Packing for Costa Rica

Vacation. Paid Time Off. Running away from home. Call it what you will, but the time has come for us to take a journey. Joe and I don't travel as much now as we did in our pre- and early married days, back when we were both working at the firm. We had numerous days off there and less responsibilities. We were not owners of a dog day care. Things were different then, but not better. Because of this though, we haven't been on a big trip in at least a year if not two. Until tomorrow. Because tomorrow we leave for...

Costa Rica!

Yay! With our friends Katrina & Ryan Wymore and Hank Crowder & Sarah Patterson, we are taking to the open road. Well, not so much the open road, but definitely to the open air, and down to Central America. Back in 2011 we discussed the idea of taking a big trip all together. Many destinations were optioned, and we decided on Costa Rica in August 2012. It is close, but not too close, it will be adventurous, but not too adventurous, and we could book it all together as a private tour. Exciting!

We leave tomorrow morning. Joe and I are approximately 40% packed - and by packed I mean that we've laid stuff out all over the house and made numerous lists. 

This does not count as being packed:

Neither does this:

That suitcase is new and completely empty.

But soon it will be full and we will be 100% packed and on our way to adventure, fun, sand, sun, volcanoes, rainforests, cloudforests, and fab memories with our best friends.

See you in 10 days!

Dogs in the Workplace

I'm traveling for work again to St. Louis and the client I'm working at has "Cartoon Corners" up all over their office. They encourage the staff to post work appropriate jokes, cartoons, email forwards, etc. One of the items I found today in the breakroom was a poster of Dogs in the Workplace. Finding it hilarious, I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Foster FAIL!

We have had a new foster dog. Meet Buddy - a 1 year old Chihuahua pup (I also think there is a mix of Rat Terrier in there). He's pretty well behaved so far - lots of energy which we're keeping in check with frequent walking. Luckily his legs are short so our walks don't have to be the miles and miles that Q requires.

Err, an update to this posting, which I started when we got him a month ago, but never managed to finish. We're keeping Buddy. He's a great fit with Q and well, it's just hard to say goodbye. I'm a little embarrassed that we weren't successful in the traditional sense with this one, but I guess everyone wins because he's still in a good home (if I do say so myself). We're considering renaming him, but can't settle on one. Joe likes Sanchez and I think he looks like a Carl. There's nothing similar about those two names, so for now he will remain Buddy.

The kitchen, continued

The new double oven is in. It's beautiful. So much bigger than the other one - I haven't tried it yet, but I think we can actually fit a standard size cookie sheet in there.

There's new electrical next to it too since we took out the Jenn-Air that had the lone plug in for that half of the countertop.

The KitchenAid oven came with this strange looking probe device - 

I'll be reading the manual or someone will probably get hurt with that thing.

On the other wall, the cabinets are down and the remaining countertop is off. We're now entirely without countertops!

Bill from Shamrock was here today to measure for the new cabinets and to take the original glass doors since we're reusing them. Luckily this is the only set of cabinets we need to do. The rest can stay for the next remodel.

And so begins the kitchen renovation...

It's not a major renovation, but more of a face-lift. New countertops (DuPont Zodiaq in Bianco Carrara from Costco via local installers Top Masters), a black sink, copper pull-down faucet, tile backsplash (2"x12" subway set honey onyx medley & Skokie accents), and black appliances.

The biggest change for me will be going from the electric cooktop to gas. I hear gas is great, but I'm not completely sold yet. I'd better get on board though because the electric cooktop is on its way to ReStore and the new gas cooktop is on the living room floor ready for install.

Here are a couple pics of the way it was:

And a few from about an hour later (Rick works fast):

I'll post more pictures on my Picasa Web Album - Kitchen Remodel - as the project proceeds towards eventual completion.

Pretty exciting stuff! And once the kitchen is mostly finished, we can get another foster dog (or two)!

Baxter - We'll miss you!

Baxter was adopted today by a very nice family who were looking for a laid-back older guy. 

Working in my office just won't be the same without you snoring on your bed beside me or laying in the window, Big Guy.

Best of luck in your new home!

Gooey Butter Cake

Joe and I have been busy. Apparently, we've been too busy to blog for about 9 months. In that amount of time you can grow a whole baby (we haven't). I think I'll remedy our extended blogging hiatus with an update and since I don't have a long commute anymore perhaps I'll blog a little more often.
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I went to St. Louis a couple weeks ago for my new job orientation and while there I was able to have my favorite dessert, Gooey Butter Cake, multiple times. According to those fact-wizards at Wikipedia, St. Louis is the city of origination for Gooey Butter Cake. A St. Louis co-worker thoughtfully sent out the recipe to everyone who attended orientation and I thought I'd share. I'll be making this tonight.


Gooey Butter Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 lb. powdered sugar (reserve 1/2 c for garnish after baking)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 more eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine cake mix, butter, and 1 egg; mix thoroughly. Press into a greased 9x13 pan or an 11x17 jelly roll pan. Mix together powdered sugar and cream cheese; add 2 eggs and beat 3-5 minutes. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes (insert knife, should come out clean). Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!