The Melting Pot

Let's talk about the most important thing first-the food!

It was just as good as I remembered it, even with it being a good year or more since we had been. Incredible. Cheddar cheese fondue, amazing house salad, surf and turf main course and delectable dessert. It took us almost 3 hours to eat there was so much food.

I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed that they changed their menu. The dessert no longer comes with the "Big Night Out" which is what it used to be called. Also, we got double everything and they wouldn't let us try different options, it had to all be one. Just an observation and we will know for next time.

Conversation was good, and the atmosphere was great.

Of course, I waited until the very end to spill my guts and tell them things I had been wanting to say. They were all good things, and I was able to just openly tell them the things I've appreciated over the years, how much they mean to me now and what I have learned that I want my kids to learn too. I've just never done that outside of writing it down. They were very responsive. My grandfather was the one who really got what I was trying to do, and it felt good to have that connection.

I feel like last night was kind of a stepping stone into some kind of "adulthood" for me. Even if it's just a baby step, it's a step in the right direction.

And there was chocolate too, what could be better?

Happy Leap Year!

Why do we have leap year?

What's the deal with Feb. 29? It's pretty basic. The pattern of our lives depends on it: The current calendar needs the extra hours to stay aligned with Earth's orbit. Otherwise, we'd have winter in July — in about 10,000 years.

If you were born on Feb. 29 in the shortest month of the year, the plus side is that you're part of an exclusive birthday club. And you can blame the 28 days on this calendar, which began with March.

If you're an unmarried woman, leap year's got your name on it, thanks to the Irish tradition of Ladies' Privilege, which back in the day gave women proposal rights. In America, we call it Sadie Hawkins Day.

(I didn't write this, it's off MSN-shocker)

When is Enough, Enough?

Is there such a thing as too much pizza?

My opinion, no way, absolutely not, impossible, how dare you even ask. BUT, I was on a training program for a half marathon in April, and then got really sick back in January and it really threw me off. Since then, I have barely worked out and have my ups and downs with my meals.

Most days I do alright. Still the small meals throughout the day to keep my sugar levels balanced, metabolism going and enough nutrients.

With the exception of the past week, and yes, I consumed pizza intentionally 4 times in a 6 day window.

Friday: One large meat covered slice from Sbarro with a Dr. Pepper.

Sunday: One personal size beef pizza from the movie theatre and a Dr. Pepper

Tuesday: 2 slices of the works pizza at BJ's and a water <---------what was I thinking?

Thursday: 3 slices of some beef variety from Gattitown and a Dr. Pepper

No more pizza for me for awhile (brings a slight tear to my eye to type it), but it has to be done. Especially if I'm back on track with training and actually follow-through and do this race which will now probably take me 3 hours with my lack of enthusiasm!

The pizza was totally worth it though.

Balloons-Who Knew?

This kind of thing always amazes me.

Some people think what a waste of time, what's the point. This is pure creativity and art. You can't NOT look at it in awe.

The color, thought-process and aesthetic value is nothing short of amazing.

More Balloon Art

FTD Flowers = Forget Timely Delivery?

Okay-I'm not typically one to complain about a business, company, customer service or especially service in restaurants, but I thought I would just make a few comments about FTD and their processes.

Valentine's Day was last Thursday, as we all know, so I decide to send my Mom flowers to her work from the boys. I ordered online on Monday-plenty of time in advance, and selected Thursday delivery.

Called my Mom on Thursday at 11am, and she didn't say anything so I knew she didn't get them yet-not terribly worried, but wondering when they will. Decide to get online and inquire, thought I could just use the order # and it would tell me right away like UPS does. I have to fill in all the information, then I get an autogenerated email saying that they will get back to me within 48 hours about the progress of my order.

Great.

Another couple hours pass, and I decide to call the customer service number. Due to the holiday in progress, they do not have any operators (at all, it's not like the operators were busy, an operator wasn't even an option), they tell you to go to ftd. com and fill out the inquiry form (which is what I already did and was supposed to wait up to 48 hours).

Logical.

Give it until 4:15 and email my Mom to ask if she got flowers. She writes back and says "Ha Ha-very funny", as if I was rubbing it in or something. I wrote back and said "Seriously". Decided to call her at 10 'til 5 and the guy was bringing the flowers through the door. She was so surprised and loved them.

Then had to hang up 5 minutes later and lock up the office and go home.

It's the thought that counts, right?

Killing Two Birds with One Stone

So my list of things to do by 08.08.08 has been coming along slowly, but I have decided to knock two of them out at the same time, if I can get the guts to do it.

I have invited my grandparents to eat at The Melting Pot next Thursday night, which of course is on the list. It is one of my all-time favorite places to eat, and they have never been.

What better place/venue to take the plunge and tell a family member my true feelings-where they are obligated to stay because they are getting a free meal! The true feeling thing-on the list.

Now this is a big deal for me. Communication is not my forté. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem speaking with someone, standing around and cracking jokes, avoiding real issues, dancing around topics-but I do struggle really talking to people, especially family.

My whole family does it. We either try and use humor, talk about something else or go silent. I'm so tired of being that way.

So my plan is to finally have the guts to tell them how I really feel about their role in my life. Everything from how I am scared of what they think of my decisions, to thanking them for being parental figures my whole life. I have never in my life been able to look someone in the eye and say those types of things, be that vulnerable with emotions. If I even attempt it I hide behind email, letters or humor.

I hope this is a step towards the ability to have more intimate and engaging relationships with people, and that they leave dinner understanding more of how I feel.

Movie Review: Untraceable

It was good.

(And that's why I'm not a movie critic)

Now let's talk food...

My Review of The Keg

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my review of THE KEG! Well, here it is....

DELIGHTFUL! I give it 2 thumbs up. Or wait, 4 stars?

Note: This picture is from one somewhere in Chicago or something, ours doesn't look like that.

We went pretty late on a weeknight, because that's the only time we could get a sitter, so it wasn't crowded and was very low-key. The waiter was friendly and when we told him we had never eaten there before, he was helpful without talking about every single thing possible from the menu.

It's a steakhouse, so we splurged and got steak, and I got the lobster tail as well. While we were waiting, the manager brought out a complimentary shrimp cocktail since she heard we had never been in before. (Definitely plan on telling that lie from here on out). The bread was wonderful. The meal was excellent.

For the price, we really liked the atmosphere, the people and the food. I can't say it's my new favorite place to replace Baby Does, but we would definitely go back!

Riding the Carousel

We took a little family trip to Grapevine Mills Mall last night.

The Purpose:

To get Kolbe a train! Awhile back we decided to ditch the star chart that we used as a reward system, and introduce-the marbles!

He saw some marbles I had in a jar with flowers, and really liked them, so we told him that at the end of each day, if he behaved, he would get 3 marbles. Once he filled up his own jar, he could get a new train. So we made it a big deal, let him pick out the marbles (not the jar because it probably would have only been big enough to hold 3 total), and started to implement it. There were some days where he didn't get any marbles, and some days where he did so great he would get 4. He really understood the concept, and after 6 weeks, he filled the jar!!

So this outing was all for Kolbe to pick out his reward. We had dinner, rode the carousel, and he picked out what ended up being a new race car set with the loops, tracks and (sigh-there needs to be more estrogen in this house) race cars.

Bottom line-he earned it, and now his jar is empty and we're gearing up for the next big reward!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This morning I told Kolbe it was finally Valentine's Day, and up to this point I had been talking about it constantly telling him it was "Huggy, mushy, smooshy, kissy, lovey, dovey day". So imagine how thrilled I was when I asked him if he knew what Valentine's Day meant, and he said "Kisses" and gave me one!

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day, because it doesn't get much better than that.

I Want This Shirt

Although this is not entirely accurate, because I don't own the shirt yet, and you can tack a big ONE in front of that TWO because at least 12 people have read (okay, opened) my blog link, I still want it.

The question is, if this shirt is posted on my blog, but less people read my blog than the shirt, but they see the shirt through this blog, does the tree really make a sound?

Nickolas Has Tubes Now!

Nickolas did so great this morning.

I got up at 4:45am, yes, in the morning, and we got to the surgery center at 5:20. It went very smoothly, checked in, met with the nurse, anesthesiologist and doctor. They explained how everything would work. The doctor forewarned me that they may not be able to remove the adenoids because he may not be able to get an IV in Nick's chubby little arm, leg or any area on him (it's just muscle man).

They took him and he didn't even cry. My grandmother and I waited for hardly 15 minutes and doctor came in and was done. Said he didn't take the adenoids out because they looked great. They took all the infection out of the ears-which was a lot.

At that point, the nurse was wheeling him out and he was screaming. It took a good 10-15 minutes for him to come out of it, and he was not happy. He is really strong! Wouldn't stay still. It was rough getting him home, getting him settled. Took about 2 hours for him to get down to sleep, but now he is doing great. Played after his nap, ate a good lunch, drinking lots of water. Laid down for his afternoon nap with no problems.

It was tough to see him like that, but I know the whole procedure will be worth it.

(Side Note: I think that picture is supposed to be a poodle of some sort, but it's a little "deer-like". Maybe it's some kind of deer dog?)

New Stance on Family Pictures

I've decided I'm going to send out more pictures like this one!

Everyone sends out all the pictures (including myself) where there's lots of smiling. I think we should share more of what our days are really like! People make comments on how happy my kids are, when in actuality, they just happen to be smiling when I took the shot.

So, I'm starting a photo album just for the pictures like this, and I may just consider putting something along these lines on our Christmas card this year.

We may not be smiling, but it may just get a grin out of everyone else! =)

Inpiration Clippings

This is my Uncle's bedroom door!

I go to my grandparents' house every single week (he lives with them), and last week was the first time I stopped and noticed this! I was very inspired by all the clippings.

I love it when people put together collages like this. The whole thing tells a story about that person-what they are interested in, things that inspire them, things that mean something to them.

My uncle has music references, quotes, respects to the military, 9/11 remembrances, key phrases about life.

I just really like how one array of imagery can tell a whole story about happenings and one person's world.

$1.50 To Enter Heaven-Not Bad...

Chocolate, whipped cream, anonymous frosting goodness of amazing and more amazing...oh, and sugar. No idea what it was called. We dubbed it, "The Awesome".

All for a $1.50.

We also got a caramel-filled churro from the background for 70 cents.

Awesome.

So...You Last Saw Your Kid at Salty's Pirate Playground?

Oh....No....

I would just like to point out the map. Does anyone notice an odd relationship between Salty's Pirate Playground and the Shark Channel?

(Note: Map Not Altered In Any Way)

MY OH MI-AMI!

Incredible!

I am wrapping up my Miami trip as I am typing this, with a post from the Miami Airport! The trip has been great.

The first day was work-filled, but was a very good experience. I had the opportunity to spend the day in our Miami-based office. It wasn't at all what I expected. It was a new location from the last time I had been there, and the building was much nicer, but I walked in and no lights on, dead silence and no movement. There are only 6 people total in that office.

I spent the day talking about all the issues they struggle with out of that office, and how creative from Dallas can help support them on all the levels they are needing. They handle every single brand, as I do, and control the Latin American market, cruise ships and airports. I learned so much about that market, and feel like I built some key relationships. It's always beneficial to meet people who are a part of the company's success.

Then on Friday my sister flew in and we were able to spend the last 2 days together. We took a cab over to our hotel right on the beach. It was amazing! Well, the hotel was run down, but who cares! (It didn't even matter that the elevator was stuck on the 6th floor each time we rode on it, or that the walls were paper thin, or that the bathroom was super small). We could walk 40 feet and get to the beach! And that's what we did, we walked around, ate, laid on the beach for about 3 hours, looked for seashells and then went to a great dinner-best shrimp I ever had. Today, we slept in, had a good breakfast, beach again for about 3 hours, then went to the Seaquarium-so much fun!

The trip is over unfortunately, but I am sunburned, tired and ready to see my boys!

Miami Trip Pictures