Category Archives: Life in general

Wednesday Musings

Posted on April 17, 2013 | 8 comments

I tried to create a cute visual image for you here but it won’t show up and I’m probably the only one who cares about it being there so I’m going to stop getting frustrated with technology, wasting my time with the graphic and procrastinating about writing this blog post and just do it already. You are welcome. And I wonder why it takes Liam 30 minutes to think of something to say in his journal at school… I believe he cames my his ability (or inability) to protrastinate naturally.

  • Speaking of Liam, he’s been obsessed with heaven, who goes to heaven and good vs. evil lately, but only wants to talk about it when we are riding in the car. So we spend many car rides having theological discussions which have included the topics of:
    • Why people choose to do bad (my answer: they listen to Satan rather than God; also, the bad people he references are always ‘robbers’ so I’m sort of glad that’s the worst he can think of);
    • Do bad people go to heaven (yes, if they believe Jesus died for them on the cross);
    • Why don’t bad people do bad things in heaven like they did on earth and what happens if they do (they will only do good things in heaven because that’s all we will want to do when we are with God and we won’t be able to hear Satan’s voice there; also, on earth we have choices but in heaven we will just choose God [my kids don’t settle for an ‘I don’t know’ answer so I try my best to explain it in terms they understand without being too far off base]);
    • And then Liam spends some time determining how “bad” he is – he’s decided he is 100% good and 1% bad (we’ll work on math at a later date) and that Jack is about 50/50 (I do not argue the validity of his conclusions because it seems pointless to pinpoint exactly what percentage bad they are ;)).
  • Other conversations that have been had:
    • Liam: What does radioactive mean? [we were listening to “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons]
      Me: (pulling from some ancient factoid I might have about radioactivity) When something has a chemical in it that makes it so it might explode at any minute.
      Liam: Why is that guy saying he is radioactive?
      Me: Because he is so worked up or excited about something that he’s shaking and feels like he might explode.
      Liam: I feel like I’m radioactive sometimes.
      Me: Oh yeah, when is that? (Thinking he might say when he gets mad at his brother and shakes with anger.)
      Liam: Like when I have to poop and I’m trying really hard to go.
    • [we have had previous discussions about how babies are born, I have always left it as “doctors take babies out of a special opening” and “what do you think?”]
      Liam: I don’t think the doctor reaches down the mommy’s throat and takes the baby out.
      Jack and Liam: So, how does the doctor get the baby out of a mommy’s tummy?
      Me: (sigh) Remember, the mommy has a special opening that the baby comes out of.
      Liam: But where exactly is it?
      Jack: Yeah, where is it?
      Me: (here it goes) You know how boys and girls have different private parts? Well, the baby comes out of the mommy’s private parts.
      Liam: You mean her ‘china’?
      Me: Yes
      Jack: Her ‘china,’ that’s just silly.
      Me: Indeed.
  • If it weren’t for my kids or the gym next door, I’d have no fun antecdotes to share with you. Heard through the wall lately:
    • After a string of cursing and yelling that would make a big, muscled man cry, “Dammit, Debbie, just pull it together.” Poor Debbie (also comical to me, because of all the names, Debbie would have been the least likely one for me to have chosen as the person not performing)
    • “Water. Fat. Muscle. These are the only things you can gain. What are you gaining? Why would you eat salt?!” [This is now what I think of any time I go to put salt on something and then I stop myself, thank you Tom, the trainer.]
    • “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard this here before: Chicken. Fish. Egg. Beef. Tofu. Greek Yogurt. You can’t tell me there isn’t something there you would eat!? Why aren’t you eating protein every meal!?” [This made me want to go and shake the woman he was talking to because why kind of whiny adult won’t just tell her trainer that she will eat a protein and insists that there is none that she likes?]
    • Copious amounts of grunting and groaning, some cheering and swearing.
  • On a related note: To the woman who was changing her clothes in front of the bathroom sink when I left the stall (please note, I leave the LARGE handicapped stall free as it is double-sized so a person can change in there and not even come close to touching the toilet) and who apologized to me for all her groaning while she was changing because she had such a killer workout (I know, I heard), I’m pretty sure that you should have been been apologizing for being undressed from the waist up while standing in a PUBLIC restroom. I mean, really, I just don’t understand people.
  • On another related note: To the other woman who was actually using the handicapped stall to change in, I applaud your discretion; well, until you answered your cell phone while you were still in the stall and then proceeded to talk to who I assume to be a client from what I could hear. I’m not sorry that I flushed the toilet while you were in there because I’m quite certain that could have been a foreseen danger of answering your phone in a PUBLIC restroom and then talking for longer than 2 minutes.
  • We watch E! almost every night after Simon gets home from work and they are over-promoters of their upcoming new shows and sadly they have a reality show with Ryan Lochte coming up and EVERY time I hear him say that stupid thing he says, “Jeh-yeah” or whatever, it makes me watch to punch him in the face. He is just so stupid. So stupid.
  • I signed up very last minute for a parenting workshop that will meet every Tuesday night for the next six weeks. It’s called “Calm Parent: a total transformation.” And at the very least I feel like I’ll feel better knowing other people are in the same boat as I am but I am hopeful I will learn something to help me go back to how I used to be, pre-two-kids and evening single parenting.
  • I spent 4 hours last weekend cleaning, sorting and packing the boys’ room in an effort to declutter. I packed many a box up and when the realtor came, her advice was to pack 50% more toys. Sigh. But my house does look fabulous and within the month we will have it on the market. (yikes)
  • This weekend we paint, pack and clean some more.
  • Only two more MOPS meetings for this year… sad times. But soon it will be summer and I’ll be able to have more get togethers with friends! I miss play dates, but when Liam doesn’t get out of school until 3:45 and we’re not home until 4:15 or so and then you have homework and activities (and we do the minimum for activies), it doesn’t leave much free time for friends. Hopefully next year we will live in a neighborhood and/or will be closer to school friends.
  • My new favorite snack is Fage 0% Greek Yogurt with Honey – it is so delicious. I still love my Muller with honeyed apricot, but I might like this more. SO good. Try it, you’ll like it. The fruit ones are also good if you don’t like honey.
  • I ordered some vitamins from Vitacost and decided to try their whey protein powder, ordering the smallest size and then found it was BOGO and it automatically added a second one to my cart for free, which was fine. Until it came and the containers are HUGE… it’s a month’s supply in each one and oh my, they are currently taking up real estate on half my stove. Simon came home and said, “What’s with the…” And I just stopped him and said, “Don’t even start.”
  • We watched “The Five Year Engagement” over the weekend – it was cute and funny. We laughed out loud many times. It’s also totally predictable, but whatever.
  • Our 8-year anniversary is coming up… we’re almost past the 7-year-itch thing, if you believe in that (I believe that it holds some statistical merit).
  • I can’t write something without saying something about what happened in Boston on Monday, but I really don’t want to talk about it. Evil sucks. Bad people who do vile things more than suck. I wish things like this didn’t have to happen and didn’t ever happen, but they do. And so we pray and hope for something better and have confidence that good will win. That God is going to win.
  • This video has been linked to multiple times in my FB feed, but in case you haven’t seen it or haven’t taken 3 minutes to watch it, please do, it’s worth the watch and the reminder. Well done, Dove!
  • My current fave song: “Cups” by Anna Kendrick (yes, the actress) from the movie “Pitch Perfect” more fave music coming soon… maybe tomorrow 😉
  • Worth reading:

8 Comments

Posted in Life in general, Random

Catch Up (a.k.a., recapping the last month via instagram photos)

Posted on April 11, 2013 | 2 comments

So I took an unintended break from blogging and the world wept (full disclosure: it just took me four attempts to type the word “wept,” my fingers are apparently not ready to be blogging again but I’m going to power through… for the people).

So here’s what I/we’ve been up to since you last saw us… work, vacation and more work, plus a date night. Funsies.

image

Here we are ready for date night, above looking lovely and below looking less lovely, but comical. I’m not too proud to share that photo with the world.

image

For date night we went to dinner and then saw Joel McHale perform at Laugh Fest. Hilarious. I’ve never seen a stand-up comedian live and I really enjoyed it – with a few moments of squirminess when he would make inappropriate jokes that would definitely not be safe for his normal television gigs, but overall, hilarious.

image

Jack’s daycare has a guy come and do art projects with the kids, below is Jack’s latest creation, an owl.  I rather love it.

image

I got new shoes… shoes I’d been coveting from Lisa Leonard’s What I Wore Wednesday posts for nearly two years and Target still had them online so I just bought them for myself because liking (and not getting) $30 shoes for two years is a wee bit silly.

image

I treated myself to an iced Americano, but since it was after noon, I had to go half-caff. My college self just shakes her head and sighs at me.

image

Aren’t avocados so pretty? I’m mad that I spent so much of my life not liking them because now I LOVE them… and I make an awesome guacamole. Come on over, I’ll make some for you.

image

Oh my goodness… I have found a recipe that is just too good: Red Velvet Brownie Oreo Truffle Bars (from Pizzazzerie) … totally worth the time on the treadmill to burn them off.

image

My sweet (youngest) boy hanging out the window in the school pick up line waiting for my other sweet (oldest) boy. Happy moments like these help alleviate the stabbiness I feel most of the time in the pick up line… line cutters, I’m looking at you.

image

And now we come to the vacation recap part of this post… we went to Texas, I think I mentioned these plans before. I know is taboo to discuss vacation plans online because it is basically a big neon sign broadcasting that our house will be unattended for a specific period of time, but well, I’m not an alarmist or thinking that our local criminals are checking my blog. We’ve got just as good of a chance of someone breaking in when we are home as we do when we are away – now, I’m perfectly willing to eat my words if something bad ever does happen because I told the Internet that we weren’t home.

[sidebar] Here’s the dumbest thing I’ve done lately, marginally related for its crime potential. The other night Simon came home early and I was looking out the kitchen window when he arrived home, happy to see him, and he was yelling something up at me, standing next to our open minivan door. Turns out, when we got home from school, that I had left Liam’s sliding door open and must have never hit the lock button on the keyfob or the van would have beeped at me to alert me of an open door. Leaving a door open in your driveway isn’t great, but to make matters worse it had been raining almost the entire four hours between when we got home and when Simon got home, storming for a small portion of that time. Whoops (I diffused Simon’s frustration with the situation by pointing out that at least I didn’t crash the car – which, if we’re keeping score, he has done). So things were wet – it’s just water – but no harm done. And it’s not like I’ve ever done this before, but unfortunately this one time it was raining, or perhaps fortunately because people looking to get into trouble and steal things from minivans with their DVD players prominently displayed don’t tend to go out in a thunderstorm to get into trouble. [end of story – aren’t you glad I shared?]

So, back to the vacation – we were lucky enough to have two weeks off because Liam’s school had the Thursday and Friday before Spring Break off so we decided he could miss just three days of school and take off for the whole time. So we got up bright and early Saturday morning (and by bright and early, I mean dark and early – it was 4:32 when we drove out of our neighborhood) and got out of Dodge, thinking the kids would take nice naps in the car at some point (spoiler: the only person that slept in our car for the 22 hours we were riding in it was Simon). But, despite the lack of sleep, it was a good trip and the boys stayed mostly happy, aside from the last 30 minutes before we got to my brother’s house in Houston when there was a lot of yelling from all parties.

image

You know you have a problem when you use apps on your phone to find and chart a course for the closest Starbuck’s. You also know you have a problem when a venti iced Americano does not do the trick because you waited too long to get coffee and you have a headache (Did you know that sometimes travel first aid kits come stocked with Tylenol, aspirin and ibuprofen? Now you know).

image

After a brief stop in Houston with Marty and Lynn (brother and SIL) for a delicious welcome-to-Texas dinner of fajitas and quesadillas (fresh tortillas, I love you), we hit the road to Corpus Christi (or Padre Island, to be more specific) to go to my parent’s winter-Texans home-away-from-home. Jack stayed awake the entire 3.5 hours while Liam finally slept, almost the entire ride, because of course. The sun was setting much of the second half of our trip and I was determined to get a pretty shot of it… and I did thanks to a random cattle water supply pond.

image

Sunset the next night on the Gulf of Mexico, equally as breathtaking. Though less peaceful since I made the decision that we would pull over and wait for it to set and my kids were complaining in the backseat because I was postponing their Wii time and Jack was HUNGRY, even though we’d just left the best BBQ place in Corpus (voted as such for many years running) where he ate potato chips (because they didn’t have fries or Vegemite). But my dad was wrong because he said we’d have to wait at least 30 minutes to see the sunset and we totally did not… I win!

image

Day two, Simon opted to take Liam to the USS Lexington and the rest of us opted to not go with that plan, but instead decided to take a picnic to Port Aransas (not the wisest choice since it was incredibly windy there and we ended up eating standing up and gripping onto our food since paper plates would have been pointless). But we still had fun and got to see huge boats go through the channel and dolphins cresting out of the water. Liam loved the Lex and says that was the favorite part of the whole trip so it was a good choice for them that day and Jack was thrilled to have the undivided attention of three adults. We also played with a 2.5 year old who was just about the same size as Jack, everything’s bigger in Texas.

image

My parent’s condo is a parking lot away from the seawall so a few times a day we trekked across the road to walk the seawall, search for seashells and just watch the waves come crashing in. Here’s a lovely portrait of our shadow family.

image

And my three boys.

image

That’s all I have from Corpus, as that Friday we headed back to Houston so we could see my nephew, Mitch, who was home on his Spring Break from Mizzou, and spend Easter with them (my parents joined us Monday for a couple days which gave Simon and I the chance to escape the children for a day in Galveston).

Saturday we checked out Hermann Park and the boys toured around on their scooters (it only took them 30 minutes to start whining that they were hungry and tired – stamina is not their strong suit). Saturday night we tricked Mitch into bonding with the boys by babysitting them and the grown up went out for drinks and dinner (funny story: when we were leaving Hermann Park and had to cross a road which required the boys to hold a grown-ups hand, Jack asked me how come Mitch didn’t have to hold anyone’s hand because he was Uncle Marty and Aunt Lynn’s kid).

image

Monday we went to Houston Zoo… Jack’s sole desire was to see elephants, which we saw close to the beginning of our visit so he mostly complained, asked for snacks and had to be carried the rest of the way – but still had fun despite himself, he’s just not quiet about what he’d rather be doing instead of what you are hoping he’ll be doing. It’s a great zoo, tons of animals and great kid’s area with a playground and petting zoo – be sure to visit if ever you get to Houston.

image

Marty and Lynn have an awesome dog (Sable) who likes to sleep in the most uncomfortable positions with her front legs up against a vertical surface (any wall or furniture will do) and with her hind legs spread out for the world to see (those were thoughtfully cropped from this photo). It was entertaining to see where she would end up. Jack cried when we left because he was going to miss Sable so much.

image

Our last day in Houston, Simon took Liam to Johnson Space Center. Once again, I opted to hang out with Jack because I could think of nothing I wanted to do less than spend the day trying to keep Jack entertained in a place that should do the work itself and again, we made a good call because Liam had a blast with Simon, who he doesn’t get to hang out with as much now that he’s in school every day and Simon’s still working nights. Jack and I played, took goofy photos, went to the park and took Sable for a walk (we’ll not mention my walking into a tree branch on that walk).

image

And then, just like that, we were back on the road with this gorgeous sunrise to send us on our way through Houston.

image

The end of day one found us very close to Sikeston, MS close enough to decide to stop there for the night. What’s in Sikeston, you ask? Lambert’s Cafe… home of the throwed rolls (a.k.a., delicious, homecooked food like fried okra, meatloaf,  chicken and dumplings, and, of course, rolls that are delivered to your table via a good toss from the roll guy). Go there and bring your appetite.

image

This picture is deceiving as it depicts the single 15-minute stretch that someone other than just Simon was sleeping in our car. That 15-minute stretch occurred while we were technically still in Houston city proper, at the very start of our trip.

image
There is more to tell but this post is getting a bit long – three cheers if you made it to the end – I applaud you and will give you a gold star. More, perhaps tomorrow… I’m sure you’ll be on the edge of your seat until then 😉

2 Comments

Posted in Instagram, Life in general

What’s awesome

Posted on March 14, 2013 | 3 comments

Do you know what is awesome? When your son climbs into bed with you at 4 in the morning and then, after tossing and turning for an hour, decides he wants his dad to take him back downstairs (Simon’s apparently the designated carrier – probably because I actually told Jack yesterday, “Sorry, mommy can’t carry you, I have girl arms, ask your father.” Yes, I did, I am ashamed and also, a lying liar.)

But more awesome than that is when they went to go downstairs, I took that moment to use the toilet and suddenly Jack was standing in front of me in the dark, covered in blood and shouting, “Oh no, I have a nosebleed!” Which is how I ended up stuck sitting on the toilet, shoving toilet paper up my kid’s nose at 5:00 a.m. My day was bound to be great after that. (Also, parenting is super glamorous.)

The nosebleed incident led me to land on the one downfall to Jack’s little hand – his small thumb is perfectly sized for optimal nose-picking and then bleeding because he can get it up there so far. This led to the following conversation I wish had never happened:

Me: “Jack, you need to stop picking your nose so this doesn’t happen.”
Jack: “But I was just so hungry.” [yes, yes he did say that]
Me: “And you really need to stop eating your boogers.”
Jack: “I just can’t help myself.”
Me: [Sigh]

Please send chocolate. And coffee.

 

 

3 Comments

Posted in Life in general

Things that are the worst

Posted on March 7, 2013 | 5 comments
  • Sitting down on an ice cold toilet seat (work bathroom, I’m looking at you).
  • Hitting every red light on your way somewhere.
  • Grapes with seeds.
  • Having the kind of hair that curls fall right out of, but that frizzes up with the least bit of humidity and curls when you’ve flat-ironed it – you can’t have it both ways, hair, pick straight or curly and stick with it.
  • Grabbing a piece of fruit or vegetable and poking your finger into a soft/squishy spot.
  • Stepping on any poop, pee or vomit from any person or animal (negative points added if you are barefoot).
  • Catching the last chords of a favorite song when you switch radio stations, especially if you wasted your time listening to a “lesser” song on another station.
  • Pushing yourself to do over 5 miles on the elliptical, eating healthy and then gaining weight that day… blah, blah, blah… muscles weighs more (it should also burn more).
  • Going to hug one of your kids only to have them accidentally headbutt you in the nose/mouth/eye.
  • Inadvertently making someone feel bad or guilty (it is, alternatively, pretty great when you can make your kids feel guilty on purpose for something they did wrong).
  • Sports programming pushing back show run times so the last five minutes of your DVR-ed show gets cut off. How will I ever know if Alicia takes the partnership? (Oh wait, there is this thing called the Internet that I can look such things up on you say? I’m familiar with it, it’s also the place where I complain about stupid things in life – the Internet and I are BFFs.)
  • Chipping a freshly painted fingernail.
  • Fresh parsley.
  • Airline leg room (except Qantas, premium economy and higher, that legroom is awesome).
  • Realizing you forgot something at home when you have left for a trip.
  • When your kids fall asleep in the car as you a pulling onto your street.
  • Forgetting your cell phone at home.
  • Kanye West procreating.
  • Running out of deodorant after applying it to only one side.

5 Comments

Posted in Life in general, Random

Recipe Sharing: Guilt-Free Chicken Chili

Posted on March 5, 2013 | 4 comments

Shout out to my favorite spam comment of the week on this recipe post for Thai Curried Lentil Vegetable Stew: “There is noticeably a bundle to understand about this. I assume you created certain nice points in functions also.” (submitted by: michaelkorsbagdiscount.com – totally really site, I’m sure – P.S., not really, do not visit it). Yes, I am quite certain I made some nice points and that there is a bundle to understand about that RECIPE.

Perhaps this new recipe can enticewpid-IMAG0708-1.jpg another great spam comment. Here’s hoping. Because then I will have funnies to share with you guys and that makes my day happier. I am an easy person to please.

Disclaimer: I have another favorite creamy chicken chili recipe from my friend, Keri, but it’s not nearly as guiltfree though it is equally as delicious, so delicious I once made the recipe for her when she was coming over for dinner.

I made this new recipe for myself last week for lunches and again for small group last night – both times delicious and oh-so-easy (unless you are my husband who does not like beans, in which case, you are out of luck – well, to the extent that you don’t get to eat this chili but your loving wife will also make you creamy potato soup [from a mix]).

Guilt-Free Chicken Chili

  • 2 (ish) cups shredded chicken (I boiled two chicken breasts the first time and the second time I used the meat from a rotisserie chicken)
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2-3 cans great northern beans, undrained
  • 2 cups corn (I used frozen corn that my friends’ MIL “put up” last summer, but any corn will do – though I think white is best)
  • 1 packet white chicken chili seasoning mix (or, for gluten free: 1 packet McCormick taco seasoning + 1 Tbs. garlic salt and 1.5 tsp. cumin)
  • 1 can green enchilada sauce or 1 cup salsa verde (The first time I used this Frontera enchilada sauce from Target, the second time I used this Frontera simmer sauce from Meijer, plus some additional green salsa to taste)
  • Optional: Large handful of chopped fresh cilantro for the last bit of cooking

Throw all ingredients in large pot on stove and bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes (or put in slow cooker on high for 3 hours). You can cook it longer, it will just get thicker as it cooks but it won’t hurt it, plus your house will smell divine. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, salsa verde and/or sliced avocado.

To go with the chili, I made these Brazilian Cheese Rolls – so yummy and gluten free if you are looking for recipes along those lines.

On a food-related note, for President’s Day, Liam had homework that had him write down what question he would ask the president if he could. His question: What is your favorite food? His imagined answer: vanilla ice cream. So there you go.

4 Comments

Posted in Food, Life in general