It's Friday!!!

I love the weekend, and all the possibilities it brings. Will I be lazy or motivated? Will I cook or eat out? Will it be quiet or filled with loud friends (as mine tend to be)? Whatever it brings, it's all mine.

Andrew's Boy Scout troop is setting up for their big fundraiser. They sell pumpkins in October at the cutest pumpkin patch, and Christmas trees after Thanksgiving. There is a lot in Old Elk Grove that used to be a gas station, but the owner closed it down and razed the building 25+ years ago. It can't be sold because the tank is still in the ground and he doesn't want to pay to remove the tank or clean up the soil. So, he let's the troop use it for free. The large metal fence, with lights, goes up this weekend, and stays up until the week before Christmas. Andrew and Joe help set the fence up, plus we'll have to do one five hour sales shift. We sign up for the Christmas tree lot in early November. Both are a lot of fun.

After the lot set-up, Joe is taking Andrew and Rhett to the Governor's Cup at Sacramento Speedway. Car races all day and well into the night. I'm making them a large picnic to take and wishing them a good time. Personally, I don't see the appeal, but it is a guy thing I suppose. At night they have nitro cars with the large flames shooting behind. It's supposed to be quite a sight.

While the boys are at play, Jessica and I will be heading up to the Roseville Galleria. It's a bit of a drive, and we only do it a few times a year, but as the opportunity presents itself...how can we deny our inner desire for retail therapy? There is an H&M, which Jess really likes, William Sonoma for me, plus the fun-to-look-at-but-not-venture-into-stores such as Tiffany and Gucci.

I've been reading some good books, and some not so good books. I like to fetter the bitterness of a think-about book with the ease of a no-brainer.

Otherwise....we're looking forward to the premiere of Harry Potter in November, although find ourselves in a conundrum because we have a previous commitment that evening. I can't take the kids out of school to see the movie (can I?), so we're left with a 3 hour window. Not sure how it's going to fit, but somehow we are going to see the movie AND attend our engagement.

I saw this pillow at Target and really wanted to buy it for future grandkids, but I resisted. Isn't it cute???

Feeling kinda lazy....

Wow, can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged. A lot has happened this month. I started back at work (my old job, the one I had before I was laid off from my most recent one), the kids started school, and Marie and I launched the food blog. Although, really, I've had time to blog. I've just been enjoying my free time. The last year and a half was very busy (read:stressful) for me, so having the time to just read a little, do housework, browse at Target, has all been enjoyable.

Work is good. I had forgotten how much I liked the little kids. They are so sweet and cute. I am really looking forward to this year.

Jessica is a senior this year, and busier than ever. ASB President, Co-Editor of the school newspaper, member of the Academic Decathlon Team and the National Honor Society. I don't know how she keeps it all straight, but she does and she loves it. I think this is going to be a really good year for her. She gets more mail than we do, all of it college related. I think it's going to go by too fast!

Andrew is a sophomore this year and as laid back as ever. Not one to put himself out in the public eye like his sister, he still gets plenty of school attention. A very handsome boy, that's for sure. He skipped playing soccer for the school this fall in order to focus on his classes. This term he's hit with the hardest: AP Chemistry, Honor's Algebra 2, Honor's English 10, and U.S. History. He plans on wrestling, which starts conditioning in 7 weeks, but by then he'll have laid the foundation for his hard classes (his words, not mine). As soon as this term ends he'll be planning his Eagle Project, hopefully for springtime.

Joe and I have been doing a lot more stuff without the kids, which is good because we don't want to be those empty nester's who sit and watch tv night after night.
I'm looking forward to Christmas here with my mom and Marie. It should be fun. I've already told the family we will be eating at Chevy's and Mimi's (mom's favorite places), and we might even hit the "big" mall.

Got to run. Finishing a Black Forest Cake for friends that are coming over later for dessert. This picture of Jessica is the one we got an 11x13 of, with the canvas texture. It's beautiful!

Should I or shouldn't I?

The great thing about summer is having the mornings free to exercise. I've been running a lot, plus have increased my strength training using our new home gym, and have been feeling pretty good. Having said that, there is such a thing as over-doing it! Usually, I take every opportunity to exercise because you never know what might impede it the next day (usually housework, but you all know how I feel about that). Sometimes I start thinking about the things I have to do, and the things I want to do, realizing they are not always the same! So, while I want to exercise today I'm feeling sore from my run yesterday and might skip it. But, my dilemma is, if I don't exercise, then I have time to clean the bathrooms, which I really don't want to do. What should I do? Run, or clean???

Updates.....

Andrew made it home safely after being gone for two weeks. We missed him terribly (probably me most of all). He said camp was a lot of fun, the food wasn't as good this year as last year, and he finished an additional three merit badges. He LOVED the surprise he found in his room, so much he dropped his pack and fell to the floor. We bought a home gym, and for lack of a better place to put it, for his room. It belongs to the family, and I have already used it twice, so the expectation is that he keeps the floor space around it clean so we have easy access. Of course he's the neat one so I don't see any problem with that.

My new adventure with Marie is going to be fun. It's exciting to collaborate on a blog. The name is 'Two sister, two kitchen', which is really a work in progress.

School starts two weeks from today, although Jessica has some kind of meeting almost every day until then. We need to do some back to school shopping. I suppose we'll fit it in somehow. I'm a sucker at Staples or Office Depot. I love markers and cool notebooks.

We've had a fairly mild summer so far. There have only been two days the temp. has been over 100 (very rare). The area averages 22 (100 degree) days a year. My fear is we'll get them all at once. It still stays warm here into September, but at least it's cool at night (usually).

Lazy Saturday, or Busy Saturday?

Can't decide what to do today (just saying this is a luxury). Andrew is at camp until August 1st and Jessica is heading into SF with a friend (then overnight at her house). I suppose I could mop the kitchen floor, considering I just spilled coffee on it, OR, I could use my handy-dandy new designed-for-pet-hair vacuum, OR, I can finish the blanket I've been working on and put my sewing supplies away, OR, I can finish The Fellowship of the Ring (2/3 done). Choices! Most likely, at some point, I'll find motivation to do all these (hopefully) and end up outside by the pool. Life is tough, but someone has to do it!

On another note, we went to the State Fair last night. I feel like we wasted our $36 entrance fee by spending only 3 hours there. The only exhibits I really like are the textiles and animals. The fair is much smaller this year because of the early start date. Next year I might just go to the County Fair and skip the State Fair.

Has anyone eaten at Togo's? I'm going to attempt to recreate the dressing they use on their Asian Chicken Salad. I'll let you know how that works out.