Picnic, Musical, and Dessert

Too many things to post about. I have to pretend I have profound thoughts and then scurry to collect them and put them in writing before they disappear. They always disappear.

I won't pretend to know what kind of ship I took a picture of last week out my office window. But, there it is and it's big and amazing and there were at least 200 people on board. If I could have zoomed in to show you, I would have. But, as it was I was attempting to shoot a photo of the boat through a window and I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

We had our company picnic last Friday and I would call it a success. I was one of 8 members of the "picnic planning committee", which I only did for the free ice cream at the meetings. I made the posters to promote the picnic (at right) and made a few other miscellaneous signs they needed for the day of. I also got there early to help set up, which was a perk for me because I could work from home that morning (I got up at 8am instead of 5:30am!) then headed over to the park around 10:30. I love that David has Flex days. He works enough hours over 2 weeks to allow him to take every other Friday off, which the City of Bellevue supports fully. Why aren't all companies that way? He was able to attend with me what is usually just a very socially awkward situation. I've always been the kind of girl who liked leaving work (and the people from work) at work. Forcing us to engage socially outside of work can be a little daunting. I am thankful to have David as my buffer. We stood in the buffet line together, talking quietly about what food we were unceremonioulsy piling onto our plates. Boy, did those plates get heavy. David loaded up on enough Caesar salad to sink a small ship - the man loves him some Caesar salad. I really should make that more...actually making it once would be a first for me. Poor underfed husband.

There are times I'm thankful to be in the "support staff" category. Just a measly Executive Assistant in a sea of people who are fully educated and know much more than I do about telecommunications. Support staff don't "talk shop" when they are forced to get together outside of work. We talk about real things. The receptionist's wedding, the other EA's pregnancy and the impending birth of her baby boy, etc. Talking about expense reports and ISO maps would send me running for the hills, and running for my car. So, thankfully those who joined us at our lunchtable were my fellow support staff who enjoy talking about things that matter.

After lunch, despite our bellies dragging on the ground, David and I played a rousing game of one-on-one badminton where I pretended not to know how my raquet missed hitting the birdie.

Why is the birdie on the ground? I know I hit the dumb thing! David, why?

The weather was beautiful. It was maybe 75° and alternated between being a little overcast and then really sunny. I'm sure you're tired of hearing about our company picnic now, so I'll move on.

Friday evening we decided to head over to Kentridge High School (even though very few of the performers were young enough to be in high school) to watch a performance of "The Music Man". A couple from church were in it so we thought it would be nice to support them. I don't know who I'm kidding - I LOVE musicals. David is not a "musical" type of guy. Don't get me wrong - he can sing in the shower with the best of them (not with, you understand) and he likes to make up his own words to songs he hears on the radio or, ugh, on commercials. But as far as watching other people sing and dance onstage, I'm fairly certain he'd rather have his eyes dug out with spoons. I'm fortunate in that he hides his displeasure very well. On Sunday, when we approached the couple to tell them how wonderful their performances were, David said, "I don't know how you memorize all the lines! I kept looking for the teleprompter." Sweet David. I had to laugh inside a little. Or a lot.

Saturday morning we woke up later than usual and I fried some eggs and popped some of my homemade frozen waffles into the toaster for brunch. Then we headed for Lacey, which is a little over an hour south of us. Some of David's dad's side of the family live down there and there were also family members visiting from Chicago (David and I saw them when we went to Chicago in May) so we wanted to drop in and say hello to them. We only stayed a couple of hours and, although I was not asked to bring anything, I didn't want to arrive empty handed so I tried my hand at a new dessert I found. I'll leave you with the recipe.

I should return tomorrow. I do want to leave you with this... I Grocery Game'd again last night and saved 59%. I saved over $70 and only spent $58! It was wonderful. My freezer is now full to the brim and I don't think I'll need to go shopping for a while.

Chocolate Peanut Bars

1 (18.25 oz) white or vanilla cake mix
2/3 cup quick or rolled oats
1 cup peanut butter, divided
1 egg
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanuts (optional - I omitted)

In a mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, oats, 2/3 cup peanut butter and egg until crumbly. Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and remaining peanut butter. Gradually beat in milk and sugar. Carefully spread over crust. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and peanuts.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and center is set. Cool completely before cutting. Store in the refrigerator.

Lesson #1: Make bars way ahead of time before attending the event in which you plan to take said bars. If you cut them too soon before they are cooled, they will look like mush (as is evident in the above picture). If you do not chill these bars for at least long enough for them to solidify a bit, they won't taste as good. These tips courtesy of the girl who makes enough mistakes to start numbering them and hoping they are useful to you in this recipe. You're welcome.