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!!!)