Last night was date night...

KNOCKED UP...
Despite the cuteness of the trailers and promotional shots, this was one of the raunchiest movies I've ever seen. The storyline was completely destroyed by foul language and borderline pornography. Bubba and I agree that this movie gets a big thumbs down... so disappointing!

What's for dinner...

Spaghetti Carbonara
THE BEAR QUEEN'S ADAPTION OF A CLASSIC RECIPE

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Ingredients:
1 lb. Dreamfields spaghetti

4 or 5 strips smoked deli bacon, cut into small pieces

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained (optional)

4 large eggs

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 small can sliced black olives, drained (optional)

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Directions:
1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions (al dente is best).
2. While the spaghetti is cooking, sauté the bacon and onion until well done.

3. Add the garlic and mushrooms and sauté about one more minute.
4. Drain the spaghetti, add to the pan, and stir to blend with the bacon mixture
5. Maintain the spaghetti on very low heat.
6. Beat the eggs in a bowl.
6. Blend the cream, cheese, and parsley into the eggs.
7. Turn off the heat, pour the egg mixture over the spaghetti, and quickly stir to coat the spaghetti and cook the eggs.
8. Plate the spaghetti and top with black olives, if desired.

Serves 4

Decorating for fall...

A sparkly kitchen...

All Done!The Cabinets are Sifted, Sorted, and Decluttered!Hell, I Even Mopped the Floor!

Hooray...

Cable Guy was HereNow I'm Hooked Up with Digital Phone

Marching, marching...

Ants are Feasting on Cookie and Cracker Crumbs at the Castle...
Lil Dragon Leaves a Trail for them to Follow!

Sweet memories...

Self-Portrait from Laniebear's First Day in Kindergarten...My How Time Flies!

Bummer...

Cable Guy was a No Show!

Cable guy is coming today...

The castle is switching to digital phone!

Curious kittie...

Jadiepie wants to play puzzles, too!

I luv it...

The hutch looked so pretty after I decorated it for the tea party that I decided to keep it like this a little longer!

Dancing with Angelina Ballerina...

Lil Dragon just loves "Pink Movies"!

Chinese Moon Festival

Tonight we are going to Lil Dragon's house to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival.

Hey all you Stephen King fans...

The Gunslinger Born

King's latest book in the Dark Tower series be in bookstores everywhere on November 7, 2007!

Tea party...

Yesterday I hosted a Southern Living at Home afternoon tea. I prepared little triangle-cut chicken sandwiches, petite cucumber-mint sandwiches, and mini vanilla cupcakes and served them with Lady Grey tea. It always feels so elegant to serve a dainty tea party on the good china. Such fun! I hope that my guests enjoyed it as much as I did.

Pen and paper...

I'm going through my old journals and ripping them to shreds. I've already recycled two bags full of thoughts, musings, shouts, and screams and am on the way to filling the third. In the process, I happened to catch these words at the top of one of the pages:

Goal for 1995: Seek and maintain some semblance of order and balance in my life.

Arg! That was in January of 1995! Twelve years and quite a few months later I'm still seeking to maintain order and balance in my life. Oh, yes, I'm definitely more balanced and orderly than I was in 1995, but still have a long way to go. Good thing life is a process and not an event.

What I need, when I need it...

Sarah Ban Breathnach and I go back a long way. I've been a huge fan ever since she first published Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort & Joy. Each and every one of her books has a special place on my bookshelf. Moving On: Creating Your House of Belonging with Simple Abundance, published in 2006, jumped into my hands the last time I was at Borders. Sarah understands transition and I'm finding that Moving On is exactly what a bear in search of a new shell needs to read.

The Scottish poet Robert Burns said it best...

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley

Let me add, however, that mice and men have nothing on mothers. In fact, I'm absolutely certain that mothers hold the all-time record on well laid plans getting all screwed up!

I live with the best laid plans not coming to fruition on a daily basis. Seems some one thing or another is always jumping in and taking over my day.

So, surprise, surprise... I didn't make it to the grocer to gather party baking ingredients this morning. Now I'm attached to the castle with diaper pins while Lil Dragon takes her nap. There will be no baking today. Arg!

I just love tea parties...

Plans are underway for serving an afternoon tea fat the Southern Living party I'm hosting on Sunday... and I was starting to worry! Every RSVP was for regrets!

Until today! Five ladies called to say they are coming... what a relief. I better get a wiggle on and start getting ready. So, I spent some time online looking up recipes and generating a grocery list. I found scrumptious recipes for cookies, scones, cupcakes, muffins, quick breads, and the mandatory little finger sandwiches.

Tomorrow while Lil Dragon is in nursery school I'll gather the ingredients. Then when she is in for her nappy-nap, I'll crank up the oven and start to bake.

I just love tea parties!

Thank you, Alison, of The Brocante Home Chronicles! Your timing is perfect!

Tomorrow Is A New Day

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense..." --Ralph Waldo Emerson.

My new blogtoy...

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School daze...

Lil Dragon is starting nursery school to mixed reviews. She loves her classroom. It's a whole new world that's just her size. And playing with all the wonderful toys is lots of fun. While Teacher isn't Mommy or Ya-Ya, she does pass muster. The "babies" in the class totally freak her out, though, with their hysterical sobs, wales, and screams. Starting school is a big adjustment for a little dragon!