Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

After our dinner at Red Lobster, we went out for ice cream. My husband chose this instead of the traditional birthday cake--we LOVE ice cream! There are many wonderful flavors that we enjoy, but there is something about spring that makes us choose mint chocolate chip. I think it stems from when I used to take my kids to McDonald's in March to get their "shamrock shakes"--milkshakes with the mint chocolate chip flavor. We used to eat lots of green things in the spring, but this was one of our favorites. I guess McDonald's stop carrying these a few years ago--I used to ask for them and the young servers there didn't know what I was talking about. Oh well--we can still get mint chocolate chip ice cream at other places--and we sometimes get it made into milkshakes! Yum! :)

Dinner at Red Lobster

We all went to dinner at Red Lobster for my husband's birthday. It was really good, but also quite expensive. First of all, my teenagers now eat adult meals--no more cheap kids meals for us. Plus, I think prices must keep going up due to the economy, gas prices, etc. Times like this make me glad that we have a small family--I cannot imagine how expensive it must be to feed larger families--especially when eating out! Our grocery bills are going up, going out to eat costs more, and buying even the bare necessities is an expensive endeavor these days. It is tough! I used to think I wanted a large family--ala Brady Bunch, The Waltons, and Eight is Enough. I had major complications with my two pregnancies and was told that it would get worse with each one--my doctors recommended NOT having any more--it was a tough decision at a fairly young age (my late 20s)--but my dreams of a large family ended when our second child was born and we decided to stop there. It was a tough decision then, but now I am glad it worked out that way. Two kids are plenty for me! I love my two--it has been wonderful!--but two is enough. And I am glad that I had them close together--21 months apart--so it was ALMOST like raising twins--not quite, but almost. And I also am glad to have a boy and a girl--I thought I wanted at least two of each so everyone had both a brother AND sister--but now, I am perfectly happy with the way things are. Anyway--I think about these things when we go out--I see larger families and I think about what it would have been like--I used to feel a bit sad that it didn't work out that way--now I am very glad at how everything turned out. Plus, now I have plans for a different kind of life after my two are grown--that is harder to do if you have to spend a lot more timing raising several children. I know several families with two teens PLUS a small child--they put in about 20 years with the first two and will add about 20 more with the last one--fine for them, but I find myself feeling very glad to NOT be in their shoes! Funny how a dinner at Red Lobster led to all of this thinking--eating out with my family is enjoyable and I often have the opportunity to see other families and their different dynamics--I usually end up feeling very happy with my family dynamics and wouldn't change it for the world! :)

Dogwoods are Blooming

One nice thing about our house--even though I am SO ready to move!--is the wooded lot that surrounds it. We have many beautiful trees that bloom in the spring. There are several dogwood trees that are currently blooming--they really are pretty! I know when we move to Florida that the trees are very different there--many don't change much and stay green all year long. And there are LOTS of palm trees in Florida--they are pretty in their own way! Still, I am trying to enjoy the changes in our wooded yard as spring arrives--I am HOPING that it will be our last time to see it!! I used to watch the trees change each season and think how lucky I was to live in a place with four distinct seasons. I especially loved spring and fall--watching the trees bud and bloom and watching the leaves change colors and fall--it inspired me to do things in life to mimic the renewal and changes in nature. Now, it is much less inspiring to me--I just am reminded of yet another season that we are stuck here and not moving forward. I know--it's all about attitude--I normally am an optimistic person and think positive thoughts about most things in life--I guess I have a bad attitude right now--it's not like me, but it is how I really feel right now. Spring is a beautiful time of renewal--I should be watching nature and enjoying it's beauty--but, instead, all I can think about it is the beauty of Florida's palm trees and tropical flowers that bloom all year long. I know--I have Florida on my brain--I'll try to welcome spring here and have a better attitude--still, it can't hurt too much to hope that this is our last spring here--I sure hope that is true!

Spring Break '08

Spring Break--those words take on different meanings depending on who you are. To us, it just means a week out of school, which means a week to sleep in and relax. We weren't able to plan a vacation of any kind this year--last year we went to Florida to make our plans to move. We had a great time--we went to Disney World, we went to Cocoa Beach, we found a place to live, we looked at schools, etc. We were SO ready to move by the time spring break was over. Here we are, a year later, and NOTHING has happened! It is SO depressing! The housing market is KILLING us and killing our dreams, too. We are still trying to find a way to move this summer no matter what--but the truth is, we REALLY need to sell our house here in order to be free to do so. The house we used to love is now becoming a huge stumbling block standing in our way. If we went anyway, turned off the utilities and only had the mortgage to pay, it would still be tough on us financially. I guess we should just be grateful that we CAN pay the mortgage--it is TOUGH, but we are doing it. I just hope we can continue to do so--move or no move. It seems so wrong that a house is the only thing standing in our way, but it really is true. We feel SO stuck! This darn mortgage crisis--this bad economy--this recession--it is awful, isn't it? We feel lucky that we are staying afloat and not sinking, but we sure aren't moving forward, either. Anyway--no money for vacation until the house sells--plus, we don't want to vacation in Florida anymore--we want to LIVE there!! Spring Break for us this year was just a reminder of our dilemma--last year we had so much hope and promise--this year, we are becoming more and more discouraged. At least my teens were somewhat satisfied with having time out of school, sleeping late, and playing the Nintendo Wii--it doesn't compare to what we THOUGHT we would be doing this year during spring break as residents of Florida, but it wasn't all bad. As summer approaches, I am sure that we will feel the same way--if we can't hurry up and close the door on our lives here and open a new one in Florida soon, I don't think we can stand it much longer! Spring Break--a reminder that summer is around the corner. Someone PLEASE buy our house so that we can move forward in our lives instead of stagnating and moving backwards--PLEASE!!

Found a Nintendo Wii!

My mother--my son's grandmother--found a Nintendo Wii bundle and bought it! We discussed this on the phone--she knew how much my son had wanted one--I suggested that she put it away until December. Apparently, she was so excited about finding one that she just couldn't do that. She commented that she knows some older people her age that have them, too. The next thing I know, she is calling my son and telling him that she found one for HER, but that he could "borrow" it some time if he wanted! Uh...ok. A little strange but I guess it makes sense. Of course, he wanted to "borrow" it immediately, and she let him--he opened a brand new box and was the first to play it. Since his spring break was coming, she said that he could use it during that time. My daughter even got in a little playtime on it--she kind of likes it, but not like he does. Long story short--it is still "grandma's Wii"--after spring break, she asked for it back. She played it a bit, but she isn't crazy about it. She may let my son "borrow" it back on the weekends--sounds like a custody agreement, huh? You get it on holidays and weekends, I get it the rest of the time--crazy, huh? I highly suspect that my mother will "give up her rights" to the Wii in the future--probably sometime around December. I don't know--this seems a bit odd if you ask me--I think she should have waited--of course, my son would disagree--he is THRILLED to have access to a Wii NOW, not later! Grandparents--they still find a way to spoil the grandkids no matter how old they are, don't they?

Buying Presents in the Off Season

I know there are many people who shop for the holidays in the "off season"--they find bargains and hide them away for months. I have never been that kind of person. My daughter's birthday is in September and my son's birthday is in December--add Christmas to that, and you get the idea of when I begin shopping. For the first 8 months of the year, it just isn't on my mind. I compact all of my shopping season during the last 4 months of the year. Money is also an issue--that Christmas bonus really helps! SO--if my teens want something that is in high demand--especially my son with his December birthday--I am competing with the holiday rush to find the things they want. For the past two holiday seasons, my son had requested a Nintendo Wii. That was nearly impossible to find the first year--people waited in line for DAYS to get the first Wiis on the market. I gladly bowed out of that craziness--not worth it to me! Last year, it really wasn't much better. I went to many places searching for a Wii--many stores told me that they DO get them, but it was all about being in the right store at the right time and on the right day. Some were getting as many as 20 and selling out in a few hours--others were only getting 2 or 3 and selling out in a matter of minutes. I didn't hear as much about long lines last year--it was more of a "you JUST missed it" kind of thing. I tried, but I did not find one for my son--not for his birthday, and not for Christmas either. Now it is April and they MAY be much easier to find now--but for me, it just isn't time to buy one--can't really afford to right now anyway. Having said that...

CVS Card

My son needed some things from CVS the other day, so we stopped by on the way home from one of his after school activities. As we began getting checked out, the cashier asked if I had my extra care card. I have one, but I often forget to bring it with me when I go to CVS. You know, places that require a card to get the discounts really bug me. Places like Kroger, CVS, and others--I sometimes shop those places, but the dang thing about the card always gets to me. I would much rather shop somewhere else that gives me the discounts without having to dig those cards out of my purse--it is just so annoying! I saw that CVS is now putting out a card for those of us who feel like this--now that is just crazy! Whatever, CVS--I guess next time I'll go across the street to Walgreen's--I don't remember having to dig in my purse for a card over there!