Knuckle Sandwich

It has been another fun week here in the land of Maisie. Friday we met up with Kathy & Chani for lunch at Zucca. It was nice catching up with Kathy as it's been a while since we were last together and the little girls had so much fun together and oh my how they've both grown up, just the way they interacted and behaved. Don't you just want to squeeze those two, they're just so stinkin' adorable!

Saturday my parents arrived for a week long visit. Maisie was so excited that Grandma & Grandpa were coming to see her, she couldn't wait to make the trip to the airport to pick them up. We enjoyed a nice dinner at home and a quiet evening together.

Sunday morning we took my parents out for brunch at Maisie's favorite restaurant and our favorite sushi place. Everyone enjoyed the food...a little too much as we all came home stuffed to the gills. After the meal the adults wanted nothing more than to lay down and take a nap but Maisie was little Miss energizer bunny and had no desire to lay down, rest or even slow down. As soon as we arrived home I set Maisie up with a video and then all the adults hit the beds for a little snooze. Eammon and I could only rest for an hour then we had to get up so that we could take Maisie to A's fifth birthday party. Even though the party was fun I only stayed for a short time before heading home as I wanted to get dinner started. My sacrifice in going home early was worth it as the roasted butternut squash soup that I prepared for dinner was absolutely delish...even though everyone could only handle a small amount as we were all still full from brunch.

Monday was an extremely busy yet absolutely fun day. My Mom, Maisie and I headed out early to do all the grocery shopping for Thanksgiving and the week. The stores were thankfully quite empty, I was very organized and had my list together so even though we hit three stores we still made it home in record time. Once home I put my Mom to work and the two of us went into major cooking mode. Most of what we cooked was for Eammon's freezer meals. My Mom made some absolutely delicious baked stuffed flounder and I made a couple of crab and veggie quiches, a shrimp, clam, olive, sun dried tomato and caper sauce which was put over angle hair pasta as well as spaghetti bolognase. Before we knew it, it was time to take Maisie to gymnastics. The gym was closed for regular practices so it was more of a camp set up and Maisie had fun being with a different set of girls. After all the shopping and cooking of the day, my Mom & I enjoyed sitting down for a bit and just watching. As soon as we arrived home I started heating up dinner as I knew that I only had an hour before it was time to head out for my girls night out. But just minutes after arriving home Anne called to find out if I could be ready in 20 minutes. I gave my Mom some quick directions for dinner and getting Maisie to bed, I got myself washed up and dressed and it was kisses goodbye as I was out the door with not a minute to spare.

A few weeks ago Anne invited me along with another neighbor Natercia to join her and her sister Barbara for the Guy Fieri Road Show in Atlanta. The reason that Anne wanted us ready early is that she wanted us to join her at a pre-concert reception. By the time we got to the venue Guy Fieri had just left the reception but we did spend some time with the totally buff Robert Irvine who's been a long time friend of Anne's.

After the reception we were off to watch the show where we all had a great time. I think it was midnight by the time we arrived home but oh what fun it was. Maisie was a good girl for my parents but once I arrived home and started getting ready for bed she awoke and wanted to chat and spend time with me because she had missed me so much. So sweet but I was knackered and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and quickly fall asleep but I love that she missed me so and we spent about an hour cuddling and talking before she was ready to sleep again. A long, busy and fun day!

This morning my parents watched Maisie as Anne, her Mom and I headed out to do a little shopping at the Asian market. After shopping it was great to arrive home and find Maisie fed, in bed for nap (though not sleeping, nor did she ever sleep during nap time today) and all the laundry I had in the washer dried, folded and ready to be put away...you've gotta love having Mom visit! After no-nap-nap-time my parents headed out for a walk and Maisie and I headed over to K & A's so that she could play with her friends. I spent time chatting with Anne, her Mom & sister while we all watched Anne do a bit of cooking and benefited with sampling all her creations.

Tomorrow I'll start prepping and cooking for Thanksgiving. I can't believe that 2009 is almost over, time just seems to be moving at warp speed.