Maybe I don't need a maid after all!

I've been getting quotes for maids this week, but it looks like Callie has taken it upon herself to pitch in around here. She thinks the Swiffer Duster is a handy tool with keeping the house clean, teehee!

Pupdate!

I know all you Calhoun and Callie fans are wondering why I am not posting pictures of the dogs! Well, we've been busy and the two barely slow down for a picture these days - especially Callie! Gosh that girl is impossible to photograph! Dogs are doing WONDERFUL together. Calhoun actually lets her win tug-of-war. She'll go up to him and just grab a toy out of his mouth, he has a look on his face sort of like, "meh, whatever". He's really taken a liking to her. The trainer, Sonja, is also helping us so much. Both dogs have mastered sit/stay, down/stay, and heel. Today we worked on "come" while on leash. Next week we'll work on an extended come - I have a hard time getting them to come in from the yard, especially Calhoun. Speaking of Mr. Calhoun, he's developed quite the digging problem. Trainer Sonja has instructed me to bury semi-fresh dog poop in his favorite hole; apparently it'll stop them. We'll see - I'll update you on that for sure, lol.


Another new thing I'm going to try is transferring the dogs to the kitchen during the day. We have two standard sized doorways into the kitchen, so I can easily put up baby gates to keep them in. We're going to test it while we're home and gradually break them in. We're trying to gradually work our way to them having full run of the house when we're not home, but Miss Callie has a ways to go! She is quite the little stinker. She LOVES to prance in the den carrying our flip flops - she always looks so proud. She's only destroyed one pair of shoes, and I didn't like them too much anyway, so it's ok! She also loves plastic hangers - I figured that out this weekend when I was cleaning out my closet and had hangers strewn all over the floor - she really went to town on one!


I've bored you with my words long enough. Here are a couple of pictures - I wish I could capture Callie's true beauty, but the little thing is never still! She has the funniest expressions! Thanks for reading!


We love to play together and chase all over the house!!



Calhoun with his muddy nose from digging holes!



Callie with one of her MANY toys!

I love to cook!

Ok so many of you have probably figured out I love to cook. I also LOVE veggies! I like them in all shapes forms and varieties. The other day I made a zero point (I'm on Weight Watchers) salad consisting of steamed fresh asparagus with grape tomatoes tossed in a balsamic vinegar, garlic and OJ blend. It was yummy! It was also beautiful! When you cook asparagus just right, it gets the most vibrant green color - that mixed with the red tomatoes made for a purty picture, hehe.






Tonight I made up my own recipe. I tossed some vidalia onions, portobello mushrooms and zucchini in the skillet with some EVOO. Then I stacked them up along with some fresh tomatoes and topped them with some part skim mozzarella cheese and broiled it in the oven. I'll call them...."portobello stackers" - original, I know! :o) They were REALLY good too, I gobbled them up.

Another Yummy Recipe - Mexican Chicken Soup

Have you ever had the soup from Mexican restaurants? It's delish! It is a wonderful twist on traditional chicken soup. It's full of flavor and I add extra lime and cilantro to give it a kick. Here's the recipe, enjoy!


INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 cloves of garlic (don't be shy!)
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup water
3 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup cooked white rice
1 can diced tomatoes (with juices)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (again, don't be shy)
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
1 lime


DIRECTIONS
Put chicken breasts in a pot and add just enough water to cover. Sprinkle in about half a pack of Taco Seasoning. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes with the lid on. Remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes with lid on.


While the chicken is cooking, heat oil in a stockpot and cook the garlic and celery until soft. Stir in the water and chicken broth. Season with cumin, black pepper and remaining taco seasoning mix. Simmer for 30 minutes for the flavors to mingle.


Once chicken is done, place on plate to cool. Once cool shred using two forks or just use your fingers - I use my fingers because it's faster. Using the same water from the chicken, place a boil-in-bag of white rice in the water and boil according to package directions.


Add the can of tomatoes, rice, cilantro and chicken, simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve hot topped with avocado, and a squirt of fresh lime.

California Dreamin

I went to the National Occupational Therapy Conference in Long Beach, CA April 9-12. I've only been to San Francisco, so I've never been to Southern Cali. It is beautiful there. No pollen, no clouds, beautiful beaches, and beautiful homes. The nice areas of town are amazing and the bad areas are, well, bad. There's not much in between! I was amazed at the styles of architecture of the homes long the beach. They ranged from Spanish, to modern, to craftsman, to traditional, and all in between. The craftsman homes really took my breath away! I tried to snap pictures as we were driving down the road, but it was hard. We stayed right outside of Long Beach in Seal Beach. It's a quaint little beach town with multi million dollar homes (6 Million for a 4 BR/3 BA average looking home). I don't know what people out there do for a living, but whatever it is, they are making lots of money. I also noticed nobody ever seems to work. We were out and about all hours of the morning, day and night and people were always out walking their dogs, strolling their children down the beach, sipping coffee at a coffee shop, and just having fun. It's so relaxed out there and you will see all sorts of people. Gayla, my coworker, and I seemed to be the only one to notice all the strange types of people. Nobody there seems to notice it - pretty much anything goes! It was a great place to visit, I'd love to go back for vacation one day. I really enjoyed myself! Oh, and the conference was ok too :o)


I'll post a few pictures here, but CLICK HERE to see the whole album.

Cankleicious

Let me preface this that Adam did consent to this post and yes, we will be going to get him a pedicure after all of this is over. Last night (Monday) Adam went to open gym night to play basketball at the church we've been visiting. He fell down and severely sprained his ankle. We were afraid it was broken, but thankfully the x-ray proved that it was just a bad sprain. He's had problems with this ankle all his life, so he'll probably need to wear a support band next time he plays any sports. It hurts really bad and has turned black and blue today. He's hobbling around all pitiful. I'm not sure what he's going to do while I'm gone to CA this week (I'll be there through Sunday for a conference). It is rather funny looking though, he definitely has a "cankle" now! LOL

A comparison: cankle vs. ankle


The black and blueness of it all