Just call me Emeril.

Today was a two-parter.

First up, we spent some time at the hospital. Nothing emergent-- just finally got around to getting Leo's x-ray of his knee. It's been bothering him for months, and hopefully between today's x-ray, and next month's MRI, they can figure out what's going on in there.

But it was definitely strange being on the "patient side" of the desk as we sat there waiting. They gave Leo a wrist band and everything! (which listed him as a "white male") Several people I work with walked past periodically-- always sure to ask if everything was ok. But luckily, it wasn't too long of a wait, and we were out of there in under an hour. After a quick stop by my unit upstairs (and rubbing in the fact that they were at work and I wasn't), we headed to Bed Bath & Beyond.

After several months of consideration, we decided to take the leap today.

NEW, BEAUTIFUL COOKWARE!!

We're the type of people who like to spend money on experience, rather than stuff... Our dishes are a hodge podge of hand-me-downs from my little sister and goodwill, the majority of our cups came from Jason's Deli, I honestly couldn't even tell you where all of our mis-matched silverware came from... and they all work perfectly! But as for cookware- we've been using cheap non-stick aluminum pieces that were just not good. We cook nearly every single day, and wanted something nicer, longer-lasting and not as cancer-causing.

So after lots of research, several trips to the store, and some serious incentives offered up by Bed Bath & Beyond-- we went for it! Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless Steel.

We put them in the cart (after accidentally dismantling the entire display), and headed toward the check-out. As I explained to Leo, that place is like a black hole. If you stay in there longer than 10 minutes, you'll convince yourself you need everything they're selling.

After getting home, and unpacking the box, Leo made the very accurate statement of: "Well, now we have to keep them. Because there's no way we're getting it all back in there." And Keebler got to "enjoy" some of the packaging.

Baby's first bath.

And now, just because I enjoyed making it so much, you get a play-by-play of our dinner prep.

Red bell pepper, onion, mushroom, shrimp, garlic, basil... I threw all of this into a skillet a few months back, and discovered one of our favorite dinners.

A little whole wheat pasta on the bottom, and some fresh parmesan on top-- and voila!

In case you couldn't tell- I am in LOVE with these new pots & pans. 

A Day With the Fishies. (and their furry friends)

With the original idea of going camping, I scheduled myself off for the entire week. But due to a few mishaps, and the fact that we don't yet have all of our gear, the camping has been postponed. So we're finding fun stuff to do close to home.

First up: The Dallas World Aquarium.

The funny part was: I saw this guy and said- "Oh, he's kinda small."

Leo's favorite part, by far. A walk-through tunnel with sharks swimming all around.

Apart from the awesome shark, that guy's expression makes this my favorite picture of the day.

Flashed by lizards... how rude.

We never did figure out what this thing was-- but it was in the "South Africa" exhibit.

An excellent first day of our week of Dallas exploration!

Thwarted by shamrocks.

It seems that Leo & I have missed out on a huge Dallas tradition. The "St. Paddy's Day Dash down Greenville" (aka: giant St. Patrick's Day parade) was held this Saturday morning. And I found out about it the hard way.

First off- let me give you a little background. Awhile back, my older sister, Sarah, sent me the link to the new TOMS Shoes wedding collection. While the wedding is behind us, and I definitely don't need them for any aisle-walking, I immediately fell in love with this particular set:

Now, I've been putting it off, and convincing myself I don't need them. But that all came to an end on Saturday morning. For some reason, I woke up and it hit me. I NEED them. They're unbelievably awesome and it's necessary for them to be on my feet at all times from this point on.

So I hopped in the car and headed toward the mall. I had just enough time to get there, get the shoes, and get to an afternoon baby shower. And just so you know- I NEVER go to the mall on Saturdays. Really, I never go the mall period. But especially not on Saturdays. I'd pretty much rather stick things into my eyeballs than deal with the parking, and the teenagers, and the crowds, and the pushy sales people. (Wow- I'm 80.) But for sparkly silver slip-ons? I was in.

I called my other sister, Becky, during the drive... and as I got further away from home, I started to realize something. There were a lot of people walking along the road. A lot of people wearing green. And then there were even more people. And then there were dogs wearing green beads and sunglasses, and strollers with babies wearing green. And then all of a sudden, there was a cop in front of me (also wearing beads) forcing me to make a U-turn and head back in the opposite direction! Becky got to listen to the expletives as I was directed down random street after random street. THREE TIMES I was turned in the opposite direction by police officers... All the while, hundreds and HUNDREDS of people walking past the car. Half of them carrying alcoholic beverages... What in the world was going on here?? And how did I not know about it?? 

After a couple of dead-ends and multiple "breaking of the speed limit" episodes, I finally made it to the mall. And of course there were ZERO parking spaces. After a good 10 minutes of driving around aimlessly, I finally spotted a prius pulling out. (Oh, Prius- you never let me down.) I sped in, put it in park, and FINALLY walked into the Nordstrom shoe department. I immediately spotted my target, and asked the sales girl for a size 9. So she disappeared to the back for a few minutes, and came back out only to tell me: "I'm sorry. We don't have your size."

Of course you don't.  If only she had been wearing some green beads and a set of shamrock antennae- the day would've been complete.

So long story short: I don't have my shoes yet. But I will. And come next March, Leo and I WILL be attending that crazy festival they call a parade down on Greenville.

No Cilantro Left Behind

After a delicious taco night last week, Leo & I had some leftover cilantro in the fridge. And I'm not sure if it was my time in Africa- where cilantro is a TREAT- or my general non-wasting nature, but the thought of that cilantro going bad and being thrown out made me very, very sad. So I went in search of a new recipe. And since I'm so proud of what I came up with-- you get pictures.

First up- mango salsa. (The fact that any of this made it to the final dish and not straight to my belly during the prep process is a miracle.)

Next- marinating some Tilapia in olive oil, garlic, basil, parsley & lemon juice.

Grilling up said Tilapia on our ever-faithful George Foreman.

And the finished masterpiece! Grilled Tilapia on a bed of lime/cilantro rice, topped off with mango salsa.

Damn I'm good.

The Great Tire Adventure.

For weeks now, I've been putting off a trip to the mechanic. Right around the beginning of February, Leo & I started noticing that one of the Civic's tires kept getting low... and while Leo played his oh-so-logical self and said things like: "Maybe we should get that fixed." and "Laura, putting air in a tire once a week isn't normal," I said things like: "Ice storms can cause pressure changes, right?" and "Maybe it's just a fluke."

So while in denial, I found a gas station right down the street that gave out free air (imagine that!) and stopped in about once a week to pump up. It just so happens that the free air is located at a full service gas pump, and so every time I'd stop, this very cute little old man would come out to help. I tried repeatedly to tell him I knew how to use a tire guage (and even showed him that I carry one in the glove box!), but he would have none of it. However, our little arrangement came to an end last weekend. He clearly had spotted the trend in my visits, and said something along the lines of: "Ma'am, this tire has a problem."

Yeah, yeah.

First thing Monday morning, we headed to our friendly neighborhood Wal*Mart auto center. We pulled in, and found that three of the four bays were closed up tight. So we asked where we should park, and one of the workers showed us a spot right beside the open bay. So we parked and walked inside. There were three women standing at the counter-- one was actually helping a customer and appearing to care, while the other two were talking and laughing, admiring each others' shoes, playing on their cell phones, and generally being idiots. So we waited.

And then one of the mechanics poked his head through the door and announced that the Civic parked outside had to be moved. You mean our Civic? The Civic you TOLD US to park there?? Yeah- that Civic. As we walked out the door, one of the other men waiting to be helped leaned over and whispered: "They fix flats for free at Discount Tire." So after getting in the car, with the pretense of moving it to an open space, we just kept on driving...

Cue Discount Tire. Excellent service, nice staff, clean & comfy waiting area. Oh yeah.

Unfortunately, that "free" flat fix turned out to be anything but. After a quick look over, my new mechanic friend, Ralph, called us back to hear the verdict. Basically, the slow leak was being caused by three major holes (yes THREE). Two very ugly little pieces of metal, and one very shiny screw sticking through an otherwise beautiful tire... And because of the locations, patching wasn't an option. I made sure to exhaust that possibility thoroughly-- offering ideas (and a demonstration) of how they could put three patches on top of each other and make it work! Ralph had none of that, and so it was decided that at least two tires were going to be replaced. (Since you can't just replace one at a time).

Well, then we got to looking around at the others, and found that two of the non-punctured ones were getting pretty darn bald anyway. And since you can't just replace three, four it was! Ugh. I guess it's nice to be safe & have good, non-holey tires... but our bank account is still weeping from the damage. Double ugh.

Just one more check in the "pro" column for investing in a scooter! Only 2 tires, and MUCH cheaper to replace. Me likey.

The plan.

Oprah had a family on her show today. The family consisted of a mom, a dad and SIX 8-month-old babies. (See picture below.) She proceeded to give them a $250,000 gift certificate to Wal*Mart, tons of other baby/kid stuff and a dream honeymoon to Las Vegas- all expenses paid.

Over the past few years, I've noticed this trend. If you're willing and able to shoot up a bunch of fertility drugs and produce at least six babies at once, people LOVE to give you money, stuff and possibly even a TV show.

So while Leo was getting ready for our date night, I busted into the bedroom and announced my new plan... In another 5 years or so, we'll go ahead and get our hands on some of those fancy fertility drugs, and get pregnant with at least sextuplets. (6 seems to be the magic number to get all the free stuff.) And then we'll take some super cute pictures to showcase our clan. Oprah will be off the air by then- but I have a feeling she'll make a special exception just for us. And with inflation and everything- I'm sure we could get a cool million.

Leo's exact response to this was: "Absolutely not." Citing as a main reason that he didn't want to "carry around my stomach because I couldn't stand up straight on my own." He predicted the use of a donkey cart (Botswana style) or at least a small wagon to help transport my belly. But after I stopped laughing- I came up with a slight revision.

Instead of keeping all 6, we'd go ahead and give 3 to my dear friend, Amy. We'd still tell Oprah that we were raising all 6, so we could still get that million, but really we'd only have 3. Perfect! Leo is still saying no, but I got Amy on board. He'll come around eventually...

gravitationally challenged.

So... last weekend- superbowl sunday to be exact- I woke up, jumped out of bed as I normally do, and was so overcome with sudden dizziness, that I walked straight into the door frame. And yes, while I've done that approximately 107 times in my 26 years, this time was different. It wasn't just my inner klutz. I was truly DIZZY. I stumbled to the bathroom and back, collapsed back into bed, and it did go away after a few seconds. But it's been lingering ever since. While it's not exactly constant, it can definitely hit at any time. If I turn my head a certain way, or even dart my eyes quickly, I literally have to grab onto something or else I will seriously fall over. It's almost like I'm drunk. You know that feeling, when you've had too much to drink, and it seems like the floor is moving beneath you? It's like your eyes can't focus and you have absolutely zero balance... that's EXACTLY what it is.

And again- I see the hilarity in this... I've been "gravitationally challenged" for pretty much my whole life. So much so that even Leo didn't believe me at first. That Sunday morning, as I lay back down in bed, still rubbing my forehead where I had smacked the door frame, he just chuckled a bit and rolled back over. And only three days later, when it still hadn't gone away, is when I finally picked up the phone and called a doctor.

So yesterday, our very first Valentine's Day as husband and wife, was spent in a doctor's office. Leo was diagnosed with tendonitis in one of his knees and asked to get an X-Ray, MRI and a brace, and I went home with a new diagnosis-- "Benign Positional Vertigo." Or better known as BPV.

The picture from the informational pamphlet they gave me.

First off- I was extremely pleased with that first word: benign. Since I was 100% convinced I had a brain tumor... The doctor assured me that if it were in fact a brain tumor, the symptoms wouldn't have come on so suddenly. So that was good. But basically- something is going on in my inner ear. They don't know which ear, and at this point, it seems they don't care. But one of the little structures deep inside there has been somehow moved out of place. Whether it was a whack to my head or the fluid build-up from my latest sickness, there's no way of telling. But they gave me some pills to help with the dizziness, and said it'll hopefully resolve on its own. If not- well, then we go onto more drastic measures. But for now, I just like that I know what it is.

Unfortunately, it's definitely a new onset, so I can't blame past stumbles and broken bones on it. But I still like to think that it's been a slow progression over the years... playing a small but vital part in every one of those "incidents."