Thinking of my Coworker

One of my coworkers suffered a serious heart attack early Saturday morning, and he had to have quadruple bypass immediately. One side of his heart responded well, the other side that feeds lungs and other half of body isn't doing as well. Needless to say, he is in very grave condition at this time, and we all found out at work this morning. He has a great sense of humor and always has the latest good recipe (or experiment) to share with me. He and his wife are in my prayers, and I am hoping for the best. Keep Steve in your prayers.

Great Music

Once again, I had a fabulous time at Eddie's Attic last night. The shows there never cease to amaze me. The singer-songwriters I have heard there have ALWAYS been absolutely incredible. In addition to Emily Saliers and Caroline Aiken, there were seven other musicians performing in the round: Janet McLaughlin, Tomi and Trina from Three5Human, and Ty, Doris and Nate from Girlyman. Everyone but Emily was new to me. I loved all of them. It was so interesting to hear the difference between their voices and the way they played their guitars (instrument of choice for the most part). Caroline played an amazing song with a 12-string. Tomi and Trina were rockin' and soulful. Janet had some great new songs, and I just loved her low voice. The harmonies of Girlyman were outstanding and I have never heard their like before. As different as they were, you could also tell the influence of the Indigo Girls in their songs and styles. I invite you to check out everyone's music above - you can Google them all. Again, amazing show, and I just love going to Eddie's Attic!

More Snow! For real, this time.

We got a good bit more snow today, starting about 10:30 or so this morning. It's finally slowed down, and I think some melted, but the temperature's dropping so some may stay frozen overnight. My friend cancelled her birthday movie and dinner outing for fear that the roads would be frozen later and thus not safe for her guests to be out. It should be better tomorrow, so she's rescheduled for then.

Thoth got his first taste of snow. We thought that he would not like his paws cold and wet, but he didn't seem to mind. He was mesmerized by the falling white specks and did a lot of sniffing. Snow Cat!

Snow!

It actually snowed here in Georgia yesterday! It started falling around 4 pm - everyone at work was so excited to see big flakes falling from our 4th floor perch. It was actually sticking to cars and cold surfaces. I had a meeting after work and then tickets to the GT vs UNC basketball game (don't ask, but it was a close one...), so I didn't get home until way after dark. By then it had turned into rain. Here's what was left outside the house this morning. A friend of mine told me that more may be coming this weekend - it would be great to get another inch or so, just so I can throw Thoth outside and give him his first kitty experience in the snow.

Mmm...Carrot-Pineapple Cake!

I finally got my baking bug back (recovered from all the holiday baking, I guess), plus DH wanted to do something with me, so we made a new cake last night. We both really like carrot cake, but DH hates cream cheese, therefore cream cheese icing, which typically comes with carrot cake, is also on the list of do-not-eats. So I read the recipe in my handy-dandy Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (you know, the one with the red and white checkers on it), and we decide to substitute the icing recipe for some ready-made vanilla that we have on hand. At the bottom of the recipe where it lists alternate/additive ingredients, it suggests adding a can of crushed pineapple to make carrot-pineapple cake. I pointed this out to DH, thinking that this would probably make it even moister (moist cake is a plus in our house), and what do you know! I actually have an 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple in the pantry. So we tried it all out, and it was super dee-LISH! The hardest part was shredding 3 cups of carrots. Highly recommend adding the pineapple, and maybe less of the oil. It came out light, fluffy, and yummy. I would post a picture of it, but since we don't like tons of icing, we left off icing the sides and it doesn't look as pretty. But my stomach doesn't care...mmm...

Resolutions

DH and I got one step closer to one of our resolutions today - we got our alumni campus cards ("Buzzcards") so that we can join the GT CRC (Campus Recreation Center). In looking at fitness places around town (YMCA, LA Fitness, and the like), CRC is a pretty good deal for alumni. It's $30/month, with only $10 more a month to add a spouse. Hope to stop by there and join up on Wednesday. Then we can exercise away! Not much going on this week other than getting that squared away and studying for ARE...another resolution!

Skates, Screws, and Strawberry Pound

It's been awhile since I've ice skated, but when we went last night with a group of friends, it seemed to be a lot harder than I remembered! It took me about 2 loops around the rink and an ice-skating concept/technique review with my friend's husband (who is an avid pick-up ice hockey player) before I started feeling more comfortable. Don't get me wrong - you would still not want to lean on me by the time I got going, but I did not fall once, and for that I am quite proud. I think I was actually more concerned about the kids and wobbly adults around me either clutching at me in a last-second attempt to remain upright or downright smacking into me and taking me down with them. Neither happened fortunately. I did have a pretty good time, despite the arch on my right skate eventually causing me to retire, but I felt I got my $3 rental fee's worth out of them. DH remained on the sidelines, as he did not want to aggravate his soccer ankle injury of a few weeks ago. Smart choice.

In taking our Christmas tree to the chipper collection area yesterday, we noticed my rear right tire was flat. I investigated today and found a screw in the tire, so took it in (luckily from my days living on campus during Olympics construction, I now get the road hazard coverage on ALL my tires) and got it patched no problem for free. It did get me to do a few other maintenance things to my old girl that I have been meaning to do. She got her tires (including the spare) to the correct PSI and a new set of wipers too!

I'll end on a high note... After ice skating last night, our group headed to nearby downtown Kennesaw for a bite. Our leader had read some good reviews about Capers on Main (http://capersonmainst.com/), so we tried it out. The food was absolutely magnificent, great service, and the desserts were to DIE for! We shared an Ahi tuna special, and for dessert DH tried the Chocolate Intemperance cake and I the toasted strawberry pound. What is a "toasted strawberry pound," you might ask? Why it is two slices of toasted pound cake, with two SLABS of vanilla ice cream between layers, and a scoop of homemade whipped cream on top. Can you say YUMMMM?!? Needless to say, we highly recommend trying the place out if you are ever in the Kennesaw area.

Mahjong

One of the things I love about holidays with my family is playing Mahjong with them. It's only about once a year and I always need a refresher, but it is a lot of fun to play, and I'm not sure why I haven't taught more of my friends here to play it so that I have folks to play with here in town. I even have my own set! We played some at home the day before New Year's Eve and also at the New Year's Eve party that we attended. Here's a great hand that I won with while playing with my family. Hu! (I win!)

Happy New Year, everyone!