Monday, January 09, 2012

Newsy schtuff

Today is the kids last day of break. School resumes tomorrow and my guess is that this week is gonna be long and hard. We have a fun outing planned for later today--our  way of saying good-bye to a fabulous winter break.

Can you believe we're almost one-third of the way through January? I'm super thankful for some pretty mild weather so far this year. We were in the 60s for a couple of day last week and it was glorious! I was able to get out and hike and I had to keep reminding myself it was January and not April. Of course, it snowed a couple of days later, but thankfully just an inch or so. I am very anxious for spring to arrive and to stay!

We had some friends over on Saturday night for appetizers and soup. It's always risky to try a new recipe when you're having guests but I took the risk on a pot of soup and was not disappointed! Of course I wasn't too worried since it was Paula Deen's recipe for Poblano Chicken Chowder and Paula doesn't usually steer me wrong. Y'all, it was REALLY, REALLY good and probably my new favorite winter soup! It makes a ton though. I was feeding a crowd so I did not adjust the recipe but when I make it for my family, I will probably halve the recipe.
Side note: the group of friends we had over was the same group that we had over last January when Jack-the-beagle had his unfortunate incident. We try not to let (bad) history repeat itself so Jack saw the vet on Saturday morning for his "massage therapy" and I'm happy to report the party was incident free!

Moving on...to football!

I was SUPER DUPER HAPPY that the Razorbacks won the Cotton Bowl! Bunco happened to fall on the same night as the game so I got a sub for Bunco (because I'm a football fanatic) in order to stay home and watch the game without distractions. We only have one television hooked up to cable and one of our nameless children was throwing a holy fit about having to miss the series finale of Wizards of Waverly Place because of the Cotton Bowl so we watched the first half at home, then kept the peace and moved our viewing vigil to a sports bar down the road and watched the second half over hot wings and brats. About half of my Bunco group came and joined us for the last quarter--it was really FUN! Poor John was at a table surrounded by six women. Not sure if he loved it or was overwhelmed by us all!

The Broncos WON their playoff game last night too! I hate to admit that I had my doubts about their ability to pull it off but even more than that I hate to admit that I DIDN'T EVEN WATCH THE GAME! That wasn't necessarily by choice. John and I listened to the first half on the radio while driving to Divide, CO yesterday afternoon. Our friends, Steve and Gwen, have a beautiful retreat center there called Potter's Inn and on the first Sunday of each month they host a Sunday Evening Dinner at the Inn. The speaker last night was John Eldredge. He shared from his new book, Beautiful Outlaw, about the personality of Jesus and reading scripture with an understanding of that personality. It was very, very good. And dinner (prime rib!) was a-mazing. If you're local, check out the happenings at Potter's Inn


Alrighty. I must get up and get movin' and get this day-o-fun started! Happy Monday everyone!

7 comments:

OhioFamOf4 said...

I thought of you during the bowl game because you're the only person I know from Arkansas. I was happy for the Broncos, too. I detest the Steelers, even though they are very popular here.

Happy Back to School. Mine went back on the 4th and one got injured and needed stitches two-hours in to the school day. Hoping we get back into the groove soon because this weekend was a killer.

Enjoy your fun outing!

Brenda said...

We walked in to my MIL's home and watched the last 28 seconds of the game. Then we settled in for dinner and overtime. We had just said grace for dinner and the game was over! Crazy!

Emily said...

Go Broncos!!! That game was awesome!

Stephanie Kay said...

Ready for spring?! We've spent much of the winter so far in the 50*s. I don't feel like I've really had winter yet. Not even a measurable snow fall at my house. I need one really good 12 inch snow storm and then I'll be ready for spring. :)

Winn Collier said...

How does one get on the invite list for the poblano chicken chowder? I'd even be okay with a beagle moment.

Miska and I ate at Paula Dean's restaurant once, but there was no poblana chicken chowder, I'd remember that.

HappyTrails said...

Hi Meredith! Thank you for visiting our blog. It's always fun to connect with other local folks who have common interests. I enjoyed scanning through your blog. We are John Eldredge fans and my hubby was looking at his new book, Beautiful Outlaw, this past weekend. I don't think we are familiar with Potter's Inn - we will have to check it out!
BTW - thanks for the Poblano Chicken Chowder recipe - I am trying it for tonight! :-)

HappyTrails said...

Hi Meredith! The bear photo was taken by the pond at the work center (fire center - Mt Herman Preserve - it goes by all kinds of names!) off of Mt Herman Rd in the fall. He looked to be headed for a dip in the pond when we and a group of equestrians foiled his plan. He certainly was BIG! But really mellow and not too concerned with us. It was startling, though, to come around the corner and see him standing there! The Poblano Chicken Chowder was fabulous. Two thumbs up. Thank you for the recommendation! :-)