Cooking, Growing and Driving

I'm feeling much better than I was on my downer day the other day--and thank you for the positive, wonderful comments.  Seems like every day something promising happens--I had Youngest son and his friend at a community pool and although I was sweltering in a chair I was able to be out of the house and read a good book and the phone rang from a recruiter.  I had a great phone interview with a recruiter and in a few days I move on the next step by speaking with the hiring manager of the company.

In the meantime I am enjoying hanging out with the guys.

(Here they are standing on Four Corners of NM, AZ, CO and Utah  in early June, part of the trip of their first week before I joined them for the 2nd and 3rd week).

A few months ago my middle son told me one evening that his day doesn't feel all in order until I get home from work.  I'm the glue.

I'm also the cook.  Just the other day I was on a walk with Hubs and it was getting late--close to 7:00 p.m. and I said that we needed to get home so I could get dinner going because dinner these days seems to be very much a big deal to the boys.  We've always had dinner at the table but what I mean is these boys really think about dinner (and dessert) every day.  We got home and when Middle Son came into the kitchen he told me that dinner time is now his favorite part of the day.

(Middle and Youngest son on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon before I joined the boys on the trip.  This is one of the tamer photos--Hubs told them they'd do the most challenging photos at that time and not on the later part of the trip where I'd be there.  When they went the winds were over 40 mph).

Every so often I will cook black beans in the crock pot and when they are done I will have some to use then and some to freeze in a couple of plastic bags or containers in the freezer.  I rinse a bag of black beans and then put them into the crock pot with water about an inch higher than the beans.  I'll add a can of Rotel tomatoes with seasoning or a small jar of whatever salsa I may have, maybe add some onions, maybe some peppers, salt and pepper and cumin. I add more water as needed as they cook on low for several hours and they're done when the beans are soft.  We add some on our burritos, or I make black bean and corn salad with chopped tomato, cuke, green onions and cumin and red wine vinegar and oil.  I just take out a frozen container, zap it a little in the microwave and turn it into this corn salad if I need to bring a dish to someone's house--with tortilla chips.

There's a grocery store nearby with organic chicken that is always going on sale.  I bought two the other day.  One went into the crock pot with its skin removed and with rosemary and thyme put inside and on top of it.  Later I deboned it and the chicken will be made into a pot pie or a pasta and broccoli casserole with my own white/cheese sauce.  I cut up the other chicken into pieces and put my own barbeque sauce on top and baked it.  The chicken's back went into a saucepan with a little onion, celery and thyme and about 4-5 cups of water and I cooked it for a little while and made broth.  The broth usually goes into the freezer in a plastic container but I have it in the fridge since later today I am making a corn and potato and fish (frozen fillets) chowder. 

So, the boys are now verbose about what's for dinner and what they love and it will be interesting to see in the years ahead what they request when they come back home to visit.  But first steps first......Eldest has been driving this past month now that he has a learner's permit.  But not with me till last night.  Hubs has been going with him in the Suburban and also an old, little truck we have that is stick shift (which he doesn't like but we see it as useful and it may be his school vehicle in a year).  Last night after dinner Hubs asked if I wanted to take out Eldest in my car and I said no.  So they went out for a little bit and then when they returned Hubs told me that Eldest wanted to drive with me.  Middle son thought it would be funny to film this from the back seat but that didn't happen.  So I reluctantly went.  It is amazing how fast 30 to 35 mph seems when your baby is at the wheel.  Fortunately a Saturday night is quiet on the streets around here, as Eldest turned right on a red without stopping at all.  I am now about to take him to a new friend's house and he is asking if he can drive there.  Baby steps for me now......

Update and Where Was I for the Full Buck Moon

I keep reminding myself that I am in a much better place right now than I was a few months ago prior to being laid off seven weeks ago.  It is getting a little scary now--now that 6,000 mile road trips are over and a visit to see the last shuttle take off and awesome sister-in-law visits in Florida is over.  And I'm feeling a little down because I have had one interview that I thought went great but I didn't get the job (and I know I am overqualified, but still it is sort of crushing).

I don't like that this part of my life--this having to find a paycheck--gets me down.  It focuses on my value of part of my life that is not my whole life.  I don't mention these accomplishments during a job interview even though they are a huge part of who I am:

I have value in being a mom to three wonderful sons.  Since June 1st the boys have been on a 21 day cross-country road trip, a 4-day family reunion in Florida, and a 12-day family--hopping, Florida-Atlantic coast surfing vacation....and not once do they ask for anything.  Sure they get on each other's nerves and sure the oldest has his complaints, but not once do they ask for a souvenier or money for things and instead are happy using Dad's surfboard and their old boogie boards and being in the ocean for hours every day.  And having plenty of milk and cereal in the morning.

And I have been married for 24 years (it takes work and skills not listed on my resume--well, there is the fact that I am a good listener mentioned) and Hubs is getting sentimental about the 25th coming up next year and is asking what I'd like to do.

And I drove 10 hours to spend several days with my 90-year old grandmother and cooked up a storm in her kitchen and was told how to do laundry and how to drive, and wheeled her around Walmart and Publix and the Red Lobster....

And I manage our home (and the budget) well--I can look in the freezer in the a.m. and find frozen meat and have a well rounded dinner ready--I almost always cook whole food all the time and know how to feed my family of five well for under $10 for dinner.

I also know how to sign up for a 401(k) when I had the chance last year and know how to cash it out this week because who knows when I will be paid again for the work I do that is separate from this other valuable part of my life.

I gazed at June's full moon over the Pacific Ocean and I saw July's full moon over the Atlantic Ocean on a beach with a mama turtle scurrying back to her ocean home.  I had my young bucks (who are growing like weeds) near me and for that I am very glad.

(the boys in front of a redwood tree that is 17 feet across in the Santa Cruz mountains at Big Basin State Park)

I have value!  I have many pictures and stories from this summer that I will post and will make me feel better!  But after I post this and check out things in the kitchen I am back on the phones and computer for the job hunt and the interviews in which I discuss my other attributes.

My Two Week Trip Began and Ended with All-Nighters

When is the last time you pulled an all-nighter?  I remember when I was a freshman in college in a dorm my roommate and I stayed up all night to cram for a test.  Actually we may have slept from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Hubs does not know this but when he and the boys left for the trip Out West and I joined them a week later, I ended up never going to sleep the day I met up with them.  I was laid off from work on a Tues afternoon and the next day they left for the epic road trip.  I then had till the following Wed when I joined them via plane ticket I had already bought (actually got for free as a result of opening new credit card previously) to chill out, send out my resume and network, clean house, and put into a pile the items they forgot to take.

Instead of an evening flight to Las Vegas according to Delta if I called at 5:30 a.m. on that Wed I could get on the 8:30 a.m. flight if there was room and pay $50 to make the switch.  Suddenly Tues night I had a lot to do before making that 5:30 am phone call and then getting picked up by neighbor at 6:00 a.m. to take me to the train station bound for the airport.  It just didn't make any sense to try to get to sleep at 2:00 a.m. and then worry about waking up at 5:00.

So I made coffee at 2:00 and stayed up all night long.  It was strange.  I lead a wild life.  It worked out perfectly.

The flight was on a huge plane which I loved because although there was turbulence it wasn't as obvious.  The guys were waiting for me in Las Vegas at a hotel/casino on the very south of town--they had just camped two nights previously on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Hubs said, "Wait till you get your first glimpse of it!"

Actually this was my first glimpse:

(Part of the Grand Canyon can be seen out by the plane's wing by that 2nd from top pointy engine thingy).

When the hotel shuttle took me to the hotel and I joined the guys, I was all ready to explore, even though I had not slept at all I had not yet collapsed.  But they were chilling by the pool which made sense after Hubs' driving from Atlanta to Vegas and over mountains in NM and to Four Corners, Monument Valley and more.  They had spent 3 of the prior 7 nights tent camping.

That night we drove along the strip and had fun seeing the sights from the car.  Saw the Pawn Star building but parking lot was empty.

Saw the rides on top of the Stratosphere--they freak me out even looking at them from the ground and I get sick watching them on Youtube.  Saw some signs that cracked us up.

I crashed at 10:00 p.m., which was like 1:00 a.m. to me, after having never slept the night before.  The next day was huge.  But before I describe that, I have to say that on the last day of the trip we ended up not sleeping at all.

We ended up sleeping in Amarillo, TX on our last night.  One the way out west the guys had stopped at Cadillac Ranch and spray painted (which is encouraged) their names on these 10 Cadillacs.  They say within a day or two it gets covered up by others' spray paint  When we pulled into Amarillo at dinnertime we visited so that I could check out Cadillac Ranch.

At dinner we all decided that we'd drive a lot the next day and sleep outside of Memphis so that for the next day we would be home around 1:00 p.m. and the boys would have the rest of the day to be at home.  Everyone thought it sounded like a good idea.  It took forever to drive through Oklahoma.  I drove for only 1.5 hours in that state and had to wrestle with the steering wheel as the wind was so bad.  Then in Memphis I was driving again as we crossed the bridge over the Mississippi.  I don't do bridges well but in all fairness this is the only bridge of scores of them that I was not driving.  Actually I only drove a few hours of the entire 6,000+ trip.

Except for the guys' first night and the two nights in Vegas, all other hotel reservations were done by me on the fly.  Well, I had a booklet and a phone number for Choice Hotels which promoted buy two nights and get one free.  Outside of Memphis the hotels I wanted were booked so I reserved one that wasn't my 1st choice.  We arrived at about 10:00 p.m. because I had insisted that we stop at 7:30 for dinner earlier.  I didn't like the looks of the hotel.  Hubs and I entered--every other time arriving at a hotel I would check us in to a hotel and he/boys would begin loading our bags onto a hotel cart.  But Hubs had a feeling about this one.  The clerk told us there was no hot water and in the lobby the pipes had burst and were dripping water.  He says to me, "It is a sign"--we went outside and told the boys to settle in as we were driving straight to Atlanta."

The "we" was actually him because he was on a roll.  So we went to Nashville and the next leg was to Chattanooga and then to Atlanta.  It is usually a race track with hundreds of trucks....but 90% of them were pulled over resting.  I stayed awake because I have to be alert!  We pulled into our driveway at 6:00 a.m. after a 20 hour drive and went to bed for 4 hours.  Three days later we drove 7 hours to Florida for a long-planned family reunion.

(this was the morning of my b-day by our campsite in the Grand Canyon and the boys are happy because they were told that was the last time they had to pack up a tent and campsite).

So that is how my two part of the 3-week road trip began and ended with all-nighters.  But the rest of the trip was more exciting--still sorting through photos!

Learners Permit--Two Times at the DMV, First Son Edition

It is 12 noon on a Thursday and I have arrived back from the Dept of Motor Vehicles with my 15 year old and I just told Hubs in all seriousness that I needed a Bloody Mary.

And this was only for the learner's permit.  I have not even taken him in the vehicle yet in a deserted parking lot.  Let's backtrack 30 days ago.

Thirty days ago school had finished and it was Memorial Weekend and we parents were busy buying and preparing for last minute shopping and packing for the 3-week road trip starting June 1st.  Eldest was supposed to be preparing for the learner's permit test, to be taken the morning they left for the road trip.  On the Tuesday after Memorial Day I found out I was being laid off and the next day was going to be his permit test day and then the road trip would begin (learner's permit test is taken on the day you turn 15 or later).  

I think Eldest thought since his peers passed it (for some it took two tries) that he could wing it.

Eldest did not pass. 

Hubs was grumbling that he thought Eldest would be able to help him drive on the road trip.  I am not sure what planet Hubs was on, because the only practice driving Eldest has done was around the neighborhood two months ago (without a learners permit) and Eldest drove up on someone's lawn and missed a fire hydrant by 3 inches and then had to use a rake to even out the tread marks in the grass.

And I have to say that the worker at the desk at the DMV was so stereotypical cold and rude (Eldest described her "as having no soul") that her role could have been played by an actress on Saturday Night Live--she was that ugly inside and out and I say that because she was so, so rude and cold.  Have no clue why she works with the public. (note: a sign behind the workers lists their motto includes having to smile and be courteous).

NOTE-- Eldest posted about his fail on Facebook so he is not too devastated and told 70 relatives at a reunion last weekend and knows I am writing this).

Second NOTE: While in Florida for the family reunion all of his college age cousins who live in Florida told him that they were able to take the learner's permit at home online, and out of 5 of them only 1 did not cheat--in fact one sister took her brother's online test for him.

For the past few days Eldest has taken many online practice tests and I quizzed him on speed limits and other rules.  The test is 20 questions on road signs (which he aced) and 20 questions of rules (of which he previously failed).  Yesterday I did errands with my youngest son and as we drove around town I found myself saying things like this out loud, "You see, when turning left on a green light sometimes it is hard to see around the car facing you opposite who is trying to turn left also.  Do not be intimidated by an impatient driver behind you." And then Youngest, the only other person in the car, would reply, "Umm, Mom, why are you telling me this--I am only 10 years old."

At the DMV today we waited for his number to be called….and of 12 workers there, he was called up to the window of the same horrible lady again.  She looked him up on her system and says, "Last time after you failed you just left rather than waiting to speak to someone so you don't get credit for the sign test that you passed so you have to take that part again too."  (not that that was ever mentioned previously).  He is pretty confident about the sign part of the test, but here this bitch had to be all ugly right off the top.  I really never use that word but you would agree with me it is so apt. When he was waiting to take his test he watched said  worker answer a lady's question very rudely and then roll her eyes.  

The area in which he then took his online test is on the far left of the room in an area that is partitioned off but not separate, and everyone with a crying baby sat right next to the test takers.  There were a couple hundred more chairs in rows 50 yards to the right but this is where all the babies were including a husband/wife with a 4 week old hungry baby.  As you can tell, I was a wreck for him.  I am surprised that I did not break out in hives.  He later said luckily the screaming babies noises increased only during his last two test questions.  The lady next to him was mumbling about the unbelievable loud babies.

Thank God he passed the test so I--that is I mean "he"--would not have to come back here again.  Until a year and a day from today for the actual driver's license.  The whole experience has been a good learning experience for us all.  I need to chill.  He learned about how or how to not deal with the public in a future job of his. We had a good discussion on way home about how important a hostess or receptionist type job is in setting the mood for an establishment. 

When we got home I described the mean lady to Hubs and I got all worked up and Hubs reminded me that it was over and to calm down.  So glad he passed.....

 

home

Here is what I am so appreciating about being home and not working:

--calling the dentist and
making appts for the two oldest boys for whatever time that was available (first visit in over a year - no cavities!)

--Watching a netflix dvd with the boys on a weeknight (Last 3 Days with Russell Crowe).

--Going to the grocery store during uncrowded daytime unlike weekend or on way home after work.

--When Middle son broke his skateboard deck on a Tuesday afternoon and asked if he could buy himself a new one soon, I drove him to the store the next morning.

--Ditto on similar errand needs.

--Had time to smell the roses and tend to vegetable garden.

--Although Hubs did 99% of the driving it worked out wonderfully that I did not have to fly back a few days earlier without them. Who would have made the boys the pb&j sandwiches in the car those last few driving days.

--No make up means not having to wash off mascara at night.


--Dinner is ready earlier.

--A much needed task gets done each day such as restacking and cleaning a kitchen cabinet.

--Time to send out good cover letters with my resume.

--Last but not least, have time to be with the boys, and I think they are glad about that too.Oldest wanted to be assured of getting new shoes and some back to school clothes in light of my unemployment. Fifteen year olds -- sheesh, but sure, they're easy-- a few new things from TJ Maxx is doable.

Grand Canyon Birthday

I'm lucky that I have a June birthday because many times I am out of town and because I am not in the home setting it is easier to keep busy and not think about getting older, etc.

We camped out at a campgraound on the North Rim side of the Grand Canyon so I got to wake up near one of the seven wonders of the world for my birthday.  It is true how they say you will never forget your first glimpse of the Grand Canyon.  The boys and Hubs had camped on the North Rim almost two weeks prior to when I did with them.  They said it was so uncrowded that they thought it was the best way to experience the Grand Canyon.  Another good thing is that Hubs admitted they took all the scary photos (sitting on ledges) that I would not approve of, on their initial visit. 

The boys were really tickled to see my reaction.  On my first day out west after I joined them in Las Vegas, we visited Hoover Dam and before you get to the dam you can stop and visit the new bridge that was just completed this past October.  It was so high and I'm not sure what happens to some women getting older about heights but that is how I am....anyway I kept telling them to not get too close to the railing and I was the same way when we walked the top of Hoover Dam and they told me, "You won't believe the Grand Canyon if you are freaking out now with a railing and everything!"

So, the evening before my birthday, once again Hubs and I got to enjoy a quiet moment while they were in the tent and we watched the moon rise.  I was in a daze and then proceeded to trip badly over a string from the staked tent.  I survived.  The Grand Canyon is incredible and like they say, it doesn't seem real--more like a backdrop.

Birthday night and dinner were spent in Gallup, NM.  We went to a restaurant where the locals go and the whole place sang Happy Birthday to Michele.  The guys had bought turquoise jewelry for me from a Navaho seller at Monument Valley.  I envied that they went there before my arrival and I am so touched that I have a momento.  Hubs told me he practically used our Youngest with his discussion of a "birthday gift for Mommy" in front of the seller--Hubs thinks it helped get him a good deal.

So we're working our way home by a few more days and some hard realities will be on the agenda so I am soaking it up now.

Hope you are enjoying your days of June.

one week on the road; one week ahead

On my blog I keep track of the full moon but for yesterday's my guys and I were camping in Big Sur, CA with no cell service--no service actually for past 4 days.

Hubs reminded me of how i wanted to see the moon after he found me in my pajamas in the tent with the boys, exhusted as usual in a good way at 10:00 pm. We left the boys in their sleeping bags and walked thru the campsite and out to the secluded beach. the sky was bright, but no
moon in sight. We walked back to the campsite and walked up the hill to a quiet hwy 1...and there it was not seen before due to a cliff between the low moon and the beach by our campsite. It was quiet and dramatic and forever memorable.
Pictures and more soon!