What the...?

Okay, so after working all day (Asheville City Schools had a snow day today - don't get excited, there was less than an inch on the ground!) I stopped by the store to get some angel hair pasta so I could make one of our favorite dinners. It's shrimp, broccoli, carrots, and yellow bell pepper tossed with pasta, parmigiano regiano cheese, and a yummy light lemon and garlic sauce. Mmm mmm mmm!
The only thing I don't like about the meal is that it requires I use three of my large cooking pieces (and that means more dishes afterward): a large pot to boil the pasta, a big sauce pan and steamer basket for the veggies, and a huge skillet to cook the shrimp and give everything a final toss. So, I have everything going on the stove, when I look over and see this next to the post with all the vegetables:
"What is that," you ask? Let me tell you. IT IS MOLTEN METAL! The bottom of the pot was melting and oozing liquid metal all over the stove!
Needless to say, I freaked out just a little. I didn't know how I was going to get the pan off the stove without dripping its metallic contents all over the place. Trev picked up the pot and took it straight to the trash can. Its hot ooze melted a hole in the bottom of the inside liner of the garbage can, which was better than the kitchen floor or the carpet or us! We finally got it to stop dripping long enough to get it outside where it could cool down (luckily it was 20 degrees out there, so it cooled off pretty quick). Here's what the pot looks like now:
Don't worry, we did eventually get to enjoy our dinner. And those pots? They will be packed up and returned to Costco as soon as possible!

A Two Saturn Family

Well, we are officially a two Saturn family. Trev had a little (and I mean little, you would not even believe that a 6'3" man fit comfortably) commuter car that we bought when we were living in Arizona. At the time, he had a 45-55 minute drive between work and home, and with gas being so expensive we sought out a used car that got great mileage. We found Howie (we name our cars for the sake of avoiding the "my car"/"your car" issue)... a two door Hyundai. Little Howie gained some serious mileage and then endured a cross-country tow from Arizona to North Carolina behind a Penske truck. Shortly after arriving in NC, we started noticing some things that lead us to believe that Howie's days were limited. Just recently, Trev was driving home from work when Howie's 5th gear fell out. So... it was time to start looking for a new car. Of course, it was not good timing. We are still trying to get rid of our house in Arizona, and in the mean time finances are tight, so taking on a new car payment sounded less than optimal. But we had to have a reliable car!

We were so excited to find this Saturn Ion. It's great... great gas mileage, wonderful sound system, only one year old (and still under warranty), all at a price that were we hoping for! And for those of you who remember, the color is almost exactly like my first Saturn! We love it!Of course, the big debate was what to name it. The Saturn VUE that we have is named Sally, so we tried to come up with something different. A lot of names were tossed around... Sammy? Susy? Sadie? Nothing seemed to work for us. So, I introduce you to Sally 2. Generally, I drive Sally and Trev drives Sally 2, but occasionally we mix it up a bit.

Down by the River

This weekend, Trev and I decided we needed a little get away... so we headed south for a weekend in Alabama with my mom and dad. We love taking weekend trips to visit because we get to lounge and completely relax (although this weekend we also had to do some homework)... and we get to see OUR BOYS! We miss them desperately, but they are having such a great time with their grandparents. Today, we took the dogs down to the Tennessee river for a little swim. The water was way too cold for us, but it didn't seem to bother them. I think they would have stayed in the water all day if had let them. Here's how it works... we throw the ball into the water, Tanner swims out to grab it, then he drops it at Taz's feet so that Taz can bring it back to us!Both Taz and Tanner love to be towel dried. It just feels so good!

And when it's all over, the boys are so happy! Tazzy says, "Thank you!"

A Night on the town

After being trapped in the apartment for nearly three weeks, Trev and I were starting to have a little cabin fever. On his way to work one morning, he heard an announcement that the Indigo Girls were going to be performing in Asheville that night. Being the wonderfully thoughtful husband that he is, he quickly called and bought us tickets! I have been wanting to see these ladies in concert for years... but it seemed that every time they came to San Diego, I was out of town. Last Friday night, our schedules finally aligned! We had great seats and the show was amazing... they played for over two hours. Even though I am a bigger fan, Trev and I both had a wonderful evening. If you aren't familiar with the Indigo Girls, their music consists of great guitar playing, wonderful harmonies, and engaging and thought provoking lyrics. Each song is an experience all its own. The concert was great and we plan to catch them again the next time they are in town.

On the mend

We are back to the blogging world! We have had several people asking for updates on our site, and we are happy to be able to do just that. The last three weeks have been rough ones for us. I ended up with some crazy strain of the flu. It has been a problem in Asheville, and all over the country as I understand. Even people who have received flu shots are coming down with it! It was rough... several days of temperatures over 102 with peaks over 104, sore throat, loss of voice, nausea, aches, chills, terrible headaches, brutal coughing and a runny nose that still has not stopped! It was a joyful time. And as soon as I was done, Trev came down with the same thing! Luckily, it didn't hit him quite as hard, but it still took him out for almost a week.

So, I am happy to report that we are feeling 99% better. The mornings and evenings are still a little rough with the coughing and nose blowing. But, the apartment no longer smells like cough drops and Nyquil, nor does it look like an infirmary! All is well!