Uhhhhh, I can explain!

“A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains. “
DUTCH PROVERB

Wednesday morning:

Gavin: “Mom, I like my hair long, but it keeps falling in my eyes during homework.”

Me: “OK sweetie, we’ll get it cut on Monday.”

Gavin: “MONDAY??? That’s like in FIVE days!”

ME: “It will pass quickly. We’re going out to the desert this weekend and you won’t b doing any homework there”.

Gavin: “ OK, but I really want it short this time”.

Me: “You’ve got it cupcake (wink).

While making pizza Thursday night, something interesting caught my eye.

Oooooopsie

Me: “G-A-V-I-N! What happened here???” Rhetorical of course.

Gavin: “Don’t worry mom, be happy. They’ll fix it and you won’t even be able to tell”

Apparently, while most dread Monday, for Gavin it couldn’t come soon enough. How does a nine-year-old think this will go unnoticed?

Kids!

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

There are many things that my handsome husband does well. One thing that’s got to be at the top of my list is his unbelievable talent and mastery over the common barbeque. Now I know that lot’s of men are pretty good with “The Que” but mine? Watch out Deen Brothers (who?).

I picked up some mouth watering rib-eye steaks during my last visit to the market, time for my honey to perform his magic. Now Kevin doesn’t just throw them on a gas grill and flip ’em over from time to time. No, he has an entire ritual that must be practiced exactly to his specifications. They must marinate in secret ingredients for no less than an hour (only because I don’t give him more time). They must be set gently upon the perfect set of coals at precisely the right temperature. The mesquite chips must be in their perfect place after being soaked for the perfect amount of time. These….. are his babies, coddled, cared for, delicately handled until they slice like butta and melt in your mouth.

Now let me tell you that it’s no easy task finding a side dish worthy of sharing the same plate with these babies. No Uncle Ben’s or garden variety potatoes will do (garden variety, that’s funny. Are there any other kind?).

So off I went to seek wisdom and knowledge from that which holds all knowledge and the answers to life’s mysteries… Nooooo, not Oprah. The internet!

A fresh salad was a given. This one can’t come from a bag. The natural choice for another side would have been some kind of garlic mashed potato…but… we’d consumed our fair share of the mashed method over the holidays so that didn’t quite ring my bell.

OK, it’s time for me to reveal my new hero. Her name is Ree Drummond AKA: The Pioneer Woman (see the link to her blog on the right, thank you Juany). Not only is this woman hilarious but her recipes and photography tips are a tremendous resource for busy moms and wanna be photographers. Well, that’s not entirely true for me. I’m not a wanna be, I just wanna have better photos for my family to treasure someday. Anyway, back to the story. I found a new potato recipe on PW’s site; Crash Hot Potatoes and they are AWESOME!

The recipe calls for new potatoes but I used red potatoes because I already had them and they were fantastic. You can find the recipe by clicking the link and then the tab for cooking. The three of us love to cook almost as much as we love to eat (blushing). Gavin created his own potato recipe called “Bubbataters” which were pretty sinkin’ good I might add. More on those later. Anyhoodle, here are a few pics of our dinner extraordinaire. I don’t take very pretty food pictures so they don’t really do the dinner justice but it sure was the tastiest beef critter and tater dinner I’ve had in a while.

Bon appétit!

Marinated and straight off the grill.

MY TIME OF YEAR...

My time of year


It sounds so poetic doesn’t it? Like a good chick flick, maybe even lyrical. I’m thinking like…Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett “who?” my younger friends are asking themselves.

But when I say” MY TIME OF YEAR”, I mean it like….you know…. a cycle, for lack of a better term. Some people get emotional EVERY month, for me, I just store it ALL up for one big MOTHER LOAD time of year.

I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia of another year past or having survived another birthday or maybe I’m still in denial over the fact that my nine-year-old didn’t ask Santa for things like; Tickle me Elmo or Barney or…. Hey wait! What am I saying? That’s good thing right? I personally think it’s a prerequisite for a career in vocal acting to create the most annoying voice ever spoken on the planet, and each new character is superbly more annoying than the previous. It’s why mommies take little yellow pills. Anyway, I digress. So Gavin is on to the really big boy things now; video games, cool movies, music and perhaps it is this that contributes to my madness. I’m an emotional train wreck. Here’s what I mean….


Something wonderful happens for a friend or family member,

I CRY.

Something terrible happens to a friend or family member,

I CRY.

We watch a movie with a sad ending,

I CRY.

We watch a movie with a happy ending,

I CRY.


I don’t have enough butter for this recipe.
The phone rings.
Gavin got a grade between A-F.
The vacuum won’t pick up this piece of lint…… well, you get the idea.
CRY, CRY, CRY...


And I’m not a big “Boo-Hoo-er” mind you. Most will admit that I don’t have tons–o-tolerance for too much drama (save it for yo mamma) but as I stop and recall, I think that this is the third January in a row that I’ve been extremely, ridiculously, OVER THE TOP emotionally mercurial and sentimental, though mostly in a good way. I mean, I think of all of the GREAT relationships we have and I can’t help but feel undeserving at times.

Our lives are so blessed with wonderful people, a cozy warm home, traveling opportunities, more than enough food (the proof is in the puddin’ baby), financial freedom (relatively speaking) and then I think about all those kids in third world countries with their bellies all swollen up and they’re orphaned at age 5 (I feel the need for a tissue coming on) and I can’t understand how someone like me gets to live in the lap of luxury when they don’t even have a lap.

Oh sure, we experience death and sadness and tragedies big and small but nothing to the degree or with the regularity that those kids and others in the world do.

Now I’m not saying that I’m sad enough to trade places with ‘em. I haven’t quite grown personally enough for that yet (maybe I’ll add that to the list of goals for this....no....next....no..... a few years from now) but for today, I’m just very thankful to be who I am and where I am . Ughh. Where’s a mamma when you need one?

OK, off to Rite-Aid. I have a coupon for 50% off Kleenex. Hmmmm, some chamomile tea would be nice…….or tequila.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONAH

Jonah Meehan is FOURTEEN years old today.

(Who told him he could grow up so fast?)

Have a SUPER DAY Jonah, we love you!

LOOKING AHEAD

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

2009 Goals



Donna

• Lose weight (REALLY? AGAIN?)
• Keep a tighter budget and earn from home.
• Add 2 new friends.
• Add 5 more favorite books (how many will I need to read to find them?)
• Purge and organize entire house. Less is more.
• Add thirty new recipes.
• Take more photography classes.
• Show my family and friends how much they mean to me. Deepen relationships.
• Serve more, complain less.
• And always….try to be a better wife and mom.

Kevin

• Lose weight, get healthier.
• Read more books.
• Spend more time reading with Gavin.
• Get the guitar out and build a new pedal.
• Teach Gavin how to play the guitar.
• Organize the garage (REALLY? AGAIN?)
• Lay flagstone in the backyard.
• Add one new good friend.
• Join a new bible study group.


Gavin

• Stick to a better schedule.
• Add 2 new friends.
• Eat healthier (what mom makes for me.)
• Play outside more with friends. Less Wii and DS.
• Swim lessons

Family goal; To spend more time connecting and reconnecting with the people we do love, have loved and those we hope to love.