The Second Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This was my view on the way to work on Monday. It was very pretty, but come on; can we be done with winter? It snowed Monday, Wednesday and Thursday here. Enough! It is time for spring. Flowers, grass, sun. Remember? Everyone loves spring, and everyone would like to see it arrive!

Had a wonderful time in Florida. I was amazed at the amount of retired people and dogs. My dad even joked that they won't let them live there full time unless that got a dog. I don't see either happening anytime soon. The condo was beautiful. Nicest rental we have ever had. But it was full of big clunky furniture that caused me to bruise and cut my knee, bruise my hip and stubbed my toe like ten times. Not old (or clumsy) people friendly. It was nice to sit in the sun and hang out with my family. The history buff in my also had a great time. On one particularly windy day we visited the Edison-Ford Estates in Fort Myers. I think that it would be very cool to visit again in the summer when the wind wasn't 90 miles an hour off of the river it over looks. It was cold, but I will not complain because it was 10 degrees in Chicago that day, it could have been worse. Edison and Ford had houses right next to each other and a gate in the middle, I could imagine them meeting by that gate and have a couple of beverages in the evenings. Below is a rubber tree that Edison planed on the property. He planted alot of unique plants and trees on the property. It is a very educational place and I recommend it if you are ever in the area.

 

 Cool, huh?

So the recipe this week was grilled pork chops, and broccoli cheese rice. The rice was bland, so that recipe is not a keeper, but the pork chops turned out great. There was a minor issue with the smoke alarm going off a couple of times, and we had to open a couple of windows and turn on the ceiling fan, but it was worth it. I love that grill pan, best buy I've made in along time. Today I went to the grocery store (cute firefighters=easier grocery shopping) and got everything I needed to make my creamy crab stuffed shells. Cannot wait to try them, that's tomorrow's project.


So I gave up ice cream and cheese puffs for lent. I admit it, I cheated. I didn't have good information prior to making my decision. It is shamrock shake season, and I totally forgot about that. I love them. I can't miss having one, so I had one yesterday. It was yummy. I will also admit that I'm an ice cream addict. This is what happens to you when your family owns a dairy queen during your formative years. I will try to limit them. They made them fancier this year by changing the cup and adding whipped cream and a cherry (all ice cream is better with a whipped cream and a cherry - doesn't matter what kind).

 

Shake, anyone?

So what else is going on...I've discovered that waiting to watch tv shows on DVD (or on Netflix) is the way to go. I've finally starting watching the office and I cannot get enough of it. It is too funny, and the characters do remind me of people that I have worked with in the past. So I'm caught up on that, and have moved on Leverage (super cute guy in that one). I have two more episode of Weeds season 5 and I will be caught up there. I hope that Nancy realizes that she is supposed to be with Andy, I do not like the Mexican drug lord.

Better go check on Hubba he is making some DYI repairs to his truck. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and week.