Happy Easter!

Easter at the Partak's house is usually a leisurely day filled with tradition. This year, things went a little awry. Noting epic, just that things didn't go very smoothly. Mason really wanted an egg hunt and Dave and I planned ahead to make that happen. Little did we know, Mason had a hunt planned for us as well. That was kind of neat and really, it was the highlight of the day, well except for the ham, that was a pretty bright spot in the day, too!

One of Dave's Easter traditions is leg of lamb. He is the only one who likes it so he makes it just for himself, which is fine, but for some reason, it just didn't turn out right. He marinated it and grilled is as he usually does, but I could see it didn't look as good as it usually does and from the look on his face, it didn't taste as good either. Boo! Something didn't agree with me and I wound up on the bathroom floor sicker than a dog and Dave managed to walk into the sliding glass door with so much force that he bounced off it, fell into the barbecue that was on and hot, knocked it over and gave himself a big 'ol gash on his nose and banged up his elbows as well. Yeah, it wasn't the Easter Sunday we had anticipated. Laughing!

It's Cooking Demo Season!

Happy Monday Friends,

There are so many things on the horizon, I don't know where to start. Mason's busy season is starting in three weeks where he is cooking at the Total Home & Garden Show in Fairfield. This is cool for me being that I grew up in the neighboring town of Vacaville, so it's kind of like coming home. Mason is excited because this home show is right next door to the Jelly Belly Factory, you know we'll be making a stop and doing some shopping while we are "working." 

Mason will be demonstrating his spiralizer. He will have several recipes printed, and making salad with his Mason Made "Kids Love It! Champagne Vinaigrette" and he will also have some spiralizers for sale as well. Mason Made Products has launched and we are starting slowly selling products at his live appearances and if we have a good response, we will set up his website for sales as well. Check out the video Mason made for this home show. 

Total Home & Garden Show 2016

Total Home & Garden Show 2016 Mason will be cooking Saturday and Sunday April 16 & 17 at the Total Home & Garden Show in Fairfield, CA...

After the show in Fairfield, Mason has the Auburn Spring Home Show where he will be cooking multiple days and then the fairs come. You can see where Mason will be on his website at the tab "Meet Mason." It's cooking demo season.

I have a number of other things coming down the pike to share, but some of those bits are more than bits.

I am busy with real estate and loving it! I have two listings active now with another one or two coming. I also have four families who are in different stages of qualifying to buy and shopping. I love this job and see a good year coming. Dave is back in school and he has quite a bit of travel coming up so Mason and I will be on our own. Not to worry though, we will spend plenty of time in the kitchen and at the river.

Unpacking, Unpacking, Unpacking...

I feel like I am unpacking, and unpacking, and unpacking, and yet there is still more unpacking to do! In the meantime, while boxes are getting unloaded and stuff being put in a place. The Partak started a family weight loss/fitness challenge today. We weighed in and measured our middles - each of us setting our own path and chipping in to cook healthy meals. We will be doing our 2-2-2 workout (2 minutes each of sit ups, push ups, and squats), and we each chipped in $25 and the household account also chipped in $75 for a total prize of $150 to the winner. We are planning to go for 45 days, let's see if the money will keep us motivated to stay with it. I know I am not particularly driven by the almighty dollar. 

One of the things I have completed is, I got all my baking and cake/cookie decorations unpacked and put away in an organized fashion. No more storing things in cardboard boxes and bags, everything has a place! It will be so nice to bake something and go right to what I need. See the photo for an idea of what I am taking about. 

Now I am off to play with our spiralizer, it's a kitchen badger that makes noodles out of fruits and vegetables. I've used it once and loved it. In light of the fitness challenge, I want to see if how I eat my food keeps me engaged as much as what I am eating. More next week!

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

Two speeches, a magazine article, the Celebrity Chef fundraiser, and the science fair - it's been another busy week! If you are interested in what it's like to hear Mason give a speech, you can see him in action here.

Mason has a natural ability to stand up in front of an audience and deliver a message, and it seems he is on his way to living my dreams. Laughing! Some parents live vicariously through their children, I find that my kid is chasing my dreams and catching them. I think it's amazing, no, it's more than amazing, it's awesome!

Style Magazine is a local publication that did a story on Mason and his win on Chopped Junior. That article is out now and it has created a bit of a buzz resulting in several other opportunities that are coming down the pike. You can see the article here.

The Celebrity Chef event was fun. Mason made beef street tacos with his homemade salsa. 100 tacos served and a raffle won, we headed home to get a good nights sleep before the science fair. Mason did a great job with his presentation but is that any surprise? No! He didn't win anything with his "Does Age Affect Taste" experiment, but he will likely get an A on the assignment in his class. He has one more regional fair to go to the first weekend in April and then that will be that for science fairs in the sixth grade.

Now it's time to get my nose to the grindstone and get more boxes emptied. I'm pretty hellbent that if it doesn't have a place in the house, it can't stay. Seriously, if it needs to be in a box in the garage and it's not a seasonal decoration, it needs to be of use and have a place. I've even reached a point that I don't need to sell it, I just need it to be gone. The space and order in my home is more important to me than the few dollars I can get for some used thing. Do you know what I mean? Happy Monday!

The Culinary Sciences Lab in the News

Happy Leap Year! The faster I go, the behinder I get! While recovering from colds and maladies, continuing to unpack and set up our new happy home, on Friday we attended the official opening of the Alta Vista Culinary Sciences Lab. You all know that Mason spent 18 months raising over $26,000 to improve the kitchen at his (former) elementary school, well it took another 14 months for the school district to get the equipment installed, floors redone, and all the accoutrements purchased and here we are, the kids in grades K-5 are learning to cook. The ribbon cutting luncheon was "A Taste of Asia" and all the kids made the food that was served; crispy fried won tons with a spicy Thai dip, beef skewers, Thai noodle salad, lemon cheesecake for dessert and a Thai iced tea. It was incredible! I have to say, I always knew we would reach our goal, but I didn't realize this project would turn out as special as it is. I was emotional listening to Mason's speech about how happy he is to make a donation to the program from his Chopped Junior winnings and how proud he is that kids are learning to cook. Here is the clip from Fox40 News who did a story on the project on Tuesday. http://fox40.com/…/23/cooking-local-boy-wins-chopped-junior/ 

Over the weekend Dave and Mason spent the day in the bay area gaming and I made progress on unpacking. Sunday we all went out for target practice with friends on some lovely private property. What a fun day! Shooting different kinds of guns, a fire blazing, snacks and lots of laughs. 

Now it's time to get our butts in gear for another very busy week. Mason has two speeches on Tuesday, one at 7 AM for the Chamber of Commerce and again at noon for one of our bigger Rotary clubs. Then on Thursday Mason is cooking for the annual Celebrity Chef fundraiser. This is cool as two years ago, Mason's kitchen project was the recipient of the grant from the Lions for this event. It's a nice way to give back. I'll share more about these events next week. Happy Monday!

So Much To Share, So Little Gumption To Share It.

It's Monday again (not really, I'm so far behind, it's really Wednesday).  It's been a wild ride, the Partaks have been under the weather to different degrees at different times since a week ago Friday. It started with me on our way to Tahoe feeling not quite like myself. All weekend long I was a bit lethargic, feeling a familiar unwelcome sensation, and losing my voice. I nursed my cold with cough drops and drank lots of cranberry juice, yeah, I added vodka, and on Monday a trip to the urgent care confirmed I had a cold and a urinary tract infection. I made my way through the week and as I was feeling better and sending Dave off to S. CA for work, Mason made a visit to my bedroom at 4 AM crying with ear pain. Since it was Saturday, the only option was the ER and that confirmed a double ear infection. We got the antibiotics going for Mason only for Dave to return home on Sunday having spent 3 nights at an Embassy Suites that had an infestation of bed bugs. Yes, I'm sure that's what it was as his body (armpits to mid-thigh) is covered in bites that look a bit like little sores, and he says they hurt. We made it three for thee to the urgent care/ER for the Partak Team and Dave was diagnosed with a cold and yes, lots of bed bug bites. The good thing about bed bugs, if there is a good thing, is that they don't typically stay with you, they bite you, enjoy the feast and then stay in bed. Of course, any kind of "buggy" thing related to bed makes all those around you suddenly feel itchy and the need to scratch just happens. Thank goodness it was clear to us (Embassy Suites denies that they have an issue) that this is where they were as Dave used his personal vehicle for the trip and only stayed at this one place. We sanitized all of his clothes including his shoes even though it's not likely that he brought them home. Although, they could hang on I guess, how do they get to hotels? Isn't it funny, I'm itching as I write this and I know we don't have them here at home. The power of suggestion is alive and well!

I have so much more to share but I am just not up for the telling of the tales. I will get to writing on my Intentional Winning blog as I set my new years resolution to write 365 posts this year and I am sorely behind. I keep making notes of the things I want to write about, but I underestimated how much time moving would take and how tired and uninspired I would be to write. I will catch up and I will meet my goal. I will. Happy Monday! Okay, it's not really Monday, but in years to come, will anyone know or remember that I back dated this post? I don't think so. ;)

No School This Week?

How can it be that Mason has ANOTHER week off from school? I don't remember having so much time off, but I do recall my mom thinking I did. It seems that there is PLC Monday, which means school gets out an hour early every Monday of the school year, regular holidays like President's day, summer vacation, winter break over Christmas, this week off in February, spring break is coming at the end of March, sheesh! I can't beat it so I might as well make the most of it. We had Mason's birthday at a local mini gold place and there were some issues. They ended up giving me 9 passes for laser tag so I think I'll take Mason and two friends to play this week and maybe Mason and I can go see a movie. I know he needs to get some work done on his science fair project so this week should just fly right by.

In other news, we are getting moved in and slowly, the boxes are going away. Don't get me wrong, there is still LOTS to do but progress is being made. Happy Monday!