Sunday, April 04, 2010

Busy Easter Weekend

I haven't been able to post much because I've been having too much fun, but I thought I'd take a few minutes now and catch you up.

FRIDAY

Mom and Dad and I drove to Weehawken, New Jersey, and took the ferry over to the Mid-Town pier in New York City. It was sunny and warm and the perfect day for a ride on the Hudson. So after we landed in Manhattan we walked to the building next door and took a 90-minute harbor cruise. The cruise was great. The tour guide was not. He spent more time telling us how he knew how to grab people's attention in the first two seconds than he did telling us the interesting stuff we were seeing.

The interesting stuff we were seeing:

The Brooklyn Bridge -
It took 13 years to build and was completed in 1883




Governor's Island -
Walt Disney was an AWOL prisoner on Governor's Island with a view of the Hudson and this is where he came up with the idea for Steamboat Willie




Helicopters -
A twenty minute tour of Manhattan is $200.00 per person




The Statue of Liberty -
An amazing thing to see in real life and something pictures don't quite capture




Ellis Island -
I sure would like to know which of my ancestors came through here



The Manhattan Skyline-
The Bronx is up and the Battery's down




And that concluded our tour. After that it was back to the cross-river ferry and then a pretty drive home. I had thought to go to our Good Friday service that night, but I was too pooped! Who knew sitting on a ferry could be so exhausting?

SATURDAY

I had to pick up a few groceries and thought that Mom should have the Wegman's experience.



For those of you who are not in the know, Wegman's is the Disneyland of grocery stores. I think Mom might have been more impressed by the market than the Statue of Liberty.

SUNDAY

This morning was a lovely, relaxing Easter morning. Todd and Taylor were working in the Valley Kids tech booth for all four services and Katie was helping with one of the kids' classes at the 11:00 service (we thought) so Mom and Dad and I went to the 12:30 service. After that we came home for a few minutes and then went to Washington House in Sellersville for Easter dinner.


<-Today (side view)


Late 19th-> Century (front view)



It's a 30-minute ride through bucolic rolling hills and the warm weather the past few days has caused the flowers and trees to blossom. If I hadn't been so hungry on the way there and so full and tired on the way home I would have wished it was more like an hour and 30 minutes away.

Yesterday Katie made a chocolate pudding pie and this morning I made a French apple pie. Our thought was that we would be too stuffed to eat dessert at the restaurant so we'd have dessert when we got home. Except I forgot that the Prefix dinner included dessert. The kids and I are off tomorrow so guess what we're having for breakfast. Apple pie!!! Guess what we're having for second breakfast. Chocolate pudding pie!!

Tomorrow is also my Weight Watchers weigh in day. I'm totally not feeling it.

Labels: holidays, weekend plans

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Thursday, April 01, 2010

OMG I'M PREGNANT!!!

Oh, how I love April Fools' Day. At least when others are the recipient. The old "I'm pregnant" was always my favorite fool. Considering I have no baby-making parts left in my body this joke has probably run it's course. Still, it makes for an eye-grabbing title, don't you think?

We finally have some beautiful spring weather. After the winter we had, this warm, sunny weather is most welcome. I can't wait to get out in it today, even if it's just walking Sookie around the block. The big block, of course.

We're enjoying the visit with my folks. The kids are typical teenagers so they're not always around. In fact I think we've only had one dinner with both kids in the last week. That was the night Todd and I were going to take my parents to Fellini's - the Italian restaurant where the waiters and waitresses sing opera. The kids had band practice so they weren't able to go with us. But the weather turned out kind of bad and we decided just to stay home and have Italian here. That way the kids could eat with us. The only problem with this plan, though, was that I wouldn't get the cannoli I'd been thinking about for days. Band practice got cancelled so Katie and I drove down to the Collegeville Diner and picked up all manner of gooey confections, including my cannoli. So far it's been my favorite night of the whole week. Is that because I got cannoli or because both kids were here? You decide.

And that's all I've got. I'm off to enjoy our weather!

Labels: family, food, holidays

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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Happy...

Labels: holidays

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Friday, January 01, 2010

Happy 2010!

I hope you all had a good 2009 and may 2010 be even better! (I know. Very cliche'. But I do mean it.)

I'm not one to make resolutions because they always go by the wayside about the second day of January. I could maybe resolve to not do anything different this year and then I would probably meet my goals for 2010, but that sounds a little depressing. So I'm not going to make any formal resolutions.

I do plan to publish a post on this blog and my Trippin' Through The Bible blog at least once a week. I may not publish anything more than, "Yo. What's happening?", but at least it will be something.

That might sound suspiciously like a resolution, but it's not. Okay? Okay.

So this is a start. And I published Genesis 8 today, too. Now I'm good until next Friday...

You can click on this button and it will take you to today's Trippin' post:



I just got a text from downstairs that the hog jowls and black eyed peas are done and yummy so I'm outta here! Have a great New Year's Day, everyone!!

Labels: holidays, life goals, TTTB

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Friday, December 25, 2009

The Times, They Are A'changin...

**Praise Break**

Little Ian's test results came back with great news!! His leukemia is NOT bi-phenomyopic. He has ALL Leukemia which is the best scenario. His surgery has been moved up to this morning and treatment will begin right away. Now let's pray for successful treatment with little to no side effects. And I'll keep you all posted.

**End Praise Break**

So it's 9:30 on Christmas morning and Katie just got up. Breakfast is still cooking and the boys are watching Casino Royale. Long gone are the days of being woken by two little kids who can hardly wait to go see what Santa brought them.

It's much more relaxing this way, but it's kind of sad, too. The contagious "magic" of Christmas morning as seen through the eyes of children is missing. In fact, it hardly feels like a special morning. Except for that we're all in our Christmas jammies and the smell of a baking breakfast casserole and a roasting turkey is permeating the air. And there are stacks of presents waiting to be ripped opened.

So this year we'll eat breakfast first and THEN open presents. And the whole time I'll remember exactly why we're celebrating Christmas in the first place.

Labels: holidays, prayer

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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Expanding My Mind... Groovy...

Thanksgiving vacation is quickly coming to an end. Five days in a row of sleeping past 8:00 will be a thing of the past until Christmas break. Tomorrow will be the beginning of just another week and life will resume its routine.

Our friends, the Stenmans, invited us to share Thanksgiving with them since we don't have any family around here and we were happy to accept. The food was delicious and the company was so enjoyable. After dinner some of us played Bananagrams:

Have you played it yet? It's like Scrabble only better. I love Scrabble, but it can get tedious while you're waiting for your turn. (I never claimed to be incredibly patient.) But you're on your own when you play Bananagrams so you don't have to wait on anyone! (I think somebody in my family should get it for Christmas.) Not only did I leave the Stenman's feeling pleasantly full and happy at spending a nice day with them, I think I may have left a little smarter, too.

Friday and Saturday were spent baking, cleaning the kitchen and working in the dining room. Katie and I were able to prime above the chair rail and I'm hoping to get the bottom part primed this week. I'm going to have to re-paint all the woodwork, which I'm pretty sure is going to be a pain in the rear, and my plan is to start painting next weekend. We'll just have to see how that pans out. By the way - I love the smell of primer and mineral spirits. I just hope they didn't kill any new brain cells I may have amassed at the Stenman's Thursday.

Today was an enriching day at the theater. I mentioned about a month ago that Katie and her friend, Alexis, sang "Sisters" for their voice recital. It turns out that the Broadway production of White Christmas is currently in Philadelphia.



So Katie, Lexie and I left church after first service, had an early lunch at the King of Prussia Chili's and then headed into Philly for a matinee. (If you'd like to see what we saw on our drive into the city you can reference my last post. And just for the record - I did not take any of those pictures, though I wish I could take credit. I just got them off of Google Images.)

Our seats were in the very last row of the beautiful old theater. It doesn't look nearly as tall from the outside as it feels when you're walking up, up, up the stairs. And the actors' faces were pretty fuzzy from way up there, kind of like when they block out faces on the television to protect their identities.

Still, it did provide a different view. For example, we got to see the beautiful chandelier from the top before they raised it for the performance.



The play itself was delightful, even if we couldn't make out any features on the cast. Katie and Lexie enjoyed it and they held back when "Sisters" was sung on stage. I was a little worried they might get up and sing with the performers!

After the play we walked a block or so down Broad Street and got our overpriced beverage and pastry on at Starbucks. (No, I'm not dissing Starbucks. I'm just telling it like it is.) Then it was time to come home. Who knew the Eagles were in town today? I didn't. And I chose the wrong route to come home and ended up in horrendous traffic. Heinously horrendous!

But we did finally make it home and we're enjoying the last couple hours of our break by eating chocolate crinkles and watching "The Amazing Race". Well, the family is watching "The Amazing Race". I'm typing. Obviously. I just hope that all this culture and brain calisthenics will make me sharper tomorrow at work.

Labels: friends, fun, holidays, theatre, traffic

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Wearin' O' The Orange

Today I was in touch with my Irish roots in honor of St. Patty. I wore green and my Celtic jewelry and I made corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

Since we're not Catholic, nor has my family been for as long as we have a record, we should be wearing orange instead. And considering my ancestors left the Scottish Highlands to "help subdue the Catholics in Ireland", or something like that, it may be a mockery to wear green.

But I hate to be pinched so I'll continue to wear green. Besides, I have no interest in subduing anyone - Catholic or otherwise.

Labels: family, holidays

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Friday, January 02, 2009

Continuing...

I'm going to see if I can knock out the rest of the holiday saga. Here we go...

* Taylor has continued on with his yearly Christmas tradition of being sick on Christmas. Poor baby.

I am not kidding. Every stinkin' year he has a head cold or a sinus infection or bronchitis or something. One year we were doing family pictures with a professional photographer and he was miserable. We pumped him up with Tylenol and managed the session in the fever-free, half-way okay window. Another year he sat alone at a little table in the entryway of the in-law's house which was close to, but not actually at the big table because he was sick and nobody wanted that Christmas gift. This year he laid on the couch in view of the rest of us at the dinner table. It's so sad. But he takes it in such stride and never complains.

* The food has been phenomenal.

Chicken piccata, homemade tacos, breakfast casserole, hashbrown casserole, donuts, cakes, coffee, bagels, authentic shepherd's pie - and that's all I can remember at the moment.

* We're up to 14 people (counting the twins) in two condos and there's always something going on. Katie has shown her competitive side which makes me think of a story. Sorry. You'll have to wait for the story.

There are times when Katie does something that is so me I have to laugh. Playing games is no different. She learned how to play Mexican Train (dominoes) and Triominoes with Aunt Joanne, cousin Stacy and Stacy's boyfriend, Niall. Since she's 14 they took it a little easy on her. Until they realized that she learned quickly, plays dirty and takes no prisoners. Kind of like when I was about her age and my parents went out of town, leaving me with my cousins Ron & Barb for the weekend. They taught me how to play Hate Your Neighbor - UNO before there was UNO. I caught on fairly fast and played with a vengeance. Their friend, a priest, came over to play and he kept saying he was going to grab his exorcism kit from the car because I was clearly evil. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (I say while fiendishly rubbing my hands together)

Am I proud that my genteel daughter has a vicious game playing streak? You betcha!!

* The temps have been in the 50's and everybody thinks it's freezing, meanwhile the boys in my family are walking around in shorts and t-shirts.

I love the desert. I really do. I forget just how much until I find myself in the Southwest or Palm Springs. One of the things I love is the winter weather. Mild and sunny during the day and crisp and cool at night. Perfect!

* I shall be forever grateful that Taylor brought his computer, otherwise I might be rolled up in the fetal position in the corner shaking uncontrollably. But don't tell him I said that. I gotta keep it cool around him.

This one needs no explanation.

* Grandpa made a total funny about books. I'll tell you about it later.

Grandpa noticed Katie's big book and she told him she reads a lot. He said he's been reading a lot of books lately, too. On tape.

* People who live in golf resorts don't look kindly upon golf cart races. Just sayin'.

This was a little misleading as no actual races took place. Taylor wanted to pull a Mario Andretti around the resort, but the cart will only go so fast. He would try to catch up to people, but it never happened.

He did nearly throw me out the windshield by stomping on the break and gave me whiplash by stomping on the accelerator. I didn't find the humor in either. At all.

* Todd's back. Just a little teaser. More on that after the holidays.

Some of you may recall Todd used to have a blog called Jenni and Me. He started it on August 24, 2007 and ended it on September 11, 2007. He saw it as his chance to show people a different perspective than mine. Totally unnecessary as evidenced by the very short run. But for some reason he's felt the need to start it back up. Probably because I don't talk enough about Sookie. Whatever. As long as he keeps his stories to puppy antics we'll get along just fine.

Labels: attitude, blog, family, food, fun, holidays, reading, vacation

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Friday, December 26, 2008

Just a Quickie

POST, People! A quickie post. Geesh!

It's the day after Christmas and it's gorgeous here in Palm Desert. I have lots of pictures - like 600 so far.

Here are a few highlights:

* I got to meet up with HisGirl and Frumpmamma (now known as Fabmamma because she is totally fabulous) on Tuesday morning. More to come. Just know it was so much fun!!!

* Taylor has continued on with his yearly Christmas tradition of being sick on Christmas. Poor baby.

* The food has been phenomenal.

* We're up to 14 people (counting the twins) in two condos and there's always something going on. Katie has shown her competetive side which makes me think of a story. Sorry. You'll have to wait for the story.

* The temps have been in the 50's and everybody thinks it's freezing, meanwhile the boys in my family are walking around in shorts and t-shirts.

* I shall be forever grateful that Taylor brought his computer, otherwise I might be rolled up in the fetal position in the corner shaking uncontrollably. But don't tell him I said that. I gotta keep it cool around him.

* Grandpa made a total funny about books. I'll tell you about it later.

* People who live in golf resorts don't look kindly upon golf cart races. Just sayin'.

* Todd's back. Just a little teaser. More on that after the holidays.

That's all for now. We're headed out for more blog fodder.

Labels: family, holidays

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Even Doctors Have Holiday Spirit

I had my yearly female exam today. Don't worry. I'm not going to go into great detail about it. I just wanted to share two things with you.

1 - I spied the enemy, the scale, as the nurse and I approached the place where she would take my vitals. I'd been dreading that part of the visit for weeks. But instead of asking me to step on the scales, she asked if I knew my weight. I was so shocked that I actually told her the truth! After I thought, Man! I should have told her 115!

2 - Check out the picture I took while I was waiting for the doctor.



That is some funny stuff!! The doctor told me one of the nurses "decorates" the exam rooms. In November the stirrups had turkeys. Almost makes me want to go back in February and see if there are hearts.

As soon as I got in the car I had to send Todd the photo. He called shortly thereafter and said he wasn't sure which was more disturbing. Santa on the stirrups or the fact I'd take a picture of it.

Labels: holidays, humor, medical

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Saturday, November 15, 2008

Speaking of Random...

For the last couple of days I've been thinking about various posts to write, however, when I actually try to type something I come up empty. Sometimes that happens when I think too much. Which is why I prefer to think as little as possible. So I'm going to try a "stream of consciousness" post - just typing up whatever comes to mind.

I had Home Team at my house Friday. Todd calls them my Big Homies since I call the teen girls my Little Homies. I don't particularly like to be called "Big" anything, thank you very much. Unfortunately my mistake was showing my indignation instead of just ignoring him because now he will forever call us Big Homies. Sorry Ladies.

Speaking of my Homies (NOT Big Homies), I'm not much of a cream in my coffee kinda gal, but some of the women like it so I bought some at the store. I picked up regular Coffee Mate and decided to give Italian Sweet Cream a try. What a discovery! Doesn't it look good? That's Beth Coffee right there! It's very much like putting sweetened condensed milk in your coffee only better. When you open up a can of the sweetened condensed milk you end up eating what's left with a spoon so I think the creamer is probably a healthier choice.

Speaking of coffee, my Mr. Coffee broke a couple of weeks ago. It was a bad morning at the Jenster household. Bad. Thankfully Mr. Jenster has a keen sense of survival because he ran to Wawa to get me a large cuppa joe and then he told me no more cheap coffee pots because I go through them like water through a seive. So we went to Kohl's and bought the coolest coffee maker. It's a Cuisinart with a reservoir instead of a carafe so you place your cup on the X and gently push the lever, causing a stream of liquid gold to dispense until you let go. Fun stuff. If you're using a dark cup, however, it's hard to see the coffee and it's easy to overfill. Still, it's worth it just for the fun of it.

Speaking of fun, my mom and dad are flying in from Little Rock on Wednesday and we're all quite excited around here. It will be great to spend Thanksgiving with them and have two more mouths to help eat the enormous amounts of food I'll end up making. Not only that, but mom will make the pumpkin pie so that's a bonus. Then there's the ironing which always seems to get caught up when she's been visiting. Amazing, that. I'm anxious to see how Sookie will feel about her Oma and Papa.

Speaking of Sookie, she's such a puppy. Which is really cute except when it's not. Like when she comes running in the house with muddy paws and won't stop to let us clean them off. Or when she steals socks and gloves and pieces of paper and then runs outside with them. Or when we're trying to watch a movie and she decides it's time to play.

Speaking of movies, when the new Indiana Jones movie was released on DVD the cost at Target was $14.99 for about three days so I snatched it up. I had been looking forward to the movie ever since I heard they were making it, but we didn't get to see it in the theater. We were like in Hawaii or something.

It used to be so easy to plan a family night, but it has taken us until this afternoon when all four of us were here for the length of time it would take to watch it. So we made a day of it. Lunch at Applebee's and then we came home to watch the movie. Todd took Balto for a walk in the frozen tundra (it was cold and veeeery windy today) to wear her out while I got my comfy sweats on. We all converged in the family room and settled in to watch the movie.

Harrison Ford is old now and Sean Connery's presence was definitely missing. It wasn't as good as the first or third Indy movies - I don't even consider the second -but it was a ton of fun. And it was just nice to be a family again even if it was just for a little while! Before long it was time to take the kids to Youth Group.

Speaking of Youth Group -- I got nuthin'. I guess it's time to end this post so Adios Muchachos!!

Labels: family, holidays, homies, movies, random, Sookie

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Thursday, June 26, 2008

A Bunch of Good Stuff

So what's up? Nothin' much going on here. Just the usual. You know. Todd's at work - he's got major short timer's disease, but he's making a valiant effort; Katie's babysitting; Taylor's at CIY in Tennessee - kind of like church camp only much more intense. Katie's Little Homies are going camping this afternoon through Saturday morning so Todd and I get some just us time. I think I'm going to make reservations at that new Italian restaurant we were going to eat at for our anniversary, but they were booked. Yeah. That's a great idea.





We watched "Fools' Gold" last night and LOVED IT! The chemistry between Kate Hudson and Matthew McConnohotty is nearly palpable. It had everything I love in a movie. Adventure, romance, humor, an exotic location and even a bit of history. Well, made up history, but still.




The prude that I am was a little disappointed at a flash of anonymous boobies. It's PG-13, for cryin' out loud. It was a quick flash, but so very unnecessary. It reminded me of when I was in 8th grade and my AT group went into Hollywood to see Romeo and Juliet at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Really cool experience, but the boys in the group were thrilled when Olivia Hussey jumped out of bed, baring her chest. (But really, what do you expect with a name like Hussey?) The girls were just embarrassed. And a little envious. Or maybe that was just me.



OH! Have I told you we actually have a Sonic AND a real Starbucks with a drive through now? Maybe two miles from the house, if that. The only problem with the Sonic is it's such a novelty up here that they have to have traffic managers with walkie talkies directing cars who are waiting for the next available slot. It's totally insane. I mean, I love Sonic and all - you know I do - but it's not THAT great.

Last Sunday after Youth Group a bunch of the older kids went to Sonic. They parked in the lot and walked over to order and eat at the picnic tables out front. You order in the same kind of speaker box as if you'd pulled up to a slot, but you give them your name so when they come out they know where the order goes. So here's the conversation with the Sonic chick and my son:

SC: What's your name?

T: Taylor.

SC: What is it?

T: Taylor.

SC: Tyler?

T: Taylor.

SC: What was that?

T: Billy.

SC: Billy?

T: Yup.



This is the top of the swimsuit I bought for Hawaii the other day. I consider it was a good day because I didn't cry in the dressing room. Didn't even feel the urge. I certainly don't like the way I look in a swimsuit. Heck, I didn't like it when I was 40 pounds lighter. But it is what it is so there's no sense getting depressed about it. But what thrilled me was the fact it's just a normal top and it just happens to hide both my mastectomy scar (my left mastectomy scar is pretty high up) and my port scar. I also got two different bottoms - red regular bottoms and a coral SwimMini.



This morning I found a great deal on plane reservations for my parents to come up for Thanksgiving. So I called Mom and we booked those babies before they went away. Mom and Dad actually get in on my 43rd birthday. I think we'll celebrate with a chocolate cake and 29 candles. It's just been the four of us for the last two Thanksgivings so we're really looking forward to having some family to help us celebrate.



All this goodness leads me to today's verse.

If you, then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give
good gifts to those who ask him!

Labels: birthdays, blessings, family, fun, God, holidays, homies, humor, kids, laughter, movies, nostalgia, random, reconstruction, vacation, Verse of the Day

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Monday, May 26, 2008

ROAD TRIP!

I'm not back to stay, but seeing as today was a holiday I decided to tell you about my weekend. I have checked a few things off the list, though I still have quite a bit left. Still, I probably will be hanging around a little bit more. (Thanks to those of you who sent me such nice emails and made me want to say, "You like me. You really like me.")

Katie and I left the house at 5:30 Thursday morning to drive to Hilton Head, South Carolina for Ben's wedding. As you see, there was an obvious lack of male influence. Let's just say Taylor couldn't afford to miss two days of school and leave it at that. So it was a girls' road trip. The car was stocked with all kinds of consumables in the event we found ourselves faint for lack of sustenance. We had cheese and crackers and frosted animal cookies and candy and water and Starbuck's bottled frappuccinos… We also wanted to see if we could go through my entire iPod song list of 499 songs.

I don't think we were even through Philadelphia when I thought about my new camera nestled with care in my new camera case and the beautiful pictures I was going to be able to take on our trip. Unfortunately, it was still sitting on the dining room table where I had packed it all away the day before. Katie forgot her camera, too. You must know how sad this made me. There was a split second when I considered turning around, but good sense won out.

The trip down was pretty uneventful. Good weather, bad traffic through Baltimore and DC, but after that it was smooth sailing. We did get to see the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome from the freeway so that was kind of exciting. [Insert imaginary photo.]

While there are Cracker Barrels here in PA, there isn't one very close to us. That's as Arkansan as Sonic so I treated Katie to lunch at a CB in Virginia. When we hit North Carolina we started seeing these big billboards – tons of them - for Pedro's South of the Border. They touted restaurants, mini-golf, convenience store, gift shop, leather goods, hotel, petting zoo, and every other type of roadside tourist trap imaginable. [*Mom & Dad – kind of like "The Thing" on I-10*] As soon as we passed into South Carolina there it was. Pedro's South of the Border. Funny stuff! [Insert imaginary photo.]

I-95 through South Carolina looks a lot like Arkansas. A couple of times I forgot where I was. Finally we turned off and headed for the island. We made it to the hotel between 7:30 and 8:00. After unloading the car we went looking for dinner. The hotel had a pool and also a pond. Katie said something about being afraid of alligators and I just sort of blew her off. Especially when she started looking up at the trees looking for tree-climbing-ninja-gators.

We finally landed at a restaurant called "Skillets" with an Elvis impersonator crooning to the outdoor diners. The waiter talked us into ordering an appetizer of fried green tomatoes – Katie's first – and they were delicious! Served over Creole marinara with bubbly melted mozzarella on top. The best fried green tomatoes I've ever had! She ordered shepherd's pie and I had a chicken stir fry. [Insert imaginary photo.]

Friday morning we woke up when we woke up, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast at the complimentary breakfast bar. That's where we found out there were a bunch of college kids from Ohio staying at the same place. It wasn't until later that night when we found out they were a bunch of obnoxious college kids from Ohio, but I'm not to that part yet.

We spent the late morning and early afternoon exploring the island and finding great places to shop. Neither Katie nor I could get the thought of those extraordinary fried green tomatoes out of our heads. So we went back to Skillets for lunch. Unfortunately our cravings weren't quenched because the appetizers weren't on the lunch menu. No complaining about the food, though. I had the vegetable crepes – crepes with a wonderful egg, cheese and spinach filling – and rosemary skillet potatoes. Katie had the shepherd's pie again.

While walking around the shopping center after lunch we ran into some friends from church, Kevin and Terri. We chatted with them for a little bit and they mentioned the alligator in the hotel pond. THE ALLIGATOR IN THE HOTEL POND! You know, the "alligator" that Katie was freaked out about? The one I told her didn't exist? Yeah. That one. Apparently it did exist.

Katie and I decided to get some disposable cameras and what better place to make that kind of purchase than the local Piggly Wiggly? Besides, she'd never been in a Piggly Wiggly before and I feel like one should have that experience when the opportunity arises. Because how much fun is it to say, "I went to the Piggly Wiggly"?

After that we walked across the street to the beach to see the ocean and then back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding later that evening. The wedding was simply beautiful. Vans shuttled us to the beach house where the wedding and reception were to take place. The ceremony was under a flower laden arbor on the beach with a cellist and violinist accompanying. I was snapping pictures with our Piggly Wiggly disposable cameras and chatting with Terri and Kevin and Mandy and Alex and Amanda, not paying any attention to the noise the film advancing mechanism made. Until the wedding started and everyone stopped talking. Then I had Terri cough or Katie sneeze to mask the sound or I just advanced it one tiny click at a time. And it made us giggle.

Our former youth minister, Matt Silver (he and his family moved to Maryland a few weeks ago), officiated and it was great to see him. Another transplanted friend, Leland, was in the wedding so it was fun to see him, too. All the CCV people sat at the same table for the reception and had a blast! The DJ knew all the right songs to play and we had a great time cutting the rug and just having fun. Ben and Katie (his Katie, not mine) sure know how to entertain!

Remember those Ohio college kids I mentioned earlier? The hotel was infested with them. And while I hate generalizations and would never say they were all horrible - I'm sure there were some nice, unhorrible students there - there were a lot of rude, obnoxious and over-indulgent kids there. And apparently 2:30 to 4:00 in the morning is the best time for playing frisbee, drinking beer and catching up on the day's events in the hotel hallway.

Saturday morning Katie and I got up and drove to Savannah with the express intention of eating at The Lady and Sons, Paula Dean's restaurant. Sadly, they were full for both lunch and dinner so we only saw the outside. Not a huge deal, though. We just have to go back, that's all. We ended up eating cheesy hot spinach dip and cheese pizza at a place on the Riverfront called Spanky's.

We really wanted to get a picture of the statue in the movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", but it turns out it's in a museum. We'd even considered going to the museum but we ran out of time. We did go on a house tour, though. [Insert imaginary picture] The house of the people who own the statue, actually. Savannah is a beautiful city – very Pirates of the Caribbeanish. There are "squares" every few blocks which are wonderful when you've been walking a lot. Katie and I would figure out where we were going to go next and then walk from square to square, resting on a park bench before moving onto the next one. It was a pretty warm day so our last stop was at a Starbuck's for some sort of frozen concoction. Just as we were leaving to get back to the car only a few blocks away there was a sudden flash of lightening and a loud boom immediately following. The rain hadn't started yet so we high tailed it for the parking lot. Half way there it started to sprinkle with more flashes and more booms. And then the sky opened up about a block from the car. I yelled, "Run!", which Katie took literally. Unfortunately I'm not much of a runner so I told her, "Save yourself!" Except for that I didn't unlock the car until I got right there. We scrambled inside, laughing the whole time, and realized there was hail mixed in with the rain. Once it slowed down we left and drove back to Hilton Head.

Hungry for dinner when we returned, can you guess where we ate? Skillets!! Can you guess what we had for an appetizer? Fried green tomatoes!! Can you guess what Katie had for dinner? Shepherd's pie!! So sad that we only ate at one restaurant the entire time we were on the island. But oh so good!

Sunday morning we woke up at 5:00, got dressed, packed the car and were on the road by 5:30. The ride home was even more uneventful than the ride there. Except the GPS took us THROUGH Washington instead of around it. That took us forever! But we did get to see the Pentagon and the Jefferson monument this time.

We pulled into the garage about 6:30. I soaked in a hot bubble bath and read a little bit, then went to bed around 9:00. The trip was a lot of fun – Katie and I ate well and laughed a lot – but it sure was good to be home and sleep in my own bed.

Over the long weekend we were in 7 states and the District of Columbia. I've decided my next writing will be Jenster's Guide to Highway/Interstate Driving.

Labels: food, friends, fun, holidays, reading, touristy, traffic, travel, vacation

Mused by Jenster :: 9:36 PM :: 15 People musing:

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Monday, March 17, 2008

A Monday I Like

First of all -

I hope you're all wearing green. Otherwise you might get pinched. Unless you're into that kind of thing...

Second of all -

It's the first official day of Spring Break!! I didn't have to get up early! Poor Todd, though. He still has to go to work. I did wake up long enough to tell him goodbye.

Third of all -

Katie was up before the rest of us and made both plain and chocolate chip pancakes. She's an awesome pancake maker, a skill she must have gotten from my mom because she sure didn't get it from me.

***

Because I'm still fighting this crud I didn't go to church yesterday morning. So I had church with Beth Moore. It was great.




Katie ditched youth group last night to stay home with me and we watched North and South. *sigh* Her squeal of delight when they both finally came to their senses was worth it.

Labels: church, family, food, holidays, movies

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Sunday, February 17, 2008

What's Been Going On

Wednesday night Todd and I went with Ben and his fiance, Katie (not to be confused with our Katie) to a Shane and Shane concert. For those of you who aren't familiar with contemporary Christian bands you probably have no idea who they are. They're a pretty awesome accoustic (mostly) band and a lot of fun to see. David Nasser was there as well. This guy is a great speaker and what a story he has to tell! He was born in Iran, saw his father dragged from his house and had a gun held to his own head when he was 9. Somehow his family managed to escape to America after that. He went to church with a high school buddy when this friend told him the five hottest girls at school went to the same church. He eventually became a Christian and is a very funny, gifted speaker with quite a powerful message. There's a ton more I could say about him, but I won't. Just suffice it to say that our "Valentine's date" was great!

Friday night we watched the fourth disk of season one of the Gilmore Girls. I had to keep asking myself, "Gilmore Girls or Prison Break"? You know, my two favorite television shows are LOST and Desparate Housewives. Those are the two shows I don't like to miss. Every other show on TV I can do without. I'm pretty sure I could draw comparisons there, too, and maybe narrow down my favorites to just one night a week. Nah...

Saturday morning was the quarterly ladies' brunch at church. What a bunch of fun that is! I'm a little sad I have to wait three more months for the next one. After that Todd and I went walking at the park. I thoroughly enjoyed it except for the fact it was around 30 degrees and a bit windy. It was my first taste of being ready for Spring.

Everybody is off tomorrow and I have no idea what we're going to do. All the stuff I'd like to do is outdoor stuff and it's too cold for that. Movies are expensive and the Camden Aquarium (like I'd been thinking about) is going to be mega-crowded. The kids are harder to please now that they're getting older. Gone are the days of driving to the really cool looking gas station with the Espresso Bar inside and giving them a thrill. Heck, it's even lost some of its appeal to me.

OH! Katie and I bought about 50 pounds of candy on Friday for our DVDathon and I found a green bag of nothing but green M&Ms. If you don't know the significance of green M&Ms - and it's not because St. Patrick's Day is around the corner - you can read about it here. There's a hoochie-mama green M&M on the front and it says, "The New Color of Love". But that's not the funniest part. In smaller letters under said hoochie-mama it says, "Sweetie... it's all true."

When we got home I told Todd I had a surprise for him. After pulling the Milk Duds and Twizzlers and Sour Gummy Lifesavers and Goobers out of the bag (and I can't figure out why I'm not losing weight) I pulled out the M&Ms and threw him the bag. His first words were, "I don't need these!" Silly boy. I bought them for me.

Labels: church, friends, fun, God, holidays, love, movies, random, TV, weather

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

I Heart Trees

Check out this picture Katie took with her cell phone while waiting for the school bus one morning last week. Isn't it pretty? And do you see the heart in the middle?



HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Labels: holidays, photography

Mused by Jenster :: 10:05 PM :: 24 People musing:

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Few Things...

Lately I've been waking up in the middle of the night with my nose as cold as a lonely Eskimo's. Nothing else is cold. Just my nose. So I bury my face beneath the covers to warm it up.

I hate doing that for two reasons:

1. If my nose is stuffy I've been breathing through my mouth. If I've been breathing through my mouth it's very likely I have poop breath. You'd think it wouldn't matter since my nose is stuffy, but the stench somehow manages to seep through the stuffiness and into my olfactory glands.

2. People end up in the hospital or dead because of carbon monoxide poisoning all the time. So I start worrying about carbon dioxide poisoning. Can I get sick by breathing my own breath? Isn't that how cats steal a baby's breath? You can see how this is very disturbing.

***

I went to lunch and a movie with my friend, Kris, today. We had decided against seeing P.S. I Love You because we didn't want to cry. Unfortunately it was the only movie worth seeing so we braved it. We stopped on the way and bought our own little kleenex packages. She called me all manner of bad names - or maybe it was only one bad name several times - because I forced her to watch this movie. I told her I proudly wear the title and refused to apologize.

It was one of the best "chick flicks" I've seen in a long time. Yes, it's sad and good for a cry. But there's so much more to laugh about. And how can watching a movie with an extremely charming Gerard Butler be a bad thing??

***

On the recommendation of my cousin and very good friend, Stacy, I bought Apples to Apples for a family Christmas present. We played it last night and laughed so hard it's a wonder we didn't pee our pants. Oh wait. I think Katie did. But anyway, it was hysterical! We had so much fun we played it two-plus times. Good stuff.

***

Between some Christmas money and a surprise bonus at work I bought a photo scanner yesterday. I'm so excited to get all my old pictures onto the computer. I also received the latest Photoshop from Todd. Does anyone know if that means I can airbrush photos of myself?? Just curious.

***

I'm reading my 41st book of 2007 (The Boleyn Inheritance). I really hope I finish it before midnight on the 31st so I can add it to this year's reading list. Even so, 41 is pathetic. But I'm okay with it. I suppose 41 is better than 21.

***

That's enough random for one post. The Funniest Commercials of 2007 is coming on in a half an hour so I gotta go!

Labels: family, friends, fun, holidays, movies, random, reading, TV

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

More Nothing

I have it on good authority that holiday calories don't count. I thought this meant whatever you eat from Thanksgiving until January 2nd was free. My Weight Watcher's points tracker hasn't been filled out because I haven't been consuming any points at all since the fourth Thursday in November. Or so I thought.

I had to have a semi-physical and TB test for work this morning. You know what that means. I had to be weighed. And while it IS cold outside and I'm wearing winter clothes, I don't think the nurse bought my standard lie. The one about my clothes weighing about 30 pounds. Though I was wearing tennis shoes and I'm pretty sure they're close to five pounds. Each.

I refuse to divulge what the scales said. I will say, however, that I'm firmly a size six. Figuratively speaking. And that was probably a silly size to chose for my illustrations because if I ever do lose the weight I want to I'll end up being somewhere between a negative two and a negative four.

So now I'm thinking it's only the specific holiday foods that have no calories. But that's kind of confusing because let's say I go to Starbuck's for a White Chocolate Mocha. That's available all year around so I would have to count those calories. BUT if I were to order a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha - a holiday special item - then it would be free. Or what if I were to make sugar cookies in the shape of something other than a holiday figure, maybe a butterfly or a spring-time flower, would that still count as holiday food? You see my bemusement.

Thank goodness the entertainment food rules are clear cut. For example, lunch in tandem with a movie is included in the calorie free items along with the popcorn, candy, etc.

I am drinking a Coca-Cola Cherry Zero right now. That's gotta count for something.

*****

Taylor has a pulled trapezius. I'm sure you already know this, but if not, a trapezius is NOT a swinging apparatus, but a muscle between the shoulder bone and spine. Anyway, he's apparently done a good job of it because he's in quite a bit of pain. Unlike my drama queen daughter, he's usually pretty tough and it takes a lot to make him complain*.

Now I have a standard rule that says unless you are puking, bleeding profusely or running a fever you WILL go to school. I need to add semi-paralyzed. Poor guy could hardly move last night and ended up sleeping in the big green chair downstairs with a heating pad.

Somewhere in this blog I have established my lack of compassion. More likely it was Todd who pointed it out, but whatever. It's true. I have never claimed to be good nurse material and today is further proof. I understand the boy can't move without it feeling like someone is ripping the muscle in his back. Which means I'm having to wait on him. I don't do waiting on him very well. I'm sure I'll endure, though. hahaha

I did get a glimpse of my little punkin' head this morning, though. He had walked into the living room, managed to get the Christmas tree lights on and fell asleep on the couch. Gave me all kinds of warm fuzzies. Maybe I should think about that every time I start to get frustrated.

*I need to clarify here. Taylor complains all the time.

Me: Empty the trash and take it to the curb.

Taylor: *Heavy Sigh*

Me: Clear off the table and load the dishwasher.

Taylor: *Heavy Sigh*

Me: Clean up your room.

Taylor: *Heavy Sigh*

But he doesn't usually complain about being sick or in pain.

*****

Taylor's school band concert is tonight, but he can't lift his trombone let alone move the slide. Since we're not going to that I'll be going to the preschool Christmas program. Please pray that I can get up off the floor of the stage in front of all those people without embarrassing myself.

And we'll be having Jesus Birthday Cake. Nothing says "holidays" more than that so I really hope I get a corner piece!

Labels: holidays, kids, medical, school, weight management

Mused by Jenster :: 2:24 PM :: 25 People musing:

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Friday, November 23, 2007

The Day After

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? Ours was very pleasant. There was no Guitar Hero III and no Live Free or Die Hard, but it was a nice day nonetheless.

Katie and I decided we should eat in the dining room since we eat at the little table for our regular dinners. As you can see, I wasn't exaggerating when I said the table needed to be dusted. Even though we were covering it with a table cloth, I didn't want the little dust particles to scratch the table. So Katie wiped it down and set the table.



Here's the spread - minus the rolls - for the four of us. Ridiculous, no??




This is what was left over.











Can't see much of a difference, can you?









Still, I'm not complaining because it was all delicious, if I do say so myself. Which I do. I actually like cooking a big meal like this. I do not, however, enjoy the cleaning. Then I remember the reason I had kids and the world tips back properly onto its axis.

And here's a picture of my uninhabitable living room. I should probably be going through the boxes today, but I don't see that happening. It's 12:30, I'm still in my jammies, I've been reading and now playing on the computer.



Katie's been on a pancake making kick. And she's pretty darned good at it, too. So this morning she asked if we wanted her to make us pancakes. Todd told her that if we eat pancakes every day it will make our butts bigger. To which I replied, "Very true. That's why I'm having pie with whipped cream for breakfast. So my butt won't get bigger."

And tonight is the hockey game. The Phantoms (Philadelphia's AHL team) versus the Hershey Bears - apparently a big rival. You know what that means (she says while rubbing her hands together in glee)! The probability of fights!!

Labels: domestic failure, family, food, fun, holidays, kids

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Thursday, November 22, 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I hope my fellow Americans are enjoying a great Turkey Day! And good eating to you all!!

Today is a quiet Thanksgiving around here. Just the four of us. I'm sure we'll get in a rousing game of Guitar Hero III, a screening of Live Free or Die Hard (only $14.00 at the grocery store yesterday), lots of cooking, a little baking, way too much food because I don't know how to make a Thanksgiving dinner for less than 8 people, and a visit to a neighbor's house for dessert this evening.

I don't confess to being the smartest dress in the shop, the sharpest tool in the shed, the brightest bulb in the box, etc., but neither am I a complete dunce. My problem is I'm like a neon bulb. It starts out slow but once it's had time to warm up is bright. So I guess that means I'm not the quickest grayhound in the park.

All that is to say I had a great idea after it was too late. I had enough grocery store points to get a free turkey so I figured I'd get the smallest one they had since it's just the four of us. The smallest turkey I could find was 15.5 pounds. That's a lotta bird for a little family. After thawing it out I realized I should have just thrown it in the freezer and bought a turkey breast for today.

See what I mean? Great idea. Just too late to execute it.

A conversation with the family the other day:

Me: Since it's just going to be the four of us we probably need to cut out some of the food. So what do we want?

FM1: Well you can't have Thanksgiving dinner without turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn.

FM2: And it wouldn't be the same without green bean casserole.

FM3: Ooo! And you have to make the sweet potato casserole!

FM2: Yeah! And cranberry sauce! I love cranberry sauce on my turkey!

Me: I have to have stuffing, too.

FM1: I'm good with just the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn.

FM3: Hey! Can you make peas this year, too? I like peas and we never have them.

Me: Okay. So that's turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, stuffing and now peas. We haven't left anything out. And now you want peas! It's just the four of us!

FM3: But it wouldn't be right to cut anything out.

FM1: I'll be happy with just the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn.

FM2: I don't think you can cut anything out, Mom. It would be wrong.

Me: Fine. I'll make all of it and we're going to eat it for days, even if the thought of it will make us sick. No whining if you puke!

Usually we'll eat around 4:00 or so and snack up until that time if we get hungry. But since it's just us I'm hoping to eat around 1:00 or maybe 2:00 so we'll have longer to eat. An afternoon of grazing, if you will.

And then I'll make a dutch apple pie to take to the neighbors. I had planned on making a pumpkin pie, but they're already going to have two.

My big dilemma now is where do we eat? Do we eat in the dining room like we always do for special dinners? If so that means I need to get in there and dust. Very sad. Or should we just eat at the K-Mart Special table? Do I put all the food onto my platters and bowls and such and place them on the table? If so we have to eat in the dining room. Or do we just serve ourselves from the stove and eat at the little table? I dunno. I guess we'll wing it.

Let's talk about Christmas decorations for a minute, shall we? I used to wait to decorate until December. But then all the neighbors would be decorating over the Thanksgiving weekend and it really is more convenient that way. So the other day I had the kids pull up all the Christmas stuff from the basement and it's now scattered all over the living room.

Confession time. I had my reconstruction last year on December 29th. I was in the hospital for five days and then was basically an invalid for another six weeks or so. My in-laws were here and my mother-in-law and the kids took down all the Christmas decorations for me and placed them in the basement. She didn't want to mess up my system so they just laid everything nicely on the floor with the belief that I would eventually box it all up just so and put it away the way I wanted to. Very thoughtful, if you ask me. But I never did. It's all been sitting on the floor since January. This year I'll get it all put up right, though!

Again - I hope all of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving have a wonderful day. And for those of you who don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you recognize all you have to be thankful for anyway!

Labels: holidays

Mused by Jenster :: 11:37 AM :: 12 People musing:

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