TV, Toddlers and Tantrums

My husband and I recently had the chance to take a vacation without the kids... the first time in years.  In the past we get lazy and end up in Vegas because it is easy and we love it.  However, this time I was bound and determined to go to San Francisco.  I lived in California so I've been there a lot .  However, my husband had never been there so it was an added bonus for me to show him around.  You know when I find a good thing, I have to share.

I love San Francisco, it is exciting, romantic and high energy. I never tire of riding the cable cars and the food is amazing!

We stayed right on the cable car line near Union Square at the famous Westin- St. Francis.  The location is great and the hotel is nice.  We enjoyed a nice Easter Brunch at the hotel's Oak Room.  I say nice not fabulous.  The food was good but the price was a bit outrageous at over 60 dollars per person and that did not include coffee.  The selections were not immense considering the price.

Our first dinner in the city was at Farallon just steps from our hotel.  It was fabulous. 

The decor makes you feel like you are under the sea and in fact I believe the bar area is called the Jelly bar lounge.  The menu is mainly seafood and it was delicious.  The service was top notch and the wine list was extensive.  Like most dining in San Francisco it is pricey.  For dessert I was in the mood for a cheese course and it did not disappoint.

The biggest and best splurge of our trip was a private driver and tour guide to wine country.  I found Tom Delaney by accident when another tour guide was not available and recommended Tom.  His website is www.vinovantours.com.  It turned out to be the best accident ever.  He has been doing tours for years and he knows how to set up a day in Napa but can also give you three days.  His knowledge and relationships with wineries makes  the day enjoyable and you could not set this type of tour up without his help

He arranged a private tasting at three unique wineries.  We started the day at  Bell Wine Cellars

It is a small winery where we were allowed to taste wine right from a steel tank.  They are known for their (clone 6) Cabernet Sauvignon.  One taste and you will understand why.

Next, Tom arranged for us to head to Inglenook.  I know what you wine snobs are thinking:  "the huge glass jugs at the bottom of the grocery shelf."  However, Francis Ford Coppola has spent years reuniting the property, vineyards and wine making.  The grounds are beautiful and the wine was fantastic.  Tom arranged everything for us and we were able to set at a nice table and enjoy the wines and hear a little history from the servers.

Our next stop was Bottega for lunch.  If you are a Food Network junkie like I am you know this is Michael Chiarello's restaurant in Yountville.  The food was fabulous, 

The service a bit disappointing.  Michael was not there, but I was told by several people that he is frequently working in the kitchen.

Our final stop was Spring Mountain Vineyard.  It is not open to the public but you can schedule a tour and tasting in advance as Tom did for us.  This is a boutique winery that is more concerned with quality than quantity.  They only produce about 1500 cases a year.  The Elivette wines are incredible.  The tasting room was undergoing some renovations during our visit so we were able to do our private tasting in the mansion.  It was worth the trip.

After a long day in Napa, we really wanted a simple and quick dinner once we were back in the city.  The concierge recommended a place two blocks from the hotel called Uncle Vito's.  It is very small but the pizza is very good and I'm happy to report it was our only meal that was under 20 bucks!

Every tourist must visit the famous San Francisco Wharf.  However, I must say that this is NOT my favorite part of San Francisco. It is great if you are looking to do a boat tour and we took a great one around Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Big Hint:  Get your Alcatraz tickets at least two weeks prior to your trip/arrival as they sell out fast.  I'm obsessed with cheap sunglasses and the wharf is a great place for that kind of shopping.  Also, I love having lunch at Boudin.  A trip to San Francisco would not be complete without a bread bowl of clam chowder from Boudin.  They also have a great grilled cheese sandwich which has a Parmesan crust.  Delicious.

Some of my old stomping grounds have been altered a bit.  My friend Dave and I used to frequent a place called "Coffee Ron's" for an Irish coffee.  Coffee Ron's is no longer around, but fortunately my friend Dave is and we managed to find an establishment near the Wharf where we able to enjoy an Irish Coffee and some memories.

So we are back home now still enjoying our Ghirardelli chocolate and looking for the right moment/meal to open a bottle of our Napa Valley wine ( which by the way we had shipped)

It could be another 6-8 years before we get to do another trip without kids but this one was well worth the wait.  I still love San Francisco and as much as I wanted to live there in the 90's, I would probably not have the blessings in my life that I do today had I moved to my favorite city.   I also believe that the charm of San Francisco would have tarnished a bit for me had I moved there to live permanently.  It is so much more fun to dream about visiting again. 

A cute article in the Milwaukee paper today about my friendship with two popular news anchors.  Oh and yes one of them works at the competition..  Here is the article in case you missed it.

http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/rival-morning-shows-have-deep-ties-hi49jj0-139916973.html

The truth is this friendship formed 18 years ago when we were all eager young workers.  Katrina, Susan and I started working here at TODAY'S TMJ4 within months of each other.  Ironically, Katrina grew up in the last market where I had worked so we had mutual friends.

We have endured a lot of ups and downs but mostly we have been able to share some monumental moments in each others lives... from Weddings, babies, promotions and more.  We may not see each other as much as we did in our younger days, but our friendships have remained steady.  We could fill a book with stories of our friendship and our encounters in this business.  In honor of our friendship I dug up some old photos--People want to make the station rivalry thing a bigger deal than it is... in the end it is all about connections.  Do you have an unusual friendship or a lasting connection with someone?  If so I would love to hear about it.

I'm frequently asked by others if I will consider them for "filling-in" for the hosts on The Morning Blend.  Apparently it doesn't take much to getting bitten by the t-v bug.  Molly and Tiffany make it look so easy I guess everyone wants to do their job and is confident they can!

Today, I was asked to be on at the last minute to talk about wearing the bodybugg.  I'm really passionate about exercise and staying healthy and I love my bodybugg.  It just so happened that I was dressed appropriately. However, my shirt/blouse was too shiny, too slick and too busy making me look huge.  I am a behind the scenes kind of gal.   I honestly could give a speech, eulogy or sermon with no prep at all, but being on television makes me a bit nervous.

I decided it was better to have not had any notice or prep because I would have worried so much about my outfit, make-up and hair.  Let me tell you whether you want to be on TV or not, it is much HARDER than it looks. If you have long hair, you don't want it rubbing up against your mic.  There are a lot of hot lights.  You have to always think about your posture, oh and the producer is talking in your ear.

Trust me it is a lot harder than it looks and my four year old is still confused why I didn't say hello to her.

I recently saw an ad for formula and thought how happy I am to be out of that phase.  Today I came across a document that illustrated my parenting style in the early years.  It was a typed document from 2006.   I prepared it when  my husband and I went to a wedding out of state.  The funny thing is I'm pretty sure a family member was babysitting my then 9 month old and 3 year old sons.  If you are a parent with multiple kids, you will find this funny.  These are in no particular order.

#1 'ONLY GIVE HIM CHEERIOS IF HE IS SITTING IN A HIGH CHAIR, HE IS JUST GETTING THE HANG OF IT AND YOU SHOULD NOT GIVE HIM CHEERIOS IN THE STROLLER"

#2 HE ONLY LIKES THE RED/WHITE AND BLUE/WHITE SILICONE PACIFIER

#3 ( in reference to the 3 year old)  DO NOT GIVE HIM POPCORN 

#4  DO NOT LET HIM SWIM ALONE

#5  If you call 911 from our house you may have to give them our address

Would love to hear your feedback on this.  My first reaction was boy "I'm a freak."  Next, what kind of babysitter needs to know that a 3 year old can't swim alone?  But when I stop laughing, I realize that while I may have been a  bit over the top with direction, I was obviously a caring mom who was very torn about leaving her little boys.

I still leave some direction today, but my 4 year old daughter has been eating popcorn for 2 years. It is funny how relaxed you become with the third child.  My now 8 year old never tasted soda till he was probably 6 or 7.  Both my younger kids have had soda. I'm known for getting things done at work and staying on top of details.  At home, I am much more relaxed and rules tend to be bent a bit  when it comes to me and the kids.  I want my kids to remember their childhood as fun and memorable.  Most of all I want them to know they were loved.  I think with or without popcorn and soda I am on the right track.

You hear all the time that we are an "over scheduled society."  My family is no exception.  My 8 year old has piano lessons and Tae Kwon Do nearly year round. Currently he also has basketball and swimming lessons.  My younger two also do swimming lessons and they each have one other activity.  I try to workout five times a week, do meal planning and work a full time job. Yes, we are a bit over scheduled.  But my kids are doing things they want to do.  I make them take swimming lessons but they never complain.  A lot of people do and will judge me.  But guess what?  I let them choose their activities because I feel guilty.  I do not want my kids to "not participate" because I work.  Just because I cannot be at every practice, game or part of a carpool, doesn't mean they should sit out.

I am a producer so I would love to have my life all planned out for the next couple of months.  I know that is very hard to do.  I have given in to only planning about 10 days out.  I realize I don't have to know what time I'm working out on March 2nd today.  I don't have to know who is picking up from soccer practice on May 1st today.

What I do recognize is when my kids or I get tired.  I've been known to just shut it down for a few days where nobody goes anywhere after school and we just chill for  few days.  That includes no workouts for me either.  Sometimes we all have to make some sacrifices to keep things balanced.  I really want to take piano lessons and some graduate level classes but that will have to wait as I'm a little busy right now.

I've learned that you can never judge somebody else.  Everyone makes their own choices that work for their family.  I've never believed in that "you can have it all" cliche.  You CANNOT!  I do more juggling than balancing and this week has been difficult.  We had a family party last weekend and I didn't do my regular meal planning.  We've had lots of leftovers and noodles this week.  Guess what?  Everyone is fine.  Nobody is hungry and nobody said "I really wish you would have planned better this week and slaved over a hot stove for hours for a better meal."    When I become a bit overwhelmed I remind myself that I waited a long time to be a mom and I'm so blessed with three healthy children.  It only takes a moment to look around at others and realize that a little disorganization is no big deal.  I have friends who are dealing with much heavier issues than I.

Now I just have to find out where I put those take out menus.

When my 8 year old brought home an extra credit project, I encouraged him to choose the option about writing a report about a U.S. President.  He had just received a really cool book about the presidents for Christmas.  I've never been much of a History buff and could never understand people who read Historic Biographies.  For obvious reasons he chose to do his report on the 15Th President James Buchanan.  My grandmother once told me he was a relative.   I have never investigated the family tree but he did come from Pennsylvania where many of my relatives also first lived.

Back to the homework.  I became absolutely enthralled about reading about James Buchanan and not just because of his name.  I learned that he was an unpopular president but spent a lifetime in politics.  He even turned down an appointment to the Supreme Court.  He was the only president to never marry and his niece served as the official host of the White House.  One report even said they had lots of dinners and late night parties to make lawmakers forget about the polarizing issue of slavery.  President Buchanan even has a memorial that is in D.C.  I thought it seemed pretty odd for a president who was no so memorable or popular.  Turns out the beloved niece had it in her will to be built.  Fascinating stuff.   So needless to say, I've become a bit obsessed with the history of Presidents and am looking forward to borrowing my son's book to do some more reading.

What hobby or passion did you discover later in life?

I see the Girl Scouts are selling cookies in Southeastern Wisconsin.  It is pretty easy for me NOT to buy them.  Why?  I haven't had any girls knocking on my door.  I haven't in quite some time.  It makes me so sad.  I remember being a girl scout and preparing my speech for each neighbor I would call upon.  I think it really improved my social skills.  I had to be confident, friendly and engaging.  I was many times the top seller in my troop.  These days it seems the parents do the selling.  They leave a sheet out on a desk at work or send out an email to alert co-workers and neighbors that their daughter is selling cookies. 

I appreciate the social media twist in the sell and trying to reach mass customers,  but I sure wish that everyone was required to do a few "door-to-door" sales.

My kids recently came home with a fund-raising activity that rewarded kids with prizes.  The more money you raise the more prizes you get.  My 6 year old really wants the prize that requires a minimum of $250.  I told him he needed to get on the phone and start calling some relatives.  I went over his speech and helped coached him and he did great.  I also told him that if he really wanted to reach his goal, he needed to knock on some doors.  I would be happy to escort him through the neighborhood, but I'm not doing the fund-raising for him.

I really worry that technology continues to disengage all of us from socializing. However, as long as they don't knock on my door, I guess my waistline and my wallet are better off.

It has come to my attention whether you have a family of two or a family of 10, meal planning can be a real headache.  I've always known it was a sometimes dreaded task but never thought that a couple may have the same problems I do when it comes to meal planning. I've done some hands on research and  based on experience, and interviews from experts I have come to one conclusion:  There are no magic formulas.  There are no short cuts.  It is time consuming and takes patience.    However, I do have a few tips: 

I spend several hours on Saturday or Sunday cooking things for the week ahead.  Spaghetti sauce one night can be pizza burgers another night.  If you have space for a freezer then make a huge batch to freeze for the next week.    I search the internet for recipes, especially ones I can make in the crock pot.  A pot roast in the crock pot can be a delicious dinner.  I take the left overs and shred the beef to make BBQ beef sandwiches another night.  The Taco Meat from Taco Night can be a fun Friday night dish of Beef/chicken Cheesy Nachos.  Although by Friday I'm usually ready to order pizza.

Whether you are feeding three kids  or just hubby, give yourself a break sometimes.  We usually do canned soup and sandwiches or hot dogs at least once every ten days.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be smarter at the grocery store.  I do like chicken but instead of buying ground chicken at  4.99 a pound, I buy Chicken Breasts in bulk and then I grind it up in a food processor and pan fry it for taco meat. 

My kids are also open to breakfast at dinner time, so often we do scrambled eggs and ham steak.

Now all the above may sound easy but it is not.  You have to really be organized with your grocery list.  I lay out five days of menu's before I go to the store, then I make my list.  Some weeks I try to challenge myself to use what it is in the freezer/pantry before buying anything else.

It's ok to give kids buttered noodles once in a while and to me if you add a little half and half and parm cheese it is a pleasing comfort meal on a winter night.

For me the hardest part is achieving victory on Sunday night as I have everything mapped out for the week... and then realizing when Friday rolls around I have to think about it all over again... of course there is always take out and delivery.

When my husband and I got married at 35, we knew we wouldn't wait long to have a family and before our first Anniversary we were expecting baby number 1.  He was just so sweet we couldn't imagine loving another one so much, so our second baby didn't arrive until 2.5 years later.  We really wanted three children, but number 2 was a handful and we were not sure we could handle another one like him. So we waited and 5 weeks before I turned 42 we had baby number 3-- our first girl. 

Lots of people are having babies later right?  I don't think about how old I'll be when they graduate high school or college, I'm just navigating a new pre-school, a new kindergarten and third grade.  We chuckle when we meet other "older" parents who seem giddy and excited that someone else "waited."  At a recent school open house my husband said the only other guy with gray hair came up and talked to him.  When we attended a recent pre-school orientation, I was a bit shocked at how young all the other parents appeared.  For the first time I thought we may get mistaken for the grandparents, especially since hubby is almost full gray. ( he blames it on me and not the kids)  I know people my age who are grandparents!

This is our situation, our choice, I don't regret it one bit.  I'm a much better parent at this age than I would have been 10-15 years ago.   I can handle a few raised eyebrows or inappropriate questions. Having said that I was shocked when I received an AARP card in the mail yesterday. In all fairness it was an invitation.

The website reads "AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people age 50 and over have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole, ways that help people 50 and over improve their lives."

I've heard it is a great organization with some great benefits and I actually remember when people retired at age 50.  Can't imagine that now.  While I'll be a proud carrying card member soon enough, I think they are recruiting early, don't you?

I have been so excited about this school year.  I have two kids in the same school and I knew my five year old would be excited about going to school each morning with his older brother.  Unfortunately, things haven't unfolded the same way they did in my imagination.

It started out with him going into school crying on the first day. ( ok pretty typical)

When I picked him up from school, he was wearing a crazy hat made in art and was smiling.  I said "Did you have a great day?"  he replied "not really."

So I was the one that was anxious the next day, and it was a shaky start with a pretty non-eventful end.  This week has been better.  He opened up about what they were learning.

He went to K4 last year at a different school.  So the transition and challenges are to be expected.  He is also learning that K5 has a bit more structure and he's not use to this.

While I'm disappointed at his reaction to school, I'm more surprised at how anxious it has made me.  My older son never complains and generally like school.  I know I have to give it time and I don't let my anxiety show--but if a kid hates school at five, what will the next 18 years bring?

While I'm not happy about it, my son did tell me about one thing he loved:  Riding on the School because he doesn't have to be buckled.  (that's a whole other dicussion)