Sunday dinner

I don't do it very often, unfortunately, but I love having Sunday dinner. A special Sunday meal must include a slow- roasted, braised or cooked meat. Of course these cooking processes fill the house with a delicious welcome-home smell. Yum!

Tonight, after having a wonderful slow-cooked chicken, Jeff and I have decided that Sundays are now going to become slow-cooker Sundays. The slow cooker is much more dependable than an oven. At least if your oven is anything like mine. Mine is a champion at uneven heating. No uneven heating for the slow cooker. It engulfs meat in a cozy, slow heat that makes the meat fall-off-the-bone tender. Yum again!

Here's the recipe we made, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse and Food Network. We made some mini bow-tie pasta to go with ours. The slurry (thickened pan juices) was delicious spooned over the pasta. Egg noodles would also be nice. We served dinner with a pinot grigio rose. It's a deliciously light wine that would be perfect with chicken salad and any other summer picnic dish. The wine would also be wonderful with those tiny crust-free sandwiches and salads served at bridal and baby showers.

Bon appetite. Or maybe, in this case, I should say "Bam!"

More shows to love

Two more shows that have earned the coveted "series recording" status on the DVR:

"Modern Family," airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. on ABC. Al Bundy is back, and he's wearing a bedazzled hat. He's got a hot, young, Spanish speaking wife who people mistake for his daughter. He's also got two grown kids. His daughter's husband describes himself as the "cool" dad who texts and understands that WTF means "why the face." The gay son has adopted a baby and enjoys nagging his partner about being "too" gay. If jokes about gay people, Spanish speakers, Asians, old people, nerds, jocks, dads, moms and mall walkers offend you, don't watch this show. Best quote: "Don't worry, dad, nothing gay going on here."

"The Good Wife" airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. on CBS. Julianna Margulies stars as a woman scorned by her husband (Spitzer style). When hubby is carted off to jail, the stay-at-home mom heads back to the law office. I was worried I would hate this show because Naughty Husband is played by Chris Noth. I think we can all (Erin and Karly) agree that Mr. Big is not a villain, and I don't want to start envisioning him as one. Fortunately, Naughty Husband didn't remind me of my beloved Mr. Big, maybe it was the prison clothes? Anyway, I loved the show. And the plot is not just focused on man-hating. One of evil characters is a female lawyer who is accused of mentoring women until they become competent (i.e. competition).

Flu season is on and so is the TV

I've been sick, and not just of blogging. Just kidding, dear Internet, I would never get sick of you. This cold/flu/swine disease is just making me too lazy to blog.

Luckily, I got sick just in time for the new fall shows to come on TV. There's nothing more pathetic then watching reruns of "The Cosby Show" and "Three's Company" while lying on the sofa. Yes, I'm old.

Here are some of my favorite new and returning shows (from this decade):

"Parks and Recreation," 8:30 p.m. Thursdays, NBC: Amy Poehler's kind-hearted but clueless character has trouble with love, career, friendships and zoo animals. I don't have trouble laughing while watching these well-written scenes unfold.

"The Office," 9 p.m. Thursdays, NBC: Inappropriate bosses, work-place romances, office pranks. Does this sound like your office? Trust me, it's funny when it's on TV.

"Glee," 9 p.m. Wednesday, FOX: Middle-age teachers forming a boy band while high school cheerleaders sabotage their glee club classmates? The show's silliness is endearing, and the obscure pop-culture references make me feel smart.

"What would Brian Botonio Make," 1 p.m. Sundays, Food Network: What can I say? The former skater turned cook is so goofy, he's hilarious. The dishes are easy to make and tasty.

"House," 8 p.m. Mondays, FOX: I never know what to expect from the brilliantly cunning Dr. House and his entourage of doctors. The show is so smart and complex that I never know how an episode will end.

Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9 p.m. Sundays HBO: Larry is mean, and mean is funny.

Happy birthday, Karly!

My bestest friend Karly is one year older today. Karly and I became fast friends when she came to Thanksgiving at my house in California and promptly fell in love with a little ball of fur named Alley.

Karly and I worked together at a California newspaper where we spent most of our days exchanging zingers, planning parties, trying to avoid working Saturdays on the news desk and complaining about Mr. Burns.

We shared addictions to outlet shopping, fruity mixed drinks, The Sims, veggie pizza and TV shows that lasted less than a season.

Now we live in different time zones and work different schedules. Getting together for pizza and a competitive game of Sims isn't an option, but I wish it was.

Have a great birthday, Karly! And I promise if we ever play Sims together again, I won't let Dawn Sim sell the pool ladder while Karly Sim is swimming. That Grim Reaper Sim was way too scary.

Peer pressure ain't always bad

I really didn't feel like working out tonight. My stomach sort of hurt. My head sort of ached. My mood was sort of bad. You get the idea.

I decided to spend my evening lying on the couch chomping on potato chips and watching mindless TV. Ah, how relaxing. And then I remembered WalkGeorgia.

Three other woman and I formed a team where we log our daily physical activity into an online database. After some fancy math, the computer shows us how many miles across Georgia we've "walked." The goal is to have visited each Georgia county by the program's end. Teams compete against each other to cover the most ground.

Tonight I decided I couldn't let my team down. There will, of course, be days that I disappoint. Days I feel too sick, too tired or too busy to exercise. There will be days when the call of happy hour is too loud to ignore and a workout is skipped. There will be times I chose dinner with friends over sweating on the streets. But today wasn't one of those days.

Today I took one for the team and now that my 50-minute walk is over, I feel happier. I guess I needed a little pressure from my peers. Thanks Katie, Sonya and Allison.

Laboring on Labor Day

I always thought working from home would be the ideal situation. No worries about wardrobe, no hungry co-workers asking to share my snacks, no over-used and under-cleaned bathrooms and no boss asking me to step into his office.

It seemed perfect, until yesterday. I got stuck working on Labor Day, but was lucky to be granted permission to work from home. No problem, I thought while picturing my efficient little self reading through copy with a margarita in one hand my computer mouse in the other.

The reality was a bit less ideal than I imagined. First of all, I forgot the margarita. I know, that was clearly the downfall. My dogs obviously didn't get the memo that I was working because they bothered me with all sorts of needing-to-go-outside nonsense. My husband decided Labor Day was the perfect day to play with, I mean work with, noisy power tools. Several margarita-drinking friends drunk dialed me to see how my "Lazy Day" was going. Yes, I'm sure it was funny after that third margarita.

The distractions I faced at home were more distracting than those I faced at work. It was easier to ignore co-workers — especially those begging for food — than my two cute puppies. It was easier to hide from my boss than my husband. And my bathrooms weren't that clean, and I couldn't blame the cleaning crew.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today I raise my glass to you, mom.

On this anniversary of your birth — don't panic, I won't say which anniversary — let me offer a little toast:

Thank you for making nutritious dinners when you were tired and we were begging for fast food.

Thank you for not letting me give up on my homework assignments when I was tired and the work was hard.

Thank you for playing boardgames with me and especially for letting me win.

Thank you for taking me shopping and especially for buying me those must-have pink Guess jeans.

Thank you for knowing when I needed a hug and when I needed a scolding.

Happy birthday, mom. I love you!