Monday. Funday.

Okay, maybe Monday isn't really fun day.  It was back to work after vacation day.  The hubby and I usually check in during work, but we were both crazy busy today.  Here are the hi-lights and the low...lights...and in between lights.

- My first thought of the day was of something that happened yesterday.  My paternal grandmother is mad at me because we went on vacation.  She thinks we took a lavish trip and should have used the money to go see my dad for a knee surgery.  I only found out the day of my dad's surgery on Sunday.  Yep folks, that's AFTER I returned from vacation.  I would also like to tell you all about an amazing website called Travelocity that has Bahamas cruises from $125 per person.  In case you have not visited this area or traveled anywhere, it's rare to spend that little to have a nice hotel and all three meals for a few days.  What I am saying is this is an excellent deal.  She has decided that since we are "well enough off" that she is no longer sending any gifts to any of her four grandchildren.  I'm serious.  Oh and did I mention it's really not anyone's business how much a trip cost?  I don't understand why my grandmother can't just be happy for us.  I do understand why my dad went 14 years sheltering his family from contact with her.  I was divided on whether to call her, e-mail her, or ignore her.  I wish she would have been mature enough to call and talk to me about it rather than be upset with me after talking to my mom (that's how she found out I was on vacation), call my dad, then call my aunt about it.  My parents did defend me, but obviously she didn't listen.  It just hurts. My maternal grandma has such unconditional love for me.  It's difficult to experience such amazing love from one grandmother and feel like the other will only share love under certain conditions.  I also feel bad that because of my decision to take a vacation, my sisters and one other cousin are supposedly no longer getting gifts.  It is ridiculous. Okay, on to a different subject...

-Think of the most honest, rule abiding person you know.  I have a co-worker who is the epitome of honesty.  She follows the rules and is not a person to make stories up.  She is also a skeptic of all things too good to be true.  Well, a few months ago we had a long conversation on a particular topic and found out we had a similar view point.  When I was settled in to work, she walked in to my office and handed me a picture.  She has a baby boy who is 16 weeks old. In the picture is an image of a woman's face.  She took a series of pictures in a row as you often do with babies and only one picture has this image in it.  It's not transparent, it's not a reflection, it's not the TV, it's not a double exposure (she used a digital camera), it's a woman's face.  The face is very defined and looks like a painting from like Raphael or someone.  I immediately pointed at the face and was going to ask why there was a strange painting in the background.  I quickly realized that isn't something you say and just looked up at her.  She lives in a house they are renting.  The landlord is the man who built the house.  It's not old.  No one has passed away there.  One person in the office thought it might be his guardian angel.  The face is not scary.  She didn't even know it was in the image until she plugged her camera in and downloaded pictures to the computer.  She was clicking through them when she noticed this one had an extra face in it.  She was home alone with the kids.  The twin girls were asleep in their cribs.  The picture is totally mysterious.  We came up with every possible explanation we could think of and none of them make sense.  I asked if she had felt creepy at all when taking the pictures and said she hadn't.  Anyway, I suggested she show the picture to the landlord and ask if he knows the woman.  I will keep you posted if I hear more about this story.  Right now it is just a crazy mystery.

-I had my annual review.  I realized when it was over that they actually didn't give me any real concrete things to work on, other than to raise more money.  It was a fine review.  Not bad at all.  I am curious to see what kind of raises we get. Even with the best score possible a person is only eligible for a 3% raise.  The best score possible doesn't happen, because no one is perfect.  My supervisor did say I got one of the highest scores in the division, so that was kind of cool.  It felt like I aced a test.

-I had a dream last night that we had moved into a new to us home.  My mom was there visiting as were a large number of other people.  I was giving a sort of tour of the house and said I was thinking we should change which bedroom the master bedroom was with the nursery.  I opened the door to the master bedroom to show how small it was.  Then I opened the door to the nursery.  It was a large room with a smaller room off to the side.  The smaller room was a nursery, completely decked out in pink.  It didn't seem like I had kids yet, but I knew I would.  I was just totally plain as day pointing out the nursery.  My mom agreed I should switch the rooms up.  It was just an interesting dream.  I know what my dad would say about it, but haven't looked it up for myself yet.

-The hubby went to work today to find they moved him out of his office.  The is his 6th move in 4 years!  It's the second move that has happened while he has been on vacation! He was frustrated.  I don't blame him. I would be too.

-I am not sure if I actually ever posted this, but the end of September I was told I needed to have a few more tests done in preparation for IVF.  Basically, tests to make sure I was a good candidate for the procedure.  One such test is the AMH.  This was a blood test that essentially is thought to reflect how many eggs I might have in supply and got sent to Mayo Clinic.  They are the only facility in the nation that is able to conduct the testing.  I was informed the test results would take two weeks to come back.  I had calculated this out to be the Friday before we left and figured my luck would mean the results came while we were on vacation.  When I came back, I didn't have a message, so I called my doctor's office today.  I talked to my friendly PA Bonnie.  She said she had been waiting for my results to come back and had kept my chart on her desk.  She asked where I had the test done and was concerned she hadn't seen the paperwork come through.  She was going to do some research and call me back. Sure enough within half an hour she called.  She said that usually they want a 0.5 or higher.  At this moment, I am nearly positive I was holding my breath.  She continued, "your levels were a 2.0!" Right away, I said, "Awesome!" She agreed that was awesome.  We reviewed the next step in the process which involves ultrasounds and estrogen.  I also verified I need to have my annual done.  I feel like because I have been talking to so many doctors and had so many tests done that a pap smear should somehow be waved from the needed pre-IVF workup.  Snapping myself back to reality, I decided to call my Ob-Gyn next.

-The Ob-Gyn is booked through January 12, 2011. Seriously.  I know she is good, but who can wait THAT long to get in for an annual, not to mention I need to get a prescription refilled.  I have been seriously considering moving to an Ob-Gyn who had an office out of the town we live in.  The one I have gone to for the past few years started in town and moved to a neighboring town.  I liked her so much, I followed her.  My eye opening experience was actually having my gall bladder attack.  We didn't want to go to the local hospital, so we hopped in the car to drive to the neighboring town.  Literally, a block from my Ob-Gyn's office.  Well, there was no way I could make it that far.  We ended up going to the local hospital who took great care of me.  I realized that in an urgent or emergent situation, it might not be realistic to think I could make it a neighboring town and should consider a local Ob-Gyn.  I sort of feel like mine being so booked up might indicate a good time to find someone here in town.  If/when we are expecting a baby, it would be a lot easier for the dear hubby to make it to appointments if they were local. I guess I will spend a couple days asking around and reading a few reviews to try to find the right doctor.  Wish me luck!

-Finally, the most exciting part of my day...my sister called to tell me she bought her plane tickets to come visit me! I am so ecstatic to spend Thanksgiving together.  Yay!

Crazy Cuisine...Cincinnati Chili

In the evenings the hubby and I watch Food Network.  On several different shows they have talked about Cincinnati Chili.  The recipe always seemed so peculiar to me, that I was nervous to try it, but intrigued all at the same time! The chili is unique because it is served on top of spaghetti.  You can order it "one way, two way, three way, or four way" depending on the toppings you want.  I believe one way is topped with spaghetti. Two way is cheddar, three way is cheddar and onion, and four way adds in oyster crackers. This recipe has chocolate, cinnamon, and negates the usual chili ingredient of beans.  I finally worked up the guts to try interesting concoction.  I was amazed.  It did not taste like chili or spaghetti.  It was a spicy dish, not hot spice, but cinnamon, clove, allspice type spicy.  It reminds me of Indian food or even African food in a way.  The flavor is just so different from anything I have ever tasted.  While I was incredibly hesitant to try this recipe, I am happy to say I will continue to make it in the future! Supposedly, it tastes like a recipe from a famous restaurant called Skyline.  This chili has a cult following and I can see why!  So don't be nervous, go ahead and give it a shot!  Since this was a new to me experience, I did something I rarely do. I actually followed the recipe as best I could.  You can click here to find the recipe!  I didn't have allspice in my cupboard, but oddly enough I had pickling spice which had very similar seasonings to what was called for in this recipe.  I only used one pound of ground beef.  I also cheated slightly. After simmering my ground beef, I just rinsed it and added water again to simmer.  I didn't use the whole technique of putting it in the refrigerator overnight and skimming the fat off.  I also used a lot of water.  We have heavy duty pots that retain heat REALLY well, I found myself adding 1 cup of water every half hour to keep everything simmering nicely.  This says ten servings, but my pot made more like 5 servings.  Let me know if you try it, hope you find it to be just as wonderful as we did!

Pumpkin Perfection.

Today we got around to preparing our baking pumpkins.  I had eleven in my pumpkin patch.  Earlier we had used a couple to make pumpkin bars and bread.  Today, we made puree and measured 1 cup servings into freezer bags.  I am hoping I get to make the pie for Thanksgiving!  Here is how we prepared our pumpkins...we washed them, cut the stem off, sliced them in half, scooped out the guts, and put them cut side down in about a half inch of water on a baking sheet.  We baked them for an hour at 400 degrees.  We let let them cool and scooped out the flesh.  We finished by using the food process to puree it.  I plan to have a baking pumpkin patch again, it has been a very rewarding plant!  In fact, I tried a new recipe today and we both LOVE it!

Pumpkin Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bars

I originally got this recipe from the Weight Watchers website which claims it to be just a couple points a slice.  Mine is slightly higher and I did change the recipe from what was on the Weight Watchers site.  I think mine is higher because of the cranberries I used...the nutrition on the packages seem to be twice as high as what most websites site it should be.  In fact my chocolate chips were lower in calories than the cranberries were!  The Weight Watchers website did not use chocolate chips.  They used buttermilk and I used regular milk.  The final product is a cake like bar that has sweet chocolate accenting sour cranberries in a soft pumpkin confection.  It really is delicious!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Brown Sugar (I used dark)

4 Tbsp. Margarine (Mine was 60% vegetable oil)

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (You can certainly use canned, that's what the original recipe calls for)

1 Large Egg

1 Egg White

1/3 Cup Fat Free Milk

1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 Cups Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats

1 Tbsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice (I used Apple Pie Spice, because that's what I had on hand)

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Table Salt

2 oz. Craisins or other Dried Cranberries (I used 2-100 calorie packs of Craisins)

1 oz. Miniature Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour dust a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  In a large bowl cream brown sugar and margarine.  Beat in egg and egg white, pumpkin, and milk.  Mine looked very granular or almost slightly separated at this step, which concerned my slightly, but by the time it gets to the pan it will be mixed nicely.  In a separate medium-sized bowl combine flour, oats, pie spice, baking soda, and table salt. Stir in pumpkin mixture just until moistened.  Fold in cranberries and chocolate chips.  Spread evenly in baking pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into 18 rectangles.  Enjoy with a tall glass of milk or hot cup of tea or coffee.

Each bar has around 174 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of protein, 154 mg of sodium, and 384 mg of calcium.  This calculated out to 4 Weight Watchers Points per bar.  This is a great snack or could be a nice breakfast bar!

Home again.

Usually at the end of vacation, I am ready to go home.  This time, I wanted to stay on vacation.  We had such an enjoyable trip.  There were so many highlights, wonderful moments, and pictures I took with my brain so I could hold on to them forever.  Here are a few of those memories...

• Watching the sunset with my dear husband.
• Seeing an incredible ocean environment while snorkeling (under water film to be developed).
• Hearing a lady yell, "Lady, hey lady, hey pretty lady..." I'm sure you had to be there. She was hilarious.  She wanted to braid my hair.  I am not someone who wears tiny micro braids well.  My hair is fine, pokes out all over, and my scalp is so white! Needless to say, she didn't get my business.  Even though she spelled out her name ever so carefully so that I'd remember her, ha ha.
• A week without my cell phone, laptop, etc.  To just be with my husband, enjoying life.
• Leaving the casino with more money then we came with. J and N =2, Casino= 0.
• Enjoying incredible food without having to cook, clean, or plan!
• Amazing views of lighthouses, beautiful blue ocean, and seeing new places.
• Laughing, smiling, and continuing to giggle after seeing a hilarious comedian and other shows.
• Meeting new people from around the world.

Those are just a few highlights.  We hot tub, swam, went for walks, shared drinks, and in general just enjoyed life.  If you need a vacation, I suggest a cruise.  Next we want to do an Alaskan cruise! Watch out world, here we come!

Around the ship!

This was the Stardust Theater. It was gorgeous and a picture doesn't do any justice. We watched a Broadway type production, enjoyed a comedian a few different nights, watched a newlywed game, and had a lot of fun here!

I love all these flags.  Speaking of flags, there were people from all over the world on our ship.  It was incredible.  If you ever go to the Bahamas, I strongly suggest doing it on a cruise.  Awesome experience.

This was the Palace Restaurant.  We had some incredible meals at the seated restaurants.  My very favorites included seafood ceviche, prime rib, lobster, salmon eggs Benedict, and a bunch of other delicious food!

There was this stained glass that was awesome! The colors were absolutely incredible!

Enjoying dinner at the Palace.

This was the French Restaurant were every seat had a view of the ocean.

The place setting at La Bistro.  I would love a set of China like this.  The butterflies are gorgeous!

Room service! I have never ordered room service, until now! It was included in the cruise, so one day we ordered dessert.  Cheesecake with hot tea for me and chocolate cake with milk for the hubby.

The final evening, we had this little surprise was in our room on the last night! Delicious!

Towelpendous!

Dog.

Seal.

Rabbit.

My shot at a rabbit, I made mine a lop ear. I learned how to make the animals on the last day on board at a demonstration.  So come visit and I'll try to make some for the guest bedroom!

This was probably my favorite animal! I love the elephant.  Room Service made all of these, except the lop eared rabbit.  They are so cool!

Rockin' the Bahamas...Part 3 of 3

Great Stirrup Cay (pronounced Great Stirrup Key) is a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines.

A portion of the beach!

Lines of beach chairs ready for all of the cruisers to soak up the sun.

So, it started to rain and I actually thought it was hilarious! This is a picture of everyone huddled under a tent. I just giggled and enjoyed the rain.  It was fun to run through it!

I'd be happy if my jack-o-lanterns looked this good, let alone my watermelons!

We took tender boats from the ship to the island. They are still working on building a dock.  It was really fabulous to just swim in the ocean with little fish, soak up the sun (before the clouds rolled in), and enjoy the day.