I lied. I'm blogging FOR A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!

Ok - i WASN'T going to blog until Monday - but holy beach batman - THERE'S AN AWESOME GIVEAWAY from Completely Coastal - she is pushing the opening of a gorgeous new online store, called Outer Banks Trading Group AND if you're anything like me and drool over Coastal Living magazines and dream of spending your days on sugar white sand - then trust me on this - head over to Completely Coastal now. If you can't go to the beach, you can very tastefully bring the beach to you.

There are so many gorgeous things it was hard to decide what i would spend my giveaway dollars on.

Would it be this.....YUMMY plates for my dining room...

..

or look at these....SO MUCH eye candy....i probably wouldn't even use them as coasters...i'd find away to display those suckers...

This is a blog to say I'm not blogging

until i make it back from hell the cub scout camping trip this coming weekend. and did i mention that BEFORE i get to go on the camping trip - i get to go across the state and back before then? Yea, so i'm so not friends with my calendar right now.

I was all like "Camping's great! I LOVE sleeping outside under the stars!" and then when i brought home the calendar, V looked it over, handed it back, and said "have fun baby, but i have something on EVERY weekend there's a camping trip."

You know how in True Blood, Bill Compton can zoom across a room in under a second? Yea, that was me, immediately in his face. WHADDAYAMEANYOU'RENOTGOIN?????

He did start talking but all I heard was "wahwahwahwahwaMIAMIDOLPHINSGAMESUITETICKETSwahwahwahawha"

I'm sorry....did you say something about MIAMI DOLPHINS SUITE TICKETS?

I get to eat charred meat on a stick, sleep on the ground, and serve my youngest up to the mosquitoes as an early thanksgiving feast - AND YOU'RE GOING TO THE DOLPHINS GAME??? IN THE SUITE?????????

Very well. Go. Have fun. Don't worry about me. I'm sure we'll be fine. just because we're coming off a tropical storm, and it could rain, and my tent's not waterproofed, and i've never started a fire before and i didn't know there was such a thing as waterproof matches, and the stove takes some kind of fuel that isn't sold at walmart, and it could be REALLY cold, and IT'S IN THE WOODS.....we'll be fine. Go. have a great time. really.

So, it's ME and a group of 5 dads and our respective children. I took a poll at the den meeting tonight. NO MOMS ARE GOING. that's right. ZERO. i am IT. That means i'm either going to get REALLY CATERED TO (fingers crossed). or be REALLY BUSY refereeing fights and making sure children don't run into the huge pile of sticks that are on fire. who wants to lay odds?

A wedding? really????

Now that the cat is out of the bag, or more appropriately, the dress is out of the closet, i thought i would share with you where we are with whole wedding thing.

There will be no wedding.

Pick yourself up off of the floor, wipe the coffee off of your laptop. We're still getting married, we're just not wedding'ing it. I hinted before we are eloping. But extending the invite to our friends that have made it clear they are up for a party weekend away. So, i'm not sure that counts as eloping when you're taking peeps with you.

It's not a destination wedding. We aren't working with a caterer, a florist, or a church.

Maybe it's a wedelope. That sounds funny. i like it. That's what it is. IT'S A WEDELOPE.

Here is what we know.

We're eloping to NYC, in October. Our date is 10-1-10 (how cool is that date?) i just like typing it.

It might just be the 2 of us as things get closer and things tend to happen that you can't plan, but then again, there might be 10 or 20 of us. Who knows. That's actually kind of fun too, truth be told. Both possibilities excite me. Just the 2 of us entering into this, or being surrounded by friends and having a great weekend in NYC. My absolute favorite place. So either way, i'm good!

As huge fans of Mad Men on AMC - we have decided it will have retro, 1950's vibe.

We know that we want to have a fabulous dinner and then go dancing (even better if the restaurant has live music).

We want to make a weekend out of it - shopping, a show, great food - just a FAB weekend in the city! I am SOOOOOOO excited.

I found my dress. He's found his suit. Without giving the exact dress away - you can peek here and try to find out which one it is: www.dollycouture.com - here's some eye candy from their site:




I found a site full of resources: www.elopenewyork.com

We found our photographer: http://kimberlycoccagnia.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-elopement-packages.html

He's planning our honeymoon and it's being kept secret from me. All i know is that i was told to find my passport. and that he would pack for me. Gotta love that man.

We have no idea where we will stay. We have stayed at several places - all great in the past, but i think somewhere new will be nice. Maybe somewhere with a view of Central Park - in the fall, the leaves are gorgeous.

If any of you have any ideas to share or favorite spots in NYC - please share - i'll be sure to check them out in a few weeks when we head up there for the lighting of the tree at the Rock.

How cool is this???? I know, I know, i'm a grown woman, but STILL... it IS kind of cool.

Meal Planning Monday

How sad is it that i sat down, planned out my meals for the week, made my grocery list, and then trucked off to the store without it? Yes, i came home with a very cheap grocery bill, because i forgot half of the stuff on there- which means, i won the lottery and get to back to the grocery during lunch - WOOOHOOOOOO, good times. good times.

OK. here we go.

Monday
Hamburgers, french fries. Yes, i know, not the healthiest, but it is homemade burgers and fries, so maybe that counts for something. Big juicy burger with huge slices of ripe tomatoes with mayonnaise...hmmm. There is nothing better than ripe, fresh tomatoes.

Tuesday
Crockpot chicken and dumplings from Natalie, who i think stole it from someone else... LOL.

Wednesday
Whatever we have at church. Our church caters dinner every Wednesday night for family night - $5 adults, $3 per child. I don't have to cook - hallelujah!

Thursday
Beef Stroganoff.

Friday
Pizza and movie night at home!

Saturday Night
Orange Roughy topped with bruschetta topping. This is a made up recipe that I did on the fly one night because i had everything on hand - and now they all ask for it.

Sunday - no clue.

Orange Roughy Recipe(or tilapia or any white fish for that matter)
I prefer the sweeter taste of Orange Roughy but my kids like the tilapia - go figure. Whatever ends up being on sale wins.

Chop fresh tomatoes - i do about 3 or 4 cups. If you want this to SING - you need to go to the farm stand. period. Don't hit up your grocery store for good tomatoes, it's a waste of time, and these babies are the star of this dish, not the fish.

Chop 1/2 of a sweet vidalia onion.

Chop 2 or 3 stalks of celery

Chop fresh basil - half a bunch.

Chop 2 or 3 cloves of garlic.

Throw together in mixing bowl.

Add some EVOO - i seriously never measure unless i'm baking so i don't know what to tell you here. I add enough to blend everything - probably around a tablespoon? maybe a touch more?

Season with:
Salt
Pepper
oregano

put in fridge while you do the fish.

Fish
Egg and dredge each filet in Vigo italian bread crumbs.
Spray baking dish with PAM.
Put filets in pan, saltand pepper lightly, put in oven on 350 for 5 min and put a few tabs of butter on each filet. or so (i know, i stink, i seriously eyeball everything - watch the fish and if it looks looks like it's halfway to opaque - turn over. white fish cooks up fast so just keep an eye on it.)
Flip fish over and cook other side, buttering this side as well.

After about 3 or 4 minuts, pull pan out and top w/tomato topping and put back in oven until topping is heated through.

Your done!

A Beautiful life; Answered Prayers.

I have so much to be thankful for this week, that i find myself whispering "really? all of this? in one week?"

It's Friday, and that means that Melissa, at The Inspired Room is hosting Beautiful Life Fridays. I think it's supposed to be about home decor this week. Ok, i know that it's supposed to be about home decor (and btw, please go over there and look at the kitchen pic she has posted. oh.my.goodness. swoooooooon worthy.) but i digress.

My beautiful life Friday is about answers to prayers. I think she would be ok with it.

So much has happened in the last 48 hours that i have to stop, take a breath, and say "God, I am SO thankful".

1) Laura's cancer screen came back CLEAN on Wednesday. Laura is a friend that lived around the corner from me in my old neighborhood, and our sons are the same age, and have gone to school together since day one. I think i may have hugged her too hard or too much on Wednesday at scouts though, lol. I can squeeze pretty hard - but i was so very happy for her and i think i have cried more than a few tears of joy on this in the last few days.

2) My struggle with the school over a poorly executed program that left out children with disabilities ended within the WEEK. I heard back from my son's teacher yesterday that the school had decided NOT to continue participation in the program. The program, though, will continue countywide, so i'm praying hard on this one whether to continue the fight with the schoolboard and the Orlando Magic themselves. I'm not sure i can let this one rest just because my son was addressed.

3) My honey. My man. I was not having the best time of it Wednesday night. He called me from his Miami hotel room, and while i was trying to not let the situations of the week wear on me while we spoke, i cracked. I hate to do that to him. He works unbelievably hard and it is not fair to dump on him like that when he's under the gun at work, and traveling. But do you know what he DID? He came up early yesterday afternoon. I wasn't supposed to see him until tonight, but he walked in the door with flowers and took me off to dinner! It was such a great surprise, and it meant so much. I adore him and am so thankful for his presence in my life.

And that my friends, is why i think i have a pretty beautiful life.

We fought the School, and we won!

For those of you that read my post about the FCAT awards and how it went so terribly wrong - I AM ELATED to say that the teacher just reached out to me and said that yesterday, at the weekly teacher meeting after school, it was unanimously decided that the school will not paricipate in this program. This is me screaming YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

However, since it is not their program, it is the Orlando Magic's program, that the Magic may elect to mail ticket awards to children. She did say that it's unlikely that that will occur, though.

I am still irritated at the program itself, and at the Orlando Magic, so i'm afraid my gut won't let me stop here.

I feel the program is inherently flawed. Correlations are made each year between socio-economic levels and school participation. I would venture a guess that the lower income student bracket have a higher rate of school dropouts, poor test scores and the like. BECAUSE they can't afford the extra help, the extra push, the after school care that pushes homework, etc. The village that it DOES take. So, furthering that thought, you could say that those that would MOST APPRECIATE the free sports ticket would likely never see this award.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO A PRO-SPORTING event lately? It's EXPENSIVE, i don't care how much money you make.

I must stop typing now, i feel another fight coming on...

no, THAT's important.

Life is funny.

Your mind can get all wrapped up in things that set your hair on fire and seem SO important at the time.

The cable going out as you set down to a movie you just pay-per-viewed.
A temper tantrum by a child of yours.
A irritating conversation with your spouse.
A really late notice of a time change for a kid's ballgame or practice.
Traffic.

and then, something is said that takes your breath away and makes you go "i get it."

Last night, after getting an email about a last minute cub scout meeting, and rushing around to get dinner, out the door, in the rain, worried about a project at work, and how i'm going to get everything done before this weekend, and and and...

my friend and ex-neighbor, Laura, walked up to the door of the meeting, closing her cell phone and putting it in her pocket.

The first thing she said was "I just got my results, the cancer screen was clean. It's gone."

And that is why everything else doesn't matter.

Laura, i am happier for you than you could possibly know.