I couldn't help but wonder...

So this weekend Sex and the City hits the big screen. I don't think I will be camped out for tickets. I can't think of any movie out now that would make me want to part with my $8, but I must say I am a little curious. I remember when the series ended and the million dollar questions was will Carrie end up with Big? Of course, she did. However, I found it interesting that a series which seemed to fight the super sweet "happily ever afters" ended with one especially when Candace Bushnell didn't end up her real life Mr. Big. (She married a ballet dancer quite a few years her junior after only knowing him 8 weeks) I'm curious why she didn't have a similar ending for Carrie? I wonder if she wanted to, but she knew the public would want to see Big swoop in and save the day.
I have been careful not to read too much about the plot of the movie. Maybe something will happen to shake things up. Maybe Carrie meets a young dancer and he sweeps her off her feet and Big will finally get his comeuppance.
Should be interesting...
Well, off to baseball and there is actually sun in the sky. Baseball in the sunshine as it should be :0)

What type of chocolate are you?

I saw this on Kate's blog and thought it would be fun to play. I find it funny that a lot of my baking these days features white chocolate. Hmmmmmmm
:0)

You are White Chocolate

You are White Chocolate You are sweet, caring, and truly very innocent. Whether your naive ways are a bit of act or not, people like to take care of you. You are a quiet flirt, and your power is often underestimated!

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

A Quiet Sunday Night

I'm sure everyone is out enjoying the long weekend. We are are enjoying this one at home. Yesterday was the garage sale. Although it was fun, I will probably never do another garage sale (at least not with the expectations to make any money) There is something to be said about having the sale at your own house. The stuff you forget to put out can be quickly collected, not so much when it involves getting in the car and driving. Oh well, I shouldn't complain. Most of my stuff did sell and I got a little sun in the process.
The weather on Friday was awful. Rain, rain, rain. I think if it had rained we would of loaded up the cars and just taken the stuff to donate. However, it turned out to be a beautiful day (we still thought about just donating everything and going out on the boat.) I'm not sure how hot it was but it was (it hit 83 late afternoon) but for the most part is was just right. We had a nice stream of customers and when it was slow we just sat around and BSed. At one point we got out the lap top and watched a little youtube.
Speaking of youtube, if you haven't seen "Ken Lee" you must. Be warned, you won't be able to stop.
Enjoy :0)

One Wet Wednesday

Long gone is the sun.
I was nice while it lasted.
The rain was so fat today as I was driving home, I had to check the temp to make sure it wasn't snow. Actually, I'm kind of glad it is raining. All my little plants are enjoying getting all the water they need not to die. On my watch, it can be risky.
While driving home from Ben's game the other day we passed a HUGE terracotta pot with at "Free" sign on it. Of course I pulled over to snatch it up but it was WAY to heavy to lift. So I sent Joj and Ben back out for it and now it is sitting in my driveway. I'm not sure what to plant in it. It is in one of those weird spots where it might get some rain, but most likely I will have to remember to water it. Plus it is west facing so it gets the major afternoon heat. I would love to find a nice hardy, flowering vine that is very drought resistant. Suggestions?? When I mentioned my plan to plant some type of vine close to the house, Joji was less than thrilled. Stay tuned to see who wins this one.
I worked again today and it made me really miss teaching. I was pulling kids from the Kindergarten room and I just loved how cozy it was. I loved how there were books and poems and charts all over the walls and the little kids walking around with pointers reading them. I also loved the feeling the school had. I've always liked this school. There are a lot of elements that at this school that we had at my old school. (They even stole our mantra, but I decided to let that slide) One of the kids showed me her "bulldog leader" award button. She was so excited about earning that for being responsible, courteous and something else (I forgot what). She was just beaming with pride. Ben's school has nothing like that. Oh sure, they have a "student of the month" assembly. Each month "Webster defines _____ as..." and here are a list of kids who demonstrated it. Yawn. Kids don't beam at Ben's school.
I need school to be over. Our enrollment is declining and when approached today about starting an "Our school is great" campaign my response was "what's so great about it?" Yup, someone needs a wee break from school.
On the brighter side... I've started pulling things for the sale. Our goal is to make enough money for a sushi dinner after it is over. I'm really being brutal and it is kind of fun. I think I am well on my way to the 50% less stuff goal. Probably the best part is that since the sale isn't at my house, once it's gone, it's gone. Nothing is coming back. Everything that doesn't' sell goes to GW at 3:01pm. Hopefully, there won't be much left. I'm pricing to sell, sell, sell, sell so I'm hoping folks will buy, buy, buy :0)

Monday

So this weekend was quite a doozy. I was sick, sick, sick. I am feeling better today. I was actually able to go out and work for a few hours, but as soon as I got home I took one major nap. I'm out again tomorrow, but I have been actually able to eat, so I feel my strengthen slowly return.
(WARNING: Totally obnoxious girl comment) As much as I hate to admit it, there is nothing like a good stomach flu to help remotivate to old "eat better, move more" mind set. I watched this very interesting documentary on the BBC called "Super Skinny Me". It followed two journalist who were at healthy weights and put them on a six week crazy diet. The different diets where those made popular by Poshe and Liz Hurley. They were really pretty bad. The journalists goal was to reach a size double zero. I didn't know they had that. Needless to say, the girls were a mess. One became so weak and sick, she could not even open the doors at her work. The other became so obsessed with the project she was becoming bulimic. Kind of scary how quickly it began to consume them. Once the project was over they both decided that they were much happier eating.
This Saturday I will be doing a garage sale with some friends. I'm excited about the stuff that will be leaving my house. Of course, as stuff goes out, new stuff finds you and screams "YOU NEED ME"!! Case in point... I was reading some email and in the ad margin was an ad for these, ramikins by Spode.
How cute are they and they are soooo me. They are not very "spode" like, but I love polka dots and that color blue is my favorite. They would look so cute on my new hutch just hanging out and being all happy looking.

Speaking of stuff for the hutch, I did manage to hit a couple of local sales on Saturday. I got some screaming deals: Lu-ray creamer (I have the matching sugar bowl) $1. I got a vintage jewelry box with some great vintage jewelry included for $2 and a very cute class canister I haggled from $2 down to $1. My good friend Megan turns the big 40 this Saturday and I found this old song book from 1932 for $5. She is a music teacher and collects old music. I love how the title said the songs were for school and community. But my most screaming deal was this sweet little lamp shade for only 50 cents. I have the perfect lamp for it and now I just need a little harp. Not a bad day for only a $9.50.

Friday Ramblings

So last weekend was Mother's Day. The second Sunday in May when you are supposed to be nice to your mom. I must say that while it is nice, I would rather be spoiled when I really need it. Like today.
Last night I got a bad case of food poisoning (I think I have seen my last club sandwich for a while) and I was so grateful that Joji jumped in and took care of everything. Ben had some egg drop project, there was no food in the house and I was completely out of commission. He went to the store, helped Ben build three prototypes and even brought me home a DQ slushy. He even got out the ice crusher to make ice chips for me. He also worked from home today to look after Sam so I could recoup. What a guy :0)


Since I was feeling better today, I did manage a little gardening. A lot of bloggers have shared their tips for frugal gardening. My tip is to use what you have. I always liked on Decorating Cents when they would do a 'interior redesign' using the homeowners stuff. It was amazing on what they could do. Well, I have tried to apply some of the strategies in my garden.

When we first moved in, there was nothing in my backyard except for 1 rhodie and 3 hydrangeas. I planted like crazy to fill up the beds. Well, now everything is over grown and crowded. Last summer I had some additional flower beds put in and now I have a place to move some of the stuff that was getting crowded. It has been very rewarding to take a plant that looks "not so hot" and make it a focal point. What a difference. I'm trying very hard to "layer" the beds so that there will be lots of interest and texture. I wish I had done a better job of labeling my plants. I have a few dahlias coming up, but I don't know what color they are. I was going to divide them, but I didn't want to plant something I didn't like or wouldn't go. Oh well, they are growing like weeds right now, so soon I will know. It is very exciting.

Another great frugal gardening tip is steal from your mom :0) The other day I was over at my mom's house helping her replant her hanging baskets and planters. Some of the plants actually wintered over, so we divided them up and I took some home. I planted some creeping charlie in my door bucket. I love it. I usually have some silk hydrangeas in there, but this looks so much better. Plus it has a nice aroma, almost like a lemony sage. Very fun.

Anyhoo, I hope the sun is shining where you are and you are able to go play in the dirt. I'm off to catch a little nap. I have regain my strength because tomorrow is a very fun garage sale just down the street. She has the cutest vintage, shabby, just plain fun stuff and her prices are usually a steal. Happy Friday :0)

One fun weekend

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I did. We didn't do anything special, just worked in the yard. Joji and the kids got me a super sweet camp chair (complete with cup holder)from REI, Sam painted a flower pot with mystery flower growing in it and Ben made me some toaster tweezers (so I won't burn my fingers). We ended up going to my mom's for dinner, which was nice since I didn't have to cook. My brother flew up to surprise my mom so it was nice to have everyone together. It was also nice for the M's to FINALLY get a win. It was breast cancer day at Safeco and so the players used pink bats. I'm must say it is a bit tough to look intimidating holding a pink day-glo bat, but whatever works... Anyway, dinner was good (how can steak and potatoes not be good) and I brought some cookies over for dessert.

They could not be easier to make and the lemon makes the white chocolate a little less sweet.
WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP LEMON COOKIES

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine, softened

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoon lemon extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Beat margarine and sugars with electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and lemon extract and beat until fluffy. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add gradually to butter mixture and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on sheet for 2 minutes, transfer to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

On Saturday was a big local garage sale. I look forward to this sale every year. Last year, my buddy Jessica and her hubby came down and we made a day of it. This year, no Jessica and Bob. It wasn't as fun, but I got some screaming deals.
Of course, Ben had a 9am game. So my mom and I had to do some power shopping. The plan was to hit the "good houses" first and peruse the others and then come back after the game. While at one sale, I spied a very fun hutch at the sale next door. It was priced at $100. I liked, but not $100 liked. When we came back later that day to pick up a rocker my mom had bought, the hutch was still there and marked down to $50. Hmmmmmmmm. I asked if they would take $40 and he said yes!! I was so excited. My dining room has needed a hutch ever since Joji kidnapped my buffet for the tv. I've always wanted a little hutch. I have a million plates and now I have a place to display them. Of course, when I got it home the rest of my day was spent tyring to figure out what to put in it. I threw a few things in there just so it wouldn't look empty, but it definately needs some tweaking. It just makes my dining room look more finished. I have been searching craigslist for hutches for months, but they are all either way too huge or way too expensive. I still can't believe my hutch was only $40. It actually contains wood and is nice and heavy. Joji even liked it (he was concerned it would make the room feel cramped ~ he had been enjoying the emptiness especially when his buddies were over, but it is not deep at all so he gives it the thumbs up)

Now with garage sale season in full swing, I must make sure for everything that comes in at least 2 or better yet 3 things go out. Matt and Holly are having a garage sale in a couple of weeks and they said I could bring over stuff to sell. I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks being ruthless. I'm going to play the "I'm moving" game. If I was moving, is this randome item move worthy? if not adios. I would love to reduce the contents of the house, by 50%. Ambititious, I know, but how great if it actually happened.

Today is another busy one. It is the class picnic for Sammie at a local park that has no covered area or bathrooms. It looks sunny now, so hopefully it will hold out. I'm also going to try and cram some testing in this morning. Holly has agreed to watch Sam. It is just so nice to have a kid swap buddy. It makes life so much easier. She has the kids today and I will be able to take her kids later this week.
Hopefully, I can finish all my testing by Tuesday.
Well, gotta run. Hope everyone has a good Monday :0)

A Game of Tag

So about a milllion years ago Timi tagged me with the 6 random things tag. So here they are...
1. I cried when I traded my SUV for a mini van. I'm counting the days until I am van free.
2. When we were in AZ for spring training one year, Dan Wilson walked by and I made a wish that someday he would think about me. A couple of years later, my friend did some PR for the M's and she got him to write me a note. It is framed and hanging on my wall.
3. I make a mean cookie
4. Everyroom in my house would be blue, but I saw an episode of House Hunters were they were looking at a house were every room was blue and they decided the owner had some serious depression issues. Not really the vibe I'm going for.
5. It is physically painful to watch the M's play baseball these days.
6. I really need to get my eyebrows waxed.

WSU Laura also tagged my with a What's On and In Your Fridge tag so here it is...

I HATE my fridge!! I am not a fan of the side by side. I really want one of these, but don't want to spend the cash, plus Joj wants water and ice in the door. We have been close to buying a new fridge, but just can't pull the trigger. Hopefully, soon.
I would like to say that the fridge doesn't usually look like this, but it does. Everything gets put up there. Not so much for "let's show it off" but more of "if I set this down I might loose it". Occationally I will go and clean it off and make it look all organized and uncluttered, but that usually lasts a day or two. Ben and Sam will come home and stick stuff up. They're kids, it is what kids do. I'm okay with that.

As far as what is in it, not much. As you can see we need milk and just about everything else. It is hard to tell, but there are a lot of big containers with not very much in them. I really need a good fridge clean. Tuesday is garbage day so Monday night might be a good day for that.I really need to do a big shopping trip, but I don't wanna. I try and buy fresh stuff, but more times then not it goes bad before we eat it. If my freezer was bigger, I would do more freezer cooking. Cooking is such a challenge. If it was just me I would stop and pick up a salad every night. But nooooo, I have to make tasty and nutrious meals for my family that don't cost an arm and leg. I need to watch my old Rachel Ray shows. She isn't the most budget friendly, but she does have a way of making the same old thing seem a little less "same old thing". Once the fruits and veggies are in season, it will be a little more inspiring to cook, at least I hope so. Oh well...
Soo if you are feeling brave, show us your fridge :0)

Holly at the Helm

So my good friend Holly has finally decided to join the 21st century and start up a blog. We set it up today and she has been busy posting away.
Stop by and say hi, I'm sure she would love to hear from you :0)
http://www.hollyatthehelm.blogspot.com/

Hump Day

Well, I have made through half of my CRAZY week and so for it has gone very well. Staff appreciation is chugging right along. Today was "Spa Day". We brought in fruit, cheese and crackers (you just have to LOVE Trader Joes) we also had seated massage and paraffin dips. I wish we could of had the massage folks there all day so that more people could have taken advantage of it, maybe next year. I was so bummed that our wonderful office staff was unable to be pampered, but there was a fire somewhere close by and the playground had to be evacuated. Guess who got to watch the kiddos?? Yup, the poor office staff. I might have to bake a special batch of cookies for them to make up for it.

Last night was my last official board meeting at the co-op. As of next Thursday I will no longer be a co-op mom. It will be weird, Norhtpoint has been a HUGE part of my life for the past 7 years. However, I'm ready to have both kids at one school. Usually the last board meeting is short and fun. I guess our board missed that memo because the "business" part took forever!! I just loved how we would spend 30 minutes discussing something and then vote and then have someone raise their hand and want to reopen the discussion. I had to tell people we weren't going back. What kills me is we spent 30 minutes agreeing to have the board retreat in June. Oy. Overall it was a nice meeting. I got a beautiful tree rose and some Gerber daisies. I love getting plants. I also felt that I will actually be missed despite all the headaches this year. I truly believe all the junk we had to put up with was for the good in the long run. Non-profits are a tricky beast and when you constantly have new folks it makes it even harder. I'm just glad my friend Maura will be one of the presidents next year. She will keep the heart and soul of the co-op going strong which is so important to balance against the "business" of it.

Today was also the third day in a row I have worked. Yikes, I don't think I could do this every day. While at Ben's school, a teacher asked me when I was going to be available to sub. Ugh, subbing. I told her I would sub next year. I figure with Sammie in all day K, it couldn't hurt. I would only do K-1 and only at Browns Pt. I never had to sub when I was younger. I got a job right away. The idea of walking into a classroom where I knew none of the kids scares me to death. At least at BP, I know a lot of kids, so hopefully that would help. I have always gone in and done activities with Ben's classes, so I'm not completely rusty and it is fun to "play" teacher. Who knows, it might make me want to go back to teaching sooner. I doubt it. Good subs are few and far between so I'm sure I could pick up enough days to make it interesting. Besides a little extra cash would be nice. We have a goal to be totally debt free (minus houses and GET) in 5 years or less. Nothing would feel better than being debt free.

Okay, enough rambling... I should probably get off the computer and tidy up before Joj gets home. I have no idea what to fix for dinner. I wish I was one of those "make a meal plan and stick to it" kind of gals, but I'm not. I think it will be a raid the pantry kind of night. Sloppy Joes anyone??
Happy Wednesday :0)

My Super Sweet Staff Appreciation Week

So tomorrow kicks off Staff Appreciation Week and I thought I would share what is happening in our neck of the woods. There are 2 levels of appreciation. What the PTA is doing for the staff and what the room parents and kids are doing for the teachers.
PTA:
Monday: Potluck Breakfast (PTA volunteers to bring in a bunch of baked goods, breakfast casseroles, fruit and juice)
Tuesday: Italian sodas during lunch
Wednesday: Seated Massage with fruit, cheese and crackers
Thursday: Plinko for prizes (basically a raffle for gift certs)
Friday: Car detailing (a group of parents vacuuming and washing cars) as well as dessert buffet.
We also had the kids write a little note of thanks to the staff which are hanging on a bulletin board in the foyer.
Room Parents:
Monday: Wear you teachers favorite color day
Tuesday: Treats for our teachers dog day
Wednesday: Bring flowers for the teacher
Thursday: Make a card for our teacher
Friday: Favorite things for our teacher and a special lunch.
When I was teaching, we got a lunch and something small (which was fine with me) I just think it is so over the top. What is worse, is that there are teachers who actually tell the kids what kind of stuff they want. Yikes.
The budget used to be $1500. I fought to have the budget cut in half. Of course, I then had to chair the committee to prove that it could actually be done for less. I must say I'm pretty proud of our efforts. Most stuff is being donated. Folks are more than happy to help if they are just asked. We are splurging on the massage, but we are getting a deal so I think that is okay. My goal is to come in under 500 bucks. It will be close. So what are other folks doing out there for teacher fest?? I would love to swap horror stories, I mean get new ideas :0)

I told you so....

See, what happens at little league games around here?? Geesh
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16151036/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=news

When it rains it pours...

Oh it has been crazy busy around here. Can I tell you I can not wait for the end of next week. Next week I have my final board meeting as the co-op president (I'm hoping it is fun, should be but you never know), I'm in charge of the week long "Staff Appreciation Fest". Seriously, a whole week?? I have been getting panicked emails from room mothers who weren't aware they were supposed to conduct a week long celebration for their teacher. I only agreed to chair it since I wanted to cut things back (and we did)but it still is a lot. It is sooo over the top, but such is life in BP. And last but certainly not least, I'm working.

I agreed to help with the end of the year assessments for my old district. There are like a million kids that need to be tested. Hopefully, it will go well. It should, it usually does, it is just seems like a pretty daunting task. At least with the testing there will be a nice little paycheck at the end. Joji is much more tolerant of me being busy when they is an actual "payout". Next year, Sam will be in K all day so child care won't be such a headache making it easier to pick up a few more hours here and there. Money is good.

Joji is working today, bummer. He will miss yet another of Ben's games. The season is chugging along. Our last game was against a team that I really wanted to beat. The coach is so whiny and is kind of "win at all costs" kind of guy. I'm so glad Ben wasn't on his team. It ended up a tie, but the coach told his team that they won on a technicality. Whatever. He just bugs me. I don't care for whiny and especially when it comes from 40something dudes. Anyway, another interesting development this season is ump heckling. I have actually had to bite my tongue a couple of times. Now the umps are dads whose training consists of watching the baseball on tv. They do the best they can and of course they are going to make bad calls. At one game, this guy was all over the ump and it was a dad from his own team. I so wanted to say, "He is just a dad, doing the best he can and feel free to put on the gear and do it yourself". Of course, I wimped out, but I think I will sa something next time. Someone has to say something and hopefully it won't end up on Dateline: Sports parents out of control.

Ah yes, if I can just make it through the next couple of weeks. My girlfriend and I are seriously considering joining a local pool. I grew up at this pool and I always wanted to be a "pool mom". They would come down with kids and coolers at 1:00 and sit up on the upper deck smoking, gossiping and soaking up the sun while the lifeguards watched their kids. Ingenious!! Now that Sammie is old enough to be in the pool sans mommy this would be the perfect time. Another plus about this pool is that it is out of the neighborhood, so we can escape the local drama. Totally worth the 15 minute drive to a little poolside Nirvana.