Koori is doing much better - she is wagging her tail and everything! Now, I'm not saying she is wagging it as much as normal, but she no longer has it tucked between her legs all the time. She is feeling much better!

The beading class was fun - four of us from work and a mother-in-law of one of them all made a bracelet and earrings bead set. The instructor showed what I wanted - the techniques to step it up a notch. I've done some beading, and am ready to try some more! Unfortunately, I sat down last night and dumped half a box of small beads on the floor and spent my evening cleaning up instead of beading! I didn't like how my bracelet turned out, so I unstrung everything anyway. Maybe another day??

Yesterday was the 2nd annual Chili Cookoff at work, and once again, I didn't win. I did have a great lunch though! We had eight chilies entered, and lots of side dishes (cornbread, salad, dessert) and I was stuffed. Just taste testing the eight chilies was probably enough (because you just had to try that one one more time!) Most of my chili was eaten at least! I may not have won, but people liked it enough to have more than just a taste! The same two people took first and second this year as last, so we are thinking of changing the rules a bit - the winners get to be the judges next time! We don't want people to get discouraged and not enter. One of the winners actually is a competitor in the regional cookoffs around town, and has very good chili!

Ralph gave me a beautiful ruby necklace for Valentine's Day. and a couple of cute cards. I told him I wasn't getting him a present, but I did try a new recipe just for him. I made steak and shrimp scampi for dinner, and a flourless chocolate cake for dessert. The dinner was good, but the dessert had issues. I think the recipe was printed wrong. It was supposed to bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, and it was still raw! I put it back in the oven at 375 for another 30 minutes before it was even close to done, and it probably could still have used some more time. I don't know if it was the recipe or my oven. The taste was good - the texture wasn't quite what I wanted though. AJ had three or four pieces, and Ralph eyed it for seconds, so they liked it as it was.