Back from the Abyss

I'm sorry I've been gone so long!  Apparently the little worm who offered me tea sent me in the wrong direction... (name the movie reference!)  Well that, and I was afraid I'd spill the beans and jinx my big news.

I got a promotion!!! Yay!!! The office manager quit, and they moved Matt up from records lead/ court clerk to take that job and they moved me up to take Matt's job!  It was looking a little dicey there for a while, so I figured it best to lay low and see how everything played out. 

In running news: the Great Race was on Sunday - it was too hot and too sunny and I ran 10 minutes slower than last year - boo... But coming up in November I have a race called the "Mangler" - a 14 mile trail run.  I'm excited about it, but Bestie is weary - oh well, I think it'll be fun!

In other news: I made scrambled eggs using the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking for breakfast this morning and  all I can say is -  YUM.  I was thinking that I should take a picture, but then I ate them too fast. 

Don't worry, I'll be back more frequently from now on I promise!

Sadness

Early this morning my friends lost their baby. She was three weeks from her due date.

Pics From Around Town

Friday found me at work with my camera, so I decided to spend my lunch hour taking a few photos around town:

I'm a sucker for brick building with painted signs on their sides.

An Office Birthday

Today was the 23rd birthday of one of the other girls in the office (I feel so old!), and to celebrate I made her a cake.  Her request was strawberry shortcake, and although I wasn't quite sure what kind she liked - was she more of a spongecake type or like my family more of a Bisquick shortcake type of person?  I settled on Biscuit au Beurre (Butter Spongecake) from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (my go-to book whenever I'm not sure what to do - I know for other people it's Joy of Cooking or Betty Crocker - leave it to me for my go-to book to be a complex French cookbook) with a sweetened whipped cream frosting with roughly chopped strawberries mixed into the frosting for the filling.  Yummy!  Or at least I think yummy... Too many people came and we ran out of cake!  Oh well, better for my waistline that I didn't get any I suppose....

2 weeks at 30

I have now been 30 for just shy of 2 weeks.  I don't feel 30 though.  I still feel 25.  Where did those years go?!?  Oh yeah that's right, I toured for a while and I've been stuck in a dead end job for the rest.  Sigh... Oh well. 

So remember when I mentioned a project I was working on that was sapping all my time and energy?  Well, it was a baby shower.  The main records guy at work's (did I tell you I'm a records assistant?  Well, if I didn't, I am now!) wife is expecting their first child in just a couple weeks so I threw them a little shower.  That is if your definition of little is 50 people with a food, gift, and decor budget of over $1000.  This thing was taking over my life!

Thankfully it's over now, the party was a success, and people are still talking about it nearly 2 weeks later.  At the end when records guy was thanking everyone for coming, he singled me out as organizing it and everyone applauded.  I turned red.  (I blush easily...)

Since it was a guy's shower I didn't want to go all pastel with frou frou food... Instead I went with bright colors and catering from Moe's Southwest Grill (taco bar!).  From previous experience I know that lawyers like to donate towards things at the last minute, so I had an adorable white piggy bank with green and hot pink polka dots and a big green bow on it's head where all day off donations were put, next to which was a box of chocolate cigars wrapped in hot pink foils.  As people started arriving I was dishing up The Pioneer Woman's Watermelon Granitas - super popular!  Dessert was a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling from a local bakery - it was delicious, but we discovered that a 3/4 sheet cake can barely fit in my truck!  That was a bit of a nerve wracking drive...  Pennant banners, brown paper to doodle on, pinwheel centerpieces, and pinwheel adorned goody bags finished up the look.

(and yes, the baby's initials are OMG)

30 Countries

30 Countries I Want to See (3 of which I've already been to...)

30)Antarctica
29)Australia
28)New Zealand
27)China
26)Japan
25)Nepal
24)Cambodia
23)India
22)Indonesia
21)Russia
20)Poland
19)Czech Republic
18)Turkey
17)Croatia
16)Greece
15)Italy
14)Monaco
13)France
12)Belgium
11)Netherlands
10)Norway
9)England
8)Scotland
7)Moroco
6)Egypt
5)Kenya
4)South Africa
3)Brazil
2)Chile
1)Argentina

People... or Not

I had written up a list of 30 Pretty Interesting People, but I seem to have misplaced it... I will get it to you just as soon as I find it!