Beehive Tested, Doctor Approved

I asked my Doctor today what she thought about the Neti Pot and she highly recommended it. Actually she was in awe over how some users could in fact reach all of their sinus cavities. Usually she would just suggest a saline spray, but this was a cheaper alternative as you just mix up your own salt and water at home.

It is totally funny looking, and though the thought still gives me a bit of the hiney cringe, I still love it. I may be addicted to using the Neti Pot. I can breathe AND smell better. Too bad for DG as I have decided to alter his diet drastically *wink*.

The Neti Pot

DGs friend Erica came over for breakfast last weekend. Erica is a free spirit and has the ability to make you think outside of the box and we always end up having great discussions when she is around.

Last week-end, she convinced me that I needed a Neti Pot. Before I tell you what a Neti Pot is, go here to watch this video instruction of how it works. Warning: This is not an SNL skit. Watching this video may make you sneeze or scrunch up your nose in horror.

I have had sinus issues my whole life and for the past week I have had some problems. So even though Erica's description included phrases such as, "I'm not going to lie to you, it burns" and "You put this thing up your nose and pour fluid in so it comes out your other nostril" I decided to do it anyway. You buy the pot above, fill it with warm water and 1/4 tsp. of non-iodized salt. Then you put the spout up your nostril, tilt your head, and bottoms up. It is totally creepy at first, but after a few times, it is like riding a bike.

I have used it for 3 days in a row, and though it has not fixed my original problem it has helped to clean me out and moisten my sinus cavity. I will be asking my doctor tomorrow about it. Stay tuned!

Lasciviousness in City Park

The weather has been beautiful this week. A tropical paradise at 50+ degrees. I was able to get out and take a run. It's my new thing! Though I'm not winning any speed records, but that's another blog post. This post is about what I think I see going on at City Park, as I run through it on my way home.

I run inside the park in the traffic lane which is lined with cars. My first question is what is everyone doing in the park at noon? Shouldn't they be at work? Every car has someone in it. hmmmm. Sometimes an entire car load. Sometimes just 2 people in the back seat. ::ahem:: And sometimes you can't see who is in the car because it is filled with smoke, a distinctly smelling smoke. I think the kids these days call it weed. ::cough cough::

These people are not out for a picnic, or bringing their dogs for a run. My imagination runs wild with the possibility of what is going down at the park. It's enough to make me feel wierd alone in the park at noon.

Pork Me

Happy Asian New Year. We went to our annual party at Bert and Lora's house for a little poker party and asian food. The eats were good and we had a great time. DG lost all our money, but I made a little of it back. Seen above is the river of dreams, shown during one of our Texas Hold Em hands.

It's the year of the boar which means 2007 is going to be lucky for me as that is my year. I'm a boar. I know, I'm opening myself up for fodder. But seriously, my new montra is pork me. I giggle in loud guffaws each time I say it. DG probably thinks he's living in a frat house.

Certified Project Manager

It's official, after 7 months of classes, I have my certificate in Project Management from Colorado State University. It is one more thing to put on my resume. The next step is for me to decide to get my PMP, which some people liken to taking the bar exam. I am not looking forward to studying.

Waiting for Dad Part II

Gibson and Tica are usually not allowed on this chair as they would stare out the window all day waiting for a leaf to fall so they could bark at it. Around 5pm however, I usually let them, as I like to think they are waiting for DG to get home.

Wiener Paraphernalia

This isn't even half of it. When you love something so much, it is easy for your friends and family to catch on and get you gifts. Can you ever have too much wiener paraphernalia I ask? This is unlike the one time I must have said "I like cows" when referring to drinking a glass of milk and later became inundated with all things bovine including a white toothpick holder with black spots.

This leads me to other things wiener, such as these soaps. Perhaps my favorite part is the comment by one of the buyers "There are quite a lot of level-headed people around the country who go totally crazy for this little breed of waddling wiener dogs." This sums up my feeling for Gibson and Tica.

Sweet Nothings

I love doing fun original things for Valentine's Day. I had been planning these chocolate sugar cookies for awhile after I got a weiner dog cookie cutter for Christmas and some snowflake cookie cutters a few weeks ago. I started them at 7am the minute DG left the house. It was hard not to eat all of them during the day.

The night before we made cupcakes for his office too. Those sprinkles are actually pink pigs from Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

DAM

The most unique gift that David and I got for our wedding was a membership to the Denver Art Museum. I couldn't have been more pleased as I had not been in so long and they had just finished a brand new fancy addition to the old museum. And who better to go to a museum with than an artist? Joy and I decided to go check it out.

Daniel Libeskind's structure is very geometric with harsh lines. Architecturally it is fun to look at, though many times I would enter a room and feel vertigo due to the slant of the walls and narrowing of the ceiling. One of my favorite parts of the new space, is their layout of euro modern furniture allowing people to sit and stare at pieces of art, or peruse magazines. In the first room of Early American Art, there was a leather couch, surrounded by 5 iPods on pedestals. Each had a playlist of old Americana songs like "Home on the Range". I thought this was a fun unique way to encourage people to sit, look, and feel the art.

Though the DAM has a collection consisting of all the big names, they do not have a collection of memorable paintings. While at the Art Institute in Chicago last month, every turn has a mouth dropping, eye bulging masterpiece including Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, The Star by Degas, Mary Cassatt's The Child's Bath, Grant Wood's American Gothic, and an entire wall of 4 seasons of Monet's Haystack series...to name but a few.

Ultimately though, we had a great time walking around and being a part of the museum experience.

Too sad to write...

Joy left this morning *sniff* after our fun 48 hour extravangza. We hung out and coffee clutched Saturday afternoon while perusing houses for sale in Burbank before heading downtown to drink red wine and listen to a great jazz band. Cabbing home, these two desperate housewives stayed up giggling until 2:30am. Thank god Joy had the sense to say no when I wanted to open another bottle of wine before going to bed. After the dogs let us sleep in until 9am, I made an honorary breakfast of a crab cheese egg scramble. I was trying to recreate the lobster casserole that we ate every morning at The Island Inn on Monhegan when we were there for Joy's wedding. It was a really good substitute.



Crab Cheese Egg Scramble

5 eggs
1 can REAL crab meat
shredded cheddar cheese
3 green onions, chopped
some 1/2 and 1/2 (use at your discretion - a couple of tablespoon fulls is good)
salt and pepper
1TBL butter for frying

Scramble all of the above and cook. It is suprisingly tasty.

More on our adventures tomorrow, maybe when Joy sends me some pictures. I have to go to bed early tonight to recover from our trip!

Knitting a Baby Hat

As cute as a bug in a rug. I got this pattern from a woman in my project management class. It was my first attempt at knitting something that is not a square or a square times 5 (a scarf). It was so much fun, I want to start mass producing them. It is done in the round, and has a gradual decrease. I used this yarn because I love the colors as they are perfect for twin girls. I got some different yarn too to try some others. I hope they will fit on baby Eleanor and Olivia.

The Jordan Almonds Are All Mine

As a rule, I don't buy cookies, candy, or chips because I don't want the lure of having them in the house when I am hungry. I mean really, when I need a quick snack to fill that pit in my stomach and all I have is an apple and a moldy orange, I'm going to eat the apple. Yay me. It's the small steps.

But I do have a snack drawer. I'm not sure if DG even knows that it exists. Right now, in the snack drawer, there is half a bag of walnuts, dried cranberries, 2 Odwalla bars, one dark chocolate ghiradelli bar, some yellow corn for air popping and a few sugary pieces of broken Jordan almonds.

Yes Jordan almonds. When DG and I were planning the wedding, we would take trips to Michael's in search of DIY inspiration. One day, DG spotted a bag of Jordan Almonds, a traditional wedding favor and he threw it in our cart. Hence began our love of the Jordan Almond. That first day, we almost devoured the entire bag on our drive home.

This past week-end, while at Michael's getting knitting supplies, DG snuck in a bag. During the ride home, I tried to limit us to 9, the stated serving size. All this aided in doing was save the entire bag for me to eat by myself now that DG is gone. I can't stop eating them. DG nothing, me 3lbs.

While the Cat is Away...

my best friend JOY is going to visit!! David is leaving me to go to Washington D.C. this week-end with his sister to spend some time with his parents. His Dad wanted to go see an art installation there. Meanwhile, I got the efares yesterday and there was a direct flight from Burbank to Denver. Wow, what are the chances? So Joy booked her flight and is going to come hang out with me for the week-end so I won't be lonely.

We are going to hang out, drink wine, pet the dogs, wash our hands, make yummy dinner, eat pancakes, go to the art museum, snow shoe, act like girls, buy silly earrings and shop at funky stores. I will try to fit as much fun as possible into the 48 hours she is here.

If you have any suggestions as to what we should cook and what other activities we should do, let me know.

Super Bowl 41

At the super bowl party we went to, I was asked who I was rooting for. I said I was rooting for the chips and dip. Gooooooooooooo chips and dip. Who was playing in the game anyway? I don't go to those parties for the football, I go for the FOOD and the company. I brought standard and easy to throw together 7 layer minus a layer dip. Here is the recipe:

Super Bowl 7 Layer Dip
1 can refried beans
8 oz sour cream
salsa
sharp cheddar cheese
1 diced tomato
1 small can sliced black olives
green onions
Sliced jalepenos

I don't know what the proportions are, I just use a glass square pan and add the ingredients from top to bottom. I smooth the beans down with a spatula, then smooth the sour cream, pour on half the jar of salsa, completely cover with cheese and then sprinkle the rest on. Now if you want to get real fancy, add the guacamole after the sour cream. I'm just too lazy to rustle up some guacamole as I'm usually throwing this together in a frenzy before running out the door so I don't miss the tip off, I mean the first pitch, aw hell, I know it's the kick off.

Skype Me!

Technology is a crazy thing. First we were able to send pages by phone lines, then we were able to transmit photos via a cell phone, and NOW...NOW, we can talk and chat for FREE over the internet.

One of the first things I did when I started at my new company was to download Skype and get a headset. Plugged the headset into the computer and voila I was ready to chat. We make all of our phone calls using Skype. It is totally free to use to contact anyone else who has the program. Now I want to get a webcam for my computer so that I can chat with other people.

DG has the iSight and we have used it to chat with his friends in Massachusetts and just last week my parents. It is so fun to see facial expressions. It keeps communicating easier on so many levels.

Get skype today and add me to your buddy list!

Cranberry Walnut Salad

It is cranberry walnut week here at Team Gibson household. First there was the Wild Rice Recipe, then the granola, there were evern some bran flaxseed muffins and NOW duh Duh DUH!!! Salad. I threw this together for book club the other night.

1 bag pre-washed spinach
1/8 red onion, thinly sliced
1/3-1/2C dried cranberries
1/3C chopped walnuts
4oz goat cheese crumbled over the top
Newman's Own Light raspberry walnut dressing (to taste)

Go ahead, throw it together. As a matter of fact, you may want to buy like 2lbs. of the dried cranberries as there are so many uses for them!