Pre-Race Day Rituals

Me and my friend, Ashley, have always run races together. Our Friday night ritual before the race day was pretty much set in stone. We would always take her dogs for a long walk and then Ashley would cook a pasta dinner, we would watch a movie then crash early, since we had to get up early.

Well she is not here, :( , but a new chapter in my marriage has started. E has trained a little with me and he is planning on running tomorrow. I am so excited. Last night we did a long, hard jog and then after eating lots of vegetables, we settled in early. We are taking Maggie for a long walk this afternoon and this is the exciting part...I am cooking pasta dinner tonight. I heart pasta and so does E but we try to be good so we rarely ever eat it, but that doesn't mean I don't love to cook it. I love to cook pasta. It's so fun especially because you almost can't go wrong...it's going to taste good no matter what.

So tonight...I am making Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree...a Giada special. All of the pleasure of pasta, without the guilt and after-effect of the cream sauce.


I will let you all know how it goes
...Mmmm.

So Early!!

Today marks 2 weeks that we have gotten up, voluntarily, and walked Maggie at 5:30 in the morning. (UGH!) We haven't missed a day yet. I am so proud of us. Ever since E started reading Cesar Millan's book (you know, the guy from The Dog Whisperer, on tv), Cesar's Way, "the pack" mentality has taken over our life in more ways than I care to mention. Through trial and error, I finally feel like we are getting somewhere with Maggie. Of course it helps that she gets a walk in the morning and a jog at night...she's just too exhausted to think about whether she should obey or not.

It's Only Three Miles People

For all of you slackers out there that left me hanging for the 5K this weekend...this is your chance to redeem yourselves...March 15 in Lake Charles...Be There or Be Square!

Athletes Corner St. Patricks Day 3-Miler

Click on the website and find the name of the race and download the form. This next part is a little tricky..."send the form in ... then practice by running 3 miles over the next two and a half weeks!" Make sure you let me know that you are going to that I can look for you there (or maybe even ride with you since I have never been to Lake Charles).

What's Cooking Wednesday! - Cappuccino Muffins

I found this recipe at all recipes.com one day and it looked interesting. I like muffins, I like cappuccino, why not Cappuccino Muffins. How foreign would that be??

For those of you who don't know how I tick, I spend most of the weekend cooking and cleaning so I don't have to throughout the weekend. Since I refuse to get up early every week day to cook breakfast, every Saturday morning, I cook a special breakfast. Typically we get up slow, walk Maggie, and then we eat breakfast and drink coffee in front of the television. Lately our Saturday morning cartoons include Celebrity Rehab and Best Week Ever, both on VH1. I know...Lame...but so funny! Who wouldn't enjoy seeing Bridgette Neilson (Sly Stalonne's ex-wife), China (former female wrestler), Jeff Conway (Kinicky from Grease) and many others try to handle living life sober like the rest of the world for a WHOLE THREE WEEKS. That's a long time (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice). Then...WE GET TO WORK!!!

Back to the recipe, I really went off in left field there. I made the muffins last Saturday morning. It makes about 15 although I only made 12 of them. 12 was a perfect number for just the 2 of us. After breakfast, I started working on my personal project while E did his own thing. When I finished and looked up at a clock, it was already 2:00 in the afternoon. I stuck my head in E's office and said "E, I am sorry. I wasn't paying attention to the clock. I will go and make us some lunch real quick." His response was "Don't worry about it Babe, I already ate." Puzzled, I asked "What did you eat?" He answered "The rest of those muffins." So I went into the kitchen and he wasn't kidding. He finished all but 2 off for lunch (that's about 6 muffins). That's how good these were...I hope you enjoy!

Progress Pics!!

I really like the way the paint color turned out. Especially against the checkered lanolium tiles...Beautiful!!!

Lime Green Ceiling...You are my Enemy!!!

I painted the inside of the new hot-water heater closet and Ehas the door frame started.

E pulled the wall down last week and installed the insulation needed to keep us warm. At the bottom right of the wall, you can see the dark laminate wood floor planks we bought to cover the walls with. They were on the clearance table at Lowes and ...we had an idea!

OH MY!!!

We tried early church this week. What is early church you might ask? It's where we go to the service at 8:00 instead of 11:00. All of this...just to see if we liked it or not. We came home and immediately started working on the house...again!!! I looked up at the clock and it said 1:00. No wonder I was seeing spots. I completely demolished my fridge looking for something for us to eat. NOTHING!!! I quickly grabbed my grocery list and headed to the store for less than 45 minutes. E was in the garage working hard and Maggie was napping at the front door (her usual spot). We had walked her that morning so I figured that she would continue to nap for a few more hours. Boy was I wrong!!!

I returned home from the store, hands full of heavy grocery bags, and my husband greets me at the door. Being the gentleman that he is, normally, he sees me and heads straight out to the car to get the rest for me. Not today. I put the bags down and he just looks at me, smiling..."Why are you looking at me?" I asked. He says "Do you notice anything different about Maggie?" After giving her three good look-overs, I was baffled and gave up "What's different?" I asked. "Look at her paws" he says. I looked and they were black,...and that's when I noticed the little black footprints leading into the kitchen. "What is that?" I asked. He guides me into the master bedroom, the site of the great pen attack (evidently). Maggie, realizing she was unsupervised, and having eyed that pen all morning waiting for a chance to get her mouth on it, chewed it to pieces leaving the black ink all over the carpet. I saw the damage and didn't know what to say, E was past that point and had already started laughing. We just looked at each other baffled at what we were seeing.


Well, this is what our carpet looks like after three good scrubs with spot cleaner. Sigh!!! Any help??? What gets ink out of carpet??? I plan on continuing to scrub although I am seeing the bleekness of the situation at this point.















My sweet Magpie, upset cause she got in trouble!

New Stuff!!

Just thought I would give you a picture of the new things we got for the house the other day.

E is still ooooo-ing and ahhhh-ing over his new chair and actually, I haven't heard him mention anything about his aching back since we got him this chair for his office. It's very "Pottery Barn" without the Pottery Barn price! (the pic is a little blurry, soory about that one)



My mom is coming in a few weeks to help me recover 2 arm chairs I bought at a yard sale. I am really hoping that she will help me decorate my new office/den/ laundry room while she is here too. So far, I think I have all of the furniture and accesories I need to fill that room except for a coffee table. So I found this little piece which is actually a hamper, so I have storage inside of it.

My New Favorite Bakery

I have always had a bakery that I call my own. I went to Brewbakers in Huntsville every morning to get my usual, Cranberry bagel with homemade Apple-Walnut cream cheese, and a cup of Hazelnut coffee. Mmmm...I am getting all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. In Key West, we all used to go to Goldman's deli. It was Jewish Bakery that had the most heavenly garlic bagels and tomato sandwiches.


Well, I went shopping last Saturday(I do not enjoy shopping in this town, it is the only descent mall for a couple of miles and so everyone goes there on the the weekend, especially during mardi gras season). E was studying at home and had called and wanted a me to bring him back a snack. I stopped at the Cookie Factory in the mall while I was there but the line was unbelieveable. Across the street from the mall, is a little bakery called Rao's which is now my new favorite!! These are the goodies I got for us last weekend...The original Dobashe Cake and 2 Italian Cannoli's.














What you are seeing is pure, heavenly goodness. That cake, OMG!!! It is four layers of black and white cake with chocolate mouse and custard cream between each layer. I originally bought it for E and I was going to eat the canonoli's but after my first bite of that cake, he learned very quickly that only half of that cake was his.

Trooper...Boy, What a guy!

We have a large fenced in backyard so we typically let Maggie have free reign of the backyard during the weekend knowing full well that she is going to work on the hole she has been digging for some time now. We just block off the rest of the house except for the laundry room and then block some time off to make sure she gets a bath on Sunday night after the romping is all over.

We let her go last weekend and even on President's Day. E was home doing a few things and just let her go and we had decided to bathe her on Monday night instead of Sunday. He thought he heard a noise, so he went to the window so see what it was. And this is what he saw...

Don't adjust your computer screen...there are REALLY two puppies there!!!

There is a fence that separates our backyard from our next door neighbors backyard. Our neighbors got a new puppy, Trooper, a 3 month old chocolate Lab. Maggie and Trooper found each other's scent on the other side of the fence and decided they needed to play. So with Maggie's help, Trooper was able to dig a hole under the fence that seperates our backyard and come over the play in the backyard with Maggie when ever he wants. E took a few pictures, just because it was too funny!!!

My girl and her new friend playing hard in the backyard.

Trooper is little and got tired of Maggie pushing him around so he jumped into a planter so he could get eye-to-eye with her.

Maggie is giving Tropper tips on digging a "real" hole, using a "paws-on" approach!

Progress Update!!!

We are finally getting somewhere. Sunday, E labored tirelessly all afternoon in the garage trying to frame his very first door. I would guess he was out there about 3 hours when he came in and asked "What size door did we get?" I thought that was a weird question...we measured and planned for a 30-inch door. We bought a 30-inch door, and I thought he had been working on the 30-inch door frame for the past 3 hours. I replied, "30-inch." He says, "That's what I thought too but when I got to the part where I tried to hang the door, it was too big. So I measured it and it's a 32-inch door." Sigh!! It's always something.

Here I am patching holes between the ceiling and the beam, whilest putting safety first (safety google are working well for me on TOP of my head)

Oh well, he went on framing up the door jam and I finished painting the window and walls. So far I really like the color. I think it will really make our dark furniture and fabrics pop! We are instituing Bailey Work Week again this week so I am hoping to have the lime green ceiling converted to a much more managable tone in the next few days. Here are some before pictures for you enjoyment. I will post a few updates tomorrow but I left a pics at home this morning.

Finally!! Progress!!

Well, after a 6 six break due to E's school, he finished and we instituted Bailey Work Week!! This means we get back to working on our den/laundry room daily. I am ready for my new office space, storage space, place to read and a little sanity. Saturday, I patched holes and sanded the walls and ceiling. Tuesday night, E pulled down a good portion of the walls and insulated them while I put the first coat of paint on the trim. Last night I put the final coat of paint on while E fixed our master tiolet once and for all. I am super ready to just get this done and over with.

What's Cooking Wednesday! - California Sandwiches

I am always looking for a quick healthy meal. Last year, my friend Ashley in Mississippi was always talking about how she eats tuna. At the time, I had never eaten tuna outside of tuna salad. Boy was I missing alot. She was telling me that she ate it with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. That sounded a little strange to me but I am game for anything once! So I tried it, and it was GOOD!!! So good in fact that I came up with a recipe to use it.














California Sandwiches












I always use the Starkist Hickory Smoked Tuna packages. You can use whatever cranks your tractor though. You can also change up the veggies too if you like other things.

I used to eat this everyday for lunch with a handfull of steamed edemame (soybeans). It will really liven up your energy and spirits for the day. Before I went on my "health" kick, I used to go to lunch with the fellas everyday for lunch. We would get back about 1:00 and I would be fighting to stay awake around 1:45. I just got tired of feeling tired.

Eating these sandwiches everyday was like drinking a red bull for lunch (without the irritating rapid heart beat change). And so tasty...

Mercury is in Retrograde!

According to the sister of a close friend, there is a reason that I have been having such a hard time lately...(If you believe your horoscope and treat it like your life plan, please don't take this the wrong way...But since I don't believe in it and, well, since it's my blog, I am going to bash it) it's because Mercury is in Retrograde!!!

After telling a friend all of the happenings here on the home front, which include several woes, this is the email reply...

"I simply must let you know that, according to my sister, 'Mercury is in serious retrograde,' and absolutely everyone is having a very tough time right now. This will end in a couple of days, she says, so hang on. "

This explains so much. Right? I loved it and wanted to share it with all of you! Have a good day and don't make any decisions regarding business, travel, marriage, communication, don't buy books, cars, cell phones, etc. until the retro grade is over. :)

Sweet St. Valentine

Well, I have been such a slacker these past few days. So many things going on at work and at home. We also switched cameras we are using at home and the USB port doesn't work. So I have to go and buy a card reader today so I can get the pics off the camera. Whew!

I had an interview this week as well as another one tomorrow. I presented the report I have been working on for the past few months yesterday and was offered the "opportunity" to be the database administrator, in addition to my current job responsibilities, for the NCAA website. I have been praying so hard for an opportunity, even though it's not really a great one (a huge understatement...), it's an answer to a prayer, it gets my name out there and gives me a wider pool of people to network. At this point, I will take anything...just so tired... and tired of being tired.


Well, getting back to the point of this email...Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. All of my family and friends, near and far away...I miss you all and hope to see you again soon enough. I hope that you all enjoy your special day with the one's you love. And for the single ones out there, Happy Singles Awareness Day (SAD).

For me, tonight, I am getting a special treat. E is putting his homework on hold for one night and cooking me dinner. Honestly, this is a big deal. We have spent very little time together since he started school this time. And this is also our very first Valentine's day together since we have been married. I know what your thinking...it's almost been 4 years, how is that possible??? E has been on the boat every V-day for the past 3 years. So what are you doing for V-day? Big Plans??

Remember, LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD!!!

Maggie is NO DALMATION

When we "inherited" Maggie from our neighbors, we asked them what kind of dog she was. They said that they weren't sure what kind of dog her dad was but her mom was definately a Dalmation. Being naive and clueless about dog breeds, we believed them.


Today, I was looking at some of the races that were coming up and one was a benefit for the Houston Humane Society. They had a picture of a Blue Heeler on their website that needed to be adopted that looked exactly like my dog. (well, not exactly, but the color of her coat was right on!) So here is the comparison between the Red and Blue Heeler/Italian greyhound mix, Maggie and a Dalmation.

What's Cooking Wednesday!

Well, here we are again. I promised to make and share Cherrye's Nutella Mousse. Well, I made it but forgot to photograph it so I am stealing Cherrye's picture of the one she made. But it was really good. I actually thought the recipe would serve four people but next time I will double it. It didn't make quite enough for four people but we strecthed it and added extra candy bar crumbles to make it last.

But seriously GOOD! So creamy and chocolately. I was wishing I had some dark chocolate though. That would have put it over the top!! Cherrye, hats off to you! Delizioso!

Just to Make You Jealous

Well, I decided I needed some artwork for my new office space at home when it gets finished. I just wanted one or two small prints that I could frame. I found so many good ones, SO MANY. These are the 2 finalists from Askey that are supposed to arrive tommorrow. Are you jealous yet??

If you like and are interested in other artwork by Askey, click here to be linked to her Etsy Shop.

What is the Obsesssion???

So I ran across this question this week and it got me thinking...Why are people obsessed with the weather? And if you watch the Weather Channel, why?

Seriously though, think about it!! People will sit on front of the weather channel and continually watch something that may or may not be happening on the other side of the continent.

Me personally, I have a huge respect for the weather. Having lived in south Flordia for 3 years, I had a personal understanding of what the weather can bring and how it will immediately change your plans for the next month or more. Vacations, job situations, flights, weddings, finances, deployments, your kids, your living situation, your state of mind... (I also wanted to be a storm chaser when I was little, something new about me you may not have known)

But every morning, my co-workers will start talking about the weather today, yesterday, this weekend, this afternoon compared to this morning compared to tonight...unless there is a storm headed straight for me, I could care less about the weather.

Happy Birthday Samantha

Well, last week was Samantha's birthday. Since it was a princess party, I went alone. E just isn't in to that kind of thing. Lucy and Elizabeth worked so hard to get all of the food and decorations ready and everything looked beautiful. And there was a huge amount of people there too.

As usual, Lucy's party includes an adult meal. Homemade Tomato Soup, Pesto and Feta Bowtie Pasta, Fruit, Rice Crispy Treats, and Birthday Cake. I think I ate my weight in soup, pasta and fruit. Since Lucy and Lindy we're heading out on a ski vacation the next day, she divided out all of the leftovers and sent them home with several of the guests. I took home some pasta and soup. Every since then, I have been addicted to that soup and I can't stop thinking about it. I have been dying for her to get back from her vacation so I get get a copy of the recipe. Anyway, here are a few highlights from the party.



Me, Elizabeth, and Lucy

The royal table

All the pretty pretty princesses

Lindy entertaining all of the Anti-Princesses

Party Game Time: The Princess and the Pea

Party Game Time: Find and Kiss the Frog

Me and the princesses; they all wanted to know how there picture turned out

The king, the queen, and the princess

What's Cooking Wednesday!

Well, I lied. I never tried the nutella treat! Due to work issues, and when I say issues, I MEAN ISSUES, I curled up in my pajamas and hid under the covers for the rest of the day. What a long week. However, things are better and I had a back up recipe anyway. Elizabeth and Matt came over for dinner last weekend and we made strata. It makes so much, and I also made an extra dish to take to mine and Elizabeth's Bible study. I feel like we have been swimming in strata for the past few days.














Regardless, I love this dish. Bacon, Mushroom, Swiss Strata. It is now on my top ten list. Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, whatever...it's good for any meal. The only down side is that you have to let it sit for at least 8 hours. But for me, I see that as a good side. I can make it the night before and be worry free for the next day. The recipe ony calls for a little bacon, but I am not on a diet, and I am not scared of a little bacon so I typically add double the bacon and double the swiss. To balance out all of the extra fat I added, I add sliced tomatoes and extra thyme. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I hope you enjoy!!!

P.S. I am making Nutella Mousse on Friday night. Maybe next week we can all chat about it.

World Nutella Day

Well, I first heard about this wonderful day from Cherrye at My Bella Vita. Cherrye owns a Bed and Breakfast in Italy. To celebrate this glorious holiday, they decided to serve Nutella Chocolate Chunk Mousse to their guests. How YUM does that sound???

Well, I am going to try it tonight to celebrate my belated holiday (since it was really yesterday) and if it turns out ok, I will post it tomorrow for What's Cooking Wednesday! Until then...Happy Holidays everyone!

All the Rest...

Since I informed all of you about a few of the links on the "Links I Love" list on the left, I decided it was high time I finished that list. (and I really don't have anything else to share)

eHow - This website gives me hope some days. If I don't know how to do something, I start here. Anything you want to know, just search for it...Shop for a new matress, go on a diet, play the drums, bake bread, celebrate Mardi Gras, YOU NAME IT!!! I first stumbled on this site when I was looking for patterns for paper snowflakes for my budget Christmas.

Technorati - If I haven't said it enough, let me re-iterate that I do nothing at work but surf the internet. Alot of days I will link over to one blog that links me to another and so on and so forth. The next day I will get to thinking that I really want to try that pie recipe on that blog I saw yesterday, but I can't remember how I got there ...So I can use Technorati to search through blogs.

ZipSkinny - Want to know everything possible about your community? Type in your zip code and wait for the information overload to hit you between the eyes. Information on demographics, schools, occupations, marital status, household incomes, maps and lots more including the ability to compare two zip codes.

Big Huge Labs - I read about this link from How About Orange and absolutely had to try it. You can do so much with a photo on this site that you never thought of. I even used it to make this Warhol version of my little Magpie. Use the drop down menu to start having fun. You can make yourself a badge for work, turn a photo into a jigsaw puzzle, motivational poster, magazine cover, billboard, trading card, desktop wallpaper, ANYTHING!!! SO FUN!

Snail Mail Surprise

A quick snidbit about your host here at Everyday Bailey, me!! I love surprises! I also like event memorabilia that I dont have to dust or store. So t-shirts go a long way in my book...

So I was super excited when Dot, my former co-worker and partner in crime from Key West sent me a present in the mail on Wednesday. Somehow, she talked the F-5 Navy Air squadron in Key West, VFC-111, into giving me an official shirt. I don't know how because they all know me and know how many times I have screwed things up for them. (I think the lack of sleep and constant altitude changes has caused some memory loss for alot of them) But regardless, I really appreciate my new shirt and I have promised Dot that I will wear it proudly on race day in 4 weeks.

Dot used to run 5K's with me, we would go to lunch/breakfast, trade nutritional knowledge, she would give out financial, marriage, work, real estate, and life advice, she was giant sounding board for all things job related, she shared good recipes (be on the watch for her Pumpkin Curry Soup that will be posted soon enough) and brought me candy back from her travels...Can you start to see why I miss her greatly???

This is Dot showing off the view from her future back porch in Utah. What a Fox!!! Isn't that view amazing!!!

Hi Dot! Thanks for the shirt. Thank the VFC-111 guys for me as well. I appreciate the shirt very much and will wear it proudly.