Take Your Child to Work Day, 2012

Megan came to work with me today for the annual Take Your Child to Work Day. The last few years, she had a blast at the police department, but her dad's back on the street, so she had to be bored with Mom today. I tried to explain to her the excitement of managing a $9 million budget, reading all of the legislation proposed for our department to determine the impact, overseeing information security services and the project management office, etc. Unfortunately, after the first few minutes, her eyes glazed over, and I could tell her attention was drifting away from the topic. The real highlight of the day was a photo opportunity with the Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).

The first picture opportunity hit a snag when Secretary Lawson asked her a question and his booming voice was a bit much for Megan's sensitive ear.

The second was just right. She enjoyed meeting some of the Department leadership, but mostly she enjoyed the day off from school.

Roasted Herbed Red Potatoes, it's what's for dinner

Tonight for dinnner, I decided to try cooking with some herbs from my front porch garden. We love red potatoes, so I made the following side for some pork chops with a white wine sauce.

Roasted Herbed Red Potatoes

16-18 New potatoes (or 8-9 larger red potatoes cut into quarters)

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. Fresh Herbs

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and drizzle with the olive oil, stirring to coat thoroughly. Mix in the herbs (I used the rosemary and the chives - Danny loves chives! - from my garden, but you could use any combination. If using dried, reduce to 3 tsp. as they are stronger), again stirring to coat evenly. Place in a greased (I use Pam Olive Oil spray) 13 X 9 inch pan. bake for 1 1/4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes for more even browning. Enjoy!

The Geek Squad

Last Friday, our department held a team-building exercise. It was a lot of fun, and our team, the Geek Squad, really got in the spirit.

Don't we look cute?

An Update

As you saw from the Easter post, Zachary is back in town after finishing his proton therapy treatment in Jacksonville. He had relatively few side effects from everything, except for slight patchiness,

and a secondary infection from the surgery site (that has been hidden since the surgery). He returned to Shands today for a "clean-out" procedure (sorry, no pics of that), and he'll have a few more weeks of healing. Overall, he's really been a trooper, and we're so proud of him and happy he's back home.

Date night

Last night, George took Megan out on a date to Longhorn.

She ordered off the adult menu (Flo's Filet) and they had a blast. Daddy/daughter nights are totally awesome!

Happy Easter!

Easter weekend was a busy one. George worked pretty much all weekend. The kids and I spent Saturday baking and coloring Easter eggs.

On Sunday, our church was kind enough to hold an evening service, so we spent the morning opening our baskets,

and the afternoon (after George woke up) hunting eggs

and cooking out.

After dinner, we went to church to celebrate the most holy of Christian holidays. The day ended for us with the 2nd episode of Game of Thrones and some Easter cake. We hope your Easter was as relaxing and enjoyable as ours was!

A weekend of gardening, fun, relaxation, and GOT

This weekend, mainly on Friday, I tended to my front porch garden that I had planted just prior to our Jacksonville trip. This year, I again have herbs,

hanging strawberry plants,

and a grape tomato plant.

On Saturday morning, after karate, I took the kids out our friend Beth's house for Maya's birthday party. They had a great time on the newly installed zipline

and then bouncing for hours.

Ah, the love between brother and sister.

I guess she'd had enough love and the payback began. Meanwhile, I hung out in party central, complete with comfy chairs and a cover band to complete my relaxing afternoon.

We had a great time. Thanks, again, Beth for inviting us!

Sunday was pretty relaxing, too. Other than church and some Easter shopping, not much happened until 9pm, when Game of Thrones, season 2 premiered on HBO.

George and I were glued to the tube, and we can't wait until next Sunday!