My Dad and Stepmum are arriving Friday night (eleven at night!) and I've been working my katushkus off trying to prepare the house for their three week stay. But now, finally the house looks like it's almost ready! We've painted the front and back porch, ordered a new wicker sofa for the front porch. Painted the outside window trims...thinking about painting the shutters....bought a "Floor Mate" (they are really cool!!) and cleaned all the wood floors, bathrooms and kitchen/laundry, having new kitchen appliances delivered and installed on Monday. Put up new curtains in the guestroom, bought a new bookshelf, rug and side table. Cleaned and scrubbed..and scrubbed and cleaned almost every surface in the house...apart from the ceiling...haven't worked out how to do that yet..any suggestions??LOL

More New Guinea Impatiens are now growing and smiling in the front garden. Lauren and I accidentally "dug up" a little hibernating toad yesterday! He was sooooo cute! Lauren tried to make him stay in the front garden bed..but he insisted on making a mad dash-hop every time Lauren turned her back for just a second. Eventually she let him have his way...he's now hiding somewhere in our neighbors’ shrubs.

We also had another visitor last weekend! I was on my way out the front door to put some trash out when Mark comes around the corner frantically telling me to come with him right away! I was a bit concerned about what he was going to show me in the yard..Mark has a morbid curiosity with dead animals, neighborhood dogs who poop on our lawn..etc..etc..so  Iwas expecting the worst...when I rounded the corner of our driveway....who should be sitting in the middle of my strawberry planter munching away merrily....a widdle brown cutesy furry bunny!!!

I squealed out every cutesy wootzy adjective known to Mummies who wuv bunnies...and dashed inside to grab my now protesting (almost three year old) daughter. Her mean ol' Mummy was tearing her away from Sponge Bob!!

"I promise...Mummy has something really cool to show you Bethy..come with me outside!!" She glanced at the TV and pouted.."But Spooo Bub Mamma!!"

Not wanting her to miss out , I grabbed her and ran out the front door!

When Bethy saw our little visitor, she squealed louder than I did! "Oowww Mamma, a bunny is eating your starwboobies!!!"

We watched our little breakfast guest for a few minutes...then I stared thinking...the more that little buggar eats in my "strawbooby" planter...the less cuter he looks! He was nibbling off every leaf, flower and berry! 

So once again. mean ol' Mamma ruins everyone's fun! I shooed the bunny into the back yard, hoping that he would stay there while Bethy and I ran inside to rustle up some more "appropriate" bunny breakfast.

So there I was. butt up in the air. rummaging through the fridge. thinking.. "Damn, what do I feed this rabbit??" Broccolli??..nahhh...left-over cheeseburgers ...hmm ...dang, who didn't put the lid on this chocolate topping!!...Uughh sticky brown mess all over the dagone shelf....

"Bethy...what should we feed Mr. Bunny?"

She clapped her hands together and jumped up and down...

"Carrowts Mamma" In her "oh-so-cute" Wonder Pets, cutesy wootzey voice.

Ughhh...duh! Why didn't I think of that!

I grabbed the smallest carrot we had and raced out the door.

Bethy and I scattered bunny-size pieces of carrot around the planter. Then threw some more pieces in the backyard. but our poor widdwle bunny friend was no-where to be found!!!

So anyway, during all this "bunny-fun", I did manage to snap some pics of our furry friend, but unfortunately I cant find my USB Port thingy to upload the photos from my digital camera. I think last time I saw it Gilly was using it as a pacifier...so who knows where it is! Probably in the bottom of the toy box with the TV remote and Lauren's cell phone...

Mmmmm we have had such a yummy weekend!! LOL These Salmon Cakes where sooooo good! We had one left over this morning, and I thought I might save for my Mother-in-law for her lunch today....but I looked at that lonely Salmon Cake in my fridge this morning..it was quietly whispering..."eat me..eat me", and I just couldn't say No!!

 

Serves 4

2 tablespoons corn oil for frying

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 pound salmon fillet, poached and cut into small dice

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon

1 1/2 teaspoons of chopped fresh parsley

Old Bay Seasoning to taste

2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup of fresh bread crumbs

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

4 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed

3/4 cup pistachio nuts, toasted and coarsely ground

Flour for dredging

Cucumber-Yogurt Ranch Dressing

 

    In a small sauté pan over medium heat, heat the two tablespoons oil and sauté the shallots and garlic until translucent. Add the coriander and sauté until aromatic. Transfer the shallot mixture to a plate or shallow dish and let cool completely.

    In a medium bowl, combine the salmon, mayonnaise, fresh herbs, Old Bay, and lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Gradually add just enough bread crumbs to make the mixture adhere well. Scoop the mixture into 1/4 cup portions and shape them into cakes.

    In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. In a second bowl, stir the cornflakes and pistachio nuts together.

    Dredge the patties in flour and shake of the excess. Dip each patty into the egg mixture, then the cornflake mixture. Place the patties on a baking sheet.

    In a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat, heat about 1/4 inch of the oil until the surface shimmers. Fry the cakes in batches until they are evenly browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in a low oven until all of the cakes are cooked. Serve at once with the dressing.

(They taste even better the next morning for breakfast!! LOL

A long time ago, there was a young man who lived in a small village. One day as he was on his way home from working in the fields, he discovered something amazing: the most beautiful clothes he had ever seen. He wanted the clothes very badly, so he quietly put them in his basket and started on his way.

Just then, a voice called out, "Excuse me." The boy was startled and said, "What? Did somebody just call me?" A beautiful girl answered, "Yes, I did. Please give back my robe of feathers. I live in heaven, and I just came down to this pond to take a bath. Without my robe of feathers, I can't go back."

The girl looked as though she were about to cry, but the boy pretended not to know and answered, "Robe of feathers? I don't know anything about that." Unable to go back to heaven, the goddess was forced to remain on earth. She began to live with the young man.

 

The goddess's name was Tanabata. Tanabata and the young man got married and were living together happily. One day several years later, though, while the young man was working in the fields, Tanabata found her robe of feathers hidden between two beams in the ceiling. "I knew it. He's been hiding it," she thought to herself. She put on the robe of feathers and right away began to feel like the goddess she had once been.

 

 

That evening when the young man came home, he was surprised to see Tanabata wearing the robe of feathers, standing in front of the house. Tanabata began rising up toward heaven and called out to the young man, "If you love me, weave a thousand pairs of straw sandals and bury them around the bamboo tree. If you do that, we'll be sure to see each other again. Please do this. I'll be waiting for you." Tanabata rose up higher and higher and returned home to heaven.

 

 

The young man was very sad, but he knew what to do. On the very next day he began making straw sandals. He continued weaving them day and night. At last he finally finished making his last pair and buried them all around the bamboo tree.

Right away the bamboo tree began to get bigger and bigger, and it grew higher and higher into the sky. The young man immediately began climbing the tall bamboo tree. He climbed higher and higher until he was almost able to reach heaven. But because he had wanted to see Tanabata with all his heart, he had hurried when making the straw sandals and had actually made only 999 pairs. The tree stopped one step short, and the young man's hand could not reach heaven.

"Hey! Tanabata! Tanabata!" the young man cried out to heaven. "Oh, it's you!" Tanabata exclaimed. She extended her hand to the young man and pulled him over the clouds. "Tanabata, I missed you so much," the young man said. The two of them were overjoyed to see each other once again.

 

Tanabata's father was not happy that she had married a man from the world below. He gave the young man hard work to do, hoping to make him miserable. "You'll guard the melon field for three days and three nights," he said. Watching the melon field made the young man extremely thirsty, but if he ate one of the melons, it was said that something terrible would happen. Tanabata told him, "You absolutely cannot eat one of those melons."

But as the three days went by, the young man grew thirsty and became unable to bear it any longer. He reached for a melon. The instant he did, water burst forth from the fruit and became a flowing river. "Darling!" "Tanabata!" In an instant the two were pulled apart from each other.

The two lovers looking across the river at each other became the stars Altair and Vega. Tanabata's father allows them to meet, but only once a year, on the night of July 7. To this day these two stars face each other across the Milky Way, shining brightly.

 

 

 

    Wachovia Securities... 

 

announced today that

Mark C. Griffin 

has been promoted to 

Associate Vice President / Investment Officer

in the Griffin Investment Group of Wachovia Securities in Norfolk, Virginia.

 

Mr. Griffin has extensive experience assisting clients in developing and meeting long-term financial objectives.
Mark, a graduate of Christopher Newport University, is active on the Hampton Roads United Way Distribution Panel.

 

 

 

The full line is often quoted as "Throw another shrimp on the barbie" or "Put another shrimp on the barbie." However, the actual quote spoken by Hogan is "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you," making it a classic example of a misquotation.

"Barbie" is Australian slang for "barbecue," and the phrase often invokes images of a fun social gathering under the sun. However, Australians invariably use the term "prawn" rather than "shrimp." As the commercial was commissioned for broadcast in the United States, the change was probably made to limit confusion.

 

So Australian's call shrimp..prawns..American's call prawn's..shrimp..now we're clarified!!

 

 

Lauren graduated from Elementary School on the 14th of June. Following a Graduation ceremony at her school (where she received many awards!) we embarked on a cruise with all the graduates, teachers and parents. And let me tell you.....was THAT ever a hilarious experience!! After her school graduation we rushed home through the pooring rain (reminents of Hurricane Ariana..or something..) to meet our baby sitter who was to take care of Gilly and Bethy while we "cruised" around the Elizabeth river.

Once the babies where taken care of, we raced downtown to meet up with the ship. We made it with not a minute to spare... the very last family to get on the boat! After climbing up some very slippery stairs..and Mark having a run in with a really rude "cruise director" type guy...we arrived at the "Observation Deck" of what we later came to dub....."The cruise ship from hell"!!! LOL

This cruise ship must have been the most unorganized event we have ever been to. Unfortunatley because we where so late arriving, and also because the cruise ship allowed all its guest to sit wherever they liked.....all the seats seemed to be taken!! None of the staff members seemed to want to help us find seats...and to top it all off..the only place we could really stand was right beside the buffet...which anoyed the heck out of the kitchen staff, they kept telling us to MOVE!!

I was getting so furious and about to just leave when....get this...the DJ shines a spotlight on us and announces to the entire floor that we needed seats!! God..poor Lauren was sooooo embarased! He suggested for the people at the tables to put up their hands if they had a spare seat at their table...yeah that was gunna work...then we'd all be sitting at seperate tables! Luckly a waitress came to our rescue and found us a small table by the window....which thankfully turned out to be one of the better places to sit. So for twenty dollars per person..we where served chicken nuggets, corn dogs and cookies for desert!!! This place was making a hefty profit!!! And not only that, we where only allowed one soda per person...if we wanted more drinks, we had to pay extra for them!! LOL I should of taken a photo of THAT meal!!! He he he!!!

 

So once we settled in...and i calmed down from my mad rampage, things seemed to progress nicely. Lauren was having a wonderful time with her friends, taking lots of photos..and walking around with the video camera. We sat down to eat our "school cafeteria" food and our very small diet cokes...and watched on as the kids danced the Electric Slide (In MY day...wasnt it called The Bus Stop??)..then they went on to do The Conga.....

 

So onto a happier....and more hilarious note...once we had finished with the cruise and returned back to the city, we then had the task of trying to get back to the parking garage...while still in the middle of a huge rainstorm! I told Mark I'd go and get the car and drive it back to the marina (where the cruise ship was docked..and where Mark and Lauren would wait for me) Now i must tell you.... Our city usually floods at the first sign of rain....this is due to the fact that we are surrounded by rivers and and a large bay. So when we do get rain, there isnt anywhere for the water to go...especially during high tide! Now we happened to have a high tide on Wednesday...so coupled with the fact that we had reminents of a hurricane and torrential downpour...the city in most low laying parts was under at least a foot of water....probably more in some parts. So needless to say my journey back to the car was in a word....WET!!! I had to take off my shoes to wade through "ankle deep" puddles...which was kind of fun in a way! Made me feel like a little kid again! So I made my way to the parkinglot... shoes, parking ticket and twenty bucks in one hand...umbrella in the other. Only problem was... apart from being semi drenched....I had forgotten the car keys!!!!

 

What made it worse was the fact I didnt realise this until I actually made it all the way to the parking garage! Uuugghh.. so I turned around and ran back to the marina to retrieve the keys from my laughing husband! While all this was going on...the parking ticket in my hand was also getting drenched..and breaking apart into pieces...and then to make it so much more hilarious...I suddenly realised my twenty bucks for parking was missing!!!!

 

So to cut this way-too-long story short....I found my twenty dollar bill floating in a nice deep puddle...retreived it and ran back to the car for the second time.

MAN!!!! What a DAY!!! But despite all the drama's...Mark and I were so very proud of Lauren! She has worked so hard these past six years...and it brought several tears to my eyes today to see the beautiful woman she is growing to be...so gorgeously glamorous...yet still my baby girl...breaks my heart everyday to see her grow up before my eyes!

 

Time flies by way too quickly........