Puppy Parka

The weather has turned cold across the northeast. But I hope my midwestern family is enjoying their 70+ temps in November! Grrrr.

Little Ollie needed a coat for the season! It matches the color of his eyes, don't you think?

And it's reversible! Perfect for his construction job on the weekends.

Doesn't he look adorable, albeit a little bit scary with his glow-in-the-dark-I-know-you're-making-fun-of-me-in-this-outfit LASER EYES... (click to enlarge picture)

A Southern Husband

When you marry a southern boy, you take a vow to love him in good times and in bad, to cherish and honor him . . . and to cook him lots and lots of fatty, cheesy, buttery, salty food!

So, I take my cue from Brian's favorite restaurant, and once a month, we indulge in "Cracker Barrel Dinner." (And then we go shopping for bigger pants!)

The swiss steak with onions and mushrooms slow cooks in the crockpot, and the smell wafts through the apartment for hours. The green beans with lemon pepper are cooked until all nutritional value is lost, making the perfect side dish. But the real Cracker Barrel showcase is the cheesy hashbrown casserole. Drool . . .

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole à la Cracker Barrel

2 lbs frozen hashbrowns, thawed

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine melted butter, cream of chicken soup, onion, salt and pepper.

2. Add thawed hashbrowns and cheese, stir until combined.

3. Spread the mixture in a 9x13 dish and bake for 40–60 minutes, or until done to your crispy or gooey likeness!

Enjoy, y'all . . .

When in Canada . . .

As the saying goes: "When in Canada, EAT like you're Canadian!"

Seriously! How are Canadians not dropping dead at every corner restaurant?! A dietary staple? Smoked meat with a side a poutine (which is the suspicious looking dish below with a fork in it). Yum, yum! Be sure to wash it down with a refreshing, room-temperature Coke!

For those of you unfamiliar with poutine, you should read all about it here.

It's basically French fries, topped with cheese curds and brown gravy. Canadians actually eat this s*%t for breakfast! Gross, right?! Lord help healthcare reform if poutine catches on in the States.

This is picture of our Florida State/Furman/Texas/Memphis (but not in that order) friend, Sean Atkinson. (Some of you may recognize him from the wedding groomsmen lineup.) Despite the risk of cholesterol overdose and cardiac arrest, Sean decided a meal-sized portion of poutine was a good idea.

Think again, Sean! Have fun at the three-hour afternoon session of scholarly discourse on "Schemata and Topoi." (We won't be sitting next to you . . . yikes!)

Bonjour, Montreal!

Last week we journeyed to the annual conference for the Society for Music Theory (SMT) in Montreal, Quebec. This conference is always a big deal! It's a time to see friends from across the country, rub shoulders with the bigwigs in our field, and engage in deep, meaningful conservations about music that don't involve how to teach undergraduate ear training!

More importantly, this year Brian was a conference presenter! It was a major step in is career, and he looked like a pro doing it! (I hope you'll notice in the pictures that his equally talented wife dressed him to impress . . . lookin' good, Bry! Thanks for the blazer, Mama Lindy.)

As you may have heard, the weekend didn't begin well. We blew a tire just outside of Manhattan, with 320 miles yet to go. Oh yeah, and it was raining. Oh yeah, and it was 8 o'clock at NIGHT! Oh yeah, and it happened along a dangerous curve on the interstate, where there was virtually no shoulder to pull over. But like a teamster from a Nascar pit crew, Brian replaced the tire with the spare in record timing! Whew! And we were off (again) to Montreal . . . going 50mph.

We arrived at our friend, Christa's apartment at 4:30am, but apparently Christa is a bit of an insomniac . . . so, I guess we arrived on time. Luckily we were able to sleep in before Brian's big presentation.

At the conference we met up with our longtime Cincinnati friend, Breighan. Miss Breighan now lives in South Bend, Indiana, so it was a tremendous treat to spend time with her in Montreal.

As to be expected, Breighan brought along her cuddly little stuffed puppy, affectionately known as "Puppy." Too bad we forgot to bring Gus, our equally cute stuffed bear son.

Another treat? Dr. Brett(0) Clement! Another Cincy friend, Bretto recently finished his Ph.D. at UC and is now teaching at Stephen F. Austin in Texas! Yee haw, Brett. (This is a bad picture, but here he is, chilling in the hotel room.)

See more highlights from our trip in the following post.

Any Given Sunday

Just "chillaxing" and watching the football game from my new perch. Can you spot me?

I'm up here!