Pretty Much Perfect Weekend

We had such a great weekend. Martin got to ref lots of boxing matches and I got to eat sushi!

Friday night Martin went to the Golden Gloves to ref and judge the matches and Jeannie took me and Katie to Jensai where we stuffed ourselves silly with sushi roll and after sushi roll. It was heaven!

Saturday morning (well closer to afternoon if I'm honest!) we got up and accomplished a lot around the house. After a trip to Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Anna's Linens we were able finally complete the girls' move downstairs. We also got a great deal on a vacuum cleaner at Home Depot. We had been without one since ours broke and our carpet had gone from cream to grey and it wasn't pretty. We got tons of laundry done and Martin cleaned the kitchen until it sparkled.

Saturday night Martin went back to the Golden Gloves and I met Dad, JB, Katie and Jeannie at Los Arcos for some greasy food and lots of laughs.

Sunday morning I met Tavi and Jeannie to get a mani/pedi and then lunched at P.F. Changs. It was a great way to spend a Sunday morning! Tavi then had to head to BAM to work and Martin and I actually went to a movie. It's been a VERY long time since we went to the movies. We saw Gran Torino (Note: Movies between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. are only $6!). Martin and I both really enjoyed it. It was sad at the end but super funny and entertaining (if you aren't easily offended).

The best part was that we were still home by 7 p.m. and were able to regroup and get ready for the week.

We had a great weekend and hope everyone else did too!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a great weekend. It started with Tavi calling to let us know she was accepted ON THE SPOT to Point Park University's acting program. She auditioned and interviewed with them on Friday and he woman said she would talk to the scholarship office and see what she could do to help Tavi get some additional scholarships to the school. The other student from ASFA that auditioned for Point Park was not accepted which made Tavi feel even better. The woman said "Tavi, you have real, raw, talent". Woot!

Martin is still trying to get over the flu so he spent most of the weekend trying to rest and get better. Friday night we had Anna's friend, Lexi, spent the night. They played very well together and we didn't even had to get up during the night to tell them to sleep!

Saturday morning we got up and made pancakes and then Marisa had her championship basketball game. Her team lost but she had fun playing which is all that matters. That afternoon I took the three girls to Chickfila for lunch and then to Jonas Brothers 3D. Before heading into the theater we stopped at the Dollar Tree for a posterboard so they could make a poster for the "concert".

Luckily the theater wasn't crowded (unlike Hannah Montana 3D!). Anna and Lexi went to the front of the theater and danced and held up their Jo Bro sign. Marisa was a little "too cool" for that so she just sat back and watched Nick on the big screen.

"He is totally cute."

After Lexi went home I took Marisa and Anna to Books-A-Million to spend their Christmas gift cards. They had a blast shopping and spent the rest of the night reading until they fell asleep on the sofa.

Sunday we spent most of the day at Jeannie's so I could wash clothes (thank you Jeannie!). We went to lunch and played games (both board and wii) until it was time for them to make the long trip back to Clay.

I am hoping to enjoy some sunshine this week with the time change; however, I am not a fan of 80 degree weather in early March! Let's hope we get a little Spring weather this year instead of jumping full into a hot humid Alabama Summer!

Keep or Give?

Ok, so I found these sunglasses on clearance for $2.99. I know what you are thinking, wasn't she JUST complaining about having no money? But they were $2.99. And, well I can't control myself either.

So I got them home and put them on and they were bigger than they looked in the store. You know they always put the security device in the spot that makes it impossible to REALLY get a view of what the glasses will look like.

I was disappointed. I thought they would be so cute but now I think they just look B I G.

What do you think?

Give them to someone who likes huge glasses or keep them?

Losing Control

I haven't blogged in almost a month! The last month or so has sorta been a roller coaster. There have been ups and downs and the biggest thing I learned - and I'm still learning and trying to accept it - is that I can't control everything in my life. It's hard for me - I'm a planner. I love having a plan and I would love to be able to plan for everything in life. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. There are just some things I don't get to control (my grandmother's health, unexpected bills, other peoples' actions/reactions, appliances breaking, etc.).

That said, we are doing the best we can and trying to make the most of things.

My grandmother is doing very well and we were able to take her 80th birthday beach trip on February 20th. It was great to see the beach and spend time with family we rarely see. We gave her a memory box - we all wrote our favorite memories of her and put it in a special box. We took turns at the beach reading the memories aloud and we all really enjoyed hearing each others memories. I am so glad to have her back to her old self and out of the hospital.

We finally got our sewer bill. The City of Irondale and the City of Birmingham were "fighting" over Irondale's sewer services so they just didn't bill us for a while. I got home after work to find a $200 sewer bill in the mailbox. Ouch that hurts.

If you start to notice a weird smell around us it's because we can no longer dry our clothes. Our dryer died. It was very old and it was bound to happen eventually, I just wish it would have happened some time after tax season! SEE I want to be able to plan when my appliances die! The weather isn't exactly warm enough for a clothes line so looks like we will be headed to the laundromat this weekend. If you know of anyone getting rid of a dryer please call us!

Our microwave also died. Martin was devastated because this means no more microwave popcorn! We had gotten the microwave as a wedding present so it lasted a year - how long are they supposed to last? That didn't seem like very long to me.

Not having a microwave has actually been sort of blessing (although, I would still like to have one eventually). It has forced me to cook new things in new ways. I have been trying to save money on groceries by reading all of the mailers and cutting coupons. The combination of a limited grocery budget and no microwave has made me start cooking things I have never cooked before. Last weekend I made "refried" beans from dried beans. Normally I would have bought canned beans and stuck them in the microwave. This was a little more time consuming (but not much) but they turned out very well AND were a ton cheaper than buying the cans. It makes a lot so I can freeze some for future meals.

Winn Dixie has been having great specials on meats so I have definitely been stepping out of my comfort zone. I have discovered chicken thighs (skinless) - they have MUCH more flavor than the breasts and if you buy it skinless it is still healthy. I have also cooked pork chops and even chicken with bones. I used to be a ONLY boneless/skinless girl but once you realize how much money you can save by buying it with the bones and how it adds flavor you'll never go back (well, I will for somethings).

Last Sunday we had snow and this time it was real snow! We had about 5-6 inches at our house. It was absolutely beautiful. I spend the day baking and cooking and Martin and I watched movie after movie. It was a wonderful, lazy day. Even the animals were lazy with us!

These pictures were taken before the "real snow" hit. This is what it looked like early on. I didn't take any pictures of it when it was at the most.

Hopefully I'll be back to normal blogging soon.