Missing Her Already

Meghan went back to college today. It was great having her home for Christmas break. The three and a half weeks she was here flew by. Much of the time she was home was spent out and about with the boyfriend and such, but I was happy for the time she was here and our home felt complete again.

A la Robin of Breezes at Dawn and my New Year’s post, I may share some of the joys I find in the every day from time to time. Here are two from my visit to the grocery store today.

At the entrance to the store:

I was tempted to take one home, but I didn’t want to push the little water-filled glass all over the store with me, then I forgot about them when it was time to pay and leave.

In the parking lot:

Usually I feel a little sad when I see a dog in a car, but today the temperatures were mild and this fuzzy guy just looked so cuddly. He or she wasn’t barking at the passers-by, just taking in the scenery while waiting for its owner to finish shopping. I know better than to do so to a strange dog but it was difficult to resist giving this big teddy bear a hug.

A Week in the Life, Day 5

Friday, Day 5 of Adventuroo’s “Week in My Life” challenge.  I started out really wondering what I’d be able to show you today for a weekday that I haven’t already shown you this week, so I sat down at the computer after work to catch up with comments, reading many of your blogs, and checking Ms. Adventuroo’s site too.    By the way, see that iced coffee next to my computer?  I’ve finally discovered the secret to making good iced coffee with my beloved Keurig.  The secret is, use iced coffee K-cups, brew over ice,

then pour that into another glass with ice – that’s the best way to get it cold quick.

One of Adventuroo’s suggestions for Friday was to think of things you are most thankful for; for me that would be my family and my home.  That got me thinking, how about a little tour through my house?  It isn’t a big place, so it really won’t take too long, and I won’t even remove the general clutter that builds up over the course of the week!

Remember how I said I wouldn’t want my readers to barf at the sight of my daughters’ bedrooms?  I changed my mind.  Here they come.  Any of you who have teenagers, had teenagers or have will-be-teenagers can tell me how the rooms compare in slovenliness.  The girls got their bedrooms repainted this past summer in colors of their choice, with promises to keep the rooms clean – HA!

I took these pictures standing on the girls’ beds.  (Teddy decided to follow me about the house on my photo tour)

I skipped the picture of my room; it was kind of boring since my waterbed takes up most of my tiny bedroom and there really isn’t any showing of my personality in it.

Back down the hall to the dining-room-come-project-room: here’s where I sit when I write these blog posts and work on quilts.

Okay, I lied.  I picked up some of the clutter in the kitchen.  That central island is often heaped upon by week’s end, and when I came home from work today I couldn’t stand it any more and started picking up before I thought of taking you on my house tour.  Odd bits of clutter, however, remain:

Through the kitchen to the living room, land of the fur-covered rug:

Again, only hints of how fur-covered this rug usually becomes.  Hubby had been busy taking apart and putting back together the vacuum cleaner and partially vacuuming the rug in his attempt to convince me that I don’t need a new vacuum cleaner, Dyson or otherwise.

I made a really good dinner tonight.  Want to see?

Those are the main ingredients: pork tenderloin, apples, green onion, cranberries and bacon.  How could it not be good when there is bacon involved?

While the seared tenderloin roasts in the oven, the other ingredients sizzle together to form a delicious chutney-style topping for the pork.

The girls and I sat down to eat and – yum! it’s a keeper recipe.  The simple fact that both of my girls liked it makes it a keeper.

Reading and sharing the daily comics page from the newspaper has become an unofficial dinner-time tradition around here.  Yup, we still subscribe to an actual made-of-paper newspaper.  I suspect we are a dying breed in that respect.

That’s it for today.  Unfortunately tomorrow, (Saturday), which should be a sleeping-in kind of day, won’t be for Meghan or for me.  Tune in tomorrow to find out why.