Lately we’ve been in such a rut with our meals and I keep saying it’s because my other family members are picky eaters. Or I blame the fact that I can’t seem to find 15 minutes each week to plan out my dinners. It’s difficult to make decent dinners when you’re pulling meat out of the freezer at 5pm and scouring the pantry for non-existent ingredients.

So I revisited my favorite food site, The Pioneer Woman. I’ll admit, I’ve been a bad fan and haven’t visited in many months. But lo and behold, the very first post I saw there was for Parmesan Crusted Chicken that made my mouth water. Amazingly enough, I already had most of the ingredients so I was psyched.

Let me just say…I heart Pioneer Woman!! From the beauty of her site design to the scrumptious recipes to the exquisite photographs to her fun writing style; I could have just stayed there all day long browsing and reading.

So I made the Parmesan Crusted Chicken tonight for dinner, although I ran out of Parmesan cheese and didn’t have the 2 sundried tomatoes. Unfortunately I used too much garlic salt so that significantly diminished the deliciousness of the dish.

BUT hubby said he liked it and I was “allowed” to make it again, minus some salt. Good news!

Pitiful…time for some weight training…or I need to start using my left arm to play.

Now THAT would be funny!

Never mind the fact that this was barely a week after Santa had come and I couldn’t understand why they didn’t appreciate their new gifts.

So, we made them a deal: they could get the Nintendo Wii once they earned enough money for it. That would be tough for our youngest but they scrounged and scrabbled for extra jobs to do around the house. Of course, they wanted to get paid $5 for emptying the dishwasher (no way!) but they got the idea that they had to E-A-R-N that game.

We were impressed because they didn’t keep asking, “When can we get the game?” We counted their money two weeks ago and hubby surprised them by taking them to the store yesterday. We had to give them a small advance so they’ll be working to pay back that “loan” but we’re all enjoying our new toy.

Even our youngest mentioned, breathlessly, how you have to keep moving to play the sports games. I won’t count it as “real” exercise but at least they’re moving and learning how to play new games.

So now I need some ideas for game titles suitable for a 12 yr old and a 7 yr old. Suggestions please!!

That photo was taken at my college graduation in May 1990 (no, I’m not afraid to announce how old I am!). It was at my graduation dinner in Syracuse, NY with my family. I believe graduation was held on Mother’s Day that year but it was rainy and damp, just typical weather for that part of the country. I probably should have been warming up with a hot drink but how could I resist the size of that strawberry marguerita!

I decided to use that photo on this particular date in December because I celebrated my 40th birthday. Oprah must be right that you get more comfortable with yourself as you age because I’ve been pretty open when people ask how old I am. Contrary to my husband’s jokes, I do NOT pretend that I’m still 29.

Of course, I had a harder time admitting I was 31 than I did 30, so maybe next year will be more difficult.

A drink like that probably would have put me to sleep now that I’m older but the photo captured the same sentiment…life is good. My hair is shorter and my clothes are larger but I really have very little to complain about.

So, that’s the story. No, Nell, I did not have 3 of those drinks way back when ;)  I was merely looking forward to being a new graduate embarking on another chapter of life. (and who wants to be loopy in front of their parents?)

(Seriously, do these spammers honestly have nothing better to do with their time or their lives than to attack our blogs?)

So, to all of you who took the time to leave comments this fall, my sincere apologies. That’s what I get for going too fast and not paying closer attention.

I do so love to get comments so please come back and write some more…pretty please?