drinkin’ dienstags

so i have been catching up on blogs and have noticed a similar trend in some of them. picking a day of the week and posting something in a specific genre. well i have chosen to do a drink for dienstag (tuesday in german).

for those of you that know me, you have probably heard the story of how after one afternoon of craziness with the kids and months of my husband working crazy hours, i decided to make myself a drink to lighten the mood a little (it was after 4pm). luke was finally asleep landon was on a playdate so i mixed up a divine mojito. right when i was ready to sink into the sofa and enjoy, luke woke up. now he isn’t the happiest when he first wakes up and the minute he saw me he just wanted a sip pretty please. i really should have just let him have a sip (or two maybe he would have gone back to sleep) but needed to feel in control for just a portion of the day so offered anything in the fridge but what mommy had in her hands. he proceeded to strip out of all of his clothes and lay weeping on the floor in his diaper. i decided to finish what i had started before being interrupted only to look up and see my husband staring at me. well luckily he didn’t see a need for AA (yet) but picked up Luke and took him for a walk…what a guy!

anyways back to the drink for dienstag… i am constantly in search of the perfect mojito so i am trying below out tonight and look forward to comments on your favorite summer drink.

Williams-Sonoma Mojito

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Entertaining, Edited by Chuck Williams (Oxmoor House, 2004)

A refreshing drink of lime, mint and rum, the mojito is the perfect cocktail for a summer evening. Here, it is blended, margarita style, and served in a tall glass with a sugared rim.

Ingredients:

12 fresh mint sprigs, each about 8 inches long,

plus 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1 cup light rum

Sugar and 1 or 2 lime wedges for coating rims

Ice cubes as needed

2 cups club soda

For the garnishes:

1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

4 small fresh mint sprigs

Directions:

In a bowl, using the back of a wooden spoon (or muddler), crush together the mint sprigs, sugar and lime juice. Pour in the rum, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Select 4 tall, slender glasses. Spread a layer of sugar on a small, flat plate. Working with 1 glass at a time, run a lime wedge around the edge of the glass to moisten it, then dip the rim into the sugar to coat it evenly. Put the glasses in the freezer to chill for at least 15 minutes.

When ready to make the mojitos, fill a blender halfway with ice cubes. Pour the rum mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the blender. Add the club soda and the 1/2 cup mint leaves and puree until well blended.

Divide the mixture evenly among the chilled glasses. Garnish each glass with a lime wedge and a mint sprig. Serves 4.

seems a little complicated so may add an update if it doesn’t work out. another niced addition is a sugar cane stirrer.

finding a happy place

i went to borders the other day and you can imagine my excitement when i found the perfect book for me.

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World.

it almost seemed too perfect for the situation we are in but it was 20% off and i figured a little gift could only cheer hubby up! well after going to Weiner’s website i must say i am looking forward to reading the book. my favorite line from his site is–Place. That is what The Geography of Bliss is about. How place—in every aspect of the word—shapes us, defines us. Change your place, I believe, and you can change your life.

find a happy place… find a happy place…

eating macademia nut pancakes on the lush island of Kauai… eating heart shaped pizzas and sipping wine with a great friend in venice. so good food and romantic locales…that doesn’t seem too much to ask.

life is good

i had dinner with caroline the other night and as usual left refreshed, happy and ready to make a choice. we are both going through a slightly similar situation in that our husbands are looking for jobs and have decisions to make on which way to go int their careers.

she was quick to remind me life is good. i have a husband who loves me and our children, we have a wonderful family and friends who are loving and supportive (for the most part).

do we stay or go?

it is worth risking a life we are satisfied with for something that has the potential of being exceptional?

happiness is a choice and that is the most important decision we need to make right now.

is ignorance bliss?

the other day i decided i needed to stop watching/reading the news. the last couple news stories that have left me wanting to play the ignorant card…a man holding his daughter captive in a basement and fathering multiple children with her for 25 years, mothers-fathers-friends enticing children and selling them into the sex trade industry, massive food shortages and starving children in ethiopia, a young boy having his arm run over because he stole food at a local market, and on and on and on.  alas– i can’t seem to forget these stories i have read about. i say stories because to say they are more  than that means that many many children are living these lives…daily. how can i ignore that?

recently i read  there is no me without you. a biography of a women who was one of the first ethiopians to take in orphans with HIV.  the author writes that HAREGEWOIN TEFERRA did not consider herself a hero because that would mean that not everyone could do what she did…but everyone can (when i find the book i will update this post with the actual quote).i also recently received this other link as a reminder that pretty close to home there are some people trying really hard to make a difference.

i am trying really hard not to rest in my ignorance, to stop expecting change. i need to demand it there are too many children hoping for a different life.

growing

landon planted seeds with his grammie two weeks ago. everything has sprouted and is growing well. we actually had to re-pot some of the sproutlings today so that they could grow better. it got me to thinking about some other things that are growing around here…

landon is above my hips(and i have a 36 inch inseam)

luke is singing the abc’s and pretty much trying to do everything landon does (except eating)

and

i killed a cockaroach by myself…a live…breathing…quick moving cockaroach!

and for those of you that know me know that this is big! if i can accomplish this who knows what is next!

hubby’s growth requires a post of it’s own…not ready for that one yet…all i can say is i think i know some other saplings that may need to be repotted!

What makes your day end with a smile?

wendy recently wrote a sweet anecdote of painting her daughters toenails after bath time and asked readers to recall…

What makes your day end with a smile?

in thinking about it i couldn’t recall much as my husband has been working till midnight, my dad has become a sweet indulging diabetic, both my kids have been sick, my oldest fell off the monkey bars and had muscle spasms, and my youngest has no need to take a nap or go to bed at night….bitch bitch moan moan.

Then i am cleaning up iphoto and come across this (pay attention to the commentary)…

…how can i not end my day with a smile?

expecting change

at times this is how i see my life

i sometimes feel that i really just keep walking…not ever at a standstill long enough to make a decision. more of a strolling unaware that there really are more choices available. is there a difference between active and inactive choices?

in my mind active choices lead to real change and that is a little scary.

i want to stop wondering about the road not taken

I want a couple roads with a sign that tells me which way to go,
happy that I can’t travel both
being a family of travelers, quick to decide

I will leave the regrets at the fork
sure I will never want to come back.

I will be telling this with a cheer

Many roads diverge in a concrete jungle, and I-

I take the perfect one–And that is sure to make all the difference.

the 3 c’s

every morning i choose to get out of bed. i choose to make my kids breakfast, myself coffee, and i choose to go about my day as if it is nothing more than ordinary.

it is important to note that i also make several choices the night before…

not to fold all the laundry, not to put away the laundry i did fold, to leave the clean dishes in the dishwasher & the dirty ones in the sink, not to make my sons lunch ahead of time, etc…etc…etc.

i am pretty consistent in my procrastinating choices even though i am aware of the inevitable consequences that are sure to follow the next morning, the next day, the following hour.

when will consequences lead to change i wonder?

The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 

…more on this tomorrow