Happy Bday Dad!

My dad's birthday was Thursday, August 28th. He turned a spry 68! He's such an awesome birthday boy he even made his guests dinner; his speciality deep dish pizzas from scratch - Sausage & BBQ Chicken, Sausage and Procuito, and Double Sausage (hey, do you think my family likes Sausage on their pizza?). They were delish!

Presents-wise my dad is into Hawaiian shirts and I think he got his fill of them as his stock just rose by 3! And of course a few books thrown in for good measure.

Overall, good birthday wishes and fun were had by all. Happy Bday dad!

For more birthday fun...check out my sister's, Moira, post of the event (with pics)

Hey Homechickens!

It's Friday night....so that makes it alright to be.....walking through Target after a day of work and working out (20 miles on the bike baby!)..and what do I stumble upon in the CD section? What? What's that?

It's a CD Compliation from the early 1990's. Big whoop? Big WHOOP! Why? Because when I tore open the CD and popped it into my car CD player (I know a little old school..but hey it's the theme)....what comes blasting out but.....

DO ME BABY...by Bel Biv Devo....oh and other similar offerings from the early 1990's....Push It (Salt N Pepa), Humpty Dance, MyBabyDaddy, Doin' Da Butt...13 glorious rump shakin' songs of my late youth/early adult in total.

Totally hilarious fun....made me think of my friends and all the dancing we used to do....hell it makes me want to go out right now and "Come On Shake Shake It" on the dance floor and show those 20 year olds how a 35 year old get's her "Tootsie Roll" on.

Okay, who am I kidding, I'm staying home, working on the computer....drinkin' a beer and staring at my cat...and listening to my 'dope' new CD.

WORD Homechickens WORD!

In Memory...

On Sunday, July 20th, Baldwin 'Baldy' Wallace, the Becker family cat, joined Molly, our family dog, in Pet Heaven.
At 18.5 years she led a life most cats would envy. In her formative years you could often hear her running on the roof of my parent's house, or running like mad down the hallway after performing one of her 'dad assisted' backflips. She loved to be pet but only on her terms; was once known as the 'baddest' cat in the neighborhood...but only because she was protecting her family turf.

Grace, Dave, Lizzie, Max and Jake wish their Cat Cousin many lazy days of lounging and endless portions of cat treats.

We Miss You Baldy!

Iron Chef...Family Style

A couple of weeks back my entire immediate family (and respective husband/boyfriend of my sisters) participated in the first ever Becker family Iron Chef to celebrate our parent's kitchen remodel (pics of that to come). It was a blast!

For those of you who don't know Iron Chef, the basic concept is a secret ingredient revealed to all participants (in this case Hard Boiled Egg) in which everyone must bring a dish to eat using said secret ingredient. Sounds pretty easy no? But incorporating hard boiled eggs into a dish other than, well, deviled eggs is actually quite tricky. Have no fear though...the Becker family knocked it out with a great first effort. Here's a run down of the menu:Sheona & Jon were the unanimous winners with their awesome Cobb Salad Sliders and collected the coveted Prize: 1 dozen eggs! Congratulations

After a great meal, we headed into the living room to find out what the next secret ingredient would be. A short Monty Python skit revealed that in January 2009 stayed tuned for Iron Chef: SPAM!

Wrapping up the night, we spent a few hours playing Wii (bowling, tennis and Wii Fit).Check out how much fun mom and Moira had 'hula hooping'!

Welcome Rian!

Visited my friend Marla and her family on Saturday afternoon. Big whoop you say! Yeah it's a big whoop...they have a brand new little girl, Rian Anne, that joined the famiy in June. I got to hold her while she slept and chatted with Marla and I made my exit just before the diaper needed to be changed (that's right...I know how to time these things...no dirty diapers for this girl!).

Here's a pic of the happy family (minus their other daugther Jordan who was playing with neighbors). Congrats to Marla, Jeff and Jordan...Rian is soooo cute!

A Man and His Cat

Took this picure when I went to dinner at my parent's house on Friday night. My dad (the family chef) rocked some salsbury steak with sauted onions and fried mushrooms...yummy comfort food after a rough work week. We finished off dinner with a coolwhip fruit thing...not sure what it was exactly (neither did he I think) but it still tasted good. It was good visiting with Mom and Dad (and being served dinner ain't a bad gig either!).

BTW...Baldy (the cat) is heading into her 19th year...how many years is that in human years? Whatever it is...she's old and still cute....can't you see how much she loves being held by my dad?

Dinner at the Quesadas

Once a month, usually the first or second Thursday, I get together with my friends Mike and Stacy Quesada and their little girl, Corrine, for dinner. It's a way for us to keep our friendship alive amongst the hussle and bussle of life. Tonight we had dinner at their house. I brought yummy food from Saffron in a picnic basket (too cute) and we chowed down (spring rolls were scrumptious!). As always had a great time catching up, and making silly faces at Corrine.

Here's me and Corrine mugging for the Camera. (Oh, I should mention an early congrats to Corrine, she gets her helmet off tomorrow after wearing it for over 4 months. What a well shaped noggin she's going to have.)

Mike imitating Monkey (the best gift I ever got him for his 30th birthday. I'm glad it's served him well.)

The Happy Quesada Family (Check out Stacy's new 'do...tre chic!)