TGIF!!!

It was a rough week, but I'm feeling so much better today. My mom is in good spirits even though she had surgery. My daughter is finally talking to me again after a recent blow up. My son got his immunization for college and got registered. My ex-husband brought me some things of mine he found in storage. My boyfriend took me to lunch and then came back over to work out with me yesterday.

There were 14 people crammed in the small sauna at the gym last night. Guess everyone had the same idea.....get warm.

So the boyfriend and I decided to go look at different lake homes on the weekends. Last weekend, we went to Lake Fork. Boy was the lake low. This weekend we are staying close to home and going to cruise around Lake Lewisville.

Curious to see if will be warm enough to go top-down in the car. The forecast calls for the sun to be out.

So going to try a new recipe this weekend. It is chicken breast on a skewer wrapped in bacon and jalapenos. Check back to see how it turns out. I'm pretty sure nothing can go wrong with that.

Rough week

Yesterday, my mom had surgery for breast cancer. She was stuck in a hospital for 13 hours. She came home in a little bit of pain, but in great spirits. She was immediately running around feeding the dogs, cleaning up dishes, making salad, and making funnies....could have been the drugs.

This is me and mom in the Dominican Republic a few years ago.

While mom was in surgery the rest of the family was at my cousin's son's funeral. He was 23 years old. He was brilliant and free-spirited. That funeral is one of the worse things I've experienced recently. He has such a great kid with a passion for so many things. My cousin was so distraught. It hurt me to see her in such pain. Rest in Peace Darwin.

On a cheerier note (is cheerier a word?), Ryan is 20 today. I remember being at the hospital in labor. It was the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, so go figure today is the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  Ryan was born in Austin the same night as the Yogurt Shop murders. I remember being in labor watching the news about how four young teenagers were killed that evening, but I also remember watching Night Court....anyone remember that show?

By the way, it is freezing in Texas literally. It was 24 degrees this morning and it is only the first part of December. What the heck? How am I going to work on my golf game in this weather?

Dinosaur Valley State Park and Fossil Rim

Last weekend was beautiful. The boyfriend and I hopped in my convertible and drove from Frisco to Glen Rose. Nothing like November in Texas. We went to Dinosaur Valley and looked at dinosaur prints, did a tour through Fossil Rim, and had dinner at the Green Pickle.  

It was a beautiful day for a road trip. The giraffes eat right out of your hand...well so does everything else. We were told not to hand-feed any animals except the giraffes. When you are in a convertible, it's kind of hard to keep them away. I had some reindeer thing with huge horns almost in my car with me. 

This weekend I had Thanksgiving with my family. Always a blast! Watched the awesome Cowboys and looked at all the Black Friday ads.

So go figure, I haven't done any shopping. There is nothing I or my kids really need. We have laptops, cell phones, and TVs. I don't think I need a Kindle since I like to read books in the bathtub with a bottle of wine. Not sure wine, water, and a Kindle would be a good mix.

My youngest turned 17 yesterday. AAGGHHHH. My oldest turns 20 next week. Double AAGGHHH.

On another note, I have almost turned myself into a gym rat lately. I'm really digging a little sauna action after a good workout.

Something new and different...I've been working out

I joined 24-hour fitness and I've been going every day. I don't really like working out, but I'm okay when I split up my time. I've been doing 20 minutes of circuit training, 20 minutes of cardio and then I go sit in the sauna for 15 minutes. On some days, I do 40 minutes of cardio and skip the weights. I barely have time to get bored.

This Sunday, my boyfriend and I are going to the Russian Banya to sweat it out for a couple of hours before we grill and watch football.

http://www.russianbanyaofdallas.com/From_Entrance_to_Ultimate_Relaxation

Since I bought a small house with small closets, I decided I need to do what lots of people do and that is to split up my clothes by seasons instead of keeping them in the closet all year round.

Sounded smart at the time, go figure. After we had some cool weather, I put all my summer clothes in storage and brought in all my sweaters and sweats. So now, I have to walk to the storage shed and unpack boxes to get to my bathing suits (for the sauna) and shorts. It's middle of November and I turned the A/C on yesterday.  

Empty Nest NOT

Well I made Florence Tyler's Chicken Marsala and it was very good. Still think it is easier and almost as good to throw chicken in the crock pot for the day. I may make it again...when I have plenty of time and am bored.

So my boyfriend bought me some new flannel sheets for this winter. Yes it is 70 degrees this week, but it was 30/40s at night. Well Billie Jean has taking a liking to them. She stays in this same spot for hours.

90lb dog watching as cat eats her food

She has decided she is boss of the house. She doesn't like her cat food and likes Zena's food best.


Oh and I thought Zena weighed 80 lbs. Oops. We've been feeding her too many table scraps. She weighs 90 lbs. She's so sweet for a Rottweiler. She lets BJ eat and when BJ is done, she finishes up the bowl. 


I'm not a runner, never have been. I thought I would have a jogging partner when I got Zena. The dog can't even keep up with me and I'm SLOW. I have to DRAG her when I attempt to do a slow jog, so now I'm jogging without her.


So my son came upon some hard times recently and he has moved in with me and Hayley. He got a job at Cinemark and has been cooking and cleaning around the house and doing yard work, so I guess it's all good. He will start community college in spring. I was thinking I had one more year to get Hayley through high school and then I'd be an empty nester...instead one came back. 


On another note, think I'm going to join 24-hour fitness again. I was there 5 years ago. I tested out Frisco Athletic Center recently and it is okay. I like 24-hour because they have a hot tub and steam room. So nice on a cold winter day, to go work out and then get in the hot tub. Plus my boyfriend has been working out a lot and making me feel like a slug.

Book Review: The Encounter by Stephen Arterburn

It took me two weeks to get past page four, but I'm glad I did. I couldn't relate to the character: I`m not adopted, I'm not rich, I don't own my own plane or have a driver, and I'm not from Alaska, nor do I know anything about Alaska. I had to look up the definition of `bunny boots'. I thought this rich man was wearing cute fluffy boots. Instead I found out bunny boots are military grade boots for extreme cold weather. I learned something new.

I made it past page four and was really glad I did. This is a book about grace, forgiveness, and healing. This is a short, quick read. After the initial two weeks pondering whether or not to finish this book, I read this book in two evenings. Once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down.

I enjoyed the facts at the end of the book relating to the author and how he came to write this book based on two true stories. This is the kind of book that leaves you feeling good and makes you believe that there are good people in this world regardless of income and upbringing. This book also includes questions and a workbook section that is good for book study groups and Bible study groups.

I'm not much of a crier, but this book brought a few tears to my eyes.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Chicken Marsala and Grandma

I did NOT embarrass myself too bad golfing last weekend. I need a little work on my putting and short game, but overall not too bad. I had pretty solid hits, so I'm good with that.




So I did do a stupid thing last week. Several months ago, I bought this Samsung Droid. Well it would be great if it would stay charged and you could use all the SMART features like maybe...I don't know....say... making a phone call or sending a couple of texts without the battery dying.


I went back to the store and kept telling them something was wrong with the battery. They kept saying I had 4G. We kept yelling back and forth: Bad Battery, then they'd say 4G and we'd repeat. Anyway, I thought about getting a second battery, so I opened up the back and pulled the battery out to get the model number. After that, I couldn't hear anybody that called. It was crackly and low volume. 

A couple of days later I was in the car with Hayley. I told her that my phone volume quit working ever since I popped my battery out. My daughter grabbed my phone and said maybe I can't hear anymore because I had stuck a post-it note with the model number on the phone right over the ear piece. Anyway, my phone works as good as new.

So on another note, my boyfriend thinks I'm the greatest cook ever. I love to cook, but the funny thing is that he likes my chicken thrown in the crock pot with some cream of chicken soup, carrots, onion, mushrooms, and garlic. That barely counts as cooking.

So I haven' tried this yet, but my mom said this Chicken Marsala recipe is really good. It is from Food Network..Florence Tyler. She said the prosciutto makes the recipe. I will make and review, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be really good.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)

All-purpose flour, for dredging

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced

8 ounces crimini or porcini mushrooms, stemmed and halved

1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Speaking of mom....Hayley won't ride in front seat with her anymore. Anyway, we saw her for her birthday this past weekend. Hayley said we need to make a list of crazy things my mom does. So this month it is:

• We go to restaurant about 2 blocks from her house. She is driving home and turns and goes the entire opposite direction of her house...

• She bought the world's biggest bean bag ...or maybe it's the world's biggest love sack. It is comfortable, but Hayley wants to know what made grandma decided to decorate in bean bag chair. Hope everyone is enjoying this great Texas weather.