Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World

Skylark's Hidden Cafe

 We went out with our friends, Rob & Kara, Saturday night on a whim. When we meet over dinner, we are GUARANTEED to have a night of witty banter, intelligent topics, laughter and sincere conversations about life, love and our families. Last year we made a pact to take turns choosing different restaurants each time we get together (whenever possible)-- and Saturday it was Kara's pick.

She chose a sweet little eatery in the Fairhaven District (Bellingham, WA):

When you walk into the front entrance, you can dine on the main floor at tables with wingback chairs... or in the upstairs loft... or downstairs in the "hidden cafe". That is where we spent our evening.

The food was unbelievably DELICIOUS! We consumed crab-stuffed mushrooms and fresh sourdough bread (appetizers), Bill tried their award-winning clam chowder (and he RAVED about it), Rob tasted their corn chowder and then our entrees arrived. Kara ordered crab-stuffed sole, I had sauteed prawns with pesto fettuccine, Bill devoured his wild caught salmon and Rob had a balsamic salad.

Then our cute, knowledgeable waitress returned to enquire about dessert. Were we interested? (yes) Rob asked if they had any dessert specials. She said she had one in mind but would only describe it if someone at our table liked pineapple and/or coconut. I told her to spill the beans (I LOVE pineapple and coconut). She proceeded to describe a "Hidden Cafe" cheesecake specialty-- imagine a luscious slice of cheesecake with a macadamia nut & coconut crust. But wait! There is more... On top of this cheesecake are chunks of caramelized pineapple and big curly flakes of coconut with a dollop of whip cream.

OH YEAH..... That is what Kara & I ordered:

... while Bill ordered their bread pudding with bourbon sauce (his absolute favorite).

It was a wonderful dinner experience. And I am STILL dreaming about that cheesecake....

Upon leaving the downstairs (Hidden Cafe), we passed through the main floor to find a jazz band playing in the front corner. Next time we are going to choose the wingback chairs  in hopes that we can dine with some nice music in the background... that is if we don't violate our "new places only" rule:

Here is to GREAT FRIENDS!

"X-Men First Class"

I finally talked Bill into going to see the latest "X-Men" movie Friday night:

I have always been an X-Men fan, especially since it has to do with both genetic mutations and the superhero complex.

First Class is an origin story of sorts, showing how Charles Xavier (a.k.a. "Professor X") and Erik Lensherr (a.k.a. "Magneto") came to be friends and then enemies.

This prequel integrated a fabulous cast of mutants, working for both good and evil purposes. Our favorite was Raven (a.k.a. "Mystique") who was adorable as a girl and then so vulnerable in her relationships with both Charles and Erik:

This movie spent a lot of time developing the characters and providing explanations for a lot of the future X-Men movie storylines. It was intelligent,  thrilling and deep in emotion, all at the same time! It was helpful to understand Hank McCoy (a.k.a. "Beast") and his role with the CIA:

 
The story takes place mostly in the early 1960's, where there is great tension between Russia and the United States regarding the Cuban missile crisis.

Kevin Bacon plays the energy-glutton, Sebastian Shaw, who is determined to start WWIII.  Shaw's megalomaniacal plan, hidden submarine lair and insidious charm - not to mention snazzy dress sense - would make him a perfect James Bond villain:

He surrounds himself with a slew of mutants with amazing powers, including the telepathic Emma Frost:

 

In my opinion, watching this movie is like reading a well-written and beautifully rendered comic and seeing all the threads from previous instalments falling into place.

 Oh, and watch out for two surprise cameos that are just the thing for those who are missing the earlier films - you will LOVE them!

What do I rate "X-Men First Class"? I give it a solid 9 on the Rodgers movie rating scale. I was THOROUGHLY entertained!

 

Just For Bill

Today I am dedicating a song to Bill for his birthday!

This one describes who we were in high school PERFECTLY:

 

Though we are both grown up now and working professionals.... I am still the nerdy geek and he is my all-star athlete.

I love you, Bill Rodgers. I am so happy you were born to make my life complete.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! :-x

Moving In Together...

Natasha has had a new man in her life lately.... his name is Jesse:

She brought him home for an official "Meet The Parents" weekend around Mother's Day (yet another blog post in progress).

They decided to move in together last month .

So I thought I would make them a "housewarming" present. I learned a brand new technique  recently involving glass etching paste:

You start out with a pair of glass coffee mugs, wine glasses or even beer glasses. You rack your brain for something clever to put on them (names, monograms, cute saying, clip art, etc.). You cut out the REVERSE of your idea on craft vinyl using a die-cutting machine like a Silhouette or a Cricut. You stick the vinyl onto your glass(es). You dab on glass etching medium and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then you rinse your glass(es) with water and remove the vinyl outlines. TA DAAAAAA! You have etched glass!

 
I decided to make a pair of "his & hers" mugs. Natasha's mug says "mmmmmm.... delicious!" and Jesse's mug says "soooooo good".

I added some Starbucks "VIA" instant coffee and a cute card and popped them in the mail.

Natasha said it was the BEST housewarming gift ever! I love that. And I adore her. :)

Double Play Date

Last Sunday, I offered to have Elijah over for a playdate at Honey & Papa's house. I picked him up at 9:00 a.m. and we hung out for a bit on the back deck, blowing bubbles:

Then Bill came up with a FABULOUS idea! Why not take Elijah and Savannah to the park?

So we put Elijah in his carseat:

and Savannah on my lap and headed down to the local park on the Skagit River:

Bill was in charge of Savannah and he put her on a 30' training leash.  Savannah is still a little scary to Elijah because she is FULL of puppy energy and is so excited to see him that she runs and jumps alot. I was in charge of Elijah, so we walked about 31' BEHIND Savannah & Bill along a trail:

The trail led to a little lazy inlet of the Skagit River:

It was SUCH a nice day that Savannah tried out her water legs:

Meanwhile, Elijah and I stopped to take a break (please know that I have Savannah's play balls in my shirt pouch pocket) and feel the warm river sand in our toes:

Elijah stooped over to feel the sand slip through his fingers:

In no time at all, it turned into this:

and

He shrieked! He flung sand everywhere! He was having SUCH a great time!!

and

 
and

and one more:

Savannah shook off her coat.  I dusted sand off of Elijah. Then we went back on the trail and played on this wide open field:

and

(This time I had crackers in my pouch pocket--- so Elijah was having a couple.)

When we thought we had tired out our little "toddlers", we packed them up in the car and took them back to our house. We split up S & E and took them to two different bathrooms for a nice bath.

Savannah was shampooed by Bill:

While Elijah played in our other bathtub:

 
and

When both S & E were sparkling clean again, Elijah had another snack while he played with toys:

As for Savannah, she was DEFINITELY pooped out:

She was content to lay on my lap and share crackers with Elijah...

I think we are going to have to do this AGAIN. :)

 

I LOVE This

The world would be a nicer place if we all could do this... :)

The Train Wreck

 

Bill and I love to try new places to dine. Some of our friends have RAVED about this unusual eatery called the "Train Wreck" in Burlington, WA. So we decided to test this rumor ourselves on Saturday night:

   

Picture an oddly-shaped skinny brick building situated near local train tracks. We saw a few locals slip into the heavy wooden doors at the side entrance while we approached the glass doors at the front of the building.  We stepped inside and it was PACKED. There were big screen TVS near the bar showing sporting events, metal lanterns hanging from the ceiling, heavy wooden tables and chairs were scattered about with train memorabilia decorating the walls. Two skinny waitressed wearing Train Wreck T-shirts and tattered short jean shorts worked the room.

We studied the menu and our mouths began salivating. I chose a pulled pork BBQ sandwich with sweet potatoe fries and ordered a Sierra Pale Ale. To my surprise, the sweet potatoe wedges came with this mango-jalapeno dipping sauce that was to DIE for:

 
Bill is a much more daring "foodie" than I am. He ordered a calamari bacon burger with homestyle fries. He said it was a TOTALLY awesome pairing that practically melted in his mouth:

OMG! We give this new experiment TWO THUMBS UP! We will definitely visit this restaurant/local bar again... only next time I think we will slip in the side entrance like the "regulars" do. ;)

And Then There Were LIGHTS...

House of Rodgers update:

Our electrical work was completed a couple of weeks ago by our master electrician, Scott Jewel. It is thrilling to have lights in the new garage and lighting upstairs in the bonus room:

He finished installing the recessed lighting, added a heater, a ceiling fan, and all of the outlets:

He did everything we asked for and more! Motion sensor lights inside and outside... so that when we drive into the garage, the lights come on automatically. What fun!

"The Hangover, Part 2" - movie review

ANTICIPATION. This is what I felt for the last six months as I patiently waited for this movie to arrive...

Why? "The Hangover" was one of my favorite movies from 2009! It is in my Sherri's Top Ten list of comedy films. I told Bill that it was on our list of activities for Memorial Weekend... No ifs/ands/buts about it:

So we made a pact to see it on Saturday. With Kris & Darin. And Nick & Mollie (that is another exciting story all together....). We bought our tickets, got settled into our movie theater seats and I was prepared to be thoroughly ENTERTAINED...

So the "Wolfpack" is back... as promised. Due to someone's wedding plans, Phil and the others flew to Bangkok.

Yes. Alan is as irritating/quirky/needy/obnoxious/ridiculous/immature as ever...

Though Doug was there.... he was absent from most of the scandalous acts. (My lips are sealed.)

Poor Stu. He was directly involved with most of the scandalous acts. And sporting a new facial tattoo.

Without giving away ANY of the storyline (you REALLY have to see it for yourself!)-- Bill gives it a 7 on the Rodgers movie rating scale and I give it a..... 7.5. (insert sigh) Why? It WAS funny, but a much grittier kind of funny. Maybe because it takes place in Bangkok (which definitely lends a different feel to the movie compared to Las Vegas)..... Maybe because they worked a little harder at some of the scandalous gags.... But the predicaments were once again, shocking AND funny. The "Wolfpack" seems to be cursed, without pointing fingers or naming names (heh heh heh).

And I was REALLY hoping to see (live) chickens again. That crazy monkey creeped me out.

But it was great fun to watch it with friends (aren't Nick & Mollie cute?).... and follow it with lunch at the local Olive Garden Restaurant:

Hours like this... PRICELESS. :)

"Bridesmaids"-- What A HOOT!

I am WAAAAAAAAY BEHIND on blogging...

I have so many potential blog stories trapped in my head that it actually hurts just thinking about them.

So I thought I would start with some movie reviews. I was having a tough week a couple of weeks ago and Bill felt sorry for me. So he took me to the movies. And it was my turn to pick. So I picked this one:

Yes, it does look like a typical "chick movie". But wait! It was soooooo much more! Things did not look so good when we arrived at the Saturday matinee and the theater was packed. Oh, that usually is a positive sign for viewers... but it was not working in my favor that we ended up sitting in the second to the FRONT row (= Bill HATES being that close to the screen). Even though we were both sitting back with strained necks, I found myself laughing ALOT!! And when I looked over at Bill (who should have been very grumpy due to the strained neck)-- he was laughing too!

I have to tell you, every scene with this particular bridesmaid in it was HILARIOUS:

Without giving the storyline away, my favorite part involved "someone" stealing more than her share of these adorable yellow lab puppies and having her hands full of "puppy energy"...

I know I am going a little crazy raising one puppy of my own-- the thought of six Lab puppies sent me into hysterics! Therefore.....

Bill gives "Bridesmaids" a 7 on the Rodgers movie rating scale and I give it an 8! It was definitely a movie to add to your list of "must see"s for the early summer!

 

TV Woes

Woe is me. Most of my favorite TV shows have wrapped up for the season. (sigh!)

1) Michael Scott (a.k.a. Steve Carrell) has left "The Office".

Though Will Farrell stepped in for a few funny episodes, his character is now in the hospital. That leaves Toby, Jim and Gabe in charge of finding the next best candidate for office manager:

The season finale showed many inner-office candidates interviewing for the position (Kelly, Darrell and Dwight K. Schrute), as well as some interesting outsiders.  I am not thrilled with some of the guest celebrity appearances (James Spader, Jim Carey, Ray Romano, Ricky Gervais).   I must be REALLY  tired from puppy training because I have no predictions for next season. (WHAT is WRONG with me????)

2) Tuesday nights will be very quiet without new episodes of "Glee":

 
Their season finale showed the Glee Club in New York City, competing for the national title...

Though Bill was making snarky comments in the background-- I did enjoy the episode and the minor suspense of whether Finn and Rachel were going to get back together again:

Turns out they did not win nationals (Darn!), they headed back to high school.... and yes, this season's on & off again romance ended up back ON again. :)

3) Oh, the drama on my favorite medical drama, "Grey's Anatomy"!

Though Season 7 began with an intense follow-up to last season's mass shooting in the hospital.... this prime time drama finally got back on track. I loved the character development of some of the minor characters (Callie, Mark, and Lexie) and the continued growth in the major characters (Meredith, Christina, Derek, Bailey and Chief Webber).  Should I (seriously) be surprised that within the season finale, Christina and Meredith are both messed up again???? Probably not:

And the finally married happy couple (Derek & Meredith) are now back on the skids:

Oh noooooooo.....

4) Just when I needed to be cheered up, along came the season finale of "Modern Family":

This show did not let me down! I laughed and laughed throughout the entire episode! I will actually ENJOY summer re-runs of this show.... please be quick with the DVD release of Season 2!

 

So what will I do now with all of this free time??? My TV radar is on, listening for leads on summer pilots or new shows to pick up. I have one on my list at the moment:

"Wilfred" airs on June 23 on the FX channel. I think I will LOVE this show! It looks quirky and funny and yes, full of dog humor..... which is RIGHT UP MY ALLEY at the moment.

You just might love it too!

 

Just Get Up & Dance

This new song by Steven Tyler just makes me want to dance:

 

I don't care if it is in my car, on my headphones, or just listening to it on a radio.... I just want to break out in song and dance along with it. Don't you???

Even the lyrics are FUN:

"I can hear it coming out of people's cars this summer"
- Steven Tyler
Lyrics :
Something cool went down,
As I was walking with a friend of mine, and I,
I still remember,
How she was smelling like the summer time, and,

And ooh... how it changed my mind,
Changed everything, about that,
Kind of girl,

It feels so good, loving you, yeah...
It's so good, the way you do the do...
It feels so good, and I need Oxygen,
Little bit of heaven doin' 24-7 again...
Yeah, again and again...

Like I was sayin',
My little cupid was real super freak, by the,
Time that I came down,
I'll get locked up in a room for a week,

And ooh... how she changed my mind,
Changed everything, about this,
Crazy world,

It feels so good, loving you, yeah...
It's so good, the way you do the do...
It feels so good, yeah and by the way,
Little bit of heaven 24-7 times a day...

A long hair ,

A double dare,
And I swear,
Little bit will do you some good...

Say where,
I'm goin' there,
And I swear
Can't get enough of you... hu, yeah, yeah...

(harmonica solo)

Ma bonsoir,
Excuse moi,
Ya ooh la la,
It's doing to me good... yeah, yeah, yeah...

(stop)

Uh yeee, It feels so good, loving you, yeah...
It's so good, the way you do the do...
It feels so good, yeah I need Oxygen,
Little bit of heaven doin' 24-7 ahhh...

It feels so good, loving you, yeah...
It's so good, the way you do the do...
It feels so good, lovin' you,
It feels so good, making love to you...
Uh, yeah.... uh eeee... uh yeah...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... yeah, yeah...

 

 

Because It Made Me Laugh...

I just saw a television commercial that made me laugh out loud...

In my tired state (from raising a new baby)(I mean, puppy)-- it was too funny not to share:

 

Sonic Drive-In commercials often show relationship conflicts. This one was right up my alley...

That's right, it had a vampire in it. hahahahahaha

Let's Be ENTHUSIASTIC!

A customer shared a quote with me this week and I absolutely LOVE it!

"You can accomplish anything with ENTHUSIASM. Enthusiasm is the yeast which makes your dreams rise to the stars"    [Henry Ford]

"Priest"

May continues to be another crazy month for us... (and I could really use some sleep!)

I asked Bill if he would consider taking me to a movie this weekend so I could have a little escape.

Today I chose this:

 
Why "Priest"? The trailers looked exciting with a dash of science fiction, good vs. evil, and of course... vampires.  (I'm all over that!)

During our post-movie analysis, we give this movie a "7". I thought the special effects were very enjoyable. Bill thought the storyline was weak and held nothing original. I don't want to give anything away, so instead I will say this movie was a blend of futuristic "Mad Max At Thunderdome", a Clint Eastwood spaghetti-western,  a little "Sin City" darkness, and a dash of "Tron".

And the 2-D version was great (no need for the silly 3-D glasses). I would like to see it again (because I think I dozed off during one of the motorcycle scenes) (darn those late night puppy potty breaks!).

This was a great warm-up for the summer blockbuster movie season! :)

We {Heart} Hot Tamales

We did something fun on Saturday with our friends, Rob & Kara, and a lovely woman named Sylvia. We went to Sylvia's home to learn how to make homemade tamales...

 
Rob & Kara had taken gourmet cooking classes with Sylvia before. Apparently, Rob showed up at the last one wearing a chef's hat and jacket. So Bill went out and borrowed a chef's jacket to make things more interesting....

I think Bill looked very handsome:

We all had our roles to play...We knew we would be entertained with Kara's quick wit and banter:

 
Our two male chefs were looking forward to getting their hands on good food:

 
Bill & I were taking pictures. Rob & Bill stopped Sylvia often to ask questions:

 
I also asked questions and took copious notes:

 
We started out by creating the tamale dough:

 
Sylvia had already prepared the filling; a mixture of shredded chicken, green peppers, olives and spicy sauce. She sat each of us down to demonstrate how to roll tamales in corn husk wrappers:

 
She had Rob, Bill, and another guest, Bryan, patting out tamales in their wrappers on individual plates:

You flatten a handful of dough into a patty, add a spoonful of filling (chicken, pork or beef), and then...

 
You carefully fold over one side of the husk, then overlap your fold with the other side and tuck the bottom under to maintain the fold:

 
Kara sat down to roll a few tamales:

 
And so did I:

 
We rolled about three dozen tamales (the more hands you have, the faster it goes!):

 
Syvlia had a special steamer pot ready for those tamales:

 
Inside the steamer, you first lay a base of empty corn husks to protect your precious tamales from hardening:

 
Sylvia told Bryan to stand all of the tamales upright...

 
And load them in a spiral pattern:

 
You add a top layer of empty corn husks, followed by the steamer lid. You steam your tamales for one hour:

 
But wait! There was more to do!

 
Kara helped Sylvia prepare an appetizer, which was homemade corn tortilla chips topped with cubes of pepperjack cheese. You heat these in the oven until the cheese melts and then dip them in salsa:

 
Mmmmmm.... delicious! Sylvia put us to work making refried beans and Spanish rice next:

 
We fried the rice, added chopped vegetables, and had both pans simmering while the tamales were still steaming...

 
Bill & Kara had fun trading one-liners: 

 
FINALLY! The tamales were ready! Sylvia set the table and handed out plates for us to fill:

 
Of course, I had to document the moment:

 
Are you drooling? We each unwrapped our tamales and dug in:

 
Our compliments to Sylvia and our delicious meal! We had SUCH a good time! We left full and happy with a promise that we would take another cooking class in the future...

Would we do this again? Absolutely. :)

That Little Savannah

Our little puppy has been a Rodgers for a month now. Honestly, it has been a TOTAL BLUR.

Our accomplishments:

1) She knows her name.

2) I think she knows the word "NO!".

3) She is learning how to "sit" on command.

4) She is wonderful to cuddle with.

Still in progress:

1) Potty training.

2) Sleeping through the night. (I seriously cannot remember what it feels like to get 8 hours of continuous sleep in one night.)

3) Learning what is okay to chew on (rawhide twists, rope toys, balls, bones) and what is NOT okay to chew on (shoes, chickens, underwear, my puppet collection, our bathrobes)

What is NOT going well:

1) Dragging me around with my bathrobe on:

2) She makes it hard to get any kind of housework done because she wants to attack my broom/vacuum/paper towels/wipes and/or get into the dishwasher and/or drag off socks from the dryer.

3) She leaves a bit of a mess sometimes. Here is her puppy pen before she gets in it:

and after:

AND...

she is growing like a weed! As of Monday this week, she had doubled her weight at 22 lbs.

We love the fact that she can fall asleep anywhere:

AND...

She is a little jealous of my baby chicks. When I walk by them and say,"How are you, sweet baby chicks? Cheep Cheep, cheep cheep"-- Savannah runs to the aquarium and races around it (making all of the babies run and flitter around and cheep in alarm). Then she plops down in front of the aquarium with her rear end thumping the glass. She is sassy and naughty at the same time.

I told her she has to be nice to our baby chicks...

In my head, they will become great friends one day.... Silly Savannah!

"I Am"

We had plans with friends on Monday night for dinner and a movie.

We have been special friends with Rob & Kara for over a year and one of our fun traditions is to take turns choosing a new local restaurant for each time we have dinner together. It was my turn to choose the location, so I went out on a limb and chose "The Thai House" in downtown Mt. Vernon.

The salad course was delightful! We snacked on soy beans (what do you call them?)...edamame. Then, our main courses arrived.  We each ordered something different:  Bill ordered BBQ beef. Rob ordered rainbow trout. Kara ordered an avacado noodle dish. And I ordered this flavorful halibut dish called "Call Me Ginger":

'
It was FANTASTIC! Afterwards, we had plans to attend the local Lincoln Theater for a screening of this documentary:

The director of this film is Tom Shadyac who appeared recently on "OPRAH"" to discuss how a bicycling accident led him to question how he lived his life.

There were many interesting points to ponder.... How money/success does not equate happiness. How American culture promotes consumerism. How we are not meant to be at war; instead, the human race deals better with peace. How stressful lives lead to poor health. How human compassion can promote ingenuity and generous solutions to both simple and complex problems.

I laughed a little. I cried a little. I walked away from this documentary wondering what I could do better with my life and how I could give (back to nature, to others) more. This film promotes connectivity at all levels-- human to human, human to other living things, human to our environment and planet Earth. I highly recommend it. The content not only sparks interesting conversations, but may lead you to take a new direction with your life.

Farmer Jane

I am a woman of many names....

You can call me Sherri (friends).

You can call me Mrs. Rodgers (strangers).

You can call me Dr. Rodgers (Darin G.).

You can call me Mom or Mama (J, A, Nick & Natasha).

You can call me Honey (Elijah).

You can call me Chicken Mama (my chicks).

You can call me Babydoll (Bill).

However, I am also answering to another name: Farmer Jane. This is what Bill calls me when I am juggling chickens, kitties, a new puppy, sometimes a garden, and now something else.... Can you guess what it is? Or isn't?? Hint: It means more mouths to feed... or rather beaks to feed.

In April, I brought home this:

Inside the box was a handful of new baby chicks:

I had made reservations for some Araucaunas (a breed that lays pretty green eggs) and they were absolutely DARLING:

Since the new garage is in the middle of drywall/paint/electricity, I went back to the set-up that I used two years ago. I use a long, rectangular aquarium to house the baby chicks until they are big enough to go outside. Inside is a layer of pine shavings, a heat lamp (they need warmth), a chick feeder and watering dish:

I use two layers of rounded fencing on top to keep interested kitties and a nosy puppy out:

I just LOVE baby chicks! They are pretty easy to care for-- just keep them warm, fed, and dry. And keep a watchful eye on baby Savannah:

Here is to my new little girls of 2011:

Let's Play KENO!

Last summer, one of my girlfriends invited me to join her Keno group. What is Keno? It is a multi-player game where you call out cards and either have to cover or uncover your playing board with red chips to be the first or last to have a winning pattern. There are snacks and appetizers, there are prizes to be won, and it is a fun way to spend a Tuesday evening, once a month.

Last month, it was at Suzanne's house:

She had a FABULOUS spread on her kitchen island (which was so delicious since I had missed dinner):

There was a theme for the prize table.... you had to bring a gift valued at $15 and conceal it in a decorated bag:

and

I decided to decorate my bag with a stencil, embossing paste and silver glitter:

And here is the back (I am going to have to do this again!):

Here is who showed up to play in April:

We all bring a present and contribute to a grand prize, known as "The Money Bag". We play one round of assorted Keno games where the winner yells out "KENO!" and selects a sealed bag from the prize table. Sometimes a gal will win several times and have several bags at her feet and other times the winners are sporadic around the table.

The hostess then deals one game of her choice and the first person to yell "KENO!" wins "The Money Bag" (filled with dollar bills-- we all donate $3 each to play)-- it is hers to keep. We then play a second round of games where all of these winners can steal unopened prizes from the first round recipients.

Secretly, it pays off to be a "late winner"...here was my winning bag of the evening:

It was my lucky day! Inside was a mini-scrapbook decorated with cute embellishments. It was just up my alley...

In the last six months, sometimes I break even (=take a prize, bring home a prize) and sometimes I don't win at all. One month I didn't call out "KENO!" all night long, so I won the booby prize. I have yet to win "The Money Bag". To be honest, I am not a gambler and not horribly competitive-- I am just happy to play. :)

Meanwhile at the House of Rodgers...

There are overlapping layers of "busy" at the Rodgers household.

One layer has to do with our construction project. Last week, we progressed two more steps towards actually USING the new garage and bonus room. First, we had to have our utility company, Puget Sound Energy come over to transfer our household electrical source from the house panel to the new, upgraded garage panel. On Wednesday, I was in my pajamas in the front yard taking Savannah for a potty break when this big truck rolled in. I waved the driver in, trying to suppress the urge to run knowing I had bed hair and was extremely disheveled. He was early! Mr. PSE came over to confirm the address and (thank goodness!) was soooo distracted by cute Savannah that I convinced him to give me 10 minutes to shower before our power was cut off:

I fed all the animals and got ready for work and caught Mr. PSE in his cherry-picker as he disconnected our house service:

and took his sweet cherry-picker to reconnect the service on the garage:

Our cool electrician, Scott, came to finish our inside panel and said he would be back as soon as we finished painting the garage to install all of the new outlets & lights.

So that was our task for the weekend. On Saturday, Bill and his friend, Brian, donned these expensive (not really), disposable paint suits in order to spray primer upstairs and downstairs:

Bill was going to spray while Brian rolled behind him. When I asked for an action shot, this was the best they could do:

What do you know! It was fast-drying primer, so we were ready to paint a few hours later. This time, I became Bill's painting buddy (otherwise known as "The Roller"). Good thing. All I had to do was adjust my roller stick to go longer for the high ceiling while Bill took on some precarious poses to get those hard-to-reach areas:

Just in case you are wondering what our paint color choice was, it is "Extreme White"...

We finished the upstairs. I felt like I was in a micro-blizzard of white as my goggles were covered with white, all of the windows were covered with plastic and all you could hear was the hum of the spray paint motor. It was a bit "Extreme White" surreal. Or I was in some Arctic cave with a Center for Disease Control suit on.... This shot is pre-painting:

We also knocked out the downstairs on Sunday with even more "Extreme White".

Mission completed.

Punked!

April is ALWAYS a crazy month for us with birthdays, our anniversary, Bill's Spring Break, sometimes Easter, and sometimes Mom's Weekend at WSU. This year was no exception. It fact, it was JACKED UP. Why?

Add a new puppy. Add a new state of sleep deprivation. Add a home construction project. Add new adventures with a one year old.

Oh. And add an unexpected event in which we were TOTALLY PUNKED.

Let me tell you how this happened... Jeremiah called Bill on a Sunday and said he needed a favor. He was going to pick up a friend who was arriving on a late flight at SeaTac the next evening-- would Bill drive with him so that he didn't fall asleep at the wheel? Of course. That is what family does.

Bill said he and Jeremiah talked all the way down to the airport. While Jeremiah ran into the baggage area to find his friend, Bill waited in the car. Only his "friend" turned out to be....

Nick Rodgers! He had flown into town without telling us, only his brother knew. In other words-- we were PUNKED by these two:

 
We couldn't believe it!

 
Bill brought Nick back to our house where he had his first meeting with Savannah:

 
And they woke me up to share the love/PUNK (I think it was 2 o'clock in the morning):

SURPRISE! We both had to work the next day-- due to the fact that we had NO IDEA he was coming. Bill called me and we made hurried plans to PUNK as many friends and family as possible in four short days.

We got my mom first. It was her birthday and we promised to treat her & Jesse to dinner at a fancy restaurant in town. I arrived first. My mom & Jesse walked in next and we chatted while we waited for Bill to show up. Jeremiah came around the corner unexpectedly and hugged his grandma to wish her a happy birthday! So I snapped a few pics while she looked so happy:

Bill pulled out his bigger camera and told us all to get together for another photo. Can you see Nick in the background? (heh heh heh)

While Bill snapped away, Nick jumped into the group and hugged his grandma & Jesse:

The look on her face: PRICELESS.  She was most definitely PUNKED.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner together and I think my mom grinned from ear to ear the entire evening:

Bill was in the middle of a crazy week in his classroom as his students were giving presentations on individual projects they had been working on for some time. He had lined up parents, grandparents, educators and special guests for different days of the week to serve as judges for the student activity. He had invited his mom to "judge" on Thursday.... guess who else was a guest judge that day?

Nick Rodgers! Here is Nick entertaining his granny (after we PUNKED her):

 
Nick and Jeremiah stopped by one day to see me at work. Here is Nick & Jeremiah PUNKING pretty Estefania, who had NO IDEA Nick was in town:

We scheduled dinner dates with friends the next two nights. Here is Nick PUNKING Kris (Darin was surprised by Nick earlier that day):

Then we went out to dinner with our friend, Bryan, the next night. He had been PUNKED by Bill the previous day when Nick walked behind Bill right into Bryan's classroom while he was teaching science:

I have to admit it-- it was fun PUNKING all of our family & friends! Though no one wants to be PUNKED, we were sure glad that our family prank produced some unexpected time with our East Coast son.

We {heart} sons who just want to come home to see the family. :)

Mollie The Fashion Model

At Hallmarkland, I know a beautiful 21-year old named Mollie who works for me whenever she comes home from college.

Mollie is very fashionable. She can wear anything and make it look wonderful. Mollie LOVES shoes. I have seen her wear many pairs of fabulous shoes, ranging from 3" high heels to fur boots to sequined ballerina flats. She also LOVES accessories. Whenever she returns to work, I can count on her to walk throughout the store in search of new products. It always makes me laugh when she spots new jewelry or something trendy (like scarves) because she not only rushes over to look them over-- she picks out her favorite and shows any customer that is interested.

During Spring Break, we received some new fashion scarves-- like this one:

 

I told Mollie it was our responsibility as sales associates to be able to demonstrate how this product is used. So I grabbed my camera and Mollie grabbed a scarf and we got to work to see how many of these combinations we could pull off...

Here is the "Double Scarf":
I
and the "Basic Scarf":

 
 Mollie thought the "Double Scarf with Hood" was suitable for praying:

 
whereas the "Scarf with Hood" might be fun on a rainy day:

 
I think we were attempting the "Hooded Shawl" (minus the hood) here:

 
Add a little fabric twist and you have "The Capelet":

 

followed by the regular "Shawl":

 
We thought the "Figure 8 Top" might be cute as a beach cover-up:

 
Mollie had to step into the "Layered Knee-Length Skirt" to make it work:

 

We couldn't figure out how to make the circle scarf into the "One Shoulder Dress" or the "Layered Swinging Mini". (DARN it!) And  we needed a giant belt for the "Layered Belted Mini". Oh well...It was fun and this exercise fit into my definition of "product knowledge".

F.Y.I.: Apparently good-looking fashion-forward men wear the Circle Scarves too...

Hmmmmmm..... Maybe we all could use a Circle Scarf in our closets.

Savannah's Firsts

We did something fun yesterday -- we decided to go on a picnic and a dog walk to let Savannah experience some brand new things.

First, we went to Subway to get some sandwiches. This was Savannah's second car ride but the FIRST time she had to wait:

It was a beautiful day! This was our destination:

This was Savannah's FIRST time on a leash:

We went down to a grassy knoll and ate our lunch:

This was Savannah's FIRST time having a doggie sack lunch (puppy chow & water):

This was also Savannah's FIRST time meeting strange dogs:

She did great! She was greeted and smelled by 3 dogs; she was submissive & polite while her puppy tail wagged a mile a minute.

Then it was time to head down a trail to the beach. This was her FIRST time going down stairs:

It was glorious! This is a small bay surrounded by rocky outcrops, so the water was calm:

This was Savannah's FIRST time tasting saltwater and smelling sand, rocks & seaweed:

It was our intention to let her get a little wet:

So she followed me into the shallow water:

And was okay until the water reached her puppy chest:

She was not quite ready for her (first) swim:

After several attempts, we turned around:

And she gave it a puppy shake:

We took a break for some pictures and to soak up some much-needed sun:

And then we headed back:

Savannah was greeted by all kinds of adoring strangers and was sniffed by the other two dogs.

All of those FIRST things made her very tired on the ride home:

What a great day!

Happy Easter!

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