This Mom's Menu for the Week of August 27th

TGIS - or Thank Goodness It's Sunday, for those of you not in the know.

This week has been trying on so many levels. All the little issues were small, but boy were there a lot of them!

My oldest son turned 15 this week. That was great obviously, but that also means that he had 4 boys at my house this weekend. His friends are all really good kids, but 4 teenage boys plus my other two younger sons - is asking for a crazy time even under great circumstances.

The most stressful part of the entire thing was just getting my son to settle on what he wanted to do for his birthday ... which, for the record, ended up being EXACTLY what I suggested in the first place.

If you've ever tried to plan something with a moody teenage boy who thinks you are the worlds lamest mom, then you know my pain.

To top all of this off, I have a cold. It's not a bad cold by any means, but just one more strike against the week.

And if the birthday issues were not enough - I have been working on a recipe all week with no luck. This is more of a time and confidence blow, then anything else.

Nine times out of ten, I get recipes right the first time. I put a lot of thought into them before I even pick up the first ingredient, so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting myself into.

But, with my cookbook I am really trying to come up with some recipes that are more conceptually challenging. I also want them to be recipes that are easy to prepare and that don't require a ton of special ingredients or equipment. This is proving to be difficult.

I promise I am not telling you all this just to be a total downer, but just to point out that everything isn't always perfect. But each day (or week) is a new one, and each hurtle is a lesson.

Instead of being down on myself for the multiple failed recipes, I am choosing to be thankful for all I've learned. Even though I didn't create the recipe I had hoped to, I did come up with a few other techniques that will be helpful with other recipes.

Also, through all the arguing and snarky teenage comments over the weekend birthday festivities, my son had a great birthday. He smiled and was happy and even told me thank you when it was over.

So while I am just fine saying good bye to last week, I am not considering it a total loss either.