My favorite recent picture of my two little ones:
Monday, December 10, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Vampires Beware!
I'm taking advantage of the upcoming "holiday" (I put that in quotes because I'm not so sure Halloween is necessarily worth having true holiday status but that's my personal bias and may have something to do with all the frightening cat imagery. Maybe not, but I've never been a big fan of Halloween)...anyway, I am using Halloween to provide an enticing and clever-ish blog post title for a post about a couple of garlicky recipes that I love.
I just made this one last night and I am telling you, if you like garlic, Make. This. Now! It is DELICIOUS. Have you ever had cream of garlic soup? I hadn't until I came across this recipe. Yum! I did not take pictures throughout my cooking prep because I don't own an extra special camera nor do I possess very good camera skills. And while those are perfectly valid excuses, I also did not take pictures due to the fact that while I'm cooking, I'm generally very eager to get to the whole eating part of the scenario. And also if you check out the link you'll see pictures and the recipe, why duplicate efforts right? If I do another food/recipe post, I'll attempt to take pictures and then you can all laugh at said attempt.
I've made this next one for a couple of years now and every time I put in it on the table Matt and I toss around the phrase "restaurant-quality" throughout the meal. It builds my self-esteem for sure. I'm referring to these sour cream garlic mashed potatoes. So make them, enjoy them, and feel better about yourself. If you don't have white pepper in your cabinet, get some, don't omit it. The white pepper is good!
So if you want to wow your guests with some garlicky deliciousness and be assured that they will keep one another at a distance (that was a bad breath joke), these are the recipes for you. And my thinking is that with Halloween approaching, under the guise of keeping vampires away, you could probably make and serve both things. I wouldn't typically advise two garlicky dishes in the same meal but you could swing it during a Halloween party, no? Anyway, Halloween or not, wooden stakes or not, eat these things! You won't be sorry, unless of course you're a vampire. Muhahaha.
I just made this one last night and I am telling you, if you like garlic, Make. This. Now! It is DELICIOUS. Have you ever had cream of garlic soup? I hadn't until I came across this recipe. Yum! I did not take pictures throughout my cooking prep because I don't own an extra special camera nor do I possess very good camera skills. And while those are perfectly valid excuses, I also did not take pictures due to the fact that while I'm cooking, I'm generally very eager to get to the whole eating part of the scenario. And also if you check out the link you'll see pictures and the recipe, why duplicate efforts right? If I do another food/recipe post, I'll attempt to take pictures and then you can all laugh at said attempt.
I've made this next one for a couple of years now and every time I put in it on the table Matt and I toss around the phrase "restaurant-quality" throughout the meal. It builds my self-esteem for sure. I'm referring to these sour cream garlic mashed potatoes. So make them, enjoy them, and feel better about yourself. If you don't have white pepper in your cabinet, get some, don't omit it. The white pepper is good!
So if you want to wow your guests with some garlicky deliciousness and be assured that they will keep one another at a distance (that was a bad breath joke), these are the recipes for you. And my thinking is that with Halloween approaching, under the guise of keeping vampires away, you could probably make and serve both things. I wouldn't typically advise two garlicky dishes in the same meal but you could swing it during a Halloween party, no? Anyway, Halloween or not, wooden stakes or not, eat these things! You won't be sorry, unless of course you're a vampire. Muhahaha.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Confessions of a Scaredy Cat
Allow me to preface this with the following: I have some issues with animals. My greatest concern is the unpredictability factor, especially animals I'm unfamiliar with. This concern has increased since having children. I know, I know; people are unpredictable too, those with serious mental illnesses even more so and I was a mental health therapist to addicted, mentally-ill criminals so what's my hang-up? I'm not sure, but for some reason I have a level of discomfort around animals I don't know.
And here's the part where I confess that I left my kid on the porch with a stray cat. A one-eyed stray cat. Because I was skeeerd! This time last year, Caleb went out onto the front porch one morning before I caught up to accompany him. Within seconds I hear his little, fear-filled voice calling out to me. I peek outside to see Caleb standing in the corner, backed up against the house. I survey the area to determine what's causing him to cower. I spot the gray tabby. He's thin and tough-looking with a missing eye. The thing freaked me out. Of course a pet-less little 2-year old would be frightened. Instead of my inner mama bear jumping into action, I quickly closed the storm -door and called Matt to come rescue our son. And he did, he stepped outside all brave-like, scooped Caleb up, and came inside. My hero! He laughed at me and poked fun at me for being afraid.
Since that experience, I've eluded that particular cat more than once in a bit of a scared frenzy. He really has never done anything threatening. I'm just a wimp. I envision it going all crazy on me and flying at my face or something. I dunno. Speaking of mental problems...
Then the other night after a run to the grocery store, I park my car out front and go to step out. I place one foot out and spot this black and white cat. I've never seen this one before. I've come to recognize most of the strays in the neighborhood (what happened to spaying and neutering??). I stopped dead. I got chills. Now I am sounding really crazy. I probably shouldn't be sharing this. I yanked my foot back in the car! Then I did what any sane person would do, I called my husband who was inside. I asked him to come "rescue me from this cat." He laughs at me. I tell him to "hurry up!" The cat slinks away so I consider myself safe. No sign of Matt yet (seriously?! What is taking him so long?) but I decide to get out of the car. I start up the walkway and bounding out of the darkness comes the cat. With hands full of bags and car door shut, I'm committed now. I act casual as I walk up the stairs. I know animals can smell fear so I'm trying to squelch mine. I walk briskly up the stairs and onto our porch, simultaneously willing the cat not to rub against my legs **shudder** and Matt to come to the door. The cat is circling the porch rocking chairs, eyeing my shins.
Finally! Matt is at the door, I yell something to him about not coming quickly enough and demand that he open the door "right now!" He does and I hurry into the house. He looks at me, perplexed by my irrationality, and then he glances at the fluffy black and white kitty on the porch. He laughs. Again. I try to explain my fear but I just sound kooky. Matt assures me that a) the cat is most likely friendly, b) if the cat were not friendly, I could easily overpower it and protect myself, c) "He's not a stray, house cats roam the neighborhood," and d) it's "nice" when cats rub against your legs. Hm...agree to disagree on all accounts.
And here's the part where I confess that I left my kid on the porch with a stray cat. A one-eyed stray cat. Because I was skeeerd! This time last year, Caleb went out onto the front porch one morning before I caught up to accompany him. Within seconds I hear his little, fear-filled voice calling out to me. I peek outside to see Caleb standing in the corner, backed up against the house. I survey the area to determine what's causing him to cower. I spot the gray tabby. He's thin and tough-looking with a missing eye. The thing freaked me out. Of course a pet-less little 2-year old would be frightened. Instead of my inner mama bear jumping into action, I quickly closed the storm -door and called Matt to come rescue our son. And he did, he stepped outside all brave-like, scooped Caleb up, and came inside. My hero! He laughed at me and poked fun at me for being afraid.
Since that experience, I've eluded that particular cat more than once in a bit of a scared frenzy. He really has never done anything threatening. I'm just a wimp. I envision it going all crazy on me and flying at my face or something. I dunno. Speaking of mental problems...
Then the other night after a run to the grocery store, I park my car out front and go to step out. I place one foot out and spot this black and white cat. I've never seen this one before. I've come to recognize most of the strays in the neighborhood (what happened to spaying and neutering??). I stopped dead. I got chills. Now I am sounding really crazy. I probably shouldn't be sharing this. I yanked my foot back in the car! Then I did what any sane person would do, I called my husband who was inside. I asked him to come "rescue me from this cat." He laughs at me. I tell him to "hurry up!" The cat slinks away so I consider myself safe. No sign of Matt yet (seriously?! What is taking him so long?) but I decide to get out of the car. I start up the walkway and bounding out of the darkness comes the cat. With hands full of bags and car door shut, I'm committed now. I act casual as I walk up the stairs. I know animals can smell fear so I'm trying to squelch mine. I walk briskly up the stairs and onto our porch, simultaneously willing the cat not to rub against my legs **shudder** and Matt to come to the door. The cat is circling the porch rocking chairs, eyeing my shins.
Finally! Matt is at the door, I yell something to him about not coming quickly enough and demand that he open the door "right now!" He does and I hurry into the house. He looks at me, perplexed by my irrationality, and then he glances at the fluffy black and white kitty on the porch. He laughs. Again. I try to explain my fear but I just sound kooky. Matt assures me that a) the cat is most likely friendly, b) if the cat were not friendly, I could easily overpower it and protect myself, c) "He's not a stray, house cats roam the neighborhood," and d) it's "nice" when cats rub against your legs. Hm...agree to disagree on all accounts.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Sleep Deprivation and Coordination or Lack Thereof
In the past couple of months, I've been working out regularly. This is something I did back in college and then again when I was first married. Then I had kids and well, it kinda fell by the wayside. Anyway, I've been taking a class at the Y and I'm really enjoying it. I go three days a week and essentially pay to half-kill myself while somebody else watches my children. It's good times.
One morning I show up to class after barely sleeping the previous night. Both children had been up multiple times and I had gotten a cumulative 3 and a half hours or something ridiculous like that. However, due to my stellar dedication and the shame I would feel knowing that the class "regulars" might judge me if I didn't show up, I went to the gym anyway. That team mentality thing really gets at you, huh?
So there I am-tired and not quite as a functional as I typically am. We start to warm up. The warm-up routine varies by the day but on this particular day it involves doing a few laps around the room, some jumping jacks, high-knees running, and then the side-shuffle. We're side-shuffling around the room as a group in a large circle. In my exhaustion I neglect to move my feet quickly enough. Rather than moving my left foot to the side as my right foot comes into the center, my right foot comes in swiftly while my left foot stays in place. I step on my own foot and fall down like a tree (I think I heard "timber" being yelled in the background) on my side, stopping the whole circle of people from moving. Good thing I showed up to avoid being looked down upon by the others. At that moment I found myself in a position where I was literally being looked down upon by the others. Ha! Really though, I hopped back up quickly, chuckled, assured the trainer and the rest of the class that I was "okay" and kept right on going. I barely missed a beat or so it seemed in my fatigued, embarrassed, slightly bruised reality. Life lesson learned: anticipate subpar athletic performance after severe sleep deprivation and prepare for potential injury and embarrassment.
One morning I show up to class after barely sleeping the previous night. Both children had been up multiple times and I had gotten a cumulative 3 and a half hours or something ridiculous like that. However, due to my stellar dedication and the shame I would feel knowing that the class "regulars" might judge me if I didn't show up, I went to the gym anyway. That team mentality thing really gets at you, huh?
So there I am-tired and not quite as a functional as I typically am. We start to warm up. The warm-up routine varies by the day but on this particular day it involves doing a few laps around the room, some jumping jacks, high-knees running, and then the side-shuffle. We're side-shuffling around the room as a group in a large circle. In my exhaustion I neglect to move my feet quickly enough. Rather than moving my left foot to the side as my right foot comes into the center, my right foot comes in swiftly while my left foot stays in place. I step on my own foot and fall down like a tree (I think I heard "timber" being yelled in the background) on my side, stopping the whole circle of people from moving. Good thing I showed up to avoid being looked down upon by the others. At that moment I found myself in a position where I was literally being looked down upon by the others. Ha! Really though, I hopped back up quickly, chuckled, assured the trainer and the rest of the class that I was "okay" and kept right on going. I barely missed a beat or so it seemed in my fatigued, embarrassed, slightly bruised reality. Life lesson learned: anticipate subpar athletic performance after severe sleep deprivation and prepare for potential injury and embarrassment.
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| The offending feet, they failed me. Awesome shoes though right? :) |
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Drok it Like it's Hoth
Gideon is 20-months-old and while he has a whole bunch of words in his vocabulary, many of them are slightly mispronounced. This is improving with time and he has already started to correct some of the examples I'm going to provide. I want to remember them though so to make it more interesting for you, here is a list of Gideon's mispronunciations within well-known song lyrics (look for the bold words).
-Drok it like it's hoth
-I heard it through the blakevine
-I wanna holth your hand
-The can-canman can. He mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.
-She's a grand ol' fick she's a high-flying fick
-Hoff! I need somebody, hoff, not just anybody!
Bonus: Caleb rarely mispronounces anything these days but he does have his fair share of word confusion. Recently I was on the phone with Matt and within conversation I mentioned that "Gideon ate a whole triangle of quesadilla." Caleb then got on the phone with Matt and says, "Daddy, Gideon ate a whole square of diarrhea!" Hm...not quite and EW!!!! Pretty funny though.
-Drok it like it's hoth
-I heard it through the blakevine
-I wanna holth your hand
-The can-canman can. He mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.
-She's a grand ol' fick she's a high-flying fick
-Hoff! I need somebody, hoff, not just anybody!
Bonus: Caleb rarely mispronounces anything these days but he does have his fair share of word confusion. Recently I was on the phone with Matt and within conversation I mentioned that "Gideon ate a whole triangle of quesadilla." Caleb then got on the phone with Matt and says, "Daddy, Gideon ate a whole square of diarrhea!" Hm...not quite and EW!!!! Pretty funny though.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Hey Murph, get off my Lawn!!
Ah...Murphy's Law. Here's a peek at how Murphy's law manifests itself in my world.
-I wipe 3 butts daily, often more than once. Those 3 butts always need wiping within the same 30 minute period. This might be seen as a benefit to some, get it all over with at once; not for me though. Why, you ask? I have a raging case of eczema on my right pinky finger that is exacerbated by hand-washing. The 3 consecutive hand washes? No bueno.
-Caleb does not often wet the bed but you better believe the night it happens he has just had a bath and I've just put clean sheets on his bed. Every time.
-I've become somewhat of a ninja in my house as far as avoiding creaky floorboards in an attempt to keep sleeping babies asleep. On nights Gideon is completely conked out, no problem tiptoeing out of his room without a sound. On the nights he's been up for hours and he is only lightly sleeping when I finally get him down, of course I step on at least 4 creaky floorboards on my way out of the room. So frustrating!
-Matt is apparently physically incapable of stifling his sneezes (at least that's what he tells me). His sneezes are big and loud! Yup, you guessed it. A sleeping child nearby or in his arms? Matt just has to sneeze!
-Instead of making my usual choice to relax/nap during the boys' nap time, I decide to do something productive. Without fail, one of the boys wakes up earlier than usual and my productivity takes an abrupt nose dive.
-When one of the kids wakes up in the middle of the night, I lie back down only to be awakened by the other one moments later.
-This scenario can go one of 3 ways, none in my favor. 1) I go to the store for a specific item, I leave store without said item because I neglected to make a list. 2) I make a point to jot down a list, head to store, arrive at store without list and leave store without all necessary items. 3) I make the list and actually take the list with me, however I am confident I don't need to reference said list and I arrive home only to realize I did not purchase all necessary items. My memory is not what it once was. I blame sleep deprivation. (Yes, I realize this would be resolved if I were to use the list app on my phone. I haven't had a smartphone long enough for this to be instinctual yet. I'll get there eventually.)
All of this is just the tip of the iceberg folks. What's Murphy doing over at your place?
Monday, August 20, 2012
Lesser Known Reasons why I Love my Husband
Today, August 20th, marks Matt's and my (aren't you glad I didn't say "Matt's and I's" or is that just a pet peeve of mine?!) seventh wedding anniversary. It hit me a couple nights ago that instead of writing the expected syrupy-sweet post, I'd prefer to list out all the random things I love about Matt. On top of all the usual suspects (he's kind, caring, a good dad, etc) there are a million little things I love about my husband.
Without further ado...I love:
-the way Matt turns pages, particularly pages in children's books; he doesn't pinch the pages between thumb and forefinger, he rests the pads of his fingers on the top of the page and delicately flips it
-the way Matt hears odd things in song lyrics and rather than verifying that said odd lyric is in fact what the singer is belting out, he goes with it. Example: "One Hand in my Pocket" by Alanis Moirssette. The actual line is "one hand in my pocket, and the other one is playing the piano." Matt seriously believed she was saying, "one hand in my pocket, and the other one is sprayin' out B and O" (as in body odor, ha!).
-the way he yammers on about his job to anyone who brings it up to him because he truly loves it that much
-that he's a renaissance man; he can build a computer from scratch, install kitchen cabinets, lay tile, repair concrete steps, do plumbing and electrical work, sing. He does a mean boy's/men's haircut and quick mental math. Is there anything he can't do? Seriously!
-that he's great at doing impersonations and accents, ask him to do Hank Hill, that's a really good one. (side note: this is a slight point of contention because I feel this gives him a one-up on me in the funniness category, I'm a little jealous of this and I am TERRIBLE at impersonations/accents).
-that he loves babies
-that he can eat an entire package of Keebler Rainbow Cookies in one sitting
-his amazing work ethic and his dedication to finding a job he loves; 10 or so jobs in (that's a blog post in itself), he finally found what he loves and he's been doing it for 4 years quickly moving up to a principal position and technical lead of the group
-that he's a total nerd trapped in a cool dude's body/persona. The man plays a text-based role-playing computer game called a Multi-User Dimension or MUD for short. Do you even know what that is?! Of course you don't, because you're not a nerd nor are you married to one. But at the same time he can walk into a room wearing jeans and a witty tee-shirt, looking all muscly, start chatting people up, and be loved immediately. Not at all the stereotypical geek.
I could continue but I won't. I love this man and I love that we get to do life side by side forever!
Without further ado...I love:
-the way Matt turns pages, particularly pages in children's books; he doesn't pinch the pages between thumb and forefinger, he rests the pads of his fingers on the top of the page and delicately flips it
-the way Matt hears odd things in song lyrics and rather than verifying that said odd lyric is in fact what the singer is belting out, he goes with it. Example: "One Hand in my Pocket" by Alanis Moirssette. The actual line is "one hand in my pocket, and the other one is playing the piano." Matt seriously believed she was saying, "one hand in my pocket, and the other one is sprayin' out B and O" (as in body odor, ha!).
-the way he yammers on about his job to anyone who brings it up to him because he truly loves it that much
-that he's a renaissance man; he can build a computer from scratch, install kitchen cabinets, lay tile, repair concrete steps, do plumbing and electrical work, sing. He does a mean boy's/men's haircut and quick mental math. Is there anything he can't do? Seriously!
-that he's great at doing impersonations and accents, ask him to do Hank Hill, that's a really good one. (side note: this is a slight point of contention because I feel this gives him a one-up on me in the funniness category, I'm a little jealous of this and I am TERRIBLE at impersonations/accents).
-that he loves babies
-that he can eat an entire package of Keebler Rainbow Cookies in one sitting
-his amazing work ethic and his dedication to finding a job he loves; 10 or so jobs in (that's a blog post in itself), he finally found what he loves and he's been doing it for 4 years quickly moving up to a principal position and technical lead of the group
-that he's a total nerd trapped in a cool dude's body/persona. The man plays a text-based role-playing computer game called a Multi-User Dimension or MUD for short. Do you even know what that is?! Of course you don't, because you're not a nerd nor are you married to one. But at the same time he can walk into a room wearing jeans and a witty tee-shirt, looking all muscly, start chatting people up, and be loved immediately. Not at all the stereotypical geek.
I could continue but I won't. I love this man and I love that we get to do life side by side forever!
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| This past weekend before our anniversary date. |
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