Eating From The Garden

I've waited and waited and waited and WAITED for the figs on our tree to start ripening.

 And just this morning, while putzing in the backyard in my pj's...I saw that while I was away it began to happen.

You know the saying...a watched fig never ripens.  

(ok...so I just made that up, but it's true!)

It's not just the figs...the first of the tomatoes are turning red, too.

This mornings haul!

The perfect weeknight supper...salad bar.  Give everyone a big plate of baby lettuce...

...provide a few bowls of toppings plus homemade ranch dressing.

OK...homemade as in from the package.

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Some bubbly and some bread...

...and voila!  Supper!

Dessert?  A hunk of goat cheese and the first of the figs, all drizzled with a little honey and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

And just to share...my boys took one look at what was for supper and headed to KFC.  What can I say...they are carnivores and this meal just didn't cut it for them.

Brats.

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Matthew news:  West Virginia yesterday,  Pennsylvania today, New York tomorrow.  Kinda bummed that there are no video updates coming out this year...

Blogging from 35,000 feet in the air seems strange to me.

Cool, but strange.

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I’m on the flight home from a long weekend in Chicago and I cannot even begin to process all that I’ve seen and done.  But I have processed this…I have the most amazing family in the world. 

Last Thursday night, my cousin Michelle and I boarded a red eye flight to Milwaukee.  And by the way, red eye flights should really be called ‘feel like crud the whole next day’ flights.

Just sayin’.

Anyway, bright and early, as in 5:00am early, we arrived and hit the ground running.  And didn’t stop for the next 3 days.  We ate some of the best food I have ever eaten and saw some BEAUTIFUL country and visited with FUN people and finally met my cousins wife and had Paul McCartney sing to me.

Did you get that?

PAUL MCCARTNEY. 

My Uncle Paul bought tickets for us at Wrigley Field.   And let me just say this….they don't make musicians like him anymore.  At 69 years old, he came on stage and sang his heart out for 3 solid hours.  No opening act.  No set changes or costume changes or fancy sets.  Not even a sip of water.  Just a plain set and 4 extremely talented band members.  Three solid hours of Beatles tunes and Wings tunes and good ole McCartney tunes.  It was the most amazing concert I have ever been to in my life.

From the moment he walked onto the stage, I was sucked in.  And brought to tears.  Yep, I cried.  And sang at the top of my lungs. (who needs a voice anyways?)

I will never forget that concert.  Ever. 

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Other highlights?

Antipasto.

My cousin Tim’s glorious house.

Sitting at my cousins kitchen table.

Sausage and peppers and onions.

Brandy slushes in the morning.

Brandy slushes in the afternoon.

Brandy slushes all day long.

Lake Geneva.

Girl time.

The best part is knowing that this trip is an annual event in my life, so even as I sit here on this plane I am looking forward to next year.

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But for now I am ready to go home.  Ready to jump back in to my crazy life.  Ready to face all the messy bits that come along with the good bits.  Ready to hug that guy that I like so much and thank him for being that guy that I truly like so much.  Ready to love my oldest via text message.  Ready to squeeze the stuffing out of my younger boys.

And let’s face it.  I am ready to sleep, too.

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On A Jet Plane

It's safe to say that I haven't been myself the last few months.

I've been feeling overwhelmed.  And scattered.  And tired.  And alone.

Isn't it interesting that you can feel alone even when you are surrounded by people?

(personally?  I think that is a very common feeling that women experience every now and then...it's just how we are wired.)

And before you think I need to be committed somewhere...it's not THAT bad.  It's just been a rather crazy year so far.  

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But right now...RIGHT NOW, I am on an airplane for a little R&R.  That guy that I like so much is staying home with the remaining males in our little house on our little street (Matthew is in the deep south, Atlanta to be exact) and I am heading out for some girlie time with almost every single one of my cousins.

I am so very, very excited.  Not to leave that guy that I like so much, cuz I really like him.  But the two of us can't leave frick and frack (otherwise known as Brian and Alex) unattended and he had a lovely week in Hawaii for work a few months back, so this time around it's my turn.  

(not that we usually keep track.  really.)

I am looking forward to four days of some of my very favorite peeps and letting everybody else make every single decision.  

And then there's the Paul McCartney 'thang'.  He and I have a date on Sunday night at Wrigley Field, thanks to my very generous Uncle Pauly.

Crazy fun.

So...here's to a weekend of recharging my batteries, spilling my guts, laughing until I cry and eating, drinking and being merry.  

Selfish?  Maybe to some.  Necessary?  Yes.

I need this.

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Oh...and these pictures?  All taken at The Counter, where on Tuesday nights you can get the gourmet mini burger and beer pairings for a whopping $14.  Add the sampler...sweet fries, regular fries, onion strings and fried pickles (don't knock it until you try it!) and you have just a little sense of what heaven will taste like.

Trust me.

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Hiding Out

If I were a bug, I wouldn't come into this house for the life of me.  

Because I've gotta cat.  A guard cat who protects me from all things scary.

(Reason #833 why cats are so great.)

Last night, for the 2nd time in 2 weeks, a full bottle of red wine has broken inside my refrigerator.

That's TWO FULL BOTTLES OF RED WINE spilled inside my refrigerator.  

The first time, that guy that I like so much and I scoured the fridge clean and marveled at how great a super clean fridge is.

So here's the deal.  Last night I just couldn't do it.  I wiped up the droplets I could see and the rest of it is still underneath all the drawers...the drawers that require a man to pull the refrigerator out from the wall so I can take them out to clean under.  

And it just wasn't going to happen last night while I had a houseful of my boys and their friends who were starving after a day at the beach.

(a day where a lifeguard had to rescue my son and his boogie board, but I am not ready to talk about that yet.  But THANK GOD for lifeguards at the beach.  And for boys who know how to swim.)

Speaking of dinner...this was dinner.  Brats and fries and grapes.  Simple.  To the point.  Fed a crowd. 

Since there was no wine, we broke out the last of the amaretto that I carried home from Italy.

It was an extremely happy/sad, yet tasty,  moment.

Angry Birds has been replaced by Harbor Master.

Have you played it?  And while it is entertaining on an iPhone, it is killer on a bigger screen.

Yep.  We are weirdo's.

Brian has discovered Hulu.

Lots of shows, so little time.

I am on Day 2 of being a bum.  Hallmark movies.  PJ's until 3:00pm. Spilled wine in the bottom of the fridge.

Sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do...which is to hide from real life for just a bit.

Hiding is better than dealing with the stress of finding a job....right?

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Weekend Randomness

While cleaning, the boys found their old mini pool table and it was resurrected once again.  

And now it is already back under a bed, probably for another 3 years...but the hour of joy it brings for those every 3 years is kinda cool.

The cousins came to visit and no, my house is not really that color.

Brian's last day of summer music school involved some sort of dressing up contest.

And Matthew?  He's discovered your t-shirt collection and thinks you should take your time on tour.

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Sunday lunch out at Portillo's.

The best way to order...italian beef, sweet, mozzarella, dipped.

Trust me on this.

Sunday night supper...still full from Sunday lunch.  

Pasta with fresh asparagus, proscuitto, and mozzarella...bread and tuscan melon on the side.  Eaten in the garden to the sounds of ABBA, followed by (yet another) heavy discussion between the grown-up's about prayer.

More about that later.

A common sight in my little house on my little street.

Darts. Everywhere. All. The. Time.

Another common sight?

That guy that I like so much sitting in our cute backyard with his iPad, reading a book from it.  

And FYI, angry birds is the most funnest game ever.  

It's Monday morning and I am moving slow. 

Must.  Make.  Coffee.

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(In Matthew news...Louisiana today, Mississippi tomorrow.  Shows both days.  Packages mailed!)

Saturday Morning Muffins

My little house on my little street was full of boys last night (shocking, I know) and while they terrorized each other with the new Tommy 20 nerf guns that we found on clearance at Target (and now I know why they were on clearance because they are big and loud and annoying...I bought bunches to give out as Christmas presents in order to share the love), the over 25 crowd sat in the garden and drank a little chianti and listened to Michael Buble.

Summer.  Is.  Here.

And when the late night chill set in, we moved into the family room and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...and soon found that we were surrounded by boys of all ages laughing at the fun-ness (yes, fun-ness is a word in my book) of that movie and the catchiness of the songs.

Toot Sweets?

FUN.

This morning I once again woke up early...it seems that my internal alarm clock just doesn't want me to sleep past 6:30am.   While I could continue to lay in bed and enter the worry zone, (you know, that place where your body isn't yet awake but your mind is racing 100 mph?  will my boys be ok?  will I have a job next year?  when will my 'prayer block' be over?  who really ate the last of my hidden chocolate?) I instead forced myself to get up and make muffins. 

Deep dark place or warm muffins?

Muffins won out.

Not just any blueberry muffins, but Ina's Coffee Cake Blueberry Muffins.  (my advice?  add a little orange zest and a few more blueberries.)

These muffins are so good, perfection really...and best yet, they make the house smell less like smelly feet and more like a bakery.

I'll take whatever help that I can get.

Shockingly, these have been out of the oven for almost an hour and not one boy has stumbled sleepily out of their rooms...which tells me one thing.

It's time to make bacon.

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Brian's Big Night

Brian has been going to music summer school again this year and really, really likes it...lots of the same kids that he knows from years past are there and they have a lot of fun together.

Tonight, at the same time as Alex's championship basketball game, was Brian's concert...and rather than divide and conquer (which is our standard way of handling things) we both went to the concert.  

One concert.  Lots of basketball games.  Concert wins.

(lots of friends texting score updates helps, too)

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Can't believe how tall my little one has gotten...crazy!

And he had a solo.  So fun!  

In Matthew news...Arizona yesterday.  Texas (Odessa) today.  

In Alex news...his team won the championship by ONE point!

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