Martini Part-AY

Allison's fun weekend reminded me of an enjoyable Saturday night we had the other week. L threw a Martini Party at her house! It was right next door so I went over beforehand to help set up and make Chocolate Hazelnut crepes, Cream Cheese and Orange Crepes and Sausages wrapped in croissants. I came home to fancy up with glitter eyeliner (missed the fake eyelashes and turqouise and black eyeliner ;) and we went over for Chocolate Martinis, Smooth & Filthy Super Dirty Martinis, Champagne Martinis, and for the guys Secret Agent Man-tinis. We had fun with the camera, made martinis, drank them, played Battle of the Sexes and made fun of it, and stayed up til' 4am before we went home to pass out. Fun night! It was a little grown up, a hint of college party, a touch of girl night, lots of guys especially my hottie and a ton of fun in one entertaining night.

Fun Stuff

Such a good, relaxing day we had yesterday. Church, lunch at the Cheesecake Factory -mmmm!, then the boys and Brando hung out at the game store and played the Nintendo Wii hehe, and I hung out in the bookstore and read half a book before I bought it - the one I mentioned in the previous post. Small group that night which was AWESOME. We have a great guy teaching our class right now and we were discussing what he talked about on marriage last Sunday. It really makes me feel connected when we talk about something we all heard the same thing on and everyone shares their different views.

Today the boys and I did school on a schedule. We woke up two hours past when it was supposed to start but we used the time frame for each activity and it kept things going much better. We did a lot more in a lot less. On top of that I had the timer to remind Justinbustin and myself to get it done. Brando came home early so I could head to the library by myself sooo nice. I'm so getting over the guilt trip of leaving my kids to do things by myself. It helped this time they wanted to stay.

More

Found a book today at Barnes & Nobles, Why am I afraid to tell you who I am? by John Powell. It was in the Christian section but it's more of a self help/psychology book, which works for me. There's a paragraph in there that personified why it's so gratifying to blog rather than just journal:

"Introspection of itself is helpless. We can confide all of our secrets to the docile pages of a personal diary, but we can know ourselves and experience the fullness of life only in the sharing with another person. Friendship becomes a great adventure. There is a continuously deeper discovery of myself and my friend as we continue to reveal new and deeper layers of ourselves. It opens my mind, widens my horizons, fills me with new awareness, deepens my feelings, gives my life meaning."

Okay I'm not sure about that last part applying to blogging as only being out there and living life gives life meaning, but blogging has certainly become a part of that in this day and age. Any way blogging IS a great adventure and perhaps this is one of the deeper reasons why. Any who great book so far, take it with a grain of salt of course, I'm not sure how grounded in Scripture it is and want to make sure I'm not relying solely on this guys' opinion.

Total Body Workout

My sister took the kids last night to spend the night at her place with my nephew and her so Brando and I took the dog and walked up to the gym. He showed me how to work every single machine. What worked for my arms, my abs, my back, my legs etc. and it was awesome!! He told me to take it easy but I did a little too much on one machine and so I knew I was going to be sore. Then this morning with the kids still gone we went kayaking in Zilker Park on Town Lake for two hours. Talk about sore! It hurts soooo good.

category note thanks to girl

Actual Emails Between my Sister and I

On Jan 26, 2007, at 10:56 AM, RK wrote (after a fwd I sent to her):

very interesting, thanks for thinking of us.

It hasn't been too mujch of a problem lately, but i will keep it in mind if it starts to be a problem.

rjk, your sister and annoyance all rolled up in one 10 lb. overweight eggroll

On Jan 26, 2007, at 11:07 AM, PSD wrote:

eggroll,

I'm always thinking of you.

soy sauce

We're such dorks. We crack ourselves up.

Fun Bakeries and Fun Friends

I discovered the BEST bakery yesterday! And one almost as good today!! I heart bakeries. Especially when they are tea room like. The first one is Thyme & Dough out in Dripping Springs where my sweet girl Kels lives. I walked in and breathed Country Court Tea Room, then a little further and took in Gayle's Bakery, two of my very favorite places in Capitola, California. Thyme & Dough is in an adorable little house with a nursery that will be blooming with color come spring. Their cheesecake is out of this world and I can't wait to go with Kels there for lunch. The second was Upper Crust Bakery here in Austin that I've heard of for ages but have never been. I discovered it was on the way to J's chess club the other day and decided to make a point of taking S on a date there while J was at chess club. So we did today. This one reminded me more of The Buttery - a recent but yummy discovery this last year back in Cali - but this one definently has an Austin aged eclectic feel. So so so happy to have found more yummy places! Hey even on a budget they still taste good!

Freeing My Schedule

Is exactly what I've done this semester. Apparently it's a good thing too because any plans I make are going down the pie hole. Which never happened last semester. I say, want to do something on Tuesday? They say, sure! I'm free. I say how about Thursday? They say no problem, I'm there. This semester? Oh, man I've got plans that night! And I? Have plans the other nights they're available. Only it's priority driven plans, not fillers. Think God's hinting I need to keep my schedule free much? Sometimes I have to force the hand to stop from emailing out, "I'd LOVE to do that!!" which is SO me. At the same time I'm a total homebody that loves to be with my kids and have huge large chunks of time that we can be together. A book club for Moms? Sounds fun! I stopped myself before I hit the send button. A slumber party, read: pleasure? Can't wait! Stopped myself before writing the email on that one. A baby shower? Love to! I actually said I was going to be at that one but didn't go. Part of needing to say no has to do with our financial situation as well, it costs gas, gifts, $$$ to do these things, though I could find a way if I really wanted to. I don't. That aspect sure helps free the schedule too! Either way I'm free. We're speeding along in school and enjoying the moments of life without rushing them.

School Days

My view of schooling vs. home-schooling and public vs. private vs. home has changed so much since Justinbustin started going to this two day a week school. Courtney asked me once how I "do all that". Honest to goodness, I didn't do THIS much. I worked on what Justinbustin did best. Math. We worked on his letters, we played chess, we cooked, we did speech, we LIVEd. I wouldn't have it any other way. We knew what he loves, we know how he learns, we know his interests and what they are or aren't and we can be his advocate for that. Not to mention he knew. When he was ready, he was READY. Ready for school. Ready for friends. Ready for an environment where he could learn that how Mommy and Daddy do things isn't the only way they can be done. There's lots of different ways out there and we all have to find what works best for us. Now that J is doing second grade language arts as well I'm thinking it would be nice to send Shawners to the same school next year. Though I find myself wondering if keeping him home a little longer will give him as strong a foothold as Justinbustin had and give myself a guilt trip a tiny bit for wanting to send him off so soon. We do have this year though. He turned five in November, and he is home this year. Funny how it flies by so fast.

Listening to





Jill Phillips
Nobody's Got It All Together