Sometimes You Just Need a Weekend Off…and Food

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Like any other mom whose kids are on summer break, it speeds by. There’s work, house cleaning, laundry, regular errands, and then you add in the pressure of making sure that you don’t only keep the kid(s) occupied but you do it in such a way that when they go back to school, they get to say “Wait’ll you hear all the cool things I did this summer!”

Looking back on what we’ve done, I think Little Dude can say that, but I’ve still got three weeks left. Three.Short.Weeks. I love summer — I love having him home with me and I love getting that extra time with him with no morning rush of breakfast and out-the-door routine. It makes me sad when I think about how it’s almost over with and I still have things I want to do with him! Thing is, we live in Southern California so our trip to Griffith Park Observatory doesn’t need to happen right away and the San Diego Wild Animal Park is going to be fine in September, when it’s just a smidge cooler. Three weeks give us a lot of time to get to the community pool and get Shark Week ice cream at Coldstone Creamery, too. (I may be as excited about that as he is.)

As busy as the summer makes us, there comes a time when you need a weekend off. My business keeps me busy — which is fantastic — and the recent re-branding with a new logo, new paperwork and new presentations (including a class for businesses on proper social media usage) has added to the list. Being a blogger means that daily I have things to do; if it’s not writing, it’s promotion. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it’s a lot more than meets the eye. I also have a full-time social media job and anyone in the field knows that’s a 24/7 gig, even on a good day. All this combined with an ongoing health issue (a story for another post…maybe) means that now and then, you just need to sit down and not get up for a while. Or as I say, loudly, “Mom’s going to sit on her butt on the couch and not get up.”

One can try, right?

In reality, I don’t get to sit long, but it’s a nice idea and it sets sort of a precedent…at least in my mind. The laundry doesn’t disappear and the doorbell still rings with solicitors selling me something I don’t need or want, but I don’t work. I don’t tweet. I don’t Instagram…much. (Old habits die hard, I still try to post at least one photo a day, and since I blog about food a lot, it’s an easy thing to do.) And I don’t blog.

That’s kind of what I did this past weekend. We didn’t make big plans and we caught up with things around the house. The husband did more work on the landscaping in the backyard. He’s made so much headway, and I think (he can correct me if I’m wrong) that the next step is sprinkler rearrangement, and someone’s coming out to do that. We also get to go shopping to pick the wall and paver materials. That’s the fun part! The not-so-fun part is where we get to assemble it all…that’s a lot of w o r k…but being able to envision the beautiful backyard is worth it. Shade, benches, patio cover, planters, garden area, grass for the dogs — I can’t wait!

While he was doing that, I got the housework caught up and watched some TV. Made some dinner. And on Sunday, we had a big family day. Here are some pictures as proof!

Getting ready to bust out the peach mimosas! Oranges picked fresh from the tree and a coffee cake in the works. (Isn’t my computer table awesome? It’s on wheels and goes all over the kitchen as needed. Love it!)

Can’t you almost just smell that? Fresh orange juice and orange peel…chocolate streusel…yummm.

Five-minute artisan bread boule for the fondue planned for mid-afternoon.

Mint-Citrus Margaritas. No other words needed.

Promised Little Dude s’mores, but it was still in the high ’80s. No, thank you, I think we’ll use the broiler.

Gorgeous, right? Same results. You can leave them in there longer if you want the marshmallows near burnt, like I do.

See? Just like any other s’mores.

And a gratuitous puppy pic, because she’s so darn stinkin’ adorable!

As you can see, Sunday was not a day full of healthy food, but like I say all the time here on the blog: everyone needs a little indulgence. We don’t eat or drink this way every day, but we had a houseful and we were enjoying the time together, baking, cooking, creating…and just laughing. Time like that is cherished and yes, sure, it can happen with healthier food, one day isn’t going to kill us. (And dinner was actually healthy bbq’d chicken, made with the husband’s homemade rub, and baked french fries in honor of National French Fry day.) It went way too quickly but it was nice to not be at the laptop all day!