Busy Bees We Are!

Happy Monday!

Is there ever a week in the Partak household that is uneventful? Not usually! This week was no exception. Mason is winding down his first season of football and has it ever been fun. To be perfectly honest, I was not thrilled about daily practices and games every Saturday, but it might be safe to say I enjoyed watching him play football more than anybody. The first few games were comical, the kids were physically being picked up and put into position by coaches and referees, much like life-size chess pieces. Here we are just 8 weeks later and these young men are calling plays, motivating each other, and really playing football! The last game is this Saturday and it is also Mason's birthday. It will be a treat that the last game is a night game as all of the other games have been first thing in the morning. This works out famously for us to have Mason's birthday party Saturday morning. Yep, another jam packed weekend is coming up.

Last weekend, right after the football game, Mason and I drove to Lockeford to meet the newest Garcia, Jacob. Greg, Heather, and Josh welcomed Jacob in early September. He is a doll and our time with friends was wonderful. Dave was in San Diego Friday and Saturday and had training all day Sunday - his weekend pretty much sucked.

We're still getting settled in the new house but it's coming along...well, coming along. I like the smaller house but I don't like trying to make the puzzle pieces fit as to what will go where. Just when I think I have a system, a new something comes into play from a stack of boxes in the garage. UGH! It's maddening.Ultimately, I'm finding that I'm more inclined to just get rid of stuff than get creative to try to find a home for it.

Mason has been cooking up a storm. Yesterday he made Firehouse Chili from scratch - blanched the tomatoes, chopped the peppers, and braised the beef for slow cooking. It really turned out great, but who knew one little tiny jalapeno (no seeds) would create so much heat? Whooo-Wheee! We also created a video for an upcoming contest with Buitoni pasta, he's quite the little showman. For those of you who missed it, Mason has been invited to do another cooking demo, this time at the Mandarin Festival in November (17th). If you have any interest in coming to spend a fun, fall day in Auburn, I am happy to get you tickets. I'm not telling what he is making, but I can tell you he is developing the recipes himself. Enough of me bragging on my kid (though I am pretty proud), I hope you are having as lovely a fall as we are, a nice mix of warm and cool and our colors are just starting to show. Have a great week and I'll have plenty to share next week as we say farewell to football and my baby will officially be a 9 year old!

What's Important to You?

Happy Columbus Day! It may not have been a holiday for you, but us Partaks had the day off. We took the opportunity to head up to Apple Hill thinking it's Monday, there will be no crowds. We'll have the place to ourselves. Absolutely wrong! Apparently everyone else who had the day off had the same idea. It really wasn't so bad, lots of people but a gorgeous fall day. As we hopped from farm to farm, we landed at Jack Russell Brewery where we ran in to one of Dave's good friends who he served with in Iraq. Through a number of life twists and turns, they lost touch and each time we talked about how we might reconnect I would always say, "We're going to run into him when you least expect it." Yep, that is exactly what happened today!

Listening to the two of them reminisce made me think about how important it is to share things with each other. There are little funny things and certainly more significant memories that could possibly change the course of our kids lives. Even as I write the words I wonder if I am being a bit dramatic but in fact, I don't think so. I asked Dave what three things does he want Mason to know - either about how he feels about him or life experiences he had as a kid. This is not a question that is easy to answer, but Dave came up with, "When you find what you love to do, do it! No matter what, don't put your dreams on hold." Hopefully, he will think about this some more and write a few things down. My Monday Motivators serve as an amazing journal for Mason, add to that the photo journey of homemade scrapbooks and Mason will have a darn good history of his family.

When I think about what I want him to know, I think about the little things like the fact that Sara Evans song "Could Not Ask For More" still makes me cry every time I hear it. While Dave was deployed, I fed Mason in his room in the black rocking chair and this song played every morning at 2:13 AM on his radio. My tears fell on his little head as I loved him and missed his dad. I felt for the first time, and I guess the only time in my life what true longing was. Feeling what it was like to miss his dad so much that it physically hurt while oddly, at the same time feeling completely blessed to be his mommy. So I'm feeling a little emotional today, not in a bad way but in the kind of way that makes me want to tell the people in my life how much they mean to me. I am spending a little extra time hugging, holding on for just that moment longer and really looking people in the eyes when we smile to say hello or good-bye.

Think about this a little bit and tell me what you want your loved ones or kids to know about you...maybe you and them, or how you feel about them. I would love to know what is important in your eyes. Sincerely, with love. Kathy

Happy October!

Welcome to the last quarter of the year 2012. It's Monday and it's a new month. This last weekend was more crazy-busy fun. Mason and I did a cooking demo at the Auburn Home Show for the First Annual Fall TomatoFest. Let me be more specific, Mason did the cooking demo, while I assisted him. This kid never ceases to amaze me, who knew he wanted to teach people how to cook?

Several months ago, I saw a post on Facebook about the launch of the TomatoFest at the home show. I reached out to the organizer and asked about a recipe contest and the reply I got was, "No recipe contest, but how about you do a cooking demo for us?" Cool! I shared the news with Mason and he lit up, "I want to do that!" I said, okay, you can help me and he said, "No, I want to do it." That is how it started. The organizer agreed and off we went. Mason practiced his Funky Spaghetti recipe and created one called, "Eeets a Funny Leeetle Peeeza!" Basically, a croissant with sun dried tomato and basil string cheese rolled up with some pizza sauce. I helped out with a peach-tomato salad while his peeezas were baking. Some of his friends were there with their families and his principal came, too! When it was all said and done, the organizer handed him an envelope and said, "Mason, you did an amazing job. This is for you, not your mom, you." Mason opened it to find an invite to do a cooking demo at the upcoming Mandarin Festival in November! Pretty cool, huh?

Now while Mason is working on mandarin recipes, Dave and I are doing homework, working on unpacking, and yes, getting ready for the holidays. Our new neighborhood is lovely and our neighbors have been really friendly. All in all, things are working out just fine and we are looking forward to lots of good things to come.

Moved Out...

We made it! We are moved out of the Aeolia house and living in the Russell Rd house...not moved in mind you, but living here. There are boxes everywhere and as much stuff as we got rid over the last month, I predict more is on it's way out! Today I need to get laundry done (washer is working but not the dryer), move boxes to their respective rooms so that the living room and kitchen both function, make sure my homework is done and make sure I spend at least 30 minutest practicing the piano today. I am loving learning how to play the piano! One of those life long dreams coming true.

 

I'm sure there is more to share, but I am simply scatter-brained and can't stay focused on one task for more than a few moments. That's what happens when there is complete disorder in ones house! Happy Monday and more so, Happy Fall!

Total Chaos!

Hey Friends,

We moved this weekend and we are still up to our eyeballs in boxes, paper and general chaos. I'll catch up next week as I am expecting that all of the physical moving part of this move will be over by Saturday and then we will just need to concentrate on setting up house and getting situated. Keep your eyes peeled for a housewarming invite in the near future as we aren't truly "home" until our family and friends come and share our space!

 

Moving and Winning!

Happy Monday, and happy it is! We are in full blown moving mode and next weekend we will be living in the new house. The nice thing is we have more time than just the usual weekend-move. Between packing boxes, moving boxes, submitting change of address cards, and school Mason and I have been training to run a 5K in November. We just finished week 3 of our running program and along with that, I've been in a killer PE class at school. I've lost 6 lbs since school started and other than my knee needing some periodic special attention, I'm getting stronger.

This weekend was the Gold Country Fair in Auburn and Mason and I entered both the brownie contest on Saturday and the cupcake contest on Sunday. Mason took first place both days winning a whopping $50! I took first on Saturday ($25) with my Ooey-Gooey-Decadence-Brownie and second on Sunday with my fig cupcake. Kudos to Mason, in the brownie contest, he was the only entry in the youth category but the judges called him up to face the crowd when they announced that if it was a single category, he would have won the whole thing! Holy cow! And I just got done being sassy and telling him it was a good thing he wasn't competing against me. It looks like the student is becoming the teacher. Congrats Mason, you earned both of those prizes.

 

So this week is full of football practice, homework, packing and moving some more. Pop over to my blog to see pictures of brownies, cupcakes, and the new house. On September 30 at 1 PM, Mason will be doing a cooking demonstration at the Auburn Fall TomatoFest. He has been practicing and has two great kid-friendly tomato recipes on tap...and maybe one more. If you want to come, let me know and I will get you tickets, it's going to be lots of fun.

 

 

 

Let me leave you with my original poem, "Ode to My Aching Back."

 

Ode to My Aching Back

Oh the bruises we will get,

When it's time to move our shit.

Boxes, beds, dressers and more,

Makes our muscles more than sore.

Once we get there, time to unpack,

"Holy Cow! There goes my back!"

Rest, then stretch, then walk a tad,

Pop some pills, it's not so bad.

No matter what, you have to finish,

Escrow closes, it's the business.

Find your vice and imbibe! Imbibe!

Our rest is coming, crawl in bed and hide.

My Weekend A'la Carte!

The Labor Day holiday brings a short work and school week, and according to Mother Nature, fall is on the way! I had the most amazing weekend, actually all the Partak's did okay in the fun department this weekend. Dave and Mason were in the bay area for a game convention (bi-annually, Memorial and Labor day weekends every year) so I made some weekend plans of my own.

 I went to Lake Tahoe and spent two glorious days with just me, myself and I. I took off Friday afternoon and took the long way to Tahoe. I went up Hwy 80 through Truckee stopping at my favorite thrift store. The tone for the weekend was set when I found a registered Brighton handbag for $24 and guess what? Everything in the store was 50% off! Wahoo! A Brighton handbag, likely sold new for $190-230 for $12! I got into South Shore, checked into my hotel and headed back to Emerald Bay to see about taking some pictures of the blue moon. Full and magnificent, it was a sight to see over Lake Tahoe, but there just wasn't a safe place in the dark to set up the camera and take some pictures. I made my way back to do a little gambling and then called it a night.


Saturday, bright and early, I went for a run (found a pretty silver bracelet along the way), grabbed a coffee and then tootled the neighborhoods yard saleing. I had no idea that South Lake Tahoe was such a garage/yard sale meca! I scored again with a pair of darn near brand new Burton snow board pants for Mason for $3. After a full morning driving around with the top down, oh yeah, I was in the Solstice. Lots of fun for a weekend away, but not so good pulling up to yard sales in a little red convertible sports car. The thing is, it looks way more expensive and ritzy than it is so it made it hard for me to haggle when all people wanted to talk about is the car. I grabbed a veggie sandwich, a trashy tabloid magazine, changed into my swim suit and hit the beach. The day was simply perfection. After getting a little sun-kissed it was time to shower and get ready for my date, yep, I had a date with Sammy Hagar! The show was outdoors at Harvey's and it was fantastic! Sammy rocked for nearly 3 hours first with the Cabo Wabo's (his current band), then Michael Anthony of Van Halen came out and jammed and finally, Denny Carmazzi and Joe Satriani joined him on stage for some old school Montrose tunes. If you are not a fan, this all sounds a bit Greek, but for those of you who are, you are totally kicking yourself for missing this show! I was completely high dancing and singing and dancing some more. I ended up at a Let It Ride table where I won, tripled my money, played a little more and left with twice as much as I came in with! I bet you are thinking, Wow! What fun she had. Yep, I did, but there's more. Sunday morning I headed out early and with a pumpkin spice latte in hand,and made my way to Apple Hill. The trees are chock full of apples and fall is in the air. I finally made it home with apples, peaches, a pie and a great big smile!


So let me ask you this, when was the last time you took off for a weekend all by yourself? If it's been a while or you've never done such a thing, make plans and go! There is nothing quite like doing whatever you want, whenever you want to do it...especially if your life is nothing like that usually...like all of us working/students/mothers/fathers/etc. Give yourself a gift and if being by yourself makes you uncomfortable, just to get you started, pretend you are me! Hey, how bad can that be? Smiles!