Whatever: Drive to the farm

Farm on the way to my parents

 On Saturday, we took a drive to my parent's farm an hour away. The day was one of those days where you cannot believe how beautiful the sky is. I rode in back with Ellie and took a few pictures with my camera, noticing all the things I never do when I am driving.

Cooking: Here we go!

Nice weekend. Steve's dad is visiting from Florida. Ellie had a Mardi Gras dance, Delaney went to dinner with friends and we just hung out. Saturday we drove to my parent's farm for a visit since the weather is just gorgeous.

I love this time of year.

This was our last weekend of nothing going on until school gets out. Literally.  Next week starts lacrosse, track and musical practices. Games, meets and Saturday play rehearsals will take over our weekends until the very last week of May.

So glad the weather was nice and we were able to enjoy our last weekend of free time.

Casa Swann Here We GO Menu

•  Balsamic Chicken (crockpot)/ Sweet potato fries/ salad
• Stuffed peppers from last week's menu
• Indian Masala/ daal/ veggie
• Pizza
• Red Beans/Rice/ sausage

This next  weekend, I will be making two King Cakes for my girls to take to school for Mardi Gras next week. I am so sad I am not in New Orleans, but we will be making up for it with lots of rich, delicious food.

Whatever: February is for Stitchfix lovers

I have been dying to write this blog post all week. But I was swamped! I wrote quite a few posts for my work blogs ( here and here) and I was brain dead. Then my camera battery needed charging, we had something Wednesday  night and, well...what can I say...I lived the same life everyone else does every week.

7 inches of snow

I have been using the service, Stitchfix for a few months now. Stitchfix, if  you have not heard it is a  personal shopping company that sends you a selection of clothing once a month. You try it on and keep what you like and return the rest, all for $20 a month, which is applied towards your order. I have been very pleased with the service, clothing and blog.

Cooking: Southern as we wanna be

New week. New weather. That is what I love about the south. If you don't like the weather...wait.

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Dirt: I heart cheese

I love the cheese of Valentines Day. The elementary school kind. Hokey jokes, candy hearts, platonic love and crushing on the cute boy that you have your eye on.I love that my husband and I buy each other useful gifts (coffee, gum and a dark chocolate bar) and share our love via movie quotes on social media.

Whatever: Being cooler than your kids

I just read a funny article on Huffington Post...it featured tweets where teens gave examples of their parents being cooler than them. Such things as meeting the Beatles, going out every weekend and having better taste in music.

So funny, especially since I have cool parents and thus the bar is pretty high to be cool. I mean, my dad was in a band...in Austin, TEXAS for Pete's sake. Seriously.



  (He knew these guys...look them up.)

Cooking: Valentine menu and my mission

I am surrounded in my life by amazing cooks. Both of my sisters and I took turns as teenagers making dinner three nights a week. We are all great cooks. Most of my girlfriends are amazing cooks and make dinner almost every single night for their families. Including the ones that work or used to work. Dinner at home is a priority.

I feel very blessed to know women, who like me, feed their families out of love and also out of duty. Our duty as moms to feel and nourish our kids (and husbands) often gets excused away. But we are important. Very important in the continuation of the human race, not only through sustenance, but also through culture, education and the instilling of values. All are found in the kitchen and around the family table.

I am a feminist. I also believe that women are not the same as men. Our skill set is very valuable in the boardroom and the family dining room. Men can produce the same meals, but it comes from a different place.

I am proud of the fact that despite the whining and the complaining (all on my part) dinner is served usually 6 nights a week at my kitchen table to my family.

 

Casa Swann's Valentine Menu

Indian tiki masala/ spinach with paneer cheese/ rice and Naan

Kale pasta salad ala Meg/ baked chicken breasts/ salmon burger (me)

Heuvos Rancheros with chorizo 

dinner from the church

Salmon tacos or pizza...Valentine's choice

Whatever: My drug addled weekend.

I had my implant done this week. And of course all the jokes that went along with 'implant" were hilarious.

Social Media...I totally soft balled that out there to you! If implant were plural there would be photos.
I am such a light weight when it comes to medications. I rarely even take Advil. So, when I took horse pill ibuprofen and pain meds, the gas and an IV I was a goner. Friday, I was still loopy.

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Whatever: Fun times with Jake Bugg

Last September, I bought tickets to give to the girls for Christmas to see a concert in February.

Talk about delayed gratification, for me at least. Just the three of us went, stayed in a hotel, ate dinner at one of the hottest places in town and had a blast!

Getting ready...

Whatever: The list check in

So far, February has been so much better than January. No snow (I hate snow), no missed school, no sickness and I have finally gotten my tooth started. Implant in in safely...now the 4 month wait for the graft to take and then I get my real front tooth! 

The girls and I worked on storage solutions for their rooms. Ellie is actually almost keeping hers clean. Almost. I am in need of a deep house clean (this weekend, maybe) and we are all ready for Spring. 

Thank goodness January is over!

 

2014 Edition of *The List*

• Make more lists (home, exercise, kids, etc.): Better. I have been better
• Read more books :reading #6 !
• Eat less sugar: snow storm ruined this, but I have been better this week!
• Find a new activity: Looking
• Plan for workouts:This is better. I printed what I want to do and with the exception of this week, have been successful.
• Paint the shed: Too cold!
• Spend more time with my friends: Went to dinner with four the other night!
• Watch more tv- I am so out of the pop culture loop! :Sherlock, Downtown, Goldbergs, Modern Family and Carrie Diaries.
• Find a church that works for us all: not yet...
• Find a cause other than my children :Food bank
• Organize my office: Sorta have done this. Removed a piece of furniture and got rid of the piles on the floor
• Organize my attic/crawl space: not at all!
• Organize my holiday crap stuff : Got rid of some, not really organized
• De-scary my basement:Started on this...long road
• Go hear more music Jake Bugg with the girls!
• Finish the crafts I promised last year (remember that 5 person crafty thing...well, I never finished it!) :NOPE
• Go see my sister in Ohio (after the state thaws):Too cold!
• Less technology, more conversations :Working on this. I have been leaving phone in purse at home
• More family activities, together, with no complaining (Hello! I am such a whiner!) : Not yet.
• Keep our saturday trail running dates :Too cold
• Finish the backyard project- it's a freaking mess! Too Cold!
• Plant a tree :Too Cold (pattern here!)
• Learn to make bread : Made biscuits.
•  Finish the freaking painting (I freaking hate freaking painting freaking trim in my freaking house): Nope
• Save more $ than I did last year : Working on this. We started the Dave Ramsey series at a local church. So far so good.
• Take my kids on more dates;  Nashville
• Spend more fun time with Steve doing new, fun things: Not yet...going next week to ball.
• Go get real glasses (I have been wearing the drug store reading glasses and I love them!) Amazing how much faster I read now that I can see!:  Hahahaha
• Spend more time with my sisters: not yet
• Create something:Working on it.
• Eat more goat cheese; None at all this year!
• Start running again...GRRR!: Too cold