Sick Tummy Makes Me A Sad Pancake

Ok, so here is a quick glimpse into the humor that exists in our household. I made pancakes for dinner again on Saturday night, and as I mentioned before, I cook a mean flapjack. This time, however, on the third pancake, I wasn't paying attention, and it overcooked a little too much for my liking. No problem, I just set that pancake on a plate off to the side and went on to cook the rest of the pancakes. Mike and I sat down to enjoy a good dinner, and afterwards, he was taking the dishes into the kitchen when he came across the lone pancake, still off to the side on its plate. Since the pancake wasn't burned, but merely a little overcooked, Mike asked me why there was a pancake sitting off to the side, all by itself. Once I explained my reasons, Mike got very quiet in the kitchen for a few seconds. Next thing I knew, I could hear him giggling to himself in the kitchen.. then he called my name, and when I looked up to see what he wanted, he was holding this:




and he said "being left alone makes this pancake a sad pancake".

Now, I don't know if it was the unexpected nature of what he had done by drawing a face on it, the fact that the pancake now looked like an emoticon of the food world, or if it was the ability he has to find humor in every situation, but it cracked me up. I couldn't stop laughing. And when I finally did, he just held up the pancake again and started telling me the reasons why I made this pancake a "sad pancake". I tell you what, that man knows how to make me laugh. And I truly find it a gift to be able to see the humor in the little things in life.

As for the rest of the title of today's post... I spent Sunday night and Monday morning with an upset stomach, and in fact, I stayed home from work yesterday, which is partially to blame for me not posting yesterday. And just when I got over it, Mike seemed to catch the same bug.

Luckily, we are both feeling better healthwise, and are, in fact, no longer sad pancakes.

I hope you all are doing well, and that all your pancakes have smiles today.

Pancakes, Pictures, and Paraphernalia

Mental paraphernalia, that is (and yes, I had to look that word up to get the spelling correct). I have a lot of random things to share with you today, so I am going to group them all together in this one post. This one, wonderfully aliterated-titled, post.

Last night, Mike and I wanted a snack, so I made up some pancakes. I realize this is not groundbreaking news, but you haven't had my pancakes. I make a really mean flapjack, my friends. I worked for two years at a Wendy's during the breakfast rush, and I know my pancakes. I make them big, light and fluffy, really cake-like. I am not a fan of the crepe. I smothered mine with strawberry jelly, and went to town. It was wonderful!

When I got home from work, this was waiting for me:

Mike bought it for me as a surprise, and it came in the mail yesterday. I had no idea it was on its way, so I was wonderfully surprised. I have an amazing husband, the kind that sees things that I would like, and loves to surprise me with them. And excited? you better believe it! I did a little bit of reading in it last night, and it gives all the information that you could possibly need, from how to take pictures without using a telescope, to what kind of film to use, what cameras work best, etc. And also exciting is the idea that I am going to be buying a "old-fashioned" camera at some point for astrophotography. Turns out that digital cameras dont have the exposure time, and the sensitivity to light that regular cameras do, so YAY! I will get to do some equipment shopping in the near future.

This Thursday I am taking off work at noon, and Mike and I (along with Mike's brother and his wife) will be headed to Louisiana to a casino there. Our main reason for going is to see Blue October in concert there (more about our history with Blue October in another post), but let me reassure you that we are planning on enjoying the buffet dinner, and planning to do a bit of gambling. I am really looking forward to this trip for a variety of reasons. It has been probably close to two years since we have seen Blue in concert. I have never stayed in a casino hotel room before (YAY!), and the buffet? Do I even need to go into my love of food, and what a buffet means to me? Most importantly, I am looking forward to a trip with Mike and our family.

My boss, the preacher, gets back from his family vacation on Thursday. They have been gone for three weeks now, and it has been really quiet around here. While that is nice for a while, I am looking forward to having them back and there being a little more life around this place.

I guess that is all for now, my friends. The clutter in the brain is cleared out, and I can focus on the work at hand.

I will leave you with this question though... what sorts of clutter do you find in your mind today?

The Weekend, the food, the fun, the family... but mostly the food

I don't know about the rest of you, but I had a wonderful weekend! Let's do a little bit of recap, shall we?

~Friday.
I got off work at 12, as I always do on Fridays, and I went and got my hair trimmed. Possibly the only part of the weekend that I DIDN'T enjoy. I know most women see the hair salon as a form of pampering themselves, but to me, it is a torture session, every time. While others find it relaxing to lie back in the chair and have someone wash your hair for you, I find it to be condemning. I always feel as though the stylist is washing my hair thinking "this girl does NOT get her scalp clean enough" or "lord, look at the damage that this girl is doing to her hair". And the funny thing is, I take pretty good care of my hair, I don't color it, I rarely blow dry it, but still I find this part of the hair cutting process to be a pronouncement of judgement on my ability to groom myself. Then the actual cutting process.... this involves me standing up behind the chair so that the stylist can trim my hair, because my hair is long enough now that it can't be trimmed while I am sitting down. So yeah, not a pleasant experience, but it needed to be done, and now it is done and out of the way.
After the hair cut, I picked Mike up and we went out to lunch with some friends. The kinds of friends that don't put on airs, they are who they are. And who they are happens to be the simple country folk that believe in honesty and in good times and good food with friends. We had lunch at a little Italian/Mexican restaurant here in our small town, and the food was fantastic, as was the company. I had some supreme nachos that lived up to their name, and sent me home with a belly full of goodness.
Friday evening was full of lounging around the house, playing some World of Warcraft, having a few drinks, and relaxing with my husband.

~Saturday
We had nothing on our agenda at all for Saturday, and that is just the perfect way to spend the day. We lounged around the house, played some Xbox, played some World of Warcraft, and then lounged around some more. In the afternoon, Mike's parents called to find out if we wanted to go to dinner with them (duh!), so that evening, we headed out to Novrozsky's, and Mike and I had a chicken fried steak baked potato. Can I just say YUM! They cut up a chicken fried steak, put it in the baked potato, cover it with the gravy, and top it with cheddar cheese. It is divine, wonderful, and great, all wrapped into one.

~Sunday
We slept in a little later than usual on Sunday morning, and then got up to go to church. After the church service, we went over to his parent's house where his mom had made some homemade chicken gumbo. Dee's gumbo is the reason neither of us will ever order gumbo in a restaurant. It CANNOT be better or even as good as the heaven in a bowl that she serves up. And one of the best things is that we really get along with his parents, and we enjoy sitting around talking to them, so meals never feel like a rushed uncomfortable affair. Good times, good food.
More relaxing was on the schedule for the afternoon, more nerdy games, and then dinner time! For dinner, I pulled out all the stops and made fried chicken, mashed taters, gravy, and rolls. Was I stuffed to the gills after dinner? You betcha! Is that a meal that is worth the time and effort to make? You betcha!

So there you have my weekend in review. Lots of good times relaxing with Mike, lots of good food, and good times with friends. Everything a weekend should be. Everything I needed this one to be.