the most pain and the most joy

a

bLOg

gives the

bLOgGeR

the

absolute

power

to be

self- indulgent

granted,

there is

a huge

possibility

that

no one

will

read the

self-indulgent

bLOg

but

that's ok, too.....

Self-indulgently,

today

on

TTT with Toulouse

(or Rantings and Ramblings With Reggie the Randy Rover)

I am

celebrating

my dearest,

albeit only,

son,

Andrew!

He

turns

24

today

If you have been to

Petit Soleil

you

may have seen him

at the front desk

or washing dishes

fixing things

planting

or in an apron baking scones

Here

goes

extreme

self indulgence

Andrew August

was born

on Feb. 9

after 2 plus

days

yes DAYS

of labor pains

...

8lb 1 oz 20 inches

This is

our first day home

He is

about 8 months old

here

playing with

Schroeder

Christmas 1988


About 4 and a half here

Andrew's

self

portrait

first grade

(such a like image I think!)

Bath time hair -doos

and shenanigans

with

favorite

(and only)

sister,

Annie

Andrew is about 6 years old

8 year

birthday party...

seven crazy boys

making pizzas

going buzzzzerk

and

finally settling in to

watching movies

A L L

NIGHT

LONG

My treasured letter

that

Andrew

(and his favorite

and only

sister, Annie)

wrote to me

when

John and I

first started dating

2005

High school graduation

2009

Graduation

from California Lutheran University

and

many

many

many

happy

and

not

so happy,

but memorable

times

inbetween

all these

pictures and

events.

Self indulgently

I

am so

proud

to be this

amazing

young man's

mom

Happy Birthday,

Boogie!

Post Script

Remember the rugby blog?

The cut above

the eye

is from

his

last

game

..... they won!

if

you read

this

silly

blog

you do know

that

we are

ALL

about

this

nix sugar

nix gluten

nix preservative

...

all about

lean protein

fruit

and

d i E t

but,

if your baby boy

is

having

birthday #24

AND

is

leaving

for the

UK

the next day

you make

something

decadent

delicious

and

portable

PEaNut bUttEr CuPs

muffin papers in a muffin tin

1 1/2 c. chocolate

(I used semi sweet, but milk chocolate could be yummy, too)


in a double boiler

with

2 TBS. all natural peanut butter

when melted

swirl

about

1 big TBS.

of chocolate

in each

muffin cup -

up the sides

a bit

refrigerate for about

20 minutes

mix

3/4 cup natural Peanut Butter

with

1/3 c.powdered sugar

(I was chewing on a wooden spoon at this point)

fill the center with the

peanut butter goodness

and back to the fridge for

20 min

Drop about another

1-2 TBS. of

the

melted

orgasmic

chocolate

on top

of the peanut butter

and back to the fridge

rip

off the

cupcake papers

and

give them

ALL

to

your

son

for his

birthday

and his

UK adventure

stay tuned

...... Andrew

has

no idea

what his mama

is going

to have on

her blog

in celebration

of

him!

Who knows me?

IMG_0421, originally uploaded by TTT with Toulouse.

One of my favorite people in the whole world gave me this today - but don't let Tressie, the dog whisperer, know that we feel this way about our dogs........

Meze

Among

the

many

perks

that come

with

owning

Petit Soleil

is

that

we

MUST,

yes

MUST

try

all the new

places

that open

in

SLO

and

around the county

Meze

Wine Bar and Marketplace

opened

at the end of

2010

in the

newly

refurbished

SLO Railroad District

Very

cool building..

AND

no

darn

earthquake

will

rock

it down?

Really

amazing

and

distinctive

wines by the glass

I started

with

a

delicious

bubbly

Cremant

and

John

had

a

creamy

White Burgundy

the

menus

are

typed

on

lined

binder paper

(nice touch)

First

we

ordered

the

Brussels Sprouts

(a salad with

BS leaves

bacon

marcona almonds

dried cherries

shaved cheese

dressed

fashionably

in a

champagne

vinaigrette)

DE

lish

and the

cheese and charcuterie plate,

oh, yeah!

here it comes....

a

delicious

assortment

of

meats

cheeses

dried fruit and nuts

and

crusty baguette slices

with a

Provencal Rose,

yes,

please!

The

cute

chef

...

take a bow

All the goodies

on the

Cheese and Charcuterie board

are available

to purchase

in

the

adjoining

market

We had

a

charming

afternoon

and

WILL

go back

again - soon!

We still miss you Wally!

Yesterday

we celebrated

Huck and Phinn's

first

birthday

the reason we have

H & P

is because

we lost our

Waldo

January 14. 2010

and

John

thought we

needed

two

pups to fill

our

irreverent

Wally's

paws

We know

Wally

is singing

joyfully

in

Heaven

******

Enjoy the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRcnmDcG70E

Who do I bake for now?

five lbs.

can

be

so

STUBBORN

....

they just hang on

and don't

budge.

I read this article

about

the

devil's invention

of

sugar,

wheat flour,

canola oil

and

preservatives

and

how

they

creep inside

you

and

find happy homes

on your

belly,

thighs

butt

and

other places.

I read that these

devilish

delights

need to be

exorcised.

aaaauuuuggghh!

You know

how

I

LOVE

to

bake,

cook

eat and drink

oh, no!

(and so

does

hubby, John)

(especially the eat and drink part)

...

John

is

going

to

try

to

exorcise

the little devils,

too

aaauuuggghhhhhh

WHO DO I BAKE FOR NOW?

*****

HAPPY

FIRST

BIRTHDAY

HUCKLEBERRY AND PHINN!

Baking is my therapy!

I love

the

process

of reading

a recipe,

and bringing

the words and ingredients

to life!

and then

reaping the benefits

of an

outstanding

therapy session,

Carrot Dog Cookies

3 carrots

(why did I

start to

I peel carrots for

dog cookies?)

cut into chunks and microwaved until soft

Puree carrots

with a handful of parsley and 4 cloves garlic

(it smelled really good...)

Mix

2 c. unbleached flour

(I had way old rye flour that needed to be used up)

1/2 c. homemade whole wheat bread crumbs

1 c. oats

Add

the carrot stuff

to the

flour mixture

and 2 eggs

and mix

until a ball is formed

Roll

out onto a floured surface

and grab

your

fave

cookie cutters

I had quite an audience at this point

I wonder

if they knew

the birthday cookies were for them?

Cut the dough

into

shapes

onto the cookie sheet

and

bake at 300 degrees for about an hour

Carrot Dog Cookies!

I made

the

boys

new green scarves

which didn't last

Happy Birthday, Phinn!

(scarves back on for the picture)

Happy Birthday, Huck!

glad you came to the party, Nottie!

They actually ate the cookies,

no throw up

no "drop and walk away"

...

another

successful

therapy session

...if the

exorcism

of

the devils

ingredients

works

to

shed

those

nasty

five lbs.

t.b.a.

......

Reggie the Randy Rugby Rover

Yup!

I

miss

Toulouse!

He was just a get- along

kind of car

but

Reggie

and

me..

we are

working it out

and

doing some time together

...

trying to

tell each other

when there is a problem

like

F

with the engine light on

means

you didn't screw the gas cap on right

and

air is either getting in

or getting out

and

beeping

means

we are

too close

to

something

and

you don't want to

drop your purse

on the

button

that

lowers Reggie

because

the

bell rings

and you have no idea why

and

it

just keeps

ringing

and

ringing

and ringing

but

cruise control

rocks!

and the

big

windows

are wonderful!

and

F O U R

D O O R S

are the best

The

big

space in the back

holds

massive amounts

of

Costco

toilet paper,

food,

cleaning supplies,

paper towels,

dry cleaning

and other

STUFF

for Petit

and home

the best!

Reggie,

you know he is British,

and

I went

to see

Andrew

play

rugby

(Brits love rugby)

Andrew

loves

Rugby,

too!

He

was playing in a

SLO Rugby vs Beaumont Rugby

match.

If you have

EVER

watched rugby

you

will

know

that it is

very

cOnfusinG

and has

a language

of it's

own

They use words

like

RUCK

SCRUM

HOOKER

TRY

22 METER LINE

INFRINGEMENT

and

other

incomprehensible phrases

...

what

do they all mean?

I

don't

know!

That's Andrew quaffing water

Rugby

appears

to be a

combination

of

American football and soccer

and

other things

Men

(or women)

lift their teammates

up by their shorts

no doubt

causing

quite a wedgie

and the

other

teammate

throws

the ball up

to

him

or her

Andrew played

hooker

at this match

(No,

I am not proud

that Andrew is a hooker)

he

threw

the ball in

and

off

they

ran

For

some

reason

it is decided

that a scrum

is needed

...

loud noises

and

a massive

mess of players

cause

the rugby

ball

to

pop out

from the scrum

and

off

they

run

scrum

It

was

all quite

fun

and exciting.

I

don't think SLO won,

because

I heard

'"Good game!"

- What is automatically said to members of the opposing side at the conclusion of the match. Whether or not it was a satisfactory game is another matter entirely.'

all

was

well

because

the

beaten

battered

and bruised

players

all

go

to

McCarthy's

or

Bull's Tavern

or

Frog and Peach

and

throw back a

few pints together

and call it a day.