Come on, Vogue. Let your body move to the music.

Well there you have it then! Lexie won this years March of Dimes baby photo contest. .25 cents a vote all donated to the March of Dimes. Her picture will be blown up and carried in the march, and her name will be mentioned in the next employee newsletter. She has been entered the last three years and the cutoff age is three. Grammy picked the picture this year.

Dad was a hit at work. TT mentioned how attractive he is (we already know this, yes?), and a few people mentioned his handshake. Odd, I'm not sure I've ever shook hands with him. I must have. Anywhoo...Lunch was great and I've already started the book Dad gave me. Kind of a surreal experience. If only Dad would write an autobiography. That would be awesome. And the Salmon burger was great too. Frank, Mom, and Lexie are coming in next Monday. I can't believe how excited I am about this. I'm hoping they can come at the end of the day, and then maybe we can get something to eat after work. Frank has been up here before, but I'm happy that Mom will get to see where I work, and I am so thrilled at the thought of her running around by my desk! Weeeeee!

Note to Carrie: Thanks Carrie! I guess I am a funny creature.

Even though I had Salmon for lunch yesterday, we had it for dinner also. It was my first time cooking Salmon, and I have been wanting to try it for a long time. The salmon had been in the freezer for about a month. It was kind of silly, but when I talked to Frank on break and asked him to take out the fish, I totally forgot to tell him that there was frozen hamburger, wrapped in the same looking butchers paper, in front of the fish. So, tonight we are having hamburger. I thawed the fish in cold water, cooked it with olive oil in a pan, and we had it with rice. Super good. We'll definitely do it again, which is good since Fred brought some down that we are splitting with Dad and Chris.

Word(s) of the day: ARUGULA

One of those words that just popped into my head this morning for no apparent reason.

Lexie log: Tonight, after we get home from the gym, we are going to meet Tracy (one of my oldest and dearest and closest bestest friends!) at her daughter Sierra's softball practice. I am really looking forward to it. I miss my buddy terribly. There is just some mental connection we have. I was at the hospital for both her kiddos, Lucas I actually got to see come into the world, and Tracy was right there for Alexis. I'll have to dig up some photos to post. Tracy is like an Aunt to Lexie, but we haven't been doing things together for a while. Hopefully, this will all change with the weather getting nicer. -- We have been making a children's music CD for Lexie. It has twinkle twinkle little star, I'm a little teapot, Elmo, Barney, and so much more...For only $9.95...Just kidding! I was starting to feel as if I was selling something. We listen to it whenever we are in the car, and she just loves it. She is getting really good rhythm now. She used to be a little off-beat most of the time, but now she's right on beat.

Today I'm grateful for Frank and Lexie, music, activities, scissors, soap, crafts, and the planet Earth.

ARUGULA, FENNEL, APPLE, MANDARIN ORANGE, AND POMEGRANATE SALAD

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel
1 large fresh fennel bulb, trimmed, halved, very thinly sliced
1 8-ounce Fuji apple, halved, cored, cut into matchstick-size strips

6 cups trimmed arugula leaves (from two 4-ounce packages)
2 mandarin oranges or tangerines, peeled, each cut crosswise into 3 slices Pomegranate seeds

Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Combine fennel and apple in medium bowl; mix in 3 tablespoons dressing. Place arugula in large bowl. Add fennel-apple mixture. Toss, adding more dressing to taste. Divide salad among 6 plates. Garnish each with 1 mandarin orange slice and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.