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Celebrating Fall

We're celebrating 'fall' here in Texas, probably prematurely, with a drop in temperatures. As a northern girl, I'm not exactly sad to say goodbye to the 90 degree weather ...if you know what I mean. (And if you're Canadian, you don't so...canuck translation: it's now fairly consistently below 32.2222 repeating degrees C)

So basically, that means "fall" around here. BUT...a conversation with a friend reminded me again of the very obvious differences between Texas and Ontario.

Chandee: It smells good in here!
Allie: It's an apple spice sentsy. There was a cider mill up in Rochester where we went to school. Apples remind me of fall. I'm celebrating. I'm probably early.
Chandee: No! It IS fall. I was just at Market Street getting dinner and they're roasting chilis. They ONLY do that in the fall.

Moral of the story: Fall is hotter in Texas. Even when it comes to food.

Ding.

I'd like to announce that, in the spirit of giving props were props are due, Josh (Mr Hamburgers-and-Pizza-Belisle) actually went out today for Indian food.

And he ate two plates of it.

Yay for you husband....I'm officially impressed.

Love,
Allie

Basically, that's my husband's sense of humour.

(Me: in the kitchen, making Josh breakfast. Josh, in the livingroom, on the computer.)

Josh: Hey! Are you barefoot?
Allie: Yes.
Josh: Ha. Haha. Ha.

That's my car!

Guy on the radio is talking about older cars having "personality"

Guy on the radio: You learn how they handle corners, how they handle acceleration, how they...and that along with their looks make up their personality.
Allie: See?! That's what my car has! Personality!
Josh: No. What your car has are bad shocks.

Actual Cat vs. Metaphorical Cat

Right at this second Fat Boo is sitting under my desk, completely content with his life (probably because he just ate) and absolutely NOT going anywhere. In contrast, Metaphorical Cat is out of the bag and half way to Timbucktoo by now. So... a quick video update to sum up what many of you already know...

Happy Birthday Mom.

Today is my mom's birthday. I really miss being there with the family and going out to eat for dinner to celebrate...especially because I know they're headed to Swiss Chalet for dinner.

(Sidenote: Swiss Chalet is my family's one stop shop for any sort of celebration involving food. Birthdays, Sundays where we didn't want to cook, celebrating mini-reunions when we're all (very rarely) home, Good Friday lunch....and many other occasions even including the rehearsal dinner for our wedding! But I'm getting sidetracked here - really this blog is about my mom, not my favourite restaurant to eat at.)

Back to my mom...

I guess as I've gotten older I've really grown to appreciate my mom. She's insightful, thoughtful, hilarious and can multitask like no one I've ever known. She has an amazing ability to take an insanely huge task and split it up into manageable bits, and then she attacks those manageable bits with a sort of brilliant ferocity. The end result is that insanely huge tasks actually get DONE - and that's a talent I've never really managed to develop, so it seems almost magical to me. She's fearless, she's funny and she makes a mean apple pie. She can also resurrect half dead plants, like everything we brought her from the "junk pile" at Sheridan, and turn them into a gorgeous garden. I love that she's honest, and she loves me, and when those two things come together sometimes she tells me when I'm out of line and to shape up. She does it nicely, but she does it - and I need that in my life. More than anything I really love that she lives out what she believes, and that she's true to her faith, to my dad, to her family and to herself. That sort of integrity is something that I aspire to...and I'm glad I have such a great example in her.

So yeah, that's just a bit about what I love about my mom. She's great and it's her birthday so she deserves a pat on the back, a meal she doesn't have to clean up after, and some cake.

Way to go Mom. You're amazing.

Love,
Allie

Easier than ever...

We're back and easier to remember than ever! Thanks to Josh for getting my redirect back up and running. You can now find us by just typing this:

www.joshandallie.com

...into the address line on your web browser.

And that's one more thing off the website spring-okay-it's-summer-already cleaning list!

Antisocial

At dinner:

Josh: I should probably log into facebook. I don't think I've done that yet this year.
Allie: Josh...on social networking.

Allie's Tip from the Kitchen #41

I don't do a whole lot of cooking, but I do enough to have some very specific VERY important kitchen tips to share. Tonight's tip is brought to you courtesy of Knutson sunday dinner (which we are having here, inappropriately, on Tuesday night). Drumroll please....

Allie's Tip from the Kitchen #41
When cutting up something you really like for dinner (in this case dill pickles), always cut up twice what you need. Then you can snack while you prep....and NOBODY knows.

Tada! That's my essential tip from the kitchen. What's yours?

Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.

Woke up this morning to this in my inbox:

Hi Allie,
We just posted an article, “50 Best Blogs for Marriage Advice.” I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting.
I am happy to let you know that your site has been included in this list.
Either way, thanks for your time!
Cheers,
Abby Nelson

Here's the link: http://www.mastersincounseling.com/50-best-blogs-for-marriage-advice

We're number 20 which, quite frankly, completely made my day. (I have to admit that there was a brief pause in writing here while I did a gleeful dance around my livingroom.)

*deep breath*

However, in the immortal words of Fezzik - "Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head."

(Still...thanks Abby!)