It’s been a pretty dry month as far as coupons and shopping deals go. Part of it may be that I was gone three of the past Sundays (so no Sunday paper) but the other part is the none of the sales at the grocery store have matched what we need. I’ve basically skipped shopping the past three weeks. It was nice to take a break!

This week I got two fliers in the mail from two of my three local grocery stores. There are some nice store coupons that will actually be worth my while!

Now if only Grocery Game would hurry up and put up the lists for this week, I’d be happy. (It’s usually up in the morning on Saturday…)

I’m sitting on the floor next to the washing machine. I’m hiding from my daughter. Her favorite therapist is here but my newly turnable daughter is being silly and ignoring her by turning and looking at me. When I went to check on the laundry a minute ago, Munchkin was doing really well playing with “L” so I decided to come hang out over here. I can peek around the corner and enjoy the show and she doesn’t know I’m here. Any other therapist I wouldn’t leave the room, but “L” is awesome and Munchkin loves her so I decided to take a break and blog.

I read a book this week:

I had ordered it from the library when the whole thing with the FLDS went down a few months ago and my name finally came up on Wednesday. I finished it in a little under 24 hours. I just couldn’t put it down!

With books like this, I tend to ignore at minimum 50% of what’s in an autobiography because it tends to be pretty biased, but even if you ignore half of it, there is still a lot there to think about. I was impressed with how to the point it was.

“Escape” is not a book I plan to read again, but it was definitely worth the time. I have a two week loan on it, but since I’m already done I’m going to take it back so the next person on the waitlist can have it.

When i picked up the book, I also borrowed T*A*P*S*:

I’m not too sure what I think about the movie yet. It had really good camera work and great acting, but it was a little bizarre and a bit heavy on the language but not a complete and total waste of time. It was kind of fun to see a very young Tom Cruise playing one of the main characters though…

The Man of the House did a really, really, really, really good job on Mother’s Day this year! He thought of several sweet things that just made me feel sooooo special and loved!

He had some work stuff to finish yesterday morning so Munchkin and I hit the Farmer’s Market and walked around some of the local stores. He still needed some more time, so we walked back to the office and I got to read Newsweek magazine. (It was the 100 most influential people or something like that, and each bio was written by that person’s peer. It was really neat.)

After he finished, we walked by the grocery store to get a few things and then walked back home…. when we got home, he told me to call and book a massage!!!!!!! There is this really cool chain of massage clinics that charge a very reasonable price for an hour massage and they do a really good job. It’s not a spa atmosphere which was perfect for my mood yesterday ’cause I was really enjoying hanging out with my hubby and daughter!

This morning, we had to get up for church and being that I was a space cadet this week, I had to do some ironing this morning. While I was in the shower, my sweet hubby dressed Munchkin all by himself. Right down to putting her cloth diaper and cover on and then buttoning all the buttons. She looked so sweet and I really appreciated not having to add that to my already busy morning.

At church, they gave all the moms roses!

When we got home, my sweet family let me take a nice nap! The Munchkin was taking her own nap and my hubby passed on lunch so I could sleep. It was WONDERFUL!

Then this evening, he took Munchkin and me to dinner. It was this very swanky place right on the beach with incredible views. The wait staff meant well and tried but the service was really slow. We didn’t mind, though, because we got 2-1/2 hours to just be together and chat. Munchkin slept for the first 45 minutes and then was in a happy mood when she woke so that was nice. The food was pretty good too.

It was very nice day today. I think it’s my best Mother’s Day ever! Thanks, Babe! Thanks Munchkin!

Okay, I’d admit it: I’ve gotten out of the habit of blogging (almost) everything that happens in my life. I’m not really sure what caused it but it happened. It’s very sad especially since I eagerly await other people’s blog posts. LOL.

Life around here has been pretty normal around here. Well not completely normal. We did do quite a bit of traveling the past couple of weeks to Denver, CO and San Antonio, TX. Other than that, however, life has been predictable. Bamberina still has therapy five times a week (PT, OT, Infant Development) so that keeps her and I pretty busy. The Man of the House is still faithfully busy keeping our bellies full, our backs clothed and a roof over our heads. We really appreciate him working so hard for us!

But back to the point… seriously, this blog…

We had a pork chop dish from Dream Dinners last night and one of the recommended side dishes was Irish Soda Bread. Since I couldn’t find the paper with the recipe on it, I googled the same above and found this recipe :

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 to 4 1/2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk

Method

1 Preheat oven to 425°. Sift together 4 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl. 2 Using a pastry cutter or two knives, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, then stir in raisins. 3 Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. If the dough is too sticky to work with, add in some more flour. Do not overknead! Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a round loaf. 4 Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iron skillet or a baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about 1/2” deep in an “X” shape. Transfer to oven and bake until bread is golden and bottom sounds hollow when tapped with a knife, about 35-45 minutes. (If you use a cast iron pan, it may take a little longer as it takes longer for the pan to heat up than a baking sheet.) Check for doneness also by inserting a long, thin skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, it’s done. Hint 1: If the top is getting too dark while baking, tent the bread with some aluminum foil. Hint 2: If you use a cast iron skillet to cook the bread in the oven, be very careful when you take the pan out. It’s easy to forget that the handle is extremely hot. Cool the handle with an ice cube, or put a pot holder over it. Transfer bread to a rack to let cool briefly. Serve bread warm, at room temperature, or sliced and toasted.

Supposedly it’s not official Irish Soda bread according to this site that claims to be a preserver of the real thing, but it was still really, really good. The Man of the House kept talking about it after dinner so I think it’s a winner!