"Yes, I'll Finally Take You to the Haw River"

It started with a coupon I found in the weekly mailer. It was from a local business offering $10 bucks off rental of a canoe that you can use to float down the Haw River. I first saw it in January, when it was way too cold to even consider going outside, let alone renting a canoe and floating down the river. But ever since then, when Mark asks me what I want to do on the weekend, it has become a longstanding request (and now a joke) that we go to the Haw River. Suprisingly we ended up actually going to the river last weekend. We didn't float down it in a canoe (need to leave something to do this summer) but we hiked alongside the river.




This is the same dog that won't go to the bathroom on the grass if its wet.







A picture for Mom so that she'll recognize me when she picks me up at the airport :)

Good, Bad, and Ugly

The Good:



The Bad:



And the "Holy Crap!" Ugly:





LOTS of bugs out here.

R.O.U.S. Roadkill

The other day I was walking around my neighborhood with Dori and noticed a little brown thing in a pond. It was brown, about the size of a cat, and it was swimming. I've been going through the list of swimming brown things that I know of, and all I could think of is a beaver, an otter, and a Rodent Of Unusual Size. None of which seem to really fit. But this is the area it was swimming in:






The sad part, depending on what this little creature is, is that I saw its carcass on the road yesterday. I tried to take a picture so that it could be properly identified, but it was kind of missing its head. This is how close I got:



But I imagine, that if I got closer, it would've looked like this:





So, if anyone knows what kind of animal this is, please let me know. Its bugging me.

Waiter, There is a Crab on my Sandwich

Mark and I went to coastal NC for a few days. We stayed at the Blockade Runner named after the Confederate ships (runners) that would sneak supplies past the Union blockades and to the Confederate armies. Just a fun fact. North Carolina is big on their history, especially their role in the Civil War.

We decided to eat as much sea food as possible, which we rarely do. At one resteraunt we ordered Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches, picturing a yummy sandwhich with crab meat, alfalfa, lettuce and pickles...all on a bun. When the waiter brought out our plates we were suprised to see a whole deep-fried crab, shell and all, sitting on the bun. Mark was a trooper and just tucked its little legs under the bun and ate it. I ate mine too, since we were there to try new things, but it was hard to get past the presentation... and the shell. It only tasted okay. Skip that one if you ever see it on the menu.






We also toured the Battleship North Carolina which was used in WWII. It took us two hours to view the whole thing. There were a lot of ladders to climb, a lot of doors to stoop through, and plenty of things to bonk your head on or stub your toe. It was really interesting to see how tightly everyone shared the space from the beds stacked 4 high and several people sharing one locker. They had a lost and found closet and if you left an item out, it was picked up and locked in this closet. You would have to do extra work to get your item back. Someone must have learned that trick from their mother and thought it would be a good idea to incorporate it into the Navy's rules.







The battleship is on the left across the waterway.

View of Wrightsville from the battleship.

That Was Yummy

My favorite magazine is Taste of Home. I probably love to read recipes more than I love to cook, but we tried a good one last night. We doubled the recipe and it makes great leftovers. Here it is:

Lemon Chicken Primavera
4 Servings Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked spiral pasta
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch strips
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups 2% milk
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Suggestion: We added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and extra lemon peel.

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the chicken, red pepper and garlic in oil until chicken juices run clear. Combine flour and milk until smooth; gradually stir into chicken mixture. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Drain pasta. Add the pasta, peas, salt, lemon peel, dill and pepper to pan. Cook and stir until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Yield: 4 servings.


Nutrition Facts: 1-1/4 cups equals 405 calories, 13 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 74 mg cholesterol, 851 mg sodium, 35 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 35 g protein.

Sue and Dallas Visit!

Sue and Dallas drove from Pinehurst and spent the weekend with us. We love it when they visit. You'd think a big dog like Dallas would go crazy in a little townhouse, but he's really good. Especially after we took the two dogs to the park.

We checked out the Durham area. We drove past/around Duke University, ate at a fun local restaurant for lunch and when we discovered a Rocky Mountain Chocolate store at the mall, I bought a caramel apple dipped in white chocolate and then covered in coconut. Yum!

Snowy Weekend

We received about five inches of snow this weekend. A lot of businesses around our house were closed or had shortened hours because of the weather, and as of today, schools and government offices are still closed... We took advantage of the crappy weather this weekend and stayed in.

We played The Beatles Rock Band until we finished the game. I love the Beatles and love the story mode, where it has cool videos and you can collect photos. Fun game. The person who suggests quitting or taking a break first is automatically dubbed Yoko Ono.

If you want to see a hilarious clip from Family Guy about Ringo's song writing, copy and paste this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68edB_Q1e4g