Working for the weekend

It's finally Saturday and we celebrated by sleeping in until 10:00 am! Between bible study, singing practice, birthday parties after work, and hours of treasury training for my second job, I was truly looking forward to at least one day when I could sit back and relax. And by sit back and relax I mean only spend two hours on the laptop running reports and paying bills for the church. But somehow, I managed to squeeze out a little time between loads of dishes and laundry and grocery shopping to spend a little time creating magically delicious treats in the kitchen this evening. I found a recipe for chocolate cookies to which I added peanut butter chips.
While they were baking, the Canadian bided his time by drinking his new favorite drink of Southern Comfort with lemonade with a grape vine straw.
Move over red vines, there's a new licorice in town and it's delicious!

I'm hoping that even though we practically slept in until noon, I can get to bed at a decent time because I sing in the morning which means that I have to wake up at the crack o' dawn for practice. I've been spending some time this evening listening to my song set on youtube.

Oh-there goes the buzzer for the second load of laundry in the dryer. My household duties never end!

Foot follies

There was a mutiny at work today and my co-workers forced me to go to the doctor to look at my fat foot. It's gotten so sore that I'm limping now when I wear shoes. I left after lunch and went straight to my surgeon's office, who, after pushing on my leg and foot immediately sent me to the hospital to be checked for blood clots. The ultra-sound tech didn't give away any secrets, but I guess there wasn't anything too suspicious because they let me leave. In the meantime the surgeon's office was also setting me up an appointment with the lymphedema clinic in town to be fitted for another compression garment for my right leg. Will the fun never end?!

That whole rodeo kind of shot my evening plans of cleaning and baking for bible study tomorrow night. Instead Chris helped me do a quick pick-up and I ran over to Trader's for my last minute dinner ingredients.
I found an online recipe for baked gnocchi - lasagna style. Layers of tomato sauce, cheese, spinach, gnocchi, repeat. Bought some olive focaccia bread and the makings for a pear and walnut salad to go with it. I was going to bake a dessert out of my new Dorie Greenspan baking book, but too much going on tonight to get it done so a store bought dessert is in my future. I'll save it for next time because it sounds delicious - a cardamom and coffee marble loaf.

Green Bay all the way!

Who was on the front page of the sports section in the E.R. this morning? Our hometown hero, Aaron Rodgers;
Giving it up for Butte College! Of course we watched the game and cheered him on to victory. Steelers and Packers in the super bowl - should be exciting!

I finally busted out my new panini press today to prepare our lunch. I had picked up some sandwiches from Safeway and threw them in the hot press to warm up and melt the cheese.
It was a big hit with the Canadian who had a salami and cheese sandwich. Must find more things to grill, pronto.

Giving up

While I'm able to pamper my fat foot over the weekend while at home, I can't seem to keep the swelling down during the work day. My doctor's office said that if all the other tricks didn't work to try a compression stocking. I finally gave in today and went to the pharmacy to pick one up. It made me yowl putting it on because it was so tight on the top of my swollen foot, but once I got used to the pressure it actually made my foot feel better.
It's going to go nicely with my dresses!

The scarlet letter

So that others will know what evil lurks beneath his seemingly normal exterior, Chris must wear the scarlet t-shirt;
It's easier than wearing a mountie hat and riding a moose.

Fat foot

For the most part I've been healing up nicely from my leg surgery....with the exception of the incessant swelling of my right foot. I've been trying to elevate it, but to no avail so I finally had to refresh my little mind and re-read about the healing process of this whole shindig. The swelling could go on for three to six months. Ugh. It took my stomach six months for the swelling to subside so I'm not sure why I'm so impatient after only two months, but I am. Anyway, I'm supposed to be elevating my leg above my heart for 15-20 minutes every couple of hours, taking some anti-inflammatory pills, and exercising the leg throughout the day. So, I increased my leg pillows from two to three, took some ibuprofen, and pulled out the stationary bike so that I could hop on it a couple times for every hour I was sitting.
I have to read while I bike or I get bored, so my new Dorie Greenspan baking book took a quick spin with me. This trifecta of leg therapy actually worked because there were times during the day that I could actually see the veins in my foot which until now have been buried under a layer of marshmallow and cotton candy. Or at least that's what I like to think is causing all the swelling in my foot.

Dinner with friends

Dinner at the brewery was fantastic fun, starting off with the hour and 20 minutes wait for a table! There were six of us dining together so we couldn't take just any old four seat table or booth. In the mean time the boys got themselves some drinks from the bar.
While waiting we met up with Sarah and David who were there for dinner too and ended up getting seated right around the corner from our table. Close enough for Sarah to poke both Chris and I in the butt with her fork. The dinner and company were great and we were glad to have been invited.
After dinner we did a little shopping at Target for some new undershirts for the boy and the new Cake CD for me. Such a big night for the likes of us!