So glad it's over.

Tomorrow is the first day of school for me and for both of my daughters. Allison will be starting 10th grade and Gianna will be starting 5th.
I can't believe the summer is over, I am so glad it is. In a good year I am not a fan of summer in the desert and this year it was especially lame. I hate the heat and I complain about it a lot. But it's not just the heat that makes this place so miserable in the summer. It's the lifestyle. There is nothing to do. Most of the places we are looking at to move to are also hot but at least they have a 'downtown' area and there are plenty of summertime activities. I look forward to enjoying the summer again and not dreading it.
I started this post because I have been reflecting on how super dumb our summer has been. Nice right? Good attitude right? Well whatever, it was dumb and I am calling it what it was.
The summer began with my mom's death and everything that went along with it. That was not the best way to kick off the summer for sure. It kind of put a downer mood on the whole season. I still can't believe she has been gone for a whole summer. Still find it hard to believe that I haven't heard her voice or seen her face in over 3 months. That is crazy to me. I have missed her every single day and  have shed many tears. It is going to take a lot longer than one summer to get over losing my mom.
About 4 weeks after my mom died we were dealt the whole pay cut blow for Chris. We were hit with the enormity of it while we were out of town for the fourth of July. That was the very last time we were able to get out of the heat for more than 9 hours all summer. The rest of the summer has been spent trying to deal with everything.
We put our home on the market on August 5th. One month after we found out about the pay cut, it only took 1 month for it to hit us and for us to not be able to keep our home any longer. Twenty one days after we listed the house it sold. We have spent the last 4 days in kind of a fog realizing that time is going to fly and we need to have some kind of plan in place. Thinking that somebody else is going to be living in this house soon and we are going to have to find a place to live.
I will say that the good news about this whole situation is that the summer flew by. It went so quickly and that is really nice. It's like ripping a band aid off. I knew it was going to hurt going into it but before I knew it, the whole thing was over.
I am so looking forward to the fall. I am not a big football fan but I love football season and all that it brings. I love the weather, the sound of a game on t.v while I cook dinner. The way people come together to watch a game. I am hoping that where ever we end up it will be some where that has a college and professional team nearby, I want to live in a place where they get real excited to watch "their" team play. Where their is a sense of pride and camraderie.
 I also can't wait for Halloween. My kids are both a little too old for it but I can't wait to decorate the house and do fun art projects with my class. I have already bought a Halloween magazine filled with recipes and art projects. I am hoping to be able to take my class on a field trip to the semi local apple orchards and pick some apples. Doesn't that sound like fall fun?
Well it's getting late and tomorrow I have to be up bright and early so that I can be ready to see those 16 shiny little faces waiting for their first day of Kindergarten. I wonder if they will be as happy as I am that summer is over.

Going Country

Well today was kind of a big day around here. Yesterday we had 2 offers on the house. One of them was full price, no contingencies and they have a pre-approval letter and 20% cash down. So we are thinking this is probably a no brainer for the bank to accept. So we took this offer as our primary offer and the other offer which was made by good friends of ours as the back up offer. So pretty much the house is sold. It is a short sale though and it could take anywhere from 90 to 120 days so we will be here for a while. But we all know how fast 3 or 4 months flies by and before we know it we will be starting our new life. Hmm, our new life. Here's the thing, we have NO IDEA where we are going. I don't know why but I really, really want to go country. I really am focusing on Texas, Tennessee or North Carolina. For some reason the lifestyle and people in the south really, really appeal to me. Which brings me to one of the things I wanted to write about tonight. I am an avid reader. Always have been, wrote fan letters to Judy Blume as a kid, dreamed of being Beverly Cleary's grand daughter. Yes I idolized authors the way our kids today idolize the newest pop sensation. Anyway, right now I am reading a book by Jane Porter. I have read a few of her books and have always really liked  them. You might even say I am a "fan" of hers. The book I am reading now is "She's Gone Country" my bloggy/facebook friend Stephanie reviews books and had this one on her website and I thought 'hmm that sounds like it is right up my alley since I am also trying to Go Country. It has been one of those books that as soon as I start reading it I can't put it down, as a matter of fact I am rushing through this post so that I can read the book. So yesterday I was reading away and I came to this paragraph on page 41, which as we all know because I talk about it all the time is my age... weird anyway, this is what it said-
"The past once hurt so much. The present is a mess, and I can't even see a future.
Can't even imagine where we're supposed to go from here."
Oh my gosh that is my life, right there in 3 sentences it sums up exactly how I feel right now. And here is the other thing, the lead character in the book just moved to TEXAS!! The only thing is that she was actually from there in the first place. But reading this book and picturing the story she is telling is making me want to move there even more. The state fair, the sense of community, the live music of Austin, the idea of living in a state where they have so much pride in their state and in their country. I love that. I hope and pray every day that this is going to happen for us. That this is where we will end up, if not Texas than North Carolina or Tennessee, they all sound equally great. I just want to go country so badly.
.

No Regrets... or so I thought.

No Regrets. That has been the theme of my life for a long time. I never wanted to do or say something that I might regret later. It all started when my dad's side of the family and my mom and I started having some issues after my dad died. I had to make decisions at that time in my life and some of them were really difficult. I knew back then at the tender age of 23 that I didn't want to live to regret the way that I treated someone, in this case it was my dad's twin brother and I knew that no matter what happened if I made the right choice, the Italian (family first, no matter what) choice that I wouldn't regret it later. And I was right. My Uncle passed away 10 years after my dad I for sure had no regrets. I knew that I had handled the situation the right way and that my dad and my grandparents would have been proud.
After that I just have always kind of had in the back of my mind that you never know how short life is and you should always do/say what you really feel so that no matter what happens you will not regret it later.
Let me clarify something here before I go on. When I use the term "no regrets" I certainly do not mean it in an adventurous, live life to it's fullest, never let an opportunity pass you by kind of way, I am not that person. I am so not adventurous or risk taking. I just mean stay true to yourself, treat people the way you want to be treated and if you are not happy in a situation change it. Period.
Anyway, when my mom came to live with us and her health started to deteriorate I again had the 'no regrets' thing in the back of my mind always. We argued, we yelled and we cried but I knew that for the rest of my life I would never regret any of it because it was so important that we were getting this time together.
Tonight Gianna and I have been staying out in the casita, where my mom lived for 2 years and 8 months. I have slept out there a few times since my mom died and my daughters have had several sleepovers out there but tonight something hit me. Tonight I felt closed in, lonely and uncomfortable. It's a nice space, kind of like a very small apartment, living room, little kitchenette area, wide hallway, bathroom and a bedroom. But still I felt so closed in. I felt so lonely. I knew that Chris and Allison were inside the big house and how much more comfortable and air-y it is in there. I looked at Gianna and said "I have to go in the house right now".
This is where the regretting starts. I almost can't even type what I am about to say, it brings tears to my eyes to even think about it.
Over the last couple years my mom's biggest complaint was how lonely she was. How isolated she felt out there. She would tell me, Chris and the kids that she wished we would come out there more to see her. She was on oxygen and sometimes it just wasn't that easy for her to get around. There were days and days that would go by that I wouldn't even see her. She lived here in my home and I wouldn't see her. And now she's gone. Oh my God that hit me so hard tonight. Made me wish so bad that I could go back and change it. Made me realize why I have tried so hard to live my life without regrets. Because when you regret something it hurts. It's an awful feeling. When you have regrets and that person is no longer here for you to apologize to it's that much worse. I hope that the day comes when I can tell this story or read this post without this giant lump in my throat. I hope that at some point I will feel like she forgave me for it and understood that I was busy. I just wish I could say 'I am so sorry mom, I love you.'

What tomorrow will bring...

One year ago this week I was at work and my daugther Allison called me. She was home alone and was calling to inform me that the tow truck driver was there to pick up my car. Allison was 13 years old, two weeks away from starting high school and she was letting me know that she had worked side by side with the repo guy to take all my cds and stuff out of my car. She knew why he was there, she knew what was happening and she told me about it as though she was just letting me know what was going on. No panic in her voice, no sorrow, embarassment or weakness. Just a fact. She had just watched my car get anchored onto the tow truck and drive away. I, on the other hand was at work bawling. I was crying because I was panicked, sad and embarassed. Horrified that my car was being picked up for all the neighbors to see, so devastated that we were beginning to lose tangible things. I know now it really wasn't that big of a deal and things were about to get A LOT worse before they got better. I look back and think 'eh, I didn't like that car much anyway. For the next 10 months or so we worked our butts off to make sure that no matter what happened we saved our house. We did everything to make sure that in the end our children had the home they loved, my mom would be comfortable in her casita and that we would have the comfort of knowing that we were strong enough to keep our home. Two weeks ago tomorrow we met with a real estate agent to put our house on the market for short sale. We have invested everything we ever had into this home. We did everything we could to keep it but now we are losing it.
Last December I found out that I had a brother. I learned that my mother had a son with her first husband and didn't tell me. Kept a secret from me my whole life. She had to leave her son with her ex husband and go on with her life as if it had never happened. Kept her secret from me, my brothers Mike and Danny and many, many others. Lived her life with a hole in her heart because she didn't know what we would do or say if we found out she had done such a thing. She never knew that I would love her, respect her and understand her like never before. She didn't know that the very next day I would start searching for my brother, find him and get to know him and have a wonderful relationship with him.
Three years ago my mom was told she was dying. She was told that she had end stage lung disease and that she only had a very short time to live. She came home and prepared to die. We called her friends, her family and we waited. We waited and waited and still she lived. She felt better. She kept on going and plugging along as if those doctors were crazy. Two years and 11 months later she finally started to die. She proved that doctors also never know what tomorrow will bring in spite of all of the research and knowledge. She passed away May 18th 2010 almost exactly 3 years after they gave her the grim prognosis. In those almost 3 years our lives changed significantly and she helped me through so much. Our relationship grew and we became closer than ever. Thank God the doctors were wrong.
When my mom died in May I started really making my plea to move. My husbands job that he had started about 9 months before was not turning out to be all that we had hoped for. I saw the stress in his eyes and the heartbreak in his face. I knew that he had set his hopes high and that every day he was a bit more and more dissapointed. I started bringing up the idea of moving to Orange County. Two hours away from where we live now and home to almost all of my very closest friends and some of my family. A veritable safety net for me. The place where I always wanted to go back to. In the last 3 or 4 weeks we have started to broaden our view and change our ideas of what a good place to live might be. Right now as I type my husband is downstairs on the phone talking to a guy in North Carolina about a job. Yesterday he spoke to a guy in New Jersey and another one in Missouri. I have no idea where we will end up. I know that no matter where it is that things are going to be better for us. I know in my heart that we have had all we can handle for a while. I know that our perspective on life has changed considerably and that we are more ready for change than ever. I also know that we have no idea what tomorrow will bring... We will remain hopeful in spite of this crazy year we have had and we will remain strong. Our family is closer than ever and we are ready for the next chapter. Someday we will look back on this time in our lives as a blip on the radar. It will be the the time in our lives that my girls will refer to when they are speaking to their own kids when they say things like "oh, you think you have it so bad, when I was a kid we _________________" and they will fill in the blank with whatever story that they remember. It has been character building, heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. We have found new family, and we have learned all about staycations and how to make the most out of a crappy situation. We have learned who our true friends are and which family members really care and worry about us. As hard as it has been I am glad that it has happened in a way. We have learned a lesson that we will never forget and hopefully our kids have learned one too. Hopefully when they start making a good income and the money seems like it will always be there they will remember to save it and their childhood memories will keep them in check.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Random Weekend Stuff

So there it went... another glorious 48 hours of pure bliss. How I love the weekends. Even when we don't do anything I love them.
This weekend we just hung out around the house. I tried my hand at some southern faire. I attempted Paula Deen's chicken fried steak. Let me just say that I am clearly not a chicken fried steak kinda girl. I mean I guess it was good. The family like it but not me. My Dad may have rolled over in his grave a little when I made it too.
A real estate agent showed the house on Sunday. So of course that meant we had to leave for a while. We went to lunch and bowling as a family. That was nice.
We talked about moving. We dreamt about places to live. New neighborhoods. Seasons. Well maybe I was the only one dreaming about seasons, my poor kids only know two seasons. Warm and then summer. Warm is the season for spring, winter and fall around here. I mean sure sometimes it gets a little chilly in the winter but seriously when it is this hot it is so hard to remember why I even own long sleeves or pants. I am so looking forward to having 4 real seasons where ever we should end up.
I don't know why but I am so drawn to the south. I am so wanting to end up in Tennesee, North Carolina and I am even opening my mind to Austin Texas. At this point so many people have suggested Austin that I can't help but think it's a sign. I have to say researching it on the internet makes it look pretty awesome. One of the families at school is getting ready to move there and they are so excited it really is a little contagious.
I think one of the reasons I am so attracted to the south is almost all of my favorite movies were based in the south. The Blind Side. Hope Floats. A Time to Kill (featuring my ex-boyfriend Matthew McConaughey).

I mean my God look at him. He's from Texas, things have to be good there right?

Forrest Gump. All great movies, all southern. It just seems like time moves a little slower there. Like people are friendlier and whenever they show the neighborhoods on HGTV House Hunters everything looks more spread out. Here in California the houses are on top of each other and in our neighborhood people don't even hang out with each other.
I just want a fresh start so badly for all of us. I want Chris to find a job he loves where he is so appreciated for his tremendous talent. I want the kids to find schools that they love so that they don't miss their friends and schools here as much, because I realize how hard this is going to be on them and I know they will miss it but I just want to soften the blow. I want to find a new comfort zone for me. I want to wake up every morning knowing that things are getting better and that we are going to be okay. Right now I wake up every morning praying for this. Praying that today will be the day that something good happens. It has been such a stressful time for us in these last two years that I know it has to get better. I know that there is a bigger better plan for us and by God I am ready. I even am looking forward to picking up a new accent! Tonight we went to a barbecue place for dinner and on the way home Chris, Allison and I kind of worked on that. Chris has his down for sure he'll be fitting in in no time. Allison and I are going to take some work. I am sure Gianna will be fine too she picks up on accents pretty quick with her acting so she will be all over the lingo.
So with that I say-Y'all come back soon and I will be sure to have some good news for ya. (see I told you I need to work on it)
xoxo
Nina

Oh What a Party...

Yes, I had a party. I know some of you may be wondering where your invitation is, why in the world you weren't invited. Well I didn't invite anyone-this was a one person, hardcore sniveling, runny nose, sobbing out loud pity party.
My soiree began last night at around 6 pm, right after my husband left to go bowling and it went on for 4 1/2 hours until I finally took a sleeping pill and knocked myself out. I don't know how it got started or why I couldn't pull myself together but it was bad. I actually felt hungover this morning from crying so much. I think that I just became overwhelmed with everything all at once. The enormity of what we are going through, of the change that we will inevitably have to make, the idea of packing up this house that we worked so hard for. The idea of taking my kids out of their schools and moving only God knows where. Starting all over again. Being renters for the first time in 12 years. Chris and I both having to find new jobs. Hoping that where ever we end up that we have made the right decision for all of us. All of it is so very overwhelming. So much so that I haven't really had time to think about my mom. I haven't had time to miss her, to mourn her. My world started crashing down 4 1/2 weeks after she died and since then I have been consumed with trying to figure out what we are going to do. I just missed her so much last night that I got that aching pain in my chest. I needed her, I needed her support and encouragement.
The party very easily could have continued today. It's not as if I woke up today all sunshine and roses. Cause let me tell you I didn't. I woke up groggy, sad and quite honestly a little pissed off. But I had to suck it up and go to work. Which I guess was a good thing because nobody likes a Debbie Downer. My husband and my kids deserve more, the kids at school deserve more. My family needs a strong mom and wife to keep things together around here. Chris needs a wife that can support him as he totally puts himself out there. I know it's a vulnerable position for him to be in. I can't imagine the pressure that he feels with the well being of a family of four on his shoulders. How he must stress every day knowing that our future is in his hands. I am doing everything I can to be there for him, to reassure him and just love him.
The logical, rational side of me knows that this will be over soon. I realize that it won't go on forever. But the emotional, thoughtful, sentimental side is a frickin disaster. I just want it to be December already (in my mind that is when I see everything coming together, I have no idea why). I want to be past all of this yuck and I want the stinking party to be over already!

The Big Splurge and a couple of sidenotes.

Yesterday morning (well it wasn't really morning because I didn't even get out of bed til 10:00 am) my girls and I ran to Target, you know not really for anything specific but just to check things out, get a Starbucks and walk around. While we were there I received a phone call. The first realtor phone call. You know the one, where they want to show your house. As I was talking to the agent Gianna and Allison were standing there listening and watching me and suddenly Gianna dropped her cup, like let it fall from her hand and she said "I don't want them to show my house, I don't want to move". I told the agent it was fine, that they could show it and that we would not be home. So knowing that Gianna was super uncomfortable with this whole thing I said "let's go home, get ready and drive to downtown Disney to have dinner" Disneyland is in Anaheim, we live in the desert, it's about a 2 hours drive, not something we would normally do so spontaneously on a Sunday afternoon but I knew it was probably the best thing for us. We came home got the house all staged and I took a shower and got ready and we got in Chris's big truck (he was using my car for the weekend on his trip to Monterey for his HS reunion) and hit the road. First let me be clear, the truck? way too big for me. Totally makes me uncomfortable to drive it and to park it is an even bigger nightmare, which always leads to fits of laughter from the kids because they think it's hysterical when I behave as though I am driving a big rig. But I did it. I drove that big 'ol thing all the way to Anaheim. Thank God that there wasn't much traffic.
Once we arrived at the Happiest Place on Earth, or at least it's free counterpart known as Downtown Disney I knew that we would have to go into one of the parks. I knew that I wasn't going to be satisfied if we didn't get to ride a few rides and have some fun. We decided to splurge. We had absolutely no business spending the money to go to California Adventure but I decided I didn't care. We have had a rough 3 months and we were going to do it anyway. I knew it was irresponsible but oh well. You only live once right? I am so glad we did. We had so much fun. Just me and my girls. We rode a few rides, got completely drenched on Roaring Rapids and had a great dinner and laughed ourselves silly at dinner. It was so good for us. Gianna kept thanking me and telling me how happy she was. It felt good. It felt like old times when we were able to just be spontaneous before things started going to Hell in a hand basket.
Oh my gosh, then when we were all done we headed out to the parking lot to leave. As we walked toward the truck we noticed another large truck and it was parked directly behind me. Oh how I wish I would have taken pictures because telling this story is not going to do it justice but I will try anyway. So I mentioned how I am not the best park-er, well I am really, really bad at pulling out of the parking spot too. Backing that bad boy up is so daunting to me and when I sit in the driver's seat and look in the rear view mirror at the bed I swear to you it looks like it is 40 feet long. As soon as I got in and saw that big, lifted, painted flame truck in the spot directly behind me I knew it wasn't going to happen, I knew there was no way this lady was getting us out of there. So Allison went and got the police. Yes, the police had to help us back the truck out of the parking spot. Not kidding, and the best part was that it was difficult for them too. One of them even said a few times "I can't do this, there is no way I can do this". I don't know why this part made me so happy but it did. I was so glad that I wasn't just being dramatic or playing damsel in distress, it really wasn't easy to do. After about 10 minutes and a security guards intervention (so that makes two cops a security guard, me and the kids all working together to get one truck out of a parking spot) we finally got it! We drove home safely and were in bed before 11:00. What a great day.
A couple of other really great things happened in the last week. One of my very best friends since I was 13 became a grandma. It wasn't something that was planned and my girlfriend wasn't prepared to take that walk into grandma-hood but it has turned out to be amazing. I am so excited for her and her daughter both. I can't wait to meet the baby and hopefully it will happen soon. I have seen pictures and she is beautiful.
The other awesome thing was one of my facebook friends adopted a baby girl. It isn't official for another hour and half, they are literally counting down right now I am sure. I don't know the whole story, we have been inbox messaging about it for the last few days and I am so happy for her.
I love baby news. I love hearing about a new life being brought into this world. It makes me feel like everything is going to be alright.
xoxo

Bittersweet.

Today we did it. We put the house on the market. We did it because we had to, not because we were ready to or because Chris has some great job offer and we know where we are going. I would like to say more, I would like to tell the whole story, believe me there is so much more to tell and so much more detail to go into but I can't. My poor husband is so private, he never tells anybody anything and then he married me. I have the biggest mouth in the world. I mean for God's sake I started a flippin blog so that I could tell my story! I think that I see every opportunity to tell my story as a chance to network, like as in 'well maybe if I tell everybody what is going on then a wonderful job opportunity will come of it'. Or... 'if I tell people the story about how my whole family died somebody will have had the same thing happen to them and then we can be friends and bond over it.' I am not kidding that is how I think. Is it crazy? Why do I have this need to share everything?
While I am going to refrain from going into detail about our situation I will say that I am trying my hardest to look at this is in a positive light. I am trying to see this as our new adventure. We are going to have to find somewhere to live right? Maybe it will be in my dream place (not even sure where that even is anymore) and it will be our dream neighborhood and we will find so much happiness and joy there. I am trying to practice "The Secret" I am going to try reading the book again and try actually going through the motions of "putting it out there". Letting the universe know that I am ready. So ready for a change and ready for stability, happiness and peace.
As this adventure goes on and as all the good things begin to happen for us I will keep you posted and then, and only then (I am saying this in case the husband is reading) will I tell the whole story. I really do think that someday I will need to write a book. Because I am not kidding you I know I have spilled it on here but I promise I have not even begun to touch on the crazy that is my life. Things I have to tell are things that make people say "Oh my gosh your life is a Dr. Phil series of episodes" notice how I didn't just say one episode, we are talking 3 part series. Anyway once I have people's permission or once the people in question are no longer with us (In this part I am NOT referring to my husband) I will tell my whole story. Until then I will have to remain cryptic and mysterious... just kidding not really that mysterious.

Staycation wrap-up...

Well it's 6:20 on Sunday evening, which of course means my staycation is coming to an end. Tomorrow I will go back to work and all the chaos that is kindergarten summer camp. Before I go back to work though I thought I would re-cap my last 4 days. My inspiration for this is a journal I kept one time when I was a little girl and I went on a "vacation" to my grandparents house while my parents went on a real vacation. I love looking back and reading what my grandma Nina and I wrote about my time that I spent with them. I had such a good time just hanging with them at their house. Of course we ate way too much and my mom swore that every time I stayed with them when she would come pick me up I had gained like 10 pounds! But the memories were sweet and it was a great time in my life.
So the first night (last Wednesday) I started my time off by going to dinner with friends and celebrating a birthday. It was nice to be out with adults and I even had a Midori margarita. I sat next to my friend Kristin
and we talked about blogging a lot and that is always fun. (BTW visit her blog she is an incredible artist and has a wonderful giveaway right now if you are interested). Then of course after dinner Chris and I made a trip to the grocery store. My mom used to make fun of us because whenever we had a date night we had to end it with a trip to either Target or the grocery store. I don't know what's wrong with us, it's just how we roll. When we got home I started cleaning out my closet. Now if you have ever been to my house or even seen pictures of my house you might know that I am a little bit of a neat freak. I like my home to always, always look neat and clean. No mail on the counters, dirty dishes in the sink, laundry stacked on couches or chairs... you get the picture. So anyway here is my dirty little secret, my drawers and closets? TOTAL DISASTER! I am not kidding on the floor of my closet was 5 loads of laundry. Now this wasn't supposed to be laundry, these weren't dirty clothes, they were things that I have tried on and then decided not to wear and then in a haste just "set" read: threw over to the side. Well once the clothes have been sitting there for a while you kinda have to wash them again. I will not bore you with the details of my cleaning but suffice it to say that it was a much needed purge and I actually ended up finding lots of things I had been missing. Yay me!
Thursday the girls and I had lunch with old friends we hadn't seen in a while and it was fantastic. I loved seeing this mother and daughter and miss them so much. After lunch we drove out to Riverside to pick up Allison's bff so that she could come stay with us for a few days. The good thing is her mom is my bff so it worked out nicely for me also :). We had a great time at the mall, we got to go to NORDSTROM and that? Always makes me happy, even when I can't necessarily afford to buy a whole lot. We did a little back to school shopping so the girls and I were all happy. We stopped at Chick Fil A on the way home and the girl that worked there offered my girls a free ice cream cone that she had made by mistake and I swear to God I thought these girls were going to pass out from excitement. One ice cream cone between all 3 of them and you would have thought they hit the lotto. So so embarrassing. They made noises when they ate it. Again, so embarrassing.
Friday I don't really remember what we did. Hmm, maybe laid out by the pool? I don't know but I am sure it was fun and we relaxed. I wonder what we did for dinner. I have no idea, I swear I am losing my mind. Well let's just fast forward to Saturday. Oh Saturday what a wonderful day you were. We laid out by the pool, got really tan. The girls put lemon in their hair and used tanning oil along with their sunscreen. We listened to music and we laughed. It was great. I made homemade pinto beans and barbacoa. It cooked all day long. The house smelled wonderful. We had fresh fruit to snack on and cold cuts for lunch. It really was a great day. Saturday night my friend Amanda came over (hi Amanda) and she enjoyed our Mexican feast with us. I made raspberry mojitos and it was great!

During the last 4 days we made several trips to Target of course, that kind of goes without saying. I read my book (can you believe that I am just now reading eat, pray, love?) I also found some really great new blogs to follow. My favorite one is written by Kathryn. Oh my gosh I am not kidding you she had me laughing out loud. You have to check her out.
I loved having the time off and even though we didn't get a chance to go anywhere we really enjoyed ourselves. And the absolute best part? I didn't have to pack or unpack! I can't wait until my next staycation.