Whole Lotta Nothing & a Pie

First a few random things before I get to the exciting stuff...

This morning, when I was woken (is that a word?) by continuous drawn-out "MAAHHMMMEEEE"s an hour before my preferred wake up time of 7:00, my very first thought was, "no, no, no, I can't do this again today, not yet." Ha ha! Like there's a choice or something. I must have been in a good dream. Then I realized that I had gone to bed an hour early last night after dozing off in my computer chair, so the hours cancelled themselves and I was fine.

I can't remember if Maison woke for a night feeding last night or not- that could be good or bad, I guess. I faintly remember changing a diaper... maybe...

Madeline is completely obsessed with our cat Belly. This cat is HUGE, so Madeline likes to lay on her like she's a beanbag. She is constantly coaxing her out from under the bed. She has to give the cat hugs and kisses 12 times before nap and bedtimes. And even gives her "I love you" 's. Once I heard her offering Belly a cereal bar if she'd come out from under the bed ("come-ear belly, come-ear, snackbar?"). I'm pretty sure Belly's wishing she could jump higher (she's a strangely unbalanced cat) so she could lay on Madeline's face while she's sleeping and get rid of her problem once and for all.



Maison very obviously reached his arms out for me when I reached to pick him up today, loved it! Oh and he bitches. Aside from normal baby fussiness, he bitches and gets pretty pissed off on a regular basis.

My insurance company is trying to make me pay for a dental cleaning that they denied by mistake. How can they do that? A-holes. My other insurance company won't take a cancellation over the phone, I have to write a letter. Talk about a good way to get an extra few months of premium payments.

How do I always have so much to say??? Now for the exciting stuff.

Since it's soooooo hot, and my kitchen is open to nearly every living space in my house, I'm really trying to plan outdoor cooking into my weekly menu. That means I had to learn to use our grill. It's propane, so it's easy, but explosive gas and fire make me a little bit nervous. I've done good cooking chicken and burgers and even some yummy grilled veges.

I was inspired by Angela's post (which I can't find to link to...) and even grilled some ribs which were cooked perfectly. It was too bad for me, that seeing them before they were cooked kinda affected my appetite, and I wasn't able to stomach gnawing very much of the meat off the bones. I used this recipe, it was super easy and the cooking part turned out great, but we thought a different sauce would be better.

But now for the miracle of all miracles. This was the high point of my summer, so far. Anyone who knows me, knows how well me & baked goods get along, so I've been a little bummed that the oven heats up my house so much. Thank goodness I managed to BAKE A PIE ON THE BBQ!!! Sorry, I just can't hold back my excitement...

And it didn't even taste smokey. Chocolate chip cookies are next...