This-n-That

Food:
Last night for dinner I made a big salad (remember Elaine's big salad on Seinfeld?!) with baby spinach, radicchio, bok choy, garbanzos, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, green pepper, chopped hard cooked egg, peanuts, chow mein noodles and butter garlic croutons. I combined a balsamic vinaigrette and with bacon spinach salad dressing and it hit the spot. Emily blessed me with her usual Monday afternoon visit, and joined Joe and I for dinner. I had filled my largest bowl of salad and between the three of us, we ate all but one small serving - my lunch today. I love keeping a well stocked kitchen!

More Food:
The best little naughty snack in the world:
Lay's Kettle Chips & My Favorite Dip
The dip is 1 part Kraft Ranch (not Buttermilk) dressing and 2 parts Western dressing. It tastes somewhat like a creamy sweet and sour sauce. I also think it would be excellent as a dip for chicken fingers. Can't wait to try it!

Fun:
After dinner, I invited David to join Emily and I for drinks on the deck. Emily, David, EW and I toughed out the 90* heat. It started out a warm, beautiful evening with a light breeze. Emily headed for home after a few hours. David, EW and I sat watching the clouds roll in, and thunder and lightening slowly made its appearance. After a few hours the winds kicked in and the temperature must've dropped by about at least 10 degrees. It felt so nice and cool! Suddenly BOOM!! The biggest clap of thunder I've heard in years! The clouds opened up and I could swear that every drop of rain up there landed on my deck! We all got up and ran for our perspective doors, and by the time I got inside, I was soaked from head to toe! I only had about 10 yards to my back door, but the short distance was no match for that downburst! Thank goodness, no damage. Just lots and lots of rain for my lawn and plants. Everything out there looks happy again.

Work:
I've begun my job search. I had my first interview last Thursday, and it went well. I would love to be hired for the position. I expect to hear something this week, and I hope it will be good news. In the event that it's not, this morning I found two more interesting positions and submitted my resume to each of them.

Family (and more fun!):
Last Saturday was the 3rd Annual LaPointe Reunion, in honor of my Aunt Janet, who died of cancer 4 years ago this month. Her daughter, my cousin Sandy hosts the event at her home every year. She had her hands full this year, with quite a turnout! Midway through the day I looked at our happy crowd and realized it was predominantly women!! Look at this turnout!!!

WOMEN & GIRLS (18)
andrea
bernice
chrisann
daryl
debra
delphine
demi
denys
emily
emily
emma
juletta
kaiya
katie
linda
marilyn
sandy
sara

MEN & BOYS (7)
dale
dale
elijah
joshua
matthew
smith
talin

Sound like a lot of estrogen in the room?! Those not in attendance were Linda's partner Cheryl who was working, my cousin Tim and his girlfriend, their combined two daughters and one son, and my cousin Sue's daughters, Gen and Bekah, & Bekah's hubby Geoff and daughter Olivia. Notice the number of females among those that didn't attend! More! The LaPointe family is a large family, but many of our immediate family members live out of state, and were very much missed! Our day together was so much fun. So much catching up, reminiscing, laughing and good food. I'm already looking forward to next year's reunion!