Underground Railroad Museum

Last Friday I chaperoned a field trip to the Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. We took all the Level 1-3 students from our program to teach them a little American history and get them out of Middletown for a day.

I didn't take my camera, unfortunately, but it was a pretty cool museum, with lots of interactive movies and exhibits. Our tour guide was an 80-year old man who had recently broken his hip, so he led us around from his wheelchair.

The students had a really hard time understanding his explanations, as he spoke rather quickly and used lots of idioms ("In Kentucky, you couldn't swing a cat by the tail without hitting a tobacco barn!"). It's a good thing I went, to help "translate" if nothing else.

At the end of the tour, one of my students took a picture of our class:

Riven, James, me, Maggie, Kerry, and Albert

These are the people I spend about 10 hours of my week with! They're a fun group, and I really love working with them.

Hiking El Morro

A couple friends and I hiked El Morro, a coastal trail between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach today.  It was perfect--breezy with temps in the high 60's.  There were even a few wildflowers thanks to the two brief rains this past week.

Peggy wants to walk a half-marathon with her new bionic knees (two knee replacements).  I convinced her and Fred to hike the 9-mile route with me.  The trail climbs up one ridgeline, travels along the top for a short distance and then winds down another ridgeline.  We had to watch out for a few mountain bikers and met a few other groups on the trail but had it pretty much to ourselves.  Peg has an "app" on her phone that measures distance, calories, time, etc.  It was actually 9.4 miles and took us about 3 1/2 hours including stopping for a photo.

At the top of the ridgeline.  The toll road is visible in the distance.

Can you imagine living here?

At the end.  A family wanted us to take their photo, so I had them take one of us.

 

We were all ready for some Aleve.  Hard to believe that we used to ride double centuries!

Chicken enchiladas (the gringo version)

Thought I'd share another recipe; this is not original.  The idea came from the blog Budget Bites but I improvised as she makes her own enchilada sauce.

Ingredients:

2 Cups chicken, diced (I used rotisserie chicken from Costco)
1 Cup shredded cheese plus 1/2 C for topping (I used Mexican style four cheese blend)
1 4oz can diced green chiles
1 15oz can green enchilada sauce
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
10-12 6-inch tortillas
 

Procedure:

First you feed the cat enough chicken that he is full and will leave you alone.

As you can see, he is not happy...he wants MORE!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9x13 pan with release agent.  Saute onions until clear, add to medium mixing bowl.  Drain tomatoes, cut into finer pieces (if you are not a tomato fan like me), add to mixture.  Add 1 Cup of cheese, 2 Cups of diced chicken, can of green chilis, and 1/4 bunch of cilantro to the same bowl.

Stir up these ingredients.  Plop about 1/3 C of mixture into a tortilla, roll, and place in 9x13 pan.  I used whole wheat, low carb tortillas (1 point WW) but you can use any kind.  Pour can of green enchilada sauce over the rolled up tortillas and spread it around so that it covers all the tortillas.  Sprinkle with about 1/2 C of cheese (or more).  Bake for 30 minutes.

The package of tortillas contained only 10; I added an 11th larger tortilla from another package as I had left over chicken mixture.

Tonight I forgot the cilantro, so I added it to a salad.

I actually ate two; these are yummy!

These are good left over too...

Visiting Bend

I am in Bend this week visiting Mom & Dad.   On Tuesday morning, Figo actually let me pet him (while he was eating, of course).

Jorge was also glad to see me.

No snow but lots of pine cones to be picked up.

At Barb's suggestion (and directions), I brought up two new comforters for the beds.

Went for a walk; no water in the canal right now.

Geese were out for a walk also.

Dad wanted to go back to the house to get some books but forgot his glasses, so we'll go back another time.  Mom and I went shopping and brought lunch back to the house.

The cats came by but wouldn't come in.  Figo even hissed at Mom.  Ungrateful wretch!

 Back at TM, I made lemon chicken soup with orzo with the leftover chicken.  Mom's new kitchen is very efficient.  Strangely, Jamie texted me--she had made the same thing for their dinner.

Dad is laughing about something.  Mom did the dishes as I cooked.

This morning Jorgie discovered the new comforter and rubbed his scent all over it!  I petted him for a while, of course.

A bit of snow this morning but the sun is now out and it's melting rapidly.  I'm off for a walk and then more errands with Mom.

Moving Days in Bend

This about says it all....but happy to report that after a rough start - things are doing well at Touchmark and at King David Avenue (cats have returned!).

While learning how to post a video to a blog (help Mackenzie!! or anyone! - it's not as easy as it looks!)

Here's the link:

http://animoto.com/play/2KqfJpJWNbtAwv3TVIs5MA#

OK, some success here....not HD but you can at least click on the little 'square' icon on the bottom right hand corner and maximize the screen so you can see it....(after you start the video)

Eye Candy from Las Vegas

Worked in Las Vegas yesterday and today.  Took a few photos for all you decorators.

Loved this picket fence used as a headboard but it was the large metal flowers that first caught my eye.

How about the wavey paint job?  And the mirror?  And the large flowers in the curtains?

Loft at one of my client's subdivisions.  The stripes on the walls are painted.

Looking the opposite way

Walk-behind shower at my client's subdivision.  I call this "the car wash."  The Las Vegas show girls/boys (or wanna be's) and their partners will love it...

Bad reflection from the bedroom but there are two shower heads--one of the wall, another on the ceiling.

Another view.  The door behind leads to the toilet compartment.

The texture on the wall behind the bed is small strips of wood glued to the wall.  I liked the bird pillows.

Another use for your "air plants," Mac.

Living room at new Toll Brothers townhouses

Incredibly long sunset coming home tonight

Toby's new bed

When Vince was over a couple weeks ago, he noted that Toby needed a new larger bed.  At 12 pounds, he's a little larger than he was in June when he tipped the scale at 3 pounds.  I found this bed at Costco ($19.99 I think) two weeks ago.  He's ignored it up until today; Baja prefers his old bed but then she's petite.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

Old bed is in the background.  I like how he's hooked his tail over the edge.

Ooops!  Woke him up.

Baby Toby--a bit blurry, sorry.  He has grown into his ears.