I have moved!

which is why my blog went dormant.  I wasn't kidnapped.  and yes, there was a reason....  hop over to this URL to visit me in my new home! 


http://thesimasek-kiblerproject.blogspot.com/

My soon to be husband thinks i've lost my mind.

He did a wonderful thing.  In fact, hands down, it was the sweetest, most beautiful thing anyone - and i mean anyone - has EVER done for me.

He planned our honeymoon and i agreed to let him keep it a secret from me until we go.

I don't do well with secrets, surprises or anything unplanned. I don't know what i was thinking. Even on a good day, i work off of lists, plans, schedules, and rules.  Spontaneaity does not exist and if that little bugger dare raise his head disguised as fun - HA! I will shove it's little face down. I DO NOT LIKE THE UNKNOWN.  Scares me to bits.

But i agreed and then i started hemming, hawing, begging PLEADING for him to tell me where we were going to go.  I had honeymoon shopping to do - how could i buy anything special for the trip if i didn't know where we were going, right?  All he had told me was that i needed my passport. That wasn't working for me.

He finally caved.  And he took my breath away and then he did the unthinkable.  He told me where we were going and THEN gave me another option. NOW WHO DOES THAT?? 2 choices?? i have to pick?? You know my issue with indecisiveness - NOW I HAVE TO CHOOSE??? aauugghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

This is where he planned ...take a deep breath... it's pretty freakin amazing...are you ready? you sure?

 Yes.  He's amazing. 2 weeks in France. One in Paris ...

and one in wine country in a cottage. And the cottage? Straight out of the Holiday.  Just France not Cottswald.

And then, while i was still letting my mind wander about the champs elysee and seeing the arc de triumph - and all things Hermes - he tells me he had also thought about this:

One week in jost van dyke BVI. sigh.  only 304 residents. No real hotels - one that kind of pretends to be. 2 bars. and a handful of cottages. Very remote.. Hawaiian Tropic, flip flops and nothing to listen to but the waves and some live reggae coming from here: 

And then a water taxi over to St. Thomas for 4 days here to wrap up our honeymoon - a little more civilized, a real hotel with a spa to get pampered by...

Call me crazy but i chose Jost Van Dyke.  I thought about how i wanted our marriage to begin. Lazy days filled with "clothing optional" afternoons, sun, sand and nothing but time.... or worrying about euro vs dollar, negotiating through a foreign city while stuttering through high school french and worrying that we wouldn't get to see it all so Go GO GO lest we miss anything...and the stress just started to surmount.

Rum at Foxy's beach dive won. Hands down.

Honey - i know you're going to read this - you're such a good man. I love you more than you will ever know and I really want you to know that I do appreciate all the thought and effort you took in planning the first round and then letting me change our plans and go down another road requiring some re-work.  I'll try not to do this too terribly often. ahem. cough. yeah.

Don't have a cow man.

Small talk last night over the painting of the Pinewood Derby car for tomorrow's race.

"Who's going to be at the race on Saturday?"

"Everybody. But I hope Michael doesn't come."

"Who's Michael again?"

"That kid that made fun of me and Selassi at lunch."

"THERE'S A KID MAKING FUN OF YOU???? - WHO IS IT?!"

"I just told you, Michael."

"Well WHY??"

"I don't know. He makes fun of us because we get chocolate milk every day for lunch instead of white milk. I think he does it because Selassi is brown and I'm his friend."

"What does he do, what does he say?"

"He says "watch the cow drink milk...moooooo"' (quite evolved, i know.)

"I'm going to call his mother, what's his last name - is he in the school directory?"

"You don't have to. KARMA took care of it - like you always say mom." (OMG. he actually LISTENS TO ME. and he knows what karma is. awesome.)

"Really???"

"Yea, he turned around and ran into this kid when he was leaving the lunch line and got milk dumped all over him. He had to go home because he smelled like throw up."

awesome. Karma's a cow.

This is what i do when conference calls don't start on time.

This is the bed we have already, but in the color of the nightstand shown (both courtesy of Pottery Barn and Polyvore)

We need to get the nightstands, which are really dressers.

Have the lamp, currently filled with shells.

Have the clock, courtesy of my grandfather - it's an original 'oldey' not a newmadetolookold piece.

Love the bedding - also PB and J'adore the rug - which is Dash and Albert...

Indeciseveness may or may not be my problem.

We, I, have changed our wedelope destination again. I also changed my dress decision again. I have changed the choice of both the officiant and the photographer. I tried to change the date and that is when V about came unglued.

I HATE making decisions. But it's always about the stuff i consider 'small' or less important. You notice i didn't change my decision to marry my prince charming.

I do this with work. Should I hire this candidate or this one? Should I push for this project approval or this one?

I do this with the kids. Where do you want to go on spring break? to the beach? What about DC? The big apple? Do you want to fly or take the train? (Seriously, we LOVE the train).

I do this with my house. V has repainted my dining room so many times the square footage has shrunk.

I have a problem. I just can't decide how to fix it.

A picture. And what's rambling around in my head about it.

I have this picture.

I found it yesterday, buried deep in the bottom of shoebox, stored inside the trunk where all of my pictures are kept, along with my favorite pieces of the boys' schoolwork and projects, and misc Mother's Day cards.

I had forgotten all about this picture. This picture of 5 couples, faded and bent, was taken at one of our weddings of our small group. The men, boys really, were all roommates through college and after. As one would rotate out of the apartment, another would find his way in, yet the group never really got larger - it was always the same 5 guys.

This picture bothers me but i can't throw it away. Kind of like an accident on the freeway, I stare at it, not really wanting to see what's right before my eyes, but unable to look in the opposite direction.

There was so much there to see if we had kept our eyes open and been honest with ourselves. maybe even honest with our friends. I mean that's what good friends do, right? We're supposed to be the ones who say the truth even if it's hard to hear. We didn't do that with each other. We didn't do that with ourselves.

Everyone of us is now divorced from our other half in that picture. Looking back now, hindsight being 20/20 and all (funny how that works) - i am not surprised.

The bride and groom in the picture - the bride decided she had chosen the wrong gender to be partnered to. Up and left a year after their wedding and moved in with her girlfriend. My best friend and her husband that are to their right in the photograph - he was my ex's best friend - he left her for another woman ( I posted about that situation here). The couple next to them, he refused to work, she supported him financially and emotionally and then couldn't take anymore and left. Then there were the "seniors" of the group. They had gotten married first - and had 2 little girls by the time this picture was taken. He decided he played for the other team too. And lastly, there is me and my ex. We had only been married 6 months. I was SO happy. But choosing to ignore what was in front of me - he was not happy. Did not want to be married. But i had forced the issue thinking once we were married he would realize that it was what he had wanted all along. stupid, i know.

I guess I'm bringing this all up because i have this friend that got divorced 3 years ago (not one of the picture people- more recent friend) and the other day she sent me an email and said how her ex-husband's leaving her took her totally by surprise. She was still in shock. She was planning on retiring in a couple of years with him by her side. They were planning their first daughter's wedding when he dropped the news on her.

I love my friend. But really? She REALLY didn't see? Someone that you lived with for 25 years ups and says one day - i really don't love you, i haven't loved you for a long time and i'm leaving, and you DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE THAT WAS COMING? How is that possible?

Looking back at that photo yesterday, i knew that 2 in our group needed to "come out". We knew most of us weren't prepared and some of us were pressuring others to commit when what we should have done was back off and grow up - but we went on bachelor and bachelorette parties and stood with them at the altar and never uttered a peep. Never pulled them aside and said "please please get somewhere quiet for a few days and THINK THIS THROUGH. This is serious business mister. Nope, we all just wanted to play grown up and buy our houses and have our babies.

I worry about my friend because i don't want her to go down another path with someone else and not evaluate where she's going and who she's going with. I want her eyes open and I want her to be honest with herself about what and who is staring back at her. That kind of responsible honesty we owe ourselves - don't you think? There comes a time when you go ok, THAT was a flag.

Because if i'm honest with myself - looking back at situation - i had a clue. i had numerous clues. But i chose to be an ostrich. That worked out well. Not again.

Bank of America just called me fat. I think.

After inhaling gallons of eggnog with rum and homemade fudge and lemon squares and gingerbread cookies and and and I gained enough weight to warrant my own zip code.

I decided this past weekend that enough was enough and i was going to do 2 things if it killed me. Make sure my house was cleaned. At least the living room and the kitchen. ok, the kitchen BUT at least change the sheets on the bed. yea. the sheets. AND i was going to go back to yoga dammit.

Now let me tell you all something. I am limber. Pretty much. And yoga happens to be one of those things that i can be away from for weeks. months. OK A YEAR. and still come back and make real yogis jealous. seriously. I.am.good.

So i'm feeling all high on myself even with my eggnog butt crammed into my yoga pants and go to class. The classes are $14. FOURTEEN DOLLARS. The amount is important because IT'S SO SMALL.

I give Debbie my debit card that she swipes and IT GETS DECLINED. I tell her to swipe it again. She does. DECLINED AGAIN. i start to break a sweat. We're in a room all of 5 feet by 5 feet and there are 4 other people behind me. I WANT TO CRAWL UNDER THE COUNTER.

Come on - you KNOW if someone was in front of you AND HAD THEIR DEBIT CARD DECLINED FOR $14 you would be embarrassed FOR them and want to buy them a cup of coffee and drop some nickels in the cup when it's empty. I grab my card, mumble something about there being a mistake, and walk outside to call my bank. REPEATEDLY. Because the number on the back of the card keeps giving me a stupid message about call volume being unexpectedly high or some other crap.

I see Debbie go to lock the door. Damn Yogi. She locks the door so people won't be rude and walk in after class starts and disrupt all that peace going on. So i slam the cell phone and run into class to deal with it later.

How centered do you think i got during that class? Debbie kept telling me to breath and to listen to my inner voice and my inner voice kept saying - WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? CAN'T YOU BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK?? DID YOU LEAVE YOUR DEBIT CARD BEHIND AT TARGET AGAIN???

I finally escape the tranquility being forced on me and get in the car and start speed dialing my bank. When the chick answers the line I patiently explain to her that my card was declined - she pulls up my account and tells me that the reason it was declined was because it was flagged for fraud due to "attempted purchases outside of my normal buying pattern."

Yea. It seems that even Bank of America knows that i damn well don't work out anymore. It's a sad day peeps, a sad day.

I am officially my own worst enemy.

I got my 9 year old (10 on the 19th as if that matters) a phone for Christmas.

I knew that I would get lots of head shakes from half of our family/friends, and the other half (actually, maybe 2/3's) would not even bat an eye. That is either the perk or the curse of having V work for a cell carrier - while there is cost - it is palatable thus more of our friends' kids have cell phones in their pudgy, sticky, ten year old hands.

I did get it for a very selfish reason - i wanted to be able to call him directly without having to ring his dad's phone every time i wanted to hear his and his brother's voice. And i thought, this child never really asks for anything (unlike his brother), and this one thing he has asked for all year. We even gave him a dummy model back in the summer that i had used in retail when i worked for Sprint and told him that if he could produce the phone every time i asked and it wasn't destroyed or lost - we might consider getting him one for Christmas.

It was the one thing that wasn't lost or detroyed this year. huh.

Fast forward to today. So far:

1. He has called me from his bedroom to talk to my while I'm in the kitchen.
2. Called his dad NUMEROUS times while watching bowl games so that they can 'watch together'.
3. Taken some very unflattering pictures of all of us for his contacts so that these pictures can be enjoyed by all every time one of us decides to call him.
4. Texted me from the couch while i'm in the same.room.
5. Calls and checks his minutes balance so much Sprint is going to call him back and ask him to stop.
6. and the final straw - he googled my name and found ALL OF MY POSTS AND HAS BEEN READING THEM OUT LOUD TO THOSE THAT SHOULDN'T HEAR ALL OF WHAT I'VE BEEN BLOGGING. Why he never did that on the laptop i don't know and it's a mute point now.
   

So. How to deal. how to deal. Delete old posts or say "Screw it. Those are my words and were honestly portraying how I felt at the time."

Meet me under the mistletoe...I have some children I'd like to give you.

"Get your shoes on, i have some errands to run."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH MOOOOOOOOM I don't want to run errands."

"Get in the car."

"I HATE ERRANDS. I HATE SHOPPING. Why can't i stay here???"

"Get in the car."

"But MOOOOOMMMMM - I..."

"I SAID GET IN THE FRIGGIN CAR. NOW. NOT TOMORROW. NOT 10 SECONDS FROM NOW. NOOOOOOOOOOOW."

"I'm gonna tell Dad - you said the F word!".

sigh.

"Quit ramming the cart into your brother."

"Stop touching your brother."

"Don't SAY THAT WORD."

"I SAID DON'T SAY THAT WORD."

"Don't pick up that box. It's glass."

"CLEAN UP ON AISLE 3. BRING BROOM AND DUSTPAN."

sigh.

"I want THIS for Christmas."

"Can i get it NOW?"

"Why?? PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSE???"

"YOU NEVER LET ME GET ANYTHING AT THE STORE."

"I WANT TO GO HOME!!!!!"

me too.

"I LOVE CHRISTMAS, IT'S SO MUCH FUN. RIGHT MOM??"

"ABSO-FREAKIN-LUTELY"

truly.

You know how holding someone's hair when they puke makes you REALLY tight with them?

i can top it.

It's been a confusing, strange path of late - between me, the ex and the girlfriend/fiance of his. Some of which i've blogged about. A lot of which i haven't. A lot - and i mean a LOT girlfriends - of time on my knees, forgetting what time it was, praying in earnest to show me what to do and how to do it, and the strength to do it with.

It's ok.

I got to"peace".

We've talked. A lot. I found out that I really like her. Like, as in, we would probably be friends if we met up and there was no ex involved. We have glasses of wine, stories about family, jobs, and kids. And it isn't forced. It.just.is. And that's good.

But tonight - tonight it went past that.

My youngest, my Nate, my baby, is sick. Stayed home from school today with stuffy nose, headache, and sore throat.

This was his dad's day - so i went by to see him and see if he needed anything. She walked me up to his room where he was on his bed and as i sat down with the walgreen's bag in my lap on one side of him, she sat on the other.

And that is about when he turned around and projectile threw up. We're not talking baby or toddler puke. We're talking kid, chunk puke (nice visual, huh?).

As i grabbed the bag i had to hold under him - she held his forehead. She never flinched. No gag reflex action. Believe me. I watched. closely. when you haven't had kids - it's hard to stifle that. once you've had one - you hardly notice.

And when he finally settled down, he looked at me and leaned back against her.

and i thought, THAT'S the kind of person that i want backing me up when i'm not around. And as sad as it is - i can't be there every minute - but when i'm not - she will be. And that's ok.

Charity begins at home i always say. Evidently so does my son.

Putting away clothes in Nate's room last week, i find a wad of cash, ones to be precise, stuffed into a sock in his top drawer.

If he weren't only 8 years old, i would say it's his bank roll for some lap dances at the Fox Trap.

When he walked in on me standing there eyeing that cash, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"where did this come from?"

"uhm, allowance?"

me - staring him down.

"ok FINE. It's offering for church."

"what do you mean it's offering for church?? You were supposed to put that in the offering plate in sunday school!"

"they didn't take up offering."

"why didn't you tell me?"

"you didn't ASK"

Very well. You better ASK for Santa to leave you gifts this year. I'm just sayin.

I'm sorry, but it's time. I know you don't think so, but it is.

My children, not to mention V, are now convinced that mommy has indeed lost her mind. I started putting up Christmas decorations last night. I only got as far as the dining room before a glass of wine called me name. Thus the wreath lounging on the bench, and the nutcracker guarding the garland on the dining room floor.

See how brightly that sun is shining on my wreath? It's because it was about 90 degrees yesterday. More Margaritaville than White Christmas. And it's PRE Thanksgiving. MAJOR CRIME. Nate said it was rule that you couldn't decorate for one holiday BEFORE another. Obviously, he hasn't read Nester's rules about decorating. I think she and I would be BFFs IRL.
(see stepdaughter to be - i CAN text, so there.)


Are you living by the calendar right now like I am? Does it mock you like mine does? Do you hear a soft "tick tick tick" resembling a timebomb in your head? I thought once i had kids that damn clock would shut the EFF up. (See, i'm even curtailing my potty mouth. swear.) My calendar is not my friend right now.

1. Round 2 of football season and practice - tick.
2. Getting boys to beach house for Thxgiving holiday w/dad on Saturday - tick.
3. Getting self pack and overnight to Tampa by Saturday night for step's band competition. tick.
4. Get BACK to Winter Park by NOON the next day for our women's group to decorate the church for the holidays. tick.
5. Thanksgiving week in Tallahassee. TICK TICK.
6. Put the tree up, the lights on, and get the menu done. TICK TICK.
   
7. Back from Tallahassee, fly to NYC for 4 days TICK TICK TICK.
8. SHOPPING. WHEN IN IS THIS GOING TO GET DONE???? tick tick tick tick tick

I know y'all feel me. If you don't - just lie to me. Don't be those friends i hate that say "Oh... my shopping is done, i want to ENJOY the holidays." HOW CAN YOU ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS WITHOUT A PANIC ATTACK??? Pishposh, bring on the paxil - and i will wish you a Merry Christmas in no time flat.

Hell wasn't nearly as hot as I'd thought it be.

It got down to 50 degrees in fact. Which was probably a really good thing considering we didn't shower the entire time we were there. It could have been really ripe around all those un-showered little boys.

And - honestly - i have been trying to think of something clever and smarmy to post about this entire adventure. and i can't. I enjoyed myself so much. It was the first time i have EVER had my youngest son all to myself for an entire 3 days. No ex, no future, no grandparents, no big brother. Just him and me. And i'm warning you all right now, that i don't think i can get through this post without a tear or two escaping.

Oh - and the mom's DID come - on Saturday around noon. I guess the dads all go out friday night, and the wives come out for the saturday events and pack campfire ceremony.

We built boats and raced tham in rain gutters (very cool idea and thankfully lots of the male chromosome around to put those rain gutters on their stands and get them to stay put.)...

I did learn some things:

1. All of that stuff i packed that Vance told me was overkill GOT USED. so there mr. man.
2. Don't forget the tarp for under your tent - or you'll have to clean the bottom where it was sitting on the ground in the dirt, before you can pack it up and put in your nice clean car. or you can do like i did, and shove it in your car anyway.
   
3. When your husband laughs at you for packing a broom and dustpan, do it anyway, because like #2 - that's another thing you'll have to clean out when you get home - the inside.
4. The boys will want to build a fort in the woods, as far off the path that you will let them go, with sticks, and pine needles and palm frawns. Let them. Go with them. Get dirty. Crawl inside. Be THAT mom.
   
5. Keep your tent zipped up the ENTIRE TIME. or you will get visitors like this:
6. No matter how many times the following words come out of your mouth, it will be echoed by another parent in less than 5 minutes. For example: "Don't run with that stick, skewer, flashlight, tent pole, WHAT IS THAT, in your hand - you're going to poke an eye out, break your front teeth out, break an arm, a leg, trip over the picnic table, the campfire, the tent stake..." get the idea?
   
7. Spend the $25 and get the air bed. AND THE PUMP. i slept like a baby - and everyone had them.
8. Spend the extra $10 and get the sleeping bags that go down to 20 degrees. once again, worth it. Florida girl here...hellooooooooo.
9. Don't stress what you don't know. and i didn't know a lot. You'll learn and other parents all help. It is one big family out in wilderness. i mean camp that was 10 minutes from the interstate.
   

We invited guests into our site...look really closely....can you see them? They're gray and blend into the picnic table...sand hill cranes.


We had a great big pack meeting around the campfire (that's my kid with the blond hair, the arm sling and the walking stick - all props for the den's skit.)



and we closed the evening with a 'bobcat' ceremony - where the parents paint the war stripes on the cub scouts - every color representing something different - and please don't ask me because i can't remember what each color meant. it went by in a blur. and at the end, they got to paint a stripe down our nose - cute huh?


My beautiful baby boy. You asked me what MY favorite part of the whole weekend was today. My favorite part of the entire weekend is when we went to sleep Friday night and you put your arms around my neck and threw a leg over me and said "Mom, i love you sooo much." There is NOTHING in the world that meant more to me than that moment.

I can't wait until the next trip.

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.