An adventure in frustration

Yesterday:

• Call DMV to see what type of payments they accept. Voicemail indicates local checks are accepted.
  

My day:

• 8: Get up, get dressed and eat breakfast. Drive off towards the downtown KCMO DMV to get my tag and registration.
• 9-930: Circle downtown looking for a parking spot.
• 945: Get in long line at DMV to see sign that says "Checks accepted with MO drivers license only."
• 10: Get back in Daphne. Drive to the bank and get a fat wad of cash.
• 1030: Decide to stop at the grocery store since I am already on that side of town.
• 1035: Realize I left my grocery list at home. Haphazardly pick out groceries. Barely manage to get out without giving in to temptation and buying donuts.
  
• 11-1120: Back at DMV circling parking lot looking for a spot.
• 1120-noon: Wait in line at the DMV. When I reach the front, am told that I need a "property tax" form which is available 2 blocks down the street at the courthouse.
• noon-1210: Walk to the courthouse in the freezing wind, clutching my cash-filled purse tightly. Go through security. See the long line to get the property tax form and walk back to my car clutching my purse even more tightly.
• 1215-1245: Drive 30 miles to the Toyota dealership to make my 1pm appointment to get a spare-key made for daphne.
  
• 1245-115: Eat a bowl of not-so-yummy soup, peruse the style section of the paper, and drink a cup of steaming extra-strong coffee. Wait for key to be made.
  
• 115: Decide the lines in Lees Summit are probably safer (and shorter) so hit up the Lees Summit City Hall to get my property tax form.
• 115-120: Wait in line at City Hall. Get to front of line. Am told I need proof of my address (dated January 2008.) Frantically dig through my purse. Find no such document. Unfortunately price chopper card does not count. Subsequently freak out.
• 120-130: Persuade a nice office assistant to let me use their computer to print out a bank statement dated 1/08. God bless online banking!
• 130-145: Wait in line at city hall again for property tax form.
• 150: Leave city hall victorious with property tax form in hand and head to the Lees Summit DMV.
• 2: Take a number at DMV. Wait patiently. Wait a little less patiently. Start tapping my foot and willing my number to be called.
  
• 300: Realize I'm next. Unfortunately so does the rather-tall and tough-looking lady sitting next to me (#114), who turns to me and says, "You know, I could take you." To which I look her in the eyes and calmly reply, "Today, I don't think you could."
  
• 315: Number 90 is finally called. Pay an obscene amount of money (my entire fat wad and then some.) Leave with license plates in hand.
• 345: Head to Target for some retail therapy. Realize I am too tired and delirious to shop. Buy a magazine and head home.
• 415: Arrive home. Exhausted.
  

busted!

I'm so in trouble for posting this!

I think they might actually love each other. 5 minutes after taping "ultimate fighting", elo is calmly taking a bath in the middle of the floor. all is well?


ps. be sure you have the volume on to catch the growls!

recent adventures in knitting

Despite elo's bit of naughtiness my oh-so-soft little scarf was completed on schedule along with a stripey tunic. Lots of lovely knitting time lately!

my new girls!

Precious!

Emily - I hope you don't mind me using your facebook photos. Gma and my mom have been dying to see your pics. Figured this was easier than teaching them facebook;)

bad cat!

Miss Elo. Loves. Alpaca.

She just adores it so! Unfortunately I adore it just as much, especially when it is in its pretty little ball being knitted into an adorable scarf. She's just too cute to get mad at. I don't make a very good mean mommy. Better learn how to be tough!

First video post ever!

Today was treat day - Elo got a new jingle toy, Felipe got a jumbo jar of queso (his new favorite treat), and I got heel grips for my new Dansko heels. Check out Elo in action:

We stuffed our faces today - sausage, eggs, and espresso for breakfast. Lentil salad for lunch. Brats and french fries for dinner. And marshmallow cream fruit dip for dessert! (I figured out how to hyperlink the recipes for if you click on title it should take you directly there.)

Back to school/work tomorrow. And the beginnings of my running program. Ugh!

Double the trouble, double the fun

Congrats Stacy! Addison and Aubrie - delivered yesterday @ 4:30ish. More details to come! I can't wait to see the little darlings.

In more mundane news, I've got a full day of chores to do:

• clean - this is a never-ending task, cannot wait until I can spring for a housekeeper
• exercise - another never-ending task on the quest to be a buff bride, I'm even starting a running plan on Monday, ugh!
• cook lentils for a fabulous southwestern lentil salad tomorrow
• go to the grocery - to get ingredients for the aforementioned fabulous lentil salad
• call Toyota - can't have a car without a spare key!
• study
• call gma to get all the babygirl details
• visit miss annie's newly decorated loft
• make some money - cleaned out my closet this week and have 2 bagfuls bursting at the seams to take down to ATC
  

Delish Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

so meaty!

Beef stew - perfect for those meat and potato men and for cold winter days. Throw it all in the crockpot, head off for the day, and come home to a yummy smelling house.

Another thing that is meaty is me. One thing that can stress any bride out (even one as chill as me) is realizing you've put on a good 5 pounds since you bought your dresses. And yes, that is dresses plural. Ugh! I've got my fingers crossed it all went to my bust-line. A second thing that can stress a bride out is the realization that you have crow's feet! Ugh again! I guess you are never too young for those anti-aging potions. Smile lines are cute, but when the smile goes away and the lines stay it isn't quite so cute.

Girls night in!

With Felipe on call, Eloise and I had no choice but to put, on our pajamas, settle in, and have a lovely evening.

It began on the couch with back-to-back episodes of the Girls Next Door, one of my fave guilty pleasures with apples and fluffy fruit dip. It moved on to some delish soup that Felipe's mom made that I cannot spell. Yummo! (PS - I hope you are feeling better fmil!)

Then, browing at wedding stuff online followed by wedding television and the most delish spinach salad ever! A pretty sweet night. Just getting ready to take a hot shower and read some Harry Potter before bed.

Tomorrow, I go to the senate to help testify on a bill to add geriatrics to my KMS scholarship. Exciting stuff. Melissa goes to Topeka! I'm going to put a nice beef stew in the crockpot before I head out.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Beef-Stew-I/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

happy valentine's day!

Hugs and kisses to my family and friends! I hope everyone is delighting in oodles of chocolate. My day began quite nicely. Felipe remembered it was Valentine's before I did, and beat me to the punch, telling me "Happy Valentine's Day honey, I love you." I melted, and got up to make espresso which is a rare treat in our house. Coffee is so much easier. I even ground fresh beans and frothed the milk.After breakfast Felipe accompanied me to the thrifty to donate some old clothes and then to his least favorite store in the entire world - hobby lobby. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

The icing on the cake is my amaryllis wiht 7 gorgeous red blooms!

a feast for two

Felipe and I had a feast - crispy roasted cornish hen with red potatoes and a old-favorite of mine, creamed peas. Felipe could have been a caveman ripping the meat from the bone, smacking his lips, and grunting in delight!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crispy-Rosemary-Chicken-and-Fries/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creamed-Peas/Detail.aspx

A couple of days ago I made this fabulous Brazilian soup called Canja with chicken, ham, and rice.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Canja/Detail.aspx

68 days

New camera

Finally uploaded some pics from the new digi-cam. Wow! What an upgrade in quality. I'm loving the new cam. Hopefully we can get a photo-shoot with Daphne this afternoon!

First is Elo chilling out on her new window perch. Much easier on the eye than big blue. The black thing with a string is a new feather toy that came with the perch. She totally blends in with the blanket I knitted her!

And the yummiest bar cookie ever - date bars!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grammas-Date-Squares/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

my mom is so funny

check out what she sent me today

Melissa goes green!

Happy one-year-minus-one-day-engagement-anniversary-plus-valentines for me!

Check out my new ride - just named her Daphne.

Stay tuned for real pics taken by felipe's happy one-year-minus-one-day-engagement-anniversary-plus-valentines digital camera.

No kidding, I'm spoiled rotten and loving every second!

Spicy!

Last night was the long-awaited date night. Felipe got home from a hard day of surgery just in time to spiffy up and make it to the annual KUMCIO auction to benefit a medical mission trip to Belize. We had a blast running around bidding and snacking - I ate the most divine cream puff ever created! After about an hour we had enough and decided to head home, hitting up Popeye's chicken on the way (Felipe wasn't much of a creampuff fan.) As he "rested his eyes" on the couch I simmered up some spicy tomato sauce which I think was delish. It was a bit of a shock to Felipe's sleeping taste buds and he only managed a few bites before admitting defeat.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Arrabbiata-Sauce/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

This morning I awoke to 2 suprises:
1) My amaryllis bloomed - I counted 7 buds in all!
2) We won a couple of items at the silent auction - 10 car washes (for my new car!, well the new car I'm hoping to get soon.) and limo service from the airport after our honeymoon. What a way to end the trip - curbside limo pick-up! I'm such a lucky girl.

Eloise

Per Felipe: "You got diamonds, she got a new condo, and all I got was some beef jerky."

The true story is. . . . . . .

Yesterday Felipe and I ordered our wedding bands. He got a simple band of white gold. While mine was simple and elegant it also contained an abundance of channel set diamonds to give it the perfect amount of sparkle. Of course, I compromised by only get diamonds half-way around when the one I tried on had them the full way. So, Felipe did get a ring.

Then, he needed a haircut to we went to Great Clips. Well, the line was WAY long so while he waited I headed down to Petsmart where I found elo this perfect new scratcher (that was on sale!) and that she adores. We had to anchor it with a weight because she likes to play queen of the castle and sit on top. So yes, Elo did get a new condo but she's already gotten our moneys worth out of it.

Third, we also stopped at Hen House for a few groceries. He did pick up some beef jerky, but in addition he was craving pizza so we got all the fixings and I made him pizza for dinner while he laid on the couching watching Lost. Overall, I don't think he had it all bad;)

Weezer

In memory. We'll always love you.

More birthday weekend fun!

Had a lovely time with the family yesterday. After a delicious lunch of ham and beans we had some warm and gooey butterscotch bread pudding.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Basic-Ham-and-Bean-Soup/Detail.aspx?prop31=2

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Butterscotch-Bread-Pudding/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

Since our tummies were full and happy we decided to do a bit of shopping. A bit being an understatement. After hitting up Michaels, Pier 1, Old Navy and Kohls we were all shopped out and headed home for some PS3 trivia. Not sure if they let me win because it was my birthday - but I smoked everyone at trivia!!! Then it was time for birthday dinner at 75th street brewery where I had a delicious portobella sandwich followed by brownie fudge sundae. A warm gooey brownie topped with rich fudge and cold creamy icecream. Heaven! I slept so well last night - content after a full day of fun.

Check out my birthday cake:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cranberry-Upside-Down-Coffee-Cake/Detail.aspx?src=etaf