Week in Review: Books, Cooking, Home and Family - June 4, 2011

Where did this week go?  I will be flying out to Houston tomorrow evening and I have a mile-long list of things to do before I go.  The house has to be ready for my sister and family to arrive on Friday!  Here's how my week shaped up...

Books
I finished up The Happiness Project early in the week.  I am still compiling thoughts for my review, but I really enjoyed this book.  It made me reconsider many things and their impact on my happiness or unhappiness.

to One More Page Books in Arlington, VA for the first time.  I picked up Outlander while I was there and have been reading it in every spare moment.  The writing is beautiful and I love the Scottish Highland setting.  It's a long one, so it will be making the trip to Houston with me next week.J and I ventured

I als received a copy of The Soldiers Wife.  An exerpt from the summary: 

"As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home."

Now doesn't that something that I would like to read?

Cooking
We had a barbeque with our neighbors on Memorial Day.  I whipped up our family favorite Potato Casserole - so not healthy, but oh so good:

Potato Casserole
1 package frozen hash browns (thaw for 2 hours)
1/2 Cup melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 Cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
2 Cups grated cheese (1 medium and 1 sharp)

Topping:
1 1/2 cups Cornflakes (crushed)
1/4 cup melted butter

Combine potatoes and butter in large bowl.  Add salt, pepper, onion, soup, sour cream and cheese.  Mix well.  Pour in 13 x 9 inch baking pan.  Mix cornflakes and butter in bowl for topping.  Sprinkle on top of potato mixture.  Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour 45 minutes.

Home
The guest bedrooms are ready!  I ran around the house yesterday between work, an unplanned vet appointment and Tae Kwon Do lessons.  I was able to set up two twin air mattresses for the kids and get the sheets changed out in the guest room for my sister and brother-in-law.  Now we just need some people to fill them!

Family

On Memorial Day we visited Arlington National Cemetery.  While we had been there before, the special changes for Memorial Day were very moving.  Each of the military personnel were in their dress uniforms.  There were survivor families at the entrance distributing fans to visitors and there were roses being given to visitors to lay at grave sites.  And the flags...  Every grave was marked with an American flag.  Beautiful and breathtaking!

My father-in-law's best friend passed away in 2007 and is buried at Arlington.  We visited his grave to pay our respects.  I can't think of a better way to have spent the morning on Memorial Day.

Wednesday was J's first official Tae Kwon Do lesson and yesterday she earned her white belt.  There is a lot of emphasis on respectful behavior, being helpful around the house, schoolwork and reading - I think that this will be great for all of us.  And just like I thought, I LOVE how cute she looks in her uniform!

You might notice the big puffy lip.  This is not Tae Kwon Do related - although that would make a more interesting story.  J had a filling on Thursday and bit her lip really hard while she was still numb.  It blew up like a balloon.  She is not objecting to the supplemental popsicle treatments...

Hope that you had a great week!