I began my journey into the life of Second Wife and Step-Mom in the summer of 2007, and although I still feel that this is my life’s calling, and the best decision I have ever made, it has not been without its trials, victories and daily lessons.
The following is a daily journal of sorts, of my life as the Second Wife and Step-Mom.
We did it! After being non-stop super busy every weekend since Thanksgiving, Mitch and I took a SERIOUSLY needed electronic free weekend!!! As of Friday end-of-day, we were unreachable!! And we LOVED IT!!!!
Life was once again simple and unoccupied by FaceBook and Twitter updates, there were no urgent texts that needed to be replied to, if emails came in we would simply discover them come Monday, and blissfully there was not a ring or ring-tone to be heard.
Now don’t get me wrong, we were not completely without electronic devices, I mean we did still have the necessities like TV/Satellite, coffee maker, dishwasher etc., we did not go for the complete roughing-it and camping experience, we just decompressed. We stayed up as late as we wanted, slept in until both mornings, and napped whenever our eyes got a little heavy.
It may be a sign of aging when a weekend like that is described as HEAVEN and BLISSFUL, but you know what, it was just that!
But as all good weekends must, it came to a close last evening and here we are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, back at the office making the money one needs to have the gadgets and lifestyle we have. Here is hoping we don’t go as long without a rejuvenating weekend like that again.
We did it! After being non-stop super busy every weekend since Thanksgiving, Mitch and I took a SERIOUSLY needed electronic free weekend!!! As of Friday end-of-day, we were unreachable!! And we LOVED IT!!!!
Life was once again simple and unoccupied by FaceBook and Twitter updates, there were no urgent texts that needed to be replied to, if emails came in we would simply discover them come Monday, and blissfully there was not a ring or ring-tone to be heard.
Now don’t get me wrong, we were not completely without electronic devices, I mean we did still have the necessities like TV/Satellite, coffee maker, dishwasher etc., we did not go for the complete roughing-it and camping experience, we just decompressed. We stayed up as late as we wanted, slept in until both mornings, and napped whenever our eyes got a little heavy.
It may be a sign of aging when a weekend like that is described as HEAVEN and BLISSFUL, but you know what, it was just that!
But as all good weekends must, it came to a close last evening and here we are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, back at the office making the money one needs to have the gadgets and lifestyle we have. Here is hoping we don’t go as long without a rejuvenating weekend like that again.
Do you ever wonder how you got so busy? When or better yet if you truly said “yes” to all these events/activities/commitments you are bouncing to and from? My latest question to Mitch for that matter has been…
“How is it that two very unsocial people have been so very busy and social for the last couple of months?!?!?”
I feel like I am trying to come up for a breather while still juggling a busy work schedule, oh yeah and trying to get back into my old (pre-holiday) routine, you know the whole not drinking any wine during the week, eating right and low calorie meals, and exercising…. can you say FUN!!! Plus I could have so easily called in sick again this Monday (yesterday), but geez it is only January and I so need to make those wonderful paid-day options work for me throughout the year.
Anywoo! Here I am burned out and so ready to crawl back into bed and take a lazy cat nap, and it is only TUESDAY!!!!
Well, at least I have Mitch’s word that we have NOTHING planned for this weekend, and I truly mean NOTHING!!!! I may just secretly turn off all our phones and hide them. Any emergencies can wait until Monday the 24th, which includes hell freezing over, pigs flying, pink elephants marching into town and the great possibility of the government balancing the budget or giving all of us insurance!!!!Catch my drift here… lol!!
Yesterday I just could not bring myself to go to work and with the dawning of a new year and a new supply of sick-days, I decided to call in sick and take a mental-health day from the office and all of its daily drama.
Instead, I blissfully went back to bed, reset my alarm clock for and then started my day with sun! Normally I only get to rise with sunshine on the weekends, so this was a wonderful treat. I then proceeded to have a wonderful day playing 50’s housewife, and let me tell all you fellow modern girls out there something…. I LOVED IT! It will probably sound so incredibly boring to you, then again – maybe not, but I so enjoyed buzzing around the house accomplishing tasks I just couldn’t squeeze into our busy weekend, and with next weekend promising to start right after we finish work on Friday, there was simply no hint I would or could possibly get caught up in time without the day off from work yesterday.
So with two little furry delights as my shadows (my boys of course our female cat could careless about any of us until of course it is movie night, and then she will play musical laps all night purring very enthusiastically and acting so pathetically love starved), I managed to loaded the dishwasher and cycle through all the laundry, including the linens, prepped and started dinner (chicken and white bean casserole), fixed and refrigerated lunch for Mitch and I to enjoy upon his getting home, posted an add for the car we are trying to sell, found and ordered the perfect necklace for Janet’s early graduation next month, tidied up the house, and took out all the trash and recycling for Mitch (normally one of his chores). All in all, by the time I sat down for lunch with Mitch at , it dawned on me I had managed to be on my feet all day, and instead of feeling drained and exhausted, like I would have if I had gone to the office, I felt wonderfully productive and very happy with all I had accomplished.
In fact, it all got me to thinking, I mean short of greeting Mitch at the door in a lovely house dress and kitten heals with a cocktail in hand for his unwinding pleasure, I got to experience what the 50’s housewife life was like yesterday, and the really funny thing was, come this morning I was already thinking of all I could accomplish and be busy with yet again today, that is, if I could afford to play hooky again… and a part of me started longing to be the stay at home mom who gets to juggle all of that and more.
My fear(s) came more from rejection; after the fact.
Prime examples… Well one is this blog. I didn’t for once think I couldn’t do this, I mean heck I can vent and rattle-on with the best of you; plus I think in this journey that I just may have something to share. The fear I had the moment I hit publish though was “OMG people are not going to want to read/hear about the 2nd Wife.” Then I proceeded into my self-dialog game of killing doubt, and I ask myself “what’s the worst thing that can happen?” Answer: “no one reads it.” Resolution: Then think of it like an online diary, each entry is one you send out into the world, if you don’t get any feedback, well its not like your diary was gonna talk to you either, and just like that… I am again fearless.
Everything I have ever tried out either came easily, was a blast, or I got bored of it and moved on. Relationships, well I have had the good, the bad and the ugly like all of us, but life just always managed to show me that there is no shortage of men and lessons that come with them in this world. So, it was no wonder to me that when Mitch came along, and I fell so completely in love with him and the whole package of him (baggage and all), that it wasn’t until our first “family” dinner AFTER getting married that I suddenly went “S#&T!!!! I am a Step-Mother!”
lol! See what did I tell you; after the fact fear.
What I have noticed though, and was reminded of last night is that not everyone is built like this. Mitch in particular is one who is fearful of failing, and has had the unfortunate experience of life hitting him with proof of his needing to fear this. For examples, his divorce, and his feeling like it is his own personal failure. Then there is the fact she proceeded to bleed his business dry, to the point where he had to sell it to a friend to get her off of him, and instead of seeing that as courageous and a bold move, he remembers the selling and sees that as another failure.
So… it is an interesting dynamic, especially when I go marching into something guns-a-blazing just to turn around and find he needs a little pep-talk first; but it appears I make a great cheerleader… lol.
The beauty of our marriage is how Mitch and I balance each other out.
I cheer him into trying that something bold or scary, and he cheers me on after the fact.
We build great backbones for each other.
My curiosity is… and maybe you guys can answer this…
Does life’s lessons and gut-kicks, change how you fear?
I may finally be catching-up with my sleep deprived and super busy self. I have just not wanted to get up in the mornings. It could have something to do with the winter time change and weather, I mean getting up in the darkness (even still at ) and seeing the thermometer read that it is 36 degrees outside, just doesn’t motivate me well…. lol! Next week I promise myself that I will be back on track with my morning workout schedule and that I will jump start the week off by doing an extra round of cardio in the afternoons, after all I have got to work off the wonderful holiday splurges that I just felt like taking every single bite and sip of.
I am actually looking forward to working out with my new Christmas toy…. Wii Fit! Plus the bonus of the Wii system is that it is something the whole family can enjoy. In-fact we got into a marathon of games last night. I absolutely suck and/or do not understand how to do golf, but KICK-A$$ at Frisbee, and we have had way too much fun with bowling and archery.
Anywoo, enough of that, as I mentioned the other day, Mitch and I spent a little over two days in the dessert (over New Years) helping my mother-in-law move; I am always so glad to be driving away from there and am very excited that all of our visiting with her from this day forward will be elsewhere and a much MUCH shorter drive.
Should you never have been fortunate enough (said very sarcastically) to visit/vacation in the PalmDesert area, allow me to briefly explain. The drive in is filled with one large high-end strip-mall and gated community after another. The area give off the feel that it is occupied by the nearly dead and all the professions that service them, which by the way, are the only place you will find people of varying ages (you know, younger than the 65+ range). In the summer temperatures can get up to 120 degrees, and in the winter can get as low as freezing (32), plus you have to deal with dust storms that create such blindness you could compare it to the worst fog you have ever driven in; and the BIG decision one has to make upon moving there is deciding which community offers the best golf club package and will it have any tours play it?
Well, long story short… It is a strange little place that is definitely gauged more to the upper echelon of retirees and as such, if you “an outsider,” unknown to everyone on the golf links (men) or salons (women), gets into this community, then the whispering begins. Mitch and I have experienced this frequently on our trips, but never more so then on this New Years Eve. At one point it felt like they were trying to figure out who we may be, as if we were some celebrity in disguise.
Best entertainment Mitch and I have had in a while. I mean don’t get me wrong, we enjoy people watching too from time to time, no more than anyone else though; and we have fun picking apart these uber-wealthy retirees every year, but watching them last weekend try to figure out if they really were loosing their minds and actually knew us, or contemplating how we are living their lifestyle so young… was just priceless and easy fun.
It was in a word….. Hilarious!
Alright, enough teasing of the winter wealthy birds of the desert
I am very thankful my catch-up week has reached its middle; I look forward to the weekend and hope, as Mitch hopes, that we get sunny weather so he can put the top down on our new car and we can christen it with its first coastal cruise.
I hope this finds you all rested and happy after the holidays. I on the other hand can still use a major nap, but we did survive our trip to the desert, and let me say it was eventful.
We drove out of our driveway on Thursday at and made wonderful time, arriving and treating Marilyn (mother-in-law) to a late lunch at . From there we hit the ground running, getting the rental car to the airport then errands Marilyn needed assistance finishing prior to the packers arrival around -ish on Friday. So, on our way back to the house upon finishing our portion of the errands, we stopped at the store to pick up picnic items so we could easily camp out once everything was boxed as well as some breakfast, lunch and dinner groceries for our stay, and to get Marilyn through the rest of her week in the house. Then, we intelligent adults manage to stay up talking, drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers until . Brilliant thing to do considering at that point the movers could be there in about 6 hours! LOL!
The next morning I wake up finding out I am horribly allergic to Trish’s (sister-in-law’s) dog, which is staying at Marilyn’s house while Trish is out of town. So, on top of the wonderful wine headache we are all sharing, I have the worst sinus headache imaginable! Mitch, bless his soul, went on a coffee and juice run. I find juice gets me over a hang-over quickly, something about getting the blood sugar back up and kinda balanced I guess, but both he and Marilyn prefer coffee. So, while he is out I somehow manage to pack us back up and tidy up our room, all while heavily doped up on Benadryl; the shower did me no good. I then camped out on our guest bed with my Kleenex box and trash can close at hand, as the movers pack up the house around me. Marilyn, not wanting to be far from her bathroom was camped out in her bedroom too; sadly she was the worst off. Mitch, after feeling better was out playing around with our new car and getting it ready for our drive home tomorrow.
Somewhere after the movers had finished and while sitting outside staring at the golf course, very much in a Benadryl fog, I begin to feel a little better, so crazy person that I am I decide I can make an evening of it after all and go out for New Years. Marilyn, still not trusting her stomach opted to stay home, so Mitch and I wound up having a very romantic dinner for two, even though we wound up being the object of many a table’s glances and I am sure conversations. With our age difference, and Mitch being way to young to have really retired out there, they were all desperately trying to figure out who we were and what we did to be living their lifestyle so early, it really began to feel like The Great Gatsby and the whole New Money vs. Old Money scenario of that book.
But wow is that a conversation for tomorrow.
Anywoo, we had a lovely evening, came home and rang in the New Year in each other’s arms. Then come Saturday morning we were back in the car and on our way home. After a very long drive, half of which was spent being rained on, we made it home! There is nothing like way to many hours in a car, spent traveling two-thirds of California, to make you cherish sweat pants, cats on your lap purring, the comfort of your couch and delivery dinner; oh and then there is the pure joy of a temperpedic bed and recognizable creeks of your own home to put you right at ease and slipping quickly into slumber.
Sunday, we spent the day in pajamas, I somehow managed to get laundry done, its not folded and put away per say, but it is done and readily available; and now its Monday, and I am at the office, wishing I had a weekend to get over my weekend. LOL!
Mitch and I had a DELICIOUS dinner out last night with a couple/friend of ours, and now this morning I find I am feelin a little sluggish and have a serious case of the “I so don’t want to be at work-idous ” (think senior-idous) … but the upside is that this is technically my Friday. The down side, Mitch and I have a very full and long holiday weekend ahead of us.
Normally we spend the day after Christmas driving to my In-Law’s for their holiday celebrations, but with the passing of my Mother-In-Law’s husband and father this year, plans were changed when she announced she will be moving closer to us. So, just when Mitch and I were celebrating never having to do that 6-7 hour commute again, we find out she needs help moving her extra (husband’s) car. So…. tomorrow, at the insane hour of ; we will be on the road; heading south; for the next 6-7 hours. Can you feel my excitement?? LOL!
Now the reason this is kinda funny in a practical joke kinda way, is…. Mitch and I have never once been home for New Years Eve, and always wanted to be.
You see, with us being in the desert for our late Christmas celebrations we were always either on the road heading home come new years, or making the most of being so far from home by planning an extended vacation where we would paint the town for the holiday. Now don’t get me wrong, we have always had a lot of fun, for example there was the year we stopped at a cute little coastal town halfway between the desert and our home, then there was the year we stopped and stayed at the Bed & Breakfast where Mitch proposed to me, which was a wonderfully romantic way to ring in the new year, and of course there was our favorite… the cruise where we rang in the new year on the ship in Acapulco waters. But in all honesty, this year we were seriously looking forward to popping a great bottle of wine and ringing it in the New Year in our own casual way, lol, oh well.
So, come Friday night, as we sit out under the desert stars, sipping whatever drink we choose to ring in the holiday with, at whatever restaurant we can get into, I will quietly wish all of you the very Happiest of New Years.
May 2011 be better than 2010 was for all of us, may we accomplish all of our resolutions and may you and your families be healthy and happy!
Christmas is behind us; it is always kinda bittersweet isn’t it? I mean we prepare, plan, write, shop, clean, bake and wrap, all to make one beautiful Eve and Day wonderfully perfect, and just when you get all the toys, paper, bags, food and dishes cleaned up and put away, you are saying your love and good-byes to family members.
Well, the Lynn family had a lovely long Christmas weekend. The kids (to my surprise) were wonderfully behaved and loved their gifts. Dinner was delicious and the clean-up was thankfully pretty streamlined. Christmas day was wonderfully casual and went by entirely too fast for my liking. But the feast was fabulous and the bird was picture perfect!
For those of you taking advantage of the major holiday mark-downs and if you have younger or still youthful kids, I highly recommend getting this CD for next year’s fun. http://www.mymusicboutique.com/product/TB118-567202729
Teresa Brewer is WONDERFUL!!
She has a great voice and this album includes her own children in many of the songs. It is the perfect album to have on in the background while you and your children are baking cookies and decorating gingerbread houses. My Mother and I would dance around and sing along with this album all December long. This year, I was very blessed to once again be able to enjoy the songs and voices of the Brewer family while my family enjoyed the holiday together, and it just wouldn’t be Christmas if Mom and I were not in the kitchen singing along with them! LOVED IT!!!
It’s not your classic Nat King Cole or Ella Fitzgerald kind of Christmas album, it is very much a family based album and very very heartfelt and fun.
I hope you give it a chance and I hope you and your family find the magic in its songs, as my Mom and I have over the years. I personally am look forward to making memories with my little girl as we three generations of women dance around, sing along and bake away the month of December. After all, it just isn’t Christmas without magic!
I have spent the last couple of entries venting about some of the awkward, heavy and sometimes unpleasant sides of the holidays. But this morning, with the house all to myself, the oven emitting the yummy smells of cookies baking, the tree twinkling in its festive lights and the cats all lazily spread out on the couch sleeping off the wilding they did earlier, my mind begins to wonder to other holidays and all that I have to be thankful for.
On Tuesday we buried my Grandfather-In-Law. He died at the age of 98 having just recently celebrating his 71st wedding anniversary. When I stop to think of the life he lived, and the family he raised, I stop to think of how I was enveloped into this family that I am now a very proud member of and how Mitch and I could have easily been met major resistance and ridicule because of our age difference; but without a blink of an eye, my parents, his parents, our extended family and friends, all, just accepted us.
I am so blessed to have the parents I do, and so blessed to have the In-Laws that I do, but most of all, I am very blessed to have found the man who I know to be my soul-mate.
So yes, this holiday season will enviably bring trying times with the step-kids, separation from family that cannot travel, overeating and sugar comas; but it will also bring laughter and fun, delicious leftovers, awful pictures and fabulous memories! I guess that is yet more to be thankful for. That I have the family to have trying times with, that we had the money to have a great Christmas, that I do not care enough about my diet to not enjoy the overeating and sugar comas myself, and that I have the batteries, memory and camera readily available to catch all the awful/awkward pictures that will be forever a part of the memories built this Christmas.
I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season full of all the love and family drama you can handle, and that through it all, you too can see the blessings you have in your every day and especially this holiday season.
Have you ever noticed that the lovely kids you send off to the ex-wife’s return as monsters?!?!?
Well, boy has it been a FUN time here! It all started with Andy’s birthday dinner; now I need to preface this by saying he is the oldest and usually the easy one. He choose to have raviolis for his dinner (god bless him, something super easy on me), but the moment we have all three of them in the house, the fights start. They all become so negative and abusive to one-another and the volume by which they do so increase so that each of them can be heard over the other. Mitch and I spent what seemed like hours constantly reminding them to use “their indoor voices” and the classic “if you cannot say anything nice to each other then do not say anything at all” and “don’t say that about your (brother or sister)” and “apologize now!”
So, once the volume is down to a suitable level or better yet nothing is being said at all, and they are seemingly becoming the well behaved individuals we love and enjoy, then it is back of to the house of no discipline, just so we can spend ALL 2 hours of our commute the next day to their Great Grandfather’s Funeral and Memorial service redoing this whole scene in the car. Thankfully the ride back proved that full tummies do lead to napping, and the drive home was much more enjoyable for Mitch and me. But alas, we will have yet another day of this on Christmas Eve.
The only fact keeping me smiling through all of this is that I have all the supplies necessary to spend my day off tomorrow baking up a MAJOR sugar high for each of them to feast on before leaving our house, and to have for Christmas Day with their Mother’s family. Take that Cathy! You may send them back as monsters; but I will be sending them back as SPAZZES equal only to the Tasmanian Devil! LMAO!!!
Evil? Probably
Do I care? NOT AT ALL!
In fact, I think I will justify that as karma on Cathy, yeah, that works out just perfectly for me.
Last night was my company’s Christmas party, and let me just say that it should be a standard office policy or mandate of some sorts, that the day after the office party be a paid holiday.
Lordy! The evening was sure eventful!!!
We, like so many offices out there, have one particular member of the staff who just manages to rub everyone wrong, we happen to have lovingly nicknamed the woman in our office who fits that bill “Evil;” and last night she was in top form. She arrived buzzed and proceeded to get plastered. So much so she couldn’t walk to the restroom straight and proceeded to fall off the toilet.
Now, it is imperative that I mention that she and I do NOT get along whatsoever. In fact in the eight years of working here and with her, the only time she is remotely nice to me is when she needs something or is trying to work herself off of the temporary shit list with the bosses. So…. it was quite interesting when everyone who could have driven the SLOSH home managed to vacate the restaurant with impeccable speed, leaving the bosses, my husband and I, and of course… my nemesis.
So, once the bosses have managed to convince her that “yes you really are that bad,” she hands over her keys and away we go. Now on the way to the car she decides to inform me that her car is a standard, GREAT! now let me get that much more sober in a hurry! Okay, no problem I tell her as I get in and kick off my high-heel… only to discover there is no clutch! So a quick peek at the consol and its confirmed, this Honda is an automatic… oh this is going to be fun!!!
Thirty minutes (of rolling up and down windows, playing with vents and buttons, constant apologies, thank you(s) and Oh My God(s) and my favorite “Slow Down,” all while I am doing the limit in the slow lane) later, we pull into her driveway. God let her be able to walk to the front door and into her house on her own, because I DID NOT BARGAIN FOR THIS!!!
Well thankfully, and I mean seriously THANKFULLY, she made it out of the car and into her side gate just fine. Why she choose not to use the front door is beside me, I just wanted to get to my car and my husband and be homeward bound ASAP.
Lets just say…. I better have earned some major points for this and I have definitely filled my “Nice” and “Good Deeds” quota for 2010, ain’t no worry about that!
Yesterday’s posting came out of a very drama filled day between my Brother’s Girlfriend and I, which continued further into the evening and into my family time than I would have liked. I am still left this morning reeling a bit from the whole experience.
I think what gets me the most is her acting as his mouth piece. I hate to sound this cold and callus, but the truth of the matter is (in my opinion), she is NOT family; she is technically still an outsider and a tentative one at that. As such, I find I am more upset that my Brother, who chooses to allow her to treat me and my family poorly.
I have been fighting-back the urge to send my Brother a nasty text message this morning, expressing the fact I am cutting them both off and out of my life, burning the bridge if you will. I know that even with that I will always keep a line open for my Brother, but as long as he chooses to allow this type of treatment, I feel like I have to close the access it currently has to me and my family.
I am very much a believer in energy and its effect on a person, family and home. I have reached a point where dealing with her negative energy and dark-cloud effect on me and my family, in order to keep peace and a connection to and with my Brother, is no longer worth it.
In the spirit of the holidays, I do wish them both lots of health and happiness, and continue to wish that they be and find happiness together in the journey of their relationship.
My brother and I are completely different. We differ in everything from family relations to work ethic; I mean we don’t share anything in common except for parents and upbringing. In that same way, all three of my step-children are vastly different. My brother and I were raised by parents who are still together; Mitch’s children are products of divorce, yet in both scenarios the result is drastically different siblings.
Which gets me to wondering, how is it that siblings can be raised by the same parents, attend the same schools and endure life’s lessons together, yet wind up so different?
I have heard over the years the debates over nurture versus nature, and what impact both play on ones upbringing. Separately, I have read how some Buddhist practices believe that a soul chooses its parents prior to being born into them, so as to learn lessons it needs to progress in its journey to enlightenment. Then there are some Christian philosophies that speak of “Old Souls” and how they are called upon by God to return to earth to teach, almost in the form of an elder/wise one, or as an earth angel. Either way, both faith based scenarios speak of the soul and its lessons/pasts/journey, etc. Neither speaks to what the parent’s footprint or impact on that soul will be, so I am left thinking both believe more in “nature” being the soul’s teacher in this life.
I know that two people can be in the same room, witness/experience the same exact thing and yet give two completely different accounts based on their perception. I know this intellectually, and that seems to have some sort of belonging here in this conversation because perception has to be a part of both nurture and nature… right?!?!
I know we all experience this, we all have someone in our family that we swear was mixed up at birth or proof that the stork really does drop babies off. In fact often times we even label the family member as the “the Milkman’s baby” or on just a different front… the “Black Sheep” or the “Bad Seed,” or we even come up with cute tag lines like “Well that apple sure feel far from the Tree.” I guess in our doing so, we are all trying to find a cute anecdote to the situation and our own question of how and why?!?!? and what happened???
I guess in the meantime I just continue to insist that my brother is a gag gift from the Stork; that Andy is Mitch’s son; that Nate and Janet are there Mother’s children; and all the while… convince myself that “MY KIDS” will be different, because lets face it, if any of us really went into pregnancy and growing a family thinking “awww, this one is gonna be the black sheep of our family” we would not leave the hospital without the drugs necessary to raise that bad seed!!!
I DID IT!!! I am invincible! LOL! Sorry that is one of my favorite quotes, it’s from Golden Eye (Bond). This weekend was crazy busy and super productive!
Friday evening Mitch and I got all of our grocery shopping done for both daily and Christmas Dinner needs, and we got our Christmas tree and garland. So crazy me… I got the car unpacked, had the mantel all finished and Mitch put the tree in the stand, all prior to calling it a day. Saturday I got the tree fully decorated and looking beautiful and Christmas cards done. Sunday was the ultimate housewife day. I got the house spick and span, laundry done and all the Christmas gifts baked, made and wrapped. Woohoo!!! All that is left is some last minute cookie baking and our holiday packages are perfect!
This week promises to be busy with both of our company parties and Andy’s birthday dinner. Wish me luck!
I did manage to get back to my workout routine this morning, but did go a little easier on myself since I am still in recovery mode. It felt great to be working out again, I know, I am strange.
Well guys, there are only 12 shopping days left, I hope you all are staying stress free!
The fog has come in thick and is wrapping itself around the trees on my street; the drizzle is heavy enough to keep everything soaked but not strong enough to warrant an umbrella; it all reminds me of the first sentence to one of my favorite books, “The Great Grey Beast February…” It doesn’t feel like a beast to me nor is it depressing yet, but that’s probably because it hasn’t been a month of days like this, to me it is simply too perfect of a wintery morning to be anywhere other than in front of a fire with a good book. I would easily settle for back in bed too, I am feeling much better but still feel like I could use just a little more sleep, and weather like this seems to provoke naps and laziness.
Last night was a success though! Mitch and I both got our holiday ensembles’ and will look quite dashing if I do say so myself; the kids gifts are all purchased and ready for wrapping and we got some fun new ornament additions. Sadly, we have not found our tree yet, maybe better luck tonight. Tonight finishes off the shopping with stops at one last retailer and a grocery store. I do hope the weather is kind of like this over the weekend though; it will make having the oven on all day and baking very easy and enjoyable.
OMG! On a totally different subject, we just got our office’s 2011 supply order delivery… do you realize that there are only 14 shopping days left until Christmas and only 21 days until New Years?!? Gosh, time really does fly when you are havin fun.
I have been fighting back a cold since probably Thanksgiving, and oddly enough the moment I took a break from working-out it seems to have taken root. Well I don’t give up that easy! I am loading up on Echinacea and staying current with all my vitamins, plus I had an Odwalla C Monster this morning and plan to stop at Jamba Juice for a Cold Buster on my way home this afternoon, take that you cold! If I throw enough vitamin C and other yummy cold fighters your way… you will DIE!!!! lol! Okay I may be a little punch drunk here!
I just cannot afford to get sick!! Today Mitch and I are shopping for our last decoration must-haves and Christmas party outfits; tomorrow we have the big grocery shop that will cover our regular meals and Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning and Christmas Dinner, then next week we have our Christmas parties and Andy’s (my oldest Step-Son) Birthday, all the while I will be getting Mitch’s gift deliveries and will need to unpack, wrap and hide those. Weekends, of which there are only two left, will more than likely be filled with baking and making the rest of the gifts I have planned for giving this year and deep cleaning the house for all of our holiday guests!
OMG!!! I need a cape! I mean there should be some sort of wonder-woman title that comes with all this work, lol!
On a different subject, I found out last evening that Trish (my Sister-In-Law) got the nursing job she was hoping for and will be moving her and my Mother-In-Law (Marilyn) over the holidays. She has her orientation on the third and they would love to have her start ASAP after that. This is particularly great news because it means they will both now be only a three hour drive from Mitch, the Grandkids and I, versus the eight hours drive they have been. Making family visits, special occasions, etc. a whole lot easier! But the speed of which this is happening has to have her stressing out just a bit.
Marilyn is such a trooper, since September she has lost her husband, moved her father into a full-care facility, is still trying to find the best solution for her mother who is slipping further into dementia, and now there is the house hunting, packing and moving all over the holidays, thank god she and Trish have each other through all of this. It has been difficult living so far away from the both of them, but it has been a comfort to both Mitch and I, knowing that Trish lives and is so close to Marilyn.
Gosh, writing all that out makes me realize how silly my little venting/complaining at the start of this blog is. I am very very very blessed to have my parents and brother very close by and to know they are all healthy and happy. I am extremely blessed to have found the love of my life and be sharing yet another holiday season together in our happiness, and that my step-children are all healthy and well too.
Blessed, I am very very blessed.
Happy Friday Eve Everyone… only 15 shopping days left! GOOD LUCK!!!
There are only seventeen shopping days left until Christmas and I think I am just now starting to figure out what to get Mitch! OYE!!! Why are men so hard to shop for?!?!
Mitch is of course particularly hard! He doesn’t wear suits so no fun ties, cuff links, etc. He loves gadgets but can never wait long enough for any of them to become “gifts.” If you ask him what he wants for the occasion, his reply is always “I have her already;” which don’t get me wrong, I love hearing and it totally boosts my self-esteem, but for once cant he just say “you know I have been eyein and would love ______”?!?! I mean would that be soooo difficult?!?! lol! okay enough soap box.
Tis the giving time of year, it is often hard to remember that fact as we all are crossing items off our to-do lists, shopping lists and surviving our holiday obligations and commitments. Heck, as it stands I have managed to be more “holiday” productive at my office than in my home. Here we have the place fully decked out and the cards hit the post office today, where at home we still need the star attraction, the tree, and I haven’t even begun to think of cards let alone have some picked out, and now as I type this I feel the time passing even faster. OMG next Wednesday is my office’s Christmas party!!! Well there is more motivation to stay on track with my workout and diet schedule!
In all honesty it has been pretty easy to stay good the weight loss plan, but with the holidays I do get to craving the “bad stuff” that is so readily available. There boxes of sees chocolates here at the office, that sit open in our kitchen looking all yummy, and last night I had the strangest and strongest craving for a devils chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting! Don’t know if I was craving the grease or the chocolate, but I settled for hot choco instead. I don’t know that it was the smartest thing to trying to loose weight just prior to the holidays, but I promise myself I will preserver and celebrate the victory by not having “Loose Weight” as top billing in my New Years Resolutions…
I had a simply lovely weekend!! It started off with Mitch and I going to our local Christmas Tree Lighting celebration, followed by window shopping and then a perfect dinner. I allowed myself to splurge and enjoy myself completely! I didn’t think for a second that I missed my afternoon cardio session, or all the hollow calories I was enjoying with each sip of wine. I simply loved the time alone with him and the start of our Christmas celebrations.
Saturday morning I was having a hard time getting motivated to workout, so decided to play my motivation game. My motivation game is simply a chant I say to myself while I trying on my skinny jeans “if they are tight, I sweat – if they fit, I take the day off,” and to my amazed delight… I AM BACK IN MY SKINNY JEANS! Hallelujah!!!! All the time, pain and sweat has worked, I cannot be any happier, and it is just in time for all the LBD (little black dress) occasions of the season!!! Woohoo!!!!
So with that wonderful news, I took Saturday off and decided to decorate the house as best I could without our tree. The day was quite rainy so we canceled our plans to tree and garland shop, but I did get some festive lights on our indoor trees and around the porch. I also got everything I wanted on the mantel, so all it needs is the garland, and I did get the dining table’s center piece all set. The house looks great so far, if I do say so myself.
Sunday morning I was back to being motivated, but only started my workout with the first football game of the day so Mitch would not miss out on our lazy Sunday start. As for the rest of the day, it was filled with the typical end of the weekend chores and lots of R&R.
Here is hoping you guys all had a great weekend too, that you are all getting into the holiday spirit and that your Monday is off to a wonderful start.
Let the countdown begin!! After this crazy busy week I am very excited that we are so close to the calm and serenity of the weekend, and to start it off perfectly… Tomorrow, Mitch and I will be going to our local Christmas Tree Lighting and then to dinner at the restaurant we had our first date, can you say ROMANTIC!!!
I do hope to get our holiday décor up this weekend, and who knows, we may just get out of the house and purchase our first live Christmas tree! I do worry how the cats will be with the live tree though. In the past our youngest has terrorized our artificial one, to the point where I am unable to hang anything but garland on it. Oh well, that is what they make wine and squirt bottles for … right?
I was again shocked to read about yet another incident where a teenager, a well liked individual with good grades, brought a weapon into his school. In this particular article, the 15 year old brought two handguns into his High School and proceeded to hold a classroom of twenty-three students and their teacher hostage. For those of you who may have not seen this on the news or as a headline on a website, the 15 year old took his own life upon a SWAT team entering the classroom; the other twenty-three students and teacher were uninjured. The shooter passed away yesterday at the hospital.
Now I have personally had two totally different high school experiences. My first, of which I attended for three years, cracked down heavily on any form of abuse of school policy they saw, and also increased school security yearly. The year before I started at the school all of the lockers had been pulled out; my freshman year they enforced a rule that only seniors with passes could go to and from their vehicles during the school hours, and were only granted passes if they had a job and could prove proof of employment. My sophomore year we began seeing local police officers on the property monitoring full time; my junior year introduced German Sheppard police dogs which were used for smelling any contraband and aid in further monitoring the police officers assigned to them. My senior year was sure to start with metal detectors at each and every entrance including the parking lots. I was there and watched first hand the growing need for additional security; I was not oblivious to it and learned quite a bit for the ordeal, least of all to live in fear daily.
On the flip side, my senior year was spent at a much smaller school in a community without any fear of gangs, drugs or violence, which my other high school was constantly contending with. The school to my surprise and culture shock though, had an unfenced and unmonitored parking lot, no passes were needed and we had lockers. Yet it was here that I saw more drugs, abusive of drugs, peer pressure, sex and potential for harm then I did while at my other school. Again, I was not oblivious and being the spit and vinegar person I can be, I again lived without fear in my day to day school life.
Is my high school experiences different from what is going on today in our schools? Probably
Are there real fears to have as parents for the daily well being of our children? Yes
Do those fears include school hours? of course they do, but then again, don’t you worry each minute they are not with you?
So how do we talk to our children about the dangers we and the schools are trying to protect them from? By simply telling them the truth
I was raised by parents who didn’t shield things like that from me, and yes at times what they told me was scary, but maybe being scared and taught how to be aware and conscious of my surroundings made me more confident and less fearful while in the situations. I think we are forgetting what our children see and hear on a daily basis from just what is played on the news channels and radios.
To me the bigger question is how do we get the protection that is needed in all of our schools? In the current economic climate we have more and more schools passing out pink slips to already underpaid teachers and staff, canceling more and more programs and some even closing altogether. So with all of that, where in the already strapped budget do we find the money to put in the security needed to take most of our fears away?
Thanksgiving is over and behind us, even though the leftovers that are still either a daily part of our lunch or dinner menus might say otherwise, and now we head into Christmas. Tis the time of year for non-stop comfort foods and delicious desserts, but in this atmosphere of overindulging and the coming resolutions of New Years, I have begun to wonder how, when, or even if, one should open-up dialog regarding healthy habits with one’s family.
Over the past year Mitch and I have been painfully watching as Janet has put on weight. I have asked minor probing questions to see if any of the issues might be stress or peer related, or if any of her medications have been changed; but everything seems to be normal and without trying to get her thyroid checked to eliminate a possibility at the cause, we are left wondering what to do. I am very aware of the health issues (diabetes, high cholesterol, etc.) one can begin to have when overweight/obese, and I just hate seeing Janet struggling. I will hear or see something inspirational and want to share it with her, like just yesterday I was reading my December issue of O Magazine and in it was an article by Oprah with an excerpt from a book that helped her identify her triggers and reasons to weight gain. I so wanted to pull out the article and give it to Janet to see if any of it resonated with her, but I didn’t, for fear that if I did I could become a source of her image/body issues.
Our feelings are so fragile, I remember when I was Janet’s age a boy told me that I had hairy arms, and being the spit and vinegar I was at that age I came up with a quick stingy response to show I was hurt but to also express a sense of not being bothered by him, but that night in the shower I started what became a nightly habit for ten years, I shaved my hairy arms. Ridding yourself of whatever voice you decided to hold onto and begin to learn how self-love heals negative body issues is a gift, one I would love to help Janet with, a gift that would save her years of self-torture… but how can I? Mitch has wanted to bridge into a conversation of health with Janet for quite sometime, but being the single father he was for years, he never felt comfortable doing so. Now that I am in the picture he has someone to share his concerns with, but now we both feel so unequipped to start the conversation. I guess the question really is…
Can you talk to your child/stepchild about weight gain and forming new healthy habits without becoming a source of the problem?
Tis the day before Thanksgiving and the weather here is a very clear, very crisp 34 degrees. Simply beautiful! I have finished my second cup of coffee and have my green tea steeping, though I wish I had today off so I could enjoy an Irish coffee instead, I mean how best to start the cheer of winter’s first kiss… oh well, there is always tomorrow morning.
Tonight I plan do all the prep work I can for tomorrows feast, so that the morning will be off to an easier start. I do love the early beginning of Thanksgiving morning; it doesn’t seem to feel like the normal “getting up early” chore of a standard work week. Instead, the house sleeps, enjoying the early start to the weekend. While the oven is on and warming I turn on the parade, making sure the volume allows for only me to hear it and then dive into my own little world of seasoning, stuffing, boiling and baking. Once done I set another pot of coffee to percolating, make my last cup an Irish one, curl up on the sofa under a blanket and wait for the family to slowly wonder into the living area, all sleepy-eyed and happy.
There is so much to our family Thanksgiving that is not a part of the meal itself, that is so wonderful and so what I am truly very thankful for. Its moments like the quite house I just mentioned, the lazy long morning, the casual grazing until the feast, the games, the aromas of things made only once a year and laughter and the closeness of extended and immediate family. Heaven!
I do look forward to this time of year! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend, may it be filled with all you love and cherish. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Did you know that so many parents are touching up their children’s school pictures that the photographers are now offering it as a purchasable option in one’s order form/package? What-the?!?!?
I was simply shocked, flabbergasted even when I read this! I mean what would life be like without the embarrassing photos of our youth? You know the ones I mean, the ones with the missing teeth, the large or strange hair of the era, your first pimple, your braces and the colored bands you thought were cool, the awkward years… the list just goes on and on. I mean we all survived it! It was our badge of accomplishment… whew, I made it through that stage too! Now as parents you look at each of these photos your child takes as another venture in growth by your little baby. Each step they take, each year that passes, each moment captured in a simple school snapshot is all leading them into adulthood…. AHHHHH! and don’t we want to hold onto each of those moments just as they are? Flawed and all?
When does perfection in this world become too much? We have crazy beautiful men and women on covers of every issue of magazine available at the checkout lines. We have strip malls filled with Gyms and isles and isles of diet pills and books, miracle lotions and supplements all designed to make us the skinner, healthier and younger version or ourselves. There is commercial upon commercial attesting to capturing perfection and youth, or gaining back something you may have lost in this loosing battle of aging. But with all of that we know there is airbrushing done, we know they are more than likely paying that high priced plastic surgeon gobs of money to keep them looking like that, not to mention the Botox parties. But that is something we as rational adults see and even then we often times have a hard time battling back our own insecurities and body issues. So by touching-up our child’s photos, what messages are we sending our children? That they are not good enough? That they are not pretty or cute enough? That they would be perfect if only we could do this or get rid of that?
This has gone way beyond getting rid of “red eye” and into needing the picture perfect family to match the picture perfect house and the picture perfect life one is trying to attain!
Do we have a right to snoop through our partner’s text messages, instant messages, emails, etc.? This was a question that was being asked and debated while I was at the gym over the weekend, which I am sure is all due to the news of the Longoria-Parker divorce, but it does raise an interesting subject. Do we get private moments in our marriages?
As I climbed the minutes away on the stair-stepper, trying to ignore the fact it was kicking my butt, I began to think about my cell phone and then Mitch’s and started doing my own gut check on this question. Our cell phones with all of their new bells and whistles are amazing pieces of technology that make us accessible to everything and everyone all the time, and visa versa. We use them for work, family and pleasure, but is there an expectation of privacy in regards to them? If you have a family plan and are in a committed relationship (be it married or not), are you entitled to check the other persons cell phone at will?
I just don’t know that I would be okay with that, and its not that I have anything to hide, quite the contrary, Mitch can look at all I do on that cell phone and he may actually be very bored with what is my daily contacts, but why would he feel compelled to do so? Probably if there were some change in my schedule or behavior, but then don’t we have the type of marriage that would promote conversation first? If I were to notice his affections waning, or his cell phone not being in its typical location in the evening, I know I would simply ask Mitch “are we okay?”
Women I talked to at the gym explained that they have always snooped or are now doing so because of this latest news, and I just cannot help but think that if we all acknowledge that there are times and parts of our day when we all could, if compelled to do so, stray. Then maybe we would see that having the ability to text, email and/or call constantly does not mean that the violation will be done with that device, and that it may not be the first thing to check. That maybe this is a wake-up call to all of us deeply committed and deeply in love to do our own gut-checks, and make new vows to one another prior to things getting hurtful and ugly. Maybe tonight over dinner we could all say to our loved ones… “honey, I love you so much, and I trust you with all my heart, and with this news of adultery in the Longoria-Parker marriage I have gotten to thinking about us, and I just want to promise you now, that if I begin to feel unseen, unimportant, neglected or distant I will tell you so that together we can repair things between us. Will you promise me the same?”
Hi Guys and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!! OMG I made!! I survived! What a week!!!
So, I have all the family that will be coming in for Thanksgiving confirmed and have their arrival schedules all set. This weekend I will be super busy deep cleaning the house and making-up the guest rooms; this is of course after we have our family game night tonight, so wish me luck in rallying the tropes to help me out with this fun chore. The odd mixed blessing for us this Thanksgiving is, that with the kids not being with us, 2 more rooms opened up for their cousins to stay in. Which by the way, “Thank you kids for being so cool as to offer up your rooms so the families can all stay comfortably at our home, and I promise, they will leave it as clean as they found it… that or I will have it sparkling for your return.”
Okay… onto a different topic. I don’t know if any of you guys follow celebrity gossip, I tend to only look into it on mornings I have a harder time getting motivated; I open up People.com and flip through the articles there while having another cup of coffee. Anyway, I was sad to hear Eva Longoria Parker is getting a divorce. I always think it is sad when a marriage fails, even though in some cases it leads to a better situation you are not yet aware of… like us 2nd wives ;o) . I just cannot imagine what Eva is going through, and I do hope she has a great support system there for her at this difficult time.
Alright, I think I am in one of those rambling modes… yep, definite sign I have not gotten enough sleep this week. So, with that known now, I will stay focused and get to today’s fun economical gift idea, “Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti.” I hope you all enjoy!
Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti
Hands-On Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 1/2 hours
Makes 40 cookies
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup shelled roasted pistachios
Directions
- Heat oven to 350° F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. One at a time, beat in the eggs. Mix in the almond extract. - With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the cranberries and pistachios. - Divide the dough in half and shape into two 10-by-2-inch logs. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until just golden around the edges and firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. -Reduce oven to 300° F. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs into ½-inch-thick slices. Arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake until dry and crisp, 15 to 18 minutes per side. -Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Hello All, and thank you again for allowing me to vent yesterday, I am doing much better today and so appreciated this outlet. It did really help me to get the disappointment and hurt out of my system… that and there is nothing like a fun trip to the grocery store to put me in the cooking and baking mindset, and boost me into a much better mood.
I do love this time of year! The warmth of a wood fire and the crackle of pinecones popping on the embers; the delicious aroma of a hearty meal slowly cooking in the kitchen and the heat from a mug of hot buttered rum; the crisp winter air that sneaks in past your sweater and just the way all of this brings family and friends indoors and together. Last evening Mitch and I got a jump start on our Thanksgiving menu and the shopping we could do ahead of time for that, and I must say my favorite market is just as enjoyable to me, as a candy store is to a sweet-tooth person.
So with a happy mood and a full freezer, fridge and pantry, I come to you with today’s economical holiday gift idea, I hope you enjoy it.
Easy Toss-and-Bake Granola
Hands-On Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Makes 6 cups
Ingredients
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut (preferably unsweetened)
1/4 cup unsalted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) or shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dried fruit (such as cherries, cranberries, raisins, or currants)
Directions
Heat oven to 350° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the oats, almonds, coconut, and pepitas with the maple syrup, oil, and salt. Bake, tossing once, until golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes. Add the dried fruit and toss to combine. Let cool. Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
My nightly mission this week has been “schedule control.” Tis the Holiday season as you know, and with the losses that happened this year in both our family and Cathy’s (the ex), I expected it to be an especially interesting year for planning, travel, parties, dinners, etc. With that said, the latest kink in the ointment is what Cathy is planning for her Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now our current struggle to get what time we want with the kids and our extended families. So if you do not mind, I am going to vent here aloud for a moment because I have not really been able to air this out, and maybe doing so will make sense of it all.
So on Monday, Cathy calls and tells us she wants the kids for Thanksgiving dinner. Okay we are all good with compromising, so with that we request Christmas Eve since that has always been the day/night that Mitch’s family celebrates, and would make planning with all of the In-Laws super easy. Everything seems to be fine when the call is finished, but alas we got comfy way too soon. Yesterday (Tuesday) she calls again and explains that she has just booked reservations for her and the kids to visit her family for the long Christmas weekend. So, Mitch proposes switching the holidays, Cathy gets Christmas and we get Thanksgiving, but according to her she cannot move her Thanksgiving plans. Now the ugliness really starts! So upon disconnecting the phone, Mitch calls a family meeting with the kids, and this is when we learn that the “Thanksgiving plans” that Cathy has made and cannot move, is dinner with her 3rd Ex-Husband (the kids 2nd Step-Father) and his family and that she “needs them with her for support.” The kids express to us that they do not really want to go but feel like they have no choice but to be there for Cathy, because of the whole icky divorce situation she is going through with her now 3rd Ex-Husband. Now don’t get me wrong, I know she is their Mother, but this is insane! and the way she is stripping my husband of all his holiday time with the kids…. OMG! She is just being ridiculous!!!
So as it stands today, (keep in mind we have equal custody) we cannot have the kids on Thanksgiving because she needs them, and we cannot have them for Christmas since she needs them for her family. Now, I know first hand this can all drastically change overnight, since Cathy lives for Drama, but as of right now, it sucks that our family is torn apart for the holidays. With all of that said… my attitude has taken on a dark note of “Happy Freaking Thanksgiving and Merry F@#$%&G Christmas!!! lol. Maybe by New Years we will get to see our whole family.
Okay- Okay, enough of that, venting done; but honestly I don’t think I can discuss economic Christmas gifts today with this being my mindset. I do apologize, and I promise I will have 2 great ideas for you guys tomorrow to make-up for today, and in the meantime, please feel free to write, post, tweet any and all suggestions you guys may have regarding this circus act going on with the Ex. I am always up for a different perspective and advice. Until tomorrow, Happy Wednesday – aka Hump Day and remember, there are only 8 Days remaining till Thanksgiving :o) and 9 till Black Friday!
The stress of the holidays is upon me, and my house is all a buzz with that energy. Times are tough, not just for me and my family, but due to the economy, for everyone. Earlier in my blogs I mentioned that I would be doing economical (homemade gifts) and I just keep finding fabulous ideas out there.
The latest one was making rubs for the barbeque chef in your life! I personally love this idea, and the recipes I found include three very different/diverse flavors (see below) and best of all, the rubs can fit into a jar of something your family has already used… so hello, recycling to the ultimate power and an affordable gift for this holiday season. PERFECT!!
1/3 cup mustard powder1/2 cup paprika
1/3 cup ground cumin3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup celery seeds3 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons ground black pepper3 tablespoons ground coffee
2 tablespoons kosher salt4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar1 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3.Mediterranean Herb RubDirections for all:
Hands-On Time: 10 minutesCombine the ingredients and
Total Time: 10 minutesstore in an airtight container
Makes 1 1/3 cupsat room temperature for up
Ingredientsto 2 months.
3/4 cup dried basil
1/4 cup dried thymeInstructions to include with
2 tablespoons dried sageyour gift:
2 tablespoons fennel seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon kosher saltUp to 2 hours before cooking
1 tablespoon black peppercoat 2 pound of chicken, beef,
pork or seafood with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with 2 to 4 tablespoons of the rub. Cook as desired.
Well I hope you guys like the idea, but do stay tuned for more economical gift ideas.
