4th of July has traditionally created a host of memories for me, both good and bad. I don't know that I'm going to have a lasting memory of today as nothing memorable came out of today. It was, however, a perfect day for me to spend with great friends and family and to reflect a little on what 4th of July means to me. I've never really had the chance to do this.
Recently the 4th of July has been a BBQ that we have hosted. In the past, the 4th was a trip to my aunts house for her Birthday Party/4th of July Celebration. Both didn't involve me really relaxing and going at my own pace. I always had to put on a show. A show I didn't necessarily want to put on, but one I felt obligated to do. It really became the "Ugh!" Holiday for me.
Today we hung out with friends and I was able to talk as much as I wanted or be quiet just to think about what's going on in the world today. I loved it. The day did start out with a neighborhood parade, where the kids decorated their bikes and scooters and rode around the block. I would guess there was about 75-100 people who did this. It was a lot of fun and best of all, someone else planned it. We ended up at our friends house for great food and drink and simple conversation. There were no family arguments, people were there to have a good time and be happy. It worked for me. I was very happy. Afterwards, we went to some other friends house so the kids could do some swimming. I caught myself falling asleep in the chaise lounge a couple of times. Once again, relaxed. When we got home, it was a simple dinner and then bed a few hours later for the very tired kids. They had a lot of fun today too.
Many times today I found myself thinking about the country in better/simpler times. I thought about my cousin in Iraq who is quite possibly going through the worst times any soldier could be going through. I thought about how I could fix the world today. I thought about the best way to teach my children about democracy without clouding their view with my anger of the way things are currently being handled. I thought about what would happen if some idiot shot off an illegal firework into the gully behind our house. I thought about how stupid Joss Stone is for signing in an Independence Day special....for the United States. (Does she not know the country that we celebrated independence from????) I thought about terrorism and if something bad would happen today. I thought about the terrorism that goes on and on in many countries throughout the world.
Out of all the millions of things that came as thoughts through my mind, I think the one that sticks out was the smiles on all the kids faces today. I don't know that I'll remember that forever, but for right now it is a happy feeling that I don't want to lose.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
To Catch a Thief!
This morning as I was getting ready in the bathroom, I heard a loud thump coming from my bedroom. I've heard that sound hundreds of times because the boys love to jump off of chairs, couches, beds, etc... I didn't really pay attention to the noise at all. Then I heard another noise that I've heard before, but not quite as often. It was the noise of large amounts of change being moved around. I go around the corner from my bathroom to my bedroom and what do I see, but Tucker playing with my big bucket of change. I thought to myself that it was kind of cool to see him counting the change and recognizing the difference between a quarter and a nickel. Then he asked the dreaded question... "Can I have it? Can I have your change Daddy?" I thought hard about the answer to the question and actually tried to act like I didn't hear it by going back to brushing my teeth. I knew that if I said yes, it would cause problems with the other two boys. That along with the fact that I've been saving my change for a year or so and didn't really want to give it up, made me say no. I said, "I'm sorry Tucker, but that's my change. You have your change basket in your room, Bubba has his basket and Ryan has his. This one is mine." Then the whining came into play, but I still held steady and said, "I'm sorry, but No."
I went back to finishing getting ready and I heard Tucker say to me, from the other room, "I'm going to my room to get my clothes on." I first thought, WOW, that was easy. Then I noticed the change scattered around my bucket on the floor and wanted to let Tucker know that he needed to come pick it up when he was done getting dressed. By the way, Tucker rarely gets dressed on his own without me asking him first. Anyway, when I went into Tucker's room, I saw him putting money in his change basket. I asked him what he was doing and told the truth by saying, "I'm putting money in my basket." I asked him where he got the money and he told the truth once again by saying, "From your bucket." I told him thanks for telling the truth, but that was stealing and the fact that I told him he couldn't have the money is was doubly bad. I told him how disappointed I was. He cried, of course, but I held steady. I told him that tonight I would give him his punishment and he needed to tell me why what he did was wrong.
Fast forward to this evening, Tucker knew what he did was wrong and why it was wrong. His punishment was only one song for a week before bed. In case you don't know, music is extremely important at bedtime for our family. It's more important than story time, which they get too. Anyway, this was pretty devastating to him and I told him that if he stole again, he would be without songs for a whole week. He said he wouldn't steal again without telling me first.... LOL!!!
Kids are great!!!
I went back to finishing getting ready and I heard Tucker say to me, from the other room, "I'm going to my room to get my clothes on." I first thought, WOW, that was easy. Then I noticed the change scattered around my bucket on the floor and wanted to let Tucker know that he needed to come pick it up when he was done getting dressed. By the way, Tucker rarely gets dressed on his own without me asking him first. Anyway, when I went into Tucker's room, I saw him putting money in his change basket. I asked him what he was doing and told the truth by saying, "I'm putting money in my basket." I asked him where he got the money and he told the truth once again by saying, "From your bucket." I told him thanks for telling the truth, but that was stealing and the fact that I told him he couldn't have the money is was doubly bad. I told him how disappointed I was. He cried, of course, but I held steady. I told him that tonight I would give him his punishment and he needed to tell me why what he did was wrong.
Fast forward to this evening, Tucker knew what he did was wrong and why it was wrong. His punishment was only one song for a week before bed. In case you don't know, music is extremely important at bedtime for our family. It's more important than story time, which they get too. Anyway, this was pretty devastating to him and I told him that if he stole again, he would be without songs for a whole week. He said he wouldn't steal again without telling me first.... LOL!!!
Kids are great!!!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Betrayal
Sometimes my anger and frustration get the best of me. I think it's the frustration that brings on the anger, but nonetheless, I hate it.
Today I learned of something that happened last week that would have typically sent me the other direction. Due to a few years of therapy, I'm not moving away, instead I am moving closer. Trying to find answers. Trying to find a way to make heads or tales of what causes people to act certain ways. I am truly unhappy about the events, but think that what happened is maybe a way to open up dialog and get things moving forward in the right direction.
Today I learned of something that happened last week that would have typically sent me the other direction. Due to a few years of therapy, I'm not moving away, instead I am moving closer. Trying to find answers. Trying to find a way to make heads or tales of what causes people to act certain ways. I am truly unhappy about the events, but think that what happened is maybe a way to open up dialog and get things moving forward in the right direction.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
The Day After...and some recipes
I hate going to sleep knowing that I have to get up early to do something. I must have woke up about 5 times during the night. Ryan crawled into bed around 7am. I got up at 7:30 and immediately got to work on the outside. I got the tables and chairs ready for pickup from the rental place. I went to the grocery store to pick up some breakfast food and get my daily morning diet coke. When I got home Gina was awake, so I went back to "Watch TV" aka sleep.
We were planining to go to a Birthday Party/Open House later that day, so Gina and I had to split up duties. I took the boys to Toys R' Us to pick out a present and she stayed home to do laundry. After getting home, we fed the kids lunch, got ready and headed on out. It was nice not to have to really do anything for the party. We were just able to enjoy it. We left around 5pm to come home and change the boys wet clothes and go see Ratatouille.
All of us really liked the movie. Eventhough we were quite the tired bunch, the movie kept us wide awake in a packed theater. Ryan was falling asleep on the way home, so we got them all into bed by 9pm. Then it was on to more cooking for the week.
I BBQ'ed some chicken breasts for Gina for the week. I wish I could remember the spice combinations that I use. They are different every time, but turn out rather tasty.
For those who are interested in my rib and chili bean recipe it's quite simple. I take some basic store bought items and add to them. Here they are:
Ribs
Score the membrane from the back of the ribs (If you miss this, your ribs won't be as tender)
Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the rub that you purchased. Add 2 tablespoons of garlic and herb mixture. Add 3 table spoons of Italian Seasoning.
Rub the BBQ Rub mixture liberally on both sides of the slab of ribs and let site for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Place the slab on the grill at medium high heat. The meat should be on a direct fire at this time
Turn after 5 minutes and grill the other side for another 5 minutes. (Use your own judgement on this. There should be grill marks on the ribs. Black is good...)
Once you have seared the ribs, take them off the direct fire and move them to the side for slow cookin.
Take your BBQ sauce and add 1/4 cup of brown sugar...yes more. I like to add some red pepper flakes to this as well, but didn't on Saturday. Also add 1/4 cup of beer. A dark beer or stout is best.
Now brush your ribs, meaty side first, with your BBQ sauce and let sit in the grill for 2 hours. Yes, that's right 2 hours. Anything less gives you a tough rib. About 1 hour and 14 minutes into it, you can turn the ribs over and baste the backside with the BBQ sauce. After another 15 minutes, turn the slab meaty side up and baste on last time. After 2 hours, is up, take the slab off and let them sit for 15 minutes before you cut them up. <-- Very important.
Chili Beans
1 lb of ground beef. (Fattier GB tastes better, in my opinion)
1 medium sized yellow onion (chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 large can of diced tomatoes
3 large cans of Pinto Beans (yes I cheated on this one..)
1/4 cup of BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 tbls of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cups of beef stock
2 tbls of Italian Seasoning.
Directions
Carmelize the chopped onions in the Olive Oil. When they become translucent, add the ground beef and mash it up. It needs to be rather fine. Once the ground beef is brown, add the minced garlic. Add the can of tomatoes and incorporate well. Once things looked to be evenly mixed, add the beef stock and let boil for about 15 minutes. (medium boil is all you need) Add the brown sugar and BBQ Sauce and let simmer for 30 minutes. Now add the pinto beans and simmer until you see that a couple of them have split. Salt to taste. I like to add red pepper flakes, but didn't due to spicy food complainers.
I love to cook.
Also of note is that the measurements above aren't exact. I taste when I cook. Above is just a starting point. I'm always adding and taking out depending on taste.
We were planining to go to a Birthday Party/Open House later that day, so Gina and I had to split up duties. I took the boys to Toys R' Us to pick out a present and she stayed home to do laundry. After getting home, we fed the kids lunch, got ready and headed on out. It was nice not to have to really do anything for the party. We were just able to enjoy it. We left around 5pm to come home and change the boys wet clothes and go see Ratatouille.
All of us really liked the movie. Eventhough we were quite the tired bunch, the movie kept us wide awake in a packed theater. Ryan was falling asleep on the way home, so we got them all into bed by 9pm. Then it was on to more cooking for the week.
I BBQ'ed some chicken breasts for Gina for the week. I wish I could remember the spice combinations that I use. They are different every time, but turn out rather tasty.
For those who are interested in my rib and chili bean recipe it's quite simple. I take some basic store bought items and add to them. Here they are:
Ribs
- 1 Slab of Baby Back Ribs
- A basic pork BBQ rub. (anything at the grocery store should be fine. Paprika should be the first ingredient.)
- Basic Hickory BBQ sauce. (Don't get the name brand, get the cheapest brand)
Score the membrane from the back of the ribs (If you miss this, your ribs won't be as tender)
Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the rub that you purchased. Add 2 tablespoons of garlic and herb mixture. Add 3 table spoons of Italian Seasoning.
Rub the BBQ Rub mixture liberally on both sides of the slab of ribs and let site for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Place the slab on the grill at medium high heat. The meat should be on a direct fire at this time
Turn after 5 minutes and grill the other side for another 5 minutes. (Use your own judgement on this. There should be grill marks on the ribs. Black is good...)
Once you have seared the ribs, take them off the direct fire and move them to the side for slow cookin.
Take your BBQ sauce and add 1/4 cup of brown sugar...yes more. I like to add some red pepper flakes to this as well, but didn't on Saturday. Also add 1/4 cup of beer. A dark beer or stout is best.
Now brush your ribs, meaty side first, with your BBQ sauce and let sit in the grill for 2 hours. Yes, that's right 2 hours. Anything less gives you a tough rib. About 1 hour and 14 minutes into it, you can turn the ribs over and baste the backside with the BBQ sauce. After another 15 minutes, turn the slab meaty side up and baste on last time. After 2 hours, is up, take the slab off and let them sit for 15 minutes before you cut them up. <-- Very important.
Chili Beans
1 lb of ground beef. (Fattier GB tastes better, in my opinion)
1 medium sized yellow onion (chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 large can of diced tomatoes
3 large cans of Pinto Beans (yes I cheated on this one..)
1/4 cup of BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 tbls of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cups of beef stock
2 tbls of Italian Seasoning.
Directions
Carmelize the chopped onions in the Olive Oil. When they become translucent, add the ground beef and mash it up. It needs to be rather fine. Once the ground beef is brown, add the minced garlic. Add the can of tomatoes and incorporate well. Once things looked to be evenly mixed, add the beef stock and let boil for about 15 minutes. (medium boil is all you need) Add the brown sugar and BBQ Sauce and let simmer for 30 minutes. Now add the pinto beans and simmer until you see that a couple of them have split. Salt to taste. I like to add red pepper flakes, but didn't due to spicy food complainers.
I love to cook.
Also of note is that the measurements above aren't exact. I taste when I cook. Above is just a starting point. I'm always adding and taking out depending on taste.
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