Kitchen Success Story: Oriental Chicken Casserole Edition

So, this is the third time I've blogged about a successful cooking attempt resulting from my Baldwin Christian School cookbook.  Let's be honest, they should have named this cookbook Baldwin Christian School's Magical Cookbook for the Undomesticated Lady.   Because it is magical.  And I don't even believe in magic. 

Enough said.  Here's the recipe!

Oriental Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
1 T. butter
1/2 c. celery, chopped
2 T. onion, chopped (or dry)
10.5 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
2/3 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. cooked chicken, diced
2 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 c. cooked rice
3/4 c. chow mein noodles
1/2 c. cashews

Instructions:
In medium skillet, saute celery and onion in butter until softened.  Stir in soup and broth, then chicken and soy sauce.  Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.  Stir in rice.  Pour into 1 1/2 quart casserole and bake at 350F for 20 minutes, until liquid bubbles.  Sprinkle noodles and nuts on top and return to oven for 5 minutes.  Serves 4-5 people.

Sassypants.

A friend at work recently gave me the recipe for Sassy Water.  As part of the "Flat Belly Diet" (a diet I am obviously not following), this special water concoction is supposed to detox and debloat your jiggly tummy.  Sounds good to me!  Anyway, I made some of this water, just because it sounded so refreshing.  I can honestly say that it is quiet delicious!  It tastes very clean and well, um... sassy!  I even let Gracie try some, and I think her tail was wagging a little faster afterwards.

Here's the recipe, in case you wanna try it:


Sassy Water
Get a huge pitcher, and fill it with 2 liters of water.  Add the following:
- 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced up  (I used half of a cucumber and it seemed to be plenty)
- 1 small/medium lemon, sliced up
- 1 tbs. grated ginger root
- 12 mint leaves
Stir ingredients into the water a bit, then put it in the fridge overnight to steep.

As part of the flat belly diet, you're supposed to drink the entire 2 liters in one day.  But, since I'm not on the diet, I am just enjoying it at my own pace.  Give a try - you'll like it!

"...and the award goes to....."

ME!

Well, not the award, but a nomination for 3M's Pyramid of Excellence!

Each year, 3M gives it's employees the opportunity to recognize Administrative Assistants for their overall awesomeness. In order to do so, you must write up a nomination.  Then, if the nominee wins at the division level, they move on to the corporate level awards, which could result in a trip to Wonewok!

Anyway, long story short, I received this e-mail today:

Congratulations on being nominated for the Pyramid of Excellence! This is a tremendous honor and speaks highly of your contributions to 3M and your business unit. Thank you for all you have done!

Basically, this means that someone in my division (I have no idea who) took the time to nominate me for the Pyramid of Excellence.  If I win the award within my division, I will go to the corporate awards banquet.  If I win there, I'll be escorted onto the corporate jet for another lovely vacation at Wonewok!  And you know how much I love Wonewok!

If I win, you'll be the first to know!

Analogies

Need a good laugh?  Check this out....   I received it from one of my co-workers today, and thought it was hilarious!!

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Apparently the Washington Post held a contest in which high school teachers sent in the “worst” analogies they’d encountered in grading their students’ papers over the years.  Here they are:

1. Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center.
2. He was as tall as a 6′3″ tree.
3. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
4. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
5. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
6. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
7. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
8. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
9. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
10. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
11. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.
12. The lamp just sat there, like an inanimate object.
13. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
14. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
15. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at asolar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
16. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
17. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
18. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
19. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
20. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
21. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.
22. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.
23. Even in his last years, Grand pappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it hadrusted shut.
24. He felt like he was being hunted down like a dog, in a place that hunts dogs, I suppose.
25. She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword.
26. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
27. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
28. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
29. “Oh, Jason, take me!” she panted, her breasts heaving like a college freshman on $1-a-beer night.
30. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
31. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
32. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
33. The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
34. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.
35. Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like “Second Tall Man.”
36. The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
37. The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
38. She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
39. Her pants fit her like a glove, well, maybe more like a mitten, actually.
40. Fishing is like waiting for something that does not happen very often.
41. They were as good friends as the people on “Friends.”
42. Oooo, he smells bad, she thought, as bad as Calvin Klein’s Obsession would smell if it were called Enema and was made from spoiled Spamburgers instead of natural floral fragrances.
43. The knife was as sharp as the tone used by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) in her first several points of parliamentary procedure made to Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton.
44. He was as bald as one of the Three Stooges, either Curly or Larry, you know, the one who goes woo woo woo.
45. The sardines were packed as tight as the coach section of a 747.
46. Her eyes were shining like two marbles that someone dropped in mucus and then held up to catch the light.
47. The baseball player stepped out of the box and spit like a fountain statue of a Greek god that scratches itself a lot and spits brown, rusty tobacco water and refuses to sign autographs for all the little Greek kids unless they pay him lots of drachmas.
48. I felt a nameless dread. Well, there probably is a long German name for it, like Geschpooklichkeit or something, but I don’t speak German. Anyway, it’s a dread that nobody knows the name for, like those little square plastic gizmos that close your bread bags. I don’t know the name for those either.
49. She was as unhappy as when someone puts your cake out in the rain, and all the sweet green icing flows down and then you lose the recipe, and on top of that you can’t sing worth a damn.
50. Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.
51. It came down the stairs looking very much like something no one had ever seen before.
52. Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake.
53. You know how in “Rocky” he prepares for the fight by punching sides of raw beef? Well, yesterday it was as cold as that meat locker he was in.
54. The dandelion swayed in the gentle breeze like an oscillating electric fan set on medium.
55. Her lips were red and full, like tubes of blood drawn by an inattentive phlebotomist.
56. The sunset displayed rich, spectacular hues like a .jpeg file at 10 percent cyan, 10 percent magenta, 60 percent yellow and 10 percent black.

Cookies.

Today I ordered Girl Scout Cookies from my little cousin, Anna.   1 box each of Samoas, Thin Mints, Trefoils and Do-Si-Do's.  The exciting thing this year is that you no longer have to wait to receive your cookies.  You get them on the spot!  Rock on!

In honor of cookies, I have decided to post my most favorite cookie-related media.  These clips are part of the Christmas Eve on Seseme Street movie.  Watch them in order for some good laughs :)

$3. Three. Dollars.

So, tonight we got our taxes done.

Last month, we met with our tax lady, Christine, to go over what we had so far, and to get an estimate of this year's damage.  She estimated that we'd end up paying in about $1900 to Federal and $200 to state.

As it turns out, our situation turned out to be much more favorable.

We are getting (drumroll please).... 3 dollars back from our friends at the IRS.  3 big ones.  3 smiling George Washingtons.  Love it.

I have never been more thrilled about $3.  Ah, the simple things in life. 

A Little Nookie.

Get your mind outta the gutter.

I'm talking about my NOOK!

Today, I received my first-ever library nook book! 

In the past, all of my nookbooks have been purchased from Barnes & Noble online.  They're pretty cheap - anywhere between $2 and $15. 

However, my pal Amanda informed me that the Hennepin County Library is now lending eBooks for free!  What an awesome way to load up my nook with great reading material without hurting my wallet!  Whooopie!

So, enough blogging.  Time to READ!

Party!

Tonight we had a party at our house - and it was FUN!

Liz, Kevin, Sophorn and her boyfriend Vinh, and John all brought delicious treats to share.  Liz brought homemade caramel corn, Kevin brought veggies and dip, Sophorn brough fruit, and homemade fried rice (definitely the hit of the buffet line) and John brought a hotdish.  I made meatballs, dips, and sliced up a bunch of cheese.  YUM.

Together we ate, laughed, sang karaoke and played games.  Such a fun night!

The best part of the evening was simply the fact that we were able to use our new "dining room" for the first time.  Our new table and light fixture look great!  Makes our townhouse look more like a home!

I'm Fond of Fondue!

Tonight, some of my coworkers and I had the pleasure of gathering around a fondue pot for an amazing dinner at The Melting Pot in Minneapolis.

Liz, Kevin, Sophorn, John and I were accompanied by our friend from 3M Singapore, his name is Pang.   Pang wanted to treat us all to dinner, which ended up being a good thing because we spent $500. Ouch!

Needless to say, we got our money's worth. We at cheese, chocolate, and things dipped in cheese and chocolate.  And we ate breads and veggies and meats and seafood.  And we all left completely stuffed. 

What a great night!!

Me and Pang

Around the table:  Me, Sophorn, Kevin, Liz, Pang and John

Say Cheese, Valentine!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was driving to work this morning, thankful that Ben and I have become one of those couples who don't feel the need to buy unnecessary gifts on Hallmark holidays.  A simple "Happy Valentine's Day!" and a hug is all we need from each other.

Or so I thought.

Apparently Ben doesn't feel the same way.  I came home to a nice card, and a bag of gifts, which included a package of Sweethearts candy... and a new camera!  Ahhh!

Ben got me a Sony Cybershot to replace the Nikon I destroyed up north.  It was driving me crazy not having a camera, so I am thankful that he was kind enough to replace it for me.  What a guy!

I feel bad that I didn't get Ben anything.  Hopefully next year, we truly will be one of those couples who doesn't exchange gifts, because a simple "Happy Valentine's Day!" and a hug will do just fine.

Here's to love and cameras!

Kitchen Success Story: Crock Pot Chicken Edition

I made a delicious meal tonight! Wow!  Rumor has it, my cooking skills are lacking, so when I do make something good, it's kind of a big deal.

I threw 4 chicken breasts into the crock pot, brushed them with butter, and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and dry italian salad dressing mix.  5 hours later, I added cream of mushroom soup, cream cheese, and onion.  An hour after that = a magical chicken dinner, served with green beans, rice and garlic bread.

Seriously delicious, and highly recommended.

Recipe below!

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CROCK POT CHICKEN

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T. melted butter
salt and pepper
2 T. dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
6 oz. cream cheese, cut into cubes
1 T. chopped or dried onion

Instructions:

Wash chicken and pat dry.  Brush with butter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in crock pot.  Sprinkle dry salad mix over the chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.  About 45 minutes before serving, mix soup, cream cheese and onion in small sauce pan.  Cook until smooth.  Pour over chicken in pot.  Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes. 

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Everything Tastes Better When Covered in Chocolate...

I love having great friends in the workplace.  It makes going to work so much more enjoyable! 

My friends at work are extremely social, and it seems like an event is always being planned.  There is never a lull in activity.

Today, to celebrate Valentine's Day a little early, my friend Sophorn invited our circle of friends down to the conference room for a little lunchtime party.

We had a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!  So awesome!  Everyone brought something to dip in the chocolate.  We had strawberries, bananas, marshamallows, rice krispie bars, pretzels, nuts, blueberries and more!  We also had really yummy punch!  Add the Funk Station on Pandora Radio and you've got yourself a party, people.

What a great way to end the work week!  Happy weekend, everyone!

Oh, Jimmy...I missed you.

Today I got reacquainted with a good friend of mine, Jimmy John.  Yes, I'm talking about the restaurant.

Last year, my uncle John, my friend Tim and I made it a weekly tradition to hit Jimmy John's on Thursdays for lunch, followed by a trip through Valu Thrift, which is conveniently located right next door to the sandwich shop. 

But, this year, things have been busy, and our Thursday routine slowly faded into a fond memory.  Sad. :(

However, this week was kind of quiet at work, so the 3 of us were finally able to rekindle our Thursday lunchtime festivities.

The Turkey Tom Sandwich (#4, which chips and an iced tea) has never tasted so good.    I love Jimmy John's!

Sick!

I'm sick!  Argh!!!!!

I haven't been sick since last March!  Today, I woke up feeling kinda goofy.  Went to work, and started to get a sore throat.  Then, I got hot, and dizzy, and decided to go home a little early. 

I spent the evening in bed working on my accounting homework.  No fun!

But, I must not close out this daily blog without saying something positive.     The best part about today: a coworker brought in a football-shaped ice cream cake to celebrate the Packers winning the Superbowl.  While the Packers disgust me, I ate a piece anyway.  It made my throat feel a little better.  :)

Pray that my cold goes away quickly!!

Exhausted!

I cannot stay awake!  I had too much fun up north, and am now paying the price.

Today was a very lazy day.  I went to visit my Grandma, since I hadn't seen her in 3 weeks.  It was nice to catch up with her.  After that, I went home to watch the Superbowl.  I must say that I am disappointed with the results, but it's just a game.

I am pondering what to do with the $25 gift card I won at Wonewok.  Our VP handed out prizes on the bus, and I was rewarded for spending the most time stuffed in a snowbank.  :)   I think I may put this money towards my first pair of skis!

I am excited to go back to work tomorrow!

Have a good week everyone!
Renee

do i hear a hot dog

Hi Everyone

What fun it was to go to our first auction.  I felt like I was in a foreign language class - I couldn't understand a word the guy said.  Very cool experience but it would have been more fun if they had cooler crap to buy.  I can 't wait to go to another one in the future. 

After that I woodworked a little while Renee did some homework and some domestic things.  I had some fun making sawdust out in the garage sanding stuff.  I just love the smell of sawdust like a dog likes the smell of any human food.  Just makes my heart beat a little faster knowing that something cool will come of the project in the making.

In the evening we went up to Renee's parents house to show them the Wonewok pictures.  The hot dogs were good considering I had nothing to eat during the day.  I had two of them topped with plenty of ketchup and onions.  I was the perfect kissable date after that, haha. 

Went home and thats all there is to know about saturday.

peace out
ben

Best Trip Ever!

It's Friday, and I am home from Wonewok.  I am so bummed that it's over, but so thankful that it happened! 

I didn't go to bed at all last night, because I was having too much fun.  So this morning I packed up my stuff, took a shower, and said goodbye to my lodge room.  Then, I enjoyed a great breakfast in the lodge, played shuffleboard for an hour, and then boarded the bus back home. 

The ride home was fun but I struggled to stay awake, since I only got 3 hours of sleep over the past 2 days.  But, I managed to stay awake solely because I didn't want anyone to take my picture sleeping/drooling on the bus. My coworkers do things like that.  And I am guilty of doing the same :)

My dad picked me up at the airport and I got home around 4PM.  I was glad to see my puppy and Ben!  I missed them a lot, and wish they could have been at Wonewok with me.  Maybe next time :)

I will look back on this trip as one of the greatest adventures of my life.  What a blessing it was! 

Have a good weekend everyone!  Time for me to take a nap!!

Renee

Wonewok Day 2: The BEST Day of My Life!

Feb 3, 2011 will go down in history as the best day of my life.  Well, at least until an even more amazing day happens!

Why was it the best day of my life? 

1) I woke up in a beautiful lodge room (nevermind that I was crazy sore from skiing yesterday!)
2) I ate creme brulee pancakes for breakfast.
3) I got to spend the majority of the day with my best friend
4) I got to practice my skiing, surrounded by the most peaceful woods, with 3 of my friends
5) I got to pet horses
6) I ate a piece of warm apple pie by a roaring bonfire
7) I went dogsledding!
8) I got to snowshoe with a great friend
9) I saw my friends be silly and have fun
10) I ate an amazing dinner
11) I got thrown in several snowbanks and laughed so hard that it hurt
12) I had so much fun that I am still awake at 4AM because I'm too happy to sleep

OK, so that was just a summary.  Now, here's the full story:

I got 3 hours of sleep last night.  After working on the VP's presentation til 3AM, I finally went to bed and woke back up at 6AM.  3 hours of sleep is sufficient when you have excitement to keep you awake!

Breakfast was served at 8AM.  Immediately following, we had a quick group gathering and then were set free for another day of fun!  

Because my skiing experience wasn't the greatest yesterday, Tim offered to go out with me today and help me learn how to not fall down.   I gladly accepted his offer, and by 9AM I was wearing skis and gliding across a lake.  Our friends Jeremy and Mike joined us, but they chose to snowshoe instead.

Me not falling down:

Tim, Me & Jeremy:

After I skied across the lake without falling down, we headed into the woods.  We skied for about 3 hours, and I had a blast!  I only had one major wipe-out, but it was a fun one!

This looks worse than it was.

I get by with a little help from my friends:

At noon, we were scheduled to attend a Loggers Lunch out in the woods.  Everyone was riding a horse-drawn sleigh to the lunch, but Tim, Jeremy, Mike and I skied/snowshoed to lunch instead.  The horses were taking the same trail as us, so we were fortunate to see them prance by several times.  They were beautiful!

When we arrived at the Loggers Lunch, we were treated to a chuckwagon-style meal of chili, brats, and apple pie, along with warm beverages, and beer.  I scarfed down my lunch so I'd have more time to pet the horses.



After lunch, everybody took the sleigh back to the lodge, except for Tim and I.  We kept on skiing!  As we got closer to the lodge, we could hear barking... which could only mean one thing!  Dogsledding time!

The sled pulled 2 people, so Tim and I rode together.  What a rush!  It was so much fun watching the dogs run across the frozen lake.  They were so sweet and fuzzy and happy!!! 



Getting dragged across the ice by a bunch of crazy pups:

 



After the thrilling dogsledding experience, Tim and I parted ways and I joined up with my buddy Thomas.  Thomas is a snowshoeing fanatic, and I've always wanted to hit the trails with him.  This was the perfect opportunity to do so!  So, off we went, through the woods and across the ice.  It was fun and very peaceful, but seemed kind of boring after skiing all morning, which was much more thrilling.  Regardless, I had a great time hanging with Thomas and enjoying the outdoors.

Between skiing, dogsledding and snowshoeing, I was beat by dinner time, but there was still so much to do!  We had a wine and cheese tasting event where I had to kiss the moose (a Wonewok tradition - everyone must kiss the moose hanging above the front door of the lodge), then a fancy dinner, followed by a shuffleboard tournament.  My shuffleboard partner, Karen, and I didn't make it past the first round, so I was able to just hang out and watch everyone else have fun. 

Tim, me and Jeremy at Dinner.  Love these guys!

Me kissing the moose:

Shuffleboard

It was only a matter of time before shuffleboard transitioned into beer-pong, which was even more entertaining.  While I neither drink, nor support drinking games, I must admit I enjoyed watching everyone else get sloshed.  Let's just say I have a lot of great blackmail material now. :)

Beer pong

Trouble-makers

The evening ended with me getting tossed in a snowbank at 1AM and rolling down a hill, followed by warming up in the lodge and talking and laughing all night with my buddies next to a crackling fire. 

Best. Day. Ever.

Wonewok Day 1

I am writing this blog from Park Rapids, MN, home of 3M's resort... WONEWOK!

I was here 8 years ago, and have always wanted to come back.  I got my wish!

I boarded the bus in St. Paul this morning with 48 of my co-workers, which included 3 of my closest friends; Tim, Jeremy and Thomas.  The bus ride took about 4 hours, but passed quickly because we played games and stuff like that.

We arrived at Wonewok around 11AM.  After departing the bus, we went to a welcome meeting, followed by a tasty lunch. 

After lunch, I went to find my room in the lodge.  They remodeled since last time I was there, so I was really amazed at how different the lodge rooms looked. One word:  GORGEOUS.  I have a bedroom, bathroom, and parlor, all surrounded by huge windows looking into the woods.

Bedroom area:

 Parlor looking into the bedroom:

Bathroom:

(See the square sticked out from the building??  That's all MY room!!) 

The afternoon was open recreation, so I signed up for cross-country skiing lessons, something I've always wanted to try!  About 10 of my coworkers joined me, but I quickly found myself trailing behind, feeling sort of lost in the woods.  The skiing was fun, but difficult.  I fell down... a lot.  Definitely a good workout!  I eventually caught up with my coworkers, and huddled around a big toasty bonfire before making the trek back to the lodge. 

Click for a larger view!

Front row:  Andy, Chris, Renee, Vivek, Karen, Tim

Back row: Char, Mike, Bruce, Mark, Paul

Skiing across the lake... one of the few moments I was upright :)

After skiing, I went to a jewelry making class.  Since I already know how to make jewelry, I basically went just to get some free beads.  I ended up making a cool necklace.  There were TONS of beads to choose from and it was so fun to see what other people created!

Then, it was time for dinner.  Instead of the Wonewok staff waiting on us hand-and-foot (which is what they normally do), we were left to cook our own dinner!  What a blast!  We were divided into 4 teams, and each team made an international dish with the help of a Wonewok chef.  Such fun!  My team made Pork Sate with Peanut Sauce, and Paella.   My friend Jeremy and I teamed up to make the peanut sauce for the pork, and it turned out great!   The other teams were making things such as fajitas, cannelloni, mixed drinks, and dessert.  When all of the teams were done, we had a beautiful buffet spread out before us.  Everything was delicious, except for the dessert, which tasted like lemon pledge.  Glad I wasn't on that team!

The Red Team:

Getting some tips from the chef:

My awesome friend Jeremy, rockin' the peanut sauce:

The spread!

A great dinner!

The last event tonight was Karaoke!  Whoo!  I thought people would be really shy about it, but many people got up to sing.  The most memorable performance was delivered by my best pal Tim.  He serenaded me with "Take My Breath Away"... which prompted an award for most entertaining performance.

So here I sit in my gorgeous lodge room, ready to put a photo slideshow together of today's activities.  Our VP will use it in the morning during his presentation, so I have my work cut out for me!  With that said, I must go!

I can't wait for tomorrow!
Renee

That's Gonna Leave a Mark

Tonight I played my very first broomball game! 

We used a pond-turned-ice-rink in my friend Tim's front yard.

My team (Me, Greg, Tim and Ben - not my hubby, another Ben) won the game, 15-9!  We played against our work friends; Bruce, Elizabeth, Sophorn and Kevin.

Thankfully, Tim lent me knee pads.  I'd be in bad shape if not for those!   I did manage to get a giant bruise on my leg, after being pelted with a broomball.

Only a few minor embarrassments:  my homemade broomball stick falling apart during warm-up time, and then falling down on top of Bruce during a wipe-out on the ice. 

We warmed up after the game with pizzas and hot apple cider!

No doubt about it, I loved my first broomball game - and hope to play again in the future!

Tomorrow's adventure:  Up North to Wonewok!

Later!

Renee