Monday Monday, la la la la la la

Monday again. The beginning of another week. Another week closer to Christmas. Only 14 more shopping days! That is not good for me. Considering we don't even know where we will be living come Christmas. We have no tree, no decorations...it doesn't even seem like Christmas because there is no sign of it in this house. We might end up being one of those families who puts up their Christmas tress on Christmas Eve. Heavens I hope not. That is just not good for my sanity. It's bad enough that we never end up wrapping the gifts until Christmas Eve. It never fails. I try so hard to get them wrapped before that, but Christmas Eve comes and there Doug and I are, wrapping the gifts and trying to do it quietly so the kids won't wake up. Then we're up really late and I am dragging all through Christmas day. And I'm so bummed that we still don't have a true Christmas tradition. I tried to start one last year with everyone at our house on Christmas day, but that was a bust. This year, we'll be down in York. While this is not necessarily a bad thing because then I don't have to clean up or anything, but Elizabeth is scared of the new puppy, so it's difficult to enjoy my day with having to keep the puppy away from her and keep her away from the un-gated steps and all of the knick knacks everywhere. And then we get to come home and change our clothes because we have pet hair all over and 3 out of 4 of us are having allergic reactions.

What I love about Christmas is guessing what kind of doozies we will get. Not trying to be mean here, but sometimes it's incredibly funny. One year, Doug's uncle received one of those calculators with the huge buttons (I won't name the giver of this gift, but some of you may be able to guess). As if that was not funny enough, but he got it AGAIN the next year from the same person!

I would love to hear about the doozy gifts you've received. Post a comment about your funny gifts!

1 friend, 2 friend, old friend, new friend

Life is funny sometimes. People are even funnier. I, myself, have never had tons of friends. I actually have only ever had 1 real friend at any given time, though it's always someone different as time goes on. I've never been good in the "friend" department. My husband, on the other hand, made it clear when I met him that he had a group of friends that he would have forever and that if I didn't happen to like his friends then we would have a problem. As it turned out, I ended up LOVING his friends. What a fabulous group of guys. All with their own personalities and quirks, but all just sincerely nice guys. I still remember my first group experience. It was New Year's of 2000. Doug and I hadn't been dating too long, but he was ready to introduce me to the "group". I didn't know anyone but Doug and everyone else had been friends for years. Talk about being an outsider! And I was super shy, so I was so nervous, I literally felt like throwing up. But, you know how some people can just make you feel comfortable no matter what? Well, that's what this group of great people did. They made me feel like I had been part of the group all along. That's when I knew Doug had a great support system that I wanted to be a part of.

So, that was 8 years ago. We've all changed. We've all had children. We've all moved to different places. We've all grown up (a little)...well maybe not ALL of us, but most. The guys have all kept in touch via iChat and phone calls, but we haven't really seen each other too much. Some have a pretty good excuse...it's hard to visit PA often when you live in Florida. The rest have had OK excuses...we do all have small children and jobs and houses and blah, blah, blah. We finally ALL got together last night, kids and all. There were even some new faces (well new to me). Let me tell you...this group of people, though older and tired from much greater responsibilities, was still the same wonderful family it always had been.

This get together really made me think. Why has it taken so long for some of us to see each other? Is it really that burdensome to make time for best friends? Being a person who never had friends, I find it a difficult pill to swallow that these guys have these friends, but rarely see them and their families. If I had friends like that, I would want to be around them all of the time. I know that life has a way of flying by and screwing up even our best intentions of "keeping in touch", but isn't friendship, I mean this kind of friendship, worth making time for? We only go around this merry-go-round once....shouldn't we make it count?

How rude!

Why do people have to be so inconsiderate? I am amazed almost daily at the lack of consideration that most humans have for each other. But today really takes the cake. I do try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but with each passing day, this task grows harder and harder.

Now, if you've ever tried to sell a house, you know how stressful it can be. You have to jump when the realtor calls to say, "someone wants to see the house tonight". OK. So you clean the house 'til it sparkles. Then you make the kids sit still for an hour until it's time to leave the house. Then you have to find somewhere to go. This isn't hard if you are single or have no kids. But at 7pm, there are not many places where small children will behave for an hour. Then you get to come home and it's already past their bedtime, but they want to play, and they're very cranky because its late. So then you get to try to wrangle them into the tub and then to bed.

Well, this would all be worth it if the person who came to see your house put in an offer and bought your house. But when the people just don't show up at all, it is absolutely maddening!!! Especially when this has happened a few times in the last 3 months since the house when on the market. I mean, if you drive by and you don't like something about it enough that you don't want to even step inside, that's fine. But leave a card, a note, a dirty tissue...something...anything!

To all of the inconsiderate people out there, please try just once to think of the person on the other side and how your actions affect them. You may be on the other side someday...

Who says you can't go home again?

My husband and I have moved quite a bit since we met. Our first apartment was cozy, but after only a few months there, we moved to a new apartment in a city 100 miles away. A year later, we bought our very first house for a steal. That was a nice little house. A great starter home. Then I got pregnant with Charlie and we decided it was best to move back home, closer to our families. We moved back into a brand new townhouse. But 2 years later when we got pregnant again, we realized we were growing out of the townhouse. So we moved into a ranch house, which has been nice, but not really our "home".

So we have finally found our "home", after all these years. This is our dream home. It is breathtaking and one that I am actually giddy over. We have been through it a few times (construction is still not done yet) and each time, we get more and more excited. We plan to raise our kids in this home and play with our grandkids in this home. It's funny how a house can have such an impact on such a practical person like me, but here I am, awestruck. We once called "home" the houses we grew up in. And now, we are ready to go "home" again.


Moving 6 times...hundreds of thousands of dollars
Never EVER giving up on your dreams...Priceless

Pasta with Trees

So, I just love Rachael Ray. I think she's just too cute. I was paging through her website of recipes last night, trying to come up with this week's menu, which would result in today's grocery shopping list. This is the only recipe I found on her site that sounded even remotely good to me (if you don't know me, I am pickier than any kid you'll ever meet). I made it tonight (with a few minor alterations, listed in red below) and it was so good, I couldn't stop eating it!! Yummy!!

Ingredients
1/2 pound pasta (penne rigate, corkscrew, cavatappi, elbows, or medium shells) (I used whole wheat pasta to bump up the nutrition)
2 pounds broccolini, ends trimmed about 1 inch from the bottom (since I have no clue what "broccolini" is, I used regular broccoli instead. VERY TASTY!!)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 small onion, chopped (I stress SMALL, unless you are having a love affair with onion - I used too much and it was way too much)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half (I did not use these, gross)
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese (I did not use this, eeewwww)
1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano cheese (doubled up on this)

Preparation
Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once boiling, add some salt and cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions.

While the water for the pasta is coming up to a boil, start the broccolini: Place a large skillet with high sides with 1 to 2 inches of water over high heat and bring up to a boil. Add some salt and broccolini, using a spoon or tongs settle the broccolini into the water. Cover and cook for 2 minutes, drain and reserve.

Return the skillet to the stovetop and place over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Once the oil is hot, add onion and garlic, and season with some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes. Add the broccolini to the pan and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, combine the ricotta and Parmigiano with a ladleful of the pasta cooking liquid, salt and pepper in a serving dish. Stir to combine.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and the pasta to the skillet with the broccolini.

Add broccolini and pasta to the serving bowl and toss with the ricotta/Parmigiano mixture. Season to taste. Top with the grape tomatoes and serve.

Enjoy!!