Life ¤ Love ¤ Laughter ¤ Linds

Yesterday we began the first leg of our California adventure.  Our day started bright and early with a 4:30 am wake up for Mommy (after approx. 4 hours of sleep the night before!).   We got everyone up and out the door and on route to the airport by 6 am - a half hour later than planned.   We were not ready for the number of crazy people on the highway, the construction and the accidents at this time....so it took us more than an hour and a half to get across the 401.   So much for arriving at the airport 3 hours before our flight (which was scheduled to depart at 9:35.) We opted to Park n Fly this vacation which led to our next small inconvenience.  As we're pulling our luggage out of the trunk, the shuttle bus leaves the lot.  No biggie - the next one should be there in 15 minutes - OR NOT!  More than 30 minutes later, we're finally at Terminal 3...but were dropped off at the wrong end of the building.  Unfortunately...

Last night I spent alot of time flipping through flyers, recipes, and the cupboard trying to come up with a cheap and effective meal plan to get me through the next 10 (yup, 10!) days.    After comparing flyers, I still have NO IDEA where to get the bulk of my groceries the cheapest.  No time to travel to 2 different towns, and 4 different grocery stores... decisions, decisions. This is what we're doing until the day we leave (9:30 am takeoff... we have to leave the house uber-early!  What was I thinking?!) Maple Glazed Salmon Skewers, Breaded Halibut (for the boys), Curly Fries & Broccoli Slaw(this is what we enjoyed last night.) Thai Peanut Chicken Pizza (we'll be modifying it using ingredients on hand - ie. homemade peanut sauce but it's the inspiration for dinner tonight) Thai Peanut Chicken Pasta Salad (this will use the remaining peanut sauce and chicken from tonight... it'll be a throw-together-and-see-how-it-works type of meal tomorro...

You'll have to forgive my negligence...again! I'm terrible about keeping this updated regularly. And those weekly features? Pffft... great in theory, not so much in execution. We only have 2 weekends (one is a long one!) and 5 work days left to survive endure enjoy before the vacation of the year begins. I have to start my check-lists soon - what to do, what to buy, what to pack. (I'm the queen of checklists; do they help keep me organized? Debatable!) I also need to come up with one more meal plan and do one more grocery shop before we go - bare basics so the ants don't infiltrate my home while we're gone and have a party those valuable food products we spend our hard-earned money on don't go to waste. The subject of meal plans and groceries inevitably turns to how I can get the most value for the least money. An interesting topic - I can't believe the number of times in the last few months I've heard or read about "extreme coupon-ing". ...

I have a dilemma.  I have a shed to store the lawn mower, miscelanneous garden equipment, outdoor toys and the like.  Last fall, I did some yard work, filled the yard waste bags... and tossed them in the shed.  Shed got closed for winter and yard waste bags were forgotten.   Well, sometime throughout the winter, the boys wiggled the door open and it never actually got closed again - no big deal - except the sliding doors on the shed have come off their hinges and we're missing some screws so they need to be rehung.  Which means our shed is still wide open.  Still no big deal... I've done some yard clean up (i.e. dog droppings) and ran in and out of shed to pick up the pooper scooper.   I've run into the shed to grab a rake.  I've run into the shed to look for bubbles.  I've never seen hide nor hair of any creature in the shed - which is shocking because when we usually do our spring yardwork and bring out the patio furniture, I ha...

That's how long we have to wait before we start our California adventure. In just 21 days we'll be boarding a plane bound for Vegas, driving through the desert and beginning our 9 day adventure in the Palm Springs area. The boys have started counting down and as the big day gets closer, they get more excited. This morning I overheard Kaleb telling his friends about our trip. Friend responds that he wants to go. Kaleb laughs at him and says, "but it's a wedding. Why do you want to go to a wedding? You have to watch people kiiiissssiiing!".