We aren't entitled.

Today one of the stories in yahoo really caught my attention. The story was about a UK Eatery charging a baby tax. Now, while I agree that is absolutely ridicoulus, I found the meat of the story to be really annoying. Anybody who reads this and gets offended. Do remember this is my personal opinion and how I choose to live my life. Should a restaurant charge for a baby who is not eating, absolutely not, in no way is that kind or correct. Should a restaurant be able to charge a surcharge, when the parents come in with a toddler and bring in outside food, of course they should. You pay a surcharge if you bring your own wine to a restaurant, why should bringing in your own food be any different. And honestly maybe you should be leaving that child with a sitter while you go out to dinner. When our children were growing up, we did not go out to eat frequently. And not just because of the cost, but because I don' believe that very young children should have to behave appropriately in "grown up restaurants" I don't believe in taking them with. Not that we didn't ever go to dinner, but before the age of 4 we pretty much went to restaurants that were "family oriented" or like MCDonalds. By the time they are 4 they should have been eating at your supper table and being taught the proper way to behave. Which includes, not running around, not being loud and not playing with food. I do not believe that because you made a choice to become a parent that everybody is required to change their lifestyle just for you. If my husband and I go out to a restaurant, I expect to have a nice evening with my partner, which means not watching someone elses child run around, maybe get hurt, or start throwing their food or worse yet crying because they've gotten in trouble for not behaving. I don't believe my children have been scarred for life, or missed out on anything because they did not get to do everything at a younger age. Your life choices do and should impact how you live your life. If you choose to become a parent, recognize that you can't live exactly the same lifestyle you did prior to the arrival of children in your life. And it's not really fair to the children because it deminshes their childhood. If you can afford to go out to eat regularly, switch off, make the decision to go with your friends or your partner with no children most of the time. Or choose to go to "family restaurants" until your children are older. Our generation and the generation behind us has forgotten the basics of living respectfully and yet we are very free with comment on how horrendous the next generation behaves. Next time you want to complain about the way you have been treated, take a look at what caused that treatment first and really consider if it was warranted.

Memories

The holiday season brings all sorts of emotions and memories rushing forward. Not that we don't have these things all year, but. it seems exceedingly heightened with Thanksgiving ended and the run up to Christmas beginning. Been thinking tons about the things hat I cherised especially as a young adult, before marriage and kids and extended families. When I was in high school my older brother and I lived with our mom, and I've been thinking about those times a great deal lately, and for some unknown reason the foods that I loved. Some things I never really introduced my kids to like Corn Chowder. It's on the menu for dinner tonight, I think it is a tried and trued staple of comfort food for northern houses. My mom did not make a version that cost a lot of money, cause she was a single parent with a couple of teenagers in the house. Milk, bacon, onion, potatoes, chicken broth and corn with lots of pepper in it. My mom liked pepper, pretty much everything she made that I have been craving of late had lots of pepper in it. Of course winter makes you think of stews and soups. Next weekend I think her beef stew will be on the menu. I have never been able to make it taste like she did, but I still love a good beef stew when it's cold and rainy out. I don't remember ever making corn chowder when the kids were growing up, I truly enbraced (if you will) all things about being married to an Italian and for the most part the kids grew up with a mostly Italian diet. Not sure why I did that, but I am working really hard on re-creating some of the most beloved meals from my childhood mostly for myself, but with the assumption that Adrian will also love these meals. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about mom and really miss her. She's not passed yet, but she is entirely gone. The beauty of living so far away is I don't feel guilty for not going to see her regularly. When I am back in SF I try to make at least one visit over to the home to just let them know that my sister is not alone, and that we all still love our mother. I miss her like crazy, we certainly didn't always see eye to eye, but she was an amazing smart and independant woman, who set the most amazing example of how to live and love for her children. I recognize that this is all crazy ramblings and very unfocused, but, I did warn you that this was the furture of this blog. So as the holiday season encroaches on your life, take a moment to remember those things that brought you special joy wen you were growing into the person you are today.

The day after

First I want to share two little known facts about Tacoma.....did you know that the candy Almond Rocca is made here in Tacoma and that Bing Crosby was born here, amazing. So last night as we sat down to our very delicious Thanksgiving Feast, I realized that I am very fortunate to have parents from the two oldest and most prolific regions in the states. Mom was born and raised in Massachusetts (as was my stepmother)and Daddy was from Georgia. So, normally Thanksgiving dinner was a wonderful mix of both regions, we did not realize this when we were younger, but things like cranberry sauce and traditional sweet potato casserole represent both regions. The only thing I really missed and will probably miss again at Christmas, mince pie and rutabegas. In previous years I would still get to eat these things because my sister also loves these holiday foods from our childhood. I am sure after making the casserole for just the two of us I could easily do the rutabega for just me, but, not sure if I could find it in the stores here and the mince pie....well...no way I am eating an entire pie by myself, for a multitude of reasons. Today dawned so clear and beautiful after all the rain, we are hoping to get the Christmas lights up outside. I have already changed over the beds and the dishes, but there is still much to do. As those who know me well know the entire house will get a holiday make over, over the next few days. I'm not sure that I will ever have anything worth saying in this blog, but it is nice for me to be able to et rid of some of the things that constantly run around in my had. By the way those of you insane enough to be out there shopping today, is it really worth it? I don't think I could ever deal with all the lunatics and crowds; I think I would just rather not buy.

New adventure, new lifestyle, new name

So this will be a really long post, as it has been forever. As those of you who have been following this blog may notice, I changed the name. We aren't in Europe anymore, but I decided I would continue blogging, and maybe even be more consistent at it. No promises there though.

We arrived back in the US in mid July, Adrian's assignment is to "SEATAC" airport, started looking for a home to buy. What were we thinking, you are only given 60 days temp housing, this is not enough time to find and buy a house in most cases. We do know people who have been successful with that, but, not us. So in September we signed a one year lease on a lovely home in Tacoma. We are in an area known as Brown's Point, it's only about 1.5 miles to the Puget Sound. There's a walking trail near us, but we have not yet attempted it. Very happy to be here and still settling in.

Today is Thanksgiving and we are reminded to vocally give thanks for all the things we have been blessed with. Family, friends our health and life. We are exceedingly grateful to be home in the United States. Adrian is working today, but that is ok since it is just the two of us. He wanted to go out to dinner tonight, but...for me this is criminal. I personally can not go to dinner on any holiday except Mothers/Fathers day. It's just a personal choice and place. So, we saw that Trader Joe's offers a 1/2 Turkey, sounded good to me. This will give me enough to make pot pies after and still have a lovely traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The challenge is in making the appropriate quantity of food. I am so used to cooking for a crowd that I really haven't spent a lot of time thinking about making a holiday for just the two of us.

I posted the fact that it was hard to do on Facebook and the response was interesting. The number of my friends that were concerned about us being "alone". We are very happy to spend the holiday with just the two of us, and it will be very quiet and romantic. So, I took a friends recipe for traditional sweet potato casserole and cut it down (to the best of my ability), we'll see how it turns out tonight. Still have to figure out small quantity dressing.

I had all these amazing thoughts rolling around in my brain when I woke up and was laying in the bed, but can't think of any of it now of course.

Here's hoping you all have an amazing Thanksgiving day!