an ode to salad

Every time I make up a weekly menu, I never put salad as one of the items.  But when I go the store, I pick some lettuce up.  With the intention that you know, lettuce is good.  It's obliging.  You can put almost anything on it and it works.  Fruit, vegetables, cheese, heck, even chips.  Right?  So I buy it.  I even get organic lettuce.  I feel so virtuous when I buy it too.  Like I am doing the world a favor when I buy organic lettuce.  The world is thanking me, I think.  And I come home and place that plastic box of virtue in my chiller.  And it sits there.  And sits there.  And I look at it when I open my fridge, and I think, I really don't like lettuce.  Every time.  A week goes by, and I make the planned meals, and we eat them.  And i think, maybe I should make a salad?  But I don't really like salad.  No, I'll just make something else.  So I do.  And the poor lettuce.  It just sits there.  Until two weeks has gone by and I finally pick it up, and look at it.  Because it has gone slimy, and brown.  And I think, well that was a waste of three dollars.  I throw the blasted thing away.  And I not longer feel virtuous.  I have no longer given the world any kind of gift.  Just another plastic container to sit in a landfill.  And I slightly twinge.  I really don't like salad.  Maybe I should just stop buying it.  We have a lettuce patch in our back yard, I have a sinking feeling my husband will want to eat lettuce at every meal.  Lettuce.  Which means salad.  And seriously, I really don't like salads.  :)

A little bit of yogurt in my life.

Tonight, I had the greatest pleasure of taking my two oldest out on a little date.  It wasn't long, and we didn't really do much.  We went to get Menchies frozen yogurt.  Luke picked out...Vanilla.  He loves vanilla ice cream.  I can't get that kid to taste any other kind.  Sariah had chocolate and vanilla, swirled.  They both topped their yogurt with candy, some fruit and called it good.  I had got my cake batter, and some dark chocolate chips, and some weird fruit popper things, which my kids ate.

 We sat in the car and talked.  We talked about school, and Luke told us about his kindergarten class and how he listened today.  We talked about when I met Mike, and how we kissed.  (Sariah thought that was gross)  We went on a little drive and saw the house our friends are building.  My kids told me they wanted a huge house like that one day.

We came home, and Ethan ran up to me and wouldn't let me go.  He clung to me like I had left for days.  He has been doing that a lot lately.  It was nice to spend time with my kiddos.  They are funny and charming.  They have some more silly quirks, and they make me laugh.

I needed this little date with my two older kids.  I needed that re-connection with them.  I love how Luke laughs, his laugh is so silly and deep.  Sariah is turning into a Young Women, the last of her little girl-ness has gone, suddenly.  I look at her, and I see the woman she will be in a few short years.  I cherish this moment.  Eating frozen and some what expensive yogurt.  Fighting over who ate the last fruit popper, and what they really are made of.  Ah, motherhood.

Conference Weekend

I will admit something.  You are going to gasp and shake your head.  I didn't watch conference this weekend.  There.  It is out.  My dirty laundry.  Saturday, I spent the morning session getting my two oldest ready for the first soccer games of the season.  Missing cleats, socks, and preparing snacks were all important to do's on my mental to do list.  I lost track of time.  And we had to be on the field by 12.  We barely made it on time.  And the boys and I sat and watched Sariah's game under my cute umbrella, because the sun has finally decided to make an appearance and it's too early in the year to get a sunburn...so...we didn't watch the first session.  Luke's game was at three, we went to the store, picked up some more cold drinks. Man was the sun shinning!  And headed to his game.  Where the wind started blowing, so no cute umbrella to block out the sun's happy rays..I got sunburned.  Headed home and made a very sad dinner because our cupboards were bare.  So, I went to the store.  Sunday, we woke up and headed up to Cedar City to visit Mike's grandparents.  We spent the day with them.  I spent most of it reading.  What?  Well, I was reading Catching Fire, the second book the Hunger Games, and yes, I have read them before.  But you know.  I had free time.  I spent conference weekend with my family and reading.  Gasp.

 I suppose it's a good thing they record the sessions, and that I can take my time reading the undoubtedly inspiring talks that I missed.  And honestly, I only pay attention to about half the talks anyway. I usually fall asleep during some point in either afternoon session, never fails.  At some point, I'll redeem myself.