It's Our Anniversary

I know this is uber cheesy, but I can't help myself.  Today marks 1 year of being engaged to Mike.  WOW, time flies when you're planning a wedding!!!

The day he proposed:
http://www.xanga.com/Halfy79/589780146/guess-what.html

The full story:
http://www.xanga.com/Halfy79/590003146/engaged.html

I think I'm going to try to convince him to head into NYC for a dinner at our favorite Spanish restaurant tomorrow.  I just wish I would get my damn "stimulus check" already!!!  Not that I need a stimulus to spend, ya know?

Enjoy your weekend...

To all you mothers out there... Happy Mother's Day!!!

Torta Deliciosa

On Cinco de Mayo, I made Tom's Tres Leches Cake, but didn't get to eat it until the next day because I finished it at 10pm and it needed to set a bit.  Enjoy these yummy pictures that don't really do it justice:

This is what came out of the oven.  I almost freaked because the next step was to pour almost 2 cups of liquid on to this and put whipped cream on top.  Um, hello... where's the room????

Luckily, it started to shrink when it was cooling.  Luckily, I had a Grand Marnier margarita handy to keep me company while the cake cooled off.

This is the finished product.  Notice how I was able to pour the liquid on and top it with the whipped cream with plenty of room in the pan.  I'm sure the whipped cream is supposed to be more fluffy and better looking... but I whipped that stuff by hand!! 

And this is what I got the next day.  One lovely scoop with the extra 'tres leches' drizzled on the plate.

I threw this in to show the texture of the cake part since it didn't show on the plated picture.  And yes, I ate most of that... Mike had a smaller portion than the one above.

If I had to describe it, it was very close to the density of bread pudding.   A very heavy, moist cake with lots of cream.  But better.  When I read Tom's recipe I had the feeling that it might be more like a mushy blend between flan and bread pudding.  But, luckily, I was completely wrong.  It really is a heavenly dessert.

Warning, if you eat that portion size on the plate above, you WILL feel very full!

Now if I gain 10 pounds, I get to blame it all on Tom.  Thank, Tom!!!

PS - I'm working from home today and it's calling my name.  I don't know why I'm admitting this here, but I had some for breakfast.  Ack, I've got problems.

My Implant Story

A DENTAL implant, that is.  (not for the faint)

This morning, I had a screw drilled into my upper jawbone.  Sounds like fun, right?  It actually wasn't all that bad.

So I knew that an implant was my only option since a bridge would result in ruining 2 perfectly good molars and my dentist thought that I shouldn't do that at such a young age.  I agreed.  So I had a consult with a surgeon and he assured me that it was no big deal and I could handle it under local anesthesia.  I thought he fell off the rocker, for sure.  You mean, drilling a whole into my jawbone and placing a screw in there is okay with local?  Pshaw.  But because I was worried about the cost of having general anesthesia, I went along with his suggestion.  He assured me that almost all of his patients do it under local.

The most painful part of the process was the novacaine.  And that was only a slight pinching and he was extremely gentle and took his time.  Then I think he drilled the hole 3 times... each time getting bigger and more intense.  But still, so much more simple than I imagined.  My head was NOT feeling the vibration.  Thank goodness!!  He showed me the actual implant before he went to place it in and I had the immediate thought that it was a little thicker than I thought.  It really was just a small chubby little screw.  Freakin' weird.

When he started to screw it in, I felt the pressure get more intense the further it went it.  I almost started to freak out because I imagined my jawbone cracking under the pressure.  At the end he used a hand wrench to tighten it and he said, "yes, in case you're wondering, I AM using a torque wrench."  I had to start laughing because there he was using a wrench on my mouth!  Click-click-click.  I swear I could feel my entire face bone moving.  Imagine the most intense sinus pressure ever... and that's what it was.

Overall, it wasn't too bad.

But after?  That's completely different.  PAIN.  I had my prescriptions called in and had to take a pain pill the minute they were ready.  It feels like... well, like there's a screw in my jaw.  Or like the most intense toothache ever.  Then, I slept for 4 hours!  My instructions say that day 2 may be worse.  Grrreat, I can't wait.

And the worst part is not being able to eat solids.  I'm on a SlimFast, pudding, apple sauce, and ice cream diet right now.  It totally sucks because I just want to chew on something!!  I can transition to mushy foods in 3 days but that still sucks.  There's something about chewing that satisfies me.  And that may be why I have weight issues, but whatever.  I'm a freaking carnivore and I need to use my teeth!!!

Okay, that's my story.  I'm going to have some ice cream and then go to bed.

Busy Weekend Update

This is going to be one big-ass update:

Right after work on Friday, Mike and I had to pack up Pace and head to my sister's house to babysit.  She had a wedding to go to so we were on duty.  Now, I LOVE my nephews and all... but 7 hours of them can get to a person.  Luckily, they were both really well behaved.  There's just only so much of "tag" you can play before you get bored with it.  Same goes for hide-and-seek.  And while I want my sister to be able to fully enjoy a night out with her husband and friends, I was a bit miffed when she didn't get in until almost 1am.  I mean, did she HAVE to stay until the very end of the reception??  Keep in mind that we had a 45 minute drive home.

It's all good though because I'm going to do the same thing to her when we have kids.  Payback, baby.

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On Saturday I had to get myself out the door by 10:30am so that I could meet up with some classmates to do some work for a final.  That was rough but definitely worth it.  Mike had a soccer game at the same time so right after we grabbed some lunch and headed home.  Then we were right out the door again to drive 1 hour south to meet a friend of mind whom I haven't seen since Sophomore year of college.  She was a really close friend that just drifted away and I've always missed her.  It was so ridiculously nice to catch up with her and meet her husband and 4-month-old daughter.  I just wished she lived closer so I could drop by more often (I volunteered to drive to her since she's breast feedin' the little one).  And this is where Saturday got really shitty...

Mike and I went to our favorite restaurant near my old college.  The waitress was crappy.  I mean really crappy.  I ordered ribs and ordered regular mashed potatoes in place of roasted sweet potatoes.  The plate came out with sweet potatoes that stunk to high heaven.  I can't stand those things!!  So I told the server and she said she'd get me a plate of mashed potatoes.  (SLIGHT TANGENT:  This is my biggest pet peeve with restaurants lately... I want my waitress/waiter to deliver my food so THEY know that there was a mistake!!!!!!!)  My waitress didn't know about my potato situation until she came at the end of the meal to ask how everything was.  I told her and she went to get the potatoes.  Um, I was done with the ribs, thankyouverymuch.  AND, I somehow managed to eat the ribs with my butter knife since she never brought a steak knife.  And yes, you shouldn't need a knife at all with good ribs... but these were NOT good ribs.  They were fatty with barely any meat on them and the meat was not leaving the bones easily.  When the potatoes finally came out... I tried a bit and they tasted like plastic.  No joke.  When the waitress came back later I told her they were horrible and she just said she was sorry.  Oh yeah, and Mike didn't get ketchup until after he was done with his sandwich... even though he asked for it when he got his food.

Mike left a 10% tip, but I wanted to leave $1.  I even noticed that another one of her tables was complaining to the manager.  GAH.  Keep in mind that I was a waitress, so I understand the idea of tipping!!

Okay... so we had the brilliant idea to get some ice cream at the local Maggie Moo's to make up for that crapfest.  Got in there and the ice cream choices were crappy.  Then I noticed they didn't have 'crunchies' as a mix-in. GRRRRR.  So I settle for crushed Oreos (NOT the same) and almonds (since they're on display).  The guy says he doesn't have almonds.  WTF?  So I got a lame ass cup of chocolate ice cream with crushed Oreos... one scoop... for $4.  Seriously, people.  What.  The.  Fudge.

So let's just go home.  Due to a bunch of retards in the parking garage, it took us forever to get out.

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Sunday was much better because Mike and I slept in late and then he made me a belgian waffle for breakfast.  Mmmm.  After that, I managed to (1) hem one more pair of pants, (2) complete my final exam and submit it, (3) shrink-wrap a basket of gifts, (4) shower & change, (5) throw on some makeup and brush out my hair, (6) and head out the door at 3:30pm for a baby shower.

The baby shower was great, but the gifts took almost 3 hours to get through.  Even with 4 ladies helping to move them along and unwrap them.  That baby is damn spoiled!!  She got every item on 2 registries!

Lots of Italian food and desserts were consumed.  Mmmmmmm.

Then Mike and I watched "Atonement" and went to bed.

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I need a break!

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On Wednesday, I'm scheduled to get the post put drilled in for my dental implant.  YIKES!!!  The surgeon assures me that I can drive myself afterward, so let's cross our fingers that everything goes as planned.  I'm also hoping that I can maybe start a SlimFast diet since I'll be limited to liquids.  Because, you know, when I heard about my options I immediately thought "ice-cream diet"... either that or "chocolate-pudding diet".  Yeaaaaah.

And then I have another final exam on Thursday.  Really poor planning on my part, but there's just only so much a woman can do with a tight schedule!!!!

School is Expensive!

As usual, I've hit the tuition reimbursement level for 2008 at my job (this happened in 2007 as well).  It's not difficult since the limit barely covers 2 courses a year.  Anyway, I asked my Senior Director if I could get more funds to cover more classes in 2008 (summer and fall).  Our SVP (3 levels above her) has to approve anything above the corporate-wide limit.  This was her response:

****************************
From: Big Boss Lady (BBL)
Sent: Monday
To: Halfy79
Cc: Manager
Subject: RE: Education Reimbursement

Let's go for it. You are the only one taking advantage of the funds and I SO appreciate and respect you for that (among other things of course).

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