We invited G-Ma to visit for the weekend. We introduced her to 1 vs.100 and now she is hooked as well. Its absolutely crazy how time flies when you are playing 1 vs.100 on XBox live. I snuck away for a short while to visit with my Diva sisters. The other Divas were not feeling well, so it was just me, my cousin and my aunt. They made me African Supper Plate. It was amazingly delicious. I snagged the recipe because I knew I'd have to make this again very soon. In fact, here it is 48 hours later, and I'm planning it for Monday night's supper. Its white wine & curry marinated beef which you serve on top of rice. You top the beef with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges, nuts and flaked coconut. I can't explain it, but the fruit works with the veggies & meat very well. We watched a great chick flick movie, My Life In Ruins, and now I want to travel to Greece.Sunday, Valentine's Day, the menfolk took G-ma & I out for lunch at Laredos. I scored some amazing guacamole. They serve it in this authentic stone bowl, which if you want, you can take home with you for $30. Would I really use this bowl for anything else? Probably not. I decided to take my leftover guacamole home in Styrofoam instead. Overall, we had a great weekend, but it was over shadowed by unemployment stress. For at least the next two weeks, we have to go without filing for an unemployment check. DH is considering working on a potential project for his ex-boss. He won't actually get paid for it until May, but even so, because he "works" on it now, he can't file for unemployment. Whether you get paid now or later doesn't matter. Its the time frame when you do the work that matters. We don't want to commit fraud and I don't want my husband to go to jail, so we're opting to be honest and not receive a check for a few weeks. We'll live off of the tax return and hope and pray DH's ex-boss actually does pay him in May. Its scary. I don't feel we can trust the man. I'm still trying to focus on moving forward and keep hoping and praying there will be more opportunities to rise up out of this. Despite how great our family is and how blessed we are to have what we do, there is still this dark shadow over everything. You can't really enjoy anything fully, because underneath, you know the stress and uncertainly is still there. I can embrace my family and the fun we share, but when the pleasant distractions are over, reality bites you. Its the last thought you have before drifting off and the first conscious thought that greets you the next morning.
Every few days you break down, have a good cry, but then you pick yourself back up and keep looking for hope and opportunity. I have to keep telling myself this is making us stronger, but some days that's a tough sell. Sometimes, you just dream about how you wish your life was going instead. It can be an escape, but it also teaches you what's really important. For me, my heart's desire is to be home with my boys, homeschooling them through high school. I'm happiest in my nest.
When we came across this tree, my boys wanted to turn back. I admit, it is creepy.
Yesterday we decided to hike at Picnic Point. This park is popular, located near the UW University in Madison. Its really beautiful and on certain trails, you can see the lake all around you. The area historically was camped in by Native Americans and an Indian burial mound is marked along the path.
I haven't picked up citronella oil yet, so I haven't had the chance to make a home made safe alternative to mosquito spray. I am going to do this very soon! For some reason, when we are getting bit, we're getting these giant welts, not like normal bumps. Yesterday's bite left a 3 inch welt on my arm. Hope those weren't West Nile mosquitoes!
The humidity made the hike less pleasant too. With my asthma it felt like someone was standing on my chest, but the boys seemed excited about the baby frog migration going on, so I pressed on.
It was a challenge to walk the paths. There were so many baby frogs hopping around. I felt bad for them, because many were getting squished by people riding bikes on the path. We came across one section where the trail was marked, encouraging people to take a different path to allow the baby frogs to remain unharmed, but when we carefully walked that path hoping to see many, we saw almost none. They need to move the sign!
After our hike, we picked up bagels for lunch and headed home. I had a Diva Sister outing to prepare for.
The boys enjoyed a boys only night with dad, our cousin, and our cousin's X-Box. I enjoyed my Diva sisters, gourmet chocolate at Daniel's followed by supper out at Pearl's. It was a repeat of our last Diva outing, but Daniel's and Pearls are two great places worth repeating.
Today I'm afraid will involve more food, but it Father's Day and how can we not take him out to his favorite place? The plan is lunch at Outback, another hike, followed by dessert at Sonic. We have yet to try Sonic, and the commerical for those new bundt cake sundaes is working on us!
Come Monday I will have to find my workout DVDs or kick my kids off the Wii so I can try Wii Fit again. With summer's humidity and the ozone lately, I feel like I can get a better workout breathing indoors.
Well, I better get moving. Hope you have a great Father's Day!
I went out with my Divas last night. We try to get together every month or so for a girl's night out. This outing included my sister, SIL, cousin and aunt. We dined at the 5 Forks and then saw, He's Just Not That Into You.
The photo is my sister's Chilpotle and Turkey pizza. It had blueberries on it! I would never think blueberries on a pizza, but it was so good! I had crab cakes with citrus salsa, red pepper aioli and a mustard remoulade. They were also very tasty, but I'm paying for the salt consumption today. I'll have to drink lots of water.
The movie was Divalicious. Yes, its a chic flick, but it also makes a great date movie. Its packed with strong, female actors, but no one over powers it. Its a great ensemble piece.
We had such a great time its inspired me to pitch a reality show idea to Food Network or the Travel channel based on our fun, "The Dining Divas!" It would be 5 women, 5 different palates, dining out at restaurants all over the world. The Divas would dish on the dining experience, but they would also dish on each others lives.
Of course I'm hoping we're all chosen to be the 5 Dining Divas. We've got our endorsements all planned out! LOL! There will be cookware, fashion, jewelry, even luggage- "Diva cases", since we of course will be traveling all over the world! We'll be so much more fun to watch than Anthony Bourdain! LOL!!
