MoFo Starts Tomorrow!

The time is upon us once again.  It's October, so that means it's time for Vegan MoFo!  This is my second year participating, and I decided to have a theme this time.  So I am going to try to:

BAKE SOMETHING ALREADY!

I rarely use the oven.  Most of my cooking is done on the stove top.  Occasionally we have baked foods, but mostly just around November/December, when I'm making special holiday items.

I hope to post most every day.  I will be out of town for a week but plan to prepare some posts ahead of time, so hopefully I can keep up!  There might also be a few other posts about different aspects of vegan food---products I've tried, restaurant meals, etc.  

See you back here tomorrow!

Vacation, Day 1

Since I turned 40 this year, my husband wanted to take me on a nice vacation. Our plans were to head to Toronto first, then on to New York, where we would stay at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, and then on to Vermont.  Why Vermont?  Well, it is the only state in New England that we've never visited.  And it is supposed to be beautiful in the fall.  

Unfortunately, we had a family crisis happen while we were headed to New York, so we decided to turn around and go home.  Is there some disappointment?  Well, of course.  That's human nature.  But there is no vacation or amount of money that can compare to my family.  Period.  Vermont will still be there the next time we are ready to visit!

We did get to spend a few days away from home though.  The first day we traveled through Cincinnati, and that gave us the perfect excuse to finally try out a Loving Hut!  

Mr. GV had a slice of raw blueberry pie.  

I had a fresh summer roll, which was delicious!

Mom had the spring roll meal.

And some black bean sweet potato soup.

Mr. GV had soup, although I don't remember what type, a buffalo wrap, and salad.  

I had the raw taco salad.  I liked what I could eat of it, but it was way too spicy for me.  

Mom at the fish pond in the back of the restaurant.  

I was glad to finally get to try the food at a Loving Hut location.  While I didn't pick wisely for my meal, I have no doubt that the next time I try one of their dishes, it will be great.  

Pizza and Games

One night we all got together at a local pizza joint.  After dinner it was time for games!

J and S play air hockey.

Mr. GV playing pool.

K joined in.

And I shot my first pool....ever!  And sucked!

J having a ride.

The reflection of the sign through two windows.  

Sleep Style

He looks comfy, doesn't he?  

50, 40, 4

On my mother's side of the family, we have three birthdays all on the same day.  I am fortunate enough to share my birthday with my uncle.  This year we were able to celebrate together!  

The children's table

Here I am arriving at the surprise party at Macaroni Grill.  It had been a hard morning, as we had just euthanized sweet little Pearl a few hours before.  

Being greeted by my best boy!

All of my grandparents' grandchildren, except for one who couldn't be there. 

The original three grandchildren.  Even though those two lived a couple hours away, we saw each other A LOT when we were growing up.  After I was born, it was over 10 years before the next grandchild in the family came along.  

The great-grandchildren

J was the hero.  My balloons floated up and he was able to capture one of them....with a little help from Mr. GV.

He got a round of applause from the whole back room!

Blowing out the 40 candles.  *Sigh*  Look at all the smoke.  lol

The candles melted quickly and combined with the caramel on top of my vegan birthday cake.

The 4-year old celebrant in the red shirt. 

My uncle, with two of his siblings.

My grandparents' children.

Sister S and her man.

Sweet little cousin.

Here we are--40, 4, and 50!

My complete family.

My birthday flowers from my mom and family.

Library Puppet Show

Not too much to say here, other than J attended a puppet show during the library's summer program.  I was there that day, and it was really cute!  

There's J in the blue shirt, listening and enjoying himself. 

Busy, busy busy!

Things have been a bit hectic around here lately, thus the lack of posts.  

I've been busy with my girl, Macy.  Just normal busy.  She is a fairly easy, if somewhat neurotic dog.

 And I've been busy with my favorite boy, J.

But most of all I've been busy with this:

Meet Milo!  He is a lab mix we adopted from a local humane society a week ago today, on August 25th. He is about 8 months old, and is still very much a puppy, with all the chewing and exuberance that goes along with it.  He looks a lot like my old guy Max who we lost last August.  He seems to be smart and learns quickly.  He understood "sit" after just a couple of times and practices it fairly regularly.  Sometimes his energy or distraction (OMG, cookie!!!) gets the best of him.  We are so excited to have him as part of our family, and are looking forward to many fun years with him.

Other things that have been keeping me busy:  have been a bit down with some back pain, getting ready for and having a yard sale at my mom's house, Mr. GV had another organized mass bike ride which meant getting up at 4 a.m. this morning and spending most of the day away from home, and moving things around (and finishing up on that tomorrow) so the men can rip out our old dingy carpet and install bamboo flooring (can't wait for that.)

I don't anticipate much in the way of posts for the next couple of weeks.  I will be back after that though, and the month of October I'm planning on participating in Vegan MoFo again, so hopefully there will be lots of posts then.