7 Quick Takes Friday

1

Move over Panera, I have a new favorite restaurant in my town. Last night I ate at Mixed and can I just say, YUM! If you like the idea of freshly prepared salads with crisp greens and fresh veggies, this is the place for you. If you like supporting businesses that are committed to being eco-friendly, this is the place for you. If you live outside of Sioux Falls....you're out of luck. I suppose other places have comparable establishments, but the idea of a made to order salad to go is a fairly new concept here.

Of course, I'll be eating there alone because Mike and the boys are allergic to the idea of eating anything containing salad ingredients. Especially lettuce.

2

So, why did I get to eat there? Because my wonderful husband saw me gazing longingly at it as we headed into Chuck E Cheese's and said "Go take a break and eat what you want. The boys and I will be fine." I so love this man.

3

How did I justify buying my own meal instead of eating pizza at Chuck E Cheese's? Because we have a wonderful neighbor who just happens to be the manager there and who occasionally gives us gift cards for a free pizza, drinks and tokens.

And when another neighbor was left with $2 in his bank account she gave him enough food to get him through until payday.

It kind of makes me wonder why someone who doesn't claim to be a Christian is out-giving me. It challenges me to do better.

4

Speaking of food (because I was, sort of), why is it always up to us moms to finish off everything that the rest of the family has decided they don't like? I've got two boxes of cereal in the pantry that I am slowly working my way through. Cereal that the boys USED to like, cereal that Indy insisted he wanted. And now he has declared he doesn't want it so I'm stuck eating it because I can't just toss perfectly good cereal.

The same thing happens with leftovers. I will cook a perfectly delicious dinner and then be stuck eating leftovers for the next four days. Even the most delicious dinner gets a little tiring after the second day in a row. Multiply that times the number of meals a week and its no wonder I am as big as a house...it's from eating all the leftovers. Because my German ancestry forbids that I ever waste food by throwing it away.

5

Moving off the topic of food, school starts in only a little over a week. I am still trying to figure out where the summer went, and if I am ready for this or not. This year I send Indy off to Kindergarten and I am NOT ready. Although there are moments (when he is testing his voice to see how many decibels he can reach) that I am MORE than ready. Unlike Gates, he's not too thrilled with the idea. Gates loves school (or maybe he just doesn't like being at home?). When I asked Gates what his favorite part of summer had been he said "Waiting for school to start." As one friend commented, "I think he's missing the point of summer."

Indy, on the other hand, would be more than content to stay home with me forever. Or at least for another year. But he'll turn six in November, so I can't really hold him out for another year and Mike is adamantly against homeschooling. So, off to school my baby goes.

6

Remember how much fun it was to go school shopping when we were kids? Picking folders and notebooks with cool pictures on them, expressing our personality through the accessories. Yeah, they've pretty much taken the fun out of that. Or at least, our district has. "Four two-pocket folders in solid colors, preferably green, yellow, red and blue. Four spiral bound wide-ruled notebooks to match." Try marching your kids past displays of folders with cars, robots, cartoon characters, etc. and telling them they can only pick the plain ones. Not so fun. Gates has adjusted, Indy not so much. And I'll admit to casting a longing eye at the display of gorgeous folders, binders and other coordinating accessories and remembering the days when all I wanted was a cool Trapper Keeper.

7

Still on the topic of back-to-school shopping, we finally went shoe shopping for the boys last night. Yes, 'we'. Because I refused to attempt it by myself, quite certain that it would result in chaos, mayhem, and possible bodily injury. It is amazing how excited they were about new shoes. You'd think we'd never ever bought them new shoes before. In fact, Gates just asked me if he could look at his new shoes. Um, yes? He picked them up and went and lay on our bed and just looked at them for awhile. Some people appreciate art, my child appreciates shoes. Go figure.

For more 7 Quick Takes Friday posts visit Jen at Conversion Diary.