This is the soup I made for dinner. Jared and Richard gave it a two-thumbs up. Rachel didn't try it so I don't have a rating from her.Vegetable Bean Soup by Chef Jon ashton6 oz. bacon,chopped, 1 onion, diced, 2 celery stalks,diced, 2 small carrots, diced,2 zucchini, diced, 1 garlic clove, finely diced, 1 can chopped tomatoes, undrained, 2 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed, 3 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth, 1/2 tsp. salt, coarsely ground black pepper, 6 c. fresh spinach, chopped, 1/4 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Place bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook 5 min. or until almost crisp. Add onion, celery and carrot, cook 5 min. Add zucchini and garlic, cook 3 min. Add tomatoes, beans,broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 min. Stir in spinach. Ladle into soup bowls and top with grated cheese. Makes 10 cups. Serves 6.

breakfast and lunch - all before 9:50

Okay, it's not 10:00 a.m. and i have gotten alot done so far: mailed b-day card, made rach's lunch, drove rach to school,threw away a bunch of food out of fridge, took out trash, did a load of laundry, ate organic blueberry oatmeal, packed some goody bags for relatives, swam laps for 30 min., ate lunch...oops. kinda early for lunch, huh.

To the Gym Three Days in a Row

Now that i wrote that title, i am committed to going to water aerobics at 3:30 so i'm about to go get on my bathing suit. monday i did the pool thing in the morning, yesterday was the exercise machines in the early evening, so now we'll see how exercising in the afternoon works out. i have to work it around my tutoring schedule, which this year i am doing wed. mornings also. my goal--- i'm trying to maintain my weight and not gain any! once i know i am not gaining, i will be brave enough to start trying to lose. i had some luck at one time when i was doing curves and watching what i ate. unfortunately, i also enjoy reading shape magazine while eating chocolate chip cookies. what an oxymoron. i am .... off to burn calories.

okay here is the second picture

flower arranger i'm not

i thought i'd show you my feeble attempts - this is what happens when you attempt to do a flower arrangement from a picture in a magazine. it never does quite look the way you want it to. the first attempt had to be scratched and the second was a little better.

I'm a big kid now!

So, some mothers of young kids might wonder what the next big milestone is after potty training?
The first ROAD TRIP!!! Bekah drove to college station with me in the passenger seat. would you believe that I don't think my heart rate even got elevated? This is really amazing.
We got to be roomies with jen and her 2 roomies and jen was our college tour guide as we traipsed around aggieland visiting the education and business colleges, bought college t-shirts and did other collegy stuff. the "girly" movie we picked (that one with bees in the title) was not romantic or funny as we had hoped, but it is good to know that daytime tickets are still only 3.50 in aggieland!
bekah is watching the mailbox for her acceptance letter. Then, hopefully she can sit back and enjoy the rest of her senior year. She has her college car - a toyota corolla that matches jen's except is a different color.
I don't think i'm quite ready for another birdie to leave the nest...but these things tend to happen whether or not you're ready.

Highlights of Summer 2008

Well this summer is beginning to draw to a close. some of the memories that will not long fade away are jen's gall bladder surgery- very hard on parentals!- but also unforgettable laughs from jen coming out of anathesia. then there was jen's incredible opportunity to live in london, thanks to her big bro and his wife.
It has also been the summer of learning to drive stick shift for jaj, however, we did not get as far along in the curriculum as mom wanted to. sigh. that was my biggest goal. rachel got glasses today and jared goes to the orthodontist today, so we are in the throes of adolescent changes everywhere.Rachel will also be entering public school for the very first time on the 25th. Bekah was ordering her t-shirt today that the seniors are all going to wear on their first day back. A banner year for all of us.
our d.c. trip was truly unforgettable and brought back many happy childhood memories.
This is the first summer in 15 years that I haven't been headed back for inservice next week - so a big change for me as well. Luckily I can live vicariously through my sharone's teacher blog!!!