Home, home on the range...........

Well, not really. OK, Gina is having a contest and part of the contest is writing a post all about where we grew up and maybe a little about where we live now. So, here ya go.I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. I officially lived in the city, all though we actually lived in a very nice suburban neighborhood. Close enough to everything in the city (just a bus ride away) but we had a nice little neighborhood of duplex homes, complete with a large (or at least we thought so at the time) fenced yard with a swimming pool and a swing set. Everyone in my neighborhood attended the local Catholic school and we were all great friends.

In the summer, the parents would hang outside in someone’s driveway. They would have lots of wine or beer and probably snacks as well. We kids paid very little attention because we knew if our parents were doing a driveway party, we kids could also party. In our very innocent way, we would first of all be allowed to play outside well into the night. That in and of itself was great fun; I can remember many evenings of running around outside at night with all of the other neighborhood kids. Bare foot, with mayonnaise jars catching lightening bugs and playing kickball or tag. Another thing we loved to do is put on shows for our parents. This usually consisted of us standing on the picnic table singing crocodile rock for the adults. We were so hot! lol Back then, there was another thing phenomenon was making its way across the country...The streak! Do you remember that? Once in awhile, one or two kids would decide to streak! I don't think I ever did it. I was always way too shy. But I was really good at "encouraging" others to streak. Ha-ha!

Our house had a ball field behind it and woods and a stream and on the other side of the street, behind those houses was a little farm. They boarded horses and grew corn. So I can remember as a kid, living in the city, having the great joy of seeing the horses. Also, in the summer, we would go to the farm and get corn from the farmer. Always a bakers dozen for about $1.00, and it was so good! Another fond memory of my childhood living in Maryland is boating. We had a Boston Whaler (boat) and we would go crabbing and fishing in it every summer. It was awesome. We all loved steamed crabs and we didn't mind getting up at the butt crack of dawn to drive to where we put the boat in. Now my parents live on the water in Maryland and just hop in the boat to go crabbing. Even better, they still get up at the crack of dawn though.

Now as an adult, I live in South Central PA. We are surrounded by farms and corn fields and new developments as well as little towns that have been here forever- and it is great. Living here is a little different than living nearer to the water as we did in Maryland, but still great in its own way. For one thing, the countryside is absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful. There is nothing like the rolling hills and green fields and trees. You see it all here. We are close enough to Baltimore (1 hour), and only 2-3 hours from New York City. So we can jump in the car and see any show, museum, etc. that our hearts desire but we live in a fairly serene, safe, country area. Now it is growing and changing here as I suspect it is everywhere. But it is still quiet and family oriented. And let’s face it; there are not many areas where you may encounter sophisticated shoppers (that would be me) mixing with the quaint Amish shoppers, in the local grocery store, yard sales or outlets. So there you have it. Home sweet home!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes, beans

Tuesday: chicken eugene

OK, I just had to add this to my menu, in case anyone decides to make it. It was good. We all liked it including Brooks who hates chicken and bacon. He decided he now likes bacon and that the chicken tasted almost as good as Easy Mac. So we have made strides, my friends! But, I made a couple small changes from the original recipe. I pounded the chicken flat then I wrapped one piece of chipped beef inside of each breast. Then I wrapped each breast with two slices of thin sliced bacon. After wrapping the bacon on the chicken I put it in a frying pan to brown the bacon a little bit. After all sides were browned I put it in a baking dish with the cream of mushroom soup and sour cream mixture. I did not put the kids in with the soup because then they would not eat it. All in all this was very tasty and the chicken was nice and moist. It was quite salty though. Somone suggested rinsing the chipped beef off before putting it in the chicken. If I make this again, I will probably try that. Mike did not think it was too salty but it really was. So I would make it again but probably with a slight change as far as the chip beef goes. Also, maybe use a low sodium mushroom soup.

Wednesday: Spiral ham, mac and cheese, broccoli

Thursday: Ham casserole, homemade bread

Friday: Monthly travelling dinner party(kids will have pizza)

Saturday: Fried ham and eggs

Sunday: Who the hell cares...

Overheard at Walmart...

Considering I am one of those people that love to shop, it may come as a suprise to some of you that I despise Wally-world. It's not necessarily the employees that I can't stand. They are OK and I appreciate the older people that work there as greeters. They almost always have a smile on their face. Of course if I stood watching the cast of characters that go through Walmart on a daily basis, I think I would either have a permanent smile etched on my face or maybe that would be a grimace? Not sure. All I know is I endured two trips to walmart this weekend so I think I got my quota in for the month.

Now I definitely would not have chosen to go to Walmart twice. I didn't really want to go there once but my youngest needed two birthday gifts and I did want to get a charger for our Wii remotes (or whatever they are called). So off to Walmart we went. Got what I needed with not too much to report on. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after I returned home that I noticed I was charged $27.00 for an item that was on clearance for $7.00. SO I knew a return trip was in my very near future cause no way was I letting Walmart get away with screwing me out of $20.00 more of my hard earned bucks. So the return trip was today. Got my refund with a little bitching. They were saying that someone must have put the item on the clearance shelf by accident. Whatever, I dont want to hear it. There was a sign on the shelf stating the clearance price! Give me my refund. OK, granted I was much nicer than that. I wanted my refund after all and you know what they say; you can catch more flies with honey.... So I got my refund and we were on our way out when I overheard this little beauty... Let me set this up for you. There was a man(husband and father) woman (wife and mother) and child. OK, man says to child as they were walking through the store. "Follow your mother and Aunt". lol OK so I thought it was funny. I had to laugh. Only at Walmart, ya know?

I must me hip

I guess going to college when you are in your late thirties, allows you a little glimpse into the lives of kids most women my age just don't get. Kids just slightly older than your own. Yea, the kids I am talking about are my fellow students. Who just happen to be in the age range of 18-20. They are cute kids for the most part. Pretty respectful. Despite what you may think, they are actually pretty nice. Or at least they are in class in front of the token old person (that would be me). One thing that I have noticed about these kids is how the girls dress. A lot of them wear next to nothing to class. I mean, I am wearing a sweater and a jacket because I am freezing, and they are wearing little tiny tank tops or cami's. Oh, and their tattoos on their lower backs (tramp stamps?) are showing in all their glory. OK, granted, I am attending a Jr. College but still, these kids are (some of them) barely dressed. And the boys, they hardly notice. So what does that tell you about popular culture? Well, for one thing, they are not at all shocked or surprised that their classmates are wearing little tiny tees and little low cut jeans and all their stuff is hanging out. I don't even know if they even notice. I noticed, and all I can think is Damn! I dont remember ever looking that good. Hmm... OK So fast forward to today. I took my almost 13 year old to the mall. First stop, Abercrombie and Fitch. Dark store, too much perfume smell piped through the air vents, lots of tiny little tees that cost way too much money. Hit the clearance shelves, check. Ok, next stop, Hollister. Hollister. Let me tell you about Hollister. If you think Abercrombie and Fitch is hot and stinky, well Hollister is Hell in a perfume bath. It is so hot and dark and stinky in there. Of course, this is the favorite store of my daughter. This is the store she wants to get her first job at. SHe LOVES this store and drags me into it every chance she gets. So, since I am teaching her to shop,and I am a cool, hip mom, I grab 6 i tems in her size for her to try on. Let me tell you something about the dressing room in Hollister. They are tiny. I mean, we are talking a 2X4 room with a little curtain for privacy. And you know how you usually have the female side and male side of the dressing rooms? Designed for modesty and, whatever? Well, not at Hollister. At Hollister you have a cute little 17 year old boy manning the dressing room. Drinking his caffeine loaded soft drink. Jolt or something like that. I forget what they are called but apparently they weren't working because he spent much of the time with his head resting on the counter. And who was in line to try on clothes? About 50 little girls ranging in age from 12 -20. And they were all cute and none of them thought a thing about having to undress 2 inches from a hot 17 year old boy. Nope. you would have thought it was their brother there. And same for him. I have to give him credit(cause I stood outside of my daughters room watching), he was not at all interested in the girls in those rooms. Not-one-iota. And they didnt care about him. So what does that have to do with me in college and the kids I see there every day? It just brings to mind that in this day and age, there is really very little modesty left. Kids are almost naked in front of classmates on a daily basis and the boys dont even blink. And girls get undressed 2 inches from boys and they dont even notice. I dont think they care. So different from my day, way back in the 80's. I would have rather died than gotten undressed with a strange, hot, boy right outside my dressing room curtain. Times certainly have changed. So, I guess because I allowed my little girl to not only go into these stores, but to try on clothes in co-ed dressing rooms and actually buy some stuff officially makes me a "hip" mom. What do you think?

HD Baby!

We got HD today. Mike has been wanting it ever sine we went to Atlantic City and he got a little taste of just how cool it is. And crazy though it is, we have had an HD TV for the past 3 (or has it been four) years. So we finally broke down and ordered it. It's pretty cool. I have my TIVO still, and that is all I really care about, but HD is pretty awesome.

Happy VD!!!

So the day started of rocky. Caitey had a dance to attend after school and she wanted to look all purty for it but was missing the mark where her hair is concerned. Imagine rats, hair, wild raccoons, hair....YOu get the picture. She gets the outfit just right, she gets the makup looking pretty decent but she totally misses the mark when it comes to her hair. So, I told her no worries, I will curl it for you. So I curled it and pulled it back out of her eyes. Well apparently there was a little hair sticking out ever so slightly. And that was all she wrote. Caitey literally melted into a crying toddler in 2.7 seconds. I was so pissed. She messed it up and I tried to fix it but that sucked and I was ruining her life so I told her to just go to school. By this time she was late so Mike had to drive her and sign her in. The staff in the office were wondering what the heck was wrong. Mike told them she was having a "bad hair day". lol Oy! They asked her if she needed to talk to a counselor. Oh sure, so they can hear all about how her mother sucks and is making her life miserable! Kids! Or, girls really. My sons aren't nearly as bad as that.

So I imagine the rest of the day went OK. She went to the dance and came home laughing and happy and immediately on the phone talking to friends. Then she actually asked me if I needed any help with dinner prep. Wow! Of course I handed over the spatula and sat down to a glass of wine. I don't turn down help. Ever! lol

I made shrimp and clam pesto for dinner. It was pretty good all though very rich. I also made bruschetta which is my favorite all time food and chocolate covered strawberries.

For the kids valentines day gifts I just gave them each a couple pieces of candy and Brooks got the Valentines day Webkinz frog and Caitey got this pink singing dragon thing (from the hallmark store), and some rhinestone kit so she can bling her cellphone. Mikey got a Ravens sticker and a dvd and a huge bag of sweet hearts. So they are all happy. I just got Mike a nice card and a box of candy. He got me candy as well (which I do not need). All in all a nice evening. I am just hoping that it stays this way and doesn't end the way it began! I can't take any more stress or hormones in one day.

Oh for the love of God...

My kids are off again today. That is two days in a row. True yesterday it snowed all day but we got maybe 2 inches. Seriously. In defense of the people that make these decisions (whether to call school or not) they were calling for freezing rain but that didn't come until after 5:00 so the kids could have gone to school. But oh well, we'd not had any snow days yet this year so it was all good. But now today they are off again and I just don't know if I can take it. For one thing, I have a freaking boat load of homework and studying to do. Have you ever tried to study when you have three kids fighting with one another and while we're at it, three animals fighting with one another? Yea, that's right. The two cats and dog wont leave one another alone so it sounds like an afternoon in a lions lair. Seriously, if I heard what I am hearing coming from these cats while out on a walk in the woods, I would be scared. Really scared. So once again today we are all locked in the house together. Maybe I will put them to work. There is nothing wrong with that. Just because they have off of school doesn't mean they get to just play all day. I mean, who do they think they are?