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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Wordless Wednesday - Did Someone Say Futbol?





 

Monday, September 23, 2013

Breathing Room



After another whirlwind, but wonderful weekend - another team dinner for the soccer ladies, taking our 4-year-old granddaughter on her first real shopping trip ("No, honey, Daddy, doesn't like Hello Kitty"), soccer game with goalie girl defending her heart out (11 saves and 25 shots on goal), and great dinner catching up with friends - I'm actually looking at a few days of "breathing room."  How nice it feels!

I've cleared the office desk of any annoying paperwork that had been awaiting me, finished some final planning for our upcoming Fall Road Trip Part 1, and now am getting ready to catch up on reading/clearing some of my "Pocket" bookmarks.  

After years of overloading my browser bookmarks (and rarely cleaning them out), I was very happy to come across the  "Pocket" application.  This handy tool allows you to quickly save browser pages on any device you have your Pocket account loaded -- and more importantly, allows you to access and read any items in your "pocket" offline, so much easier than the old-fashioned "bookmarks."  You also can categorize your items (I haven't gotten that organized....you're not surprised) ;)

So, a quick peek into my pocket right now, finds this little gem which is very good reading given my "breathing room" this week.  Great article - great advice.  Enjoy, and happy "pocketing"!

30 Things to Start Doing for Yourself








Monday, September 16, 2013

If It's Monday, I Must Be in...



I literally have been living out of a suitcase the last few weeks...well, ok, my Land's End totes.  It's soccer season; we have three adorable grandchildren; and our oldest daughter had to be hospitalized with an overlooked kidney infection.  From one day to the next, I have been swapping out hats - soccer Mom, Mimi, and Mom....hence, no time for this.  But here's a glimpse of what life has been like :)


One special little girl had her first day of Preschool Pre-K (I stand corrected - there is a big difference!). 


This little one melts my heart whenever she looks at me - as do her brother and sister, of course :)

Ladies, listen to your bodies and allow your bodies to override what doctors may try to tell you (my daughter was told for two days - and then into a weekend - that she had an ovarian cyst...and then a "very large" ovarian cyst when she tried to explain she was getting worse....real diagnosis ended up being a kidney infection which of course, was raging by the time it was caught so she ended up being hospitalized).  And moms, follow up on your gut instincts when you're in the ER with your daughter and son-in-law with a "breeze in and breeze out" ER doc and speak up if the diagnosis doesn't jive with the symptoms....believe me, it will save you a lot of mommy-guilt later on :/  Yes, mommy-guilt follows you no matter the age.

Ah, and take a look at this yummy dish.


And seems so easy-peasy, too.  And, I tried it out for hubby and myself - so, yes, it is pretty easy-peasy...I do recommend increasing the ricotta mixture a bit as even with measuring the 1/4 cup per noodle, there was not enough to do 8 roll-ups.  

HOWEVER, I do NOT recommend selecting this recipe to prepare for 36 college soccer players and their coach unless you are better at time management than I am....long story short:  one pan of roll-ups, 3 pans of caprese lasagna, dinner arrives 30 minutes late, team still delightfully happy and gracious.  Whew!

Soccer season is in full swing...





Making jewelry?  Must find time...must find time...

On the road again...


Friday, September 6, 2013

My Life as a Soccer Mom

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Wordless Wednesday




Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Kentucky - Backroads, Breweries, and Bourbon




I've driven through Kentucky many, many times - and skirted around Lexington, appreciating the beauty of the white fences that stretch along I-75 as it rolls through "horse country."  But one of the great treats of being "soccer mom," is getting to spend some time in an area I haven't really explored before when the team is traveling.  We really enjoyed our weekend in Lexington and the opportunity to get off I-75 and get a real look at the backroads and byways of a beautiful part of this state (when we weren't at the soccer games, of course!).

On Saturday, the team and entourage (read: devoted parents) were invited to the home of last year's assistant coach for a picnic lunch.  En route, we ran into a flooded road which detoured us onto a back road giving us a wonderful ride by some incredible horse farms such as the one above.  When we finally arrived to our destination, we found ourselves driving up a long lane to "an old Kentucky home" at another horse farm - a beautiful house, with sprawling lawn and welcoming shade trees, perfect for the hot afternoon picnic.  Everyone enjoyed a quick tour of the barns and visiting with the horses - especially the newest ones.


Over lunch, we heard that a couple of the parents had just come from a tour and tasting at one of the local bourbon distilleries.  A few more pictures and off we went...but alas, we arrived fifteen minutes after the tours ended for the day.  All was not lost as we realized we were but a few miles away from a local brewery - Plan B.

Alltech's Lexington Brewery and Distilling Co. is home to several craft brews as well as its own bourbon, whiskey, and coffee liqueur.   Due to time, we didn't take the official tour (where you can do tastings for everything) but only did tastings for the beers.  Definitely some surprises!  I really liked their light brew - which was not a surprise for me (I always prefer a pale ale) - but this one, Kentucky Kolsch, had more taste to it than most of the pale ales or light beers I've tried.  One of the brewery's all-time favorite crafts is their award-winning Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale - they take their regular Kentucky Ale and age it for up to six weeks in freshly decanted bourbon barrels.  Hubby and I both loved this one - and this is one that came back with us.  The other brew that made the cut and made the return trip with us - and this one was a big surprise (neither one of us had actually used a ticket to do a tasting for this one - we were hanging around afterwards talking with the guides and they insisted that we try it) - was the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout.  I never touch a dark beer and hubby rarely drinks a stout, so as I said, neither of us even thought about trying it.  But when our guide found out we hadn't tried it, she explained that because the bourbon barrel adds a hint of caramel and vanilla, the taste isn't like a traditional stout but has a finish like a coffee.  Skeptical, we both tried it - wow, she was right!  Astonishingly, right!  A perfect beer for a cool fall evening.
 
So, no bourbon (other than "infused" in the beer) for us this trip.  But, I think we will return sometime to follow the Kentucky Bourbon Trail - in honor of Nana (one highball everyday at 5 o'clock - bourbon and ginger ale - just one.... :) ) -  now that we know our way around.  What a beautiful part of the country!  Oh, and hubby has decided on his Christmas present - he wants a set of the stout snifter glasses ;)








P.S.  As "soccer mom,"  I would be remiss if I did not share my favorite "save" of the weekend.  :)

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