"The world would be a better place if everyone had your personality...."

I'll get to the origin of that line in a bit...

For those you have been living under a rock, a pretty big winter storm hit more than half of the country last week. Including western Ohio.  Now, I thought I had hit the jackpot with this storm. In Cincinnati, where we live, it was almost all rain - score! In Dayton, where I work, it was a pretty bad ice storm, resulting in my office losing power for almost three days and me getting two free days off of work. I got the benefits of a storm (snow days!) without the bad parts (shovelling inches of ice).

Then I made it work on Thursday morning. Apparently managing your own historic site means you get to clear the sidewalks of ice and snow.... So from Thursday through Saturday I spent a total of 4-5 hours salting, chipping and shovelling ice.... so much for the best of both worlds.

So where did the title of this post come from? Well on Thursday, as I worked on the last step I was going to do that day, a black pick up truck pulled up and a gentleman began talking to me from the vehicle.

"You need any help?" (would have been nice if he had driven by an hour earlier, but I digress...)
"I'm on the last step, I'm all set. Thanks for asking though!"
"You are very pretty! Are you married?" (ugh....)
"Yes, yes I am married."
"Well your husband must know how lucky he is." (I hope that's the case)
"He does, he is very good to me."
"He should be out here helping you!"
"Oh, I work here. This is a museum.... I'm actually being paid to shovel."
"Oh! Well that ain't too bad then!"
"Nope!" (hoping to run away.... end of conversation please...)
"You have a beautiful personality! I can just tell... you are a great person!"
"Thank you...."
"No really... I can just tell how nice you are. You found God, I can tell!"
"Yes, I have..."
"You know, the world would be a better place if everybody was like you!"
"I like to think so..."
"haha, yeah... you are just such a good person... I can tell..."

This continued for a couple more minutes, I found out this gentleman had lost power at his house because of the storm and was staying with his brother in law who lived in the neighborhood. After 5 minutes of chatting I was able to sneak away.

Definitely one of my more awkward conversations, especially recently. I mean, I felt pretty good about myself afterwards (after all, he could tell just how good of a person I was just by talking to me for two minutes). But definitely  not a situation I was entirely comfortable with... haha.

Can't wait to see what happens as I continue to clear sidewalks this winter.....

How do I love my Kitchenaid stand mixer? Let me count the ways....

This baby....

might just be my favorite wedding gift. It has been the biggest contributor to my increased domesticity. I can crank out a batch of chocolate chip cookies in 20 minutes (plus baking time). Breads, doughs, cakes, mashed potatoes, you name it - I can do it with my mixer.

So, needless to say, when Craig and I were invited to a friend's house for the Superbowl, I immediately volunteered to bake. So I spent most of my day Sunday doing just that. And here are the results....

Number 1 - Apple Pie

This has become one of my standard contributions to pot lucks. The crust is made from scratch and then just filled with apples, cinnamon, and sugar.  It's gotten many positive reviews and I have even given tutorials on making it to one of my friends (the same one who invited us for Superbowl). It's always a hit and very easy to make.

Number 2 - Pizza Bites

Who doesn't love pizza bites? Seriously, bite size pizza, you can't lose. These are homemade pizza dough wrapped around mozzerella and pepperoni. I served them with pizza sauce for dipping. I'm pleased to say none were left. They are a little heavy on the dough, but it's necessary to keep the filling from oozing out. Thankfully, the dough is delicious :-)

These dishes were complimented by stuffed mushrooms, spinach artichoke dip, chicken dip, cheese ball, and other goodies brought by friends. Superbowl was a success! Yummy food, good beer, and hanging out with good friends - can't go wrong!

Coming up later today.... an interesting happening from work last week.....

Adult Snow Days

Well, I was all ready to go back to work on February 1. Work clothes were clean, dried, and hung up. Leftovers were packaged for me to bring for lunch. I even went to bed early.

Then, the great storm of 2011 arrived. And I got an extra two days off of work :-)

While Cincinnati didn't get much in the way of ice or snow (a bit, but not much), Dayton apparently got an inch or so of ice over the two days. And, since my place of employment is not only located in Dayton but it's degree of production is based on the weather, the powers that be decided to close us. I've never been so excited to get a phone call at 6:45 am.

So what to do with these two extra days? Let's see, I....

- Got even more sleep
- Finished Mad Men Season 1 (amazing! can't wait for season 2 to arrive)
- Baked beer bread
- Baked cookies
- Did all of the laundry in the house
- Changed sheets
- Read for pleasure

Having random days off as an adult rocks. I mean, I totally should have used some time for thesis work, but I honestly forgot until this moment. So, no harm, no foul. I'll pick up on that soon :-)

Craig and I are in the middle of figuring out taxes, replacing our hot water heater, and doing all sorts of other responsible adult things. More on those later!

Hope everybody survived the storm of the century!!!