NOOOOOOOO!

How is it possible to be so completely unprepared for something you KNOW is coming? I know that summer's over. It hasn't gone unnoticed that it gets dark earlier. That it's still dark when my alarm goes off. I know this time of year has been coming. I understand this is how it works but I tell ya, mentally I'm FIGHTING it!!!

I tried to mentally prepare for the 40 degree drop from yesterday to today. I got the kids jackets out last night so they would have them this morning. I pulled out the sweat pants and fuzzy socks for me to wear while getting the kids out the door. I tried the power of positive thinking: "Look at all the clothes I get to pull out of the closet that I haven't seen in months. This can be fun!" It's not working.

Did you know it snowed in the mountains today? That you couldn't even see the mountains, AT ALL?! Did you notice the sky was dark at 7:30pm? Did you notice your tan line fading a bit more? Did you notice there were no kids outside riding bikes? Well it's true. All of it.

Today I decided again (for the 4000th time) that summer is my favorite season. I love that the nights are warm. That the sky stays light until 9:30 and at moments even until 10:00. I love the smell of sunscreen on my kids. The heat. The sounds of kids playing outside late in the evening because it's finally cool enough to be out there. I love that my kids don't have homework and we can sleep in until 8 (or maybe later) if we want to. There's so much I love and so much I'm not ready to let go of yet. It looks however, like I have no choice.

So it's a good thing the snow stayed up in the mountains today. If there were enough on my front lawn to build a snowman today, I'd head right out, and smack in the middle of my front yard I'd build a GINORMOUS hand.....with the middle finger sticking straight up!



side note: give me time, I'll come to grips with it soon.

Cooking Post....my style

A couple of the blogs I follow are awesome enough to do "cooking posts". In other words, they describe in perfect detail how to prepare a dish right off the screen of Iron Chef America or Barefoot Contessa. These posts are complete with amazing pictures of the plated dish as you would see in the finest restaurants. I'm fascinated. Regular people eat like this? At home? Although reading these posts can make me feel like an underachiever I'm a freak for the artistic way food is served and how beautiful it looks when it's on a fancy-smancy plate. I LOVE IT!

I however don't cook this way. I wish my kids had "Swordfish, seared, served over arugula with vinaigrette, topped with roasted roma's, and finished with a lemony rich hollandais." (seriously this is one of the latest). However, since their first introduction to "fish" of any kind was tuna, it continues to invoke gagging and eye watering. (Maybe I could give swordfish a try and tell them it's chicken.) Speaking of chicken, here's my version of a cooking post complete with a picture:

A while back I made Malibu Chicken. Yes folks you heard that right, Malibu Chicken. Straight from the pages of your local Sizzler. Really you could say I only made chicken patties since Matt and I are the only ones who like the ham and swiss on top.

Instructions: Cook chicken patties as directed on package. Then add ham slices on patty and top with swiss cheese. Return to oven and heat until cheese is melted. Serve with a mixture of mayo and mustard as a dipping sauce. Alt: if you or your kids don't like ham and swiss on top, cut the cooked patty into pieces and serve. This is my way of cooking.

When I made this I was emptying the bag of patties onto the tray and found that there was an extra "smaller portion" of a patty. This seemed a little odd so I decided to read on the package and see how many patties were suppose to be in it. You know, in case I got jipped out of a full-size patty that I paid for and maybe I could write into TYSON Foods and get a freebie or something. Follow me? So I turned over the package and when I read the back I BURST out laughing.

Serving size: 1 patty

Servings per container: About 9

It really said "about 9". Now go ahead, look at the picture and count for yourself. Literally! There's "ABOUT 9"!!!!! I found this HILARIOUS and still do! Don't you think Tyson's is taking this too literally? I picture in my head the factory realizing that they have a whole bunch of pieces of patties and don't want to waste them. Sone one says, "Let's change the packaging to read Serving Size: About 9 and throw one of these pieces in with each 8 count bag." And someone else saying "Brilliant!!"......Cut to a few weeks down the road and the Thompson family is having Malibu Chicken with not 8, but about 9 chicken patties. Ok, I still find this sooooo funny!

Now where was I going with this? Oh yeah...this is the way I cook. It's a meal we have every so often but seems to be getting less popular. The last time we had it Mason informed me that he doesn't like the chicken because of the "little hard pieces" and "poppy things" in it. EEWWWW, but true! I feel the same way. So we probably won't be having Malibu Chicken again anytime soon. At least until I can find some patties without the "poppy things" or until we have about 1 dinner guest joining us.

13.1 BABYYY!!!

Saturday August 29th these cute girls in this picture above allowed me to join them

in the Top Of Utah 1/2 Marathon. Ruth was the one who got us going and then sadly had to back out because of an injury. We missed her.

What a great experience!! Amber and I were 1st timers and not to speak for both of us but it's definitely an experience I can't wait to repeat. Soon. This is all of us the evening before.

And here we are after the race. What an amazing accomplishment. Kirsten told me how
she loves to see people run races for the first time and see the look on their

faces when they accomplish something they didn't think they could do.

That was very true in my case. It's amazing what you can accomplish

when you have the right support system.

Kirsten will never know how much she helped me. She took on the SLOW pace

that I was running and stayed close by the whole time. She's amazing. She just had a baby

and she's out there running 13 miles and staying behind so her slow-pokey sister

will have someone to keep her going. I remember thinking that I just had to keep

her in my site so I would keep moving. If I couldn't see her anymore I'd

lose my motivation quickly. I was pushing myself really hard and I told her

not to hesitate running ahead. She told me "This is a good pace. I'm conserving

my energy until the last few miles then I'll really take off." I started

laughing. I was dying and she was "conserving her energy". Guess you can

tell who's in better shape. :) Thank you Kirsten, I love you!

Amber and Laura ran together and finished together. What a great job!

Amber ROCKED for her first time. I know how hard she trained and

I hope she's as proud of herself as she should be. She's worked hard.

Laura is such an inspiration. She's always challenging herself and doing

amazing things. I think for her, like Kirsten, this was a leisurely way

to pass a couple of hours on the weekend. What awesome girls!

Who wouldn't love to get to the finish line and see this group of supporters?

We love all of you and are so lucky to have you in our lives.

What a great family I have. I've been so blessed. They all hugged me at the finish line

and told me they loved me. How fun to come to the end and have that greeting you!!

We are so lucky! I love you all. Thanks for your love and support.

I finished and I cried.