Corn salsa with feta cheese burgers as chasers

Even the compost pail looks tasty!

Cats settled in for a long summer nap

Paul and Susan on Christmas morning

This post has pictures that represent Christmas Day to New Year’s Day. Just to recap, we had 9 celebrations in 11 days. For some reason I also thought that was a good time to do a home improvement project of painting all the door knobs. Which also means the latches, screws, etc. You probably realized that. Wish I would have…

Christmas w Steph, Roy, BizNKids, and MomMom, Dec 26

Point of interest on this photo–I THOUGHT both eyes were crossed. I did a redo for Paul just now, thinking my eyes were crossed again. No such luck. My sister was like this all the time from birth and had surgery to make her normal. Perhaps I had preemptive surgery to make sure mine did not wander…EVER!

Anna--Dec 26 Christmas; celebration #9

I just love love love this photo of Anna. You get glimpses of what she will look like as a young woman, yet she still has that baby look too.

Tripp gets a robot for Christmas!

Sleepy Becca posing for pictures

The robot Tripp got for Christmas was very cool, it even danced to a Duran Duran knock off song (sounded like the song, but like they changed it to not have to pay royalties). But then it started to somewhat stalk MomMom. Kind of scared us. Rebecca was SO sleepy, but she always wants to get a good picture. And the truth still holds–sometimes the kids like the box the toy comes in rather than the toy itself!

New Year’s Eve 2009. Basic math I should have realized when I bought the sparklers: [(Sleepy kids x bad weather so they didn't get any exercise for days) x (Paul has been w said kids for 80 hours x Susan has been sick for 80 days)] x fire sparks shooting off a stick = probably not a good idea. Not to mention I had accidentally sprayed some grass (and a little driveway) with my door knob project so Tyler of course wanted to prance there w his sparklers. He was drawn like a moth to a flame. (get it–flame??)

Skinned squirrels in the refrigerator. Seriously. Ugh.

Paul took Tyler hunting w some friends and their kids. Tyler was a little loud (lucky for the squirrels), but the others were more successful (unlucky for Susan). We had 6 dead bodies in the fridge. It was like The Soprano’s. Paul made fried squirrel, scrambled eggs, grits, biscuits and squirrel gravy for New Year’s breakfast. They say that how you spend NY Day is how you spend your year. God help me.

Day 1, 12/17/09: Anna’s 8th birthday. Paul and I met Robin and Jason, and of course Tyler at Rio Grande for Anna’s birthday dinner. Anna chose the restaurant–Rio G won for the 3rd year in a row. I just LOVE this picture of Anna.

Anna at her Rio Grande birthday dinner, Dec 17

Day 2, 12/18/09: Kids Family Birthday Party. Stephanie and Biz planned a party for Anna and Tyler at their house. Sandie, Brandon, Haley, Hunter and Mom Mom all celebrated with us.

Tyler had a Star Wars cake complete w light up light sabers. Anna had a doll cake complete w Barbie-like doll you lifted out of the cake before cutting.

Day 3, 12/19/09: Tyler’s 6th birthday. Before we could celebrate Tyler’s birthday, we had to play in the snow! That’s right, we had about 7 inches of snow on Friday night/Saturday morning. Then we met Robin, Jason and Lacey (their baby) at Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Tyler’s day.

Anna, Tyler and Frosty. This was after sledding off the ramp Paul built for them!

Ahhhh, my NRA reps.

Day 4, 12/20/09: Extended Sanders Family Christmas/Susan’s half birthday. OK, 1 was celebrated a little more than the other, but still…

Paul and me before starting to open presents at MomMom's.

Day 5, 12/21/09: Susan’s manager Christmas party and Cole’s Annual Christmas party.

(photos unavailable, cameras confiscated by security, paparazzi bounced from property)

Day 6, 12/22/09: Celebrated Paul’s birthday at UNC vs. Marshall basketball game!

My first time in the Dean Dome! I mean... me doing whatever Paul wanted to do for his birthday!

Paul and I are vegging out tonight. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, not sure what the plans are. Then we get the kids on Christmas Day about noon. Then Christmas w Steph and Biz, et. al on Sat afternoon! 9 events in 11 days! Whoooooo hooooooo! Keep in mind this was including 10 loads of laundry, 0 minutes of napping, 3 days of work (which included creating a plan to restructure our cardiac rehab program to make up for $96,000 worth of revenue that we cannot bill for in 2010 and 4 days of 11 state inspectors surveying our hospital), baking 120 cookies and only 30 minutes of physical activity and NO tears shed! Happy Sanders Hanukkah!

This is a really cute picture I found on Paul’s phone when I took a picture of him on the gurney. I love my boys! Life is good.

Barton cuddled on our bed in the mid morning sunshine. This is the siren's call that lures me back to bed many times.

Top of Pilot Mountain--half way done!

Something similar could be said about the ride too. Last summer I tried it and got half way up Pilot Mtn and bonked and cried. This time I was determined (see post from last week).  Well, I cried again (twice), but I did finish. This was the hardest physical accomplishment of my life. Harder than the Ironman Triathlon. On the way up the last mtn, literally the last mile of the ride my legs cramped. First it was just my quads, but then my calves cramped trying to clip out as I weaved to the side to not crash. I made a small move to stretch and my hamstrings cramped. Paul rubbed out my thighs and I just stood there looking up the switchbacks that seemed to reach into the clouds like Jack and the Beanstalk. You know Paul is a man of few words… “zig zag,” he said. So I did. And I made it.

Paul and I took Tyler [Anna was at riding lessons w Robin] mountain bike riding today. Let’s just say he get’s his skill from Paul. Being the southern gentleman he is (really, Biz!!), Paul only once uttered, “C’mon Susan–a 5 year-old can do it!” Tyler liked it, but got thirsty (we had already hiked 3.5 miles that morning).

Birthday month continues… I did get my Cold Stone treat this week. I ordered the wrong thing though. Cake Shake is what I wanted, I got some other cake thing. But cake batter is NEVER bad so I didn’t really feel that sorry for myself. Paul also made my FAVORITE cookies of all time–Oatmeal Scotchies from my mom’s recipe. I ate most of them over the past 5 days, including the rest of the dough Friday for breakfast. This week my treat will be returning to strength training classes at the gym, plus a pool trip w the kids, mountain biking w or w/out kids, and a long ride on Saturday. Paul and I have plans for birthday week proper. He has done most of the planning: June 18: NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me will be taping in Chapel Hill and Paul bought us tix for my birthday; June 19: we are taking the day off (open water swim anyone!!) and going to see the Connells (rockin’ band) play in Chapel Hill that night w his friend Jay; June 20: The Ride–it is called the Triple Hump–9,000 feet of climbing over 3 mountains in 63 miles. I have made 2 of the 3 before. I have attempted the 3rd, but cried 1/3 way up. I will make this as a 35 year-old.

Paul resurrected his “1,000 Mexican Recipes” book for tonight’s dinner. He made us Sangria w the last bottle of wine from our wedding, homemade pico de gallo (from his head, not the cook book), avacado and tomatillo sauce for the grilled chicken, and horchata. Horchata is a dessert-like drink I originally had a surf camp in Mexico in 2007.  Tyler is a HUGE fan (we had it in Boone after the bust of a camping trip) so we are making it for him. You have to soak rice for an hour so we will have it ready next time they come (Tuesday night).  All of this food makes me love him even more!

I also have an upgrade for my Memory Manager software. I am sitting here in the kitchen while Paul cooks and we listen to music on the stereo. This software will allow me to share pix w others w this version (hi, Lauren!!!). It also interfaces better w my scrapbooking software so I am pretty excited!

We did some yard work today too. Since we are broker than broke, we planted more food. I had to take a nap (see above, 5 year-old kicks my butt) so Paul stopped at Southern States after dropping Tyler at Robin’s. He accidentally bought “bundles” of tomatoes. Each bundle is about 20 tomato plants. Oops. We planted one bundle, MORE cilantro, basil, thyme, serrano chiles to compliment the oregano and 3 tomato plants we already had.

I uploaded some photos of family randomness.

Goals–yes, I have quit setting them, but I did already set the goal to mountain bike this year. CHECK!!! We went last night and tonight and will go tomorrow night. I cried twice last night and wiped out pretty bad (scraped and bruised leg to prove it!). Tonight was MUCH better! Paul just decided to take me to the toughest trail in Greensboro for my first time last night.

Work had been difficult at best. I had a wonderful review and received the maximum raise. Although raises are frozen for management (which includes me). I had to eliminate a position and I had that meeting w the person and the staff today. I cried again. Paul made me cheese grits though and it helped.

K, that’s about it. We are up WAY past our bedtime! G’night!

That’s right, CRAWDADS!! PLURAL!!! I am in Cincinnati with my mom and dad at Elli and Michael’s for my neice to be’s shower.  Today is Elli’s birthday so we went to Pappadeaux for dinner. It is a “seafood kitchen.” My mom got crawdads and a salad for dinner. Elli asked if there was anything on the table that could pass as my new food for the week. I tried to pawn off the Sam Adams White Ale, but no one accepted that as an answer. Crawdads were the only option.

My first reaction–hellzzzz no!! [[Paul tried to trick me into eating them after the MB marathon, but I turned my head quickly to see those beady eyes (the crawdad's, not Paul's) staring at me and I knew it was something NASTY not the Alaskan King Crab meat I thought it would be. My general culinary motto is that I do not eat anything with eyes still intact.]] But then, I do hear, once the baby of the family, always the baby of the family. That proved to be the case b/c my mom said she would pull the meat out of the carcass of the bug eyed creature. It did NOT taste like chicken. The spices burned the taste buds off my tongue–good thing b/c I had to eat THREE PIECES in order to get a clear picture.

Sauerkraut. Pickled cabbage. No matter what word you choose, language you use, or how many times you say it, it translates the same–GROSS!!!! I am writing this on April 27 and it is still in the fridge and Paul says it is still good. Ironically, I also found out today Olestra, the super food substitute from the mid-1990′s that caused anal leakage, is back on the market. This time as an industrial lubricant. Charming. Almost as charming as the picture of me trying sauerkraut. Notice the look on the kids’ faces.

Not a crowd favorite

Around 1 we went out for a 64 mile bike ride. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Our plan for the day was to go exploring new roads which is one of my favorite kind of rides. We found a few new good roads to add to some of our current rides and a few dead end roads (but they were still nice to ride down). When we got home we did a easy 1 mile run which went well.

After the workout we ate grilled salmon, asparagus, and couscous (all at Susan’s request). On a side note, when Susan’s parents bought their new house they no longer needed the grill they had at the Crown Point house so they gave it to us.  This is the first time we have had a chance to use it and it was much easier to cook on than our old one which was really nice. We sat outside to eat, relax and enjoyed the weather.  That is about as good as a day can get!

I thought I got off easy when Paul and I went to Food Lion Wednesday night and he got Cheese Waffies (Googols–its like the southern version of cheesy poofs, but in a bag). I tried one and did not really care for it. Then, came yesterday–the day before Easter.

I ate rabbit. I originally thought it was THE rabbit, the Easter one. It must have been Roger Rabbit instead because the kids had their baskets full of candy and toys this morning. Back to the rabbit though. It seriously did taste like chicken. Like a chicken thigh. I am partial to white meat though so the thigh is edible (especially when I am setting an example for the kids!), but much more than that. Then I started thinking about the rabbit-ness of it. My belly had been rolling most of the day as it was, but the rabbit really put me over the edge. I actually ended up leaving the table. But not before Tyler said thoughtfully as he gnawed on the rabbit leg, “Whoa! I can taste the rabbit poop!”

Happy Easter!

DISCLAIMER: if I post something that you know I have tried, sorry. It is not intentional, but you know my memory is as limited as my food choices.

Week of March 29th: Baked Lays Sour Cream and Cheddar Chips. We were rushing last night to get to Anna’s game. We had a hill repeat run workout last night and you know we are slow so we ran outta time and hit Subway for dinner where I picked up this most delicious treat! I highly recommend them! Sour cream and cheddar–how can you go wrong?

Week of March 22th: chocolate covered raisins. One of my co-workers had them and offered me one. They were ok. I think the kind of chocolate they are covered w would probably make a difference. Later that week someone else had some in a meeting so I tried that brand. These were much bigger. They tasted ok, couldn’t really taste the chocolate so much. And I cannot imagine raisins occur that big in nature.

So I decided that I was going to go back to measuring out food (I even have a healthy food message ready when Anna asks me what I am doing so I don’t scar her w weight issues).  Paul has a scale so it makes it even more precise…when it works. It told me that it only takes like 2 pecans and a raisin to equal 300 calories? When did THAT happen? Yet 3 cups of spinach leaves and 3 pinches of feta crumbles is only about 60 calories. Sheesh. I wonder how many calories that Valentine’s Hershey bar was today? I was craving a candy bar for about 3 hours. By the time I gave in I needed the king size. Yep, needed it. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

Fiber–yeah, don’t even get me started. All I gotta say is never go from 0 to 18 g in 1 day. Nuff said.

We are still training for Myrtle Beach weekend. We might even be getting faster. Tonight we ran 9 miles in 93 minutes. I am usually a 12 min miler (and drag Paul down w me) so this was FAST for us! Plus it was about 30 degrees. ugh. Treadmill tomorrow–its supposed to be 12 in the morning. I did not move to NC for cold.

We have been watching lots of college hoops. Paul is having apoplexy over UNC’s performance lately. Can’t blame him. I don’t stay up past 8pm to watch them lose!

My goals? We have posted a fruit and veggie page. Check back often to see my progress. I am improving my eating habits slowly but surely thanks to Paul and his great cooking. I am attending the NC Women’s Conference in a couple weeks and very excited about that, especially as it relates to my search to be “well rounded” w/o trying to be Superwoman. I always did like Wonder Woman better anyway. I just know my goal for this week is to finally iron my khaki pants. Maybe tomorrow…

Our first night in San Antonio we ate at Casa Rio. While Susan was in one of her sessions that day I had gone for a walk and I heard that this restaurant was on it’s 4th generation of owners so we figured they must be doing something right and decided to give it a try. We had guacamole for a appetizer then I had the Casa Rio Deluxe Dinner (Cheese Enchilada, Tamale, Crispy Beef Taco, Chili Con Carne, Guacamole Salad,  Chili Con Queso, Mexican Rice, and Refried Beans) and Susan had the taco plate. For dessert Susan wanted to try flan because she had never had it before. It is unusual for her to want to try something new but I love flan so I went with. She wanted to share one since she wasn’t sure if she would like it or not so it turned out good for me that she liked it but it wasn’t her favorite (that meant I got more of it ). It turned out that we made a good choice to eat here because the food and service was great. This ended up being Susan’s favorite place we ate (it was a close second for me). The enchiladas were the best I have ever had and the tacos, with home made taco shells, were excellent also.

The second night we ate at two restaurants. We started at the Cafe Ole’. We weren’t planning on eating dinner here but they had a appetizer special of chili con queso, Texas style nachos, quesadillas and guacamole for happy hour so we decided to give it a try. After the appetizers we were glad we weren’t eating dinner there. The food wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t the best either. After Cafe Ole’ we moved on to Rita’s on the River. Here we had guacamole for a appetizer, yes we had another appetizer, then I had fajitas for dinner and Susan had tortilla soup. The food here was pretty good but not our favorite place. The fajita meat was marinated very well and had a good flavor, the home made tortillas where also very good but the rest was just OK.

Friday we met and had lunch at Rio Rio Cantina. Here we had guacamole for a appetizer (again ), then I had pollo en mole and Susan had 2 cheese enchiladas and a taco. This turned out to be my favorite restaurant of the week. The mole here was one of the best that I have ever had. Susan said it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t her favorite. They made things here a little different than she is use to which is probably why I liked it so much and it wasn’t her favorite. Friday night we were so stuffed from all the eating that we ended up eating ice cream at Häagen-Dazs and pretzels at Auntie Anne’s Pretzels for dinner.

For lunch on Saturday before we left we broke from the Tex-Mex trend and ate at Schilo’s Delicatessen (a German deli). Susan read about this place before we went and saw they had home made root beer so we planned on going to try it before we left. I hadn’t had any soft drink since I was 16 but I love root beer (especially home made root beer) so I decided to give it a try. It was really good and I am glad I had it but I’m not going to go back to drinking soft drinks, they are way too sweet. For food I almost got the cow tongue but I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat for a while if I didn’t like it since we were going to the airport after we left so I went with a Ruben sandwich instead. If I can find it again I would still like to try cow tongue sometime! Susan had the creamy chicken soup and a piece of cheese cake. The food here was good and worth the evil stares we got when we wanted to order lunch at 10:58. Lunch started at 11 so apparently 2 minutes is a long time in Texas.

For the sake of not making us sound any more like pigs, since we ate the whole time,  I left out our breakfeasts, airport meals and a couple others. We had a good time on the trip but ate WAY too much. This was Susan’s first time speaking at a national conference so she was a little nervous. She ended up with a full room for her talk and things went very well so I was happy for her.

You can see some pictures from the trip here.

Star Fruit

First up was the star fruit. I have had star fruit before and it isn’t my favorite so I wasn’t to hopeful that they would like this. Because of the shape everyone was excited to try it, however we didn’t have much success after the first few bites. Susan said it tastes like a unripe apple which I think is a pretty good description.

Kiwi Fruit

Next up was the kiwi. Everyone got to pet the kiwi before I cut it which the kids thought was great, but it had Susan second guessing her willingness to try it. I love kiwi fruit but I wasn’t sure how Susan would like it because of the texture. She ate part of hers around the edges but she wouldn’t eat the part with the seeds or the middle so I think I was right about the texture for her. Anna wasn’t a fan of the kiwi either, but Tyler loved it. He was upset that there wasn’t any more left and wanted me to go by the store to get some more.

So we had two new fruits with Susan and Anna liking neither, and Tyler liking the kiwi. At least now Susan and Anna can say they don’t like star fruit or kiwi and know they are telling the truth. Although I think if Susan could get over the texture of the kiwi she would like it.

SO! We will vote on the last side dish for Thanksgiving instead. That way you can also leave a comment about what YOU are doing, too! You know, make it interactive and all. Paul and I will be hibernating on Thanksgiving after we run our 5K that morning (www.greensborogobbler.com). We have not stayed home by ourselves in MONTHS! Here is our menu so far:

• turkey breast
• garlic mashed potatoes
• homemade bread (Paul insisted! I did not force this one)
• collard greens
• pumpkin crisp
• Cliff Bar Cabernet (from the makers on Cliff Bars, like nutrition bars)

Here is the poll question: Should we have homemade mac and cheese too?

Since then she has (reluctantly) tried all kinds of new things. She has tried everything from pana cotta to Foie Gras Mousseline. She even regularly eats (and likes) spinach. There have been all kinds of new things that she has tried and loved, which is good because it helps me convince her to try more things. We still have our set backs, like when I wanted to make the pasta fagioli recipe that Lauren sent us this week to try (she was not happy so I haven’t made it…yet), or when she found out that McDonald’s doesn’t have honey for her chicken nuggets any more (this was a major dilemma for her). Overall though, she has been really good about trying new things.

Still I was shocked when she sent me a message this morning asking if we could have cedar plank grilled salmon tacos for dinner. I love trying new foods so I was excited to hear this!

Well…I’m off now to make some fish tacos.