The Cold Week

This past week was supposed to be an easy week at work. But then, on Monday the weather turned cold and icy snow started falling. It continued through the night until Tuesday when the roads turned icy and almost everything here in Durham closed starting with the schools. Yep, it was a snow day but the kids were not happy.

For one, snow days mean they had to make up the day. That day is next Saturday. Wouldn't you be mad to have to go to school on a Saturday?

Second, it was the last week of the semester and final tests were supposed to be this week and next week would have been an optional week, meaning they didn't have to go to school if they didn't have to make up a test and such. Instead, they will be taking their finals next week.

For us adults, it was more of the worry of losing power due to ice. The grocery stores were packed the night before as people stocked up on the basics like bread, milk and eggs. At the hardware store, it was a rush for flashlights, candles and generators. The Honda eu2000i type of generators, the ones on the smaller end, were the most popular. The large once can power a whole house but for a short time without power the small portables ones would do nicely to keep your necessary appliances like your refrigerators and freezers and lights going. We lucked out this time though, we didn't lose power. But it sure was cold!

Chicken Soup and Some TLC

I went to pick up my daughter from school last Monday. She finished with her finals and she is now on semester break. Is she glad to be home! We're glad to have her home too, but unfortunately she came home sick. She has been sick all week, all through her exams even. Poor baby got the flu just as her finals were starting last week. She's a trooper though, after a small bout of whining, she got herself together and finished all her tests. She says that she has a good feeling about them, so hopefully she really did do alright.

She said most of the tests were pretty standard. Except for one computer class she had where they actually used some of the gadgets they have been learning about like the Symbol LS2208 bar code scanners.


So anyway, she's been relaxing since she got home, finally finding time to nurse her flu/cold. I went and got her some medicine and cooked her some soup and gave her a bit of TLC that she was sorely missing at school. We figure we'll wait a week before we put her to work. lol! j/k!!

A snowy and sleepy night...

I just posted this for the Hickory Farms Blog Tour last night on my food blog. I did it again at the last minute and sort of on the run. I really had meant to post it much earlier in the weekend but we had snow last Saturday! And you know how distracting that can be. Oh, you don't know?

There is something about snow that just makes you want to eat. Maybe it's our innate need to hibernate or something. No matter what it is, when the snow flakes started falling on Saturday afternoon and they just kept on falling steadily through the night, all I could think of was, what are we going to eat next!

Good thing we had the gift pack from Hickory Farms. That's one of the things we munched on. I also kept wanting to make soups so I ended up making a thick and meaty chili for the husband, and a soupy broth with noodles and veggies for me and the girls.

Before, during and after our noshing sessions, we had a marathon of tv viewing. I actually ended up staying late last night watching Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez in the Wedding Planner. Have you ever seen that movie? I thougth I have, but I realized that I have only seen the first 30 minutes of it or so. It was actually pretty good, makes you forget any bridesmaid dresses nightmares you may have had from your past, and makes you wish you'd get rescued by someone as handsome as Matthew. LOL!

How was your weekend?

My oldest daughter, who's been away at college, came home last weekend for her baby sister's birthday. She hasn't been home since she went away in August and we've missed her. It sure was nice to have her home. She also missed my cooking so it was a good thing she came home on her sister's birthday weekend, we cooked up a mess of food and she went away happy and with all the leftovers. lol!

It was tiring for me since I had to go pick her up last Friday and when we've gone to her school in the past, her dad always drove us. This was the first time I drove the 6 hours roundtrip on my own. Then it was the same way again when it came time to take her back on Sunday. We got started late yesterday so it was late last night by the time we got home. I'll have to find something now to remove dark circles under eyes, but that's ok. It was worth it just having my three girls home at the same time.

The first thing my daughter asked for when she got home is, Tocino! It's what she wanted for breakfast, so Saturday morning, this is what she ate.

Green Tea and an Apple

Wednesdays have gotten bad for me because of the Food Quote meme. Friends start tagging me on their food photos on facebook and before you know it, I'm salivating and my stomach is grumbling. BTW, this is also about the same time that the damned donut ad pops up on the sidebar! It's a conspiracy against dieters, I tell you! If I knew of any diet pills that work, I could be a very happy person indeed. BUT, life is not fair, is it? So I drool over food photos and my stomach can jump up and down all it wants. All I have for it today is green tea and an apple. So mean, ha?

So what are you having for breakfast? Yeah, yeah, I know it's almost noon.... but I'm still working on breakast, alright? :)

'Tis the Season

It's graduation season and it seems a lot of our family is graduating this year. We've received two announcements so far and our daughter is also graduating from high school this year. It's a big milestone for them, and exciting for all of us on the sidelines. It brings back memories of the time when we were going through the same rituals.

What this season also means is that they are getting ready to step into college. For us on the sidelines, it's the anticipation of more changes. Unfortunately, even though I have been seeing some impressive Branson vacation packages, we won't be taking any extended vacations this year. Most of our funds are going towards getting our daughter moved into college. If she ever decides which one to go to, that is!

The door is open... AGAIN

Wow, time really flies when you get distracted and frustrated. Yes, worst than having a broken doorbell button, this house has been essentially on lock down for the last month and a half. It all started with work. I pulled off, singlehandedly, I'm proud to say, a three day workshop flawlessly. That took a lot of my time though and at the end of most days I was so exhausted that I could not even look at the computer anymore.

Sorry about that. But now, I am determined to get back on track and distractions be damned. Ultimately, I find that I only have to please myself and no one else. It's a hard lesson to learn when you have a family depending on you and a full time job that is completely reliant on your attention.I finally had to pull myself back and remind myself that I am one person, not superwoman, and no one else can be happy unless I am happy. There have been too many times these past couple of months when I wasn't happy. So that's ending today. So welcome back to our home, the door is again open for business. :)

A Sunny Sunday

It was a beautiful day in the Carolinas today. A fitting way to start out spring. Yes folks, we're finally done with winter!

So this weekend we were outside most of the time. We started working on the garden. I harvested some herbs for dinner and even some early greens. They were delicious! My husband took advantage of the warm weather to wash off the winter grime off the cars and even managed to do some minor maintenance work like replenish fluids like the motor oil and anti-freeze on all the cars including the aging Toyota Corolla that we're keeping as a backup car. I say backup because it's a 'just in case' car. It's not in the top condition anymore and needing to have some parts either repaired or replaced. My husband says that it will soon need to have the water pump replaced, for one thing. We're actually considering selling it and getting a newer model and a more reliable car for the girls to drive. He's thinking of selling it for cheap to his cousin who works in a Chicago auto repair shop. At least he will take the car as is without us having to make sure it is in a safe and running condition.

In the meantime though, it is taking up space in our driveway. My husband washed a minivan, the Corolla and a pickup truck in one afternoon. That's quite an achievement, don't you think? No wonder he's already snoring from exhaustion!

Winter Sunshine

The weather turned nice for a couple of days this week and we took advantage of the beautiful weather by going out for walks. As I have said before, I don't usually make New Year's resolutions but rather simply follow a sensible living style. No need to get fat burner pills and heavy exercise equipments, for now we'll stick with the old fashioned way and eat sensibly and exercise.

So when the sun came out today, we hit the trails. It was a bit muddy, but it was refreshing to be out and about.

The Annual Cut

Seems like January is turning out to be my annual hair cut month. It's been exactly a year since I last cut my hair and I had gotten back to the old habit of pulling my hair back into a pony tail, so I figured it was time for a trim. I don't like to pull my hair back too often as it also pulls it out and my hair is thin enough as it is. I don't need to encourage more pull outs. At least I haven't resorted to any hair loss treatments yet, but at the rate that my hair is thinning, I may have to do something about it soon.

While I got my hair cut, I also cut my daughter's hair. I think I did a pretty good job and saved some money too. Here's her bob. What do you think?

Playing with Cars

One of my favorite things to do is exploring. I like to walk, but not around a track or city block. I like to go hiking in the woods and discover new trails. During one of our treks at a cousin's estate, we ran across this old abandoned truck in the woods behind their house. I love finding old cars like this.

It's a wonder finding these old treasures. Compared to car prices now, it's hard to imagine that this old truck cost probably just a fraction of a comparable model now. But if you look at how it's made, how much more sturdy its body is, how much more pleasing its design... I think I would rather drive one of these than the new fiberglass trucks. My girls were commenting how much it is like Bella's truck in Twilight. LOL! what can I say, we're still Twilight obsessed in our house. :)

Holidays Underway

Some say that the holidays begin with Thanksgiving. I believe it starts with Halloween. Before the masks, costumes and candies were cleared from the shelves, Thanksgiving paraphernalia have already claimed their space. Before long, preparations for the holidays are underway. Fall cleaning starts with the steam cleaners out to clear out the summer's stains, the decor is changed to the warmer colors of autumn, and the cookbooks are dusted off in search of new recipes to try for the feasts.

All these preparations threw me for a loop this year especially since it also coincided with the upheaval at work. The company I worked for instituted a RIF (Reduction in Force) which felt more like a RIP. The acronym for reduction in personnel would have been more apt to describe what it felt like. It did feel like the rug was ripped from under me as my department was reduced to half as the company prepared for the next year's reorganization. Being ripped was apt for how I felt this past month.

But, life goes on, doesn't it? We do the best we can and push forward. So we go through the motions. I've cleaned out the office and the house but it still feels like something has been ripped out of me. This year, sadly, it feels eerily empty both literally and metaphorically. The holidays are underway regardless.

A Productive Weekend

I had a very productive weekend at home; got quite a few things accomplished plus a few more. First, we (my husband and I) cleaned out the garden. Took out dead plants, harvested the last remaining tomatoes, squashes, swiss chard, and sweet potato tops. See, it's starting to dip below 32F at night and it's starting to scorch the cold sensitive plants. My husband dug up our sweet potatoes too and now I have a big bucket of sweet potatoes to cook. OH, and don't forget leeks. We got a bunch of leeks too!

By the time I finished washing, cutting and cooking everything up, our freezer is almost full again. I also managed to cook up some delicious banana muffins this weekend. I thought we'd have them for the rest of the week to take with our lunches, but I was wrong. *-*

Anyway, being that busy at home meant I didn't get to do much online. My facebook status was: harvesting for real and not on farmtown. lol! I had some reviews, blog maintenance and web directory submission tasks on my blogging to do list but I didn't get to them so I guess I will try to squeeze them in this week.

So here's to another busy week! Hope you have a productive one.

Giveaway Weekend

I'm always glad to see Fridays come around. TGIF! right? I love having the weekend to relax. Even though I don't always relax but end up doing errands, I just like the idea of being able to relax and do nothing if I chose to.

Weekends have also gotten to be time to check out all the giveaways going on in the blogosphere. I've already won several items and it's always exciting to get a treat in the mail. My girls have gotten to look forward to mail deliveries just to see what new treat they'll get to try out. Of course their favorite are the food products.

This weekend we have some chores to do first. Chores that have to do with the weather like weather proofing the house for the colder months, changing the air filters with a summer's worth of accumulated dust and who knows what else, and changing curtains and table cloths to a fall theme.

In the meantime, if you're ready to get started, check out the list of giveaways on our blogs on the Friday Giveaway Hop.

Give me some love

It was my 46th birthday yesterday. I didn't really do anything big. No parties and what not. My girls and I went to the movies. We were going to go see Julie and Julia but it was sold out and we didn't feel like waiting about a couple of hours until the next showing. Instead, we went to see The Proposal, a romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. If you're into light romantic comedies, this would be a good movie choice for the weekend. We all had a great time.

My sisters gave me some great presents; one of which was a new digital camera since my old one broke and I've been without a camera since April. Now you know that just won't do when you're a blogger! So I was excited to get the camera and we've been playing with it all weekend, taking photos of ourselves. My other sister gave me cash which is just as welcome; although maybe I should have asked for new halo headlights because when I went out last night to pick up my daughter from a concert, I found out my headlights were dead! Definitely not a good time to find out that your headlights aren't working. Luckily, she wasn't that far and I went to pick her up with the fog lamps on and me praying like heck that I wouldn't get stopped by a cop. Aside from that little glitch, all went well on my birthday.

Now all you gotta do is leave me some love :)

Want to Win a Digital Camera?

I really, really need a digital camera! I miss my Kodak point and shoot that died on the last fishing trip when it was inadvertently dropped. I can't afford to just go out and buy one so you can imagine my excitement when I found out Amanda - A Stay at Home Mom's Point of View is giving away a Kodak Z1015 digital camera! The Z1015 is heaps better than my old one with more amazing features and zoom capability.

I've gotten slower with blog updates because I don't have a camera. It's amazing how I've gotten into the habit of photographing everything I cook and now that I can't, I feel like I'm missing something. Sort of like when you cook something and you forget to season it. So I hope I win!

Then I can also stop randomly meandering on the internet like a lost soul, stopping to look at sites about buried skulls, weird sea creatures, moving companies New York, plumbing DIYs, worm composting bins, and what ever else pops up. I know, it's a little pathetic.

I need a digital camera!!!! :)

They grow too fast

It seems only yesterday when we were sending out birth announcements. Kindergarten came way too soon. This week, I felt like like I've been through a whirlwind. My baby, my youngest daughter graduated from elementary school. Whatever am I going to do?

My baby will be in middle school next year and if her sisters are any indication of how fast time flies, she'll be graduating from high school before you know it! Oh, I know it's all part of the great cycle, but I just can't help but wish I could have held on to them a little longer. I miss when they were barely toddling and I could smooch them and hug them all I want. Now they are all biting at the bit, raring to go. Go, where, they're not sure either but go is what they want to do. If only it was easier to let them 'go'.

Chasing Bubbles

My youngest daughter will be transitioning to middle school by the fall. It seems like I just dropped her off to kindergarten! So what happened? Why is she going to big girl school all of a sudden?

She decided to attend an arts magnet school and I just went and registered her. She's excited because she will finally be getting courses that she has been wanting to take but was not offered at her elementary school. For her first couple of years she is scheduled to take guitar and piano. She has always wanted to play piano since she was six. She and her sisters have been teaching themselves on a keyboard but since she's going to be taking lessons I guess we'll have to think about buying a piano now. The only problem is finding a space in our small house to put it.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! If you're Hispanic and new to this country like my co-worker here at work is, you must be baffled. So while I digest the huge nacho feast I just consumed for lunch, let's ruminate on the meaning of this day...

It's not the Mexican independence day as some claim it is. Most of Mexico does not celebrate this day at all and are actually baffled by it because their Independence Day is on September 16. So why the Cinco de Mayo celebration?

On May 5, 1862 "Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City" according to this history of Cinco de Mayo website.

In the U.S., it is more of a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture. On this day, Mexican Americans celebrate with dances, musicales, concerts, parades and with food, lots and lots of food, to honor their heritage and the culture of their people. It has nothing to do with Independence day at all.

One way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo is to go to a baseball game. Most baseball teams, having a number of players of hispanic ancestry always on their roster, always celebrate this holiday by having something special during games on the 5th of May. If you're lucky enough to have New York Yankees tickets, for instance, you can be sure to be in for a treat.

Myself, I celebrate by eating lots and lots of Mexican food! I hate that I didn't get a chance to make my menudo last weekend, but hey, menudo is good anyday!

My, how time flies!

Can you believe that April is almost over and Mother's Day will be here before you know it? I can't! I started seeing references to Mother's Day and my first thought was, 'they're jumping the gun again'. But then I realized the date, and it's a mere three weeks away! If you're sending something overseas, it's almost too late already.

If you haven't shopped yet, something in the line of a diamond heart jewelry will be appreciated by any mom, I'm sure. But if you really put some time into it, maybe you can make something like this instead and take it to your mom in person.

What could be better than having a cup of coffee and a slice of pie with mom :)