I had the funniest post trip conversation with Sadie this week. I was asking her about what she had done while I was in NY, and she started telling me about a dinner while I was gone. She said that it was really gross and something she didn't want to eat. But Brian was telling her about having good manners and there was a special word for it but she couldn't remember what it was called...
It turns out the discussion was "proper girls". I was rolling on the kitchen floor--this from the dad who introduced burping and other behaviors that have spawned a whole other set of rules in the "you can do it at our kitchen table while Dad is around, but never in public!" category.
Since my return I have learned that "proper girls"
1) load their dishes in the dishwasher when they are finished
2) don't eat and get food all over their faces and clothes
3) eat the food in front of them
4) use good manners
5) help around the house
and
6) get ready for school by themselves
That's a pretty awesome list for just a few days...when can I leave again and come home to such well-mannered "proper girls"?!?
Friday, October 26, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Top Ten
My top ten favorite things about my New York trip...
10. crème brulee chocolates from Kee's Chocolates
9. crepe cake at Lady M’s
8. going back stage after Mary Poppins
7. tarragon with pink pepper gelato at il laboratorio del gelato
6. The Egyptian tomb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
4. 20 hours of sleep in 5 days
3. 17 friends in two suites
2. bike ride on a cruiser through central park
and my favorite part of New York this October...
1. Wicked!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Witch is In
This afternoon I went with the girls over to Gardner Village to see the witches on display. I must say it was quite...bewitching. It was the start of what I would like to make an annual tradition but it was also one of those experiences where I can see us growing more into the experience. The girls were almost as interested in the horses on the other side of the parking lot as they were in the fun displays scattered around the shops. I guess we just say that today there was something for everyone!
One of our great finds was the Naborhood Bakery. The girls and I skipped dinner and got treats instead. I love the dilemna of too many good choices and watching each of them try to pick the best dessert. And although I wouldn't have traded my orange-cranberry muffin top as we were leaving I noticed that you could buy homemade bread by the slice..YUM!
I had a good time with my girls, but this would also be a fun place to spend the afternoon with my mom or girlfriends!
One of our great finds was the Naborhood Bakery. The girls and I skipped dinner and got treats instead. I love the dilemna of too many good choices and watching each of them try to pick the best dessert. And although I wouldn't have traded my orange-cranberry muffin top as we were leaving I noticed that you could buy homemade bread by the slice..YUM!
I had a good time with my girls, but this would also be a fun place to spend the afternoon with my mom or girlfriends!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
I Will Survive...
Start theme music here...
It has been one of THOSE weeks. You know the type, all your carefully laid plans and well thought out to-do lists... and then reality hits.
Brian went in for his ACL reconstruction on Wednesday. So Tuesday afternoon we got a call from the surgical center that we were on the schedule for 6:00 AM. "In the morning?!?!" was Brian's response when I called to let him know. Yeah.
My hospital experience is limited to having 3 kids so I didn't quite know what to expect, or know the "routine" for surgery. It was a little frightening to watch him get all prepped and then be wheeled away. I kept telling myself it could be worse as I watched parents with little kids come in for the children's surgical procedures. Yikes.
His three hour surgery was finished in a little less than 2 1/2 hours. The doctor said it was textbook and everything went like it was supposed to. About an hour later they came to get me and told me that Brian was waking up from his anesthesia. Now that was weird! He still doesn't remember any conversation that happened in the four hours or so post op--I'm trying to convince him that he agreed to another child! He's a little skeptical.
The ladies at the doctors office reminded me that "All men are babies..." but I have to say. NOT MY HUSBAND!!! I totally expected him to stay in bed and me to be waiting on him hand and foot for the next three days...(in between Brin's preschool, Em's orthodontist appointment, gymnastics, parent-teacher conferences, physical therapy-twice, a cousin birthday party and a kid's late-night, you know daily life) and instead he woke up the morning after surgery and the following conversation took place..
HIM: "OK, let's go!"
ME, horrified: "Where?"
HIM: "BestBuy, we need a TV for the bedroom."
ME: "You're joking, right?!?"
HIM: "It's ok, If you won't take me, I"ll just call Kevin"
I managed to put him off until that evening, I have to say the percoset helped, everytime I gave him one he was too sleepy to think for a little while. But we did go to BestBuy that night, the day after his knee surgery. And we went back on Friday to buy the right wall mount for the TV, after installing the wrong size mount that they initially sold us. I'm still writing the letter in my head to corporate headquarters...please instruct all salesmen to correctly assist 24 hour post-operative patients with the appropriate accessories for their purchases. People who are taking heavy pain medication should not operate heavy machinery, drive or be expected to install TV mounts twice because they were initially sold the wrong item.
So, now it's Sunday night. He thinks he's going to work in the morning--and he probably will. I am married to Superman, faster on crutches than a speeding bullet and impervious to pain. The kids will go back to school in the morning. I will host our recipe exchange, (Saucy Cooks) and then after a nice long nap--yeah, right!--I will start my treadmill shopping. Because, after all I did survive!
It has been one of THOSE weeks. You know the type, all your carefully laid plans and well thought out to-do lists... and then reality hits.
Brian went in for his ACL reconstruction on Wednesday. So Tuesday afternoon we got a call from the surgical center that we were on the schedule for 6:00 AM. "In the morning?!?!" was Brian's response when I called to let him know. Yeah.
My hospital experience is limited to having 3 kids so I didn't quite know what to expect, or know the "routine" for surgery. It was a little frightening to watch him get all prepped and then be wheeled away. I kept telling myself it could be worse as I watched parents with little kids come in for the children's surgical procedures. Yikes.
His three hour surgery was finished in a little less than 2 1/2 hours. The doctor said it was textbook and everything went like it was supposed to. About an hour later they came to get me and told me that Brian was waking up from his anesthesia. Now that was weird! He still doesn't remember any conversation that happened in the four hours or so post op--I'm trying to convince him that he agreed to another child! He's a little skeptical.
The ladies at the doctors office reminded me that "All men are babies..." but I have to say. NOT MY HUSBAND!!! I totally expected him to stay in bed and me to be waiting on him hand and foot for the next three days...(in between Brin's preschool, Em's orthodontist appointment, gymnastics, parent-teacher conferences, physical therapy-twice, a cousin birthday party and a kid's late-night, you know daily life) and instead he woke up the morning after surgery and the following conversation took place..
HIM: "OK, let's go!"
ME, horrified: "Where?"
HIM: "BestBuy, we need a TV for the bedroom."
ME: "You're joking, right?!?"
HIM: "It's ok, If you won't take me, I"ll just call Kevin"
I managed to put him off until that evening, I have to say the percoset helped, everytime I gave him one he was too sleepy to think for a little while. But we did go to BestBuy that night, the day after his knee surgery. And we went back on Friday to buy the right wall mount for the TV, after installing the wrong size mount that they initially sold us. I'm still writing the letter in my head to corporate headquarters...please instruct all salesmen to correctly assist 24 hour post-operative patients with the appropriate accessories for their purchases. People who are taking heavy pain medication should not operate heavy machinery, drive or be expected to install TV mounts twice because they were initially sold the wrong item.
So, now it's Sunday night. He thinks he's going to work in the morning--and he probably will. I am married to Superman, faster on crutches than a speeding bullet and impervious to pain. The kids will go back to school in the morning. I will host our recipe exchange, (Saucy Cooks) and then after a nice long nap--yeah, right!--I will start my treadmill shopping. Because, after all I did survive!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Okay...Now it's officially gone
I woke up this morning to howling wind, not just little rustlings but the check your windows, look for damage to the outside of your house kind of wind. The kind of wind that signals that you really should have pulled out those winter clothes earlier in the week when you woke up and didn't want to get out of bed because it was cold inside the house. The kind of wind that means that summer is over and you will not be seeing the upper side of 80 degrees unless you get out your passport...or at least your gas card.
By the time the E. and S. and I left to go to The Secret Garden at the Hale Center Theatre it was raining and really COLD. "Mom, we can't go out in this!" said S. truly concerned that it just wasn't safe and could certainly not be pleasant out there! "The play is inside!" I answered and thought to myself that if we waited for only good weather we could possibly be spending the next five months sequestered in the house.
When we got home later in the afternoon we had an inch or two of snow. Enough to dig out the snow clothes and find the hot chocolate. Don't worry it occupies it's own special shelf in the new kitchen. What a great tradition--Mom bundles up girls, Mom lays towels on the floor just inside the door to catch all the snowy clothes coming back in, Mom tucks gloves back in coats once or twice and watches from the kitchen window as the girls play in the snow, Mom thinks about getting the camera to capture the first snow pictures, Mom doesn't get camera and misses pictures, Mom is waiting with the fireplace going and hot chocolate readys when the girls come in soaking and cold and Mom and girls have hot chocolate together! It's inescapable...summer is officially gone, but hot chocolate is here to stay!
By the time the E. and S. and I left to go to The Secret Garden at the Hale Center Theatre it was raining and really COLD. "Mom, we can't go out in this!" said S. truly concerned that it just wasn't safe and could certainly not be pleasant out there! "The play is inside!" I answered and thought to myself that if we waited for only good weather we could possibly be spending the next five months sequestered in the house.
When we got home later in the afternoon we had an inch or two of snow. Enough to dig out the snow clothes and find the hot chocolate. Don't worry it occupies it's own special shelf in the new kitchen. What a great tradition--Mom bundles up girls, Mom lays towels on the floor just inside the door to catch all the snowy clothes coming back in, Mom tucks gloves back in coats once or twice and watches from the kitchen window as the girls play in the snow, Mom thinks about getting the camera to capture the first snow pictures, Mom doesn't get camera and misses pictures, Mom is waiting with the fireplace going and hot chocolate readys when the girls come in soaking and cold and Mom and girls have hot chocolate together! It's inescapable...summer is officially gone, but hot chocolate is here to stay!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Summer's Not Over Yet...
...and I have the perfect dessert to prove it. I found this Peach Tart recipe from epicurious.com a couple weeks ago and I have been waiting for ripe peaches and an afternoon when I had a couple of hours to play. Finally yesterday afternoon I had both! I skipped the almond filling step and used some almond paste that I won at a King Arthur Flour demonstration a couple of months ago. These little tarts tasted almost as good today out of the fridge as they did last night out of the oven. The almond filling and the crust had blended and were a perfect compliment to the peach.
Special thanks to Brian for the picture. He took pity on me after seeing the pic of the last peach tart I made and volunteered his considerable expertise for today's effort. Pretty soon (maybe just a couple more lessons) and the photos will be my own!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
5 1/2
A year ago I would have told you that I really disliked running, that I had bad knees and that I always got stitches in my side when I ran.
I don't feel that way anymore. Remember the first time that you accomplished something that you weren't really sure that you could do? Remember the euphoria when you pushed through the pain or the exhaustion and finished something new?
That is how running feels to me now. This week I registered for the 10K in Sprindale, UT on Nov. 3, and this morning I ran my longest distance ever, 5.5 miles. I know, I know it's not really that far, but it's all relative. For me, it was a longest ever and I did it in under an hour. The 6.2 miles in a month and a half not only seems possible, but I think I might actually be able to do it in under 70 minutes.
This could just be the euphoria talking, but I am loving these long Saturday runs, I'm tired when they are over, but I just can't help grinning the rest of the day. My mind conquered my body and I was able to just keep going.
I don't feel that way anymore. Remember the first time that you accomplished something that you weren't really sure that you could do? Remember the euphoria when you pushed through the pain or the exhaustion and finished something new?
That is how running feels to me now. This week I registered for the 10K in Sprindale, UT on Nov. 3, and this morning I ran my longest distance ever, 5.5 miles. I know, I know it's not really that far, but it's all relative. For me, it was a longest ever and I did it in under an hour. The 6.2 miles in a month and a half not only seems possible, but I think I might actually be able to do it in under 70 minutes.
This could just be the euphoria talking, but I am loving these long Saturday runs, I'm tired when they are over, but I just can't help grinning the rest of the day. My mind conquered my body and I was able to just keep going.
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