Changes are coming...

The school year is coming to an end...one kid moving from elementary to middle school...one kids moving from middle school to high school...quit one job...done with the volunteer gig...want to focus on my business plan now...on me..but still have to give so much to everyone else...but...am thinking that I may not be as needed as I think I am...perhaps less is more...but that feels a little bit like neglect to me...am trying to sort it out...need to pull back and take more time...

The Facebook Phenom..

It seems that suddenly everyone is getting a FACEBOOK account. Does it seem like that to you or is it just me? Or maybe it's just that suddenly I've become more engaged by it...I signed up 3 years ago when my cousin in Canada asked me too, but I never communicated with anyone but her! Then in the last 6 months I have had lots of friend requests and friend suggestions and have had all little slivers of my life show up. It's very weird! Nice, but weird!

So that's all. I was just thinking about that and thought I'd throw it out there. What are your thoughts?

The School of Essential Ingredients

When I first heard about The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister I KNEW that I would like it. Number 1, I love to read. Number 2, it was a book about a cooking school and I love to cook. But when I got the book and started to read it, it was more than "like" - I LOVED IT! I really just ate it up! (Pun totally intended!)

Each chapter focuses on one of the students in the class and explores how food and cooking has touched their lives. The characters are all different ages, come from different backgrounds and have had unique experiences and yet, the cooking of a meal brings them all together with a common thread. Each of their personal stories are beautifully written and melt together in this book like a warm and gooey brie cheese!

In the very first chapter I felt giddy as her main character described a zester:

"Lillian smiled. She felt about her zester the way some women do about a pair of spiky red shoes-a frivolous splurge, good only for parties, but oh so lovely. The day Lillian had found the little utensil at a garage sale a year before, she had brought it to Abuelita, face shining. She didn't even know what it was for back then, she just knew she loved its slim stainless-steel handle, the fanciful bit of metal at the working end with it's five demure little holes, the edges scalloped around the openings like frills on a petticoat. There were so few occasions for a zester, using it felt like a holiday."

Who among the lovers of cooking don't smile to themselves and feel a tug to the kitchen after reading that paragraph? The way Bauermeister writes is full...and descriptive...and comes together like a really good recipe. It touched me and, like a great recipe, I want to share it with all my friends!



This review was posted happily for MomCentral.com (MotherTalk Reviews)

Jonas Mania

Well if you haven't heard of the phenomenon that is the Jonas Brothers I just don't know what to tell you! They are just everywhere - even on stage with Stevie Wonder at the Grammy's! My 14 year old daughter is already "over" them, but I think my 11 year old son is secretly singing and doing dance moves in his room!

If you need a formal introduction, there will be a dazzling event held on Thursday February 26th, 12:01am at the historic and beautiful El Capitan Theater and in the center of the dazzle will be the Jonas Brothers! But in 3D!!!! Disney is launching the debut of the Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience with exclusive giveaways for everyone who attends the opening weekend event. (The show runs February 27 through March 12.)

I'd tell you to mention it to your teen daughters, but 10 to 1 they already know about and can tell YOU a thing or two about how to order tickets!

Disney never fails to deliver on a spectacular, so if you have the time - go revel in the teenage heart throbs of 2009 like you did David Cassidy back in 1975!

16 things about me...

Was tagged by association for this little meme. So...

I

love my Peet's coffee...freshly ground by me daily!
am not a morning person.
rely on my women friends for support and inspiration.
love to read.

am grateful that my parents are still alive.
need to schedule my mammogram.
don't listen to enough classical music.
have never tried yoga.

do not have a green thumb.
love when a recipe comes out fantastic!
wish I had been part of a team as a kid.
miss my aunt.

am not a math person.
would not choose that same wedding dress again!
would choose the same man!
want to go sit on Moonstone Beach with him right now.


If you have read this meme - you are now tagged! Leave a comment so we can know 16 things about you too.

Poverty Party Post #2 - A little help here please...

Well it's been almost 2 months since I've been meal planning. Good news - it is saving us money! To be sure. It is saving me time too because I am not going to the grocery store 5 times in 7 days!

However, Sunday's suck.

Because that's the day I have to come up with a week's worth of menu items and GAH - it is not easy! I actually love to cook, but it is so hard to come up with a meal plan that everyone living here will actually eat. And planning on something that people who live here can eat when they are actually HERE is tough too - during the week eating together is a non-happening.

Mostly I've let myself become a short order cook. Which any mother alive will tell you was THE stupidest move EH-VAH! So what I need from you all is a few links to some amazing meals that will please everyone - we're chicken and meat eaters - kids love the pasta too.

oh - and good news - we're down to ONE brace face in the house now! Where will we spend that extra money?!?! Woot!

Disney Fun

Looking for a way to get in to the holiday spirit? Well here is the ticket! Disney is putting on a show of only-can-be-done-like-Disney proportions and it's opening this Friday!

It's the premiere of BOLT in Disney Digital 3D at the amazing and beautiful El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood! The movie is already creating a buzz among the mom-family types and the El Capitan show has more than just a movie to make it worth your time - included in the entertainment package is the new Disney Holiday Spectacular - live on stage! And next door to the theater is Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio store where they are introducing a "BOLT Sundae"! How can you go wrong? A live show, a movie AND ice cream?!?!

Get ticket info HERE and start your holiday season off on a very positive note!