Aww, aren't we cute?

Here we are at Casey's mom's 70th birthday party. Everyone was asked to wear green and white for the family photos. Casey even wore green Mardi Gras beads!

Ahhh, ain't culture grand?

• I just returned from a wonderful performance of Eve Ensler's "The Good Body." I wanted to see this play but didn't bother to get tickets. Today was the last day and Mary Jo, Casey's sister, called to find out if I wanted to see it. I was so jazzed! I was especially jazzed when Eve herself walked out onto the stage. I thought it would just be her play not Eve herself! It was wonderful. Oh, and as a bonus, we had 4th row seats!

• Last night we had a small, informal pizza party at our house. It was byot (bring your own topping). We supplied the dough, cheese, sauce and our favorite toppings and our guests brought their favorite toppings. We cooked the pizzas on the grill and it was a wonderful hit. A special thanks to Robert who very kindly grilled for us.

• Summer is almost here. It is going to be 100 degrees tomorrow. I guess summer is, well, here. We started using our swamp cooler and our house is nice and cool so we (hopefully) won't have to worry about a/c bills for a few months. Plus, 1 1/2 years ago Casey planed an ash tree in our front yard and it is slowly getting big enough to block the sun from hitting our front bedroom window. It is still a baby tree and making a big difference. I can't wait until it is a grown up tree.

More later...

New Stuff...

Dog Bite Update: Oso bit the mailman on a Wednesday and we got mail the next day but the following two days we didn't so we figured something was up. Casey called the post office and was told that once a dog bites a postal carrier all mail delivery services are suspended. Well, it would have been nice if we had been notified!

The following Monday Casey went down to the post office, wearing his U.S. Postal Service Contractor badge, and talked to the manager. Usually all mail services would be discontinued but the manager very kindly agreed to allow us to get mail if we put in a mailbox at the end of the driveway. Casey agreed and proceeded to order the mailbox. When he got home he saw the mailman and the mailman was extremely nice considering he had three punctures and a huge bruise on his calf! Casey said that the mailman said that he is happy to continue to deliver our mail to the porch but it us Postal policy and he can't. He said that the driveway mailbox will actually make more work for him since he'll have to walk additional steps to get to that mailbox.

All I know is that I am really happy that we'll have mail deliveryagain sometime soon. It is an inconvenience to go to the post office and pick up the mail. Fortunately, my hours are such that I can. Someone with a M-F 9-5 job would be able to pick up his/her mail just once a week.

What else is new?

• Casey is away this weekend. He and some friends went whitewater kayaking in Kernville, CA. They left Wed and will be back Sun. I hope he is careful. I couldn't help overhear his friend Creed ask if Casey had elbow pads becuase he might need them at such and such creek. Eek! I hope he doesn't come home with any broken bones...just a few scratches and bruises and memories of lots of fun!

• As I write this a delicious smelling banana cake is baking in our oven. Yum! I'm getting together with some friends tonight and I thought it would be nice to bring a cake. It is extremely easy (almost cheating!); all I had to do was mash bananas, add yellow cake mix, banana pudding, 4 eggs, oil and water. Bake and voila, a delicious cake! This cake smells almost as good as it tastes. I'm not sure I'll be able to wait until this evening to have a bit!

I better run. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

What's New Pussycat?

New stuff...

• Oso bit the mailman yesterday. The screen door wasn't closed completely and Oso slipped out the door before we could realize it. I was out back watering our plants and Casey ran out front as soon as he heard the door slam but it was too late. Casey said the bite wasn't too bad but the mailman said he had to report it to the post office. Right now we are waiting for the Maricopa County Animal Control guy to show up. Oso's shots and registration are up to date so hopefully he will just be quarantined in our house for 10 days. Casey said that by the time he got outside, Oso had already nipped the mailman and was casually sniffing the grass. Sometimes I wonder what is going on in his head..."Gotta get the mailman, gotta get the mailman, got the mail man now gotta sniff the grass..."

• I just made a really yummy dinner. Earlier today I marinated pork tenderloins (2 in a pack from Costco) in Lowry's terriyaki marinade and tonight I threw them on the grill. I grilled some sliced zucchini, seasoned with olive oil and salt and pepper. And, the highlight of the meal, oven-roasted potatoes. I bought a small bag of red potatoes and a small bag of yellow potatoes (from Trader Joe's) and roasted them in the oven (after cutting each potato in half) with 6 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. After roasting for about 1 1/2 hours I tossed with fresh (chopped) parsley. The recipe is from my Barfoot Contessa cookbook and absolutely amazing. It is a really easy recipe and tastes amazing. I can't wait to eat leftovers...maybe with some scrambled eggs. Yum!

• I'm reading a really enjoyable book right now, Eating Heaven. I say that it is enjoyable because, well, it really is. Part of the story is sad (I won't go into detail) but the main character is so likeable. She is a food writer and the way she describes food is so real. I would highly recommend it.

• Hmm, what else? I've been "working" from home the past few days and it has been really nice. I haven't had much to do but at least I'm not driving up to Sue's house. I suggested to Sue that we forward the gallery phone to my cell phone and that way someone will always answer the gallery phone but no one will be sitting there with nothing to do. It seems like a perfect solution. Well, except when my cell phone ran when I was shopping in Target earlier today...

I hope all is well with you.

xoxo.

Erica