Finished Another Book:

Case Histories - Kate Atkinson - (4/5)

Now only 135 books on my TBR shelf!!! LOL!!   I hope to get that down to 100 by the end of the year.   I have all the books on my shelf listed on my Selfari shelf.  So only 135 more to go!!!

You can view my shelf at http://www.shelfari.com/jmcoyan/shelf

I have really fallen off the bandwagon with my routines.   From September until March I am working many hours a week.   Most nights I didn't make it home until everyone was in bed.   Now that is a bit quieter of a time for me at work.  I am trying to get back on my routines and get my office and home in order again.  

I have also been sleeping in later in the morning than I would like to.   I don't have much time to get any chores/laundry done before going to work.   I am hope work on that.  

So I have revisited my routines and will start working towards doing them again each day.

~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

MORNING ROUTINE

• Make Beds
• Shower
• Feed Pets/ Take Dogs Out
• Take Medication
• Laundry
• Empty Trash
• Wipe Down Bathrooms
• Spray Shower Stall
• Dishes Away
• Wipe Kitchen Counter
• Wake Tommy (7:50am)

 ~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

 EVENING ROUTINE

• Wash Dishes
• Sweep Kitchen/Entryway
• Clean Kitchen Sink/Counters
• Laundry
• Feed Pets/Take Dogs Out
• Plan/Prep for Dinner
• Make Lunches
• Prepare Tomorrow’s Clothes

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

We are so looking forward to the long holiday weekend.  Saturday was filled with errands such as menu planning and grocery shopping.   Of course we had our weekly stop at the library.  Sunday will bring church and hubby and I are going out on a date to celebrate our anniversary.  Monday I will hopefully spend time outside, doing a bit of laundry and reading.   I just started the book Water for Elepants and want to finish it this weekend. 

Thanks to Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday. Go and check out more great menus!   Menu planning will help you have more time with your family and enjoy your summer. 

WHAT WE ARE EATING THIS WEEK.....

Menu Plan For
May 24th - June 7th

Sat 24th - Shake and Bake Pork Chops/ Carrots and Peas, Cheesy Pasta  - *Good Add To Site**

Sun 25th - Mom and Dad out for Anniversary - Frozen Pizzas for Kids

Mon 26th - LEFTOVERS

Tues 27th - Honey Mustard Chicken/ Perogies/ Broccolli 

Wed 28th -Fried Egg Sandwiches

Thurs 29th -Baked Ham (crock 8-10 hrs), Corn Casserole , French Bread

Fri 30th - Hamburgers and Caesar Salad

Sat 31st-  Easy Crockpot Meat Loaf with Carrots and Potatoes

Sun 1st - Steak/ Potatoes/ Veggie

Mon 2nd - LEFTOVERS

Tues 3rd - Baked Pork Chops and Rice

Wed 3rd - Eggs or Sandwiches

Thurs 4th - Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles

Fri - 5th - Meatball Subs

Sat 6th - Baked Teriyaki Chicken, Tuna Salad, Veggie

Sun 7th - Crockpot Ribs - my mom's crockpot ribs*, mini ears of corn on the cob, Baked Beans
*The ribs are very easy to do-- just place boneless country spare ribs in the crockpot with salt and pepper (no liquid) and cook on low all day. Then, about an hour before you want to eat, drain all the fat and liquid out of the crockpot, and add in your favorite BBQ sauce. (We like a store brand thick and spicy sauce.) Simmer another hour on low, then enjoy! -

*****************************************************************

Recipes to try...

Fried Strawberry Pies

Chicken Fajita Salad

Grilled Stuffed Hot Dogs - Cookie Salad

Chicken and Mushrooms with Lemon White Wine Sauce

Eask Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Brocolli Casserole

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Overall I stayed within our budget for the month of May.  We budget $100 a week to feed our family of 5 each week.  This month I stayed under that amount.  I would like to try next month to keep our weekly amount to about $90.00 a week.  But I doubt that I will be able to do that as I have to provide lunch for Tommy to eat each day at daycare for the summer.  I also have to provide lunch for Erik and his PCA.   I will have to include lunches on my menu planning starting next time. 

MAY TOTALS

5/10/08 = Aldi - 113.73
                Cub - 74.66

5/24/08 = Cub - 106.18 (lots of meat for next month)
                 Aldi - 69.16
                 Bread Store - 8.00

May Total = $371.73

I wanted to share some interesting sites I have been checking out this weekend.   I had used a different site to list my TBR list.  I found a new site that meets my needs so much better.  The site is called Shelfari. On this site you can list books you are reading, have read and own, etc.  So you can set up your books on different shelves.  You can take a look my shelves as well.  I have 135 books on my self right now.  I hope to get it down to 100 books by the end of 2009.   The hard part about that will be that I can't add to my shelf! 

Book Club Girl - sharing great book, news and tips with book club girls around the world. 

Book Club Girl - Online Radio Show - Interviews Authors and Book Clubs

3 Chicks on Lit - Radio Show - Fun, Hip Literary Hour

NATIONAL TREASURE 2 - BOOK OF SECRETS (2007)
Rated PG

Treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary.  Love both National Treasure movies...great action and little violence making a great PG movie!! 

Jen's Rating - (4/5)

Of course we watched American Idol tonight.   We will need to watch the end again with Tommy on a different day as he had to go to bed.  It has been a fun season of American Idol for us.  This is the first year we have watched the entire season.  The only reason we watched it is that Tommy really got into it.  He would say funny things when he would critique the performances.. He would say, the beginning was good, but the middle wasn't so good.   He had his favorite performers.  

He will be happy with who won as that is who he wanted to win!!!    The winner was David Cook.  

Now the part of the story that my hubby would not like to me to share.   We bought tickets to American Idol live for Tommy's Birthday.  Tommy doesn't know we bought them.   We are going to just show up there for a surprise.  Tommy will just go nuts!!!!   So on August 31, we will see American Idol live with our little guy. Hubby isn't too thrilled about going, but he is a great Daddy and will go with us. 

I have all the food prepared for my book group.  I am going to wash dishes and head to bed!!!

Now with the warmer weather finally finding its way to MN, I am finding less and less time to blog.  I try to stop by many of your blogs to keep up with you all. 

Here are the highlights of what has been going on in our neck of the woods. 

Mother’s Day Weekend:

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.  We were worried the weather was not going to cooperate with us, but were pleasantly surprised.  Saturday morning we went to the Regional Special Olympics track meet.  I was able to see 5 of my clients run in the 50-yard dash.  It was a lot of fun to be able to cheer them on.  Tommy and hubby even enjoyed watching the kids compete.   The afternoon was spent with me completing my menus and shopping list.  I went to get groceries as well.  Since it was raining we went out for supper for Mother’s Day on Saturday.  Paul, Josh, Tommy and I went to Red Lobster for supper. YUMMY!!  What a rare treat!  

After supper we went to the mall to buy me a pair of espadrilles for Mother’s Day.  I found a pair that I loved, but they did not have a size 6-1/2.  So we went to Macy’s and ended up buying Josh 3 or 4 shirts on clearance for his birthday.  Then hubby and Josh dropped me off at home and they went to rent a blue ray movie. 

Sunday – was a lovely time.  We went and rented the tiller in the morning and got the garden prepared for planting.  We then went to Wal-mart and Linders to buy some plants.  I spent much of the afternoon planting.  I got a lot of the garden in, but not finished.  I planted the pots out front and put two planters on the back deck.  One is an herb garden and the other is annuals. 

Last Week:  The week went pretty good, but I had to rearrange my schedule a bit.  Erik had an appointment with his Psychiatrist on Wednesday and we had to wait for 2 hours in the waiting room before we were seen.  No changes on his meds and we will come back in 6 months.  We seem to be pretty stable right now.  I went to work after the appointment and worked until about 11:00 that evening. 

Friday, I ended up taking the day off so I could take care of some things around the house.  I took both Teddy (bigger dog) and Molly (our Maine Coon Cat) to be groomed.  Molly smelled so bad and she was more or less just shaved.  I also took our little puppy, Baby to get her nails cut.  I had the repairman come and our A/C is now fixed!!!  

Last Weekend:

Saturday, Tommy and Hubby raced in the Medtronic TC Kids Marathon.  I messed up with the registration and Tommy ran the ½ mile instead of 1 mile.  He was pretty tired after it anyways.  We had lunch at Como Park the site for the marathon and then came home as my parents were coming for the weekend. 

My parents called and were not coming until Sunday so the rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed.  I went out and planted the rest of my garden.  Saturday night before heading to bed I took the dogs for their last walk.  When I got to the end of our street I saw that the ambulance and squad cars were down my Josh’s friend, Scott’s house.  I came home and told Josh.

Sunday, we had a family birthday party for those with a birthday in May.  We celebrated Josh’s, Bonnie’s, Joe’s and my mom’s birthday.  We had a great time.  I prepared a taco bar and we made our way through the 5 pounds on meat I had made.  

We had found out what the ambulance was about on Saturday night.  Josh’s friend, Scott had tipped over his 4-wheeler when doing a wheelie.  He was unconscious and taken to the hospital.  He did not have a helmet on.   Josh had gone over to see him on Sunday afternoon as he was home.  The ER doc said he had road rash and a concussion.  But he was still unable to stop vomiting.  His parents took him back to the hospital and he is now in critical condition.  He had a fractured Skull.  Please pray for him.  He has been Josh’s friend since we moved here 10 years ago.  I can’t stop thinking about him and praying for his recovery through out the day.  He had just come over to our house a couple of days before the accident to see Josh and visited our new puppy.   Scott is a sweet young man and we pray that he will not have lasting problems due to this head injury. 

After the family party, Josh had a number of friends over for a bonfire.  Tommy woke up vomiting around 2:00am on Monday morning.  ARGH!!  That was fun!

This week:

Tommy was sick and stayed home from school on Monday.  So I stayed home with him until about 2:00 and then hubby stayed with him for the rest of the day.  I worked until about 11:00 that evening to get my hours in. 

Tuesday, I set Tommy t school and headed to work.  By the time I got to work the school had called and Tommy needed to be picked up.  So I left work shortly after I got there. 

Today I am working and then tonight I will be making food for my Book Group tomorrow night.  I plan on making summer sub, greek pasta salad, coleslaw and Strawberry Rhubarb pie.  That should take up a lot of my evening.

Thursday – I am working in the morning and then heading home.  Erik’s CADI worker is coming over and then I am hosting book group in the evening. 

I am hoping for a very relaxed weekend.  Erik will be with his mother until Monday evening so hubby and I will be going out to celebrate our anniversary.    May 27^th is our 8^th wedding Anniversary.  We are planning on going out on Sunday as Josh will watch Tommy for us.  We still have a movie and dinner out gift certs that Josh gave us for Christmas.

I also need to read my book for my online book group.  I need to start and finish the book Water for Elephants over the weekend.    

Routines

I am finding that I am slacking on my routines.  I need to work on getting back into a more productive routine.  I am forever behind in laundry and want to do some decluttering.  But in the summer I prefer to spend my time either in the outdoor living room reading or working in the garden. 

Gardening

Our garden is planted.  We have planted peas, green beans, various kinds of lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli, tomatoes (Grape, Roma and Cherry), carrots, peppers, baby spinach, corn, sunflowers and brussel sprouts.  We moved our strawberry patch so hopefully we will have strawberries to eat.  Last year the rabbits ate them all. 

SUMMER VACATION

Summer is nearly here.  Tommy and Erik are going to be done with school on June 6^th.  Tommy will begin going to his new daycare on June 9^th at the college where my hubby works.  Erik will begin summer school on June 9^th at his current program and then will begin at his new school for July.  In August Erik will not be having school so we are still trying to figure out how that will work.  

We don’t have many plans for the summer.  Tommy and I will be going to SD to spend time with my parents in July for 10 days or so.  And in August we are going on a family vacation with my brother. 

I hope you are all doing well. 

Cool website to check out:

http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/ - A crockpot recipe a day!