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I've been thinking alot about things lately and I think I can sum every one of them up with two words each.
1) Seasonal allergies
2) outpatient surgery
3) track meet
4) upset stomach
5) 10th anniversary
5) road trips
6) clean house
(emphasis on #4)
We were driving Ryan to Dallas this afternoon to stay at a friend's house and I suddenly realized I had forgotten to order her corsage. I've never had to go get one for her since she's always had dates for prom, but since her and her "date" have decided to go seperately we needed to get her one. Well, shit. Now what?
So after stopping for Co$tco, mandatory at least once a month, I asked Craig to stop at Hobby Lobby and I bought the stuff to make her one. I've made a zillion mums but those are sort of easy because you just cram a bunce of crap on there. A corsage... not so much. I was nervous but I think it came out ok. I made a wristlet...
Here is the one Austin bought Amanda their senior year. I love this one and would have loved to be good enough to make one like this.
Ryan won the track meet today bringing her medal count for the four track meets this season to 3 Golds and 1 Silver. Today was a strange one, though.
Crowley ISD has two high schools (Crowley and North Crowley) and each year they alternate hosting Malachi Relays. This year was at North Crowley and I was shocked at the condition of their equipment!! (Both schools have VERY nice facilities with brand new turf football fields) The high jump mats were torn to shreds and the standards couldn't get close enough to the mats to keep the jumpers from falling between them.
Ryan's steps are carefully measured and stepped out but for some reason today she was just taking off wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy out in front of the bar. (See the pic below) They opened at 4' 8" but she passed and then entered at 4' 10" and had no misses until 5' 4" It was cold and windy and all the girls looked miserable. She missed all three attempts at 5' 4" after falling but luckily the other two girls still in it at that point missed, too. So they lowered the bar to 5' 3" and Ryan and another girl cleared it on the first try, the other girl didn't clear at all. So they went back to 5' 4" and Ryan was the only one who cleared it, taking home the gold.
Look how far away she is (out in front of the bar) and she is WAY over the bar, but her head just wasn't in it today.
She has the district meet on Thursday but we leave early Friday morning heading to Austin so she can compete in Texas Relays at UT. I forgot all about this meet until today because she's the only girl from her team going. It's a combined high school/college meet with competitors coming from all over the nation by having the top times or top jumps. I hope I can go!!! She went last year and didn't do so great (6th I think... it wasn't good).
First off, surgery on Monday. Blech. I was kind of hoping for a different day but if I have any hope of making Ryan's district track meet on Thursday. If I can't do it I can't do it, but I hate missing any of it and we're already missing her Regional track meet (if she makes it) because of our trip to Tahoe. Hell, I'm already feeling guilty for even considering skipping today's track meet because a) its looking like it's going to rain and b) I'm waiting on the a/c repair guy.
Ryan made the All Region, All State and All Star basketball teams as I stated last week. We've always put all the patches for everything on her letter jacket but last year she ran out of room. Both sleeves and the entire back of her jacket are covered so last years patches are all in the form of inserts, meaning that her All District patch had to be added to another year's all district patch so they just added another year. Now, there isn't even room to add inserts for all of them but we can on a few of them. The jacket was free (the school buys them for each athlete when they make varsity. Ryan lettered in all three sports starting as a freshman so there's a shit load of money tied up in the patches (almost $800) and now that she's made the All State team we get to buy her the ring.
The front. Can't add anything here but may have to.
The back- This was supposed to be all track but we had to stick that basketball patch at the top last year. This has alot that has to be added because we didn't do it all last year. We have to add insert years for the District Champs patch for 06-07 and 07-08 (assuming they win again next year). If Ryan wins the district championship in her individual event we can then just add an insert to the Regional Qualifier patch. If she takes 1st or 2nd in her event we're screwed because she'll be going to state and that will mean another Texas patch. We would love to add the new record patch but there's no room on the original new record patch and don't know where another patch would fit.
This is the volleyball sleeve. Nothing to be added here because after tearing the ligaments in her ankle at the start of her Junior year I made her quit.
The basketball sleeve (other than the top patch in the middle of the back). This is the trickiest because we have to still add (if we added them all) District 8-4A Outstanding Offensive player, DIstrict Champs, Area Champs, Reg Semi-finalist, All Region Team, All State Team and McDonald's All American nominee. No chance in hell most of that will fit.
In other news, it now appears that Ryan is going to take the offers of official visits to Tex@s A&M and The University of Kansas. I am not going to vocally support or argue against Ryan doing this because its just something that she has to decide in the long run. When she asks me questions I answer them but try not to let me answers get too broad. She still plans on playing for UNT but I think she's thinking she's going to regret not going and seeing what these two schools offer her. Of all the schools asking her to reconsider them, these are the only two she's going to talk to. I think.
I'm trying to get all my crap in order because with the surgery, all the travel we've got and now we've got the two extra trips thrown in.
Soooooooooo, surgery and travel. What a summer!!
Last night we caught the opening of Tuna Does Vegas at Bass Hall. Here is the review. If you're not familiar with it, check it out on you tube. To make a long story somewhat shorter, two men play an entire town of peolple (from Tuna, Texas) and they are damned funny. DiDi Snavely is still my fav!!! ("God......................................................... damnit!" Oh lord, she said it several times last night)
Very funny! I won't go into detail except to repeat one line that Bertha says to Vera Carp.
When Vera is trying to come up with new words for the Smut Snatchers to ban, she sets her sights on words that Petey Fisk uses in his Hum@ne Society pamphlet. So Bertha finally just says, "Vera, I really don't have time to talk about pussy!" I damn near fell out of my chair!!! You can get dvd's of them from the Gre@ter Tuna website and they are well worth it. When we saw the first one about 8 years ago we bought the vhs tapes of it and even my kids love it. Then took them to see A Tuna Christm@s back in December. Seriously, check it out.
So i went to see the surgeon yesterday and it appears that I will be having surgery next week. Ugh. I'd really rather wait, but there is so much travel coming up for us that I'd have to wait until the first week of July. Hopefully the recovery won't be too bad. This will make the 10th surgery I've had (2 c-secs, hysterectomy, gall bladder, stomach, 2 knee and 2 hand and now this) so you'd think it'd be old hat. I've never really minded having surgery because I always feel so much better afterwards but I'm 41 now and just don't bounce back like I used to. Those last two surgeries on my hand were a BITCH! Holy hell, they hurt like nothing else, so I guess that's what scares me.
Ryan was notified this morning that she has been invited to play in the Texas State All Star Game in San Antonio on May 2. Pretty exciting stuff. 20 girls from across the state get to play and she really wanted this badly.
Craig and I will be in Tahoe the week before that so I guess it'll be nice to get away with the kids. I think we'll probably stay a couple of days and just chill. We won't get that many more opportunities to get away with the kids so we probably should take advantage.
So after taking every electronic thing I could from Ryan on Saturday night (except tv) I figured she'd be really bitchy yesterday. Even Craig was bracing for it. But the strangest thing happened...
I went back to sleep yesterday morning after Craig left at the ass-crack of dawn to go play golf. My medicine is totally making me loopy and while I can breathe easier, my brain is barely crawling along. So anyway, Craig woke me up when he got home. I don't know if Ryan was up already or not, but I what I do know is that she was a cleaning FOOL yesterday! If there was a mess somewhere or a floor that needed scrubbing, she did it.
Then starting at about 3or 4 she came in our room and hung out with us. Craig was sitting at the desk catching up on some work while I just laid on the bed, totally useless. We were all laughing and being stupid and just had fun... even though I felt like crap. Craig went and picked up dinner so that I didn't have to cook (thank God) and then even went and bought ice cream!! How awesome is that? I only ate about 5 bites of it but it was really sweet of him!
The strangest thing about yesterday is that Ryan wasn't bitchy at all. You just can't imagine what she's like when she has no access to phones! The computer stuff just gives her something to do but the PHONE? OMG that is her LIFE!
The the strangest thing came up last night. She has decided that she doesn't want to go to the prom with the guy that she's supposed to go with. They don't really like eachother any more but are still good friends and she says she just doesn't want to do it. There is a group of guys from the football and basketball teams that take their moms to prom which I think is adorable... and Ryan wanted to know if I'd go. I think it makes more since that, if she's going to do that she ask Craig but he wouldn't go... I think.
I think it's sweet that she asked but I don't know. Her dress is sooooooo pretty and I really want her to go and have fun. She's gone all three years with a date, so maybe this year she should just go with friends. Bah... who knows.
Yesterday was alot of fun until someone went and pissed me off. Then... not so fun. I'll try to put it in some kind of order.
Early yesterday we headed over to TCU for Ryan's track meet. It's a combined college/high school meet so you get to see a whole different level of competition. Ryan didn't think she'd do well but she ended up taking 2nd. She looked very disjointed and stiff in her approach to the bar and afterward she said that her ankle was hurting pretty bad, so maybe that was it, maybe it wasn't. It's been almost a year since she rolled it but it's still HUGE. In basketball she wears braces on both ankles but it's a little uncomfortable to wear them in track. Maybe she'll have to go back to taping. Who know? ANYWAY...
We headed over to Jamie and Jess' house afterwards because Teresa was in town. We had an absolute blast hanging out with them. Craig even got a kiss on the cheek from Jess... I'm gonna post that picture, I swear!!! LOL
At some point in the evening Ryan stopped answering her cell phone. It wouldn't have been a big deal if she was at home but she was out with Corey and sometimes it would go straight into voivemail and other times it would ring 6 or 7 times before voicemail. Around 9:30 she called me from someone else's phone and told me that hers was dead. Yeah, sure it is Ryan, just go home. So she finally gets home and I try to TALK to her. I wasn't even mad, but I DID call bullshit. She ALWAYS knows exactly what's going on with her phone and will go to the ends of the earth to keep it charged.
So I just told her, "Don't lie to me. You know that's my biggest pet peeve. You're not in trouble, just don't do it again." To which she looks me dead in the eye, shocked that I would accuse her of that. I stopped her again and told her just to leave it and walk away but she wouldn't. She just couldn't believe that I was saying she wasn't honest.
Fine, Ryan. You want a fight? Is that it? She said, no but I'm not lying! Sure you're not... so I logged on to T-mobile, at which point she paled significantly. And sure as shit, I was right.
Then she started backpedaling and explaining. Um, no I don't want to hear it. When I simply told her that I knew better and she better not do it again she just couldn't leave it alone because I was ACCUSING her. If she would have just said, "Yes, ma'am" and walked off it would have been over. But now I've got her cell phone, the home phones and her computer locked up.
Lie about that!! Now here are the pics from the weekend.
Kelsey, Joanie and Teresa
Here is the cute couple of the week! LMAO
This is Ryan warming up and getting ready to jump
This isn't a great picture of her jumping but if you look at her left foot towards the outside of it where the tail of the Nike swoosh points right to her ankle you can see how big her ankle is
Hope everyone is having a happy Easter! Maybe I'll get an Easter miracle and this massive cold will go away!
I've been fighting off a head cold for a couple of days and officially lost the battle this afternoon. I feel like crap!
Craig went to Rhode Island on Wednesday morning and got back last night. He takes off around noon every Friday and we go do something, but I wanted to dress up and wear one of the new pair of shoes so we headed to the Mercury Chop House in downtown Ft. Worth. (Here's the menu) It is SO good! We've only been there one other time when a friend of Craig's introduced us to it. Best steak I've ever had. It's pretty expensive, though. We had tempura shrimp as an appetizer, Craig had a salad and we shared a fillet mignon, plus desert (the mixed berry shortbread) and coffee Total was $105 plus tip. Well worth it.
Tomorrow morning we head to TCU for Ryan's trackmeet. She's convinced she's going to blow it so she probably will. Nothing like a little self fulfilling prophecy to screw up your day!
My brother called today and we decided to to see Tuna Does Vegas on Tuesday at Bass Hall. We've seen all the others and though we've heard this one isn't as funny I still think it's worth seeing.
Now I'm off to bed with my cold. Great!
I found these shoes yesterday and had to have them. The picture doesn't quite do them justice! You obviously can't see the back but they are slingbacks with a 3inch heel. I got Ryan and I both a pair but I think I'm going back tomorrow for the chocolate brown pair, too. Love 'em!
I've bought 4 pair of shoes this week. I guess now I'll have to find some place to wear them! Yay!
It's no secret that its a huge chore for me to try and keep my mouth shut. Both from eating and talking. But when it really counts, I do try. Last summer when we were waiting on Ryan to make up her mind about where she wanted to go to college, I wanted her to choose UNT sooooooooooo bad. But I didn't say anything because I figured that this would be the time she'd do exactly the oposite. I'm having the same problem again.
Although last week Ryan announced to us (and the newspaper) that she'd be honoring her NLI (National Letter of Intent) I'm starting to see signs of wavering. All because of that new damned record!!!! As word has spread about the jump we have since found out that she is tied for 1st (with one other girl) in the state as well as tied for 1st (with 4 girls) in the nation. You'd think that would be fantastic, right? Well, here is why it isn't.
All of a sudden everyone wants her. OU, Tx A&M, KU, TCU, OSU are among the heavy hitters. But none of them are willing to let her do both sports. The news paper called on Tuesday and she confirmed that she'd be honoring her NLI but now she's talking about wanting to go on the official visits... just because. I think that sends a really ugly message and she seemed to understand when I asked her how she'd feel if the tables were turned.
Don't get me wrong, the Big XII schools are great but she expressly cut those from her list of basketball offers because she said she didn't want that kind of pressure. Jesus... here we go again.
In other news- Craig and I had the baby this weekend and spoiled her rotten. Yesterday we went to Build-A-Bear and she built her easter bunny, nearly choked to death at PF Changs, and then we went looking at new houses. She was so good!! We stopped in the Di$ney store and go the girls some stuff. They had beach towels out and Craig spotted a Little Merm@id one for Ryan (plus some socks) and Kyra got Minnie Mouse. She wouldn't have cared which one she got but Ryan has to have LM stuff for EVERYTHING (including her dorm room stuff) so we always pick that crap up when we see it.
I'm meeting my sister this morning before church to hand her back over. I hate to do it so early but I've just got too much stuff to get done and it'll never happen if I keep her here all afternoon. Only 5 weeks left til Tahoe!
Today is a fantastic day and it was soooooooooooooo worth all the drama. Mostly.
Ryan has decided to go ahead and stay with UNT. Most universities don't offer very many full ride scholarships for track and we haven't talked to many who were willing to say, up front, that they'd allow her to play basketball AND high jump. TCU and Oklahoma State are pretty interested and I just got an email that Kansas is, but I think UNT is the right place for her.
But the good news? We found out on Monday that Ryan made the All Region Basketball Team for the 2nd year in a row. We were really pumped about that. She's the only girl from her school to do that. And now? She is the ONLY girl to make the ALL STATE TEAM!!! Yay!!! We are just beside ourselves!! Crazy! I'm so excited for her, I just can't even express that enough.
Also, her jump of 5' 10" is the highest jump in the state so she's qualified to compete in Texas Relays. The other girls from her track team can't go (if they qualified) because that is held the same weekend as their District track meet, which she was to compete in (and take 1st or 2nd) to move on to Regionals or state. BUT... Ryan will most likely go because she will jump on the first day of the district meet and then she's done and Texas Relays are that Friday and Saturday.
Today was straight out of the record books... on shitty days.
Let's start with 8am. I had to be at the dentist's office at 8 so that he could take 20 minutes to get me numb. It happens each week. I go in, he administers MASSIVE amounts of novocaine to get me numb, but today it 8 vials (not shots, VIALS) to get me numb and keep me numb while he worked on both teeth. He never even got to put on the crown because I have to be numb for that, too, (because the tooth hasn't had a root canal) and I'd already had too much. Now, my mouth is killing me from all the shots. Horrible.
Then, I took Austin to get a new tire for his truck because he'd gotten a flat and when we got back from there he came in and said, "My amp and subs are gone!" WTF? The amp and subs I bought? But of course. So we call the police and no sooner had the cop left our house when his cell phone rings and a friend of his asks him of he's missing anything. I didn't know that until I head Austin scream, "Where the fuck is my shit?" Lovely, this day just keeps getting better!
So what evidently what happened is that the kids that stole his stuff told the wrong (or right, depending on how you look at it) person and that person told Austin. So we called the cops back, they took a statement from THAT person and by the end of the day Austin had his stuff back, with the exception of almost 200 cds. That's more than $2k worth of cds, so it sucks but it could be worse. It might get worse. The kid that stole Austin's stuff called his cell phone while we were BACK at the police station (because the kid that stole the stuff called Austin's other friend and told him that he wanted to kick Austin's ass since we "ratted" on him, so we reported that and when we left the police station and they'd already arrested him for threatening me (since I'm the one that answered Austin's phone- if all that makes any sense).
Then, sort of in the middle of all of this, I got a phone call from the assistant head coach of UNT telling me that they'd all been let go. He told me not to worry because Ryan can be released from her National Letter of Intent or she's protected with it if she still wants it. Great.
Now, the upside is something to consider. Several BIG XII schools are interested in her for track but the track coach has been throwing the letters away since Ryan was already signed to go to UNT. There's a really long story as to why she can get out of the NLI but she's in the clear either way. The coach also said that where ever he ends up he'd love to have Ryan there. May be something to consider but truthfully, the audiology program she loves is at UNT and they were willing to let her do track AND basketball.
So while there was plenty of bad news today the good news is that no matter what she's covered. And Austin got his stuff back.
Today was amazing. I am just in awe of how hard Ryan worked! Last week should have been Ryan's first track meet since basketball season. This was the 4th track meet for the other girls. Anyway, last year she didn't have a great track season. Her Sophomore year she won 4th at the Texas State track meet, but last year.... well, like I said.
Anyway, today was FREEZING. When I left the house at 9:30 it was 36 degrees outside. I believe my thermometer in my truck said it was 41 degrees when I got to the trackmeet about 30 minutes later. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr. They were supposed to start jumping at 8 and they ended up not starting til later, thank GOD, because it meant Craig was able to be there. He missed it when she set a new school, new school district, and area record when she cleared 5ft 8in, but he didn't miss it today when she not only won the meet but went waaaaaaaaaaaaaay above and beyond.
They opened at 4ft 8in. 7 of the girls started there but Ryan didn't enter until 4ft 10in (this will be her undoing. She should have waited to enter until 5ft!!!) Anyway, five of the girls were out by 5ft 2 in, but Ryan and two others had moved on to 5ft 4in. (You get three attempts at EACH height) The other two girls each had at least one miss and got out at 5ft 4in. Ryan had won at that point and could decide how high they would move the bar each time. She elected to go in one inch intervals after she cleared 5ft 6 on the first attempt. 5ft 7in and 5ft 8in cleared on first try. She missed her first attempt at 5ft 9in, but got it on the 2nd attempt. We were stoked!! Thank GOD Craig was taking pictures!!! So she lines up for 5ft 10in and just took off... OMG I couldn't believe it when I opened my eyes and saw this............
What?????????????????????? See the red line on the standard? That's 6ft. Her sophomore year the girl won state with a jump of 5ft 10in. Last year, it was 5ft 9. If she can keep it up, she should do well this year.
So, we're pretty freakin' proud today!!! When she set the old record the newspaper guy gave her coach and I both an 8x10 of her jump. This year he was killed in a freak motorcycle accident, so we got lucky today. Her form is much better here. Plus, look how much room there is between her back and the bar!!! Anyway, after clearing this height she was spent and missed all 3 attempts at 5ft 11in. Next time, she'll know better!
I am soooo angry right now. Yesterday, Kyra came home from school and told me that a boy in her English class has been calling her names. She said he has been doing it pretty much all year long, but most of the time she laughs it off. This sort of thing happened last year when she thought it was funny that some of the other students told her she "smells like fish." She told Austin that and he had to explain to her that it meant something embarassing. He couldn't bring himself to explain exactly what it meant, but he told her it wasn't funny.
Anyway, this kid called her, AND I QUOTE, "An aids infested cum bubble." DIsgusting. I really wanted to kick this kids ass. He's an athlete, so I asked Ryan to find out who he is. In the meantime, I called the school and talked to the principal because Kyra also told me that THE TEACHER HEARD it. WTF? When I asked Kyra how she knew that the teacher heard it she told me that he told the kid that you should never say stuff like that to a girl. That's it? You gotta be kidding me!
I'm extremely out of my league when dealing with kids who get picked on. I didn't do it or get it, neither did my kids. I just don't understand how anyone could say those type of things to someone. It's cruel. The flip side of all of this is that I don't understand Kyra, either. I don't understand how she doesn't understand what it means and even worse is that she tolerates it on a regular basis. I mean, maybe thats all that she feels like she can do, I don't know... She said she knew that I would deal with it if she told me but she just didn't think it was a big deal. Uh, ok.
So now the kid is supposedly hit with ISS (in school suspension) but even that seems light. Personally, I think he deserves more but I guess thats just the way it is.
In other news, it's supposed to snow again today. Yay... not.
First off, I voted today. I'm pulling for Obama. Hands down. Clinton is an ice cold b@*%h.
Oh my GOD, I hate seeing Woody in pain! He has narrowing of the spine and on cold days it really hurts him. He has heavy duty pain killers for it but I didn't even think about it getting cold yesterday, but todays he's howling in pain and he keeps backing up to me... pushing his ass end hear me so I can rub his back but right now its just not helping. Neither are the drugs. I hate not being able to fix it for him... it just breaks my heart!!
This morning, bright and early, I trucked my fat ass over the Centr@l Market and bought $103 worth of food for ONE recipe. I had to buy a lot of extra because I was taking some of it to my mom and dad's and my sister was coming over to eat with us. It isn't difficult, and it was pretty good. I personally think its needs to be spicier, so maybe the next time I make it I'll add some stuff. We shall see. Anyway, here it is.
Ingredients1 large head of garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus additional for drizzling
6 large or 8 medium poblano peppers (pick through to get the big ones, they are a lot easier to stuff!)
2 pounds ground, all-white meat chicken
1/2 cup cooked white rice (use up leftovers from take-out or make your own)
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cumin, divided
1 can chopped fire-roasted tomatoes (15 ounces)
3 handfuls cilantro, roughly chopped, divided
4-5 scallions, white and green parts finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided (eyeball it)
1 1/2 cup milk (eyeball it)
2 cups grated manchego cheese (if unavailable, substitute a really sharp cheddar)
1 small red onion, chopped
2 cans black beans (15 ounces each), drained
Hot sauce, to taste
1/2 cup green olives with pimentos, chopped (eyeball it)
PreparationPreheat oven 400ºF.
For the beans, slice about a half inch from the top of the head of garlic so the tops of the cloves are just peeking out. Place the garlic on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle it with some EVOO, wrap it up in the foil and reserve while you prepare the peppers (the garlic will go into the oven at the same time as the peppers).
To prepare the peppers for stuffing, lay then down on their sides and take a thin slice off one of the sides leaving both the stem end and the bottom of the pepper intact. Finely chop up the removed slices and reserve in a large mixing bowl. With a small spoon, scrape out and remove the seeds and guts from each pepper and discard.
To the bowl with the reserved, chopped pieces of pepper, add the ground chicken, rice, thyme, 1 tablespoon cumin, tomatoes, a couple handfuls of cilantro, scallions, lime juice and some salt and freshly ground black pepper. With your hands or a spoon (hands will be faster), combine all the ingredients thoroughly.
Using a spoon or your hands, stuff each of the 6 pepper boats with the chicken mixture. Once they're filled, arrange the peppers in a casserole pan, alternating stem end and bottom end so that they all fit snugly in the pan. Add a splash of water or chicken stock to the pan and cover with tin foil. Transfer the pan to the oven along with the foil-wrapped garlic head and bake 45-50 minutes. Remove foil and cook an additional 5-10 minutes, until nicely brown and cooked through.
About 10 or 15 minutes before the peppers and garlic come out of the oven, make the cheese sauce: Melt the butter in a medium-size saucepot over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook for one minute. Whisk in 1 cup of chicken stock and the milk, and bring up to a bubble. Cook until thickened. Season with some salt and pepper, turn the heat down to low and stir in the cheese until melted. Reserve until ready to serve. (If it thickens up too much as it sits, whisk in a splash of chicken stock to loosen.)
For the beans, place another medium-size saucepot over medium heat with one turn of the pan EVOO. Add the onions, remaining teaspoon of cumin and cook, stirring every now and then for 3-4 minutes. Add the drained black beans and remaining 1/2 cup of chicken stock and cook to warm through.
Remove the peppers and the garlic from the oven and let the peppers rest while you finish up the black beans: If the garlic is too hot to handle, fold over a couple of pieces of paper towel, place the stem end of the garlic in the center and use the paper towel as a finger barrier as you squeeze out the roasted flesh onto a cutting board. Once all the cloves are out, smash them up with the side of a knife then add the paste to the heated beans. Season with some salt, freshly ground black pepper and some hot sauce, and stir to combine.
To serve, cover the bottom of four serving plates with some of the cheese sauce, then place two of the roasted peppers in the middle of the plate. Top with some of the chopped green olives and reserved cilantro, and serve the beans alongside.
Today, when Craig gets home from golf, we're going to pick up my niece. After that I think we are just going to shopping. Not really for anything specific, but rather window shopping for the most part. We need to get two new oak tables for our bedroom. One for each side of the bed. I'm not in any hurry to get them so I don't know that we'll actually buy them anytime soon.
Ryan is taking her SAT today. She took it before her junior year so she's just wanting a better score this time. Math is not her strong suit so her score wasn't all that great last time. But taking it as a sophomore is way different than taking it as a Senior. We shall see.
Oh yeah. Craig and I went to see V@antage Point yesterday. It was soooooooooo good!! Really interesting to see how all these different people saw one event in such different ways and how it came together to all make sense. Very good. Not phenomenal, but very good. Also, there were some trailers for some movies coming up that look OUTSTANDING. 88minutes with @l Pacino looked the best. Also, Ir0n Man looked pretty good. It looked most interesting during the develpmental part of it, but I'm not so sure about how good it will be after he becomes the character. There was one other one that I thought looked great too, but I suddenly can't remember what it was! Gah! I hate when that happens.
This is our last free weekend for about two months as Ryan's trackmeets have already started. She was supposed to have one today, but I had scheduled the SAT for today and didn't want to change the date. Her heart doesn't seem to be in track this year so it'll be interesting (or really UNinteresting) to see how she does. Most of the time she wins trackmeets with jumps that aren't even close to her best. Usually, 5ft 4in wins. I guess she's won about 80% of the trackmeets she's in with that high jump. By the time she wins district and has to go to Regionals it gets a little harder. 5ft 5in or 5ft 6in.
later!