Konnichiwa 2020!

Two years from today is the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo!

Good read here.

Bullets & Links

What I'm loving:

• My treadmill ... I do 30-60 minutes a day with a break here and there for commitments/laziness. This is major for me. I even broke out in a jog ... twice ... on two separate occasions. Who would have ever thought?! Yay me and since today is Tuesday I'm counting this as my first Take It Off Tuesdays post of the year because this is my blog and I can do what I want here (within reason of course)
• A smart, sexy man who loves his wife and kids, isn't afraid to show it and knows how to use curse words to emphasize a good point
• Only 15 days until the XXII Olympics ... where's the torch? 
• I made homemade caramel sauce and feel like I conquered Mt Everest ... how beautiful are my apple crostatas with salted caramel?! They taste even better than they look if you can believe it.

What I'm not loving:

• Cancer ... my friend's mom has it, two of my friends have it and it sucks. Big time.
• Food waste ... this is provocative and I am on a mission to be more conscientious. On that note, I used leftover half & half singles and sugar packets from a recent catered office event for the crusts of my crostatas above ... I sort of feel like my great-grandma who took sugar, creamer and jelly from restaurants

Time is on my side

I am loving the extra hour daylight savings afforded me today. I forgot to set the clocks back so woke up at 6:00am which is "regular" time (now 5:00). That means I got 6 hours of sleep straight and extra sleep time following our morning ritual. I'm pretty sure I doubled my effectiveness the entire day :)

The month of October totally flew by, I can't believe it's November with Thanksgiving less than 4 weeks away. On the down side that means we're closer to snow - yuck! On the up side that means we're closer to the greatest event on earth ... the Olympics! Only 95 days!!! I saw an article on official Winter 2014 apparel - glad to hear it will be made in the USA this time around.


In closing I am totally obsessed with making my own applesauce. This recipe from The Pioneer Woman is amazing. I flavor mine with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, a little maple syrup and bourbon, no butter. 3 lbs of apples (half recipe) makes 3 cups of applesauce. Delicious! Anyone who likes applesauce should try it. I bet this could be done in the slow cooker too ... hmm.

Let's Talk Turkey

I am thankful for friendship and leftovers this day after Thanksgiving. I had lunch with my BFF whom I haven't seen in almost six months and love that we are always able to pick up where we left off without skipping a beat. Hubby wanted straight up leftovers for dinner but I couldn't do it so made PDub's turkey and swiss panini with a couple of modifications ... no fig jam, spicy brown mustard instead of Dijon and walnut halves instead of pecans. Fabulous!

I only have three assignments left for my International Business course and one of them is a group paper on a country (the other two are short paper on international expansion and a 50 question exam). Guess which country my group selected? You got it, Turkey! Each of us is researching a separate topic and we'll conclude with how to do business in Turkey. I am researching the country's government and legal & political systems (the other topics are culture and the economy). I found a website with information on Country Commerical Guides prepared by the Department of Commerce. All I had to do was email the Turkish representative and he sent the entire PDF ... score!

As the world’s fastest growing economy during the first quarter of 2011, Turkey represents a market with great potential. Turkey has been designated as a priority market under President Obama’s National Export Initiative and has, as a result, been the focus of sustained International Trade Administration and U.S. Government efforts, including targeted trade promotion. U.S.-Turkish trade grew by 34 percent last year, reaching a record high of almost $20 billion. Furthermore, U.S. exports to Turkey rose 38 percent, totaling $14.6 billion and making Turkey one of the top 25 U.S. export markets.

Fun facts:
• The Republic of Turkey is at the "crossroads" of Europe and Asia
• Depending on how you define continents, Turkey is either part of Eurasia or part in southeastern Europe and part in western Asia
• The part of Turkey in Europe is called ‘Thrace’ while the part in Asia is called ‘Anatolia’
• Turkey was the center of the Ottoman Empire with Constantinople as its capital (now Istanbul)
• If you subscribe to the seven-continent definition, Istanbul is the only city in the world located on two continents
• 98% Muslim - Turkey is the only secular Muslim country amongst all the Muslim countries in the world (separation of church and state)
• The Turks introduced coffee to Europe and tulips to the Dutch
• St. Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) was born in Patara and became the bishop of Demre, on Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast
• Noah’s Ark landed on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey
• It is only 577.36 miles or 929.15 kilometers from Istanbul to Sochi, Russia - the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics (only 440 days away!!!)

Fields of gold

I am glued to the Olympics ... most of the family is, but I am a tad more devoted. Two of my favorites are coming up ... synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics ... before the closing ceremonies bring it all to a screeching halt. It will be bittersweet. It's been fun to watch the competitions, all in the name of being the world's best (if only for a moment), team spirit and national pride. I love watching the winners' thrilled reactions and hearing the backstories of how they've come so far ... often working hard for a very long time. I will be happy to return to a normal bedtime ... been staying up way too late each evening to avoid missing anything. Hubby says he'll be happy to have his wife back and is confounded by my ability to watch events on TV while also watching things on the internet at the same time. What can I say, I'm a talented multitasker? I'm fascinated by random facts so thought I would share this interesting tidbit about flowers at the Olympics. You're welcome!

The 411

Inspired by this post from one of my favorite bloggers, I purchased a cute little pan for $12 and made Æbleskivers this morning. Delicious! Turning was a bit tricky ... wooden skewers rather than traditional knitting needles ... but it didn't take long to get it down (sorry for the blurry photo). The main trick is to not fill each of the wells too full (2/3 at most). Not only do they taste good (a cross between a pancake and donut), they are darn cute which makes them even better :)

 

**UPDATE** We had leftovers for breakfast the next day and they're just as good though none of the crust when fresh. Anxious to try other recipes ... savory with cheese like a white cheddar sounds awesome. Other recipes here and here. Though the pan only makes 7 at a time, which is considered one serving, the recipe makes 4 servings.

It's the end of baseball season so Chunky has playoffs this weekend. He really loves it, but I will not miss the driving around for practices and games. Sassy is a HUGE help with that though.

We are watching the Olympics of course (have I mentioned I'm a fan?!). We've seen regular and beach volleyball and have heard about swimming 400 IM results but are anxious to watch tonight. I give the opening ceremony a B ... loved the flame lighting and fireworks. Paul McCartney sounded good but he is definitely not getting any younger.

Trying not to complain about hot weather ... wish we could bottle it for 6 months from now.

Stay cool!

Anticipation

Only 15 days to the summer Olympics!

I Think I Can

I've taken the day off of work to write my last paper. Pathetic I know. Better late than never. It's due tomorrow at 2:00 but I'm optimistic I can get on a roll and finish by this afternoon. I have to turn it in with a 3-ring binder (portfolio) of all my work from the class, including drafts, notes and grading grids. I spent spare moments the last couple of days making a nice cover with index sheets and 3-hole punching paper. Oy!

On a random note, I've added a countdown to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in the sidebar. I heart the Olympics. While in labor with Sassy in 1994 I was really hoping I'd wait to dilate and deliver until after the pair skating team Gordeeva & Grinkov performed. In the end I had a less than three-hour labor with only a half hour of pushing and a beautiful baby girl, but there was a little part of me that was bummed to have missed the gold medal performance. In 2004 Chunky's birthday party theme was the Summer Olympics in Greece. Yum ... Spanakopita appetizers. And who could forget the local tie-in to the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" hockey game?! 12 of the 20 USA team players were from MN as well as the infamous coach, Herb Brooks.