MIA and little Menu Plan Monday

Sorry to have been MIA again for a few weeks. I've missed posting as regularly as I have in the past, but I've just not made the time to creat a post and actually post the post. My apologies...

Let's see...since my last post I have become the mother of a teenager. Yep - that's right! My "baby" is now 13. Where has the time gone??? He's a lucky boy, too...he got to celebrate for about 3 days. The Saturday before his bday we treated him and about 9 others to a day of paintball play. That evening his "girlfriend" came over for dinner and some Wii playing. Sunday we gave him the gifts from us. Then on his actual bday we had a special dinner requested by him and watched the 24 season finale.






Now we're two days away from school being out for the summer. Jake's got big plans for this summer, too. He has a weightlifting "class" almost every weekday for the whole summer, two weeks of football camp, and a 5-day trip to Washington DC. Fair warning to everyone who sees or talks to me frequently...I may be slightly frazzled the week he's in DC. My baby...on a plane...many states away...in the city with the highest crime rate...um, yep, frazzled. But - I'll get in LOTS of praying, trust me!

Work is still going good. I'm still not liking being gone 40 hours a week, but we're making it work. I missed my first week of meal planning last week. It felt odd, too. So, this afternoon I sat down and planned out the next three weeks' worth of meals. I'll give them to you a week at a time, though, so I'll feel more compelled to write a post next week. =)

Here's what's up for the rest of this week:

Monday: leftovers from the feast we had yesterday at my SIL's
Tuesday: Jim has a dinner meeting for work, so Jake and I will have leftovers again
Wednesday: turkey breast tenderloin in the crockpot, broccoli, stuffing
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: cube steak in the crockpot with brown gravy mix, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Saturday: baked marinated chicken breasts, green beans, salad
Sunday: beef roast and potatoes in the crockpot, green beans or broccoli, salad

Yesterday was my monthly scrapbooking day with the girls from church. Since it was the holiday weekend, they weren't expecting too many of us to show up. Turned out to be a great day with about 15 of us there to scrap, scrap, scrap!

Speaking of scrapping...I got the majority of my housework completed last night after we returned from my SIL's, so today I'm free to scrap all afternoon! Yeah me!!!

Hope everyone enjoys a wonderful day off today. Have a great week!

Thoughts from the week...

Welcome back...to me! =)

It feels like forever since I've posted here, but it's really only been a couple weeks. Sorry for the absence. Guess I really am still getting adjusted to working 40 hours a week.

I've noticed there are a lot of things I'm letting slip lately. I'd gotten into a "groove" while I was part time and then off work completely. Laundry was on Monday and Friday. Bathrooms were usually Friday. I mopped once a week. Etc. Etc. Etc. WELLLL...not so much anymore. I cherish my weekends, so hate to take up time with housecleaning. But I'm so tired when I get home at 5:30 I don't want to do it then either! I am managing, but the house looks like I'm BARELY managing! LOL! So, PLEASE...call before you come by...give me at least 30 minutes to straighten up. Thank you. =)

Jake had his very first band concert Monday night. He just started playing his bassoon last July, but he has made great improvements since then. I was very unsure how much the other band members had improved, though. However, I was pleasantly surprised by 7:03 Monday evening! They'd only been together to practice as a whole band ONCE. Yes, ONCE! You would have never known. They were terrific.

One highlight of the evening was being able to snap a picture of Jake and his girlfriend, Hannah. It turned out sooo cute!



The event was very sly...the first pic I took they were just standing side by side. But...when I got ready for pic #2, little mister put his arm around her. Of course, she was grinning from ear to ear (as you can see). Oh my...

It's still hard to believe my little boy is growing up.