They are coming soon...

... the new chairs, that is.

We want 2 chairs for our living room. We have been looking for these for um... probably 14 months. I guess I'm having a hard time deciding.

Looking at http://www.target.com/, I spied not just one, but TWO chairs that I really really like. Still couldn't decide, so I ordered 2 of each. I'll only keep one pair of chairs and return the other two to Target. Oh, the beauty of shopping on the internet knowing you can return to the store in town!

So here they are:

Wow, doesn't the one on the top look like the background on my blog? Cra-zy-ness. Maybe I could start a trend... furniture to match your blog. Hmmmm.

I like them both in different ways. Sort of like children. But, I'm not returning the children any time soon. Shoot, they are beginning to pick up their clothes without being told and even put themselves to bed at a decent time!

I'll keep you posted on them. The chairs, that is.

Jack's winning morning

UPDATE (4-21-10): I found a recording of this very winning on Spirit's web site. Listen for yourself! Click here. Look for the "Related Audio" box and click the 4-20-10 button. Now, back to the previously posted blog entry...

My hubby is so smart. Today he won "Gender Game Without a Name" on Spirit 105.3.  The topic was MUSICALS... piece of cake for a guy who:

• used to direct high school choir
• has a crazy talent for remembering details of musicals, and
• never seems to forget people's names

The question was this: What is the name of the lead female character in My Fair Lady?

Without a moment's hesitation, Jack answered, "Eliza Doodlittle". No stalls, no guessing, no clues needed. He made the guys proud and also won himself 3 CDs! Wonder if one is the soundtrack to My Fair Lady?

Now, let's see if I can find an image from Google to help out this blog post. Searching "Eliza Doolittle"...

Oh, here's one:

Nope, that's not it. Somebody named their 4H goat after the cockney country girl. Isn't google amazing?

Nope, not this one either. This is the pop singer of the same name.

Ah, that's it. Eliza, in all her glory.

"Come on, Dover! Come on, Dover! Move your bloomin' arse!"

Way to go Jack! You never fail to surprise or amaze me!

Reality check

Not too long ago, I signed up to receive emails from http://www.allrecipies.com/.  It's a great little website for people like me who need some cooking inspiration. Every few days, they send an email with a link to a recipe. It's a great way to think about cooking up some different items to add to our dinner menus.

Yesterday, I was just starting to think about dinner. I had decided on split pea soup. YUM! Now, I know that doesn't spin everyone's beannie, but I grew up loving this and my family likes it too. Ham chunks, pieces of carrot, a small squirt of fresh garlic; what's not to love about a hearty soup? Before heading to the store for the needed ham hocks, I quickly checked my email, and was greeted by a new recipe idea from allrecipies! YEA! Maybe I would find fresh inspiration and cook something new. I mean, I love pea soup, but something new is always exciting.

I opened the email to find this darling of a recipe waiting for me:   

Southwestern Chicken Lasagna

Here's the description: "A spicy, cheesy, Mexican flavored dish assembled and baked much like lasagna."

It sounded like it should definitely trump the split pea soup idea. Now to make a new shopping list.

chicken: have it, check

cheese: check

olives: add those to the list

spaghetti sauce: check

corn tortillas: need those

all of the other ingredients: check

All I needed were the olives and corn tortillas. This was going to be great! I would surprise my family with a delicious, new, yummy thing for dinner. Perfect on a night when we are coming and going with golf, track and dance all in one night.

Then came a pivotal moment. I clicked the nutritional content link. Let me just say this: If I ate stuff like this all the time, I would need new pants with a big elastic waist band.

Here's what it said:

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 902

Total Fat: 47.4g
Cholesterol: 194mg
 
HOLY CROW!!!  That's a lot of calories for one entree! Never mind the salad and some bread or something to accompany the dish. And a glass of milk. I could eat my entire day's worth of calories in one sitting. Bad. I think it may have had something to do with all of the cheese. It did call for 4 cups of shredded cheese. That's probably also what got it the 4.5 star rating and rave reviews from 46 subscribers.
 
If I was going to eat that many calories at one meal, I would just eat ice-cream instead. It's a lot quicker to prepare. And probably a lot tastier, too.
 
So, in the end, it was split pea soup for dinner, at a mere 200 calories. Fat grams were only .7 and there were 5 miligrams of cholesterol.
 
Good thing I really like the soup!
 
 

Just a quickie post

I want to get more pictures posted on Itsuka's visit before she leaves us on Saturday. Hello to people in Oito, Japan (Itsuka's home town)!

Playing Twister gives good practice on colors, body parts and left/right!

This little treasure has been invaluable

This is a trip to Cabela's (http://www.cabelas.com/)

Emily and Itsuka in coon-skip caps, so American!

My four children for the week. Back from a hunt.

Back at home, Itsuka taught us origami

The next day, we taught her how to dye Easter eggs

It's hard to see here, but the egg has her name written in Japanese with crayon

This morning, Thomas was sad at breakfast, saying, "I wish Itsuka could stay. I will miss her and I wish she was my real sister!" Tears, sobs... yes, the whole thing. He has really taken to his Japanese sister. With all the fun we've been having around here, who can blame him?