Meet My Mom

Hey everyone and good morning! I know that I've bragged about my dad here but today it's all about my mom. My parents are both in their late 60s. But you really wouldn't know it by observing their daily life.

They have a nursing home ministry which they have been doing for close to 20 years now.

Dad is an artist - an award winning one at that.

Mom has a part time job and - the thing that I'm probably most proud of - she plays on two Senior League softball teams!



She plays on a local team that has games on Wednesday nights in St Petersburg. Often times they will have a double header. Then she also plays on a traveling tournament team - The Silver Belles. No one on this team is under the age of 65.





Her last tournament they won 1st place after winning all 7 of their games over a period of 4 days.

I'm traveling to Florida next month and I'm going to be able to see her play. I'm looking forward to it! I'll get as many pictures as I can and write all about the action packed event!

My mom and dad never miss the chance to tell me how proud they are of me. Mom tells me on a regular basis. But I think this time I'm just a little bit more proud of her!!

What's Love Got To Do With It?

There's been a lot of blogs out there lately about relationships. Most of them talking about how "he done her wrong" or "I can't believe what a gold digger she is".

I've been there - both situations believe it or not... yes some guy wanted me to support him. I don't think he had a clear picture of my salary though or he would have moved on.

I'm definitely no expert on relationships. I've had to take many a crooked road.. tolerate some heartache and confusion and kiss many a toad to get to the relationship I'm in now. I stll don't have all the answers and I'm learning as I go. But I will say this - I am in the best relationship of my life.


Today - I have this great read that I've received in e-mails more than once and I'm sure most of you have read it more than once.. but its a great piece.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 Year-olds, "What does love mean?"


The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have Imagined.
See what you think:
____

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her Toenails anymore.

So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

Rebecca- age 8
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."

Billy - age 4
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, You still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"

Emily - age 8
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who
You hate,"

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet) _____
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."

Noelle - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

Tommy - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

Elaine - age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."

Lauren - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)

Karen - age 7
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

Mark - age 6
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Jessica - age 8
And the final one --
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boySaid, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Have a great day and never hesitate to tell those you love how much they mean.

A Splatter Blog...

I've been trying for several days now to get a blog out. I've had some good ideas for topics but can't seem to get enough sentences together to constitute a posting. So I thought that I would combine all topics at one time and let you sort it all out!So here we go:


If this is your daughter's idol or role model... You are definitely not involved enough in your child's life



Nothing against Mariah but the whole Diva thing is annoying.

Our IT department is hiring. I offered them this candidate



But they just laughed. Really..I was only trying to help!!

Last weekend, Target had a flyer which advertised Cheerios at 3 boxes for $8.00


Sounds like a decent deal until you look closer and see that the regular price is $2.69 a box. Your big savings when you buy 3? 7 cents. Umm yeah. I think I'll pass.

Last but not least - I heard on the radio this morning that there are ONLY 153 shopping days until Christmas. The rush is on. So before I get to caught up in the holiday spirit let me be the first to say



I think that about covers it for now. I feel way better not that I have all that off my chest! have a great weekend!!

Get Your Grill On!

I haven't personally tried this one yet but it is on the list of things to cook.

JALEPENO-BLEU CHEESE BURGERS

This particular recipe is for 4 people. But depending on the size you make your burgers - you may want to double it up.

2 pounds ground beef
6 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
8 ounces crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 hamburger buns, split
Preheat a grill for high heat.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, jalapeno peppers, blue cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, tamari and salt.

Mix well using your hands.

Pat lightly into 4 large fat patties.

Place patties on the grill, and cook for about 8 minutes per side, or until well done. Place a slice of cheese on top of each patty, and cover the grill until the cheese melts. Serve on buns with your favorite toppings.

See? I told you it was easy. If you have to ask about calorie/fat content - you probably shouldnt make them. But if you are worried about the fat content - use ground turkey instead of the beef.

So cook some up... add them to your 4th of July menu! Let me know how they come out!

Then and Now

I was reading back over my old posts and came across this one that I posted back in February 2007.....

His name was Stephen and he was the cutest boy in all of 6th grade – just ask any girl! In addition to being cute he was also smart and hung out with the popular crowd – even 7th graders!


I'm sure I wasn't the only girl in the 6th grade that wrote about him in a diary every night. We all had his name written somewhere in a notebook and had dreams of one day marrying him. It really didn't matter which one us ended up being his girlfriend. My friends and I agreed that we'd just be happy for the chosen one.

Then came that ill fated day when I discovered that not only wasn't he interested in me – he wasn't interested in any of my friends either. Because there – across the lunch room – we saw him sitting with Dianna Marsh. The most popular girl. And they were holding hands. I was crushed.

The rest of the school day was miserable as I tried to get through the day without crying my eyes out.


When I got home I ran to my room and locked myself in. I was determined that I'd never leave the company of my stuffed animals ever again. But when mom got home from work she convinced me to let her in. When she asked me what was wrong – I spilled the whole story starting with my undying love and ending with the hurtful betrayal. Mom gave me a big hug and assured me that I would love again.

About an ½ hour later she came back to my room with a big bowl of creamy macaroni and cheese – one of my favorites back then. I wasn't hungry but she made me eat. Sure enough – I started to feel better. I had found my comfort not in another boy but in Mac and cheese. The heart ache passed a few weeks later when I let myself realize that there were plenty of cute boys in the school and that Stephen wasn't the only one.

Until a few years ago mac and cheese has always been my comfort food. Whether it be a broken heart.. a bad day at work or an argument with a friend. These days I just turn to a good work out and if that doesn't cut it – a glass of red wine.

My friends vary on their tastes – ice cream, cookies, one even turns to oatmeal as his comfort food. I can't say that I understand that one.. lol

So what about you? Don't tell me you don't have one – everyone does. Men and women alike. We all have a food, dish, recipe that helps us escape from a stressful day or situation. What's yours

Reading back over that story always makes me laugh. I remember it so well and I was indeed devasted. Stephen was my first official crush!

I have, of course, dated some since then and have even been married and divorced. Since my divorce, there have been a few relationships and dates sprinkled in my life along the way. Yet somehow, it never seemed quite right.

Last October, I don't know if you felt it or not, but the earth shifted off it's axis, the dating gods smiled upon me and I met yet another Steve. Cautious yet optomistic I went on the first date..the second and miracles of all miracles there was a third! Could it be?

Three turned into 4 turned into 8 and before I knew it - I stopped focusing so much on counting the number of dates and began focusing on this wonderful gift I had been given.

Tomorrow is the 8 month anniversary of our first date. Yes - we women celebrate these things. I have no idea how many different places we've been or seen but I can assure you there is tons. Now instead of counting the number of dates I count the number of hours it is until I see him again.

This time I get to be the lucky girl holding hands with the cute guy over lunch - dinner too for that matter! There'll be no crying into a bowl of macaroni and cheese. Instead there's joking and laughing and talking over gelato, while on a walk, on the phone, while cooking dinner together - while doing anything together.

So to Steve Parker who broke my heart all those years ago..I've got just one thing to say - POO on you and the bowl of macaroni and cheese!

Last week one of my coworkers told me that she could tell my heart is happy. It's not difficult to figure out why. All these years I had the name right - I just had to wait for the right time and the right Steve - the one whose love would turn my ordinary life into a fairy tale and I'm glad I did. I wouldn't change a moment of these past 8 months for anything and I can't wait to see what exciting adventure is next!

I've had this recipe and its awesome. Tuna steaks are best cooked a medium rare. Anything more takes away from the flavor of the fish. Don't worry - you won't get sick by eating it cooked that way. The worst thing you can do to a good piece of fish is to cook it to the consistency of shoe leather.
This particular recipe serves 4.

Sesame Seared Tuna

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
4 (6 ounce) tuna steaks
1/2 cup sesame seeds
wasabi paste
1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, mirin, honey and sesame oil. Divide into two equal parts. Stir the rice vinegar into one part and set aside as a dipping sauce.

Spread the sesame seeds out on a plate. Coat the tuna steaks with the remaining soy sauce mixture, then press into the sesame seeds to coat.

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot. Place steaks in the pan, and sear for about 30 seconds on each side. Serve with the dipping sauce and wasabi paste.

Let me know how you like it!! Also let me know when you're cooking it and what time I should be there. This is one of my favorites!!

News Flash

Usually when I get up in the morning I check out the news..have a cup of tea.. the normal routine. Then before I head out the door I pop on line real quick to check my e-mail. But this morning, there was a news story that caught my attention..

UTRECHT, Netherlands - Utrecht police say a 21-year-old Dutch man is recovering after a "mooning" that went horribly wrong.

A police statement says the man and two others had run down a street in Utrecht with their pants pulled down in the back "for a joke."
It says that at one point the 21-year-old "pushed his behind against the window of a restaurant" that broke and resulted in "deep wounds to his derriere."

The statement released Tuesday says police detained the three men after the incident Sunday morning. But the cafe owner decided not to press charges after the men agreed to pay for the broken window.

The injured man was treated for his injuries at a nearby hospital

I about choked on my Cheerios from laughing. I'm sorry for the man's injuries and I'm sure he's in a little bit of discomfort but sometimes you just need to think through a plan before you actually implement it.

I've played a few practical jokes in my time that backfired and bit me in the ass... but nothing to this extent.