling lousy because my nose was so stuffed up again and I hadn't been able to taste or smell for nearly a week, this visit was much nicer than the first one.

The Dr is really a nice guy but at the first visit I just got the impression that all he could do for me was nasal surgery to remove the polyps and had no intentions of helping me out any other way. That is of course not the case. He was very sympathetic at this visit, probably cos he could tell I was feeling miserable (mainly due to the taste/smell loss). We discussed surgery yet again, and I agreed that everything he was saying made sense. Basically I am so blocked up in my nose what with polyps and thick mucus from sinus infections that just won't clear up, that is seems the best thing to do to get surgery, clear everything out and start a fresh so to speak, with allergy meds or shots (after having allergy tests, that is).

Well after a lengthy discussion (with me still not wanting to agree to surgery just yet) he agreed to give me a course of oral steroids and he also put me on antiobiotics for another two weeks. He said the steroids may not necessarily bring my taste back, I begged to differ and said I knew it would work. I'm happy to stay I was right! I took the first dose of steroids (6 pills in all) that very afternoon at 2pm. The next morning I took a big sniff of my Yankee candle (it's my tester, if I can sniff that then there's hope I can taste) and yes! I could smell it. I then tasted my coffee and just about everything I ate that day. It was amazing :-)

That was all a week ago now. I just finished the steroids today. My nose feels very clear, no sinus headaches, nothing. I feel normal again! But where does this leave me with regards to my allergies? Of course they can flair up any time. Well I am to go and get allergy tested once I've finished the antibiotics. My appointment is Feb 26th. So until then, I will enjoy this 'reprieve'! (sniff) ;-)

bedroom pics

As promised, here are a few pictures of our master bedroom. I'm really happy with how it all turned out. The wall colors, for anyone wondering is Laura Ashley - 'Gold' and Waverley Homes 'Baked Clay (that being the darker accent color). I had Jason hang a few pictures this afternoon and the new piece I got for above the bed from Kirklands. The pics are self explanatory of course, they are just taken from a few different angles.

The first one is looking in from the bedroom door.

The next one is from the left corner of the room.

And the last one standing at the top of the bed looking towards the bottom.

I would eventually like a seat at the bottom of the bed and am thinking of getting something like this chaise from Ikea.

I thought about getting two but Jason would probably never sit there so I would really only need one. I like the idea of lounging on it while reading or knitting before I head to bed.

So, there ya go! It was a lot of hard work but well worth it. I've always liked my bedroom, but even more so now and I just love walking in there at night and seeing the 'fruits of my labor' so to speak ;-)

I'll be back tomorrow with ENT news (I hope).