Thursdays at the Park

Good morning to all of our followers. We hope that you are all doing well. We are all here today and we have muffins and banana bread and fresh fruit and some nice warm tea. Cathy has brought some magazines so that we can make grocery lists and menus. We are not sure yet what her intention is with all of this. She is also talking about the blog and lists of things and how to make it more popular.

Cathy and Carolin are now talking about gardening and plants. Cathy wants to grow more native plants, ferns, potentilla's and etc. what's a potentilla (small shrub with very small flowers). Cathy is talking about blog ranking and how to do that. Where does our blog rank among other blogs. Well we can't worry about that until we are actually making some money. Cathy wants to come up with some lists of topics that will attract others to our blog. At google promoting your site there are ways to promote your site and Cathy says that we are doing most of the things that are suggested on google. Does our blog come up under conversations at the park when you google it or does it come up on our computers because of the history of our cookies.

Carolin is now talking about her proposal for the school. She got a call from the principal informing her that the board meeting that was scheduled for this week has been moved to next week. He approached her at the end of the day and told her that the school members are now on board and its now up to the other board members to give their input. The principal has said that there is nothing in her proposal that she needs to change. On the board there are 4 members from the school so she seems to have 4/10 board members on her side so far. The bottom line she believes will come down to money and who needs to pay for this kitchen renovation. The church wants the kitchen and we hope that they will put in a usable full service kitchen that can be used by the church and the school and Carolin's business. Well we all think that it is good news. She is one step closer to having her future business come to life. She has expended a lot of brain power on this.

Louise got the job within the banking profession. Her training for the job starts in July and she is very excited. If she can keep her busing job and have the banking job in September too then things will be looking up. She will have 6 weeks of full time training starting in July. She is hoping that her ex will help out with watching the kids while she is in training if he is still out of a job. It is a big responsibility for her . We hope that the ex will step in and really help out. There are possibilities through soccer camps and church camps and other things but all of them require money and its money that we all don't have at the moment. Carolin talks about soccer camp for her daughter and how she would love it but money is an issue because of the Chrysler lay offs and the uncertainty with her own job future. Jobs are great and camps are great but kids still need to be watched and any activities cost money. If we could all just have that extra cash to deal with it all. What a crazy summer this will be. We all need it as a rejuvenation from the long hard winter and all of our schedules are filling up fast.

Cathy talks about lay offs at the airport and it doesn't look like it will be happening but who knows.

Apparently you can apply for a grant from the Ontario Arts Council so Carolin wonders if the her school will qualify.

High school kids are off soon. Some tomorrow and some next week. My kids and Louise's kids are actually at Pioneer Village tomorrow. Carolin is jealous, she wants to go too. She loves Pioneer Village and wants to be the tour guide. This really is Carolin's dream job.

Louise took her little one to Library for the reading program and he loved it. She wants to take him from now on but of course there is no course for the next two weeks. She also got in a little trouble for leaving her bus in the parking lot. People have too much time on their hands to call in a bus in the parking lot when it is only parked there for a half hour. Carolin use to take her day care kids to Library and they loved it too. She use to walk there and it took her longer to walk with all of the small kids then to be there for the actual reading portion of the day.

Louise is feeling better and she attributes it to being out and about. She is not staying home anymore. We all ran into an old friend this week (except for Cathy) and they are also doing well. It is a former neighbour of all of ours and they are now going to be grandparents and there youngest son is in Karate now.

Is it better to put a child in home day care or in a professional day care centre? Carolin believes that a home day care centre for children is better especially little ones because it gives them some down time where they can fall asleep on a couch and be in a quiet place if they need to. Louise agrees but she thinks that different kids and there different personalities sometimes would be great for some kids. Some kids have older siblings and are use to and very welcoming of other kids and activities. Her youngest is very social and loves to be a part of the action.

Louise's ex needs a job and he is down on himself because it has been a while now. We all understand and we believe that it is very hard. That constant rejection is difficult and there is a lot of networking to do and sometimes it seems to go absolutely no where. We wish her family all the best financially and in every other aspect of their lives.

Louise has given her ex a number for a trucking company which she approached when she was looking to get her D licence. Well he is meeting with this person and he going to get his B licence. For once his wife is ahead of him in the licence area and he has acknowledged this and he told her how important this licence is and how many doors this opens for you. A head hunter has offered him a job in Niagara Falls and Louise thinks that he should take it. Carolin is talking about a company that is trying to finish a house and needs help because its crunch time so her husband is going for a few days. Well maybe Louise's ex will be available and interested in this opportunity to.

Carolin had told me about a job available at scholars choice. I will be calling and she also told me about Bed Bath and Beyond and I did call them but there is no hiring so far. I have also tries some of my favourite stores to work at, Wall Mart, Home Sense, Winners, Fortinos. I have dropped off several resumes and application forms at all of these. I am waiting for any kind of contact what so ever.

Cathy is talking about her weekend camping trip. The best part is the food! I agree actually it is the only thing of camping I like. We all agree that walking in the sand on a beach is amazing exercise and the best free pedicure you can get. Cathy wants all of us to go camping????? Makes me wonder if she reads my comments on her stories.

Cathy has now changed the subject to food (yeah, food) She would like us to organize a 4 week meal plan. Cathy got her pad and paper and ready for the menu. Louise is giving Cathy her family food favorites. I am big on making large portions and then freezing for the busy nights or when you don't want to cook. For me I find if I am making Sheppard's pie it really is not that much more work to triple the recipe and put to in the freezer for another night. I think the key for busy families is cooking in larger quantity's. Make enough for dinner. lunch the next day and if you can freeze for another dinner.

This is my one of time saving menus, Sunday I make a large pot of pasta sauce. Sunday night we have spaghetti for dinner with meatballs ( I have already made and froze, I just take out what I need). Monday night we have chicken thighs cooked in the left over spaghetti sauce, simmer for 40 minutes and have over rice. Dinner three we have the left over chicken and sauce, I make pizza. Just have to add cheese.

Fellow blogging friends what are some of your time saving tips for the busy dinner rush. I am sure we are all in the same boat trying to get real whole food that everyone likes that is quick and nutritious on the table within a hour of getting home from work or were ever.

Hi there, it's Cathy now. Planning a 4 week menu is a great idea. I got the idea from a tv show on the food network called, 'Fixin Dinner', with Sandi Richardson as host. I tried it and it works. It was great knowing what was for dinner and the grocery list was practically cut in half. Menu planning saved us money! The kids loved that I finally repeated meals. I have a bad habit of not cooking the same thing twice. I don't know why, I just love to cook and experiment and my family loves what I cook. They would just like a chance to taste it again!

I have to leave early today to attend a volunteer tea at the school. It's nice. The teachers all bake cookies and we usually receive a plant and it's a nice way to say thank-you to all the volunteers who donate their time at the school.

Carolin is talking about stripping?????
I say if it pays well......Go for it!!!!!!!!
The girls are in a rush to go, so I'll get back to everyone later.
Hope everyone is having a good day.