I had a great visit with my sister last week, but we ate out a lot more than I expected.  So this week has a lot of repeats.

Here is my Breakfast menu for this week:

• Pancakes w/bananas
  
• Biscuits and jam
  
• Cereal w/Milk
• Cheesy grits w/fruit
  
• Fruity Oatmeal w/Milk
  

Lunch menu for this week:

• Meat and cheese sandwiches w/Grapes

• Chicken & Stars Soup w/cheese toast and oranges

• Leftover Day
  

• Homemade Sloppy Joes w/Tossed salad

• Spaghetti w/Garlic Bread

Dinner menu for this week:

• Curried Red Lentils with rice, naan, and salad

• Japanese Mum’s Chicken over rice with steamed veggies

• Italian Wedding Soup with french bread

• Macaroni and Cheese w/green beans and fruit
  

• Bourbon Chicken w/rice and steamed broccoli

• Crockpot Beef Stew w/buttermilk biscuits and cube cheese

• Breakfast for Dinner: sausage and gravy with biscuits.

Head on over to Organizing Junkie for more great menu plans.

Most of my breakfast and lunch recipes came from Kid Approved Meals - Weekly Breakfast and Lunch Menus Moms and Kids Love!

I am always reading something, but come summertime I find that I like books that go fast and keep me riveted.

Here are some of my favorite summer reads:

The Complete Persepolis: Now a Major Motion Picture

Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trails of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming–both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.

Sink Reflections

“In her debut book, Cilley, a.k.a. “The FlyLady” to the thousands who log onto her FlyLady.net Web site, reaches into the every woman’s home to help make her housecleaning more fun and her life more organized. Beginning with “Shiny Sink 101,” Cilley explains how a spotless kitchen sink can direct even the most discouraged housekeeper onto the path of well-ordered domesticity. Through several straightforward routines, including the 27 Fling Boogie (the cut-throat practice of quick junk disposal), the Five-Minute Room Rescue (”another step on the road to clutter recovery”) and the Hot Spot Fire Drill (for an area that, like a forest fire, takes over your home), Cilley advises her “FlyBabies” on how to overcome clutter and CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome). Filled with testimonials from online followers, the book aims to help readers establish manageable daily and weekly habits by incorporating spirituality and family into the program. Detailed and direct, this is a guidebook for the stay-at-home or working woman who wants to have it all, including her sanity.” Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An Underground Education : The Unauthorized and Outrageous Supplement to Everything You Thought You Knew About Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, and Other Fields of Human

Forget the history you were taught in school; Richard Zacks’s version is crueler and funnier than anything you might have learned in seventh-grade civics–and much more of a gross-out, too. There’s no fact too seamy or perverse for Zacks to drag out into the light of day, from matters scatological and sexual to some of history’s most truly bizarre episodes. Curious about ancient nose-blowing etiquette? What about the sexual proclivities of Catherine the Great? Throughout chapters such as “The Evolution of Underwear” and “Dentistry Before Novocaine,” Zacks proves a tireless debunker of popular myths as well as a muckraker par excellence.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy
Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and
anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric,
bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station,
Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in
jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a
mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo’s dead father form the
backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

For more fun summer reads visit the Friendly Book Nook’s Summer Reading Extravaganza.  Don’t forget to share your favorite beach reads!

What sad news!  George Carlin has died of heart failure at 71.  Not only did he have an extraordinary ability to make us laugh, he made us think!  From his appearance as the first host of Saturday Night Live to his many movies, I have been an avid fan.

George was always a breath of fresh air. He kept us all in line and showed us the hypocrisy of the world.  He had an edge, still his compassionate soul shined through his sarcasm.

On November 10th the veteran comic whose infamous “Filthy Words” routine reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court will be the 11th person inducted into the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ pantheon of humor and receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Too bad we won’t get to hear his acceptance speech.  I know it would have left us rolling.

My thoughts go out to all of his family, friends, loved ones and fans. He will be missed and certainly never forgotten. Rest in peace, George - love ya, man!