Happenings...

Well, first things first, Mark is another year older since I last wrote. He's 33 and he turned to that age on 9/9/09 which I think is pretty cool...3 * 3 = 9 on 9/9/2009. He's so lucky and yet, did we buy a lotto ticket that day? No. Oops.

We didn't really celebrate too terribly much. We still need to go to a new restaurant we have a gift certificate to and enjoy that. Lately it has been difficult to get out and do things, though, because I have been busying myself with rearranging the file room at the office. I am F-O-U-R boxes of files away from being done, done, done! Then, let the cataloging begin. The new filing structure will be such a blessing when it is time to rid ourselves of one or more years of files as everything will now be filed by the last patient visit or the last contact we had with the patient. We have to keep these puppies for 7 years. That means we have countless files for people that we've never met which we have to keep in storage for quite some time. Wow.

Other than that, I finally was able to "play" with my new candy making equipment and what fun I had! :) Last weekend, I made Chocolate Brownie Bombs. Trust me, you want some....they're yummy and well worth ignoring my wheat allergy for. I have to behave a little right now, though, because I went a bit overboard on ignoring the allergy and so the first part of this last week, I had some pretty nasty arthritis in my hands. Not fun, but the macaroni and cheese and spaghetti dishes (as well as those yummy brownies) were all at least fabulously tasty and so it was tolerable.

Back to Mark's birthday, though, I neglected to mention that I made him some brownies and grabbed some frosting and whipped cream from the store as well as some yummy Rocky Mountain Road and Almond Joy ice creams from Josh and Johns and made him a brownie sundae that evening for his birthday treat...topped with one of those yummy brownie balls! He was quite happy and more so because our friend Jewel made him a second set of cream cheese brownies (after we convinced her that they were yummy...she was a little leary at first - sheltered!). Naturally, because he's a sweetie, he brought them home to share. Unfortunatley, Charlotte ran the bag into a light pole and as a result, we had a batch of cream cheese and glass brownies. I salvaged them best as I could (you just don't waste food made by Jewel!!) and for the most part, I only bit into what I assume was a glass shard twice (two different brownies). Oops. At least they were so tasty I didn't care...and at least it didn't make me bleed.

Well, it is really late here and so I think that is about the only update you're going to get from me here, but you are welcome to go check out my blog for my business: www.coloradochocolatier.blogspot.com and learn about my scouting trip to a favorite chocolate store to see all the neat things I could make with my candy making supplies. You might even find a recipe you'll enjoy there!

Oh, wait, though, before I go, quick Nicholas update. He is a shape sorting king. He has two (soon to be three) different shape sorters and he loves playing with them. His favorite is the wooden one from Pottery Barn he received from his godparents, but he's also fond of the plastic Fisher Price one he has. It is really fun to watch him figure things out. He is also having a blast lately with my scent testers from scentsy. He likes to stack them, knock them over, smell them and take the lid on and off. If only adults could be so easily amused... Finally, his blocks seem to finally be of interest and he seems to have lost his fear of the vacuum which makes cleaning the house a lot easier!! He's still cute as a bug and approaching 3T in clothing so he's quite a tall little boy.

And, I just remembered, he went to his first MOPs meeting with me this week. He didn't attend last year...stayed home with Daddy. This year (at least for a while) he and Daddy are going to the Moppets rooms together. He's enjoying checking out all the new toys he hasn't see. Okay, now my brain is racing about things on Nicholas, but I really truly must go to bed! Night everyone!