Our Weekend: A Birthday and a Recipe

Well, here we are on Sunday night and the weekend is coming to a close. 

It's been, for the most part, a very good one.

Jackie's birthday went smoothly, and no one even cried. I didn't get super stressed out and cry or lock myself in the bathroom with a bottle of wine, so I would consider it a success.

Friday night we had a small, just for the family birthday dinner, with me, the kids and my dad.

There were homemade chicken fingers, a homemade chocolate cake, and a very excited birthday boy.

On Saturday, we all went to the park for a bigger birthday party.

Everyone important to Jackson was there, and that meant a lot to me.

Saturday night Bill and I had an appetizer dinner at Z Tejas, complete with Chambord margaritas, then went and looked at his new house.

It was a very nice, fun night, which was exactly what I needed {as always}.

Sunday the kids and I hung around the house, playing in their fort and watching Netflix movies, and generally running around trashing the place.

After a delicious dinner of Salmon patties and salad, it was time for baths, stories, and bed.

It's kind of strange to me sometimes how things have changed in my life over the years. 

There was a time {a long time} where a good weekend in my book consisted of fast food, parties, reckless adventures with dangerous people, and boys who weren't that nice to me.

And it's absolute crazy to me that none of that seems in the least bit appealing to me now.

I mean, crazy in a good way.

I feel like I've come more and more into my own, and made more and more progress in the area of figuring out who I really am, and I just don't feel the need to do those things anymore.

I think that "wilder" time in my life was more or less the working off of restless energy, that had no place to go because I had no idea where to put it, because I had no idea what I really wanted, or who I really was, or what I needed.

So I more or less flailed about, doing whatever struck my fancy or satisfied my boredom for the moment, and then quickly moved on to something else.

I feel so much more grounded now, and I have such a clearer picture of where I'm going and what I'm doing, and as cheesy as it sounds, at the end of the day all these normal, every day family things leave me feeling so much more sated than all the other loud noise and bright lights that filled up the empty spaces in my "old life".

I'm not trying to brag, or say that I'm sooooo grown up now, or have it all figured out, or have mastered the perfect life, because I haven't.

I'm just saying it feels good to know where you want to go, and who you want to go there with.

I hope your weekend was amazing too.

And I hope we all have lots more amazing weekends in our future.

Because life is just too Goddamn short no to.

For those of you who want the Salmon burgers recipe, here you go:

What You Need:

2 cans of pink Salmon {you can use fresh stuff but it's crazy expensive and you'd need a lot of it} de-boned and flaked

1/3 cup of Italian style bread crumbs {I use Italian style to add more flavor}

2 eggs

2 stalks celery, washed and chopped

1 hearty tablespoon of minced garlic

Salt, pepper and onion powder to taste

Once you've deboned and flaked your salmon, add all of the above ingredients and mix with your hands until the mixture is thick enough to stick together in a patty shape without falling apart. You may need to do a test patty, and add more breadcrumbs if it breaks. 

Cover the bottom of a big skillet with vegetable oil, and fry the patties for 1.5-2 minutes on each side, or until they're golden brown on the outside and hot in the inside {I like mine a little crispier, so I fry them to a darker brown, or until the edges or almost black}

Drain on a layer of paper towels, and serve with salad and a side of cold applesauce. 

Enjoy.