He he he

I just made a Disney reservation specialist think I was completely insane. COMPLETELY. The hardest dining reservation to get at any time of year, let alone during Free Dining is Le Cellier. And I just called to cancel not one, but two Le Cellier reservations. TWO! She made me confirm repeatedly that yes, this was what I wanted to do. Yes, I knew how hard they were to get. Yes, I wanted to cancel them. And yes, I was me. (But in my defense, the reason I was calling to cancel them was because I'd finally gotten a dinner reservation for one of the days I actually wanted, so it's not like we won't be eating there at all.)

The bounty of my BBQ floweth over

Tonight I called Brian as I was ready to leave work to request he BBQ something for dinner. I wasn't feeling picky, so long as there was a source of protein, I'd be happy. This is the fabulous dinner he BBQ'd for me. :) Yum!




Steak, shrimp, corn on the cob and mushrooms. Dessert (?) was a full bowl of sugar snap peas from my garden.

Wahoooooo!

First up: "The Aftermath"











And now: "The Payoff"




Teresa Wentzler's Fantasy Triptych
Completed July 19, 2009

How to completely make a bad weekend better!

We were supposed to be going up to NH to stay with friends for the weekend. Unfortunately, I'm still pretty sick, and Brian got sick yesterday. So we've had to cancel. While a quiet weekend at home is what we need, it's not what we'd looked forward to for weeks. I wasn't exactly happy about giving it up. But it needed to be done. And then, this afternoon, I get this from my friend Helen. Suddenly a $19 train fare into the city doesn't sound too bad... (Oh, and we had already planned our Timmy stops in CT on the way to NH.)

Not-So Monthly Update

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

 

Many, I've actually been on a reading binge lately.  I went back through some old favourites and have started getting into some of the "Bones" mystery novels.  It's been ages since I've done a real mystery run so it seems to be time again.  Nothing fabulous enough to recommend, but nothing horrid.

 

 

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

Loads of catch-up stuff.  Our DVR actually showed as only having two things left on it as of Monday night.  (And those two are old F1 races I won't delete as they relax me and help me sleep when the insomnia is getting really bad.  Something soothing in the sound of those engines!)  We haven't watched any "recent" movies in a while.  A few are coming out that I'd like to see, but nothing I'm dying to.

 

 

What special days did I celebrate and how?

Vin's birthday BBQ was a blast.  We've missed the last two years for one reason and another so it was really nice to get to go this year.

Ciara Mary Rose was born on June 30^th, happy, healthy and loved.

Canada Day and July 4^th!  (I love getting to celebrate both and so close together.)  Fairly typical stuff was planned, but most didn't happen*.  Had a blast at the Toronto/Yankee game on July 3^rd though.

 

 

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

I haven't given it yet, but I have a special card for CMR.  I also made a card and castle cake for Vin's birthday BBQ.  Several other birthday cards, though not nearly all.  Do you know I have 28 friend and family birthdays between June 6^th and July 15^th?

 

 

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

*I got sick on July 2^nd with a severe (of course!) ear infection which progressed to throat, sinuses and lungs.  I'm still not well, but am back at work.  Yick!  I'll survive, but I'm just praying that I don't rupture the eardrum again.  Once/year is plenty, thanks.

 

 

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

Vin's birthday BBQ, several evenings of good food and cards/games/wii with the Henagans and the Toronto/Yankee game with Brian.  (Wow, this sounds repetitive!)  We also finally managed to co-ordinate schedules to meet up with Jess and Jay to congratulate them on getting engaged.

 

 

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

Ummm… none?  I'm pretty boring actually.  And I'm skipping a new restaurant today with work due to my food allergies.  I'm okay with it though, it's just my life as normal. :)  I did venture outside my comfort zone though for Brian's request to try new places at Disney this year.  I got almost all the reservations I wanted, and only one of them is a repeat from prior trips!  On top of the Food and Wine Festival, we're going to be "eating our way around the world" restaurants at Epcot.  We've reservations for 4 of them!

 

 

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

A new laptop!  I'm going back to school and needed something newer than my 5.5 year old mac laptop to handle all the streaming video etc.  Poor thing has had (and will continue to have) a great life, but it just can't handle the video stuff anymore.  And since the course is delivered online…

 

 

What were this month's disappointments?

Being sick when we had a big weekend planned!  Why is it that whenever I get time off work I get sick?  My strawberry crop has been ruined by the weather.  I *may* get two strawberries out of the whole patch.  OTOH, at least I'm not a commercial strawberry farmer.  Official numbers for the region are in, and they lost over 70% of the crop this year.

Not getting to go see CMR when she was born because of being sick.

 

 

What were my accomplishments this month?

Finalized plans to go back to school and figured out how we're going to pay for it all.  Not easy, but I've got it figured out for the next year of classes at least.

Getting the garage cleaned out to the point where we could park a car in it.  And realizing that it's really not worth the trade off.  And putting a bunch of stuff back into the garage again… :)

 

 

Anything else noteworthy to record?

Brian now has two restaurants trying to steal him away from his current one.  The one closer to home may actually manage to, we'll see.  I think he should, he's just not sure. 

 

 

What made me smile this month?

Seeing my peas finally bloom.  On July 3^rd!  I'm just hoping we get to actually eat them this year…

Hearing Ciara was born healthy and happy.

Getting time to stitch and read.

 

A Sad Day for me...

I'm going back to school this fall (no, that's not the sad part).  I need a new laptop to be able to handle everything I'll need to do while we're traveling, which we'll be doing several times during my course.  I *love* my macs.  We've been a mac only household for several years now.  But I just can't justify the cost for a new mac laptop over a PC.  Money is tight to be able to go back to school and keep our vacation plans.  And I am NOT giving up Disney if there's any way to save it.  So the sad day has come, and I've just bought a new PC laptop. :(  And between holiday weekend sales and corporate discount through work, I'm getting a steal on the system.  As in a $1200 laptop for $600... So I'll get to deal with the joy that is Vista sometime later this month for the first time.  I would like to have held out until Windows 7 comes out in October, but Disney is in September.  Though at least I did get a free upgrade to Windows 7 once it comes out.  Wish us luck!

Reason # 52234 why my new dentist is awesome

Brian had dental surgery this morning.  And the dentist himself just called us, at home, at 9:15pm to see how Brian was doing.  Checked on his pain level to see if he needed to have a prescription called in.  Make sure the bleeding had (finally!) stopped.  How awesome is that?

Happy Canada Day!