Just another Sunday

First, let me apologize for the lack of posts Friday and Saturday.  It completely slipped my mind Friday and only briefly flitted through on Saturday.  And quite frankly, just fluttered into my mind tonight (yes, it's rapidly approaching bedtime!).  I'm not sure that the YDA Convention was entirely worth my time from an income standpoint, but it did give me an opportunity to expose a LOT of folks to Stella & Dot and will lead to a couple of trunk shows, too!  It's all about planting seeds, and this farmer is beat!

Tonight, I finally made it to a July cookout at church (did I mention I fell asleep last week and didn't wake up until it was over?  Oops.), which is great considering that it's the last one! J made the best burgers to grill there, and I fully intend to make use of that knowledge in the future!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends!

Thankful Thursday--July 28

This week's Thankful Thursday post is a bit late in going up simply because I was up late Wednesday preparing for/up way early Thursday driving to the Young Democrats of America convention in Louisville. Why, you might wonder, am I attesting this event? Because they accepted me as one of their vendors and I figure event young Democrats have jewelry needs! After the rush of waking up ad driving to Louisville before the sun even came up, the downtime during sessions is a bit tough, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to be here.

I'm thankful, too, this week for the quiet days I started the week with. As I prepare to go back to work, I've become all too aware that my days to tackle projects around the house will be limited (as will mornings devoted to reading a book cover to cover). I'm so thankful that I was able to do both of these things this week!

Finally, I mentioned a month or so ago that I was thankful for new opportunities. I've referenced my new job a few times, but have been intentionally vague. Y'all know how I am about change, and saying it out lOud just makes it all so real, you know? Anyhow, starting Monday I'll be taking my Jean-of-all-trades act to church, as I serve our parish in an adminstrative role, as minster to youth ad their families, and with a touch of wedding promotion/coordination thrown in for good measure. I really didn't dream when I left Girl Scours almost a year ago that it would be so long before I found my way back to a desk job, and I'm actually getting pretty excited about it. I'm so thankful for this opportunity that will allow me to flex my desk-job muscles and still reap the benefits of working part time.

What are you thankful for this week?

A Rose by any other appearance...

Back in May I showed you a picture of the rose bush along our driveway.  While I do love the rose bush, particularly in May when it blooms, it's had a tendancy to grow outward into the driveway.  That wouldn't be a problem except that I park in front of it and have to dodge its thorny shoots every time I go to my car.  So as of this week, here is our bush:

It isn't nearly as impressive, but the thorn-free walk to and from my car (together with a pretty black trellis that matches most of the other accessories on the front of the house) makes it worthwhile. 

Multi-purpose cake

Sunday was a special day at St. Raphael's.  We both celebrated the return of one of our favorite and most active families and wished two of our members farewell as they each move closer to family (interestingly, to me, one went to California and the other to DC...).  As is typical of our parish, it was decided that we would celebrate with cake.  This brought on a tough decision for me--How does one combine "yay, you're home!" with "boo, we'll miss you!"??

After much thought, it dawned on me that the best way would be to play into St. Raphael (for whom our parish is named).  We have a parish logo that references the book of Tobit, and particularly the idea of a successful journey.  Since we're a parish who pray for and celebrate all kinds of travelers, it seemed reasonable to use our logo and that verse.  Here is the final product:

This was actually a fairly easy cake to put together.  We wanted to do a half-sheet cake, and since I have some weird issue with single layer cakes, I was able to make two half-sheets--one chocolate and one white--then cut each in half and stack them for a double-layer half-chocolate/half-white half-sheet cake. Then, it was just a matter of frosting and decorating.  I should have evened out the layers before frosting, and definitely regretted that, but in general, I think it turned out okay!

Summer To-Do List Check-Up

Since we're most of the way through July, and a bit more than halfway through summer (meteorlogically speaking), I decided it was time to check in on our to-do list.  I mentioned the list here and here, and and am happy to actually cross a few things off!

Bathroom
Find and install a light fixture
Re-grout and seal floor

Outside
Paint/Replace shutters

Replace doorbell (Read about it here)
Address brass porch light (replace or paint black)
Buy/build black trellis for roses
Build pretty new mailbox post
Have gutters replaced
Demo/Rebuild deck
Move storage building

Library
Remove mismatched bookshelves
Build base for barrister bookshelves
Clean and reorganize laundry room (for space to finish built-ins)
Sand and Stain shelves for built-ins
Build countertop for built-ins
Install built-ins

We're still almost done with the bathroom (Long story on the light fixture, but the short version is that it's now awaiting installation; still need to redo the grout...eventually...), and the outside hasn't quite gotten the attention I'd hoped for, but considering that I was out of town a third of the time, I'm okay with it.  The laundry room is now ready to be turned into a workshop so that we can finish the library shelves, so that's great progress!  Really need to so something about those gutters though...

Don't you love...

...a productive weekend?  J and I had one of those rare blessedly empty weekends and managed to fill it with just the right combination of relaxation and productivity. 

Saturday was by far the most productive, and Sunday far and away the most relaxing (I was up a little early to finish a cake before church, and countered the early wake up with an extra-long afternoon nap).  We also managed to watch three of the Harry Potter movies this weekend.  Two were on TV Saturday (three and four), and Sunday evening we rented the fifth from iTunes (who knew you could rent movies from them??).  I have a feeling that six and seven-a (and probably seven-b in the theater) are in our near future!

The most productive part of the weekend (aside from the cake I mentioned, which you'll probably see Tuesday) was in the laundry room (which you'll actually read more about in this week's Melton Point Monday post).  The laundry room totally wasn't on the 'to do' list for the weekend, but I'm generally not one to ignore the inspiration to clean when it pops up (not a frequent thing, you know). 

The only part of the weekend that I'm disappointed with is that my afternoon nap actually extended too far into the evening to make it to the cookout at church this evening.  Not that I've made it to any of this summer cookouts, but I did hope to see my co-teacher and this family, who moved back from England this week. I figure I've still got one more cookout before July is over though... (Hi Chris! Welcome back!) 

Saturday smells like... Duck Fat in the Deep Fryer

J, ever willing to please me, provided more duck fat fried goodness so I wouldn't be left with nothing to post today.  First, he sliced a cucumber and tossed them in.  Now, I'm totally open to comments on this, as they weren't quite as crispy as you'd expect.  Should we have baked the cucumber slices or done something else to dry them out before frying?  To be Atkins-friendly you've got to avoid breading, and actually, I think J was going for a chip-like texture.

This morning, he offered up some of the most delicious bacon for breakfast.  When I wandered into the kitchen to investigate, I discovered that he'd deep fried the bacon in more duck fat.  Y'all.  I don't know if you've ever eaten pig fat fried in duck fat, but believe me when I say it's pretty darn good.  Yes, I stopped at two slices before my arteries turned into fat themselves.

I'm both nervous and excited anticipating what he might toss into the deep fryer next...