Welcome to the family, Otto!

Matt and Sally have a new puppy! His name is Otto and he is a 9 week old Welsh Springer Spaniel. They stopped by our house tonight so that we could meet him. Otto is adorable! Full of energy and inquisitive and innocent. It will be fun to watch him grow. 

there's my grandpuppy!

Sally and Otto

I heart Cheesy Potatoes

If someone told me that I could only have one food for the next week, I would immediately know what I would request. Cheesy potatoes. No question about it. I first tasted cheesy potatoes back in the 1980s when my mom made them after she had them at a dinner at Janice Flora's house. (I like to trace the history of favorite family recipes).  It is the easiest, fastest, most fattening and delicious recipe EVER. I made them last night to take to a dinner at Chuck and Teri's house (along with my other go-to recipe, Blue Cheese Spread). There were leftovers. Teri made me take them home.
They are gone and it's only 2pm.
I am powerless over them.
If leftover cheesy potatoes are in my house, I have to eat them until they are gone.

I feel better that I am not alone in my addiction. It is one of my most often requested recipes. I posted a picture of my bowl of deliciousness on facebook and had a request from Becky for the recipe. I thought the easiest way to share would be to put it on this blog.

Cheesy Potatoes (or "Cheesy Pots" as Teri calls them)
one 2lb bag of frozen hash browns, slightly thawed (I use the chunky ones- southern style, as opposed to the shredded hash browns- but I think Christy has made them with shredded and it worked)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 pint sour cream
2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese (Kraft, of course, since that's where Wayne works)
**Lawry's seasoned salt** do not substitute or leave out...it makes all the differnce
crushed corn flakes and melted butter

Mix melted butter, chopped onion, sour cream, cheese, and seasoned salt (I am not sure of the amount, but it is about 2-3 teaspoons. Really). Add the potatoes to this mixture and spread in a 9 x13 baking dish. Combine 1 cup crushed corn flakes and 1/4 c of melted butter and sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.
Because they are so rich, one batch feeds at least 8 people.

Enjoy!!

Fourth of July

It has been a different kind of Fourth of July weekend. Not a bad one, by any means, but definitely different. A year ago we had Sally and Matt's wedding and that made for an exceptional holiday weekend. In previous years, we have always had a pretty full plate on the Fourth, but this year? Not so much! Both kids are out of town for weddings this year- Wayne and Julie are in Cincinnati for the wedding of the daughter of Wayne's old boss and Sally and  Matt are up in northern Michigan for the wedding of Sally's high school friend, Libby. In addition to that, Teri and Chuck and their kids were out of town and we are often the beneficiaries of their hospitality on this weekend, as it is Teri's birthday weekend. You can go back and read on this blog about our Fourth of July escapades in the past few years (not that it is that interesting, but if you are really bored, that could fill some time!). 

This year, Jack and I went to the parade, as usual, and stood right where we always stand with Christy and Steve. Christy's sister, Patty, is in town and was with them, too. We always enjoy the parade. We have attended 27 parades in a row. It doesn't really matter how great the parade is; we love it anyway.

Christy, Brad and Steve cheer our arrival at the parade

In the afternoon, we made plans to do dinner with Jack's dad. We weren't sure if any restaurants were open, so we decided to make dinner at his house. We picked up a pre-made, but uncooked pizza at Whole Foods, along with a market salad and an Achatz blueberry pie. We threw in a couple bottles of bubbly and we had ourselves the makings of a nice evening. We had a great time. We talked Bucky into joining Facebook, using his new iPad which we all gave him for Father's Day. It was fun! Within five minutes, he already had two friends who Jack and I did not even know. Bucky is pretty connected!

And it is amazing how quickly he has learned to use the iPad. It's not surprising because Bucky is very good with technology in general. 

Mr. Technology

We got home around 8:30, but did not go to see fireworks. I felt like a bit of a party pooper, but not enough to make Jack venture out with me. 

All in all, time well spent on the Fourth of July.

God bless the USA!

Birthday Club Brides

The Birthday Club, which consists of 11 fabulous women and me, recently honored two of our daughters with bridal showers. It is our tradition (so far!) to have a mother-daughter shower for our brides.

(NOTE: I should qualify that by saying we do this for the brides who are inviting all 12 of us to the wedding. Last year, several of the ladies offered to throw one of our mother-daughter events for Sally. We declined since Sally and Matt were not able to invite all of the women. Their venue was small and only held a certain number. I still feel badly if anyone felt left out, but these women are pretty mature and have been gracious about not being invited. I so appreciate that.
Also of note, we have not yet had a son getting married who invited the whole group, so I am not sure what we will do when we encounter that!)

We have three blushing brides this year and so far have celebrated two of them. 

Trish, daughter of Kathy, is getting married the first weekend in October. Her shower was June 8th at Teri's house with cohostesses Carol, Sue, and Mary K. It was a beautiful day and we dined outside. We played a fun wedding trivia game created by Caylen (btw, I was one of the winners and took home a lovely planter for my front steps!)

Carol, Sue, Trish the bride, Mary and Teri

beautiful tables! and that is the planter I won in case you were wondering

This past Sunday, June 29th, we celebrated Sarah, daughter of Mary B. Sarah is getting married the second weekend of October in South Carolina. Her shower was held at Ruth Lake Country Club and was hosted by Pam and her daughter, Julie. Sally was able to come to this shower, after having missed Trish's because she was in Europe with Matt. 

Pam, Julie and our bride, Sarah

the moms

some of our daughters

We did a group picture, minus Teri and Sheila who were out of town. I love the outtakes almost as much as the good picture of our group.

we were just trying to get a good picture and had cooperation issues!

At both showers, I was reminded how awesome my girlfriends are and their daughters as well. I love to watch the next generation of women and see how they interact with each other and their moms. I am so very blessed to be in the company of women who are encouragers in my life.

Next up....Brittany!

Out of the rut once again

I had a fabulous Friday, starting with my catch-up breakfast with Cath. I loved having the chance to see her in person and check in with her about life. It was a great start to my weekend. 

In the afternoon, I was smart and took a nap before our big Friday out of the rut night. We had plans to go out with Joe and Michele (our neighbors who moved to the other side of town last year) and another couple, Matt and Amy. Those four are good friends through their second grade daughters. And, as it turns out, Matt was a priest in our previous parish. Matt left the priesthood about 11 years ago. He ended up marrying Amy about 10 years ago and they have an 8 year old daughter. We couldn't be happier for Matt. He was a great priest and it was a loss for the Catholic church, but it is evident that Amy and their daughter are what God intended for him. In any case, we had a fun night out planned and it did not disappoint!

We met at Joe and Michele's then hopped into a mini-van taxi and headed into the city. The first stop was Greek Islands. We "ubered" it to the Union League for dessert. We sat at the best round table right smack dab in the middle of the newly remodeled Rendezvous. Great acoustics so we could talk and hear each other. We covered so many different topics. We left the Club and ubered it to Rush Street. We made a few fun stops and ended up not getting home til 3 am!!! It was such a great evening. There is something special about hanging out with Joe and Michele. And spending time with Matt and Amy too was icing on the cake. 

The only downside of our fabulous Friday was the fact that I could barely move yesterday. I was so tired!! About all we got accomplished was going to 5pm mass and then going to Christy and Steve's to sit by their outdoor fireplace with them and Mark and Cath. That is one of the best ways to spend a Saturday night. And it was a good thing to have a chill Saturday aaaallllll day long. 

A busy start to my summer

It has been a busy and productive summer so far. My school year was officially completed two weeks ago today and I was able to hit the ground running with my summer work. It has helped in my transition into the different summer routine. I am a person who definitely needs some structure in my day. It helps to organize me. On Tuesday, I had my first day without any place I had to be at a certain time (other than picking up Jack at the airport at 9:30 which turned out to be 10:30 because of weather delays). I was kinda at a loss for a while, then got my groove going.
Tomorrow I am having breakfast with Cath, one of my favs, and then a little summer speech therapy and then it is the weekend.
I do love summer :)
Check out this picture I took Tuesday night around 7pm when I went out to run some errands.

Back in Town

Jack and I made it back safely on Monday night. It was a beautiful wedding, a lovely weekend and a great change of pace all around.
Lindsay and Mark were married at Frogtown Cellars, a winery in Dahlonega, at 6 pm Saturday night. The setting was beyond gorgeous. So picturesque. Mark was such a darling groom. He was choked up and/or cried throughout most of the ceremony, as did Lindsay. The reception was awesome as well. We were seated at table 1 with parents of the bride, along with Chuck and Teri. So special.
Here's some good news and some bad news:
Good news- I brought my good camera
Bad news- I left the memory card in my computer.
So no pictures basically. I did take a few with my phone, but not my usual 100 plus photos.

We left Dahlonega around noon on Sunday. We were planning on stopping in Elizabethtown KY for the night. We hit some traffic and were getting hungry for a decent dinner, so Jack called Marriott from the road and we switched our reservation to a Courtyard in Bowling Green KY. It worked out perfectly. There was a great restaurant just across the parking lot from the hotel and we were able to get some reservations and walk over there. In the morning, we had one of the very best breakfasts that I had ever eaten. Jack asked Siri (on the iPhone) for a breakfast restaurant recommendation and she told us about Teresa's. I was skeptical when we got there. It didn't look like much. Well, I was mistaken. It. was. amazing. Homemade everything. Instead of toast, you could choose either grits or biscuits and gravy. Biscuits and gravy it was. The meal was just so fresh and simple and GOOD!
Let me just say that I am a big fan of Bowling Green. Great place to stop if you are ever on a road trip and need a place to sleep.

We arrived home around 5 pm, then got ourselves ready to go back to reality.  I had three MDCs (multidisciplinary conferences) for the summer evals scheduled for Tuesday and I was ready to go. I actually brought my computer with me on the trip and was able to finish everything up. I was glad Monday night that I didn't have to worry about that. After I finished the meetings, I stayed and worked on the handouts for the iPad class I am teaching. The class started today; it's 3 sessions, 3.5 hours each. Very fun. 

I am totally digging the busy-ness of my summer so far.