I made my first successful Japanese meal at home today! so proud..hehe.. We had oyako donburi which is chicken and egg over rice with a lot of sweet onions..served with miso soup.. from real miso not that instant stuff:-). I was going to take a picture of it but the camera died. Oh well.. There'll definitely be a next time - made its way into my recipe box:-)
This last memorial day weekend was nice and relaxing. We had 3 days off and did nothing all Saturday, ran errands Sunday including a trip to Ikea for some sheer curtains and some new brackets for the windows. Oh and picked up some Popeye's chicken while we were down south..soo dang good..thank goodness we dont' live closer or we'd be in trouble. Anyhow, I have "plans" to turn the single rods to doubles so we can get a little more privacy

Memorial Day we worked in the yard and got the garden ready..this year we actually added potting soil and some fertilizers to the ground..we'll see if that yields better results.. we found 2 radishes out there from last year..they were literally the size of peas..haha.. hiliarous.. miniatures! then we had a cookout/hotpot at Goo Goos.. I made tiramisu but I didn't taste any since I can't have dairy.. I think I can do better..the ladyfingers weren't soaked enough.. oh well, next time although everyone is requesting cheesecake so maybe I"ll do that again. Brian's parents are coming to town in July so we're excited for that.. and work is busy as usual with review season here.. seems like we're always in review season..hmm.. guess its a good thing..review season means raises:-)..although with such a bad year in terms of the economy we should all feel lucky to even have jobs..so I'm thankful..hehe.. oh and we're moving in January - not homes but offices.. going to lose that beautiful waterfront view from my office.. boohooohooo..enjoy it while I can I guess.. oh and Brian got himself a Sunbeam Alpine..the shell at least..he plans to restore it.. haha.. says it can take years.. maybe by the time we both retire we'll have a nice Alpine to cruise around in;-).. he started a blog for it..link to the right..

Okay so its been decided..no laurel plants..instead...a new 6 foot cedar fence!! Why you say? Well, its the same price as doing the laurels and instant gratification! Brian ripped down the 7 plants that were there today and now we know why they only planted 7.. apparently there are plants on the other side of the fence and where they planted the 7 were where there werent plants if that makes sense.. so he ripped it down while I took a nap and ummm.. there is no more privacy and we can see through the fence..ugh.. so we can wait 4 years for the laurels to grow up and hide it..well I'm exaggerating..maybe 2 to 3.. but me.. no patience..haha.. well that and we're not sure we have very green thumbs.. my guess is out of the 30 laurels we buy and plant.. some..or quite a few will die and that means more money and no privacy..sigh..so cedar fence it is then we'll plant so flowers, etc to give it some green.. and so there you go..we priced out the wood, etc and we're set to do this next weekend.. because this is a brand new fence unlike the last one where we replaced, Brian will have to set in posts with concrete and "stringers".. then the cedar boards..then stain..fun fun..but in 3 weeks we will have privacy and again instead of 2 years.. I like that alot better I think:-).. pictures to come next week... wish us luck...whoever told us home improvement was neverending was right..we're very lucky that Brian can do this stuff..i can't even fathom the thought of paying for labor on all we've done..ugh..

and too funny not to post:-).. Stanley and his turtlehead turning in for the night- its so wrong I know..but it was a turtle at one point.. Stanley decided to rip it apart so I sewed the head together and he loves it..hehe..

k, Jenny says I need to blog more often so here I am...haha.. actually I've been meaning to post but work has been a little hectic.. Anyhow, so we did get some projects done around the house..namely the backsplash. We ended up taking the granite back off afterall becuse it was alot easier then we expected and came off with no issues.. so here are the photos. I love it..looks great, very clean and functional. Since then Brian has tiled my mom's kitchen and John's fireplace.. he's liking the tiling thing I think. Lets see what else has been going on.. not much I guess... like I said work has been busy and I finally filled the role on the team so that was good.. and going well:-). We're also hoping to go clamming next weekend..hoping.. if the weather is good..should be fun. I've never been.. Seattle has had some very odd weather.. see photos below of April snow!.. we got 3 inches and John and Jessica got 7 at their home in Mill Creek! insane. just waiting for the weather to get better so we can finish the siding and also do some landscaping. We've decided to go ahead and plant laurels in the backyard as a hedge.. all 90 feet! yikes..didn't realize that we had that much space .. which means more plants which means more moola..sigh.. never ends..then the roof.. boohoohoo...

Tiling in progress...see where the granite was taken off.. held up by big dabs of silicone
Brian - master subway tiler guy...
tada! not great photos.. I'm challenged..need that new camera..
and the crazy April snowshowers



oh and a picture of Stanley just for fun.. he's patiently waiting for his "B"-"A"-"T"-"H":-)