Wally's

On Saturday night, John and I went out with Sara and Chuck in Ste. Gen. They had kereoke at this dive bar called Wally's. Luckily there was only one other person there that I went to high school with, made it easier to sing. We had a really good time. Sara sang Fiona Apple Criminal, and Red Hot Chili Peppers The Other Side, and I sang Dixie Chicks' Goodbye Earl, Bobbi Gentry Ode to Billy Joe, and Sir Mix a Lot Baby Got Back. The crowd didn't know quite what to do with Baby Got Back, but there were some older drunk ladies dancing.

This is me, three times redder than any other human being can turn. Notice the keroke lady with the bad blonde hair, and Wally's token Mardi Gras decorations. It's a classy place.

Sara singing her heart out.

This is Chuck, always taking pictures with his many different cameras.

This is Sara drinking her Jack and Coke with a cherry.

I Married a Handy Man

John is so awesome. We received a deep freeze from Santa, and it needed it's own circuit breaker, and a new outlet. John looked at it, read the Home Improvement book I bought him for Christmas, went to Home Depot twice, got some advice from Joe over the phone, and wa-la, our freezer is hooked up perfectly. It's so nice and cold in there. I really like deep freezers. The first house we seriously thought about buying had a deep freeze that came with it. That was a big selling point for me. So, John is a genius electrician, and I am a big nerd that likes deep freezers.

Cat Sandwich.

Props to Joe and Art for the bottles.

We Bottled!

Love Is:

when you order Chinese food delivery, and he got sweet and sour chicken, and you ask if you can dip your egg roll into his extra sweet and sour sauce, and he says "yes," then you ask if you can double dip and he says, "yes." Then you dip, and bite, and double dip and bite, and then decide you don't like the egg roll, and he eats the rest of it for you.

My Prayers Have Been Answered

I just read this article stating that Mindy Paige Davis Page is leaving Trading Spaces. I can hardly believe it. It's a miracle. I no longer have to sit through agonizing scenes of the camera whore. (now I just have to sign up for cable again, don't know why they didn't want to keep giving it to us for free?) Click on this link to read for yourself.
http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=179498

This is TJ, and Sherman (the puppy has a name now.) I've never had a dog this small.

Trying to show you how tiny he is.

He Thinks He's Found His Thing

John is always looking for some kind of hobby that can be his and his alone, one that will help define him maybe? We fermented a batch of beer last week, and he thinks this might be his "thing." I like Bass, and so this is supposed to taste like Bass, an English Ale. After we bottle it, we are supposed to wait 21 days, sounds like FOREVER to me.

This is the fermation lock. It bubbles, releasing CO2. When it stops bubbling, it's time to bottle.

Clever bucket named the "Ale Pail."

He has done lots of reading, and prep, and even took notes, cute.

This is John, all excited, draining the crushed malt.

This is the first stage, steeping the malt. We bought a 5 gal stainless steel pot, and a floating thermometer, also pictured here.

Someone else has good taste in pillows.

Here's a close up.

He's so tiny!

New Puppy

Dad got a new puppy today, and I am blessing you with pictures. He's very tiny, and sleepy. I still love Quincy and TJ, will post pictures of them soon too.

Mr. Fix it

Dad has an old hunting buddy who is a plumber. He's not that good of a plumber, but he is cheap, and he can usually get the job done. He is really messy though, perhaps Dad admires that in him. Sometimes he gets paid in wine, I think he needs a sign that says, "Will Work For Bolduc." I used to think that he would fix one thing and break another, just so he'd have to come back and get paid in more wine. He has funny t-shirts, my favorites say "I Can Fix Anything! (where's the duct tape?)" and "Albert Winestein, add a few drinks and become a genius."

We had problems with a new furnace the other day, he came out and looked at it, couldn't get it to turn on. It's a brand new furnace. A couple days later, he brought his son with him, because he was really troubled by this furnace. They got here, turned it on, and it worked. He then said, "I guess the Furnace Fairy fixed it."

Birthdays in Heaven

Today is my mom's birthday. She would be 65. She really liked birthdays, because it was a milestone for another year that she was still with us. Do you think they celebrate birthdays in Heaven? Did Jesus just have his 2005th birthday? If Jesus was born on December 25, was that 1 AD, or 1 BC? Shouldn't Jesus' birthday actually be on January 1st?

Happy Birthday Mom, I miss you.

Cold, Hard, Concrete Reason #1 to Have Kids

Hannah likes my pillow. She came over on Saturday, and without any coaxing, grabbed the pillow and called it "soft." She made my day. I tried to show her where I made it wrong, but she was more concerned with the fleece material on the backside. I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I took a picture. Notice the pattern on the front of the pillow, it's the same pillow, I swear. =)

Thanks Hannah!

Beef and Broccoli

happylaney

John made an awesome dinner tonight, Beef and Broccoli, from scratch. You'd think he was Chinese. I never understand how people make things from scratch, and John does it all the time. I always need a recipe. I will sometimes tweak a recipe, but I always need something to start with, or guide from. I'm the one making Crispy Chicken and Vegetable Croquettes from my Food and Wine Magazine, and he makes Beef and Broccoli from scratch. Guess who is more anal, and who is more creative?

Comments

happylaney

I'm totally bummed because I guess you have to sign up in order to post a comment to my blogs. How am I supposed to know if you are reading my blogs? How am I supposed to know if you are interested in anything I say?

It's possible I'm not as interesting as I think.

Eat At Your Own Risk

happylaney

When Russ Sutter makes gagging noises after you tell him you went to "Unfriendly's" for dinner, even before you tell him about the "Friendly" cockroach, you should know the food isn't good. Apparently you're just supposed to drink there.

May 24th

This morning I got to witness something unbelievably cool. I was invited to see Amanda and Joe's ultrasound of their baby.

I have been gathering information probably since I got married about having babies. I have asked every single one of my pregnant friends and women who have had babies to share details, share something, anything. They did what they could but my appetite was not curbed. Amanda could see me festering on the sidelines, and she has been so open about her pregnancy. It's not just anyone that would invite you to their ultrasound, it's very personal, and I was moved by her invitation.

Let me just tell you, it was so COOL! When John and I were on our honeymoon, we went snorkeling. It was our first time snorkeling. I remember putting on my life jacket, the goggles, the air breather thing, jumping in the water, putting my face in the water, and immediately bringing my head out of the water and exclaiming, "there's fish down there!" John politely informed me that most of my body was still in the water, where the fish were. That's the only thing I can think of to relate how I felt today, even though it was nothing like that. I mean, I know there's a baby in there. I know it's growing, I know it has a heartbeat, because I was invited to that doctor's appointment too. I just know, when the ultrasound lady put the thing on Amanda, there was all of a sudden a baby on the screen, and among us. I think we all stopped talking, and were captivated by this little tiny person swimming around so sweetly. She measured the head, the spine, the heartbeat, all sorts of positions and angles. We saw two of the tiniest feet, with the tiniest toes. She said the baby is about 7 inches long right now, the size of your hand. How wonderful. How crazy. Her due date is May 24th.

The most amazing part about all this is that they made this person. Two people made a third person, and that person has a personality and a journey. This third person could be President, or be the person next door, or whatever. No one knows what the world will be like after this person enters it. Can't wait to meet him or her.

So, to change position completely from Saturday night (you don't even want to know the positions I was in Saturday night) maybe my bumper sticker should read, "Make Wine, and Babies," or maybe, "Drink Wine, Make Babies."

Dear Russ Sutter,

happylaney

Dear Russ Sutter,
We went to your old favorite "stomping ground" restaurant tonight, you know the one, right down the street from us? We'll call it "Unfriendlys." You have said you spent many fun evenings there, with the old gang. I have one question for you. Does the old gang like super greasy not-even-hot wings, and cockroaches climbing down the wall next to your table? If so, "Unfriendlys" is the place to be.

30th Birthday

Last night John and I went to our friend Robyn's 30th Birthday Party. It was one of those, we-know-these-people(Robyn and Gabe)and-we-have-met-their-friends-but-we-don't-really-KNOW-any-of-these-other-people. I did end up striking up a conversation with some of the other girls about turning 30. It was a general consensus that we didn't feel as old as 30 sounds. (I'd like to point out that I am still 29) Also, none of the girls in the conversation had kids, and we were all more than fine with that. Later one of the girls asked me what I was up to, and I said I was still making wine. She said, "make wine, not babies." I might need that bumper sticker.

Sewing 101

I know I sent this blog to at least a couple seamstresses, and so I am wondering how to make my pillow less lumpy? Seems like such an elementary question, but, maybe I'm not stuffing it right? Maybe I should use foam or quilt batting instead of stuffing?

Rhombus Pillow

So, I got out the sewing machine. I bought some fabric last year around Valentine's Day, made one hugely ugly heart shaped pillow, and turned out the cats had peed on the stuffing before I stuffed it, so the ugly heart shaped pillow smelled bad too.

Then I put the sewing machine away.

Another relatively ugly pillow was born Monday night while John had a meeting. I wanted to do one of those cool pillows like they do on Trading Spaces. My problem was I didn't measure anything. How hard can it be to sew a square? Obviously harder than I thought. =( John came home and said "Don't worry, baby, I'm sure my first batch of beer won't turn out right either."

Looks like I need a yard stick.

Long Time Lurker

Hi everyone. I said I wanted a blog, and now here I am "blogging." Not sure what to say now... I'm really good at reading others' blogs.... Maybe I'm a better lurker.....

Give me a minute to get my creative juices flowing. If I was a winemaker, I'd be a journalist, maybe...

"You can't just stand over my shoulder and watch me 'Blog!'"

John had to leave early Saturday morning, so he left me this note. See, winter in Missouri isn't that bad. I feel pretty warm.

Me and my HUGE yeast bread stolen

happylaney

happylaney

Trying to figure this thing out, is there where I try to make another post?

John calls me "bloggy."

Gotta go before the Amazing Race comes on.