A little bit of this, and a lot of bit of that.

Meet Jake Jake. His name is Jake, but to us, there is the one and only Jake, the perfect chocolate dog. Jake Jake is our neighbor, but he loves us. His fence has more holes than a slice of swiss cheese and his massive frame can squeeze himself in to the tiniest mouse hole. His name should be Jerry, but it's Jake. To us, it's Jake Jake, as in Jake the 2nd. He loves us so much he's visited 3 times over the past week. We love him back. He's the perfect dog, he comes to visit, but then he goes home and we don't have to scoop massive horse size poop, or feed him what I'm sure would take a trough full of food. I worry about him. He has eye infections, which his breed is prone to. Do his people have drops for him? Are they not worried about his constant escapes? Do they let him in the house and give him loads of attention? I'm afraid to ask his people because I don't want to be the nosey neighbor, so we just walk him home. Me in the car, him trotting next to me. It's been a few stormy days since we've seen him last. I hope he's being a good boy. 

I'm on the decline weight wise. So happy about that. Getting a little exercise and food obsessed helps. My food obsession is more about being fed well. I want food with substance, flavor, happy happy. I'm no  foodie, I couldn't even pretend to know my way around the chic food scene. I'm just thinking, if I stop cramming mediocre crap down my throat, think of all the food I won't eat. Problem... I cook mediocre crap. So I've turned my poor family in to guinea pigs for my cooking experiments. Now, I'm not trying untried combos, I'm just trying to learn how to make the normal everyday stuff, but with some flavor and more freshness. The grocery store is just about a daily stop since I started buying for just what I'm cooking. I don't stock up, and I'm terrible about planning ahead. But it's fun, and the kids are getting the bug. The kids, as in AJ. Hunter doesn't care about a thing unless it's chicken nuggets or hot dogs. AJ wants to make dinner all by himself. However, I'm a bit concerned with his knife work. I'm thinking I'll be the sous chef. For now, it's just me trying to learn to cook. I did fine before, but now I'm doing it with flavor, although not always good flavor. I want to learn how to make a few things really well. I'm bombing on the cupcakes, but rocking the icing. I'm an intermediate pasta maker, but need to learn a good sauce to go with. Thankfully, the in-laws keep me well supplied in freshly jarred sauce. Lasagne is probably the one thing I made that was great the 1st time. Tomorrow we will see how it comes out the 2nd time. In the meanwhile, AJ and I just sit and watch Food Network and the cooking channel and bet on how will make the final round of Chopped. It must be helping because this weekend Mike actually suggested I learn how to make tiramisu, which shows he has some confidence in my abilities.    

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan sorta jumped up and slapped me in the face. My heart broke a thousand times as I watched the horrors unfold on tv. It reminded me that nothing I own really matters. Just my family and loved ones. All of them. Every single one of them. I want to see them as much as I can. Last weekend, I took the boys to San Francisco for Vanessa's shower. I LOVED it. Vanessa is such a beautiful mom to be. Natalie's kids are growing so quickly and each one of them so amazingly beautiful. Tia Lety has not aged a single day since I last saw her. She always looks so beautiful and it was great in the evening when most people had left to just sit and catch up with her. We stayed at Dad's and it was so wonderful to have that extra time with Nanny. I just can't get enough of her. Today is her 92nd birthday, and there is not a day that goes by that I am not so thankful for the times my kids get to spend getting to know her. I'm so happy they've had those moments. This weekend, I'm heading down to LA. The boys' Aunt Frankenstein is coming to CA and we are stoked to see her. Hopefully Pinky will make it up over the weekend so we get to see her, too. The boys' are psyched, but me, way more. I can't wait to see Pica Chica's green hair, and give Sid Vicious his 16 spankings.  

Tomorrow the boys get passports, we have a talent show dress rehearsal, I hit the gym, finish laundry, and make lasagne. Oh yeah, and squeeze in a full day's work, homework, catechism, and a bit of at home soccer practice, since official practice is at the same time as catechism. Wow, I'm tired already, but really thinking about that lasagne.