We're moving!!

Into a....a....a...house! Just a rental, but still. I do NOT do well in apartments. For example, the other night our upstairs neighbors were loping around as usual in a manner that always makes me wonder if they do jumping jacks and various physical activities day and night JUST TO PISS ME OFF. Well, I finally snapped; I was in bed when they started dragging something - dead bodies, most likely - around on the floor. I threw back my sleeping mask, pulled the hair wildly from my eyes, jumped straight up and almost knocked the hubby out of bed, and slammed the palm of my hand as hard as I could into the ceiling - their floor - over and over and....well, you get the picture. It took everything Ryan could do and say to stop me. Dammit, it worked! At least for that night. But by then I was so fuming mad I just lay there and stared at the ceiling just daring them to defy me!! Needless to say, I had to move to the spare room or else I would have stared that ceiling down all night long.

So, for my sanity, we're moving. Actually, the house rental was already in the works, but the story tells better this way. And really, I don't think I could have lasted much longer in that smoke friendly, pet friendly apartment.

We found the house on Craigslist on Monday, viewed it on Wednesday, and sign the lease tonight! I will be taking pictures and hosting a contest for decor ideas....contest winner will have the satisfaction of knowing that his/her ideas rescued me from making some really bad decisions.

Chocolate cake, Wii Bowling, and Wine = a good weekend

Ry and I hadn't been over to his parents' for awhile, so we made the commitment to spend some time with them Sunday. I got all of our meal planning and shopping out of the way before we went over, Ry packed up his new Wii and games, and we made the 45 minute trek to their house.

Since they already had dinner planned, I decided to make a chocolate cake while I drank a generous glass of wine (or two). I'm always keeping an eye out for ways to lighten up desserts without losing the flavor, so when I ran across this ridiculously simple recipe on greenlitebites.com, I had to try it. Here's my modified version:

Pumpkin-Banana Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Chips
-1 Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix - always go for the ones that proclaim themselves "moist" - or if you want to skip that, just throw in some pudding mix with the cake mix.
- 1 15 oz can of pumpkin
- 1 banana, mashed
- 2/3 cup of water
- Chocolate chips - I used Ghiradelli's 60 percent cacoa or something or other

Preheat the oven to 325. In a medium/large bowl, combine the banana and pumpkin; beat until blended. Blend in the chocolate cake mix. Pour in the water and beat on low/medium speed for 2-3 minutes (I think I did three). It's very thick, more like a whipped cream texture than a cake batter. Grease a 13-9 pan; pour the batter in and smooth it around the pan to even it out. Take your preferred chips (I'd like to try peanut butter ones next time) and sprinkle them around on top of the cake as much as you'd like - I probably used 1/2 cup. Take a spatula or spoon and press them into the batter so they're even with the top of the cake (or leave on top - whatever you want. I like mine more embedded).

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until done. Since it's more of a fudgy cake, a toothpick won't be clean, but will have cake crumbles instead of cake batter. Top with lightly sugared strawberries and ice cream (preferably light). It's sort of a strawberry shortcake on chocolate thing....mmmm!

I got really excited about this cake, so excited that I almost forgot to eat dinner, which I'm glad I didn't because it was AMAZING! I know, I know, I shouldn't be so shocked, but Ry's dad isn't exactly a spice fiend, so a lot of the meals he prepares (and Ry's mom prepares because he won't eat anything too adventurous) can be pretty bland. I mean, bland to me. But only because I'M a spice fiend. An addict, you might say. My spice cupboard is overflowing into my cereal/popcorn/stuffing/cider (I know, cider? Why is that in the cereal cupboard? Because I need to organize, that's why) cupboard and I DON'T CARE. That cereal can just get on the refrigerator or jump in the vase shelf; spices come first.

ANYWAY, blandness was not a problem Sunday night. We prepared grilled pork chops - which I rub with a oregano/parsley/sage/rosemary/thyme mixture (like the song + oregano), plated with a delicious raspberry sauce, and sides of wild rice perfectly done and carrots braised in a honey sauce my mother in law keeps around. Needless to say, no leftovers. And my father in law didn't mind dealing with my spice addiction for a night.

Of course we were stuffed. And there was no room for dessert. Until my mother in law, P, snagged a bite while we were in the midst of a vicious Wii bowling competition. Then it looked so good we all HAD to temporarily set aside our hot rivalry to sample the fudgy goodness piled with ice cream and strawberries. I almost fainted. And then I had another piece. It tasted like a banana split on cake (the pumpkin flavor doesn't come through; it's only there to cut out the oil and eggs of the usual recipe). I'm sure it was the cake that made Ry and I lose by a countless number of points to his parents in the three game series. I was all weighed down and saturated in its deliciousness.......and in the other two glasses of wine I had with dinner. :)

Please try it. If you regret it I'll pay for the wasted cake mix....

I should charge a delivery fee...and maybe get therapy.

This morning, instead of making the 30 minute commute to work, I drove to my mother in law's work downtown, left my Nissan Sentra in her parking lot, and traded vehicles with her. A Nissan Sentra? Cute and little. The vehicle I traded for? Monstrous. I needed something to haul furniture for my office, so she'd driven in my father in law's humongous, extended cab, bad-at-turning-and-requires-two-backups-to-every-sharp-turn F250 Chevy pickup. And it was hard enough getting it out of her parking lot. Unfortunately, I also had to drive it to the biggest hospital downtown. The hospital keeps a "boneyard" full of discarded furniture from past remodels in its basement, so if you know about it you can make an appointment and go peruse the collection (which is primarily of a turquoise, mauve, and bright pink designation) to pick out that overstuffed bright green waiting room chair you've always wanted. Okay, really, sometimes there are some good finds, and since it's a donation only setup, very very cheap. I lucked out and found an octagon conference table and two "seating area" chairs that didn't burn your eye to look at them, but was barely able to pass up the sea green rocking chairs on a spring.

BUT, imagine my chagrin when I had to maneuver the truck OUT of the parking garage, around the hospital complex, and through two loop arounds, the second one requiring two backups, and into the only spot available - a parallel parking spot on a curve. Try that one in a monster truck crushing patients and people in wheelchairs left and right. Alright, I didn't actually run over anyone, but I think I had an audience by the time I finally was parked close enough to the curb that vehicles could squeeze past on the other side. "Squeeze" being the keyword here. Do you know when you drive a truck but don't know how to drive it how many death glares you get? Let me just say from experience: A LOT.

Once parked, my aunt and I met up with the boneyard personnel and "helped" them load the table and chairs. I put my hand on it, pretended to lift and push, and everything. I'm sure I was very, very, VERY helpful. I think I looked better than if I had stood off to the side wringing my hands uselessly. I think....(although I'm quite good at gracefully wringing my hands. It comes in handy for flat tires).

I made it back to the office by noon and unloaded the chairs. Then my boss and I went to grab the table, and now that I was ACTUALLY unloading??! That thing is @$#%^ heavy!! Seriously, I think it's made out of solid oak! (Oak is heavy, right?) And of course no warning from the boneyard boys earlier. "Oh, no, miss, we don't want any money for this....we were going to get rid of it anyway." Sneaky little bastards. Now that it's in my office, there is no way in hell that thing is getting moved around. My whole room setup will just have to maneuver around it - "It provides such a great focal point, don't you think? Yes, I know it's directly in front of the door; I've cleared a path right through this one foot space. If you just suck in a little, you should get through juuust fine."

So, now I have to drive the truck all the way back to my mother in law's office, change cars again, and go home. I'm going to sit on the couch and have a drink to recover from the traumatic experience; there's no way I'll be able to do anything productive. Or maybe I'll just move my desk first....

Yep, I lied...

You'd think this blog was going to be about Alaska, wouldn't you? Or at least that I LIVED in Alaska, right? Or maybe that I owned an igloo? With a view? Nope! I just think that being raised there gave me a unique - i.e. weird, crazy, insane, delusional - outlook on life (and the fact that Baked Alaska and other potential names were already taken). So, this blog will simply be random thoughts from an Alaskan's point of view. I'll try to be entertaining, but I'm a lawyer. I'm not good at that kind of thing. Sometimes I have funny spurts, but they're few and far between (oh, but look! I rhyme! "thing," "tween." Anyone? Anyone?). Mostly I'm just going to be throwing out anything from recipes I've loved to stories about crazy clients to memories of growing up in a chaotic, but happy, family.

I hope you're able to enjoy reading my blog just as much as I'll love writing it!