Kib's Bay!

Several years ago my children complained that there's a mother's day and there's a father's day but there's no kid's day! So my son wrote 'kib's bay' on the calendar (he used to reverse letters) and the name stuck. Each year now my hubby and I surprise the kids with this floating holiday. We typically wake them up with party horns then tell them what to pack and off we go!

This year Kib's Bay was on Friday, August 14th. We woke the kids up in the usual way and told them to get dressed because we were going out for breakfast! We went to Famous Amos and ate heartily of typical breakfast fare. Then we returned home and told the kids to pack for the beach. After dropping Penny off at her doggie hotel, off we went to Beach Marine where we rented a jet ski for an hour.

Michael took the kids out, (I just hung out) and then headed to our Fairfield Inn at Neptune Beach.

We checked in and watched some TV (yey Food Network!) then because it started storming we drove to Atlantic Beach for frappuccinos. Once the rain eased up we drove back to the hotel and jumped in the spa to warm up (those fraps are c-c-c-old!) We played in the pool then walked across the street for a walk on the beach. The weather was still yucky so we didn't feel like hanging out. We played in Courtyard's pool/spa before heading back for showers.

We had dinner at Atlantic Beach at the Sun Dog Diner.

After dinner we went to Peter Lebhar's CD release concert. It was GREAT!

The grand finale was family surf lessons the following day! Epic Surf Ministries is AWESOME!I did bust my left big toenail wide open but besides that we had a great time! The waves were a big rough but we still ALL stood up!

Ahhh..Kib's Bay! Another great deposit to the memory bank!

Summer workout

I am motivated to get (and STAY!) in shape. I have invited several friends to "join me" (not literally but in spirit) in order to keep me accountable to someone. I do so much better when I have to answer to someone else! So I have created a workout schedule in order to be able to run a 5K again (and to think that I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in '04!). Plus my family gifted me with the Wii Fit for mother's day. I am having so much fun with it!

I am also going back to Weight Watchers to get my weight back down to my goal weight. I had made lifetime but am right back to where I was. I'm glad that I know the program am motivated to get back to it. Anyone else care to join me? Email me for a copy of the workout schedule!

I love summer! A change in seasons inspires me to change! Check out my summer schedule on my other blog! What do you like to do in the summer?

Ahhhhh....vacation!

We just got back from a 3 day get-away. It was vacation for the kids and me but work for hubby. He likes having us along though. We like tagging along, especially when the hotel is paid for! We went to beautiful Panama City Beach! The place we stayed in was right on the beach: Sandpiper Beacon. It is a big spring break destination for the college crowd, but everything had been freshly painted. No evidence of crazy goings-on! But let me tell you, I KNOW why they call it the Redneck Riviera! Whew...

Annie said about this place, "This is the best hotel we've ever stayed at!" And she's stayed at some pretty nice ones! Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Gaylord in Orlando...The reason? the lazy river. Not because the decor was top-notch (it wasn't) or because it was brand-new (nope). She LOVED playing in the lazy river. It was small and it was indoors but it was fun!
Our room was quite nice (again, nothing fancy!). We had a two-room suite with three beds and a pull-out couch, so everyone had their own bed! (yey, no grumbling!) It also had a kitchenette which was great for breakfasts, drinks and snacks. We liked being on the top floor because the view was great!

Despite the view, the pools, the beach and the hot tub, THIS is vacation for Tommy:


He did manage to go out for a few runs. He is training for his first triathlon and Michael had hoped to do an open-water swim with him, but alas, there were jellyfish and both Tommy and Annie were stung. They looked more like jelly-worms. We saw quite a few of them washed up on shore. Strange looking things...

We did enjoy the beautiful sand and played around in it quite a bit. The water too was the perfect temperature and so clear. Darn those jellyfish!

I relaxed and enjoyed myself, but I'm in no rush to return. Not my cup of tea, I guess. I prefer the Atlantic, murky water and all!

Keys to Fighting Fair

1. Replace “you” statements with “I feel” statements.
2. Don’t say “You never…”, “You always….”, and “I told you so…”
3. Don’t dredge up the past in the current argument.
4. Really listen.
5. Don’t say things you’ll regret later. (accusatory things).
6. No name calling or cursing.
7. Watch your body language (eye rolling, etc).
8. No disallowing the other person’s feelings. Understand that how you feel is more important then how they intended it.
9. Figure out how your partner handles anger.
Sheila: needs time to cool. Can’t think clearly.
Michael: wants to talk it out, discuss the problem.
10. Don’t go to sleep angry.
11. Your partner cannot read your mind.
12. Don’t say “NOTHING”. You can say, “Yes, something is wrong but I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
13. Pick the right time to discuss things. (not right as you are walking in to church).
14. Don’t add fuel to the fire.
15. Diffuse anger with humor when appropriate.16. Say, “I’m sorry. Do you forgive me?” when it’s your fault. Own your share.
17. Be forgiving, kind.
18. Don’t hold a grudge. GRACE! (This eliminates scars and bad memories in your memory bank.)
19. Go to God to grumble and complain about your spouse; do NOT call your mother or even your best friend.
20. Look at your own part in this. “Log in your own eye before the speck in the other’s”
21. Expectations can set up for failure.
22. Hurting your spouse hurts yourself. (“The two shall become one flesh”)
23. Self-talk (a running conversation in your head). Can be from Satan. Causes discontent. Take every thought captive.
24. Ladies, be aware of what time of the month it is. You may be being particularly sensitive when at other times it wouldn’t bother you. Guys, you be aware to!

Garden is growing!

I took a stroll through the garden today to see what is growing. Want to see?

The smell of the orange blossoms on the Satsuma tree is amazing!
Wish I could upload that for you!

Baby lemons...future lemonade!!

The peppers are coming along nicely.

As are the Celebrity tomatoes (or are those Stupic?)

And the cherry tomatoes...

The zucchini are almost ready to pick if I want 'baby zucchini!'

So all in all, a good walk through the garden..

Tomatillo Salsa

I got some great tomatillos at the farmer's market last week and since I delight in salsa verde I wanted to try canning some. Here is the recipe I used.

Tomatillo Green Salsa (for canning) (What I actually did 3/29/09)
Yield: 8 pints

7 cups chopped tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped long green chiles
4 cups chopped onions
1 cup white vinegar
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir frequently over high heat until mixture begins to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot salsa into pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water canner 15 minutes.

Chopping the tomatillos was a little time consuming,

so I used the Cuisinart for the onions, garlic and cilantro.

Cooked everything together for 20 minutes.
Poured into clean jelly jars.
Final step: water bath. Wrapped in old Tshirst (to prevent breakage) and boiled for 15 minutes.

And that was it! We haven't tried it yet. Hope it's not too vinegar-y!

Coming out of hiding...

Michael's levels are really coming down. He has a Geiger counter and on the first day his levels were somewhere around 100. After a shower that evening it dropped to the 40's. He is now down near the single digits. Tomorrow he is supposed to get checked out to see if he can come out of hiding.

He did come out yesterday and sat in a chair to enjoy the sunshine. Annie and I kept our distance but it was nice to have some face time. He IS feeling a little sick and naseous. His brother John told him to take some Prilosec. Hopefully that will take care of it!