(no subject)

Absolutely nothing is going as planned today. Lance couldn't come home for lunch as he hoped, and since I had to go pick up my free movie rental anyway (The Secret Life of Bees), I stopped at the grocery to pick up more ice cream and something for lunch. I ended up getting a mixed salad plate from the deli (Greek pasta salad, cashew chicken salad, coleslaw and a dinner roll). Came home and picked up where I left off on the videotape I was watching.

I decided to relive some old memories and popped in a video of our first 2 years in Germany: the summer of 2003 right before we got married, our honeymoon in Brugge/Ghent, and my 29th birthday in Paris. It was bittersweet to watch. It made me laugh, but it also made me kind of sad. That was such a great time in my life and I miss it. And I'm sorry we never videotaped anything after that, because so much great stuff came after. I think Lance just got tired of lugging around the video camera everywhere. Especially since our families (for whom we made the videos) didn't seem all that interested anyway. But I'm glad we videotaped what we did, even if it was just for a short amount of that time.

Anyway, Reece is getting antsy and the sun finally came out. I think I'll take her somewhere for a walk. I wish I had the GPS, because I would like to head out to Soos Creek, and I'm not entirely sure where it is. I've seen the trailheads, but not where the parking lot is located. Maybe we'll go to Clark Lake, even though there isn't much in the way of walking trails there. I just need to go somewhere different for a change. I'm tired of walking around our neighborhood, and I'm a little tired of the Green River Trail.

Clark Lake Park

I has this need to get out of the house for a bit, so I harnessed Reece and strapped her into the backseat and headed out to Clark Lake Park. We've been there once before, on a mild November day, so I wanted to get out there again and see how different it is this time of year.

I didn't remember there being any substantial trails, but that was ok. I just wanted to wander around. However, I missed seeing a trail last time I was there. I saw it this time, so Reece and I started following it.

And it kept going...and going.

Once I realized that it was going to be a substantial walk, we had to turn around and go back. I didn't bring her water bottle with me because I didn't expect that we would be doing any significant amount of walking. If we had walked the entire length of the trail, she probably would've been severely dehydrated. But I think we walked a good 40 minutes or so...20 minutes each way.

I'm not sure I liked that trail too well anyway. It had a lot of large rocks and tree roots sticking up. I kept tripping, but thankfully didn't hurt myself. The trail was very narrow in spots, with a lot of high grasses and out of control brush, some of it thorny. Reece and I usually walk on well-paved trails, but then again, this was a nature trail. We almost always stick to urban trails.

But it was good to get out. I didn't see a soul at the park (except when we were leaving. A really really good looking man smiled and waved at me as I was leaving the parking lot. He had just arrived.). It was very peaceful and tranquil.

(no subject)

Ok, so 34 didn't get off to the best start, but the night ended well. The barbecue was so amazing. The barbecue grill was flaming to a frightening degree, which gave the steaks a nice crispy coating, but otherwise, everything was pretty much perfect.

I made this appetizer, only using sundried tomatoes instead of plum tomatoes. It was insanely delicious. I was already digging in before our guests arrived, but reheated it a bit right before they got here. Will definitely make again, and I highly recommend this for your parties. Sooooooooo good.

The steaks were really tasty. Kathy marinated them in a bunch of spices and red wine. They were ribeyes. I also made some Ore-Ida seasoned fries in the oven. They were yummy. And a BLT Caesar Salad kit.

The cake...oh, the cake. I'm not a cake person. 9 times out of 10, I will have cheesecake for my birthday or an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. But Kathy made me this cake, because I wanted a peanut butter chocolate cake. She changed out the topping (Cool Whip mixed with chocolate pudding, instead of what the recipe calls for) and it was soooooooooo good. The peanut butter filling in particular was delicious. I served vanilla ice cream with it, with peanut butter and chocolate syrups. Just a perfect way to cap off dinner.

And of course, Riesling for me, because it's my favorite wine.

We played the music off my .mp3 player that I hardly ever listened to, and I pretty much forgot what was on it. The music was so good.

Yeah...I had a good time tonight. Despite the fact that everything earlier in the day did not go according to plan, the evening was even better than I imagined.

And you should see the hanging basket they brought me. Gorgeous!

Anyway, I want to thank everyone for the comments, emails, e-cards, texts, etc. They all mean a lot to me. I'm so happy that I have so many friends who care. You all are amazing.