Let Me Tell You About My Day

This morning was just a no good, very bad morning.  It really was.  My phone rang at 6:00am and didn't stop for a long, long time, there was much drama in the world of crossing guards, I went to the hand car wash (in an attempt to save a few $$'s), used the big vacuum to suck up all the leaves in my car and accidentally sucked up the big pile of quarters that were in my cup holder,  and I broke three fingernails in one swoop.

And then my boss got irritated with me.  Again.  

So I ditched dodge and drove to Disneyland, monorailed it into the park, ordered a ginormous turkey leg, sat in the perfectly perfect shady spot and ate while reading a trashy novel.

Life was looking up.

After polishing off approximately 18 lbs of turkey, I wandered the park for a bit.  The weather was actually quite warm and in a moment of weakness, I bought myself an ice cream.

Me.  The girl who doesn't eat sugar.

I ate one bite and tossed it...but that one $4.25 bite?

Perfect.

Seriously, the sky is always this blue over Disneyland.  It's like Walt made a deal with all of So Cal that the smog will settle everywhere else but over the happiest place on earth...and all of So Cal listened.

Thanks, Walt.  

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I came home and cooked...steak pizzioli.  It's basically just cheap round steak smothered in tomatoes and peppers and onions and cooked long and slow until that cheap piece of meat doesn't taste cheap anymore.  At all.

The problem?

The pot boileth over...all over my oven, which meant our little house on our little street smelled deliciously burnt.  

Thankfully it tasted just fine.

We then all face timed my brother in law, who was having a birthday today.  And how sad that this is the most we've seen them in the last few months and they live two towns over.  

Gotta fix that.

In honor of his birthday, and in honor of the fact that it's Wednesday, I baked him a cake, which promptly overflowed all over the oven...so our little house on our little street smelled deliciously of burning cake.

Yum.

And when oh when was the last time you made a pineapple upside down cake?

For me, that was today.

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Our neighborhood is always a party waiting to happen and just as I pulled this baby out of the oven, there was a knock on the door.

Good thing so I could send cake home with them, otherwise I would've eaten the whole entire thing.

Wait a minute.  I don't eat sugar.

Seems I keep forgetting today.

Yum to the tenth degree.  It was SO good.  No recipe...it was mainly from a box and I just followed the directions.  I'm not normally a box kinda girl, but this might change my mind.

Yum.

Happy, happy Wednesday.  Tomorrow I need to clean the oven, but first I need to finish my cake.

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Getting My Fall On

 I am finally feeling like my home is my home again...the termite removal is complete (aside from having to patch and paint inside and a bit more repair work in the garden) and the workers have moved on down the block.  

They were nice, but I'm glad they are gone.  The workers, that is.  The termites were also nice...they were very quiet, totally kept to themselves and aside from eating away all the wood in and on our house were the perfect house guests.

Until they wore out their welcome.

I unpacked the Autumn decor the other day and can't find the front door sign.  I'm sure it's upstairs in the attic somewhere, but I've looked and looked and I can't seem to find it.  I'm also thinking of not getting a bale of hay and a cornstalk for the first time in a long time, but after all the dust and dirt of the termite repair, I'm leaning towards clean and simple.

I think it's fine just the way it is, but man oh man...pinterest makes me question everything.  

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My work is kicking my butt lately.  There is so much to do and such a big area to cover; there's needy people and independent people and angry people and (sadly) incompetent people, complainers and go getters.  It's a....challenge to manage them all.  

Don't get me wrong, I like what I do...but lately it's just seemed overwhelming.  This morning I donned my pink tennies, got in my (free) company car that has a full tank of (free) gas, turned on the (free) satellite radio to classic vinyl and drove way, way south...and had to laugh.  I've got nothin' to complain about.

I am so thankful for all of it, but especially for the person who originally hired me.  She took a chance on a stay-at-home mom and that simple act has shaped the way I treat everyone I interview, train, work with.  Don't just judge a book by it's cover...because usually there is something pretty darn good in the middle pages.  If she hadn't looked beyond the cover...the cover that said that I hadn't 'worked' in 19 years, well, I wouldn't have had this job.

On the good days, I'm thankful.  On the not so good days....well, not quite as much.

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Long Weekend

That guy that I like so much had a 4-day weekend...a weekend he so very, very much needed before the long push to Christmas begins.  We pretty much hung out on Thursday but on Friday?  

We got out of dodge.  Or Irvine, if you will.

Our original plan was to head to the The Getty, an art museum in LA.  Not sure how the plans changed, but by the time I sat down and turned on the seat warmer in his cute little car, we were heading south for breakfast.

Not just any breakfast, but my most favorite breakfast place...Snooze.

Snooze is just freakin' awesome.  It started in Colorado by one of our former babysitters and it just plain old knocks your socks off.  

Even their coffee cups are perfect.  Big, heavy, YELLOW...and expensive.

Oh well.

They are only open for breakfast and they have the bestest pancakes EVER.  Seriously, the cinnamon roll pancake is amazing...and so is the carrot cake pancake.  Oh, and the pineapple upside down pancake?

Heaven, people.  Heaven.

We just ordered a bunch of stuff...corned beef/poblano hash and eggs benedicts.  One was on a bed of polenta, the other had arugula/balsamic.

I almost can't handle the reliving of it.  Why does it have to be so far away????

Our dream would be to spend a night down there but, well...we have a houseful of boys and our parenting gig, while winding down a bit, is still keeping us on our toes.  Somewhere in our contract it states that we still need to be responsible, somewhere between the clause that says 'do lots of laundry' and 'cook lots of food'.

Sigh.

So breakfast an hour away will have to do...and then a long drive back home along the coast.

We stopped and walked along the beach...turns out the state beaches are open and parking is free.  Took some time to pray for all those not getting paid right now because someone else, who isn't affected by this madness, made that decision for them.  The nice person who works the state beach?  Not allowed to work and not being paid.  The people fighting in Washington?  Getting paychecks.

Not saying anything everybody doesn't already know, but it makes me very, very mad.

Back to our weekend.  

Home to laundry, a little Autumnal decorating, a card game or two and a leftover puff pastry that I stuffed with a little ham and fresh parmesan, baked until golden brown and served with a cocktail.

Or two.

Supper was beef stroganoff, which I make with roasted short ribs.  On the side?  A pan full of brussel sprouts (is it brussels sprouts or brussel sprouts?  Hmmm...) tossed with olive oil and lots of salt and roasted until crispy.

The adults loved them as did one boy.  The remaining males weren't as impressed.

Our nephew, who looks like my younger two (and acts like them too) came for the weekend.  

Lots of testosterone around these parts.

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In conclusion...a surprise 75th birthday party,  church,  and a real Chicago pizza.

Can't wait for lunch today.

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Happy Monday, everyone.  I'm hanging with my favorite 15 year old today...he's off of school.  Lucky him...lucky me!

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Alrighty Then

A whole week went by...a whole week in the blinkety blink of an eye.  I've recovered from the crud, Alex's eye has recovered from a big, bad something or other, and my little house on my little street has recovered from termites.  Recovery is good.

Recovery means my sanity has begun to return.

 One of my favorite treats at this time of year (well...before I had sugar/thyroid issues) was the mix of salty peanuts and candy corn.  The combo is outrageously delicious...I made it for the boys to try and they refused.  Refused.  

Boys who don't eat junk food are just annoying.  Aren't all young people supposed to eat garbage?  

Don't pay any attention to them...just mix yourself up a batch of this and call me to thank me.

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I had company while I wasn't feeling well.  I asked her to make me tea at one point and she ignored me...but she did bring me a rather dead bird.  I would have preferred tea, but oh well.

Rain hit SoCal for one whole day and with it a few rumblings of thunder.  Man, I love thunder.  I also love wearing a sweater and I had to break out the clogs, which I am sure are some sort of fashion faux pas but I just don't care.  They're comfy and don't require socks, which in my book is a win win situation.

That guy that I like so much has a 4 day weekend, which we kicked off in style.  I made a few pans of enchiladas, cilantro/lime rice and a big pot of pinto beans and we had our own little cinco de mayo on nueve de octobre.  

Basically, give me a date and we'll find a reason to celebrate.

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Rainy day.  A full in box of work emails.  A fire in the fireplace. 

Bliss, minus the work emails.

The fire in the fireplace made them more bearable. First of the season and it smelled...dusty.  And then I remembered termite removal and realized that there was probably a whole lotta gunk in there which, I hope, has now burned away.

I have all my loves cities programmed in my phone weather app and I can just scroll through them during the day,  think a happy thought and say a little prayer for them.  It takes so little time but blesses me in such a big way.  

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Happy Friday, my friends.  I'm ready for this weekend.  Very few plans...a basketball game, a party, church, lots of hanging out.  

Oh...and it's time to decorate for Fall.  

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Under The Weather

I'm just not much fun right now.  I'm actually sick...like a coughy, sniffly, sneezy, I'm just really miserable kind of sick.  The kind of sick where I'm not quite sick enough to get out of the grocery shopping, laundry, clean up the house stuff...but definitely sick enough that I just feel miserable enough doing all that stuff that I'm making everyone around me miserable because I'm doing it.

Like I said...I'm just not much fun right now.

This weekend was a concert weekend for that guy that I like so much.  This particular annual concert always involves a visiting composer/arranger/organist and we always host a dinner in the garden the night before the event.  It's usually a mix of students and faculty and then the composer...and this time around his wife, who is a published author.  

It was a fun night and I was surrounded by so many talented people...musicians, writers, speakers.  The garden looked so pretty as the sun went down and the candles were flickering in the darkness, the food was pretty good, the music was fun.  I just love this little house on this little street...not just the building itself but what we are so blessed to have.

I often think before a party about how much I haven't done...how the floors aren't clean enough or that most of the plates are chipped or that none of our silverware matches.  I learned many, many parties ago that I am the best kind of host when I am a guest at my own party...so everything that can be done ahead of time needs to be done ahead of time, including the worrying.  And the emptying of the dishwasher...because I always, always start a party with an empty dishwasher.  Seriously, you never know what you might need to shove in there at the last minute.

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In the end, though, the guests just don't notice all that stuff.  They notice if we are relaxed and happy.  They notice that we are present...not running around making sure everything is perfect but rather sitting with them at the table and talking with them.

That night, I felt it.  Thankful.  Calm.  Present.  

I love when that happens.

So there was the party on Saturday night and a concert on Sunday and a fancy dinner out on Sunday night that involved quite a few bottles of really good wine.  Everyone was relaxed and happy and it just felt...peaceful.

Two for two.

And then Monday morning I woke up sick.  A definite reminder that I am not in control.  It's not convenient...or wanted right now.   It's not part of my plan.  I have a busy week ahead of me and I just. don't. have. time. for. this.

But I guess it just needs to ride it's course.  I need to look for the silver lining...like the fact that I can work from home if I need to.  That I could pull supper together with virtually no work.  That I could nap while watching a movie this afternoon.  That colds usually don't last all that long.

That healing, in one way or another, will come.  Either now or later.  Either here or there.  That this is all part of this life and I need to be patient.

I'm trying.

Awake At Night

I was sound asleep, dreaming a beautiful dream.  OK, forget the dream part...I was just sound asleep when Alex (who is 19) shook me awake.

Here's the thing about boy #2...he never does anything in a small way, so being woken up by him strikes nothing short of sheer terror.

Turns out he has an eye...and it's pink.  And gloppy. And swollen.  And when you have a pink, swollen, itchy, gloppy eye...even at 19, all you want is your mama.  

Job security.

The best part was when I took the warm wash cloth and gently wiped his eye, tucked him into his bed,  climbed back into my bed and promptly RUBBED MY EYES.  Apparently I'm an amateur in this mothering thing and forgot to wash my hands.

Fun times, I tell ya.  Fun times.

Work has been work this week and play has been play.  

Today involved a big work meeting, a few smaller work meetings, a visit to the accountant and happy hour with the girls where I ate a whole plate of nachos.  The chips were salty and the cheese was melty and the guac was...green.  They just tasted soooo good and I couldn't stop eating them.

So I didn't.  Tomorrow?  Salad, please.

And here is a 10 year throwback.  Oh, how life changes.  My couch was new then and I still had full control over clothing and hair choices...which obviously meant bangs.

Sorry boys.

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Big concert weekend this weekend.  Our house needs to be decorated...we're hosting a party here on Saturday night.  I guess I should clean, though it's easier to dim the lights, pour some wine and put out a cheese plate...that combination tends to help people overlook a messy house.

Or one can hope.

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Real Life

Real life 101 means that supper the other night was Chik Fil-A.  Seriously.  If you know us in real life, well, we're not a fast food family.  We'll eat it on Sundays after church or on a weekend during basketball games but we never (and yes, I can use the word never in this case) eat it for supper.

Until now.

Go ahead and judge.  I do.  But everyone ate and got where they needed to go and we're all still living.

And wearing clean socks.

That's something, right?

Fall is here and so is homework.  And basketball.  I guess I don't get the deal with homework.  You've got my boys all day long; let them be with me at night.  There...I said it out loud.  Stop piling on the homework.  Try as you might, he's not going to remember 3/4 of this stuff anyway.  

What will he remember?

The fact that his mother didn't cook supper on Monday night and he had to wear his brothers socks to school on Tuesday.  

OK...pile on the homework.  He deserves it.

Tuesday night we went to CA Adventure to see World of Color.  We'd never seen it; friends invited us along and after a pretty full day we found ourselves in the Cove Bar having a beer and people watching.

The show was fabulous and I'm so glad we went.  Sometimes it's nice to break our normal routine and do something a little different...felt like a date night.  Maybe because it was a date night.

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The best part?

Long sleeves, baby.  I got to wear long sleeves.

Hello, Fall.  I've missed you!

Yesterday I dug out the pretty candles, cooked a beef stew long and slow in the oven, spent hours on the phone for work, lunched with a girlfriend, pedicured with another girlfriend, hiked 5 miles alone and had a really great cappuccino while planning a little trip and ignoring the fact that there were shoes everywhere,  no clean towels and a kitchen that could really use a good cleaning.

Real life lives here.

You can borrow it if you'd like.

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Happy Thursday.  

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