Dirt: I looked in the mirror and did not like it.

Our society is due a fall soon. Rome got to big for its britches and look what happened.
I am equal parts scared and equal parts anticipatory. The pressure cooker that the internet has created is going to blow sooner or later. The isolation we experience on a daily basis is the cause of the road rage, movie theater slayings and inability to communicate with anyone anymore.

We criticize our youth for their monosyllabic retorts, but have we spent anytime looking in the proverbial mirror?

Cooking: Last week of swimming

The weekend was lovely. We attended a great talent show to rival anything on television, attended our last Sunday Junior Cotillion and cooked a lovely dinner.

This week is full of friends and swimming.  This is the end of swimming for us. The season has been long (since August...really since May) and rewarding.

I wish it was this weather right this second!

Casa Swann End of the Swim Season Menu

Whole baked chicken/sweet potatoes/ kale white bean salad (Momma's girl night)

Salmon burgers/ butternut squash and apple bake/kale salad leftovers

Black eyed pea and Kale soup/ sausage

Order dinner

Hamburgers 

Dirt: My Favorite Daughter (of the second)

Whew! Friday is finally here. I love my job and my family, but I am exhausted this week and part of the reason is them.We had two swim meets in three days, play rehearsals, lots of homework, last minute snack runs and I worked 40 hours.  But it is now Friday and that means...wine, laundry and cleaning out closets at my leisure.

Last weekend, during the break of the middle school swim championship, I came home and cleaned out Ellie's room. Two bags of garbage and a lot of sharpies (at least 100) later, it is clean. Almost still clean.

She is a big time artist and I know will at least study it in high school all the way to AP Art, and may continue on in college. So, all of her drawers are full of art, art supplies, art books and doodled on pieces of paper. I saved almost all of them. She really likes to look back and see how far she has progressed over the years. One piece I found was from two years ago and had a note on the back of it. 

She is my favorite daughter.

Cooking: Would you rather be a Bruiser or a Honey Bear?

This weekend was dedicated to my sweet baby girl. Between her middle school swim team championship and Junior Cotillion, I spent most of the weekend focused on her. She rarely is in the spotlight due to her sister being such a spotlight hog, so I hope she enjoyed the attention. She had two PRs and climbed about 12 spots in ranking in both events. Also, a little fire got lit. We are thrilled. Also, for the fifth year in a row, GPS dominated. GO BRUISERS!

This week, we have a dual meet on Tuesday with another Tennessee girl's school and in typical southern girl style, we feed the visiting team after the meet. Love that I will get to see both my girls swim at a girls only meet. Both of their teams are undefeated and this is a big rivalry. So it should be fun.

Casa Swann It's All About the GIRLS! Menu

• Steak salad/rosemary potatoes (regular salad for me)
• BRUISERS VS HONEYBEARS meet and dinner
• Quinoa soup/salmon burgers
• Garlic shrimp/ spaghetti squash 
• Tacos

Whatever: Stitchfix January Review

*Hey! If you read my blog...please follow it...I know you are out there and I really appreciate that you are...I just need the followers. Thanks! *

My cutie pie Ellie is attending Junior Cotillion this month and is having a blast. She is so darn cute I want to cry. Also, she is as tall as I am now. And has better hair.

Dirt: You're so lame...

On November 9th I created a new list, which I promptly forgot about...

Let's check in two months later to see how well I did. 

via

Whatever: Friday, funnies and wine

I am working on my reading list for the year.

Also, I have my second shipment from Stitchfix.com to try on and share with you.

However, it is Friday and I  have spent the last few minutes laughing my ass off reading dogshaming.com and someEcards.com. 

Laughter is the best medicine. And so is wine. 

It is 4:47 and I have already had my first glass of the weekend.
Are you with me?

 

Reading:

Whatever: What I want...a list!

Here is a fun HUMP day list.

Things I want in 2014...

Via

• Turkish towels. Pink of course...
• Gladiator sandal...Gentle Souls 
• Camps for my kids that they love and talk about for months
• New art,  preferably large and of a dog
• Lots of skirts (I got rid of EVERY single one of mine in a fit)
• New coffee cups 

Happy Humpday! I hope yours is hump-tastic! 

Gratituesday: Pasta

Is it just me, or is pasta just the best thing in the whole wide world? Especially if you are like me and you have relegated it to the thing you eat maybe six times a year? Steve and I have considerably cut grains out of our diet the past few years and pasta was one of the first things to go. That was fine by me, since I never have been one who LOVES pasta. That is more Steve's territory.

Cooking: Menu and back to it

We have a new tradition at our house. 

Daddy's Sunday night pizza. 

Daddy aka CBITW aka Steve got a new Lodge pizza pan for Christmas and he can toss a mean pizza crust. So, winner, winner chicken dinner...we have pizza for dinner on Sunday. Last night my favorite group of blonde women came to dinner and brought yummy red wine and we ate roasted peppers, kitchen sink salad and four types of pizza. I love my life.

Dirt: I am lazy and need a list

I live and die by lists. Literally. Work, home, grocery store, etc., if there is no list, the rate of completion dips drastically.

This has  nothing to do with lists...I just miss summer.

Gratituesday: A New Year

2014.

For real?
I spent New Year's Eve 1999 in Florida with my sister, Jennifer and several of Steve's college roommates and their wives. We had a fairly low key night of wondering what would happen for "Y2K" as the media dubbed the "horribleness" that awaited us at the stroke of midnight.

Reading: Slacker or Realist?

Last year I tried a less lofty list of books I wanted to read. And guess what, I ended up with less books read. Ridiculous, really. I set my bar very realistically I thought and I ended up reading exactly three off that list. Even more ridiculous.

The List of Books, 2013 edition

Sarah's  Key
Bossy Pants
Wolf:  The Lives of Jack London
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Lolita
Let's Pretend This Never Happened
Team of Rivals
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
The Pillars of the Earth
The Silver Linings Playbook
Unbroken
One Thousand Gifts 

Cooking: First week

The forecast for tomorrow is 17 degrees and snow. 

I think that sounds lovely. Except that I have to go to work and I am still fighting the virus that has plagued me for the last few days. 

Still, I am looking forward to a lovely week of  back to normal with school, work and the gym (starting Tuesday.) We have been cooking like crazy all weekend (Steve has been, that is). Venison stew is in the oven as we speak. My house smells warm and is very cozy.

 

my mother-in-laws dog, Beau...I love him so much.

Whatever: Our family holiday trip

I have sat around in my pajamas for the last 36 hours, fighting some sort of virus that alternately has me feeling feverish and nauseous.  Lovely. Tea, water and for some reason last night,  oven roasted carrots have been my diet making that diet resolution pretty mute. I have worked on my blog and edited most of the pictures from the holidays. Sad they are over.

Dirt: What happened

As I start 2014 I am taking stock of a few things including my blog.

Blogging started as a way for me to keep track of my life and my life's goals. At the time, I was struggling to find my way. I did not realize it at the time, but I was lost. My kids were swiftly approaching that point where they really did not need me physically as much. I was looking for something fulfilling in my life and so, I started a blog.

My 40th birthday celebration and the reason I started this blog

Dirt: Take time to remember the holiday

 My Catholic magazine today had an article about savoring the holiday that just past.

You know...2013?

I usually feel so robbed by the end of the holiday season because I have these unrealistic goals for them. Silly? Yes.This year was different and so was the joy I felt.
My house was really pretty with decorations that I have collected over the years.
Our friends invited us to a lovely party.
Mass was really lovely.