Andy & Jessica

My only Valentine’s Day surprise for Andy was heart-shaped balloons with cute messages printed on them that I placed around the house for him to see when he got home from work.

Andy, on the other hand, had lots of surprises for me. He got me Wonder Woman Season 1 on DVD (I liked it lots as a girl and I hope I still do), a t-shirt, lots of candy and he wrote and framed the poem below for me. I love his poems. They are so sweet and sincere.

Happy Valentine’s Day
to my beautiful wife
who has done so much
to brighten my life

I love you so dearly
from the bottom of my heart
it’s so great to know our marriage
is only at its start

You’ve given up so much
from your checkbook to your name
and you’ve also encouraged me
through all my blog-related fame

So on this day of roses,
chocolates, poems, and kisses
I want you to know you’re the one
when I’m gone my heart misses

You’re also the one
I cherish and adore
and every Valentine’s Day
I’ll love you so much more

Happy Valentine’s Day 2005!

Well, this my second Valentine’s Day with Andy. The first turned out really nice. But, I remember all the pressure of not knowing whether I should get him anything, etc. since it was just 3 weeks into our relationship and we had only seen each other 3 times by then. (On a side note, I just read a Yahoo article that claimed that half of all dating relationships end on Valentine’s Day. I think that statistic sounds too high. But, nevertheless, Andy and I beat the odds!)

This year is nice because I have no anxiety at all. I got Andy Simpson’s Season 5 and will give it to him tonight. He knows he is getting it. He begged for it earlier, but I told him he’d have to wait until Valentine’s Day. I have a surprise planned for Andy tonight. I can’t disclose it because he may read our blog before then and that would spoil the surprise.

I’ve made this pizza crust many times. I found it on a website (long enough ago that I wouldn’t dream of finding the site again). I personally consider it to be moderately good, but many of the people I’ve made it for tell me they think it is excellent.

1 1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/8 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

(You may use all-purpose flour for this recipe if doing it by hand).

Bread machine: Add ingredients to machine bread pan in order given or as per manufacturer’s instructions. Set to ‘dough’ mode.

I haven’t tried it with MSG. I have tried to get some, but can’t find any.

I usually don’t let it finish it’s cycle when set to dough, or even mix it in a mixer rather than a bread machine, since I tend to like to put it in the pan and let it rise in the pan. Once it has risen, I squish down the middle of the crust before applying the sauce, cheese and toppings. I like to bake it in a round stoneware pan, the ones I have are from Pampered Chef.

I’m sure that many of you who know I’m a lawyer imagine that I spend most of my time in court. Not true at all. You see, there are two types of lawyers: (1) litigators (those who work on “cases” and who may occasionally go to court); and (2) transactional lawyers. I’m a transactional lawyer. I don’t anticipate ever going to court. I don’t work on cases. I spend most of my time working on transactions and reviewing or drafting contracts.

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time learning the new HIPAA security regulations. I drafted a fascinating article (I’m exaggerating) discussing the new regulations. The goal of the HIPAA security regulations is to make your health information more secure. If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can download my article here.