"I am an American Soldier"

This time two weeks ago we had just landed in Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain...

No, we didn't break into song but I was mighty happy to be there to see The Soldier graduate from boot camp. He has been gone since January with only weekly phone calls and a couple of letters from him to keep us up to date, we were looking forward to seeing him and his new "home".

Early Thursday morning we sat amongst other families anxiously awaiting our soldiers arrival and subsequent release. They were supposed to have a demonstration showing us what they learned during their time in boot camp but with Oklahoma weather being what it is, the frosty temperatures that morning prompted them to cancel that portion of Family Day. Luckily they were able to move inside so we could witness The Soldier's promotion.

After the short ceremony he was released to us until "twenty hundred" or 8 PM in civilian speak. And as I imagined the first thing he wanted to do was eat. His one request was "anything but chicken and rice".

The big event took place the next afternoon. Again we were surrounded by other families and as we made our way into the auditorium my heart swelled for every one of those soldiers. The program started with all 196 of them standing and saying The Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Even now I get chills remembering how they stood so proudly and said those words.

The rest of the weekend was a blur of camouflage and food, but I'll never forget that moment...

I am the mother of an American Soldier. And damn proud of it.

Have a shamrocking day!

WW: A Hairy Situation

No hair

New hair

Neon hair

Autumn's Patchwork Quilt

As the leaves begin to change, I can see the beauty of the season from my kitchen bar stools.

And it's beautiful.

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.*

Autumn officially starts today at 11:09 PM EST. I guess Mother Nature didn't get the memo though since it's supposed to be 89 degrees today and 94 tomorrow. I put my door thinga-ma-jig up over the weekend but she didn't get that hint either.



No surprise that part of my enthusiam for this season is directly related to food; I already have several soup & stew recipes ready for when the temperatures drop. I've been dreaming for weeks of baking. And apples. And pumpkins. And Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. And...well you get the point.

Are you looking forward to Fall? What's your favorite part of this season?

*Quote by William Cullen Bryant

More Cheesy Goodness

I know I just posted a recipe for Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes but I just can't resist sharing this recipe too.*

Recently I stumbled across a site by the name of Southern Plate and then proceeded to spend hours reading through the recipes & family antedotes. Warning: If you are trying to lose weight do NOT go to this blog. It is full of comfort food. Down home, simple, delicious, comfort food like the Cheesy Chicken & Corn Casserole I made last night.

Oh my.

Everything you need should already be in your kitchen because again these are simple recipes. Not like that crazy stuff that Top Chef contestants** come up with, but real food that real people (like me) can make and enjoy.



You'll need:

1 box/packet of saffron rice (or Zatarain's as SP uses)
1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked chicken, diced/shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can corn, drained
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp butter (see note)

Cook rice according to directions. Reserving 1/2 cup of cheese, mix everything else together including the cooked rice. (That means only 1 1/2 cups goes in now for the directionally challenged.)



After it's well mixed, put the remaining cheese on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until everything is nice and bubbly.



Note:
-SP's original recipe called for a WHOLE stick of butter. I thought uh, no, and used 1/2 stick. Even that could be cut back without affecting the recipe I think. Next time I may even omit the butter all together.

-You'll notice that I just mixed everything up in my casserole dish. I mean why dirty a bowl for nothing right?

-As displayed by the previous statement I am lazy so I typically cook & freeze chopped chicken and ground hamburger. That way I only make one mess but I have cooked meat ready for me whenever I need it. Obviously if you don't do that you will have the extra step of cooking and chopping your chicken.



It may not be the prettiest dish to hit our plates but this casserole was delicious. I see lots of Cheesy Chicken & Corn Casseroles in my future!


*I swear we eat food that is not covered with cheese. Sometimes.

**I love watching Top Chef but know that I will never, ever make one darn thing they do on there.

***I'm not a brand name whore as that picture implies. I buy whatever is cheapest.

Table Topics Tuesday: Hotties

who is in your Top 5?

I'm SO glad that Shannon has started TTT again...and with such a lively topic to kick it off. Ooh la la.

Let's get down to business shall we? Here are my top 5 in no particular order:

Leonardo Dicaprio- From the days of Stand By Me, I've wanted to stand by him. {rawr}



Matt Sanders, aka M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold- The list would not be complete without at least one rocker.



Jonathan Rhys Meyers- Okay so yes, I think this guy is a douche IRL (drunken rages much?!) but I don't want to converse with him if you know what I mean.



George Clooney- Like a fine wine he just gets better with age.



Ian Somerhalder- My God...those eyes...

Now it's your turn:
who is in your Top 5?

Baby let's cruise...

A month ago today we were just returning from our graduation cruise. Where has the time gone? While on the high seas the real world takes a back seat. The biggest decision of the day is what to eat.

This is S & I's seventh cruise & the teen's second. Since it was a celebration cruise he brought a friend along and my sister and her friend joined us for a relaxing 5 days aboard the Carnival Glory headed for Canada. It was our first cruise that wasn't going "tropic" but no matter because it was truly Glory-ious.



First I have to mention that this ship had the. best. music. hands. down. I found myself singing in the hallways, in the elevator and of course in the many lounges on board. It was a nice mix of classic rock & popular songs with some dance music thrown in.

Then there were the shows. Oh the shows! If you've ever been cruising you know they like to entertain you with "Vegas-style" shows. Sometimes they hit their mark & sometimes not. On the Glory they had a magic show that was AMAZING. Some of the tricks we could figure out but there were a few that made my mind spin. Making a motorcycle disappear...hello?! I never did figure that one out. Plus their soundtrack during the show was totally ipod worthy.

And how can I forget the food? THE FOOD! It's everywhere. Twenty fours hours a day. Lots of seafood (yuck!) and desserts and...well anything you can think of. No one will ever starve on a cruise.



While the weather was better than expected on this trip (only one foggy day) the two ports of call took a back seat to the ship & the cruise itself. We took advantage of the slight sway and dark interior room taking more than our fair share of naps. It was heavenly.

We sailed out of NYC...



...And went down the Hudson right by the Statue of Liberty


I LOVE this picture of them!


I don't care for this pic as much. I have awful posture.


Ah yes, this is more like me.


Oh Canada! Halifax, NS to be exact.


heehee...Sackville...heehee


Even better than the book version!


Welcome to Saint John...


...where you too can be accosted by a weird albino dude drinking milk in 90 degree weather right after taking this picture...**


...and buy your lobster at good ole' McD's...


...before taking a boat trip to the Reversing Falls.


My only regret is that we had to disembark and come back to reality. I'm already counting down the days to the next one.

**No really this albino dude asked me if I wanted "to have a conversation aye?" to which I replied "uh no" that did nothing to stop him from trying to talk to me. Even after a slight confrontation with S he still continued to follow us for another block or two until he finally said "Hope ya' have a shitty vacation" and then went off in another direction. True story.

Proud moments

While I've been away THIS happened





It was a proud moment for S & I and all of our family to see him walk across the stage. Yep the teen finally graduated and we all sighed of relief that high school was finished over a big stack of IHOP pancakes.

What? We like IHOP. Not to mention it was freakin' 8PM on a Wednesday night and IHOP was right around the corner.

After our celebratory dinner/breakfast it was time to get ready for the graduation cruise. We planned, packed and dreamt of nights on the sea not at all worried about what was to come.

College plans & arrangements were made and only the money part wasn't nailed down. His school of choice had some staffing issues in the financial aid department that caused his paperwork to be sent to us late. "Don't worry" they said.

So we didn't. Then vacation was over and a bill was waiting in the mailbox.

No problem! We had already talked about student loans and narrowed our very small amount of choices* down to one lender - Sallie Mae. Little did I know what I was in for.

First of all, the criteria set by these institutions is just crazy. They really expect a high school senior to make $12,000+ a year? No, they don't but it's their way of forcing the parents to be responsible for the loans.

Not an issue, I thought. Signed my name on the dotted line and told them to proceed. A few days later we got the "good" news - we were approved! Yay! At an astronomically HIGH interest rate.

Uh, excuse me Sallie Mae maybe you didn't hear but I have an 883. In fact Trans Union pats me on the back and says I'm in the top 20% of the nation with that score. Turns out SM could give a darn about any of that.

With this interest rate his loan would be DOUBLED by the time it was paid off, and that's with making a monthly interest payment. Some "they" somewhere makes that decision and there is nothing more that they can do. I can accept it. Or not.

You know what I did when they said that? Bad ass that I am...I cried.

Then I called S & cried some more. It wasn't that we were told no, but it was pretty close because there is no way in hell that I'm going to hinder him (or us) with a loan like that. By the time he graduated he would owe over $100,000.

My God!

S sat him down and explained it all to him. I will tell you as proud as I was when he graduated, it was at that moment that I was most proud of the teen. He took the news in stride, much better than I expected. Then with a very grown, mature attitude he made the decision not to accept that college on those terms and began to talk of Plan B.

I'm not sure where Plan B will take him yet. He's weighing all his options now so there will be an update to come on that but this weekend he stepped into adulthood. And he's walking tall.

My suggestion for any parent hoping to send their little ones to college one day - College Fund. A big, huge college fund. Or maybe start playing the lottery because the costs are only going up.

*Thanks to the new health care plan.

“Somewhere over the rainbow..."

"...skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true”

The Perfect Cure

This weekend we had a celebration for a combination of things - birthdays, Mother's Day, a new birth - and all the kids were in attendance.

I'm still trying to climb out of my blah-ness. Trying to get back to normal. Well as normal as I can get anyway. I can't say I've ever been quite right.

Nothing brings a smile to my face more than seeing their happiness.





See what I mean? It's almost impossible to be in a bad mood with them around. You can't help but smile.

Sometimes I wish I could bottle it up and save it for a gloomy day.

A little of him...


A touch of her...


And a ton of this smile...


Throw in a mushy moment...


Serve with a side of cake.



It would be the perfect cure for the blahs.