Monday, April 26, 2010

Recipe

I tried a new recipe from Jamie Oliver's book. I found it here, on a newspaper's site, so I didn't have to type the whole thing. :) We served it with toasted bread, and apple slices on the side. YUM! :) The recipe says it takes 12 minutes... maybe for someone who cooks. My husband and I worked together and it took us 15, but that was the first time we'd made it, too. I will make it again! :)

Shrimp and Avocado With An Old-School Marie Rose Sauce

Adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver. This dish reminds him of his childhood at the family pub. It's okay to use light mayonnaise. The avocados should be ripe but not too soft. You can use other types of fine sprouts.

INGREDIENTS

Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp ketchup

2 tsp each: worcestershire sauce, whiskey

1 lemon

1/2 tsp sea salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Shrimp plate:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 lb (450 g) large shrimp, peeled, deveined

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, crushed, peeled

Sea salt and pepper to taste

2 large ripe avocados

1 oz (30 g) watercress sprouts (about 1 cup)

Paprika to taste

DIRECTIONS

For sauce, stir together mayonnaise, ketchup, worcestershire and whiskey.

Halve the lemon lengthwise. Squeeze juice from half into mayonnaise mixture, making sure no seeds get in. Cut remaining half into 4 wedges and set aside. Add salt and pepper to mayonnaise mixture. Cover and refrigerate.

For shrimp plate, put flour in medium bowl. Dust shrimp with flour. Shake off excess.

Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high. Add garlic. Stir 10 seconds. Add shrimp. Stir and toss until pink, curled, opaque and barely cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove from heat. Discard garlic. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and pepper.

Cut avocados in half. Twist to pull apart halves. Remove and discard pits. Use large spoon to scoop out flesh from each half, keeping them intact.

Put an avocado half on each of 4 serving plates. Pour sauce over avocado halves. Arrange sprouts over top. Place shrimp alongside. Sprinkle all over with paprika. Place a lemon wedge on each plate.

Makes 4 servings.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Happy Birthday! (to me ;))

I haven't been posting much lately. As you regular readers know (and moms! :)) We are in the midst of track season for my older daughter and soccer season for my younger daughter. Between their sports games and practices, my school and their piano lessons, our evenings are usually filled with something! :) This weekend was also busy with Me! :)

Friday, we went and got my oldest from her track meet, and went out to a burger restaurant we've never been to before, and shopped for school science project supplies. Then, Saturday, I got homemade doughnuts on my actual birthday, from my husband. I got a nice vase that has scented oil in it to match my office from my girls. I also got a hamster button for my classroom because I thought it'd be fun! :) Then we went and sat in the rain at a soccer game, stopped at Bob Evans for lunch, changed clothes and went to a contemporary Christian concert as a family. It was a tour with five bands. There was a wide variety in the music, but all of it was giving Him the glory. :) I also got many calls and facebook birthday wishes throughout the day. We finished off the evening, the husband and I, watching the Time Traveler's Wife, which was a good movie but an even better book.

Today we hung around home, except for a quick trip to the bookstore where I picked this book up and am excited to use it... after a trip to the grocery! :)

Then, to end our weekend, my in-laws took us out to dinner. YUM! :) I'm sure the fries aren't on Jamie's approved healthy eating list, but they were good!! :)

No long runs in this weekend. How awful of me. ;) But I sure had a great weekend.

I am still taking photos, and have started a week in the life photos, too... We'll see if I can get it done! :)
Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Purse Contents

I saw on a blog post today, here on Stacy Julian's blog, a post about what is in your purse. She talked about how it is us, it shows who we are by its contents. I enlisted the help of my youngest daughter to take a photo of me and then I emptied my purse. Wow, I had a lot stuffed in there! I thought it would be interesting to post here. (Actually I have a ton of other things I should be doing... but started the day with a great breakfast of pancakes, and checking blogs/email :))



Here's a photo of me without my face. :)

And the contents of my purse:


What's in my purse?
I have a bigger purse-I like to carry a lot of items, “just in case” someone needs them. :) This was a good reason to clean my purse! :)

(top left) I have some change that I didn't put into my wallet, so it was loose, and a phone number from a fellow teacher on a piece of paper. What it says about me? That I needed to clean my purse! :)

Next are my glasses: I wear them to see far away. It says I'm getting older.

My phone: I never thought I needed a phone with internet, etc. But, I love it! It says I like to be connected.

Gum: I like fresh breath-also, see green toothpick/floss items in the middle of the screen... I like my breath fresh...

Tissues: I have a daughter who gets bloody noses often, and a daughter who runs track in the chilly weather. We've all been known to need tissues...

Bottom right is my purse. Black matches everything, it's easy to carry, and holds all of my stuff...

Under the coins and paper on the top left are some green notecards that have some of my favorite Bible verses on them. When I'm having a frustrating day or just need some Word, I can pull them out.

There are two cough drops and a worther's candy. I like them when I have a cold but still have to talk all day to the kids.

There are two ponytail holders. For the first time in a while I have let my hair grown out long enough to put in a pony tail. I went to my hairdresser and this time I told her just a trim. She was encouraging and thought it would look cute! :) I love it right now.

Earphones: I can get podcasts on my phone, and I have music there. I can sit and listen to podcasts while I wait for an appointment, etc. The podcasts I've been listening to lately have been from http://www.howstuffworks.com/ , http://www.paperclipping.com/roundtable/ and http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/category/stuff-you-missed-in-history-class/

I have a little wallet (purple and striped w/ruler pattern) that I made, yep, sewed it with the help of my mom. It has little pockets for the gift cards and store discount cards that I don't use all the time. I can't leave them at home, just in case I decide to stop there...

Many pens... I like pens, and I never want to be caught without one. My girls always used to like to draw, or we'd play hangman or another word game, at restaurants while they waited for food, so I made sure I had supplies in my purse. They normally have their own pens or carry on conversations, now, but I still have to have them.

There are two Burt's Bees chapsticks. I love it, with its peppermint smell, and not too waxy feel.

Hand sanitizing gel and hand lotion for clean, soft hands.

Tide pen-never know when a stain will occur... I've had it in there for a while, after a coffee drip stained a shirt, but haven't used it at all since I put it in... my retentiveness causes me to keep it in there, for fear that if I take it out... a stain/spill will occur.

Advil-ahh a cure-all. :) Good for headaches, sore legs and knees, cramps...

Wallet: I love this wallet. I got it from etsy. You can't tell from the photo, but it is brown, with burnt orange and turquoise. It holds a lot and is sturdy.

Batteries-I love taking my camera everywhere and hate that “ah, I'm out of battery power just in time for the great shot!” feeling so, here they are...

Sunglasses, in case I am at a soccer game or on a long drive being blinded by the sun...

Keys-my car and house, including my weimaraner and Christian key chains

A “free coffee” coupon from Starbucks, a pad of sticky notes (I love sticky notes!) and a small notebook for notes and my to-do lists

The yellow thing by my purse is a bandaid holder. It's got a few alcohol-swabs and some bandaids.

One of the requests on Stacy's blog was to post what it says about you... most of these say I like to be prepared “just in case” and I like to be helpful. The bandaids are usually used by someone other than myself. :) I am a bit of a worrier and I worry about “things happening” and want to be prepared if I can. I'm also not a small purse for different occasions sort of girl. I don't grab just a couple things for each event. I keep it all in one, all the time. Sometimes I throw a magazine or paperback in, too. :) Lately I just haven't had time to sit and read, though! :)

For those of you readers who have made it through my long, silly post, thank you. I will use this in a scrapbook someday, when I get back to sitting down to scrapbook. I am still very busy with teaching and being a mom and wife. I love family time. I have mountains of laundry, and cleaning of course, but I am blessed with a great family that I am thrilled to have the time with. The teaching is going well. I've been there about 63 days and have become "official teacher" status. My title is no longer a "substitute". I am getting teacher salary and have earned a personal day and a sick day to take off, if needed. Hopefully it will help me get my foot in the door. We'll see. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! It's chilly here, so the soccer game viewing will be BRRR, but sunny. :)

If you have a purse or backpack handy, it just takes a bit of time, share with us, won't you? What does it say about you?

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Argh

Messages to check, also emails to check...
Typing still to do, as well as printing ABC books...
Soccer games to attend and daughters to catch up with...
Grading to complete...
Nothing for dinner, but all will be hungry soon...
Blog to type (see why I never "officially" sign up to do a "NABLOPOMO"? ;))
Friends to check in with....
Running to be done!

Feeling a bit overwhelmed and underachieving. :)

Thank goodness for
...friends who email
...kids in my class who finished the work/writing the ABC books
... a wonderful sunny day to watch soccer in and two wonderful daughters
...completed work and eyes to see it with
...the money and ability to find or buy something to eat
...internet and blog friends! :)
...friends to miss and who are missing me
...the ability to run when I get a chance! :)

Hope your week is chugging along smoothly! :)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Two slips

Yep, I missed the 12th and 13th. My students are making ABC books that we're sending to be made into "real books". We've been working on them for quite a while, and they need to be typed. Some of my students don't have computers, so I have been typing their books at home. It takes a while and by the time I finish I'm not looking forward to typing anything else! :)

I got a run in on Monday, but not on Tuesday, since my oldest daughter had a track meet last night. She ran the two mile and did pretty well for as windy as it was!

My youngest daughter had soccer practice and came home all grass stained and smiling. :) She has a game Thursday.


Only about 40 more days left in the schoolyear! Already! Time passes rather quickly these days...

I just read that Thimbleanna is opening a little store! How wonderful! I'm sure she'll do great! :) She just seems like that kind of person who will succeed and be smiling during everything! :) Congrats, good luck and keep smiling!! :)

Hope your week has gone well so far! Midway through today! :)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Back again with sunburn

I won't keep you with a long post-just a quick one as I almost forgot! :)

We have a fire going out back and red wine in a glass to relax before it's time to start another week.

We had a nice but fast weekend, and the weather tonight is perfect for a fire. :) Here are my feet and my wine as my husband gets ready to put more logs on.



My oldest ran a mile in 6:27 this weekend at a meet, I ran after I got home, the 6.5 with a long, steady hill later in the day... and put on no sunscreen- long-time readers know that is a "no-no" for me and my skin. Thus, I am a bit red today. Crispy, we'll say. Oops.


That's all for this evening, as my husband awaits at the fire. :) Have a great last few bits of your evening and hope you enjoy your week ahead!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Two posts?

I figure two posts in one day will cancel out the fact that I missed yesterday, right? ;)

I just had that bittersweet feeling I get sometimes. I don't think I've blogged about it, the saddest events of my life... So I will. Not to get sympathy or extra attention, but because it's on my mind and that's what my blog is: my thoughts when I sit to type-or thoughts I had a few days ago and forgot then... :)

I was reading the latest posts about the new addition to the Days family: http://thedays17.blogspot.com/
It made me say "aww, how sweet" and "what a beautiful baby"... but it made me sad that we never had a third child. We tried. We wanted more children.

We were expecting "Sam"- we never knew the gender and thought Sam would work. :) We lost Sam at 15 weeks of pregnancy. After having two flawless pregnancies with our girls, it was utter shock and devastation.

Then, right around our due date for Sam, we got pregnant with Sara. I was anxious and worried about how this pregnancy would end up, especially after losing Sam. Our doctor assured us that Sam was just our "odds catching up with us" and with no health issues, we should be fine. The first trimester came and passed, with baby Sara doing wonderfully! Ah, relief, I could stop worrying! Our girls were 3 and a 1/2 and 7. My husband and the girls painted the nursery yellow and we bought things for her room. We still weren't sure of her gender at this point. The girls were beyond excited, and so were we!

Then I felt like things weren't right. Oddly it was September 11. A year after the planes crashed on that sad day. I just felt like something was wrong. They told me to come in and we'd listen to the heart beat. They were sure it was just a worried mom feeling. My husband met me at the hospital, thank goodness. We listened, but they couldn't find a baby heartbeat. That's common, they told me. So, we did an ultrasound. We saw that her heart wasn't beating.

We went in on a Friday the 13th and delivered our third girl. So tiny and perfect, at 6 months of gestation. They were never sure what happened. They did tests on her, and on me, but came up with nothing. The delivering doctor said she thought the cord may have been around her neck, but my doctor wasn't so sure. It was awful.

Her nursery door stayed closed for several weeks, months. We took her room decor back to the store. The girls were devastated. I was... words cannot express how sad I was. The ache that filled my entire being. I cried almost everyday for months. That's when I started drinking wine at night, just to dull the thoughts and memories, hopes and dreams, as I went to sleep.

After a while, my husband wanted to try again. I just couldn't. I knew I'd be a worried mess and not a good mother to the two daughters I already had.

Sara would be in first grade, now. It's still painful and sad when I just think about it. Although, I don't think about the events as much, though I still think of her and what she'd be like.

There was a positive thing from all the sadness, though, as I look back, now, years later. My husband was brought to faith and I was brought back to faith-into a relationship with Christ-due to the depth of our sadness. I felt comforted by HIM. I know He is holding her, now. Someone once told me that wonderful things await us in Heaven... and that Jesus holds our babies that we can hold and smell and snuggle there-our own extra joy in Heaven... I hold onto that. And I received this picture and thought of our Sara, waiting for us...

I hope I didn't make you sad, Dear Reader, but let you know a different tidbit about me...

oops

I was doing so well, and then I missed a day. OOps. Yesterday had no blog post (or picture of the day for that matter...) But I will continue onward. :)

Last night, after a busy day teaching and handing the grade cards out to go home... (fingers crossed that Monday and Tuesday have little or no parents complaint? ;)) We all went out to dinner at a nearby Italian place. It's a small, neighborhood restaurant (as I type that I thought, ugh, that is one of the few words I always misspell and I'm a good speller! but it is stuck in my brain incorrectly and I misspell it every time: restaraunt... anywho...) The food was delicious and my husband decided we should have a carafe of red house wine to go with our meal. Wow, that tired me out-red wine always makes me sleepy! We came home and watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, which is a wonderful show!! It has a great message. From the moment I saw it, I was hooked. We watched that and went to bed. I didn't even think about my daily blog post until this morning, because I never stepped into my office!

I didn't get a single run in all week: After school/work, the husband and I headed out to dinners while the girls were away, and then I enjoyed heading right home to see them on Thurs and Fri. I also had to run to the store, Wed. to grab groceries and I was making them, and their aunt, dinner.

Which reminds me, I saw a glimpse of a good idea on Cathy Zielske's blog, and thought about trying to recreate it. We had lean beef tacos, Spanish rice and fat free refried beans on Wed. and had many leftovers, so I had also bought a pork loin at the store on Wed. I put it in the crock pot on Thurs. to cook all day in green salsa-that's it- and shredded it when I got home to eat with the leftovers-tortillas, rice, etc. They were so good-and SUPER easy! (Wow, that was a long way to say, I tried a new recipe and we liked it... ;))

Back to the running, I'm planning on the hilly workout I did a few weeks ago that is about 6.5 today. I will have to do it after we head to our older daughter's track meet.

That is all for today, I think! I hope your weekend has started off wonderfully-ours has started with sunshine and no wind! :)

Thursday, April 08, 2010

April 8

Here I am, again! I am getting tired, this evening. I had a few ideas earlier today of things I'd like to blog about... but I didn't write them down so "poof" the ideas have disappeared into the abyss. I hope to remember them so I can post a good paragraph or two tomorrow! :)

Tomorrow is the end of the week! :)

Today was cold, rainy and dreary, contributing to the sleepy sluggish feeling I had all day...

I hope your day was beautiful and productive! :)

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

One Week

Today, a week's worth of consecutive posts are now here on my blog. I just finished reading another blog about the writer's mother. It made me stop and think about the mother I am. I hope my impatience doesn't show through more than the love and care. I also hope my job doesn't take up more of my time and energy than my beautiful daughters.

Those lovely girls are back home, again, after their three days with their aunt. Is so nice to hear their voices, their piano music and their laughter. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with my husband-dinners out with conversation about our days-but I really am happy to see my girls home safe and sound. I am so proud of them, all they work hard to be. My husband, as well. I feel so truly blessed as I sit and think of them. I am thankful for His grace...

Today I finished up grade cards for the class I'm teaching. I am filled with such dread. I know there will be complaints from parents. Their kids didn't reach the expectations-mine or the parents-but I believe these grades are deserved and I have the grades in the grade book to back me up... still, I don't do well with conflict. I don't handle it very well. I feel sick already and the report cards don't go home until Friday! I have had a great past couple days with the kids-I've gotten back to my normal self, looking for those positive moments and know that I'm teaching them, and they will receive information and care from me. I know part of my fear is not being good enough for a full time job. When people ask me questions about where I want to teach or what age group, I say, "God will put me where He wants me to be". I sometimes forget to really believe it, though.

I hope your April is still moving along nicely! :)

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

April 6

I have been sitting at my computer working on inputting grades for a bit. It's more complicated than it should be, but works ok... if you know what you're doing! It's nice that I can do it from home. I called the teacher to make sure I was doing them correctly. I'm not done, and they have to be in by lunch tomorrow. Busy morning ahead! :)

Our girls are away for one more day and then they'll be home. I've sure missed them. Although I've enjoyed going out to dinner with my husband. I have eaten way too much and I haven't had time to get out and run since my 8 miler.

I do feel caught up on my grading and planning for now, though. :)

My flowers are continuing to come up nicely. I must resist the urge to go out and plant something-the last two years I saw so many people do it. We get sucked in by all the spring displays... new plants, fertilizer, etc... and then more frost comes and those same people are back at the store buying replacements. My dad always says wait until Mother's Day to plant something, and, even though he lives in a state North of us, I live by those words. The last two years they've helped me. :) Now, I just have to resist the urge to fill my garden with fresh, green color! I have already started thinking of my vegetable garden this year... less cherry/grape tomatoes and more of other things, like trying new leaf lettuce!

I hope your snow is melting, the sun is shining nicely (not too hot!) on you and you are smiling. :) I'm smiling at you! :)

Monday, April 05, 2010

April 5

Had nice day back to work; I sure enjoy the students. Looks like I will be there most of the spring now.

Then I got home and we went out to dinner-the girls are with their aunt, so we had dinner out. Luckily we used gift certificates we had gotten for Christmas. We won't be eating out at this restaurant without gift certificates! It was expensive. It tasted good and I am stuffed! I didn't run today but I wish I had! We had dessert and wine!

My husband has his eye on an ipad. He's thinking of getting one. He doesn't spend much on hobbies, so it would be nice for him to get what he'd like.

I'm getting ready to watch the championship basketball game this evening. Hoping for a good game.

Storms are rolling in tonight. The warm weather might move out for a few days.

That's about all for this evening. Nothing earth shattering, but a post. :) Will try to post more interesting info later. :)

Hope your week started off well!

Sunday, April 04, 2010

April 4

Wow, April 4th and back to subbing tomorrow. Had a nice Easter today, my husband's sister came over for dinner. The five of us ate a nice meal (cheesy potato casserole, green bean casserole, ham, brownies with raspberry preserves, and a fruit salad). Then we all sat out by the fire pit in the delightful weather. It's been a wonderful day.

Saturday, April 03, 2010

April 3

I ran 8 miles this morning. It's been about 8 months since I last ran that far. Wow. I was/am tired. My goal was to run 9 min. miles, which means a goal time of 1:12 or less. I ended up running 1:11. Phew. Then it got very windy, here, so I'm happy I got my run in instead of "doing it later". Storms and rain are supposed to be moving in. I also forgot to use my body glide since I didn't need it on my 6 and 7 milers. Oops. Ouch. Thighs wish I'd had it...

We went out to dinner as a family last night (Molly Bawn, it's where we met! :)) and headed to shop since it was a lovely evening and the mall is outdoor. I got a few new "spring" clothes to teach in. We also got some good deals on heavier clothes (sweatshirts) for a good price.

Tonight I will be parked in front of the tv during the Final Four basketball games. I enjoy them, although I am sad that the NCAA has decided to increase to 96 teams-that's crazy, in my opinion.

I hope you're having a wonderful day! :)

Friday, April 02, 2010

Eggs?

Question for you, blog readers:
Do you dye your eggs for Easter (or did you when your children were younger)?
Do you hard boil and then decorate or blow the inside out?
Do you paint or use traditional dye methods? Store bought or natural dyes?

We have tried multiple things over the years, and as the girls are older and craftier I was thinking of trying new things. Today we melted chocolate and decorated molds with them. However, I'm wondering if we'll do eggs...
In years past we've painted wooden eggs, made yarn eggs, dyed boiled eggs and dyed blown out eggs, which was my favorite of the options.

Hope all is well.

Day 2

Well, it's April 2 and I'm posting again. Wow, two days in a row, right? :)

I have already gotten my run in for the day. I went 3.5 miles. It is sunny and beautiful outside today.

I have also started "a picture a day". I've seen it done and thought I'll never get that done each day, however:
it's April, which is my birthday month and I'm going to be 35, so I'm thinking a picture a day for my 35th year-what I did each day. Sounds fun. We'll see. We already have so much going on, but a picture, that doesn't take long, does it? :)

While I'm posting all my goals, I'm also going to try not to buy another scrapbook supply (except glue, since I use it and run out) like paper and embellishments for the next year! I have a lot, here, and I just need to sit down and use it! :) We'll see how long that lasts... :) I have to go and unsubscribe to the few emails I get about "daily deals" and "scrapbook steals". No need to tempt myself! I love the new stuff, new ideas... but I have so much and I'm just not using it right now. So, unless I completely run out of supplies in the next year, this is it-no more supplies! I will keep you posted and let you know how that works out! :)

My oldest daughter is at track practice, none of us have school since it's Good Friday. The husband had to work, though. Maybe he'll come home early? The girls and I are going to go to the book store after the oldest returns home. They'll be riding in the car as they visit with their aunt next week, so it will be good for them to have something to read.

We also have spring cleaning to do. Yippee, but it needs to be done.

I think that's all for now. I hope your April is going smoothly thus far!

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Happy Spring!

Today I've decided to try to post everyday in April. No April Fool's! :) I have thought of things each day, lately, that I wanted to post but never made myself take the time to do so. April is my birthday month, so I thought it was fitting. :)

I am running a lot more. I'm up to 7 miles for my long run as of last weekend. I've also been running 3-6 times per week-depending on our girls' schedules. We'll see if I can keep it up now that they're spring sports have started. :)

I am on spring break this week, but my girls aren't on spring break until next week. This is the first time we've not done a trip together in recent memory. It made me sad, but it's also nice for me to be able to be there for them like taking them to school, if they'd like. They will be home tomorrow for Good Friday, too, so we can have a day together. Next week they'll be visiting their aunt for a few days so they get to go somewhere! :)

The weather is beautiful here, supposed to be sunny and 70 degrees today. I went running but should have gone earlier as it was already too warm for me-not desert hot, I mean I just prefer it cooler. :)

I am still in the long-term subbing job in fourth grade and feeling like I'm finally settled in. At this point, it looks like I will be there until May. Grade cards go out next week so I finished up all the grading and am going to input them into the computer grading program this afternoon.

This morning I went to get my driver's license renewed. An ok picture, better than last year except for the increased weight and age! :)

I think that's all for now. I have to save some topics for the rest of the month! :) Have a great April 1, 2010!