R.G. Ryan tagged me yesterday. Somehow I usually avoid these, but there was no escaping this one!
The rules are posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions and at the end of the post tags 5 suckers, friends and posts their names. You then go to the poor unfortunate soul's blog and let them know you've tagged them, begging for forgiveness and asking them to read your blog. Then you let the person who tagged you know that they are hated, you have posted your answer.
1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Wow, 10 years ago, 1998, eh? Well, I had a 3 year old and almost 1 year old. I think I was spending most of my days packing for my upcoming move to my first house. I think I around July that year I was a counselor at my church's teen camp. Lots of fun. Oh, and I was in the middle of trying to lose my last bits of "baby weight".
2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
1. Laundry (this is always on my list, not that I always do it)
2. Vacuum
3. Cook a yummy dinner for "TV Thursday"
4. Clean out stinky rabbit cage
5. Water newly planted flowers so they don't shrivel up and die
3) Snacks I enjoy:
Currently, Stacy's Parmesan Garlic and Herb Pita Chips and Whole Foods Organic Caramel Truffles. I also keep a jar of pepperocini handy. 10 calories a serving and oh so yummy!
4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Wow, um, give a bunch to my "garage" church so we could buy some land and build the perfect building. Buy an antique store to run with Steve, or just spend my days buying antiques with Steve. Buy our dream home, something historical and fix it up. Travel with my entire family. (I would love to take the kids to Europe so they can experience all the history.)
5) Places I have lived:
Ferndale, MD (different houses, same street from birth til 28) and Waldorf, MD
6) Jobs I have had:
Babysitter extrodinaire, cashier at the electronics dept at Montgomery Ward, day care worker (YWCA and a christian school), temporary receptionist at a pyschologist office (that was interesting!), hanging ads on doors, wife and mom
7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:
jamie, kelly, hannah, steph, and jenny
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Things I'm lovin'
Things I'm loathin'
What was the best thing about your weekend?
Hannah, Jesse, and Libby's visit. They were sweet enought to come and stay with us Saturday night after a week with her sister in law in the DC area. Kelly, Sam, Jenny, Jenny's adorable son, and Gary came over too. Lots of eating, laughing and SingStar-ing. Gary made steaks. Hannah kicked all of our butts on SingStar. Jenny and Libby not only sang, but they added some stellar dance moves along with their performances. I'll post pictures later. I'm too lazy and tired right now. Sadly, I don't have too many. I think that's the sign of a really great time, being so busy you forget to take a bunch of pictures.
Thanks to Hannah, I need to find a Whole Foods soon. I have one Organic Caramel Truffle left and that is not a good thing. I also need Libby's recipe for Meringues. I ate the last one yesterday afternoon.
Yup, it was a great weekend.
]]>I have a confession to make. I went to a baseball game tonight, not because I am a National's fan, but because I love baseball stadium food. Seriously, a Ben's Chili Bowl half smoke with chili, cheese, mustard and onion totally worth having to watch a baseball game. Gary went with us, but I don't post pictures of people with out their written consent. I'm nice like that.
I need to clean the main bathroom, vacuum Victoria's room, fold laundry, but I'm not.
Steve, Gary and I are going to a National's game tonight. It's my first baseball game in over 4 years. I think I'm more excited about the food than the game. Because really, going to a baseball game is all about the food, right?
I missed my bible study this morning. It seems it wasn't as early as I thought it was when I got up. Staying up late and watching movies every night isn't helping me get up early. Although Wicked Little Things was a lot of fun. Creepy, but fun. Seriously, zombie children with empty black eye sockets are ridiculously scary, even if the movie was ridiculously predictable.
Ok, I'm going to go catch up on my Scramble games and then do something productive.
]]>While we were in Tampa last month, we had a bad experience at PF Changs. It seemed they had reduced portion size while keeping prices the same. Like I've said before, I'm fine with paying more at this point. I expect it. However I'm not happy when I order what I think is enough food to feed my family, only to come up short. So Steve e-mailed them, pretty much saying the same thing in a nice manner. Today, a gift card for $40 came in the mail from PF Changs. Woohoo!
In other news, after last week's horrendous accidental chicken jerky, I've decided to make my version of Alice Springs Chicken for "TV Thursday" dinner. I've yet to mess this one up. I'm also making olive oil, parmesan and roasted garlic potatoes and some mukimame. I can't wait.
I've started to read Wicked. It wasn't exactly what I expected. Definetely not for the kiddies, but good. I also picked up the new David Sedaris book. I'm reading a bit here and there when I need a good laugh, savoring it like a fine wine. Oh, and I bought Wuthering Heights out of curiousity thanks to Twilight. I finished The Host. Very, very good. I highly recommend it. Meanwhile, War and Peace is peacefully sitting on my bookshelf gathering dust. The "peace" parts were good, but I was having a hard time getting into the "war".
Last night, Steve and I went into Georgetown. I ended up with new shoes and got to eat at La Madeleine. We've also had Thai food and cheesesteaks this week. And I wonder why I've gained 3 pounds since coming back from Tampa.
I am bummed however that Children of Men came in the mail from Netflix instead of Redneck Zombies. Seriously. I was really looking forward to watching it this weekend. It was filmed in Delmar, MD on a video camera. All the reviews said it was wonderfully bad. Oh well.
Better hop off here. I've got about 2 hours before Rob, Kirsten (formerly known at "the new girl"), and Gary arrive.
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Things I'm not liking
Things I'm loving
So, I realized that when I have nothing planned and the kids are gone, I really really miss them. The house just isn't the same. Honestly, I really like my kids, as much as they might drive me crazy sometimes.
Steve doesn't have any leave time right now so that leaves me at home while he is working. Thursday wasn't bad. I got to see Marlen for the first time in what seems like forever. I would've like to have stayed longer, but Thursdays are "TV Thursday" at my house. I make dinner for Rob, "the new girl", and Gary, then we talk and watch lots of tv. I got homein just enough time to run around like a chicken with my head cut off attempting to clean and cook dinner. I made a lovely chicken jerky on the grill (unintentionally, of course). We attempted to finish watching the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, but just weren't feeling it. We ended up watching the Colbert Report and calling it a night.
I quickly checked my Vox before bed to see if Kelly wanted to meet up for lunch and she was still ignoring me. That's when a light went off in my head and I realized that it's her "weekend" and she doesn't have internet at home right now! I gave her a call and we made lunch plans. It had been almost a year since the last time we met up! Seriously, I'm not letting that much time go by this time and it's not just because she gave me some Cadbury Flake bars and lent me some awesome books. Kelly is just one of those people that I feel like I've known forever. We talked and talked and then talked some more. We were going to watch a movie from her impressive collection (she has awesome taste in movies), but we were enjoying talking too much. Side note, Sam is ridiculously cute. I completely understand why Kelly is wrapped around his paw.
I could've hung out and talked forever but Steve made plans with Rob and "the new girl" to go to dinner and see Get Smart. Gary and the non-blogging brother, Dan went too. So I had to head home. We enjoyed an awesome dinner that included lots of high fiving over things like meatloaf and Good Charlotte. Ok, Gary and I were the only ones that high fived over Good Charlotte, but we like them and we make no apologies for it.
Get Smart was just good and funny. I didn't go in expecting anything but to be entertained and I was. It may have helped that I have never watched an episode of the old Get Smart, so I had no expectations whatsoever.
Today, Steve and I slept in. We have a cookout to go to later. It'll be weird to go without the kids, but I'm sure we'll have a good time anyway!
]]>One of my favorite things to do is grocery shop. I really do love it. Scanning the ads, writing the list, clipping the coupons, planning the meals. I love every part of it. Well, I could do without having to lug it all in the house, but everything else I love.
I've noticed something in the last couple of months that irritates me. I first noticed it when I was purchasing some lovely Hamburger Helper (yes, I love that stuff). I pulled one box off the shelf, then grabbed another. The second one was smaller and lighter. Hmmm. I looked at the weight. Less food, same price. Sneaky General Mills. You didn't get one over on me.
A week or so later, I was buying some Breyer's ice cream. I noticed some were 1.75 quarts, while others (same flavor) were 1.5 quarts. Same price. I was peeved enough when ice cream went from a half gallon to 1.75 quarts, but reducing the size again. Grrrrrr.
They've done the same thing with cereal. It just irks me. Look, I understand prices are going up. I expect to pay more. Just don't try and trick me into thinking I'm still getting low prices while giving me smaller portions. I would rather pay more and get the same amount.
You may be able to fool some people, but you aren't fooling me!
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