Happy Saturdays

• Grand Lake Farmers Market
• Cana
• Heart and Dagger

This day could not have been better!  We started off by heading to the farmers market in our neighborhood to meet up with the cousins.  We normally would have found a soft place on the grass and soaked up the sun but we were on a mission for some nearby food at Cana.  Two words............... Cuban Sandwich (roasted pork, two slices of ham, melted cheese, sliced pickle all on a mojo slathered, toasty roll).  My girl had the picadillo empanadas, as usual, delicious!  After lunch istwas 5 o'clock on the other coast, so it seemed that heading to the Heart and Dagger was an appropriate place to take our caravan of family and friends that had grown to an octet.  But what would a relaxing afternoon on  the back patio of said Saloon be without a little sweet and savory kettle corn?  Snacks and a Tallboy to finish off the afternoon was just what the doctor ordered for this teacher on her first day of Thanksgiving break.  I am thankful for friends, family, local farmers, Cubans, popcorn, and $4.00 tall cans.

Living thankfully,

Frankie Mae

Interested in any of these spots?  Check out the links at the top of the post.

Dodgeball Thursdays

I'm finally not feeling any soreness in my body after last Thursday's 2 hour, marathon of dodge ball.  Let me tell you how amazing it was!!!!  Playing dodgeball with my co-workers and friends was the highlight of my week for the following reasons:

• Showed up to find out that girls play for FREE
• 30 people, 9 balls, 2 hours of fun
• 7 school teachers taking out their aggression by pummeling strangers with what they call "no sting" dodge balls (that's a lie, by the way)
• Playground rules like "JAIL BREAK!"
• 4:30 Female to Male ratio and they didn't let up on us one bit
• Hatcher getting smacked in the face, followed by an 8 second recovery period for anyone who gets hit in the head
• Soren, the Harvard BEAST............. he moves with such grace and he went to Harvard!   What?! That is my 6th grade counter part!
• Parra, catchin' balls all day since 1990.  Hoodball Champ!
• Bonding and feelin' fierce while throwing the hell out of a ball over 100 times with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre as the soundtrack

This week we're up for it again....................... more to follow

I'm taking the picture so you don't see me,

Frankie Mae

Karaoke Mondays

I can not emphasize how important it is to develop strong relationships at work.  For that reason, I have taken it upon myself to institute a weekly bonding ritual that I like to call Karaoke Mondays.  Each Monday, my co-workers and I meet in my classroom from 12:25-12:50 and use YouTube to find the karaoke versions of our chosen songs.  This week's highlights, A Veritable Smorgasbord from Charlotte's Web.  Nick made an excellent Templeton.  But, "who stole the show?" you might ask.......... it was Parra and Soren who sang A Whole New World from Aladdin.  Now let me remind you that I'm a teacher so these are all teachers singing during a staggered lunch.  How cool would it have been to hear some of my teachers singing Disney tunes down the hall when I was in school?  We will miss next Monday due to T-Day but we will make up for it the following week with a double header, a little Gaga and R-Kelly.

Did I mention we have a dodgeball team too? Work hard, Play Harder!!!!! More about that later......

Oh my life

Frankie Mae

Banana Pancakes

I love to cook!!!!!  I recently made these for my wifey.......... they were delicious!

I made banana pancakes and I thought you might want to try them out for yourself.  Here is a picture and the recipe.

I use Buisquick for pancakes.........

add one mashed banana to 2 servings of pancakes and cook as directed

for the topping:   Caramelize one sliced banana in butter and 2 tbs. of sugar

top with freshly sliced bananas and maple syrup

Try them out, and tell me how it goes.

Frankie Mae

Friends

So many people are under the impression that having a huge friends list on a social network or hundreds of numbers in the contact list of you Iphone is the mark of a full life.  I respectfully disagree.  This isn't a numbers game.  If you have 100 "friends", I hope that they are all true and real people that appreciate you for the gifts you have and struggles that challenge you daily.  Take time to be one of these people and to seek out others like you.

Just some thoughts........
Frankie Mae