Unseasonable warmth.....

For the second year in a row, Chicago is going through a weekend of unseasonable warmth.

I only know this because the Chicago Marathon didn't go off so well last year when temps hit the high 80s. And did they over-prepare to not have things go down that badly again.

Saturday was cleaning day while the hubby and his brother finally laid the tile for the un-tiled space in the bathroom. Woo hoo! Only one emergency trip to Menards needed to be made (when the hubby did not measure the thickness of the cement board, even though I asked him before he went for the initial trip). While hubby was gone, the brother in law actually sat downstairs with me and watched cooking shows. I know he does cook sometimes (quite fond of chili recipes) and he mentioned he liked Alton Brown, so I whipped out his first cookbook and brother-in-law flipped through it and asked to borrow it. Then he asked about making his own chicken stock (man.... I think I picked the wrong brother!) and I told him it was easy and how to do it. Other than that, I stayed close to home... cleaned up. Wooo. I did also get some Halloween decorations up.

Did run to Bed, Bath & Beyond.... needed to get a melon baller to make some mini potato skins for the nephew's birthday party this weekend. Also wanted to check out the options for a new shower caddy and a couple of other things when we get the bathroom ready. I'm really, really hoping we can get the primer on the bathroom walls on Friday night and then throw up the paint on Sunday, and spend next weekend getting the new vanity in. Once we get to painted walls and a working sink in there again, I will be a MUCH happier hausfrau.

Saturday night brother in law called a couple times since he didn't believe me about chicken stock... I had suggested if he was starting from raw chicken to start with wings, but he went to the regular store and could only find legs/thighs as the only chopped up meat with bones. I think he thinks I'm a lair, he said today that his broth just never tasted very good (I thought they were going to wait until today to have soup, I was prepared to raid my freezer for the stock I made last week, I felt so bad!).

Today, the brother in law was supposed to come over so they could do the grout. He called while he & the family were out for breakfast and said they were all going to come by. No problem. Played with my nephews (it's cool with them that I have a Barbie collection because I also have a couple of very fun Nerf guns, and my 3 year old nephew is a surprisingly good shot) and visited with the sis-in-law while the hubby laid down the grout.

When they left, I went to Target to get some things, and then to the grocery store to get at least some of the shopping for the week done. They had steaks on sale, and I figured with the warm weather, some grilled steaks would make a great meal.

Made salads, made myself some chive sour cream and a little thyme/chive/rosemary compound butter, prepped potatoes for the microwave and took out some frozen cauliflower.

We usually eat around 7pm. Not a problem in the summer, when the days are long and the light sticks around. I looked out the sliding doors at about 6:20 and saw dusk already coming. Crap.

Got out there, fired up the grill and threw the steaks on, started the potatoes in the microwave, prepped some salads. I still ended up grilling in the dark (man, we need a better light out on our deck) but dinner came together, eventually.

Kitchen is now cleaned, there is a nice, cool breeze coming through the sliding door, second of three loads of laundry is in the dryer, and I'm chilling with a dark chocolate raspberry frappachino thing right now. Life would be great if I didn't have to go to work tomorrow.....