Weekend Activities

I believe that I have mentioned in previous posts that I volunteer for various organizations. Well, tomorrow is a spring brunch for one of them at which I am the basket chair. The basket chair heads the drive to have members donate cash, gift certificates or (nice) objects to be bid on by attendees. This part wasn't all that difficult, although my living room looks like a basket-bomb went off in it right now. A bunch of us got together a couple of weeks ago to put most of the stuff together, so I was able to have other people do the creative part; I do not wrap or create beautiful packages. The remaining donations are thrown together in baskets which Paco brought up from our basement...I can assure you that they will be ripped apart as soon as I walk into the country club tomorrow and will be re-assembled by those who know better.

The main reason I brought the brunch up is that I was also assigned to do the programs. Now, my mother my mother is very creative and had made programs for our last officer installation dinner. I did help her with the computer part, as she doesn't even know how to turn one on. But, she did the ribbons and bows and everything else. As soon as that dinner was over, the chairwoman of this brunch came right over and insisted we do the programs. The point of all this? MY MOTHER WENT ON VACATION. I had to do the programs by myself. I ended up making fake bows because I can't tie nice ones. UGH! I am so stressed about these stupid programs and cannot wait until tomorrow is over.



In other news, Paco is having a horrible time dealing with Princess. The two of them seem to be, well, um...I guess bickering is the best word. Princess certainly is showing signs of being a teenager. (It is important to note here that we have a good many years until she is actually a teenager.) Her attitude has been rather dramatic and there has been a lot of "But that's not fair!" and "I don't want to!" Perhaps it's because I am also a moody female, but I am able to deal with these outbursts much better than Paco. How does one teach a father how to deal with a daughter? I am finding myself irritated with both of them and sometimes actually lecturing my husband as if he is one of the children. Why did no one tell me it would be this difficult!?!?!?

Changes

One of my loyal readers (yes, I have at least one!) has suggested that I change my profile to indicate that this blog is about my life with a few recipes thrown in rather than the opposite. This seems like a great idea to me, as I often feel pressured to give you recipes and very rarely follow through. Consequently, I am officially changing the intent of my blog!

Another change you may notice - if I can get my sister to help me - is more sidebar content. I am sure you have seen the ads...those of you who know me understand their presence. I have been reading some great blogs lately and really want to link to them, but my HTML is pretty rusty and I am having trouble finding the correct spot in my template. But, fear not, it will come!

Completely unrelated, I do want to share a recipe with you. Please know that I have never tried it, but these cookies sound dreamy! (I am being lazy and not re-typing...see the April 27 entry.)

Procrastination at its Best!

FYI: 'michelejj' is my typical screen name for things.

How to make a michelejj

Ingredients: 5 parts success 1 part courage 3 parts beauty

Method: Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Add curiosity to taste! Do not overindulge!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Blog for Thought

I think that my readership is expanding. Crazy, you may say! Insanity! But, it is true. I am at least getting more people that are clicking on my site; I do not believe they are staying on to read anything. And now, I am left to wonder: do I want strangers to read my blog? Why exactly am I doing this to begin with. As of right now, the answer is: I have no idea. I tell people that I know to read it. But, there is nothing on here that they don't know. So, do I advertise? If so, what would I be advertising? 'You must read my opinions on absolutely nothing.'

Ah well...I am sure the blog will continue and I am sure that all 4 of you will continue to read it!

Restaurant

If you are dining out today, why not check out the list of restaurants that are participating in Dining Out for Life? (Participating restaurants will donate at least 25% of the monies collected to AIDS research.)

Computer Woes

I know computers are supposed to make things so much easier. But, what happens when the easy part gets all muddled with things that make it hard?!?! I thought that I had some sort of virus because I suddenly couldn't open email attachments or files with MS Word or Excel. I ran a virus scan, however, and came up with nothing. Now, I can't access the internet via the regular explorer; I have to use AOL to do it. I am thinking that it is spyware or something, but that is totally beyond my knowledge. I am going to ask the IT people at work to take a look at it since I can't even work from home right now due to this INSANITY!

On another note, I am not really looking forward to tomorrow. Princess and TBell have been off of school for a week and dance for two weeks. Now, I have to make lunches, make sure dance clothes are clean, have regular bedtimes and so on. I much prefer the less scheduled lifestyle we have been leading. I can still hear the girls talking upstairs, which is only going to mean a rough morning when the alarm goes off.

Yet another unrelated thought: Paco and I went to a family wedding last night. While we had a great time talking and dancing (and drinking and laughing), I have to admit that the food was not that great. We split the chicken and the prime rib. Now, I realize that wedding fare isn't really known for being that great, but I kind of thought that a country club would be better. The service was great, but the mashed potatoes were dry and the veggies were frozen rather than fresh. Also, the cake was terrible. It was dry with a poorly done fondant frosting. When served, it was all white with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I suppose it could have been intended to be all white, but the presentation seemed lacking.

Anyway, that was my weekend. How was yours?

Fantastic Fish

I had my inlaws over for dinner last night. We are not going to see them this weekend as my sister is coming into to town and the whole weekend will be with my family. So, guess I invited them as sort of an Easter celebration. I served fish, with couscous cooked in chicken broth and corn. Now, the inspiration came from Giada De Laurentiis, although I didn't follow her recipe exactly. I sprinkled tilapia fillets with lemon pepper and then drenched in flour. I pan fried in two or three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. I also cooked two small, chopped onions in extra virgin olive oil, then added a bag of chopped spinach. When that was cooked down, I added a can of cannelini beans and about 1/2 cup of chicken broth. I served the fish over the spinach and topped it with a homemade lemon vinaigrette (lemon juice, fresh parsley, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.)

This meal was so good! Even my father-in-law loved it, who is a butcher and a very meat and potato kind of guy. My kids loved it, too. Princess even ate the spinach.

We ended the evening by going out for ice cream at a local ice cream and sandwich shop. Princess ran into a friend from school, so she and I ended up sitting with that family. It was very cute to watch them tell secrets and giggle.

All in all, it was a wonderful night and I am sad to have to work today instead of continuing the Easter celebration!

Chicken

I am sick of chicken. I am annoyed that it is so cheap. I am making it for dinner tonight. It is in the oven right now, topped with sliced onion, garlic infused sunflower oil and lemon-pepper. In roughly 20 minutes, I will pour 98% fat free cream of celery soup over it. I am serving the chicken with cheese rice and broccoli.

During my pregnancy with Pirate, I couldn't stomach chicken at all. I couldn't even look at it. While that did subside after delivery, I still don't love it. I think I need to come up with something else cheap and versatile. I do use pork, but I am even getting sick of that. I think I would like to experiment with vegetables as a main course...like spaghetti squash; I will keep you posted on these endeavors.

On another note, Paco's grandmother turned 84 a couple of weeks ago. She never wants any gifts, so I took this picture of the kids and put it in a small frame. The zipper on TBell's dress was broken, so I had to leave the tags on just in case it had to be returned. Luckily, my mother is wonderful and was able to fix it for us.

Summer Food

It's only spring (a term used loosely in WNY) and yet I am finding myself anxiously awaiting summer food. We went to dinner at a friends house yesterday, passing cornfields on the way, and my mouth started watering. The kids began discussing corn on the cob and whether Princess would be able to eat it with her teeth starting to fall out. (The tooth fairy came for the first time on Friay night!) I cannot wait to have grilled meat and veggies with iced tea and frozen treats. I find that I have had enough stew, chili and meatloaf for quite a while. As Easter is just one week away, I will focus on some yummy warm weather food to get us through until our true summer arrives.

Extreme Fatigue

Well, the time changed over the weekend and I am exhausted. I am not really sure that a one hour change in the middle of the night could have this much of an impact, but I wanted to sleep all day. It did not help that the heavens opened up this afternoon after turning the entire day gray. Once I got home from the office, chatted with the sitter and discussed the day with Princess, TBell and Pirate, I did not feel like making dinner at all. So, take out Chinese was ordered. Some days, I just can't bring myself to cook. Now, the house is quiet and I will have to force myself to get the work done that is waiting for me (phone calls and a seating chart for a fundraising dinner on Friday) when I want to do is snuggle into bed with a book.