And the winner is...

Our cruise took place during an interesting week. Lots of things happening in the world. We certainly had access to the news. Because Disney owns ABC, we weren't able to watch the Olympics on NBC. (we substituted the Wii Olympics...still lots of fun & it came with hot wings and nachos, but no opening ceremonies) We followed the sudden death of Bernie Mac, the invasion of Georgia, and John Edward's "mistake."* Another interesting aspect of that week was that nearly all of the summer reality shows had their finales. Before we left, I made sure the TiVo would record all those finales, then I carefully avoided any news report that might refer to the winners. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the media considers a war to be more pressing news than the Next HGTV Design Star!

By the way, may God bless and keep the inventor of TiVo, and may he and his descendants live long and prosper. Also, the fellow who came up with the oscillating fan. Love you, man,

Anyway, Monday morning I arose very early, and began watching the finales. Oh, yes; and God bless the inventor of the fast forward button.

Design Star: Loved them both. Thrilled that she won. But I would have TiVo'd his shows.

America's Best Dance Crew: semi-finals. Can I really stand one more week of Li'l Mama and her outlandish grammar? Oh, I do love the fast forward button!

Nashville Star: YES! Melissa rocks. I've already downloaded her single.

So You Think You Can Dance: Once Will was eliminated, I didn't really care who won. LOVED Katee, but I'm happy with adorable Joshua.

The Mole: My first year to watch this show, and I was confused a LOT. But I had Craig pegged as The Mole from week 3. I'm glad Mark won because he's a caring husband & father, and had expressed that his desire was for his wife to be a stay-at-home mom to their 4 kids. Awww...

Shear Genius: hasn't ended yet. Kinda too bad. What a bunch of divas.

Project Runway: just barely started. Yay! What a bunch of divas.

Oh, reality television...I confess I missed you more than my dog. You entertain me, you challenge me, you are ever interesting. Plus you don't shed on the furniture.



*Dear Mr. Edwards, A "mistake" is when you mismatch your socks or forget to add salt to the potato salad. Your actions were premeditated, selfish, sneaky, and purposeful. Shame on you.

Once Upon a Dream

We just got home from our 7-night vacation aboard the Disney Magic. We cruised the Mexican coast, and visited Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallerta. Here are a few of the hundreds of photos we took.Isn't she a beauty? When she pulls out of port, her horn blasts the first seven notes of "When You Wish Upon A Star."

Greeted by Minnie at the Port of Los Angeles. Hey, we aren't even on board yet...has anyone seen Cameron?I teared up a little when they announced over the loudspeaker, "Disney Magic, welcome the Lopez Family!" It was Ryan's first cruise. It won't be his last.Lifeboat drills really take it out of me. Well, aren't we supposed to relax on this cruise? I'll wake up in time for dinner...maybe.

Robbie and Cam hit the pools before we had set the luggage down. And they stayed in one or the other of the pools for most of the trip. They are very clean...and wrinkly.Live theater included original musicals, magicians, and comedians. We also saw Wall-E in the Buena Vista Theater. And they premiered Swing Vote.Here's Bethany reading her book. I think she finished 3 or 4 entire pages before the book was stuck back in the bag and Bethany decided she could read at home.
Hanging out on the deck. We're all red and crispy today.Cam is watching pods of whales and flying fish.

Chef Robs made salsa. Is it bueno, Robs?
Look at Ryan parasailing! Without a hard hat!
We snorkled...
...and went "cow-wacking" (thanks, Cam; that is now and forever part of the family's lexicon!)
We hiked to a waterfall with Yelapa nationals. (I didn't go; instead I slipped getting into the water taxi and broke several toes. I didn't take a picture of my black/blue/purple foot. You're welcome.
We had a few "sea days" to just relax and hang out.
Oh, yes; we ate.
And we ate.
And ate some more.
And just to be safe, we ate a little bit more.

Thanks, Disney Magic. We had a wonderful vacation.
See You Real Soon!

Take a breath and chill

Tomorrow is August first. That means the Great Thanksgiving Gearing Up begins at our restaurant. We typically sell about 10,000 pies in the span of 2 days! So now we begin. The holiday pie boxes will be ordered, along with the extra million cans of pumpkin. The typical foothills of flour and sugar bags will soon rival Everest. Pie order cards will be sent to the printers. Employee training classes will be scheduled. It's an insane, fun time of year. Everyone works so hard, and surprisingly, the cooperation level increases. And so do the Crazy Customer stories. Here's one of my favorites.

It was Thanksgiving morning, and the line for pies went around the building. In that line was this fellow: 50-something white guy, about 5'2", nasty little grey beard, camo pants, black lace-up boots, black eagle t-shirt, camo billed cap covered with various sharpshooter pins. Can you see him? Don't you just know this guy woke up that morning with a really BAD attitude, and was looking for someone to bully. He had come in the evening before (with no pie reservation) and we were out of pumpkin pie. That happens maybe twice during the holiday season, and when it does there usually will be a rack of 160 of them, fresh out of the oven, cooling in the freezer...so we don't hand a customer a box of molten pie. You're welcome.

Well, GI Joe was still mad (because you know, we really DID have a bunch of pumpkin pies, but we were HIDING them, just to tick him off. Only him. No one else.) He decided he wanted someone (read: me) to feel the heat of his ire. So he got in my face...actually my neck...and snarls, "What would you do if I decided to storm this place in front of all these customers?"

"Storm this place"? Seriously? STORM a restaurant? with 50 employees running around and 100 customers standing in line? Over an eight-dollar pie?

So I smiled my sweetest smile, and in my very best the-customer-is-always-right voice I said, "Well, sir, I would call the police and have your butt dragged off to jail. In front of all these customers. Sir."

He got all puffed up and blustery, and demanded my name because he was going to call corporate the next day and report my ill-mannered behavior. Again I smiled, "Let me give you my business card so that when you call to tell on me, you get my name right. You will not come into MY restaurant, and threaten the safety of MY employees and MY customers. Now here's your pie. You will leave this building, and do not ever come back to this restaurant. Oh, and have a lovely Thanksgiving. Sir."

We haven't seen him since. He's probably down the street terrorizing Coco's.

Na na na na NAH na...you say it's your birthday

I started this blog a year ago today. Reading back through the posts has been an interesting ride...so much has changed. A blog is like a newsy Christmas letter (Dirty Little Geekret: I LOVE newsy Christmas letters!) and I have enjoyed my little walk down memory lane. Here's to another year. May our blog numbers increase as more and more join the ranks.

Too Much Time on His Hands

If I were a member of the idle rich, and if I had endless time, and if I had a bit of artistic talent......no; I still wouldn't do this.

Another Fail-safe Recipe from the Uncook

Honestly, there is not much I enjoy less than meal prep. I dislike planning menus, I don't like the grocery store, I detest schlepping the bags of groceries home and into the house, I am not a fan of the whole wash-prep-store stage, I am insecure about that tricky heating process, I do NOT like the mess of pots and pans and plates, and I honestly don't really even like eating all that much. If I lived alone, I'd develop a deep, abiding relationship with the cereal aisle. Cheerios would become my passion. Raisin Bran would be my raison d'etre. Tony the Tiger would be my Number One guy.

Perhaps one of the great ironies of my life is that I LOVE the Food Network. I've never cooked a single thing I've seen on it, but I love it nonetheless. It's my version of the romance novel.

Anyway, here's my mom's meatloaf recipe. It's one of 2 or 3 recipes she left me, (I get my "I Hate to Cook" DNA from her) and it's a pleaser.

2# ground meat
2 eggs
15 saltine crackers, crushed
Bell pepper, diced (I don't like it, so I put in about 1/4 cup)
Onion, diced (or shake in some dry stuff)
Seasoning salt (maybe 2 tablespoonsful...I like this stuff)
Pepper (to taste. I like lots of this, too)
1 small can Tomato sauce (reserve some for the top)

Moosh it all together in a big bowl, and press it into your loaf pan. Make a nice moat around the outside -- you'll need it to collect the grease. Bake it at 375 for about 45 minutes, then top it with the reserved tomato sauce, and bake it another 10-15 minutes. Dump the grease, slice it up, serve it with baked potatoes and green salad.

Nana would be so proud.

All the little birds on J-Bird street...

We went to see The Wizard of Oz (starring Bill Dickson as The Bass Player) last night. What a greeting we got when we arrived home!...can you see where the bunnies ate my lawn? bad, bad bunnies...Thanks, MOPS!

(photos by Robbie)