Mandy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad day!

The title of this blog is a take on "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." Today was just "one of those days", when nothing seems to go right and everything seems to go wrong.
To start things off on the wrong foot, I woke up late! Last night was truly the first time I have spent the night by myself in probably 2 years, if not longer. So needless to say after checking and rechecking every door lock and window lock in the house, I was still thinking that someone would break in the house and hurt me and Gracie, which I know, in theory, is the dumbest thing ever. So basically I got NO sleep last night and apparently the 3 alarms I set to get up this morning either didn't work or I unconsciously turned them off. I was supposed to have a 9:30 conference call with my director and literally woke up in a panic at 9:32. I called her and tried to play it off like I 'forgot' but I know she knows better! Ha!
When I finally did get up, my overeating, bug-hunting cat had thrown up about 10 crickets all over the house. So after cleaning that up, breakfast just didn't seem all too appealing!
For the next few hours, nothing really went wrong, but I was already way off schedule and everything seems to take longer to do than it was supposed to, so I was running way behind on other tasks, errands, deliveries, etc.
I had to go to Kingston today. I loaded up the car and as I am pulling out of the drive way, I realized that I had no gas. Yay! Still running behind schedule, I drove to the gas station and traded in an arm and a leg for gas and then proceeded to speed my way into some terrible horrible no good very bad traffic, at 2 o'clock. I mean, come on! Shouldn't these people be at work!
Once I got to Mom's house in Kingston, I dropped off some stuff at her house and then opened the trunk to get an order put together for my delivery. I got the product out and shut the trunk, with NO keys in hand! The car doors were locked as well. Pretty much the only way I can lock myself out of the car is to lock my keys in the trunk, which I did! Also, I was supposed to change clothes at Mom's (I came in running shorts and a t-shirt), so my nice clothes were locked in the car, along with the phone number of the customer I was supposed to be delivering to, and others that I needed to call. So I borrowed Mom's car and drove all the way back to Knoxville to get my spare car key. I was about 3 miles from the house and realized that my house key was also locked in the trunk of my car in Kingston, so I had no way to get into the house to get my spare key! Yippee!
So I had to call Dad at work to get his key to my house. I got lost trying to find his office.
The screen on my cell phone is being hateful so I can't actually see anything or look up phone numbers or text anyone - it's just a white screen! I turned on my bluetooth, but when I told it to call Dad it tried to call Maggie or when I tried to call Lauren it called the Warranty department of the company that built our house.
So finally I got to the house; got the spare key; drove back to Kingston, and remembered that I had a headlight out the only person who knew how to change out the headlight (Ronnie) was leaving for several hours and I had to be back in Knoxville for another delivery before he could get back home.

So I essentially accomplished no work done today, whatsoever. I was planning on working hard and getting soo much done. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!
But tomorrow will be better. It HAS to be!

Another Great Weekend

Adam and I had a busy weekend! It is fun getting out of the house some. Adam's cousin and her husband came up for the weekend. We went to the Smokies game on Friday night with Adam's family. The Smokies are an affiliate team of the Cubs, who happen to be Adam's favorite baseball team of all time! The Smokies didn't win (darn those Montgomery Biscuits!) but we still had a great time and the fireworks show afterwards so quite impressive. Plus, Adam won two more tickets to another game anytime this season! Afterwards we went to Downtown Grill and Brewery. We sat on the back porch because we really didn't want to pay a cover to go inside and there was a bar set up outside with several tables. The temperature and weather were nice and we were serenaded by a Willie Nelson look-a-like, who was playing for tips.
Saturday was the Orange and White game. We had the best intentions of going and joining Adam's cousin but instead we stopped by to see my nephew, River. He is growing like a weed and likes to show off his ball skills! Then we met some friends of our at the house we've been looking at.
We really had no intentions of moving for awhile but Adam heard about a good deal on a bigger house in a better school district, and closer to friends of ours in Knoxville, so we had to check in on it. The house is REALLY nice! It has a lot of the things that we couldn't get in our house because of price gouging on the upgrade options. It's has 4 bedrooms, a formal dinning room, and a sitting room with a second fireplace, plus his and hers walk-in closets!
Adam called the builder today. Apparently the good deal wasn't as good as what we were originally told. Sadly, I have already fallen in love with the house, and it would have been a VERY good investment for our future. At least the builder knows how to reach us and knows that we would be interested if the price were right! (Say a prayer!)
Today, Adam and I went to see the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was VERY funny but a little dirty! I really wasn't expect a full frontal shot of Jason Segel or quite as much cussing, but all-in-all, it was hilarious and I laughed my head off!
So that was our great weekend! Next weekend I'm on my own :( . Adam has continuing ed again (Boo, Hiss!). If anyone wants to have a girls night at my place, I'm up for it. I don't like staying home alone - seriously!

RIP Inferno Dryer

Last night our trusty Inferno dryer finally flat-lined on us! I'm actually pretty excited about it! Ha! I have been begging Adam to get a new washer/dryer set since ours are probably from the late 70s to early 80s, but free, so I can't complain much.
The washer has rust in it so we can't wash our nice clothes in it and the dryer got its nickname because the clothes are either warm and moist or absolutely on fire - seriously! Usually the clothes are so hot that they burn your hands just trying to get the out of the dryer. It melted blanket, which Adam probably shouldn't have dried anyway, and has left burn marks on us when we accidentally touched the inside while trying to get clothes out.
The Inferno got so hot that it actually melted the wires into pieces. It was a miracle that the house didn't catch on fire!
So now we are hunting for a new set! Adam didn't realize that the newer models actually use less water and energy! But in the mean time, you can find me at Mom's doing all our laundry! Thanks Mom!

Happy Birthday Charlie Brown!

This past Friday was the birthday of one of my good friends, Lauren, or as I like to call her, Charlie Brown. Adam and I met the birthday crew at Preservation Pub for some birthday cake (an adult beverage)! Adam and I have been homebodies lately so it was great to meet up for a birthday celebration!
So, for all of you who are wondering why I call Lauren Charlie Brown, I will tell you the short version of the story! Lauren and I worked together at a restaurant in college. We both worked the morning greeter shift on Mondays and we had to roll silverware very early in the morning before the restaurant opened. I love entertaining people with my Jerry Springer/Montel-esque life experiences, so I staved off the boredom of silverware rolling by telling it all to Lauren. This is what Lauren called Monday Mornings with Mandy!
One Monday morning, Lauren got off work and changed clothes to head to class in Chattanooga and she came out of the bathroom with this really cute sweater that was yellow with black zigzags across it and black ribbon trim around the collar. It really is cute, but it looks like Charlie Brown's shirt from the Peanuts gang! Thus, the nickname was born and an everlasting friendship!
Here are some pictures of the birthday celebration. I may be able to snag some other pictures when they are posted. Yes, I am a picture thief.


The Captain and Charlie Brown!


The Captain and her First Mate!

The Shroud of Tur-Hen!

I used this recipe at Thanksgiving, when I cooked my very first turkey, all by myself! Dad bought some Cornish game hens awhile ago and froze them so I decided to try the recipe, on a smaller scale, on my little hens! The recipe for the turkey included a brine solution that the turkey was soaked in overnight. I didn't have over night so I just used a lot of salt!

2 cornish game hens
1 lemon
1 orange
1 tablespoon diced onion
salt
pepper corns
ground pepper
garlic powder
white wine-the cooking kind
butter
cheesecloth

First clean the hens, I usually make them do the 'breaststroke' under the faucet while cleaning them! Ha! If there are any feathers left, you can burn them off when a lighter. Stuff a slice or two of lemon and orange, and about a tablespoon of diced onions, 1/8 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper corns and a dash of garlic powder into the hens.
Place hens in a baking dish. Soften a tab or two of butter and rub on hens. Cover lightly with salt and ground pepper. Cut two piece of cheesecloth, large enough to completely cover the top and sides of hens and set aside.
Melt about 1/2 stick of butter and add a generous amount of white wine. Add the juice from the rest of lemon and mix thoroughly. Dip the cheesecloth in the white win mixture and place over the hens - this makes the 'shroud'. (Thank you Martha Stewart for that tip!)
Bake at about 350 to 375 for about 1 hour 30 minutes. Bast about every 20 to 30 minutes.

The shrouded hen!

The hen with a little citrus coming out its backside!

Take Me Out To the Ball Game!

Yesterday was Opening Day for Major League Baseball. It is a Knies tradition to have hot dogs or hamburgers, peanuts, crackerjacks, and baseball cards (gum included - YES!!) on opening day. Also we watch the Cubs play!!!
Adam usually works late on Mondays so we have missed Opening Day at the Knies house for the past few years. This year Adam has Tuesdays off so we decided to go to Kingston late and stay the night. We showed up donned in our Cubbie shirts (shown below at Wrigley Field)!!


David didn't get to make it to the Opening Day festivities in Kingston, so he had his own in Nashville!



Hopefully Adam and I can make it back to Chicago again this summer for another awesome Cubs game!