Grab a pail, it looks like rain!

This weekend didn't go exactly as we had first planned it. We started by waking up REALLY early (for a Saturday) in order to get into Chicago for an appointment with an Allstate guy. He needed to look at the car and provide an estimate of the cost to repair. So when we woke up we noticed it was raining, but didn't think too much of it.

Once ready to go, we went down to the garage, got in our car, and headed out the back alley - or should I say the flooded back alley. On our way to the shop the rain was pouring and we would come across many more spots in the road that were flooded. But it wasn't until our ride home that we really came across any SERIOUS water on the road. We were heading down Sheridan close to Andrew's old apartment, the road bends right along Lake Michigan, and it appears that the Lake decided to expand onto the road. By the time we noticed the high water it was too late to turn around, there was a large median to our side that we would not be able to cross and cars behind us - so we plowed ahead. The water was easily to the top of our tires. We fortunately made it through though there were some unfortunate stalled vehicles on the opposite side of the road. This was not the last of the high water we encountered on the trip home - but Andrew pulled out his eagle scout skills, and explained the key points of driving through high water - go slowly but keep moving forward, so you don't allow the water to get into the exhaust and you don't want the water to get to the spark plugs (especially since we just got new ones.) I learn a lot with Andrew around! We made it home safe and sound -and VERY thankful to have an indoor garage. We let the car run for awhile to make sure it dried out sufficiently, then headed up to our apartment - unaware of what awaited us there.

This might look like an ordinary pipe - it helps keep up the trendy loft look we are after - but this pipe - located on our apartment celling right above our brand new flat screen TV was leaking, and not a slow leak but a steady drip! So we moved the TV and TV stand to another part of the house, and put a bucket under it. The picture below is what we were able to collect after a few short hours! Fortunately we noticed it around the start, and there was no damage - that we can tell - to our new TV.

But while we were setting up the bucket we noticed other leaks all around the apartment. (This is why we are using the vase above to catch the water - as all our other buckets, pails, and bowls are being used on other leaks.) Here are a few of the leaks:

Above the fireplace:By the door to our porch:
Our leak situation was not helped by the fact that Chicago experienced the greatest daily rain fall in 137 years.

The rainfall also put a damper on Andrew's Saturday plans. He had arranged a golf outing with a former colleague that had to be rescheduled. Boy, they couldn't have picked a worse day for golf!

We believe we have all the leaks covered now - and as it has been raining ALL weekend we are looking forward to the predicted rain-free week ahead of us!

In other - more culinary - news, here are the meals we have had since the last post:

Wednesday - the old tried and true Feta Chicken (if I have ever cooked for you, it was probably this dish) biscuits and asparagus. On a fun note - I steamed the asparagus in the asparagus steamer we got as a wedding gift from one of my colleagues. It turned out really nicely.

Thursday - Chicken stir-fry & biscuits (yes the same ones from the night before - I think my creativity is waning.) This was a very bland receipt and will not be used again.

Friday - FROZEN PIZZA! To be fair it had begun raining so Andrew and I rented a few movies and settled in for the night. I made him get frozen pizza instead of ordering out, so it was kind of like we were cooking.
Saturday- We CAVED! We went out to eat! I know, I know - but giving it up cold turkey just doesn't seem plausible! We have decided to make Saturday night our eat out/date night. Don't judge!

Sunday: Breakfast in bed! Cinnamon twists and orange juice. Yum Yum! Another colleague of mine bought this tray for us as a wedding gift - so I had to use it! :)

Then in the afternoon, I decided to get a jump start on the weeks meals. One of the receipts was a seafood lasagna, which sounds good but takes a few hours to make - so I thought I would get it all prepped and ready to bake.

This is a picture of the spinach/cottage cheese/Parmesan cheese layer, also note that the lasagna noodles are in the black pot behind.

The receipt called for shrimp and crab meat. This was a LARGE grocery shopping lesson for me - READ THE LABEL! So the crab I got was not actual crab, but crab flavored fish - Andrew discovered this by, you guessed it, reading the label. Let's just hope it taste alright! Then, when I went to prepare the shrimp I noticed that it was still shelled! Call me naive, but I thought if it was frozen shrimp in a bag it was ready to serve shrimp. Why would anyone buy unshelled shrimp when it comes deshelled? Pulling the little legs off was almost too much for me, and definitely a flashback to the lobster on our honeymoon.

Sunday night - Andrew cooked the main course - Bison Burgers! Andrew was craving bison (I usually don't ask) so he went out an bought some ground bison. We added some garlic and parsley to the burgers and boy were they tasty!

Additionally, I made sweet potato & Idaho potato wedges.

I also made an apple Carmel cake - but we both ate too much for dinner so we are saving our dessert for tomorrow.

Finally, Andrew took a picture (from the side) of the wall hanging, so you can see the spiral iron vase holder. You will also notice in the bottom right hand corner - Andrew got new dress shoes this weekend.

Hope you have enjoyed the culinary re-cap. We will try not to let so many days go between posts again - but I'm not going to lie - it will happen again.