Squeaky clean fun

The McHusband "stole" these pictures from the official dog-walk photographer's web site. Shh, don't tell.

Tucker notices the photographer squatting down nearby.

In order to keep his attention, the photographer employs a very smart technique - squeezing the life out of a squeaky toy held over her head. You tell me - think Tucker noticed?

Even Morgan perked up at the sound of the squeak.

Baked chicken fajitas

So I've had a pack of tortillas sitting around twiddling their thumbs, and I figured it was time to put them to work. I've had them since that weekend in March when Shannon, Owen, my mom, and Amy came up and they were still fine - not stale or crunchy or moldy. I'm thinking they must be part of the Twinkie family...

Anyway, I'd read about baked chicken fajitas so I decided to give them a try. I Googled "baked chicken fajitas" for a recipe and found this one from Taste of Home. It was simple, easy, and I didn't have to buy any new spices for it - ding ding ding, we have a winner.

Look how pretty those peppers are.


I stuck the dish in the oven then saw my can of diced tomatoes with chiles and realized I'd forgotten to include an ingredient. Oops. Luckily I caught the omission right away so I just pulled the dish back out, mixed in my 'maters, and we were good to go.

It smelled wonderful.


I added some shredded Mexican cheese and pickled jalapenos to mine. Yum!


I would make these again, but I might add a step and dirty an extra pan by sauteeing the peppers and onions for about 5 minutes before mixing them in with the chicken. They were just a touch too crisp.

Birthday dinner

Since my birthday was on a Saturday, the McHusband took the reins and planned a dinner with friends. I knew where we were going, but that was about it and it was fun to see who showed up.

We ate at Tribeca Tavern, a new restaurant in Cary. They took very good care of us, and I definitely want to go back there.

There were 19 of us so the restaurant split us among four tables. People moved around a bit so I feel like we were still able to do some good visiting.

The McHusband and I mostly sat with Rick and Sabrina.


They're going to see Wicked in a few weeks. Rick also tried to surprise Sabrina with the show for her birthday, but her brother sorta ruined those plans by saying he was probably going to be in town for a visit that weekend so Rick had to come clean. Sorry, boys, we promise that we don't TRY to ruin your surprises!

On my left were Leigh, Mickey, Eric and Kevin.






And this table was to my right.


Sorry, Vanessa, let's try that again.


Actually, Vanessa stole Chelle's seat.


Smile, Greg and Kim!


The fourth table sat seven of my nearest and dearest (plus the McHusband who took Vanessa's seat).


As you can see, Shawn was pretty happy about the switcheroo.


That's better.


Jovyn was in town, and it was great to have him celebrating with us.


We celebrated Jennifer's birthday with dinner last month. She won't forget that day - her daughter broker her elbow that afternoon. Ouch!


Kevin and Kristen are due in June with their second baby. They have a little girl, Charlee, and don't know if she's getting a little brother or sister. I don't know how they stand not finding out.


The musical chairs continued most of the night.


But at one point I actually did sit next to the McHusband.


Oh yeah, the McHusband even got an ice cream cake. And not just any ice cream cake. It was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard Cake from Dairy Queen. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it. This one from the website will have to do.


Mmm mmm, it was delicious!

Thank you to all my friends and my wonderful McHusband for making my 31st birthday a fabulous one. I'm very lucky to know such great people and to be married to such a thoughtful guy.

{Some of you might've noticed a couple familiar faces were missing. Terry and Vickie were in PA this weekend for her first baby shower.}

Wicked

The McHusband was way ahead of the game when it came to my birthday this year. Unfortunately things didn't exactly work out the way he hoped back when he was making his plans.

I think it was back in the fall and the radio stations were playing Wicked ads left and right. My sister had been to the show in NYC and raved about it and I'd always heard good things in general so I decided I just HAD to go. I was going to go with the girls and I was all set to buy tickets for us as soon as they were available. I called the DPAC, the venue hosting the show, to ask about seating and the guy told me that if I were their Facebook friend, I could get a code to buy tickets early.

Well, since I'm no one's Facebook friend, I had to figure out another way. I emailed the McHusband and asked him if he'd gotten a code "because there's this show, Wicked, that we girls are gonna go see and I need to buy tickets."

He didn't reply. But he called and he was pretty upset that I'd managed to ruin his great idea for my birthday. I told him to look at it this way: He'd get credit for such a fabulous gift idea for many months leading up to the show. Yeah, I don't think that really helped.

So our Wicked night finally arrived this past Friday. We got down there early and went to dinner at Tyler's Taproom, which serves my Woodchuck Cider from one of its many taps. The weather cooperated so we got to sit outside, and the restaurant's very close to the DPAC so we just walked over when we were done eating.

This "stream" was neat. As you can see, the McHusband really liked it.


This is looking back where we'd just walked from.


We had balcony seats so we did have a great overall view of the stage, but I think I'm spoiled by my big TV screen and prime spot on the couch because I did miss being able to see people's facial expressions.


Here we are, excited for the show to start.


So, what did I think of the show?

I liked it; I didn't love it.
I'm glad I saw it; I wouldn't see it again.

It was entertaining enough, but maybe I'd hyped it up so much in my head that the real thing couldn't compete. Or maybe live musicals just aren't for me.

But what I did love was my date night with my hubby. I very much appreciate his thoughtfulness and the effort he put forth to plan so far in advance, and I hate that I ruined his surprise. Thank you, McHusband!

Before I go, I need to share one last picture. I missed this guy on the walk over, but I knew I couldn't NOT take a picture when I spotted him on our way back. We passed some offices and he was sitting on the inside of the windowsill by someone's desk. Cute, isn't he?


So that's part one of my birthday weekend. The McHusband had a few more surprises up his sleeve...

SPCA Dog Walk

We did the SPCA Dog Walk this past Saturday. Chelle and I have done it for three years now, and Terry, Vickie, and the McHusband have done it the past two. It's for a great cause, you get a t-shirt, and it's always fun to see all the dogs. Like this pack of ankle-biters:


And this three-legged dog who also wore goggles.


Terry and Vickie with their two dogs, Max (the dachshund) and Koda (a Rhodesian Ridgeback).


And new friend Heather, her daughter, and their two dogs came as well. Sorry, we're missing a daughter and dog in this picture.


I don't know what the official turnout number was, but there were a LOT of participants of both the two-legged and four-legged (and the occasional three-legged) variety.


Morgan and Tucker behaved very well the whole time we were out there, and Tucker didn't even try to lay down in the middle of the road - and the crowd - this year.




My boys.


Their girls.


We're looking forward to having a stroller in our group for the walk in 2011.


And now it's time for me to take my dogs on a regular old walk through the 'hood.

Undercover

Tucker was already laying in front of the loveseat when the McHusband sat down and pulled the blanket over himself.

Well, themselves.

When pigs fly

The day I went to the zoo, the McHusband brought his aunt, Glenda, to Asheboro to meet up with me and his parents for dinner. Glenda had been in town on business and had plans to visit Kevin and Jenny in SC for a day so we had to get her from Raleigh to Asheboro where she'd join forces with the McInlaws to get to Charlotte.

The McMom read about a restaurant called The Flying Pig in Asheboro so we took advantage of the Great Glenda Swap of 2010 to check it out. Because I was already in town, I got there a little earlier than the rest of the group, but I wasn't early enough to avoid the long wait for a table. I put our name in just after 6:00, and we didn't sit down for an hour.

While I waited for everyone, I took in my surroundings, including those around me in the bathroom. First, though, there was some "art" on the building across the street.


























And this is what I saw in the little girl's room.


How's your Pig Latin?


The main storefront window at the entrance was decorated for Easter. Even the namesake pig was ready for the holiday.




We did have to wait a long time to be seated, and we did have to wait a long time for our food. But I'd definitely give The Flying Pig a second chance so long as I was there before the rush. The food was good and the atmosphere was fun. If only they had my Woodchuck Cider...

Zoo Part II

We saw a lot of birds.

Flamingos. Note the one in action.













A very colorful parrot.













A Scarlet Ibis.













And I don't remember what this guy was. I wanna say he was a member of the peacock family.













The alligators weren't too active, but they were relatively close so that upped their cool factor.


























The sign summed them up.













At one exhibit, Lyla just decided to go sit down on the curb and hang out by herself.


























We saw geysers, too.











Here're Lyla and Owen checking out the snapping turtles.

















Kinda like the directory, this gravel hill was a bright spot in their day.













"Come here, Lyla, I got a big, wet one for you!"













The end!