Planning

It’s been quiet around here, not that anyone noticed because I’m sure that I’ve scared any potential readers off with my woe-is-me whining. No matter though, it’s a new week and I’ve been busy burrowed in my cubical at work catching up on the monstrous amount of work being reassigned to me now that I’ve acclimated to being back from maternity leave. Thankfully I now have 4 days off. Woohoo!

It also appears that I’m padding my weight by eating all the sweets in the house in preparation for Jennie’s BiggestBloggingLoser competition. I was very good about gifting almost all of the cookies I made but now there are these chocolates … anyhow, they should be gone by January 3, more or less. I trashed the Halloween candy I had stuffed into a snowman cookie jar today. I feel good about that decision. I don’t feel like digging out one last tootsie roll pop out of the garbage all. Nope, not me.

My plan diet-wise is to switch to brown rice and whole wheat pasta, cut out soda and sweets except one fudgcicle a night and cut my wine to 1-2 nights a week at 1-2 glasses. I know if I go cold turkey on sweets that I’ll never make it. I’m also toying with the idea of serving myself all my meals on top of a bed of lettuce, because I won’t eat a side salad and it might make a smaller portion look bigger and fill me up a little more. I need to play tricks on myself. Knowing thyself is the first step, right?

For exercise, I think the best way for me to do it is to get up early and go for a run. Tentative plan: running 2-3 days a week, Wii Fit 2-3 days a week. I’ll also be resuming my stairs at work. I’m also going back to holding myself accountable on this blog as well and not just on my weigh-ins, so be prepared for weekly pictures of my ugly feet on a scale. Maybe that will tie into my Menu Mondays, because nothing says EAT like I picture of how fat you are, right?

Resolve

I am terrible about making resolutions, and also terrible about keeping them. Last year: no resolutions. The year before: losing weight, of course. However, I made a list for my maternity leave time, and I stuck to it and even surpassed it, so I’ve resolved to make a 2011 list. Maybe not resolutions, just some things I’d like to happen:

1) Spend more quality time with my kids. Play with them, even if I get frustrated that Spencer won’t play Memory correctly or Henry just wants to chew the cars.

2) Lose 30 lbs (hopefully made possible by Jennie’s BiggestBloggingLoser competition and my running goals)

3) Cut white pasta and soda from my diet and sweetener from my tea and coffee

4) Run the Gasparilla 5k (February)

5) Run the Turkey Trot 10k (November)

6) See six movies in the theater (this is not so much for me, but my husband who loves the movies and we haven’t gone at all in 2010). Included in this, go on eight dates with my husband sans children.

7) Read 125 books (I usually surpass this, but with my other goals I don’t want my reading to go by the wayside)

8) Hang up my clothes or put them in the hamper (this sounds simple, but I always throw my clothes on my dresser and then sort them when the pile gets too high or company’s coming … I know, I’m a guy).

9) Re-plant my front flower beds and keep them weeded and properly tidy (and alive)

10) Get the deck done and the backyard spruced up appropriately.

Ten on Tuesday on Wednesday

We’re here, we’re … no wait. ANYWHO, I hope you had a marvelous holiday, no matter what your religion. My Christmas was fantastic, and my sons got ridiculous amounts of unneeded stuff that made their holidays complete as well. It was a magical time, really. But more on that likely in a separate post. I answered these yesterday with full intention of posting them, but then I never saw my computer yesterday. On to the questions:

1. What was the number one item on your Christmas wish list? I really wanted an armband that fit my phone so I didn’t have to run while holding onto it for dear life.

2. Did you get the number one item on your Christmas wish list? I did not, and my husband said it was because no one makes them but after a jaunt around the internet, it seems like it’s because no one LOCAL makes them and he waited until the week of Christmas again. So I’m using my Christmas money to get it, and I’m quite okay with that.

3. How long has it been since you’ve had a pedicure? Since September. And now I’m waiting for the fungus to go away on my one toe, and the toenail to grow back on the other toe. So … it might be awhile and I’m not going back to that place ever again. Take that, Star Nail.

4. How cold is it in your city today? There was frost on my grass this morning – a veritable white wonderland. Thankfully, I park in the garage so I didn’t have to scrape ice from my windshield, but I was still late because I didn’t want to scrape myself out of my warm bed, and then my warm shower. I was told it was 29 degrees this morning at my house. In Tampa. FLORIDA.

5. How many pillows do you sleep with? I start with a mountain of them, but I sleep on my stomach and end up with one, kind of rolled up under my neck.

6. Can you roll your tongue? Yes.

7. Do you always buy the same mascara or do you try new ones each tube? I have no loyalty; I think my current tube is yellow but I get suckered every time to different ones that promise longer thicker lashes … it’s always the same thing.

8. What’s your favorite cookbook? I go through my cookbooks to get a sense of what to make and not necessarily to follow recipes. The one I use most is my mom’s old Betty Crocker cookbook, and the usual websites: allrecipes.com, tasty kitchen, and the like - I have a mess of magazine clippings and cutouts in a binder that I usually end up using.

9. What was your first pet? I’m told that a runt mutt named Tippy was my first dog but I don’t remember her except that I have one picture of her with a litter of puppies. We had a German shepherd named Pi when I was four that barked all the time and we had to give to the Humane Society so we didn’t get evicted (I still miss that dog). Also, I had a bunny rabbit when I was about that age that dropped dead while I was playing with it.

10. Do you wear jewelry on a daily basis? I wear my wedding jewelry every day except while I’m home, and I usually wear some sort of ring on my right hand as well. I try to wear earrings almost every day. I buy necklaces but don’t wear them because I think they look weird on me.

Happy Holidays!

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Merry christmas!

It's 3am, and someone has no interest in sleeping. That someone is not me. Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

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Seven of those quick takes for Christmas

Happy Christmas!

-- if you are storing your wife's Christmas gifts in the top of your underwear drawer unwrapped, do your own laundry.

-- The book Charlie Brown's Christmas really isn't very good. Floridian Night Before Christmas is funny. Grinch is still A-No.-1.

-- My house is clean, chicken and dumplings are in the slow cooker, my son is vaguely eating his lunch in his underwear, presents are all wrapped (except those ones in the top of my husband's underwear drawer).

-- I'm finally excited about Christmas

-- I'm not letting anything bother me today

-- We'll hope this continues when I make my final trip to Target soon.

-- I hope you all have a marvelous holiday!

Kid tested, Santa approved

Somehow today is when I decided to get into the Christmas spirit. I've been trying mightily to be a happy busy bee, but somehow in the great attempt to wipe the stress out of my mind I also wiped out the joy. I was a sourpuss. That changes today! Ha! We'll try!

Anyhow, I made cookies tonight - fruitcake cookies for my dad (with a whole lotta brandy in them) and tagalongs for um ... for me? Let's hope not just me - there are 2 1/2 dozen. I saw them on Lauren from Texas' blog and had to have them for my very own. I already had a ton of whole wheat Ritz (BOGO at the Publix) and reduced fat peanut butter, so why not dredge all that low calorie stuff in chocolate?

The jury's still out on the fruitcake cookies. I might have to get a taste-tester who likes uncooked alcohol in their cookies (a la rum balls). But they look pretty and festive, and my dad loves fruitcake, so I'm excited to give them to him for Christmas.

After baking I even took the time to read How The Grinch Stole Christmas to Spencer. Have I mentioned how much I hate reading aloud? No? I really hate reading books aloud. I read so much faster to myself that I'm not usually any good at reading to my son - I lose interest and then he loses interest. Or maybe he loses interest and then I lose interest. Somehow I kept my head in the game and we both enjoyed it this time! Hurrah!

I was far too hasty in my declaration that Henry was sleeping well in his crib. It turns out it's very hard to implement any form of CIO (I'm a half-hearted supporter) when your children share a room. Also though, I found out tonight that my older one might actually sleep better when trying to block out the screams of his brother in his sleep. It's like white noise if white noise came from an angry infant.

My Christmas shopping is officially done, and I think that my husband may have completed his as well. I don't ask, I just wrap. I just this minute decided to gift some of those tagalongs to my FIL (a huge fan of peanut butter) and my brother, and I think tomorrow I'm going to make Oreo Truffles and package some of those up for the women in my family. Easy making, big impact. This is my grown-up Christmas wish.

My holiday is going to be so very busy. I'm actually looking forward to Christmas Eve, because there is nothing going on. How sad is that? I plan on putting chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker for the day, and then we are restarting the tradition that the kids get to open one gift and we (parents) get to open all of our gifts. Christmas morning all the grandparents are coming over and my brother and sister are too, for breakfast (egg casserole, hashbrown casserole, biscuits and gravy and bacon) and presents (that's breakfast for 10). Then everyone leaves my home and later we're going to my in-laws for dinner (I'm evidently bringing the broccoli, this was my mission and I've chosen to accept it) and more presents. Sunday we're meeting one of my closest friends for lunch (with a bunch of her other friends, but she's low on time this visit), and then jetting down to Bradenton to stop in on my mom's mom to say Merry Christmas and so she can meet Henry and then to my dad's mom's house for the last Christmas gathering which I also arranged and have to bring two side dishes and a dessert. And presents. We've (I've) also organized a white-elephant gift exchange with them, and I'm not entirely sure they all get it. It may be interesting.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a marvelous holiday, and don't forget to stay happy! Keep the joy! Damn the man! Save the Empire!

Menu-less monday and more.

I've decided to not do a menu this week, as it really depends on how busy I am and what I feel like doing. I have the workings for 15 bean soup, chicken and dumplings, baked spaghetti ... I have very little in the way of frozen foods so unless I plan on making egg sandwiches (a real possibility), food will have to be cooked.

I'm still not actually done with my christmas shopping, but I'm not terribly concerned. There are a few items that i'd like to get but if it doesn't happen it's not a big deal. My husband's only job is to do the shopping for me and his father, and we've already decided what to actually get him (a smoker and related items). So it's not my headache.

My stress level has gone down although nothing has actually been resolved. Sometimes you just need to vent and have a good cry. Which I did. The hubby got an extension at work for 3 months which will buy him time to continue looking for a new job, and he'll get his severance whenever he leaves. He'd still prefer to stay with the company so he plans on working his ass off while he still has a job so maybe they'll love him so much they won't want to lose him. Which is really what he was doing before they laid him off.

My mom. My mom has breast cancer. They've confirmed that it hasn't spread but what is there is pretty bad. She thinks they'll take the breast after the new year. So she could still use your prayers, or thoughts, or whatever you do.

Everything else is doing okay. Potty training didn't actually kill me and spencer is now completely on board. Henry has his 4-month appointment this afternoon. I'd like to announce (but I'm afraid to jinx it) that he is a) sleeping in his crib and b) sleeping through the night. This morning I went in to check that he was still breathing because we had to wake him up to leave the house. Craziness.

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His father's ears

They say you marry your father. Figuratively, of course (shuddering).

Anyhow, now that I've gotten right to that disturbing tangent, let me also say that I not only married my father but I gave birth to my husband.

Which means algebraically, if a=b and b=c, then a=c.

My father can't hear for shit. I can never really tell what he does hear and what he just pretends to hear because it's easier than asking "What" for the the 1,871th time in a conversation.

My husband and I have full conversations about things and then about 30 seconds later he'll ask me a question directly related to what I just said, and I'll repeat myself verbatim without him realizing it's the same thing I just said.

My son will not hear me if I say something, even if it's six times in a row monotone directly into his ear. Through clenched teeth, he hears me and says, "Oh! Okay!" with absolutely no sarcasm. He sincerely doesn't register my voice.

As does his father.

As does my father.

Ad nauseum, et al. It's a stereotype to say that men don't listen, right?

Desperate feet

**warning, this is kind of gross. Okay, really gross. I apologize. I do also note that as I am a mess, this really shouldn't surprise anyone.

Ever since my disastrous pedicure I've been having problems with my toenails. I've always had kind of nasty feet; my eczema flares up weekly and I'm prone to ingrown toenails if I don't keep my nails cut down and I have very deep nail beds. Not the feet of which a foot fetisher dreams. I can usually keep them tidy, if not pretty, but things have not been good since September.

First, I took off the polish in November (I don't have time for many pedicures) and noticed the inside of one of my big toenails was a little discolored. I thought at first that she didn't do a good bottom coat (red polish, needs a good undercoat or your nails go yellow) so I cleaned them up really well.

Turns out, I think it's a fungus. It's not terrible, and it's growing out, hasn't turned my nail hard or yellow or thick, so I thought I was okay to not visit a podiatrist and deal with it myself.

Then a couple days ago I noticed the middle toenail on my other foot was a little rough at the nail bed. I didn't actually notice it right away, but then when I looked at it I noticed that my nail was FALLING OFF. It had already detached from the nail bed and was holding on by the nerves under my nail, but oddly didn't hurt. The hubby (after making some strangled noises about how disgusting it was), but a band aid on so it wouldn't rip off.

Monday night I took off my boots and felt it loose in my sock. Oddly, I have such deep nailbeds that it really doesn't look like I lost a nail - however, I'm pretty sure there will be no polish until it regrows.

So anything more happens to my poor tootsies and I'm booking an appointment with my local foot doctor before whole appendages just rot and fall off.

Please pray for my mom. I might explain later but for now I need a time out from everything.

An ice cold mess

I get a lot of compliments, mostly on Facebook, about how together I have things and how amazing it is that I can get my house cleaned and cook a full meal and take the kids with me for grocery shopping and for constant trips to Target and the library, and while I appreciate the compliments (really, I truly do … when else would someone call you a supermom on a regular basis? Not at home, that’s for sure) … most times it’s just not true.

Yes, I cook almost every night. I cook real food, and it’s (usually) not out of a box and (usually) not premade and frozen (although sometimes it is and I don’t feel bad about that or think that anyone who does go out of the box or premade should feel bad about that either – it’s all about priorities). Yes, I generally have a clean house (although generally no clean bottles because I HATE TO CLEAN THEM). I brave stores with the kids because a) Spencer has always, ALWAYS, been better in public so it’s really a joy to shop with him, as long as I let him wander through the toy aisle and push the buttons on some of the displays) and b) I can’t stand to be cooped up in the house, so I do what I have to do.

But the truth is, most times I feel like a mess. Right now when the high is 48 degrees I feel like an ice cold mess, but a mess all the same. I clean because the clutter drives me crazy and not because I enjoy it. I like a clean house, and I’ll kill myself making it stay that way. I can’t let go yet and go with the disaster.

I cook because it’s the one thing I think I do well, and it’s the one thing I get appreciated for on a regular basis. My husband’s last day before the layoff is Friday, and the other day we were sitting at the table eating (chicken chili, I think) and we had this conversation:

C: So … when I’m jobless do you want me to take over the cooking?

Me: Do you want to do the cooking?

C: Well, I can do it but it’s not going to be like this. (he waves his fork at his meal) This (waves) always looks restaurant quality. If I cook it won’t look like this (waves) and it definitely won’t taste like this (waves).

Me: Well, do you want to cook?

C: Not really. But if you want me to, I will.

BTW, he can't really cook.

Lately the stress of everything has been getting to me, and when that happens I tend to shut down. You can’t shut down properly when you have a toddler, even if you very sweetly ask Sprout On Demand to babysit for awhile. Sunday was one of those days where I just couldn’t function. The kids were sick, I was annoyed, it was cold and rainy and angry outside and I was cold and irritable inside. Spencer was sick but wouldn’t sit and just be sick and I was afraid of him infecting the whole house so I kept getting irrationally upset that he was using different seats and running around and I was worried snot would be on all his toys so I would have to clean them all … I was a mess. I tried watching a Lifetime Christmas movie because those help my mood and Spencer just wouldn’t let me alone despite being bribed with Barney and Caillou and Dora, and the hubby had gone to his parents to fix a computer problem for them which ended up taking hours because they had this and that and another thing... Then I started dinner and he wanted to help (sickie sickie sickie) so I let him stand next to me and not over the chicken and he FELL OFF THE DAMN CHAIR. All he was doing was standing there on his little chair that he brings over to help, and he fell and busted his lip on the counter and hit the floor. Just one more thing, seriously. He was fine except a tiny bit of blood, but I swear, I feel like my world is crashing in on me sometimes.

Monday morning he came in and I told him to go potty and he told me he didn’t know how, and I lost it. I smacked his butt, picked him up and deposited him in the bathroom and my husband came in to finish up with him so I could go bury myself in the covers and pout for a bit before I had to get up and go to work. My parenting skills have gone out the window and I’ve been deferring to my husband to deal with the kids so I don’t have a nervous breakdown, but then I feel bad about leaving things to him when I’m the mom and I think that I should be doing all that parenting as well.

My hair is falling out at an alarming rate (however, a plus is that it seems to not be so frizzy, but that could just be because I'm going bald). I'm worried that I'm drinking too much (only a glass or two, but I think four-five nights a week is probably not a good thing. I'm not French). I've gained weight instead of lost it because I'm a stress eater and I'M ALWAYS HUNGRY.

Someone, please take over – I need a vacation.

touchy-feely

I am not big on online shopping.

In this day and age, I know that's hard to fathom, but I really like to touch my purchases, to weigh them (literally) in my hands and decide if it's really the item I want to get. I will occasionally order online if I've already found what I want, messed with it in a store, and then ordered it for a better price after the fact.

But then there was this ring by vintageandglam:


Which I fell in love with and wanted for my own. And even though it was only $9 (with free shipping!!!), I couldn't justify buying it for myself until I found this beautiful ring to get for my husband's cousin:

So then I needed to do some more shopping. Enter this necklace by The Chartreuse Room for my MIL:


And then this necklace by jjbinx for my mother:

And I thought I was done.

Then I saw a poster on Jennie's blog, and this was finally the end of my Etsy run for this Christmas:

But that's not all! I bit the bullet and also bought my brother a shirt online. I've been looking at these awesome shirts (ps - I'd love the "Tales from the Jazz Age" one myself). I deem this year's online shopping a success! Now to finish the rest of the shopping.

Menu Monday plus photos!

I thought I would try something different this week, and took photos of the meals I actually cooked (I skipped the frozen pizza and the night out ...)

Monday: white bean chicken chili

Tuesday: spicy orange shrimp and rice


Wednesday: roast pork, maple glazed carrots (not great), and pan fried potatoes

Thursday: Digiorno's pizza (mushroom, spinach and garlic)

Friday: Steak, spinach and acorn squash
Saturday: out while Christmas shopping in Orlando (salmon, spinach, mashed potatoes, salad)


Sunday: chicken enchiladas and yellow rice

This week:

Monday: out with my dad for his birthday (Molly Goodheads ... I'm not a fan, but it wasn't my choice)
Tuesday: turkey soup
Wednesday: meatloaf and spinach
Thursday: baked spaghetti
Friday: Charlie and Katie's Christmas party
Saturday: pressed cuban sandwiches

Pieces of Friday

*I was so overwhelmed at work today I wanted to cry. I thought about going in again tomorrow morning, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Also, I'm taking most of Tuesday off after I cover an out-of-the-office thing for a coworker so I can try to do a little cookie baking and finish any extraneous gift shopping and take a little time to myself. I'd take a whole day off, but I already said I'd cover it and I'm a woman of my word.

*our Christmas tree, which I keep referring to as "my" tree, was delivered on Wednesday and I put it together with much gusto -- it's NINE FEET TALL! Now, I knew that when I ordered it but obviously I didn't think about how tall that really was. With the star, there are four inches between it and my vaulted ceilings. It's really beautiful though, and I'm actually quite happy with it even if is fake.

*I do need to get a pine candle though, because I miss the smell of Christmas.

*We're going to test our luck with this whole potty training thing (what, you thought a post was going to go by without me mentioning my Adventures?) and head to Orlando for the day tomorrow. No parks, just some stores (inspired by the Stylelush Gift Guide, I'm headed to West Elm for something for my MIL and to Bass Pro for my FIL.

*If anyone has ANY IDEAS AT ALL for my FIL, I'm all ears. He likes hunting, Nascar, horse racing, gambling and selling things on eBay. I think I've exhausted all gifts related to all those interests, as well as gift cards to Dick's sporting goods and Perry Ellis polo shirts. Every year. It's been 8 years and I'm completely out of ideas.

*Also, I need ideas for my dad (interests: billiards, billiards, billiards, Irish coffee) and hubby's cousin's husband (interests: I don't even know anymore, the man is a total SAH workaholic ... computers? something to make him more comfortable in his office?)

*hubby has been playing Grand Turismo 5 while I write this and listen to Christmas music, and he keeps falling asleep for a few minutes and then he'll wake, look at me and go back to his game. It's very similar to when Henry falls asleep in his bouncer.

*stay tuned for my adventures in Etsy-land! I'm so excited to tell you about my finds for Christmas ... till tomorrow, folks!

The magic of Santa

So ... Santa.

What are your thoughts on the whole Santa thing? I'm personally having a hard time with it. To be perfectly honest it's not a "lying to my kids" sort of thing. I think (selfishly) that it's more of a "take credit for the fun" sort of thing. Plus, I have no idea how to broach the idea of a fat man in a red coat wedging himself down the chimney with toys.

Spencer knows who Santa is, more along the lines of "part of Christmas decor" ... he visited Santa in the mall one morning (where he was awesome and sat on the guy's lap and said he wanted something weird, got his candy cane and went on his merry way. When he sees a giant blow-up Santa in front of someone's house he says "Look, it's Santa!" but he doesn't seem to care about how he relates to getting presents.

By not hyping Santa, am I robbing my kids of some of the magic of Christmas? I know that I have a bias because I was told there was no Santa when I was very young because my parents split up and my mom didn't want me to think I wasn't good enough and that's why I didn't get as much that year.

I try to not go overboard (a little more than some, and not as much as others). I hope to never be the parents that get caught up in the presents and forget about the joy. I really don't want to threaten my kids that they better be good or santa won't bring presents. I want to just enjoy the holiday with my family. But does that take away from my children's enjoyment of Christmas?

Menu Monday

Last week:

Monday: beef stroganoff
Tuesday: chicken bryan and sauteed spinach
Wednesday: chili
Thursday: lasagna
Friday: goat cheese and spinach stuffed burgers, baked beans and baked breaded okra
Saturday: out to Cheesecake Factory for a family birthday (Monterrey burger and sweet potato fries)
Sunday: Steak'n'Shake

Monday: white chicken poblano chili
Tuesday: cajun meatloaf
Wednesday: steak and spinach
Thursday: panini sandwiches
Friday: chicken enchiladas
Saturday: spicy orange garlic shrimp and rice

A different sort of life

I've found myself wistful lately at the descriptions of friends' antics around. Late evenings, spur of the moment nights out ... it all sounds like so much fun. Don't get me wrong, I really love my life. My husband, my kids, my home ...

I started thinking about this on Saturday night, when we got home from an early dinner with family at Cheesecake Factory. I got a glass of wine, chopped up a little cheese and settled in by 8pm to play several (okay, seven) games of Wordfeud simultaneously while reading a book and watching my husband play Grand Turismo 5 (gag me). I was asleep by 9:45pm, which was helpful because Spencer woke me up at 1:30 thinking it was morning and I had to get him to the bathroom and then back to bed, Henry woke up at 4pm angry because it had been ten hours since he last ate, and Spencer woke up again at 6:45am, and again I needed to get him to the bathroom and settle him in on the couch with Disney, cereal and a sippy cup.

So I think, how is this my life? What happened to the sleeping in (moderately, I never really slept past 9am much), going out to the bar with friends, last minute movies, or sex in the daytime ... (okay, well there is a lock on my door but it's hard to concentrate when there's a toddler who didn't care where you were until that lock in engaged and then he's sticking his fingers under the door to find out why he's not allowed in ...)

... did I just write that or did I just think it?

Anyhow, I'm not sure what I'm saying here; I wish I were one of those bloggers that could come up with a succinct and poignant point. I think I just wish I had an occasional night/morning to not be me, with the option to be me on almost every other night and day.

A few of the not so quick

Somehow it’s feast or famine here – Tuesday I posted three times (3!!) and then I haven’t posted since then. I guess I could have just scheduled them out so I had a post every day but obviously I’m not that smart. Anyhow, some confessions/quick takes (whatever you want to call them) on the times (read: mostly Christmas related because that’s what’s on my mind):

1) I have finished all of Spencer’s Christmas and birthday shopping except for a few stocking stuffers (like underwear and cheap toys hot wheels and new crayons). This means that every time I see something else I want to get him I go, “No!” and smack myself on the hand. Most of the time it works. If I come across something stocking-sized though, we’re in trouble.

2) I have not done a stitch of holiday shopping for Henry, but it’s so easy. I want to get him one toy so all his toys aren’t hand-me-downs (I’m thinking something with lights) and some clothes. Maybe some diapers in his stocking? More socks? Any ideas?

3) I haven’t done any of the other shopping: the hubby, my mom and dad (and my dad’s girlfriend), my brother and sister, MIL and FIL and hubby’s grandma, cousin and her husband. These are the people I shop for every year. So far I know that I’m getting fancy chocolate cookies for his grandma (big hit last minute gift last year), thinking of making a fruitcake for my dad (ambitious, might just buy him one last minute), a gift card to a craft store to his girlfriend, and I got some pine cone candles for my MIL so far. For the rest of them I’m stumped. I might order this shirt for my brother, and my sister might just get a gift card that I can use myself if she decides not to show up for Christmas (it’s been that kind of year). I got a phone cradle for the hubby (his insistence) and he’s getting Perry the Platypus stuff in his stocking, and maybe an air compressor if I can find a reasonably priced one. My FIL is impossible to buy for, and my MIL just likes nice house accessories so she’s pretty easy to buy. I'm currently out of ideas all together for the cousin (who is a good friend of mine) and her husband.

4) I bought a cyber-Monday faux tree that I’m still waiting to be delivered and I’ve been completely slacking on my Christmas decorations until it gets here. At this rate I’ll be decorating on Christmas eve. The stockings are hanging from my mantle, I have two snowmen hanging out on top of the mantle and a wreath on my front door. That might be it again this year.

5) Because no post from me would be complete without a potty training update, let me tell you that Spencer has been AWESOME this week. Two accidents on Tuesday with my in-laws, but otherwise he wakes me up in the morning when he needs to go because he can’t get out of his footie pjs by himself. I know it’s another knock on wood moment because we have to see how this weekend goes with no daycare, but I’m cautiously optimistic. I’m finally a believer that just forgoing the furniture and going for underpants is the way to go. The first couple days are frustrating and then it’s so much faster than pull-ups. We’ve been in pull-ups for 2 months, and this week – none. I’ve had him in a pull-up every night and every night he wakes up dry so I stick it back in the bin to use again the next night. Yes, he’s worn the same pull-up overnight for 5 days. Don’t judge me – those things are expensive!

6) My favorite Christmas song is this and my least favorite Christmas song is this.

7) I spent my work day doing some of my work and then doing a lot of my cubical neighbor's work for him - really out of the goodness of my heart. He was out of town for a work meeting so I paid all his bills, found a missing file, sent out a file to an attorney for him, and did all his filing. Plus I did all my filing (PS - the filing is not either of our jobs, but we have a new support assistant and the learning curve seems to be steep), bills and a good amount of actual work. I felt good about today.

8) I'm thinking about going in early on Monday to do my other cubical neighbor's filing, but not really out of the goodness of my heart - I'm just sick of the complaining.

9) Henry can officially turn over from back to front. He did it once last week and then again last night, but both times were on beds so I wasn't sure. As of today, I'm sure. This makes me happy because it means that he's closer to sharing a room with his brother instead of me, because I wanted him to a) be able to turn over to sleep on his belly if he wanted and b) sleep through the night. I'm hoping once he's able to eat rice cereal he'll be more likely to sleep through the night since he's pretty close already, so with any luck they'll be sharing a room by CHRISTMAS!

3.5 mi. = 5.63270 km

That's how far I jog/walked today. I feel like I might puke, or poop, or relatively die, but I got through it. There were a lot of bargains made with myself: four more light poles and then you can walk and just make it to the yellow sign and you can walk and pass the fire station and then you can walk (which is funny because I guess all else fails, I could have rung the bell at the station if I really was going to die and they could take care of it).

It took 45 minutes exactly, which is a 12'51" mile, which happens to be about 4 minutes faster than I did in high school (okay, so I don't remember actually ever running in high school). I'm pretty sure I'm in better shape now cardio-wise than I ever was, but I have a layer of blubber to burn off before I look better than before. I think I pulled a groin muscle at about 1.82, but I kept going.

My goal was/is: to complete a 5k and jog more than I walk, and not stop. Completed.
Next goal: to not feel like I'm going to collapse after I finish. And maybe do it a little faster.

February 26 is the Gasparilla 5k, and now I know I can do it. I truly had my doubts before.

Honey Dijon Chicken

Several weeks ago my friend Sarah shared this recipe with me, and I love it so much that I'm sharing it with the interwebs. Don't be put off by its simpleness -- this chicken is fantastic and so super easy. I also used the sauce with pork chops and then rolled them in pecans and it was almost -but not quite- as fabulous. I usually make it with the full amount of sauce and two large chicken breasts which I cut in half (I love the sauce that much, but I do always end up with a lot of extra) and cook in a 9x9 pan, but here's the original recipe:

Yield: 8 servings
9x13 dish
Oven: 450 degrees
Cook Time: 20-25 min

8 (3 lbs) skinless Chicken breasts
seasoned salt
pepper, coarse
curry powder
1. place chicken in greased baking dish and sprinkle seasonings.

1/3c butter, melted
2/3c honey
1/3C dijon mustard
1/8tsp salt
1/8tsp pepper, coarse

1. combine and whisk until smooth
2. pour on top of chicken
3. Bake uncovered for 20-25 or until it reaches internal temp. 165.

Do you need to go potty?

So I spoke too soon on Sunday regarding the potty training. He went through six pairs of underwear (two #2s and four #1s) and I about had a conniption. I'm not entirely sure what a conniption is, but I'm pretty sure I had it. After the last one I threw my own tantrum, put him back in a diaper (not even a pull up), lectured him about standing in front of me whining about wanting a snack and at the same time taking a crap in his underwear and then gave him the silent treatment for about an hour.

Yes, I know I was acting younger than him. But I hate laundry!

Monday seemed to be better; he had one accident at daycare because she forgot to put him in a pullup when he laid down for a nap (for her he'll still take naps), and none at home. Today he goes to my in-law's house ... I'm kind of dreading that and wish that he went later in the week so he could get used to the undies a little more. However, my husband's grandmother lives with them half the year and she regularly messes herself (TMI?) so maybe it'll be just another thing.

In the vein of TMI, Spencer also discovered the little hole in the front of his underpants and stuck his ding-a-ling out and said "I see my pee-pee!" It was all I could do not to roll on the floor laughing.

More on Adventures in Potty Training very soon, I'm sure. Where's that Thor hat? Does anyone get the reference?

Menu Monday

Monday: Spinach and egg noodle casserole (mixed feelings - it needed a load of salt, more than I'm comfortable adding to one dish, but after a couple handfuls it was pretty good. I might fiddle with it and try again)
Tuesday: ham sandwiches
Wednesday: honey and bacon shrimp with spinach tortellini
Thursday: Thanksgiving! you know that drill, we had all of it.
Friday: Turkey sandwiches
Saturday: Honey dijon baked chicken and rice (recipe to follow this week)
Sunday: I made southern-style chicken sandwiches for lunch (buffalo chicken for hubby, honey dijon for me) so we skipped out on dinner. Although I may have had leftover stuffing, wine and a slice of coconut cream pie, but it was a rough day with the potty training.

This week:
Monday: Beef stronganoff
Tuesday: Lasagna
Wednesday: Chili
Thursday: Chicken Bryan with sauteed spinach
Friday: pork chops and corn
Saturday: goat cheese stuffed hamburgers and fried potatoes

A weekend of Sundays

The problem with 4-day weekends is that every day after the first feels like Sunday. There's always that slight anxiety of thinking you need to go back to work the next day.

There's also anxiety in this household because we have changed Spencer over to his Mickey Mouse undies yesterday evening. No accidents yet, but it's early. I've been making him sit on a trifolded towel on my bed and asking him 1,871 times an hour if he needs to go potty. We even made a quick trip to Target (groceries, Candyland for $3.99) yesterday with no incidents. I'm cautiously optimistic. (interjection: while I was typing this I made him try to go before he had Teddy Grahams because he always poops in the morning and I was getting nervous that he hadn't gone. He insisted that he didn't have to poop but two minutes later I hear, "I did! I did have poop in my belly!" He was very surprised. He also got a Reece's Pieces (1 piece) for pooping in the potty because I'm not above bribery)

Aren't you excited to read about my adventures in potty training? I feel like I need a Thor hat.

I THINK I am nearly done with child shopping for Christmas and birthday. Spencer's birthday is so close to Christmas that I do the shopping at the same time.

So that he can stay away from my blessed laptop.
There were cuter ones, but he loves The Cat, so hopefully he'll like it.
(still haven't gotten this just yet because I'm trying to get the best price, will definitely be birthday and not Christmas)
Might be a joint gift for Spencer and Henry, even though Spencer's the only one who will care.
Buzz pjs

Doctor set: my one "impulse" purchase (in primary colors)

So the only things I have left to get for S are maybe some socks and underwear and a small toy for his stocking.

Henry is getting some clothes and one toy, but I haven't decided on the one toy. I might stick some diapers and socks in his stocking, but I haven't figured that out yet.

I still have the rest of the shopping to do: Hubby and I have decided on an $80 spending limit for each other to get presents for each other from the kids. I think I'm going to get him an air compressor and maybe something Perry the Platypus. I need to get things for my siblings and my parents, and hubby's parents (this is all my job; hubby waits until 12/24 to decide on things), and his cousin and her husband (the family that we exchange gifts with), and his Grandma (usually fancy chocolates). So ... ideally I would like to get all that done in one weekend and not have to worry about it for the rest of the holidays. Do you think I can do it?

(PS: I forgot to knock on wood - in the half hour after I typed the words "no accidents", we had two accidents - one of each variety. Just thankfully they weren't on my bed. Knock on wood.)

Success and pain

It's 6am, day after ...

Sorry, I almost broke into Ben Folds lyrics, and that would have been depressing. Anyhow, I'm the only one awake, my toddler is staying over at my in-laws and my infant is asleep in my spot on the bed because he was restless. Is it sad that I'm thinking of jaunting over to Target to see what I can see? I didn't see anything in their ad that I can't live with out, but you never know ...

I'd ride my bike over, since it's only about 1 1/2 miles, but I'm currently the most sore (sorest?) I've ever been the day after a workout. I can tell every single muscle that was used in yesterday's boot camp, and the one that I can tell I skirted working on ... my triceps are not sore at all but I only got through 1 1/2 sets of the 5x tricep pushups and I think I may have skimped on the ones I did because they were right after 10 burpees and if I never do another burpee it will be too soon. That was a lovely sentence, right? You get the sentiment.

Thanksgiving was great. I got up early to rinse the turkey and take it to my in-laws house and helped her get all 20.5lbs of it in the oven by 7am. Then I headed out to Odessa (you don't know, but it's a hike) to pick up my husband's cousin and went out to the park to have an instructor work us within an inch of (my) life ... which actually was a lot of fun, in that "what doesn't kill me" sort of way. Came home, made the best stuffing I have ever made, made cranberries, took a well-deserved and well-needed shower and then packed us all in the car and headed back to my in-laws' house!

There were 15 adults and my two kids present, and of course the kids took center stage (how could they not? Spencer demands it). Henry flipped out for the first time in his life, I think from all the people in his face and the fact that he's not napping properly these days. He was inconsolable for about 20 minutes until we gave him a couple ounces of sugar water, and then a full bottle, and laid him in his cradle in a quiet room so he could stare at the fan until he fell asleep (this took about 30 minutes). He was quite fine alone in the room wide awake, but obviously didn't want to deal with all the people in the other rooms.

Oh man, there was so much food! Turkey and stuffing (two kinds, but mine is always preferred by the crowd - my MIL always tries a new recipe and a corner gets politely eaten while mine is devoured - makes me feel good) and cranberries and yellow squash casserole, mashed potatoes (of which I'm not a fan), rolls, WINE, crudites, hors d'oeuvres, broccoli salad, and four kinds of pie (pumpkin, chocolate silk, pecan and coconut cream). And pumpkin spice coffee (I brought that too).

After eating Henry was awake and in a much better passing-around mood, Spencer was occupied by hubby's cousin Scottie for hours (except when Scottie was talking to me about Fallout: New Vegas ad nauseum) and I got to drink my coffee in peace and then leave with just one kid and a load of leftovers. Just a lovely day.

How was yours?

Giving thanks

I could be here complaining about the lousy day I had at work and how a client made me cry, but instead I'm going to be thankful that I have a job and that I was able to take three wonderful months off with my children and be sure that it was there when I returned.

I could be here complaining that I had to get the Christmas stuff from the attic myself because my husband hemmed and hawed but instead I'm going to be thankful that I got such a workout that my legs and back are a little sore.

I could be here complaining about the six children under five years old that are playing in the street with no supervision but instead I'll be thankful that a) my kids know better and b) no one has been hit yet.

Today was the roughest I've had since I got back to work - I woke up with a headache, everyone was off except me and my supervisor, I got verbally bitch slapped by one of my own clients that I was giving a courtesy call to (whose time is evidently that much more important than mine), I had a ridiculous amount of work to do and somehow got to none of what I wanted to do, and the dry cleaners didn't get the baby spit-up out of my husband's pants and acted like it was a pain to run it through again. Then I came home, started the turkey brining, shaved my legs (I'm working out tomorrow morning in a group - I'd prefer not to have yeti legs), got Christmas out of the attic and then took my elder child to the doctor so they could shoot lame flu germs up his nose and I could give him a chocolate for letting me hold his head still while he screamed.

But I'm thankful. I'm thankful for healthy children, a happy house, having a job, having a house to decorate, and having family to make dressing and brine turkeys for.

Deep breath.

I think I've decided to do the Gasparilla 5k in February. I've never run further than a mile before and I think I may have died after that ... in high school. So I would love a training/running partner (cough, Suz, cough) at least to cheer each other on separately on the training front and then running the thing together. I also signed up spur o' the moment for Boot Camp tomorrow, so ...

There's also the Disney half-marathon which I might be entertaining the thought of for Jan 2012 (I'm not setting myself up to fail by even thinking about this January, even if the registration hadn't passed). Or the Gasparilla 5+3k 2012 ...

If I don't get back here before, Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thankful

I asked Spencer to come up with things that made him happy, which was the closest I could come to making him understand what "thankful" means to make a thankful tree. I couldn't find any construction paper so we ended up with a list instead of a tree, but it works. I asked what he liked, who he loved, what he liked to do, where he liked to go ... you get the idea. Obviously, my not-quite-three-year-old needed a bit of prodding to come up with anythings.

Noticeably absent -- nearly all of his toys.
Also noticeable absent -- all the stupid shows he loves so much (besides Barney, but he was in the "who do you love" category).
Happily there -- nearly all of his immediate family (without any prompting).
Amusingly there -- a vast area of foods.

So here they are:

1. peanut butter and jelly
2. grapes
3. bread
4. Nonnie (my mother)
5. Uncle (presumably Unk, who is my husband's aunt's husband)
6. Daddy
7. Mommy
8. Henry (Hen-er-y, I love how he says that)
9. Barney
10. breakfast
11. Tita (his daycare lady)
12. Sean and Nora and Vinny (daycare kids) "I love all the kids and all the people"
13. "making bread with you" (we've done this once)
14. "I like trees"
15. Blue and yellow cars
16. Buzz Lightyear
17. "Buzz Lightyear's dog"
    
18. playing outside
19. playing baseball
20. Teddy Grahams
21. Pama and Grandma (my in-laws)
22. "the turtle in my bed" (his stuffed Yurtle)
23. my black car "because my Grandma got it for me" (I have no idea what car he's talking about)
24. pirate hats
25. peanut butter and crackers.
    

Menu Monday and other thoughts

I've officially eaten my own food for every meal since lunch last Wednesday except for a $6 lunch at Chili's on Monday (I had already made lunch plans before we decide not to eat out anymore).

It's not as hard as I thought it would be. I brought cinnamon raisin bread and peanut butter for breakfast all last week, and had a combination of leftovers and ham sandwiches on Deli Thins with carrots and grapes and yogurt-covered raisins. Saturday I made a frittata and bacon and hubby made pancakes (I don't really like pancakes) and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with apple slices for lunch, and Sunday I made scrambled eggs and berry muffins for breakfast and chicken nachos for lunch. I've had to be more creative to keep us interested in eating at home, but it's also helped in using the stuff in the pantry. The only regret I have is that I had to miss a dear friend's 30th birthday because she was having a dinner at Carrabba's and I just couldn't justify that expense to myself.

I'm excited about Thanksgiving, but mostly I'm excited just to have more time home with family. I'm making stuffing and I'm trying to decide if I should make regular or sausage stuffing (or both, ha!) and I'm thinking about making cranberry sauce too. I love fresh cranberry sauce but I'm in the minority in the crowd that I eat with. I'm also in charge of brining the turkey, so Hubby is picking it up from the in-law's house on Tuesday night and I'll put it in the brine on Wednesday.

Anyhow, onto the menu:
Last week:

Monday: baked spaghetti and garlic bread
Tuesday: pan-fried tilapia, balsalmic asparagus and four-cheese risotto
Wednesday: Burrito bake - very tasty, very easy
Thursday: beef lo mien frozen skillet meal
Friday: Southwest chicken and corn chowder
Saturday: grilled chicken and baked mac & cheese
Sunday: ham sandwiches (I totally phoned it in)

This week:

Monday: spinach and noodle casserole
Tuesday: chicken Bryan and roasted veggies
Wednesday: shrimp and tortellini in creamy pesto
Thursday: Thanksgiving!!!!!!! there will be no weight loss this week.
Friday: frozen pizza (or leftovers if there are some)
Saturday: pulled pork sandwiches

Cut. It. Out. (Thanks, Dave Coulier!)

Declaring shinanigans

-- What kind of person does Brazilian waxes for a living?

-- Also in the discussion of extraneous hair, I have such thin eyebrows that I often say if I were to pluck I'd have no eyebrows at all. I do occasionally get a stray hair, and instead of waxing or plucking them I go to a threader and have them clean them up (we're talking once every 18 months or so). They always look at me weird like, can't you pull your own 3 hairs out?

-- Why do people bitch about their significant other on Facebook? Further, why do people fight on Facebook? Isn't it like yelling out on your front lawn if you grew up with your neighbors?

-- Is it bad form to say I can't wait until my in-laws are incapacitated (old age or something) and I get to host Thanksgiving?

-- Not that I wish them harm or anything. I just want to make something more than stuffing every year.

-- My aunt is fucking nuts. Can I defriend her? Another of my aunts (her sister) defriended me for making an innocent joke about burning Sarah Palin's book, so I think I'm entitled, but I feel bad. But seriously, who makes five comments on their own posts? And talks about some friends' dog on photos of their niece's kids?

-- What got into the Bucs this year? Evidently they just need people NOT to believe in them. I vote for black outs every year - it's the only way, really.

-- Thinking about getting hockey tickets for Spencer for Christmas. Is that too self-serving?

-- Thus endeth the random for tonight.

see more Sketchy Santas