someone’s blogging…

My husband is the man.  That is all.

 Oh, and I really like working for Starbucks.  Next time I’m on a caffeine high I’ll write about my love for green aprons, Sirens, and all things coffee-related.

easy as getting your food handler’s card

Thanks to Jules for sending me this card in the mail to brighten my day.  I heart you.

It’s true, though.  This cooking stuff ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.  I mean, I’m not bad, and I’m learning more and more all the time… but when you grew up with a Mom who didn’t use measuring utensils or measuring cups, who sort of magically whipped up these lovely dishes seemingly on instinct… you feel a little behind the game.  Cooking challenged, if you will.

I didn’t bother making much besides frozen burritos when I lived by myself in the LBH — I was usually beat by the time I got off work, and why bother making some huge dish of food when I’m the only one around to eat it?  Besides.  I really like frozen burritos.  I cover them (literally) in sour cream and Rosarita Red Taco Sauce, and I’m a happy camper.

It’s a whole new game in the Little Grey House, though.  Frozen burritos on a near-daily basis just won’t do.  They were fine for me, but I don’t feel good doing that to the one I vowed to love for all time. 

The good news is that I’m the picky eater in this family, and J will pretty much eat whatever I put in front of him.  I don’t like to brag or anything, but I made Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas last night, from a recipe and everything.  That’s right.  All by myself.  Granted, it took me about two hours… I had no idea how many chicken breasts would equal six cups and I’m sure I guessed wrong… and I pulled the chicken out of the water too early, saw some pink, and we ended up pulling out the George Foreman to finish cooking it… but hey – they resembled enchiladas when I was done. 

J made noises of approval as he was eating, so I think we did okay.  At least I hope we did.  There’s a heck of a lot of leftovers in the fridge, so someone’s going to have to choke those puppies down.

We both survived without incident, but little did we know that we were doing a risky dance with disaster.  Until today, I was handling food without a license to do so.  I couldn’t have told you that foods lingering in the Danger Zone (41F – 140F) could be breeding a virtual plethora of harmful germs.  Or that it’s best to use the Shallow Pan Method ™ to cool your leftovers.  Or that it’s pretty much a bad idea to leave your chicken to thaw out on the counter until you get home from work. 

That’s right, kids.  Today, at the behest of my new employer, I went and got my State of Washington Food and Beverage Service Worker’s Permit, known to the layperson and those outside “the biz” as a Food Handler’s Card. 

(I’m not sure why, but as soon as I step into a County Health Department, I feel like I’m at risk of becoming decidedly un-healthy.  I find myself trying my best not to touch anything.  Does anyone else have this experience?). 

All went well — I got a 31/32, paid my ten dollars IN CASH after a trip to a gas station ATM (who doesn’t accept a debit card these days?) and am now no longer putting my husband and houseguests in mortal danger of foodborne illness.  I may still be a decidedly clumsy and somewhat crappy cook, but hey, at least no one’s going to die.

Actually, come to think of it, we don’t own a meat thermometer.  Guess we’re still screwed. 

Justin, quit licking the raw chicken juice off the counter.  Please.   

my brother, the champ

For those of you already familiar with the Annual Nog Bong Invitational, I’m sorry to report that it didn’t quite happen this third year.  Schedules being what they were, it got postponed too much for nog to still be on local grocers’ shelves.

Instead, this year was a Gallon Challenge.

That would be Kevo on the far left.  At least he has the brains to get chocolate milk.

There he is, folks.  He does the Rich Family proud.  (Luckily, I’m now a Lawlis).  For more contest details, visit Chelsie.  She’s got the scoop.

2006: by the numbers

races run: 2

major hair color changes: 3 

trips outside the United States: 2 (Whistler, B.C. on my honeymoon, Mexico for Christmas)

days spent on the Gulf Coast: 7

perspective shifts while there: many

major injuries: ZERO!

songs on my iPod: 4,933

times I had to take the stupid thing in to Best Buy to get it fixed: 2 

weddings: 3

funerals: 1 

total blog posts: 58

total blog posts May-December: 14 (ouch)

flat tires: 1

emails exchanged with Justin from March 19th to April 19: Approximately 160

number of hours on the phone it took to be pretty sure I “knew” about us: Approximately 9

number of years we’d been friends: 9 

years it had been since we’d seen each other: 6 

number of visits it took to “know”: 1

times I received flowers at work: 2

dollars I gave Verizon Wireless in May: 600

times a bridesmaid: 1 (4 total)

times a bride: 1

months from first date to wedding: 6

resulting name changes: 1

free drinks from Starbucks: 1 (apparently if you show up in a big white poofy dress, they feel obliged to treat)

days spent in Whistler, B.C.: 7

number of bears I chased, trying to get a good photo: 1

number of hats I bought: 2 

moves: 2

number of large fires: 2 (Mitzel’s and Kevo’s house) 

number of times I won at Munchkin: 1

number of times I beat J at Scrabble: more than he beat me

new jobs: 1

number of “The Office” episodes watched back-to-back on DVD: 22 (it would be 28, but some jackass refuses to return the second DVD of Season 2.  Jackass: if you’re reading this, I hate you). 

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

my small group

my trip to the Gulf Coast in April 

finding Justin again and promptly marrying him

 

camping at Banks Lake

Justin proposing with coffee after my dad spilled the beans

the realization that a job can go absolutely sour and I’ll survive  

pre-marital counseling with Daniel 

having such amazing bridesmaids

having coffee with Justin, his brother, and Julie in the sunshine the beautiful morning we married 

our wedding

having Dan officiate (he stole excerpts from this post on my blog for his message)

cozying up during our honeymoon in Whistler

being with family for Thanksgiving

finding the Little Grey House & moving to Bellingham

Mexico for Christmas

DISCOVERIES

The Office

Little Miss Sunshine

the glory that is having a Starbucks Barista machine

the glory that is having a husband who makes you mochas every morning

why newlyweds have that sparkle in their eye

the ins and outs of football (and football addiction) 

how odd it is to see your brother on the news

why simple, personal weddings are the best way to go

seasickness

Chris’ game: Buffet

Cat Power

Band of Horses

how quickly you get over the fear of farting under the covers… or anywhere else, for that matter

how funny that becomes

how much fun and how much work it is to share your life with someone

this is pretty much the grossest thing I’ve ever seen.

Shortly after our move to Bellingham, Justin and I promptly signed up for Blockbuster Online.  It’s amazing.  They send you movies in the mail, and when you’re done enjoying them, you run them back to the store, and the mailing envelope is a coupon good for a movie right then and there.  The movies you returned are checked back in as if they’d already arrived back at the warehouse, and you get three more movies in the mail the next day. 

Pretty sweet.  Remember, kids.  You heard it here first.

Anyway, J and I were returning said movies to Blockbuster, and as I was getting out of my car, I saw the following “situation” in the car next to us.  You’re looking through the windshield at the interior of this guy’s car.  I say “guy’s” car because no woman on earth would do this.

 Hope the air freshener helps…

a new year, a new blog

This is my third blog site.  Hrm.  It’s possible that I have a short attention span.

Q:  How many kids with ADD does it take to switch a lightbulb?

A:  Hey, you guys wanna go ride bikes?

Sorry for the switch, but as my average posting frequency has been about once a month, $8.95 was a bit much to pay per post.  Now that the wedding and move and job search, etc., are finished, I have a feeling that I’ll be able to jump back on board, but we’ll see.  In the meantime, I’m happy to blog for cheap.  Okay, free.

 Welcome.

Happy Crappy January/Yay I’m a Barista!

hiya, kids.

Well, the more this winter continues, the more I’m ready for a change.  Most years, whatever season we are in is my favorite season, but since we here in the Pacific Northwest have just gotten pounded with storm after storm after storm… I’m ready for summer.  Seriously.  We got a bunch of snow early last week (just as J was starting school up at Western), which made driving him into school interesting.  It’s been below freezing ever since.  And now that the roads are ceasing to be ice rinks… it’s snowing again.  Here’s the Little Grey House in its winter clothes.

All this icy wintryness is a far cry from the way we spent Christmas, that is, aboard a cruise ship sailing to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas).  Justin’s grandparents were extremely generous and took the entire family on a cruise for Christmas.  I was seasick almost the whole time, which adds an interesting spin to things, literally (your body is constantly trying to fix your equilibrium, it seems), but other than that, it was a fun time.  I do have to admit that it was strange to be strolling around in shorts and flip-flops on the deck of a huge ship, out in the open ocean, temperature 80 or so degrees, listening to “Let It Snow” over the speakers.  Here are a few pics from the trip.

  

In other news, I interviewed yesterday and it seems that Starbucks has deemed me worthy to make coffee.  Yes, in about a week I will begin training to be a barista.  It may sound odd, but I’ve always wanted to do this, so I’m antsy to start.  Justin is excited because now we get a free pound of coffee a week, I’m pumped because it’s flexible and I can enjoy work… at work… and don’t have to bring it home with me anymore.  I should start up in the next week or so.