hate to cook but love to entertain, why is that?

I hate to cook. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. I can NOT stand cooking dinner day in and day out. Especially when we're on the go and it has to be something quick. Hubby's picky and only likes certain vegetables, daughter #2 doesn't like lasagna or baked ziti (gasp!). Daughter #1 LOVES read meat. I'm the only one who really likes salads but I don't like my vegetables cooked. I only like raw veggies and I'm not a chicken fan.

Having said that, I love to entertain and LOVE to have people over. And, I do like to cook when I have the time. When I'm not rushed and all my chicks are in the nest and we have a nice family day and everyone likes what I make. In other words, the conditions have to be just right and the moon and the stars have to be in perfect alignment.

Today I've had pulled pork in the crockpot all day and the house smells incredible. It's such a great easy recipe and one of those things were you just throw a bunch of weird stuff in the crockpot and it turns out delicious! I also got really ambitious and made a New Orleans Best Dessert Ever (a pecan mixture crust, vanilla ice cream and a fudge topping). Champ put one of the smaller TV's out on the deck and he & KJ have been watching some football out there in between removing the rest of her wallpaper, spackling and priming. T has had 5 or 6 hours of lacrosse today and I'm sure her knees are screaming between that and yesterday's pep rally and last night's game.


Started doing my Thanksgiving dinner shopping and have started thinking about decorating the house for Christmas. Every year I try to mix things up a bit and I came across these incredible Christmas dishes by Vietri. If I didn't already have complete service for 12 and every serving piece ever made in my pattern, I'd be all over these dishes. Totally my style!

Pep Rally Time!

Kind of like Pauly D yelling "T-shirt time," huh???

Today is the last football pep rally and it should be a GREAT one! Playing cross - town rivals tonight @ the Met, second time this year these two teams have met (no pun intended). I've been sick the last two days but promised T I'd be there to video tape the pep rally. The freshmen dance team is performing with the B'nettes and they've all worked hard. I think I'm going to check daughter #2 out of school so she can enjoy the festivities. I don't think I'm in any condition to sit at the game tonight so I will just have to enjoy my twitter updates and stay tuned to iHigh.com. Whoever does the twitter udpates does an awesome job (I think it's one of the player's dads) adn he's totally on top of the action!

I heart My Daughters

I love my two daughters. I truly do. I am so proud of them, particularly daughter #1. She was in an uncomfortable situation recently and rose above the drama and acted like a poised, confident young woman. They are both at such fun ages, we have a lot of laughs, a lot of silly goodness. A lot of heart-to-heart talks. I'm not trying to be one of those mom's who wants to be her kid's friend but they know they can tell me anything. I may not always like what they have to say, but I will always listen.

T & I have this "thing" where we text each other random quotes throughout the day. Sometimes they are historical, sometimes they are inspirational. Sometimes it's words to a song, sometimes it's a line from a movie. It's just our "thing." The other day I saw the funniest quote I think I've ever seen and still get a little giggle when I think about it. I know this isn't very "PC" but please don't hold it against me....."Sometimes your knight in shining armor is really just a retard in aluminum foil."

To follow is an actual text message convo between me and daughter #2:

KJ: "Mom!! Snooki died!"

Me: "What???!!!"

KJ: "You know! Snooki my fish"

Me: "I didn't realized you had fish named Snooki"

KJ: "Yeah, she had a big black fin and always hit the glass like she was drunk so I named her Snooki."

Seriously. I love my daughters.

Reality Bites

I think I have a problem. Last night I realized I am addicted to reality TV and the History channel. I was scrolling thru my recorded shows on our Uverse (which has taken me a while to get used to; thousands of channels!) and 50% of the shows I watch are reality. I don't like shows about finding love (i.e., the Bachelor/Bachelorette) but I watch ALL of the Real Housewives shows . . . Atlanta (I just want NeNe to get her "happy" back), NY, Bev Hills (not my fave), NJ (quite possibly my fave), OC and DC. I like Brett Michaels' new show (but never really liked the Rock of Love shows; can you say "ew??") and I enjoy Football Wives (I think it's on VH1; it's about the wives of some of the Dallas Cowboys) and I also like Making the Team (Squad?) on CMT (it's about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders). I also like Amazing Race. We used to religiously watch Survivor but not so much lately. Sometimes I catch Dancing w/ the Stars but not addicted and don't even record it. On the other hand, I guess I balance out the reality crap with some History channel for my brain.

Rings and Torches

Got a new phone a couple of weeks ago. I really loved my Blackberry Pearl. It was lightweight, slim, pink and oh so very girly with a paisly back cover. But the roller ball was constantly getting stuck and the last couple of weeks it would just randomly turn off and wouldn't hold a charge. So, I went down to the AT&T store with the intentions of buying another Blackberry Pearl. Took one look at the new Torch and I was hooked. Yes, I fell hard. For a phone. I'm so not a tech-y, gadget-y kind of person so my love affair with my new phone is kind of strange (I'm so behind the times, I just got an iPod for Mother's Day this year). I do have a Garmin in the car and a Sirius radio but have never been one to keep up with the latest and greatest (the Garmin and the Sirium were gifts from the hubster). Cosmo keeps eye-balling my phone and actually told me the other day that he was jealous. He totally covets my Torch.


Tbone is a junior this year and the other day we talked about class rings. She said she doesn't want one, she'll never wear it. She's right. She likes jewelry but she's more of an accessory kind of gal, not a sentimental one. Tonight I dug mine and Cosmo's high school rings out of the jewelry box and we took a walk down memory lane. I don't think either of the girls had ever seen our rings. Back then I remember thinking his ring was HUGE (compared to the size of his wedding ring and the Hoover Lacrosse Championship rings they ordered this past ring, his high school ring now looks like it would fit a girl). But tonight when I looked at my ring, I was amazed at how tiny my ring finger actually was! I think my ring size back then was a 4 (if I remember correctly, we ordered the rings end of sophomore year and wore them junior & senior year. It was a big deal; we had a ring ceremony and everything). My ring had cheerleading on one side, the North Rockland logo and graduation year on the other. My stone was a Sapphire, my birthstone. The words "North Rockland High School" encircle the stone. I had totally forgotten that my name was engraved in script on the inside. So weird to see my maiden name after all these years! I graduated in '85 and remember my grandmother gave me money for the ring so I could get the 14K instead of sterling silver. Of course, the first words out of KJ's mouth were, "When you die, can I have this???" So, I'm hoping T doesn't regret her decision not to buy a ring. Maybe she'll be more interested in a college ring. I hope she has something to pass on to her children someday.

Shoppa-Shoppa

KJ's b-day money was burning a hole in her pocket so while Champ was at the W&L Lax clinic last night, KJ & did a little retail damage at our local Justice store. She had $55 in gift cards and I had $60 in fun cards or J-bucks or whatever the heck they're called. Still managed to do $120 worth of damage to my Visa. She bought jeans, a couple of long-sleeve layering-type shirts, some cami's, some bras and underwear, a sweater and a shirt. She put half of her b-day money in the bank and last week she bought cowboy boots with what was left over. All of her jeans are bootleg cut and don't fit when she tucks the jeans in the boots. So last night we were on the hunt for "skinny" jeans. The Justice brand fit her very well.

After shopping we had a nice dinner at one of the local Mexican restaurants and Champ ended up joining us halfway thru the meal. The W&L lax camp was going very well and Coach McCabe had everything under control so Cosmo snuck out a few minutes early. :-)
Last night the Bucs played Bob Jones in Huntsville. T said it was freezing! She had her warm-up suit but forgot a pair of gloves. The poor thing got in late last night and today she had to be up and out of the house for their last band competition of the season at Jacksonville State University. No telling how late she'll get home tonight.
I need to get up in the attic today. I'm missing a box of Halloween decorations. I know there is a box up there somewhere with scary decorations, lights, some ghosts that go in the yard, and some other stuff. It must be mismarked or something.

Rain, Rain & More Rain

I love it!
I love this weather.
It's so cozy.
As long as I don't have to be out in it (watching sports), I'm fine with the rain.
I love the thunder and the lightening and I sleep so good when it's storming.
I love the smell of the rain and I love the sound the wind makes.
It's easy to love a sunny, perfect day but I think it takes a different type of person to like an imperfect day.
P.S. KJ finally got some fish for her new fishtank. We've had the fish one day and already one of them has had babies. I think she counted 10 or 12 little fishes.