Quigs’ Corner

I arrived in Detroit yesterday to overcast skies and not nearly as much snow on the?ground as I had expected.? My colleagues here led me to believe that there were PILES of snow everywhere.? I now suspect the descriptions?were only to give me a hard time in advance of my trip.?

Today, however, was a different story.? The news at 5:30am (yes, I was actually AWAKE at this time!) started with ‘Snow Emergency’ warnings.? What exactly does that MEAN?? I started to panic, as I had lots of trouble trying to connect to my VPN last night, and finally gave up…how was I going to work, if I was trapped in my hotel with no internet access?? Well, come to find out, that emergency was south of here, and the Pontiac area only got about an inch by the time I left for the office.?? (For the recod: snow?all looks like a foot deep from several stories high in a hotel).

When I went out to clean off my car, I had a moment - only a moment - of how the snow wasn’t so bad after all. Then, I realized what I was thinking, and was thankful?that I’d be headed back to TX and warmer weather by the end of the week.?

The snow came down all day - more of a ‘mist’ of you will than a ’storm’, but enough to make the roads messy, cold enough to worry about them freezing (26 degrees at 5:30) and enough to remind me what I REALLY dislike about winter!?

All said, it’s still really pretty on the trees, and the fresh snow does give everything a layer of cleanliness to all it covers.?

Last Friday night/Saturday morning, we had a major storm front move through. As a result I didn’t get much sleep due to the wave after wave of thunderstorms. Part of this is from waking up in the middle of the night from the noise, the other due to being fearful that some terrible, life threatening storm is bearing down on us that I’ll miss knowing about and end up on the bottom of a pile of rubble formally known as my home.

I had finally fallen back to sleep when I was awakened by extremely loud noises from outside…we were in a midst of a hail storm. The stones were HUGE-some the size of golf balls, most the size of quarters. As they fell into the pool, the water was splashing up nearly a foot. That’s how hard it was coming down. Here’s some pictures from the storm.

We had what I thought was minor damage - the pool furniture will need to be rehab’d and the expansion strips on the pool deck will need to be repaired. So, I thought we had come out of it okay…til a roofer helping a neighbor assessed the damage to our roof.

Apparently, he says we need a new roof. Now, all week long, there have been roofers cruising the neighborhood. We’ve gotten at least four door hangers a day since Monday for roofing companies. So, part of me asks is it really a problem or is this a scam? Well, I think I’m going to get a second opinion, and consult with Mr. Q to figure out what to do next. The thought of replacing the roof on a six year old house sickens me. But, I also don’t want leaks, water damage, etc.

ARRGGHHH…..

I’m a fan of photography, and have a love of my hometown, Portsmouth, NH.? A friend of my sister has been working for I don’t know how long on creating a ‘drop-frame’ video about the area that is REALLY cool.? He obviously spent alot of time filming.? He’s marketing it with trailers on You Tube and has some background on his web site.? Check it out, and if you love it, buy it!?

A friend from Austin was in Dallas yesterday, so Mr. Q and I met her for dinner - at ‘a place you can’t go to in Austin’.? This is kinda hard, as there are more chain restaurants in the State of Texas than anywhere else I’ve ever seen.? In the Northeast, independent restaurants are all over, some being open for years, like The Rosa in Portsmouth.? They have their own individual character, and we generally avoided places in strip malls.? Not in Texas…we’ve found, the hard way, that some of the ‘better’ places were indeed in a strip mall.?

I’m getting off on a tangent here, so let me come back…we went to a place in Dallas that I’ve been wanting to go, La Duni.? Routinely named one of the best restaurants in the city, and by far some of the best desserts around, I was very pleased with my meal from start to finish.? It’s cute, and specializes in Latin food.? GOOD latin food.? And best of all, it’s NOT in a strip mall!?

Since I was driving, when it came time to order drinks, I chose to forgo the Mojito that had my name on it, which instead my dear husband put HIS name on, and decided to order a Limonada Suiza.? It looked interesting, and different.? I have to say it was awesome!? Light, refreshing and just enough sweetness and tartness at the same time.? I even liked it better than the Mojito Mr. Q was throwing back!?

I found the recipe, which is quite simple, and amazingly doesn’t require any hard to get special ingredients.? Try it out- I hope you like it too!

Limonada Suiza

Yields 1 (16-ounce) serving

1 lemon, quartered
1 lime, quartered
2 tablespoons sugar
Crushed ice
Soda water

1. In large glass, muddle lemon, lime and sugar until all of the lemon and lime juice has been extracted.
2. Fill glass to top with crushed ice.
3. Top up glass with soda water. Stir well.

And, just in case you’re wondering how many hours you’ll need to put in on the treadmill:

Nutritional analysis per serving: 128 calories, trace fat, 38 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 3 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 2 percent of calories from fat.

Y’all know how much I cherish my animals and the?l things that they do.? A friend sent me this link, http://www.greatpetnet.com/421/sheer-joy/?and it reminds me of Abby the dog (RIP) when it snowed in NH.? She wasn’t quite so, well enthusiastic, but pretty close.? Take a look and I dare you not to smile at this video.?

I made it back from Florida last week, tired but in one piece (did you have a doubt I would return in any other manner?). It was an extremely busy week…nearly 10k people at the conference, I worked the registration area for half of each day (except Sunday when I worked it all day), attended meetings and events with my clients and tried to fit in a session here or there where I could. The event was a good one…lots of announcements of new products that built the excitement.

The weather was, well not exactly Floridian. The Sunday evening reception was freezing and I mean that literally. The tents were packed to what I would consider dangerous capacities and I was lucky enough to find a spot near one of the propane heaters (outside) to stay warm. It did get warmer as the week went on, and by Wednesday afternoon, the banks of the lake were filled with attendees intently studying their agendas and conference materials :-). Oddly, this weather thing seems to happen nearly every year, where a bitter cold front blows in, it warms up and teases you a bit then gets cold again. And, so many people aren’t prepared for it. Perhaps it’s optimistic thinking: ‘if I bring a coat it will be cold’. I prefer to think it’ll probably be cold and I’ll bring a warm jacket. Pessimism or practicality?