Bread Anyone?

Apricot Almond Bread

Many of you know that I have sold homemade breads for several years now. It is something that I enjoy doing and it gets me into the holiday spirit. My customers always start asking around October if I am planning on selling my breads again that year and the answer is always a resounding, "Yes!" As long as there are loyal customers, I will always be selling my breads.

So if you would like to order any of my delicious breads for your Christmas dinner or as a gift for a friend, here are the details:

Cranberry Bread—our #1 seller—a tangy bread that mixes the bold flavors of fresh cranberries with orange zest and the nutty flavor of pecans.

Pumpkin Bread—a traditional spiced bread using real pumpkin and the holiday flavors of nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon.

Orange Raisin Bread—a tangy bread that mixes real navel oranges with the sweetness of golden raisins and the mildness of walnuts.

Apricot Almond Bread—a sweet and comforting bread that infuses the subtle flavor of fresh almonds with the sweetness of apricots.

Cherry Pistachio Bread—a sweet cake-like bread with a bold pistachio flavor and the sweetness of ruby red maraschino cherries.

All breads come in a large family-size loaf and are $13.00 each. All breads come topped with a holiday bow for easy gift-giving. All orders must be made by November 22nd. Money for all orders must be received by Nov. 30th. Please no post-dated checks. Breads will be delivered on December 17th at 6pm at the Cary Church Building. If you would like to order, please shoot me an email at marilynrood@hotmail.com with the type of bread that you would like. I accept cash or check. Make all checks out to Marilyn Tom.

Enjoy!

Our Daughter the Dolphin

Zoe is just days away from being three months old now. We sort of skipped month two. During all of this time Zoe has learned about several new things, which seem to be more fun to her than us.

1) Zoe has discovered her hands. She spends entire days just staring at them the way most of us girls would look at a very large diamond. And true to all children, what looks good must taste good. So the hands go into the mouth and come out a drool drenched, clammy mess. I catch Matt holding her at arms length sometimes as he takes her to dry off her sticky hands. It doesn't bother me so much because my mother used to babysit a sticky boy once. No one can or ever will be more sticky or drooly than that child. He was sticky on parts that never even got into his mouth. How is that possible?

2) Zoe has discovered that she can talk. And boy, does she ever test it out. Most children will squeal with delight when they are tickled or while playing with a toy. Not Zoe though. She does it all day. Every five seconds. Even when she is doing nothing. Even when she wakes up--morning, noon, and night. She even does it instead of crying. She has this cry/squeal. I told Matt that I think we have a dolphin for a daughter because she sounds just like a squealing dolphin. It's like Sea World in our house. Last night she woke up at 1 a.m. and unlike most children decided to make her dolphin sound to let us know that she was hungry. I told Matt to just throw some fish at her and come back to bed. He thought I had lost my mind at 1 a.m. He says, "Why fish?" I said, "Dolphins like fish."

Zoe One Month Old

We're a little behind because in two days, Zoe will actually be two months old. But many of you have had babies, and as you all know, life temporarily stops for a second until you get the hang of caring for the baby and getting everything else accomplished. So I guess it's official: We've gotten the knack of having a baby around.

Four generation photo with Marilyn's family. Grandma Cooper, we want one with you too!


Welcome to Zoe's gun show.


Zoe one month old exaclty.


Zoe's flower headband that she hated.




Overall, I feel pretty good about how smoothly our transition has been since we went from "no kids" to "a kid." Adopting a baby can be somewhat crazy. There really is no adjustment period. One day you have no kids (or if you are like all of our friends, ten years without kids) and then WHAM! You have a baby the next day. Surprise. So you go from a restful night's sleep one day to being up every three hours the next day. It can be a little rough on you. But I’ve only cried once. I think it was while changing a diaper. Don’t be fooled folks—changing a poopie diaper after you have had zero sleep all night is definitely worth crying about. It’s a feeling akin to coming home from vacation and realizing your house has been robbed bare. All you mommies know what I’m talking about. It’s that diaper that finally breaks you.

Matt and I have been formulating several theories about things since having little Zoe.

1) Baby brain is real, even if you adopted a baby. Twice a week I drive the wrong way to a destination that I have been to a thousand times. Several weeks ago I got in the car to meet Matt at work and suddenly found myself at Target. How did I not realize where I was going? I have two words for that: Auto Pilot.


2) Men cannot put a baby asleep on their chests without a pillow. I know it’s discriminatory, but that’s nature. Men just don’t have the pillows. Every baby likes a pillow.

And to prove my case I have Exhibit A: Nana.


Exhibit B: Mommy.

I rest my case.

3) Every child, I don’t care how sweet, has a little devilish side. Check out the freak natural occurrence.

It's a Girl!

On Sunday June 20th (Father's Day) at 3:23pm our little girl was born. Zoe Makana (which means "gift of life") was 7lbs. 11 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long. She was born, as you can see, with a head full of hair and the most peaceful demeanor. We just love our little meatball!

Waiting

Waiting sucks...Our baby is due this friday (June 18th) and it seems like the day will never come. Chances are the birth mom will probably go over and then the doctors are planning on inducing her on the 22nd, which is Tuesday. Even that seems so far away. We've been so prepared for this baby to come that now there is nothing to do. No packing of bags, no organizing of the room, no folding of little clothes. Just waiting. I'm sure all of you who have had children feel this way. I can't imagine being big and pregnant and still having to wait. That would seem unbearable to me. Honestly, it's sort of like waiting for Christmas but each day is a year.

2010 Preakness Stakes - Pimlico - Lookin At Lucky

Calvin Borel lost! He lost on Super Saver! After he won this year's Kentucky Derby on Super Saver, he said that he was going to try to win the The Preakness also on Super Saver. It was part of a hope to be the first Triple Crown winner in thirty-some years. But, remember that little chap at the Kentucky Derby who placed a $100,000 bet on Super Saver to win and made $900,000? Well, he didn't bet on Super Saver. When everyone else was putting their money on Calvin Borel--the golden jockey with the eighth-grade education--he put his money on Lookin' at Lucky. I don't know who that little chap has advising him about the races, but he was right. Borel started out at first for most of the race, but then three other horses edged him out. And while Borel was trying to find his hole to advance again, little Martin Garcia (a Mexican who came to America just five years prior)on Lookin' at Lucky snuck up and stole first place from all of them. It is said that Garcia is so new to racing and America that he had no idea how big winning The Preakness was for him, his career, or for his horse or their owners. He was just glad to win.

Kentucky Derby 2010

We love the Kentucky Derby! It is perhaps as big, if not bigger than the Super Bowl in our house. If we could watch the derby on a big screen...we would. But why is there no party for the Kentucky Derby? It is said, and we believe it, that the Derby is the "most exciting 2 mins. in sports." You can't get that with the Super Bowl. No there's the Pre-Pre Game Show, the Pre-Game Show, The Game (which takes forever with all of the playbacks), and the Post Game Show, and 11 o'clock highlights on the news. No, with the Derby you get quick results, and you don't need an announcer to tell you what you just saw. There's no flags on the field, no refs with microphones to call penalties, no "unneccessary roughness." In the Derby you run or go home. That's the rule.

This year's Derby was especially exciting. Every year the Derby draws a name of an ordinary person and sends them tickets to the Derby and $100,000 to place on the horse of their choice. This year's winner of the drawing stood to make $5 million if he placed his bet right. He placed it on Super Saver to win. A smart bet considering Super Saver was 7-1 and his jockey was Calvin Borel, winner of 2 previous derbies in four years. It is said that the horse liked a wet track, which was a positive considering that the Derby track was pooling with the earlier downpour.

As it turned out Calvin Borel, riding Super Saver, did just as he did in last year's Kentucky Derby. He rode the inside rail, where most horses wouldn't dare go because of wetness, and eventually found his hole where he would take first place. The lucky man who placed his $100,000 bet on Super Saver to win made $900,000 off of this year's race. Not a bad profit for not having used any of your own money.

For those of you who would like to get the Derby experience here are some stats:

The Millionaire's Row experience: approx. $6,000 person (includes mint juleps, dinner, prime seating, and hob-nobbing with other millionaires)

The Broke-Man's experience: $40 (includes standing at the rail and no seats)

Matt & Marilyn's Kentucky Derby experience: FREE (includes 2011 Kentucky Derby Pre-Race Party with knock-off Mint Juleps, Hats, prime seating in front of the TV, free food, and fake bets)