Starting to get my life back under control… or at least that’s how I feel right this moment. Come back in 5 minutes and I’ll be quietly panicking.

Today’s accomplishments:

• I got my email inbox down to 98 current personal/client emails (down from 240-some). It’s been months and months since I’ve been below 100 - and that’s with filters set up so that many emails skip the inbox entirely! This is what happens when you try to keep in touch with people and keep up with a web business in addition to volunteering.
• I’ve finally made contact with Beth, the woman fostering a Ridgeback we are thinking of adopting. We started planning a meet-n-greet in… June? But there was tonsillitis (Beth, not the dog), then natural disaster - she lives in Cedar Rapids, IA with all the flooding, then family crises, then a month of family reunions for us, then VBS, then vacation… I think we’ll finally get to meet in August. Maybe. Hopefully.
• I’ve finally got my Tekyn stuff together - I’m up-to-date with all of our clients, and have even picked up a new one over the weekend. That one will be fun - he knows his stuff, and knows what he wants while still being willing to listen to my suggestions. Refreshing. =) I got the go-ahead to start building a framework today.

All that despite working a full day and nursing a very ill (bronchitis, folks, mixed with some acid reflux) husband to sleep (not to health - his body has to do that). I’m feeling pretty good. =)

.. back to life, back to reality… isn’t that from a song from the early 90’s? Well, whenever it’s from, it’s stuck in my head.

We’re back from another action-packed weekend. Another weekend, another reunion, another bout of illness from these Aukerfolk. Dave’s ill and I’ve been experiencing stomach distress. Enough distress that while I DID participate in and lose the Schrader classic [mini-golf game] as is my tradition, I did NOT ride the carousel or join the cousins at the batting cages this year. Instead, I took pictures and then crashed on a picnic table bench.

Fun reunion photos are here.

Also, it’s VBS week at Woodruff Place Baptist. I may post a few funny pics, but I probably won’t blog too much this week. Maybe.

I can’t believe it’s been three years!

My husband is so sweet - makes me feel like a mush (and those of you who know me know what an accomplishment that is…). On our first anniversary, David gave me a red rose and a white rose. Red for the year we’d been married, white for the year to come. He told me he’d do the same thing for as long as we lived. =) This year was the three red roses year.

I love you, D.

I’m looking forward to spending this next year with you. =)

I went from one insane, politically-charged project with a super-tight deadline to another. Hence the lack of posting. I am, in fact, actually working on said project right now. Well, to be absolutely precise, I’m taking a break for a few minutes. There’s only so long you can stare at an electronic medical record before you stop seeing detail and start making mistakes.

So, Leah’s gone. Her visit was so wonderful - we adore that girl, and I just LOVE having her around. We have a lot in common, so I didn’t feel like she was a guest I had to go out of my way to entertain… it was just easy to be with her. We didn’t do all that much - just lived my life together and hung out - but it was so much more fun than it normally is! We keep ourselves very busy with people and events - Leah knows now that I’m not exaggerating when I say things never slow down. =)

For example. Just this weekend: I will be working 10 hours of OT, a couple of hours for my contracting company (Sedona Learning Solutions), an hour or so catching up on some web admin stuff for NADDI, AND preparing for, then hosting Zach (the teen boy who’ll be “living” with us for July starting this weekend). Then we have a birthday party and an open house.

But, things are starting to get back on track. I’ll have the time to do the things I need to once this project is finished and stops invading my personal life. Maybe I’ll even have a chance to get out there and take some pictures before it’s autumn.

To those of you who’ve stopped reading this blog because I haven’t been posting: I’m sorry. I miss you. Come back! I’ll be better to you!

Leah’s been visiting for the last few weeks, and I have a hard time spending time at the computer when I can hang out with her. And there’s been precious little time for even that because of recent events.

A sampling - in one weekend, we went to 3 cookouts. That week, we had a teen from our church living with us while his foster family took a road-trip. The next weekend, we went to a wedding and our car was totalled. That week, Leah and David bought Rock Band (so we played quite a bit). The next weekend, we almost got another dog, and instead bought a new car. All the while, I was involved in a politically charged project at work with a TIGHT timeline. Meaning I was working OT.

Anyway, stories and pictures are forthcoming. I don’t have time right now, but I’ll start posting again in small bits soon.

This is a really great, and very easy to make, dish - thought I’d share it (Leah, Melissa).

• 4 boned/skinned chicken breast halves
• 1/3 cup mustard (1/2 dijon, 1/2 coarse pommery)
• 1/3 cup vermouth or dry white wine
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• to taste freshly ground black pepper
• to taste salt

1. Coat the chicken with mustard and set in a covered bowl. Marinate for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Arrange the chicken in a baking dish. Scrape out remaining mustard (from the marinating bowl) and spread evenly over chicken. Season with pepper and pour white wine over.
4. Back (basting occasionally) in center rack of oven for 30-40 minutes.
5. Scrape mustard off and back into the backing dish. Transfer chicken to a serving platter and keep warm.
6. Skim fat from cooking juices and set in baking dish over medium heat. Bring to a boil and whisk in sour cream. Lower the heat. Simmer for 5-10 minutes or until reduced by 1/3. Season with salt and pepper and pour over chicken. Serve hot.

When Leah was a little thing, she used to sing “homagin, homagin!” over and over as we pulled up the driveway and into the garage.  I thought that as the plane taxied to the runway in Indy…  I’m home again!

David met me at the airport when we flew in after several delays, saying he had a surprise for me.  He had tickets to a concert.  I was floored, thinking “What?  David bought tickets to a concert?”

We’re not concert people.  And he’s not a ticket-buying person.  Turns out, though, that my world is still intact - they were bought by a friend’s boss and his date stood him up.  He gave the tickets to my friend, and my friend gave them to David.  Which is why David was standing there with tickets to a Michael Buble concert.  Again, something we NEVER would have gone to see.  But, we’re usually up for something different.  We decided to go - knowing full well that we’d spend most of the concert being amazed at the cheese and the crazy ladies.

And crazy ladies there were in abundance.  Screaming ladies, yelling ladies, swooning ladies.  And teens!  So many of them… screaming “I love you, Michael” at every quiet moment.  It was insane.  Oh, yeah - there was also this super man fan sitting next to on top of me.  He’d had four beers before he took his seat (the cups were stacked and he smelled).  A few songs in, he and his date got up (spilling their beer all over the floor and my foot) and started dancing (drunkenly and a bit like hippies) in the aisle.  They never did come back.

Aside from that mess and the sheer cheese of a crooner concert, we had a good time.  We laughed a lot, at the people there and at Michael himself.  He was a lot funnier (and fouler) than I thought he’d be.  He has a great voice, and his jazz stuff was really good.  His swagger, his jokes, his personality onstage - it was like he was channeling Frank Sinatra.  The worst part of the evening was the pop set - those songs sucked.  Really badly.  David and I left when he made the crowd stand up and clap with him.  I just really don’t go for that stuff.

All in all, it was a good way to spend a Friday night - doing something different.

I’m back.

I’m also working four weeks of 10 hours of overtime. That’s 40 hours at time and a half. At my consultant/contracting rate.  =) That sounds pretty danged good to me. (I’m not usually that girl, but just think about the shoes I can buy!)

So. Not a lot of time for posting and taking pictures (sorry, Leah). But I’m dropping in tonight to ask two things:

1. What is UP with my husband’s fascination with Deal or No Deal? (It’s my personal opinion that there is no worse example of the degredation of the entertainment industry. )
2. Why is it that I haven’t thought of high school in years and years and all of a sudden it’s on my mind now? (Answer: Facebook. They’ve found me.)

Pirate Dave, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

This is pirate Dave.

When friend & coworker DD heard that David spent the day scrubbing our deck so it could be stained and sealed, she sent me home with an eye patch… so he could be a proper pirate. This is him. Wearing the patch.

It’s kinda funny… One of the kids at church, Kaylin, is writing a story featuring David and I. In this story, David is the pirate captain and I’m his first officer (mate? I don’t know pirate terminology). Maybe I’ll suggest this as cover art… =)