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Tuesday Randoms

Posted on May 22, 2012 | 3 comments

We saw The Avengers Sunday night – nothing I didn’t love about that movie. Even stupid Scar Jo was tolerable – nearly enjoyable (which is saying a lot since I would still gladly beat her up). So entertaining, humorous and action-packed. Just go see it, you’ll be glad you did unless, of course, you hate fun.
The Hulk’s temper tantrum at the ended very much reminded me of a certain 3-year-old who lives in my house. Just saying.
Speaking of Jack, poor kiddo has started crying when I leave him places (except at church, so there’s that) and every time I have to wave goodbye to his woeful little face. At daycare he stands at the window and starts blinking quickly as he stands and waves at the window and then his faces us crinkles up and he cries – woe. I hate the weepies and his sad little face. He also does this in the window of his bedroom when he sees me pulling down the driveway in the car – just stands there sadly waving and crying. Breaks a mommy’s heart, even though I know he’s perfectly happy a few seconds/minutes later and it’s just a phase that we’ve gone through before.
We have lots of fun activities planned for this coming holiday weekend – so looking forward to lots of time spent with friends new and old! Also looking forward to having my husband around for three days in a row!
I planted flowers over the weekend and my legs are killing me from bending over and digging… I feel like a very old person every time I stand up. Gardening is not for the faint of heart. Also, if my plants all die, I’m going to be so very sad.
I hate it when I don’t bring something for lunch but also don’t have the desire to go out and get something… first world problems.
I strongly suspect we have a mouse in our office but I only find one dropping at a time and it doesn’t get into any food and I’ve never seen it. I’m going to go with the thought that if it doesn’t bother me, I’m not going to bother it.
It’s a real bummer when a song has a single swear word it in… then I have to skip it completely because I don’t want my kids to hear it – can’t they just do me a favor and not put that swear word in there? Come on.
I would still watch The Voice without Christina on it, here’s hoping they replace her because then I wouldn’t have to fast forward through so much of it and my blood pressure wouldn’t increase when I accidentally stop too soon and have to hear her bring everything back to herself. Ugh. She’s totally going on that list of celebrities I’d like to beat up.
I have the following things on my desk at work, one I rather love and the other one completely freaks me out

Music Monday: Brother-inspired

Posted on May 21, 2012 | 3 comments

I’m sure I was listening to music I loved, even back then, because my brother, Marty, was a huge music fan and I was one of his biggest fans (still am). But he lived in the basement and my little friends and I would sit outside his bedroom door and giggle while we listened to him sing something.
Here’s a collection of music he’s introduced me to over the years:

Smoke on the Water | Deep Purple [He taught me to play this on the guitar]

Swingin’ | John Anderson [I have no idea about this one but I clearly recall listening to it over and over thanks to Marty, I think I had it on a cassette]

Thriller | Michael Jackson [He let me watch it on MTV; I was petrified and had nightmares – but at least it was memorable]

Eye of the Tiger | Survivor [We watched all the Rocky and Rambo movies together, it was our tradition, apparently I was the little brother he never had.]

Stand By Me | Ben E. King [One time when we were visiting him in Texas, I found a compilation CD of Motown and R&B music that included this song I spent a year of middle school listening to all sorts of oldies.]

Yellow Ledbetter | Pearl Jam [the guitar intro to this is one of my most favorites EVER]

Clearly eclectic music tastes run in our blood – is that hereditary?

For the record, I also think my other brother, Mike, is pretty fantastic and I’m a big fan of his as well, we just don’t listen to music together, but he does (among other things) mix some fantastic drinks and someday I will share those recipes with you.

3 Comments

Posted in Music

Instagram, week seven

Posted on May 19, 2012 | 1 comment

Nothing warms my heart like seeing my kids with their grandparents… What a nice mother’s day walk!

Ice cream! With Sprinkles!

Mr. Toothless

My paternal grandfather, according to (who, I don’t remember) he died before my dad was born after getting hit in the head with a lead pipe… Or, did I make that up… Dad?

Bingo… A nearly perfect shot of sunset behind the church.

Love how all the cars are lined up, waiting to be played with.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found inspiration for decorating my table for the last day of MOPS.

Liam asked me to take a picture of his mini Chewy all buckled in. Who am I to argue?

This book was in the library at Liam’s school… Seriously.

Liam circling up during fine arts night at his school. His music teacher is amazing (along with his regular teacher).

Playing the role of a grape.

Decided it was time I tried planting annuals again… Fingers crossed that they flourish.

My single, potted strawberry plant is bringing me fruit this year, here’s hoping the squirrels don’t get them (do squirrels eat strawberries? Either way, I hate them because they are evil.)

1 Comment

Posted in Life in general

Five Question Friday – DIY

Posted on May 18, 2012 | 7 comments

Well, Mama M isn’t doing a 5QF this week due to creepy stuff (sounds ominous) so I’m just going to make up my own… you can join in too in the comments or on your own blog.

1. What’s your favorite sound?
Here are a few:
– Jack’s giggle
– Liam drumming
– Simon’s accent
– lawn mower (because then I get to smell fresh-cut grass)
– espresso maker brewing
– when a can of Diet Coke is opened (I realize this is the same as any other can of pop/soda/cola/soft drink)

2. What pet peeves do you have?
– People who drive slowly in the left lane on the highway when there is no reason for them to be there
– Dirty dishes left in the sink
– People who stand with their carts in the middle of the grocery aisle instead of off to one side
– Bad service in a restaurant

3. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?
I ate quite a few strange things in Kazakhstan – fermented mare’s milk and these very hard cheese balls that had the consistency of chalk and tasted like strong, stinky cheese are at the top of the list. And one of the things I could have eaten but didn’t was a cow tongue sandwich. Yum. I also had some of the yummiest things there – fresh-baked bread (daily, sold from a vendor’s cart), honey cake, pelminis (no idea how to spell this, but they were like dumplings with a meat stuffing inside), Korean spicy carrot salad and borscht (soup made with beets).

4. Do you wish you had a different name/did you ever try changing your name in middle school/high school?
I have always liked my name, especially once I learned I was nearly name Robin Renee, a name I don’t at all like. But I very much like being Michelle Marie (apparently my parents believed in alliteration). I went by Shell and Chelle in middle school and high school (this makes me think of my friend who decided that instead of Melissa, she would be M’lissa – we were dorks). I very much dislike being called Shelly (though I know some perfectly nice and wonderful people that go by that nickname and it works for them, just not for me) but I have a couple people who call me that just to drive me nuts and I let it go because if it makes them happy to antagonize me, who am I to kill their fun? 😉

5. Do you have a meal you never tire of eating, no matter how many times you have it?
I’m rather partial to anything Mexican or Tex-Mex so I’d have to go with my pork tacos (recipe here), the carnitas style beef and roasted veggie tacos (recipe here) and my beef and bean burritos (recipe below).

Beef and Bean Burritos
1 pound ground beef (I often use ground turkey, or half turkey, half beef)
1 package taco seasoning
1 can refried beans (I typically use the fat free ones)
1 package burrito-size flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese
1 jar of taco sauce

In large skillet, brown beef until fully cooked, add taco seasoning and simmer 5-10 minutes. Add can of beans, heat until the beans have fully incorporated with the beef/taco seasoning. Add a large spoonful of the mixture to center of tortilla, top with cheese (I grab a large pinch of cheese), wrap up tortilla (fold sides in first then roll. Place rolled burritos in 9×13 pan and repeat until filling is gone. Top with taco sauce and bake at 350 for 15 minutes, top with remaining shredded cheese and continue baking until cheese is melted – serve with sour cream and any other toppings you’d like.

The burritos freeze really well, just put them in the freezer before you top with the taco sauce and when baking (after thawing them out), cook them for 15 minutes without sauce, then add the sauce for another 15 minutes, then add cheese for another 10ish minutes. You can also package them individually in foil and take them for lunches (microwave, without foil, for 2-3 minutes – from frozen; be sure to slit the top of the burrito).

Also, yesterday Sirius played a David Gray song that I’d never heard before – a cover of the song “Money (That’s What I Want)” – makes me super excited to think that maybe a new album is coming out. He’s doing a North American tour this summer but the Chicago show sold out too quickly so we didn’t get tickets – it would have been perfect since the show is the day before my birthday. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Dear David Gray – Please come to Grand Rapids. Thanks, mucho! Michelle

7 Comments

Posted in Five Question Friday, Food

What I would have said

Posted on May 17, 2012 | 5 comments

Since I’m a writer and not a talker (pause for a moment to laugh at that statement because anyone who knows me, knows I am most definitely a talker). Let’s re-phrase, along with being a writer of this blog, I am also a talker but a talker who prefers a smaller, intimate audience. So when faced with a group of 80 women, even though many are people I call friends and a large handful are even good friends, I’m probably not going to talk in front of them, no matter what the occasion because I hate-ity HATE public speaking. No matter how much I am willing to share about myself on this blog, talking in front of people makes my stomach do bad things, things I’d rather avoid.

Where am I going with this… well, today was our last MOPS for the year and its tradition that at the last MOPS we are all given the chance to say something, whatever that something may be. It could be a reflection on the year, a thought to pass on to others, sharing what God has been teaching us in our lives – whatever. It’s a very emotional meeting and I’ve always teared up and have downright cried in years past, but I have never spoken – at least I’m nearly certain I have not because that would be super out of character but I may have and have completely blocked it out. Anywho… today, when it was my table’s turn to share what was on our hearts, we all smiled at each other and made our best effort to avoid eye contact with Steph, who was holding the microphone. It was quite hilarious, really, because my table of ladies is all pretty vocal (and shall I say, verbose) and we all LOVED each other this year and really had a marvelous year – we were the poster children of good table experiences – but none of us wanted to talk. We are all chatty McChattersons, but we could not speak up so we sat there and smiled at each other and laughed at ourselves.

Personally, I knew that if I even started to talk, I would also start to cry and more than talking in front of a group, I hate crying in front of a group (imagine my chagrin when I cried through my whole wedding because I was so overcome with the emotion of it all – emotion that hit me the moment I made eye contact with my cousin’s husband as I was walking down the aisle – but that’s neither here nor there) so instead, here are the things I would have said, had I enough proverbial “balls” to grab the mic.

I love MOPS. I’m five years in and have three more years to go (because, I discovered, I can still go while Jack is in kindergarten – whoot!). I originally came to MOPS because my sweet friend, Sarah, invited me and I had no idea what I was in for – I thought it was more like a Bible study, which it was/is not but let me tell you that God has taught me so much through the people I have gotten to know at MOPS because God doesn’t just use the Bible to mold and shape us. I have gained some fabulous friends, friends who will remain in my heart and my life until long after this preschool phase. In fact, I’ve written about MOPS before here and that pretty much covers it so I’ll give you a minute to go visit that post (BTW – it’s because of MOPS – and Heidi’s encouragement and Sandy’s friendship that I started and continue to write this here blog). But I’d also like to add how thankful I am that because of MOPS my family has become part of a greater community – that my husband has new friends to go to hockey games with and play laser tag with; that my boys are super excited to see their church friends and are learning great things about our wonderful God; and that we’re all members of a new small group that is off to a great start and makes us all feel loved and accepted (really – I’ve had two other genuinely wonderful small group experiences as an adult so I’ve been pretty lucky in that regard).

There is to rhyme or reason to what makes a table work, sometimes it just works – but my table of ladies have so much heart and passion for the things in their lives that are important, whether it is adopting, missions, family, work or whatever and I have so enjoyed the chance to get to know all of them. I feel so far beyond blessed by the friendships I’ve been given, despite moments of insecurity (we all have them) and loneliness (we’ve all felt it), I’ve got wonderful friends – at MOPS and outside of MOPS. So I’ll just wrap this little lovefest up by saying, thank you for being a friend… (anyone else hearing the Golden Girls’ theme song).

That’s what I would have said.

5 Comments

Posted in Friendship