Whole grain spaghetti pomodoro with chicken.  Yum!  That's what I had for dinner tonight at a great family restaurant that serves up a heapin' helping of tacky decor with some out of this world food.  My meal was quite simple but oh so tasty:  thin whole grain spaghetti noodles loaded with diced tomatoes, a few tiny mushrooms and an abundance of chicken, all resting in perhaps too much olive oil.  As long as I didn't dig too deep, the oil was just right.  A buttery slice of toasted garlic bread completed the meal.  Mmmmm....light yet filling and oh...so...good!  I think I'll try to recreate that at home.  :)

My Texty Ladies blog is now holding a weekly contest in the Monday Mix.  We post a picture and ask that people write about it using 200 words or less.  It can be in the form of a song, poem, short story or whatever you like.  On Wednesday, we’ll post the selected winner on our Home Page and also on our Monday Mix Winners Hall of Fame page.  The winners will receive a little something from the Texty Ladies as well.  Said “little something” will be mentioned at a later date as it is not yet ready.

I hope you’ll go to Texty Ladies to get more details and submit an entry.  I can’t wait to read it!  (You might enjoy reading the other entries as well!)

Which would you choose?  

I just finished watching House of Flying Daggers for the second time.  The first was just after it had come out on DVD.  I love this movie.  As the title of my post indicates, the movie is all about duty and love.  If you had to make the choice between true duty to your country, friend, or cause, and your own life or the life of your true love, which would you choose?

At Texty Ladies and I believe here, I posted about my blog "A Curious Brew" being at WordPress.  I recently started a trial version of a blog at TypePad and planned to call it "Sweet Endeavors."  Well, I discovered a theme at WordPress that worked better for what I have in mind for Sweet Endeavors so I'm changing the WordPress blog to reflect that.  My trial version at TypePad had to be cancelled but I will start a new one and name that "A Curious Brew."  I know it sounds confusing.  Somehow, it's all making sense for me.  

Why do I even need to blog elsewhere?  Isn't LiveJournal enough?  Well, I've talked about my blog addiction before and I also find that WordPress and some other blog software have more options and allow for more creativity than LiveJournal.  I do love LiveJournal, however, so my main blog will be here.  

Here's a link for my new "Sweet Endeavors" blog which is still under construction.
 
Hey, here's a link to

mojo_rising40

This is one of those nights when I feel as if the day went by and I got nothing accomplished.  I can barely think straight and it's almost midnight.  I'll post a little something about home tomorrow.  Sweet dreams to all of you!

I got tagged by Amber at Rational Irrationalities today! Thanks, Amber! J

Here are the rules: The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was a single mother with a seven year-old son.  I worked full time as a closer at a title insurance company.  My job was to make sure all of the documents were ready to be signed by home purchasers and sellers.  I'd make sure all figures were accurate and the real state title was clear.  It was also my job to explain all the documents to the buyers and sellers, cut the checks and make sure that everything was handled appropriately.  I handled some commercial, relocation and new construction closings as well.  I hated it.  Well, most of the time I hated it.  There was always pressure to squeeze as many closings as you could in a day and quite often, I'd have to deal with some less than pleasant people.   

This was also about the time that school started to go sour for my son.  Regular public schools didn't have a lot going in those days for kids with AS.  We lived just outside the school district my son was going to and there was an issue of funding so the following year, he ended up switching to a different school.  My son and I did our best in those years and we had each other.

2. Five things on my to do list for today.

A.  Go out for lunch with my husband (had a great margerita pizza); 
B.  See what treasures we can find at Half Price Books (left with 8 books between us);
C.  Purchase some flowers to go in two really cool green glazed pots and plant them (way too hot and sticky right now);
D.  Start working on my article about art therapy for kids with disabilities (I've gathered so much information, I don't know where to start!);
E.  Get caught up on same episodes of Angel (I am SO far behind the TV scene).

3. Snacks I enjoy.

I'm eating caramel corn right now.  YUM!  I also enjoy WW Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream Bars (trying to be good).  Fritos with M&Ms for when I want to be bad.  Anything chocolate.  Crackers and cheese with a glass of wine.

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire.

I'd secure my son's financial future.  I would also build our dream home.  I'd hopefully have the ability to stop working for others and spend more time writing.  It would be great to travel more, which in turn would give me more to write about!  I would also give money to Autism and Alzheimer's organizations. 

5. Places I have lived.

I have only lived in Minnesota.  While I've moved 11 times in the last 23 years, I've only lived in 4 cities and they're all adjacent!

The people I tagged: Jane, MojoRising40, Jacquie, Dragonflower, Julsmh

It's Thursday night and I have tomorrow off of work.  Today was my son's last day of school for this school year and I decided to spend tomorrow doing something fun with him.  

It's so nice knowing I don't have to get up at 5:00 a.m.  I have an 8:00 a.m. meeting with some art teachers who agreed to be interviewed for Texty Ladies.  I'll be writing about art therapy for those with disabilities.  After that, I'll come home, grab my son and bring my husband to work, then we'll have lunch and do something fun.  

My son will be with his dad for a good portion of the weekend and I'm looking forward to just puttering around at home.  If the skies clear up, I'll be weeding and planting a few poor flowers that have been sitting in their pots for too long.  I hope to also catch up on some much desired reading, prepare some posts for next week and have some quality time with my husband.  As much as I love to go out and get a little crazy, I also enjoy staying home to de-stress.  We probably won't travel any further than the liquor store to pick up some Baileys and a six-pak.  

Ahh, home...  How I long to wrap myself in your comfort.