The Sunday Brunchers

Nathan and I have started a new tradition. Any Sunday we have free we go out to brunch. We are usually running errands on Sunday mornings and afternoons so it was a really easy tradition to start. It is an absolutely great idea for several reasons:

1. All the places we have been are very relaxed and it really sets me in a good mood for the start of the week.

2. It is soooo cheap. We spend $20-$28 on big meal at brunch while if we go out to dinner on a Saturday night we easily spend $40-$50 and sometimes more depending on the alcohol consumed.

3. It is allowing me to secretly get Nathan to eat a lot of places he wouldn't normally try. Unfortunately, Nathan is a creature of habit and grew up on chains so that is what he is most comfortable eating in. Don't get me wrong, we have still hit up Dennys and IHOP on Sunday, but I slowly transitioned him to First Watch, which is still a chain, but not a what I consider a typical chain. They have some obscure menu items that make it kind of unique.

So now I am going to start slowly slipping in more independently owned restaurants. This past Sunday we went to Bottleworks which has quickly become one of my favorite restaurants. Their brunch definitely didn't disappoint. I ordered the Huevos Rancheros, one of my all time favorite dishes and it was HUGE and delicious. Nathan had the Sticky Toffee French Toast which was of course sooo yummy.

My next plan is to go to Square One Brewery in Lafayette Square. I told Nathan that now I am bound and determined to find out who in the city has the best Huevos Rancheros. So if anyone has any recommendations for good brunch places, pass them along! Bonus points if they serve HR's.

THEY GOT IT ALL!

THEY GOT ALL OF MY GRANDPAS CANCER! I could barely believe it when I heard the news. The rests from the lymph nodes came back today and they determined that part of the cancer was in his appendix, which they had no idea about, but they removed anyway, because it was "in the way".

A big huge sigh of relief, but Grandpa isn't out of the woods yet. He had some serious chest pains on Friday and pretty much crashed. He told my family later that he was thinking he was dying right then and there. The worst part was, he had been doing so well that no one in the family was there on Friday when it happened. He was quickly moved to cardiac ICU where he spent most of the weekend.

Last night he was moved to a surgical step down room, which was a great sign. He is looking a ton better today and he actually got some sleep when I stopped by today after work. He also doesn't have full use of his colon yet, but it seems like it is getting there.

I most have been more relieved by the news than I realized because I came home and felt so tired I actually fell asleep on the couch at about 6, which very rarely happens during the week. My body is also super sore, like someone beat me up, which I can't explain except maybe the emotional strain on my body turned into physical strain.

I am so very thankful today.

Ah, husband?

So on more than one occasion this week I have gone 24 hours without knowing if my husband was still alive. I saw him on Sunday, but didn't talk to him at any point Monday, even after I had called and texted him. Tuesday morning I woke up and saw him next to me, which was a big relief. But we didn't have an actual conversation until Wednesday evening because we have both been so crazy busy and our schedules haven't allowed for us to call each other when we both had a couple minutes. It kind of goes with the territory when he works nights. I leave between 5 and 6 am and get home 2pm ish, when he leaves the hours around 1:30 and doesn't get home until 11 or 12 that evening.

So we sometimes ended up sending what I refer to as "loaded texts". I just had to post this real quick before I went to bed tonight.

This is word for word what his said tonight: "I want to tell you that ifound it would be better for me to go to gamestop instead of ebay and I may have found a puggle and I love you"

Hehe...I better go now...I have a date with my bed and Stephen Colbert's book.

Grandpa

I just realized I never posted a Grandpa update. I have been sooo busy since Tuesday, so some things have just kind of slipped my mind.

The surgery went AWESOME! The doctors were shocked at the uneventful surgery. Which is freaking sweet. He got about 10 inches off of his colon and they sent a lymph node (sp?) to be tested to see if he has any cancer still left in in his body. That result should come Monday or Tuesday. Funny thing....every nurse/hospital employee that came in contact with Grandpa kept telling us over and over what a nice person he is. I mean, people that were with him for a whole two minutes know he is a saint. I joked with him that he was really putting the moves on the ladies. :)

I spend about 9 hours after work at the hospital so I got to spend some catch up time with my mom, aunts, cousin, and grandma. They are all so funny and we make each other laugh constantly. Speaking of which here is an excerpt of a hilarious conversation during the pre-op.

Aunt: "So this surgeon is specializing in colons specifically?"

Grandpa: "Yep, he is a colon rectal specialist."

Aunt: "Wow, he must be a blast at parties!"

Enter surgeon and he proceeds to answer a few questions:

Aunt: "We were just commenting with you being a colon rectal specialist you must be a blast at parties."

Dr: (Laughs) "Yeah, well people used to ask me how I got into this field and I would tell them, well, there were a lot of openings at the time."

I freaking rolled.

5 movies I am ashamed to love

I recently saw a few bloggers do this whole "5 songs I am ashamed to love" post. I love the idea, but wanted to change it up a little.

So now presenting the 5 movies Teresa is ashamed to LOVE:

1. "Mannequin"

There is freaking cheese dripping off this movie, but who doesn't love a young Kim Cattrall and Andrew McCarthy in his prime!?! Really, it's got everything: romance, comedy, action (remember "the chase" at the end?), an over the top gay man, and a freaking adorable dog named Rambo.

2. "Saved!"

Every time this movie is on cable I just have to watch it and I LOL every single time. I am not a huge Mandy Moore fan, but she and the entire cast make "Saved!" awesome.

3. "Night of the Living Dead" or pretty much any zombie movie

Anyone that knows me well knows I have this crazy weird obsession with zombie movies. While they scare the bejesus out of me I still love love them. "Night of the Living Dead" is not even my favorite though...."Shaun of the Dead" is, but I am totally not ashamed to admit I love that movie, its freaking awesome!

4. "American Psycho"

"American Psycho" is one of those movies I will never 100% understand, but I think it is a pretty brilliant film. The music in it is great. One of my favorite parts is when Christian Bale is explaining "Hip to Be Square" while Huey Lewis and the News is playing it in the background. A very graphic film, but I still love it.

5. The Dark Knight

Ok, so I haven't actually seen "The Dark Knight" yet...(24 days to go!) but I know I am going to absolutely love it. From everything I have read about Heath Ledger's performance it is going to be an amazing addition to the already awesome Batman collection which I love.

It's all so bittersweet....

The past few days have been filled with bittersweet moments. The first one is that this past weekend I missed my friend Dan's annual birthday float trip because I had to work. I absolutely love Dan to death because he is one of the most fun people I know and he has introduced me to a great group of friends including the incredible Emma, author of adoring alliteration. Here's a couple pics that really show off Dan's personality:

One of my favorites because we were both so happy and tipsy:

I have a few more but blogger is being craptastic...so anyway....

What made the weekend so bittersweet was that our events at work were so freaking perfect. Our chef was off for part of the weekend, so I had to cook a luncheon for the VIPs of the group and Boss #1 pulled me aside, shook my hand and said that they had told him it was the best meal they had at any college campus they ever visited. The client was so happy with the food and service that she almost broke into tears. I thought it was a little extreme, but hey, that's a pretty good compliment.

Those kind of moments are very rewarding for me. I've had a lot of prior doubts about my cooking skills ever since I stopped being a chef, so having great compliments is very reassuring. It makes me feel like although I am sure I will never know and have as much great technique as many chefs do, I can still cook some freaking good food that people will enjoy. Plus, when you work for people that actually appreciate you for doing a job well done, it seems to make things more worthwhile.

More bittersweet, as of today Nathan is back on nights. I don't like it at all, but I am trying to look at the positive side.

Positive:

*More blog time. I don't feel bad blogging for hours on end if the only person I am not paying attention to is Roxie.

*Speaking of Roxie, she is a much happier puppy when Nathan is on nights because she isn't in her crate for more than an hour or two everyday versus 7 to 8 if he is working days.

*No guilt for social time with friends. Usually when he is on nights it is a great chance for me to catch up/ go out with girlfriends.

*I eat better and we save on groceries. We tend to eat less/better separately. Not really sure why, other than when we eat together I love making semi-elaborate meals.

Negative:

*I don't get to see my freggin husband from Monday to Friday! :(

But let me end this on a positive note.....in honor of this post I listened to one of the greatest songs ever, "Bittersweet Symphony" about 10 times while writing this post.

My torrid love affair

Yes, it is true...I am having an affair.



This particular love affair is one that I had a long time ago in college, but recently has been awoken. My love affair with Rolling Rock......

Rolling Rock is seriously one of my favorite things to sip on a warm day. It is a great pale beer that can pretty much go with any dish. I can't even say, "Rolling Rock" without salavating in my mouth a little.

Oh, Rolling Rock how I love you!!!

Holy blog batman!

Just wanted to point out this will be my fourth post today. I know this is rare for me, so make sure you keep scrolling down and don't miss out on any Teresa blog excitement for the day!!!

Just added...

A local radio station is doing a contest where you chose an hour's worth of songs you want played on the drive home. The one I submitted is below on my playlist.

It is a classic rock station, so I am sure not every reader is going to enjoy it. I, however, LOVE classic rock. I was in a very musical family that appreciated all forms of music, but especially classic rock.

Take a listen and open your mind to possibly loving it too!

More about Grandpa

Grandpa is set for surgery on Tuesday. My mom told me they are going to try and take 12 inches off his colon. Holy shit! I colon must be bigger than I realize.

Everyone is really postive, but the big test is going to be his heart. It isn't super strong and the big concern is that it isn't strong enough for this intense of a surgery.

Wow, being a grown up sucks.

Me

I just wanted to discuss a little bit about a comment one of my readers left on my last blog. The fabulous Jamie wrote, "Do you know what I love best about your blog? That when I read it, I can actually HEAR you saying it. I love that!!!!"

Well, thanks, Jamie, I take that as a big compliment! Really, I do. I spend (what I would consider) a decent bulk of time keeping my blog "animated" like myself. I really want what I am writing to be able to pop off the page and tell a story just like I would in person. I do *try* to have as much correct grammar as I can, but I know sometimes I fall really short on that. Sorry, but this blog is definitely not perfect because I am definitely not perfect. Although I think most of my readers have embraced my imperfection and laugh with me rather than at me. And hopefully the best is still yet to come on this blog!

I also want to take this opportunity to give a shout out to my good friend that just started blogspot blog. He previously had a great myspace blog, but has decided to make his way over to the wonderful site that is blogspot.

I don't know about my other readers, but for some reason on Google Reader I have more blogs written by women than men, so I am looking forward to reading some new perspectives. I won't keep you in suspense any longer, you can find it here. Be forewarned, I am sure you are in for a lot of strong political opinions and world views. I certainly don't always agree with them, but I thinking it is always healthy to see every side to an issue.

REALLY low standards

So here lately I have been getting hit on a lot at work. I would say I have gotten hit on more in the last three weeks than I have in my entire life. While it is flattering, it really makes me think, do these guys have really low standards or what?

Seriously! Let me tell you about my typical appearance. 95% of the time when I go to work I have absolutely no makeup on. Not any foundation or even anything as simple as chapstick. Nothing. My hair is brushed but not really styled at all. And while I wear nice clothes they are very practical since my job can entail cooking, heavy lifting, and excessive sweating at any point of the day. And ususally at some point I get some kind of stain on them. Plus, I wear fuggly slip resistant man shoes and there is nothing sexy about that.

So obviously, I am not the picture of beauty on a typical work day. And while I have a fucking fabulous personality it definately isn't apparent until you get to know me, right?

So why in the world do I have all these delivery guys hitting on me??? Low standards? Perhaps. Sales techniques? Doubtful, since most of them don't work on commission. Pure horniness? Probably.

But how do I go on? The behavior of these men is really starting to cut into my work day. For instance, if this one delivery guy keeps stopping between loads to tell me about his life I may flip. Not only is he interuppting me, but he is also taking 5 times to long to make a simple delievery.

The riducule of my fellow employees is also starting to take its toll. In a business meeting (side note: I was the only woman) some fellow managers were talking about a linen company we use and what was availiable. Someone commented, "I don't like company X". I replied, "I don't either" Then Boss #1 jokingly said, "Teresa doesn't like company X because of our delivery guy." Without even thinking I said, "Um, yeah, well if that guy looks at my boobs one more time I am going to have to hit him."

So, as you can see this is getting so bad I may have to resort to violence and I haven't had a real big throwdown in awhile. Although I think I could take most of the guys, I used to play hockey.

Any advice on how to go back to a normal work day without getting violent is appreciated.

Grandpa

Ok, so after re-reading my last post, I realized I just kind of skimmed over my Grandpa because: #1 The post was already long and #2 I was in a hurry. Plus, I don't really have a ton of details. But here is what I do know....

My Grandpa went in for a colonoscopy a few days ago and they found cancer. It is operable and has not spread. His doctor is super optimistic and so is my Grandfather, but as if cancer wasn't bad enough, my grandpa has A TON of heart problems. I seriously think he has some kind of record because his had 13 stents and a quadruple bi pass. Crazy stuff right? What is even crazier is my grandpa is soooo active. He seriously can't sit still. He has a crazy huge garden, is a carpenter, and does about a million things for his church.

Even though his doctors don't anticipate problems I am still pretty freaked. I have been lucky enough to have four wonderful grandparents up until last year when my other grandfather died of...you guessed it...cancer. Cancer that started in his colon. Oh, and did I mention that was my dad's father and he died on my Dad's birthday? That was about the worst , Happy Birthday, Dad! ever. And while I was close with my grandfather that has passed, my other grandfather and I really have a special bond. I consider him the greatest human being to ever walk this earth, seriously. He has done more for our community and our world than I could even imagine.

I guess good thoughts/prayers that the surgery will happen SOON would be appreciated.

Just so you can put a face with the thoughts and prayers, here is a pic of my grandpa, grandma, and all their sons and daughters taken by my fabulous wedding photographer Shelia of Portrait Gallery:


My grandpa is the one in the middle (obviously) and just in case anyone was curious, my mom is in the one in the dark purpleish sweater to the right.

A Mega post about the weekend

I did promise an update and even though its late, I always fulfill a promise.

My meeting Friday went pretty well. Not perfect by any means, but things are good. My client is very happy with me, the food, and the overall service. The big problem is the cost. Although our program is very reasonable, this school recently had some cut funding and so we are going to try and accommodate by doing a few things differently.

Boss #2 and #3 were both there and were pleased with the meeting as well. We went to lunch afterwards and both of them mentioned how extremely pleased they were with the relationship I had built with this client. They could tell just by our interaction that I had really been doing some good customer service.

After lunch I really didn't do much besides go back and fill in Boss #1 and get ready for my friend Cathy's wedding. It was a ton of fun. I was kind of the unofficial wedding coordinator. She and her family kept saying over and over how much they appreciated my help and I love that!

The reception was a blast.I got to see friends I don't see very often and a few new friends that I now love, love hanging out with. I also I got a ton of compliments on my new shoes....



....including "Teresa, those are pimp!" LOL, thanks Billy! A very high heel for me and surprisingly I managed to do a little swing dancing with Nathan and not fall on my face while wearing these beauties. In fact, even with the amount of hard liquor I consumed I still didn't trip once. Woohoo for that!

Saturday Nathan and I were going to do housework but instead we decided to make it a lazy weekend. We watched movies and lounged around. Sunday we had breakfast out and grabbed a few essentials from Trader Joes. Then somehow we got roped into a last minute trip to the the Meramec river. I am so glad we did this because it was of so relaxing. I swam a decent part of the trip, which was amazing exercise.

Monday was pretty normal, I just missed the weekend.

But, Tuesday, oh Tuesday was a bitch. Long story short I pretty much lost it at work. I get in and the place where the vending money is locked overnight was unlocked and there was no money to be found. Another fing case of theft...and the biggest one, I figured it was probably between $1500 to $2000 bucks.

I lost it. I was completely hysterical. I was breathing hard, crying, and felt totally out of it. A few co-workers tried to calm me, but I was going insane. Well, to make a long story short, the money wasn't stolen. It wasn't in the right place for a good reason and I found it shortly after my "episode".

THANK GOD!

I felt better, but that ended several hours later when I found out my grandfather has colon cancer. It hasn't spread and it is operable, but I am still freaked. I don't know too much more yet, but will be sure to keep everyone updated!

a quick update

Okay, a few people have been asking and I am sure those of you that didn't are on the edge of your seat wondering what happened with my meeting Friday.

I will post more details later because I am about to run out the door, but....the meeting went well! I definitely do not need to be in fear of losing my job and I although the client didn't sign a renewal yet, I am 99.9% sure they will once we make a few revisions.

Like I said, I will post more details later!

Totally stressing

I am sooo freaking stressed out. I have a meeting on Friday with my biggest account and I am totally scared out of my mind. Their contract is up for renewal at the end of this month and although they love the food and service they are receiving, their budget is super tight and may not allow for us to continue with them next year.

If we lose this account I have no idea what will happen to me. Just the one account easily makes up 75% of my revenue during the regular school year, so without them, I may not have enough going on to stay employed. All 3 of my bosses have told me not to worry, but I am just so on edge. I can't focus on anything, my google reader has like 40 unread items. This all really hit me last night and poor Nathan had to deal with me tossing and turning all night. He finally convinced me to take my in case of emergency muscle relaxor so that I could get some sleep.

I want to apply for some jobs just in case, but I am having a really difficult time focusing on wrting cover letters and tweaking my resume. Plus, I feel like I am going to throw up with all my nerves.

Eek, two more days until my fate is decided.....

Not in the mood for gay porn biscotti

I had the privledge of cooking a couple SATC themed appetizers for a lovely group of ladies this past Saturday. A couple of them asked for this recipe.

Not in the mood for gay porn biscotti aka Almond Biscotti:

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease large cookie sheet. In a large bowl, add first 5 ingredients. Blend, using an electric mixer, on low speed. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. With mixer running, slowly pour egg mixture into bowl. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix.
2. Shape dough into a long log. Place logs onto cookie sheet. Bake 30 minutes or until slightly risen and firm to touch.
3. Remove cookie sheet from oven. Cool log on wire rack 15 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut log diagonally into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices in single layer on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. If wanting biscotti a little more crisp, (I skipped this step) bake at 350 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until crisp and golden. Cool on cookie sheet. Store in a covered container.