Terrific Tuesday

At least that's what I'm hoping for.  It has certainly started off well.  I walked 1.7 miles with Rebecca this morning and it wasn't too crazy hot out there.  I was back in the house around 6:45 and I did some chores.  It feels good to have checked a couple of cleaning and laundry chores off my list already.

On Sunday my oldest niece, Courtney, turned twelve.  I can't believe she's twelve...it sounds crazy.  Here we are together in 1999.

I blogged about her upcoming birthday in this post: Time Flies.  It truly does.  Anyway, she is a big old 6th grader now.  She got her ears pierced this summer and she is getting into jewelry.  So what better present for my favorite 12 year old than to start her a James Avery charm bracelet.  You Texans will recognize the jewelry.  Courtney called me on Sunday very excited about the bracelet.  She told me her mom text me a picture of her wearing the bracelet.  I was very excited about this.  Thinking a picture of her smiling face holding up her wrist.  This is what I got.

Bummer, but cute bracelet.

For those of you that are not familiar with 12 year old goings on, the peace sign and tie dye is back in.  Good times.  Here is mentioned smiling face with her sister and new puppy.

Last night for dinner I tried something new and it turned out great.  I was inspired by eggplant parmesan.  I baked some chicken to go along with it and had some olives on the side...don't judge...if you like olives and you haven't tried it they are awesome in/with/near pasta sauce.

Makeshift Eggplant Parmesan

1. 1 eggplant sliced in thin circles
2. olive oil spray
3. garlic salt
4. half a jar of pasta sauce (I like Barilla)
5. part skim mozzarella cheese or parmesan (I used mozzarella last night since I had no parmesan)

Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on cookie sheet, spray with olive oil spray and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Roast for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Spread some sauce in the bottom of a corning ware and arrange a layer of the roasted eggplant, add sauce, repeat until eggplant is gone and remaining sauce is on top of the layers.  Bake covered in the 400 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes until it is nice and bubbly.  Add cheese and bake uncovered until cheese is melted.

Yummy!  This dinner tallied 12 weight watchers points, but I only ate half of the chicken.

Today the pen color of the day is orange!

Happy Tuesday!

I Love to Sleep

I do love to sleep, I admit it.  Is that wrong?  And maybe it isn't just that I love to sleep, but I love being warm and cozy in my bed with lots of pillows.  A rainy day with a book in bed is awesome. 

My husband will tell you that I also love to sleep in the car...so maybe my big cozy bed is not as important to me as I think it is.  When we road trip, Daniel drives and I sleep.  It rocks.  And apparently I am not a new fan of sleeping in the car.



Old school road trip, I'm on the left.

 My sister and I were talking about this picture while we were on vacation look what we came up with!  Lindsey and Chelsie like to sleep in the car too!



Beautiful sleepy nieces

 I am happy I am not alone on my love of sleep.



Sammy is definitely a fan



Trixie might be the sleep winner

 Admit it...you love to sleep too...

Time Flies

During our vacation there was a morning where we were sitting out on the deck and we were joined by my niece Courtney.  She is my oldest niece, she is 11 now, she will be 12 (TWELVE!) in September.

Courtney and me in 1999

She was talking to my husband about math and school.  I was sitting there listening...I had nothing to add since I could not get the picture above out of my head.  I was captivated.  She is beautiful, she was speaking eloquently and asking lots of great questions...she was talking with the use of her hands like a good Dietrich girl.  I just sat and snapped pictures of her as she talked to Daniel.  I was floored...when did she grow up!?

I love that girl!

Fourth of July

I was on the beach for the 4th of July and the fireworks were beyond expectation!  It was such a great time!!  My pictures do not do them justice, but here are a few of the better ones.

The sky alone was amazing.

And it just got better.

The fireworks were literally right above us.  It was spectacular.  I need a better camera.  :)

Blast From the Past

I work on the campus of the University of St. Thomas, which also happens to be my alma mater.  I stopped by the archives this week on my lunch hour on the way to the gym and ended up spending my whole gym time there (good thing I already had plans for a workout after work too).  Archives has so much awesome history in it.  They have the original crowns used for the Mardi Gras gala that has been a tradition on this campus, I believe from inception.  There were antiques from many of the original buildings on campus, door knobs from Hughes House (Howard Hughes' home), and a podium that was designed by architect Phillip Johnson (who also designed most of the buildings on campus).

The Bettys (both the ladies that work in the archives are named Betty, so we call them the Bettys) were so excited to have us and wanted to show us everything.  I pulled out my phone and started taking some pictures.


This first UST commencement ceremony.

I absolutely loved this picture of the first commencement.  It was held at the church where I got married (oh, and my parents and grandparents married there too...cool).

A relic from the punch card registration system...terrible picture, sorry about that

Ground Breaking from the Student Center

A letter from Ronald Reagan to one of the Basilian Fathers

One of the original hand books

A pin with a UST logo I have never seen before

My favorite find was the time capsule from the 50th anniversary of UST that was supposed to have been burried.  I guess the fact that it is still above ground will save us some time on the day we are supposed to dig it up. 

I wish I knew what date the time capsule was supposed to be opened.  Any UST alums out there know???

Baby Steps

A fabulous picture from my phone!

I found myself walking down my office hallway today looking at the floor.  The tiled floor I remember from school or the grocery store as a kid.  Not fancy tile, but the vinyl kind (I think it is vinyl).  Anyway the one made of the squares that have that pattern that looks like smudged dirt or sneaker streaks and they are laid so the pattern stripes one way and then the other. 

I was walking my office hallway remembering when I was a kid I would walk deliberately stepping in the squares, avoiding the lines of course, and ensuring that I was stepping on the tiles so my feet were pointing the same direction as the pattern.  Did anyone else do that when they were little too?

I started doing this as I walked back to my office.  My feet barely fit in the squares and I had to take either very small steps or very large steps to stay in the correct directionally patterned tiles.  I am glad no one was in the hallway to see me.

Time flies.