Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Anatomy of a Win

Adam in his Packer's Gear

There are a few things Adam does every Sunday to ensure a Green Bay Packers Win:

1.  Green Bay Packer's Jersey #80.
He wears the jersey the second he wakes up the morning of a game day, and does not remove the jersey until the game is over.

2. Cheesehead.  
The cheesehead is only worn during the game. He only removes it when the star spangled banner is played. He holds it beneath his left hand, next to his heart. Respecting America & Respecting the Cheesehead are equally important.

3. Atari Pajama Pants.
The pants were given to him by his perfect, wonderful, amazing wife, two years ago. He randomly wore them once during a game that the Packer's won.  He assumed that they must be "lucky" pants. He has worn them every game since. Doesn't even remove them when company comes over.

4. Green Bay Packer Slippers.
Received as a a gift from his wonderful, perfect, amazing wife for Christmas this year. Figured that since the gift of the pants worked out so well the previous year, the slippers must be magic too. Wears them every game.

5. Green Bay Packer Glass with Accompanying Mountain Dew.
A mountain dew must be purchased by me for him a day or two before the game. Right before the game, I have to bring him the soda from the fridge. He pours one half of the soda in his pre-frozen Packer's glass. He takes sips only after something good happens on the field.  He makes sure that amount of soda lasts him the entire first half. Then, he finishes the second half of the soda during the second half. Following the same drinking strategy.

So yes Adam is very superstitious when it comes to football. But whatever he did worked because the Packers are going to the Superbowl and the Steelers are going down! We were so over the top excited when they took down the bears in the NFC championship on Sunday! I even went out and bought my first ever official NFL Packer's Jersey. It's a Aaron Rodger's jersey, and I can't wait to wear it during the super bowl.

When I first started dating Adam, I only cared about the Packers because when they won it made him happy (and when they lost he was awful). But I have really become a true blue (or should I say green and gold) fan in the last few years, and I'm so excited for the super bowl!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Good News!

Friday after work I got one of those amazing phone calls that really makes your day/your week/your month/your year. Adam called to tell me he got a promotion! A promotion that he has deserved for a long time. Not only is he getting a promotion with a substantial pay raise, he is getting a retroactive promotion!  Meaning that, in one lump sum, he is getting what he would have earned had he gotten this promotion in July 2010!

When Adam started with this company four years ago, he was a clerical assistant. Doing nothing more than stuffing envelopes. About a year and a half ago, he took on a new position. One that required a lot of responsibility and hard work, but he was never given the title or the pay that goes with that job. But Adam is such a hard worker. He never plays hookey and it takes Herculean force to get him to take off when he is sick. He has a work ethic I have rarely seen. I knew he would eventually get his recognition.

I have been worrying about money lately. The time I spend tutoring usually wraps up in March/April, and I would probably not be able to tutor/or be earning any money when I start my internship in June. Adam kept telling me it would be fine, it would be tight but fine. I'm a worry wart, and found it hard to believe him. But his raise amounts to what I pull in tutoring and a little more. How serendipitous is that?

I am so proud of him!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Cooking, Baking, and New Year's Eve

I woke up with a sinus infection on Thursday, and by New Year's Eve I was totally drained. Adam and I had originally planned to hang out downtown to celebrate the New Year, but due to my patheticness we opted for a quiet night at home. I decided to cook some breakfast casserole for dinner, and we rented Toy Story 3 from the red box.

Breakfast casserole is an easy dish that consists of crescent rolls, eggs, sausage, and cheese. Adam first had it when my grandmother cooked it for us when we went to Texas for our wedding. He loved it and being that he is so picky, I was thrilled that he was expanding his palate, and promised to make it for him when we flew home. It seemed like a simple enough dish, but for some reason I could never get it right. The eggs never seemed to meld  with the sausage and cheese like it did when my grandmother made it. But the truth is I don't understand much about eggs because as a rule I don't like them. The texture is slimy and ironically the only way I will eat them is in the casserole.  So after several tries it occurred to me that quite possibly you weren't supposed to scramble the eggs before baking the casserole. And waa-lah I now have breakfast casserole down to an exact science and was able to deliver the dish I had been promising Adam for a year and a half!

I also finally broke in my kitchen aid mixer on New Years Day.  It seemed fitting that the first day of 2011 would be the first day to break in such a fine piece of machinery. So I mustered up the energy to go grocery shopping and to bake the best chocolate cake ever via this recipe. I thought it was a good enough recipe to devirginize my mixer with because the recipe calls for sour cream. Sour cream in a cake? Madness!
Chocolate Cake without Icing

When you mix it, it has the consistency of a really, really thick pudding, and its bakes up really beautifully. It tasted so decadent and rich (although I just used store bought icing, didn't want to overdue it, I am sick after all). And the mixer was fast and amazing and I love it. I can't wait to discover what else I can do with it!