Taking a Break

Many thanks to those who have sent emails wondering and worrying. Yes, we are fine just frantically busy. My mom was in town last week for a quickie hit of the ever wonderful Miss Emi and we have more behind the scenes going on here that I still can't talk about on the blog (ugh!). Supposedly it should be done enough next week so that I can, but I am not holding my breath. (No I am no pregnant and no, no more China babies are in our future ... both of those have been guessed!),

However, we are crazy busy with household projects and Emi seems to need me around more than usual. Since I am not a laptop blogger (how do you guys do that? no mouse, no real keyboard?) I need to be in our office while blogging. Fine for on-the-road or the odd post or two, but not for every day computer use (at least not for me). Am I showing my age? :)

So, signing off for now. Am still checking in and reading blogs, trying to answer emails as time allows. I miss blogging and hope to get back real soon.

Monday Musings

Barbara at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers hosts Monday Musings each week. Head on over for a visit!

If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
~ Albert Einstein

Train Trip to Minneapolis

My blog still isn't perfect (my fonts are still a bit wonky and I still can't figure out what is up with the blue links - I've never had blue links!). But many thanks to Lythrum who gave us ideas, which lead Jeff to fixing my biggest issues. Thank you SO much!

But, before I forget all the details from our trip I wanted to get it here. Since I have yet to start Miss M's baby book, this blog has to stand for it. (Oh, I've had a few comments - not on the blog, but in real life about Miss M. We do call her that, a LOT. Many think it's short for Emi {Em}. Nope, not at all! It's actually short for Mischief and Mayhem. Which sums up Emi perfectly!)

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So, about the trip. We began our trip on May 2nd and were thrilled that the train was on time(9pm)! Jeff was able, once again, to board the train long enough to help us with luggage and get us settled then off he jumped to wave goodbye. As last time, the first half of the night was a bit rough on Emi until finally her little body gave in and she really fell asleep. Those beds are C.O.Z.Y. (we did indeed pop for the sleeper car for this trip) and Emi tends to take her half out of my side (smile) so finally I put her at one end with me at the other. We both ended up getting a pretty decent night's sleep after that.

The next day found us hiking (six long cars and the in between areas that are a bit harry with Emi!) down for breakfast and dinner to the dining car. I opted to eat lunch out of our stash as Emi was fading fast and was in need of her nap. We spent the afternoon playing with toys, watching dvd's and watching for animals out the window. Emi was unimpressed once again with the observation car, so we spent most of our time in our room but since our room had POWER life was good, those dvd's ran almost non-stop. Little Miss Cuteness completely zonked out.

Playing ~~~~ Posing next to the "closet" (yes, it really is as small as it looks -
the width of ONE shoe!)

Watching her dvd

Watching yet another dvd (notice the clothing change? we had the misfortune of
having the very last car on the train, the jerking and swaying were finally too
much for Miss Emi and she threw up, all over herself ... and me. But as you can see,
she bounced back in no time. We did watch food intake carefully after that!)

After dinner, we tidied up all the toys, changed into jammies and laid out clothes for the morning. One last bathroom break and brushed teeth and we were tucked into our bed pretty early. The time zone change and just all the excitement had Emi more than ready and I have to admit not reading too long after she fell asleep! Our train was supposed to arrive in Minneapolis at 530 am (ouch!) so I set my phone alarm for 430, needless to say we were an hour late! (Had I overslept I know we would have been early, although they make sure you are awake and ready to get off!)

Barbara was there, ready to meet us. It was so wonderful to get off that train and know she'd be there. Emi went right to her, chattering in Emi-speak, raring to go. We gathered up our checked suitcase, loaded us into Barbara's car and off we went.

Come back soon for the rest of the story!

HELP!! - Updated

RC&T and REcipe Box are going on a blogging break until I can figure out this mess. It seems to be spreading, now some of my links are different colors and my comments boxes are also teeny tiny. Hopefully I can figure this out. BTW, yes there is a help section to blogger but since I am truly clueless as to what the problem is I am having a hard time figuring out how to find the help.

A very happy, belated, Mother's Day to everyone. Needless to say, my MD post and MM didn't happen yesterday.

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I don't know how I did it, but in both RC&T and Recipe Box I somehow made the composing and dashboard screens SO small I can't even read what I am typing! Is it a formatting thing? Does anyone have any suggestions? There is no way I can blog like this. What a mess.

For those that have suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or email me at kiy @ inbox . com. Thanks!

Menu Plan

Well, back in the MP saddle again. I may not get to this every week, but going to try to do better. We eat healthier, cheaper and frankly, just plain better when I take the time to meal plan.

We are going to try to do fresh fish at least twice a week, sometimes adding a third night of fish if we feel like it. Jeff and I were talking meals and realized that we love fish and really don’t have it as much as we used to. Add to that it is SO good for us, seems silly not to.

We have a great fish monger near Jeff’s office so he is going to stop on his way home to see what looks good that particular night. Whatever looks good will decide how it’s made. Here are the choices:

Billie Ruth’s Catfish

Asian Marinade (our fav fish marinade - great on any fish!)

Ginger-Soy Marinade

Don’t forget to check out Laura’s for more MPM!

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Mother’s Day: Jeff is in charge and is making one of my fav meals! Steak on the grill (with Cowboy Thai Marinade), baked sweet pots, corn on the cob

Taco Salad - perfect for a hot night when I don’t feel like cooking. What we like in ours (I put all the stuff on the counter and we sorta buffet-it): ground beef or turkey with taco seasoning, taco chips of some kind, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, canned corn (rinsed and chilled), pineapple (I know it’s odd, but it really works!), sliced olives (for Jeff & Emi), shredded cheese and salsa (both mild and whatever Jeff is eating at the moment, varies from medium to oh-my-gosh stomach walls burned away).

Chicken Tortilla Bake

Spaghetti and Meatballs - Nothing fancy, jarred sauce with tons of chopped vege’s tossed in, frozen meatballs. Easy, simple, can be tossed together in less than 15 minutes.

Shortcut Lasagna

And the two nights of fish.

Home!

Emi and I are home. I have pictures to upload and a whole great post to write on our trip. But for now, I have mounds of laundry to do and groceries to work on. Emi and Daddy are happily playing - I have almost been banished! I think someone missed her daddy and is happy to have him back. I am listening over the baby monitor to yet another tea party going on in her room. I love to hear her chatting at him while she's playing.

We had a wonderful trip, our best yet. Barbara was a fun travel companion and Emi really took to her! We loved having her with us, and Emi was not impressed that Barbara had to leave. Oh! One more thing. The child still (still still still!) does not say Mama (not that I am waiting or anything, sob) ... but she could say Barbara (Baba)! It was very cute. Mama would have been cuter. But still.

Thanks Baba, we had so much fun with you and miss you already!

Back with more soon-ish!

Monday Musings

Barbara at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers hosts Monday Musings each week. Head on over for a visit!

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
~ Don Marquis