Things that happened last week while I ignored the blog

Okay, time to catch up on the past week. When we got back from New Orleans, Anna was obviously super excited to see us. It had been our longest separation ever!

Wait, no...socks. She was super excited about socks.

My bad.

As promised, one of my top priorities upon returning to town was forcing Anna and Cash back into their sorta-themed Halloween costumes for more pictures.

The models lounge in the break room before a grueling photo shoot.

I took a LOT of pictures. On the whole, they took a more action-movie-esque tone than I originally planned. Still better than Pebbles bawling, though.

Let's just say that this photo isn't unrepresentative of the entire enterprise.

After several days away, Anna was shocked to find herself displaced from her favorite lounging spot.

I think they worked something out, I'm not sure, I usually just let them do their own thing.

I also started actually preparing meals again, although it was hard to get back on that horse after New Orleans. Because of the 27 pounds I'd gained.

I have to warn you, the change in season means that my cooking is going to become progressively more brown and mushy. Awesome in person, kinda blah looking in pictures. Use your imaginations! Or Photoshop skills! Whatever you need to do.

Grilled cheese sandwich with sauerkraut on rye and roasted tomato soup. If you like sauerkraut, this is a sandwich you should immediately look in to.

Chicken with roasted cauliflower and tahini sauce. I am absolutely going to start roasting chicken more often.

Tomato and white bean panade. It has bread, cheese, and tomatoes, which basically makes it a sneaky way to eat pizza in a bowl. Which makes it magnificent.

Curried sweet potato and brown rice soup. Brown. Mushy. Not a bad thing.

I thought the flavor on that last soup was good, but maybe lacking some dimension. When I mentioned this to Dan, he suggested that it might be better with some sort of side dish. He then suggested, in an entirely non-joking manner, "You know, like...a little piece of steak or something." Noted! Poor Dan, slave to the whims of my dietary capriciousness.

Finally, a (stunning?) return to form: yard work!

I probably should have mentioned to the gardening fans that we only mess with the lawn about three times a year.

This is the happiest Hopper has been in so, so long.