Tomorrow is a new day... fresh, with no mistakes in it.

I've always liked that line, paraphrased from one of the Anne of Green Gables movies. I thought of it last night when I was trying to lift Jason's spirits after a rough day. You see, yesterday he managed to provide serious proof for the idea that bad things come in threes.

We were in a funk yesterday, and we ended up heading over to the mall area in the morning to run some errands. Jason dropped me off at the mall, and then drove across the street to get cat litter. He decided to get me a surprise at Bed, Bath & Beyond (a memory foam pillow) as well, and that was when bad thing #1 happened... he locked the keys in the car. He had his phone and called me. I had a set of car keys with me, so it wasn't really a problem. It just neatly lead to bad thing #2.

After BB&B, he decided to walk across the street to the mall where I was with the keys. It had started to rain, so he ran across the street and his cell phone fell out of his pocket and was immediately run over by a car. He didn't have any of his phone numbers saved to his SIM card, and we don't have insurance on the phone. Nice. Bad thing #2 -- check!

After some other errands we got back to the car and drove to the gym on campus to get a workout in. He borrowed my Ipod shuffle and headphones to pass the time while running. After getting home he decided to start some laundry while I made dinner. Now I should note that Jason doesn't do laundry very often because I love doing it. And since he doesn't do it very often, it's not second nature for him to check all his pockets. Hence, bad thing #3... he washed my Ipod and headphones. The Ipod is dead, but the headphones still work. I am starting to realize that in our house extra insurance on electronics may not be a waste of money.

One good thing that happened since then is that I posted last night on Freecycle for an AT&T SIM card-compatible phone and by this morning Jason had a new phone and charger courtesy of Steve! I think he likes it better than his old phone, so modulo the lost numbers for people he plays tennis with, we didn't lose out much on that one.

Here's hoping that the rest of the week goes more smoothly!

Workout Time...

Earlier this month we joined the on-campus gym called The Leach. It's so nice to be able to walk from our office to the gym in 5 minutes and work out in the middle of the day. Now we're able to play badminton and volleyball; take yoga, pilates, and aerobics classes; and use the pool and sauna.

It's been over two years since I've played volleyball, so for me it's nice to finally find a regular game. Every Friday at 2pm there's a group of pretty good players who get together, and this past Friday was the first day that I was able to join them. We played for almost three hours, and now I can't wait until Tuesday when there's more dedicated court time.

Vegan Southwest Corn Pudding

As we sit here watching the Steeler game, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to post some updates. I hope my family will love this recipe... especially in sweet corn season. Frozen corn works just as well though, so it can be made all year long.

Ingredients:
2 T. corn oil
4 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 red bell pepper (seeded and finely chopped)
2 jalepeno peppers (seeded finely chopped)
1 cup coconut milk (not coconut water) [Note: If you're not concerned with keeping this dish vegan, you can certainly use cow milk]
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup corn meal
2 T pure maple syrup
1 cup finely chopped scallions
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish
   
3. Saute corn and all peppers in a large skillet for 10-12 minutes until corn is lightly browned
   
4. Meanwhile, stir together cornstarch and coconut milk until cornstarch is mostly dissolved
   
5. When corn & pepper mixture is done, transfer 2 cups of the mixture to a blender or food processor. Add coconut milk/cornstarch mixture and "pulse" until it is mostly pureed but not completely smooth
   
6. Transfer to large mixing bowl & mix with remaining corn/peppers, corn meal, maple syrup, scallions, cilantro, salt, and cayenne
   
7. Pour into baking dish and bake 40 minutes
   
8. Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving
   

[Note: Be careful not to overbake... I usually only need to bake for 30 minutes. Too much time in the oven makes it dry and yucky!]

Thanks to Stacey Abbott for this recipe.

Birthday Pre- and Post-Dinner Pictures

Before dinner at Macaroni Grill...

After dessert and drinks at a park downtown... I love how the fountain turned out.

The following pictures just look really interesting to me. We were experimenting with the timer on my camera for the first time, and I think it caught us moving a couple of times.

I hope ya'll are having a great weekend.

The birthday boy...

... turns 32 today! Happy Birthday, Jason.

Resort Activities

There was a lot to do at the resort, and one of our favorite activities was archery. We both hit bullseyes several times and had a blast. One of the more popular items was a gigantic chess board, so I took this opportunity to try yet again to learn the game. I finally caught on, and Jason and I played a couple games. Jason also got to play against a Russian man who was really good; in spite of losing both matches he had a great time. [Edit: and it should be noted that he gave the Russian a run for his money... ]

Trip to Lucaya National Park

We met a fun couple from Boston at our resort, and we went with them to Lucaya National Park on New Year's Eve Day. We saw two water-filled caves, kayaked through the mangroves, and snorkeled at Gold Rock Beach. Here are some pictures of what we saw on land. David (in the picture with Jason) had an underwater camera, so hopefully I'll have snorkeling pictures from him to post soon.

Gold Rock Beach


Kayaking

Bahamas arrival via Discovery Cruise Lines