A true story to brighten your day....

So I'm a little worried about my husband.

Yesterday morning he came downstairs and asked if I had seen his car keys.  I had not but I started to look for them because I can always find everything even when my other family members claim they have looked to no avail.  (And I'm always asking if they looked with their hand as well as their eyes.  Meaning - sometimes you have to move things around to find lost items.)

I did a quick search of a few places I thought they might.  I didn't see thme and it was time for him to take the kids to school so he used my key to his car.After they left I did a more thorough search and still had no luck finding these missing keys.  Honestly, I was a little miffed because my main super power is that I can find all the lost items at the speed of light.

I knew the last time he used them was Friday night to get home from work.  I also remembered that as soon as he got home he took out his laptop and did something  for work.  While he was doing that, I had just come in from dropping Sarah off for her hockey game but had to quickly come back to get her coat and rushed Dan and Peter out so we could all drop the coat off to her and then get some dinner.  I figured the keys most likely never left the kitchen island or the surrounding area.

I checked my car, the garage, the island, our bedroom, the cabinets.  I even looked under the couches and the beds thinking that Wally might have knocked them off the island and pushed them underneath something.

I texted Dan at work telling him to look in his computer bag and he said he was also going to check his trunk because he had gotten something out of there on Friday evening.

All of this searching but we were still key-less.

Dan got home from work last night and he searched a couple of other places and then was getting ready to change his clothes.  We were taking Peter to school to watch the basketball game and Dan wasn't going to wear his work clothes.

I was out in the garage checking his trunk and car again when I heard Sarah yell to me, "Mom!  He found the keys!"

I ran into the house to find out where they had been because honestly, I was shocked that I had not found them.

"Where were they?" I asked

"In my pants pocket," he meekly replied.

Y'ALL!!!  His keys were in his pants pockets the WHOLE TIME!  ALL DAY LONG!!

And because they were in his khakis the whole time and he's from Boston and even though he doesn't have much of a Boston accent he does pronounce it like that, I just have to share this...

:)

A hockey game, a cuckoo clock, and a dance. All you need for a fun weekend!

We had quite the weekend!  It was rainy and dreary but we kept busy.

On Friday evening, I dropped Sarah off with her Girl Scout troop.  They were headed out to see the Carolina Thunder Birds play hockey.

Sarah said they had a great time and we are hoping to go as a family before the season ends. 

After we dropped Sarah off, Dan and Peter and I headed out to his high school to see the last home basketball game of the regular season.  It was a good game but unfortunately they lost.  One of their best players has been out with an injury the last couple of games and another good player has had the flu.  Hopefully they will all be back in time to play in the post season games. 

On Saturday, I did a few house cleaning chores and Dan and I drove to the other side of town to pick up his Dad's old German cuckoo clock from the repair shop. 

I had finally agreed to hanging up in the house - y'all - I can not stand the sound of a clock going off all the time.  But I was going to deal with it because this clock brings Dan joy. 

But as soon as we started to mount it on the wall, the Orange Menace came out of nowhere and began attacking the chains.  We decided at that moment not to hang it on the wall.  We are hoping that after a few months, he will calm down a bit and won't care about the clock chains dangling before him.  But for now, he sees them as something that must be attacked and we are afraid that he will pull the clock off the wall.

The big event of our weekend was the TWIRP dance at Peter's school.  TWIRP stands for The Lady Is Required To Pay.  Basically it's a Sadie Hawkins dance where the girl asks the guy and pays for the tickets and for dinner.

One of Peter's friends from middle school asked him and he said yes.  He went to the homecoming dance in the fall with a group of guy friends so going with a group of guys and girls was a new experience for him.

The girls planned the whole thing and after lots of adjustments to the plans and one of their mothers stepping in, it was decided that they were to meet at a local country club for pictures and then dinner. 

The mom arranged a banquet room (there were 18 in the group) and the dinner was predetermined after a lengthy group chat. The girls had paid for it ahead of time so there was no awkwardness with waiters and a bunch of 9th graders trying to figure out who was paying and how to pay.




When we got there, all the parents chatted while the kids broke off into two groups - a boy group and a girl group.  Peter knows all the kids in his class because his school is very small but he's really good friends with one of the other boys because they went to middle school together.  Peter was very happy this friend was in the group.

After all 18 kids arrived, we took all the requisite pictures and then the parents left.  The mom and dad who arranged every thing stayed because they were also helping to get all the kids to the dance after dinner.

The room they were eating in was gorgeous and dinner was served buffet style.  There were 3 large tables set up and there were waiters waiting on them.  Peter said the food was delicious. He even gave high praise to the green beans.  I wonder if there's anyway I can get that recipe!

I'm glad he was able to experience this dance with a friend.  It took all the pressure off of a dance with a date and it definitely got him out of his comfort zone.  He said he had a good time at the dance and I think even though he was a little nervous before it all started, it ended up being a good night for him.

The mom that planned the dinner even made a photo op sign.

After Mass on Sunday,  we met my family for lunch and then headed home for what I was hoping was going to be an evening of laying on the couch in my sweatpants.  But, alas, we luckily remembered that Sarah had Confirmation class so watched some Olympic coverage and then headed out for that.  While she was there, Dan and I shared an appetizer at a local restaurant and had a mini date night which was actually better than being in my sweatpants!

Have a great week!

Heroine Chicken from No Crumbs Left

I mentioned the other day that I was trying a chicken recipe that was getting rave reviews.  I had to butterfly and marinate this  chicken and it had to sit in the fridge for 48 before I could cook it.  Last night was the night!

It was really, really good.  However, I followed her revised cooking instructions and my bird did not get nearly as brown as hers. Also, I think I need to purchase one of these to use for marinating the bird. She kept saying that the size of the container was very important.  Also, my bird was big.  Really big.  My mom said it looked like a small turkey.  Next time I will get a smaller chicken - because there will be a next time. 

Dan gave me multiple compliments on the chicken(which is very rare) and even Peter said it was really good and that I should make it again (which is also very rare) so I will definitely be making it again. 

Dan's mom used to roast a whole chicken a few times a month when he was growing up -  complete with stuffing in the bird - so I thought this one might make him happy.  And it did, although he mentioned the lack of stuffing.  So next time, there will be stuffing! He suggested putting the stuffing underneath the bird since it isn't left whole so I guess I'll give that a shot.

The recipe can be found here on No Crumbs Left.  Also, if you are on Instagram, you should follow her there as well because she cooks a lot of beautiful looking food every day in her InstaStories. You can find her @nocrumbsleft on Instagram.

Here is a pic of my chicken after it came out of the oven:

It's not quite as brown as I wanted it but it was getting late, the meat was at temp and we were ready to eat.  Next time I will work on getting the skin browner.

And this was the bird 48 hours before:

Does it not look like a small turkey in this pan?

Happy Weekend everyone!

Thankful Thursday - Editon 6

Thursday, already?  This week is zooming past with lightening speed.

Let's see what I've been thankful for this week...

1.  Dan is home!  You knew that was going to be at the top of my list.  It's always better when he's home.

2. Quiet time in DD.  Sunday morning after I dropped Sarah off to work at our church's pancake breakfast, I headed to Dunkin' Donuts for a coffee and some time with my Beth Moore devotional.  It was perfectly lovely in there.  I got to enjoy my coffee (DD is my favorite coffee), got caught up on my devotional, AND they were playing my Jesus music.

3. Birds chirping.  I was working in the office the other morning and it was a little sunny and I actually heard birds chirping.  I told Dan about it when he called that day and he wasn't as excited.  I told him I couldn't remember the last time I had heard birds chirping and that can only mean one thing - spring is coming!

4. Pauses that save us.  When Peter was driving to restaurant the other night, we got stuck behind a slow car and ended up at a stop light.  If this guy had been paying attention, we could have both made it through the light.  Peter was grousing about having to wait and I told him that sometimes being made to wait  saves us from other things - like an accident or other event that might effect us if we hadn't been made to wait.  He was not impressed with my story and dismissed it with a wave of his hand and a "whatever" and an eye roll.  But on Monday, Sarah asked I could take her into school a little later than usual (she would still be on time, she just doesn't like to get there before her friends do). I really wanted to get to Aldi and get going on my shopping but I let her sit in the car with after Peter's carpool left and then I went in with her and got some gift cards from the Scrip program.  It was about a 10 minute delay.  When I got to the intersection where the Aldi is located, there was a 3 car accident blocking everything and it looks like it had just happened.  So, maybe pausing with Sarah saved me from being involved in that accident??

5. These tulips.  These are the Costco tulips I got last week and they were so beautiful when they opened up!

And that's it for this past week.  It's a short list this week so I'm going to try to look harder this week.

What are you thankful for today?

Just call me Suzy Homemaker...

When I left you yesterday, I had just watched the Super Bowl This Is Us.  I then spent the rest of the day getting things done.

I made a pot of Trisha Yearwood's kale and chirizo soup for my lunches this week.  I left out the potatoes so it would be low carb.  It was pretty good but it did a number on my stomach.  I think she should market it as a detox soup... if you get my drift....I'm not sure I'm going to be able to finish the soup unless I know I'm going to be home for a while...if you get my drift...

Moving on.

After that I prepped a chicken dish that I am having for dinner Thursday night.  I had to take a whole chicken, butterfly it!, and then put it in a marinade where it will sit for 48 hours until I roast it.  This recipe gets rave reviews and if it turns out as good as it supposed to be, I will tell you all about it on Friday.

In addition to all of my cooking I managed to do three loads of laundry and I ironed a 8 of Dan's shirts.  And I was only able to suffer through the ironing because I was watching The Bachelor.  See, something good does come from trash TV -  Dan has freshly laundered and ironed shirts and I didn't have to pay the dry cleaners to do them.

Dan had to take his customers to dinner so I took Peter to the high school basketball game.  I didn't want to go on a school night because I'm lazy but he really wanted to go since it was against their rival school. It was an extremely  tense game and we ended up losing in the end.  It got so tense that Sister Anne would not the Pit (that's where all the students sit) leave until the other school's fans left.

She literally made them all sit down and then proceeded to lecture them on the ins and outs and hows and whys of acting like good Christians at a sporting event - especially when we are a Catholic school.  Although, in the kid's defense, I feel like the other school should have been lectured as well considering some of their PARENTS were escorted out by the POLICE OFFICERS because they were taunting out cheerleaders.

As I mentioned - it was TENSE.

So that was my busy Tuesday and now it's Wednesday.  And did I mention that I also got my car washed yesterday so of course that means it's raining today.

I've got some bills to pay, more laundry to do, I'm having lunch with Jennifer, and then after school Sarah is getting a few inches chopped off her hair.  And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Dan will be home for diner tonight.

My constant blog writing companion napping in his favorite spot - a desk paper tray that is also currently holding a folded American flag.  Is he comfy?  He must be because here he is a couple of days ago pre flag pillow:

Someone really needs to clean this office! 

First things first...

As soon as I got the kids and Dan (he's home!!) out the door this morning, I watched This Is Us.  It did not disappoint.  I shed a few tears but not as many as I had thought because I had mentally prepared.  I just love how they always get you.  You might think you know what's about to happen...

If you have never watched This Is Us and want to you MUST start at Season 1, Episode 1.  Do not think you can just pick it up where ever.  Start AT THE BEGINNING to get the full effect.  And don't just think you will be sad through the whole thing.  You will laugh, you will cry, and you will highly enjoy yourself!

Although I won't lie, after a couple of episodes last season I thought I was going to have to stop watching because I just couldn't handle it all.  But I'm so glad I persevered.

Ok.  Enough about that. 

Dan got home last night at approximately 9:15 and was sound asleep in bed by 9:30.  He was so exhausted.  He was wide awake at 5:00 this morning but was still very tired.  But, he soldiered into work where he is running a two day meeting with customers from Saudia Airlines.  He will be taking his guests to dinner each night which means more late nights for him but at least he's home.

I have a ton of laundry to do and I've got to make some brownies for the 8th grade bake sale so I better get out of here. 

Oh, and I need to start mentally preparing because there's another episode of This Is Us on tonight!

Weekend in review and a couple of good memes from the halftime show!

Here we are at Monday once again.  I've got a good feeling about this week!  It should be normal with no bad weather, no missed school, no odd events or activities, etc. so hopefully I will be able to remember what day of the week it is each morning.  It's the little things...

Friday afternoon and evening  were peaceful with nothing to do.  Just how I like it.  Saturday was spent running a couple of errands and then I took the kids out to lunch for Mexican.  And then they both worked on homework. Sometimes you need a nice platter of ACP to get those homework juices flowing.

We headed to Mass Saturday evening because Sunday was going to be busy.  After Mass we went to Longhorn for dinner.  That's one of Peter's all time favorite restaurants and we had a gift card.  He wanted to drive from church to the restaurant.  He did a great job until it was time to park.

The parking lot was a madhouse as you can imagine on a Saturday night at 6:15. He found a space but didn't swing out enough to get into it straight and spent some time backing and trying to get into it correctly.  Unfortunately he kept turning the wheel the wrong way. 

We were both getting frustrated as people kept coming by thinking we were leaving and they were hoping to get our spot.  He wanted to know which way to turn the wheel.  I was telling him to turn it opposite of the way he was turning because what he was doing wasn't working.

I was having a hard time telling him which way to turn the wheel because I didn't know.  I knew I could do it if I was behind the wheel but I couldn't explain it to him.  Is that weird? 

Anyway,  we ended up switching spots and I whipped it in correctly in 2 seconds and explained to him that he's just going to have to get a feel for it himself because some things are very hard to explain. 

Sunday morning was supposed to be a bit crazy which is why we went to Mass on Saturday night but it ended up being a bit more calm thanks to some freezing rain. 

Sarah was scheduled to be at our church to help out at the pancake breakfast where the youth group was raising money for upcoming trips.  Sarah was working to get Confirmation service hours.  Luckily the roads were fine and I was able to get her there no  problem and she said they had a good crowd.

It was Boy Scout Sunday and Peter was scheduled to be at the church where he attends scouts to participate in that service and he was supposed to help out at a spaghetti lunch after the service.  The scouts raise a lot of money for their troop at the spaghetti lunch.  But the night before they called off the lunch and the planned scout service because they were afraid no one would come out if the roads were as icy as they were calling for.  So that made the morning a little less stressful and Peter was happily able to stay in bed.

It was so cold and dreary and wet on Sunday that all I wanted to do was veg in front of the tv.  But, alas, my stupidity made that impossible.

My brother came over on Sunday afternoon. He was going to watch the Super Bowl with us.  I was going to make pimento jack cheese toasts and meatballs.  But all morning I had been craving my jalapeno popper dip.  I had every thing I need except green chilies.  And I always have green chilies.  But not yesterday.

So my brother and I hoped in our car for a quick trip to the grocery store.  Peter came running out the door and asked me to get some ink for the printer.  So our quick trip to the grocery store turned into a longer trip to Walmart.

As I was checking out, I realized that I didn't have my debit card.  I didn't panic because I knew it had to be at Longhorn.  I called them.  They had it.  So off we went to Longhorn.  I got my card and then we finally  headed home where I whipped up the jalapeno popper dip.  The meatballs were already in the crockpot and I made the pepper jack pimento cheese the day before so I was ready to relax.

Then I realized that I forgot something else I needed and had to head back out to pick it up.  Luckily that was actually a quick trip to the grocery store so I was back home just in time to slice the baguettes, spread the pimento cheese, toast them up and bake the jalapeno popper dip just in time for the big game!

My restful afternoon was no so restful after all. 

And then there was the game.  I am glad it was a good game but unfortunately it didn't turn out the way we had hoped.  I had to have Peter  turn his phone off after the game because he was Snap Chatting with a lot of friends who aren't Patriots fans.  We had the whole "being a good winner means also knowing how to be a good loser" and "if you can't take their ribbing, then you need to back away before you sat something stupid you are going to regret in the morning because you can't take a joke" lecture.  That was quite the title for the lecture, huh?

And I was telling him that if we had to lose, at least it was to the Eagles.  The team seems to be filled with a lot of Christians who don't mind talking about their faith,  the whole situation with their quarterback getting injured and their back up having to take over, their strong coach (who seems to think a lot like Bill Belichick), etc. added up to making them a team you would actually want to pull for if they weren't playing the Patriots. 

My plan was to stay up to watch This Is Us but I just didn't have it in me. I have to mentally psych up each time I watch an episode anyway and after that stressful game I knew I couldn't enjoy the show.  And who am I kidding?  I would have fallen asleep anyway.  I recorded it and will probably watch it tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to stay away from any and all spoilers. 

And guess what???  Dan is on a plane right now headed home!  Hopefully he will be here tonight by 9:30!

And look who's helping me blog this morning:

And also, I saw this and could not stop laughing because it was so true:

And this one:

Have a good day everyone!

Driving, Bras, and a Cat Photo

Sweet Friday, oh how I love thee!  It always feels like such a victory when we make it here!

Peter wanted to drive to school this morning.  He's doing really well with his driving and I'm trying to do better with my not freaking out.  I was a little hesitant because of rush hour but the route to Sarah's school is very straightforward.  However, there are a lot of stop lights and a lot of people rushing to get to work so I was a little nervous. But I'm always a little nervous when he's driving.

I did what I always do and said a prayer for protection and off we went.  And he did great.  HOWEVER, I got yelled at!  We were approaching a stop light and it turned yellow right at that critical moment where you either need to gun it or immediately start applying your brakes.

Peter decided to stop which I think was the right thing to do for him although more experienced drivers would have  gone through.  But my problem was that he did not apply the brakes fast enough or hard enough and at the rate we were going he definitely would have stopped but it would have been in the middle of the intersection.

So I did what any mother would do and I yelled, "STOP! STOP!"  And he stopped and then HE started yelling at ME.  And then Sarah started yelling at him for yelling at me and then we finally made it to school.  I'm not cut out for this and Dan really just needs to get home so he can do all the driving with Peter.

On a completely different note because there is absolutely no way I can segue from Peter driving to this, I went bra shopping last week and as usual nothing fit.  If the cup fit the straps and band were too tight and vice versa.  So I finally did what my Facebook feed suggested and I ordered a bra from Third Love.  

I took their Fit Finder Quiz and came up with the same size I currently wear, paid the bill, and kept my fingers crossed.  The bra arrived quickly and I excitedly put it on.  The cups fit perfectly.  No gaps, not too tight - perfection.  But the straps were tight and the band was too tight around the top of my ribs.  And unfortunately both were maxed out.  I could only make them tighter not looser.

So I went to their website and printed off a label for free shipping back and filled out a questionnaire so they could send a different size. Once the post office alerted them that they had the return, I got another email asking a few more detailed questions about the fit of the bra and I responded. 

Unfortunately their response back was that I needed a bra size that they don't currently make BUT they would pass on this information to their design team and if they ever made a bra that size they would let me know.  And then they processed my refund.

WOMP WOMP WOMP

So it's back to the store to spend hours trying to find a bra that fits.  And by "fits" I mean "fits okay" because I have searched high and low my whole life for a nice-fitting comfortable bra and it doesn't exist for me.  Do any of you have any suggestions?

And with that, I've got some bills to pay and a few things to accomplish around the house before I head back to school to work Teacher Lunch Out.  Our school always closes Catholic Schools Week with a big luncheon for the teachers and the parents take over the classes while it's going on.

Have a great weekend!

And because a blog post without pictures doesn't show up anywhere here's a random and rare photo.  Both cats are actually together and NOT attacking one other.  I had to document this occasion because typically they are fighting like cats and dogs.  However, I'm starting to think we need to change that old adage and just say they are fighting like cats...

Thankful Thursday - Edition 5

It's Thursday so it's time to review the things I'm thankful for this week.

1.  Blue birds.  I was driving along this past weekend deep in thought when the most brilliant blue bird flew right in front of me.  It was such a bright blue that it caught me off guard.  Since then, I've seen a couple more brightly colored blue birds.  I'm thankful they are flitting around on these gray cold days of winter.

2.  It's February!  This January has seemed very long and very cold so the fact that it's February means it will be spring before we know it! Peter said that once February hits, it's practically summer vacation. I like the way he thinks!

3. These tulips.  I know I shared some tulips last week but y'all, I really do love them.  And my friend Jen H. tipped me off that Lidl had beautiful tulips.  So I popped in and grabbed 20 stems for $10.  TWENTY!  They are so fresh that they haven't opened yet but I am excitedly waiting for these babies to show me their purple-pink blooms in a few days!

4. Catholic Schools.  I just love our kid's schools.  And I'm always especially thankful for them during Catholic Schools Week.

5. No flu for Dan.  One of Dan's coworkers that was with him in Dubai got the flu.  He spent one day in Dubai ill in the hotel room, the next day on a plane home (I'm sure that was miserable for him), and then was diagnosed at urgent care late last night.  I'm very thankful that Dan has yet to get it and hopefully won't!

6. Dan might be home on Monday! I know that's still later than last night which was his original schedule but it's still earlier than his revised date home of next Thursday!  2 and half weeks gone is enough.  And even though the only reason he is coming home is because he's scheduled to run a two day meeting with a lot of out-of-town guests and will be working late, at least he will be able to sleep in his own bed!

7. Clean closets.  As much as I did not want to clean out my master closet, I am so thankful I did.  Every time I step in there I smile!

8. The super blue moon.  The super moon was beautiful here and lucky Dan got to see a partial lunar eclipse in Dubai.

9. The Bachelor.  I know, I know.  It's such horrible tv but I really do enjoy watching it.  The kids and Dan always shake their heads at it but I really get a big kick out of such a ridiculous show.  And then I get to read all the recaps online the next day so it's like double my pleasure, double my fun.

10.  A fresh manicure!  It's been forever since I've had my nails done so yesterday I decided to treat myself.  Or as Donna and Tom from Parks and Recreation would say:

And I did!

What are you guys thankful for this week?