Bad Neighbors?

How friendly are you with your neighbors? I always thought that we were "above average" on the friendliness scale. We wave whenever we see them outside, we stop and have the typical lawn/weather chat every now and then, and we even gave Christmas goodies to our neighbors on our immediate left and right.

Yes, I thought that we were good neighbors. Until yesterday when I walked to our group mailboxes a few houses down. On my way back, I stopped to say hello to our neighbor caddy-corner from us who was working in her yard. A few days before, I noticed some orange spray paint on our curb, and saw that she had the same paint on her curb. I asked her if she knew anything about it (she always seems to know everything that happens on our street), and she said that the city was going to re-do our curbs. I didn't feel too out-of-the-loop at this point, because apparently she and her husband were the ones who complained to the city about the curbs being poured wrong initially. They complained enough that the city agreed to re-do them. So, I considered that insider information.

She then informed me that our immediate neighbors to our right are expecting their first child. Oops. Didn't know that either. That bottle of wine with attached spices for mulled wine that I gave them for Christmas probably wasn't a big hit! I think she's almost six months pregnant now ... but she's been hiding under sweaters and coats for the past few months. Eventually I would have noticed ... right?

We continued to chat and she mentioned that her immediate neighbor (our neighbor directly across the street) might cut some of his trees down. He never liked the ornamental pear trees, but his wife had wanted them planted a few years ago. But now that she had passed, he might cut them down. What?!? How could I not know that my neighbor had passed away? And not just recently, a few months ago. Granted, she rarely came outside when she was alive. Almost all of my interactions with them was chatting with the husband about plants and trees (yes, he's elderly). But I still felt really bad. I should have known. I should have taken over food. I should have done something. Maybe I still will. Is it too late? Are we bad neighbors?

Yummy Recipes - Bean and Bacon Soup

I made my husband's favorite soup last night before we went to see The Flaming Idiots for my birthday. I found this recipe on (surprise!) my favorite recipe blog, For the Love of Cooking.

Bean and Bacon Soup

4 strips of lean bacon (I used turkey bacon)
3 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
3 15 1/2-ounce cans white beans, drained
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

In a large Dutch oven, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Let cool, chop, and set aside.

Over medium heat, add the carrot, celery and onion to the pan drippings in the Dutch oven and sauté for 7 minutes; add the garlic and sauté for an additional 60 seconds, stirring constantly. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Add 2 cans of beans, bay leaf and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the carrots and celery are soft.
Uncover and remove the bay leaf. Using a potato masher or an immersion blender, partially mash the bean mixture until it thickens slightly. Stir in the last can of beans, parsley and bacon. Taste and re-season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, if needed. Enjoy.

Cable Guys in Disguise

Time for another funny story. This one comes via my mom. She just recently moved into our former house that had been a rental house for the past 15+ years. She was super excited to finally get digital cable and a DVR for the first time ever. Not long after everything was hooked up, she started having problems. Her cable would go in and out, and then she would only get a blue screen. A guy came out once to fix it. Then one Friday, I tried to set her DVR for her to record some of her favorite shows, and while I was doing that the cable went out for another time. She called the cable company AGAIN, and they said they would send someone out the next morning at 10 a.m. to look at it.

At 9 a.m. the next morning, her doorbell rings. She opens the door to find two men with clipboards on her doorstep.

Mom: "Oh, you're early, great! Come on in!"

They take one small step inside.

Mom: "Thanks for coming out on a Saturday, I really appreciate it. The T.V.'s right over there." (motions to the T.V. a few yards away)

The two men hesitantly take a couple more small steps into the living room and stop.

Mom: "It's this T.V. right here. Yeah, I've really had a lot of problems with my cable, I sure hope you can fix it."

The two men still haven't moved more than three feet from the door, and my mom is now wondering, why aren't they going over to look at it?

Mom: "Um, you're with the cable company ... right?"

Man #1: "Um, no ma'am, we're with the local fire department, and we were hoping you would help us out today and sign our petition."

At this point, my mom bursts out laughing, and soon the hunky firemen are laughing, too (that's right, she said they were lookers). Then the second firemen chimes in:

"But you know, as firemen we've been known to fix lots of things, so we can take a look at your cable box if you'd like us to!"

... which just makes my mom laugh even harder.

They then proceeded to try and give their pitch as to why they were actually there, but failed miserably because they were laughing so hard. My mom was embarrassed, mainly because they were hunky firemen, but at least she gave them some entertainment on what was sure to be an otherwise very boring day for them. I wasn't there to verify their hunkiness, but I like to imagine that this is what they looked like ...

Remembering ...

I called my grandpa today to wish him a happy 86th birthday ... 86 years ... pretty impressive, huh? I couldn't help but be reminded of what we were doing on his birthday last year. Burying his son. His son. My uncle. My mom's younger brother. Uncle Randy was admitted to the hospital one month prior for a few complications. Things took a turn for the worse rather quickly, and soon his major organs started to shut down. We lost him on February 19th and buried him on February 24th. Here's how I remember my uncle:

Giveaway Update

Remember a few months ago when I won the first giveaway that I had ever entered? Jessica was offering free postcards courtesy of UPrinting.com. Well I promised that I would let you guys know what I came up with so ...

... ta-da!! What do you think? It scanned a little grainy, and got cut off on one side, but the actual product looks really great. We liked them so much that we ordered A LOT more, plus another postcard design that features only The Party Bus for the college crowd.

I'm clueless when it comes to Photoshop. This was all done in Publisher, so it was pretty simple to design. Before my next order, I think I'll put thin black borders around the top three photos to make it look better. That's the only thing that bothers me.

I can't say enough good things about UPrinting.com. Their prices are fantastic, the turn-around time is fast and the ordering process is easy. We've ordered so much from them since, that we've received six 16x20 canvas prints absolutely free. Can't wait to get them stretched and hung in the office. Thanks again Jessica and UPrinting.com!

Bulk Buying

We recently got a Sam's Club membership, mainly for the limo business. My first shopping trip was pretty overwhelming ... that place is HUGE. My dad always used to shop there when we were growing up, but I had never been inside one myself. He used to come home with everything from a 50-pack of snack-sized chip bags to enough toilet paper to last us six months. We don't have that much storage space in our normal-sized house, so at first I wasn't sure if bulk buying was for us. But I was pleasantly surprised. Not everything is ginormous and there are quite a few good deals to be had. They even have one of my favorite wines for $3 cheaper than at HEB. Here is my most recent purchase:

A giant bag of Craisins. Leyla is there to emphasize how big this bag really is! And we will definitely eat all these before they go bad. I put them in my homemade granola, so we go through quite a bit. So exciting ... yea for saving money!

Will You Be Mine?

I had good intentions on posting this on Valentine's Day, but what can I say, life got in the way. Plus, it took me a while to get in the attic and find this little guy.

What is it, you ask? It's what Kent gave me for our first Valentine's together ten years ago. You squeeze him and he sings "What I Like About You" by The Romantics.

"What I like about you / you hold me tight / tell me I'm the only one wanna come over tonight, yeah."

Now, I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day and we don't celebrate it, but I hung onto this little Valentine mouse for sentimental reasons. I can still remember very clearly when Kent gave it to me. It was a couple of days before Valentine's Day. He picked me up in his black Dodge Stealth in front of my dorm, North Russell Hall, at Baylor University. I got in, gave him a kiss and expected him to start driving, but he didn't. He just sat there, looking at me. I waited a few seconds and then said, "What?" and he just smiled coyly back at me. I could tell that he was hiding something behind his back. Then he said, "I have a question for you." Then I got REALLY nervous, because I was afraid that he was going to ask me to marry him or something crazy. And that would have most certainly been crazy, considering that we had only been dating about three months, and I was only 18. But much to my relief, instead of pulling out a ring box, he pulled out this furry little mouse and asked, "Will you be my Valentine?" Of course, I thought he (Kent, not the mouse) was the cutest thing ever and agreed to be his Valentine. He probably took me to dinner and the whole nine yards on Valentine's Day, too, but I don't remember that ... just this cute little mouse!