A Weekend Sublime

This was a pretty good weekend. A fairly nice balance of personal, professional, remodel and rest. Yesterday, the hubs and I went back to the paint place to have them lighten the stain (I told him I was NOT going to make another decision without him!) and we got a pretty perfect tint. Then, it was home, where I knocked out a few freelance projects I needed to get done. And I actually had time to take a little nap and read for a little bit. Wow.

Last night, it was a family birthday night--sis and sis-in-law, whose birthdays are about a week apart. We went to this kitschy Italian restaurant which serves family style. It was all good, but I tell ya, those kids got a little out of hand. They are pretty wild for a bunch of gradeschoolers:


M. polishing off his umpteenth glass.


K. finishing up her round after collecting "tips" from the other patrons for her "entertainment."


D. and A. all but passed out after kicking back and partying hard.

OK, don't call DFACS on the Bunny Fam--we keed, we keed! But I did think they were funny pics. After dinner, we headed home to movie and bed. This morning, I went to a W-S class on Roasting (more on that later) while my sweet hubs stayed here and cleaned the house. This afternoon, we stained cedar siding with our freshly lightened stain--whew, what a chore! I will try to remember to take pics tomorrow. It is going much slower than I thought but we can only move so fast. Oh well. And that cedar SUCKS up the stain like a high-powered Hoover. I see many more gallons in our future. Sigh.

What I'm Cooking:
Well, as I mentioned, last night we were out for familia dinner, but tonight I made the BEST meal!!! I went a little crazy at W-S--my VISA is still bleeding from the damage--but I just went all in. I have decided I need to get a part-time job just to support my new W-S habit. It's bad. Really bad. So, I bought this:


I have COVETED this ever since the first class when little Jake used it. It is SO, SO awesome! It totally works too! Tonight, I coarsely sliced some sweet potatoes, then diced them with this chopper, tossed them with olive oil, $10 salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven. YUM.MEE. I also cooked a boneless pork tenderloin in the slow cooker today and needed something great to dress it up. So I tried this:


Holy cow! This was great! I heated it and, at little Jake's suggestion, threw in a little heavy cream and made it gravy-ish. So, so good. Slap-your-mama good. Seriously. I just steamed a little broccoli in the awesome Ziploc steamer bags to serve with. Here it all is plated:


What a good dinner! It deserved wine (well, ok, I had wine) and candlelight. I bought some other goodies too, but I will save those for a future blog.

What I'm Listening To:
I am still loving Let It Be My by Ray LaMontagne. He is a really great singer-songwriter. Here are some of the lyrics:

There comes a time,
A time in everyone's life
When nothing seems to go your way,
When nothing seems to turn out right

There may come a time,
You just can't seem to find your place
For every door you open,
Seems like you get two slammed in your face

That's when you need someone,
Someone that you, you can call.
When all your faith is gone,
It feels like you can't go on

Let it be me
Let it be me
If it's a friend that you need
Let it be me
Let it be me

What I'm Reading:
OOO--I started a new book which I love--More Than This by Margo Candela. Really like it and can't wait to read more!

What's On My Mind
A hot shower, a glass of wine and reading my book in bed.

What's My Meme:
Do you have any phobia or anxiety-type fears?
1. Heights
2. Deep bodies of water.
3. High bridges over deep bodies of water.

So, I am off to try to make it an early night. Later taters!