Monthly Archives: July 2010

Making It Up To You

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Somebody’s been a lazy blogger.

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Five New Things (Mostly Silly House Crap) I’ve Done This Week:

  1. Real wall repair.
  2. Mountain biking.
  3. Complicated fancy mail stuff.
  4. Relocated an entire living room.
  5. Designed a kitchen the way they do on TV.

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Five Small Town Things To Get Used To After Living In A Big City:

  1. Choosing between three places for a night out.
  2. Horrible drivers.
  3. The WalMart renovation being the big news.
  4. Everyone knowing everyone.
  5. Neighborly neighbors.

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Five Ways To Distract Your Husband From Housework:

  1. Good tv.
  2. Food.
  3. Puppy eyes.
  4. Trips to Vegas.
  5. Yard work.
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Fast Forward

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Time seems to be going by too fast. There’s no way I missed TWO Friday Fives! And my company is already gone? And we drove to Vegas and back already? I don’t even remember packing.

Maybe it’s getting old. Growing up must have something to do with it. We’re starting to feel like we’re running late! We want to be on our next house, our second kid, our new plans.

But right now is tons of fun.

Like everyone, I have to press pause, breathe deep, and let right now sink in; commit it to memory, and enjoy.

I swore last summer would be the best summer of my life, that we’d never be able to top it. And here we are, topping it.

Being Have

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It’s really hard for me to behave. I can’t remember which munchkin we knew that used to ask “Are you bein’have?”

Toting the in laws back to Park City and using them as indentured servants seemed totally appropriate knowing how good FIL is at this stuff. I’ve tried to help. I’ve tried to suggest fun activities. I’ve tried to help MK bond to his family. The house stuff was just a bonus. Then the project I asked for got started. But now I don’t want them to leave. And it’s not just because I’m worried we won’t ever be able to finish this project without them. Although we might not have company for a while.

It’s fun with a house full. SIL is young, as you may or may not know, and a pure PLEASURE to have around the house. I could adopt an 11 year old. MIL is teaching me how to cook. FIL laughs at all my jokes.

So I’m trying not to think about them leaving – about how life will get back to normal and we’ll stay up late and get back on the internet and not make frowny faces about other stuff we’re missing (Twitter was down? It’s amazing how you don’t notice the fail whale if you GET OUT.) or forgetting. I’m not thinking about the gym I haven’t been to in a week, the pigging out we’ve been doing. 

Because family is fun. We really fall off the grid here when family comes. I guess it’s because we’re different people. There’s normal us, ans then take it down 50 clicks family is in town us. Make sure you’re bein’have.

Twilight Concert Series

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So I missed Modest Mouse last week and was a little sad. There was no way that I was going to miss this Thursday, the second Twilight Summer Concert at Pioneer Park. Many had heard that it was overcrowded and awful last week – but this week it was Girl Talk, for free, so I made MK set out super early.

We got to the HOT HOT HOT SLC by 5:30,and parked across the street from a main entrance. We looked around the park, ran and grabbed some food, and were back around 6:30. Plenty of time, plenty of room. Memory Tapes opened, there was a short break as the park continued to fill up, then Girl Talk took the stage.

He’s come a long way since the first SXSW show I saw. The fans still dance all over, but now there was a whole little act to go along with it. Speaking of long, he really needs to cut his hair. We took a bunch of silly pictures, including where we got home at 11 to get ready for the trip to the family reunion, and I STILL made vegetable lo mein extra water chestnuts by request as a thank you. MK does not like concerts. I’ve really got to find someone here who does.

As you can see in the pics, we stayed in the back-ish. Had a good view, but MK does not dance. So we were out of the fray, which we heard from one kid was like a mosh pit, and someone was running around bleeding. It was also an important day in my life because O.M.G. it was the first time I’ve ever felt O.L.D.

Here are all those photos.

House Decorating!

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MK’s Dad, brother and sister are going to be here soon. So we’ve been touching up a ton of little things on the house all week. It’s been a lot of work. No one likes going through their house pointing out what’s wrong with it, what they missed, what they did that isn’t so hot. Lots of paint retouching, hanging some art, cleaning mistakes up here and there. It can take time. But we did finally get around to some projects we’ve been putting off.

Mostly, it involved curtains. Curtains I swore I’d never put up, then got tricked into putting up. I’m glad I did, they look awesome. The master bedroom is SO almost done, same for the guest room. One or two more pieces of art.

Outside, MK raised the border on the flower bed in the front. As you can see in the pictures, that was pretty intense.

 Our home decorating photos – still in progress.

Deer Valley Hike

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Here’s some pictures from our first uphill hike. Me, with the short legs and fat lady breathing, taking up the rear. The three tall guys made me look bad.

Deer Valley is a beautiful place to hike. The dogs loved running through the brush and the views were amazing. I totally burned enough calories for the fajita wrap I had at lunch at Windy Ridge! Hiking – to me – is walking in less attractive clothing. But good company to chat with made it fun. What I wonder now is if the exact same hike is less interesting the next time around.

View The Photos.

Fast Easy Cooking

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There is nothing better than going out to eat. That’s how I grew up. It was a treat, a reward. With my aunt it was recon. As soon as it was my job to cook I got why people like eating food the didn’t waste the whole day on. But that’s a bit of  problem in Park City. No matter how good the food is supposed to be, there are only two places that MK and I enjoy going.   So I became determined to find some things I love to cook and can whip up on demand, usually with stuff I keep in the house, definitely in a short amount of time.

We borrowed the B’s grill and already have used it a ton. It really makes meat so much better and it’s great not having to have the oven on in the summer. MK grilled some chicken breasts I’d marinated. While looking around for a side he saw some StoveTop stuffing. Being neither healthy not appealing, I wasn’t looking forward to cooking it until I saw that you can add a can of diced tomatoes and some garlic, some basil and then top it with shredded cheese… it became bruschetta. It might sound odd but it was soooo good, try it!

My other necessity as I get back into working out – this hiking is tough stuff – is a healthy carb. I can’t live without it, but don’t want to waste my workout, I’ve found two brands I’m on love with:

Earth Grains. Their bread is sold cheaply here and is delicious. Perfect for any sandwich, amazing for a grilled cheese for some reason, and light and healthy.

Flatout Bread. If you grew up in the age of the pita, you get this, a roll up better than a tortilla to make sandwiches on. Their website is full of awesome recipes, and we’ve made pizzas too. ALSO – they come in a variety of flavors. I  used the Italian Herb roll yesterday, put some romaine lettuce, fat free dressing and cheese and ta-da. A Caesar wrap the rivals a restaurant. The best part is I’m going to add some of that left over grilled chicken today. Yum.

I’ve become a big fan of any Asian noodle dish I can try, I’ve even perfected my own from scratch lo mein sauce. It’s surprisingly quick and easy. Also lighter, healthier and more filling than regular pasta. Can’t wait to try it out on some company.