I love looking through this weblog. Everyday he puts up a new photo and they are amazing. Go take a look for yourself.

There are four areas to which I defer absolutely to Kevin. In these aspects of our life, he rules supreme. One of these areas is chili.

I’m not sure why, but Kevin was given the gift of chili. I think it’s because he has eaten so much chili, he has developed a sixth sense with regard to what makes a killer chili. Strangely enough, he feels the need to create his masterpiece when it is hot outside. Now, most people would think simmering pots of beans all afternoon in hot weather would be suicide. But not Kevin, oh no, for Kev, heat and chili go hand in hand.

This weekend was nice and hot. A typical August day and Kevin got bit by the chili bug. We were having some friends over for dinner and Kev decide it was a chili day. He tried something a little different and made one pot of veggie chili and one pot of good old fashion meat lovers chili. And, as always, it was wonderful. We had to eat outside because our house was a sauna but it was worth it. We still have at least 10 lbs left so I’m thinking chili dogs, chili cheese nachos, sloppy joe’s – the possibilities are endless. Maybe I’ll see if he’ll post his recipe here online. Then you too can experience the joy of hot chili on a warm summer day.

Kevin’s latest idea is to have a dog BBQ. No, I don’t mean we’ll be BBQing actually dogs. Rather, he wants to invite all of our friends who own dogs over, turn the canines loose in the backyard, and bbq for all the humans. Now, I have two small issues with this plan.

Issue 1 – Artie. We love our dog but he has some issues. He simply has to be the top dog. This means he is always trying to dominate any other dog that looks funny at him. Little dogs he doesn’t have a problem with. He knows he’s bigger. The big pooches, however, he sees as a true challenge. He has launched himself at these huge rotties and shepards fully prepared to kick some canine butt. Lets just say, it’s a miracle he’s survived this long.

Point 2 – Kevin’s cooking. Most of you out there already know the Kevin cooking stories. However, my favorite is the last time we tried this dog BBQ. We had two dogs – little Melo and Daisy. Daisy belongs to Kevin’s brother, Chris, and she is the reason we got Artie. She is a very sweet dog but very scared of strangers. She loved Melo and they began romping around our backyard. Kevin was out there cooking away. Of course, he had a ton of coals and had used 1/2 a bottle of lighter fluid so we had some serious flame going on the old weber grill. Melo & Daisy were playing chase. Melo took a sharp corner around the barbie; Daisy followed but didn’t quite make it. Next thing we knew, the grill was tipped over, charcoal all over the lawn, and we watched in fascination as the grass caught fire.

Now, that was just two dogs. I don’t even want to think what would happen if we try and add more.

I always suspect I was something special – this just confims it. I am worth $2,119,270.00. That’s right, you’ll need over 2 million to get yourself your own Chrissie. Go here to find out what you’re worth. But don’t worry if you can’t beat my asking price. I am pretty special!

I am sore all over today. Lets just say I’d never make it as a lumberjack.

Last winter we tried to buy wood for fires and were laughed at over the phone. Apparently, one must purchase wood during the summer months to allow it to dry. Who knew? So we vowed not to be taken unaware and order 1/2 a cord of wood last weekend. Having not idea what a cord is, I wanted to order a full one but Kevin talked me down to just 1/2 a cord.

So Saturday morning at the ungodly hour of 10am, I met the wood guy and his son out front. (Kevin had to work Sat so I was on my own). They backed into the driveway and proceeded to unload a *huge* mount of wood. I realized rather quickly that -it hurts to say this- Kevin was right. 1/2 a cord is plenty. Daunted by the sight of all that wood, I did the only logical thing and went back to bed. Unfortunately, the wood pile looked as big as before at 2 in the afternoon so I did the next logical thing and dropped the blinds. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

When Kev got back we headed out to the pile and set to work. We had our awl, sledgehammer, ax and wedge. All we were lacking was the muscle and coordination. It was pathetic. Our neightbors actually gathered at their window to watch and laugh at us. The worse part was Kevin’s awful puns. “Give it your awl”, “you’re awl most done”, “one more hit and it’s awl over”. Try swinging a sledge hammer and laughing at the same time.

So we’ve split 10 logs. I feel like someone took a sledgehammer to me. Only 120 more to go. I figure by the time we want to light a fire, we should be done. If only I could find someone who’d deliver a cord of Duraflame I’d be set.

Wow, an entire site devoted to toast. It even has haikus. My favorite:

Kitchen appliance
Quickly heeds my anxious prayers
Toast pressed to my cheek