YAY DEAN!

So yesterday, my son did something I was SO proud of... I have to post it here for posterity! He recycled a cardboard toy box without being prompted, asked or told! Now, that may not mean much to any of you, but my son is only 6, and the environmental issues we face today is such a HUGE deal to me (and my husband). For my little boy to do that, unprompted.... unscripted... im just so proud :)

On another note... I had the best meal I have had in a LONG TIME last night... Hubby and I went on a "date" and I had a filet oscar with a lemon caper sauce. YUM! Ok yeah it was nearly $50 for the steak but it was SO GOOD! I think the part that impressed me me most was the crab meat. It was not only PERFECTLY COOKED, but there was no shell or cartlidge in the 5oz. and there was no filler... just seasoning and meat... OMG fantastic! I recommend Stoney River to anyone looking for a good (al beit expensive) meal.

Father's Day 2008

I let my dearest sleep in this morning. Yesterday I also did a little laundry so the burden he usually bears would be much lighter. And we went to his favorite restaurant, Sushi Nami on Windward. Those of you in the area who like sushi should try this place. I like sushi but it is not my favorite thing. My dearest, however, would be happy eating that every night of his natural life. This place has THE BEST sushi in the area, by far. Ed has traveled several times now to Tokyo and has eaten sushi in the heart of the sushi capitol. This place is authentic, fresh and just plain yummy! Even the pickled ginger is better! So my children share (because I knew my 6 year old son would eat some sushi) the children's plate of teriyaki chicken and tempura chicken (the Elmo plate) with mixed vegetables (zucchini and broccoli). My husband orders his usual of Ebi (cooked shrimp), Unagi (barbequed eel), lightly... and I MEAN lightly seared Tuna... I have no idea what the sushi name for that is, and a unique sushi of theirs called "Bull's eye" that had white tuna, cucumber and some greenish roe on top. I stuck to Kappa Maki (cucumber roll), avocado roll and California roll. What I got was pretty standard and the only room for error they could have had was the California roll. However, It was perfect! I am not even sure it had mayo in it though some tend to put it in... I personally think it ruins the roll but I digress. I watched the sushi chefs all through dinner as much as I could while correcting my overly tired children so they would behave. If you have not ever seen a sushi chef at work, I encourage you to watch them. And I don’t mean the ones at the supermarket that play chefs on TV, I mean go to an upscale sushi bar and just watch them. It is so personal! They mould your dinner with their bare hands. You watch them wash their hands after every single set of sushi. The things they work with... whole fish, monkfish livers, octopus, shark fin... things you would never in your life want to eat or even look at, they work their magic like pros! The slicing is even an art... So Dean had about 6 Kappa rolls tonight in addition to his half of a kid's meal. Ed did not order him any shrimp or eel but he loves that as well. He was also snacking on the ginger. I tell you, I hope that place is around for a long while. That is a tough area for restaurants because there are SO MANY and people have their pick, but the quality of this place is beyond phenomenal.

Fishing and tidbits

I feel like if I do not blog everyday, I am missing out on telling everyone SO MUCH about the things I see...

A few blurbs... I saw a SWEET car the other day, a silver corvette. That in itself is just all right but with a vanity plate that said "MYMACH5" and a Speed Racer plate frame it was TOTALLY COOL! Also, I think I spied some sort of sports celebrity. It was a big, African-American man with a black Mercedes. The Mercedes had Fulton plates and said it was a "1456". I don't think Mercedes makes a 1456 so that must have been custom. The woman he was with was driving a black Land Rover with Ontario plates. He had a platinum ring on his pinky with a HUGE diamond in the center and crusted diamonds around it. WOW. No idea who the hell he was though. Oh well LOL

We went fishing yesterday with Kathy and her kids and a few friends I know from the Internet. That was SO MUCH FUN! I haven't been fishing in, literally, 22 years! I caught a blue gill "You have just advanced 1 fishing level!" WOOT! Chandler caught a BIG 'un though!

We had such a blast and I think we will make this a yearly meeting for me and the kids and Mark, Chandler and their fam :) The kids got along SO well! Jessie said she wanted to marry Chandler LOL The girls could have cared less about fishing. They took their chairs off to the shade, took sticks, put cheese puffs on the sticks and pretended to have a weenie roast!

I cannot tell you how fun it was. Mark has a wonderful family. I loved his wife, Caren! I really wish TB and fam would have gone :P I think he would have had fun despite his thinking he would not have... MAYBE NEXT YEAR! :P

Tonight we will go to dinner again. I think we decided on Bahama Breeze. I love the chicken pasta ;) Tomorrow, I am taking the kids to the free movie, AND to the Mrs. Butterfly in the afternoon... Then I guess I HAVE to go grocery shopping... man... I need food in this house. Summer tends to be very busy LOL I like to do things every day with the kids. #1 it wears them OUT and #2 it justifies me not putting them in camps LOL

Hodge Podge

Bought a couple bikes yesterday. If you read my blog you will have read that the boy has earned it... By default, the girl got one too. We like to tell them they are a "team" so he got the win for her. The graciousness lasted for about 5 minutes LOL They are great looking bikes though. Jessie was riding hers like a pro. I remember when I had a bike with a basket and tassles (like the one she just got). Man, where has the time gone? But, I have a little plug for Cycle Works in Roswell. They were amasing to us :).

"Graduation" is tomorrow. I am very excited. I was supposed to make cookies for the pool party afterwards. I made brownies. Think that is ok? Ah well. I have so much stuff to do tomorrow. SO MUCH! The teacher didn't really keep me in the loop about tomorrow so I had about 4 of the 16 other parents ask me about the happenings tomorrow. I will be happy when tomorrow is over LOL

Fishing on Monday. Ya know, I have not gone fishign in 20+ years, literally. Should be fun though! Maybe I will post pics.

Gotta get sleep before I look like I have pink eye for my kids graduation tomorrow. *yawn*

Moms can't GET sick!

Today is the 3rd day I have had a touch of a cold or a sinus infection. As a mother, and for those of you who are parents will appreciate this, I cannot get sick... and if I am, I cannot allow myself the luxury of the rest it takes for me to get better in any decent amount of time. So I suffer through a lengthy recovery period where I am miserable. Get over it, PJ! But, I did get some nice white tea with tangerine and honey last night... Was yummy to say the least!

Today I worked on the cookbook for my son's teachers for the last day of school. This will go with the apron the kids put their painted hands on last week that reads "Hands down, best teacher". This was my idea for the most part ;). I am proud of it too! It came out cute! The cookbook, however, is a masterpiece. I will print it out this weekend at hubby’s office. Nothing like stealing a few color prints from your job LOL Trust me, it is the LEAST they can do for him. I haven’t decided exactly what cover to put on it yet. I used to have some navy cardstock that was left over from my wedding, but I ACTUALLY cleaned out my daughter's closet and I think I may have tossed them after 7 years... JUST WHEN I NEED THEM! And I always tell my husband, "I may need that someday!” This is a PERFECT example!

Tomorrow is my son's best friend’s birthday party. It is a wizard birthday. I will enjoy it because I have not seen our best friends for MONTHS, literally :(. We have all just been too busy!

OK... I have a few rants... first, if I OBVIOUSLY go out of my way to let you in front of me in traffic, WAVE TO ME! Put down the cell phone, sweet tea and cigarette and put up your ungrateful hand to acknowledge that you aren't such an ass and did not recognize I put on my breaks for you!!! How hard is it? REALLY?!?!? Second, I was in line at MacDonald’s this morning to get hotcakes for the kids to eat on the way to school. It is a Friday morning ritual. There was a man in front of me ordering and I overheard his order. Those that know me know I have a more than a few pounds to lose... but... if you are in line to get McDonalds for breakfast, do NOT order a "butter biscuit, a large SWEET TEA and a hash browns." For heavens sake that is a heart attack walking! What are you THINKING!?!?!? No wonder this country has a high obesity rate! And finally, if you have a child that is 10-16, monitor what the hell your child wears out of the house! The girls today look like the women on the Girls Gone Wild videos and the boys look like they are straight out of a rap video. I swear to heaven there was a girl no older than 16 with her boyfriend today. She had on a shirt that went halfway to her navel! The boyfriend was decently dressed but the kid that came in after him had on a pair of pants that the crotch hung to his knees. Who the hell invented that!?!? WHY did they think that was attractive in any way shape or form? I do not CARE what kind of boxers you have on!

*steps off soapbox*

A bicyle built for DEAN!

The last few days I have not had much luck in the sleep department. Besides being extremely busy with getting my son's teachers end of school presents ready (which by the way, ONE of the 17 parents still has not given a recipe... after 4 requests), I am just not getting quality sleep. I wake up an hour before I am supposed to as well as several times in the night. I do not think anything is weighing on my mind. Maybe it is too hot? BAH... I hope it ends soon...

So, my little 6 year old boy had behavioral problems this year. He is a rambunxious child (typical boy) and has attention problems like his mother. However, it is not affecting his brilliance ;). He is such a smart child. He was not reading at the begining of this year and now is in chapter books... he has ZOOMED above his peers in many areas but often found him self in the principals office for lack of control. He is not malicious by any stretch of the imagination, quite the opposite in fact. He just has alternative ideas about what he should be doing I guess LOL. To encourage good behavior at school, we tried a "positive reinforcment" chart. Today, he hit pay dirt! He had to get 30 days of good behavior at school to get a new bike. The first few weeks after we started his stamp chart (we stamped an excel printout for every good day) he was perfect! Then after spring vacation he started to revert. There have been no principal visits since the chart came to be, though! I am very proud of him. He does work very hard to do the right thing :). I will be THRILLED when summer is officially here... Most parents are the opposite I guess, but I love the ability to make my children's schedules again!

Out and about

It has been a little busy. Friday night we went out for dinner to Shane's. Nothing like having pork for Shabbat dinner! My mother-in-law would plotz! I digress... So the ribs were VERY good. Their brunswick stew was rather tasty and I am not usually a fan of that. However, everything but the meat seemed pre-packaged or store bought... I had to take half of my dinner home. Mental note, a full rack of ribs is a LOT OF DAMN FOOD!But, that made dinner for Dean and a snack for me last night! Saturday was clean up day. I worked on the family room all morning then we went to a late lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Ed is not usually a fan of Sweet Tomatoes but he indulged me. Then, me and Jessie, the girl with "air conditioner"* in her hair, dropped the boys off and went to her friends house for her friend's brother's birthday. Alex turned 1 and had family and close friends over. I am proud to be considered a "close friend". Jessie's friend, Joshie, is recently potty trained and as a reward was allowed to go to the golden arches for fries, one of his favorite treats. He was allowed to invite one friend and he invited me... not Jessie... me LOL. I am "Miss PJ". What can I say... he loves me! Anyhow, we had a blast (as usual) with the Nover and the Abrams families then home for a small dinner.

This morning our children woke us early, as usual, but were surprisingly not brutal about it! So my husband motions to me while we are both still lying in bed. He points to himself, and then to me... then to his eye... then puts his two fingers on my arm as if his fingers were "hopping". So we went to IHOP for breakfast. I guess you had to be there? No no... I am surely glad you were not! Awkward... When we came home from IHOP we decided to watch Evan Almighty. That was a great movie... I mean, I thought it was going to be a silly kind of movie but it really was awesome! Then I left the kids with Ed so I could go to Publix. I swear I am beginning to hate that I shop there. Their produce has been consistently poor for months, they are out of 50% of their sale items and their only saving grace is a crotchety, 150 yr old bagger with a lot of spunk and personality. Sad I think. So I have to go to Harry's tomorrow to finish shopping. This is, of course, AFTER I go to Dean's school in the morning and help with the end of school teacher project. I guess there is no question why I am tired!

* Jessie went to the Atlanta Cisco office on Friday with Ed. Someone had commented on her hair and how pretty it was. She said "My mommy puts air conditioner in it to make it so soft!" Out of the mouths of babes...