Are you ready?

Are you ready to jump into 2009? I know that I am looking forward to tomorrow because we are spending it with some of my college friends that I don't get to see often. But am I ready for 2008 to be over? I don't know.

I heard someone today talking about resolutions and how he thinks he might just strive to do better than last year and not pick a specific resolution. I could use that idea and strive to do better at eating healthy and keeping track of our weight.
I started tonight by using my new dutch oven to fix thin cutlets of chicken with sauteed onions, garlic, red peppers and diced tomatoes. Then I served it over baby spinach like a salad. It was good and filling. Of course, the leftover christmas cookies from downstairs are still calling my name. . .

Holiday Traditions

We had a discussion last night about holiday traditions which reminds me of the decisions I have been trying to make in my own household. How are we supposed to make Christmas special for our children while at the same time celebrating the birth of Christ?

I have been gathering books on Advent and looking through crafts to come up with ideas of things to do with kids this season. I am having fun with changing the focus for our family.

I hope that your season is joyful and you are able to enjoy the christmas spirit with your families too!

Old School Photos

I have been enjoying finding and scanning old school photos and tagging classmates from over the years. Here are some of those photos!


St. Bridget's School - 1984


St. Bridget's School - 1983


Hanover Academy - my 3rd grade class


Hanover Academy - my 2nd grade class 1977

Back To The Blog?

Okay - I am thinking that I should get back to the blog and so I am going to give it a try! Bear with me as I convert things from Facebook!

This Week - The Bizarre Bazaar

How come they are not handsome?

Last Sunday DH wanted to go to Ritz Camera around 11:00 when they opened. We went to the one next to Short Pump Theater. DS and I sat in the car and waited. We watched several people walk in and out of the theater, although it didn't look like the outside lights were on. Then I remembered that I had heard that a church group meets there on Sunday mornings. So I explained that to DS. He said, "but how come they are not handsome?" It took me a few minutes to realize that he was asking how come no one was dressed up for church. I explained that not everyone get dressed up for church. His answer was "no fair!"

Our Happy Anniversary Trip!

We thought that we should take a trip to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary that we could all 3 enjoy! And we did! Disney World is awesome!

Finally Unpacked!

I feel like I have been traveling straight for the past month! Okay, okay - I have been back, but still hadn't gotten completely unpacked from vacation before I was off to head out of town again last weekend. We have had a lot of fun so far this fall!

Savannah -

Partying the night away!

The party Saturday night was so much fun also. I had forgotten how much I missed my classmates and the memories of that time in my life. We got a taste of them and captured them in photos! Thanks everyone for a wonderful reunion!

Can it really have been 20 years?

We had an awesome 20th Marymount Reunion this weekend! I can't believe how much fun it was to see everyone and catch up. In fact, there were several attendees that I hadn't seen since graduation. Margaret and her family came and stayed with us for the weekend. And we really didn't want the reunion to end. We have vowed to get the group together a little more often!

Sad to see it go

I just read that one of my favorite boutiques is closing its doors - Acorn. I really have enjoyed shopping there over the last few years and have always gotten lots of compliments on the outfits.

I will have to find another women's clothing shop to check out. Any suggestions?

My All Time Fav

I just watched my all-time favorite movie - "Sixteen Candles." Call me a sap, romantic or whatever you will. But I enjoy that movie every time I see it!

Highschool Reunion

I know I have blogged about this before, but I am pretty darn excited! My 20th high school reunion is coming up in September. It has been in the works for a while and thanks to the many people that have worked on it.

I had a small class, but living in my hometown means that I have bumped in to many classmates over the years. There are many others that I haven't seen in a long time.

A fellow classmate has started a website for our school. Check it out!

www.marymountrichmond.com

Inherited talents

Yesterday we went to visit my parents. While we were there, DS wanted to play a game. I got my mom to go with him to pick something out. They came back with a couple of games and and some painting supplies. My mom sketched some things on a pad and then got DS to paint them. Soon after she called out - "well, I know who didn't inherit the art talents in the family!"

Blog titles

Sorry that my titles are cliched and lame. I never claimed to be a writer. I just title them by what comes to mind. I read such awesome posts on other sites. I just keep hoping it will come to me.

Water Water Everywhere

The rains of the last few days reminded me of rainstorms we had several years ago. They hit me close to home - in my driveway, in my house, yard and garage. We had problems with the street drains and sewer pipes being too small and overflowing into our driveways or not draining properly. The county did finally fix it after a lot of neighborly nagging, hassle and work. But it was worth it! After these last 2 days of rain that equaled 3.8" on my FIL's rain gauge - we didn't have any problems!

See some photos from those past rainstorms.

Photos, Photos Everywhere!

I am on a roll. I love photo projects and have been working on several for the last couple of weeks.

I have been scanning many photos and putting together collections that other famiy members have been sharing. I get really excited when they share photos that I have never seen before.

First I put together one for my father - photos of his hometown and family. He has dementia and I thought it might be something he would enjoy - familiar sites and memories.

Now I am working on albums for my mom and her sisters. This is taking a little more work and organization. But it is so worth it I think to be able to enjoy the photos now!

I reap the benefits

I reap the benefits of others gardens. I have a brown thumb and have rarely tried to grow things. I have never tried a vegetable garden, only herbs and those don't last very long for me.

So I was pretty excited that on Sunday two people said that they had fresh grown tomatoes for me. I have been enjoying them this week.

Tonight I am going to do a cheese tomato pie that is one of our family favorites. Sounds good, doesn't it? It ain't fat free - I can tell you that. But with these beautiful tomatoes staring at me, I have to do something special with them!

How many cousins?

My mom is from a large family here and I have always enjoyed getting together with relatives. It is part of the reason that I stayed in my hometown. We had a reunion back in June and had a great time catching up with everyone. The summer reunion had the great grand children invited and there are more than 70 of them.

When I was younger I used to bump in to cousins around town a lot. I remember one friend who would get frustrated and say "oh no, not another cousin!"

Here is a photo of my grandfather and the jersey that he got that Christmas after the last grandchild (#36) was born.

Oh, What A Beautiful Morning!

Oh, What A Beautiful Morning! Oh, What a Beautiful Day! Wow, this morning I woke up and felt the best I had in many days! I slept with the windows open and a fan blowing in the room - just enough of a breeze and noise to lull me to sleep.

I stayed over at my brother's house in the country. It was an incredible morning - and a great place to wake and immediately pay attention to the day. All the windows open and the doors open to a screen porch. I could hear the birds chirping and wind rustling the bushes and the quiet of the house all at the same time.

Break in the Fog

There has been a break in the "fog" that my dad has experienced for the last 24 hours. Tonight he recognized us, he smiled a lot, told jokes and reminisced about old times fishing at the river.

We will keep an eye on him one more night at the hospital and hope that all goes smoothly and he can come home tomorrow.

Thank you Dear Lord for allowing the fog to lift for Dad again!

To sleep or not to sleep. . .

Okay - so last night I was up off and on all night. My father got admitted to the ER with a fever of 101 which caused him to have delirium and have difficulty standing and walking and basically doing anything else. Luckily Dad was where they could look into his condition and figure out what needed to be done. And also I am blessed to have several brothers who jump in when these situations have come up and take charge. We worked out a shift system so that after the first several hours in the waiting room, we took turns being with Mom.

Dad's fever broke in the middle of the night. The delirium has worn off some, but he is still not really aware of where he is or why. He is still sleeping a lot.

The hospital is still trying to figure out what caused the fever although they have ruled out many things.

With his dementia, the fever is probably what caused the delirium. It is just hard to know what to do - call the doctor, go to ER, or wait it out. Last night though, I know my brother Patrick made the correct decision by taking him to the ER.

Blackberries now

I finally got to the blackberry patch this past Saturday. And boy were there some good ones there! The largest ones were hiding underneath leaves near the bottom of the plants. Wow - are they sweet!

More Books To Read?

A fellow blogger has shared this list.

The Big Read estimates that the average person has only read 6 of the 100 greatest books ever printed.

Copy and paste to your blog and play along! Bold books you've read, and italics books you love.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible – work in progress
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Phillip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M. Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 Joseph Heller
14 The Complete works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune- Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 notes from a small island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine de St. Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town like Alice- Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo read the abridged version

"New to us" Priest

At church yesterday, the "new to us" priest talked about how he came to be a priest and how he came to Richmond. He said that growing up his parents instilled a strong sense of the importance of prayer and obedience to God. Each morning before breakfast and each evening before bed, his whole family was on their knees reciting the 16 traditional prayers. They were excited to go to church each Sunday even though they had a 4 mile trek which they sometimes made on bike and sometimes on foot. He said that he knew at an early age that he wanted to become a priest - primer 5. He has been at the seminary for 21 years. Recently he was told that Richmond needed a priest and so he has come to us! Aren't we blessed!

After last week

I got in the spirit after attending vacation bible school last week and helping to teach the children the beatitudes. Be Kind. Be Obedient. Be Bold. Be Forgiving. Believe.
What a wonderful way to spend a week!

So on Saturday we attended the Really Really Free Market and had a great time. I think it will be on our schedule for each month from now on.
It is rather like a yard sale where folks look through all of the items and pick what they want. I enjoyed taking items and seeing someone else excited about finding them. I also found a couple of books for us.

Really Really Free Market

My Niece and friends are hosting a "Really Really Free Market" on Saturday. I am going to participate because I think it is a great way to share items that I no longer have a use for.

Check out the Flier!

Are you in control of your anger?

A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling like I was back on the emotional roller coaster. It comes and goes. Concidentally, last week I got this book from the library that is called "In control: no more snapping at your family, sulking at work, steaming in the grocery line, seething at meetings, stuffing your frustration" by Redford Williams. There is a quiz in the front to gauge your level of self-control. Kind of interesting!

Picnic Caviar

Last night I had some of my family over for dinner. We made the blueberry sauce along with a delicious picnic caviar that we used as a side salad. Here is the recipe - give it a try!

1/4 cup Rice vinegar
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 cloves Garlic, minced (2 tsp)
1/2 tsp Dried oregano
1/2 tsp Dried basil
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can pinto beans or black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups Fresh corn kernels
1 Red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, finely chopped (1 cup)
½ Small red onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 2-oz Can diced green chiles with liquid
1/4 cup Chopped cilantro


Preparation

1. Whisk together vinegar, oil, sugar, garlic, oregano, and basil in large bowl.

2. Stir in black and pinto beans, corn, bell pepper, onion, chiles, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Nutrient Information
Calories 189
Total Fat 7.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.5 g
Carbohydrates 25 g
Protein 6 g
Sodium 433 mg
Fiber 7 g

-Source: Vegetarian Times

Blueberry Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 TBSP cornstarch
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 pint (16 oz) fresh or frozen blueberries (If frozen, thawed and drained juice reserved)
3 tsp Bourbon, reserved

In saucepan combine sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch.
Stir in lemon juice and half the reserved juice, blending well.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and stir in blueberries and bourbon.

Note: If fresh berries are used, start with sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch & add 1/2pint berries& 1/2 cup water & proceed with cooking. Add fresh berries at the end. I added more lemon juice too.

Serve warm or cold over ice cream or poundcake.

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

We have been having so much fun this summer. Especially over the 4th of July. That is our favorite holiday!

There are several memories and traditions that we have had over the years. Some of my favorites included the sailing trips that my family used to take over the 4th. We usually went somewhere up or down the Chesapeake Bay and stayed on the boat. I miss sleeping on a sailboat and going to sleep hearing the clank clank of the halyard on the mast. I miss the music playing in the cockpit - usually patriotic songs or Nat King Cole with his "Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer."

I am a grown-up, but I still yearn for summer like when I was a kid and had it off from school. We are having difficulty with being out of our schoolyear routine. Next, we need to find some activities that incorporate exercise and adventure. I got a book on children's activities around town and plan to start tomorrow!

To Market, To Market

I checked out some local markets and farms this past Saturday. That was lots of fun. I was disappointed that the market didn't have fruits - because I had to make a fruit salad for a party. But, I was pleased to see all of the different items offered and try some too.

They had activities for kids and some educational stops - DS learned about the different levels of soil and about one of our local rivers.

The farm that we went to had meat and eggs to offer. I purchased beef patties and 2 old-fashioned sodas.

It was a fun way to spend the morning!

One Berry, Two Berry, Pick Me a blueberry!*

Time to pick the blueberries! I feel like I am saying "time to cook the donuts" - like that old commercial.

Anyway, I am excited because it is time to pick the blueberries. This is one of our favorite fruits and oh so yummy! A friend of mine had them growing in his parent's yard and so I asked his mother for some of their favorite recipes. She shared and I am so honored. They are great and treasured as some of their family recipes.

I am such a TYPE A when it comes to certain things. I keep lists and lists of certain things like books I have read or want to read. And recipes. I have several binders of recipes. Recipes I have tried. Family favorite recipes. And seasonal recipes. So for "Pick-Your-Own" fruit, I have a separate list of recipes for the different fruits. We usually pick strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and apples every year. I can't wait to look at my blueberry recipes and plan what to make.


*from the book "Jamberry" - one of my favorites.

Summer Summer Summer!

I love summer because it makes me feel like a kid again. I get excited when school is over for the little one. I have all of these great ideas and plans for fun family activities around town. And then it only takes a bout a week to realize that summer is hard. . .harder than the school year to keep the DS entertained. Ugh!

We want relaxation time, but not too much sitting around doing nothing (i.e. watching tv). We want outdoor time, but not too much sun. More juggling and less structure. More temper tantrums (2 out of 3 in my household), less to bed on-time.

We love the summer holidays - Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day. We look forward to Memorial Day as the weekend that the pools open around here. July 4th is our favorite holiday. But as DH says, once it gets here you know that summer is almost halfway over. groan.

Well, off to enjoy another summer day!

Back on the wagon?

I don't know. But yesterday I heard a speaker talk about raising Healthy Happy Kids and it was definitely a kick in the butt! It was a great talk and of course nothing surprising, just a reminder that the best foods for you are nature's own. So, I decided that today would be like January 1 - right after resolutions were made - and I will try to facilitate me and my family eating more fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes.

The speaker talked about how children these days eat so much more junk food and don't get the daily recommended servings of vegetables, etc. They also attribute children's illnesses, behavioral problems and mood swings to diet.

The last quote that I am going to give is that "your body craves more of what you are eating" - so if you eat junk food, that is what you crave. But once you switch to eating fruits and veggies, that is what you will be craving.

I am going to give it a try!

Too good to not share

Every once in a while you come across something that you really want to share and I tripped over it yesterday on a friend's blog. I am copying her description because it does a great job of summing it up.

PaperBack Swap is an online book swap. It's free to join. You list the books you have to give away (and hardbacks are fine). Members then can search for books. You get an email requesting one of your books, you print a label for it from the site, and you mail your book off. When the requesting member receives it, you get a point.

Every point you earn is good for one book that you can then request. And there are thousands and thousands of books--my friend said she has gotten just about all of her bookclub books there this year, several bestsellers, several fantastic cookbooks, lots of kids' books...you name it. For the price of postage to mail her own books away.

I highly recommend it.

ps--Once you're a member, you can earn referral points when people join based on your good word. If you join, I'd love the referral--the email I use for that account is chapman8809 at verizon dot net. Thanks!!

pps- -I joined last night and have already mailed off 3 books and ordered 2.

Taking a break from blogging for now.