Saturday Night

We had some friends over for dinner, and I was really hoping to use our new patio. Well, it was too hot and humid. So, we gathered around the kitchen, watched college football in the living room, and the kids ran around like kids do. I sat outside and enjoyed my patio for about 10 minutes after dinner while watching the kids eat dirt, pass in and out of the doggie door, and climb on the jungle gym. C'est La Vie!

Oh, and kudos to me for not wearing myself out cooking for everyone (like the normal Rosemarie would do). I ordered in...BBQ Pork and Chicken from Corky's, with slaw, mac 'n cheese, and baked beans. I prepared a fruit platter, some hot sausage/cheese dip, and the salad...I'll include the recipe for the salad (it was a winner!).

Bibb Lettuce, Dried Cranberries, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Gorgonzola Cheese. Toss.
Dressing: 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1 3/4 cup EVOO, 1/4 cup sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsps poppi seeds. Mix all together except for EVOO....stream the oil into the food processor (or blender) after the other ingredients are mixed. Mmm. Good!

My husband was a trooper today, too...the lawn was mowed, and the laundry was washed...and folded...and put away! Love you!

96 Hours Later

Here in KY we are experiencing some seasonal weather changes; the drop in night temperatures combined with threatening showers have caused my head to throb for four days. Hence why there were not posts over the last four days. I was in bed by 8:30pm every night. So, I am celebrating that I did not have to take advil, tylenol, or sinus pain medication today. My husband and son seemed to fair just fine.

In addition to the headache, I have been working for the past four days, too. So, what are folks looking for in the store lately? I had one lady ask me for an almanac yesterday...we don't carry those in our book department; I learned something new. I had another person looking for a 16 inch diameter box to haul a wedding cake in...a little dumpster diving and "ta-da" she had her box. One person was disappointed that we were sold out of candy corn. (Sorry...is all I could say.) And, I convinced another person that the Wii we had in our electronics case had her name written all over it; and she bought it! To name a few others: bug spray, reading glasses, hair color, lightbulbs, and deck boxes were all additional finds yesterday. I still don't understand why we sell lightbulbs in our automotive section...that is another one of those things that our shoppers regularly need help finding.

Anyhow, on the home front, JMS is covered in bug bites. He had two on his right cheek, two on his left temple, two on his forehead, and four in a row on his right elbow. So, he is covered in caladryl to keep him from scratching. He saw on the tv last night an advertisement for the circus that is coming to town and he started roaring like the tiger. (I'm glad we got tickets to the show later in September.) That will be something fun to blog about. We are having a get together at the house on Saturday...some of my husband's co-workers and their families. If it doesn't rain it should be fun to get to use the new patio.

Oh, and thanks for the tag Kim. Now I need to learn how to tag...I guess I'm being initiated into the world of blogging. :) Definitely easier than USMA!

Blog Initiation...

I was tagged by Kim.

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking to them. (if you can)
5. Leave a comment for each tagged blogger that they've been tagged.

Quirks:
1. I have a hard time relaxing. I'm much like my son, go...go...go...
2. I don't like clutter. Everything should be put away. To include dishes in the sink before I go to bed at night. (Unless I have a headache.)
3. I don't like the bath mat to be wet when I step out of the shower...that cold feeling from someone elses shower water bothers me.
4. Despise grocery shopping.
5. Will wash clothes, but I do not like to fold or hang them.
6. Will load the dishwasher, but I do not like to unload it.
...I must agree with Emily, that limiting myself to six after I got started was difficult.

I don't think I know six other bloggers. So, I'll tag the one that didn't tag me. :)

Shelly...you've been tagged.

Weekend Get Away

It took us six hours to get to the cabin in the woods of NC. But, it was an enjoyable 36 hours away from home. We left around 5:30pm heading south on I-75 to Knoxville. We hit Knoxville and then headed northeast through Tennessee to Virginia and then wound through Virginia on state route 58. I highly do not recommend state route 58! This road is as bad as the road to Hana in Hawaii. It is about 30 miles long but will take you about 2 hours to traverse because it is a squiggly road through the mountains. JMS agrees! He got car sick about 13 miles from the cabin. It was 11:15 at night and he was wearing his lunch and dinner. Poor little guy! The cabin was beautiful...and very comfortable. Here is a photo of the kitchen:On Saturday we went kayaking in New River. Here are a couple things we learned from the kayaking experience: 1)check your equipment before you leave the house; 2)check to see that the water source has enough water to float; and, 3)it is possible to sink a kayak.

Details you ask...
1) my husband's kayak was full of water when he put it in the water, and it continued to take water along the trip down river
2) the pickup truck (with 249,000 miles) ran out of gas when we arrived at the point where we were to enter the river
3) my husband's paddle snapped in half about 3/4 of the way down river
4) we scooted our kayaks along multiple points of the river b/c there was not enough water to get us over the rock beds
5) yes, my husband sunk his kayak in 2 feet of water!


Funny how most of these lessons learned came from my husband's kayak. This is why I love him!

JMS got to play with his cousin and in these photos they were making each other laugh and giggle.
We had to leave Sunday afternoon to get back in time to get the dog out of puppy jail, but no car sickness on the trip home! Thank goodness.

Dinner for Dad

So, again, we wanted to extend our thanks to my parents. Dad came and watched JMS yesterday from 8am - 6pm and then enjoyed my home cooking! (Meal listed below) I called to check in on the boys several times, and Dad always claimed that JMS was beating him up. I think the exact quote was "hog tied" and "laughing at me." When I took JMS's clothes off of him for his nightly bath, I knew they played hard because he had a "dirt tan" from his little thighs to his ankles. He was filthy! He had bug bites on his legs, arms, and forehead. It was just too cute! He slept like a worn out champ.


Today, I took him for a hair cut and I am preparing for a weekend away from the house. We are meeting up with my in-laws at the New River Cabin in Lansing, North Carolina. http://www.geocities.com/newrivercabin/ Hopefully I'll be able to just put my mind on mute for two days, and relax.

As a side note, I served the following menu to my dad. Crock Pot Pork BBQ, corn-on-the-cob, grilled green beans wrapped in bacon, and garlic/tomato grilled baguette. Here is the recipe for the BBQ...even my husband said it was tasty! (That is a compliment in my world.)

CROCK POT BARBECUE
Ingredients:
1 (3-4 lb.) pork loin roast; Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; Crushed red pepper flakes; 2 tbsp. sugar; 1 c. white vinegar, and 1 c. water.

How to prepare: Trim fat from roast and place in crock pot. Sprinkle roast with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Add sugar and white vinegar. Cook on low 10 hours. When done, remove roast from cooker and place in a large skillet, reserving cooking juices. Flake or shred roast, removing any fat or gristle. Mix meat, some of cooking juices and ketchup. Simmer mixture over medium heat until juices evaporate.

So, keep blogging, I'll be itching for a healthy dose of good news when we return late Sunday evening. Oh, and for those of you who read my blog and do not leave comments...shame on you. :)

Grocery Shopping

So, JMS and I made a trip to the grocery store today. I love that the Kroger bakery gives kids free cookies; it occupies him at least until I get through the fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat sections of the store. Then, I do my best to be creative and distract him through the remainder of the trip. I was super excited that we saved 25 dollars on this most recent visit, just in coupons; are coupons getting larger in value or is that my imagination?

Anyhow, if you know me well, you know that I hate grocery shopping. I just find it to be exhausting. And, in some of these super stores you have to start in the way back...and push your cart all the way back to the front - just to get MILK! I know that it is a marketing strategy attempt to get the shopper to buy more impulse items along the lengthy journey through the store. Honestly, though, when you already have 27 lbs of little boy in your cart, do you really want to push anymore to the check lanes? I know that I don't. And, then the final kick in the pants, is when you get all the way up front, look at your list, and realize that the key magical ingredient that you absolutely need to make the number one recipe on your agenda for the week is not in the cart...it is still all the way in the back of the store (OK run on sentence...) but really! So, you debate with yourself if it is really necessary to push this 300 lb cart all the way back for one simple ingredient? And of course, the answer almost always is YES...the recipe just won't be the same, and I don't want to make a return trip to the store, and...

So, grocery store designers...why can't you just make a section of the store...right near the check lanes, for the key ingredients that we always forget??? I'm sure there is a way to survey every shopper and find out what they regularly forget, and just add that to the front section. That would be marvelous! Thanks.

Labored on Labor Day

Thank you Mom for watching JMS today! I know that he enjoys spending time with his mamaw. He is looking forward to seeing his papaw on Thursday.

Yes, you read that right. I worked today - that is the joy of being in retail. We reap the fiscal benefit of all of you not being at work. :) And, boy, were we busy! The number one request folks were looking for today was....(drum roll please)...hanging shoe organizers. Was today the day to organize our closets and no one told me?

Oh, and just for those followers of my blog: Halloween candy is now for sale!!! Let the candy corn eating commence.