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Fab 5 Friday...

Hey there! Another Friday has come...which means another Fab 5 Friday!

Blaine has been in Minneapolis all week for meetings (and Target runs!). He returns tomorrow and I think we'll all be happy for his return. (I think even he'll be happy to be back!) The kids have been great all week (with the exception of Grayson getting caught in a lie which resulted in the loss of all electronics for 48 hours) but, we all miss having Blaine around in the evenings.

With Blaine gone, cooking has been minimal this week...french toast, Kraft mac, McD's, and last night we had popcorn. (Yup, popcorn - that was it. Oh, and chocolate chip cookies - because I did bake this week!) I'm stepping up my game tonight with tacos...so fancy.

See! Cookies! I used the Levain Bakery recipe - with some modifications of course! 

Pecans instead of walnuts - because pecans are just better! 

And three types of chocolate chips - because one is B-O-R-I-N-G!

Today I'm blogging from McD's - mainly because I need a change of scenery and a white mocha. But, I'm sitting here watching a group of the Korean moms load up their golf clubs and thinking to myself, "Maybe I need to get hooked up with that group." I like their style - a little coffee and then off to play some golf on a Friday. I wonder if they'd adopt me.

Anyways, I digress...Fab 5 - that's what this post is supposed to be about - so let's get to it.

1. Soccer. The boys have started back with soccer. So our Saturday mornings are currently filled with doubleheaders (the boys play on different teams due to their ages) and lots of coffee. Thankfully, the weather has been fantastic and has made watching lots of fun.

Saturday morning soccer on our home pitch

2. Italian Night. We had Italian Night potluck at Jennifer's last weekend. Tons of yummy food and a lot of laughs (c'mon - some of the evening's conversations included a discussion on doomsday preppers and meth heads. Those are just good discussion topics which are bound to lead to laughter). Thanks to our fabulous hosts for a fun evening!

Smiles all around!

3. Bike Ride and Pokemon Hunting. Sunday had the boys and I out on our bikes doing a little Pokemon hunting. Grayson just received a new bike last weekend and was anxious to take a ride to the streets near the school that have a ton of Pokestops and gyms. Needless to say it was a successful ride!

4. Coffee. Had the chance to have coffee with some fabulous women this week. It was good timing as adult conversation has been lacking with Blaine away this week. While I've been busy with work (somehow when they realize you are truly leaving more work suddenly gets sent your way) - some breaks were definitely needed...

Photo courtesy of Pixabay! (I didn't take any coffee pix this week.) 

Be sure to check out Pixabay for royalty free images.

5. Midday walks. I've been taking the time to grab a 30 minute walk during the day...mainly to clear my head for more writing. (Like I said...lots of work projects right now as I prepare to be done next Friday.) The weather has been perfect - cool and plenty of sunshine. Throw in some 80's music and it's been great just having 30 minutes to myself.

So that's it! Oh, for those who have been asking...no news on our septic problem at the summer place. It's in the hands of the engineer right now who will take it to all of the "boards" in hopes of getting us approval. When I hear something...I will be sure to share! We want to make sure everything is fixed and ready to go before we open up the calendar for summer of '17 visitors!

So...

I quit my job last week. Yeah, I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail, but September 30th is my last day. It's for the best - on so many levels.

Yet, I'm sitting here wondering, "What the heck am I going to do with myself?"

AGAIN.

Yeah, yeah...enjoy the free time. 

Extraneous amounts of free time bores me.

Take up a new hobby.

Yeah, I already do the things I want to do.

And then I ready this quote...

So maybe I'm not lost...maybe I'm just not on the right road...

Fab 5 Friday...

Oh, Friday...how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Yes, we've once again made it to another Friday! Woohoo! Give it up for Friday! Super excited to have made it through another week! And since I have much to get done today...let's crank this bad boy out!

1. Manuela's Birthday. We had the pleasure of celebrating Manuela's birthday last week with a beautiful coffee morning at her home. Good friends, gorgeous weather, lovely coffee and food, and, of course, the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday, Manuela!

2. PTO BBQ. The PTO Fall BBQ was last weekend...on another gorgeous day. I had collected a lot of the items for the "American" baskets. We put together two great baskets chocked full of yummy American goodies!

I love walking around the bbq and looking at the ticket boxes (the American baskets are extremely popular) and listening to the kids as they decide where their tickets will go. It's quite entertaining to listen to their rationale. We were lucky to win a voucher to Mr. India and a voucher to Blue Cactus in the drawings. Yay us! And, my boys were super excited that their mom guessed the closest to the actual number of Citibank customers here in Poland and won the signed Robert Lewandoski soccer ball. (Yes, that upped my mom status significantly!)

American baskets and gift certificates we won

Our signed Robert Lewandoski ball

Smiles and sunshine!

Anyways...a fun way to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon for sure!

3. Grayson Away. Grayson has just returned from his 4 day class trip to Nowy Targ, Poland where he climbed a rockface, rappelled off a bridge into a raft waiting in a river, rappelled off the roof of a multi-story building, participated in many team building activities - and basically just had a great time! The boys are very lucky to have these fantastic class trips!

Look at that serious face before - and then him clowning around!

Climbing the rock face and celebrating at the top

4. Dinner with Caleb. With Grayson being away, that meant Caleb got to choose a place for dinner one night...and he chose Blue Cactus. (Probably so he could Pokemon hunt on the way!) Cold San Miguel on tap for the parents, quesadillas for the kid - and we were all happy!

He loves his quesadillas!

5. Coffee. A big shout out to Chrissie who brought me Starbucks coffee on Thursday morning! A super fantastic surprise and a great way to start the morning!

In the cute fall cup and everything!

Okay...that's all I've got for today! And that's really all I've got time for! I'm thinking I may be moving the blog in the upcoming weeks...and changing some things up! Will keep you updated on that!

Smile and enjoy your weekend!!!

Fab 5 Friday...

What's that saying? Fake it 'til you make it?! Um, yeah...I'm living by that one this week. Actually, I saw this earlier in the week...and this has been my mantra:

And truly, it has been a better week. 

So let's take a stab at this Fab 5 thing! A legit Fab 5! 

1. Lunch with friends. Oh, yes...definitely was needed. A nice lunch sitting outside in the sunshine having some good conversation.... Not quite sure what I would do without these fabulous women!

2. Sushi Night with Grayson. So Caleb is on his school trip this week...which means we got some solo time with G$. (Caleb gets his solo time next week as Grayson heads off on his trip.) We always give the kids a choice on dinner one evening...and Grayson chose sushi. (He knows that Caleb is not a fan - so it's nice that he waits until his brother is gone.) Anyways, we had a lovely night of sushi on the patio...with the parents enjoying some margaritas...and it was good to have some conversation with Grayson. While he is more often than not the kiddo who drives me up a wall (because he's more like me than I want to admit), I was totally reminded about what a great kid he is as we all had dinner together.

Look at that smile!

Yummy margaritas!

3. Cargill Party. We attended a little Cargill get-together last weekend. And, if you know me at all, you know that doing the small talk/chit chat thing with people I don't know is...well, enough to make me want to fake an illness and stay home. Soooooo not my thing. But, Blaine had promised to cook steaks and it was a lovely evening and there was bimber (homemade illegal Polish moonshine) involved and I survived. I might even go as far as to say it was an enjoyable evening. (That may be remnants of the bimber talking...)

Caleb hanging with Phil, the dog...they were buddies.

Bimber...the first of many shots.

4. Pokemon Go. Okay...so you can all laugh that I'm playing Pokemon Go, but when you have two boys who also love to play it - it really can be a way to hang out with your kids and actually continue to have them include you in stuff. We've had lots of fun Pokemon hunting (and we thank Blaine who continues to take us to Poke Stops and gyms so we can do battle.) We've caught some rare Pokemons (I'm very proud of my Mr. Mime, Chansey, Omanyte, and Porygon) and we've had lots of laughs! 

5. Dinner with New Friends. So last Friday night we invited the Joehls over for drinks and Mr. India. They arrived just a couple of weeks ago and are settling in just fine and we enjoyed spending a a relaxing evening with them on the patio...

So there...How's that? Five good things from the week. The Fab 5 is officially BACK!

Fab 5 Friday...yeah, no...

Ugh! I had excellent intentions of doing a Fab 5 today...really, I did. But, just not feeling it. It's not that it's been a horrible week...it just hasn't been a fabulous week.

And why hasn't it been fabulous? Well, mainly because I just don't want to be here. I know, I know...after a fantastic summer break, it can take a bit to get back into the swing of things...and it's definitely taking me a little bit extra this year. And then this little punk at school who was bullying Grayson really ticked me off...and then we had internet issues...and seriously, I need to stop whining.

Because, truly, in the grand scheme of things...it hasn't been bad. We spent Saturday night with friends and there was lots of laughter and kids running around having a great time. I've had coffee with friends this week and that's been fantastic. Work is going well. The kids seem fairly settled at school. Soccer has started and school trips are fast approaching.

See! These peeps make me smile - even when I'm grumpy!

I just have a bad attitude right now. And I can change it. I have to change it. I spent a good bit of time booking vacations - which always puts a smile on my face. And it's Friday...so that's a good thing. And the weather is amazing right now - so that's fantastic! And, it's time to follow this little piece of advice that a friend sent me...

Fab 5 Friday...Without the Fab 5...

Hey all! It's Friday and I'm not at all prepared to do a Fab 5, but thought I'd take a few minutes to just say hi! So...HI!

We had a great summer at home...with the exception of our septic system blowing up (more details on that to come)! It was so relaxing. Days on the dock, lots of swimming, tons of reading, tubing, sleeping in late, friends visiting, BBQs with family, attempts at water skiing, trips to Great Escape, tons of mini-golf, lots of par 3 golf, sports camps, shopping, dinner at our favorite restaurants, time spent with family. (Heck...I even worked a little this summer!) It was fabulous! My kids and I laughed about how little I "lost my sh*t" this summer...a true sign that we were all happy and relaxed.

And yes, then our septic system decided to bite the dust. Ugh! So normally, you'd just suck it up and install a new system, BUT...with the size of lot, the tiers on our lot, and the fact that we're in the Adirondack Park Agency which is full of restrictions...well, it's just not that easy. Right now we've got an architect and an engineer and, well, a ton of people trying to help us figure out this mess! Needless to say, the last few weeks of our stay felt a bit like camping with limited water use, Adirondack showers, laundry going to Mom's house and boys peeing in the woods! (I hope none of our neighbors caught this action!) So...we could use some positive thoughts as we look to find a solution that will have us up and running for next summer! (And all of our future summers!)

Of course, we're back in Poland now. The kids started school. Caleb in middle school and Grayson in 5th grade. They are both settling in nicely. Caleb has joined the middle school soccer team (actually it looks like there will be two teams) and club soccer starts this weekend. Grayson has signed up for two after school activities and he's also got club soccer starting. Lots of new kids in the neighborhood and life is good for them. Blaine is busy at work...some things just don't change. I've started working more hours at my job (after a little bit of slacking this summer) and I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and upcoming travels. While this is still not my favorite place to be, friends and travel opportunities certainly make things easier.

And that's all I've got! Will work to truly put together a Fab 5 for next week! It's looking like a beautiful weekend ahead and we can't wait to spend time with friends on Saturday!