♫ Oh what a night!! ♫

So, in addition to celebrating the successful end to my first quarter of college, we also celebrated my 40th birthday, Ivona's 39th, Gordon's, and unbeknown to me, Brent's!  Thanks to Bonnie and Larry; Kelvin, Carie and Eliza; Brent, Marianne, Lindsey and Becca; Gordon, Ivona, Emily and Jonathan; Jolyn; Mom and Dad; Victoria; and last but not least my Hubby and Tiana for all of their support, tutoring help, encouragement, and even housework over the last quarter and into the rest!  Here's to the future!!!

A good day!

I want to take this moment to thank my parents for yesterday.  Well, for yesterday 40 years and nine months or so ago! ;-)  And I want to thank everyone who took time out of their own busy schedules to wish me a Happy 40th!!  Kent is spending the weekend at training, but Tiana and I joined him for dinner after we spent some time with a friend of mine (and her darling daughter!).  Tonight, to continue the celebration, Tiana and I will drive to Olympia and go to the Northwest Harmonies Sweepstakes - an a cappella singing competition!  Should be fun!  I look forward to the next 40 years (or however long I'm granted on this earth!) and my wish is that my life makes a positive impact on those around me.  I just want to share this adorable card that my mom made for me -- and the lovely present from them, too! :-)

Yes, there are 40 $1 bills!!

Sitting...waiting

I write this entry from the dentist office waiting room.  Kent is currently having a tooth removed and possibly getting an implant started.  About 3 weeks ago, while eating bacon, he cracked his upper right bicuspid (I'm sure there's a more technical name for that tooth, but who's getting technical?).  And when I say cracked...

Well, that's all I got done before Kent came out.  He's a bit swollen and numb, but soon enough I'm quite sure he'll know even better than he does now that his tooth is missing and that they really worked to get it out.  They were unable to start the implant process because that root was too close to the next tooth.  They packed bone in there and then in 2 months he'll go back and they'll insert the post for an implant.  Fun times.

Alms for the poor?! :)

Random Coolness

Got out to the kitchen this morning and my morning was brightened considerably by the sight of my soap dispenser! I added some clear soap to the top of the creamy soap leftovers that weren't coming up the pump, and then this happened a day or two later! The COOLEST random flotation thingys making their way to the top of the clear soap!

Peasant STEW

We're going to argue this one the whole rest of our lives, but last night's dinner was STEW!!!  I made it, I followed the recipe and that's what it said!  Kent's thoroughly convinced I sneaked chili into his diet (and not as a condiment, either!) and he just doesn't like chili.  But this is Peasant STEW so it's okay!  I'm sorry I didn't get a picture, but this recipe comes HIGHLY recommended!  It came in last weeks' "My Recipes - Weekly Specials" and was out of "Cooking Light" magazine.

PEASANT STEW

Ingredients

• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 6  chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), skinned
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 1  (14.5-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes with jalapeño peppers and spices, undrained
• 1  (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
• 1  (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1  (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4  cup  minced fresh cilantro
• 1/4  cup  reduced-fat sour cream

Preparation

Combine cumin, salt, and pepper; sprinkle over chicken.

Place chicken in an electric slow cooker; stir in onion, tomatoes, and chiles. Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting for 3 hours. Stir in beans. Cover; cook on high-heat setting 1 hour.

Place 1 chicken thigh in each of 6 soup bowls; ladle 1 1/4 cups stew into each bowl. Top each serving with 2 teaspoons cilantro and 2 teaspoons sour cream.

*Note: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and it shredded itself when I stirred in the beans.  For time reasons I also cooked it on low for 6 hours and bumped it up to high for the last hour or so when I added cold beans. (I had drained and rinsed them before work and added them, refrigerated, before class.)

Nutritional Information Calories: 214 (16% from fat) Fat: 3.9g (sat 1.4g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.9g) Protein: 21.5g Carbohydrate: 23.7g Fiber: 6g Cholesterol: 61mg Iron: 3mg Sodium: 773mg Calcium: 85mg