Restricted

I've never been drunk dialed before. Mostly because most of my friends don't drink. Last night I got my first one.

My phone rang at 3:30 in the morning and the number flashed as "restricted". Since Ben's mom has been traveling overseas I answered it just in case it was her.

Me: ....(yawn).... hello?

Caller: Hey! What are you doing?

Me: (In my head: it's 3:30 in the morning, what to you think I am doing?) You have the wrong number.

Caller: Now baby, don't be playing hard to get.....

Me: Hang Up

If I had thought about it I should have handed the phone to Ben just so he could have messed with him. But I didn't. I went back to sleep.

Cooking With Andi - Tomato Basil Pasta Dish

I'd like to blog about the incredibly frustrating meeting I had with the reception hall today, but I won't. I've calmed down from it and it's time to move on. Instead I shall blog about food!

I am trying new healthy vegetarian recipes and I thought I would share them with you all!

So here we go:

Tomato Basil Pasta Dish (I don't know what to call it)

I started with this recipe. Recipes should be viewed as starting points and then you find little shortcuts to make it go faster, because I am a busy woman who supports her husband's addictions and I don't have time to peel tomatoes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Fresh basil leaves (shredded by hand) (Note: This takes forever)
• 2 Cups fresh chopped tomatoes (The original recipe calls for some canned tomatoes, gross!, and I felt like peeling them was unnecessary)
• 4 Cloves of garlic - chopped (5 would have been better)
• 3 T olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 lb of spaghetti (I used linguine because that's what I had. I don't think it matters I was going to use shells until I found the linguine.)
  

Beginning boiling water.

Shred basil. Try not to get old and die during this process. This was the most time intensive part. It took me like 10 min, but maybe I am a slow shredder.

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat

Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 min. Don't brown. This is the fun part because it involves French words and hot oil.

Add the tomato and basil and cook for 10-15 min.

Stir occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.


While you are stirring occasionally, cook the pasta. Also clean up. This dish is great in that you can clean up while letting things cook. While you are at it, also sew a new outfit. Then you can be a true woman.

Once everything is cooked, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce and EAT!

This dish was good, but it lacked a wow factor. I would recommend using less noodles for the sauce. Or maybe adding more garlic and tomatoes would help too.

The total time it took to make this dish was about 30 min. If you are faster on the chopping and the shredding it could go faster. It was pretty easy and I would probably try it again, but add some more zing to it. Any suggestions? I'm still new at this cooking thing....

Hot air, Fire, and Fur

Wow. And I thought last week was busy. So much has happened in the last couple of days! I could write several blog posts about it all! But I won't. I'll sum it up.

Friday night Ben and I went to a balloon festival. Have you ever gone to a balloon glow? If you haven't, you should. It makes you feel like a little kid all over again.

Also, try and go to a balloon glow that also incorporates sky divers. Preferably ones that light themselves on fire while falling through the sky. Yes. This festival had all of that. The sky divers jumped out of a plane and lit fireworks attached to them. As if jumping out of a plane wasn't edgy enough, they had to incorporate explosives as well. I wonder who first tried that and how it worked out for them. The fire divers looked like giant lightening bugs falling toward us. It was pretty cool.

Then we had about a bajjion picnics to go to this weekend.

In the midst of all of this Ben's allergies did not go away. Sudafed? Claritin? Nasal spray? Pansies compared to these allergies. Ben has the Chuck Norris of all allergies. On Sunday I realized that something had to be done with the cats. I couldn't keep letting Ben suffer and I am getting tired of driving him around. So Barnum and Bailey were taken to my parent's mini-farm where they can chase mice and birds and bugs to their hearts content.

Sunday we also shampooed the carpets and I was amazed and grossed out over how much stuff we pulled out of these carpets. It again solidifies hardwood floors as my flooring of choice.

It was sad to give them up. I cried. As much of a pain as they were, they were a lot of fun to have around. I know Ben is totally worth much more than the cats, I just doubt I'll ever catch him doing any of these things:

At least I hope not....

Oh Hi There!

This week has been something else! Have you ever flung yourself down a flight of stairs, waving your arms over your head as you ran and screamed "ahhhhhhhhh"? No? Me neither. But that's kind of how this week felt.

It started with the fact that we had a proposal due this week. Well actually it started last week when I put off working on the proposal because "I have all next week!" So work was pretty busy what with the customer meetings and the writing and the editing and rewriting. Not that I did much of it, I just made sure it got done.

Then on the day we traveled to Cleveland for work, Ben woke up with really bad vertigo and couldn't walk straight. It got so bad that he threw up at one point. I knew all of this because of the text messages we were sending each other while I was riding in a car trying hard not to think about brain tumors. Thursday we went to the doctor and they laughed and said "Allergies! They are putting fluid on your inner ear!" So now I am trying hard not to think about the fact that my cats may have to go.

All of this has made me tired and grumpy and yet in spite of all of it, I was able to make some pretty yummy lettuce wraps last night with an impressive peanut sauce. Two words for you. Domestic. Goddess. I also vacuum in heels....

But today is Friday so I am neither cooking, nor saying goodbye to my cats. I am simply enjoying this beautiful weather! Hope you have a wonderful weekend too!

Because Open Letters are Fun!

I know my last post was another open letter, but really this needs to get out in the open. Something needs to be done. Someone needs to say something. That someone is me.



To the people who watched Ratatouille with me last Saturday Night:

What is your problem? Does having kids make you oblivious? Or does your generation have a different form of movie etiquette? I can't figure out why you would do this and why ALL of you seemed to be ok with it. Is it the theater? I'd never been to this theater before so maybe you all love each other more here.... but I hate it.

Why don't you observe the one seat rule? Why must you be all up in my business and sit right next me? When your daughter refused to sit next to Ben, you shouldn't have shushed her and sat there, you should have listened to her and observed the one seat rule. When you were looking for 4 seats together you should have taken the ones on the right. The ones that would have left a seat between your family and me. Instead you chose to sit next to me and eat your dinner! In the theater! Near my arm and my glass of water!

I know the oversized theater chairs give the impression of roominess, but really I could use a little more. Like one seat worth.

I am sure you are a nice person and are a joy to spend time with. But I don't know that. I don't know if you wash your hands after using the restroom or if you tap your foot during a movie. These are things I'd rather not know. When I go watch a movie, I'd like to watch the movie, not whisper to my husband questions about the rudeness of moving right after you sat down. I'd like to follow the plot and not worry about you touching me. I'd like some space.

So next time you see me at the theater, smile and sit one space away from me. Please observe the one space rule. Please.

Your cramped neighbor,
Andi

Open Letter to My Husband

Dear Ben,

One month ago today we said "I do". In another month we'll get to say "I did" in front of all of our family and friends. You hate wedding planning and dislike it even more that we have to do it after we are married. But you put up with it because I am excited about it and I think you are hoping you might be able to do the worm at the reception.


There were points in our relationship that I wasn't sure we would get to marriage. I got sick and freaked out and you almost died, yet both of those times made me love you even more. Going through the hard stuff with you was what made me understand that we would make it; that walking those hard roads was better while holding your hand.

You've taught me a lot about love the whole time we've been together. You've shown me love by a hug when I need it, stopping work and just listening, changing habits to my preferences, and by encouraging me to try things I enjoy. I've always worried that I would feel so trapped in marriage, but I have never felt freer. Thank you.

We laugh a lot together. Most of the time we aren't very good at serious romantic moods. Normally one of us will make a joke that will change the mood. I like it that way. I'd much rather you tell me a joke that has both of us laughing and begging for breath than have sweet nothings whispered. I hope we get to laugh together the rest of our lives.

Our marriage started out harder than we had planned. We had to postpone school and moving and both stay in jobs that aren't quite what we want to do. We have massive medical bills that need paid and a couch that we both hate. I know these things worry you and sometimes I think you feel like they are your fault. Other times you just shrug them off and state that God will get us through it all. I know that is so true which is why I want to start couch shopping now.

I love spending time with you. It doesn't matter what we are doing - I just enjoy being around you. You are my best friend and I am so happy we got married. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true! I love you!

With All My Love,
Your Wife

I'm sick

You know the kind of sick where you ache all over? Where everything feels sharp? Where even light isn't happy, it's all poky and mean? Where breathing, talking and wearing clothes are painful? Where you can feel your hair growing and it hurts?

That's how I feel. Like crap.

I went into work and realized I should probably work from home when I responded to people asking for more time on their projects with, "Ehh... I don't care." So here I am sitting on my couch watching The Office Season Two and trying to "work".

I become a big baby when I am sick. Last night I told Ben that his fingernails were too hard and they were bothering me. That's how much of a joy I am to be around!

I think I am dying....