Cheesecake Brownies!

While I was visiting my family I spent a couple of hours helping out in my sister's bakery. She's loved baking for as long as I can remember, and when she developed celiac disease and was unable to eat wheat products she created her own wheat-free recipes. I feel completely unqualified to prepare any food in the bakery--as a teen learning to cook I was the one who got her hand caught between the blades of the electric mixer--but I'm a darn fine dishwasher and box builder. As compensation for my highly-skilled labor she made me two full pans of marbled cheesecake brownies. YUM!

Home Sweet Home

I heard on CNN today that Americans are driving less these days. I couldn't have known that by the amount of traffic I saw on the road this week. I was on the road for 8 hours one day and 11 hours another day, and traffic was heavy the entire time.

I am not a big fan of driving. And I don't like driving in the mountains, in the rain, or after dark. I'll tough it out through one of those, but toss any two at me and I'm likely to pull over and park. Some things can't be helped--I know it has to get dark each evening, and rain will fall when it wants to. But why people built roads--interstate highways--through the mountains where they had to post signs like these I just don't understand. If you're building a road and you know that trucks have a good chance of falling over, wouldn't it make sense to change the plans for the road?

Bye Bye Baby

I've hit the road and left Indiana behind, and with it, my daughter and my grandson. This is the last baby photo for a long time (I promise!), but it was so sweet I just had to post it. I'll be home by Thursday--I think--but I'm taking the scenic route so I can spend a day or so with my parents and sister. It feels like I've been gone for months, not weeks, and I am getting terribly anxious to get home and get back to work. That's a new feeling for me--I've never felt homesick or wanted to get back to work!

Home Away From Home

I love visiting Bloomington, Indiana, and not just because my daughter and grandson live here. The Wampler House Bed & Breakfast is absolutely my favorite place to stay when I'm away from home. It's comfortable, quiet, cozy, and ultra clean. The guest rooms are spacious, the adjoining bath had a jacuzzi, and every day a plate would magically appear in my room with several homemade cookies. The fridge in the guest dining area is always stocked with a wide selection of sodas and bottled water, and there's a variety of teas and coffees, as well as snacks in case the cookies weren't enough.

Breakfast begins with a beautiful plate of fresh fruit salad and muffins or quick bread, juice, coffee--and then the main course arrives. It's enough to hold me until dinner! The house is decorated with old family photos and news clippings. My favorite thing is the planter in the front yard: it's a chimney top that blew off in a tornado years ago, and now it holds a bunch of cheerful flowers. Mr. LuckyGirl and I stayed here for several days while he was visiting, and he loved it as much as I do. We'll be back again, and soon.