Author Archives: tracye1

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About tracye1

A wee bit about me, Tracy. Married to my high school sweetie for a looooong time. Mama of 4 beautiful kiddos, now ADULTS!!!! This blog is a potpourri of posts. Some wax on about my Catholic faith, others family, some are just a “diary” of life updates. Life is a journey, taken one day at a time (sometimes one step at a time) and my blog is about my personal trek through life. Peace!

Breakfast ideas that will make your stomach smile!

The other morning I came up a with a quick-ish breakfast and it was savory enough to share, the bonus is that it falls into the “Healthy” category.  Niiiiicce!!!

Egg and Eggplant

2 slices eggplant seared in non-stick fry pan with Pam

1 egg, scrambled

chopped tomato

chopped spinach

small slice of cheddar

**I had already prepared the Eggplant.  Peeling and slicing it, salting and placing between paper towels for a day.  Cooked it quickly in a little olive oil on the stove and stored in Tupperware.  I’m the only one who eats it, so now it’s ready to go!

Scrambled the egg, added tomato and spinach, warmed up the eggplant all in one pan, threw the cheese on top until melted and made an eggplant/egg sandwich.  I’ve got to tell you, that baby had some staying power and I was feeling all kinds of healthy, too!

Yum!

An option for the not so healthy set..but completely delicious!

Chocolate chip scones

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup chocolate chips  (**I make one scone without CC, we have a daughter who prefers them plain with a little honey…I know, odd…if she didn’t look so much like the rest of them, I’d have her DNA checked!)

Mix and knead, shape and bake @ 375 for about 15 minutes or until done.

**I’m NOT a good or patient scone shaper…I ball up the dough and squash it into a thick circle…voila! scone.  No one complains.

Notice the lone plain soldier in the upper right corner.
**for other recipes check my “RECIPE” section**

Summertime and the living is easy….for those who have off that is!

My view from the track for the next few months…BUT….it’s guaranteed cardio, so there’s that!

‘Tis the last week of summer for us and I’m taking off Wed-Fri to chill and occupy the children.  Except that I panicked at the thought of the next 4 months being utterly sucked up by soccer and cheer practice/games and any opportunity of any travel outside of games is POOF, gone, so I decided to make an somewhat-impromptu visit to see my girlfriend in Atlanta.  Taking my girls, of course.  (the boys aren’t interested…they are too cool for that, besides her boys won’t be there…)

what bored soccer players do at cheer practice…

It will be a busy few days, because that’s how I roll….all busy and hectic and such…it’s black and white with me sometimes–ok mostly.  Balls to the wall busy or slug.

Anyway, possibly a day trip to Gainesville to see my pregnant friend before she enters the world of 4 kiddos, birthday skateboard shopping for our almost 15-year-old!  WHhAaTt?!??!?!  Meet the teachers.  Pick up middle schooler’s schedule/locker/etc.

But first….let me get my arse off the chair and get ready to GO VOTE!

Have a great day and hopefully will have some fun stuff for you at the end of the week!

Ciao!

Try Tri…

If you’ve ever had the desire to participate in a triathlon or perhaps even COMPETE in a triathlon, you might be missing a few screws.  Just sayin’ .  I’m not slandering you or anything, because my Hubby falls in that category.  It’s an observation.  My observation.  Just in case you ARE a triathlon person you don’t need to get your athletic panties in a wad…

Today marked Hubby’s return to triathlon competing.  yay him.  It’s all good though.  I’m proud of him.  I can’t run anymore, but even when I did…..NO.  DESIRE.  Mostly because I’m pretty certain I’d panic in the swim and drown.  Not my strong suit.  Plus, I’d be all concerned about what is swimming under and around me…visions of Jaws are seared in my brain.  Oh and biking…eh.  I hate that my rear is so sore….and yes, I know it goes away (I did actually teach spin classes for several years), but I only like to bike easy on the beach, like this on Saturday:

See, my girl likes a little break while biking…nice and easy, little breeze, water break….that’s a good ride!

However, today we got the kids up bright and early…5:30 a.m. on a Sunday.  Good times…..fortunately,  they have one more week of sleeping in to recover!  The bonus was the beautiful sunrise at the start of the race.

And then the race began.  Men first (in yellow caps)….followed by the ladies (in green caps).  The race was:

800 yd. ocean swim/15 mile road bike/4 mile beach run

We haven’t got the final results yet but Hubby did very well, placing roughly 7th in his age group and 40-something out of about 150ish people.  Awesome effort.  Rewarded by Dunkin Donuts at home!  Can I get a WOOP WOOP?!?!!!  Enjoy and hopefully you’ll get a nap today like I plan on doing!

Lining up

And they’re off…..(shooting blind here, had NO idea where Hubby was in the pack)

All I can say is…I was in that water yesterday and it was COLD! No thank you.

Lifeguards. Making sure no one is drowning from a kick to the head.

Go, baby, GO!

Bikes corralled and ready to go….

 

 

 

From fish to firma…on wheels…

the home stretch….all 4 miles of it….phew!

Under 1:40….not bad for an “old” guy…. 😉

The race tent for the record keepers….extremely well run race…no pun intended!

Passing time between clapping, getting sandy, rinsing off and getting on each other’s nerves. However, they were there to cheer on Dad and afterward said, “Eh, it wasn’t so bad. I just didn’t want to get up so early.” pssst…sneak peek into back to school/reality kiddos! (they did actually come over to the finish line to clap/cheer on and high 5 Dad…they come through in the clutch!)

Happy Sunday, ya’ll!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sufferin’ Succotash

It’s Friday and usually I round-up the week with a little summary of what went down this past week with Jennifer Fulwiler and her peeps @ Conversion diary, however, it seems I’ve been doing plenty o’ whining about my week all week-long.  This Friday is a little different version…..because amidst all my moaning this week I’ve had a lot on my heart and prayers going up for various friends.  Tonight, in the midst of our evening routine a good friend emailed me great news regarding some prayers answered.  It was a reminder that suffering, though inevitable, often brings great changes.  This week I’ve been praying a lot and chewing on suffering.  We don’t always find out the “why” but when we realize that this life is temporary and accept that God CAN and DOES use all things to His glory, we can manage through a little bit easier until we gaze upon that which is eternal.  hopefully.  generally easier said than done.

  • In suffering we become more empathetic toward others, realizing we all have a cross to bear, none heavier than the other.
  • In suffering we are given the opportunity to open up and allow others in because we aren’t meant to carry our burdens alone.
  • In suffering we have a choice, to be bitter and let the weight of the world crush our shoulders or accept and let our suffering bring us to a healing relationship in Christ.
  • In suffering we are often begin to see more clearly the difference between what is useful and necessary and that which is excessive and confusing.
  • In suffering we prioritize the important and (hopefully) adjust our sails accordingly to tweak our actions to match our priorities.
  • In suffering we step out in faith.
  • In suffering we receive grace.

Whatever cross you bear, may you be fully comforted in the Truth and Joy that comes in a Savior that died for us so that we may be received into heaven freed from the suffering that comes in this life.  Be blessed.  Be encouraged.  You.  ARE.  Loved.

Psalm 66:10  For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

Psalm 94:12  Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law.

Isaiah 55:9  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Romans 8:18  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 12:12  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Revelation 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away.

Manic Monday

After the whirlwind weekend comes crazy Monday….

Starting off innocently and with bright hopes for the day with a great boot camp, shower, some quiet time and then off to wake up the littlest (our older girl had a sleepover) and then…..at 7:22 a.m. as I was gently waking her and asking what she wanted for breakfast….I realized….I……was the early person.  Yes, the person who “opens up” at 7:30 a.m.  Oh.  crud.  Bless her heart,she opened those eyes and joined “Team Mom” and dressed and got ready in record time as I made lunches and got myself ready.  I made it to work @ 8:06 and FORTUNATELY had NO patients waiting…..phew!!!

Nothing like a little adrenaline to start the day.

The evening was apparently a bit of a peek into what the next few months have in store for us with dueling sports/practices/games going on.  We’ve done this before and I guess enough time must have passed that I forgot how psycho that time was….kind of like being pregnant/giving birth/babies.  So….here we go again.  Lord, have mercy on us.

We have a cheerleader for a Pop Warner football league and a soccer player entering the club bracket for the first time.  We will have NO.  LIFE.   for the next four months. So call me.  maybe.  or text.  or email.  or Facebook me.  or read my blog, it may get interesting as the seasons start (because we’re still in “practice” with no games until September)….on a plus side, I’ll be getting lots of cardio in during the practices, so there’s that.

I thought it went fairly well with Hubby on “deliver-the-girls to practice” duty and me on pick-up.  I had son #2 put dinner in the oven and Hubby would be home in time from his swim to dish it out and get the sides ready, except………somehow…..the oven didn’t actually get turned ON.   Therefore….pancakes, eggs and hash for dinner.  And it was ready.  My Hubby rocks.  and he makes great pancakes, too!  😉

So…..little speedbumps to smooth out…but that’s what practice runs are for, right?   Boys and girls we learned a few good lessons today:

1) Make sure you know WHEN you are supposed to be somewhere.

2) Make lunches the night before.  Time saver here.

3) Teach the boy to push the button PROPERLY…

4)  Always have  pancakes, eggs and hash on hand.  oh, and chocolate chips.  they go good in pancakes and in a REAL crisis you can just eat them by the handful.