Snowshoeing in Park Point

During our blessed warm spell, Steve and I grabbed our snowshoes and headed out to Park Point...the spot that we spent most of our summer months grilling, walking the beach, swimming (when Lake Superior permitted it) and sitting around a fire.

The winter looked a little different on The Point...

 

 

 Hi handsome.

With all of Kempton's surgeries and the restrictions on his exercise, plus the physical therapy 3+ times per day we haven't had a chance to get away much this winter. It was nice to get outside in the fresh air (even if it was only for a couple of hours) on a gorgeous day.

New Adventure and New Scenic Cafe

Happy Monday!

I hope that everyone had an excellent weekend.

I wanted to share some news with you this morning.

I accepted a new job last week!

I will be working full time in my field again, with a new company.

Let's visit the positives and negatives about my decision.

Positive: I will be doing what I went to school for, which helps me to justify the 60 billion dollars I have in student loans.

Positive: I will be (hopefully) expanding my skill set and knowledge base, and doing more challenging work.

Negative: I will be going from wearing jeans to work, to wearing business professional attire...aka: business suit.

Positive: I will be making more money, along with having more comprehensive benefits.

Negative: It isn't enough money for me to retire at age 30, hire a housekeeper, or travel the world. Boo.

Negative: I will be leaving my coworkers, who I love and who have been amazing and supportive and flexible while I went through my divorce and all of the other bullshit that went with it.

Positive: I am feeling stronger and in a much better place now, and I am very ready for a new adventure!

Wish me luck!!!

To celebrate my new opportunity, Steve and I went to my favorite restaurant.

The Scenic Cafe.

Sigh.

We started with the Taleggio Fondue with homemade croutons:

Excuse the pictures - they were taken on an iPhone.

Delicious!

Then we shared a pistachio-crusted goat cheese salad (can you tell that we like cheese?), but I forgot to take pictures of it.

For my main course, I had the Braised Lamb Shank.

Yummy.

Here is the description from the menu:

braised lamb shank
gnocchi béchamel roasted tomato olive oil
capers feta basil

Steve had the Grilled Quail.

The menu description says:


grilled quail
soft polenta wild rice mascarpone cheese
duck liver sherry cream sauce marsala crimini
quail egg peas morels

Steve didn't love his quail...he thought it was a little oily and even a little gamey. He also said the wild rice wasn't cooked. Major bummer. 

Steve and I agreed that the best part about The Scenic is their starters. The fondue, the artichoke slather, sashimi tuna tacos, the curried blue mussels - they are all to die for.

The last couple of times that we have went, our entrees have been good, but not quite the level of fantastic-ness that we have come to expect from The Scenic.  

But never-the-less, we had a great time and enjoyed the atmosphere, the wonderful service and each other. If you are ever in Duluth or up the North Shore, it is definitely worth stopping in.

Disclaimer: The Scenic didn't pay me to review them or to write anything about them (nor have they ever). The opinions expressed are mine.  

Blu Ice Bar

On New Year's Day Steve, Cal, Lyndi and I went and checked out the Blu ice bar up the North Shore of Lake Superior at Grand Superior Lodge. The bar was carved by award winning ice carver Chris Swarbrick of Ice Occasions.

It was pretty cool...although I had been expecting a bit more ice. Only the bar area and one bench with a small table were actually ice. The parts that were ice were really neat though. And we took shots out of ice glasses!

 

 

It was definitely a unique experience. Worth seeing but difficult to hang out for any length of time...especially if you go on a cold day/night like we did! After we took our shots out of the ice glasses, we each ordered a drink and went outside to stand around a big fire they had going...then we left to go eat somewhere a little warmer!

Good News!

I have a couple bits of good news for you all on this gorgeous Thursday!

And by gorgeous, I mean that the temperature is above zero.

The first bit of info is on a personal note...

A judge signed the stipulation granting me the ownership of my house this week!

Translation: I pay Jim out half the amount of equity and his name comes off the title of the house!

So my little cottage is mine all mine - to sell, fix up or add on to!

For those of you in the area, a saging housewarming party is in the making...but it probably won't occur until after the holidays!

The second bit of good news impacts most of you a little more, because it is about the blog...

Thanks to the help of the lovely and talented Dara of Cookin' Canuck, I will soon be including a link at the bottom of each of my recipes for a printable recipe!

Dara was kind enough to walk me through how to do this, so over the next couple of weeks I will be working tirelessly (or in between shopping, wrapping and eating) to add the link to the bottom of all of my existing recipes!

I hope this makes it easier for you to try and share your favorite recipes.

On another note, tomorrow is Steven's birthday and we have a collection of festivities to attend to over the weekend, so you may not hear from me again until Monday.

Boo! Wah! Hmpf. Snort.

Don't worry - I will try to cook up something delicious this weekend so that I have some good stuff to share with you next week!

In the meantime, stay warm and have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Monday and Steve Update!

Holy winter storm, batman.

We got pounded on Saturday with about 8 inches on heavy, wet snow on Saturday.

It covered the trees and the houses and power lines, making my neighborhood look like a winter wonderland.

Did I mention that Steve has a plow truck?

He was there on Sunday morning before I'd even had breakfast, plowing out my driveway and shoveling off my walking paths/Kempton's peeing paths.

Reason number 9,318 why I love him.

On a related note, I am happy to report that on Friday (exactly one year after his first dose of chemo), Steve met with his doctor after another surveillance checkup, and was given a clean bill of health.

Yay!

I am extremely thankful, and we've been extremely lucky.

You can read about his cancer saga here. 

On a totally unrelated note, I have some new recipes for you this week!

I won't tell you what they are, but I'll give you some clues...

One involves a very unhealthy combination of pizza toppings.

And one involves a healthy combination of citrus fruits.

Sorry Joey -  no meatloaf yet. I'll work on that for you.

Enjoy you day, everyone!

Delizioso!!

Be still my heart.

Steve's sister in law, Brooke, has made me a very happy person.

She works for this company:

Manicaretti imports high quality Italian foods: oils, vinegars, pastas, rice/grains, pasta sauces, etc.; and sells them to restaurants, Italian grocery stores, etc.

Brooke and Steve's brother Tim live in California, but were up for a visit late this summer.

Last week, Steve brought me a large box that Brooke had sent to us.

I opened it up, and here is what I found:

The box was full of imported Italian olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried pasta, pesto and tomato sauce.

I died and went to heaven.

My heaven will be full of delicious Italian food.

I was so excited, my first instinct was to hoard it all.

Seriously.

I thought about using it sparingly and savoring it for years to come.

Then Steve mentioned that there might be a small chance that there was more where this came from.

And then I thought about drinking the balsamic vinegar straight out of the glass jug.

Pounding it.

Like water.

Or wine.

But now that I've had a little while to calm down, I think I'll just be cool, you know?

Maybe I'll use some of the products next time I have friends over for dinner.

Maybe I'll give a bottle to my mom.

Maybe I'll whip it out when I'm making something special for Steve next time.

Maybe I'll use it on a perfectly normal weeknight, for a simple salad or a quick bowl of pasta.

Either way, THANK YOU Brooke!

You just made this girls month.

PS - in case you were wondering, this was the first thing I did with it:

Dipped some crusty Italian bread into a mixture of oil and balsamic. YUM.

After tasting it Steve said to me, "This is so good, it doesn't even taste like balsamic vinegar!"

And I said, "No, honey - this is what balsamic vinegar is SUPPOSE to taste like."

The end.

A Week of Change

Wow.

It has been a long week.

Today is my Friday, and I am looking forward to the weekend even more than usual.

Forgive me if this post is a bit morose, but this week has been emotionally exhausting.

As you may have seen in my previous post, Steve's children's dog, Tick, died on Saturday night.

He was with the kids' mother (the kids and Steve were at my house), and ran off to chase a deer.

Somehow he must have got his leg stuck or caught while he was running...she took him to the vet and found that his leg was broken, and his hip joint shattered.

The surgery was going to be too expensive, so she had him put to sleep.

Of course, the kids were crushed.

Chris commented to Steve on Saturday night that it felt like his parents getting divorced all over again.

Monday came, and after over 7 hours in mediation with lawyers and social workers, Steve emerged with happy news:

He was awarded almost 50% custody, which means an additional 4 days a month during the school year, an extra 6 days a month over the summer from what he had! (let it be known, for the record, that he was actually awarded 50% custody by the Family Law attorney and social worker, but that she-who-must-not-be-named would not comply. In order to avoid a long and expensive court battle that would involve the kids having to testify, Steve settled for 44%)

The kids were ecstatic. This is what they have been begging for over the last year and a half.

I was ecstatic for them. It should have been 50%, but at least it was better than what they had together, which wasn't enough.

But everything that affects them, that affects Steve...it affects me too.

And suddenly that is 4 extra days a month (6 in the summer), that Steve is with the kids, and not with me.

And I can see them, sure.

I can hang out.

I can tag along.

I can pretend like it doesn't suck that I have to go home to an empty house and sleep alone.

I know that it will get better, eventually.

Sometimes I really appreciate the time to myself.

And I know that it's the best thing for the kids to be eased into our relationship, instead of having it forced on them.

I know they need time to get used to the situation. To get used to me.

So here I am...a largely selfish person, put into a situation which demands that I patient, giving, and above all things - selfless.

Talk about life lessons, all crammed into a very short amount of time.

I'm not perfect, and sometimes I pout. Sometimes I think, "What about me?" or "When is it going to be my turn?".

Sometimes I struggle so much that I want to walk away. Want to find a path of less resistance. Want to be taken care of. To be the 1st priority in Steve's life.

But then I wonder...is that really what I want?

Do I really want a partner who would sacrifice the needs of his children in order to take care of my every whim?

It's no secret that I am a princess.

But do I really want to be the kind of person that can't look beyond what she needs, in order to take care of others? And not just random strangers, but innocent kids that so obviously love and need their father.

It is a balance.

Just like with every relationship, it is a fragile, delicate balance.

I don't envy Steve, being in the middle. Trying to take care of 3 kids and a girlfriend that beg for his undivided time and attention whenever they can get it.

It's hard. For everyone.

Sometimes it flat out sucks.

But sometimes it seems totally worth it.

Like Tuesday night, when Katy asked if they could take Kempton home with them...I knew they were missing Tick, and I had yoga anyway, so I let them take him for the evening.

A win-win situation. The kids got to love a dog again, and Kempton got to be tortured by children (just kidding). 

Or last night, I went and helped them carve pumpkins.

Andy invited me to his birthday party.

Chris told me that when he went to see a therapist, he told her that he liked me.

Katy started telling me that she loved me, and last night she called me her friend.

Progress.


Here are some pics from pumpkin carving last night:

Andy, with his almost finished pumpkin...

Katy...

At this point Andy stole my camera and was taking random pictures. Chris had soccer practice so he got home late.

Andy's pic of the spaghetti that Steve made for us for dinner...

And finally, just as I was getting ready to leave, Katy decided she needed a nice long hug.

We still have a long way to go, but I feel like we are slowly moving forward. I wish that the kids didn't have to deal with any of it - the divorce, their dad having someone new in his life, their dog dying...I wish none of us did.


...but I feel like they are going to be ok.

And I think I am too.

RIP Tick

 

 

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us."

    -Robert Louis

 

 

"Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday."

   -Thornton Wilder 

You will be greatly missed! 

Happy Monday!

I can say that because my week is short this week...

My work week ends on Wednesday at noon!

WHOOO HOOOO!!!

Even though I won't be saying whoo hoo when I get my paycheck in two weeks.

But I just can't be sad about that right now.

I had a fabulous weekend and this is the face I wake up to every morning....

You totally thought I was going to post a picture of Steve, didn't you?

Ha!

Well....

Kempton is my best boy...

...but I guess he comes in at a close second...

Not bad, eh?

And the best part?

They fight over who gets to sleep next to me.

It's always nice to feel wanted.

Although they both snore very, very loud...

But I think Kempton sheds a wee bit more. 

Stay tuned for a delicious recipe to use up some of your garden tomatoes and basil!

Camping on Rainy Lake

Our totally kick ass campsite...one of my favorites in Voyageurs National Park. Hauling all of your gear, coolers (we don't really like to rough it), therma-rests, etc. up the rock is not fun. But once you are set up...beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

I know that I am biased, but is there a more beautiful lake anywhere?

As we were cruising around, exploring the little bays around our campsite, we came across this tiny little deer swimming across the channel.

The poor, tiny thing was either so scared or so tired, that when it reached the shore it just stood there, shaking. It wouldn't jump out of the water. I wanted to take it home and raise it and love it and protect it. But I'm not sure that Kempton would be cool with sharing the tent with a baby deer for the next couple nights.

While Steve was catching walleye, I was catching tiny bass that were barely bigger than the bait I was using.

Almost every time we dropped our hooks down, we had a bite and reeled in a fish...most of them were small, but a couple of them were around 19 inches.

Finally I catch a walleye! Wanna kiss, little fishy?

Taking a rest in the front of the boat...fishing is hard work!

Breakfast on Sunday morning...fried eggs over the campfire!

Chef Steve (he specializes in breakfast entrees)

Loons...the sound of Rainy Lake...

I've seen a lot of sunsets on Rainy Lake, but this one was up there in the most beautiful ever. Did I mention that a huge storm blew in right after this? Steve and I sat on the rock at our campsite, and watching the lightening and sipping wine for about an hour before the rain started. And the wind. And then for the next couple of hours, we stood outside in the hurricane-like conditions holding our tent from blowing away. Literally. But we continued to enjoy ourselves (and continued to sip wine)!