Where did the weekend go?

We had so much going on this weekend, I woke up Monday morning feeling like there was no weekend. Let's see, Friday night Mom, Gary, Angie, Dennis and I went to dinner at my cousin Vince's house. We had a great time reminiscing about the old days. Linda made baked chicken, potatoes, and asparagus. It was delicious. She also made a chocolate cake complete with candles for my birthday. I guess I had one more day to my birthday week. Thankfully, I was able to blow out the candles.

Alora, age 1

Early Saturday morning Dennis and I flew out to Sacramento. We rented a car and drove to Grass Valley for Dennis's granddaughter's one-year birthday party. Her name is Alora and she is adorable. Such a sweet baby.

We had a chance to visit historic downtown Grass Valley, too. We liked the town, especially the chocolate shop and the bamboo store. At the chocolate shop we found the same kinds of candies we made in our class. The bamboo shop had sheets, towels, and clothing made of bamboo. I'm visiting that store again online.

After watching Alora open tons of presents and having some food and cake, we drove back to Sacramento, found a hotel, and went to dinner at Fat City in Old Sacramento. Next morning we flew back to San Diego. Dennis's Uncle Johnny picked us up at the airport around 1 p.m. and we went to lunch at the Fish Market near Seaport Village.

Back to Uncle Johnny's house in Lakeside to pick up our car and decide what to do to kill time before a concert at 7:30 p.m.  We decided on a movie (The King's Speech), followed by a slice of pie at Coco's in El Cajon. Then we drove back to San Diego for a concert featuring Tom Paxton, a folk singer from the 60s. That was fun, but I had a hard time staying awake past my normal 8:30 p.m. bedtime. Finally we came home around 11:30 p.m. and got up Monday morning at 5:30 a.m.

See what I mean about a lost weekend?

Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili

I made this in a slow cooker tonight. It's a bit spicy, so if you want to try it, you can adjust the chili powder and cajun seasoning. I like it spicy, though. You don't need a slow cooker, either. Last time I made it, I just used a dutch oven on the stovetop. I suppose you could bake it, too.

Company coming? This is an easy, no fail dish you can serve with a green salad and sour-dough bread.

Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili

1 15-oz. can no-salt-added red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 15-oz. can small white beans, rinsed and drained

1 15-oz. can low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained

1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes and green chile peppers, undrained

1 cup beer or chicken broth

3 tablespoons chocolate-flavored syrup

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

Dairy sour cream as topping (optional)

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Note: When I made this, I didn't drain the beans, just emptied the cans in the slow cooker. The result was a more liquid chili and I liked it that way. I've made this before doing it the "correct" way and that was good, too. I served this tonight with the sour cream and the cheddar cheese because I like both. You can leave out the cheese and/or the sour cream if you want, but you'll be missing something.

Happy Birthday to Me

Finally, the Birthday Week is over. Today is the day and I celebrated by going on a horseback ride in the Lagunas with my friend, Joyce. When I got back I treated myself to a quiet afternoon in front of the fireplace with a good book...on my Kindle. Tonight my husband made dinner for me--broccoli beef over Japanese noodles. It was delicious. A very good birthday.

A Sad Day

Raffi and Khirla

Today was a very sad day at the ranch. Our Arabian horse, Khirla, was not improving despite the procedures and medications we've been trying for over a week now. We had to put her down today. It turned out she had a large intestinal stone and, at age 24, she was too old to undergo an operation to remove the stone.

We've had horses for many years and there have been other times we've had to have horses put down. It's never easy, but it's especially painful since Khirla has been part of our family for such a long time. When I bought my mare, Raffi, years ago, Khirla was just a 6-month-old filly at her side. We decided to buy both mare and foal and were never disappointed with either of them.

Khirla got her name, Khirla-Q, because of the way she held her tail when she ran -- raised up high and curled over her back. What a beauty. She looks like a brown horse here, but over time she turned "grey" like her mother.

My Birthday Week Continues

Yesterday, Dennis took me out to lunch (which was also our dinner). Today, Mom, Angie and I had a girls day out today. After my doctor's appointment in Rancho San Diego we went to Kohl's in Santee to exchange one of my birthday presents. No luck finding the right size. Then we went to Marrieta's for lunch, rolled ourselves back to the car and trundled back to Rancho San Diego where we tried our luck at the Kohl's there. Nope. We returned the item for store credit instead. That means another shopping day. On the way home we stopped at Viejas Outlet Center to exchange some jeans at Chicos. Success there. We have to go back to that store--my size is zero.

On the down side, Khirla is not any better. She's not eating and keeps curling her lip (pain). When we returned today she was lying down in the pasture. I gave her some pain medicine and a bran mash for dinner. Long-term, it's not looking good.

Post Birthday Bash

Chocolate cake with creme brulee filling and chocolate icing. Yum. The cake was delicious and I only had to blow out one candle. As old as I am and I still got presents. Thanks guys.

Neck and Neck

My sister (2squirrels.blogspot.com) and I are running neck and neck on our blogging entries. She beat me to it today reporting on MY birthday bash...or was that "hash?" She's right, it is my birthday week, but it actually started last night when Dennis finally succumbed to my nagging for chocolate chip cookies. No one makes better chocolate chip cookies than he does and I've been craving them for awhile now. So last night I ate chocolate chip cookies to my heart's content and nearly fainted from the sugar high.

This morning we had brunch at the La Posta Casino and tonight we will have chocolate cake that both Dennis and Mom have had a hand in making.

All this talk about food is significant because I've been on a no or low carb diet since June. I was doing fairly well until Christmas and have been trying to set my diet back to the new normal (carb-less) all month. So this birthday frivolity must end. But when will it end? My birthday isn't until Thursday. Egad.

It wasn't all about food. Khirla gave me a present by feeling better today and blasting out her gate to the pasture just like old times. Dennis surprised me with a bouquet of flowers, no mean feat since the nearest florist is 30 miles away. I know what he does--he hides them somewhere until I go to bed then leaves them for me to find in the morning. A card came with the flowers and another one was hidden in my laptop. It fell out when I opened the lid this morning.

My sister says there will be presents tonight because she's running out of time to return it if necessary. Dennis says there will be no presents as far as he's concerned until Thursday...my REAL birthday. That probably means he hasn't gotten me anything yet, you never know with him.