Fondue and Daffodils

Its Spring Break! Well, break for Ryan, not for me. But I still get to enjoy the rest from homework and stress.

We started the vacation with a fondue party. Ryan wasn't so sure about a meal entirely dipped in cheese, but we won him over. And of course the chocolate. The chocolate and everything we dipped in it made me want to make my fondue pot a permanent fixture on my dining table.

On the second official day of spring break, I spotted our first daffodils. When I saw the first bunch, I almost caused Ryan to hit the curb with my shouts of excitement.

Unfortunately, we don't have any daffodils growing at our house, but this first sign of spring still promises lots of blooms coming soon to the trees outside our windows.

I finally was able to get the pictures off my camera this week (well technically it was Ryan--he's the smart one).

Now I'm able to share my amazing superbowl recipe:

It's a cream cheese ball rolled in oreos. I was a little worried about making something I hadn't tried before and bringing it to a party. I mean, I liked it, but I like just about anything that includes cream cheese and is rolled in chocolate cookies.

When I had it all set up, I was rather proud of myself. Especially since usually my highest level of baking creativity includes sprinkling chocolate chips into a boxed brownie mix. I probably shouldn't admit this, but before we went to the party I cut out a wedge of cream cheese to snack on and then squished the ball back into a sphere shape. I felt a little guilty, but my mother always taught me to taste-test. Plus, the beauty of a ball is that you can just push it back together and no one notices.

Ryan promised me that if no one tried it, he would keep coming back for more so that it looked like it was popular. Wasn't that so self-sacrificing of him? Turns out, he didn't have to.

Ryan and I tried to hide our disappointment that we wouldn't have any left to take home for ourselves. But I had to be happy because it was voted the favorite of the evening.

Sometimes I tell myself that I should bake more, like when I'm talking to my sister while she is making homemade granola. But then I look at the dirty dishes on my counter and decide that I'll eat a piece of chocolate instead.

When I was in fifth grade, there was a boy whose desk was right behind mine. This boy had a yellow and green jacket. He had a yellow and green binder. He had yellow and green clip-on tie. I could go on, but I think you've got the idea.

As a fifth grade girl, I could hardly tell the difference between a football field and a baseball field, but I knew how to make this poor boy angry. When this boy would tap his packers pencils on the back of my head, I would turn around and say, "The Packers' volleyball season is going really good this year, right?" or "That team you like, they're a cheerleading team, right?"

This usually brought on a 5-6 minute rant about the superiority of his football team which generally caught the negative attention of our teacher. Which was my goal. I don't know why this was so satisfying to me. Something about those green pencils waving through the air day after day.

Now fast forward about 10 years. I don't know where that boy is. I haven't talked to him since then. But I know exactly what his face looks like tonight.

I never thought I'd marry a boy like that. Thankfully, I'm smart enough now to keep my mouth shut during the big game. And to be excited when they won.

It's 72 degrees outside (I'm not complaining about this!) but it's going to be 37 tomorrow. Does that make any sense?

Makes me homesick for a place that only changes about 40 degrees the entire year long.

a little cheering up.

So this week I've been trying to get past lack of sleep and cold, cloudy weather, and a stressed out law student who lives at the library, and craziness at work. All I've really wanted to do was climb back into bed until its Friday again.

But it turns out that spending lunch time listening to a little "love me do" and "do you wanna dance" have made me feel much better. I'm ready to go back out and face the world.