A good day

Our day got off to a great start, though a late start.

Poor Gearhead didn't walk in the door until 12:30 a.m. That's an 18 hour work day. He couldn't get up this morning, and we all slept in a bit, though not as long as he did.

The Prince got right to work on his chores, and The Princess started in on her school work. She's a bit behind from all the time she spent on the play in December, and then Christmas. So, she did a ton of work today. The Prince got to work on his school, and did quite a bit, also.

For some reason, it's really hard to do our regular stuff when Gearhead is around. I don't know why. When he woke up, he had a headache (a frequent thing, unfortunately), and was a bit of a bear, but the kids got him in a good mood, and they all rough housed and had fun later on. I'm going to have to figure out how to post sound bites. The Prince has the most infectious laugh! He had us all gasping for breath just listening to his laugh.

Then, the Prince and I took the doggie on a walk. We went to the post office, to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and then to the bank. I love combining exercise with errands. I can fool myself into thinking I'm doing something good for the dog by walking him, and just getting things accomplished.

Then I had to take The Princess to the dance studio. She goes from about 3:30 (to help teach a class of little kids), until 7:15! She's a busy girl.

I made a really good dinner of chicken, rice, green beans and salad. I marinated the chicken breasts for two days in the fridge, then grilled it on the bbq. The marinade is simple and soooo delicious. You just put the breasts in a bag, pour an entire bottle of FAT FREE Italian dressing in the bag, then put maybe a teaspoon of low sodium soy sauce in the bag and shake it all up. Let it sit for at least two days. I've gone three days before, but two days is fine. Oh my. It's so good. I would never use FF Italian on a salad; it just tastes gross. But, as a marinade, it's awesome, and only adds a "condiment" to my daily food exchanges. Gotta love it.

I have a confession to make. You won't be hearing me talk about complete meals much. We fend for ourselves most of the time. I make main dishes like meatloaf, or enchiladas, or whatever, and then everyone just grabs when they're hungry. I grew up having dinner at the same time every night, together, as a family. I hate that we don't do that, but Gearhead has a different sort of work schedule, and is ready to eat dinner at 4. I hardly ever have it ready by then, so he eats whatever he can find, and then will eat a bit later in the evening, but not a full meal. *sigh* He and The Prince eat breakfast together on the weekend, since I make a full spread with homemade hash browns, eggs and bacon or sausage, maybe some toast. The Princess doesn't like breakfast, so she fends.

Also, with running the kids to various activities, the family meal just never happens. I'd really like to get at least one night a week that we can sit down together. Before we started watching our pennies, we went out to eat frequently as a family. Those days are long gone, so I think I'll try to get family night started.

God bless you!