I read a blog post with these words….”If you’re motivated to create a page using supplies that have been in your stash for a while”…what?..If I’m motivated? That really made me laugh to read.  I have so much '’stash” that it would be impossible not to use something I’ve had for a while!  The blog was looking at papers released in 2007 and acting like they were so passé, give me a break. Now I feel justified in my rant and rave about this because if you know me, you know my crack is paper and I can’t stop myself from buying papers that make me happy….and that means LOTS of paper in my scrap room. IMHO, you buy paper because it appeals to you, not because you want to be trendy. 

Sometimes I think the scrapbooking world is becoming a bit snobby and out of control.     Did you know that you can take classes to become a “certified” scrap booker!  What, does that mean??…you get to charge more for your designs or you get to charge your friends to look at your pages?  You get to lead classes at a shop and charge more than the “non-certified” instructor?…. Who get’s to decide this stuff and who really cares?

And then after further research I found that getting certified included an “intense 2 day training program”  LMAO…..sugarbunnies, I say let’s put on another 2 day retreat up at Dawnie’s lake house, enjoy loads of wine, food and scrapping and certify ourselves!  I know if we set our minds to it we can be “INTENSE.”

I really can’t talk about Dawn’s lake house and not  be reminded of our little scrap weekend a few years ago when the birdies were flying up at the lake.  (I can hear the “no you didn’t” comments when they see this post)…..

You just have to love friends that show you such affection!

On to another subject, this week is Jackson’s turn to be BMOC and have HIS 1950’s party at Simpson Elementary. He’s been waiting a long time for this event.  So as I get out the jeans, white t-shirt and hair gel for my little cool cat, I’ll share pages about Clayton’s and Shelby’s 50’s party:

My stud muffin Clayton in 2007 (age 11).  Look at that little belly he had on him…sweet boy. How could it just be 3 years ago!!!


My cute cheerleader Shelby in 2008 (age 11).

OMGosh, they were so cute…taking photos of Jackson on Thursday will surely motivate me to get some new pages done.

Well here’s some good news I read in the paper today. The new health care law requires chain restaurants that have more than 20 locations to display calorie information next to the food item on the standard menu. Temporary specials appearing on the menu for less than 60 days, condiments and test market foods are exempt.  Well, that’s good news.  The last time I was at Ted’s I asked for the nutritional information and they brought me a notebook to look at.  The waitress actually said, “you won’t want to eat here once you read this.”  Stunning statement, and basically so true.  I did have their vegetarian burger which was excellent, not so good was their roasted asparagus…it could have been called barely heated asparagus but NOT roasted!

Speaking of roasted, I mentioned in an earlier post that I am obsessed with roasting vegetables.  I have been roasting the usual suspects (mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, butternut squash) but Michelle told me I could venture on the wild side and try other veggies and it opened a new door for me.  I started with cauliflower.  I love it sliced and my favorite spice to add is cumin…love the taste of cumin, gives it a bit of a nutty flavor.  Then I tried parsnips, a vegetable I didn’t have much experience with until I visited Ireland and had some marvelous parsnips there.  I cut them into thin rounds and roasted them with sea salt and spices.  I had to leave the house before they were finished so I turned off the oven and just let them cook down.  When I got back, they had crisped up into crunchy little chips…so tasty.

I have tried roasting carrots, but they have not turned out as well as the other veggies.  I wash them and leave the skin on (do you skin yours or leave them intact?).  Here’s a photo of some carrots I made, drizzled with honey……

But my favorite vegetable has to be brussel sprouts.  Oh how I love those little green babies!  Aren’t they cute wearing their little purple mesh shower cap!

Here are the spices I used for this batch of my lovelies.

Olive Oil spray, Garlic Powder, Cumin, Nature’s Season spices,
Onion Powder, Sugar Free Syrup

I cut my sprouts in half and sometimes in quarters when they are super big.  I toss them with olive oil spray (or a Tbsp. of Virgin Olive Oil) and spice to taste.  I like lots of spices and salt on my veggies.  You may not, to each his own!  Here are my babies roasting in my pampered chef stoneware pan.  (ignore the messy oven) I roast them at about 375 degrees for 45 minutes or more.  I always roast my veggies a bit more than called for as I like them soft and thoroughly cooked.

Ahhhh, here are my babies all cooked and ready to eat.  I sprinkle each serving with fat free parmesan cheese  and a little sugar free maple syrup.. 

When it comes to Weight Watcher points, all veggies are about a cup per serving and range from 0-2 pts.  Wonderful way to keep the diet interesting.  I know this will be a winter cooking method for me. I plan on grilling most of my veggies when we start cooking outside more….but I’ve loved my roasted veggies this winter!

One last thing, I found this interesting recipe on one of my favorites sites for WW recipes, Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes.  Sautéed Brussel Sprouts. Have you ever thought of cooking sprouts this way?  Click here for the recipe (only 1 point for 1/2 cup).

Sautéed Brussel Sprouts

My darling Shelby may not be happy with this picture (or maybe she’ll get a good laugh over it).  Mommy selected a really bad side to sit on to try to take photos at Shelby’s first Volleyball Tournament (you think?).  The good news is you can really see Shelby’s strong thighs…At practice they do amazing strength building exercises and it shows.  I can do about 10 squats in a row then I need to stop because my legs are wobbly, she easily does 20 and then goes on to lunges and crunches….I’m totally in awe.  Also, as is evident in these photos, she has an adorable tush!  And you can see her lovely long hair even though it’s braided here.

I love the Thundercats volleyball uniforms (but… she looks much older than she is in it, it’s very clingy).  Shelby is one of three 7th grade girls on her team, all the others are 8th graders.  She is also one of the best players, if I say so myself.  She has an amazing serve and she is improving by leaps and bounds now that she is playing club volleyball. She even rotates in to serve for 8th grade girls who STILL can’t get it over the net!   

This tournament was down in Dunwoody on February 13th.  We didn’t know it until the first game, but this was a Power Tournament, not a Club Tournament….let’s just say, the teams our girls played had been together for years and they were amazing, the cream of volleyball teams.  We lost all our matches, but kept several of them close in score. A great learning experience for the team. The other coaches came over after our games and told us they were amazed that our team had just formed in January AND that it was our first tournament. They were impressed with our potential….the girls can be so proud of their play that day.   While our girls may have looked like deer caught in headlights, they played their little hearts out and the team showed great potential.  Go Thundercats!!!

“You don’t lose weight, you “take it off.”  Sometimes when you lose things you find them again!”  Isn’t that the best diet quote!  Got it off a Weight Watcher handout today.

Well, I went to weigh-in and I have “taken off”  a couple more pounds.  Now, that is not what I was hoping for, but at least I understand why I “took off” some more.  I have added jogging to my workouts and last week I got in 3 runs each about 2-3 miles.  When you add something like jogging or resistance training to your workout, you tend to drop a bit whether you want to or not.  I’m on the bottom end of my BMI so I think I need to add an additional point(s) to my daily point allowance.  Since I’m considering doing a 5K at the end of April and I don’t have any desire to lose more weight, I’ll have to make some adjustments to my meals.  Guess it’s…..”Hello again” to Ted’s Bison Burgers!

Michelle sent me this photo of Willie and all I could think about was it’s not fair that kitty’s look so cute with additional lbs. and humans don’t, LOL.  There is nothing I love more than kitty bellies (well…maybe kitty noses, eyes, purrs, fur, ….oh let’s face it, I love everything kitty).  While he is adorable with his big belly….I ask you, is this picture a reminder to “take it off” or what!   It reminds me of how I felt last summer laying on my lounge tanning and having a hard time standing up due to the weight that had migrated to my belly!  Never again!!  But isn’t he the cat’s meow! 

And Willie, please don’t feel self conscious about me using this photo of your cute big belly.  I did a scrapbook page of Yoko when she was just a baby showing her in pretty much the same pose:

Sunlight shining through the delicate petals
of some of my favorite daffodils. 
  3/20/10

Have you ever bought the “As seen on TV” products?  Yes, some are real duds but some actually work.

  Princess Paula told me she had bought the Perfect Brownie cooking tray and it worked.  Well…..if Princess says it works, that’s good enough for me…so I bought one.  I put it up in a cabinet and hadn’t even opened it (dieting doesn’t usually include homemade brownies), then today I remembered I had to make a dessert for the 7th grade teachers luncheon at Pinckneyville Middle School (PMS…aren’t those the best initials for a school full of teens!)  So to get back to my story, I pulled out that Perfect Brownie box and used a brownie mix I had on hand. 

Well, let’s just say, it is a FABULOUS product!  Look at how perfect my brownies came out.  I was truly amazed.  It was sooooo EASY! The inner tray that makes the squares slid out with hardly a crumb on it.  I just lifted them off and put them on the cooling stand.


Once cooled, I put chocolate icing on them for that sweet extra touch (love those 7th grade teachers).

I think the key to the cooking tray is to generously spray the pieces with PAM.  Especially the square separator.  Other than that, the thing just works and I’m looking forward to having perfect little squares of cakes and brownies in the future. I’ll let you know if a cake mix comes out as good as the brownie mix did.  Princess, what a good call on this nifty little gadget!

Thursday started out sunny and pretty here in the ATL, and I was really looking forward to sitting down to lunch with my peeps, Dawn and Michelle…We’d just been chatting for a few minutes and my food was being placed in front of me, when I thought I heard my phone ring.  That was a miracle really as it’s loud at La Parilla at lunchtime, even louder today as someone was celebrating their b’day and they were singing to them.  I didn’t recognize the number but called back and it was the nurse from Simpson Elementary calling to tell me Jackson had collapsed at lunch.  He had “sort of” fainted and the paramedics were there already checking him out.  They didn’t know if they were taking him to the hospital yet…whoa horsey.  I’m just around the corner at lunch and no one is taking my baby to the hospital until I get there.
So I run out and my sweet friends take care of my lunch, Michelle brought it by later, God love her, I was starved.  I got to school and it’s pretty scary seeing a fire truck and ambulance out front with all their lights going, knowing they are there for my child.  I ran to the nurse and there I found Jackson, laying down, looking pale and feeble.  The paramedics had checked him out and everything was normal.  They thought he looked a bit dehydrated and his fingernails looked light purple.  He was pale, but he’s always pale.  They were at a loss as to what had caused his collapse.  He was talking, but the nurse said he’d been disoriented earlier.
After sitting up and drinking a few sips of Gatorade he was ready for me to take home.  We all agreed he didn’t need to go to the hospital.  He was weak on his feet and the firemen helped walk him out.  Once we had him in the car, I asked him how he’d felt prior to the fainting spell. He was at lunch, nothing out of the ordinary.  He said he had a flash of headache then bam, he felt light headed and crashed. No stress, noting unusual had been going on.  His friends caught him and held him under his arms so he didn’t fall on the floor when a custodian scooped him up and carried Jack to the nurses office.  He has not been sick and he was perfectly fine all week and this morning.  Nothing out of the ordinary, great week at school and he’s been eating pretty well for Jackson.  He’d had a big breakfast of 4 Eggo waffles, 3 sausage links and a hot cocoa this morning…Ummmm, in my book that’s a big breakfast!
What is so worrisome is he had an incident back early last month where he felt his heart speed up and he couldn’t catch his breath and it scared him (scared us too).  We’d brought him home that time too and had gone to the pediatrician’s office but they found nothing wrong.  Now this.
He laid down on the couch and said he was tired.  All this hit at lunch break time at the Pediatrician’s so I had to wait to talk to anyone.  In the meantime, Jackson felt better and asked if he could have a bowl of cereal!  Next thing I know, he’s sitting there eating, watching TV and playing his DS.  He’s totally fine and rejuvenated.  I finally talk to the pediatric nurse and she said they don’t feel they need to see him right now since everything is apparently fine again.  They told me to watch him,
, really, I thought I’d ignore him for the rest of the day!  The school nurse and I both feel that he became dehydrated and that’s what caused his fainting.  From now on he will have a bottle of Gatorade with him during the day to sip on.
So we are in a wait and see mode with Jackson.  It’s amazing to see your child being helped by firemen out to the car because he is so unsteady on his feet and then in less than 2 hrs. he’s eating and fine!  I think I will schedule a general physical for him and have his blood work looked at.  But for now, Jackson is good and just gave us a big old scare.  I must say, everyone was so sweet at the school and looked after my baby with such care.  Simpson Elementary is a great school, as is our fire department.  They were wonderful as well. I’m whipped physically and mentally over this! 
I’ll be glad when my head hits the pillow tonight.

 Are you wearing green today.  Don’t want to get pinched! 

Holy O’Moly Guacamole

Just in time for St. Paddy’s day, well it is green! This is how I make the Holy Moly Guacamole from the Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook.  I love this recipe and I love that it uses green peas! (I can’t taste the peas, honestly I can’t!)

Early green peas, avocado, Greek Yogurt, lime juice, minced garlic, garlic powder, salt & pepper spice, cumin (forgot to photo the bottle), chili powder, onion powder 

Season to taste. Now I like a creamy guacamole, but I know many like chunky so once the smooth guacamole has been processed, add chopped cherry or grape tomatoes and stir.  Also, I don’t like chopped onions (my likes and dislikes when it comes to onions can wait until another post) so I use onion powder, but if you like onions add chopped onions.  Mix and serve!  

Holy O’Moly Guacamole

Michelle and I went to the NHS girls bb game last night and watched them take home the 2010 AAAAA State Championship title!  What a game it was! Close throughout, with outstanding playing from all the girls.  Can’t complain about the refs this time, but….there was one guy….nope not gonna go there.  The Redan team was tough and cocky (undefeated in 57 games), and the NHS girls played them so well.  There was plenty of body contact out there and you could just see the Redan girls lose their composure when the refs called them on their fouls. They weren’t used to losing and didn’t have the inner strength to sustain themselves.  One girl showed such bad sportsmanship she got a technical and then less than a minute later their coach got a technical.  Michelle and I pondered what he said because he wasn’t yelling when he got the T.  But he was standing right by the ref…hmmmmm, think he said a naughty word??? 

Michelle and I had gotten our tickets the day before so we cruised in around 5:30 and got seats 5 rows up at mid court.  Perfect seats.  We faced the coaches on the bench and the NHS fans.  It was great watching them.  Coach Hembree is a show to watch while she is yelling, coaxing and praising her girls.

We did see, IMHO, BAD sportsmanship from Redan in the medal ceremony.  Now I know they were shocked, but not one of them went forward to receive their trophy until a coach pushed one girl up there and then she just walked back and the team left.  Emotions run high, I know this, but bad sportsmanship is what it is.  I had to work so hard with Shelby this year and with all the girls to remind them even in defeat you show some grace.  For those seniors on Redan’s team, that was not how they should have gone out.

The Norcross celebration was as you would expect, massive!  The girls were just JOYFUL!  The fans were in heaven!  What a night of exciting bb. Now on to NCAA March Madness and Duke Basketball!  Yeah baby!

Yesterday, I checked Shelby out of school early so she could go see the NHS girls play in the state semi-finals.  Wow, what an exciting game for her to see (me too). I’m so glad I have my good friend Michelle who loves watching high school basketball with me.  Can’t imagine Paula sitting and talking about fouls, bad calls and charges, nope just can’t see it happening.

Anywho….the only disappointing thing about the trip was how much my water cost…$3.00 for a 12 oz bottle, give me a break!  But the game itself was no disappointment.  Somehow I feel a slight connection with Coach Hembree as she came and talked to us powerhouse coaches (lol)  at PCBC last year and gave us tips on how to run our practices.  Yeah right, by the time we get to the important basics of bb with our girls they had talked and giggled their way through about 40 minutes of our 1 hour practice.  But hey, it’s just a church league so naturally they don’t take it as seriously as Sandy and I do.

Basketball has sure changed since I played (besides the full court as opposed to half court play).  The girls are just such fabulous ball handlers and so quick.  They are also so TALL!  I’m puny at 5'11" compared to these girls.  There was a girl on the West Lake team who was 6’4” (dang, that’s H’s height)…and I swear she must have weighed close 180 or more.  But the shorter girls are unbelievable 3 point shooters.   NHS won the game and the quick celebration following the win was so cute when they ran over to the student section and celebrated with them.

We did have a laugh about the rental car I was driving that day.  My car needed a two day “under warranty” fix so they gave me a loaner, a Ford Flex…we laughingly called it the big red box.  While others couldn’t find their car after the game in the massive parking lot, our red box stood out like a zit on the end of a teenagers nose!  Nope, never gonna own a Ford Flex!

My first entry on my new blog. Kind of daunting thinking about all the things I could write about, but I want to remember my trip yesterday to The William Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum with Jackson's fifth grade class.

I love my 11 year old. He's still young enough to want to sit with his mom on the bus ride. We had a talk about the Holocaust, well basically I gave him a mini history lesson about what led up to the persecution of the Jews and the German mindset of the time. When we got to the Center, my kids were in the first group to hear Mr. Kohn, an 83 yr. old Holocaust survivor, give his testimony. He did such a fantastic job telling the kids about his experiences in Frankfurt, German during the time the Nuremberg Laws were passed up until his leaving Germany in around 1938. He stressed to the kids to not be bystanders watching injustices in the world. The children and adults were riveted by his story.

When we were finished, I told Jackson to go up and shake Mr. Kohn's hand and to thank him, which he did. Then I took Mr. Kohn's hand in mine and leaned in so he could hear me and I told him "My family will not be bystanders." He and I both teared up and hugged then I left with my group to tour the exhibit. Our tour guide was wonderful and the children did such a good job listening to a very difficult subject and looking at very disturbing images from the concentration camps.

We were lining up to go to the bus when Jackson's teacher, Mrs. Aronstein, told me that she had been told that Mr. Kohn said that a teacher or parent had told him something that had really moved him to tears. I asked her if it was about being a bystander and it was....somehow I had said the right words for a change. I'd done a mitzvah for Mr. Kohn. But he had done one for me too. He reminded me why I want my children to do mission work, to not turn a blind eye to the poor at home, those suffering from natural disasters in the world and to those who are living in war even as I type these words. His words validated what mission work is all about, getting out and helping others, not just standing by and watching.

On the ride home, I told Jackson that one day I hoped he would sit by his son and tell him that when he was 11 he had heard a Holocaust survivor speak about his experiences because by the time Jackson has children the survivors will most likely all be gone. Their generation is passing so quickly now and Jackson and I were so privileged that day to hear it first hand, not from a film or recording as future generations will.

I snapped this photo of Jackson outside the Museum. Such a fitting title to our day: "To Inspire Our Children"


Back in the Day..... When I was a child, my family was friends with the Back family in Nashville. They had been neighbors for years and I remember one visit I had to their home when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Mr. Jacques Back was from France originally. He edited The Observer, a Jewish newspaper. He was the nicest man and I remember him taking me into his library where he worked. The walls around the room were lined with bookcases brimming with books. He told me I could choose any book in the room to take home with me. I don't know why I picked the book I did, it was a history book and very old, but I had it for years. I remember Grandmother telling me he had lost most of his family during the war, but we just didn't talk about it, she said. I found this mention of him in a Nashville publication: Jacques Back was founder and first publisher of the Observer, which is a publication of the Nashville Jewish community. It is not a statewide publication. Founded in 1935, the Observer now is published bimonthly by the Jewish Federation of Nashville.