MMMMM, dirt cake!

This is for my daughter's Kindergarten class party today. Her request. Chocolate rocks, gummy worms, and "dirt".

Oh my, really?

I've been that busy? A week? Oh well, not many of you read anyway.

This past weekend was a blast! I had so much fun catching up with old college friends. I tend to think of myself as "forgettable" so I was pleasantly surprised when so many people remembered me and other details about me. Plus it's always great to be told over & over that "you look exactly the same as you did in college!" Well, minus the spiral perm. I have to say that most of my old friends DID look the same. It was a bit freaky actually. Standing in a bar (ok, several) with a plastic cup of cheap beer and with the exception of different clothes fashions, showing off kid pictures, wedding rings and the lack of Aqua Net'ed hair we could have been transported back in time 18 years. So many people looked exactly the same it was weird.

FIL and his wife are at their usual crap. I'm so done. Thank God FG is moving his office this week. Now when I go to the office to work I won't have to worry about running into him. The inability to admit either of them are ever wrong just chaps my ass.

The menu this week is:

• Sunday - Grilled chicken, potato pancakes, tossed salad, molasses sugar cookies
• Monday - Marlboro Man Sandwiches (look it up on PW Cooks, I'm too lazy to link it), noodles, roasted asparagus
• Tuesday - Soup (hoping to make my own butternut squash soup but we'll see if I get to it) & sandwiches
• Wednesday - work for me
• Thursday - ? The kids and I on our own. ?? Maybe breakfast for dinner? Whatever it is, not much because they both have Halloween parties at school that afternoon & won't be very hungry.
• Friday - Halloween Party at a friend's house
• Saturday - Jack 'o Lantern pizza (home made), Mummy toes (tortilla wrapped little smokies), Witch's Brew (popcorn, pretzels, Chex, M&M's), Ghost Blood (milk). I think friends may be Trick or Treating with us but I'm not sure. Either way, I'm making the above for the kids.

Life is just busy right now but that's ok! I wish I had something more interesting to blog about but at the moment, I barely have time to think, let alone write it out!

Menu Plan Monday

I FINALLY went grocery shopping. Wow. We were gettin' LOOOOOWWWW.

I ended up going in to work yesterday. A girl called me and asked if I could work for her because she was sick. So I went in for 5 & 1/2 hours. Since I'm taking next Saturday (my regularly scheduled day) off I figured I could use it! It worked out that 1) SMA wasn't coming to dinner 2) I planned an easy dinner. Here's the week!

• Sunday - French Dip Sandwiches (the deli had roast beef on sale!), pasta salad, veggies
• Monday - Smoked sausage, mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli
• Tuesday - Spaghetti, bread, salad*
• Wednesday - I'm working. There's plenty here now to feed the kids.
• Thursday - I had planned on PW's Marlboro Man Sandwiches but FG just told me he didn't want that before going to work. Soooo, I'm not sure. Maybe leftover spaghetti!
• Friday - College sorority reunion!!!
• Saturday - More reunion & homecoming game!

*I somehow got elected to make a big family dinner tomorrow night. FG's aunt is coming to town. She bounces between everyone when she comes to visit. She's staying with us tomorrow night. What kills me is she just says when she's coming, doesn't work it out with anyone. I guess there are too many of us to coordinate but still both her sister and us have big plans for next weekend. So anyway, I somehow got voted to make dinner for everyone. Spaghetti it is! Easy to feed a crowd with that. So today I have to clean to get ready for her to stay here. The guest bed is in the playroom so of course I'll have to de-gunk the playroom. And the bathroom that she'll use is our downstairs one. Uh, that's basically the cat's bathroom too so I have to super-scrub that! We use it but not the shower/tub except when we have guests. So yeah, bleach - here I come!

Side note, this morning I saw a Hispanic woman digging through my recycling. They (didn't see the driver) were driving a nice Tahoe. I just kept thinking, the $ they are getting for my cans (not many) is not even paying for their gas to drive around hunting these things. I was pissed. Mainly because I pay for those recycling bins! I have to pay Waste Management for my trash pickup. I get it that times are tough but I don't have much sympathy when they are driving around in a vehicle like that. So I did a little "digging" of my own. I believe our city voted that practice illegal last year. I remembered that one of our news stations did a story on it before it was presented for a vote with the city council. I dug and dug and came to the conclusion that our county & city records online just suck. So I emailed a friend of mine, college sorority sister and one year my junior in broadcast journalism school. She stuck with the news and has been an evening anchor for a long time now. I emailed her the copy of the story her station did and told her what was up. I don't know that they ever did a follow up story. All I know is somewhere under my mom-guise is that journalist. I remember having to find story ideas both in school and out (yeah, hated working in the newsroom!). Hopefully that will help the newsroom staff out and I'll also get my answer if I can tell these people to buzz off or not. What irked me is she messed it all up - crap left on the sidewalk etc. FG stacks it up so it doesn't blow around because every recycling day is crazy-ass windy. So I had to go out there and pick up the stuff I already had dealt with once before - the rinsing, the crushing, the separating... stupid trash digger!

They really do exist!

Nice playdates, that is.
I did a good thing yesterday and was fully prepared for hell. Playdates are usually not a pleasant thing around here. The last little geeky kid that came over with DS was mean to DD, rude to the rest of us and then informed me that his mother wasn't picking him up until 7 pm. This was a school night! So I got to get the kid to do his homework AND feed him dinner while he insisted that he is the guest so he can do whatever he wants. Um, no. He hasn't been back.

But DD made a little friend in her class this year. Actually, she met her the week before they started school when she did her Kindergarten evaluation. I told the teacher that she didn't know any of the kids in her class. Then, waiting outside the classroom was another little girl who the teacher told me would be in the class too. The girls met... and hugged. DD is a hugger. Some kids are not. The mom immediately (told me her life story, literally) told me that she owns a yoga studio and they are very "huggy" and she's had to work with her daughter to not just hug everyone she sees. The Mom was so happy that MY daughter is the one who initiated the hug and made HER daughter feel comfortable. The girls have been inseparable ever since.

Learning their life story (I am NOT kidding) in 10 minute increments I found out that this little girt also has a 3rd grade brother, just like my DD. Also that they are in transition of moving this weekend/week and The Mom had a final due on Monday (she's going back to school). The girls have been begging for a playdate. I told The Mom that I would try to figure out a day that worked. Last week was just nuts with everything and I apologized for mentioning it and not following through. Then I suggested Monday. She told me that would be awesome because of the moving/packing and her final. She was very sweet about it and said that if it didn't work, that was totally fine but if it did, I would be helping her tremendously. Because of their transitional move, she has to shuttle kids to & from school THREE times a day. Literally every few hours she is driving back & forth to the school. Ey yi yi.

So I made everyone happy yesterday by picking the kids up and bringing them back here for a playdate. As I mentioned in my MPM post, it was way too quiet. When I did check on them, I found the girls happily playing "house" and "store" in DD's room and the boys happily building stuff out of Hot Wheels tracks, Legos and Magnetix. Both boys love to build random stuff. The boys were who I was worried about since they had never met. They are in different classes and the other boy is quiet and shy. They got along GREAT. The girls got alone great in a setting other than school. It was literally wonderful. They were all polite (even my kids). They graciously accepted the Snickerdoodles and Kool-aid I offered. They played nicely. There were no fights, no rudeness, no tears. Well, DD got her lip banged while playing on the swing set but it was accidental and hey, that happens. Her friend was concerned about her and near tears herself watching her DD cry.

The Mom picked them up and was so thankful. She's a total kook (life story telling within 5 minutes of meeting someone=kook) but very nice and not the complete whack-job kook type.

So yes, I found out good playdates do exist! I will happily invite these children back and will do it soon.

Now to decide what to bake since the cookies were wiped out yesterday.

Menu Plan Monday 10/12

Things seem to be settling down a tad. Maybe because we had a slow Sunday and a slow Monday. Though, it's Monday afternoon and I have two extra kids here. I volunteered - picked up all 4 from school. They are thrilled. They are all playing so nicely too! Thus, I'm thrilled! After I type this out, I'm going to have to go check on everyone because it's entirely too calm.

Yesterday we had a birthday party to go to at a nearby park. It was a beautiful day so we stayed as long as possible. I am proud of myself because I not only slept in a bit and had a lazy morning, I also managed to mix up a batch of cookie dough AND pie crusts before my shower and heading to the party. Once we got home, I hit the kitchen right away and made our yummy dinner. All from scratch :)

• Sunday - Baked ziti w/ sausage, tossed green salad w/ honey poppy vinegarette dressing, fresh bread, snickerdoodle cookies, peach pie
• Monday - beef fajitas, rice, green salad
• Tuesday - Dinner at the elementary school (Fundraiser)
• Wednesday - I'm at work
• Thursday - PW's Penne a la Betsy or as we call it - Shrimp penne in tomato cream sauce
• Friday - if I can get to the store for cheese, homemade pizza, if I can't probably pulled pork sandwiches since I froze the remaining pulled pork after I made it a few weeks ago.
• Saturday - FG and I have an awards dinner to attend. *Must Find Sitter!!*

Nothing too exciting or elaborate. But the few nights I cook, we're eating what we've got. The "penne" may actually be macaroni since I used all the penne for the ziti (now THAT sounds silly!). No chicken this week either. I'm giving the fam a chicken break since we're all SICK of it. Though DD always calls pork chicken so she thinks we eat chicken even more than we actually do! She gobbled up the ziti last night too. Oh it was hilarious because she just plowed through it. Usually it's more of a fight. I think the fact it wasn't chicken (of any form, even the pork kind) made it all that more appealing!

I've got my fingers crossed that FG comes home with good news today. A new prospect that will help out the budget. We keep joking that if all the stars align perfectly, we may start to actually feel better about things. Oh I hope so. It will mean more business work for me but oh well. That's fine!

Again with the chaos

I feel like a broken record. I keep saying I'm waiting for things to slow down, get back to a normal routine. How long will I wait and feel like it's almost there but maybe just one more week and things will settle down? I have always hated the "wish your life away" feeling. The "I can't wait until......." and then poof! it's over. I have those moments and I think, wow, before I know it, we'll be eating Thanksgiving dinner or it will be Christmas morning. So I TRY my hardest to enjoy the moment, get one more thing done that needs tending to, stop and b-r-e-a-t-h-e.
A few things that have been adding to the "normal" chaos around here:

• What I will now refer to as OUR business having a major change. FG now being the show host. Rebuilding our set. Shooting on location. Location shoots which involve LOTS of equiptment. Me being behind the camera and getting back to my broadcasting school roots after 15 years being OUT of school. Me having to learn all the new changes in equipment in those 15 years.
• FG now being home for dinner on Thursday nights.
• FG hopefully finishing the new set today and will be able to shoot on set, with a full crew next week. Yay! No more long location shoots every week! Once in awhile yes, but not every week.
• I've been dropping off DD at school and racing off to go to work for 3 hours and then racing home to be sure I'm here by the time the bus gets here.
• A funny side effect of these location shoots is I have been driving FG's car. He's needed the "big" car for the equipment. His car is a stick shift Mini Cooper. It's fun but geez it's not often that we switch for long periods of time. That's a small thing that's been throwing me off!
• Wednesdays I have been doing this then kissing their sweet little heads and rushing out the door to work at the toystore. I'm exhausted by the end of Wednesdays! Then I get to get up and at it (home, kids, business stuff) again at 6:30 the next morning! Yipee!
• MIL agreeing to come over on Thursday eveings so I can go play "producer" while FG hosts the show from said new set. (He keeps reminding me he can't be on the set and in the control room supervising at the same time. That leaves me. Again.)
• DS's teacher asked me to be the "Classroom Mom". I get to be the liason between the PTA and the teacher. I get to organize events/parties. I get to collect donations & get volunteers. I'm hoping to find a co-chair for this gig though. I cannot attend every PTA meeting. I cannot orgainize every single party or event. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone is willing to help me!
• I'm now scheduled in DD's classroom every other week (my doing - volunteered for that one).
• I'm now scheduled in DS's classroom every other week (again, my doing but that was prior to being asked to be "room mom").
• I tried to make an appointment for the kid's Flu Mist and was told that 1) I have to pay for it unless the deductible is met ($3,000 each kid - HA!) 2) The Dr. won't schedule appts for it until AFTER the clinic they are having on the 30th. 3) Joy. I get to schlepp both kids to the Dr's office for the clinic and pray that the line isn't huge and the wait isn't forever. 4) The H1N1 mist is 100% covered by insurance without meeting a deductible. But I"m not 100% sure I WANT that one yet. Also, it won't be available here until mid-Nov. At least by then lots of the rest of the country will have had a chance to report side effects :)
• DS needs a tooth pulled and I don't know where the money is coming from for that.
• My family is SICK of eating chicken but as I told FG this morning. Under $1 per pound is better than $4 per pound of decent beef so suck it up unless you find that money tree.

All of that is the past 2 weeks. Now there is a potential new change coming. Actually 2. We'll find out soon. One we'll get confirmation and details of early next week. The other we're not sure when we'll know. These changes will cause me to have even MORE changes and chaos. I'll keep you updated. Even if you don't read it or don't care. It helps me to write it all out and settle my head. I'm a mom, wife, friend, worker, volunteer, individual. I just do what I need to do to get us through!

Recipe Review

I made the Pork Chops in apple cream sauce last night.
Interesting!
The kids didn't care for the sauce. FG just kept saying, "hmm. It's good but just different."
I liked it!
The chops were tender and juicy. I didn't do the whole shake in the bag with the flour thing. I just seasoned them with s&p then sprinkled a little flour on each side and patted it in. I used the spiced cider from Trader Joe's (My absolute favorite! Love it warmed up!!) so I skipped the other spices on the chops too. I chopped up a peeled granny smith apple and added that it. Then when I took the chops out, I smooshed them with a potato masher. I ended up adding a bit more of the cider to thin the sauce and I didn't measure the cream when I added it. I used heavy cream because that's what I had. I don't think I used the full 1/2 cup the recipe called for though.
All in all, this was a good dish. I don't know that I would follow the recipe again. I'd just use it like I usually do - for a jumping off point to make up my own. I did make mashed potatoes like some reviewers suggested. They were good with the sauce but again, the kids didn't like it. They are gravy purists I guess.

Oh Lisa, to answer your ? - everything is good with FIL. He's fine. He's starting a new venture along the same lines. You can search FG's name or the business (show) name and see a youtube video of FIL's last show with the kiddos on there. Or it's on my facebook page too. It's all good. FG has been planning to completely take over for a long time now but he finally had to get his dad to give him a definite date. It was too wishy-washy for us, waiting around for the day when FIL decided he was really done. It made it difficult for FG to run the business on his own when his dad was still the face most recognized. Now it's onward and upward (I can hope!!! This business is so crappy right now. I'm sick of being broke!). And if you caught my FB status a couple of weeks ago.... for FIL's last show, his wife decided to have a little party at the studio. Only she forgot to mention it to his family! Uh huh. FG found out from a 3rd party. She is such a wench, she didn't think to invite US who have been there from show #1. So we showed up anyway and then she had the balls to THANK US for coming. I have several obscene names for her. She just keeps winning points with us.

Menu Plan Monday!

I did fairly well sticking to my menus the past couple of weeks. Yesterday I had to work with FG - outside - in the freezing cold! It was a late afternoon project so I had already warned him I wouldn't be cooking dinner. We picked up take out and I discovered I had a free entree coming to us! Yay for saving money!

This week is another busy week. We'll see if I manage to stick to my meal plan. I hope so!

• Monday - Pork Chops in apple cream sauce (trying a new recipe, I'll let you know!), potatoes, broccoli
• Tuesday - BBQ chicken thighs, cabbage slaw salad, buttered noodles.
• Wednesday - I work. FG & the kids are on their own.
• Thursday - Individual chicken "pot pie" w/ a biscuit top.
• Friday - homemade pizza
• Saturday - I work so I'm not sure what we'll end up doing.

Recent developments have changed Thursday nights for us. FG's dad is no longer working with him. We've been doing things a bit differently as we change up some things about the business. That means I am back to "work". I've always helped out the business for the past 15 years but now, I'm back to my roots of broadcasting and using what I learned in college. It's been, uh, an experience! The hardest part is using what I haven't used in sooooo many years. But that's ok. I'm getting better and better each time. We always planned on this so it's not like it's a huge shock, it's just a big adjustment for me right now. But that changes our weekly routine. FG reminded me last week that he would be home for dinner on Thursday. WHAT? It's been 15 years since I've had to make a dinner on Thursday for more than either just me or me and the kids!! So now I have to figure out what to make that we can either eat before he goes to the stuido or he can eat after he gets home.

There you have it! Oh, also over the weekend, I made the easiest and yummiest berry crisp. Actually DD made it. I got everything out and had her measure and mix. I cleaned the berries and poured the melted butter. Other than that, she did it all. It was excellent with vanilla ice cream. I'll share the recipe soon, though no pics because we couldn't wait to eat it!

PSA - Dryer vents!

Yesterday I knew our weather was going to be be drastically different starting today. So I did all the laundry and hung it on the clotheslines. I cleaned up the backyard toys that DD had scattered everywhere. I repotted an indoor plant so I didn't have to do it in the wind today. Most importantly, I had FG drag out the shop vac and take off the outside cover to the dryer vent. We did this last year as well and it was the first time we had done it since building this house. I was shocked last year when he sucked out an insane amount of lint. I figured, eh, 8 years worth of build up so it couldn't be too bad now.

HA! As he threaded the long hose into the vent, I lightly held onto it so I could feel when something was going through it. Again, scary amount of lint globs were being sucked out of the vent!

We had to buy a new dryer last year. I clean out the lint trap every load. I regularly take the indoor vacuum and stick the hose down the vent/lint trap of the dryer itself. A couple of times a year I pull the dryer out from the wall and clean out the vent in the back as well as the hose and the vent hole in the wall. It shouldn't surprise me but it does. I just can't believe that there was so much lint in the vent!

So a little PSA for you, before your weather gets nasty, take whatever vacuum you can and go stick the hose in the outside vent of your dryer. Your energy bill will thank you for it. (As well as your home since it can be a fire hazard - just ask my aunt who had hers catch on fire. Thank goodness she was home! Thus, I also never run my dryer when I'm not home!)

Monday rambling

Let's go with some bullets, shall we?

• I am feeling very inadequate! I realize there are 3 gazillion food blogs out there and I don't really consider mine one of them. Sure I share some recipes and show some pictures but I don't classify myself as a "food blog". But I like to read them for ideas! However, they sure do make a girl feel inadequate! I love love love to bake and cook but I look at their stuff and realize mine can be Hamburger Helper next to some of those! Slice & bake cookies from the tube! #1 problem. We don't eat enough of it! DS is so damn picky (more on a new development later!) FG and I try not to gorge ourselves on sweets. Those chocolate chip cookies I made last week? Even after sharing some with our dads, I still ended up throwing 4 cookies away. ACK! That kills me! Maybe I'll shoot for once in awhile stepping out of the basic recipe box and going for it. That's a start.
• I am loving the new kitchen. My family is loving the food!
• I've been pretty much sticking to my menu plan from last week. The only changes are that after work and DS's first REAL audition on Saturday, I didn't feel like a big meal. None of us really did. So we went out and that altered things. We'll have the stuffed chicken breasts tonight.
• I mentioned that we went out on Saturday. I was hungry for sushi even though FG and I just had it recently. DS has been asking to try it. The kid loves shrimp and now likes rice (especially with soy sauce). So we went for it. He was so excited. I was thrilled he was going to try something new. What is the first thing he tries new? A big glob of wasabi paste and no drinks to be found on the table to wash it down. Uh huh. The kid now says "I HATE wasabi!" Can't blame him. But he ate his shrimp, crab and fried tofu. He tried a piece of my crystal shrimp long roll. I was proud of him! DD wanted to try too but she just ate the shrimp and said she didn't like anything else. She stayed hungry because sushi ain't cheap!
• Last night DS also decided to finally try my pulled pork sandwiches and the potato pancakes. He asked for seconds! I've made both of these several times and every time he has turned up his nose at it. I finally told him that the meat is just like ribs but with no bone and the sauce is bbq sauce. I didn't tell him it's my own homemade bbq sauce though. I let him douse the potato pancake with applesauce (because really, who the heck cares! It's APPLESAUCE with no sugar, pile it on kid!). He gobbled it down and requested another immediately. Yay for him finally trying new things AND eating a lot!
• He also had two helpings of the chow mein I made. Don't ask me for a recipe. I have no idea what I did and if I'll be able to do it again. Dang.
• DS is frustrated because his younger sister weighs more than he does. There is a 3 1/2 year age difference. Oops!
• DS also had his first REAL audition on Saturday. Now we wait and see. I am nervous. I think it would be awesome for him to get a part but right now he's got a nasty snaggle tooth. I fear that will keep him out of the running.
• I need to get the kid to a dentist. It is soooo expensive without insurance. Insurance is sooo expensive in itself and as far as dental, not really worth paying it! But I have to find something for this kid and get his tooth pulled. The adult tooth is coming in in front of it and going forward. We even traumatized the poor kid and tried to get it out ourselves this weekend. Didn't work. I have to find a way to pay to have it done. I fear the bill and the terror for DS.
• It's been hot here. Now we will have a 30+ degree drop in daytime temps. So fun to go from shorts & sandals and 95 degree temps to 58 - 68 degree temps in the span of 2 days. Yes, yesterday we were swimming in my parent's pool and Wednesday we'll be in sweatshirts and long pants. Today, mid 80's, tomorrow, upper 60's. Lovely.
• The weather makes me want to make soup. Any favorite recipes that don't involve carrots, mushrooms or tomatoes? Please, pass them my way!

Question....

I would like to organize my posts/labels better. I want to add categories. Does anyone out there know how I can do this or where I can find info on how to set it up?
Recipes to come shortly. I'd just like to organize them better for myself (and you)!
Thanks

Pictures!

As promised - kitchen pictures!

Before: Grey 6" tiles, no backsplash except for a 6" tile. It was wobbly and every plate or dish that was put on the counter would rattle when anyone walked through the kitchen. I needed to use a big board to roll anything out and the grout just grossed me out, no matter how much I scrubbed it.


During: Look! No sink. The absolute worst part of this was not having a sink. I could have dealt with the no counters if only I had a sink.



After! No, they don't match. The back counters are different from the island. FG and I have never really been known to make things look like a "model home". We liked the contrast. It pulls out the black veins in the back granite slabs. It's soooo smooth and pretty and I told FG that I may not even need him anymore, I'll just rub the counters ;)

Closer version of the back counters and my new "under" sink. LOVE that! I never knew I could love something like that but oh mama, I do! My crazy orchid behind the sink is about to bloom too. We have two stalks with an insane amount of flowers on them. I am no orchid master but dang, this one blooms like mad and has for YEARS. I just keep it in it's little happy place back there and it keeps going. I was worried it would get sad when we had to move it for the construction but it simply held on to it's stalks and let them get longer and longer, waiting to go back to it's home so it could bloom there.

Oh yeah, notice the backsplash? It goes all the way from counter to cabinet and makes the cabinets look really far away from the counters now. LOVE that!

I'll have to share recipes later or tomorrow. FG and I are headed to Costco. He gets cranky when he's out of Red Bull.

Two for the price of one!

Well Happy Fall! It's still hot here. Actually, it's beautiful and perfect! It's warm yet not too warm that I need to turn on the A/C. It's not cool enough that we need to run the heat. It's warm enough for shorts but not so hot that I can't use my oven. It's simply divine!

My kitchen is finished. I haven't shared pictures because it's messy. I've been using and enjoying it. I absolutely adore my granite counters! They are lovely and smooth and oh, just wonderful! This weekend I baked banana bread (DD's request) and chocolate chip cookies (FG's request). Yesterday I sat down and planned out meals - Yay! I haven't done that in a long long time. I went through bookmarks on the computer, coupons, my recipe books etc. I made a grocery list and shopped ALONE after I dropped DD off at Kindergarten. Ahhhhh.

So here are two weeks worth of meals. I'll share some recipes now or maybe save them for another post. FG kept saying how good dinner was last night. I think he's happy that I'm cooking again and we are done with fast food/take out except for occasionally.

• Monday - Roasted whole chicken, scalloped potatoes, steamed cauliflower
• Tuesday - Chicken enchiladas, rice, tossed green salad.
• Wednesday - I work in the evening. The kids and FG will have hot dogs & chips & green beans.
• Thursday - FG works. Not sure what I'll make for the kids and I.
• Friday - Beef Chow Mein (I discovered with our take out weeks that DS loves this! He even took it in his lunch one day and ate his whole thermos full! I bought oyster sauce and sesame oil yesterday to recreate it along with a bunch of veggies. Mmmm!)
• Saturday - Bacon wrapped stuffed chicken breasts, baked beans, cabbage slaw salad (can you say Gas-X for dessert?).
• Sunday - Pulled pork sandwiches, potato pancakes, tossed green salad, peach pie.

Next week:

• Monday - Baked macaroni & cheese (still searching for a recipe. I've never made it!), salad/veggies.
• Tuesday - Chicken picatta, parmsean cous cous, veggies
• Wednesday - again, I work ??
• Thursday - again, FG works ??
• Friday - Sweet & sour pork over rice
• Saturday - football game so it will probably be take out or fast food
• Sunday - Baked ziti w/ sausage, tossed green salad, homemade bread, cookies.

I'm so happy to cook again! I am trying to be better about keeping a list of new recipes I want to try so I don't get in a rut. I also want to try to make more of my own soups this fall/winter. Right now it's too warm to think about that though. Soon enough, I'm sure!

Slow progress

The kitchen has had a few glitches. Doesn't EVERY remodel project have them? I am dealing ok. FG is worse than I expected. Usually *I* am the spoiled brat who wants everything NOW with no waiting. This time, he's the irritated one and wants it all done.

The backsplash is just about done but apparently the tile company shorted them a box of tiles. So it cannot be completed until the tile order comes in. They usually get their shipments in on Tuesday & Thursday. Uh huh. Yesterday was the day it was discovered which means it wasn't on any truck yesterday. Today is a waste so tomorrow he should hopefully finish it. While it uncomfortable having some guy in your house he does seem to work much faster when I am home. I see the progress and it seems to click right along. I leave to get DD some lunch and take her to school, run a few errands and come home to see that progress plummets to a snails pace while I am gone!

Last night I scrubbed the stove. Not just the top, I do that often. No, it is pulled out from the wall and ewwwwwwww! First of all, I knew there would be grease on the side. I tend to use a certain burner the most and there has always been a gap between the counter and the stove. I can't get in there to clean unless we pull the stove out. Problem there - the stove has a wonky foot and when we pull it out we have trouble getting it level again. So it's not a monthly task either FG or I care to tackle. And I can't see the grease that drips so, eh, it's not there right?
Well, it's definitely not there now. Nor are the dust bunnies or spider webs along the back of the wall, range and cabinet sides. It's all pretty, sparkly clean now! And FG fixed the wonky foot. As long as the tile guys don't just shove the range back in place, it should be fine and level. I will make sure to warn them that they need to be extra careful and I expect it to be level.

I actually cooked dinner last night. Basic but I cooked it! We had shrimp scampi, buttered/garlic/parm cheese wagon wheel noodles and frozen corn. This morning we moved the toaster oven to the counter to use it and DS had a hot breakfast. I also used it to make his pizza rolls for his lunch. (Don't ask. I am fully aware they are not the most nutritious but I've given up and just want the kid to eat SOMETHING. Anything is truly better than not eating a thing at lunch. Which he does too often. My kid does not fit the "he will eat when he is hungry" rule. Nope. He weighs less than his 5 year old sister for a reason and I just want him to eat.)

We also had to pick a new piece for the island. We chose "Galaxy black" which is black with gold flecks. The back part of the counter is browns, rusts, creams and blacks. I think the black will really off set the black veins in the other granite. We couldn't get the same as the rest of the counter because there wasn't enough of that when we chose it. Our original choice looked like a riverbed of stones and when they fabricated it, the stones kept coming out! I'll share pictures when it's done - before and after. Now we have to paint too. The previous colors don't work anymore. Oh well. FG and I are NOT afraid of paint.

One of these days I'll get back to posting a weekly menu plan and some recipes. I am just itching to bake on my new counters. Ohhh I can almost feel it! Soon, my friends, soon!

Chaos!

Yeah, um, I have NO KITCHEN. Ok, a microwave doesn't really count. I don't have a sink. I have a pantry, a refrigerator and a microwave. That's all folks!

Yesterday my counters were ripped off. Yipee!!! No more wobbly tiles! No more flour in the grout! As I told FG yesterday, it sure was a nice step up from the crappy "wooden" laminate in my old kitchen. I was thrilled to have more counter space and heat proof tiles when we moved in 9 years ago. But I hungered for granite. I wept for it. I longed for the smoothness when rolling anything out. So now, I'm getting it! In the meantime, I have no kitchen.

For a tear-out, my house is relatively clean. I did sweep up the kitchen floor today so we track as little dust into the rest of the house as possible. They put down cloths and runners but still, tearing out tile is dusty.

My little princess starts school today too. It's a big day for her! I know she's ready and I'm ready too. It's sort of hitting me that I no longer have any "little" kids. I have big kids now. I know, 5 isn't really "big" but it's the start of school, with big kids! She'll ride the bus and have her own friends and routines and identity.

I just keep reminding myself that it's so much better than the alternative. I am happy that they are both growing up and thriving and learning and becoming their own people.

I'm hoping my son gets to watch the President's speech today. I can't wait to discuss it with him later! I also hope that the message hits home to those that really need it. I know we stress education in our house but there are many that don't. I hope his message inspires and gives a glimmer of hope to those that need it. Personal responsibility is a good message! And, ahem, pretty far from socialism.

I'd like to stay hidden under the bedsheets too

Oh where do I begin. I think with a damn drink at 9 am!

I think I need some therapy. DS needs even more. I don't even know what to do to help him anymore!

He came home yesterday all happy about making a new friend. He didn't eat his lunch because he was so excited talking to this new friend. He invited this new friend over to play and gave him our phone number. The kid gets off the bus a few stops after DS. Our phone rang about the same time the kid would have gotten off the bus and dumped his backpack in the front entryway of his own house. The two boys chatted for a good half hour! I told FG I didn't expect to lose our phone in the 3rd grade but whatever.

Then I found out from a fast-talking DS that tomorrow (today, Friday) there will be a fire drill at school. At 11 am. The kid FREAKS at fire alarms. Loud noises. Unexpected. Sensory issues. Oh yeah, FREAKS.

DS would not stop talking about it. I tried to reassure him that if he knows it will be at 11 am on Friday then he knows what to expect. He's been through these before and he's ok now. He'll survive and he KNOWS IT'S COMING.

I go to get him out of bed today and he is buried under the covers. He asks me if he can just stay under there until 3 pm (when school is out). I am thinking it's because I told him he cannot go buy a new Lego set if he gets another bad citizenship grade today. I tell him I will not reward a C- grade and he can do better and control his noise making and talking when he should be quiet. He tells me that "would just be ridiculous" if he wanted to stay home because of that. No! He doesn't want to hear the fire drill. It happens on the 5th day of school!!!

Later I ask him how he knew it happens on the 5th day of school. He said his friend told him that. I asked him if he asked his teacher and if she said it was happening then.
"I'm not allowed to ask her about it anymore."
HUH? You've asked her more than once?
"Yes, I asked her on the first day and second day and, and well I stopped asking her on the 4th day. She told me I couldn't ask anymore."
WTF?! Today is the 5th day! Of course you haven't asked her yet because you haven't even been to school on the 5th damn day yet.

FG just about blew his top. I wanted to cry and crawl back under the covers myself. Really kid? And we wonder why the other kids say you are weird. LET IT GO. Of course, that's impossible for him because it's in his head. Even the threat of no new Lego set this weekend (with his own money) is probably not going to get this obsession out of his head!

So the books and the therapist tell me he will learn to adapt with his SPD/SID. When will THAT happen?!

Is it too much to pray for a fire drill today so it's done & over and we can move on?

Coupons!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am sort of cheap. Actually I should give myself more credit. I try not to be cheap, per se, but I do like to save money when & where I can. I have always used coupons. I figure that $.75 off is better in my pocket than theirs. If it's out there, why NOT use it?

I recently got more into shopping the ad sales for groceries. Since I quit my career 8 years ago, I have always shopped at a super inexpensive, no thrills, bag-your-own grocery store. It's never bothered me because I used to shop at a super expensive, helper-loads-your-bags-in-the car store and I had a hard time paying 2x as much for the exact same product. And once I quit my career, well, I had more time to waste shopping, especially when I only had one infant at home.

A big benefit we have is a large freezer in our garage. I keep it full. I like to shop as infrequently as I can because I figured out I save money by simply NOT entering the grocery store. It's taken me a long time to be able to go into the store for milk and leave with ONLY milk. (We go through 2 gallons a week here). So when I see something like whole chickens on sale at a store for $.69/lb. I buy several and keep them in the freezer. I can get two meals out of a chicken, sometimes 3 depending on what I do with it. That makes for super cheap meals! I do the same with just about everything I can freeze. I also have a small "pantry" in the garage that I store extras in. My kids eat a lot of cold cereal. I buy it on sale and stock up. They love it when I bring a new box into the house from the garage. I only allow so many to be open at once. That pantry is good for things like "buy one, get one" items. If I can get a free package of something, by all means I'm going to get it!

Along with coupons in the newspaper I find coupons on several websites:
Smart Source
Red Plum
PG&E Saver
Shortcuts

A couple of those will allow you to download coupons onto your grocery store "club card". Yay! No wasted paper, no clipping. The only thing I did was print out a list or I would never remember. I can use the back of it as my shopping list. I chose to print it basic - no images of the coupons themselves. They automatically redeem when I check out using my card. How easy is that?

I think part of my job as a Stay At Home Mom (though I seem to be rarely HOME) is to save us money. I'm not bringing in (much with my ultra part time job) money, I'm just spending it for the family. So part of my time working is doing this research and gathering the money saving deals. Again, any money in my pocket is better than in the store/manufacturer et al's pocket. If they offer the deal, they are prepared to follow through with it so I see no good reason to not take advantage of it.

Of course, next week we'll be money SPENDING and un-environmentally friendly family. Kinda hard to cook and use washable dishes when you have no stove, oven, sink, dishwasher, counter tops, access to most of your drawers and cabinets.... We'll be using paper and plastic and eating out and apologizing to both Mother Earth and our intestinal tracts. Thank goodness it's only for a few days. Funny how I can barely stomach the thought.

Oh yeah, forgot

Next week when my little Princess (cough cough!) starts Kindergarten, our kitchen is also supposed to be torn up. Yay! Yippe skippy for me! So the whole "let's get back into a routine and mom will actually cook dinner" thing, yeah, forgetaboutit.

The blessing and curse of owning your own business is that when someone doesn't pay you what they owe you, you can work it out in other ways. So that's what's happening with the kitchen. Though, I won't believe it until I actually see a sledgehammer smashing my wonky kitchen counter tiles and a pretty new counter going in. We've been down this road before with my hopes so high.

Today we're also going to look at some furniture that another client has that they need to sell. Model home stuff. We have a short list of things we would like to get or replace but we have to go see what is available first. I'm not sure what to expect out of this little adventure. We have a wingback recliner in poor shape but the funds just haven't been there to replace it. I'm hoping for a new chair!

While the actual cash would have been best, we'll take what we can get out of the situation we're in. I'm not going to argue with new granite to replace my uneven tile! I'm just trying not to salivate over the thought of rolling out dough on a new smooth island surface.... I'll keep ya posted!

So far so good!

Last night was "Parent's Night" at our elementary school. FG and I usually ask his mom to come over and watch the kids so we can go. Many parents bring their kids, I'm sure because they can't bear to be separated from their offspring for any more time than possible. Or, like us, they fear their house buring down and/or being arrested for leaving their children home alone. But we are lucky (and YES, we know it) and Grandma usually comes to the rescue. Good thing too because, we got kept after class.

Toward the end of last year I asked DS's 1st grade teacher who she felt would be a good fit for him for 3rd grade. His 2nd grade teacher and I sat down with the school psychologist and we all agreed that this teacher would be the best fit for him. After last night, I am glad that I put my trust in his past teachers. While I may know my child best, his teachers know my son in the classroom best. THEY know how he is for the 6 hours that he's not with me and they know who will be the best fit for him. We are incredibly lucky that our school is a highly accredited public elementary school. The teachers at our school just don't leave. So many of them have been with our school for the past 10, 15, 20 years. So they know each other pretty well too.

So FG and I get kept after class by the teacher. She is a sweetheart. And let me tell you how much it makes my heart swell to have yet another teacher who is so concerned with the education and development of MY son. There are 23 kids in his class this year and she sat down with us writing out specific notes, goals, concerns on the 2nd day of school.

DS has already shown his personality. His desk has already been moved twice. She has already taken him into the hallway for a private chat about him focusing. *sigh* I guess it didn't go away. (Not that I expected it too but FG sure seemed down about the fact that DS's sensory issues hadn't improved). I did remind FG that this is the first week of school. He's in a new classroom, with a bunch of kids he's never been in class with before. He knows 3rd grade is tough and a lot is expected of him. That would make any kid uneasy. He just exhibits obvious signs. I am hopeful that he will settle down, get into the groove of his class, teacher and school and he WILL improve.

I wrote the teacher a little thank you note today. I do truly appreciate that she took her time with us and that she obviously cares for his education and social develpment. I keep waiting for our luck to run out with these teachers that are not so dang good! I'm feeling good about this year. Things are going to be ok.

The final countdown

Don't tell me you don't remember that bad song. Hey, when I met FG he was a DJ at a hard rock station in the early 90's. He played that a lot.

Anyway, this weekend is the final countdown to 3rd grade. So what does a good mother do? Why pawn her kids off to the grandparents all weekend, of course!

I deserve a break. I spent 5 1/2 hours at the waterpark yesterday hauling a big ass double tube around and being called "Chicken!" by my kids. I spent way too much money, applied enough sunscreen to them but not quite enough to all parts of me, ate like crud and tired them out so DD was in tears at 7:30 asking for a quick bath and into bed. uh huh. That's what a good mother does.

This afternoon I will finally get my children dressed and take them to my parents house where they will swim and watch a movie and eat too much junk. They will spend the night and tomorrow will be catered to with fresh pancakes or french toast, more swimming and making an apperance at a 1 year old's birthday party that my mom is obligated to attend.
Tomorrow afternoon they will get picked up from there by another grandparent and be taken to the state fair. There they will again be indulged with too many sweets and rides and every want will be satiated. THIS is the grandparent who doesn't follow the rules. I expect them to come home green from rides and cotton candy, clutching to some random crap that will fill their room/playroom/the stairs. *

Sunday they will agin belong to FG and I but they will spend the day with yet another grandparent as well. MIL is coming along for a boat ride for the day to watch her daredevil grandaughter give the continual "thumbs up" sign from the tube behind the boat. That is "boat speak" for FASTER. My blood pressure will rise and I will envision all sorts of horrid things and threaten to cut off FG's manhood if he dares go any faster.

Monday though... Monday morning will be bittersweet as I compromise with DS about his choice of clothes for the first day of school, try to remember my camera (forgot it last year -bad mom!) and struggle with what the heck to pack in his lunch. I'll fight back tears as I write him a little note and tuck it in his lunchbox and ask him if he wants me to pick him up or to ride the bus home. Then I'll send him off to 3rd grade. Where he gets to be his own little kooky self and have a life that I'm not always privvy to. School is weird like that. There's an anonimity that I struggle with. When we are out and someone sees him and starts talking to him and I have no clue who they are, that's weird. Just another thread being snipped off the old apron string as we begin yet another school year.

Stay tuned for a post about DD's first days of Kindergarten. She and I have a week together before she heads off. She's admittedly nervous - all those big kids can seem scary. There will go another apron string that is tied directly to my heart.

*note: I have to work all day on Saturday. Sure, they could stay home with FG but knowing it's supposed to be very hot, they will have MUCH more fun swimming their little gills off than hanging with Dad for the day while I work. Also, FIL likes to take the kids to the fair. I would rather they come home tomorrow night and we all have dinner together but FIL asked if he could take them. We really had no reason to say no other than the fair is sorta creepy.