Great Ending Day 7

Today was a crazy day. My day started at 5:30am so I could get to work and our network manager so we could upgrade our Blackboard server which didn't go as well as we'd hoped. At the same time my student called in sick and I had the other on vacation so I didn't have counter help. I was also working with a professor who was recording his lectures at the same time I was doing the upgrade. We did get the upgrade done by our 1 pm deadline and the professor got his lectures done. I still have a bit to do but Bb is functional.

My youngest had color guard and my other daughter had to visit a friend's house she's caring for. Once again my youngest drave the pickup. So proud of her for practicing.

When I got home I was so glad I had unbaked Papa Murphy's pizza in the fridge. I bought them a few days ago but when I home that night  when I got home my husband had started steaks. I ended up grilling the pizzas tonight on the GMG. It made them crispy and a bit smokey. They turned out great. Pizza and a glass of wine was a perfect ending of a busy day. My husband came home as well which was a plus too.

Focus on Food Day 6

Well, apparently I had was a little late feeding Meathead breakfast. Apparently he dines before 7am, but my husband was gone so breakfast was at 7:30. I don't think he was happy. Yes, his name is Meathead because we don't want to get too attached to him but I think the name isn't helping much. My husband keeps reminding me he's not a pet and he weighs 1000 pounds.  His brother is summering at the neighbors because he got loose the day we brought them home and was missing for a month. He finally showed up with the neighbor's cows about a 1/2 mile away. We decided to leave well enough alone. I'm not chasing him all over the county again. He'll be coming home in freezer paper. So I'll just enjoy Meathead and we'll be his herd.

When I got to work I found Mario my new pool boy who is replacing Artie was being delivered. Artie died two summers ago of a broken fin. He just spun in circles or sat at the bottom of the pool. He fought a good fight. I had Mario sent to work because he was kind expensive and I didn't know if anyone would be home to greet him. I can't wait to watch him to vacuum my pool. I don't think we're calling Mario now though. The girls weren't fond of the name.  They said that the name reminded them of a old short Italian man. Then one of them made Mario Brothers actions so the jury is still out on a name but I know he's Italian.

I didn't eat before my creativity book group from work tonight so I was starving. I have really wanted ice cream all day even though I really can't have milk products so when I got home I grabbed the girls and we headed to Froyo Earth for a treat. They'd fixed their own dinners so they just wanted Froyo because who wouldn't when mom's buying? Froyo Earth has really great sorbet that I could have and the girls had frozen yogurt. You pay buy the ounce after toppings and all so our bill was about $12. Less than the three of us going to Starbucks which is right next door. Not a healthy choice I know as far as dinner is concerned but it was satisfying. I had fruit right?

Day 8: Dinner Out

Tonight was a night of errand running so we stopped at Red Robin for a bite to eat. Red Robin has changed their decor from movie themes to boring. The food didn't seem as good as it used to be but my daughter enjoyed her Oreo shake.

Shopping with E-Mealz

On Sunday, my youngest daughter and I went shopping at Walmart with our E-Mealz list in hand which I must say is awfully convenient. We altered it a bit because this week is yet another busy week and we will only be eating from the plan three times during the week if we are lucky. I already had some meat thawed out for dinner for the weekend, but we didn't use it because we had people over Sat for a steak and crab feed and then on Sunday we had leftovers. Who wouldn't love leftovers from a crab boil and grilled steaks instead of ground venison?

Anyway, we headed to our local Walmart Sunday afternoon after my daughter cleaned her dad's office. We had to get a few things other than the things on our short list so I don't know what the final total was on the food end of the bill. Plus, I found a few things I didn't need in the scrapbooking aisle. They had some adhesive on clearance and who doesn't need adhesive, right? The cool thing I bought though was a Fiskar's craft knife. I needed a new x-acto knife, but hadn't purchased one yet. I got the one above for $3! I've always wanted this knife, but couldn't justify it. Now I own it and I am very excited to use it. So much for saving money with my E-Mealz plan.

School's Out for the Summer so Let's Live

School is out for me. Yay! My youngest daughter still has a month to go, but my older daughters are out too. In fact, my middle daughter is on her way home from San Francisco. She drove down with a college friend and is flying back tonight so she can start her summer job tomorrow. My oldest daughter graduated from Whitworth University a week ago, flew to Oregon for training and starts her new job tomorrow. It has been a crazy month, but now I am back and hopefully I will have some time to craft.

Trying to create a little more time in our lives this summer and hoping to take a little stress out of my life, I bought a membership to a cool meal planning resource that I learned about from Becky Higgins and Stacy Julian. It is called E-Mealz. They have several meal plans to choose from including a portion control plan that figures in Weight Watcher's points. You can even choose which stores from which you wish to shop. I chose the Walmart plan for right now. E-mealz is even recommended by Dave Ramsey. It is pretty inexpensive. It was $15 for 3 months. In my opinion that is very affordable plus our weekly dinner bill is suppose to be around $75 a week if I am feeding a family of 6. Hopefully mine will be a little lower since I typically feed around 4 people or less and I have a freezer full of meat so I shouldn't have to buy much. The best part, it should also free up some money for scrapbook, crafting and decorating! Yay!

Standing in line

Saturday was a day of early morning fun. My oldest daughter and I got up, grabbed some coffee at Starbucks and headed downtown to get in line for Wicked tickets along with somewhere around 400 other Spokanites. Tickets went on sale at 7am at the box office and then online at 10am. We wanted to make sure we got some decent seats in our price range so we braved the morning and the cold to get our five tickets.

After that we wanted to run to Auntie's Bookstore, an amazing bookstore in downtown but it wasn't open yet so we ran over to Atticus for a cup of soy chai. Atticus is a coffee and tea shop here

that also has some of the coolest gifts and books. A guy I went to high school with owns it along with his wife who was also one of my daughter's teachers. It was there I found this amazing hanger

for which I am now saving so I can hang it in my art studio. I cannot wait to buy it. It will be perfect to hang over my washing machine where I can attach snapshots and postcards. I won't be able to get it for about a month or so. I hope they still have it! (Sorry about the photo quality. I used my Droid and I had chai in my hands)

2010-July-21/364

Seriously, this is my new addiction. I met up with my new friend, Maria and her husband Sam in Downtown Disney after Blackboard World and this is what they ordered. They were generous and shared it with me. That was the end for me. One might say that they are contributers to my delinquency. One also needs to know that this ice cream is not for the people who take their rum lightly. It is full of rum flavor. It would be amazing in a Coke float minus the raisins. Wouldn't that be fabulous on a hot summer day?

Jan 24th/341

Day 2 of FAST Blast which includes a GS and a Super G race always ends with and an amazing dinner with friends. A very good friend of ours who doesn't ski always cooks dinner for us while we are running the race on the mountain. He takes over another friends cabin and cooks all day. Dinner usually includes an mouth watering marinated brisket, parmesan rice, salad, and fruit cobbler. It is amazing and something we all look forward to at the end of a cold and busy day. It seems that the crowd gets larger and larger every year. I think the count this year was around 40 which included the TD and a couple of the coaches. The evening ended with us celebrating friendship and Chinese New Year by launching Chinese Lanterns that another friend brought over.
Pentax Optio10, automatic

Jan 15th 2009 Photo/350

Two things that make me happy other than my family: Facebook & Starbucks Coffee! All can be quite addicting!

I like Facebook because it allows me to stay in touch with my college-aged daughters who although they go to the same university where I work, I don't get to see everyday. FB is great as I can see pictures the girls have posted and we can write little notes to one another. I can also stay in touch with some of my past students, employees and friends. It has been great to catch up with people I haven't seen in ages. It truly is replacing the emails I used to get from friends and family.

I like Starbucks Coffee because it just makes me feel good inside. My favorite drink is a Non-fat Sugar-free Vanilla Caramel Macchiato. It is ultimate comfort for me. Nothing like a warm cup of coffee with milk and caramel that is infused into the drink which sinks to the bottom of the cup so that the very last sip gives one an amazing burst of warm caramel.

Today I posted my status on my Facebook as the follows: "Judy wants to go shopping and have a Starbucks!" With that, the most amazing thing happened. My middle daughter called me on her way to SBs and asked me what kind of coffee I wanted and then brought one to me at work. It was such a nice surprise and a great middle of the day pick me up. I really needed it! I am truly blessed to have such thoughtful kidos.
Pentax Optio Z10, without flash