So the shrimpies are pretty happy, I believe 2 of  them are prego. They will have 10-20 fry, each, when they are ready. There is a sponge filter in the tank and getting a lid today.

Here’s ZOOMMER and some tank mates:

Zoomer is a Gold Inca Snail, part of the apple snail family.

My friend Robin gave me an aquarium with little aquatic creatures. Cherry Shrimp to be exact! They are funny little guys and dolls.

These pictures are not very good, I need to bring my macro lens in to get closer, these are taken with my iPhone, plus indoors.

The little guy is in the corner, I will get better pictures soon.

You can see this guy a little better, he is reflected into the glass, and you can make out his “whiskers.”

As of now I have 2 confirmed females (possibly 3) and 4 confirmed males – meaning I have seen them all at once. There may be more hidden in the mossy ball that they live in and eat on.

I just got back from Chicago, specifically the town of Rosemont. My husband and I saw the The Dead play Monday and Tuesday night. Aiko is a HUGE deadhead, this was my first live show. I had fun! What I enjoyed most was the other people, everyone there was amazing and friendly.

Our first night we had 7th row seats, Drums and Space were my favorite. It was pounding!

Across the street was an exhibit of one of the band members art. They had glasses that “enhanced” the viewing. It was interesting and I could tell they enjoyed what they were doing. Here is a funny image of Aiko:

This is our second night, we were in the isle seating 17th row.

Now I’m back to real life, with a cold.

Ahhhh, I’m off crutches! It is wonderful to be able to carry your own coffee in the morning. I did have lots of help and I’m grateful for that, but I am so happy to be able to do it myself again.

I am walking around pretty good. My knee does get sore after PT and if I’ve been using it for a while, but I will take it! So far, that only things that I am unable to do are: walk up stairs, jump and run.

Outside it’s sunny and I can hear thunder, I like this time of year – there is always energy in the air.

Tonight is a derby bout, I’m doing the line ups for All Stars and it’s going to be a great match up. The other team is very closely ranked to us, but they “think” they are going to win, I hope there confidence get crushed. (Does that seem mean? Opps – really it’s not, I hope they play a great game, but come on – I want GRRG to win!)

A sweet photo of Toonces:

I have a bone to pick with a select few of the public and the manufacture of arena seating.

On Friday, I went to the hockey game, with Aiko and a slew of derby people. I didn’t watch any of the game in the venue. First of all, we were in the nose bleed section and had to walk up about 50 stairs — remember, I’m on crutches. We did it once before the game started, it was fine going up, but going down was a bit disorientating. Then to complicate the issue the seats were tiny! I mean TINY – not like movie theater small but like playschool children small. So I decided I would rather work the booth most of the game (Aiko agreed and wanted to do the same).

Then after the game we went to a bar. Most people are overly attentive to a person on crutches — which at times, has made me uncomfortable — but I am appreciative of it. This crowd was horrible. It may have been due to alcohol or my meek voice (HA!), but trying to maneuver through and isle of standing room only people – on crutches – was over the top frustrating. Finally getting the two tables reserved for GRRG, and finding no room for us to sit. I gave up. Aiko and I sat at a table by ourselves.

Once a spot cleared we joined our group. Then I had a good night. A shot and a beer.

I made my first loaf of meat. Aiko was so happy. He said, “No one’s ever made me loaf of meat”, and it turned out great.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 cup cracker crumb
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, crumbs, salt, pepper, egg, onion and tomato sauce.
3. Mix.
4. Shape into a loaf and place in a baking dish.
5. In a small mixing bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar, water, mustard and vinegar.
6. Pour mixture over the loaf and place in oven and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes.

After my first attempt, I see now that I should have used a 9×13 glass pan and formed the loaf. I had a little bit of the sauce leftover.

Last night, I went to Founders Brewery. I forget that their beer is so tasty and the food is excellent too.

I had KBS, Frangelic Stout and Breakfast Stout. The KBS was good, very powerful – damn – 11% alcohol. The Breakfast Stout was good as well, as you can tell I like a dark beer. My favorite of the night was the Frangelic, that was a treat – it had a nice hazel-nutty kick. I did sample the Cerise Cherry Ale – which was excellent as well and will need to have a larger sample some time and the Centennial IPA – at first it seemed okay, but then the hopps took over – definitely not my thing, but I know some out there dig the hopps. While there a funny image occurred in my neighbors beer, it was the masked sad man:

Friday night I made Sweet Potato Curry soup (one of my favorites) and today I am making Chicken Noodle (Aiko’s favorite).

I found this recipe on the web and modified it.

For the stock:

• enough water to cover the chicken in a large soup pot
• 1 (4 -5pound) whole chicken
• 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
• 3 bay leaves
• 14 whole black peppercorns
• 2/3 bunch celery, leaves reserved
• 1 pound whole carrot

For the soup:

• 2-4 cans of chicken stock (if needed – sometimes the stock evaporates and needs more liquid added)
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1/3 bunch celery, chopped and leaves reserved
• 1 pound package of fettuccine noodles broken into 2 inch pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste (I start with about a teaspoon of each and add more until I like it)

I finally have my first cell phone. I was worried that maybe I should try a regular one before I go big, but so far it’s been working out great, better than great – fantastic.

The texting, camera feature, web stuff and email options are very useful.

Here’s what I’ve been doing…

This is me at the salon getting my hairs done.

Creature on my desk.