Sunday, April 20, 2014

Easter Dinner with the bunnies

With my son, David, leaving to go into the Army in two weeks time, my head is too full of worry to leave room for a great deal of creativity.

Still, it was Easter, and we were together!  Two great things for which to be grateful!  So with this little pep talk to myself I went to the basement and started pulling things from the boxes.  There's Peter Rabbit!  Did I ever finish reading all the Beatrix Potter stories to David?


No wait, that's not Peter Rabbit.  And that egg belongs to John!


What am I doing?  They are too old for bunny ears, aren't they? 
 
 
What if they were a manly brown . . . ?
 
 
Perhaps if I used some tactical diversion . . . like carrot cupcakes . . .

 
 Topped with violas from the garden, which are completely edible . . .


And some lemon parfaits . . .

 
With lots of jelly beans tucked among the flowers . . .  They may be men now, but they still love sweets!

 
Brown eggs and woven mats evoke a garden setting anybunny would enjoy . . .

 
And an easy guy-pleasing menu of Baked Honey Ham, Rosemary Potatoes and Green Beans - An easy-peasy meal that left us plenty of time for playing board games! 

I hope the kids remember this dinner.  I hope they remember the bunny ears . . . I hope they remember how much we laughed.  May the Risen Christ bless us and watch over us all!  Alleluia!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

No time for the blues . . .

Boy, it's been a busy few months!  What have I been up to?  Well . . .

January flew by in a blur of activity.  Just at the time of year that my body kept telling me to stay home and sleep, I was super busy at work, planning the 2014 Field Sales & Marketing Kick-Off, which took place on February 4th.  It was a 3-part event consisting of . . .


A large meeting that accommodated 550 . . .


Awards were given to the 2013 Top Performers . . .


I was even surprised with an MVP Award of my very own!


Here I am with the Sr. Director of Direct Sales . . .


There was an Expo, featuring many of our programming partners, like HBO and Showtime . . .


Ending the day with a Casino Night!   The event was a huge success and worth the countless hours of work!  Even the day before, I was holding my breath, worried about having to cancel the whole thing because of the weather.  An 8-inch snowstorm was in the forecast!  Thankfully, Mother Nature held off for one day!


I did do a little hibernating after the event, and took a few days off work to recharge my batteries . . .  I curled up in the Living Room which was in cozy winter mode, with furry pillows and snowy white carnations . . .  February was still busy at work though, and I was still wrapping up loose ends from the event all the way to the beginning of April!

But now that I had stopped working so many hours, I could think about other things . . . like my health.  I've learned the hard way that you cannot take for granted the tremendous gift of health . . .


So I did a little reading . . .


Got an amazing new appliance - a Vitamix that truly lives up to the hype!


And that came with more cookbooks to play with  . . .


I tried a recipe or two from the Internet . . . This was my favorite - Baked Salmon with Blood Oranges and Fennel.  I'll share the recipe soon!


Then I had a new passport photo taken . . .


Because in the Fall we are planning to go to Venice!  La Serenissima - at the top of my bucket list!


And now, unhindered by other “business,” thoughts of the Army consume me, as they have absorbed my every waking moment, regardless of how busy I've been, or how much interest I've pretended to have on other things:  My son, David, has joined the United States Army.  He leaves for Basic Combat Training on May 6th.

And how was your winter?