Yum.

I just made a variation of Pioneer Woman's Spicy Peanut Pasta Salad. First of all, I didn't measure anything, so I don't know for sure, but I think my sauce contained more peanut butter and less of the red chili oil (I didn't want it too spicy). Second, I added some broccoli at the end (yum!). Oh, and I didn't make nearly as much as she did. As a side, I made some roasted asparagus. Can we say Heaven in a Dish? Because that's what it all tasted like to me.

(btw, if you're a blog-reading woman, you should really follow The Pioneer Woman - sorry guys, I don't mean to exclude you, but my feeling is that most of you aren't into recipes, homeschooling children, stories of how she met, dated and married her husband, and redecorating the Lodge. but if you ARE into that, feel free to go read her, too.)

The house painting is coming along - We've got the final coat on most of the house and on the garage. Plus, John cut up some old pieces of wood we had in the basement and nailed them to the parts of the garage where the wood siding had rotted off. No more holes big enough for the stray cats to get in! Yay! Oh, and it's obviously painted now the same color of the garage, which is why we waited until now to do it. I like having the final coat up, because it means they can remove the plastic coating over all the windows, so I can see outside again! It's very creepy not being able to see out ANY of your windows.

Ya know, when I was little, I always wondered why people painted their house the same color as it was before. I understood that they had the paint the house to protect the wood, but ... why the same color? If you have to do it anyway, why not branch out and try something new? I never understood... until, of course, I bought my own house and loved the color. In some ways it does feel a bit anti-climatic to get this done and have it look exactly the same... but... oh well!