Boys Night Out

One of my unofficial New Year's resolutions was to get out more. I'm kind of a homebody and it's nice to go out every now and then. I've been to a few concerts recently and it just makes me want to see more. With ticket prices and Ticketmaster (aka Ticketmonster)taking the fun out of big name shows we have been exploring smaller shows.
We are lucky to live about 25 miles south of Seattle so there are lots of small clubs to explore. Last night, Joj and I plus two of his buddies, hit the Showbox at the Market and heard a Led Zeppelin tribute band, Led Zepagain. They were great.
Besides seeing a good show it was fun to hang "with the boys". Joj has known Erik and Jim since he was a kid and so there lots of stories from back in the day. Between all the laughing and great music I would say it was a very successful boys (plus me) night out and I'm looking forward to the next one.
:0)

Leavin' on a jet plane...

Tomorrow at 8am I am on my way to good ol' SeaTac Airport.
I'm finally flying down to Arizona to help my BBF Jenny P's big 4-0 birthday.
It is going to be so much fun. How could it not be?
It should be 90.
We have pedis already scheduled.
She has a pool and has found the perfect margarita recipe.
We are set.
The only thing besides poolside festivities is to walk at least 3 miles a day while I am there. My triathalon is starting to loom and a week off is not worth the pain of making up for lost ground. It should be pretty easy to eat well, so I'm not worried about that. The liquid calories might start to add up, but if they do a couple laps of the pool and I will be all set.
I'm back on Thursday night and I'm sure I will lots of blackmail material, I mean fun photos of our adventures.
I hope everyone has a fabulous week!!!

A little Irish Yummy

Here is a little something yummy to go along with your green beer and cabbage rolls.
We are spending this St. Pats with good friends and going to see some really good music.
Happy St. Pats Everyone :0)

The boys are coming...

Every few weeks or so Joj has his friends over for a little male bonding. I really enjoy playing hostess for a few reasons.
First, it makes me clean my house. Now I know this is on wife/mom to do list anyway, but company forces me to kick it up a notch (even though they are guys and won't notice) Secondly, they will eat anything. It used to be that most of the guys were single and a home cooked meal was a treat. Now most of the guys are married, but they are still so appreciative it makes me want to pull out all the stops. Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that the every now and then one of my favorite wives will tag along and I can get in some really good girl talk.
Now, the boys have their favorites and I'm sure I could just rotate through them, but I like to try new recipes every now and then. Over the holidays we went to our friends' house for some pasta carbonara and it was too die for. Ever since I have been seriously jonesing for some more. I found a recipe for penne carbonara and it looks good and more importantly, easy. I think I'm feeding about 15 folks tonight so that is a lot of pasta. I'm also going to make a salad and garlic bread. My friend Jess is bringing something for dessert, which is great because all her stuff is super yummy. It is going to be a fun night. I just need to clean, shop, prep and cook. Oh I'm also watching Lily today so I will have a helper. A very busy day for sure, but it is the good kind busy.
Happy Friday everyone!

The Aftermath

Well, Saturday night will go down in the books as one of our best parties yet. We had the best time and I'm pretty sure our friends did as well. We had a bout 40 folks come over and make merry with us. It was the perfect blend of old and new friends, everyone was mingling and the party had the great party "buzz".

As usual, we were running behind when the first guests started to arrive. Even though I had spent the past two days prepping, I still was stuck in the kitchen for the first couple of hours. The lesson learned for next year is NO HOT WINGS!! Those buggers took FOREVER to cook and made the kitchen about a million degrees (which did wonders for the hairdo and make-up) By the time I emerged from the kitchen I looked like I had just rolled out of bed, oh well. I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but most of the folks at the party have all seen me "rockin' the bedhead" at some point, so it really wasn't a big deal (I love my friends).

The house looked great and the spread was divine, however in all of the craziness of getting the food out, I forgot to take pictures. Ugh!! I hate that. I was even thinking to myself what a great post this would be as I was setting out the food. Oh well, maybe next year. What I was able to capture was the aftermath.

I swear we must have used every dish, bowl, platter, pot and pan that I owned and they were all waiting for me. If only the Party Elves would have sent their cousins the Dish Elves to my house. A few runs of the dishwasher (one of the greatest machines ever invented) and it was gone. Now I can start to think about my Christmas to do list. My mom and I are planning to do our cookie baking this weekend. That should be fun. We make a lot of fun ones and I will post on those later. Sam wants to have a Christmas tea party for some friends. I'm trying to figure out when that will happen, but it sounds like fun. I figure I would make up some cookies for the girls to frost. The guest list keeps changing. I'm trying to keep it to kids I already know, but Sam wants to invite "unknown" girls from school. I must say that makes me a little nervous. If I invite them does that mean that the moms would want to come and hang out as well? If they do, that means a whole other level of stress, which I would really like to avoid. Does that make me a bad mom? I hope not. I just don't like being on "display" in front of people I don't know.

Other than the potential Stepford Wife invasion, the holidays should be pretty calm. The plan is to get Christmas cards done and out by next Monday. My card writing has been less than stellar the past few years and I'm sure some folks have probably assumed we have fallen off the earth. This year I will redeem myself (or at least that is the plan)
Hope everyone's holiday planning is going smoothly. We are off for pizza tonight with the Browns. Yay, no cooking for me!!
Happy Monday everyone!!

It's like Deja-vu all over again

What an insane weekend.
As you know last weekend was the surprise party for Joj with all his HS buddies. Well there was one buddy that I tried to track down and could not find. I tried everything, but no dice. Well, Joji comes home and says that the guy I was looking for called him totally out of the blue. He was hoping to hook up with some of the old crew. Weird. So needless to say, we had everyone that was still in town over to our house for reunion 2.0.



I love having folks over. I was even more thrilled that my pantry contained the fixings for some yummy baked artichoke dip. The guys loved it too apparently, they licked the plate clean. Later that night we had some friends over for a little General Tso Chicken. There were 8 of us and I ended up cooking 14 chicken breasts. Boy that was a lot of frying, but so worth it. Again, a super simple recipe that has the "wow" factor. I made two batches of sauce, "hot" and "not so hot". I think the "not so hot" could have used a little more heat, but that was just me. I didn't want it too hot because I wanted the kids to be able to eat it. Anyhow, the night was a blast. Erik and Joji grew up together so the evening was filled with more back in the day stories. I just love hearing those and the fact that I know most of the characters in the stories makes them even funnier.

This upcoming week, seems like it should be a little more mellow. I have some testing on the schedule as well as another subbing job. The "IK" I subbed for last week called to see if I would sub again. I was very flattered. That must mean I did a good job. Her class was really sweet and it is only for a half day, so I jumped all over it. I am liking subbing and could see doing more of it down the road. I think the key is to find a couple teachers and really get to know their classes. It make the job sooo much easier.



Last but not least, a very long over due shout out to WSU Laura for giving me the BBF award. She is a great kindred spirit and I love reading about her life and find it fascinating how much it mirrors mine.
So I would like to shoot this award back to her as well as A girl named Timi and Debra over at September Acres. Both Timi and Debra are daily reads for me and I always appreciate when they stop by and say hi.
Well, it is almost 6 o'clock and I must get some laundry going. I just woke up from a nap I didn't mean to take. I was just lying down trying to settle my stomach and then I woke up a few hours later. This doesn't bode well for getting to sleep early tonight. At least Sunday is a decent TV night to fold laundry to, even though Mad Men is over for the season. I'm soooo bummed. I LOVED that show. I must say the finale was great. Of course now I can't wait for season 3. I hope it gets picked up.
Well, I hope everyone is having a nice Sunday evening. I'm off to do laundry :0)

Arizona really was a blast...

The plan was simple. Go to visit Jenny P in Arizona and sit by the pool and that is exactly what we did. No going for pedi's or lunch or shopping. Nope, we got up and sat by the pool. The guy upstairs must have known how much I needed a little R&R because the weather was warmer than usual, low 90's. Now the pool was a little too chilly to swim, so we had to make due with the hot tub (I know poor us) and there we sat with wine in hand and just talked and talked and talked.

It was a quick trip and the first time I think Joj has been home alone with the kids. Everyone survived so I'm hoping that I will be able to go down again for even longer next time. However, now it is back to reality and the rush of being back home. Joji was very sweet and did some cleaning while I was gone, but there is always more to do. We are having some friends over for dinner this weekend and I need to go shopping and tackle some laundry. Oh and how could I forget, today is Halloween party day at school. (This is the first year I'm not responsible for anything. I just get to show up, yay)

Yup, the vaca was short, but so oh so wonderful. Jenny asked if my trip would be blogworthy. Duh, of course. I told her that I needed to take a picture of us for it and here are our attempts. I liked the first photo, she liked the second one,
so we spilt the difference on the third.
Me and Jenny P. BFF's since Kindergarten. We've come a long way baby!

Crackbook

A few months ago, my friend Chris was telling me about her adventures with facebook (aka crackbook) She shared how her teenage step-daughter got her hooked and she has been reconnecting with all kinds of folks from her past. I had received an email saying that Chris as invited me to be a friend and I agreed. Of course I had to sign up, but I never really did anything with it.
Last night, Joji tells me that the brother of one of his old cronies had sent him a friend invite on facebook. It was so random, but a total hoot because Erik had some pictures of their motley crew from back in the day.

They all look like babies. I guess the good news is that most of those guys look the same (of course with the exception of some grey hair- sorry Joj) So today, Joji and I spent a good deal of time on facebook trying to track down old classmates (like we had nothing else to to)
So in the spirit of pictures from back in the day, here is a real gem.

Senior Prom '87
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
(Yes, I know that song is HORRIBLE, but I was out voted)
So there you have my flashback moments inspired by crackbook. Anyone else brave enough to share a little "yesteryear"?? I would love to see them :0)

Wet

This is getting ridiculous.
It hasn't stopped raining for the past 2 weeks. Oh sure you might get a sunbreak here and there, but seriously, I'm on the look out for an arc.
School is just nine days away and we are finishing up last minute details. Today includes a trip to the dentist and shoe shopping. After lunch we have a playdate and those are always fun. Maybe we will get lucky and the rain will stop for a few hours. Playing Princess and Power Rangers is a lot more fun outdoors.

The past few days have been pretty lackluster and not a lot to blog about. The one exciting bit of my weekend was the fact that my best friend Jenny P. came to town.

We went to lunch yesterday down on the Tacoma waterfront. We went to the Ram. Jenny ordered a "Buttface" (hehehe)I would have too, but I was driving. We had the best time. We just sat and chatted away. She really needs to move back to Washington. I miss her. I am definitely going to pop down to AZ for a visit.



Here is a pic of us. It is not the best. I was having a really good hair day, but the run from the restaurant to the car in the torrential downpour kind of killed it. I was hoping to get a pic of us at the restaurant with beautiful Commencement Bay in the background, but no dice. Oh well, maybe next time.

Camping Recap

Well, I not only survived, but had a really nice time. This year the 7 kids were a little older and that made a difference. We had over an acre to ourselves with no one in earshot and that made a difference. We only spent one night up there and that made a difference. I'm sure next year will be even better. I have to say I came home with a renewed appreciation for my mellow kids :0)



My family has a cabin in the little town of Index, WA on the Skykomish River just off of HWY 2. It is very rustic and small. 4 humans is about its max, but it sits on about an acre so there is lots of room outside. It was a million degrees on Saturday (I guess technically it was more like high 90's) so we actually went swimming in the river. It is the first time ever I have been swimming in the Skykomish. It is snow run off and usually very cold, but I didn't care it was hot. I haven't been that hot and miserable since I was in China in the middle of summer. (Okay, quick side note: Ralph Lauren should be shot for designing Olympic outfits which consisted of long pants and blazers!! It is a million degrees with 95% humidity over there in the summer! I saw those outfits and felt their pain) Anyhoo, the river felt great and the kids spent the day splashing around. We never did make it into town, which was too bad since Index was holding their annual arts festival. Oh well, maybe next year.



It was really great to see all the kids just hang out and play. The arguing was really kept to a minimum. The moms stayed out of it as much as possible. It was pretty much kid law unless there was an injury. Considering the age range was from 3 to 11 they did pretty well. They had a talent show and did skits. They roasted marshmallows and threw lots of rocks in the river. Good old fashion kid fun.
We set up a big tent for the kids to sleep in and I was surprised that even the younger kids slept outside. Unfortunately, a nice storm rolled through around 5 am and it sent the 6 kids running inside soaking wet. They all just huddled up on the couch and fell back asleep for a few hours.



We headed home around 3:30 and arrived home around 8:00. I learned that when I'm on an adventure there comes a time when I am done. When I reach that point, I want to be home. I don't want to stop and walk around. I don't want to stop and get something to eat. I want to power through the drive and be home. I felt a little bit bad because when we finally got home, Maura was telling her kids to unload the car. By the time she rounded them up, I had unpacked everything and was halfway up the driveway. Yes, I was done. All in all it was a fun trip. I'm sure we will go again. It won't be long before the kids are too cool to camp with their moms, so we have to savor the time while we can.

On the road again...

Tomorrow I'm heading out for a little "girls weekend" with two of my dear friends Maura and Sarah. We are bringing the kids. For those of you who have been reading the blog for a while you might remember last year's "girls weekend".
We are keeping it simple and "camping" at our cabin. The weather is supposed to be fantastic and Index is holding its annual arts festival. On paper, it should be a great trip. We shall see...

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

While I was ecstatic that the rain came yesterday validating my decision to cancel my garage sale, I have to say I was disappointed it decided to actually stick around and continue to rain on and off all day.

After my cookie baking, I went to downtown Tacoma to keep my friend Holly company while she worked the Tacoma Art Showcase. Tacoma has come a long way over the past few years. There is no longer the "aroma of Tacoma" and the downtown is going through a total renewal now that there is University of Washington Tacoma branch there. The once very scary streets (when I was in college, I had the misfortune to take the greyhound home and found myself downtown at the bus station at 11:00 at night- VERY scary. I would NEVER do that again) are now full of cute shops and restaurants. I think it has everything Seattle has, but everything is more reasonably priced and there is actual street parking. Anyway, Tacoma is trying to build up it's artiness and they have hosted this art show/walk thing for a few years and this was the first year for Holly's gallery to participate. If it hadn't rained off and on all day, the crowds might have been larger. At about 5:30 the skies opened up and we had a dozy of a shower. At that point the festival, which was scheduled to run until 9 came to very soggy end at 6. Oh well, for the amount of folks who were there, we had a lot of people come in and get info on the gallery and artists being featured.

Holly had some really cool looking art. My favorite by far was the work of local artist Kathy Hastings. She is a photographer who kayaks around the docks in Seattle taking pictures of rusty ship hulls. Be sure to check out her "waterlines" series. A-Mazing!! There was one little piece that I especially liked. It was a picture of a number six, the blues in the piece were just so pretty, completely "my shades" of blue. Holly being the super sweetie that she is, gave it to me as thank you for keeping her company.
She didn't have to do that, I had fun just hanging out and enjoying the interpretive dancers tell the story of how tortoise got this shell not once, but twice.



So here is my new real art. I just love it. Right now it is hanging in the kitchen. The red walls really make it pop. I'm not sure if it will stay there, but I'm liking it for now. If you also find yourself moved by Kathy's art, contact Holly and she can hook you up. Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday. The rain seems to have moved on and I'm thinking a trip to the pool may be in our future. Happy Sunday everyone :0)

Man Camp

Joji returned from a week in NC only to rush out the door one and half hours later for a weekend of MAN CAMP. Joji is heading up to our cabin to spend the next two days doing manly things, like chopping wood, eating, sleeping, eating and partaking in a white wine spritzer or two. I'm very proud of Joji for going since he didn't know most of the guys who were going to be there. Hopefully Joji will have a good time and return with both eyebrows.

For some reason I really enjoy making "manly food". I do not like to eat it, but it is fun to make and the guys usually really appreciate it. So for this weekend I made the stuffed jalapenos. I have never worked with them before I must say I was a little scared. I have seen enough Food Network to know that one wrong move and you will be covered in welts and writhing in pain. I took no chances and donned my latex gloves. Ben asked if I would like the face shield Joji uses with his lathe, but I declined. I will say that those suckers are a lot of work to clean out and it reminded me of opening an orange the way the seeds would kind of spew everywhere. After 2 hours I had prepared 3 Costco salad container full of stuffed peppers. I really they hold together on the grill. (Just a quick side note on the salad containers... they are the best!! They alone make my Costco membership worthwhile. I put everything in them, they hold a lot and they stand up to numerous trips to the dishwasher. Seriously, start saving these babies, totally worth it)
As I mentioned in my last post I was on the look out for a really good PB recipe. I googled "the best" and "killer" peanut butter cookies and this recipe kept coming up. I made them and I think the only thing I would change would be adding a dash of vanilla. It felt very odd for me not to put vanilla in, but I wanted to follow the recipe. I really missed that little hit of sweet. When the cookies were "taste tested" they got good remarks. Joji thought they were "good" (that is about a excited as he gets) Matt gave them a very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
(I would consider a 1/2 t vanilla)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
(I added 2 cups of peanut butter chips for a little extra umph)
DIRECTIONS
Cream together the shortening, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually stir into the peanut butter mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Make small balls of dough. Flatten with fork dipped in flour to form cross-wise pattern.
Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just set. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

A quick note on cookies.
I like a nice chewy cookie. This requires that the cookies are not cooked too long. I take my cookies out of the oven before they are browned on the edges. The time to take them out is just as the cookie looks "set". While the cookies are cooling on the sheets (a very important step) they will continue to cook. Below is a photo of a properly browned cookie and one that is a little more "Cajun" (aka "blackened") It isn't totally burned, but just a lot darker than it should be for a chewy cookie. If you like a crispier cookie, then that would be the desired doneness.

As we were rushing around getting all of the last minute items packed, Joji was getting down his tent when Matt asked him if it would hold 2 queens?
Here is a pic of Matt and Joji before they left. Suddenly I'm a little worried :0)

While the cat is away...

We have been very busy little mice around here. Joji has been in Charlotte since Sunday and he won't get home until Friday at which time he is immediately off for a little "mans weekend" camping trip. I'm trying to think of goodies to send with him. I know for sure I'm making bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos.
I was watching Semi-homemade with Sandra Lee the other day and she made them. (A quick not on Sandra Lee...I used to read a foodie BB in which she was constantly referred to as "Boozie McBoobs". How awful is that?? But I gotta give it to that girl, she looks great and clearly likes her cocktails.
Anyway, I wasn't totally sold on the stuffed jalapenos, until I was reading Pioneer Woman Cooks and the recipe that was featured that day was, yup, stuffed jalapenos. I'm taking it as a sign. I will probably make some cookies as well, however I feel like I am in a cookie rut. Maybe I will make some PB cookies. The recipe I have is good, but I want something a little bit more. I would love to put PB chips in the dough, but I wonder how that would work with the fork smooshing part of the process. Hmmmmm, I guess I will have to do a little googling.
I love google, don't you. It is great for someone like me who has no patience whatsoever. I type what I want and ,poof, there it is. I saw an interview with the dudes who came up with Google. As long as I live I will NEVER understand "code" (that secret language people use to make computers do what they want) When my brother Paul was 10 he got a computer. It was a Texas Instrument something or other and we would spend HOURS typing a bunch of gobbledygook only to find that somewhere we had typed a front slash vs a back slash and therefore our game would not run. I remember we spent all day typing in some program just to watch the tv screen flash different colors. Too bad we had the computer hooked up to our old black and white TV. I don't think kids today would think a flashing TV was all that cool, but we did. It really is mind blowing how far technology has come. Sammie has only known a tv where you can pause it while you go to the bathroom, not to mention watch almost anything you want whenever you want.
Anyway, enough rambling. We are off today to good old Lynnwood to hang out with the Zimmermans. I haven't gotten to hang out with Jessica for a while since the DND guys have not been to our house in a while. I so miss hanging out with her. She is one of those good "girl talk" girlfriends, plus Sam and her boys get along great. I'm sure they will be spending a lot of time on this. Jessica's hubby Bob designed and built it. It was a huge hit at their 4th of July party. Ben will also be making the trek and he is less than thrilled. Poor Ben, all our friends have little kids, so it looks like the DS will be making the trip as well. He is a good sport most of the time, so letting him plug in and tune out is okay every now and then.
Well I better get going. I've got kids to feed and bathe and the van could use a cleanin' before we head out. The sun is shining and it is looking like another day in the 70's. Seriously, W. WA in the 70's is summer at it's best.
Happy Wednesday Everyone!! :0)

Sunday in the Sun

I now officially have boat envy.
Yesterday we went out with the Browns on their boat in Lake Washington and it was fantastic. The weather could not have been more beautiful and the lake was warm. It was as picturesque as W. WA gets. The eye candy was not limited to just the lake, oh no, the houses and the boats were to die for as well. In fact here is a little place that would the perfect place to kick back and watch the hydro races. I just need to come up with a little cash :0)



The kids spent the entire day in the water. It was no surprise when Sam didn't even make it out of the parking lot. As soon as the car was in reverse, she was out. We capped off the day with a little BBQing at the Brown's and it was delicious.
Good friends, good food, good times. What a day.

Summertime and the living is lazy

Wow, a whole week since my last post. I would feel worse, but it seems I'm not the only one who has been away from the computer. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. We did. We drove up to our friends house for their annual Fourth of July Bash and had a great time. The weather was a little overcast, but it made for a very pleasant day.

Today was spent with Jenny P and the kids at the pool. I wish Jenny lived closer. I'm trying to convince her to start up a blog. Hopefully she will. She doesn't think she has anything to write about and I told her I felt the same way, but it is amazing the connections you end up making writing about laundry and what to have for dinner :0)

The pool today was a zoo. This was by far the busiest day we have had yet. There were 3 guards on duty which is pretty rare. The manager, who was around in Jenny's and mine old guarding days told us if it got busier she was going to put us on duty. That would have been a sight to see, Jenny and I climbing up into the guard chairs (scary yet, climbing down) One of the reasons that the pool was so busy was soccer camp from BP was having a swim party. It was nice to see some moms from school and do the 30 second catch up. The best part though, was when one of the boys showed up with his little sister. She was in Sammie's class and it instantly freed me from the "when are you getting in the pool to play with me" pestering. I was able to chat away and soak up the sun. I finally feel I'm returning to my natural color (it has been in hiding for the past couple of years) If the sun isn't good for you, but why do you look so much better with a tan?? It is just cruel.
Hope everyone is enjoying some sun, we sure are.

Life Goal: Pool Mom (check)

Between the ages of 12 and 22 I would spend my summers at the pool. All day everyday, I was either be teaching swimming lessons, lifeguarding or working on my tan. We belonged to a local pool and it was literally my home away from home. One of the most interesting facet of pool life was the "pool mom". Everyday at 1:00 sharp they would enter the gates loaded up with coolers, bags of towel and a flock of kids. Once they signed in, the kids would go screaming into the pool and the pool mom would make her way to the upper deck.
The ritual was always the same:
1. Try and score one of the "good" chezes (the one with the cushions)
2. Strip down and lather on the baby oil
3. Make sure your water bottle (for spritzing) was full
4. Put on big hat and sunglasses
5. Light up and gossip with the girls
It was the era of the "yuppie" and life was good. I decided that my goal in life would to become a pool mom. You think I'm kidding? I told my principal during an end of year review that I one of my goals was to become a pool mom and I would be leaving teaching to pursue this. (Okay, I had had it with teaching and all the awful politics and unresonable demands and we were trying to expand our family, but still, I did site my desire to be a pool mom and that it would conflict with my summer inservice schedule as one of my deciding factors)
Now the trick to pulling of total Pool Mom Nervana is to have kids old enough to manage themselves. We have been to the pool in years past and when you have a little one, it just isn't relaxing. This summer Sam is tall enough to bop around the shallow end. Ben of course, is a fish. That means the kids can be in the water, but not me!!! Yay!! I'm on my way. Now I just need a girl to gossip with. Just so happens Jenny P. is in town :0)
Today is actually sunny and supposed to be hot (high 70's). We are meeting at one with coolers and big bags of towles. We will immediately proceed to the upper deck with baby oil and spritzer bottles and spend the afternoon chit chatting away. I'm so excited. It is one things to achieve a lifelong dream, it is another when you best friend is there too to spritz your back when needed :0)

BFF

Today is Jenny P's birthday. I won't tell you how old she is, just that she is older than me and always will be :0) I have known Jenny P. since Kindergarten and I really can't remember life without her. She is an amazing person. Even though we are extreme opposites (think Felix and Oscar)she is always my friend. We have a little birthday tradition and I just got off the phone with her. It has been a few months since the last time we talked. She lives in AZ and I miss her a lot. Even when I'm a bad friend and don't call as often as I should, whenever we talk we always pick up were we left off and hit the ground running.
She will be coming up for their family's annual "escape the AZ heat" trip in June. The plan is to go out to the lake and let the kids swim so Jenny and I can pretend we are 16 again, talk about boys and soak up the sun. I can't wait.
Happy Birthday Jenny P!!

The week that was...

Okay, so it hasn't been a full week since my last post (it feels like a month), but so much has happened. Some good, some not so good and some that make me want to scream, "Are you kidding me??"
Thanks to everyone who left a comment regarding "the grapevine". As always, never as bad as you think. It is the awfulizing that is the killer. As of now, who knows about tomorrow, but everything seems to be good. All misunderstandings and lots of good old "helping". And now that this drama has been settled for a good 30 seconds, a new drama monster rears its ugly head.
I have gotten 20 different emails regarding the purchase of white t-shirts for the end of the year. You would think I took the school budget and went to Brazil? The thing that I can't quite figure out is how the statement of "we (the school) can pay for the shirts" launched this massive outcry of parliamentary procedure faux pas. Really, are you kidding me??? I finally had to send the email: NO More emails regarding the t-shirts. It will be discussed at the next board meeting. So now I'm sure the "discussion" continues, I'm just off the distribution list.

As yucking the co-op stuff has been, other things have been quite fun. On Thursday we had dinner with the Browns and their friends Ernie and Muntsie. I hope I'm like them when I'm in my 70's. She is Italian and they have lived all over the world. So interesting to hear their stories. Muntsie also makes a killer spaghetti sauce. Now I am not the biggest spaghetti fan, but this was to die for. I even scored some to take home. I could hear Sammie from the kids table saying this was the best food she had ever eaten. Yup, it was pretty good. Ernie is quite the bread maker and he taught Matt the tricks of the trade. So to go with our spaghetti, we had fresh bread. Yummy, it won't last long, fresh bread. Oh so good.

Friday brought us snow it great northwest. Yes, you read that right snow and it actually stuck (for a few hours) Joji and Sammie rushed out to build a snowman. Of course, the weather put the kibosh on our cabin plans. Snowy roads and thought of being held up in a small cabin with 9 people, not so fun. We have decided to wait until the weather is better and the kids can run free. So instead of the cabin we spent Saturday rehanging kitchen cabinets at the Browns. While Holly was at work, the big boys rehung cabinets and tried to repair the "workmanship" of the previous owner. It is amazing how it is those little things that make all the difference. It wasn't even my kitchen I was excited to have cabinets with actual shelving and a fridge door that opens the right way. Holly was so excited. To celebrate, we made calzones and they were good. It was a long day, but a fun one.
Today, we are going to venture to the pool. Ahhhhh, I can't wait :0)

In like a lamb (but it felt like a lion)

March is officially here and I am still recovering from my weekend. It was a doozy. On Friday, I volunteered to drive and chaperon for Ben's field trip to NW Trek. Since the bussing situation in Tacoma is a mess, the parents have to drive. I'm not a huge fan of the parents driving thing, not just because of the whole "what if there is a crash thing" but it seems so wasteful. We had a caravan of 30 cars! For the most part the group of kids I had in my van were pretty good. I forget how quiet Ben is until I'm around other little boys that are a bit more boisterous. I'm not saying they were spazzy, but Ben did offer to pay them to be quiet (it worked for a while).
One of the best parts of NW Trek is that they "put the people in the cages". They have a tram that takes you through the park where the animals are free to roam. It isn't like the old school animal parks where the animals come up to your car and you feed them. Nope, they are wild and just go about their business. We were there a couple of weeks ago with friends and all the animals were hiding, but Friday they were everywhere. We had a great time. Once again, I was reminded how much energy it takes to be around kids all day and reinforced the idea that I'm not ready to go back to teaching just yet
:0)

Saturday was our preschool auction. I went to help set up in the morning, which actually was pretty fun. It became even more fun when the mimosas and bloody marys made an appearance. The bonus for helping set up is that you get to preview all the items being auctioned off. (I made 2 of these apothecary terrariums. They were much prettier in person) Come auction time, it is just too crowded to get a good look at stuff. Even though there was a lot of items, the only thing I really wanted was a framed picture of water. It was so pretty. It looked like a Monet, but it was a photograph. Just loved it, had to have it. Lucky for me I was the only bid :0)
As part of my duty as co-president, I get to make a little speech. I have no trouble speaking in front of people, but I wasn't on the schedule until almost 8:30. The plan was not to drink until AFTER I had given my speech, but you know what they say about the best laid plans... Last year the auction chair had herself a very good time and by the end of the night she was pretty "entertaining". I did not want to be "entertaining" during my speech. I thought it went pretty well, however, when I was called back up an hour later to speak about the new signs we were are planning to purchase, not as polished. The good news, no one was really listening. Usually that is a major pet peeve of mine, but I was okay with it just this once :0)
We have been to 6 auction for the preschool and this year's was by the far the most fun. Our table was definitely the "fun" table. We laughed and laughed and the night flew by. A bunch of us ended back up at our friends house and we spent the rest of the evening listening to records (not CD's or MP3's, but actual honest to goodness VINYL!!) Nothing like a late night sing-a-long. It was so much fun.
The plan for Sunday was to go out for breakfast. However, for some reason, going out turned into me and Matt making making breakfast for everyone, hmmmmmmm. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I was looking forward to just lazing around, but my Mom called and told me Sammie was sick. So my Sunday was spent on puke watch, but lucky for me, the worst had past so Sammie and I spent the day snuggling in the big bed. She is feeling much better today, but I still kept her home (she hasn't been to school for a week). She slept around the clock, but woke up in a good mood. We will play it by ear, but I might try and eek out a quick Costco run.
Well, that was my weekend. Now back to reality. Today is laundry day and the mountain of wash isn't that bad. My real focus for today is clutter. I need clean flat surfaces. My house has turned into one huge "hot spot" and I really can't stand it. So I probably should get off the computer and start (well, maybe I will check in with a couple blogs first, hehe)
Happy Monday everyone!! :0)