Our Anniversary

In honor of our anniversary, here is the story of how we met:

April 20, 2003 started out like a regular Sunday. The weather was beautiful as spring really started to take hold in Richmond. Keith made the decision to go to a new church, Grove Avenue Baptist Church, where Katherine had been attending for about six months, and beyond that to go to Dennis and Cheryl's Sunday School class/small group (where, coincidently, but quite guessable at this point, Katherine was an active member).

Most of the group went out for lunch after church, and on this particular Sunday they decided to make it a park day. Another member of the class, Bill, knew Keith from the church he had previously attended and convinced him to come.

After sitting around and eating and talking and enjoying being outside on such a lovely day (lunch time conversation topics: Katherine's fear of squirrels and Keith's (clearly incorrect) theory that the maximum pairs of shoes needed by anyone is six), Keith, Bill, Katherine, and another girl from the class were headed towards our parking lot. The conversation was still on shoes; Katherine was defending the need for multiple pairs of black shoes at this point:

"Like this pair," she said, indicating the strappy platform black open-toed sandals gracing her feet, "are the best for kicking off easily when driving so I can put my feet out the window."

"You can't drive with your feet out the window! It's against the law! Right, Keith?" said Bill (the guy who already knew Keith).

"Yeah, you can't do that. It's reckless driving," said Keith.

"Pffft. It's not reckless driving! I only put one foot out the window, I adjust my mirrors, I have complete control of my vehicle," Katherine countered.

"No, no... it's definitely against the law! Right, Keith?"

"Right."

"Whatever," Katherine said, dismissively, "If it's against some law, it's a stupid law. Any law that stupid is OK to break."

"No! No, you can't do that, right, Keith?" Bill said, anxiously.

"Yeah, you can't do that."

"Yeah, what are you, a cop or something?"

This is the part where Keith, without breaking stride, pulls out a wallet and flips open his badge, leaving Katherine to stop, gaping and speechless. This, as everyone realizes, is somewhat of an accomplishment, one Keith jokes he has never managed to replicate.

And that's how we met. And how Katherine found out Keith was a cop.

Keith Raymond Dohl & Katherine Elizabeth Hudgins Dohl
Married April 24, 2004

May we forever continue through life's journey beside each other,
our hearts still filled with love, respect, and admiration, as it was so many years ago.
May our caring for each other grow deeper; may our love for each other grow stronger.
May our home be filled with hope, peace, and love as it has been for
all these years we have shared together.
May we share just as many more.

Whole lotta' posting going on...

Yes, there are a lot of posts today. In case the blog cut some of them off, here are all of the new posts for today:

Kaitlyn Starts PT
Keith's Chair Fund
Chicken Saltimbocca
Kaitlyn's Blessing
Kaitlyn's Dance

Kaitlyn's Dance

In our house the backside is referred to as the "tushie". At least usually. A few days ago I used the word "derrier", and Kaitlyn latched onto it immediately. Just hours later she was doing her usual Kaitlyn dance of hands in the air and shaking her little hips while bouncing a little. "Mommy!" she said, "I'm doing a dairy-air dance!"

It is impossible to not laugh at that, though God knows I tried!

And she proved she knows to what a "dairy air" is referring.

Kaitlyn's Blessing

In case you didn't hear her, she said:
"God is great,
God is good.
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hands
We all are fed.
Give us, Lord, our daily bread.
A-MEN!



Cheese."

Because a camera requires a cheese.

Chicken Saltimbocca

Possibly as long as I've known of Maggiano's Little Italy's existence one of my favorite dishes has been Chicken Saltimbocca. Heck, it was one of the dishes we served at our wedding! Plus, I like the name. Saltimbocca, translated from Italian, means "jump mouth".

With my new home business (which I can't explicitly say what is; darn rules and darn my ethics for following them! shoot me an email if you are curious) I have even more of an excuse to try some new dishes, and Chicken Saltimbocca was Tuesday's adventure. I looked at a few recipes, took a bit here and a bit there and ended up with this:

Chicken Saltimbocca

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
all-purpose flour (about 1/4 - 1/3 cup)
2 T. butter (NOT margarine)
1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, wedged
1 tsp. dried marjoram or sage (or about 2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped - I just didn't have any on hand!)
2 large slices prosciutto, cut in half
4 slices provolone or mozzarella
3/4 C. dry white wine

Directions

1. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with meat mallet. Season with salt and pepper to taste (fresh ground of both if possible) and dredge in flour spread on a plate.
   Tip: Pounding the chicken flat means it will cook evenly, especially important when pan cooking.


2. Melt 1 T. of butter (save other tablespoon for later) with olive oil in a large stainless steel fry or sauté pan until very hot. Add the chicken and onion wedges and cook about 5-6 minutes (until the undersides are golden brown). Turn chicken and onion wedges and cook an additional 4-6 minutes (until the chicken is firm when pressed in the center).
   Tip 1: You need to use stainless steel to create the "fond", the brown bits stuck to the pan used in making the sauce. You won't get them in non-stick cookware.
   Tip 2: The easiest way to cut up the onion is with an apple wedger/corer. Use as many wedges as you like, save the rest in freezer for another use.


3. Reduce the heat to very low. Sprinkle the chicken with marjoram or sage. Top each piece with a piece of prosciutto and cheese. Cover pan and cook about a minute to a minute and a half (until the cheese melts). Remove chicken to a serving plate and cover loosely (without touching cheese) with foil.


4. Bring pan to high heat until it sizzles. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, until reduced to about 1/4 cup, then remove from heat and whisk in the remaining 1 T. butter.
   Tip: deglazing the pan not only creates a great sauce, but makes the pan really easy to clean!


5. Spoon sauce and onions over and around the chicken and serve immediately. Be prepared for accolades.

Keith's Chair Fund

Many of the people reading this blog have been to our house (I'm assuming - who else would waste time on these banalities?). And you know we don't have any room in our den for a Lazy Boy (or really anything larger than a pillow). And yet that's what Keith has been saving up money for for a few years now. He'd get a "donation" for birthday or part of Christmas or whatever.

And he finally got enough for a chair. A big, reclining "Daddy Chair". Ready to see it?

What? That doesn't look like a chair to you? Good eyes. Somehow the chair magically turned into 47" 1080p Digital LCD HDTV (I had to look at the box; I tend to just say "big screen"), plus a new stand, as the cabinet holding our old (and, might I add, perfectly adequate) 32" TV did not remotely fit the new TV.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the TV, too. But you never hear ME saying things like: "You know, I never really liked Sesame Street before, but now it's exciting!" (with only just the very slightest touch of facetiousness)

Kaitlyn Starts PT

Today was Kaitlyn's first day of Physical Therapy with Ms. Margaret.

To refresh your memory:
January - Kaitlyn breaks her leg by falling down the stairs with Keith
mid-February - Kaitlyn gets her cast off
last Wednesday - Kaitlyn has a 6 week post-cast appointment, where the doctor thought her gait wasn't quite up to par yet

Which brings us to today and the first of at least 8 appointments (assuming Southern Health does right by us, which could be a rather large assumption).

We talked about the appointment ahead of time, so Kaitlyn was really excited about going to "do some fun exercises!" with Ms. Margaret. She was even more excited (in her timid "I'm around new people" way) when we got there and she could see the mini-tramp and a slide and some other "gym" equipment.

She did basic PT evaluation stuff - standing on one leg, kneeling, going up and down steps, doing relevés ... all that jazz. She really didn't want to leave when the hour was up! The therapist has recommended some shoe inserts for her, so we'll get her measured for those at her next appointment.

The biggest excitement of the day came when we saw what was in the strip mall facing the office building... the new Don José! If we keep having 1 o'clock appointments, surely one of these days we can indulge in some delicious Mexican food at highly reasonable prices, no?

It doesn't have to be warm and sunny to enjoy King's Dominion

Lesson 1: Even if Weather.com calls for no precipitation past 1 pm, it could still be misty, drizzly, and cold all afternoon.

Lesson2: The pizza place may be warm, but it will make you want a pizza, and they cost $25.

Lesson 3: No matter what the cashier told you last time, the $4 wristband actually is good for truly unlimited refills all day long. Good buy!

Lesson 4: Don't let Kaitlyn hold the bubbles herself.

We were only at King's Dominion for about 2-1/2 hours today, but we did a lot! First off, of course, Kourey (KE) had to eat. While Mommy (M) and KE were thusly occupied at the first aid station, Daddy (D), Auntie Kris (AK), and Kaitlyn (KR) hit a few of KR's favorite rides. The "elevator" (which is, well, an elevator to an observation deck on the 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower) and the "Auntie Cars" (which is how she believes "Antique Cars" is pronounced) were both walk-ons. Fancy that.

Once M and KE finally found the D/AK/KR trio (after first finding the first cup fill of the day) it was time for The Crypt (formerly Tomb Raider; a gravitron) for M&D, then Avalanche (the bobsled coaster) for AK, M&D.


AK tested out her Dramamine by riding the scrambler with M. They are both dorks.

You know what? This blow by blow is boring. Keith didn't double up on any coasters because his broken ribs were hurting a bit (that's a post for another time). Kaitlyn loves the carousel, too, and she rode it at least twice.

Kourey likes sitting up in the stroller without the car carrier, and also likes laying down to sleep. It was kind of cold, kind of wet, and the cookies Auntie got were kind of good. We were home by 6:30 where we made and ate meatloaf, then all watched Alvin and the Chipmunks. Daddy finished putting together the accessory he got for his *big toy* (for security reasons that's all we can say right now)(it is not a WMD)(or a WSD)(but did require WD-40).

And that's about it.

New Camera! Yay!

Have you noticed we haven't blogged much recently? Do you miss the pictures? Yeah, so do we! Our main digital camera realized it's warranty had long since expired and decided to go wonky on us sometime in December. All of the pictures had this weird blue blurry haze. Not good.

But we just (well, a week and a half ago) got our new (well, refurbished) camera! And we love it! And since it means more pictures for you (yes, that means you, Mom), we know you'll love it, too.

PS - no, that's not a picture of our actual camera. You can tell because (1) how would we take a picture of our new camera without it getting all blue blurry looking? and (2) we go to very few polo matches, especially here recently. But that's exactly the kind of picture we would take. Only ours would be even better.