TOT - random bits

1. Is there a band/artist that you HATE? I really hate rap. And angry metal - it just makes me A.N.G.R.Y. So no specific artists because, to be honest, I have no idea who they are.

2. What do you do when you get a gift that you do not like? How do you react? It depends on who it's from. I have one gift that is sitting on my desk because I got two and don't know what to do with the second and I don't where it came from and I'm too embarrassed to ask so I can exchange it. Sometimes I regift (especially with kids stuff) and sometimes it just sits around not getting used.

3. How is your work office/cubicle decorated? Pictures of the kids, friends and family and random memos from the last five years.

4. Do you use all of your vacation every year? ha! I didn't even use all my vacation time when I was on maternity leave! Somehow I've been back for two months and I have 140 vacation hours - looks like I need to take another leave, doesn't it?

5. Did you have a real or fake Christmas tree? This is the first year I've gone with fake and I'm so glad I did - it's much lower maintenance, much bigger than I would otherwise be able to afford every year, and next year I'll be able to actually put it up the day after Thanksgiving without a big ordeal.

6. If you could have anything for dinner tonight, what would it be? a gigantic bacon cheeseburger. Likerightnow.

7. Do you bite your fingernails? No, but I sculpt them with my teeth. :D

8. How many cups of coffee do you drink each day? Two very large ones, one in the morning and one at night - so four normal-people-sized cups. I never claimed to normal.

9. Do you have a nervous tick? I rub my thumb and forefinger together. It's a disturbing sensation, actually.

10. How often do you vacuum? *I* do not vacuum. My husband prefers to do the deed. He has a Dyson Animal, and he loves it dearly.

For more TOT (and for cute pictures of her baby boy), visit here.

Menu Mondays - can someone please tell my stomach to stop growling?

My downfall is twofold: a) seconds, and b) snacking on leftovers while I clean up from dinner.

Obviously this means that I need to STOP cleaning up after dinner. One plate, do not enter the kitchen again.

Ha.

Anyhow, after Monday I googled "how to make brown rice not taste like death" and I'll be darned - someone thought of that. Friday night's brown rice was way better. Way better. Like, I might get through this switch to brown rice, it tasted that much better. The key, like the Yahoo! answers page says, is to soak it. Did you ever think about the fact that brown rice is a whole grain? Yeah, me either. I know it's better for me, and it's kind of chewy, but I never really thought of the grain-iness. So I threw a cup of rice in some water and let it soak through the day, and then when I was ready to cook I drained and rinsed it and cooked it normal with 2 1/2 cups of water and the rice cooked faster and fluffier, and had more of a texture like sushi rice, except not so sticky. More mushy. But NOT chewy! Score! I added about a Tbs of fresh grated parmesan cheese to it but I didn't really taste it so next time I won't bother wasting the calories.

Last week's menu:

Monday: flounder, brown rice and roasted squash (very uninspiring meal -- I thought it would all be better)
Tuesday: whole wheat linguine with spicy red sauce and ground turkey (I ate mine over salad)
Wednesday: Roast pork, corn and spinach (ate over salad)
Thursday: This healthy broccoli cheese soup. My changes: 1/2 water and 1/2 fat-free chicken broth and skim milk instead of 1%.
Friday: shrimp, brown rice and roasted zucchini and squash (way better than Monday on all fronts)
Saturday: A 6" subway club, sans cheese. Not satisfying, but adequate.
Sunday: homemade pizza with mushrooms and spinach

And I actually have a two-week plan this time, because there were a lot of sales and if I don't document what I'm going to use things in, I'm afraid they'll get lost in my freezer:

Monday: salmon and asparagus and whole wheat pasta with low-fat alfredo sauce
Tuesday: grilled chicken salad
Wednesday: pork enchiladas and beans
Thursday: low-fat version of Sarah's poppyseed chicken with brown rice
Friday: lentil soup
Saturday: shrimp stir fry

Monday: green chili chicken with asparagus (this was an Apron's recipe in this week's Publix ad)
Tuesday: pulled pork sandwiches with homemade baked sweet potato chips
Wednesday: chicken sausages and side salad
Thursday: stuffed peppers (with ground turkey and brown rice)
Friday: filet steaks and spinach
Saturday: mustard and pecan coated pork chops and brussel sprouts

And my ugly-toes picture:

Barks without bite

I obviously can dish it but can't take it. The last post was a rant and I expected it to be taken so. We have other problems besides a lousy $10, like that I feel the tv is on too much and I wish they were doing creative things like coloring, reading stories and the like.

All this is neither here nor there; my son is very smart and I know he is learning a lot on his own. I also know I could not run a daycare I don't have the patience for that many kids. My daycare woman does not seem to have an impatient bone in her body and she treats my kids like gold. This is why we're still there nearly three years later even though I do have my problems with the place (I'm really not unreasonable).

I don't know why I'm being so defensive about this; I was mad (and I still feel rightfully so) and I took it out here and not directly at her.

But enough about that - we're headed to the circus! My mil wanted to take the kids so we are all headed over. It's not my cup of tea, but I'm excited to see how spencer reacts. Toodles!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Shin-kicking the daycare lady (what I'd like to do)

I'm beginning to not like my daycare lady. I don't think she's very truthful, and I don't think she is very attentive. She keeps me talking for 20 minutes every time I pick up my kids while the other ones are in the back room, and if she does that with me I can only assume she's doing that with every one. Plus, I don't think she teaches the kids very much, and I'm becoming very worried that when it comes time for school, they will not be prepared. I do what I can, but she's with them 40 hours a week.

The last couple days Henry has come home with a full or overflowing diaper, and while I've been stretching the smaller diapers during the day until we run out, it's a 5 minute drive home so I know he's not doing it all on the way. I don't think she's mistreating my kids (on the contrary, they are her pets) but the last straw was today when I paid based on the amount that she told me it would be starting in the new year and she told me I was wrong. A month ago she said that Spencer would be going down in price (by $40) and so would Henry (by $10) and I'm broke as all get out so I was excited. Now she said that I misunderstood her, and Spencer was correct but Henry would be the same price. So it's only a $10 difference but she's full of crap and I'm so mad I could pull my kids out of her care completely ... if I could afford it and had something else lined up.

So after fuming about it for the last two hours (yes, I dwell), I talked to my husband who told me to start looking around for someone else.

So. Anyone know of a good daycare in my area that's dirt cheap?

Friday Hodgepodge

-- My mother gave me a pair of boots that her friend gave her because she didn’t like them once she ordered them. They might be the ugliest all-black boots I’ve ever seen, and they are very roomy inside (I think they were made for wide-width feet, which I do not have) but I wore them anyway to work on Thursday. There was a monsoon. They will heretofore be known as the monsoon boots. My feet were dry, and I wore comfy socks with them. I feel that’s a win – who am I trying to impress at work anyhow? I work in a cubical.

-- I made cookies last night for my manager’s retirement party and I managed to not eat a single one.

-- I typed that last sentence on Thursday morning as wishful thinking. I ate the misshapen one, and the hubby had one. And maybe I had a bite of his too. All the others are wrapped for work, and I think I'm stronger now.

-- The amount of money in the pot for BiggestBloggingLoser makes me want to not eat for the next three months.

-- Gold's Gym Dance Workout is really hard, especially when you skip the "beginner" workout and go straight to the intermediate one ... especially when you are not an intermediate exerciser.

-- I may be a wimp, but 49 degrees is really freaking cold to go jogging in. I only got in 1.1 miles before I wimped out and came back inside so I could feel my fingers.

-- I don’t like Chelsea Handler. I’ve never seen her show, but I tried to read My Horizontal Life and I was not impressed. Are the other books any better?

-- I do, however, like Harry Potter. I didn’t expect to like the series, but I finally got around to reading them and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I’m on Half-Blood Prince now.

-- Henry takes catnaps in his jumper, and then wakes up to play some more. I don't realize he's woken up until his toys start spinning again.

-- I don't think I've named these Friday posts the same thing two weeks in a row.

And on the third day I fell off the wagon ...

I think about how hungry I am all the time, and it’s not because I’m depriving myself of food, but the moment my body hears “diet”, it thinks “HUNGER!!” and kicks into survival mode. I’m still waiting for the screenshot of the weight loss pool so I can print it out and put it on the fridge at work, the fridge at home, the pantry, and anywhere else I might be looking for something to gorge myself on.

Monday and Tuesday – I was relatively good, both in exercise and in eating. I ate what I had already supplied myself for meals. Wednesday I got up and did my run and was appropriate at work and even skipped having a lunch out on my way back to the office after a meeting … but I think my downfall started when I accidentally took the elevator down to leave work instead of taking the stairs. Then I got home and I was so hungry but I held out for dinner – pork roast, spinach and corn, all of which I piled on top of a big bowl of lettuce to keep my portions in check (it was pretty tasty). Then … I ate some candy. Not a little; I have this little canister that I kept an assortment of m&ms, Reese’s Pieces and Skittles as reward candy for when the potty was used. However, now that he’s 95% trained we don’t use it much and it was still pretty full.

I. Ate. It. All.

And let me tell you, lemon skittles really don’t taste that great when shoveled down one’s throat with chocolate and peanut butter, no matter how good all things taste individually. But I live by one philosophy: If I eat it all, it’s no longer there to tempt me. Thus why there are no candies in my house anymore.

Ugh.

Today is a new day, and I’m trying to be a good girl (and even exercised moderation with the breakfast pizza at work today). I couldn’t go running this morning due to a monsoon, but I did my Wii Fit workout until I was exhausted and Spencer generally let me kickbox in peace (and now there is video of him attempting the merengue). At least there’s 11 more weeks to the BiggestBloggingLoser, right? Here’s to a new wardrobe!

Ten on Tuesday - Home Edition

What type of home do you currently reside in? (house, apartment, etc) House

If you could completely redecorate one room in your home, what room would you pick, why, and what would you do to it? I think I’d actually pick my outside “room”, my backyard – I want to tear down the existing porch, extend the deck and replank the current deck, fill in my grass, clean up the flower beds and replant completely. Not a pipe dream though – I’m hoping to get the hubby to get the deck done in January and I’ll do the rest in late February once the warmer weather takes over.

What is your favorite place to gain inspiration for your home décor style? I don’t really have one. I shop a lot at Ikea and Homegoods and I drool at the stuff at Pottery Barn, does that count?

What is your favorite piece of décor in your home? I love my bedroom set, it’s the Ikea Hemnes set – we have the whole thing: king bed, two nightstands, dresser, chest of drawers. It’s great – I finally feel like I have a grown-up bedroom.

What do you want visitors to feel when they visit your home? Do you think your home gives off that feeling? I want them to think it’s warm and inviting, and for the most part I think I’ve succeeded - especially when I'm forewarned that they're coming over and can therefore stuff the toys in their appropriate (or non-appropriate) places.

Describe your home in one word and explain why you chose that word. Home. It’s home, and I’ve spent my life not wanting to ever be home – I always wanted to be out and doing stuff and in the past year I’ve realized that I really do enjoy just staying home, reading, playing with the kids, playing games and just being home – especially days that I can open the windows. It’s a nice feeling, and also it’s a lot cheaper.

What are some predominant colors or patterns in your home? The main area is green and a warm butter color (okay, it’s green and gold but I swear I wasn’t going for my alma mater’s colors when I painted). The guest bathroom and the master bedroom are brown and blue, the library is red and the boys’ room is blue, brown, white and lime green.

What is your favorite room in your home and why? My room. When we got the bedroom set I spent 9 straight months laying in bed watching tv with my son. Okay, so I was pregnant but I’m not much better about things now. It’s my son’s favorite place to be too, because he can snuggle under my covers and watch Caillou.

Do you take a hands-on or DIY approach or do you enlist or hire help? I think it’s 50/50. On the big projects I prefer to hire help but we haven’t tackled any of those projects because we don’t want to hire help. We almost hired a plumber when my water main broke but my neighbor helped instead. I think we’re going to hire a friend of my FIL to do the deck but that’s why it’s been in the talking stage for more than a year.

Where is your favorite place to shop for home furnishings? Homegoods. Ikea.

For More TOT, click here.