The World's Best Apple Pie

So, for Thanksgiving Ellen and I decided to share with some MANK friends of ours (Married And No Kids) since we didn't want to cook a bunch of food for just the two of us. We were in charge of Desserts, and Wednesday night Ellen made an apple pie that looked weird and tasted kinda funny. I told her to make a different one, to use more sugar, and to see if she could make it look prettier. She did some research, shunned me from the kitchen for a while, then busted out the AMAZING pie you see in the picture here. As anyone who has seen my physical presence knows, I have put down my share of pie wedges over the years..well, who are we kidding, I have put down my share of whole pies over the years, and BY FAR, this pie that Ellen made was THE BEST APPLE PIE I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE!!! Yes, a Taiwanese woman made the all-American pie that tasted better than any pie by my mom, grandma, aunt, or any other known being who walks the earth has ever made. I hope she can duplicate it when the family gathers together at Christmas. Did I tell you how much I love Ellen's apple pie??

I never realized what shopping really is...

Saturday night, 9 P.M., Rancho Cordova Wal-Mart: So we go to Wal-mart because we needed to buy 1 item, a cheapy cd player for Ellen when she teaches her primary class. I go in, and I see that they have a special edition "Princess Bride" DVD on sale..in the cart it goes. "But you didn't buy clothes?" "No, but I think I'll look some more." "Because your in the store?" "No more rhyming and I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?"

Anyway, so after we continue and get the CD player, I'm thinking that we are done, and I slowly start back to the checkout stand. Then I notice my beloved is gone. "Hmm...I thought we were just here to get a CD player and then go...where could Ellen be...?" Ellen and I have this little whistle we do to locate each other in a store. Kind of like a mama beaver slapping her tail to warn her young, only I just do the whistle thing. I give the signal, and out of an aisle WAY at the other end of the store peers my wife, with a kind of embarrassing grin on her face. There she is, holding some duck-themed bathroom rug. It was then that I realized how different shopping is for me versus for Ellen. I go to the store with a purpose. I never go to best buy or or anywhere just to "look around" at stuff. If I don't have something to buy, I don't go. Ellen, on the other hand, enjoys shopping just for the sheer activity of strolling around looking at stuff. Last night, she determined that her bathroom needed to be redecorated in a ducky theme. So, for the next hour, you know what I was doing-helping her choose duck towels, duck rugs, a duck waste basket. I had to stop her before we did the duck shower curtain rings. I mean, we have to set a limit. After we get out of wal-mart, with much more than just a CD player, I asked Ellen about what she thinks shopping is. Then she told me that in Mandarin, the word for shopping is "to look at things and buy" and that she was doing exactly that at Wal-mart. That was my chinese lesson for the day. No complaints here, I love spending time with Ellen...I just need to plan on trips to Wal-mart, Target, or Costco taking MUCH longer than I think.