Maui!

See this post, number 17. We got it!! I'm much too excited to type now. More later...

Addie and the Unfortunate Doll

John's parents gave Addie a cute little doll for Christmas and Addie has developed sort of a love/hate relationship with it. She sometimes loves to be really gentle with the doll and treats it like it's just precious. Other times, she loves to just poke it in the eye, bite its head and generally torment it. Last week, Addie didn't know anyone was watching her and she started playing with the doll. At first she was so sweet with it, and she kind of petted it and was very gentle. Then she picked the doll up under its arms, looked at it right in the eyes for about 10 seconds, then she threw her head back and headbutted it as hard as she could. This unfortunate doll does not stand a chance against Addie, who is the queen of headbutting. Stay tuned for more Addie vs the Unfortunate Doll adventures.

Can't Help Myself

I couldn't help it. I know I said I wasn't planting a garden this year, since the house is for sale, but I started to think to myself "what if the house doesn't sell for 5-6 months?" It's possible, in this market, right? Plus, our neighbor a few house down has the most amazing garden ever, which has affected me in two ways: 1) I'm completely jealous and have severe garden envy every time I walk past his yard and 2) this neighbor has decided to start a Saturday morning neighborhood "Farmer's Market" of sorts, where all the neighbors can bring their extra produce and trade for something they may not have grown this year. If I don't have a garden this year, what can I trade with? See my point? Plus, the thought of not having garden fresh vegetables this year makes me feel empty. So I put in a simple garden: tomatoes, tomatillos, crookneck squash, zucchini, cucumbers, jalapenos, anaheims and the usual herbs (basil and parsley are new this year, and there are old perennials like rosemary, sage, thyme, chives, oregano and mint that are back). All in all, I feel good for having a garden in my yard, even if the house does sell quickly and I find out that I just spent two days planting someone else's garden.

Pick Me Up

If you haven't seen the latest Pixar offering "UP", do yourself a favor, drop what you're doing now and rush to the closest theater. We saw this movie last night and loved, loved, loved it. Someone told me that the first 20 minutes would make me cry, and they were right. Well done, Ed Catmull, well done. The short was fantastic too, by the way. I give "UP" 2 thumbs up, 5 stars, fresh tomatoes, whatever. It's just good.

Boring

I received the ultimate insult last night. I was at my friend Lisa's house and she told me "Your blog is boring. You never post anything." Painful, but true. So Lisa, this post is dedicated to you.

It really has been much too long since I posted. What's new, you ask? Here are 20 random things that will catch you up with my life:

1. Addie just got over the worst illness! She had a fever of 103 for about 4 days straight. Then she developed cold sores all over her lips and got them in her mouth, on her tongue and gums. She didn't eat hardly anything for about 3 days, and when she did eat, she would scream because food hurt her mouth. SO sad. However, she's much better now and is back to wreaking havoc and destroying things around the house. Yesterday John caught her eating the carpet in our living room, just tearing up peices and trying to unravel it with her teeth. Oh, and she has also figured out a way to open flip top water bottles, using her bottom teeth as a bottle opener.
   
2. We just put our house up for sale. It made my heart hurt to see the sign out front because I love our house, but it's just a little too small.
   
3. Because the house is up for sale, I have not planted a garden for the first time in 9 years. I'm having some major gardening withdrawal pains and also suffer from garden envy. If our house doesn't sell until fall, I'm going to be ticked about this.
   
4. Had a great time this weekend. Went to the Farmer's Market downtown, bought goat cheese, goat cheese yogurt, farm fresh eggs, fresh beet greens and grass feed beef (lunch today). Also got some great street food and tried Maestro's gelato for an after market treat. Had a good friend over for dinner that night and grilled plank salmon, corn on the cob and new potatoes, and served them with fresh caprese salad. Almost a perfect Saturday. Incidentally, Maestro's is AWESOME! Try it if you haven't been there. They have tons of gelato flavors and both sweet and savory crepes.
   
5. Addie has developed an evil laugh. It's almost like a villain in a movie. She did it for about 20 minutes straight in Maestro's on Saturday, due to their amazing echo in their restaurant. I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out, but the owners were actually very cool and did evil laughs back at her. We'll be going back there for sure.
6. I love "Bobby Flay's Grill It". I'm kind of obsessed with grilling these days and have gotten some great ideas from that show. Several of the dishes featured on last week's marathon have made it to the menu this week.
7. I'm so excited about the new bike trailer we bought from Lisa! She and her hubby sold us their baby bike trailer and I'm excited beyond words to start riding with Addie in tow. She's going to love the canyon rides!
8. John and some friends are planning a treasure hunting trip in a couple of weeks. Should be so much fun! His dad is going with them and it will be a fun boy's day out.
   
9. I'm loving golf this year. I've been about 3 times so far and I'm getting a few kinks worked out of my game.
   
10. FYI, I am absolutely crazy about my husband and little girl. They are so stinking amazing. I'm very lucky.
11. I'm excited for Charlotte to come out and visit this summer. I want to meet Bri!
12. I was so overwhelming happy at the American Idol results!!!!!!
    
13. I've replaced American Idol with "So You Think You Can Dance". Mary is no Paula, but she'll do for now.
14. Addie's 1 year birthday is in less than three weeks! I need to get her party planned.
15. My new weakness: Ghiradelli's dark chocolate bar with caramel filling.
    
16. We're going to a "Save Rock Canyon" rally on Saturday morning. For those who don't know, Rock Canyon is being threatened by a loser who wants to turn it into a mining operation. This would be a huge tragedy. To learn more, click here.
17. We put in a request to trade our timeshare week for a week in Maui in the fall. Fingers crossed!
18. I hate my allergies this year.
    
19. I'm glad to know where I came from, why I'm here and where I'm going. It's good news indeed.
20. I'm considering adding an "overheard" feature to my blog. I hear the most random snippets of conversations. Watch for that!

Ah, it feels good to blog. I think I'm back on the wagon. Happy Lisa? :)