Last night we finally made up for the meal plan snafu earlier in the week. I actually remembered to take out the meat for meat loaf. I can’t even remember the last time I made meat loaf. Luckily I remembered the basics. It came out well enough.

Nothing fancy. Simply mix all of the following together:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• lotsa black pepper!

Then, top it off an even spread of tomato paste and bake in a 350 oven for 40 minutes. Not the prettiest thing you will eat, but simple and tasty.

We ate ours with some lima beans I heated up with a small bit of butter, salt, and pepper. I feel like this meal was a straight flashback to my childhood! It completely reminded me of my mom’s cooking.

I can for sure say I picked up my mom’s cooking genes. Neither of us are all too creative in the kitchen. Just like mom, I love having staple meals with a few new recipes thrown in for good measure once or twice a week.

I think it’s so funny how growing up so many people say they will never grow up anything like their parents. I know I did! Turns out, it is pretty inevitable. Don’t you think? I know I’m like my parents in many, many ways.

Besides my cooking, I’m also just like mom in a few other ways -

• I have become super emotional and cry easily, especially when it relates to my kids at all.
• I have a cheesier and cheesier sense of humor.
• I have the most ginormous sweet tooth.
• I can’t keep my eyes open in pictures. Say cheese, Mom!

I have also found I’m a lot like my dad too…something I used to want to avoid at ALL costs. Now, I see the good in the man and am thankful for learning these things from him:

• I will go after my dreams and my passions.
• I have good organizational skills.
• I love quotes.
• Forgiveness.

I’m sure there are plenty of others, but these are just things off the top of my head. I won’t lie though. Sometimes I really hope I don’t turn into my parents in some ways. One of my biggest fears is ever having my kids feel second best, like I did for so many years.

You know I now understand where my father came from in his hard work and the anxiety he suffered. Regardless, it makes me fearful of ever caring too much about my passions and things like organization at the sacrifice of my family. We all have our faults. I just hope my faults will err more on the overly mushy, embarrassing side of my mom’s ways.

What are some ways you said you would NEVER be like your parents? How are you like your parents now?

After a good week of recovery work outs – some light recovery runs on the treadmill, not lifting too heavy during weights – I still had a bit of soreness going on when I awoke this morning. Guess Insanity for the first time will do that to a person.

When setting up my workout plan last week, I decided to have Fridays open for a yoga type of class at my gym. I did it all the time when I was pregnant. Flashback:

I remembered it being a good workout to stretch out achy muscles, so I made my way there for this morning’s class. I looked forward to that loosey goosey feeling at the end.

Apparently I only remembered the second half of the class. The first half was all about sun salutations, then holding poses for forrr-evvv-errrr. I hope my legs don’t feel those warrior squats and lunges too much tomorrow. Eeep!!! Luckily I did end the workout feeling perfectly relaxed and stretched.

Besides a yoga filled morning, we have also had a laundry filled morning.

We bought a new front loader washer and dryer last week.

It was quite the saga.

Peter found some for a good deal. He then debated for five days. Finally, he decided it was too good a deal to pass up and bought them. The next day, he continued to shop around after buying them. He found a better deal elsewhere.

What happened next? He bought those. Returned the first ones before they were even delivered. And still looks at washer and dryer prices. I may not understand the man, but I shall not complain. I now have a washer and dryer with more room to stuff clothes into…and new entertainment for the kids.

I shall never complain again about his deal finding ways. It makes mommy happy. It makes the kids happy. And it scored me that two dollar Runner’s World subscription! It may also score me a third washer and dryer set, but I won’t complain. No, wait. I didn’t say that. No more washer and dryers…PLEASE!

Also, notice I said I won’t complain about his deal finding ways. I will still for sure complain about having to fold laundry. Blech. Off to do that now! Have a good one, my friends.

• Do you like yoga? I think I would like it more if taken at a studio instead of my gym’s little class, but it does help the muscles!
• How much do you analyze your purchases and shop around?