my weekend...

I used to have to wake up early on the weekends with my babies... dreaming of the day they would be self-sufficient and I could sleep late.

Then once they were self-sufficient... they were social creatures with ball games to get to every weekend...

Then... all of a sudden we were past that season of life and I found myself programmed to wake up early and worked to retrain myself to sleep late on the occasional occasion that I could.

Then I got cats. Two bossy, determined, greedy cats who think that they run this house. And every morning whenever the first light starts to peek through the blinds, they start their "wake up mommy" routine. Bitty Kitty stands on my chest and starts licking my face. If that doesn't work he wiggles his way under the covers and nibbles on my toes. Stubby takes his big neanderthal head and pushes against me and says, "ma-ma"... in his meow language. It's relentless. I say to them, "mommy sleepy"... "no mommy up yet"... and they don't care. They can have a full bowl of food and not need a thing but when the light is up, they want mommy up. And then they climb into that warm spot in the bed and go back to sleep.

My Saturday was everything I needed it to be.

I think I have completed my M-o-G outfit. Yesterday I found some nice open toed pumps with a sturdy heel that were on clearance at Kohls - marked down from $55 to $16. I used the extra money in my shoe budget to buy Austin a good pair of flipflops - he only likes the kind with the cloth straps and the base has to be padded. They were marked down from $50 to $20. I found a nice chocolate brown wrap that is light weight and sorta silky. I found a hat that I *may* be able to redecorate to make it match.

I had to shift that hat budget to a memory card. My memory card is no longer working. I've had it for three years so I guess it's time.

I picked up a small gift for the kids... not nearly what I would like to do for them but they know mommy is broke. I also bought Angie Smith's book "I Will Carry You"... I've wanted it for a month but hadn't had the money or time to go to the Christian bookstore. It turned out that I filled up my rewards card with them so I got 25% off the book.

I had a nice lunch of thai beef curry... one of my favorites and hard to find in these parts.

I made a great Publix run for lots of fresh produce and some other stuff you can't find here.

I drove home with the windows down, soaking in the sweet spring air. It's hard to explain unless you live in a remote, unpolluted area how wonderful the air can smell. I love soaking up that sweet air.

I got home and curled up for a nap. Perfect Saturday!

I made a big batch of taboule (recipe at the end) to eat this week. Salad days are here!

I picked up Austin from his friend's house... brought him home to shower and change... and took him to his cousin Devin's 18th birthday Luau.

I came home... read a big chunk of the book... went to Dairy Queen for a Buster Bar Blizzard which is my new crack... ate reasonably all day and then had to have a blizzard. Ugh.

I picked Austin up... again... driving with windows down to soak up that sweet air.

It was a great day!

Today we have church... then the girls have their first recital. I was going to do a detox diet for a day and then I realized that I wouldn't be home enough to do the specific things I needed... and I am a little worried about feeling weird on a busy day. I'm going to do it on Memorial Day... once all the merriment is over and I will have a day to just sit home and veg.

Taboule (spelled a lot of different ways - tabouli, tabbouleh) is a Middle Eastern salad that I imagine is their version of our southern potato salad. It's a combination of bulgar wheat, mint, parsley, fresh veggies in a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. It's very basic, with wholesome ingredients and it's filling. The Lebanese version has more parsley than wheat. I don't like parsley that much... although it is very good for you. Near East brand has a box kit for it that you just add veggies, oil and lemon juice to. I made that the other day and it was sooooo good! I decided I'd try to do it completely from scratch... here's how I did it... you can adapt it to suit your taste.

1 1/2 cups of bulgar wheat combined with 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Sprinkle with mint flakes, cover and set aside for two hours for the wheat to absorb the water. (I put mine in the fridge)

I chopped 1/2 a bunch of cilantro, 1/2 a bunch of parsley, three tomatoes, an avocado, a cucumber, a few radishes to mix in with the wheat. (You can also use onion, peppers - anything you want)

Once the veggies and wheat were mixed together I added about 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/2 cup of lemon juice. You can add as much or as little as you want, just like you would with salad dressing on a salad. You can also add more later. Let this chill for at least an hour. It's one of those dishes that gets better the longer it sits. I served it on some crisp romaine lettuce... it was so good! And it makes a huge bowl so I have enough to last me through the week.

I also bought stuff to make broccoli slaw, ceasar salad, spinach salad... it's Salad Week here! I have to keep the ickies at bay!

Gonna make some coffee... hope you all have a great day!