Busy Saturday

We have "A" with us this weekend and maybe for a little while longer. He's still sleeping in his crib as I dash around the house cleaning up for another little guest who is coming in a couple of hours. I'm watching my friend's baby for the day as well. We expected the weekend to be quiet, with me watching the baby and John in Seattle for a job fair. Things changed. :) Wish me luck with the two little ones. It's been a minute since I did this.

Happy weekend!

The Coffee Club Diner

On Wednesdays, John takes the later ferry at 7:20 and this means a little extra sleep. Yesterday, however, we decided to have breakfast at a little diner in Bremerton called “The Coffee Club Diner” on Park Avenue. Something about diner food makes me all nostalgic for a time I never lived in and have only heard about from family or seen on tv and movies. Diners make me think of places with delicious comfort food that I normally don’t eat, locals who come in and greet each other by first name and friendly cook and wait staff who keep the coffee coming.

This place hit all the marks. Seating is u-shaped with red stools at the counter. There were booths, as well, as the friendly young waitress told us, but I love sitting at a diner bar. A few men, probably shipyard workers, were eating their breakfasts at the counter as well. John and I ordered the eggs and sausage—his over easy and mine scrambled. It came with choice of toast and choice of potatoes. Oh, potatoes. Some people love sweets, but I love potatoes and have to eat them sparingly. Yesterday morning, I got the home fries and John the hash browns.

The young waitress wasn’t over 20 years old, I don’t think, and was very friendly and provided good service. Since we had a very limited time to eat so that John could catch the ferry, we were pleased that after placing our order, the food arrived in front of us within five minutes. With oldies playing in the background, we at our delicious breakfast and drank a couple mugs of coffee. All too soon, our little breakfast time was over, and it was time to drive the two blocks to the ferry. We hope to go back again maybe for lunch.

For those with no concern about clogged arteries, the Coffee Club Diner has a “Goliath Burger Challenge.” It’s a 5lb burger served with 5 lbs of fries! You have to see the video of how tall this monstrosity is! If you finish all 10 pounds in an hour, you get your meal free, your photo on the wall, and a $25 gift certificate to Minder Meats. If your eyes are bigger than your stomach, it’s $25. I’ll skip that burger because they serve a Monte Cristo sandwich that has my name on it!

If you live in the area, stop by the diner. It’s good food, a nice atmosphere, and a fun way to have a meal.

Address: 417 Park Ave Bremerton, WA 98337

Business Hours:
Monday through Friday - 5:30am to 7:00pm
Saturday - 7:00am to 7:00pm
Sunday - 8:00am to 5:00pm

Move Over, Oprah

Who needs Oprah when you have Ellen? Not Ellen Degeneres, but Ellen S., my sister-in-law. Oprah is a lifestyle guru for many women, but I've got Ellen. Why is she, you may wonder? See below.

1.)I noticed that most of the blogs I now follow through my blog were suggested by Ellen.

2.)Most of the books I'm interested in reading now have been suggested by Ellen.

3.)Most of the Etsy stores I visit and buy from were passed on to me by Ellen.

4.)We bought a farm share last year because Ellen had turned us on to it.

5.) We now eat mostly vegetarian during the week and have organic meat on the weekend because Ellen turned me on to it.

6.) My parents-in-law told us about a movie that they really liked. When I asked how they heard about it, they said, "Ellen told us about it." I should have known...
I put the movie on our netflix list and we really enjoyed it, too.

Ellen even transfered her subscription to O Magazine to me (someone had given it to her).

If you see me wearing a bracelet that reads "WWED?" you'll know who E is.

Since Ellen passed these gems on to me, I'd like to pass them on to you:

ERM Originals

CrystalB Handcrafted Jewelry

Darly Bird

Shabby Apple

Cjane Enjoy It

Our girl

Our little girl is 5 today. She’s full of energy and obsessed with flashlights. She sits with me when I cry, loves to chase her tennis balls and Frisbees and loves ‘tickles’ on her legs and ‘scritches’ on her bum and knows the difference between the two.

What we’ve been so happy to see in her is how she is with the kids we’ve had in our home so far. She’s patient and sweet with them and follows them around with her stuffed giraffe in her mouth hoping they’ll play with her.

The girl we had with us over the weekend was nervous about meeting a big dog. After a few minutes, K and Jill were friends, and Jill put up with K bossing her around all weekend. When I drove K back home, she wanted to have Jill come with us in the car. Both of them fell asleep in the back seat, with Jill’s head nestled against K’s leg, and K’s arm around Jill.

Who knew that Jill would become somewhat of a therapy dog?

We love you, little Jill.

Heavy Hearts

Yesterday, I found out that M has requested from the court a "voluntary departure." This means that after much paperwork and about eight weeks she and A will return to Guatemala. We cannot believe this. Her case manager and her attorney tried to talk her out of it, but M was resolute in court, though she cried the whole time.

Our question is "WHY?!" Why would she decide to go back to a dangerous situation? Why would she take A back to poverty and no education? The answers, which seem so clear to us, are more complicated and involve much more than just what logic would tell us.

As her case manager told me, M has many outside stresses that influenced her decision: she is under pressure from her family to work. She has a young child who tests her daily by tantrums and screaming and who has had some health issues on top of that. M feels like she and A are a burden to their current foster family and does not want to be a burden to any other foster family.

John and I are very sad that this has happened. In our eyes, we see the opportunities that she and A have here that probably they will never have in Guatemala. We worry a great deal about them and their future. But--it is her decision. The most we can do is entrust them to His care and protection.

M asked that if the departure does not happen in 30 days, that she and A be moved from their current home to a different foster home. She asked to live with us. This means a lot to us, and we will make the most of the remaining weeks we have with them.

The path that life takes people on always amazes me. Although our age range for placements is 0-6, we are very grateful to have met M and A and learn from them. I don't look forward to saying goodbye. Not at all.

Que Dios les bendiga.

Melissa and Doug Giveaway!

They are having a very nice giveaway on the M&D blog here for a chance to win a Sunny Patch Gift Pack worth $50! Check it out and good luck!

Good Eats

In the last few weeks, I've had a chance to enjoy some good cooking--and most of it wasn't done by me. A few weeks ago, at the Gourmet Club dinner, we had a delicious hummus. The recipe can be found here. What gave this hummus a great subtle taste was adding a couple of mint leaves and a little Greek yogurt pulsed in with all the ingredients in the food processor.

The tabouli was also delicious. The large amount of parsley in it gives you not only good nutrition, but also a very fresh taste.

Since I had a lot of chick peas left over, I made this soup. It was earthy, cheap and nutritious.

Finally, a few nights later, I made these chick pea burgers with tahini sauce. The sauce was divine.

The best part of all of these recipes is that they are healthy, delicious and MEAT FREE!!!