One Word Answers

I have a couple of friends doing this on their blogs, so I thought it would be a fun challenge. Here goes:

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen
2. Your significant other? funny
3. Your hair? boring
4. Your mother? giving
5. Your father? wise
6. Your favorite thing? kitty
7. Your dream last night? work
8. Your favorite drink? tea
9. Your goal or dream? family
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your kids? future
12. Your fear? terror
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? content
14. Where were you last night? meeting
15. What you're not? mathematician
16. Muffins? warm
17. One of your wish list items? appliances
18. Where you grew up? "'burg"
19. The last thing you did? mulch
20. What are you wearing? cozies
21. Your TV? enormous
22. Your pets? mischievous
23. Your computer? laptop
24. Your life? busy!
25. Your mood? tired
26. Missing someone? yes
27. Your car? CRV
28. Something you're not wearing? watch
29. Favorite Store? Williams-Sonoma
30. Your summer? lake
31. Like someone? many
32. Your favorite color? red
33. When is the last time you laughed? walking
34. Last time you cried? London
35. The person who sent this to you? myself
36. Who will/would resend this? unimportant
37. A good book? cookbook
38. A good movie? Capote
39. A good song? Songbird
40. One word to share? grace

This is not a "tag," but if you would like to copy and paste, then add your own one-word answers, I'd LOVE to read yours!

A few of my London thoughts

(by Rob)

We embarked for London with only some US dollars, our credit card, and an ATM card in our wallet for money. Once we got there we bought a pass for the tube with our credit card and after alighting at the station nearest out hotel stopped at an ATM along the way for our first handful of pound sterling. I called our bank and credit card companies to let them know we'd be in England (so they'd hopefully not auto-deny all of our purchases) and it ended up working great.

One pound sterling is worth nearly two USD currently (plus London is a pretty expensive city anyway) so everything was just really expensive.

There are pubs everywhere. And said pubs all have an extended sill along their outside windows for the purpose of standing around outside while you suck down a few pints. It was awesome. But thanks to the food poisoning I didn't feel much like having a pint from Tuesday on. Oh well. Also I never did find a place that served "Old Speckled Hen" on tap. We even made it to a pub that our guide book specifically mentioned as having that but the bartender said it wasn't on that day. I was expecting room temp beer everywhere (which would have been fine with me I think) but most every place had most of their kegs cold (Guinness, Fosters, Strongbow, etc) and 4 or 5 kegs with fancier pulls kept at a cool temp. At least that seemed to be the system to me. We'd end up hitting one (maybe two) pubs a day and I'd have a pint or a half pint.

Spamalot is awesome.

Definitely got a taste of the British wit all over the city. At one pub a gentleman's seat gave way and he crashed to the ground -- we were sitting outside. It was a little scary in the moment, but later he and his friends were laughing about it and I called over that I was terribly impressed he hadn't spilled a single drop of beer when he fell. To which one of his buddies replied (without missing a beat) "He will later."

Most of the museums are free, but they make up for it by charging an arm and a leg on admission to most of the other things. :-)

The plane trip out didn't seem very long at all. The plane trip back seemed looooong. We had bulk head seating both ways (blessed leg room) and the flight out left around 9:30PM EST. I took a sleep pill after dinner and ended up sleeping a good 5-6 hours of the 8 hour flight. The flight back left about Noon London time (7AM EST) so I didn't really want to sleep very much as I wanted to get back to EST as quickly as possible. So with no sleep to pass the hours it just dragged.

We had a great time in London, can't wait to get back to Europe. So many places to see. I just wish the USD would flex a bit of muscle.

Random Things About Me

Carrie tagged me to list seven random things about me, so here goes!

1. I don’t mind housework, but I hate cleaning up cat messes. I leave that fun job to Rob!
2. I’m pretty sentimental about stuff that belonged to my grandmother. We were really close and I have all sorts of things that were hers that I cherish. Not expensive stuff, but little items like the hand mirror she used everyday when fixing her hair, little salt and pepper shakers that sat in her china cabinet (now my china cabinet), and some round playing cards with which she played endless games of solitaire.
3. I have a knack for winning radio contests. I’ve won concert tickets, comedy show tickets, ice skating tickets, etc. Today I won dinner for two at a swanky new organic restaurant in Bethesda and some dancing lessons at a local studio. Whoo hoo!
4. My eyes are as blue as they look. People sometimes think I have colored contacts, but I don’t! I have my mom to thank for the blue.
5. I love to try new recipes, especially when we have company. Rob thinks I’m nuts, but it doesn’t make sense to try a full recipe out on just the two of us, so I wait for more people to feed. Then, we can enjoy the leftovers!
6. I’ve changed my driver’s license, social security and passport, but haven’t updated my name (almost two years later) on anything else. Credit cards, house and car titles, utilities, etc., are all still waiting to be changed to my married name. It’s so much hassle to change everything!
7. I remember meeting Rob long before we “officially” met and thinking he was kind of aloof. We were at the mall, and my mom and I bumped into his sister and mom (we already knew each other). We chatted for a few minutes, and Rob stood there with his arms crossed, looking bored. I remember telling my mom that he seemed kind of rude! HA! Little did I know….

Thanks to Carrie for helping me – I’m tagging anyone who hasn’t done this list!

Tuesday Top 10

It's Tuesday! I missed last week's list since we were traveling. I missed doing it! Here goes for this week:

1. Today's walk outside. It's been raining here for the past few days, so I've had to walk inside on the treadmill. It was nice to get outside today for my daily walk and enjoy the fresh air!
2. NyQuil syrup that helped my sick hubby sleep better last night (which made it easier for me to sleep soundly too!). He's stayed home today and sounds better, but still is sickly.
3. The Office. This show is hilarious. Rob and I are watching last week's episode on the Tivo as I type! I have a friend who doesn't like the show, and I'm convinced it's because he's a teacher and doesn't work in an office. If he did, I think he's appreciate it more!
4. My sweet kitty, who is back home with us after a 2-week visit to my parents'. They were nice enough to keep her for us while we were gone, and I'm glad to be back with her. Always entertaining!
5. A nice home to live in. I've been seeing so much on the news about people losing their homes, upside-down mortgages, etc. I'm thankful that our townhouse is just perfect for us today, with room to grow.
6. London photos! I love looking at what we were doing 6,000 miles from home, just last week. Somehow it all seems like a million years ago.
7. Almost finalizing a big contract at work. I feel like I've been working on this for two years (not literally!) and I'm glad that we are almost, almost ready to move forward. Then the real work begins!
8. Having a few minutes each day to check in with friends on their blogs and find out what's happening with their lives. I'm thankful to have caught up with so many friends of the past.
9. Kraft "Food and Family" magazine. If you don't get this FREE magazine full of recipes and tips, go to the Kraft Web site and sign up for it now.
10. Cadbury Flake chocolate bars from London!

A few London photos...

Back from London!

Rob and I just spent a week in London! We left last Thursday and returned home today (Friday). What a great vacation! I'll add some photos later, but wanted to jot down a few things while they are still on my mind. Here goes:

Some of my favorite London memories:
1. London Walks Tours - we went on two of these great "walks", which were basically groups of people who all met at a tube station and spent two hours diving into a specific London topic. I loved the "Shakespeare's London" walk, where we went to the new Globe Theater, saw the site of the old and walked in Shakespeare's footsteps. We also did the "Jack the Ripper" walk, which was very interesting. Both of our guides were excellent and very entertaining. If you go to London, definitely go on a "London Walks" walk.
2. Visiting Stonehenge. I'd been before, but really enjoyed it this time and liked the audio guide (didn't have that 12 years ago!) that explained the history and mysteries.
3. Schweppes' lemonade. Seriously, I drank this everywhere! It's kind of like a lemony Sprite (that's how I ended up with it to begin with - I actually ordered a Sprite and got this instead). So yummy. Too bad I don't think they sell it in the US. :(
4. Rob yakking in front of Buckingham Palace. Yep, you read correctly. He ate something funky (we suspect it was a pork bun he got from a street cart in Chinatown) and ended up with food poisoning. He thought he felt okay to go to the changing of the guard, but ended up puking in the middle of it -- and in the middle of the crowd. Lovely. He'd already been trying to make his way out of the crowd when he puked (I was staying for the rest of the changing and was meeting him back at the hotel). Next thing I knew, a cop was pulling me out of the crowd and recommending that we leave. It was kind of scary! I felt horrible for him, and he spent the day sleeping. While he rested, I took a walk, went to Harrods and saw my new favorite musical...
5. WICKED! I love, love, love this show. I've been dying to see it for ages, and I walked down to the theater about 15 minutes before it started (Rob asked me to go so he could get some rest and I'd quit banging around in the dark room), and I ended up with a second row ticket for only 15 pounds. Excellent! Who cares that it was the very last seat on the row - I could see perfectly and really loved the whole thing. Walking back the 10 blocks to our hotel in the rain and dark kind of wigged me out, but it was worth it.

What I'm glad to leave behind:
1. People. Smoking. Everywhere.
2. Crowds, crowds, crowds. These weren't really in the sight-seeing areas, but on the tube and in the train stations. Chaos!
3. Rain. Sun for two hours, rain for 15 minutes. Repeat. It was so strange, but at least it stopped after about Tuesday, and we had a sunny (but still cold!) rest of the week.

More memories -- and photos -- to come!

Back in a Few...

I'll be out of pocket for the next few days - catch up with you soon!

Tuesday Top 10

Time for the weekly top 10... here goes!

1. Health of friends and family. I've seen too many stories lately of children with illnesses, mothers with cancer, and so on. I'm thankful for health today, and hope that it continues.
2. My parents. I've talked with them every day this week, it seems. They are taking care of our kitty while we escape for vacation soon, so they deserve extra kudos, since she's a hand-full!
3. Check, check, check. I love checking off big projects from my list at work, and today I was able to complete a few that had be lingering.
4. A delicious strawberry/spinach salad recipe shared with me by Rob's Aunt Janet. She had it at Easter and it was AWESOME. Can't wait to make it!
5. Reading blog friends' "Tuesday Top 10" lists. So inspirational, and I love catching up on each others' lives.
6. A good job. I saw the report last night that 80,000 jobs were eliminated in March, due to recession fears. I'm grateful for full-filling (and sometimes even fun!) job.
7. New khaki pants. Sounds trivial, but I live in these on the weekends and have been searching for a new comfy pair. Finally found some in the Lands End section at Sears.
8. Pink Lady apples. Yum yum yum.
9. The sunshine. It's been gray here for the past few days, but the sun peaked out this afternoon.
10. Chick-fil-A! Our church is doing a fundraiser there tomorrow night, raising money for an upcoming mission trip. Gives us a good excuse to go!

Have a great week!

The Powell Family

I've been following the sad story of Ethan Powell, a sweet 18-month old who was diagnosed with leukemia at his three-month check-up (I believe). Ethan is the son of Ben and Becky Powell, who were at Harding after me.

Despite the best efforts of the doctors at St. Jude's, Ethan lost his battle this weekend. My prayers are with this heartbroken family. You can learn more about Ethan's story on his Web site: www.ethanpowell.com.

Catching Up

I remember when I was growing up, my parents would claim to "sleep in", but they'd be up at 7:30 a.m. I thought they were crazy. That wasn't sleeping in! Now, I get it. If I can sleep until 7:30 a.m., I feel like I've hit the jackpot. :)

I spent two days last week in New Jersey. Blech. I was in the Meadowlands, so I could see Manhattan just eight looooong miles away. I'd rather be in the city! Regardless, it was a great two days of meetings. And, a couple of co-workers and I enjoyed a dinner at a great local Italian place, Barelli's. It was straight out of "The Sopranos." Great food and interesting ambiance.

Today (Saturday) has been productive. We ran about two hours of errands this morning, I've been for my daily walk, and the laundry is laundry-ing. Now I'm ready for my nap!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tuesday Top Ten

It's Tuesday night after dinner, which means it's time for my weekly "Tuesday Top Ten." Here goes...

1. A beautiful walk outside today. It was 75 degrees when I got home, so Rob and I suited up and headed out for a long walk in the sunshine.
2. The book "Eat, Pray, Love" -- Rob's parents gave it to me for Christmas and I've just finally started reading it. It's excellent and I am looking forward to my train trip (for a business meeting) to New Jersey tomorrow, so I'll have time to keep reading!
3. A pretty blue, monogrammed toiletry bag that came today from LL Bean, in preparation for an upcoming trip. It's perfect!
4. Having some time today to catch up on a few blogs and find out what's happening with friends.
5. The show Medium. It's freaky and weird and I really like it. I always Tevo it and watch it during the week. Recommend!
6. Pretty new blue sweater that I picked up yesterday.
7. Green tea. I drink a mug of it every morning and didn't realize how much I appreciate it until my work's hot water heater stopped working and there was no hot tea - I'm glad it's fixed!
8. Reconnecting with an old high school friend on Facebook and catching up. We haven't seen in each other in eons, so it's nice to be back in touch.
9. Eating dinner every night with my sweet husband. I know a lot of couples who do their own thing at night. I love our dinners together and time set aside to catch up and just talk.
10. For Leann, warm buttermilk biscuits with Nutella!

Enjoy your week!

Breakfast for Dinner!

Tonight I made Rob' favorite - breakfast for dinner! This is one of my fast meals that's an easy fall-back when I'm too tired and too unprepared to fix anything else. We always have the ingredients on-hand, and it's something a little different than normal.

Rob was so happy to see eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast when he came in the kitchen as I was fixing dinner! And that made me happy. :)

An Interesting Dinner

Rob and I decided go try out American Flatbread tonight. We've heard good things about it and have wanted to try it out, so we made the 25 minute journey to Ashburn for dinner.

The place has a cool set-up — tables are scattered around and almost everyone has a good view of the pizza oven, which is built up in kind of an adobe style. It wasn't too crowded yet when we arrived.

We hit our first bump in the road when the ice tea I'd ordered came with an extra something lovely floating in the glass. Ice tea #2 arrived, but without the straw I'd requested. When our waitress remembered, she compensated by bringing me two!

Rob and I split a nice salad with Boston bibb lettuce, bacon, tomatoes and ranch, topped with a slice of seasoned flatbread. Very good.

Next bump in the road... one of the plates delivered to our table for our pizza (they call it flatbread, but it's a pizza!) was dirty. Sending it back for a clean one...

Here's where it got interesting. We were seated at a table with a great view of the oven and the counter where the pizza-guy placed the pies for cutting and sliding onto trays for serving. Our waitress sliced our pizza and proceeded to nearly fold it in half as she slid it onto the tray. One piece actually fell off onto the counter, and she and a co-worker were man-handling the thing (bare-handed) to try to save it. Nice!

Finally, a manager comes walking over to see what was going on. She immediately sent the mangled pie to the back and came over to our table to explain that they were making a new one for us, which came about 10 minutes later.

I have to say that, despite the bumps, the pizza was good! Rob and I shared a "New Virginia Sausage" pie, which had local homemade sausage, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms and caramelized onions. All of the pizza ingredients at American Flatbread are locally grown and organic. We both had our fill and brought home 1/3 of the pizza as leftovers.

Overall verdict: we'd go back, but hope that we have a smoother visit next time!

The 16 Worst Places to Stash Your Stuff

Turns out, how you organize your environment — from where you stand in fitness class to the place you choose to store your meds — has a surprising effect on everything from your weight to your chances of staying well. In other words, when it comes to how you feel, it's not just what you do, it's where you do it. Here, surprisingly bad locales for your health — and the best places to optimize it.

(Note from Kathryn: I just read this online and some of them are grossing me out. Some of them are common sense. You be the judge.)

The worst place for your toothbrush: on the bathroom sink
There's nothing wrong with the sink itself — but it's awfully chummy with the toilet. There are 3.2 million microbes per square inch in the average toilet bowl, and when you flush, aerosolized toilet funk is propelled as far as six feet, settling on the floor, the sink, and your toothbrush. Ewww.

The worst place to set your handbag: the kitchen counter
Your fancy handbag is a major tote for microbes: germ swabs showed up to 10,000 bacteria per square inch on purse bottoms — and a third of the bags tested positive for fecal bacteria! A woman's carryall gets parked in some nasty spots: on the floor of the bus, beneath the restaurant table — even on the floor of a public bathroom. Put your bag in a drawer or on a chair — anywhere except where food is prepared or eaten.

The worst place for your sneakers and flip-flops: in the bedroom closet
Walking through your house in shoes you wear outside is a great way to track in allergens and contaminants.

The worst place to cool leftovers: in the refrigerator
Placing a big pot of hot edibles directly into the fridge is a recipe for uneven cooling and possibly food poisoning. The reason: It can take a long time for the temperature in the middle of a big container to drop, creating a cozy environment for bacteria. You can safely leave food to cool on the counter for up to an hour after cooking, or divvy up hot food into smaller containers and then refrigerate — it'll cool faster.

The worst stall to pick in a public restroom: the one in the middle
The center stall has more bacteria than those on either end.

The worst place for a nighttime reading light: overhead
These fixtures put out relatively bright light — enough to significantly delay the body's secretion of melatonin. That can wreck your night, since rising melatonin levels are a major cue for your body to prepare for sleep. A low-power light clipped to your novel will let you read but leave the room dark enough for your brain to transition into sleep mode.

The worst place to keep medicine: the medicine cabinet
It's not uncommon for the temp in a steamy bathroom to reach 100°F — well above the recommended storage temperatures for many common drugs. To stay out of the red zone, store your meds in a cool, dry place, such as the pantry.

The worst place to set fruit before washing it: the kitchen sink
Of all the household germ depots, the kitchen sink sees the most bacterial traffic — even more than the toilet. If the perfect berry drops while you're washing it, pop it in the trash — not your mouth.

The worst place for your coffee: the refrigerator or freezer
Think that you're preserving freshness by stashing it in the fridge? Think again. Every time you take it out of the fridge or freezer, you expose it to fluctuating temperatures, which produces condensation. The best spot to store beans or grounds: in an opaque, airtight container kept on the counter or in the pantry.

The worst place for your TV: wherever you dine
Studies show that distraction is your waistline's enemy — it can keep you from noticing how much you're eating. In a 2006 study, volunteers ate faster when watching TV than while listening to music — consuming 71 percent more macaroni and cheese when watching a show.

Tuesday Top Ten

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for my top 10. If you aren't familiar with this, visit the link under "Friends and Recommended Links" and check it out for yourself.

Here goes..
1. The lovely meal of roasted red potatoes and leftover Easter ham, prepared by Rob since I'm not feeling great.
2. The Easter candy we'll be snacking on for the next few days. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for our fun Easter basket! :)
3. Signing off on a blueline proof today and knowing a needed piece will be printed soon.
4. Tylenol Cold and Flu... I popped two a few minutes ago and will have two more before going to bed.
5. Daylight Savings Time and the longer hours of sunshine. It's a little after 6:30 p.m., and it's still light out!
6. People magazine. I love it and look forward to it every Friday. Since we were gone during the weekend, I'm just reading it now.
7. Chatting quickly with my Mom on the phone tonight. Always a good pick-me-up!
8. Seeing the results of Dancing with the Stars tonight (not one of the shows I'm cutting out!).
9. My crazy kitty who just decided she would hop up on the kitchen counter (she knows full well that she's not allowed!) and looking around sweetly like it's the most natural thing in the world.
10. Hostess 100-calorie mini-coffee cakes!

Sick?

My throat has been sore all day. I keep thinking it will go away, but not yet.

Ugh. Like many of you, I don't have time to be sick!

Too Much TV

I think I've been watching too much TV. For the past week or so, I've almost felt overwhelmed by the number of shows I think I have to keep up on, and all of the good shows (like The Office, Criminal Minds, etc.) aren't even back from the strike yet!

Confession: Rob and I watch a lot of reality TV. We don't watch the ones that are super-seedy, but we do love Survivor and American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Do you realize how much these shows are on each week? AI and Dancing are on twice and Survivor is once.. and the worst one we watch: Big Brother is on three times a week.

I've felt extra tired lately and don't think I'm getting enough sleep at night. Maybe that's because I'm watching TV until 10 p.m.

So, I'm making a change. I told Rob tonight that I'm going to just stop watching a few of them (primarily reality TV) and try to get to bed earlier or spend more time reading in the evenings. I think I'll sleep better, and that can't hurt!

(P.S. - We do have Tevo and record stuff so we can skip through the commercials. Although it is lots faster, I don't think it technically means I'm watching less TV!)

Wish me luck!

Pineapple Coconut Bars

I'm a big Paula Deen fan, and this is a recipe of hers that I'm making for dessert at my in-laws on Easter Sunday. Thought some of you may enjoy it too!

Pineapple Coconut Bars
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, divided
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 (20ounce)can crushed pineapple, drained
toasted flaked coconut, garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees; lightly grease a 13x9-inch baking pan. In large bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, coconut, brown sugar, and baking soda. Using a pastry blender, cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture evenly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes. In medium bowl, beat remaining 1/2 cup butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in remaining 1 cup flour. Stir in pineapple. Spread mixture evenly over baked layer. Sprinkle evenly with reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. Garnish with toasted flaked coconut, if desired.

M&Ms vs. Football Field

I just read that you have to walk an entire football field to walk off the calories in one M&M. Ack.

Tuesday Top Ten

It's Tuesday, so that means it's time for my Tuesday Top 10. Here goes...

1. Wrapping up a graphics project at work today and moving it down the editing chain. I'll be glad to get it off my desk!
2. A trip to Target at lunch. I love to walk the aisles and check out all of the goodies. I picked up a few things we need around the house -- nothing too special!
3. Signing up for a March Madness pool on Dr. Mark Elrod's Lame-O-Weblog (which I read daily!). Rob picked us a funny team name of the "Fighting Amish."
4. Finally winning against Rob in "Smarty Pants", our new trivia game on the Wii.
5. Fresh sheets on my bed! I love the first night on clean sheets. If I had all the time in the world (and the inclination), I may consider putting on fresh sheets every day. That's crazy, but true!
6. Reading a few friends' blogs today and catching up on what's happening with friends.
7. Rejoicing with my friend Nicole today and her planned trip to Ireland. Have fun!
8. Media interest and hits on a big pitch I worked on last week. Keep 'em coming...
9. Watching "Dancing with the Stars" with the guys dancing last night, and the ladies dancing tonight.
10. 100-calorie Hostess mini-chocolate cupcakes!

Hope you are having a great week!