Happy New Year, my friends

I keep meaning to blog and it doesn’t happen, and now here it is the last day of the year and I feel overwhelmed at the prospect of catching up. End of month, end of year …

We’ve had a good year this year. I wasn’t sure, the beginning was crap. But somehow we’ve pulled it together and had just a great year (although I know so many people who want to kick 2013 in the seat of its pants on the way out).

I don’t have time for the usual survey but here’s what I can remember of the questions: I’m fatter, slightly richer, and happier. My uncle Gene died, my cousin Grant’s wife had a baby.

I can’t remember if I gave myself goals last year, I’m sure I didn’t meet them. But I think overall it’s just the way things are.

This coming year I’d like to work on my health – I’ve gained about half the weight back that I lost in 2011 and I’m not happy with how I look or feel. I know I can do it; I just need to lay off the sugar and concentrate on the exercise. I have a goal weight but it’s not important. The baby steps are important. Just like before, I’m not cutting anything out. I thoroughly believe that moderation is the key (although I’m going to try for 30 days of no added sugar, because I have a pretty serious sugar addiction and sugar makes my tummy hurt – it’s a vicious and tasty cycle) and I also should cut down on my cheese intake.

 My other goals are related to my family – I’d like to commit to 12 dates with my husband because we don’t get that many, and six of them including movies because he loves the movies. I’d like to have three kid dates with each kid – some time alone mano-y-mano. I want to stop taking work home in my head (and on my phone). I want to go to bed at 10pm at the latest through the week so I feel more rested, and turn off the tv earlier so I wind down easier. I’d like to work on my temper and my yelling and my patience. I think every parent feels they are not 100% for their kids, and there’s no way we can hold ourselves up to the standards in our head. I’d like to just be a little more present. Play with them more. Not yell so much. Explain myself when things get annoying and I want to snap.

So this is for the look ahead, and for the glance behind. Let’s make 2014 brilliant, yes?

Full Disclosure

The other day Spencer was going to the bathroom while I was getting ready for work. This happens a lot because once he sits down he likes to ruminate a bit before he deigns to move on (men, seriously). I went to say goodbye (still on toilet) and noticed that his lips were chapped. I grabbed one of my chapsticks and slathered it on, and he said “Maybe I’ll have my own chapstick. Oh! I need to put it on my Christmas list!”

I said, “Sure, maybe Santa will bring you some!”

And then he said (still on toilet, mind you), “Yeah, Santa can always see and hear us.”

Spencer’s been in trouble at school the past couple days. Not huge things, but certainly things that need to be addressed. He’s a follower and has a need to be liked by his peers. So a little girl tells him to do something they think is funny and soon he’s cutting the erasers off the pencils. The first day he got a stern talking to, we took away a television show. We didn’t expect it to happen again the very next day. I’m at a loss as to how to handle it – we talked to him about doing what is right and not what his friends tell him to do. We told him the importance of respecting your teacher and other people’s property. I have never, ever threatened my children with Santa/lack of presents, but I said this:

You know Christmas is coming, right? Maybe you should try to be good.

We took away the evening’s Advent activities (hot chocolate and a Christmas movie) and tv, and wouldn’t let him watch daddy play video games (gasp). Instead he settled down with the collected works of Curious George.

I hope it works. Sometimes this whole parenting is a floundering-in-the-dark sort of feeling. 

Sometimes I think I'm just delirious when I write these things.

I've not been getting to bed at a reasonable time for the past week or so, and I fear it's showing. In my eyes, always, but currently in my mood and reasoning.

Sometimes you just have to deal with what’s in your fridge for breakfast, which is why I threw half an apple and a Danimals smoothie in my bag. That’s better than what I had yesterday, which was nothing (although my Thanksgiving leftovers lunch tasted that much better).

I suppose this means I need to do some grocery shopping, which, except for Thanksgiving specific, I haven’t done in two? Three weeks? Henry’s gone banana obsessed this week so yep, I should probably get to the grocery store. C and I grilled a frozen pizza last night. It was delightful!

Okay, seriously, that smoothie thing was gross – how do kids eat/drink that crap?

I went to buy Rockapella holiday concert tickets yesterday at the box office to save myself $26.50 in convenience fees, at the guy ahead of me was around 70 years old. He was picking up tickets for Julio Iglesias and for Vince Gill. It made me chuckle, and I think the box office guy found it amusing too, because he got far too much amusement out of trilling Julio as much as possible.

Okay, I’m throwing away this Danimals thing. It’s liquid sugar. I don’t mind sugar but I’d prefer it to be in the form of chocolate and candy. The container says “Strawberry Explosion!” . Yep, exploding in my garbage can (“contains no juice”, in case you thought it might.)

I didn’t have time to take a shower this morning and my hair is icky, so I’m officially going to work out at lunch today and then take a shower in the gym. I brought all my morning routine stuff, and I’m set. (ps – I don’t smell, my hair is just icky.) My colleague thinks this is hilarious – “your motivation for exercise is a shower?” yes. I need a shower anyhow, I may as well get sweaty and stinky at lunch. Right?

This post has no point, but you expected that, I expect. Toodles for Tuesday!

Losing and Winning and Holiday decorating

Well, after I missed last Sunday, the rest of the week kinda went to pot on the posting, yes? Sufficed to say I did not completed NaNoBloMo, but as I said a few times, the point was to get myself typing in this little space more and at that I succeeded. Of the 100 posts this year, more than a quarter of them were November. That makes me a little sad.

BUT! I wanted to say that I had a lovely Thanksgiving with a lot of family, and it was all lovely and all of that. The food was delicious although I didn't overeat, and I did drink a lot of wine .... here's a story. So when we got to my in-laws, we were taking out the alcohol (there's always a good amount of alcohol at a family gathering here) and my MIL pulls out three 1/2 bottles. "Do you think these are still good?"

No, dear God. The bottles were from EASTER.

EASTER.

I advised her to pour them out ASAP, so toward the end of the night I started drinking the ends of all the current bottles of wine - don't want them to sit there till Christmas! (It was ... a lot. But a delicious a lot.) I left a 1/3 bottle of Riesling, which is the only thing my MIL drinks. "Ann," I said. "Drink this tomorrow night. Do not let it sit until Christmas."

And she probably did drink it Friday night as I'm sure she needed it - Thanksgiving night we left my lovely children at her house and LEFT. We had to expectation of doing Black Friday shopping, but we had no plan and nothing we really cared about. C wanted a new TV but he ended up ordering it online Thursday morning to be delivered next week, and we had wants but nothing specific. We drove by target on the way home but they had a line stretching the length of the strip mall waiting for the fire code enforcer to let in so we went to a few places, bought nothing, and then dropped in an hour later on the way home. We ended up getting a few DVDs and a half gallon of milk - really working hard on helping out those Thanksgiving sales, right? (please no comments about spending time with family on Thanksgiving and not shopping. Both my brother and C's cousin worked that night. I'm sure they were happy for the paycheck and irritated by having to work, and the world still turns).

Friday we "slept in" which meant waking up at 6:53am. We went out for a leisurely breakfast and then hit Toys R Us, the mall and a few electronic stores. We bought some things that were on sale, I got a couple things that I needed that weren't on sale but bought them anyhow. Got some good deals, etc. After rescuing my MIL/picking up our children, we also stopped at JoAnn's to get fabric to make an advent calendar but then I found one I liked anyhow so I got that instead. So here are out decorations:

 Henry said "I like this man! Take a picture of me with him!"

 

The new advent calendar, with notes in each date of things to do.

 

Our new tree topped, which looks exactly like our old topped except it LIGHTS UP.

Not gorgeous and inventive like other bloggers, but we like our mantle.

New Christmas pillow with bonus Santa-hatted child.

The perfect tree

My mom's trees, every year, stood short and stout and were overloaded with ornaments of every size and shape and color. It was okay because it was the family tree, but I expected that when I moved out and had a tree of my own, it would be *the perfect tree*. Only specific colors, no colored lights (mom loved the colored lights) and only "pretty" ornaments.

I moved out in 1999, but I don't think I had my own tree until 2001. It was perfect. Red and gold ornaments only, ball garland, white lights. It was a thing of beauty.

I kept that up until 2005-ish. My future mother in law me bought an egg Christmas ornament that, while gorgeous, was not in my color scheme. I couldn't exactly turn it down, but I put it toward the back. No harm.

2008 brought children, and 2010 brought more children. Children brought ornaments that they picked out, ornaments that they made, ornaments of their pictures. 2010 I gave up on the perfect live fir tree and ordered a nine foot
prelit Christmas tree.

 

The year Henry was born - New baby and big brother ornaments

Spencer decorates his own 

 Last year my mom brought me a box of ornaments from her tree, ornaments of mine through the year. This lollypop was made in 1991. When she gave them to me, I wasn't exactly excited to put them on my tree. Who needs a bunch of old ornaments? Me. I need a bunch of old ornaments. It was lovely putting part of my past up on my own tree.

(this is a photo ornament of Spencer the year he was born, and behind it is a star I made in pre-k. PRESCHOOL. 1984.

 Salt dough ornaments from last year's advent activities.

There are ornaments given to us by family and friends, and ornaments that remind me of old friends.

And now, now my tree is absolutely perfect.

If only I could really have Liam Hemsworth as a babysitter for reals

I did not blog yesterday, and therefore I suppose that means that technically I failed NaNoBloMo. However, since my goal this month was blogging Mo’, like, More, I think I’m still on track. This is post 24! In 25 days! My last 25 posts took me … 2.5 months. So there.

Anyhow, This weekend was so busy that when the alarm went off this morning I really thought it was Sunday. Where did my weekend go? We are normally busy but somehow. Yeah. I want more weekend. It also didn’t help that when the alarm sounded this morning I was in the middle of a dream where my twitter friends and myself were interviewing babysitters and Liam Hemsworth was a candidate. It was a good dream.

Saturday we went to a birthday party at 9am (yes, that’s right) and that’s where the dock/fishing photos on Saturday’s blog were from. The boys enjoyed fishing a lot (except for having no patience for actually leaving a line in the water for more than half a second) and my dad messaged me on Sunday to let me know that he had picked up fishing poles for the boys last month for Christmas, so that’s funny. Hopefully he’ll take the kids fishing too, because I’m not a fan.

I got my tree up Saturday afternoon too – that lone wolfing thing that was supposed to happen Friday night didn’t happen, which I should be happy about but I really wanted to get things done that C didn’t want to deal with quite yet, so instead I had to request from a grumpy C to get the tree from the attic. I made up for it by letting him spend *four* hours cleaning and waxing his car. He was a happy camper. And I got to listen to Christmas music in an otherwise quiet house, so I think it was a win-win. Henry’s asked approximately 1,871 times where the star is, so I guess I need to decorate it today (I put on this year’s Disney ornaments and it’s a pre-lit but an otherwise naked tree).

Saturday night C and I got a date night, and celebrated it at Mitchell’s Fish Market for dinner (I had the Seafood Americana, which is not exactly something I would normally order in case it was spicy (description: Georges Bank sea scallops, Cajun shrimp, spinach and mushrooms sautéed in a shellfish butter sauce and served over roasted redskin potatoes) but good Lord that was a good dinner. My two cocktails were fabulous too. We then went to see Catching Fire, which was also amazing – I’d say it was a pretty successful date night. (Catching Fire also made me excited about my reading goals for next year, which I can’t remember if I’ve blogged about yet. Will check back and then do so if the answer is no. But I want to re-read. Must. Re-read.)

Sunday we decided to see if there were any pre-Thanksgiving deals at the outlet mall (a resounding NO) and we got some warm clothes in proper sizes so the boys don’t have to wear all their small long-sleeves from last year. I assume it’s probably silly to wear long sleeves that aren’t exactly Long Sleeves anymore. I got some good deals at the Loft Outlet, which made me happy (yay new clothes!) I’m going to have to ignore the size I just bought new pants in though. We spent a few hours at Disney, but it was swamped and cold and we opted out of staying too long.

TODAY I have to do my Thanksgiving food shopping because I forgot this weekend and goodness, I should probably stale that bread, yes? And the boys are getting their flu shots so I hope for no adverse reactions to that. And I’m going to locate the ornaments in the attic (this sounds like our attic is huge instead of a glorified crawlspace, yes?) and listen to Christmas music while I decorate and happy holiday season!!

How was your weekend?

Just a minute

Tonight my mom watched the boys so C and i were able to do a date night. We went to Mitchell's Fish House (delish) and saw Catching Fire (amazing). If live to have something fun and witty to say, but it's 14 minutes before midnight and Henry won't sleep, so I have but a minute and all I can do is post some pictures from today's instagram feed (that you've probably already seen):

Friday Bits and Pieces

I have been out to eat every single lunch this week. I never go out for lunch, or if I do it’s maybe one time. Every day. I’m trying not to add up how much that is. Jimmy John’s, Chickfila, the downstairs café, Cheddar’s, Panera. Good grief. (Not gonna lie, it’s been a tasty week though)

I got these Christmas earrings from Spencer’s fundraiser, and I got to wear them today. They are Christmas without being CHRISTMAS so I feel I can wear them before Thanksgiving. Not like that would really stop me, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I’m very serious about pulling down the tree from the attic while lone wolfing tonight. Also, I may have gone a little nuts.

I’m trying to break in some of my flats that I don’t wear very often. I wear the same ones all the time because I have sensitive heels and it seems like they rub and hurt too much to break in. I have prepared myself with band aids and it seems to be working. I love these shoes. It’d be really nice if I could add them to my usual rotation.

Last year I bought a bunch of holiday movies, and this year I want to buy a few more. We have all the Home Alones (did you know there were four? No, you don’t want to see the fourth), Polar Express, (Love Actually for me), Muppets Christmas Carol, and maybe something else. I can’t remember. Anyhow, I think I want to get Nightmare Before Christmas and Elf this year. Anything else we shouldn’t miss?

I found this at Target. It is marvelous.

I've wanted to make a cloth or felt pocket advent calendar but now that it is a week until December I think I'm just not getting there again this year. But by next year, I really want to make on like this one:

And I noticed this photo that I've had attached to my desk at work since I started at this company. It was taken circa June 2003, I believe. We were such BABIES (and my hair went to my butt)

I'll take "no more children" for $800, Alex

So I'll start this post off with TMI: Somehow I forgot to pick up my birth control this month. I don't know how this happened - it's on auto-renew, and I picked up my anti-crazy meds so you'd think I'd have gotten it but no. And then when I realized and really needed it, I kept forgetting and now it's too late and I've just decided to wait until next month and start it clean.

So of course there's that little niggling thought about having more kids (don't tell C, he'd shit a brick). It's not that I want another baby, or even another kid - I love my children dearly but my are they a handful and I really don't have the brainpower to answer eight million more "Why?" questions. It's just ... baby. Baaaabbyyyyyyy.

Anyhow, tonight was Reading Night at the school. C does not go to these things, so I take the kids. Me and the two boys went to Cody's (I'm not changing the grammar on that, I'm just going to watch while you take a red pen to your computer screen) and I had a nice although slightly exhausting dinner with them, and then I picked up the boy whose mom works through Reading Night and I became Single Mom with Three Boys for an hour.

Holy horse shit, that's not happening.

Henry sat on my lap and let me read to him while the two older boys (the extra kid is in first grade) raised a little hell and I whisper scolded them to sit down and read and no you cannot throw that paper airplane you made from your homework pass and damn it sit down and read or wearegoinghomethisminute. It wasn't that bad but man, it was exhausting, and 49 minutes later when we got back to the car I told them that next month, next month they will sit and read.

Tomorrow C is taking his mom to the car show and I will be lone wolfing it for the evening. I'm making pizza, and it's movie night and am I being too optimistic to think I might be able to get the nine foot Christmas tree out of the attic on my own, since C doesn't want to think about these things quite yet?

Christmas

I have a general idea of what to get Spencer, but I have no idea what to get Henry. Tell me things to get a three year old when he already pretty much has all his brothers stuff already?

Procrastination

Spencer has never had an issue going to bed. Whenever we set his bedtime, he's also within minutes of going to bed (much like his father, really). There was a couple weeks when he was three that he would wake up and try to climb into bed with us but it went away almost as quickly as it started. With the time change we moved his bedtime earlier and now my nearly 6 year old (ack!) Goes to bed between 7:30-7:45 through the week and 8:00 on Fridays.

I've mentioned that Henry has been waking in the middle of the night, and that has gone down to about twice a week (last night three times) but also since potty training has started he gets up immediately upon going to bed to pee again even though he goes five minutes earlier. Tonight he also needed his bedding fixed because it was "tangled", peed three times, and twice just stood in the hallway like a Chucky doll.

He probably should go to bed later, but it's just not possible to give a three year old a later bedtime then a five year old. Right?

In the meantime we'll just put him back to need eight times while he procrastinates on sleep.

A good weekend and a list of concerts

This weekend was just the kind of weekend I needed. There was Disney in the rain (what? We wore raincoats!) Christmas decorations out the yin yang and snow machines, an evening cut short by pee (seriously, dude, enough), and carbs galore at Cracker Barrel. There was a morning of cleaning my house from head to toe and then retreating to my room to paint my fingernails and my toenails and watch This Means War and basically ignore everyone for a bit. There was really good red wine and the last of the Fizzing Wizzbees and a very abrupt bedtime when I all of a sudden couldn’t keep my eyes open.

So I was thinking about what to blog about, and Stephanie wrote about her concert love of Matchbox 20 which made me think of all the bands I have seen in concert. And so for your Monday morning enjoyment, here’s a list:

New Kids on the Block (once as a young one and once a few years ago)

Debbie Gibson

They Might Be Giants (17 times. Yes, I know. Once was the kids show and I brought the kids. Once was two weeks after Spencer was born, and I got a babysitter. Once was driving to Asheville NC after a hurricane)

OK GO (twice)

Frank Black (he really needed the Pixies, sucked on his own)

Billy Joel

Black Crowes

Grateful Dead (April 1995, last concert held in Tampa Stadium before it was torn down, and 4 months before Jerry Garcia died)

James Taylor (three times)

Alanis Morissette

Tori Amos

Collective Soul

Cranberries

Sum 41

MxPx (twice, once when they were still Magnified Plaid)

No Need for a Name

Taking Back Sunday

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Barenaked Ladies

Flogging Molly

Garbage

Plain White Tees (three times)

Rockapella (four times? Possibly five)

Lacuna Coil (twice)

Muse

Tom Petty

(edited)
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

I think this is a full list, but there were probably a few more. I left out bands that were at music festivals that I went to but I didn’t pay any attention to, but I included a few that were at festivals that I went specifically to see or watched their entire set.

Who have you seen?

I am a sheep, but it's a funny sheep

So this auto bot thing is going around - I first saw it on Miriel's blog, and then several others and now mine. I don't have anything so say about them though, because they are mostly nonsensical, and while I think they're funny, I can't imagine anyone else would.

The Ninth just has eaten my parents were readers.

I've always been a good sport!

It's amazing and sending some to my favorites.

It holds the book together.

He doesn't know how much I pay attention??.? do better
with myself.

Indeed, it's an elementary school REUNION! Let us both
sleep!

Ours usually ask her to do emergency polo shopping so
he's clothed for Wii.

Except when Spencer knows the whole squash tomorrow.

Happy vacation Having three kids tablets, but I used skim
ricotta and getting back in the German gift shop and I'm exhausted.

I'm a bottle of NOT in bed w us at 530 and I joined her
behind the toy car!

Counting the Fault in our drinks from each time

Wait, Dad, I didn't feel bad about velocity, destiny,
hydrate v dehydrate, and a lot of fun though!

Stars Matthew Mcconaughey and Channing Tatum, gyrating
with an eggplant?

Must be on the Night for Avengers

Oh, there was when I told Henry no rest for the rest of
times that I won, with my baby Jesus, people.

you can still get through today and we have no idea what
do I really need a handle on these tapping dudes outside the one in the late
90s, so I would have left my phone in our midst.

I need to be over.

Privilege

The other day I was driving, and as I was driving my nice newish car (which I bought new) I was thinking about the holiday we had decided to take. After Christmas, we want to take the kids up to see snow, and decided on a small town in North Carolina.

Somehow, my mind clicked over to my own childhood. There were a lot of bad parts but there were a fair amount of good parts too. However, we lived very small and were pretty low on means most of the time. I don't really remember wanting for anything toy-wise, and I had a bike and one year I remember having one of those little trampolines. I grew up fine, and mostly knew the value of a dollar (except when I, like all other college students, got in a mild amount of credit card debt and also didn't know how balance my checkbook).

I remember thinking, when I decided to go to the local university (which was the only college I applied to because I had scholarships but couldn't afford room and board if I went away to school) - I remember thinking how far the drive was. It was 50 minutes each way, and took me from my little suburb into the big scary city. My mom warned me about the big scary city, but now I live there and have for ten years.

Anyhow, all of this is to say that as I was thinking about how my children are growing up, and all the privilege they have that I didn't even think possible, didn't even know I was missing. They've been to six states, on an airplane, on car trips. We are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but we are comfortable. They have it good. I hadn't left the state until junior year of high school with my marching band. I hadn't been on an airplane until my senior year of high school (also with the band). I still haven't been out of the country, I don't even have a passport (one of these days). My kids go to Disney nearly every single weekend - every weekend! When I think of this, sometimes it blows my mind. Every cotton pickin' weekend! I went to Disney once when I was four or so, and for my ninth birthday I went to Epcot.

I hope I am able to instill in my children how good they have it. I hope I can show them that they are privileged and to be generous to others. I want to raise generous souls.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Late night bits

I think it's been years since I tried to post actual words from my phone, but the iPad is dead and laptop isn't worth the trouble, so excuse any terrible  autocorrect gaffs.

** I feel like I did all the blogging I could possibly do today, as I was having a small meltdown/anxiety crisis and I emailed all day about it. Thank you so much, friends, for helping me through today. I am going that the main panic is over; my rational mind knows it's not an issue now I just need my subconscious to agree.

** remember when I said that Henry potty trained quickly and had no problems? Well strike that. This week has not been good.

** I really need this weekend.

** The kids watched Goonies tonight. I did not realize/remember how much language was in it, or the dead bodies. Spencer seemed to stay interested though.

** Christmas music has started on the radio - I'm psyched.

** yes, 8:45pm is "late night".

Made up.

I have never felt pretty. It’s not a fishing for compliments thing or a “no one ever told me I was pretty” thing. I’ve just never really had that kind of confidence. I don’t feel comfortable without make up. I wish I had known how to do make up before about this year, because I’ve been wearing it since high school but it has always been slap dash: at least I’m wearing lipstick and blush.

The conundrum is that I also worry that make up makes me look like I’m trying too hard. I work in a semi-casual setting most of the time, but occasionally (like today) I have an out-of-office meeting which means dress clothes, and definitely the full face of makeup. But then on my drive in, I feel like I’m wearing too much make up. Foundation, eye makeup, blush, mascara, eyebrows filled, lipstick … I do my makeup in a natural look nearly always, but …

Eh, there’s always a but. But I don’t feel good without it. But I feel stupid for needing it. My husband likes me with or without, I know that. But I just don’t feel pretty.

This post felt so much more eloquent this morning in my head.

At least I make cute kids. 

Escape from Planet Home.

I’m sitting here wondering what to write that doesn’t feel so whiny, and I just don’t have it. So I apologize.

Henry got up again in the middle of the night last night, after nearly a week of no wake-ups. We thought we had it, we started giving him his allergy meds regularly and thought maybe it was just his sinuses that were waking him up and now that we had that down, we’d have a three year old that sleeps through the night (which he pretty much hasn’t done for four to six months). Thankfully, I guess, these days with the allergy meds it’s not a long wake up – he taps me on the shoulder, Daddy gets up and takes him back to bed and that is that. But nearly a week of no wake ups, and now again the wake ups.

Then this morning he crawled into bed with me at 5:29am, and I was awake anyhow because I fell asleep last night at 8:30 (!!!) and I told him to go potty, and he said he did have to. This happened three times, and then at 6:25am I hear yelling from the bedroom because he peed all over the floor, including several toys. Frustration. Just. Frustration.

I escaped to work. Oh! And Spencer has a dentist appointment today. So. Awesome.

But anyhow, here’s something I just found which really is kind of awesome: 

No boil-over disks

These are the ones I bought, through my son’s fundraiser, but there are several kinds on the internet. No boil-over disks. They are little ceramic disks that go in the bottom of the pot and prevent your pasta water from boiling over! I’ve used them a number of times over the last two weeks, and only once did my water boil over – when I put way too much in.

The Sound of Silence (and West Wing)

Mondays. Everyone hates, Mondays and for the mornings, sure, I agree. But at 4pm-ish, I leave work, head home and enter:

An Empty House.

It used to be Tuesdays, and for awhile it was Fridays. Now since school gets out early on Mondays, that is when my children spend the day (or part of the day) with my in-laws. They get to play, and ride bikes, swim and spend time with their grandparents and I get two hours (sometimes more) of quiet in my house.

I can do what I want and watch what I want. Most of the time that means making dinner at my own pace while drinking a glass of wine, watching a few hours of West Wing, folding a couple loads of laundry. Sometimes that means I sit and mess around on the internet and do nothing for a couple hours. Nobody looks at me wrong if the laundry is still there when they get home. No one minds if dinner is leftovers. I get to cook because I like to cook, for once, and I get to do the laundry simply because I hate to see the pile on the couch. I can blog, or read blogs, or just talk to my friends on twitter without feeling like I'm neglecting my family.

What I'm saying is, Mondays rock.

(BTW, last night I made leftovers manicotti: chicken, spinach, garlic, mushrooms, tomato, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese all stuffed into manicotti pasta with vodka sauce and the last couple slices of mozz and cheddar cheese baked on top. Sometimes I really love to cook)

(and some day I'll get through West Wing)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Butter Beer, friends, and roller coasters - what's not to love?

Yesterday I phoned it in on the blogging – quite literally (and by the real definition of literally, not that stupid updated opposite definition.) By which I mean that I uploaded a photo to blogger and called it a day. It was warranted, it was butter beer! That, by the way, is the sweetest thing I have ever drunk in my entire life. Delicious, yes, but I think once is enough for a lifetime.

I met up with a lovely internet friend and her entire family at Universal Studios for a day of fun and Harry Potter. I was struck with horrible mommy guilt about not taking Spencer, but I rectified it by buying them candy and tshirts and spending money we don’t usually spend at Disney (no, you can’t buy something at the gift shop! We’re here every weekend!) They went with daddy to Magic Kingdom while I was out gallivanting. I took relatively no photos and no GOOD photos (and not a single one with Tara!) but it was a good time. We went to both Universal parks, I rode a heck of a lot of roller coasters (my favorite thing) with Tara’s family members because she doesn’t ride them. The girls were darling and it was just a good day. I’m so glad I went.

(this is every photo I took)

I left around closing time and ended up meeting C and the kids for dinner in Orlando before making the long drive home. Spencer rode with me and we talked all the way until exit 17 when he said “I need no more talking, Mommy” and wouldn’t let me listen to music with words so he could zonk out. I gave it five minutes before turning on something a little livelier to get myself home.

Butter beer for all!

Recipe: Brussel Sprout and Gouda mac and cheese

So last week I was looking for things for my meal plan, and Jennie linked a Brussel sprout mac and cheese that she was making. It sounded promising, but there were a couple things I was concerned about so I figured for my family, I would make a few changes. I ended up making so many changes I don't think it was anything like the original so I think I can officially say it's my own recipe at this point.

It also occurred to me (and it was requested) that perhaps I post something about this "recipe". The only problem is that I didn't do it ahead of time, so I'm going to do my best. Please feel free to ignore me completely. This is just how I did it. Also, I shaved the Brussel sprouts and shredded the cheese the night before because I only had about 45 minutes to cook, and I used 3 pans so I could cook all of it at the same time.

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, chopped (raw)
1/4 yellow onion, sliced very thin
1 lb brussel sprouts, shaved on a mandoline
12 oz Gouda, shredded
1 cup parmesan cheese, separated - 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup
1 large clove of garlic, minced
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 can evaporated milk
1 can worth regular milk (I use skim, use what you like)
1 tsp ground mustard
1 lb pasta (I used corkscrew)
a handful of panko breadcrumbs (I don't know how much, it was whatever I had)

If you have a toaster oven, you will want to have available a pan which will fit in it for broiling. If you don't, preheat your oven for 400 degrees (ish).

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta as directed, al dente or however you like it. Drain and return to the pot.

In a large pan, sauté the onions and bacon until fully cooked. Add the brussel sprouts and cook down until, well, well cooked.

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and cook mince garlic for one minute. Add flour and mustard. Cook for a minute to cook the flour (making a roux). Add milks and heat to a boil, stirring often. It will not thicken as much as you would think but cook for about 5 minutes, stirring to make sure the bottom doesn't scald. Take off the heat and add all the gouda and 3/4 cup of parmesan, stir until fully melted.

Now add the Brussel Sprout mix to the pasta and mix fully until incorporated. Then add the cheese sauce, and again stir until fully incorporated. Dump mixture into pan and make the top flat. Mix panko crumbs with the rest of the parmesan and sprinkle on top of the mac and cheese.

Broil until the top is brown. The rest is already fully cooked so you don't have to worry about cooking through.

Enjoy!

(I hope this is a good enough recipe, it's the best I could do after the fact. But this was absolutely delicious, I swear. Make your husband do the dishes since we just used every pan you have (or maybe wash all the stovetop pans while it's cooking in the oven, which is what I did).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday bits and pieces

1) Now that I am blogging so much and reading so many blogs (NanoBloMo means if you don’t read blogs in your sleep that you wake up to 21 in your feed eight hours later), I’m also trying to leave more comments. I don’t comment on every single blog, mostly because sometimes the commenting fails (I hate you, Discus) but I know that I love comments so I’m trying to be better about commenting on others.

Also, I relaxed the commenting on this blog it its max relaxation. It’s all, “it’s cool, man”. I even allow anonymous comments for ease, but it would be awesome that if that’s the way you have to go that you “sign” your comment like your grandparents sign comments on your Facebook. Anything that looks like trolling or spam is likely to be deleted.

2) The parent-teacher conference last night was great. Spencer is basically working through a first grade level in all subjects except listening comprehension (listening, no kidding). We talked about ways to challenge him and she’s going to give him paper with more lines on it (who knew they change the lines on paper for kids depending on how much they want them to write?) And also there’s a girl that is about the same level as he is, so they are in their own little reading group. They are already reading the hardest books kindergarten has to offer, so I’m assuming that once they get through those they will get some books from the higher grades for them.

There is a gifted program, but apparently the IQ parameters for kindergarten are wonky in the public school system and it’s very difficult to get in for K, much easier in first grade. I don’t care as long as he’s being properly challenged in his class, so we’ll keep an eye on that. I really like his teacher, and I do think it’s all about the teacher.

3) After the conference we picked up the kids and went back to the school for the book fair. Spencer ended up choosing a book about volcanoes and one about sharks, and I made the executive decision to get a Phineas and Ferb long book to read to them as well (MOM THERE ARE NO PICTURES IN THIS!). S really is interested in non-fiction – this morning he came to me with a book about the human body and was telling me (in his made up way) how pee is made before in leaves the body.

4) I’m super excited about this weekend. We’ve decided to go out for breakfast tomorrow to one of the best local places. Best. I think after that we are going to do some yard work, and then my company is having a “picnic” at a farm not too far from us. Fun for all ages! And THEN. Sunday I’m meeting an internet friend at Universal Studios to see the Harry Potter stuff for the first time. It’s been there for what, six years? Yeah, haven’t been there in at least eight. And I get to see Tara! My family is going to Magic Kingdom, because we still don’t want to spend the money for all of us to go to Universal when there are so many things they can’t ride yet.

5) I’m thinking about getting Spencer a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I want him to have more opportunity to read, but also to have a tablet for apps that is on a supported platform that won’t be obsolete in six months. I also like that since it’s mainstream, it is easier to find accessories like cases, which is impossible for C’s tablet. We usually get Henry something comparable so they don’t fight, but I don’t want to buy two Kindle Fires. Any ideas? I had thought C would want a new tablet and we could hand down his, but now he’s decided he doesn’t want to do that.

BBTW: A Day in the Life.

I’ve started these before but I usually feel silly halfway through and don’t publish (even though I love reading them!). This time it’s for a cause! It’s for Ginger’s BBTW! Done! Prepare to be amazed! Or bored! By a day in my life! (do not be dissuaded by the constant change in tenses, for I am not changing it).

So I didn’t decide to do this until 8:42am, so a) there are no photos from before that time and b) I don’t know how the day will turn out so it might possibly be the most boring thing you’ll ever read. Only time will tell.

4:48am woke up from a very bad dream, cuddled into my husband because it was a bad dream about him and I needed reassurance. Unfortunately I can’t actually sleep while touching anyone so I was in and out of sleep after that.

5:30am I hear children. Apparently they have decided it’s time to rise. C goes into their room to tell them if they’re up they need to take books into their beds and be quiet. Quiet is not in their vocabulary but there’s no fighting so I think it’s a win.

6:00am My alarm goes off. C gets up to hit the snooze three times, I mull over whether I really need a shower this morning. I decide against it.

6:23am Up, dressed and considered make up. Did enough to not look like death. Pulled my dirty hair in a ponytail. We’re good.

6:30am Started breakfast for me (one egg and one egg white scrambled w/ half a slice of cheddar melted on top) and packed lunch for me (leftover sesame noodles from the night before with some shredded briefcase chicken, and an orange) and for Spencer (cinnamon raisin bread with peanut butter, mini sweet rice cakes, dried apricots and an orange). Threw my breakfast and lunch in my lunchbag.

6:45am kisses and out the door. In the meantime the kids have gotten dressed (and I’ve barked at them eight times to do so) and are now eating muffins while C gets dressed. He works from home most of the week, so he takes them to daycare and school every day.

7:10am I pull into my parking space, happy that no one has decided to steal it today. I’m slightly annoyed that the time change means I miss the sunrise now, and have to wear sunglasses on my drive. Early morning driving was so peaceful.

7:15am WORK! I start pulling the work I have to do for the day, read and comment on a few blogs. Post mine for today. Heat up my breakfast (only a few seconds! No one has to smell microwave eggs, I swear!) and make my coffee. We all went in on a Keurig about six months ago, and a couple weeks ago I bought a reusable K-cup so I’ve been making fresh coffee every morning. It’s delightful.

8:30am Lament about how since my desk went to two monitors, my keyboard is too far away from the left side of my desk when I need to type while I review something or pay bills. My assistant solves the problem by finding me a spare cabinet I can wheel under my desk, and wheel out when I need it. Score! I may also stick my La Croix in it so I don’t look like a junkie w/ my 12-packs.

8:42am reading blogs checking in on twitter and facebook, decide to start this Day in the Life thing.

8:58am Back to work. Lots of work. Work doesn’t end. 80s on 8 might help – hey look, Rolling Stones Start Me Up – perfect!

9:08am Okay, really this time.

11:48am stopped working for a few minutes so I could get some additional information from someone on a file I was working on. Read and commented on a few blogs.

11:56am Ugh. Working again.

12:20pm Finally finish the work I was desperately trying to complete. Lunchtime! I’m reading Ken Follet’s Fall of Giants, and it’s pretty good but LONG which is obviously not getting me anywhere towards my reading goal but a good book is better than a bunch of short crappy books, I always say. Except when I’m in the mood for a short crappy book. I usually hate sitting at my desk to have lunch but I’ve just made out-of-the-office lunch plans for the next two days so at my desk I am.

1:05pm Back to work. Ish.

1:52pm Quick break to look into recipes made with Marshmallow Fluff.

2:02pm Amazingly, I have finished all the tasks I had specifically put had on my plate for today at work, which rarely happens. Which is not to say that I have nothing more to do, but it is a load off my back. Now to do all the other little things I didn’t specifically task for!

2:13pm Hey look, blog comments! Damn, back to work.

2:17pm. I demand hot tea from the Keurig. Wonder if I could take apart tea bags and use my reusable k-cup, but in the meantime I’ve got some Earl Grey. What I’d really like is a snack, but I have none and my assistant is down to candy corn. One got stuck in my throat yesterday and I’m not looking to repeat that nonsense. Oh look! Whoppers!

3:18pm Break out in song: Straight Up by Paula Abdul hits the radio. You’re welcome for that earworm.

4:00pm exactly – OUT!

4:25pm At daycare to pick up the minions. Hurray! (I had to try for five minutes to get them both smiling and not complaining about sore toes or pointing out the airplane through the moonroof and thereby covering their faces completely. Small miracles here.

(outtakes)

4:35pm Home, and C has already gotten the bikes out and started checking the tires. Earlier I had texted to see if he wanted to do a family bike ride or play baseball in the yard. He chose bike ride so here we are! We change out of work/school clothes and head out. You would think a family bike ride on the local trail would be easy and idyllic, but it's half idyllic and half complaining about helmets being too tight and I want water and I have to pee. But we do a 4.5 mile loop and get home with the shine still mostly on family time.

5:45pm When I suggest family exercise, C suggested going for sushi afterward. Meal plan, shmeal plan. I make dinners for the kids because they only eat edamame at the sushi place. 

6:10pm SUSHI! Yum! Henry insists to the point of meltdown that he wants to try one of the rolls, but when he gets it he is not impressed. Both want to try the ginger, both spit it out. "It's poisonous!" says Spencer. 

7:10pm On the way home, Henry falls asleep. I successfully not only transfer from car to bed, but I woke him up enough to pee and to take his allergy meds and STILL he slept. I am the master.

7:15pm Since tomorrow is parent-teacher conference night (!!!) I wanted to prep dinner so I just had to cook. Otherwise we'll be eating out, again. So I shaved 1lb of Brussel sprouts and shred 12oz of smoked Gouda. Dinner tomorrow is going to rock.

7:38pm Time to tackle the laundry. I've been ignoring this pile since Monday, but it needs to get done. C and I have an agreement - he runs most of the laundry (sometimes I'll run a load or two). I fold laundry, he hangs laundry. He hates to fold and I hate to hang. Plus, I have a system in folding so once I start I want NO help. It's a system!

8:00pm Socks. I have a strange obsession with correctly pairing socks, and pairing based on relative amount of ground in dirt from wearing socks outside. We're missing a batman sock, shit will hit the fan. Nothing more to say. (most of this is a-typical, there is usually a lot more sitting on my butt in the evenings, possibly some snacking on Halloween candy or cereal)

8:08pm I need a shower, and I also even decided to take out my contacts and blow dry my hair. Gotta make a good impression for parent/teacher conference!

8:45pm C has already passed out, so I take the chance to watch one of my shows that he doesn't watch - Bones. Hoping to make it through because I'm purely exhausted. There's no milk still (I meant to stop on the way home and forgot) so no snack for me. That's probably a good thing.

9:45pm Stayed awake for the show, but now it's lights out. That's all, folks.