Monday, June 8, 2009

All Alone

For the past two weeks I had been all alone at the house, just me and the dogs. Nicole took a two week vacation while attending two of her best friends weddings. Before Nicole left I had mixed feelings about living two weeks without her, I was excited that I would have tons of free time to do pointless things, like play video games.


I was also concerned that I would be extremely bored and lazy. This picture of Buddy explains how I felt most of the time.

Aside from spending my time on school stuff I had lots of free time to get things done. However I did not get as much video game playing in, I only got through a couple levels of the new 007 game I got for the Wii. I always enjoy creating things and experimenting, Nicole usually gives me a hard time about wanting to build things myself. So with her being gone for the two weeks I gave a few things a try. The project that i spent most of my time on was a Night Stand. Previously Nicole and I had a cardboard box with a scrap piece of wood on top. I started this project with a trip to Home Depot and came home with a several pieces of wood, a hand jigsaw, and some of useful supplies. I really didnt have a plan or layout for how I was going to do this but I laid it out in my mind and began to measure and cut the wood. This is what I came up with.

At first I was going to just leave it like this, but I still had some time to kill before Nicole would be coming home. And in the end it looks like this:


The Night Stand was not my only project but it was the main one that I worked on while I was here by myself. I also converted a broken TV Dinner Table and an old pillow into a lap desk, worked on my my mountain bike, and attempted some food creations. One edible project that I cooked up was one that I had never attempted before but was always interested in trying.


Bacon wrapped Chicken!

This came out better then I expected and at the same time not as good as I had hoped. I thought the bacon would never stay wrapped around the chicken, but it did. I also expected the chicken to be rich in bacon flavor, but it wasn't. I cut the chicken into finger bite size pieces and cut the bacon strips in half. After wrapping the chicken I cooked it up, next time I think I will season or marinate the chicken prior to wrapping. Any Suggestions as to how I can give the chicken more flavor? To go along with the Chicken Bacon Bites, I heated up some Honey Baked Beans. The bites were great dipped in the bean juice! I am sure this was not the healthiest meal I could have made, but it was a fun kitchen project that tasted good.

When the weather was nice I spent a lot of time sitting on the front porch hanging out with my boys.


Although I got some projects done while Nicole was gone I am very glad that she is back. Our 3 bedroom apartment and king size bed is to big for me alone.

--Brian

6 comments:

Team Shelton said...

I like the table, your much better at that stuff than I am. Not so sure about the pig parts wrapped around the chicken parts but I sure do love baked beans. I thought you guys lived in a rental house? You said apartment. Let's see...oh, yeah, when Heidi leaves I go a little nuts, you know, I don't sleep, only eat peanut butter, see how long a pair of scissors will stay stuck in the ceiling when I throw them up...is that normal?

Jen Perkins said...

Wow...bacon wrapped chicken??? That is a good example of why men need women.

Mr and Mrs Smith and Co said...

Not bad Brian, Not bad. At least you did something productive. And I am sure your wifey missed you too. Maybe, at least a little ;)

Laura said...

That night stand is awesome! Well done! You survived quite well I'd say.

The Good Life said...

The nightstand is awesome! Sometimes its good to be alone so you can fully appriciate your other half when they come home!

Jake and Chelsea said...

you should make me furniture. it looks great!