Category Archives: Random

Wednesday Randoms

  • Simon made a cake last week, simply to prove me wrong. Isn’t he sweet? Back story: We were at a birthday party the weekend before and Kara had leftover homemade buttercream frosting and Simon said he would take it off her hands and I said, “What for, it’s not like you would ever make a cake.” Well, Thursday, he made a cake. Me = proven wrong. [It’s okay, unlike some people I know, I can admit it when I’m wrong.]
  • My friend, Steph, made a divine dessert for small group on Sunday (actually, the whole meal was something I would like to recreate myself to eat again, including some pulled pork that had apple pie filling with it that was just so good and don’t get me started on the goat cheese dip). Oreos, ice cream and homemade hot fudge were involved. Just, yum.
  • Jack and Liam started their new routines on Monday (and are back again today) fingers crossed it lives up to Liam’s expectations. But when they start the summer with a field trip for ice cream, I think they’ll be okay. Jack might be less impressed, he keeps saying, “No one will play with me.” Breaks my heart.
  • Related to the above point, on the first day, Liam’s teachers said to me that he is just the nicest boy (which I can believe, he is a nice kid) and that he’s great for helping to keep the rest grounded and calmed down. I said, “Huh, that has not been our experience at home.” And she said, “Well, in comparison to everyone else, he’s the calm one.” I feel sorry for those teachers. Very sorry. Simon noted this morning that she might be singing a different tune once he warmed up to everyone.
  • Jack did have one uplifting thing to say about his experience his first day in his new class, he said some of the bigger boys thought his little hand was cool. I forget that each time he starts a new class or is in a new place, his hand is once again a curiosity to the kids around him and I just pray over the day when one of them deems it strange or weird in a bad way [really, I pray it never comes and that I’ve worried for NOTHING, that is a burden I’d gladly take on]. But thankfully Monday was not that day.
  • Spam comment of the week: “Poor crazy Jean. One day she will wreak her revenge on all those tosspots that inhabit Albert Square eastenders” Huh? Poor crazy Jean, indeed.
  • I got licked by a cow this past weekend, it was as gross as I always imagined it would be. Also, cows are rather unintelligent. I’m just saying.
  • Some people type exceptionally noisily, I fear I am one of those people. It might be a keyboard issue but I think it’s me.
  • I’m going to miss my after-school dates with Liam on Mondays and Wednesdays, but they’ll be back again in the fall. It’s strange to work until 5 on those days… but I never once forgot to go pick him up, probably because I had reminders set on both my computer and my phone.
  • Growing up, when my mom would marinate meat on Sundays for grilling, I would try and take sips of the marinade. After the raw meat was sitting in it. I loved the saltiness the soy sauce provided. I never died (or got sick) from doing that, which I guess makes me quite lucky (and also overly-addicted to salt).
  • Finally watched part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (nevermind that I haven’t watched movies #5 or 6 – for some reason I stopped the series but now I want to watch them all – anyone own them?); part two of Deathly Hallows is up for sometime this week.
  • We do not have to replace our upstairs shower after it got a crack in it – I am very happy about that. [Oh my, is that not the most boring bullet point you’ve ever read? My apologies.]

This Week’s Random List

  • When I got to work yesterday there was a woman getting out of her new Porsche and the alarm was going off and she seemed quite flustered. Does it make me a bad person because it amused me greatly that she was having a problem with it? To my credit I did not roll my eyes when she commented that she thought she was going to have to call her husband to help her with the car (the alarm turned off when she pushed the panic button her in key fob). She was on her way to go work out and turns out she is also one of the noisy worker-outers. [Her, I’m totally judging.]
  • Liam has to do a small research project for school. Pick an animal, report on what you already know about it, think of questions you have and research answers and creatively represent that animal. He picked sharks and last night we made his model and I had to restrain myself to keep from overly helping with it and fixing mistakes. Homework is going to be a painful endeavor – I need to resist my fixer tendencies.
  • Amazon has a new slew of $5 MP3 albums – I downloaded The Fray’s new album, “Scars and Stories” but I’d also recommend Amos Lee’s “Last Days at the Lodge”
  • I’m sort of loving the new show, Scandal, though I can’t decide for sure because well, the main character is sort of unbelievable but I like the rest of the cast and I’m eager to learn more about the secrets they have so I guess that’s a good sign. Plus Joshua Malina is in it and I LOVE him from The West Wing and In Plain Sight.
  • Liam’s been using the phrase, “Let’s stick with that” often in his chattering… it amuses me. He’s like a mini-politician trying to make his point.
  • Jack apparently thinks I know everything, including the lyrics to songs I’ve never heard. He was singing a song he learned at daycare the other day and stopped and asked me, “How does the rest go?” I had to clue but that didn’t satisfy him and he kept yelling at me to keep singing the rest of the song. I could have tried to make something up but he actually knows the song and would have yelled at me that it wasn’t right (we’ve tried this before). Alas.
  • There are only two more MOPS meetings for the year (today and in two weeks) and that makes me sad. It’s been a great year! I’ve only got two more left so I best enjoy them as much as I can!
  • Here’s a quick recipe for healthy soup that makes a ton. I’m not doing a whole post on this because I didn’t take pictures – you can make it all in a large Dutch oven or brown the meat and then put everything in a slow cooker on low for the day.
    Turkey Taco Chili: Brown 1 pound ground turkey, add 1/4 c. taco seasoning and cook until meat is cooked through. Add: 1 large bottle or can of V8; two cans black beans, 2 cans corn, 1 jar salsa. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheese. Enjoy.
  • I need to get back on the exercise bandwagon
  • I also need a sugar/carb detox
  • My great-nephew turned 3 yesterday – I just love that I have a great-nephew and I’m not even 35 – and I love that Max! He has the cutest dimples and best smiles. Someday he and Jack are going to be marvelous buddies!
  • I have an iTunes playlist called “depressing music” and it makes me laugh every time I put a song in there, like I’m prepping for some future cryfest.
  • Do you ever tell a little white lie just not have an awkward conversation? We went out with friends on Saturday night for our anniversary and I offhandedly mentioned to the server that it was our anniversary, meaning more that we were celebrating our anniversary but she said, “Oh, it’s my birthday, too!” And rather than correct her and say that actually, our actual anniversary was on Monday, I just let it slide (I’m quite surprise that Simon let it slide because he’s a stickler for truthiness). But later she also commented about “April 28th being the best day…” and I just had to smile and nod, even though April 28th doesn’t really mean anything special to me. Whoops. I felt a little bad (which I think totally makes up for my feeling of happiness when Little Miss Porsche had car alarm troubles)
  • I really want to make fresh mozzarella sometime – we had it on our salads on Saturday night and I could just eat that always and be happy. But I feel like it would be fun to know how to make – I’ve watched someone make it before and it didn’t seem too hard if you have the ingredients. Though I wonder if touching the curds would gross me out – probably.
  • My SIL Lynn, posted the photo below on my Facebook wall and I thought, “What baby is Liam holding?”


But that’s not Liam, it’s my nephew, Andrew, holding my other nephew, Mitch, way back in the 90s (so very long ago). Apparently Liam does take after my family, just not me as much as my nephew (see below of Andrew and Liam last fall – at least we can see that Liam will still be handsome when he grows up).

And to complete the circle, Liam and Mitch from two summers ago… my how they grow. Mitch is graduating from high school this year and then there is a 13-year gap to the next grandkid (Liam).

Thursday Randoms

  • Have you entered my FIRST giveaway (let’s assume it won’t be my last)? Your chances are pretty good so go check it out and comment. Unless you are like me and slightly wary of Burger King, in which case, don’t be because they have some good stuff and for a free $25, it’s worth checking out. Just sayin’.
  • I’ve been watching two new comedies that I’d recommend checking out: Best Friends Forever (premise: recently divorced woman moves back to NYC to live with her best friend and best friend’s boyfriend, wacky hi jinx ensues) and Bent (premise: down on his luck, former gambling addict contractor convinces Amanda Peet’s character – recently divorced – to let him remodel her kitchen). Both are fast-paced, have slightly off-kilter characters and great supporting casts. Give ’em a look-see.
  • I painted my nails over the weekend (all by myself) with a new OPI color – Thanks a WindMillion – it’s a breezy sea green color, not at all my norm and I rather love it (thanks, Michelle – not me, Michelle, but my friend who is also named Michelle who introduced me to it). But let me tell you, maintaining a nail color is a project. I’ve touched them up a couple of times since then but I am super glad I bought a new top coat (Sally Hansen Professional, it’s actually pretty awesome).
  • Per a referral from Jill at The Diaper Diaries, I’ve been using Organix Moroccan Argan Oil this week and I kind of love it. My hair is super soft and perfectly shiny. I found mine at the local grocery store but I also found you can order it on Amazon for a cheaper price per bottle, problem is, you have to get 4 larger bottles so does anyone want to go with me to get some?
  • We were listening to fun.’s song “We Are Young” in the car at the lyrics in the beginning go, “My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State” and so of course Liam asked, “What’s the Empire State?” And I told him it was a very tall building in New York and that the people in the song were jumping very high. He was contented with that explanation, but am I horrible for not taking that song out of rotation.
  • Liam still says “extra-size” instead of “exercise” and I will hurt anyone who ever corrects him. He also says, “Phineas and Firm” instead of “Phineas and Ferb” and I kind of love that, too.
  • Jack took off his pajamas and diaper the other night before falling asleep so of course his bed was wet in the morning so we have entered the backwards, zip-up pajama phase of having a child again. Liam did this same thing and now Jack is trying his hand at it. We tried duct-taping the diaper on, with little success but I think someone told us to try backwards pajamas and it totally worked. Here’s hoping because changing a bunk bed with a double mattress is not my favorite thing. [Sidebar: just realized I’ve been spelling pajama incorrectly, at least in my head and perhaps other places – sorry folks, I’m not perfect. If there was any question.]
  • Liam has his little belly button procedure tomorrow morning completely with general anesthesia. Fun times. I’m hoping it will be drama-free and very low on the pain scale. I’m very thankful my parents will be arriving this afternoon to help out with Jack while we are at the hospital tomorrow and for when Simon goes to work tomorrow night. They are staying until Sunday so we can go out Saturday night for our anniversary. Love them!
  • It’s our anniversary on Monday. Seven years. It seems like so much longer and like no time at all – which is probably a good thing – does that mean it’s a perfect balance (note: I did not say perfect marriage 😉 we are both flawed and fully aware of it).
  • Simon’s mom has been in and out of the hospital recently with some heart trouble (likely related to her recurring dropping blood counts and needing transfusions) but we’d appreciate prayers for her and Simon’s sister who has a lot on her plate with taking care of everything and needing to have surgery to figure out why her recently replaced hip keeps going out of joint (I think we can categorize that under “Not Fun”).
  • My friend, Sandy, is having a baby!!! She finally spilled the beans to everyone but I have known for a while now and it’s been killing me!!! [But apparently, I can keep a secret when it’s not mine to tell… I’m growing as a person.] She’s had a couple scares recently with the pregnancy so she’d also welcome your prayers and good thoughts! And HUGE congrats; so exciting!
  • Still super loving our new small group – the people are great, the study is thought-provoking and God is doing good things with our marriage and friendships with other couples. Happy day.

Here’s a question for you… is there anything you’d like to know about me or like me to blog about? I’d love your feedback/comments on that one (i.e., I’m in need of a little blog inspiration).