I Think I Have ADD...

Lately, I've been suspecting that I have a touch of ADD, (Attention Deficit Disorder).
This morning I'm off from work. Like every day I'm at home by myself, I have a mental list of things I need to do before the rest of the troops come home.
But looking back at the events this morning made me realize that I've only done a few things on my list.
Here's how it went....

Daily Bible reading.
Verse of the Day.... A really nice one, Isaiah 41:10.
Went on to my Bible devotional reading plan. ("Parenting", which has gone on WAY longer than I anticipated because I've been bad and skipped some days. This should've ended back in May. <sigh>)
Maybe if I did a shorter one? Let's see what else they have... "Thankfulness". Oh, that's an appropriately good one! I wanted to do a new blog post on that topic!  I'll start that one too. Only 7 days on this plan. It'll give me a sense of accomplishment as well as a great way to start the day!

Share Verse of the Day on Facebook...
Check Facebook friends to see what they're up to...
See some cute and inspiring photos, (click on like, jot down some comments etc,)...
Check on Facebook alerts...Oooo, some people like the verse of the day! Yup, one of my favs as well!

Might as well check email while I'm on...
Oh, need to "help some friends with their 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader' questions"!
Answer some correctly, totally flunk out of other questions.
Delete some spam, pay some bills online, play some more "Smarter Than a 5th Grader" questions...
Alrighty, I need to actually get out of bed now!

Brush teeth, Awwww, Harrison left me a message on my mirror! Still foggy after morning showers, grab phone and snap a photo. Wait a minute, let me check to see if it's dry erase marker or Sharpie.
Good, dry erase marker.
Notice my grays are totally showing in mirror.Yikes.

Grab the hair color and cover the gray roots...I've been meaning to do this for weeks. It only takes 10 minutes but I hadn't gotten around to doing it.
No time, wonder why?
Hop into the shower! Shower, scrub the tiles while I'm in there...
Hop out, notice the sink looks less than desirable too, scrub that..
Hey,looking down,  next time I need to do a load of laundry with the bathmats too....

Take laundry downstairs, do a load, fold the load that's in the dryer...
Refill the all purpose cleaner spray bottle in the bathroom, empty out dehumidifier.
Put away clothes from the dryer.

Remember that I want to write a blog post about being Being Always Thankful...
See Wendy's photo of chicken stew on her blog, http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2009/05/chicken-stew.html
Jot down grocery list for chicken stew....Lookie here, another soy sauce chicken one I wanted to try! Jot down ingredients for that one.

Check the fridge for leftovers.... Do I REALLY need to go grocery shopping? My MIL is not here so my family is not as picky about dinners. They're thankful for anything these days... I love looking at recipes but the actual task is daunting!
Throw away some yucky things from the fridge, put baby carrot sticks closer to the front so kids will eat them first.

Finally get to brush my teeth. Dog is looking up at me. Clean her pee papers, give her clean water and food, review tricks... Dog is happy now.

What time is it now? Got to get posting on my blog before lunchtime. Half a day is almost gone and what have I done? Seems like a lot of running around and jumping from task to task....

I know what I need! I need to have a check off list! That way, I can visualize the list and be on top of things! Let me grab a piece of scrap paper... Hey, this pile of papers should've been in the recycling pile!
Ok, let me clear up my desk before doing the list and continuing this post...... What was I writing about? ADD?!

GAZPACHO....the recipe that lasts...and lasts...and lasts...

Now that August is officially here , there's no mistaking the dog days of summer are on us in full swing. A sure sign of NYC summers is the oppressing heat and humidity. I was at my wits end last week when I remembered that years ago, when I was backpacking through Europe with my friend, Amy, we discovered .....GAZPACHO in Spain!  It was so refreshing and delicious that I was salivating already tapping on the keyboard searching for a recipe. All of them more or less involve cucumbers, tomato juice, tomatoes, red peppers, olive oil, vinegar, a random onion, and a blender. The ratios are not important. I guess it depends on your taste. Sometimes, I would see a chili pepper in the recipes too.  I jotted down the ingredients and realized to my dismay that the only thing I had at home was the blender.

"OK, children, off to the supermarket!"
"What are we getting?"
"Ingredients for gazpacho!"
"Wha's dat?"
"It's a cold Spanish veggie soup for the summer. It's really good, you'll love it! Vamanos a la supermercado!"

1/2 an hour later, ingredients on the counter top, we started. Of course, in my mind, everyone will fall in love with my gazpacho and I won't have enough of it. So while I was at the supermarket, I decided.... Let's double the ingredients for a double batch!! It just wouldn't feel right if everyone gulped it down in mass quantities and poor mother,who slaved away on the blender, didn't get any.

The 2 kids helped wash, chop and load the veggies into the blender.  I heard heavenly angels singing when I poured out of the blended mixture into various containers. This was not just glorified V8, This was something for the senses that brought back fond memories of a hot and dusty day, 2 buddies sitting by the sidewalk sipping gazpacho in Barcelona! My memories were abruptly jolted when the kids asked if they could taste it. No! It needs to be in the fridge overnight so the flavor really comes out. Popped it into the fridge. 1 large pitcher, 2 plastic quart containers, 1 cup.

After a night of chilling in the fridge, everyone was excited.
"Can we have some for dinner?"
"No, let's have it after dinner.... you know, sorta like a treat!"

Everyone had 2 cups of gazpacho! Delicious!! It felt even better knowing that I was having a daily dose of veggies! Goodness, this must be at least 4 servings of veggies!!  Even better!

The next day.... Who wants some gazpacho?
Kids: OK! it was really good yesterday!
Husband: No thanks. I think it gave me the runs.

The following day.... Who wants some gazpacho?
Kid #2: Oh, OK, I'll have some...
Me: Hello!? Anyone else?
Kid #1: Oh, alright, I'll have a little bit.
Me: Anyone else??
Husband: No thanks....

The next day.... Who wants some gazpacho?
Kids: Not really....
Me: You better get in the kitchen here and have some. I don't want to hear that I never cook anything! There's only a bit left, help me finish it off.
Husband: No thanks.
Me: Aren't you done with your runs? I don't think it was the gazpacho. Everyone else is fine.
Husband: Don't want to take the chance.
Me: Fine, be like that.

The next day.... Gazpacho, anyone?
Kids:......
Husband:.......
I know they were all within earshot of me in the kitchen but all I heard were crickets chirping...
Me: FINE, I'LL HAVE SOME MYSELF! (drinking a cup)

The last day of the Gazpacho....
What's the point of asking, they won't want any anyway. I'm getting tired of drinking it but I don't want to waste any of my hard work. Hmmmm.... wonder how it'll taste with a splash of OJ? Let's make it extra healthy with a flavor twist!
TOTAL BAD IDEA!  Tastes and smells like vomit. The last 2 cups of gazpacho went down the drain promptly.

Maybe I'll try again next summer, with a smaller batch....