Money, Money, Money....

Hannah had a play date today with her friend Anna.

Anna's family has a lot of money. She takes theater class, piano and dance and is being tutored over the summer (she is also going into pre-first).
Hannah gave Anna a tour of the house, the same way that Wes and I do when people come over (it was quite cute). "This is the downstairs bathroom but we have another one UPSTAIRS!!!!" (Very enthusiastically:)
Hannah gets done giving the tour and Anna asks why our house is so small (really it is not that small) Hannah shows her the backyard. Anna sees that there is a large pool and trampoline, which belong to our neighbors. Anna asks, is that your pool? Hannah says "No" and Anna says "OH!!!" and then she asks Hannah "Is that your trampoline?" Hannah says "No" and Anna says "OH!!!" Then Anna looks in the driveway and asks Hannah where the cars are? Hannah tells her that Wes is at work and that we only have one car.
People, what is going on? Have things gotten that bad that 5 yr olds are now taking score of what you have and do not have and then they decide your child's social standing? This is exactly the reason why children are such brats and are not learning manners, their parents are more obsessed with what they have than who they are. I am getting fed up with people judging us for how much money we have or what kind of car we drive. Honestly I don't care if you are rich or poor just as long as you have a good heart and try to be a good person.
Audrey and Hannah have a lot more than I ever did, I grew up poor (with my Mom) during the school year and rich (with my Dad) during the summer...talk about confusing. I hated going back to being poor so I understand the desire to want things and want the "good life" but I learned a very valuable lesson: IN-BETWEEN is better. Being poor tears your heart out and being rich turns it to stone. This is a lesson that we are trying hard to teach the girls, work hard and get an education so you can support yourself, but at the same time never take what you have for granted because it can be taken from you at any time. Getting rid of the cable and what-not is teaching them that they will not die without certain "luxuries". Life and Hannah Montana will go on without them.
I have talked about the over-the-top birthday parties that we have been to while living here in New York, and the girls parties coming up I know there is going to be a certain expectation and guess what...I don't care. Just as long as the girls are happy that is all that matters (and the food is good:)

Zucchini Coming Out Of My Ears...

We are eating so much Zucchini that it has become a new food group. It might sound like I am compaining but I am not. Wes was so good at makig the garden a success that the Zucchini is extremely bountiful and twice as big as the ones in the market. I love having fresh veg almost daily that we made with our own two hands. We have cucumbers also but not as abundant as the Zucchini. The tomatoes are still green but there are a TON of them...so soon I will have tomatoes coming out my ears.

I have a bazillion Zucchini recipes but this Zucchini Spice Bread Recipe is the best and the talk of the neighbors. It is very easy to make.

Zucchini Spice Bread

Serves 12...Prep Time -15 Minutes...Cooking Time 45-70 min
9x5x3 inch loaf pan greased...

(If you plan to bake this bread in a smaller loaf pan, be sure to fill it no more than three-quarters full to prevent the batter from overflowing in the oven).

Nonstick cooking spray
1 large zucchini
1 cup packed light - brown sugar
2 tbs granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all -purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp salt

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degress. Lightly coat a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, and set aside. Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater (to yield 1 3/4 cups); set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, oil, vanilla and eggs.

2 - In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, and stir to combine well. Stir in grated zucchini.

3 - Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45-70 min (depending on oven) comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; invert onto a wire rack, then reinvert, top side up. Cool completely before slicing.

4 - Serve with butter

P.S. I can not wait till Friday night. I am going to get Breaking Dawn and don't plan on sleeping until I am finished. Lets just hope that Stephanie Meyer does the right thing so that I, Jenny Jordan, will not be forced to picket at my local Barnes and Noble:P

Pink Princess Party...

Hannah has asked for a Pink Princess Party for her 6th birthday. I can not belive how quick time has gone by. I am going to make her an Aurora Barbie cake. If anyone has any good suggestions on activities, goodie bags or anything Pink and Princessy, please let me know:)

Facebook

I can not believe how many people Wes knows on Facebook. He opened a Facebook page last week and has already accumlated 35+ friends. The majority are his Fraternity brothers and people he went to college with back in the 90's.
We are pretty much in a tie for how many friends we have but I am making it my mission (I have nothing better to do, ok I do...but a little competition between each other is good) to get more friends than he does.

I have found that 30 and older tend to be on Facebook and people under 30 are on Myspace...unless you are like me and are on both because you are a complete cyber junkie (I am also on Orkut...hi Cris!!). I am thankful for Myspace and Facebook...being so far from home and my friends and loved ones is hard but these sites really help me so that I don't feel so disconnected. I am able to talk to my family/friends on all sides and I often feel like I live right next door instead of 1000s of miles away. I know that a lot of people have made the arguement that these sites are there to abuse and help perpetrate crimes, I know this happens, but in the hands of responsible individuals with good intentions Myspace and Facebook are truly a godsend to those of us who are so far away from those we love.

The Story of "US"

Many years ago when I was still living at home...I think I was about 13/14, I was watching Dances with Wolves with Dad. We were watching the movie and I was wondering why Kevin Costner's horse was named "US"..."US" was branded on its butt. So I asked my Dad why the horses name was "US". Well, needless to say, I have never lived that down. (Of course it meant the horse belonged to the "United States").

Fast forward to a couple of days ago...I had written down our new phone number on the white board in the kitchen and put "US" on top of the number (as to say it belonged to us). Wes comes up stairs and says he could not figure out what the "United States" had to do with our number. Crazy...he did what I did but in reverse.

Proof that we truly belong together:)

Honk If You Love Me!!!

All spring/summer we have had a massive amount of construction going on at the bottom of our street. The traffic for the town has been diverted to our street so our road has been very busy.
This afternoon I was doing my regular activities and all of a sudden I started hearing a TON of honking from trucks. Every minute or so another HONK...I had no clue why? I went outside to look if something was going on and low and behold there is Audrey, Hannah and Steven (he lives next door, we ar babysitting him for the summer, he is 8) holding up a sign "Honk or Wave"....

Mystery solved:P

Memory Tag

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

A Weekend With The Girls

I have had my nieces Danielle (8) and Delaney (10) visiting for four days. Audrey and Hannah have been over the moon. We have been eating lots of junk food, playing games, putting on plays, watching movies, shopping and we had a bonfire. All the things that makes being a girl fun!!!

We went and saw the new American Girl movie, Kit. The theater was full of girls, Mothers and Grandparents, it made for a real cozy atmosphere. The movie is about a 10 yr old girl who comes from a well - to -do middle class family and subsequently loses everything during the Great Depression. You follow Kit and her friends as they lose their homes, Fathers (they leave to go look for work elsewhere), and have to worry about money just as much as their parents. I was surprised at how well the movie portrayed the prejudice that the upper class felt for those who had lost everything and ended up living in Hobo camps. Of course the movie has a happy ending but by the end of it I had tears running down my face along with every other Mother. The girls did not understand why the movie made me so sad...it had a happy ending. I could not help but think about what Wes and I would do in that situation and how I did not want the girls to go through such a hardship. The scary thing about it is that this country going into another "Great Depression" during the girls lifetime is a real possibility, it feels like it is looming in the shadows. That movie hit real close to home. (By the way this movie had a GREAT cast!!!!)

We broke down this week and got the Cell phone turned on. I will admit, it was very peaceful not having a phone. It was major pain in the butt but it had "that stranded on a island feeling" with only you your thoughts (if you can understand what I am talking about).

Wes clipped off the most beautiful Zuchinni from our garden this morning. Yay!!!! Eurika, we have vegetables.

Jenny Strikes Again....

The other day I was running around with my head cut off. I was just thinking about too much at one time.
I stopped to get gas, I went in and paid $35 and walked back out to the car...got in and drove away. I was driving for about a minute when I looked ath the gas meter and it was still on empty. Duh, Jen you did not put the gas in the car. I turned around and was able to fill the car up. Gas is expensive enough, I must remember to actually put it in the car:P

Chocolate Anyone?

On our way back to Pennsylvania we passed the Mason Dixon Line, that was cool. For some reason I thought Virginia fought for the North but they were Confederates. I find this very interesting considering that many of the early Presidents and people that helped establish this Country were from Virginia. We also passed the Potomac River and Antietam. We drove through the most beautiful state park in Maryland, it was under a canopy of trees. I am sure there was heavy fighting there many years ago.

We went to Gettysburg. It was the 145th Anniversary of the battle this week. They had self guided car tours and many people were dressed up in period clothing. 51,000 Soldiers died in Gettysburg (July 1st, 2nd, 3rd 1863). Lincoln did not give the famous Gettysburg Address until November (we bought a copy in Lincoln's handwriting). They were doing live reenactments of some fighting, I really was not interested in showing war to the girls. I think they will see plenty of it in their lifetime.

We went to Hershey World. It is only about 45 minutes away from Gettysburg. It truly is a Chocolate Wonderland, the girls were in heaven. It smells so good there. We got a Hershey's Chocolate Bar made with our family picture on the wrapper. That was a cool souvenir. We went to the Zoo of America, that was next door (I guess we had not seen enough animals yet:P) ... Audry and Hannah commented on how small the Zoo was, every Zoo is going to small now that we have been to the National Zoo.

Wes goes back to work today, I am sad:( It was a good vacation though, we did sooooooo much and got to spend it together as a family. We are planning a weekend trip to D.C. sometime in August, until then back to the grind.

If I Could Walk 100 Miles...

We had a very nice vacation. I am thoroughly exhausted and I finally got a tan (yay) because that is important. You should see Audrey's:)

We went to the National Zoo twice in Washington D.C., I would have to put it in the top 3 best Zoos in the Country (It was so good we went back). It is a FREE (except for parking $20...all that money goes to the animals so I do not mind) and it took us about 4 hrs to get through the whole Zoo about a 3 mile walk. The habitats were amazing these animals live in the Four Seasons of Zoos. The Pandas were AWESOME!!! Sorry Andrea no Giraffes but they did have some very cool Elephants. We had a nice picnic lunch and then headed downtown to the National Mall. Ginormous is not even the right word to describe how big this section of the city was. We went and parked near the National Monument (about 5 miles away) thinking this would be a central place to see things), we were wrong.

We saw the White House, The National Monument and the 4th of July Parade....the girls really liked that. We saw so many buildings that have so much significance and history it was mind boggling to have them right in front of us.

The game plan was to go to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History which was about 10 blocks from where we were and also go to the Library of Congress (this is like Nirvana for was), I had also promised that I would buy him his Father's Day gift there. So we start walking and there are a TON of people, it is the 4th of July in Washington, which made things stressful. We walk about 2 miles and find the Smithsonian but I really wanted to take Wes to the Library of Congress and I had the address but not the understanding of the layout of the National Mall. So we kept walking (wrong choice). Washington D.C. is a Police State (which makes no sense because it is not a State). I have never seen so many Police anywhere...by the time we went home we must of have seen at least 1,500 Cops and Agents.

You would think that at least one of these Cops would know how far the Library of Congress was from 10th and Consitution (Smithsonian). I guess none of them read. I kept getting just a couple more blocks down that way...and you guys are here to protect us. We kept walking probably another 2.5 miles, the poor girls...they were being so strong and did a really good job, but I could see them struggle. It was also so humid and hot (much more humid than NY) so we stopped to take a rest across the street from the Canadian Consulate (I bet they would have known where the library was) and the Museum of Jornalism...we are going to go there the next time we visit...it was spectacular just seeing it from the outside, it was HUMUNGOUS and full of news. Sounds like a good place for Marcie:) Wes goes ahead and does a little bit of scouting and comes back and says the Capitol Building is just up the street. Well who does not want to see the Capitol Building, so we start walking again and I ask my 3rd group of Cops (they were always in groups) where the Library is and point the same direction, yata, yata...we walk another .5 miles to the Capitol. Seeing the Capitol Building on T.V. does not capture the grandeur (lots of big words in this blog) of this building. I liked it so much more than the White House and you could actually get close to it. Unfortunately I was so hell bent on getting us to the Library we hardly spent anytime there looking around. People were already lining up for the Fire Works (it was like only 2:00 and the Fire Works did not start until 10:00) so it was getting crowded again which did not help my mood. We made it to the back of the of the Capitol Building and I see another group of Cops and I am fed up with asking them so I snapped at Wes to go and ask them for directions...he did not hear the first part of my sentence and thought I was accusing him of not knowing where we were going and dragging us around D.C. ...so I am ashamed to admit it but Wes and I had a screaming fight at the Capitol Building. He just wanted to turn around and go back to the Smithsonian but you know us ROOKS when we get an idea in our head, it is getting done. I told him that if we had to walk 100 miles we were going to the Library. I stomped over to the group of Cops and asked again where the Library of Congress was and one of them pointed right at it, right next door to the Supreme Court (the building was so white, and ongoing theme in D.C.). Only a couple of blocks left to walk. Wes and I are not talking to each other, the girls are miserable and it is spitting rain...stupid vacation. We finally make it to the Library of Congress....GORGEOUS building (there are 3 buildings that make up the Library) this was the Jefferson building. We walk up the 50 stairs, open the door and find out that it is CLOSED!!!! You can only imagine how this affected the mood. I was soooooooooo mad that I refused to take any puctures ot that stupid building. We probably walked a good 6 miles just to get there and it was CLOSED!!!! (I went on their website before we left and it did not say that it was going to be closed for the 4th, other buildings had extended hours because of the tourism).

Good thing we were all angry because I think it gave us the energy to trun around and walk back the same way we had just come...I glared at the group of Cops that I had asked directions from, you would of thought they would have told me that it was CLOSED!!!! 4 miles later we get to the Smithsonian...where we are going to do more walking in a large crowd and I am still not talking to Wes. I know, it sounds like a ton of fun. The Dinosaurs were cool and I got to see the Hope Diamond from afar. That was cool. We leave the Smithsonian and it is starting to down pour ... so instead of walking another bazillion miles to see the Fire Works in 6 hrs we walked the 2 + miles back to the car.
Remember we also walked 3 miles at the Zoo that morning. We walked a good 15+ miles that day.

Wes and I made up in the car and the girls fell asleep as we drove to the hotel in Virginia. We watched the Fire Works on T.V. it was very peaceful.

That's It I Am Moving To Sparta...

I am so ready to move out of New York. I am fed up with the people, the driving, the weather and the 25 cent gas tax added onto already extreme gas prices. We are paying on average $4.23 a gallon (I feel for California, they are probably the only other State paying the same or more for gas...Love you Megan). For some reason I thought the rest of the East Coast was paying the same ridiculous price we are, but I was wrong. Who knew that going on vacation and leaving New York would save us money on gas. $4.07 was the average price in Delaware and D.C. (except downtown D.C. which was $4.36 a gal, and why pay that when you can drive 5 minutes and pay $4.07) and Virginia. I thought those prices were fantastic and had already started my grumbling about how much we are paying for gas at home...but then we were in N.W. Maryland and Gettysburg Pennsylvania and the gas was $3.89!!!!! The smile on my face was like Christmas morning. I actually felt euphoria. Of course we stopped and put gas in the car even though we did not need to.

New York needs to put a moratorium on their Gas Tax until prices come down. I think that it is ridiculous that we are paying taxes to support New York City. I do not live in New York City; we live in UPSTATE New York (5 hrs away) and that is why we have such high taxes on EVERYTHING!!!! I have heard Up Staters complain about supporting the city for the last two years but not until now did I feel like piceting for the cause.

Hawaii has a gas cap on their gas. Why can't we? They did that a few years ago before we were all paying for the gas execs to take their year long vacations to Monaco in their multi - million dollar yachts.
What really disappoints me is that Hillary Clintion is our Senator and while she was compaigning for the Presidential Nomination she was more worried about "trying" to get something done for the Nations gas when in fact she could have been trying to practice what she preached right here at home...after all she represents New York State, just not the City. Who knows maybe if she culd have worked a bill into the New York State Senate to relieve some of our burden other States would have seen her compentence and she would have the nomination now.

Hawaii Here I Come!!!!

Hawaii here I come!!!! I wish...I have ALMOST accomplished my goal of going to all 50 States. While we were on vacation we went to Delaware, Maryland (3 times), Virginia and D.C.!!!! I now have 49 States. I have all the States in the Continental U.S., Hawaii is the only State I do not have, and the one I want to go to the most. I am saving the best for last.

I am also working on getting all the Provinces (except Nunavut, it does not count, it is a separate Province for the Inuit and I am not Inuit, just like Guam, Puerto Rico and the Samoa Islands are territories of the United States) I only have 6 Provinces left; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island (the Province I want to go to the most, that is where Anne of Green Gables was made) and Newfoundland which will be VERY EASY to get. The Yukon and Northwest Territories on the other hand are going to be a completely different story. Can you say COLD and out in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! I guess we will see:P

Wesley needs Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii and he will have all 50. The girls have 30 States; we are going to try to get them all 50 States and Provinces before they leave home, I am pretty confident that we will accomplish that goal.

Connecticut, Tennessee, Oregon, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, North Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Arkansas have been some of my favorites. British Columbia is the most beautiful and best Province in Canada and I am not just saying that because I grew up there, it is the truth.

Things that make you go hmmm...

I love hotel computers!! I can not sleep so why not blog:)

Vacation update...Wes has become a day dweller again. It is so nice to spend time with him when the sun is out. It is going to be hard to go back to the night shift, I am just thankful for this time that we have together. His girls are loving it!!

We have gone to museums, a couple of zoos, (including the National Zoo in D.C., I will blog about that later) hiking and we went and saw WALL-E, that was a pretty good movie. Tomorrow we are going to the Smithsonians Museum of Natural History and watching fireworks at the National Mall. Hopefully, we will have time to go to the Library of Congress. Saturday we are going to Gettysburg and Hershey World.

(Since I can not load pictures you are all just going to have to use your imaginations)

We took the girls hiking (day 6 of vacation) and when we entered the state park the speed limit was 17 MPH not 10, 15 or 20 but 17....hmmmm.

Hot dog bus out here on the east coast are shorter and look like a roll instead of a hotdog bun. They call them New England Hot Dog Buns...I personally think the west coast buns are better. Ahhh home.

The Flaming Marshmallow!

I admit it, I have a major marshmallow addiction. I just can't get enough of them. The other night I wanted a roasted marshmallow over the open flame (yes, I do have a gas stove but they do not taste the same) so Wes lit one piece of charcoal in our fire pit in the backyard and I roasted as many marshmallows as I could before the fire went out. This was a brilliant idea, I don't know why we had not thought of it before.

Hannah is a genius!!! We were eating roasted marhmallows last week and she had an Oreo...she opened it up, took out the forsting and put the marshmallow inside and the top back on. I was so impressed, she truly is my daughter.

Do you know how to...

Peal and seed a Tomato?

1 - Fill a large pot 1/2 full w/ water and bring to a boil.
2 - Take tomato and on the end where the stalk came out (large hole on top, that is called the blossom) make an X with a paring knife.
3- Fill a large bowl with cold water (add some ice if you have some).
4 - Put tomatoes in boiling water for 15-30 seconds or until you see the skin start to pull away from the tomato (it does not have to be a lot). Do not over crowd your pot.
5 - Put tomatoes in ice bath. You are shocking the tomatoes, this is to stop them from cooking and you will easily be able to remove the skins.
6 - Get a bowl with a strainer of colander that will fit on top, this is so you will not lose any juice (improvise if you have to).
7 - Cut your tomato crosswise (put your tomato on its side and cut in half).
8 - Remove the seeds into the strainer and uput the flesh into a bowl.
9 - When you are done with all your tomatoes squish the seeds and pulp that are in the strainer to get all the excess juice.

Confusion Says....

Wes started his vactation on Friday!!! It is so nice to have him home (11 days). We were able to go to the Corning Museum of Glass (1.5 hrs away) it was awesome. We got to see glass blowing demonstrations and glass pieces dating all the way back to the Roman Empire and Egypt. There was glass art, stain glass windows and glass sculptures. Did you know that glass making is strictly a European invention? Asia thought it was trivial and wanted nothing to do with it.

(Grandma,
When you come to visit we will definitely have to take you there, they have the crystal and vases that you love so much).

Anywho...we were there for about 3 hrs and the girls swore up and down that they did not have to go to the bathroom before we left Corning. I usually tell them to go anyway, but I must have not been thinking straight and we started the 1.5 hr drive home. About 40 minutes into the drive I heard Audrey and Hannah whispering to each other about having to go to the bathroom and not to make each other laugh. Just then it started to rain heavily and I am sure this did not help with their plight. Audrey then started to ask every 5 minutes if we were close to home...so to make a long story short about 30 minutes from home I stopped at a gas station (stay with me, this is the point of this whole blog).

We ran into the gas station and went to the back and on the door was a sign to go and get the key from the clerk, both the girls were doing the pee pee dance pretty bad. I ran up to the front of the store with the girls wiggling behind me. I got the key and ran back to the bathroom. I put the key in the door that said "RESTROOM" and proceeded to try to unlock the door...I could not even get the key to turn. I started to get frustrated and tried for another minute...you should of seen the pain in the girls faces, I was really frustrated by this time and screamed to the front of the store that if they did not come and get this door open they were going to have puddles on their floor. The clerk came and walked to the door on the left with NO SIGN and opened the door. To say the least I was so confused that I did not have time to hurt the gas attendant. Why, People?!!!!