It is SO not cool to brag about sleeping when you are supposedly “working” and your spouse is at home with horrible allergies. Yes, that’s right. Tommy went ahead and pre-loaded a post bragging that he would be sleeping while people read his post. All the while, I am home suffering from a huge allergy attack in the humidity ridden boiling hot city that is Dallas. Did I mention that it’s winter in Buenos Aires? So, not only was he sleeping, he was sleeping in a cool comfortable room (with the windows open probably) enjoying the nice, 60 degree south of the equator wintertime weather.

Well, he claims that he will take me there in a couple of weeks. And if he does I will forgive him for bragging about sleeping – while he’s supposedly working – south of the equator in Argentina. Not fair. SO not fair.

This recipe is a real crowd pleaser, and it will feed a LOT of people. I showed you a picture of it a while back, so here’s how to make it if you want to give it a try.

Bow Tie Pasta with Semi-Homemade Red Sauce

Ingredients:

-1 12 oz. box Bow Tie Pasta
-6 cloves garlic, minced (real garlic, not the stuff in the jar)
-½ medium white onion, chopped
-2 large roma tomatoes, chopped
-1 lb. ground sirloin
-Low-sodium chicken broth
-1 jar Prego Mushroom spaghetti sauce
-Olive Oil
-Fresh basil and Italian parsley, chopped (about 1 Tablespoon)
-Shredded parmesan cheese (not grated)
-Italian Seasoning
-Sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Instructions:

-In 5-qt. skillet, sauté garlic and onions with olive oil until tender (don’t burn the garlic!)/salt and pepper to taste

-Add ground beef/season with liberal amounts of Italian seasoning, salt and pepper/crumble and brown thoroughly with garlic and onions

-Add chopped roma tomatoes/salt and pepper to taste/go twice around the pan with chicken broth and simmer for about five minutes

-Add Prego and stir

-Put lid on pan and simmer

-While sauce is simmering, cook bow ties (don’t forget to salt the water) until al dente and drain – DO NOT RINSE!!

-Add the bow ties and most of the fresh chopped basil and parsley to skillet with the sauce and stir well/cover and cook on low heat for about 2- 5 minutes

Serve pasta in bowls with shredded parmesan and on top/sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and parsley mix if desired.

I don’t feel good. Allergy season this year is especially bad in Dallas. Even my doctor has admitted that he’s been dousing his symptoms with anything and everything he can get his hands on.

And it doesn’t help that we’ve been having a LOT of red pollution days lately. I learned very early on after my move to this state at the age of 16 that in Texas, EVERYONE likes to have their own ride wherever they go. And so those wonderful HOV lanes are rarely used, and if they are it’s by people who are either going to lunch with a business associate or families going out to eat or to a game.

I’ve asked Tommy about this fascination Texans have with car ownership, and having that owned car with them everywhere they go. He said that’s just the way it’s always been since he can remember. He can’t really understand the concept of NOT having your car with you – if you have one, that is. I believe in many areas of the state they don’t even know what car pooling is, especially in the more rural areas.

Now, understand that I grew up in Wisconsin. One of the most conservation-oriented states there is. It’s ridiculous what these people go through to save the world. I must admit their public transportation system is outstanding and that is an important side benefit if for some reason you find yourself without a car. However, the removing of the labels and rinsing of the cans and separating of papers and the plastics and the cardboards can get tedious at times – well OK most of the time. And ride sharing was ALWAYS preferable to taking many cars to school, games, movies, work, wherever.

Anyway, I digress. Going back to Texans and their cars. This car pride does take different forms, depending on where you are. If you are in a college town, it’s usually enough to just have a car that runs and you can be proud of that. If you are in the country, your vehicle of choice is usually a truck that can haul things, or if you are a teenager in West Texas it could possibly be some sort of sports car you are proud to own and drive everywhere you go..

And if you are in Dallas or Houston…well….that’s a totally different story. If you are in Sales, you must drive a Lexus, and if you are the top sales person, you must drive a Jaguar or a Porsche – or if pressed, a Mercedes. If you married well and are home with your kids, your vehicle of choice would be a Lexus SUV or a BMW SUV, or a Lincoln Navigator, and possibly even an H2. Or an Expedition if you bought it a few years ago and your spouse has since had to change jobs and you haven’t been able to upgrade for a while. You will drive a fully loaded Minivan if you must, but it’s not your first choice. And if you are like me – unemployed and enjoying it – you drive a Cirrus that has been paid off – for a while – and you don’t care how those SUV driving, liposuctioned, tummy-tucked, sunbaked Dallasites look at your car. You don’t have to work. And you have a pool. So you don’t care.

So that’s my diatribe on Texans and how they always have to have their cars with them, their lack of use of the HOV lanes, what kind of cars they drive, and how all this car-loving has contributed to many red pollution days. And did I mention that I feel crappy from my allergies? Especially on red pollution days caused by those Texas car-lovers. That is all.

Let me just climb in here and make myself comfortable.

Now, if I can just get the plastic where it needs to go….
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By now we all know that Cory thinks she is cool. Apparently, her belief in her own coolness has rubbed off on my son. We went shopping for school clothes today. Look what he got.
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When people ask me what my hobbies are, sleeping definitely tops the list. When I was working lo those many years, I believe I did suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. Even when I got the time to sleep, I was so wound up from work and all the stuff I felt I had to do around the house that it took me a really long time to get to sleep at night.

Scytheboy stopped taking naps when he was about two. Tommy jokes about how I used to go “lay down with him so he would take a nap” – and then Scytheboy would come out about 15 minutes later and whisper, “Shhhh…Mommy’s sleeping.” I guess that happened. I don’t know because I was sleeping. Yes, those weekends when Tommy was home I did take a lot of naps.
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Don’t tell Tommy. He’s been whining about not having any pie since he made the brisket. All that talk about pie caused me to actually go to the store after dinner, buy the stuff, and make the pie. Soon it will be cool. And I will be eating apple pie. Yummy.

All summer, Scytheboy has been reminding us of the “must have” items for middle school. The most talked about item has been a cell phone. Yes, a cell phone. Am I that old? Since when did a cell phone top the list of essential school supply items?

And the cell phone companies haven’t made our arguments for not getting him one any easier….it now costs as little as .50 a day to arm your child with his or her own phone. A phone fully equipped with Internet access, instant messaging, text messages and voice activated dialing features. I’ve had my phone for two years and I still haven’t figured out how to do all that stuff on mine.

And yes, we did in fact cave and get him the damn phone. First, because we were sick of hearing about how all his friends have phones and how he would only use it to call us. Second, because we lost all leverage when he looked on our provider’s site and even offered to use some of his allowance for the monthly fee if he had to. So now he’s got the phone of his dreams and suddenly we have a very appreciative and well behaved child. I wonder how long that will last?

The following conversation actually took place this evening.

Scytheboy: “Mom, in addition to the XBox 360, I found a really cool revolver I want for Christmas.”

Me: “Um….isn’t like the end of July? Christmas is a long way off.”

Scytheboy: “Hey, July is roughly in the same half year as Christmas.”

It’s going to be a really long six months. And I’m a little concerned about the revolver request….

Ever since Tommy started his blog, Cory has been trying to convince him that she is cool. And today she wanted to make sure that I let everyone who stops by here know she thinks she is cool. Or was I supposed to say that she is cool? I forget.

Anyway, Cory….you know what’s cool? That blue ball with the stars and the moons you bought to use in our very cool pool the last time you came to see us. Your cool blue ball is still here, waiting for you….in the mean time I’ll make sure to take care of it – any time I want to – in my pool. So Cory, what’s cooler – the ball or the pool?