I just had to tell you...

...how freakin' awesome my Tastefully Simple party ended up being. Jen freakin' ROCKS!! We closed my show tonight, and all told, I'll be getting about $230 worth of products for $40. The $40 is really for the half-priced item (obviously an $80 value!) I earned through my sales total. The other rest is all FREE products! My sales earned me $111.15 in product, plus I got a bonus hostess gift worth $40. I'm so thrilled!

During the party last Sunday, we came up with the brilliant idea to have a combined Tastefully Simple/Pampered Chef party in the fall. We're looking at the beginning of November. If you're at all interested, let me know and I'll add you to the list. The beauty of this wacky interwebs stuff is that you can now shop from the comfort of your home, without actually having to be at the party. Although, it's SO much more fun to be at the party!! It's hard for me to pour you a margarita through the computer screen, ya know?

As much as I appreciate all the great stuff I'll be getting from this party, I'm more excited that Jen had such a great first show. What a great way to kick off her new business. And, the other thing I'm grateful for is that I got to spend a wonderful afternoon with friends and family. We had such a blast. I don't know if Jen had such a great time, since the TS party ended up going down the same road my PC parties always do - drunken debauchery! I can't tell you how awesome it was to finally meet Jen in person. She's just as sweet and funny in person as I thought she would be. She's obviously VERY patient, since she put up with my gang, and didn't bitch-slap anyone.

I know I said I didn't have any plans today, but I ended up going to my mother's to see my Monkey. My cousin and his boyfriend were there, too. It was great to see him. He just had surgery about a week ago to repair a double hernia. Ouch! And, just for the record, I did spend the entire morning in bed, with a BIG stack of magazines, so my day was still very relaxing.

Anyway, look at my little fashion plate!

I know you're sick to death of hearing it, but SHE'S SO DAMN CUTE!!!!

Did you happen to peek at the weather widget over there? The temperature dropped about 30 degrees since yesterday!! (as I type this, the widget says 73) The weathermen kept saying that the temps were going to drop to the 80s this weekend, and for the next 5 days or so. But, I didn't expect it to get THIS beautiful! I even took Monkey for a walk, just to get outside. We walked over to my Bestest Friend's house. (Little side story - Bestest Friend now lives just a few blocks away from my parents' house, where I grew up, and I live just a couple blocks from the house where SHE grew up! We swapped neighborhoods as adults. Weird, right?)

I think I just may take advantage of this GORGEOUS temperature drop, and sit out on my deck for a little while. Hope you all had as wonderful a Saturday as I did today!

Day 9

Thursday, December 9, 2010
What one thing are you often tempted to lie about? When do you think it's okay to lie?

I'm often tempted to lie about...jeez, let's see....so many things....

I know! The amount of television I actually watch. It's really kinda pathetic. I have a line up for every single night of the week. It's so very sad. I wish I had a life. Even on the nights that I miss my shows, I always watch them the next day online.

When do I think it's okay to lie? Hmmm....when it's harmless, I guess. "No, I don't mind doing that for you." "Yes, that IS the correct weight on my driver's license." "No, those pants don't make your butt look big." "Yes, I would LOVE to try your new recipe." You get the idea.

I didn't particularly like today's prompt. I hope tomorrow's is better. I wish you could see the prompts ahead of time. I could get a couple of posts finished ahead of time, plus give the answers a little more thought.

In the meantime, let me share the impromptu little dish I whipped together for dinner last night. Last week, I bought a big honkin' pack of chicken breasts at Sam's Club. But, because I had such a busy, busy weekend, I never did anything with it. So, when I came home from work on Monday, I decided I'd better either cook it or freeze it. I decided to cook it. I seasoned it and threw it all in my crockpot, and let it cook low and slow overnight. In the morning, I took it out of the crockpot, and put it in the fridge.

Last night, I was trying to think of what I could do with all this chicken, and decided to make a ring. Pampered Chef has a few of these "ring" recipes. Over the years, I've adapted several of the 'original' recipes to come up with some new ones. Yesterday, I shredded up a few breasts, put it in the dough, then sprinkled sharp cheddar over it. I really wanted to mix in some Sweet Baby Ray's (cuz I could drink that shit with a straw!) but I thought Stud didn't like it. I found out after I took it out of the oven that he DOES like it, so decided to put a little over the top. We both laughed because it made our dinner look like a dessert!

I couldn't get a decent picture of the inside (probably cuz I have a junky little camera!) so this'll have to do.
It would have been so much yummier if I had mixed the filling with some Sweet Baby Ray's. Next time...

Before I run out of time...

I'd better post something for today. Last night was a late night, and today's been a little bit of a busy day. I'll be leaving in about 5 minutes to go to a lovely dinner with various members of both sides of my family. I can't wait to see everyone! I decided to attempt another one of those Stocking Cakes. This one is decorated a little different than the first one I made. Thank goodness I know it's going to taste better than it looks!

I'm going to try and come back later and share a little more from this weekend. I took the babies on a field trip Friday (yeah, I know I didn't even mention it) so I have some pictures from the trip, as well as Stud Muffin's best buddy's performance at Second City yesterday.

Better post before I pass out...

I set up a few things on Saturday night for the party today. I had intended to take more pictures today of the rest of the goodies, but I was just too tired to think straight. I've been fighting something for about two weeks now (I think I have bronchitis, actually) and I've just been so completely exhausted, no matter how much sleep I get. So, all I can share is what I did last night.

Here's the "drink station."

I decided to put together a tea basket, as many of my friends drink hot tea. There are no less than 15 different kinds of tea in here, as well as 3 kinds of hot chocolate.

I love these mugs. I only wish I had more than 4 of them.
There, that's better. They kinda match my Pampered Chef snowman plates.
These are Pampered Chef 'things,' but I'm not really sure what the hell they are actually intended to be used for. I decided to put them at the 'tea bar' so people could use them to hold their tea bag after it steeps. Usually, I put tea lights in them and line them up in another platter.
I know you can't tell from this picture, but those 'tubes' are actually vanilla-flavored Equal.
Here are those cute snowman plates I mentioned. I love them! They were a hostess bonus from one of my past shows.
I even busted out the M&M guys for today. They were freshly loaded with M&Ms.
I picked up this little tchotchke for my friend, Denise, who is also my Pampered Chef lady. I thought he was the perfect Santa for her!

Ok, that's all I got. I feel like I've been run over by a mack truck. There's still some cleaning up to do. I've already washed two sink-fulls of dishes. There's one more to go. It just may have to wait til tomorrow, when my back isn't KILLING me. I need to lie down. But, today was worth every bit of pain I'm in right now. I was able to see several friends who I haven't seen in a very long time, including 8741. I'm SO glad you and T-Bone could join us today!!

Oh, and the cake was actually a big hit. It was even uglier (if that's even possible!) when I took it out of the fridge today. The 'frosting' (cool-whip) cracked and the red icing bled, which made it look like a cake that was more appropriate for a Nightmare Before Christmas cake! But, let me tell you, nobody gave a rat's ass after we tasted it. It was REALLY good! There were two little pieces left after everyone was gone, and Stud and I polished them off. I'll definitely be making that again. And again! I'm thinking of making one next week for Thanksgiving. I'm already planning how I can make it look like a turkey.

I know you miss me...

...but I was really busy today. So, yes, this is a total fluff post. I've been getting ready for the Pampered Chef party I'm having tomorrow. Why do you think I had to get new appliances?! Duh!

I spent the day cleaning the basement. Wait, let me rephrase that. I spent the day de-cluttering the basement. I bagged up several bags of clothes that don't fit Stud anymore. I also did about 4 loads of laundry that was sitting in the laundry room from about half a year ago. Pathetic, right? I had a couple of baskets of stuff I had washed, dried and folded at the end of winter, but then never took them out of the laundry room, since they were 'out of season.'

I straightened out Stud's room, but only a little. I told him he had to have that room cleaned before the party starts tomorrow. Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen. He ended up spending the night at his buddy's.

I managed to completely clear off the island, which hasn't happened in a very long time. To be honest, what sparked this need to clear the clutter is the fact that my friend, 8741, will be coming to my house for the first time to attend the PC party tomorrow. My other friends already know I'm a total pack rat, and a bit of a slob, but I didn't want her to go running out of my house, screaming, so I thought I'd pick up a bit.

I also made a cake for tomorrow that is a Pampered Chef recipe. We were going to do it as part of the demonstration, but unfortunately, the cake needs to chill for at least 6 hours. I decided I would make one the night before, and then we could put a second one together at the show. But, then I realized that the second cake would be left here, and we couldn't have that! So, I told my friend I would just make it tonight, and she could just talk about how to make it.

This is the picture of the cake from the Pampered Chef catalog.
Here's my version:Admittedly NOT my best work, but I'm completely exhausted. It was the best I could do under the circumstances. I had intended to buy some Christmas candy (BESIDES the candy canes!) but I just didn't see anything I thought would work. I have a few pieces of chocolate in there, but you can't even really see it, huh? Oh, well, I can redecorate it tomorrow, before the show, I guess.

For now, I'm gonna hit the sack. I took some other pictures of what I set up tonight, but I don't have the energy to deal with Blogger right now.

It's SHIT Day!*

I thought I'd show you how cute my new daisies look in their new home. Thanks, again, New Principal!
Last night, my mom had an Arbonne party at her house, and since it was Cinco de Mayo, I made my most-requested appetizer, Crispy Taco Bites. Yum!!

They look so fancy, but they are really the easiest thing to make. I love recipes like this, that make you look like a superstar, even if they only take a few minutes to make. Naturally, this is a Pampered Chef recipe!!

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Ok, ssshhhh.....don't tell anyone....but I just called sub-center and requested a sub for tomorrow. I'm playin' hooky!!!

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Saturday is my birthday, and I usually like to take a personal day (or in this case, a sick day) and just do whatever the hell I want all day. I wasn't so sure about doing it this week, especially because it's usually such a pain in the ass to prepare for a sub, and then the kids are usually nuts all day, etc. Last night, one of my good friends came to my mom's for the party, and told me that she, her mother, and another mutual friend (all teachers!) are all playing hooky tomorrow! Of course, she asked me to join them, so we could celebrate my birthday. I told her I'd have to think about it, but probably not, blah, blah, blah.

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Well, after the week I've had at school, most especially today, I decided at 2:30 that I was going to just do it. The kids have been AWFUL all week. By noon today, I had a pounding headache (which hasn't yet subsided, and I'm afraid is about to become a full-blown migraine by tonight) and was ready to bite someone's head off. Instead, I dismissed the little beasts, I mean babies, and went right back to my room, and prepared a sub folder. It was well worth the hour and a half I stayed at school to do it. Too bad I have to drive Stud to school tomorrow, so I can't really sleep in, but I am meeting friends for lunch, so that'll be nice.

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*Sure Happy It's Thursday!

Weekend Treats

This past Saturday, my cousin had a surprise 50th birthday party for his boyfriend. It was very nice, and we had a great time, despite the fact that we had to drive to INDIANA! We started hearing dueling banjos as soon as we crossed the border!! (ok, I'm just kidding, so if you're from Indiana, please know I mean no offense!!)

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I made a few desserts for the party. The first one is one of my favorite holiday party cookie. It's so easy! I actually adapted it from one of my favorite Pampered Chef recipes, and anyone who knows anything about Pampered Chef knows that most of their recipes are "cheater" recipes that start with lots of ready-made things. The original recipe calls for you to take a tube of ready-made sugar cookie dough that you then roll out onto a PC round stone (so you're making a cookie pizza). As soon as you pull it out of the oven, you pour a bag of white chocolate chips over the cookie and let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the chips are soft and melted. While you wait for the chips to melt, you take some starlight mints and crush them up with your PC chopper (and you don't have one of those, put them in a big ziplock bag, and beat them with a rolling pin or meat mallet) When the chocolate is melted, spread it evenly over the cookie, like frosting, and sprinkle the crushed mints over the chocolate. You can let the chocolate set up on the counter, or put in the fridge for a few minutes, but we can never wait long enough for that! We usually eat it immediately, while the chocolate is still melty and gooey. YUM!

Anyway, this season, instead of making one big cookie, I've been making regular cookies, "frosted" with the melted chips, then sprinkled with the mints. I make the sugar cookie dough, but it would work just as well with the pre-made stuff.

I love that the cookies are all exactly the same size and shape. That's thanks to my PC cookie scoop!! And, yes, those are PC cooling racks. (Hmmm, are you starting to realize that this is one big Pampered Chef commercial? I'm sorry, I can't help it, I LOVE THIS STUFF!
I used my chopper to crush up the mints,

I melted some white chocolate chips, and used my small spreader to spread the chocolate on the cookies.
And, there they are! Oh, so good!
I also made some of my nieces' favorite cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms. The funniest thing about these is that the one only likes the cookie, and other only wants the Hershey kiss, so it works out beautifully!


I also made some of my legendary fudge. I only make it at Christmas time, and all the people I love receive some for Christmas. (I usually make it with walnuts, but I made this batch nut-free because a) my brother doesn't like it with nuts and b) one of my cousins has a daughter with a nut allergy.)

I planned to also post Stud Muffin's show, but freakin' Blogger is driving me crazy!!!! I guess I'll have to make it a separate post. Good thing................ I'M ON VACATION, BITCHES!!! Boo yah!

(Suz- I've been trying to use Live Writer, but it wouldn't let me insert video. Any suggestions/tips? Then, after I posted it to Blogger, I tried to edit it on Blogger, and when I hit 'spell check' it took all the freakin' pictures out, and put in links instead! Help!)

Where have I been lately?!

• Last Friday-All day field trip with the babies to The Museum of Science and Industry. Walked about 45 miles. Dragged Stud Muffin with me since he was off.
• Friday afternoon/evening-Had the WORST plantar fasciitis attack ever, almost went to the emergency room. Poor Stud had to take care of me, Ace bandaged bags of ice to my foot, brought me drugs, etc.
• Saturday-Worked my usual 37 hours at the bar
• Sunday-spent the day hanging out with my parents and my brother. Went to dinner, then back to my parents' and played Wii all night (Did I mention that we bought my mom a Wii, plus Wii Fit and Wii Play, for Mother's Day?) It was an awesome time. I could hardly move by the end of the night because we were laughing so much and so hard, that my sides were cramping! My dad swearing at the game pushed us over the edge!
• Monday (Memorial Day) spent the afternoon with my best friend, then back to my parents' for a while.
• Tues-Thurs-The usual craziness that is the Hell-Hole! (Just don't have the strength for specifics right now)
• Friday-Went back to the museum, but had a much smaller group (the ones that couldn't behave last Friday were NOT invited this time!) and I had my favorite mom, Mrs. G, come as a chaperone. I made Stud come again, too, since he finished school on Thursday. Yeah, he hates me....
• Friday night-Had to freakin' work at the bar since our bartender is out of town. 'Nuff said.
• Today-Was woken up early by a(n unnecessary!) phone call, drove Stud and The Girl to the museum (yes, seriously! There is a Harry Potter Exhibit going on, and The Girl is obsessed with Harry Potter.) drove around for a couple of hours delivering Pampered Chef orders, went shopping for Spirit Week next week with my babies, and now doing laundry. I'm waiting to switch loads because my "work" clothes are in the washer! The twenty minutes it's taken me to type out this post is the only twenty minutes I've had to sit down today. Quite frankly, I should be in the shower right now. So, on that note....

Unless you have an hour to kill, don't bother to read this!

Let's see...my last "real" post was back on Monday, April 27. WTF?! REALLY??! Wow, let's play catch up, shall we?

I posted about Stud's new bed. You can see by those photos that my poor son has a room that's about the size of most people's closets. I have the typical Chicago bungalow. That means it's very small. I have 3 bedrooms, but they're all small. I kid you not, my entire house would fit in my classroom, which isn't saying very much :(

I mentioned in one of my "pretend" posts this past week that Stud was sick. Apparently, while I was typing that last real post, he was over at The Girl's house, not feeling well. His father picked him up from there, so I never saw him that night. The next morning I get a frantic call from CSJ telling me that Stud is sick. (For those who are new here, or have a memory like mine, CSJ=Cocksucking Jagoff=my ex-husband, AKA-The Sperm Donor.) The first thing he shrieked at me when I answered the phone at 6am was that Stud was sick, and he just "coughed up a yellow golf ball!" Yeah, nice, right? Apparently, at some point the day before, my son saw the school nurse, who told him he had an upper-respiratory infection. Well, Father-of-the-Year decided he needed to rush him to the doctor's office. He bullied his way (literally!) into being seen, and turns out Stud was diagnosed with severe bronchitis and a sinus infection. He was given two different prescriptions and sent on his merry way. CSJ actually took the rest of the day off to stay home with him. Naturally, he wanted a fuckin' medal for it, too! Who the hell does he think took care of Stud for the past 15 1/2 years?! This is the FIRST time he's EVER taken ANY time off because his son was sick. But, to hear him tell it, he should be given an award! Ugh!

OK, I'm already boring myself with this story, so suffice it to say, I ended up taking Wed-Fri off to stay home with Stud. I knew I'd have to take Thursday off, since Stud needed to go back for a follow-up visit smack in the middle of the day. Wednesday, he was still really feeling lousy, so I'm glad I stayed home with him. Friday, well Friday was just a little bonus. The doctor told me Thursday that Stud couldn't return to school until Monday, so I figured, what the heck, I'll stay home with him. I also may or may not have been having a Pampered Chef party Friday night, and I may or may not have needed some extra time to clean, shop and cook.

The Pampered Chef party was a freakin' blast!! I wish you could have all come. My PC lady is an old friend, and she loves doing shows for me because I own everything in the catalog. She never really has to bring anything with her, other than whatever new items have come out since my last party. I am a bit obsessed with PC. I used to be a consultant, I love it so much. But, then I threw CSJ out, and needed to get a "real" job to support myself and my baby. But, I still have shows every 6 months, as that's when the new items come out. Every March and September, like clockwork! I'm able to get the new things for free, so it's awesome!

The past couple of years, the PC parties have turned into drunken kitchen fests, much to my PC friend's dismay, I'm sure! But, making a pitcher of martinis is such a GREAT way to show off the Quick-Stir Pitcher! This party was no exception. This time it was a pitcher of mango martinis, which happens to be one of our top-selling martinis here at the bar. Yummy!!

The last drunken fool, I mean friend, left around 2:30am. It was a great party! I can't wait to do it again. It'll be sometime in September, so if any of you are going to be visiting Chicago in September, let me know!! ;-)

Last weekend was a busy one at the bar. It's almost a good thing that my party kept me up so late on Friday night, because I slept in Saturday, and was more rested than usual by the time I got to the bar. Usually, I'm up around 6:30ish on Saturdays, so by Saturday night, I'm dying. When I get home at 6am on Sunday morning, I've usually been up for nearly 24 hours.

Anyway, Saturday was a busy night, then we had another private party on Sunday (3rd one in a month!) which went later than we had hoped. Instead of getting home in time to watch Desperate Housewives, I didn't even pick Stud up at his grandma's until nearly 10:30. Then, the real fun began...

I was about 1/2 mile from home, approaching the major intersection near my home, when I decided I was too hungry to go to sleep and that I was going to get Arby's. As I was moving into the left-turn lane, I hit a freakin' crater the size of the Grand Canyon!!! (If you aren't lucky enough to live here in ChiTown, you may not be aware of our pothole situation.) INSTANTLY, my tire was gone! I thought I was going to wet my pants. Luckily, I was able to get back over, out of the turning lane, and proceed through the intersection. I turned into the shopping center on the corner, and got out to survey the damage. I can NOT believe I didn't take a picture to share with you! My rim looked like a pie that someone had cut a slice out of! I didn't know what the heck to do at first. We could have easily walked home, as it was only about 6 blocks, but I was afraid to leave my car in the Lowe's parking lot. I figured with my luck, it would be towed.

I called my daddy, of course, but he was already in bed. I told my mom not to bother him, and then called my sister. I thought maybe her boyfriend was around. In the meantime, my mom completely disregarded my request, and got my dad out of bed. At some point, Stud Muffin said he thought maybe he could change the tire himself. I figured, what the heck, it's better than just standing here, right? Plus, once I knew my dad was coming, I figured he could talk Stud through it. Next thing I know, my sister calls to say that she and her boyfriend are on their way. I tried to call my dad to tell him to stay home, but he had already left. He pulled in the lot as I was talking to my mom. (My parents only live about 20 blocks from me.)

By the time my dad got there, Stud and I had gotten the spare and the jack out of the trunk, so my dad put the jack under the car, and Stud started pumping. A few minutes later, my sister arrives, and her boyfriend takes over. He was having a hell of a time getting the tire off because the bolts were sort of rusted on, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. (Did I mention that her boyfriend is about 6'6", 330+lbs, ex-football player? Yeah, picture the dad from The Incredibles, and that's him. Literally. He looks exactly like him.)

The tire is loose now, but Mr. Incredible notices that the car still really isn't off the ground, despite the fact that Stud has been going at it for about 10 minutes. He looks over and freaks. Apparently, my dad hadn't placed the jack where it belonged, and instead of lifting the car, Stud managed to jack the car frame up into a lovely divot! I thought I was gonna lose it! How the HELL did he not see what he was doing?!?! Ughhhh!!! Of course, my dad took full responsibility, but still, come on! Pay attention to what you're doing!!

Mr. Incredible lowered the jack, sort of fixed the frame (he pulled down on the fiberglass, which is now completely unattached, but the dent is hardly noticeable!!) and took the tire off. He got the donut on, only to realize that it had no air. Of course! But, don't despair, I have an air compressor in the trunk. (I had a slow leak in one of my tires for years. I used to have to pump it up at least once a week!) He hooks it up, lets it run for a few minutes, and says we're good to go. We were going to go across the street to the gas station to fill it up properly.

Everyone gets back in their cars, we start to pull away, and my dad starts beeping like crazy to tell me the tire is flat. WTF!!? We figure the only thing to do is try to make it across the street. We make a caravan with my sister in front, me in the middle, and my dad in the rear. All three of us had our flashers on, and basically went about 5 mph to the gas station. If you've been paying attention, you'll know that the story can't end that easily, right? We make it over to the air compressor, only to find out that they remove the damn hose at night!! REALLY!?!? I seriously almost started crying.

The decision was made to try and just take our caravan down the main street to the next gas station, which was about a mile up the street. Picture that, will ya? We finally made it, Mr. Incredible filled the tire, and we were on our way. My dad followed me to his house, both of us still going about 10 mph with our flashers on, so that I could get my mom's car, as I certainly didn't want to be driving to the ghetto the next day on a donut! By the time my head hit the pillow, it was nearly 1am! I was already feeling sorry for my babies the next day.

The next day, I call my mom from school to let her know I was on my way to pick her up so I could drop my car off at my mechanic's. Stud had Anime Club for an hour after school, so I figured we had plenty of time. I get to my mom's, she gets in her car, I get in mine, and we take off. I didn't want to take any chances, so I put the flashers on, and tried not to go over 15-20 mph. Trust me, it was not appreciated by my fellow drivers. We were very nearly there when suddenly I HIT ANOTHER FUCKING POTHOLE!!!!!!

The tire instantly went flat. AGAIN! Luckily, I was about 20 feet from an entrance to a strip mall, so I pulled in, and called my mechanic. Through my sobs, I told him what happened. He tried to calm me down (the poor guy!) and said I should just keep driving, real slow, to the garage. I told him the tire was completely flat and his answer was, "Fuck it, it's the donut, who cares?" So, I managed to turn around, go back out onto the busy main street, and I literally idled for about 3 miles. The whole time, I could hear the metal of the rim grinding into the ground. It's a good thing I never even hit 10 mph because I could hardly see through my tears.

In case you've fallen asleep, we're still on Monday, folks. About an hour and a half after I got home, Billy, my mechanic from Heaven, called to tell me he was done! He was able to pound out my rim, and the donut's rim, and everything was hunky dory! But, I need to get new wheel covers as the one on the flat had been destroyed (plus about a month ago, I was hit by a kid, and it ruined my back cover) so he was going to get me a set of 4 new covers. He said they would be there the next day. Yay! When all was said and done, the whole ordeal cost me less than $80. I know, I can't believe it, either. Oh, and Stud ended up getting picked up by The Girl's mom, as there was NO WAY I was going to make it to his school in time. He was thrilled, to say the least ;-)

Maybe now you have a little insight into why I felt the need to post on Monday about what made me smile that day. It was truly a day from hell! As much as I'd love to fill you in on the rest of the week, I'm afraid I've lost all of you at this point, so I'm going to take a bit of a break. Plus, I stole a martini recipe from TGIFriday's the other day that I'm dying to try, so maybe after I drink it (!) I'll type a little more! (You've all been given fair warning!)

Hmmm...maybe tonight will be the night I can get some sleep!

I just walked in the door from the bar, it's 9:30ish, and this is the earliest I've been home in ages. So rather than sitting here for an hour filling you in on things, I'm going to just cut and paste from an email I sent a friend this afternoon, describing what the past week or so has been like for me. Some of the info may be repeated from last week's posts, so I apologize if it's redundant.

Since I've completely moved away from this being my "school" blog, I'm feeling very guilty. Let me just share this to ease my conscience. Today, one of the little darlings in my class flipped my off. Oh, yes she did!!! God, I LOVE the Hell-Hole!!! Actually, one of the reasons I've been writing so much 'personal' stuff is that I've reached a level of hatred and disgust for the Hell-Hole, and most especially for the Big Cheese, that is so high, I just don't want to think about it when I'm home these days. I can't give any more of myself to all this negative crap, especially as thin as I've been spread these days. On that note, here's the scoop:

My weekend was BUSY!!!! I have been running on fumes for over two weeks now. I can't remember the last time I was so completely physically, mentally and emotionally drained. Oh, wait, yeah I can. Right after L was born! Things really picked up speed with the bar a couple of weeks ago (permits FINALLY coming in, licences acquired, furniture arriving, liquor ordered, etc., etc., etc...) so we have been working 'round the clock for weeks now. Last week, we basically decided we'd be able to have a "soft open," as my brother keeps calling it, by the weekend. Let me go back, and remind you that I had a major fundraiser to run on Saturday night for L's school, which left me exhausted on Sunday. Sunday night, we set up all the furniture, except the stools, since they weren't there yet. We had to wipe everything down and clean all the surfaces of EVERYTHING, since we still have construction dust settling. I think I left there at about 2:30 am. Unfortunately, while I was working, I managed to drink three giant 32 oz Diet Cokes, so I could NOT fall asleep for the life of me!! I finally turned the TV off at 4:30, but then just tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 6:00.

Monday, I went there again, and got home after midnight. Again, couldn't fall asleep, finally dozed off around 2:30, up again at 6! Tuesday afternoon, the bar stools arrived, and Tuesday night, one of the liquor reps offered to do a wine tasting, at no cost to us, at the bar. We quickly invited family and a few friends on Monday night (talk about NO notice) and as they walked in, we handed them razor blades and told them to start unwrapping stools!! It was actually pretty funny! The wine tasting was fun, but alas, I was there AGAIN until after 2:30 am!!!

Wednesday, up at 6, loonnggg stressful day with the kiddos, then straight from school home to pick up the dog, straight to the vet, spend an hour or so there, straight home with just enough time to literally throw the dog in the yard, yell for L to let him in, and then off the L's school for a Parents' Club meeting. Ran the meeting, met with the principal, and got home around 9:30. Despite still not having eaten all day, I was just too tired to worry about it. I did a few chores (dishes, laundry), made L's lunch, and got to bed around 11:30ish. Out of habit, I turned on the TV, and caught the end of Jimmy Kimmel's 1000th Show extravaganza (I adore Jimmy Kimmel!) so I ended up watching, then at midnight when it ended I was all set to turn off the television, only to get immediately hooked by Oprah (wretched woman!!) because she had on the "man" who is pregnant. I ended up watching the whole darn show! So, there we were again, up past 1 am!

Thursday, I went to the bar straight from school, worked my butt off, so that we could open on Friday. Friday afternoon, again I went straight from school, finished up a few last-minute things, made a run to the grocery store for a couple of things we forgot (like pineapple juice, half and half, and so on) then back to the bar to wait for the crowds! When 5:00 rolled around, my brother, sister and I were just sitting there with baited breath, but we were sitting alone. No worries, we didn't even tell anyone we were open. We figured that when people stopped by to ask if we were open yet (as they did no less than 10 times a night for the past 6 months!) we'd finally be able to say "Yes! Come on in!" And that moment finally happened about 6:30ish.

The sweetest couple came in and were our first customers. Within about 15-20 minutes, a few more people wandered in, and things were lookin' good. My brother and I had talked about getting dinner, but then when people started coming in, we were so busy socializing, I never left to get anything. Finally, around 8:30, I figured I'd better go, since business was picking up, and I knew we had to eat for energy! My sister and I left, we picked up sushi for M and me, and Al's Beef for her, then went back to the bar by 9:00. We were shocked when we pulled up. The place was jam-packed!! Every bar stool around the bar, and every table was filled with people, as well as one of the couches. YAY!!! Friday was a smashing success! Sadly, my brother didn't get to eat until after 10, and even then he only was able to grab quick bites here and there. Poor baby!


We ended up staying open until 2:00, although most of the people cleared out about 11:30 or so. Then my brother and I and our cousin sat around BSing until about 2:30 while we cleaned. We went to breakfast from there, and I pulled in my driveway around 4am. That wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to be up Saturday morning to go to a fundraising event for the Teachers' Union.

It seemed like my head had just hit the pillow, when my doorbell started ringing at 9:00, and my friend from school was at my house to go to the bowling alley. We ended up being at the bowling alley much later than I anticipated, which put me behind the rest of the afternoon. I was hosting a Pampered Chef party Saturday night, which originally was supposed to be at my house (kind of a 'come see the basement, now that the floor is finally finished' thing) but my brother suggested during the wine tasting party that I hold it at the bar. I've already gone on too long, so let me just say, it was fun. Friends I wasn't expecting showed up, which is always a great treat. The PC party was winding down around 8:30ish, and I was getting nervous because there really hadn't been anyone stopping in to ask if we were open. I had to keep reminding myself that people don't go out early on Saturday night. My fears were eased at around 9:00, when the throngs of people started arriving!! Again, a packed house!! Saturday was great! The place was filled with family and friends, as well as friendly strangers who just happened by.

As successful as the first two nights were, I can't imagine what it's going to be like when we actually have the grand opening, and let people know we're open! With no announcement, no advertising, no nuthin' we managed to pack the house two nights in a row. I made the executive decision to stay closed last night. Worked out great, since I didn't pull into my driveway until 5:15 Sunday morning!! We all slept in, then my brother, sister and I went out for dinner last night and then headed over to the bar. We went under the pretense of getting some work done, but all we managed to do was hang out, listening to music, squeezing in a little singing and dancing, and just basking in the glory of opening weekend. I'm so happy for my brother, and for my family. I'm completely convinced now that Intimo is going to be a raging success.

OK, it's 10:00, and I'm going to hit the sack. I just may be able to actually get 8 hours in tonight!!

Mmmm....what is that wonderful smell?

You'll be glad to read that, although I wrote down a bunch of funny answers from today's DIBELS testing, I left the paper on my desk. Believe me, I realize not one of you enjoys these little stories the same way I do!

This week we started a new unit in reading. The theme is food. As I mentioned Tuesday, we read a book called Apple Farmer Annie. In the back of the book are some recipes for applesauce, apple bread and apple muffins. When we read the book on Monday, I told the babies I would bring my "cooking pot," (aka, my crock pot) and we would make the applesauce recipe. Actually, I figured we would just make cinnamon apples, since I didn't think the crock pot would cook them enough for applesauce. I asked our lunch lady to save us some apples, which are abundant in the lunchroom, which she did yesterday. Today, as promised, I brought the cooking pot, sugar and cinnamon, and my apple/peeler/corer/slicer. (The greatest invention ever!! It's from the Pampered Chef, and I LOVE it!!)

We skipped our usual morning routine, and went right to work. I had intended to let each one of the babies do an apple on the machine, but then I realized I couldn't possibly use 27 apples. Luckily, they were perfectly content to just watch me do it. Admittedly, the machine is totally cool to watch, so I wasn't that surprised. I chopped the apples, put them in the pot, added the sugar and cinnamon, and a little water, and turned the dial. By lunchtime, the room had the most delightful aroma wafting through it. I wanted to let them cook as long as possible, so went to our usual snack time, then came back and enjoyed the apples during the last half hour of the day.

The babies LOVED it! By the time I started serving the last table, the first table was already asking for seconds. The whole "project" was so easy, I told the babies we could do it every week. Like I said, we have more apples than we can use in the lunchroom. Most get thrown out at the end of the week. Next week, though, I'm going to bring at least two crockpots because there really wasn't enough to make them happy. Even though the pot was literally filled to the top in the beginning, once they cooked down, there wasn't as much as I thought there would be. And, every single one of them eat their serving, which certainly doesn't happen when they just get the apple for snack.

I had intended to post some photos for you of our 'apple party,' but of course, I didn't remember to bring my digital camera today. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it : )

One of the girls I had dinner with tonight suggested I use a potato masher next week on the apples once they're cooked, to actually turn it into applesauce. She's so smart!

Well, it's time to get my own "baby" into bed. He's taking the entrance exam for the high school he wants to attend tomorrow morning, bright and early! He needs his rest, so I'm off to be Mean Mommy! Have a great weekend!