It's All Good!

It's been a while! We have been busy, but most of all we have been enjoying this wonderful fall season and pampering ourselves. Hubby and I had gotten into a wonderful habit of creating new dishes together on the weekends, so I had lots to blog about, but we haven't done that in a while... until tonight actually, but more on that later.

So what has been going on since my last post? Not a whole lot. The most exciting thing that has been going on is enjoying being newlyweds. We got some awesome news on the 14th last month that the long legal battle with my hubby and our former employer had ended. They had started the lawsuit back in May when he left the company to work for a competitor, and then after a motion to dismiss the parties decided to explore a settlement. Hubby said he is very happy and that it could not have gone any better, so we of course went out to celebrate. Since then we have pretty much been thrown back into newlywed bliss and celebrating ever since! For the first time since November 2010, just 3 weeks after our wedding and the week after we returned from our honeymoon, we are both employed, not trying to leave our jobs, there is no pending lawsuit, and we are very happy and content with our lives. It was a long 10 months, but it is finally over, and we are so much happier now on the other side!

What else...? We met with our photographers to get all of our pictures and go over our final selections for the photo album. There has been so much going on since we got back from our honeymoon, that we never really got around to it until recently. It will be another 2-3 months until it is ready, but until then I have been going through the pictures and getting my favorite ones and posting them online. Here is a teaser!


As part of us enjoying our new, relaxing, newlywed bliss (again), we have been doing some fun date nights. We went to see the re-release of Lion King, and I got to see my first movie in 3D. It was really good, and definitely worth the extra price of the 3D ticket. Neither of us saw it in the theater as a kid, so it was great to be able to see one of my favorite Disney movies in the theater!

We also went to the Grand Opening Night at the OKC Philharmonic. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Pearl's Oyster Bar and then watch/listened to performances of Wagner's Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III (my favorite piece of the concert), Liszt's Les Preludes (also a wonderful piece), Turina's Danzas Fantasticas (a piece that sounded part romantic and part contemporary that I didn't like so much), and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto performed by violinist James Ehnes. James Ehnes played Tchaikovsky so delicately and precisely. I never used to be a fan of violin concertos, but have really started to enjoy them more in the last two years. Tchaikovsky is probably my favorite composer, so naturally I really enjoyed the performance. The Philharmonic sounded the best they have sounded in years. The last few years have been good, but not great. This past concert sounded much more rehearsed, the orchestra was together more, and they just sounded excellent. We have season tickets again this year, and I'm really looking forward to the remaining concerts if the first one was any indication to their new sound.

Speaking of orchestra, after a year break from playing, I have returned to the OU Civic Orchestra. I didn't join Fall 2010 because I was too busy trying to finalize our wedding, and would also have to miss about 4 rehearsals. That wasn't fair to the orchestra, and I don't think I could have handled anything else on my "to-do list" last fall. In Spring 2011 I was unemployed and trying to save every penny we had, so that was part of the reason for not joining. Even though hubby encouraged me to join, I was on round 4 of 5 of interviews for a big company in downtown OKC. If I had gotten the job, I would have had to drop out as I would not be back in Norman in time for rehearsal. If I didn't get the job, I still didn't know if my new job would have a schedule that would accommodate it. But I am employed now in a nice 8-5 job, so I have once again joined. We are performing Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 (New World Symphony) and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor"). I'm very happy to be playing again. Hubby has been spending money on paint ball stuff, so I decided I deserved some new strings, new chin rest pad, new metronome, and a pickup tuner that clips onto my instrument and plugs into my tuner so I can tune in noisy places (it will be very handy trying to keep the new strings in tune through rehearsal). Everything came in the mail last week, and I am one happy musician!

Hubby got really into football the last two weekends in September and I didn't feel like trying new recipes alone, so we didn't do anything fancy. There hasn't been a whole lot to post food wise from the last 4 weeks. Instead we have been enjoying the season. Last year at this time, we were getting ready for our wedding and were very stressed. We were too busy to stop and enjoy the season. We didn't get to do any of the stuff we normally do this time of year: going to a pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, decorating for fall, decorating for Halloween, baking yummy pumpkin things, laying in bed enjoying the cool weather, and eating way too much. This year, we have done almost everything on that list! We were going to knock off the pumpkin patch on that list this weekend, but our patch is flooded.

For those of you who don't know, Oklahoma has been going through a horrible drought. All of our small ponds are completely dried up and have weeds growing them, and the larger ones are very low. Wildfires have been a big problem, and the summer heat was unbearable. We broke all kinds of records. This weekend however, we are getting some much needed rain. It started around 3:30 PM yesterday, and it pretty much has not stopped. As I'm writing this, we have had 3.80" since the event started. Once the rain started, the temperature held around 61F until today around 4:00 PM when the temperature started dropping again. It dropped to around 57F at about 7:30 PM and it's been hovering there ever since. The rain has been so refreshing. There has been lots of flooding, but we need the rain so bad that no one is complaining.

So that's about all that's been going on. Last week we finally got back to making dinners at home and trying to get back on the diet. Then this weekend, we used the cooler, cloudy weather to stay in and created some new dishes. I'll report on those in another post. We had a wonderful weekend together in true fall fashion. We slept with the windows open listening to the light rain last night, slept in this morning, and ate a late breakfast together. Hubby has gotten into coffee, so he filled the house with the wonderful aroma of coffee while we ate. I don't like the taste, but I sure do like the smell! We actually got hubby a french press and a hand crank coffee grinder (any decent electric one is really expensive!) last weekend and he is thrilled with the new addition to the kitchen that's just for him. After breakfast we went to see Moneyball, which was one of the best movies we have seen this year. Then we came back and cooked up a new meal. While Hubs was watching the Green Bay Packers game I baked up a yummy fall treat and caught up with my blog.

Well, I think we are all caught up. I'll try and post more soon. Off to bed to start a new work week.

A Mexican Afair

Mexican food is at or near the top of my "favorite kind of foods" list. I usually eat it at least once a week. I have developed a rather picky taste for my Mexican food, and tex-mex and grocery store convenient items just don't cut it anymore. I want authentic, fresh flavors with some serious heat (when heat is appropriate).

The hubs and I have gotten into a nice habit of cooking something new on the weekends. On Saturday morning before our usual shopping trip, we consulted the Healthy Family Cookbook again. Not really knowing what we were in a mood for, we flipped through the Poultry section to see if anything caught our eye. I was nearing the end when I flipped to a page with a nice picture of Chicken Enchiladas. We both paused and at the same time and made the same sound: "Ooooo!" A quick read of the recipe and we had our new weekend recipe to try out. We searched in the same book for some Mexican-Style rice. We found a Basmati Rice Pilaf recipe that had a "With Mexican Flavors" variation. To round out the meal, we cooked a pot of Anasazi Beans to last throughout the week.

What in the world are Anasazi Beans you ask?
A friend of our got us hooked on Anasazi Beans (yes, they really are the best beans in the world!). We had a gathering a few years ago where we made Indian Tacos and everyone brought an item to help with the meal. This particular friend brought beans. I don't recall if he made refried beans, or just simply cooked the beans and we ate them whole. What I do remember is how amazing they were. This was around the time the foodie in me was making a noticeable appearance. I knew what I was eating was not just any ordinary pinto bean. It was creamy, flavorful, and smooth. There was something unique about it, but I didn't know what. I'm forever happy that I questioned the hell out of my poor friend. I found out they are a type of bean specific to Colorado, and sadly, could not be bought here. He told me all about ways to cook them and why they were unique because you didn't have to soak them and they cause less gas than pinto beans (an added bonus!). Not long after this, he and his wife were on a road trip to CO when I called to see if they wanted to hang out. I was so in love with this new discovery that I talked him into bringing us back a 10lb bag! Over the next few months we experimented with the beans and we worked them into a regular part of our diet. We were just about to run out last October, but then he and his wife got us another 10lb bag of Anasazi Beans and a dutch oven to cook them in for our wedding! SCORE! The bag of beans were by far the oddest and funniest wedding gift we received, but completely practical and the perfect gift for this foodie couple!

Chicken Enchiladas:
I started by making their recipe for Green Enchilada Sauce. You first have to roast the poblano chiles and tomatillos.


Once the peppers have been roasted you remove the skin. Then you throw them into a food processor with the roasted tomatillos, chicken broth, a minced onion, garlic, a lot of cilantro, lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and a little sugar. We added a little salt to balance out the sugar, and it was perfect with just the right amount of bite with a subtle hotness!


Now it was time to make the Chicken Enchiladas. The chicken was cooked in a pot with the Green Enchilada Sauce and then shredded into bite-sized pieces. It was then mixed with some of the Green Enchilada Sauce, queso fresco cheese (I used reduced fat), green chiles, and cilantro.

Now it was time to assemble everything. The corn tortillas were sprayed with cooking spray and warmed up in the oven to make them more pliable. Then 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture (a generous portion) was spread down the center of the tortillas.


After everything was in the pan, more Green Enchilada Sauce was added on top, and then everything was covered with cheddar cheese (I used sharp, 2%). We baked it with foil over it to keep it from burning until everything was heated through and the cheese was melted, and then removed the foil and allowed the cheese to brown.



Basmati Rice Pilaf With Mexican Flavors:

The base of this recipe is just a little olive oil, a small minced onion, basmati rice, and water. We only eat brown rice now, so we substituted regular basmati rice for brown basmati rice. We forgot that you have to soak brown basmati rice before cooking with it in recipes like this, or that it takes longer to cook. Luckily we started early knowing the enchiladas were going to be involved and require both of us, and thinking the rice was fine to sit since it will stay warm. Instead of letting it sit, we just kept cooking it and it was done by the time we were ready to eat.

For the Mexican Flavors, jalapenos, garlic, tomato paste, cilantro, and a diced tomato were added. Luckily we bought 3 bunches of cilantro! At this point we had used more than 2 to get 1 1/4 cups of minced cilantro, and our other mexican recipe for later in the week to use up the beans and rice calls for another 1/4 cup. We LOVE cilantro!



The meal was amazing! We didn't like the rice all that much and felt it lacked flavor and didn't have much heat. However, it got better as it sat overnight. When we had the left overs, the flavors were better developed and the jalapeno heat was present where it wasn't the first night. I think it takes longer for brown rice to absorb flavors since it has the hard outer shell. I'm not sure we will be making it again though. A 3/4 cup serving was 5 WW points+ and neither of us felt it was worth the extra points.

The enchiladas were fantastic! They moved to the top of our recipe list and we will be making them often. They are 10 WW points+ for 2 enchiladas. A little heavy for WW, but so worth it, in our opinion. The flavors were authentic, fresh, and the Green Enchilada Sauce added just the right amount of subtle heat to the dish. The chicken was tender and very flavorful. And left overs were just as good. The texture of the corn tortillas was better the first night, but we both agreed that the flavors got better the 2nd night. They were delicious and so filling.

And of course the beans were awesome! :) I cook them in water with a little salt and canola oil. We found nutritional info for 1/4 cup dry beans and have noticed that the beans make about 2.5 times more cooked. Using that ratio, 1 cup of cooked beans is 5 WW points+, which is the same as what we normally do for our starch, 1 cup brown rice or 1 cup whole wheat pasta.

All in all, a VERY good weekend meal. I wouldn't have time to do this during the week, but it was a fun activity for hubby and I and we got 2 more nights of meals out of it. It was so worth the work and we will be doing it again soon!

My Mouth Got Assulted Tonight

My husband and I wanted to do something different for dinner tonight. I have been very good this week on Weight Watchers and had a lot of extra points that I could use if I wanted to. So we decided to try a new place that had decent enough reviews to at least give it a try. We figured at worst it would make a good story, and in fact it did. Nothing like a fun night out making fun of the awful food!

A review of Cajun King in Norman, OK by a foodie who loves Cajun
(post as it appears on Urbanspoon.com. I was unable to locate the restaurant on Yelp, but it was so awful I had to put a review out somewhere to warn people!)

My husband and I wanted to try something new, and I don't normally like buffets, but figured it couldn't be that bad since it had so many positive reviews. Those people must not know what real Cajun food is! This place was awful!

I started with blackened chicken pasta. The pasta, meat, and sauce were all separate and you put it together yourself. The pasta was cold, the meat was dry, overcooked, and lacked authentic Cajun flavor, and the sauce tasted like it came from a powder packet.

Next I had the blacked pork chops. There were only the bone part of pork chops with very little meat. I managed to find a decent sized piece. But it was so overdone and dried out that I could barley saw through it with my knife. It was like eating jerky, and the flavor of the meat was awful. It tasted as though it had been freezer burnt, cooked, and reheated several times. It too lacked authentic Cajun flavor.

Our waitress was very slow, but she brought us benyas and fried catfish. The benyas were OK, but the catfish was actually good (not great). They put a special seasoning on it that is sorta sweet and the breading was very light. It came with a special sauce that was sorta like a spiced up honey mustard. This was the only good thing going for the restaurant.

Next I had the blackened catfish, jambalaya and some red beans. The jambalaya was again dry and lacking Cajun flavor (and meat!). The catfish was OK, but as everything else lacked Cajun flavor. The red beans were OK, not salty, cooked correctly, but lacked any kind of complex flavor.. they were just simply cooked beans.

I'm a huge potato fan, so I got a big scoop of the Au gratin potatoes, because, how can someone mess up potatoes? They can! They tasted like fake mashed potatoes with potato chunks added in. Very few times have I ever had potatoes that I couldn't eat. This was one of those times.

For dessert I tired the bread pudding. This was NOT bread pudding. And anyone who thought it was needs to get to NOLA immediately, or any other respectable restaurant (Pearl's in OKC or Bourbon Street Cafe in OKC) and try bread pudding and you will see what I mean. The pudding part was not rich and was like undercooked cake with a weird slime. The "sauce" that you put on top was in desperate need of some bourbon, and actually crystallized as it cooled on my plate because it was so sugary and didn't have enough butter.

Simply disgusting. I feel like I just ate at a bad Chinese food buffet. Stay clear and go to OKC for some decent Cajun. I highly recommend Bourbon Street Cafe in Bricktown or Pearl's up by Penn Square Mall.

Impromptu Date Night and Another Weekend Already

Yesterday afternoon my husband randomly asked me if I wanted to go on a date night with him that night. I was excited. We had been talking about seeing the movie Contagion. Worried about how eating out would fit into my Weight Watchers points, he thoughtfully suggested Thai! I can't seem to get enough Thai food lately. And I have been in a great search to find a new "go-to Thai place" that is easy to access and affordable. We have a nicer Thai restaurant that is amazing, but it is too expensive for us to eat at regularly, as in once a week. Our old Thai restaurant that closed down and changed hands is not very good anymore. I found this new one through some co-workers though that seems to be doing the trick.

Usually impromptu date nights don't work as movies start either too late and I can't stay up that late after working an entire week, or they start too early and don't give us enough time to get home and made something or even go out. But this Thai place is really fast. So we met up at home around 5:30 and headed out to what is becoming our new Thai place. Being so early the restaurant was very calm.

We started with some pork spring rolls which had pork, carrot, onion, and green onion. They were just OK, but were served with this orange colored, thick, sweet & spicy sauce. I forgot to ask what it was called, but the sauce was amazing. I began drenching my spring roll in it and they were delicious. I'll be ordering that again!

For dinner I ordered their Basil Stir-Fry with a spicy level of 4 out of 5. The last time I went I ordered a 4 and it was perfect. I like my Thai food hot enough that my sinuses are running, but not so hot that I can't enjoy and eat bite after bite. Last night however, it was hot! I'm not quite sure if they gave me what I ordered because they added green beans to it, which were not on the menu, but it did have basil. I like green beans, so this was not too much of a problem. But it was so much hotter than the last time I ordered a 4. It was so hot I couldn't take more than 3 bites at a time without having to wash some water down. I went through 4 large glasses of water and finished the meal in actual physical pain in my mouth. It was delicious though. The green beans, onions, and bell peppers were cooked perfectly, but way too hot to enjoy. I do love Thai restaurants that take their spicy level seriously and don't joke around with it, and this place is no exception! I was hoping that the fortune cookie at the end would tame the heat, but my mouth was so much on fire that anything touching it burned. I had trouble getting through the fortune cookie! Part of the roof of my mouth was numb, and my lips were tingling. I had finally found something that was too hot to enjoy! Something that is very rare for me these days. My mouth didn't stop hurting for another hour or so. It was without a doubt the hottest thing I have ever eaten.

We were out of the restaurant within an hour and had plenty of time to get up to the theater, get our tickets that my husband ordered online, and get good seats. A few weeks ago we made the mistake of getting to the theater 10 minutes before the movie started and had to sit at the front and it was not pleasant. The screens are huge, and my eyes and head were in constant motion for 2 solid hours trying to take in everything on the screen. We won't be making that mistake anytime soon! We got great seats near the back of the theater that were perfect. The movie was really good! There was not much of a personal story line which was unique, but focused more on the spread of a contagion. It was pretty scientific, but no so much that you get lost. It moved quickly, but not so quickly that one had trouble keeping up. I found it to be very fascinating and enjoyable. This is a movie I will be adding to my wish list when it comes out.

It was a wonderful date night with the hubs. We are so excited that another weekend came so fast. This week went by so much faster than we expected it to, even with it being a 4-day work-week. He is out playing paintball this afternoon to enjoy the end of this cooler weather before it heats back up a bit next week into the 90s for a few days. I think I'll finish up cleaning the last of the house today that I have not gotten to over my last 3 weekends of cleaning and will start decorating for fall. We have no real plans again this weekend and are just going to be relaxing once again. It's so nice to have time on the weekends again. And just in time for the fall season of staying close to keep warm! There is supposed to be another cold front coming through mid-week that is to bring the highs down to the 70's.

It seems as though Fall is starting to settle in. I hope this is the start of the fall cold fronts that come every two weeks or so. After this summer's heat, I'm so ready for fall and winter.

Fage 2% Honey

My brother told me that he found the 0% Greek Yogurt to have an odd flavor. I have been doing really well on Weight Watchers this week and have some extra points, so I decided to give one of Fage's 2% flavors a try. I got the honey flavor as I hear this is one of the best ways to enjoy Greek Yogurt. The honey flavor was 5 WW points, but most of the 2% flavors are only 4. Since Fage keeps the flavors separate from the yogurt I was able to give the 2% a try.

Oddly enough, I did not like it as well as the 0% Fage. The 2% was creamier, a bit loser, but tasted more like sour cream. While I say I love sour cream, and I do when I'm cooking and eating, I do not like it plain. My husband on the other hand loved it. But he puts sour cream on almost anything and licks the spoon clean after getting some out of the container. There is just something about it plain that I don't like, and I think it's the tang. For whatever reason though the 0% is a tad less tangy and has a slightly thicker texture. It also has more protein I noticed. I'm happy to stick to the healthier 0%!

Adding the little honey well into the yogurt made all the difference though. I figured out that if you hold the honey well part in your hands for a bit, it comes out of the side container a lot easier. I didn't mix the honey in, but instead let is settle on the top. I then dug in and scooped from top to bottom to get an even disbursement of honey and yogurt. Yup, I could tell this one had fat. It was much creamier and tasted richer. Even though I don't like the Fage brand of yogurt as much, it has never disappointed after I mix in the sweet fruit or honey. This one was very good, but had 29g of sugar, most of which comes from the honey, but it still had added sugar. I'll save this one for splurges. They have a 0% honey flavor, and so does Chobani, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Discovering All-Natural Lunches

Over the weekend, hubs and I were at the organic grocery store that just opened a couple months ago. I'm a big fan of this new store since we have tried to cut out artificial sweeteners and eat minimally processed foods for the last 2 years or so. It's so much easier to shop already knowing that there are no artificial sweeteners of any kind, in any product which they carry in the store!

While casually browsing the store I found a "Savory Turkey" frozen dinner by Organic Bistro. The description reads:

"Turkey Breast in Rosemary Mushroom Sauce with Green Beans & Lentil-Quinoa Pilaf"

Hubs has been buying a lot of Amy's Kitchen frozen meals for lunches, but they are all vegetarian. They are all impressively delicious and are of the same quality of dishes I would make in my own kitchen and just as flavorful, but with my blood sugar issues, I need more protein than what they can offer. So I decided to give this Organic Bistro meal a try.


As you can see, the main name of the product is the smallest portion and looks like nothing on the front of the box (see the link above)! I opened up the box, and like Amy's freezer meals, this one came in a paper tray all wrapped in a cellophane bag. You cook the meal in the bag which I think helps steam the veggies. Although the portion of meat was much smaller than I was expecting, it had plenty of protein to keep my blood sugar in check. I was disappointed, however, with the lack of gravy. I thought it had settled to the bottom, but there was nothing but a watery mess on the bottom when I tried to stir it up. The veggie portion was excellent, and that is a lot coming from someone who doesn't like veggies. They tasted fresh and were steamed perfectly, for my tastes anyway. The Lentil-Quinoa... I'm not so sure about. It looks sorta like couscous, but was much mushier, and dry. It looked very moist, but with each bite it sucked every ounce of moisture out of my mouth. The lentils added a pleasant texture to chew. I was very impressed with the lack of sodium, until I got to the turkey chunks. It was quite a shock. By the time I finished the dish, I had gotten used to the sodium. It may have been the complete lack of sodium in the veggies and Lentil-Quinoa that just threw me off with the first few bites of turkey. I thought the turkey could use more of the gravy. There was hardly any there, or maybe it was the watery stuff that had pooled at the bottom. I used the "juices" to moisten up the Quinoa. This was my first experience with Quinoa, and I don't really even know what it is, so I'm not sure if that is a natural characteristic of it or not. It wasn't bad... just different.

Overall I would give it 3.5 stars. It was only 8 WW points+, and was by far the most filling 8 point meal I have ever eaten. It was a considerably larger than the Lean Cuisine meals I usually eat. I found the flavor to be lacking, but that didn't make it bad. I would certainly not characterize this meal as bad. It just wasn't as good as I was hoping for, but was certainly much healthier than what I normally eat for lunch. I don't think I would buy another one unless I was looking for the most filling meal possible for only 8 points.

A Surprisingly Great Day

The first day back to work after a holiday weekend or vacation is usually sucks. After one of the best weekends since probably our wedding, I had little hope for today. When I went to bed last night I was prepared for a rough day of getting back into the swing of things. But that was not the case at all...

This awesome weekend managed to stretch into this morning! And for the record, I am not a morning person. It got down to 49.6F last night and we slept with the windows open again. I woke up snuggling with my hubby in the middle of our big King bed under our down comforter in a crisp 68F bedroom. ahhhh :) I managed to wake up on my own without an alarm, which usually makes my mood much better. We laid there for silent with our bodies pressed together for about 20 min. I had my eyes closed and was enjoying the cool breeze, fresh air, and the warmth of my husband. When my alarm went off at 6:45am there was an awesome orange glow outside as the sun was beginning to rise. It was all very familiar... It all reminded me of staying on Lake Forggensee in Fussen, Germany on our Germany trip in late September 2009. It was a perfect morning!

In Germany, we stayed in a little B&B right on the lake and the room had this sort of country cottage feel to it, complete with flannel sheets. At this point in the trip, we both had mild colds and the heat had not been turned on yet, so we huddled in the middle of the bed to keep warm. As I reluctantly got out of bed this morning I was telling my husband about this, and he said he thought the same thing. That trip was one of the best times spent together that we have had. Here is a picture later that morning as we were waiting to tour Hohenschwangau Castle. This picture was taken on the far northeast edge of Alpsee Lake, about a mile and a half to the southeast of where we woke on up Lake Forggensee.


I was in a state of bliss this morning with all those memories. But I still expected the day to be hard to get through. I walked outside though and it felt wonderful! It was 58F and not so cold you needed a jacket, but cool enough that for the first time in months, (maybe more than 5?) I turned the A/C in the car off on my commute to work. And for the first time since I started my new job in May, no hot blast of air as I arrive to work and step out of the car. It's amazing how much cooler weather improves my mood!

My day at work wasn't all that bad either. I was able to put my head down and really dig into my project without getting interrupted too much. I even got to go on lunch date with my husband to our old Thai restaurant. They shut down for 2 month, remodeled, and changed owners, so I was anxious to try it. I was disappointed to find out that their portions are smaller, the prices are about $1-$2 more, the lunch buffet is gone, and the food isn't as good. But it was still a nice little date night with the hubs. I think we will be sticking to a new Thai restaurant that we found as our "affordable go-to Thai place."

I had our 2nd Civic Orchestra rehearsal tonight, and I was dreading it. I had such a wonderful day by late afternoon that I wanted to just go home and continue the relaxation and just hang out with my husband. But, skipping rehearsal is not an option, so I left work and rushed through my leftover dinner and made my way up to rehearsal. As I was walking in the door, a cellist came out and asked if I was going to rehearsal. She then told me how there is a note on the door that rehearsal is cancelled due to the conductor being sick. I was a pit peeved as the conductor had just sent out an email the night before outlining the rehearsal schedule and never bothered to send another email earlier in the day that he was too sick to conduct.

As I drove home though I got very happy because I had been given the gift of time! I didn't really want to go anyway, so this worked out pretty well. I now had 3 extra hours I didn't have before! So I came back home, opened the house up again to let all the cool, fresh air in, and am just hanging out at home relaxing, which is exactly what I wanted to be doing anyway.

This weather has put me in a very good mood! I usually start decorating for fall in early September but I figured it would be so hot it just wouldn't fit. But this cold front has been strong enough that I think our 100F days are over for the year. Our house is finally really clean, so I think I will have to start decorating for fall this weekend a bit.

Fall is in the air and I could not be happier! :)