You'll never know

How much all that you did meant to me.  From the moment Hubby and I started dating in college, you welcomed me into your family with open arms.

 You spent the afternoon of my wedding ironing all of the tablecloths - with a smile on your face.

 And still managed to be a beautiful bridesmaid who just beamed with happiness on our special day.

 You were never camera shy, even if my wee ones were - they loved being around bubbly and fun Aunt Sharon.  Always up for a tickle and a cuddle!

You were a second mother to Hubby and always thought he was fabulous - you made him feel loved, helping and encouraging him to stay on the right path.

You shared in our joys as we expanded our family, even if it caused you to ponder if we'd lost our minds by the fourth one...you always wanted to live closer saying that the miles were too many.  You were right.  I learned so much from you about keeping a home and raising kids.  You were such a great role model.

You were so much fun to be around, so lively, so alive.  Your home was always warm and welcoming and we all felt happy to be with you and your family.  You waited on us hand and foot - the most gracious, loving hostess who was so happy to see us!

Being with you around the holidays was especially nice - you were up for games and wine drinking and more camera silliness.

And you shed real tears of joy whenever you saw us after an extended time - you were completely and totally in love with all things family.  

I will miss you more than I could ever tell you, but I could never express all that you meant to me.  And I, like everyone else, will find it so hard to say goodbye.

Gina

Mealplan Monday #125 and the promise that is Fall

It was such a blah last few days of summer break.  The boys and I accomplished much, but it was mostly related to getting ready for the school year.  The last month or so the weather went from pleasing to horrid and everything around us parched and dry. But fear not!

I am looking forward to all that Fall brings!  Football games, holidays, whole days off with the house to myself, getting some crafty things done.

Monday - Country Chicken with Herb Dumplings
Tuesday - Cowboy Casserole, salad
Wednesday - Red Wine Pot Roast, mashed, peas and carrots
Thursday - Football game - Burger out
Friday - Pulled BBQ Chicken on Texas toast, coleslaw
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Baked Italian Shells (freezer), salad
Lots of salad this week!

Just can't get here fast enough for me!

Gina

5 thing Friday - a desk, The Girl, suffering fig, letters, sardines

It's been a rather hot and tiring end of the summer.  My knee is still bothering me and I have so much on my To Do list that needs attending to.  I did manage to get my laptop ordered.  Next on the list is a car, as Scout will need transportation to school and work so he's inheriting my old one.

Several weeks ago I built an IKEA desk for Bubbie.  I took my time putting it together and did a good job.  "I DID THAT". Go, me.

 The Girl went back to Waco yesterday.  It was her first morning of the summer to sleep in.  She laid on the floor and petted the cat, then promptly got up to go get her car inspected and cleaned.  Today is orientation for her intramural job on campus.  That girl is on the ball. 

 My landscape is suffering.

 The fig has all but given up and I water it several times a week.  We need a good soaking rain or two or three.

 

I am plowing through the Saudi letters a few per day.  It's a slow process.  My mother wrote in small script so she could use most of the paper.  Long letters, and sometimes she repeats things.  And there are things I need to ask her about now, as so much time has passed that she's more likely to elaborate.  It is interesting to me that by the first month there, she had gone from signing "Love, Mama" to "I love and miss you terribly". 

When I visited her recently, I picked up fallen needles in her sewing room with a magnetic pick-up tool that was broken.  So, I sent Hubby to Harbor Freight and mailed her a new one.  She also mentioned that she really likes sardines, but they are too expensive, and enjoys making beans in her crock pot.  I thought, why not get her some of both?  I am going to see her next week to take these and a few other things and spend time with her. 

Gina

End of the summer for The Girl

When the girl heads back to Waco, it feel like the official end to summer.  That always makes me feel down in the dumps, even though there's a lot to look forward to in the fall.  Time to get this room packed up and back to being a sewing room.  I will miss knowing she will be at home every night, even if it was pretty late when she got in.

 I feel like I barely saw her  - she would come home briefly to plop down on the air mattress for a snooze before showering and heading off to another shift.  We only saw her for a couple of meals here and there.  (tho occasionally she took her brothers out to eat lunch and get a slushie at 7-Eleven)  I so hope she can drastically scale back her work hours and enjoy her last year at Baylor.  I'm not promising I won't stand here in the doorway of the empty room and shed a tear next week... 

Mealplan Monday #124 and a sore knee

I had the best of intentions on getting the mealplan posted this morning...but things just didn't go my way.

After a weekend spent taking Aleve, using Icy Hot, and limping around like an assault victim, I made an appointment with my regular doc.  Result - possible osteoarthritis.  Still more testing to come, though.  And for dessert tonight Ill be having tramadol.  

Monday - Mediterranean Pork Chops, rice, green beans
Tuesday - Order pizza out (we're going to start doing this every Tuesday for a while)
Wednesday - Chicken tacos, beans, pico de gallo
Thursday - Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet, carrots
Friday - Turkey Lazy Daisy Meatballs, masheds, limas
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Ham and Cheese party sammies, chips, coleslaw

Gina

The stuff you do for your band kid

I volunteered to clean the ice rags for marching band practice last night.  The ice rags help the sweaty kids cool off so they don't pass out at practice - it's a good thing.  It involves picking up the rags, washing them, then returning them to school.  Not rocket science, but time consuming.  My washer got a real workout yesterday with the regular laundry during the day, and rags at night.

The lady that coordinates it all calls herself the Ice Rag Nazi offered to give a demo the first day of band camp.  I'm not even kidding. 

 I washed all of the rags with a little bleach, then spun them well, then grouped them in tens in the coolers.  It makes no sense to dry them in the dryer to turn around and wet them down tomorrow.

I also cleaned out the inside of the coolers, because, YUCK. Now all that's left to do is layer them with ice and cold water.  Ice rags are a nifty thing on your neck when it's blazing hot at band practice!

Gina

Faithful correspondents

 Years ago my mother mentioned that she wanted the letters she wrote me while she was working overseas typed into a sort of journal of her time there.  Then life got busy, and it never happened.  But I had been thinking about it recently and decided it was time to reclaim the box from her and get started on it.  Re-reading some of the letters really put some things in perspective.

There must around 200 letters here, all in my mother's neat, small cursive.  Plus a few photos and postcards and newspaper clippings... I plan on transcribing the letters I wrote to her as well - she saved every one.  I'm not sure everyone else will find them as interesting and entertaining as I do.  Some of the letters express her frustration at being halfway around the world and feeling let down by those closest to her.  And a lot of the past is just plain not fun to re-live.  It seems a daunting task to me, but I will just take it one step at a time...

Mealplan Monday #123 and lunch in Brenham

Friday was a super hot day and I had a nice visit with my mother and Carol (a friend from college days!) in Brenham.  Mother and I spent the morning talking and looking at quilts and learning how to do fancy stitches on her new Bernina and feeding the chickens bread and petting Gus.  Time seemed to go by fast.

 At about 12:30 I met Carol for lunch at the Funky Art Cafe just a couple blocks away.

 It was a fun place full of ladies who lunch.

 We feasted on mahi mahi tacos and chicken salad and caught up and what our peeps are doing.

Monday - Baked Mexican Tilapia, squash, rice
Tuesday - Spagetti and Meatballs, salad
Wednesday - Chicken Lazone, masheds, fresh veggie
Thursday - Taco Salads
Friday - One Pot Tortellini in tomato cream sauce, broccoli
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Sloppy Joes, chips, carrot and celery sticks
Dessert will be ice cream - it's so hot I barely feel like cooking, but ice cream makes all of us feel better!

Next to the cafe there was a cute gift shop we wandered through.

 Full of stuff that ladies who lunch like to look at.  Then we strolled up the downtown streets, ducking into cute gift and antique shops, pausing to admire a town garden and a cistern with historical plaques.

 Which led us to Must Be Heaven, another place to try for lunch on another visit:

In all of time my mother has lived here, I have never been to the creamery.  

Can you believe how quickly summer has slipped by?

Gina

5 thing Friday - frugal cooking, twins?, dates, band camp, patches

Sometimes I find things in the pantry that challenge me to be frugal and creative.  Like these cupcakes:

Halloween cupcake liners, Key Lime cake, blue raspberry vanilla frosting = Sharkbite Cupcakes. Ha!  Delicious.

Leftover grilled chicken plus a couple of grilled corn on the cobs with everything you have from the crisper drawer and some grated cheese = BBQ Chicken Salad.  Oooh, that was good.

These two are looking more and more alike every day.  Some lady in Walgreen's asked them if they were twins, then asked who was older, then asked Scout if he was 12.  Scout was not amused.

Hubby and I are going to start going out for date nights where we don't discuss the kids.  We discovered that Whole Foods is a fun place to go.  There are tables and leather couches to kick back in, or you can sit out on a deck. 

Band camp started, Summer is winding down, marching season is ramping up, life is going to get more hectic until Winter Break. 

Someone outgrew his scout sash, so my current sewing project is sewing all the patches onto the new one.  I don't really mind!

Gina 

Tourist in our town - Katherine Fleischer Park

Scout and I had about an hour to visit this North Austin park off Wells Branch Parkway - I never even knew it existed.

 Huge park, very large trees, a gravel track that goes on forever.

 

 It was relatively quiet, except for the swimming pool area which had a lot of elementary-aged kids having a great time.  The weather was mild and breezy and beautiful for late July.

 The park site was once a homestead way back when, so there are pioneer era buildings with a sign saying they do tours.

I wish we'd had more time to spend there.  It would be a great place for me to walk when school starts back up.

Gina