oh pow pow

Even our chickens got a little festive for the Christmas holiday. (note the blue egg)

The snow has been falling for days now. The trucker upgraded the plow to the giant tractor plow. Good thing he likes to push snow so much!


We spent christmas yesterday held up in the house with the fire going strong. Somehow santa still managed to land on the roof (possibly what started the roof slide along with the hurricane winds) and the house was blessed with christmas presants. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday time off as much as we are!

A little before and after....

Just when you think winter will never get here.....suddenlly your clearence on the vw isnt enough to get you out of the driveway. Times like this make me miss Winter Park.....or maybe just immediate access to a ski mountain..


The instant snowfall has granted me personal escort to and from work. As we drove in last night, it was a game to count how many cars were in the ditch. It wasnt until an ambulance was spotted in the ditch that I knew it was going to be a long night.

my apron is malfunctioning

You know and I know....in Amandaland, if you wear an apron and step into the kitchen, you have the superpowers of top chefs.


So I take down the apron from the tooth hook of the boar head, and start on the masterpiece that was to be the truckers birthday dinner. In my own defense, I was sleep deprived from the previous nights graveyard shift, and in a time crunch to make dinner and bake a cake before I had to go back to the hospital.

The recipe is simple and one from the "BAM" himself.

Raw Shrimp
Emrils essence spice (sprinkled over the cooking shrimp)
1 clove chopped garlic
2 tbs olive oil

Cook shrimp with above, as the shrimp pinkens add....

1 cup white wine
1/2 cup lemon juice

Pile on top cooked pasta, s&p toss and serve hot.

smelling soooo good, I'm thinking

"BAM"

Until we sit and the trucker takes a big bite and....CRUNCH....I forgot to peel the shrimp. son of a ......... peeling cooked shrimp that is smothered in sauce while singing happy birthday to your husband.....priceless

But wait, the cake! The beautiful black forest cake that your family will attest to the fact that you called them to find out what the hell was....

well....

I was out of confectioners sugar. so I substituted with real sugar.....which is not an acceptable substitution despite what that stupid website said. There is no thickening agent in it, and incredibly.....um....crunchy. If there was video you would see that the cake frosting moved like the blob...

BAM.

Celebrating Amandaland

Killing time before work tonight came across this photo of Keva at my bachelorhood party. The true humor lies at the trail head where Keva stood with my banner...waiting patiently....as other people arrived at the trail.....and in a turn of much confusion, another Amanda arrived.

Other Amanda who we don't know: "Is that for me?"

Keva: "um...no..."

Other Amanda who we don't know: "Oh, because I'm Amanda...and it's my birthday"

Keva: Weird. Want me to take your picture with the sign?

The rest of the morning had some confusion with the other Amanda hiking party. Which is a lesson to us all...

Travel with a flag.

It was a tight squeeze, but everyone insisted on going into the woods to find the Christmas tree. You'll notice there that Teva can see out the window if she sits on Jake's lumbar spine.

So into the Rifle wilderness we go. There has been such little snow here, that it was pretty easy to get in and out. We were a little off on how BIG the tree was. So after the fourth trimming....we got it squeezed in.



Lets call it a....um....work in progress. Going to buy Christmas decorations is a little overwhelming. Plus we are a fairly non-traditional home, so an angel just didn't cut it. Unfortunately the Nome made the tree too top heavy and that idea was held off until more duct tape could be purchased....