Sabby Ann

I don’t often cook vegetarian meals, but tonight was an exception to that. Natalie came over for dinner and she doesn’t eat meat… So we attempted a new recipe for black-bean burgers. It turned out absolutely delicious, although I wasn’t able to convince Eric to try it!

Here’s the recipe, taken from this month’s All You magazine:

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
• Salt & Pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 375.
2. Warm oil in a skillet over medium-high.  Sauté celery, onions, & garlic (about 5 min).
3. Pour beans into a bowl and mash into a paste. Stir in sautéed vegetables, egg, bread crumbs, and seasoning. Form into 4-5 patties.
4. Place patties on a baking sheet and place in oven. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes per side.

For 2010, Disney’s big promotion is the “Give A Day, Get a Disney Day” program. They are trying to get 1 million people to volunteer a day of service (in their local communities), and in exchange they are giving each volunteer a free one-day ticket to Disney World or Disneyland.

Since we’re planning a couple of trips to the Cape Canaveral area this year, this seemed like a great way to get a free pair of tickets to Walt Disney World (and save $150!). I signed us up for the program, and then registered to volunteer with a local chapter of Project Linus. They’re a national non-profit whose mission is  … to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”

While I’d originally planned on crocheting two small afghans to donate, I had a difficult time getting the yarn to cooperate. I had purchased two types of yarn, both ones that I’ve never worked with, but that felt extra soft & cozy.

So Plan #2 was to make fleece no-sew blankets. Eric & I went out shopping and picked out some kid-friendly fleece prints, with matching solids for the back side. The fleece that I used had pink & purple kittens, while Eric’s was mostly rocket ships and robots.

Borrowing an idea from Veronica, here’s some highlights from the past ten years of my life:

2000:
- Mom threw me a surprise sweet-16 birthday party. She thought I knew beforehand, but it was truly a surprise.
- Started dating my first “serious” boyfriend, Tom.
- Applyied to colleges: MSU, MTU, Purdue, & Ohio Northern.

2001:
- Graduated high school.
- Started college at Michigan Tech.
- Met Eric, but had no clue that we’d eventually date or marry.
- Took crazy weekend road-trip thru 4 states in a borrowed car with Jason & Phil.

2002:
- Began having second thoughts about my major, started exploring other options.
- Became a Resident Assistant (RA).
- Parents gave me my first car, a ‘99 Ford Taurus.
- Over Thanksgiving, Mom said that she thought Eric was a nice guy & that I should give him a chance. We started seriously dating not long after that.
- Introduced Eric to my extended family.

2003:
- I officially changed my major from Computer Engineering to Civil Engineering.
- Eric & I got engaged and began planning the wedding.
- Spent summer working for Livingston County Road Commission, my first real internship.
- I started my 2nd year as an RA.

2004:
- Got married.
- Moved into an apartment with Eric

2005:
- Got Snickers (our Yorkie dog) & Liz (our black cat)
- Went to San Francisco with Eric
- Bought first brand-new car, a Ford Five Hundred.
- Received permanent job offer for consulting firm in metro-Detroit.
- Graduated from Michigan Tech.

2006:
- Took week-long vacation at Disney World with my family.
- Moved back in with my parents for 6 months, while Eric stayed behind to finish school.
- Started first “real” job.
- Bought a house in Novi
- Leased the vehicle of my dreams, a brand-new dark red F-150 crew cab (V-8, 5.4L)

2007:  
- Spent second half of the year working as a field inspector for construction projects in Livonia, Farmington Hills, & Oak Park.
- Went to England for a week with Eric

2008:
- Began volunteering as a tax preparer for the Accounting Aid Society.
- Truck lease expired, had to trade it back in.
- Bought a shiny blue Chevy Cobalt.
- Started wedding photography business.
- Vacation to Florida with Eric

2009:
- Celebrated New Years in Key West.
- Decided to go back to school for a Masters at Oakland University, then changed my mind.

Eric & I had chicken drumsticks for dinner on Tuesday. 

Mistake #1:  Not doing dishes after dinner, or at least scraping our plates into the garbage. 

Sometime Tuesday night the cat helped herself to the leftovers. She’s not allowed on the kitchen table or countertops, but somehow one of the partially-eaten drumsticks (our dirty dishes, including what was left of the drumsticks, had been placed on the countertop) ended up on the kitchen floor. Most of the meat had been gnawed off, but the bone was just laying there on Wednesday morning. So when I woke up and discovered what the cat had done, I of course went to find Eric. 

Mistake #2: Not picking up what was left of the chicken drumstick and immediately throwing it away. 

I told Eric what had happened, and when I returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, the drumstick was gone. I figured he tossed it into the garbage, and all was well. 

Mistake #3: Assuming that my husband thew away the drumstick remnants. 

When I came home from work yesterday night, and released the dog from his crate, he disappeared for quite awhile. That probably should have been a sign that something was amiss, but it wasn’t until I started hearing funny sounds coming from the sunroom that I went to check it out. I found the dog chewing on something. When I attempted to snatch it from him, all I could find was tiny fragments of chicken bone. I confiscated what I could find, and hunted around for the drumstick itself, but with no luck. 

A few minutes later, I found the dog gnawing away on yet more slivers of bone. I located a few tiny pieces on the rug, and a few more on the couch, but I have absolutely no idea what happened to the rest of the drumstick. 

I’d be surprised if he ate the whole thing, but I can’t find it anywhere. Not under the couch, or buried in a blanket, or hidden outside in the pen.

In a little over four months, I’ll be sitting down to take the Principles & Practice of Engineering (PE) exam. It’s an eight-hour exam, two-part exam, and it’s one of the final steps necessary in becoming a licensed professional engineer. 

Although I was eligible to take the exam this past October, I was advised to hold off until spring… it’s much easier to motivate yourself to study on a cold snowy night than when it’s sunny & warm outside! So I’ve started gathering reference books and practice tests, and I’m planning to sign up for a review course. 

The only thing that I haven’t yet figured out is what to do after taking the exam! I’d like to take a few days off and go on a relaxing vacation. It’d be a bit too cold in April for an Alaskan cruise, and Europe doesn’t quite fit in the budget… but there are still plenty of potential destinations!

Eric’s usually pretty good about helping out to finish the numerous projects that I tend to start. However, the work is completed on his timeline… which means most of these projects drag on a bit longer than I had intended. And yes, I know I could hire a contractor to get things done - but that added cost would mean I’d be limited to only one project every few years. 

Over the past few months, as I’ve been making a list of all the things I’d eventually like to change in the house, remodeling the kitchen has become a high priority. Enough so that I’m more than willing to bribe  offer an incentive to my husband for a timely completion.

The big question is what would be an appropriate bribe incentive, and what sort of timeline should be established?  A vacation with a destination of his choosing? Sony Playstation3? A new big-screen TV? A new camera lens? 

It’s really a win-win situation… especially if he picks an incentive that I can enjoy too.  ;)

Most grocery stores around here will double manufacturer coupons up to fifty cents, with some allowing store coupons to be stacked on top of manufacturer coupons. Not bad, but not really great either. 

Over the summer, I discovered that some of the Kroger stores in Michigan will double manufacturer coupons up to $1 - so my $1 off instantly becomes $2 off!  :)  The nearest stores that offer that are about an hour drive (each way), so I would only shop there if I had a reason to head out that way… but when I do, I’ll sort through my coupons and stock up!  

Unfortunately, they went back to just doubling up to fifty cents a few weeks ago… just as my non-perishable stockpiled supplies were starting to run low. I figured that, especially with so many Michigan families unemployed right now, too many people were hitting up the handful of stores that offer the $1 double, and they were losing money. 

BUT - this week the circular shows that the $1 double is back! I don’t know how long it’ll be around, but I’m definitely planning to go shopping and get all the freebies that I possibly can!

Although the weather forecast for this weekend was great, and ideal for doing some much-needed yard work, neither Eric nor I felt particularly motivated this morning. Instead, we lounged about for a bit, then decided to get out of the house for a bit. 

We ended up at Meijers, where they had a great clearance on women’s bowling shoes. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any men’s shoes though… 

Then we headed over to the local bowling alley. Although we’ve lived here three years, and we both love bowling, this was actually the first time we’ve gone there together! Our scores were pretty low, so I won’t post ‘em, but we’ve decided to start bowling on a regular basis. 

We’re going to use today’s games to establish an average score, and use it to compute a handicap for each of us. Then, on weekends that we don’t have any specific plans, we’re going to hit the bowling alley and play a couple of games… and whoever wins gets to decide how we spend the day/weekend.

If I win, I’ll be able to coerce Eric into working on my honey–do list, accompany me on a shopping trip, or make him clean the bathroom. And if he wins, I might get stuck watching an entire season of some Sci-Fi (SyFy?) show, or playing video games.

With Eric taking night classes twice a week, I have a few hours to myself in the evening. When the weather is nice, I usually just play work in the garden, or take the dog for an extra-long walk. When it’s cool & rainy out, I just run errands and pick up around the house a bit. Either way, I have plenty of time to ponder. 

Tonight I went grocery shopping. Armed with my reusable grocery bags and coupon pouch, and throwing food items in the cart, I started thinking about what constitutes a good wife. 

Is it a good wife that buys her husband hot dogs and potato chips for dinner… knowing that he likes them far more than a stir fry or pasta salad? 

What about a wife who stocks the fridge with Lunchables for her husband… to make sure that he has something to eat at work when there isn’t enough time to make a PB&J sandwich in the morning? 

How about a wife that, when cleaning out the closet, doesn’t throw away the pile of raggedy too-small T-shirts from her husband’s high school clubs/teams… because she knows they have sentimental value? 

Who complains about her husband spending $8.99 on iTunes, but then spends $30 on some sexy sleepwear…?

A few weeks ago I decided to tackle a new craft project: crocheted curtains. I started off using some multi-colored crochet thread with varying shades of blue, purple, and green. I was a bit iffy on it at first, and quickly grew to hate it. I like the colors, but they looked more like a camouflaged ocean. And the camouflage color pattern seemed to obscure the ‘block’ pattern that I was attempting to crochet. 

So I decided to start over, using a solid thread color instead. It’s a fun project, and since I’m using thread instead of yarn, it’s much more portable. The down side is that since the stitches are so tiny (at least in comparison to yarn) that my hands start to cramp up after an hour or two. I’ve used 350 yards of thread so far, and the new curtain consists of a panel approximately 2.5′ long and 9″ tall… and it’s taken about 13 hours of time. 

Here’s a photo of the two attempts, side-by-side.  Opinions?