New things...

1. Obviously the background on the blog has changed. I realize that it is a little on the feminine side, but I like it...except for those little round things that I assume are meant to resemble brads, those I could do without.


2. We went to Gatlinburg for a mini-spring break trip with the kids. Funny story...coming tomorrow. The "new" thing is this:







You may be wondering why I consider a pot of Taco Soup a "new thing"...then again you may not be, either way, I'll tell ya'. This picture of taco soup represents eight years of vacations and good intentions.

Just about every vacation we have ever gone on (especially the ones with kids) we (meaning "I") have made plans to cook meals in our room/cabin/campground. Plans that included a menu, the purchasing of provisions, and cutting down on the costs of our trip. Every single time we have fell victim to the "we're on vacation, why should we cook and clean up...what kind of vacation is that???" mentality.

Camping at Land Between the Lakes? Hot dogs on the grill, baked beans and s'mores? How about ditching the tent and heading to Miss. Patty's for pork chops instead??!!

St. George Island, Florida where there are only two restaurants? Spaghetti and garlic bread in the kitchen? Ooohhh...I think I remember seeing a seafood restaurant on the drive-in...it's only 45 minutes away, why not??!!

Holiday World? Cereal bars in the room for breakfast? We could eat a real breakfast at the Denny's next door instead!!

And that is a brief history of our cooking on vacations saga.

Until this time.

We planned on eating four meals in the cabin...and we did!!! We ate dinner (spaghetti, garlic bread, brownies) in the cabin on Sunday night after we arrived. Mark made pancakes and bacon for breakfast on Monday, we had grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch and then, taco soup for dinner that night.

*sniff* I am so proud of us *sniff, sniff*

3. I have been thinking about posting more often. Really, I have. And not only because my sister, Amy, and various others (you know who you are)...have been requesting that I (nagging me to)update more regularly.

In a previous post I covered the issues that hinder my posting process. Annnd I am fairly certain that we have established that I have OCD. The good thing about OCD is that it positively thrives on "themes". So, I thought if, maybe, I came up with a few (somewhat corny) themes for certain days of the week...perhaps it would help me to post more than once or twice a month.

Obviously I like the "random" lists, so I plan on doing one of those each week. That "theme" doesn't strike me as too corny.

So, are you ready for the corny one?

I'm thinking that "Way Back Wednesday" could be fun.

What is "Way Back Wednesday"?

Well, obviously it will take place on...you guessed it...Wednesday. Annnnd it will feature pictures.

What kind of pictures?

Pictures like this:

Me, age 3... getting a bear hug from Billy Bob. Surely you know who Billy Bob is. Showbiz Pizza's Rock-afire Rockstar, that's who. Until that silly mouse known as "Chuck E. Cheese" came along, it was all Billy, all the time.

And there will be pictures like this:

Me. Circa 1982. Clutching my E.T. doll that Santa had brought me. See those hard, plastic eyeballs on E.T.'s big, misshapen head? Well one of them melted and...It.Traumatized.Me.

Seriously. To this day, I can't think about E.T. without picturing his little melty eyeball.

Do you see that look of woe on my face? Deep down, I must have known that his demise was imminent. One day, I left him lying on the living room floor...and the floor heater turned on (you can find a pic of an old floor heater here). I found him with his little eyeball melted into a stringy, plastic mess of a puddle. Sad day.

And, sometimes there will be pictures like this:

Forrest. Age 2 and a half. Rockin' the ninja costume...except for the work boots. What was I thinking? Ninjas do not wear work boots. Poor kid. (Obviously my OCD had not kicked in at this stage in my life. Because now? There is NO way I would let my ninja out of the house wearing work boots. I would color those puppies black with a sharpie if necessary).

And that's all I've got for tonight. You may be wishing that I had stuck with bi-monthly posts before this is all over with.