Time is Money...

My husband is very computer savvy, a true techie at heart. I mean, he works for a company of geeks (I use that term in a VERY respectful and envious way), his hobbies are centered around the computer, internet and electronics, he has every “boy toy” we can afford… Heck, we even MET online so it is safe to say I knew a long ago what I was getting myself into! We went to lunch today and he was talking about work, typical. And he was talking about having a conference call as opposed to emailing. He used the words "in person" to refer to a conference call. I love him dearly, but THAT is NOT in person! So often we use email, voicemail and less personal ways to communicate. I am not sure if that is a GOOD thing or not. We always want things now; fast food, fast cars, microwaves, credit card swipes, TiVo, instant messages, one touch dialing; NOW NOW NOW! Maybe we should just slow down and heaven forbid make a meal with too many ingredients because we didn’t take shortcuts. How about walk over to the neighbors to talk instead of instant messaging, emailing or text messaging. Watch the commercials, or maybe WRITE a letter! *sigh* I only wish I were not disillusioned to the idea that everything should be done so fast.... They say “time is money”. Well perhaps we have it wrong. Perhaps we are the “richest” when we have all the time in the world. For what it is worth, I would like to take option B.

My little smarty pants!

My 4 and a half year old is a second child. Naturally she will pick up things faster than her brother. But today, we sat down and READ 6 pages of "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. I was amazed! What started me doing this (was going to start it this year anyhow) was as we were driving home from her school today, she saw a white crosswalk sign and said "Mommy, that sign says stop. ST... AH... P". YES! Yes my smart little girl it DOES! So tonight she read part of her very first book :) And I am gleaming!

A mitzvah....

A mitzvah (or mitzvot being the plural) is a Hebrew word meaning "commandment" but people use it to mean an act of human kindness or a good deed. Friday when I took my son to school, a friend of his showed me all the cool stuff in his own locker; a shelf, a locker light, magnets, etc. So today, I decided we would go get some of those things for the boy. There was only one locker light left and that is one thing he REALLY wanted. The packaging was opened, the light did not work and my son was pretty upset. He took it to a sales rep in the store and asked her if she could help him find another. She looked all around and then offered to GIVE him something of hers from her car... :-o She went outside as we were paying and got this cool light from her car that had the Velcro sticker for the back. They were those lights that you put under cabinets and such from the TV ads. I couldn't believe how very sweet this gesture was so I thought I would blog about it :)

A day like any other

It is my mother in laws birthday.... We called to wish her well :)

This morning I went to Friday morning services (Kabbalat Shabbat) at my son's school. He got to sit with me, which was great. I surprised my husband and daughter with Starbucks when I came home. I got ready for and went to orientation for pre-k for my younger one. We went to lunch at 5 Seasons . I was amazed that people take so much pride in their workmanship with food. You could tell everything was made in house for the most part. Everything was fresh! I give it a 4 of 5. Then I went home and got ready for Friday night services at our shul. They had a kiddie service and an ice cream social afterwards. I then went to pick my boy up from school. While I was waiting in the carpool line, I was able to knit a little more of my soon-to-be nephew's baby blanket. A woman with a daughter in pre-k came up to me and asked if i had a daughter in another preschool... I said I do but not the one she was asking about. She said I looked like someone she knew. I thought that was funny since I don't think I have a very memorable face LOL And def not one to be confused with someone else either. She and I talked for a good long time and the degrees of separation came into play... only ONE for us LOL! Funny how things work out! Then carpool started. This woman who was parked right in front of me was walking to her green Jag-yoo-ah in a semi-swift pace turned to me (and several others... about 3 separate times) and said "Leave it to me to hold up the line. You'll get used to me!" I chuckled because it seemed like such a pretentious thing to say. I went home, picked up the fam and left for a VERY early dinner at Subway. It wasn't my first choice but we left a lot later than I had expected. We carpooled with a wonderful woman and her son that used to be in my girl's class last year. I missed her this summer. I hope we can catch up now that the new year has started. We all had a lot of fun at shul. Then home for a movie with the hubby. Tomorrow may be a little relaxing, and then Sunday we may go to KidsFest. MAYbe.... *sigh* then back to getting up at 6am for 5 days -.-

Girl's night, sick friend and new fish!

So, I am EXHAUSTED! Last night was the neighborhood girl's night out (formerly mom's night out but we changed it to be more inclusive). We went to the Veranda Greek Taverna. Earlier in the day one of the 12 people going emailed me (and one other person) to see if we would be designated driver for her. I was delighted to do it! Not only do I really like the woman because she shares many of my views, but it made me feel like I am viewed as responsible and she trusted me LOL. It isn't the first time I have driven her either but it still kind of felt like an honor... I am probably looking more into it than it needed to be, but I don't knock anything that makes me feel good :) The restaurant wasn't bad but I could tell not everything was made right there in house. I am not an expert or anything but the meatball appetizer tasted previously frozen. The fresh pita bread rocked though! And though I didn't have any of the $5 (all day, every day) martinis that looked soooo yummy... I may try to mimic some of them ;) shhhhh

I got home at 9:30 pm and didn't get to bed until midnight. 6am comes tooooooo early when you go to bed at midnight! Dean went off to school at 7am. Anne (the woman I carpool with) has been early, which is great :) Man I totally dig having carpool with her. Not only is she pretty darned reliable and responsible but she likes to do the mornings! I was hoping to go back to sleep for a little but of course the girl woke and I was unable. Ed had to go to jury duty (though he really didn't) so he left at 7ish to take MARTA to go downtown. I had to throw a load of wash in because the boy needed his navy shorts for Friday uniform and didn't have a clean pair. I get a call promptly at 8am informing me that Ed no longer was needed at jury duty and would I like to have a bagel and coffee with him around the corner. Of course I quickly dressed myself and the girl and left to meet him. I rounded the corner to my handsome prince reading the paper outside, enjoying his morning before having to return to work. It was nice to see him relax! We had our breakfast and I went off to see my friend Kathy. I had not seen her all summer! She recently had surgery on her jaw and looked like she got socked in the face 100 times by a weightlifter :( It was horrible. I am going to make homemade smoothies at her home tomorrow. So after that I carpooled and dropped the carpool girlie off, dropped my kids off and went to get dinner at Harry's. We were in the mood for fish so I decided to try a new kind! I got a suggestion from the man at the fish counter based on a few requirements. So... below is a recipe for now the SECOND fish my daughter will eat :)

Leeky Halibut - A PJ (with minor help from Ed) Original

1# halibut filet, skinned
2 TBSP canola oil
2 TBSP unsalted butter
1 fresh leek sliced 1/4" thick up to (but not including) the leaves
1/2 Persian lime
1 TBSP fresh minced (or pre-prepped in a tube) ginger
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a skillet on med high heat with the oil and butter until the butter just starts to brown. Add the fish and reduce heat to medium. Separate the leeks into rings and add to the pan. Squeeze all the juice from the lime evenly over the fish and leeks. Cook for 4 minutes and turn the fish. Add the ginger to the pan and incorporate it into the liquid. Cook an additional 6 minutes or until done then serve with vegetable of choice (I chose a sautéed fresh white corn with Vidalia onions)

First week of 1st grade

My sons first week of school has been great! I have been able to spend a little time with the girl one-on-one and I have been cooking again... Why I didn't over the summer, I don't know... The first day of school my son had these great oat bars that I made for his snack (see recipe below). Day 2 he had the oat bar AND I made him "I Can't Believe I Ate the Bowl Dip" which is a refried beans and salsa dip (with shredded cheese and sliced black olives) in a yellow bell pepper "bowl". I gave him tomatoes, carrots and corn chips as the dippers. Yesterday, he got a wheat pita with turkey, raw spinach, sliced cucumbers and shredded carrot. He didn't eat that...*sigh* Today, I made him a sandwich wrap with a sundried tomato basil wrap, sundried tomato cream cheese that I made earlier yesterday, raw spinach, sliced cucumbers, grated cheddar jack cheese and shredded carrot. AND I made these GREAT chai muffins (see recipe below) that he got for a snack today! The girl helped me make those ;) Tomorrow... he will get another "I Can't Believe I Ate the Bowl Dip" and the yummy bagel chips I made from the 2 extra bagels we had from Sunday.

Wow... what to do for the weekend?!!?

Chai-can-believe-how-yummy-these-are Muffins
1 cup milk
1 heaping TBSP instant black tea
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 six ounce container of vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Stir the instant tea in the milk and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together oil, yogurt, sugar and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Pour half into the yogurt mixture, stirring well, followed by the milk/tea mixture and the rest of the flour. Stir only until just combined, then evenly distribute into prepared muffin tin.
Bake for about 21-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the muffin springs back when lightly pressed.
Cool completely on a wire rack.
Makes 12 muffins.

Oat Bars
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups plain instant oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped dried pineapple
1/2 cup coconut


1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the baking mix, oats, brown sugar, butter, applesauce, egg, and cinnamon.

2. Stir the mix with a wooden spoon until you have a crumbly dough. Next, fold in the coconut and the pineapple.

3. Press the dough into an ungreased 9- by 13-inch pan and bake for 17 minutes or until the center is set and the bars are slightly brown. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Makes 1-1/2 dozen 2- by 3-inch bars.

I made these interesting for my son my cutting out large, heart shaped "bars" with a cookie cutter. He was very impressed ;)

So, ya had a bad day...

So, yesterday I woke in a terrible mood. Ed is away. I am sure that is part of it. I also had several things to do that I didn't want to. I went to Starbucks to meet up with a few friends to discuss carpool arrangements for this school year that starts Monday. Before the women got there, my children sat quietly and ate their food as a man and woman sat at the next table discussing divorce. It didn't appear that they were divorcing each other but it was clear one of them (I believe the woman) was going through a divorce. So I kept to myself waiting for my friends to arrive. When they did, the 5 kids played OUTSIDE (take note of that as it will play an important role later -.-) while we sat outside with them and discussed important, mommy-like things. One mom left about 30 minutes later, and then there were 4 children. We sat down and discussed nothing of major importance but decided to let the children play a bit more. The woman that was sitting at the table next to us talking about divorce had long since departed but the man remained. The kids started to play tag and were getting a little loud. Where were we again? OH THAT'S RIGHT! OUTSIDE!... The guy tried to make a phone call and apparently became perturbed. He held his arms away from his person and said LOUDLY... "COME ON!" and motioned to the children. I was already in a very hopped up mood and the triple shot of espresso I had in me did not help. I saw RED and yelled "We are outside! Don't you have a home or an office to go to?!?!". Then he proceeded to tell the person on the phone "Hold on I am in a zoo here!" to which I replied. "You are OBVIOUSLY not a father! The world thanks you for that!". As funny as it seems now... and it does... I swear to you I have not been that angry in a very, VERY long time.... I wanted to (as a wonderful minister friend I know once said) lay my hands on the man without prayer. What the hell right did he have!?!? So, the day didn't get better at that point. I went to get my sons hair done.How can you go wrong at a barber?!?! My son sits very still. I said "Please make it a 1 around the bottom, a 2 on top and fade it up". What barber would not understand that!?!? Needless to say I was tired of fighting so I let it go but I called the shop today and asked #1 if I was charged the right price (which I apparently was... $18) and #2 if I could get her to redo it because it was not short enough. The guy apologized up and down and said the woman would fix it. *sigh* one more thing to do... So the kids are up getting their clothes on now so we can go out and get Dean's hair re-cut. Maybe I will take them to lunch. UGH If I wasn't so sure that my husband would have a fit about it, I would just leave it. God, I miss him... Come home already, will ya!!?!?!