14 before I'm 40

The original plan was to come up with 40 goals to complete by the time I turn forty years old. Which would be in 2015. But as I was writing and thinking, and thinking some more, I was hard pressed to come up with these fourteen. I'm not sure what that says about me.

But I won't look into it.

Not today.

Here goes!

1) Write a book. Anything really. And it certainly doesn't require publishing. Except maybe self-publishing on Lulu or something like that. A children's book, short story collection, novella, young adult fiction, a journal that has a story with a beginning an end and a middle, you get the idea.

2) Get in shape. Feel confident about my physique. Feel physically fit. I have about 20 extra pounds to lose. I have 4 years. Just do it.

3) Organize our family memorabilia. That includes our blog and online photos. But mostly, I have a bazillion photos wasting away and probably getting crumbly and rotted in our storage shed. I don't mean making some Martha Stewart scrapbook. (One crafting phase that eluded me.) Just organize and store properly so my boys can appreciate looking through them when they are all growed up.

4) Set up our wills. Our emergency back up plan for our boys. Not done yet. I know.

5) Meet with a financial advisor to make a strategy for retirement. Suze Orman appeared in a dream just before I made this list.

6) Complete a B.S. in Biology. I got a minor in Biology back in my ASU days. (After changing my major from Chemical Engineering to Biology and settling on Interdisciplinary Humanities. Oh the humanity!) But now I have a practical reason for going back to school and finishing it. I am well on my way, already signed up for two classes in the fall. Heaven help me, and my family, for this burden we are all about to endure.

7) Thoroughly clean and organize every closet in this old house. And the storage shed. If you came over for a visit and snuck a peek into any one of our closets, your next visit would surely be an emergency room. Every single storage space has a tower or row of miscellania (oh yes, I just made up that word) that is bound to topple over on an unsuspecting house guest.

8) Read the entire Harry Potter series with my six year old son.

9) Knit something that can be worn. (i.e. Finish a knitting project.)

10) Take up yoga, or any sort of physical activity, on a regular basis.

11) Save up and purchase a new car to replace the one that was forever ago loaned to me by my big-hearted brother.

12) Improve upon our current strategy to pay off our debt. We are more fortunate than most after the market changed so dramatically, (e.g. we are both employed) but it's still annoying, a headache, and an unnecessary cause of some stress. (Ugh! Get this monkey off my back!) And hopefully we'll have a huge chunk paid off in four years.

13) Make more girlfriends. This is an embarrassing topic for me. I don't have a lot of girlfriends. My childhood friends are scattered all over the world. And for some reason I have become super socially awkward in my thirties. Maybe I have been this way all my life and my childhood friends just knew me so well they put up with the quirks. (That's it!!) My husband loves me dearly. This I know. And we have some friends that are couples that have children the same age, but I never 'go out with the girls'. Do I want to? Usually the answer is no. I would choose relaxing at home with Netflix and a cocktail than meet a friend for a movie or drinks. But I realize spending time with my own friends is healthy and something I really need to make time for. (Ugh. Pathetic misanthrope anyone?)

14) Make more time. Let's be truthful here. I am a mom of two young boys. I have a full time job. I drive my boys to activities, sports and school. I cook, clean, check my email, blog (every so often), shop for groceries, sleep. I am about to add classes to the mix. And not just any classes. Classes with LABS. I make excuses for not doing many of these items on my list due to lack of time. But I recognize the need for many of these things. For health reasons alone -- physical, mental and emotional. So this last goal, and the one that is needed to accommodate most of the prior 13, is to carve out bits of time in my daily activities so that I can accomplish all of this.

So there you go. 14 goals to work toward before I turn 40. Easy peasy.

After all this introspection, here's a picture of me. Taking a picture of me, looking into a mirror.

Jack Handy would be proud.

for postino fans with kids: windsor

I have only been to Postino a few times. Both times on a very rare date night with the huz, each time requiring carefully-laid plans and a trusted babysitter.

It's a lot of work to go out without our boys.

So when I found out Postino peeps were opening a new venture with a kid-friendly menu I was all over it.

And after having been twice, I am counting down the days when we can have another family date night at Windsor.

Mainly for this:

Their halibut banh mi sandwich has some sort of crazy power over me. I crave it constantly. Here it is pictured with the chopped kale salad, which for me, was just 'eh'. I have had the sandwich once more since our first outing with the chilled bean salad. EXCELLENT, MY FRIEND. JUST EXCELLENT.

The description of the sandwich, directly from their menu, reads: Grilled halibut with a honey-soy glaze, carrots, cucumber & cilantro with spicy sambal mayo.

But in my humble opinion, it's gold. Gold I tell you.

And both times we've been to Windsor, the huz has chosen the crab cake blt. That's saying a lot that he didn't try something different the second time. And my husband knows his crab cakes. There ain't no imitation dyed pink crab in those cakes. We stick with what is delicious and makes us happy. We make good pair, you know? And in many ways, that's a great philosophy of life. STICK WITH WHAT IS DELICIOUS AND MAKES YOU HAPPY. Amen.

Here he is enjoying his sandwich with fried okra. The second go around he had it with Jo's church potatoes. I think he enjoyed both but probably would go with the sinfully rich and, again, delicious potato dish for the side.

So cute! Look at the bendy giraffe... compliments of the attractive hipster staff at Windsor. But, unlike the equally annoying attractiveness of the staff at La Grande Orange, the staff at Windsor seem really nice. For real. We've had great service both times.

(On a side note, did I tell you I am personally boycotting/avoiding giving any of my hard-earned money to LGO? It's just a personal opinion. The only few times I've popped in there, I've felt like I'm in the scene in Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts gets snubbed by the snobby sales ladies on Rodeo Drive. Only instead of wearing thigh-high boots and a cut-off tank top, I'm wearing some sort of mommy uniform. Maybe jeans and a plaid button-up. But I digress. In a big way. Sorry.)

So back to eating. They have a kids menu! Woo hoo! It's small, but it shows me they don't mind if I choose to enjoy my grown-up sandwich with my kids in tow. The boys both had mini-corn dogs and fries the first time around. They were good. But the dogs had a little more batter than they would have liked and rather than regular old hot dogs inside, they used delicious sausage bites. I thought they were tasty, but the kids prefer old school style corn dogs. Maybe if they were on a stick?

Second go around they got the grilled chicken stick with a side of fruit. Healthier choices for sure, but also much more delicious in their opinion. Plates were (almost) licked clean.

So, there you have it. My new favorite downtown dining spot. I am looking forward to seeing you again banh mi. Maybe tonight?

Windsor

Hours:

Monday - Thursday 11 am - 11 pm

Friday - Saturday 11 am - 12 am

Sunday 11 am - 10 pm

Phone: 602.279.1111

Address: 5223 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85012

our camping trip... in mobile phone pictures

So instead of seven days in a heavenly cabin in the middle of the woods, we went on a tent camping trip for three days in northern Arizona.

Stopped to play on the uphill playground in Jerome.

Some extraordinary views.

After driving through Jerome and a very rough forest road, we finally settled down for two nights at White Horse Lake, just south of Williams.

Though we broke from our usual tradition and camped at a hosted campground instead of a private spot in the woods, it was a lovely time and such a pretty area. That little speck in the distance is the husband on a tube.

Trying to get photos of osprey flying around the lake.

Unsuccessfully.

This is what tent camping looks like. Cute, no?

Still cute.

Wait for it.

Oh yes. She's a beauty.

Doing boy stuff.

And being a good daddy.

Older brother trying to be a ninja by putting Dad's walking stick down the back of his shirt.

And here come the flowers. Lots of pretty ones in bloom. So typical that I would be taking pictures of the ground...

Some sort of iris?

Pretty yellow ones.

Ooooh.... Dandelions! Let's make some wishes.

You're supposed to blow out sweetie.

There you go!

Hmm. That's cheating pumpkin. I don't think your wish is coming true on that one.

Ooo! An orange flower!

And there's a purty yellow one.

Here's the real benefit of keeping your eyes to the ground. Look really really close. Do you see it?

Incredible! I'm not sure what type of bird's nest this is, but mama bird has 4 little ones in a sunny field next to a beautiful lake. I sure hope they make it.


And there you go. A fun few days. And now back to 100 degree weather in sunny sweltering Phoenix. I am already looking forward to our next outing this summer.

vacation plan changes and Arizona wildfires

We had it planned months ahead of time. Time off from work and seven deliciously peaceful nights at a sweet cabin in the middle of the woods in Greer, Arizona. Greer has become one of our favorites places to escape over the last few years. Plenty of woods and fields for exploring boys, quiet calm to catch up on some long-overdue reading, and serene lakes with lots of fly-fishing potential. A little bit of heaven for everyone.

That was our plan for last week.

But then this happened.

I am heart broken for the families that actually live in these areas. I was, of course, disappointed that our vacation was ruined by some careless camper or whoever didn't take the time to make sure their campfire was 100% out before moving on. But for the families who live and earn their wages in this region of Arizona, I am devastated for your loss.

And major kudos for the firefighters who are volunteering their time to work 24 hour days to contain the fire.

Here is a link to a slideshow of pictures from the fire.

Of course, being unable to change my vacation dates, we made alternate plans that included a camping trip in northern Arizona and some much-needed shopping. Though I was stressed and saddened to change our plans so suddenly when we had been looking forward to our trip to the cabin in the woods for months, I have so much to be grateful for. It's nothing compared to the loss of structures, forest and wildlife from that beautiful part of the state.

Pictures of our actual mini-vacation coming soon.

mid-June updates

Sooooooo, I'm very sorry to report that I have been on vacation for a week now and, while I'm having the best of times with my boys, I have indulged quite a bit in truly delicious foods and am back to square one of bulging belly-dom.

So this week begins an attempt at regularly scheduled fitness. And that's all I'll say for now on that topic.

On a note of healthy eating, my tomatoes and peppers are doing remarkably well despite the increasing temps and scorching hot sun. Here's what I harvested yesterday.

And here's what I made with only a portion of that!

This is my attempt at pico de gallo without following a recipe of any sort and it turned out really really good. Tomatoes, peppers, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, salt. All to taste. Done!

mary mary quite contrary

So here's an update on my little backyard vegetable garden. It's small, but I am really happy with what it's producing.

My tomato plants are HUGE. I didn't do anything differently this year. Just bought small starter plants at Costco and they got enormous in very little time. They've already outgrown the regular tomato cages, so I've had to create my own using 6 foot garden stakes. You can tell how tall they are in the photo above. The stakes on the left are about as tall as I am at 5'9".

I have 3 different varieties. Here are the beefsteak.

One's about ready to eat!

And the yellow pear tomatoes. So cute!

And there you are... ready for little fingers to pick and eat off the vine.

A few varieties of peppers. Here's Mrs. Bell.

And a small orange bell. (Not orange yet. Patience my friend.)

A bazillian jalapenos. What to make, what to make. I'm thinking I'll have to chop you up for salsa and then wrap you in some bacon.

And I started these from seed. I think it's Anaheim or banana peppers. But, I forget. Either way, they are getting munched on and I suspect it's the same type of varmint I had to deal with last year...

And here's the rest in no particular order:

Spearmint.

Lemongrass.

Rosemary.

Sunflowers.

What will someday be corn and asparagus. Totally experimental these two.

Peach tree in a pot. (For mother's day from my men.)

Strawberries. So far very small. And very very sour.

Chives.

Cilantro.

One type of basil.

Another type of basil.

And that is how my little urban garden grows.