Not a bad weekend

OK, I'll admit, my birthday was not so exciting. My son went to a birthday party at the ice skating rink and Kendall and I went also. Another mom was there with her kindergartner and 2nd grader. Not exactly what I envisioned for my birthday. But, when you turn 42, it really shouldn't matter. And it didn't. The good news was that my husband's flight was 20 min early! When does that ever happen? And my daughter made this card for me (picture). How sweet was that? We're convinced she will be a lawyer--she has such a way with words. Ha! Today, we all made it to church and no one is sick in the house. Life is good!

Speaking of church, there was a silent auction after the service today and I put a bid on some used skis. I got them for $50. The boots fit perfectly and the skis are in great shape. I also got a youth-sized set of skis, but they are too big for my kids now. Woo hoo! Talk about a birthday gift for myself. I did buy myself a new purse and it's the prettiest red leather. My mom and Pete's Nana sent me money and I didn't waste time cashing those checks!

Well, I'm beat from this last week. I better hit the hay. I hope everyone (all three of you~~he he) had a great weekend and have a great week ahead!

My husband gets back tomorrow night. It's been a long week--but doable. I didn't do much, really, since Clayton was sick. He was going to head back to school today but the schools are closed due to the weather. No use in being grumpy about that. I've learned to go with the flow this week. (I always thought I was like that).

I had to get up early today because one of the dogs was standing over me whining. It was 5:30 or so. When Pete is here, he is the one that gets up with his dogs. He feeds them and walks them. Needless to say, they haven't been walked as much as they are when he is here. It seems like everything has fallen to the wayside except for the kids and what needs to be done with them. I was going to really tidy the house this week. Not done. I was going to exercise this week. Not done. I was going to shop (or just look) this week. Not done. But what I did do was much more important. I took care of my sick boy. He is feeling so much better once the antibiotics kicked in.

So, what will we do today and tomorrow? I have a mammogram this afternoon. And then I might swing by TJMaxx and look quickly. I saw a really cute purse there last week--if it's still there I think I'll get it. If it's not there, it wasn't meant to be. Saturday morning, the kids and I will go out for breakfast. After all, tomorrow is my birthday and I don't want to cook for myself! Clayton has been invited to a ice skating party but I'm not sure if he'll make it.

But for now, it's more coffee. Toodles.

I'm riding the clutch in the parking lot of life...

I've been going at a slower pace this week. It started with Pete going out of town on Saturday and then Clayton getting sick on Sunday. Poor fella. He had a fever and felt blucky. I kept him home Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, his fever was gone so I sent him to school. He had a little cough, too. He said he didn't want to go to school and of course I thought he was just liking being with his momma. He saw there was no winning this You're-going-to-school argument so he asked if I would pick him up after lunch. Since I had to take something back to the school for Kendall, I said I would.

I picked him up and we went to the grocery store for a few items. We went home and he watched a little video. I took his temp and it was 101.9F! Ugh! That was it. Four days in a row of fever and it was time for him to be checked out. We got in the doctor's office in the afternoon after I picked Kendall up from school. The doc did a chest x-ray and the little guy was diagnosed with pneumonia. I think we caught it early enough that antibiotics for 10 days might be all we have to do.

And all of this is going on while my husband is in Sweden. He will get back on my birthday--this Saturday. He and the kids planned ahead and bought me some chocolates so the kids could give me a gift when I woke up on Saturday. The reason I know about the chocolates is last night there were wrappers and a shredded candy box on Kendall's floor. I hope they make good chocolate in Sweden. Maybe I'll love the replacement candy. Anyhoo. Last year for my birthday, Cody got into the pantry and made a huge mess. The dogs really love me.

I'm tired from all the middle of the night wakings this week. I better get to bed.

I have been slacking on THIS blog

I have totally ignored this blog the past week or so. I think it started when the kids were out for snow days. Then this week I worked two days. We've also been under the weather. Time flies.

Speaking of flying, my husband flew to Sweden yesterday. He'll be there a week.

So, here I am with two kids, two dogs and a cat. There is snow in the forecast again. Ugh. I'll get through it but it won't be the life of a suburban housewife this week. Nope, I will be man and woman this week with making sure the trash gets to the curb, shoveling snow, walking dogs, scooping the litter box, taking kids to school. The list goes on. I'm hoping the kids get better and stay well while Pete is away. I know I'm still lucky compared to others. He'll be back to help at the end of the week.

I've been watching the Olympics off and on. I used to make an effort to watch them a lot more years ago. It's been fun watching the ski jumping and speed skating. I marvel at the talent.

Today we will lay low. We skipped church and it's probably a good thing. It wouldn't be good to spread the kids' crud to everyone else.

On a positive, happy note the sun is out today! Yay! I'm tempted to sit by the window and soak it up without leaving my toasty, warm house. I should walk the dogs. I'll have to think about it, though.

Yummy salmon recipe

Today I did my regular volunteer gig. I can't get over how much I enjoy it--from the people I work with to the patients. It's really nice.

We're getting more snow today and then again tomorrow. The school will most likely take a snow day tomorrow. Sigh.

On the food front, I made some salmon last night and both the kids ate it! I call it Nana's Salmon because I got the recipe from Pete's Nana. It's simple and very tasty. Gosh, if a very picky 7 year old will eat it, then you can bet most will.

1 lb salmon fillet
olive oil
rice vinegar
white wine
Dijon mustard (2 tsp)
red onion
herbs (parsley, thyme)
lemon juice

I put the oven on 375 F. I put a little oil in the dish so the salmon won't stick. Put the salmon skin side down. Pour 1/2 bottle of wine over it. Add some rice vinegar and lemon juice (I use fresh lemons and use 1 to 2 lemons) and a little olive oil. Spread some Dijon mustard over the salmon and then put some chopped red onions on top. You can slice the red onions--it doesn't really matter. Then sprinkle some herbs over the salmon. Bake on the middle rack for about 18 min depending on the thickness of the fillet. The fishmonger at my grocery store said it should cook 11 min/inch.

I like to serve fresh green beans with the salmon and some Basmati rice. There's a lot of juice from the salmon and it goes great over the rice.

Tonight I made quiche--all from scratch. I think I've finally perfected my crust. I served an arugula salad mix with craisins and chopped walnuts. I drizzled my homemade Balsamic and olive oil salad dressing over it. I used whole grain Dijon mustard in the dressing to give it some zip. Kendall won't eat the quiche and couldn't stand the smell so I had to leave it on the kitchen counter. Clayton ate it but preferred it with hot sauce.

That's it for now. I didn't exercise today and I probably won't get to tomorrow. Ugh.

Snow and more snow...

Just a quick post today since I have some things to do and I've been wasting the morning.

This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning. I think we got 16 inches. The kids loved it and played outside a bit. Pete's toe was hurting him so we didn't go sledding. Usually, he is the first one out there and suggesting we do stuff outside.

The kids are in school today and with Valentine's Day coming up, I need to get busy making some sweets for their little parties at school.

I've been running on the treadmill the last few days and I'm determined to lose my spare tire around my waist. I can't stand my body right now. My husband loves it that I've put on weight in some places, but I would settle for nothing in that department if it meant my pants weren't too tight! Sigh.

OK, enough sitting. I gotta go run on that thing!

pots and pans

DSCF8597
Originally uploaded by Kelly'sphotos

This week flew by. I can't remember much about it. I think I stayed home much of the day on Monday, did my volunteer gig on Tuesday morning, ran around Wednesday, did my Bible study on Thursday and ran some more errands on Friday.

OK, I did get to go out for karaoke Wednesday. How could I forget that? Oh, maybe it was the sleep deprivation? Seriously, it was a blast with a bunch of married women. We were singing and dancing and clapping for the other fools getting up there to sing. There were some really good ones, too. My husband refuses to do karaoke. How does he put it? It's an embarrassment. I think it's fun, especially when one loves to see such as myself. And it's not like I do this a lot. I think the last time I did karaoke out and about was about 3 years ago. Anyway, there were people singing 80s songs, British songs, Broadway songs. You name it, it was sung. Our group sang "Dancing Queen" by Abba and I sang "I feel Lucky" with one of the women. We also sang "Summer Loving" from Grease. I did sing one song by myself. It was "Pony" by Kasey Chambers.

And then Wednesday was spent getting a passport photo, getting Pete a passport photo, getting a snapshot of the two of us together and heading out to the FedEx place to mail an overnight envelope to The Amazing Race. Yep, I convinced him to apply for Season 17 race. We know we won't get selected, but hey, it was fun dreaming for a bit. :)

And tonight the kids each have a friend over for a sleepover. Oh, and it's snowing like there's no tomorrow.