Oops! I'm doing it again!

I've decided to try another one of those 3-day Juice cleanses.  Only this time I'm paying someone else to do all the work.  I found a fancy Juice Bar in Maryland, through one of the bloggers I read and I thought Why Not?  I've been doing really great all summer watching what I'm eating, not dieting, but just trying to be more aware and consciously making good choices.  Only eating when I'm really hungry, no mindless snacking, measuring out appropriate portion sizes and making healthy choice instead of always defaulting to a slim jim and some Doritios when the first hunger pangs hit.  That, in combination with our Summer Fit in 15 had 6 lbs falling by the wayside.  Yeah!  Pants that were a tad snug are now loose and flappy.  Anyway,  all that has fallen by the wayside over the last 2-3 weeks.  I know it's all stress.  Brenna going back to college, Zack starting high school, I've taken over a huge administrative position on the Crew Board and am still doing all the same stuff for Athletic Boosters. With school starting sometimes I have 3 different meetings in one day not to mention all the little "critical" shit that's gotta get done so the big stuff doesn't go down in flames.  Let's not forget the upcoming bathroom remodel. Can anyone say Post Traumatic Tile and Paint Syndrome!  It's all starting to get to me, I'm having the "can't find my locker" "can't find my class that I forgot to go to" and  "can't catch the hundreds of snakes appearing in my house" dreams.  Those are always an indication that I'm feeling overwhelmed and out of control.
Long story short (too late), I've been partaking of the snack food just a little too much and been feeling yuck!  Soooooo, I saw this bloggers Blog and I thought "Hey, I should do that again."  But I just couldn't add the stress of having to make it all myself, and shop and blah, blah, blah.  I've been tucking away "Mad Money" every month forever, and what better to spend my mad money stash on than  Juice Cleanse torture therapy!

I drove out to Bethesda yesterday and picked up my 18 bottles of juice, my 3 beet juice shots and 1 ginger shot and tucked it all away in the refrigerator.

Today's the day... of course, just like when you make an appointment for your kids at the doctor and they suddenly get better, I woke up this morning, the first morning of my juice fast....STARVING!.  Not just a little twinge of "Hmm I think I'll eat a little earlier this morning" hungry.  Freaking, stabbing hunger pangs hungry.  Oh well...

Right now I'm "enjoying" hot water with a slice of lemon, and 1/3 of the ginger shot (it's very spicy).  Not nearly as satisfying as the bagel and cream cheese I would love to be eating.  But I bought, I committed and I will persevere!

This "free, public" education costs how much???

$119.73 for SCHOOL.SUPPLIES!  Are you kidding me???  All I can say is....Momma better get me some A's!!!

First Day... We survived.

 Kindergarten

We both survived the 1st day of high school!  I think it was probably rougher for me than Zack.  I do think he was a little more nervous than he let on since when I woke up at 6am he was already in the shower!  He also voluntarily picked out his own school supplies.
    I worked in the Spiritwear Store all day and he actually came up to the store at lunch time and said hello.  Quite different from his sister who use to walk the extra long way around the school to avoid me! :o)  I got to see him at lunch and he apparently found someone to eat with and seemed to be smiling and fine when he exited the cafeteria.

9th grade

     He found his bus just fine, got home safely and proceeded to regale me with tales of his day....NOT!
This is how our recap of the day went:
Me - "How was your day?"
Zack - "Fine."
Me - "Come on throw your mom a bone, tell me something..."
Zack - "It was good."

That's it... that's all I got.  This child should become some sort of super secret spy, he's so good at keeping mum!  But from what little I could pry from his tight closed lips... it seemed to be fine.  His teachers are "cool." And that's about it.
But I'll take it, no drama, no tears and seems to be fine going back tomorrow... I think I consider it a success!

Nervous, worried, hesitant and little excited with a few small seeds of panic thrown in...

       Tomorrow's the day... I know I've said it before but I cannot believe my baby boy will be in HIGH SCHOOL!  It's exciting, heart-wrenching, gut-clenching all at the same time.  I know in my head that he is totally ready for this.  He is happy, confident, strong.  He has plenty of friends, he's been up at the high school with me, taken tours, for heaven's sake he's been in this same school system since he was in the 3rd grade.  It's as close to a "home town" as any military brat could ever get.  I KNOW he's going to be fine, but my heart is FREAKING OUT!!  Now is the time that I try not to project all my insecurities onto him.  Will he be able to find his classes, will he have any friends, will he have someone to eat lunch with, will he be able to find his bus home... you know the drill....
      I dont' think I even worried this much about Brenna, of course part of that could have been that she was deep into the obnoxious, rude, snotty teenage years, so maybe we didn't like her as much! :o)  Zack is just barely dipping his toes into those rude, obnoxious years!  We still like him a lot...mostly! :o)
    It makes me laugh, if you ask any of the boys...Zack, Tyler, Sal or Wyatt if they are excited or ready for school,  they are like, "yeah, sure, whatever."  If you ask any of the mothers, they are likely to fall into a quivering ball of nerves and doubts.  That's why we're all meeting for mimosas and drunken gummies as soon as they get on the bus!
There's noting wrong with drinking at 730am...right???  Just a small orange juice drink...it's actually a healthy breakfast drink...

He's ready.  I know he's ready so I'm just gonna hold on tight (but not too tight) and go along for the ride!

New Recipe Night - Couscous Paella Soup

I'm finally back to cooking at least for the moment.  One more week of summer and then it's back to school, so I guess I better get back into the swing of things as well.
This was really tasty, quick and easy.  Even more exciting... I got John to eat couscous despite his hatred of it.  Frankly, I don't understand how anyone can hate couscous, but he is not a fan.
I did get him to admit that it was "okay in soup."  Success on all fronts!

Couscous Paella Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup diced red pepper

1/3 cup diced onion

1/3 finely diced Spanish chorizo (substitute pepperoni if needed)

2 large cloves garlic, minced

8 oz chicken tenders, diced

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/c cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)

large pinch of saffron (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 cup water

2/3 cup couscous

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional) I substituted chopped green onion

1.  Heat oil in a large pan, add bell pepper, onion, chorizo, and garlic.  Cook stirring until vegetables begin to soften, about 2 minutes.  Add chicken, broth, peas, saffron, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook until vegetables are tender - 8-10 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat.   Let stand 5 minutes. 

3.  To serve, mound about 1/2 cup couscous in bowl.  Ladle the soup around the couscous and sprinkle with cilantro or green onion.

It really was very tasty and very easy.  My only suggestion... needs a little more spice/heat for me.  Maybe add jalapeño or other hot pepper.

P.S.  Didn't even offer it to Zack.  He seems to be boycotting all food except Ramen, Waffles and Froot Loops.  It's like he's skipped high school and gone straight to college!

It's finally happened, I hoped it wouldn't, but it did and I'm sad!

So the day I knew was coming, but hoped never would, has and it stinks!  Zack is finally, officially a teenager.  And how do I know you might ask....

Because everything I say is stupid, I don't "know" anything, I couldn't be any more "out" of it.  I knew it would happen eventually... it did with Brenna and I suffered through it and came out the other side okay, but that doesn't make it any easier.
I think it's especially sad for me because Zack is my baby and I've always been his favorite so it's hard for me to sit there and listen to him think I'm stupid.  We were always buddies. With Brenna - she always like John better than me, so it wasn't as heart-wrenching when she started verbalizing her disdain... but my Zacky...I am just sad!

Don't say it, just don't say anything...

I know! Right!?

This is what happens when you drop your baby girl off a college for her sophomore year and have to drive home by yourself.  I'm just saying...