Saturday Shout-Out iheartfaces

This site is all about photography.  I think it's pretty cool.  There are contests and challenges every week.  And great tutorials.  Check it out!

http://www.iheartfaces.com/

obsessed

I think I am becoming obsessed with taking pictures of clouds and the sky.

And flowers. 

And barns. 

And cows. 

Wordless Wednesday - Lazy Pool Days

For Goodcheapeats.com - What's on Your Plate Wednesday, I decided to share one of my favorite Summer Salads, which is appropriate because, well, it's summer!

Handfull of Mixed Greens

1/2 cup of No-Sugar-Added Mandarins

1/8 cup Craisins

1/4 Avocado

1/8 cup Goat Cheese

1 TBL Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Olive Oil

Do-Over

Someone just asked me, "If you had one do-over in life, what would it be?"  and there is no way I could come up with just one answer.  Because there are so many moments that I would love to be able to do over, just because wondering about different outcomes is something that totally consumes me at times.

But I often think that those things that maybe I regret, or are embarrassed about, or just plain want to forget kind of brought me to where I am right now.  Sure, I wish I could do over that mortifying car ride home from a concert at SPAC with my sister Jen, one of her old boyfriends and one of his friends -- I mean, in reality, if I could do that night over I sure would feel a whole lot less like a loser, but in the scheme of things, that night of misbehaving and drinking too much would never change anything about my life now.  Except maybe if that night never happened I could tolerate the smell of rum a little better.  But let's not go there.

I like to think that even the things that I regret and am embarrassed about have taught me something.  

One for sure do-over would be not caring more about college options, and not putting more of an effort into school work in general even, way back in the day.  I know I would definitely care more if I could do that over.  I just kind of accepted mediocrity, did not push myself to excel, and sort of gave up as far as school was concerned.  I slid by under the radar and totally accepted the B's.  I figured, at least I was passing without too much effort.  But that laziness drives me crazy now, as an adult.  If I had tried even a little bit, I could have done so much more!  Now, I mostly feel like that ship has sailed, and that makes me sad.

I also wish I could have a do-over with some relationships that I had in the past.  Like with people who I didn't treat as well as I should have, or people I never should have wasted my time on... if I could do some of those over, I would.  Definitely.  I hate that I sabotaged some of the best relationships over my own fears, that I accepted sub-par treatment from both boyfriends and girl friends, that I threw away opportunities of real and lasting friendships with people that were good and kind and loving.  There really are people that I wish I could go back to, as a mature grown-up vs. a selfish kid, and just apologize to.

Most of all though, if I could have any do-overs, it would be certain quiet moments with my kids when they were little.  What I wouldn't give to lay in bed with Kara while she drank a milk ba-ba, and rubbed her pacifier on her cheek, or rock Meg while she twirled her soft curls into little knots, or sit with Alex while he happily splashed in the kitchen sink "bath," or scratch Brookie's arms and sing her lullabies while she tried to go to sleep...

Oh yes, I would love a do-over with those moments, but only so I could thoroughly enjoy and appreciate them for what they were. 

Saturday Shout-Out

So another blog that I stumbled across one day that totally caught my eye is the Cheeky Kitchen.  Brooke is a great cook.  (ooh, that rhymed!)  And I love the way she photographs her food.  And I love the way her food tastes.  I would love it even better if she came and made her food for me though. 

But seriously, her desserts are beyond incredible, and I made her butter cream frosting and couldn't stop eating it.  I tried to freeze it so it would be harder to sneak a lick and it didn't even deter me.  Have you ever eaten frozen frosting?  It's pretty great.

http://www.cheekykitchen.com/

tractors and levitating

Last night at our house:

"Thanks for dinner Mom.  I'm going out front to ride my tractor for a while."  the 4-yr-old girl.

"I'm going upstairs to practice levitating." the 12-yr-old boy.

"Well, I guess I'll just go to my room then." the 21-yr-old girl.

bock bock. what the H?

So I went into the grocery store the other day, quite lazily unprepared for dinner.  I was thinking maybe BBQ chicken on the grill, maybe a little corn on the cob. 

I was perusing the chicken section of the meat case, and I was excited to see that our local grocery had finally stepped into the 2000's (Gosh, that sounds dumb) and started carrying organic, free range chicken. 

I've been wanting to go free range for like, ever, so I grabbed a package that looked like it had enough meat to feed the fam, and I almost tripped when I saw the sticker price for a snitch over one and a half pounds of meat.  TWENTY-SEVEN DOLLARS.  Yup, I said it.  Now my question is, who pays 27 bucks for four little pieces of uncooked chicken?  By all means if the Grand Union wants to marinate it, pop it on the grill then serve it to me and my family on a silver platter -- maybe I could justify the money.

I want to go organic, I want to go free-range - I really do!  But who can afford that on a daily basis??  That is seriously pretty much 4 times the amount that I typically pay for regular chicken.  No wonder our store doesn't carry it, I would venture a guess that the meat probably goes bad before anyone in our town would buck up for that.

Oh well, guess I will have to wait til we win the lottery.

wordless wednesday - beautiful day

for Abby and Bridgett

Two of my nieces happened to read my blog the other day, and they went through all 178 posts and decided that they were very poorly represented.


So I guess it is time they get their own feature. 


I will start with Abigail Elizabeth, who is going to be celebrating her 14th birthday this month. She is so smart and pretty, and always tries to get me to convince her Mom to let her do things that she isn't allowed to do.  She writes really intriguing poetry, and can easily put words to paper that seem to flow so naturally.  When I think of Abby, my brain automatically conjures up the image of the soft pink doll that I gave her when she was just a baby, "Babya," who was never far from her reach.   I remember how Abby sucked her thumb while holding Babya, and tickled her ribbon.  I think of how hard it was for Abby to accept change, how much she was afraid of as a little kid.  I remember her dimply little cheeks and her devilish grin, wispy brown hair and tiny little self.  Whenever I see Abby, she hugs me hard and isn't afraid to tell me she loves me.  She's such a good kid - even though she teases her brother mercilessly and eats too much candy.  The thing that makes me smile the most is seeing the worn and dingy collection of Babya's that still have a place on her bed - no matter how grown up Abba gets, I have this feeling Babya won't ever be tossed aside.  And I love that.

 And 12-year-old Bridgett Catherine, my beautiful blue-eyed and raspy-voiced God child, wanted me to be sure to mention that she is a Level 6 competitive gymnast.  She is such a funny strong-willed kid.  She doesn't let herself ever be bulldozed, and always seems to speak her mind.  She is in no way a follower, and will not do anything that she doesn't want to do.  In fact, I remember Bridgett refusing to walk til she was good and ready, at about 15 months.  She gets that spirited will from her Irish father I think!  She was always such a sweet, tiny little peanut.  Bridgett loves to sew and do crafts, and is always making something.  She's so thoughtful and caring, and when she was little used to make us pillows out of paper and stuffing.  She has such a great imagination, and will play school with her sister for hours.  I love that Bridgett is so dedicated to Gymnastics - seeing her compete and master such challenges has been really exciting.  I cannot wait to see how far she will go.