It's good to have fiends. Er, friends.

First of all, it's even better to have fiends who also happen to be your friends. We spent the better part of an afternoon at IKEA yesterday buying a kitchen, and Shaundrea (That's 2 links in one word) stuck around the entire freaking time while we did ordering paperwork, waiting, and more waiting. I am kind of boggled. Thanks, guys! You're very patient and brave. Seriously. Next time we hang out, maybe we can do something other than sitting on a (albeit very cute) waiting room couch at IKEA for 4 hours.

Now that stuff has been delivered, the living room looks like a cardboard forest that's slowly blossoming into various cabinets as we build them. It's actually gotten to the point where the downstairs is so taken over by stuff that it's not distressing anymore, which is nice. It's more about anticipating a new kitchen, and packing up extras and having them out of the way. Whee! I can do both of those things very well.

One good thing about knowing where we'll end up living is that we know there will be a Costco there. Blessed be--there are 2 in Cinci, so we renewed our membership today and trawled the aisles, gathering massive packages of toilet paper and such.

We also got some fresh trout, which is NOT something we would have considereduntil recently, but for some reason we both ordered fish when we ate out not too long ago, and it was downright scrumptious. Tonight we improvised and made a variation on the earlier dish--trout fillets rolled in finely crushed almonds and spices, then pan-fried in butter. We cut up a whole lime and squeezed it over the fish, and it was really nice--suddenly the toasted almonds had more flavor, and it was nice with the more subdued flavor of the trout. Yum. I did homemade whipped cream with splenda and a vanilla pod, and we dipped a bunch of fresh strawberries in it for desert. Hurrah for low-carb meals where you still feel a tad luxourious! It's weird to realize we're actually losing weight while we're eating like that. Whatever. It works, and I'm not going to question. The evidence is both the Boy and I each being able to step out of our favorite jeans without undoing them. But, you know... not in public.