Every day we go through the same thing. What’s for lunch? I decided to start planning out our family lunches so I don’t have to waste an extra 10-15 minutes in the morning when I pack lunches for everyone. I made an excel spreadsheet and will add to it weekly so I have a database of all the lunches we have had. When I can’t think of something I can go back and see what we’ve had in the past. I know everyone is getting sick of the same things over and over again so I’m also doing some easy recipe searches to add to our lunch repertoire.
Christmas Shopping
Yes… I’m already thinking about Christmas Shopping this year. I hate having to wait until the last minute to get everything and feel completely rushed. I’m going to go hit some sales this weekend. My goal is to shop for one person each day. We’re only doing the kids and our siblings this year.
I think it might even be a fun idea to have all of us do a gift exchange between the grown ups. Maybe if we all put our name in the pool and set a limit of oh maybe $75 we could each get something really nice. Oh I think I’ll work on that. I know there are random number generators. I can have everyone fill out their information and mail it to me in an envelope with a number written on it. I can then use the number generator to help me match people up. I’ll have to work out a way to make sure no on gets him or herself though. I guess that’s something I’ll bring up at dinner tonight.
10 years Ago
10 years ago our country was attacked. Many people lost their lives on that day. I’ll never forget all of the heroes of that horrific event. Today is a day of remembrance. It’s not a holiday to celebrate in a normal sense. We can celebrate how we have come together because of these attacks. It’s very sad that it took something like this for our people to work together without regard to politic party, race, or gender.
Trucker to be?
My nephew called me last night. He told me that he wants to be a truck driver when he grows up. He said he loves talking to his neighbor when he comes home from one of his truck driving jobs. He is always bringing something different home for him and his own kids.
Last night he brought him a collection of metal spoons that had the names of all of the United States on them. It seems like a strange thing to bring an 11 year old but he loved it. He said he would use it to practice his homework. He has to be able to name all of the fifty states. So I guess it turned out to be a good gift after all.
Anyway, he told me that he’s really excited and that his neighbor told him their are always drivers wanted posters up at his main base. He seems to think that this will also be the case once he is old enough to drive and get a job. I guess we’ll have to wait a few years and find out. I wonder what job he’ll be interested in next. Just last week he wanted to be an astronaut and fly to the moon like Neil Armstrong.
Happy Endings
Have you ever noticed that all the children’s movies have happy endings? They seem to have a formula of introducing the main characters, then bringing in a bad guy, the heroes setting out to save the day, and the good guy gets the girl.
I don’t know if this is because people think children need to be protected from realities or if they are just an easy formula to write into a script. So many of the really old children’s shows were straight forward about who was bad and why. The hero always swooped in and with a few struggles, overcomes the bad guys. The people who suffer deserve it. True love always wins.
I wish real life was that easy.
Another Holiday Weekend
I just love 3 day weekends. It means an extra day of relaxation with the family. We’re hosting a barbecue at our house this year. I’m making my Aunt Frankie’s famous potato salad. My husband is in charge of the grill. It’s a potluck so I don’t have to make anything else. I’m excited to have our friends over and to let the kids exhaust their energy with friends.
Some days I wish we had 3 day weekends every week. It might not be as special though I suppose. I’d definitely settle for once a month holiday weekends.
Mom Jeans
I’m finally starting to get my figure back from having babies and it feels good to pull on a pair of jeans and realize that they are too big. I have a drawer full of jeans that I used to wear, so I tried on several pairs and found 2 that fit me nicely right now. The only problem with these two pairs is that they are non name brand jeans. I got them at either WalMart or KMart – I don’t remember which one. They fit, but they don’t look as stylish as I would like.
Maybe that sounds spoiled or conceited, but when I’m getting my shape back, I want to show that off a little. Not to the point of guys whistling when I walk by. More like, someone I haven’t seen for a while seeing me and saying “Wow! You’ve lost weight!”or “You look great!” and know that they mean it.
Kid Songs on VHS
We went to a yard sale last weekend and came across a bunch of rally nice kids toys and some old VHS tapes with kids shows and kids songs on them.
The toys were old wooden puzzles and a few My Little Pony dolls for only 50 cents each. The puzzles cost almost ten dollars brand new, so I grabbed up 6 of them like they were gold.
They only wanted 25 cents for each tape! I couldn’t believe it! I know everyone is using DVDs now, but the kids can play with an old VCR that we keep in the living room and I don’t have to worry about them scratching the expensive DVDs.
All together, it was a great day for bargains and we have some new things to do on the next rainy day.
Pearly Whites
This afternoon I had a terrific lunch. It was Mexican food and I always help myself to tons of chips and salsa. However, as I chowed down on the crunchy tortillas chips I felt a crack and then a sharp pain. I bit down wrong on one of the chips that must have been cooked a little long because it was extra crunchy. I chipped one of my front teeth. I called my general dentist right away to see if I could get in. I got his emergency line.
One of the on call staff called me back and said I could be seen at the office on the other side of town in about 30 minutes. I hopped in my car and drove through town to find the little office that I’d never been to. Apparently this was the office that was used by a cosmetic dentist that is also in my regular dentist’s practice. There were brochures for teeth whitening and braces in the waiting room.
I ended up waiting in the front for the dentist to set up for about 10 minutes. Once I got back he did an x-ray and then got right to work. It only took about 30 minutes to do all of the work. I was surprised. He put some kind of paste on my tooth that hardened and matched the color of my tooth. I think he said it was bonding. Anyway, he also told me that if I wanted to get a crown later that it might be a better option since I have to use that tooth a lot when I’m eating. I made an appointment to go get checked out again in a month.
Kid friendly snacks
Growing up I had raisins, grapes, apples, and oranges. Well, I probably had most every fruit available as long as it was om sale and not that expensive. I also had cheese and crackers. I loved the goldfish crackers.
Anyway, I’m trying to come up with kid friendly snacks for my kids and their play group. I want the food to be fun and interactive. I thought about cutting cheese up into fun shapes or even doing the same with fruit. Melons and pineapple will work great for fun shapes. I bet I can make some of those fancy fruit flowers that you can order online instead of regular flowers. I could give each girl her own little bouquet of tasty flowers.
I’d like to try fun finger sandwiches for them also. I did find a neat collection of character faces made out of food when I looked up bento box lunches. Maybe each child could bring a bento box and I could have them build their own tasty treats. I’ll have to talk to the other parents in the playgroup to get their thoughts and opinions. I just want the next time I host the group to be tons of fun with a fun and fantastic snack.