Great food, great guns, and family - what more can you ask for?

This weekend, we visited my parents and Zachary in Jacksonville, and we had such a fantastic time it was hard to come back home. Friday, we left right after George got off work. Once in Jacksonville, we unpacked the car, ate lunch, and then scooted downtown to Shands Proton Therapy clinic to pick up Zachary. His nurse removed the scab over his incision (FINALLY!) and we had fun joking about all of the practical jokes we could play on people as it looked like some of his brain was protruding. Eeewww! It was really just the blood vessels under the scab, but it did look like he had a bit of a cockscomb going sideways. (Good visual, huh?) We spared him any pictures.

After we got back to my parents house, George and I went out for a "date" dinner at Stonewood Grill & Tavern.

Our waiter, Davney, was awesome and the food was some of the best we've had in a while. We got the garlic parmesan grilled oysters for an appetizer, and then George got his favorite steak, ribeye, while I got the pork chops, both with a wild mushroom sauce. "Oh my!" is all I can say. We finished it off with a rum pound cake with bananas foster sauce over it. By the time we were completely stuffed, a storm was moving in and my head was about to explode. We went back and called it a night.

Saturday, we got up (very lazily, I might add), and after a good brunch, a walk with Harley (George and Zachary) and a nap (me - still had a headache from the night before), we went out for an afternoon of shooting. The Gun Gallery was busy, but after our long, patient wait, we finally got to take our place at the range. Zachary got to practice for his first time, and he did really well!

As an early birthday present, I had received a Colt revolver from Mom and Dad (THANK YOU AGAIN!), and I got some practice shooting .38s with it

and then some .357 ammo. George got this video, to document my first range experience with my new gun.

Can you tell I'm happy? George then got to show off some of his one-handed shooting with it,

(he's so awesome) as well as with his Sig Sauer .40, the gun he learned to shoot with and his first department-issued gun. There was a lot of power in that gun, and after all of us (even Danny got to try his hand at the .22, under close supervision of Daddy) had shot for an hour or so, we were ready for some good food. The whole family went down to The Blue Crab crabhouse in Mandarin for one of the best seafood dinners we've ever had.

Their specialty is Maryland-style blue crabs, but we got the low country boil,

snow crab legs, fish, fried oysters, and other awsome selections.  I even had the chance to exhibit my oyster-shucking talents! Highly recommended for a (very) casual seafood dinner if you're in Jacksonville.

Sunday, we got a late start, and then visited Granny before making our way back home last night. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the wonderful visit! Zac, we hope you had a good time, too!

Goodbye, Majestic Oak!

Today, we said goodbye to our large red (or black - it's a debate that's been going for a while) oak tree in the front yard. This tree was large enough to be considered protected by our city's planning department. This is a picture from its heyday in 2005 (when we still had other large trees in the yard) - there to the left of our front door.

Unfortunately, the top of it was damaged in one of the major storms we had rip through town late last fall, and it was starting to die from the top down. It also had very large broken branches perched dangerously above wide open yard where our kids and dog love to play. It was a no-brainer that it needed to come down. The coolest thing was watching the brave (read that as somewhat crazy) guys from Big Bend Tree Service (shameless plug) take it down, cutting from the top and sides and lowering everything with a crane.

By the end of the day, all that was left was the very large stump (probably 130 inches in circumference).

Its beauty and shade in summer were something to behold, and the trillion bags of leaves in fall were something to loathe, but it will be sorely missed (as will the few thousand $ it cost to take it down). Our kids and dog can walk safely through the front yard now, and that peace of mind is priceless.

Down with Love

George and I watched this movie on Sunday night, and we were both pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. Released in 2003 (this is probably why I hadn't seen it before - 2003 was kind of a busy year for us with the new house, new car, new assignment for George, Danny, etc.), it is the story of Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor), a playboy and a magazine columnist who is trying to get the scoop on Barbara Novak (Renee Zellweger), a novelist who has written a pre-feminist book on why women don't need love in 1962. Reminiscent of Pillow Talk and other Rock Hudson/Doris Day flicks in which dialogue and innuendo were really all you needed, it features the hilarious David Hyde Pierce in the Tony Randall-ish part of the best friend (Tony even makes a guest appearance). I love 60s movies (thanks, Mom, for making me watch them!), and this one is true to the form, but with a little more modern blatancy. If you haven't seen it, and you're a fan of fun 60s films, you'll love it. And if you are a fan, check out The Holiday

(Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslett, Jack Black) and the BBC/PBS Masterpiece Mystery series Zen

(Rufus Sewell - who also happens to be in The Holiday)  which are both filmed with a definite 60s flair. You won't be sorry.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and the Irish-American tradition in this house, started by my mother-in-law, Carolyn (or "Mom" as I call her), is to have a dinner of corned beef,

cabbage

and mashed potatoes.

She passed this tradition on to me a few years ago, and it is a meal George and I look forward to all year. Another tradition is for George to work the festivities at Finnigan's Wake, a local Irish Bar. After he left for work, the kids and I, not wanting to go out on the roads with people who've been drinking since early this morning (crazy, I know, but itfell on a Saturday), watched the classic Irish favorites Darby O'Gill and the Little People

(yes, that is the hunky, pre-bond Sean Connery) and The Quiet Man,

one of my favorite movies of all time. That's my kind of St. Patrick's Day.

If you don't have any tartar sauce

Last night, while I was making some Archer Farms Pub Style fish bites, I realized I didn't have any tartar sauce. As I was reading the baking instructions on the box, I looked farther down and found the following recipe for tartar sauce:

Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. chopped dill pickles (relish or capers - but I used the pickles)

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in small bowl.

2. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I made some, and it was fantastic! If you're ever in a pinch for tartar sauce (which I'm sure happens all of the time), this is a winner. 

Our weekend...

My weekend started on Friday with another "day off" on which I ran errands (refilled prescriptions for both me and Harley, went to the post office, etc.), packed for our trip to Jacksonville, cleaned (a bit), and waited for Megan to get home from school. George and Danny

had gone over on Wednesday to be with Zachary while he's still going through his radiation treatments, so my preparations were just for me, Megan and Harley. One of the "errands" I ran was to Thomasville for a visit to the Sweet Grass Dairy Cheese Shop.

There I picked up some Georgia Olive Oil (I am so excited to try it!!!) and some Pecan Oil (which I use in Indian cooking and other recipes that require oils with lighter flavors).

After picking up Megan from the bus stop we headed out,

she watched Hugo, and we made it just in time for dinner. The next day, I was just plain exhausted and slept most of the day. Highlights of the day were a trip with the whole family to Santioni's (the Italian restaurant where I worked in high school), and seeing John Carter at the theater with George and the kids.

Sunday morning was relaxed quiet, so we went outside and smelled the orange blossoms on my dad's beautiful trees.

They smelled so divine, even Harley enjoyed smelling them.

I think she even ate a few. We really didn't get going until it was time to go see Granny. We got some good pics of everyone during our visit,

including one of Mom and Dad taking them!

It was a great weekend visit. Megan, Danny and I headed back late Sunday afternoon. Danny, who cried most of the way home, sure misses his daddy and Zachary, and can't wait to see them again. George will be home Friday, but Zac has a few more weeks to go.  We all can't wait until things go back to "normal," whatever that is. I miss my husband, and can't wait to have him back home. :(

My newest find...

Last week, on a late evening trip to Publix, George convinced me to buy a new cookbook, The Shamrock and Peach.

That night I embarked on a journey from Northern Ireland (Ulster) to the American South (Atlanta). The story and recipes are so compelling that I had to do some more research - in other words, I am in love with this book. Judith McLoughlin, Irish chef and caterer based out of Roswell, Georgia, runs a small shop called the Ulster Kitchen, where she sells Irish linen goods and teaches cookery. She also has a food blog called The Shamrock and Peach where she posts recipes and informational tidbits. Check is out - this is good stuff!

Finally, he got to play with his b-day present!

George finally got to use his big green egg this week!

Since the weather was nice, on his day off George cranked it up and smoked some ribs

(which we ate for dinner that night) and two boston butt roasts


(which we saved for later).






They were delicious, and he really enjoyed cooking them.

I'm so glad he's happy with his present!

Just call me "Box Top Mom"

Each fall and spring since Megan was in Kindergarten, I spend one weekend clipping, sorting, counting, bunching, and labeling until my fingers are sore. That's because I volunteer as the "Box Top Mom" for my kids' classes. Basically, I take this

and make it this.

Tedious and timeconsuming, but I love doing it.

One Awesome Movie

If you haven't seen it, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is one of those movies that just makes you laugh. Definitely not for the younger crowd (it is PG-13 for good reason), this gamer-inspired movie is about a young Canadian man, Scott Pilgrim, who plays in a band and lives with a gay roommate. He meets Ramona, a super-cool, non-committal chick (who reminds me a lot of my hairdresser, Bekah, but I digress) who poses one problem for Scott. She has seven exes that he'll have to battle before they can really be a couple. My favorite of the exes is Todd Ingram, a vegan demi-god who is in a band with and dating Scott's ex.

The whole scene dealing with vegan culture is hilarious, mainly because what they're making fun of is so true. George and I can't get enough of it. If you like action, garage band music, and over-the-top ridiculous satire, you'll love this movie.

My Weekend "Off"

My days off have been seeming less and less like days off lately, and this weekend was a perfect example. Saturday morning was fully booked with Karate (with the added bonus of a tornado warning), a quick stop at home for Danny to change clothes (and watch the Weather Channel to check on the tornado warning) and a not-so-relaxing hair appointment (there is a reason I usually go by myself). After another quick stop at home, just in time for the severe thunderstorm in our area to move over us, I took Danny to a birthday party at Skate World. The storm was so bad that Danny was having second thoughts about going to the party due to his worry that I couldn't see the road well enough to drive. When we finally got to Skate World, Danny had a lot of fun hanging with his buds
and actually skating the whole time!

No really, he did. He and Chase happened to stop long enough for me to get a pic because they were watching the races. Of course, during the actual party, he was a little distracted by the big screen next to our table.

I think he was probably the only 8-year-old in the place paying more attention to the dopplar radar than the rink.

That's my boy! On the way out, the parking lot was completely flooded, and we got out with only one casualty,

my pants. See how high the water was? Once at home, with George getting ready for work, our day was pretty much at an end as we settled down for the night.

Sunday was supposed to be quieter, and it started out that way. George got home late (traffic homicides and a lot of other things happening on rainy nights in Tallahassee), so I made breakfast and sent him off to bed. After getting ready for church, we were about to leave when I went to the back door let Harley inside.  Through the glass, all I saw were her hindquarters sticking up out of a montrous hole and dirt flying all around her. Sorry I don't have pictures, but I was too angry and was afraid to take pictures while hosing her down outside. After a quick dry in the garage, we were off to church.

Seeing as it was supposed to be a quiet day, our time after church was pretty free of plans. Laundry, dishes, and homework were on the agenda, and I had time for a quick nap on the couch. Then, to my utter delight, the neighborhood girl from whom I had ordered Girl Scout cookies (over three weeks ago, which was too long for Danny, prompting him to say that she had taken our money and bought nail polish with it - LOL!) showed up with my boxes!

Danny was the most excited as his faith in people was restored!

It was such a beautiful day, and we were so excited about the cookies, that we decided to take Harley for a walk. Almost immediately after our return, she proceeded to vomit all over the kitchen floor. Of course, Mom is always the vomit cleaner-upper, so Mom did not much feel like cooking dinner after that. After 2 trips to Zaxby's (the second due to the Zaxby employee forgetting to give salad dressing for the Zalad), I was ready to give up and crawl into bed. So why am I up writing this?

I was awakened by gunshots on the television as the Jews were being gunned down by Nazi soldiers in The Pianist. A dose of perspective always makes me feel better. I guess I can make it another day.