On Our List

I'm off work today, and it's going to be a very exciting weekend. Since we are enjoying a three-day weekend, it's only appropriate that we have three very exciting things going on throughout.

A.
We're finally painting our bedroom. You have no idea how thrilled this makes me, because painting the bedroom means that new linens (and furniture? maybe?) are in the very near future, and that's the part I really like. I posted a picture of our fabric board here a few weeks ago, and I can't stop looking at it. It took me a little while to find exactly what I wanted, but now that I have I am absolutely in love with it.

2.
We'll also be getting our gaming on vicariously through Mario Marathon 3, which started a few hours ago and will be going strong through at least Sunday evening (probably longer). I am a self-professed geek and I absolutely love this event!

Basically, three thirty-somethings from Lafayette, Indiana play through all the Mario games throughout the course of a weekend to raise money for Child's Play, an organization that raises money to donate toys, games, books and cash to children's hospitals (Riley in Indianapolis, for example, is one of the recipients of their donations). I came across Mario Marathon partway through their first year (2008), and was excited to see them raise over $11,000 in just a weekend. Last year the marathon raised almost $30,000 over five days, which was just amazing.

This year they've only been playing for a few hours and are already up to nearly $9,000 in donations. Not only is watching them play the games entertaining, but seeing an online community band together to raise money in this capacity is just amazing. When we're not painting or enjoying the other activities on this weekend's list of excitement, I'll be tuning in to root the guys on. You should all check it out - pop on over and chuck them a couple of bucks! After all, it's for the kids!

D.
When we're not painting or (vicariously) gaming, we're going to be embarking on a new cooking adventure: canning. I recently decided that it would be fun to try, so in preparation I bought a Ball Canning Discovery Kit two weeks ago. We now have mason jars, recipe booklets, canning salt, some specialty seasonings and a number of other goodies to go with. I think we're going to try making some salsa, a few jars of pickles, and this Zesty Zucchini Relish to start. We already love to freeze leftovers, so the idea of canning them is just irresistible. Yes, we're geeks. See above.

Also on the cooking list for this weekend are a) making Beer Can Chicken with our second CSA bird, 2) enjoying copious amounts of this tasty Pineapple-Mango Salsa, and d) whipping up another batch of the Pioneer Woman's Breakfast Burritos. Last time the recipe made 14 burritos, which froze and reheated beautifully! It was fantastic to pull two out and not have to do anything for a hot and filling meal in the AM. Speaking of the AM, it's possible that English Muffins will make their way into the mix, but we have a lot going on already... so we'll see how it goes.

Now that you're all drooling on your computers, I think my work is done. Also, I hear the rustling of drop cloths in the bedroom, which I think means I need to skedaddle and tell Bryan what to do help Bryan with the priming. And don't worry, I'll post pictures when it's all done. I promise!