Last weekend of Summer 2009

Another fast paced weekend for me.

This Saturday Jon got an invitation to attend his friend Jack's birthday party. We got a present and a card on Friday, all set to go.

Tim got a cold and instead of him taking Jon to the party and me taking Larissa to the Michael's store for an American Girl crafts event, I now had to decide who goes and who doesn't. Of course, birthday took priority.

On Saturday morning I decided to do my routine a little different. Instead of running my long run then going to the Saturday Market I did it the other way around... or so I thought I would...

Going to the market early means getting first dibs and not risking getting something sold out before you get there. We got three bags full of goodies, some mini-doughnuts and a cup of coffee for me. Quick stop at McDonald's to get Tim his breakfast (which, once again, I manage to mess up on getting the right one...) and we are home. Before getting into my running attire on I double checked the invitation and realized that it is not at 1pm (as I thought fore some odd reason), but at 11am! Here goes my long run.

When I dropped Jon at the party, it dawns on me, we are only a couple of minuted away from the Michael's store, so I go back home, get Larissa and we make it to the crafts session. Score!

On the way home from the party we stopped for lunch at Hot Pot N Sushi where we manage to consume plates and plates of food. So much for a light lunch. But I don't say no when Jon wants edemame and fried calamari, even if doesn't know "exactly" what it is, I rather he acquires the taste for good food early.

On Sunday I finally get to try something "different". I made salsa using fresh yellow tomatoes (and other fresh ingredients from the market).

One of the tomatoes was very oddly shaped. It had a witch's nose on it:

No matter, it all goes in. Fresh cilantro, garlic, onion, etc.

I like to blend all the ingredients first, then add jalapenos
I think original recipe called for a couple of jalapenos, but over time my recipe got up to five-six jalapenos. We like it HOT!

Despite it's strange color/look, this is got to be the best salsa I ever had. The sweetness of the yellow tomatoes, combined with all the fresh ingredients and fresh Bavarian garlic. Yummy!

Another interesting even on Sunday was a special present my family got me. It was Tim's idea, but everyone were quick to take a credit. He got my XBox's avatar a camera! It doesn't do anything, but it now truly represents my persona. It's the small things that count.

I will have to take a picture of it, ha ha ha!

What were you thinking, Gabe?..

As we were sitting down for dinner, I noticed that Gabe had two dirt spots on his upper lip. I asked him to go wash it off. When he returns, they are still there.

I am now getting a little frustrated and I ask him again to wash his face, to which he replies that he already did.

Tim and I are puzzled. "How did you get those spots?"

Gabe: "With an eraser"...

"Was there ink on the eraser?"

"No."

Now, it's a mystery...

I ask "Let me see the eraser"

Gabe pulls out a pencil topper eraser out of his pocket. Suddenly, I remember seeing a camera on the table earlier and Larissa making a comment that Gabe was taking pictures of himself with an eraser! I look at the picture and I now know exactly what happened! Gabe gave himself a hickey by suctioning a hallow end of an eraser to his skin!

Gabe is embarrassed. Good! Hopefully, he won't do that again! And now, he has to go to school looking like a musketeer...

September 12th weekend.

I finally have my new car all finished! I could not be happier. Only when you get a decent thing do you realize what a piece of crap you had up to that point... Everything that needed to be has been fixed, replaced and painted. The only challenge I still face is this particular smell. Can't quite decide what it is. It could be the paint, it could be the burned metal from cutting a hole in the roof, or it could be a dog pee. Sigh... I am pretty sure previous owner had a dog.

On Friday Gabe had an allergist' appointment where we decided he was due for his allergy testing. Doctor wants to get some blood works done for that. I could tell, as soon as there was a mentioning of needles, that Gabe wouldn't be happy. Hes eyes filled with horror (and tears). Even doctor noticed it and reassured him that it's not as bad as he thinks it is...

On Saturday we all enjoyed a family trip to a Saturday Farmers Market. Loaded up on fruits, vegetables and I got some hazelnuts (to keep at work, of course). After the trip Gabe returned to his altar (XBox), Larissa got back to hers (upstairs XBox), so Tim and I took Jon out for lunch and to tun some errands.

We had sushi, of course. I found some sushi with cooked tuna, imitation crab meat and cucumbers (& without the seaweed) and Jon actually liked it. I though it was a good introduction to my favorite food.

While shopping for clothes Jon came across a black hat and totally fell in love with it. He wore it at the store and all the way home. Once we got home though, Gabe decided that he loved it too and "borrowed" it from Jon. He ended up going to bed wearing it...

On Sunday we went back to the store and got a second hat... and a hat for Larissa. Once she saw a Tony Hawk hat for $2.50, she was sold on it!

All the kids looked so cute I just had to take pictures.

It went well at first, but when I tried getting all three in one picture I had run into some snags... nothing new.