Lawd, I Survived Leap Month

Y'all. February about broke me. So here we are, on the last day of the month. Well, for leap year, anyway. And I have made it. So much for March being the most cruel month. But I will tell you, if March is half the raging bitch February was, sign me up for AA now. Because I will be curled in a fetal position, drooling and clutching my vodka bottle by March 30.

First, right after my last post, I gots the flu. And, holy mother of pearl, was it NOT fun. I am not sure I have ever had the flu, but let me tell you, it is NOT fun. And I didn't even have a full-fledged flu. I had a like mini-flu. But I was still out of work three days and felt bad for another week.

Then, right on the heels of my flu, I rushed headlong into our shelter's (now) second biggest fundraiser of the year, which I had been working on for months. The good news is we raised $19K+, more than doubling last year's take. The bad news is I am too damn old for 19 hour days. I felt like a Mac truck had hit me for about three days.

THEN, right after that, I started getting a cyst. In a VERY sensitive place. I won't go all TMI, but let's say I finally went to have it lanced today and it was, by far, one of the top three most painful things I've ever experienced. I was freakin' keening, for God's sake. My lack of control was somewhat embarrassing, but it was excruciating.

So, you can see, NOT a fun February on the health and wellness side. But on the "count my blessings" side, there are some highlights from the month. First, I made several new recipes including:

Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

Individual Lasagnas

Chocolate Cobbler

All of these were dee-lish-us. Sorry the photos are crapola quality....I took them all on my phone. I also finished the final two books of the Hunger Games trilogy. I wish the ending had been a wee bit happier, but my sis and I have already made plans to see the movie opening weekend, and I am excited about seeing the movie.

Valentine's Day also was a great day....the hubs got me a beautiful set of costume jewelry and reservations to FINALLY go to Woodfire Grill, which we are doing this Saturday. SO excited. I gave the hubs two pieces of artwork:

I took this photo of a peony in our garden last year and my local folk artist friend Suzy Smith made the frame and did this special mounting/treatment to the photo. LOVE how it turned out.

And my folk art friend from Alabama made this custom piece for me...it's a bunny and monkey and has other special details to it, as well, that relate to our romance. Also LOVE how it turned out.

Well, peeps, that's all my catching up for now. I apologize for being gone so long and will try to do better now that February is behind me. I hope you all had a good month and are doing well. Peace and Bunny Love, B.

Pictures Speak Louder

Well, my photo taking has been shoddy at best of late, but I thought I would share some random photos of things from the past week that seem to be collecting on my cell phone. Here we go!

I have really been off drinking wine for quite a while. First, there was the disastrous gallbladder episode post-holiday season 2010 when I gorged on pinot noir. But, even more damning to my vino drinking, it is hard for me to drink a whole bottle before it goes bad (yes, really) since the hubs does not drink. And it is a sin to waste wine. However, I have had a hankering of late and decided to buy a bottle last week. It was this Toasted Head Cab. And it was quite tasty.

Encouraged and still having a hankering, I indulged this week in this Two Vines Cab. This one was good, but not as tasty as the Toasted Head. Now I will tell you that I choose my wines based on 1) price ($8-10) and 2) the label/name (has to be appealing to me). Yes, I also completely judge a book by its cover. I don't know why I have suddenly started going cab. Pinot noir is like a summer red to me, and I just ain't down with merlots right now. Any recommendations? Give me a shout in comments.

I have been driving my mom's SUV this week because we have had car problems. Charlie has been sans car seat. I took this photo of him last night on the way home. His chin resting on the door frame, looking wistful. I am totally going to have to wash the dog boogers and slobber off that window. But I love my boy.

 

This photo totally sucks but the recipe was new and delish. Cheeseburger flatbread melts. These are ridiculously easy to make and you can vary them with a Mexican version or Italian version....endless options. I served with iceberg wedge (bacon and ranch) and the whole meal cook time, start to finish, was about 20 minutes. Winning!

The shelter where I work is having a benefit auction fundraiser in two weeks (signal my panic attack). The benefit focuses on art and I went to the ATL today to pick up a piece of art from a folk artist I met at Folk Fest last year. I wound up having lunch with her and a friend of hers who made this necklace. I was admiring the necklace (it is impressive...about 2 inches square and quarter inch thick and just funky and cool) and the lady took it off and gave it to me! WOW! BTW, that's a print of a pig she painted in the background. Very kind gesture. Knocked my socks off. We had lunch at the OK Cafe!

I had not been to the cafe in YEARS but the food was as yummy as I remember. It's a retro diner vibe. They have been a staple in the ATL for about 25 years. Love the attention to detail on the pot pie crust.

Lastly, this was the sunset over the lake last night near my home. I took this on my camera phone. While driving. Pretty.

Well, I am off. I have to go read some Hunger Games and I am going in to work tomorrow to knock some stuff out for that auction I mentioned. Hope you all have a great weekend! Smooches, B.