What Will I Do?

My (latest) favorite make-a-meal place is closing down at the end of the month. This is the third one in the last year. Boohoo. A little history: I'd started patronizing a "meal-preparation-center" a couple of years ago. It's a place where you go and make dinners, and then keep them in the freezer until you're ready to eat them. This was such a lifesaver for me. I like to cook, but I HATE making dinner. I hate trying to think of what to make. I can't plan ahead to save my life. I never had the right ingredients on hand. I was annoyed when the girls complained about what I made. And so often I was away from home during the pre-dinner preparation window.

So this was truly a good solution for me. I'd stock up on 8-12 meals at a time, which would last us about a month. (We eat out a lot, and I don't really cook a full dinner when B is working and not home for dinner.) Most of the meals took about 30 minutes to prepare, but they were quick and easy and complete -- I didn't have to remember to buy tomato paste or cilantro or teriyaki sauce. And it worked out to be fairly reasonable - about $20-$25 a meal. It would cost me about the same to purchase the groceries to make those meals. (Sure, I could spend less on groceries, but not to make the variety and quality of food that we got.)

For a while, business seemed to be booming. Five of these meal preparation centers (MPCs) opened within months of each other. But now they've started dropping like flies. First, one changed to only pick-up, ready-to-eat meals. Each week they have 2 choices. Not what I'm looking for. Then the next one shut down their local store and consolidated with a store in another location, one that's too far and too inconvenient for me to do very often. Then the latest, my favorite, announced this week that they are shutting down. Boohoo.

There are still a couple of places left around town. But they are part of national chains and a lot of the food is pretty processed -- using already frozen ingredients or things I can't really identify. The places I'd patronized previously were independent, local places, using fresh ingredients and with a chef doing the prep work.

So, what will I do now? I might have to actually *cook* dinner every night! Eeek!

Your Birth Verse

I thought this was neat. You enter your birthday and it generates a scripture verse based on the numbers. For example, mine is John 10:29, "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."

Try it for your own birthday, and then leave a comment and share the verse!

BirthVerse

Hanna Update

8:14 am: Getting windier and there have been some downpours. Power went out about 6:30 am but came back on by 7:30.

10:30 am: Rain has stopped, but still some wind gusts. Power has flickered a couple of times but has stayed on. We're getting bored. L just woke up. The girls don't know what to do with themselves since the swim club (their social hub this summer) is closed. B is playing Guitar Hero.

1:30 pm: Pretty much a done deal. Still occasional wind gusts. Everyone is being way lazy.

3:24 pm: Power is off again. The generator is running so we have tv and wifi. And a functioning kitchen, so we can cook dinner. Not that I'm planning to make dinner. It's CORN -- Clean Out the Refrigerator night.

8:34 pm: Neighbors came over to hang out. They don't have a generator. Just as they rang the doorbell, the power came back on. Everything is clear now. B and I went for a walk about an hour ago. Lots of debris (leaves, sticks, pine needles) everywhere, but all looks good. One of our neighbors had a tree fall down and crash down on another neighbor's shed. Hasta la vista Hanna!

Friday Feast

I am copying this from my friend's blog: Is It Morning Already?

Appetizer
When was the last time you had your hair cut/trimmed?

It was mid-August. I get it cut and colored every six weeks. I never leave the salon without scheduling another appointment.

Soup
Name one thing you miss about being a child.

The freedom from responsibility... knowing that my parents would take care of things.

Salad
Pick one: butter, margarine, olive oil.

On toast: butter. For cooking: olive oil.

Main Course
If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?

Probably Italian. We became friends with a family from Rome while they were stationed here for a couple of years. We're hoping to go visit them next summer.

Dessert
Finish this sentence: In 5 years I expect to be…

Healthy, wealthy and wise.

Hanna is Headed Our Way!

Tropical Storm Hanna is supposed to make an appearance this weekend. Not much is expected, just storminess ... rain and wind. And it is supposed to pass rather quickly because Sunday is supposed to be a lovely day. This morning started out quite sunny and nice, but the clouds are thickening up now and I expect the rain will start by the time the girls get off the bus.

The last time we had a hurrican threat was 2003, with Isabel. We didn't have any damage, just a power outage that lasted several days and lots of debris everywhere. The kids missed a whole week of school, though, and ended up having extended days for the second semester of school.

We have a generator now, so even if the power goes out, I'm not too worried. Our generator runs everything in our kitchen, family room, and master bedroom/bath. So if we lose power, we won't be suffering too much, except for a lack of air conditioning!

Hanna is not the last show of the season though; I'm worried for those in the path of Ike next week.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Last night I saw a preview for the movie of Confessions of a Shopaholic. It looks like it won't be out in theaters until next year, but I am looking forward to it. I enjoyed the book -- and the follow ups (Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic & Baby, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Shopaholic & Sister). Sometimes it's weird when books are made into movies -- the book is always better! But this looks like it will be cute. I hope that it will be appropriate for the girls to see also.

BTW, I saw the preview while watching the premiere of the new series, 90210. I used to love the original show ("back in the day" - how did I get so old?), but I'm not sure what to make of the new one. Definitely racier. One of the first scenes shows a guy sitting in a car with a girl's head in his lap, ahem. Nothing explicit shown, just implied. The girls want to watch it, but I just don't know. Still have to think about it some more. I wish there was a way on the DVR to edit out that scene!

First Day of School

It's the first day of school! Here are some pictures. We have a tradition of snapping some pictures before they leave for the bustop.

8th graders!



And now some pictures from past years:

3rd grade

4th grade

5th grade

last year - 7th grade