Pages

23 November 2008

On a mission!

My husband is taking the kids to California to visit his family. They leave today and will be back next Sunday. My father-in-law passed away last January, so I am very happy he can be there with his mother and siblings... I am staying home. Why, you may ask? Survival. Every busy mom needs a break once in a while. I love my kids to death and I know I will be missing them the moment they leave (or maybe the day after...), but this is a chance for me to get the things I have been wanting to do done!! Thanksgiving is an "inherited" holiday for me, so it really doesn't bother me to be alone... This has been a long and trying show season and I too am in what the Barn House boys call the post-season depression... I did manage to finish the guest bedroom, as you saw in the last post, but the rest of the house is still in need of some attention. We are so behind in laundry, I don't even remember what color the laundry room floor is... My closet is a mess, and I want to finish sewing some pillows for the living room sofa. I also would like to do some window treatments in our bedroom (a post on this later...), and steam cleam the carpets. My intentions for this week are very ambitious, so we will see what I can accomplish!!

I was talking to my mom, the other day (she lives in Lisbon), and she had just watched the Oprah show and said: "this woman was a pack rat and her house was a mess, she had clothes all over the floor in her bedroom"! That night I dreamed my mom showed up at my house unannounced...!! If you followed my posts during our visit to Portugal in June, you may remember that my mom IS the Queen of Clean. Here is a picture of her linen closet!! For more pictures, click here, or look at my Flickr pictures.
























A few days ago I was seriously craving octopus... I know, it sounds gross to a lot of people, but it is one of my favorite things to eat (and, to my delight, my kids love it too!!). So, on a trip to the local asian market to buy my kids favorite snack, seasoned seaweed, I bought a piece of steamed octopus, so I could make a delightful octopus salad. I urge you to try it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised!! If you look in a portuguese cookbook, you will find all kinds of different octopus salad recipes, but this is by far my favorite, and very simple to make!!


OCTOPUS SALAD (1-2 people)

1/2 lb steamed octopus, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced or sliced
1/2 cucumber, diced or sliced
1/2 sweet onion, diced or sliced
chopped fresh cilantro, to taste (if you don't like cilantro you can use parsley)
olive oil and vinegar

mix all the ingredients and season with olive oil and vinegar directly in the bowl (it's all just eyeballed, so just keep trying for taste). Srinkle some salt and pepper, and it is ready to eat!! Let me know if you ever try it!!























I leave you with something that made me smile yesterday... My ten-year old daughter came to me and said:

Her: "Mom, I know it's kinda gross, but pretend you're a boy..."
Me: "Okay..."
Her: "If I ask you a question, you say "Ketchup and rubber buns""
Me: "Okay..."
Her: "What did you have for breakfast?"
Me: "Ketchup and rubber buns."
Her: "What did you have for lunch?"
Me: "Ketchup and rubber buns"
Her: "What did you have for dinner?"
Me: "Ketchup and rubber buns"
Her: "What do you do when a girl walks by?"
Me "Ketchup and rubber buns"
Her: (Loud Laughter!!!)

7 comments:

  1. yep, that's very ambitious! I hope those *organizing* people never come to my house-we'd have a serious war going on! Keep us posted on your progress-maybe it'll inspire us all. Have a great week!
    Rene'

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh My Gosh! Your mom's closet looks like a fine linen shop. Wish I could have half that organization! Well, I hope you have a good Thanksgiving getting your break. We all need one time to time and I know what you mean when you have the opportunity to get everyone out of the house for awhile. Hope you share some of your accomplishments. Blessings, carrell

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ooooooohhhhh, I just couldn't do it! I can't even think of eating it, I'm too squeamish. Your post is impossible for me all the way around! That is really your mom's linen closet? Your mom would have a fit if she saw mine! I finally resorted to grounding my kids to one towel of their own, the others are supposed to stay in the cupboard neatly rolled, but....suffice it to say, my towel cupboard does NOT look like your moms! Since I'll be OLD by the time my kids get older, I don't think I'll ever have that kind of cupboard. So you see, just impossible LOL! (But a girl can dream!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had to share the joke with Dave and he said it is very Rita. He didn't need to be told which girl it was. Ha ha! Good luck this week, please call if you need any help! Your guest room looks great. Isn't it wonderful that we don't have to grow up to be just like our Moms?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so glad your mom will never see my linen(pile),behind a door.Thats incredible. I love your guest room it is beautiful. Now I know who is hording all the barkcloth!Just kidding it belongs in that lovely room.Have a wonderful and productive week! Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hope you get lots done this week. I know what you mean about the messy house, mine is the same way right now! I have tons of inventory all over the house trying to fit it into two bedrooms so I can have a shop for people to buy out of! Funny thing is I'm not sure if anyone will come.

    Your mom,s house is so clean, buuttt....she doesn't have any little kids running around trying to live! Huh! I always let my children have the most fun they could in my house. For instance spraying plegde on the floor in the hall and running with pillow cases, flopping down and sliding the full length of the hall! That went on for hours, plus when they were done the floor was clean! My children are grown now, sometimes I miss all that fun stuff!
    Theothertheresa

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm dying laughing!!!
    This post went round the circle...from ultra tidy closets to octopus salad and a funny joke :) My cheeks are hurting!
    My boys will LOVE this -joke tell your daughter :)

    ReplyDelete

I so enjoy and appreciate your comments!! Thank you so much for stopping by!!!

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin