getting caught up.

finally getting to the point where i'm not coming in from work, changing clothes, grabbing a quick bite, and then walking back out the door. today was a chance get some much needed things done, but also enjoyed lunch today with mom, kathy, and kathy's sister at the olde mill in acworth. we picked up our block of the month, and got a few bargains as well. uploaded photos onto flicker from dillard-here are other scenes from memorial weekend. i found a lovely yarn shop and quilt shop in franklin, nc and plan to go there again next year when we're in dillard. it's always a nice time, and fun just to hang out-got a lot of knitting done, and enjoyed discussing/watching foodnetwork shows, sampling some cheese, and other yummy snacks, wine, walks, etc.

margaritas and noses.

after a few margaritas, karen and i were noticing that paula, pj, jillian and steve all have the same nose. hard to miss when they were sitting next to each other and across from the two of us. karen has the best picture that shows the profiles, and i took this one on my phone as an afterthought. note to self and mary-need to include sara and mary in this discussion/observation. am pretty sure andrew has the "bowen" nose, so we need to figure out katie and sara. of course, the next round of margaritas could lead into a whole other discussion-depending on where you're sitting

i survived . .

another round of may birthdays for 2009- they are all another year older-i get to wait a few more months. everybody got to have their choice of dinner and dessert:

pj: steak, loaded baked potatoes, brownies and chocolate mousse

andrew: moe's and going bowling, chocolate cupcakes with white icing

jean: fish and chips and fruit tart

steve: steak, loaded baked potatoes (i forgot the sour cream, i was reminded several times!)

salad (that was my idea :-) ! and cheesecake.

i think everyone enjoyed their special day

mom and the boys


singing to steve

now a chance to put my feet up for a long weekend at dillard-after i go to the quilt and yarn shop!!!

happy memorial day, and remember to thank our servicemen and women.

Day 3 of weekend

pj serenades us at the graduation celebration

the day started like this:

~alarm going off at 5, then out of bed 5:15 (usual time again)

~floor exercises and 1 hour on the bike

~put dishes away while coffee is brewing

~7:02 first cup of coffee- yea!

~set oven for potatoes to cook while at church

~put chicken in cooker to keep warm

~shower, shampoo and ready for church 8:06-departure 8:20

~wonderful message by paul mcdowell (one of our deacons)

~went to the second service to hear the youth praise band play aka the resistance (they are really getting good)-amelia (yes, the one who used to live next door to us is playing the bass and johnnie on the drums lives in our neighborhood now, caitlin on keyboard and vocals and kristin doing vocals-the video isn't the best, i wasn't in a good position to take a full length, but pj does have a part that you can hear distinctively.

~11:40 counting offering with jack

~12:40 lunch time (was famished!)

~second pot of coffee
~quilting (on the sewing machine)
~a quick chat with kathy
~cooking chicken for tuesday
~cleaning up the kitchen (in between flipping the chicken :-) )
~some hand quilting
~putting fliers in mailboxes about the cookout coming up in june
~checking clubhouse for cleaning supplies (in the rain-yuk!)
~answering some emails
~getting this blog post ready
~heading to get chicken wings for the graduation party tonight at youth group
~dropping andrew and chicken off at church
~a stop at kohl's
~6-8 celebrating the seniors at our church: blake, zach, shayla, kristin d, kristin l, and rachel

~posting this blog

~going to bed at 9:00

day 2 of weekend

it went something like this:
~up at 6:00
~2 smallish loads of wash (while this is going)
~floor exercises and 1 hour on the bike (usual routine)
~7:50-finally my first cup of coffee for the day!
~iced cupcakes
~washed potatoes for sunday dinner
~made picnic lunch for kenya festival
~sorted newspapers, magazines and cans
~straightened up the kitchen (again!)
~did other bits of straightening up
~shower and shampoo and ready to go by 9:15
~kenya festival until 1:00
~a bit of a break at home then off again at 2:15 for bowling to celebrate andrew's b.day
~some knitting during bowling-we had a good time, played 3 games, will consider a knee brace next time, could really feel the knees while we bowled
~5:45-moe's for andrew's birthday dinner (this day was definitely about what he wanted to do, real good family time.
~6:45 home for cupcakes and birthday singing
~snail mail today included a post card from mary-very very cool
~2 more loads of wash
~roasted potatoes for sunday dinner
~some quilt time
~watching vh-1's top 100 songs of the 90s with pj
~some blog time
~plans to hit the bed by 9:30-starting a new book a foreign affair
the other photos from the day are on flickr-i really liked the classic car show-have always been a fan of muscle cars.

day 1 of weekend

my weekend officially started once i got home at 5:20-made good time considering i had to make a couple stops on my way home from work
~got a post card from katie from paris-love getting snail mail
~pizza for dinner
~made roasted chicken for sunday dinner
~worked on the multi-shapes sweater while enjoying the evening sunshine and a glass of wine
~watched baby blue jays getting birdseed from the feeder
~spoke with HOA president about pool issues
~spoke with karen about birthday ideas, knitting, mary's many photos from paris and seeing her on tuesday
~made 18 cupcakes for andrew's belated birthday
~cleaned up the kitchen- for the second time tonight
~did this blog posting before bed
~headed upstairs at 9:00 to read david baldacci's the collector (almost done-its really good now!)
that's it so far for the weekend, lots of activities planned for tomorrow, hope to get some good photos

a (doable) challenge

saw this posted on ali's blog, plan to join in-have much planned for the weekend, but hope to get some knitting and quilting done, as well as, getting ready for dillard and school being out! look for photos here and on flickr. with all that's going on i'll be missing the yarn harlot, and knitch's inventory sale~~~ :-( oh well, happy friday-it's gorgeous here in atlanta.

say cheese

my first cheese review. i've had this book for a while and finally decided to try some new cheeses. whole foods is not far from my office, so off i went and picked out 5 to try. it doesn't look like it from the photo, but these are fairly small pieces, the back row (l-r) kaserei champignon brie with herbs and garlic, carr valley smoked fontina, and carr valley wild flower cheddar. front row is buttermilk blue and comte. i chose a rose' to drink with these since the book recommended light whites and reds for these- figured the rose' would be somewhere in the middle. so the tasting: the brie-wonderful: the garlic and herbs were just right. the smoked fontina-nice creamy with a touch of smokey flavor-better than smoked gouda. the cheddar-also very good, the expected cheddar taste but not overly sharp. the buttermilk blue-good, but better in a salad, needs to be eaten with something substantial like bread vs crackers. finally the comte was inspired to get this one after mary posted about it. think i'm in love! this was very nutty, and sorta mild but robust, the more of it i ate the more i liked it, especially with grapes. the texture and weight of parmesan cheese, but slices better. will get this again for sure. look forward to seeing what i can try next time.

pj day

happy birthday pj (may 2), hard to believe you are 16! you're really an amazing person- musical talent, a great sense of humour, a sincere heart. i love that you're willing to watch foodnetwork with me and help out with cooking. you're always eager to learn about history, food, music and many other things, that is what makes you a very interesting person. i look forward to seeing what you do with your life. mom loves you bunches.