Nacwolin’s Neighborhood

Sophie and I got a girl's day out today. Victoria had a slumber party and Josiah went to Six Flags with his bestest friend in the whole wide world.

I had to track down a movie theatre in the area that was still playing the American Girl Doll movie. Seems it got bumped from a bunch of theatres because of The Dark Knight. I had been promising her all week we would go. Most of the showings were too early. I finally found one in Annapolis that was showing at 4:10pm.

I got everyone else to where they were going and we headed out. I was super excited because there is an Amish market AND a Whole Foods in the same shopping center. I needed more truffles (Yes, I finished off the box I bought Monday night, but in my defense I shared with the kids, my mom, my sister in law, and broke them out on TV Thursday.) and wanted to grab some creme fraiche since no local store sells it.

The movie was good, but a bit of a tear jerker. Not once, not twice, but like 5 times at least. The Great Depression was definitely depressing. The cool thing was almost every group that came in consisted of a mom, some kids, and a great grandma (at least, I'm assuming it was a great grandma, they all looked like my Mom-Mom). There was even an elderly couple by themselves. I couldn't help but think that my Mom-Mom would've enjoyed it, considering she lived through the Great Depression herself.

After the movie we hit up Whole Foods. I bought my truffles and creme fraiche. I also picked up some cute grocery bags that were made from recycled plastic bottles. I love me some reusable bags. I hate plastic grocery bags with a vengence. They always seem to multiply and it's gotten to the point that I feel horribly guilty throwing them away knowing they are just going to sit in a landfill somewhere. The hardest thing is making sure I remember to take my bags into the grocery store when I shop.

On the way home, Sophie was dropping hints about going to dinner at Sakura, a Japanese hibachi restaurant. I was trying to steer her toward a local Korean restaurant, even reminding her that Jon and Kate Plus 8 just made Korean food. She could have some just like they made. She wasn't buying it though.

Steve got home shortly after us, and was like, let's go to Sakura, without Soph ever saying a word. Needless to say, she was thrilled. She was also thrilled to find she is too old for the kid's menu, so she got an adult portion. Nothing like a good dinner and enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Knowing Sophie, she may just break it out for breakfast.  

So, anyway, I'm rambling. Soph's in bed, so Steve and I are going to curl up and watch a movie.

 

R.G. Ryan tagged me yesterday. Somehow I usually avoid these, but there was no escaping this one!

The rules are posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions and at the end of the post tags 5 suckers, friends and posts their names. You then go to the poor unfortunate soul's blog and let them know you've tagged them, begging for forgiveness and asking them to read your blog. Then you let the person who tagged you know that they are hated, you have posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Wow, 10 years ago, 1998, eh? Well, I had a 3 year old and almost 1 year old. I think I was spending most of my days packing for my upcoming move to my first house. I think I around July that year I was a counselor at my church's teen camp. Lots of fun. Oh, and I was in the middle of trying to lose my last bits of "baby weight".

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

1. Laundry (this is always on my list, not that I always do it)

2. Vacuum

3. Cook a yummy dinner for "TV Thursday" 

4. Clean out stinky rabbit cage

5. Water newly planted flowers so they don't shrivel up and die 

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Currently, Stacy's Parmesan Garlic and Herb Pita Chips and Whole Foods Organic Caramel Truffles. I also keep a jar of pepperocini handy. 10 calories a serving and oh so yummy! 

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Wow, um, give a bunch to my "garage" church so we could buy some land and build the perfect building. Buy an antique store to run with Steve, or just spend my days buying antiques with Steve. Buy our dream home, something historical and fix it up. Travel with my entire family. (I would love to take the kids to Europe so they can experience all the history.)

5) Places I have lived:

Ferndale, MD (different houses, same street from birth til 28) and Waldorf, MD 

6) Jobs I have had:

Babysitter extrodinaire, cashier at the electronics dept at Montgomery Ward, day care worker (YWCA and a christian school), temporary receptionist at a pyschologist office (that was interesting!), hanging ads on doors, wife and mom

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:

jamie, kelly, hannah, steph, and jenny

 

Things I'm lovin'

• Steak Stir Fry for dinner (Had a plethora of steak leftover from the weekend)
• Kids happy and playing in the pool
• Good books (I started A Great and Terrible Beauty and it's good so far. Thanks Kelly!)
• Weekend visits from Vox friends
• Whole Foods Organic Caramel Truffles (seriously, you must go buy some, like now, right now)
• Stacy's Parmesan Garlic and Herb Pita Chips (I'm addicted. Should've sent them home with Hannah.)
• Dinner and a movie in Alexandria with Steve and the 3 kids that are home (Irish food and Wall-E)
• Weezer's most recent album (Still enjoying the heck out of it!)
• Life being close to normal after weeks as a kidless couple
• My husband (He turned to me and smiled last night at the movies and I swear I felt all giddy like a school girl. We still sleep all cuddled up at night too. After 4 years. It's crazy. And he's perfect.)

Things I'm loathin'

• Nothing much right now. I've decided I'm not going to stress about the upcoming school year and all the supplies and crap I need to do til August. So the rest of July is going to be stress-free!

What was the best thing about your weekend?

Hannah, Jesse, and Libby's visit. They were sweet enought to come and stay with us Saturday night after a week with her sister in law in the DC area. Kelly, Sam, Jenny, Jenny's adorable son, and Gary came over too. Lots of eating, laughing and SingStar-ing. Gary made steaks. Hannah kicked all of our butts on SingStar. Jenny and Libby not only sang, but they added some stellar dance moves along with their performances. I'll post pictures later. I'm too lazy and tired right now. Sadly, I don't have too many. I think that's the sign of a really great time, being so busy you forget to take a bunch of pictures.

Thanks to Hannah, I need to find a Whole Foods soon. I have one Organic Caramel Truffle left and that is not a good thing. I also need Libby's recipe for Meringues. I ate the last one yesterday afternoon.

Yup, it was a great weekend.

 

I've been horrible about blogging lately, so I figured I'd catch you all up on the last month by doing a review in pictures.  Enjoy.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good restaurants and food portion of the post.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to normal posting...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a confession to make. I went to a baseball game tonight, not because I am a National's fan, but because I love baseball stadium food. Seriously, a Ben's Chili Bowl half smoke with chili, cheese, mustard and onion totally worth having to watch a baseball game. Gary went with us, but I don't post pictures of people with out their written consent. I'm nice like that.

I need to clean the main bathroom, vacuum Victoria's room, fold laundry, but I'm not.

Steve, Gary and I are going to a National's game tonight. It's my first baseball game in over 4 years. I think I'm more excited about the food than the game. Because really, going to a baseball game is all about the food, right?

I missed my bible study this morning. It seems it wasn't as early as I thought it was when I got up. Staying up late and watching movies every night isn't helping me get up early. Although Wicked Little Things was a lot of fun. Creepy, but fun. Seriously, zombie children with empty black eye sockets are ridiculously scary, even if the movie was ridiculously predictable.

Ok, I'm going to go catch up on my Scramble games and then do something productive.

What question do you hate being asked?

"Are they all yours?" in reference to the kids when people find out this is my second marriage. Yes, they are all mine.  So what if I didn't give birth to some of them, they are mine thank you very much. From the moment I met Ashley and Alex, I knew they were mine, just as the three I gave birth to.

It is usually followed up by "Which ones are yours and which ones are Steve's?". The reason I hate this question is because the kids are usually within earshot. I don't know. It just seems rude to ask when the kids are around. I realize we are a blended family, I'm not trying to hide that fact and don't pretend that we aren't. I just don't like being asked when the kids are around.

Then there is the lovely, "Are you going to have any kids of your own?" like the kids we already have aren't good enough. I wouldn't mind, "Are you done having kids? Do you want any more?" It's the "of your own" that gets me.

Ok, that was 3 questions, and I could go on, so I better stop. Obviously, the qotd has hit a nerve. Heh.