Chocolate Tour

While the kids were visiting, my daughter-in-law, Meghan, celebrated her birthday. I know Meghan loves all things chocolate, so when walking around Seattle several months ago, and seeing advertisements for Savor Seattle's "Chocolate Indulgence Tour" I knew that was the birthday gift for Meghan.
I booked the tour, took Meghan and Callie and hit the road. It was fabulous!  It was a one mile walking tour in downtown Seattle and took two hours. It was so much fun.

The tour group gathered in the Mayflower Park Hotel. Once we put on our lovely headsets, so we could hear our guide as we walked, we headed to the hotel bar. It wasn't open yet, it was only 11:00 AM, but the bartender was there and he mixed us up a yummy chocolate cocktail.

You really have to love a tour that starts in the bar. And who wouldn't want a chocolate cocktail?

The drink was called "The Seattle Flatliner"  It was GOOD.

Next stop, The Chocolate Box

At The Chocolate Box, we had sipping chocolate. It's like hot chocolate on steroids. SOOOO rich and good. This particular sample of sipping chocolate had a homemade strawberry marshmallow down inside. YUM.

The Dahlia Bakery was next on our tour. Here we had the most delicious coconut cream pie...made with white chocolate. Oh my! It's a good thing it was a small sample.

Pictures out of order here. This sign was over The Chocolate Box, where they also had a wine bar. What's not to love?

I have to admit, I can't remember the name of the bakery where we got the delicious cheesecake. It was right across the street from Pikes Market and they put a birthday candle in Meghan's piece. So sweet.

Next stop was KuKuRuZa gourmet popcorn. I was so looking forward to this place. I love popcorn. I love salty and sweet together. This was heaven. I didn't get photos of the popcorn or the inside of the shop. I admit, I was very busy sampling. I brought home the Hawaiian Salt & Caramel popcorn. Well, I brought some of it home. I ate a lot before I got there with it.

Last stop was Fran's chocolates. This place looked like a jewelry store but with chocolates instead of precious jewels in the glass cases.

I treated myself to the Gray and Smoked Salt Caramels. I have one every few days. It's so good I almost can't stand it.



We had such a good time on the tour. I failed to mention the tea shop we stopped at. I wasn't impressed with chocolate infused tea.... just my opinion.

If you're ever in the Seattle area, Savor Seattle has several foodie tours. I'd like to take Nick on the brewery one. He loves beer and would love that one, I bet.

No one paid me to take this tour or write about it. I bought my own ticket and my opinions are my own!

Kids and the 4th of July

Since I'm so far behind, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I'm just now writing about our 4th of July.
We had kids fly in on the 3rd of July. JD and his wife Meghan, and our daughter Callie. Callie visited us in January, but JD and Meghan had not been here yet. Since they are all sweltering in the Texas heat, they were more than glad to be here in the Pacific Northwest where the weather is JUST NOW getting warm.

We had absolutely fantastic weather while they were here.
These kids spent a 4th of July with me in Hawaii a few years ago when Nick was deployed. It was the first time JD and Meghan had ever been on a military installation for Independence Day. They loved it. They loved the cannons, the tribute to the states, the music, fireworks and the overall atmosphere. I can't blame them. There is nowhere I'd rather be to celebrate Independence Day than with our country's heroes.
Needless to say, they were so excited to spend this holiday with us here.
The day started with a parade. Nick's brigade supports a local town outside of our installation. It's a very small town but they had a parade on July 4th. Because Nick is the commander, he got to be in the parade. Guess who got to ride with him?  That's right, me!  The second car in the parade was the Command Sergeant Major. His wife isn't here with him yet, so the girls rode with him and they loved it!
Here are a few photos of the parade that day.

Soldiers of the Brigade carrying the colors.

There we are! Our 15 (well, more like 5) minutes of fame.

Getting ready to get started.

Pretty girls in a cool car.

They LOVED playing Miss America in the parade.

I'm afraid none of us were as popular as the Stryker vehicle. It is pretty cool.

Soldiers giving out candy. The kids loved it.

Here is Callie and me waiting for it to get dark and for the fireworks show to start. They gave out these funky glasses that are supposed to enhance the whole firework watching experience. I found they made me dizzy. It could be because I'm old. I'm not sure.

It was a great day. I'm so thankful to have shared this day with the kids. I only wish more of them could have been here.

I will share more of their trip in a later post.

The Boy is Back

One week ago today, I picked Alex up from the airport. He had just spent a month with his mom out in North Dakota and was coming to Washington for the first time. It just so happens that his father was gone when he arrived. Nick is TDY for three weeks so it's me and the kid.
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about how we would spend our time and what in the world we would talk about.
This last week has been interesting and busy. I got him registered for school, he's attended his first few football training sessions, shopped for all the football equipment we'd need, and we've had a good look around the area. He's even met a couple of guys in the neighborhood to hang out with.
The challenge is getting him out more. He surely does love to sit in front of any kind of screen and play a game. Computer, Xbox, etc. My goal was to let him work on the balance needed between real life and the imaginary games he's involved in. Turns out he's not ready for that challenge. Yesterday, we had to set a few boundaries. It seems this boy works better with a more structured schedule. Left on his own, he will sit for the whole day and play. He proved this to me on Saturday.
Yesterday was spent washing a car, doing his laundry, going to the commissary to inquire about a job, and reading. No computer games at all yesterday.
Today he gets back into his workout routine..and he's making dinner for me. I decided to get him involved in the everyday chores of running a household. I told him to pick out two meals he'd like to make for dinner, make a list of ingredients and we'd pick them up.(surprisingly, he was excited about this and really got into it)
So, tonight it's a chicken dish he says he made up back with his mom. Chicken breasts, a jar of Alfredo sauce, so many little containers of dried herbs and seasonings it makes my head spin, and pasta. Hmmm... we'll see how it goes. I think I will have to help a bit on his technique or I'll be having rubbery pan fried chicken with over-seasoned jarred sauce.
Thursday night he's making a stir fry. He was so funny picking his ingredients.
Beef
Mandarin oranges
Pineapple
Crab
Shrimp
Baby Corn
Sugar Snap Peas
This is going to be a rich stir fry. He is serving it over rice for me.
His last culinary decision was what dessert he wants to make. He chose brownies and they are coming from a box.
My goal, when we started this, was to have him choose a dish he loves, research a recipe, and follow the recipe. So far, we've failed. He chose one dish he "made up"  and one dish that requires throwing stuff in a pan and stir frying it. Once again, we'll need to learn technique and some knife skills. Pray for me.

Last night I grilled rib-eye steaks, fresh corn on the cob and asparagus...all on the grill. It was DELICIOUS!
I stopped at the farm stand on Saturday and picked up the fresh corn, some beautiful tomatoes, blueberries and peaches. That evening I made two peach and blueberry cobblers. YUM. I took one next door to my neighbors who have a son the same age as Alex and I'm the diggety bomb with that kid now.
Wednesday, I'm meeting some old friends from Hawaii for lunch.  Nick's battalion Chaplain back in Hawaii is here and will be our Brigade chaplain again. We are thrilled. So, I'm having lunch with them and looking forward to catching up.
Have a fabulous Monday everyone. I'm off to the gym to see if I can burn off some peach and blueberry cobbler.

Wedding Weekend, Day 1

As I mentioned before, we arrived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area on Thursday to check into our wedding hotel and gear up for our fun filled weekend.  That night, JD and Meghan had made arrangements for us all to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Uncle Julio’s, which was right in the same area as our hotel. We walked over and met JD, Meghan, Meghan’s parents, Callie and Zach, Shalynne and James (my daughter and son-in-law from Hawaii), my in-laws and Alex. Yes, we had all five kids with us! Here is a photo of just the kids.

There is nothing more thrilling for me than to have all my chicks with me. I was in heaven.

Here I am with the bride and groom.

Meghan’s mom, Meghan and me.

Nick, JD, and Meghan’s Dad.

Callie and Zach.

Shalynne and James.

Nick with the other Callie (oy!)

Alex with is big brother, the groom.
Last but not least…

Me with my boy.
I can’t tell you how pride I am of this kid and how happy I am for him and Meghan.  I was thrilled to have this time with them and share in their special weekend.
More to come….

Mothering a Boy

As I was flying to Texas for my oldest child’s wedding shower and to plan for their rehearsal dinner, I was reading a book about a woman facing the empty nest. How ironic. In this story, the woman is watching her youngest son play in his senior year of high school football. She makes the comment that she loved that he still kisses her check at football games. This reminded me of the day my oldest child was born. JD was born two days after Thanksgiving in 1983. I was a mere 18 years old. Way too young to be married and having babies, but that’s another story.


The nurse brought him to me for the first time after I’d settled into my room and said “Boys are so special” I looked at her with my wide eyed innocence and wondered why she would think boys were more special than girls. I know now, that she was trying to make me feel comfortable in my new role as the mother of a boy. She said “Boys always love their mommas. After a football game my son kisses his girlfriend then he kisses me.” Those words stuck with me for the last 27 years. I remember those high school football games when JD would hug his girlfriend then hug me. I was so proud. Today¸ as I was reading about this woman whose heart was breaking at the thought of her baby leaving home, I remembered very clearly that nurse handing me my first born.

He’s a man now. He has a college degree, a great job that he loves, and he is about to marry a girl that I absolutely love. I guess it’s ok to take a little credit for how well he’s turned out. I have laughed, worried, cried and prayed over that child. I can’t wait to watch him start his own family with beautiful Meghan and see what an amazing father he’ll be.

Here is a photo I took at the shower today. Forgive the quality of the picture, I took it with my phone. My camera is still at home!

Update

I am finally at a computer with internet and can post an update on Callie's trip.  Thanks to everyone who voiced concern, support etc.
After arriving in Phoenix yesterday, she called me and I told her I had done a little digging and her airline had ONE more flight to Hawaii but it was to Maui. I had no idea if they would even entertain the idea of sending her to Maui instead of Honolulu, but it was worth a shot. She found the gate, and sweet talked them into re-routing her to Maui where she could buy an inter island ticket and get on over to Honolulu.
I spoke to her as she was awaiting her last flight in the Maui airport. She said she was exhausted but glad to be almost there. She was so sweet and apologized for causing me so much stress. I told her it was ok, that I just felt as her mom, I should be able to take care of everything and how helpless I felt. I then told her I was proud of her and Zach for taking care of it and getting everything done. I guess I raised her right!
Then, of course, I got up this morning to the news that there was a tsunami warning for the state of Hawaii. Oy! I knew that she was staying in an area that was very high and that large waves wouldn't affect her, but I knew the potential of losing power for days and having some serious dampers put on her vacation was very high.
I've heard from her several times today and all is well.
I'm thankful to watch her become a responsible young woman and to see her make wise decisions. 
I am having a great visit with some old friends here in Texas and am looking forward to my mom and aunt arriving tomorrow. The shower is on Sunday and should be a great time.
I have a girls' night out planned for this evening and I do believe margaritas are in my future. It will be so nice to hang out and not worry about anything for a while (is that even possible?)
I apologize for the lack of photos in my posts, but like a doofus, I left my camera in Rhode Island.  JD will bring his tomorrow and I can take photos with mom, auntie, kids etc not to mention the bridal shower.
Thanks again for your sweet comments on my stress yesterday. It helps to know that my mom guilt/stress is all normal.
Happy Friday and have a good weekend!!

Mamma Guilt

Why is it that moms carry the weight of everything that goes wrong?  I am having a terrible feeling about leaving Callie at the airport this morning and so helpless that I can't help her get on to Hawaii for her spring break.
Let me start from the beginning.
Callie had a 6:10 AM flight to Hawaii this morning on US Airways. We were running just barely on time and hit construction and a detour. Still got her there with 40 minutes. She goes inside to check in and they won't even take her at the counter. They have a rule about being 45 minutes or so before flight time or you can't even check in.
Get this,..even with this delay, checking bags and getting a standby ticket, she STILL made it through security in time to board that flight, had they let her. But no, she has to wait and is told that all remaining flights are full. She was on standby for an 8:00 flight but it was a no go. She got standby for a 12:15 flight and just called to let me know she's on. This flight goes to Phoenix and she will take her chances from there to get on into Honolulu.
Her fiance', who booked the flight originally, is bound and determined to get her out to Hawaii for a week, so I feel like they will work it out even if it means a night in the Phoenix airport.
I am feeling terrible about this. She doesn't blame me for missing the flight but I feel responsible. She knows she should've gotten up earlier and been proactive about being at the airport early but once again, I have mom guilt. It is making me almost physically ill.  I can't help her and I need to let her be an adult (she is 20 years old, after all) but this is hard!
Anyone else know about helpless, guilty mom syndrome? 
I'm waiting around in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and postponing my trip to central Texas until I know she doen't need me to get her at the airport. I'm  little stressed!!!

Project 365! (And a BIG Thank You)



Here is a photo of my men from this morning. They both had to wear their uniforms to school. Alex is in the JROTC program at his high school, and was recently promoted to (Cadet) Sergeant First Class. Nick has been wearing civilian clothes since he’s been in school here, but today they are doing an exercise and he is to “brief” the class on his part of the program.
I do love a man in uniform
I also want to thank all of you who commented on yesterday’s more serious post about my role in Alex’s life. It touched me that first, you all were patient enough to read through the whole thing, and secondly, you gave me your own words of wisdom and encouragement.  Last night, Alex and I worked on his English paper. He had to do a thesis on “The Great Gatsby”   I had decided several weeks ago to read the book along with him. It had been a long time and I needed to refresh my memory. We had a great time writing the paper together and discussing the book. We will finish the paper today and hopefully, get a good grade on it.  So, in closing, your advice (and JD’s) on just loving and nurturing him is spot on. I’m holding my tongue and loving on him. I have received two hugs and “thank yous” from him in the last two days. First, for making him a heart shaped brownie for Valentine’s Day, secondly, for helping him write his paper.  His exact words were “Thanks for the help, I was really stuck”, along with a hug and a kiss. It does my heart good.

Wisdom Where You Don’t Expect It

I have to admit, this blog post is a little more serious than normal for me. I have been struggling with my role in Alex’s life as his full time step-mom.  I have a tendency to be a mouthy broad and if I don’t like something I will tell you… at least to my kids and family. I try to keep that under control with others

So, I’ve been working on Alex in several different areas and finding myself getting more and more frustrated.  I can see I’m making no progress and if anything, I’m pushing him away. Without going into great detail, I’ll just say we are butting heads and I’m sick and tired of hearing my own voice.

The last few Sundays, while we’ve been at church, I’ve taken time to do some serious praying about this. I have prayed for wisdom and patience. Selfish.. not a word about Alex, right?  So, this Sunday I really humbled myself and asked God again for wisdom and patience and to help me deal with this boy without breaking his spirit. I also prayed for Alex to have self-confidence, self-worth and love for himself. Things he is seriously lacking and it shows in his personal/social life. It breaks my heart that this boy doesn’t have much of a social life at all. He’s truly never learned to be a good friend. I blame his mom for that, as I do everything else negative with him. It’s what I do.

Sunday afternoon it all came to a head. I lost my ever loving mind. I had been working with the boy on his sugar consumption because he has a serious sweet tooth. After several muffins, a cupcake and juice I told him he didn’t need anymore sugar that day. Less than an hour later, he’s grabbing cookies and one more muffin. I seriously lost it. I took the cookies away from him, tore into him about not listening and how sugar is bad for him and he can’t concentrate .. blah blah blah.

Later, Nick and I had a little “discussion” about it. He told me, very sweetly, that I was maybe a bit unreasonable. I, of course, was defensive.  I won’t go into detail but I was feeling sorry for myself and that the whole house was against me.

Later, after I calmed down, I realized how crazy that boy probably thinks I am.  I had justified my behavior by telling myself I was treating Alex no differently than I did JD when he was a teenager. However, it finally dawned on me that JD grew up with me and KNEW how crazy I could be and overlooked it. Alex didn’t know that. 

So, yesterday, JD called me and I spilled my guts to him. I said I just don’t know how to give him self-confidence… how do you do that?  (JD is 27 years old and teaches/coaches middle school kids) He said to me… Mom, the only way to do that is for a man in his life to show him love, compassion and to do it unconditionally. He hasn’t grown up with his dad around much and he needs that. He went on to confirm what Nick had already said to me…”Let Nick be the bad guy, you just love him and show him patience” 

He told me that three years ago when he started teaching, he was going to be the hard ass, and take no crap from those kids. He saw early on how that pushed them away from him. Now he shows them love, understanding and patience and they are blooming under his care.

I could go on and on here, but my point is that JD, my precious son that I had when I was 18 years old, has grown into a wise man and is helping me. When I prayed to God for wisdom, I had no idea it would come to me in that form. I’m so proud of the young man my son is and how he has grown and matured in spite of not growing up with a man in the house.

If you’re still reading this, just know I’m a proud momma today, but a bit more humbled. I am going to try desperately to give this 15 year old the love and security he has missed out on the last several years. We only have a short time to change his way of thinking. He has to succeed. He’s going to be a man and the leader of a family one day.

Were You Raised in a Barn?

Let’s talk about habits. Everyone has them… good and bad. What I am about to describe is simply a habit that I consider bad. I’m not angry, it doesn’t aggravate me, but it does puzzle me. I have my own bad habits that probably make my family crazy. It’s part of living together.
Today’s topic, however, is about a habit that both the men in my house share. They leave doors open. I just don’t get it.
Here are a few photos I took just wandering through the house the other day. It makes me laugh, and it makes me shake my head.



This is a photo of the closet just inside my front door. It’s where we hang coats, store gloves and hats, and put shoes that we keep near the door. I swear to you I close this door at least four times a day if my men are home all day. Every single time they open that door, they leave it open. It bothers me to have doors open, it doesn’t bother them. I guess they figure if you’re going to be back in there, why close it?



This is the door to our master bedroom closet. Yes, it’s full of a lot of stuff, which is why I like the door closed. I close this door several times a day too. When I am lying in bed, this door faces me. Almost every night I remind Nick to close that door. He teases me about it, he just doesn’t get it. I can’t stand to lie there in bed with that gaping closet open. 


This is one of the cupboard doors in our kitchen. It’s where we keep the every day glasses and our coffee supplies. Yes, someone had just pulled a glass out for a drink of something. It was probably Alex. He’s the one that is in and out of that door most. Mostly he slams the door closed, when he isn’t slamming, he’s leaving it open.

This is Nick’s desk. That little door is containing his desktop hard drive. In his defense, after I took this photo he told me he thought the computer was running a little hot and the fan was on too much so he opened the door to make sure it was getting enough air.
I don’t have a photo of the front door. I was taking Alex to school last week when there was a delayed start time due to weather. Nick was taking a test so I ran the boy down to the school. I went out the door first, Alex followed and guess what?  He left the door open.  He rushed past me, because that’s what he does, and I turned and said “Dude.. you didn’t close the door”   I got his standard answer when called out on something “ Sooorrrryyyy”   Oy!   I can’t tell you how many times he walks outside and leaves the front door open. There is a storm door so I guess that’s good enough in his eyes!

The other thing my men do is leave lights on. Clearly we have lived in military housing too long. We don’t pay any of our utilities but that is all changing. I can’t wait until we’re living on the economy again and see how these habits affect our bills.
Maybe the door thing is no big deal. Maybe it’s me that is quirky because it bothers me. But, it’s my blog and my point of view is the one you get.

Project 365!

I'm days behind already! Here are photos for the last few days.

I baked fresh bread on Thursday. My family loves me for this.

I ran errands yesterday and found this in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center. It's a shopping cart buried in the snow mountain from plowing the lot. Is that crazy or what?

This is from today. Oy. This assignment has been lingering over my dear boy's head since way before Christmas. We are just getting to it today. It's due on Wednesday. Procrastinate much? I hate school projects. It ends up being painful for us parents and it will wreck our entire weekend. This particular project is for Geometry and must be a to scale model of Heinz Field. Why Heinz Field you ask? Because my boy likes the Steelers. He didn't think for a second how hard this would be or what would be involved. Not only does this model need to be turned in but a to scale drawing and a paper describing how you figured the scale of the thing and what goes on at this particular sporting venue and the history of it. Seriously?  For Geometry? Just shoot me. It's painful, I tell ya.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I'm doing a bit of a Christmas wrap up today as I sit here thinking about the chore of un-decking my halls. Last night, as we took Callie out for one last parent bought dinner, Nick gave his opinion of taking the tree down. "It's the most depressing thing in the world, with world famine right behind it"  He's a bit dramatic. Too funny that this Soldier who's been to war numerous times would think taking the Christmas tree down is the absolute most depressing thing in the world. He may exaggerate, I'm not sure.
Here are a few photos from the small gift exchange Nick, Callie A and I had on Christmas eve after JD and Meghan were gone. Then some photos of Callie K and Alex having their Christmas with us.

They never get too old to love Christmas, do they?

My Zebra print loving girl.

A few days later, Alex finishes up his Christmas with us. He's a Steelers fan, can you tell?

The other Callie opening her season of Glee. I think she's a Gleek.

This is definitely one of my favorite things and something I'm missing already. Callie and me cooking together. This was Christmas day as I showed her how to make my mom's southern cornbread dressing. We had so much fun and the food was delicious.

Another one of my very favorite things. A husband who will brave the cold and shovel the walk even as the snow kept falling.

And he's a Packers fan, can anyone tell?

And finally, my geeky dramatic husband immediately digging into the book given to him by Callie K. "Obsessed with Star Wars"  I'm not sure who got more excited, Nick or Alex. Can you see the boy leaning in to give his two cents?

We've had an amazing Christmas. I am so thankful to have been able to spend the time I did with all but one kid. We ate well, spent quality time together, gave and received amazing gifts and laughed so much. I'm a very blessed woman.

Project 365!

Before I post today's photo, I have to show you this one.

This one was taken a week ago when we were about to take Callie to the airport. She's telling her "baby" good-bye. Notice the long face on Callie and the contempt on the dog's face. I think Cleo was ticked because it was still 0 dark thirty!  However, the following picture shows that Cleo may be missing her Momma more than she wanted to let on that morning.

 She looks a bit sad, don't you think?

Callie has had Cleo since she was a fourth grader. That stupid little dog is as much a part of this family as one of the kids. She is so hard headed that she will probably out live us all.