Friday

GO SOX!

The weekend is almost here...

Hello all,

Yesterday was the rolling rally for the Celtics and it did in fact go by my office, despite the fact it didn't follow it's usual path. I got some good pictures, including some of Paul Pierce with the MVP trophy since his duck boat stopped for a good few minutes right in front of my building. I was right up front at the barricades since no one thought they were coming up as far as they did so I was able to get a prime spot before the crush of fans came up the street.

Well, it's finally Friday. This has been a weird week. I've been so messed up on the days so needless to say I was quite happy to realize it was Friday this morning. We don't have too many plans this weekend. We have some stuff to do around the house but nothing too crazy. I was hoping to get it done tomorrow, but tomorrow is supposed to be the better weather day so I don't know what we'll do when. All I know is that it will get done before bedtime Sunday.

I don't know if I mentioned that we got a croquet set and a bocce set last weekend. I set up the croquet set and Michael and I had fun trying to race around the course. He hadn't played before so I was able to kick his butt. ;) LOL, I love you baby! I hope we can try the bocce this weekend. We've got the perfect place in mind to set it up and I think we can have that area double as a horseshoe pit. Gotta love that. It's so nice to have a yard!

I made some cabbage rolls in the crockpot last weekend and the result was awesome! You can find the recipe here. We've never had cabbage rolls before, but the we liked all of the ingredients so I thought I'd give it a whirl. They came out yummy, but I didn't get the leftovers packed up before bed so I had to pitch them. =( Well at least I know that they are good and I will definitely make them again. I was going to serve them with some instant mashed potatoes but we ran out of milk so I didn't bother. Next time though - they'd be tasty with the juice/gravy in the crock.

I can't wait to try this recipe this weekend: Garlic Chicken Farfalle. I have most of the ingredients on hand so I'll just need to pick up a couple of things. It seems like it will make a mound of it so I think I might half the recipe this time around to make sure we like it. It will still be plenty for us.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

Our boys did it!!! OMG! I'm so pumped! Sweet 17 on the 17th for the Celtics!

I know I've been a terrible blogger this past week. These playoff games were killing me. Late start means late end means a sleepy Ali in the morning, LOL. Well the sleep deprivation has been worth it. 22 years in the making and the Celtics finally have another banner to hoist up the the rafters of the Garden.

The mayor announced that there will be a rolling rally tomorrow. He'll be releasing the details at 11:30 this morning. I really hope it follows it's usual path and passes by my office. That would be awesome! Isn't it nice that I can say usual path? How lucky I am to be a Boston sports fan these past few years!

That's all for now. I'll be back to post my usual ramblings later on. TTYS!

Toasty Tuesday

Hello all,

It is broiling yet again today. The weather folks are predicting 96 degrees today with a heat index of 104! Thankfully, this heat is supposed to break tomorrow. That is awesome since I will be working from home tomorrow since the security system is being installed. I must say, however, that our house has stayed relatively cool. We did get the AC in our bedroom hooked up but otherwise we've been running the ceiling fans in the dining room and kitchen and an oscillating fan in the living room. The big oak tree in the front yard is doing a great job in shading the front of the house. Last night was the first night we had to retreat into the bedroom for relief well before going to sleep.

Believe it or not, I made some soup on Sunday. I know you must think I'm crazy given the heat wave, but I made it in the crockpot and didn't have to stand over a stove and stir anything. It came our really good. It was a Taco Soup that I found on the blog I mentioned in my previous post, by the way I fixed that link. Anyway, you can find the recipe here. It came out really well. I also made up a little instant rice on the stove top and put that in the soup dishes with it and topped it with shredded Mexican cheese. Yummy!

I was pouring over my cookbooks and recipes last night to get some ideas for dinner. We've been in the burger and hot dog rut a lot lately or ordering out. Given that we are trying to eat better and save money, neither of these options are very good in the amount that we've been doing them. I think I'm going to do some of the chicken dump recipes that I have for marinades that a FF member posted a while back. Since Michael will be working the second shift again for a while, I thought I'd be better able to get a healthy dinner on the table. I love to cook so this will be a great thing to keep me busy until he gets home. I'll be doing my shopping tonight and can hopefully put together a bunch of freezer meals tonight and tomorrow while I'm home. That big freezer in the basement is calling my name. =)

If anyone has any ideas to get us out of the ho-hum dinner rut, I'd greatly appreciate the suggestions.

On a final note, I'd like to wish the Celtics a good game tonight. We'll be watching! Beat LA!

Friday - almost the weekend!

Hello all,

It's still grey and rainy here today. It's just as well since I am stuck at work. As I mentioned, this weekend is supposed to be boiling and mostly sunny so it should be good and I promise to take pics of the garden.

Well, last night we were total lazy bums. No ACs installed and no grocery shopping. I'm mad at myself for not getting the shopping done since I missed out on my week on "The List". Hurumph....oh, well, I can get cracking on it this weekend again and get my behind to the store.

I found this cool blog about crockpotting: A Year of Crockpotting. The woman who writes it made a New Year's Resolution to cook something in her crockpot everyday this year. There are some yummy sounding recipes and she's a hoot. I highly recommend checking it out. Hopefully, between "The List", using my crockpot for more meals and keeping up with my FLYing, I'll be able to save us some money and some time. I think all of the things combined will lead to a neater, healthier and happier home for us. Not that we aren't happy by any means, but I know I'd be little happier to come home to a straightened up house and a home cooked meal that takes little effort to prepare.

Our dear Red Sox won last night, but WTH happened?? We were playing the TB Devil Rays and there was a bench clearing brawl after Coco Crisp was hit by a pitch in the second inning. Then Manny and Youk were having words in the dugout. Dude, you're teammates, relax. Anyway, they did win, but tempers were running high on all fronts.

On a better note, our beloved Celtics have started off the NBA finals with a win against the Lakers! Woo, hoo! It's like the Garden in the 80's and awesome. I can't wait for Sunday! My brother is planning a get together so we'll go over there to watch the game. I'm so excited!

Well, that's all. It's lunch time and I'm off to get something to eat.

Have a great weekend! Go Celts!

Red Sox Rolling Rally

Here's a few pics from the parade:

A flatbed truck with the Dropkick Murphys playing:

The World Series trophy:

The view from our balcony: