This a test. This is only a test.

This has been a challenging week.  My attempt at a regular schedule with my menu planning was thwarted by a last minute work trip for FG.  DS ended up staying home from school after getting his Herbst Appliance installed.  He probably didn't need to. He was ok and could have gone to school but I it was nice to have him hang out with me.  I took him to In & Out Burger for lunch - his first meal with the metal in his mouth..  He did surprisingly well! He's talking well now too. 

That was challenging because he is my baby and it was tough to watch him get the stuff installed in his mouth.  The girl installing it wasn't very warm & fuzzy either.  She was a bit harsh with him and I really wanted to tell her off.  But she had sharp instruments in his mouth.  I figured it was better to not say anything at all.

While he & I were driving to lunch it was complete chaos.  The wind was blowing sand & dust everywhere.  Vice President Biden was here giving a speech at the High School by my house.  There was a big rig turned over on one direction of the freeway.  The other direction was closed because of the VP.  We had to go a crazy back route.  We finally got on the right path and we see crazy clouds.  As we keep heading in the direction, we smell smoke.  Living here, we know what a wildfire smells like.  I looked it up while eating lunch. Sure enough, there was a wildfire.  And the wind was blowing like crazy toward our house.  The fire was heading toward out house.

I didn't worry too much - it was a ways away.  Then we get home and I sense something is missing.  Yep. The metal structure with the vinyl cover that goes over our boat was GONE.  I go around the house to the backyard and it is a destruction zone.  The metal is mangled and leaning in a tree.  The tarp is still partially tied to it and the straps are scattered around the yard.  My two 4x4 post clothesline poles snapped and are laying like dead soldiers on my lawn.  I snap a pic with my phone and send it to FG.  Just so he knows what I'm dealing with.  I call a bunch of neighbors and the ones I'm able to get a hold of come rescue me.

Meanwhile, the smoke is getting thicker and thicker.  We are coughing and the wind is blowing dirt into our eyes. 

After we got that all settled, we were glued to the TV.  The fire was moving closer.  I started to wonder if I should pack anything up.  I grabbed some bags and grabbed the photo albums and the cases with all the discs in them - all of our pictures on disc.  I grabbed the computer hard drive.  I sent FG a text and asked him what he wanted me to pack of his. I didn't really worry too much.   THEN I saw flames on a nearby ridge.  THEN I went into protective mom mode.  I stayed calm.  Amazingly calm really.  I packed clothes.  I packed important papers.  I took pictures of every room in the house.  I gave the kids bags and told them to pack up a few things they wanted in case we had to leave.  We got the Reverse-911 call telling us we were under a Voluntary Evacuation Order.  I loaded the car.  The kids kept trying to take their shoes off and I kept making them put them back on.  I watched the ridge with an obsession.  But outwardly, I remained calm.  I reassured the kids things were most likely fine but I'd rather be loaded and ready to go if they told us to leave. 

Finally the flamed died down.  The wind started to subside.  I fed the kids dinner and showered them and read DD a bedtime story.  I tucked them in and kissed them goodnight and told them all would be ok.  I was 90% sure of it.  They snuggled in and went to sleep.  I dozed sporadically.  Even with the fire subsiding and the news reporting that it was no longer growing I was still uneasy.  I got up several times.  I felt exhausted.

I just kept thinking that I feel like I'm always being tested on how strong of a woman I am.  The chaos in my life.  The constant changes.  The crazy things that happen when FG is out of town and I get to take care of.  I went into labor in the middle of the night with my daughter.  FG was 2 hours away and I had a 3 year old sleeping soundly in his own big boy bed.   I couldn't wait 2 hours for him to get home - she was coming. I could go on & on. Things always seem to happen when FG is out of town and I have to stay strong because, really?  What other choice do I have?  I don't know if it's a reminder, a confidence builder or a test.    Just one small request though.... can it please stop?  I'm strong. I get it.  I can handle issues and scary situations alone.  I am a strong mama for my children and remain calm in intense situations.  I GET IT.  I can live without a reminder for awhile, ok universe?

Family Logistics are never ending

So um, yeah, that menu plan?  Um, uh, forget it.  As per the norm in this house things changed.

FG now has to go out of town to, get this, a hunting/firearms/law enforcement trade show.  Yeah, you can stop laughing now.  Along with learning all about fishing this year, he's now learning about waterfowl hunting.  Thank God the only thing he shoots with is his camera.

I also forgot that poor DS is getting his Herbst Appliance (also known as Mars Bars) on Thursday morning.  He's had spacers in the past 2 weeks and he's off the gum and anything sticky.  Today was like a junkie getting his last fix before heading off to rehab.  The tech told him last week that he could have a "gum & soda party" the day before his installation.  So after school he ate gummy bears and had some soda (a rare treat as it is) and can chew all the gum he wants.  Literally, the junkie getting his last fix.  For a kid with SPD, gum chewing will calm him down a lot of times.  The oral sensation feeds the sensory craving he often needs to calm down and get his homework done.  He also has a family trait that I'm hoping will now go away. He chews on his tongue.  Just like his father and his paternal grandmother.  They all sit there and look like damn cows chewing and it's ugly and annoying.  Well after getting those wonderful hinges in his mouth, he won't be able to move his jaw sideways so he won't be able to chew his tongue!  That's a habit I hope to see broken in the 18 months he'll have his Mars Bars on. 

As you can imagine, he won't feel so hot after getting those on.  So he's not going to be eating much.  Since FG will be gone, I'm not cooking a full on meal for only DD and I to eat!  Especially when it's something that she's not that wild about.  So we'll have some soup and a milkshake for dinner. The skinny boy will hopefully adjust quickly so he doesn't lose weight! I'm going to stuff him with mashed potatoes, oatmeal, applesauce and ice cream. It's reminiscent of the tonsillectomy.

Anyway, because of all of these changes DD is spending the night at her friend's house Wednesday. Her wonderful best friend's family offered to take her for the night. I asked if I could drop her off early Thursday morning and they suggested she just spend the night so I didn't have to get her up super early on top of all the other running around I have to do.
I forgot I'm playing Bunco on Friday night and we always have dinner there.  So um, yeah, another night the plan changes.  I also forgot while I was making my plan that DS has Debate Club on Tuesday nights. He got out really late and it pushed dinner really late.  I wasn't going to start cooking at 6:45.  The plan of a beef roast in the crockpot just fell through completely and I planned to switch the pork chops around but not at 6:45. 

Tonight is on track.  We ARE eating the pork chops and some rosemary & garlic roasted potatoes.  We'll be eating LOTS of potatoes.  I order organic fruit & veggies weekly to bi-weekly and they are delivered on Wednesdays.  In my last order, my red potatoes went rotten really fast so they replaced them for me this week.  I also had some russets and some golden potatoes in my order.  PLUS I had some yams left from my previous order too.  I'll be searching for good potato recipes.  DS's favorite is always potato pancakes and I like that because I do about 1/2 shredded zucchini and 1/2 potatoes. 

So at least I made an attempt to make a good menu plan for the week.  Maybe I'll have better luck next week.

It's about time for a menu plan!

It's been TOO long since I've written down a menu and stuck to it!  I'll make an attempt here today....


Sunday - Baked ziti, french bread, salad.
Monday - Ham and Scalloped potatoes, veggies (different ones for everyone - why can't we all like the same veggies?!), fruit.
Tuesday - beef roast in the crock pot, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, fresh bread.
Wednesday - I think I'll try pork chops with caramelized onions and apples, pasta, salad
Thursday - Chinese Take Out Lemon Chicken, rice, fruit
Friday - Tacos, salad, fruit

Now yesterday I tried this Fabulous French Bread recipe.  As you know, I use my bread machine a lot to do all the work. This one didn't sound too difficult and I really wanted to try it.  The flavor was great.  HOWEVER, if you try it, do NOT make the same dumb mistake I made and put the yeast into the boiling water instead of the warm water.  I guess I read the recipe too fast and completely missed the whole warm water line.  Despite my instincts of knowing that the yeast will die a quick death in boiling water, I did it anyway.  So I had dense little loaves.  Like I said, the flavor of the bread was great but they were flat and dense.  You can bet your sweet petunia I am making it again today!  Flour is cheap in the grand scheme of things.  I buy my yeast at Costco (just opened a fresh brick and I've used some from it prior to yesterday so I know it's not my yeast) and that's pennies.  So I'm trying it again and I will not make the same mistake twice.  Dammit. I know better!  I know how to "finger test" the water for the yeast like my grandma taught me.  Stupid, stupid mistake!  If it works, I may change out a recipe this week to french bread pizzas.  I haven't made those in a long time.  I've also been hungry for Lemon Chicken.  Haven't made that in forever either.  I guess maybe I should go back through all my old menu plans and revisit some recipes! 

I'll let you know how the bread turns out this time.  I'm hoping to find a winner.  It wasn't difficult to mix up since I let my mixer do the work.  Believe it or not, it was the first time in 11 years I've used the dough hook!  With my bread machine, I just never have had the need.

My Wonder Woman glass

Have I ever talked about my Wonder Woman drinking glass?  I may have, I've had it for several years.  Whenever I feel like I'm rocking this whole mom/wife thing I will usually drink out of it.  It's my own little trophy and reminder.

I should be drinking out of it right now but it's a big large for wine.  I'm working again.  A LOT.  I'm working for a wonderful woman who is a professional organizer.  She doesn't have payroll set up so I've been quiet about it.  She and I have started a consignment business.  Well, she started it and hired me to help and I've been doing 75% of it because she is on her organizing jobs at least 30 hours per week if not closer to 50.  She is a really busy Wonder Woman herself!  But she's been very good to me.  She is concerned with getting me paid on time and trusts me to make decisions and always asks my opinion.  I like her and trust her more than my last boss.  My last boss was appreciative but she didn't have it together like this one does. She is very professional and business oriented. 

I started out at 10 hours a week.  Then she got a big organizing job and asked just how much I can work.  She wanted me a lot.  I told her 20 and she said great and if I can work more, go for it.  So this week is about 20 hours.  I also took on another freelance job that I finalized yesterday.

That leads me to my days this week....  yesterday in particular.  Wow.  I could have filled up that Wonder Woman glass several times.  I worked on FOUR different businesses yesterday.  Yes, I count the PTA as business because I am in charge of a committee. Started my day at 6:30 am and worked steadily until 10:30 pm. I worked on the consignment business, I  finalized and submitted to the client the freelance project, I helped FG tape our TV show and then I worked until 10:30 pm on the PTA project.  In between I worked on the consignment business a bit more, helped with homework, made dinner, cleaned up dinner and got my kids into bed.    FG thought he might get lucky too.  I think he was joking - he knew better.

Today is no better.  DS had an 8 am, somewhat traumatic orthodontist appt, 9:45 - dropped him off at school and realized I forgot the dang PTA project I worked on the night before,  ran home & packed my lunch & ran back out the door to head to work, on the way to work I called the client to see if he received my project, worked at the consignment business until it was time to go home & meet the kids (Oh in between I had to go "rescue" FG when he was at the gas station with no money and no gas in his car), get the kids a snack, read the gazillion papers from school, discuss some business stuff with FG, work on consignment stuff a bit more, start some homemade bread and take the shrimp out of the fridge to finish thawing.  Dinner tonight is salad, shrimp scampi over pasta, fresh bread and fresh fruit. 

FG thought he was really funny the other day when I made chicken stir-fry and hot & sour soup - all with freshly chopped vegetables and from scratch sauces.  He joked that dinner was really good for something I just thawed from a bag & put in the wok.  HA!  Thank goodness he knew better and I knew he was joking.  I blame it mostly on being super frugal and the fact that the from-scratch dinner was a lot cheaper than the pre-made bag at the grocery store. I'll have to share the hot & sour soup recipe soon.  It's easy and really good and you get to control the heat!

I think today is another day deserving of the Wonder Woman Glass.  I know I'm only one of many many women who do this crap daily.  I want a nap.  I want a vacation.  I want a date with my husband but 1) can't afford to pay a sitter 2) feel like we ask the grandparents  A LOT to take the kids - mostly so we can work!  I raise my Wonder Woman Glass to all of you!

Let go of the Eggo!

As crazy busy as I have been lately, I am trying to get back into the things that I enjoy.  I miss cooking exciting meals and trying new things and taking care of my family the way I like to.  I just have to force myself to stay on track and be diligent.  The kids and I went to the grocery store yesterday.  I am now armed with the items I need to cook (mostly) what I want to feed this family.  The organic fruit & veggie delivery will arrive today too. 
Last night as I was cleaning up before heading to bed I noticed ripe bananas.  I also knew that I bought and extra container of buttermilk to make a giant batch of waffles.  Instead of just stumbling up to bed, I took out two sticks of butter so they would be warmed by the time I hit the kitchen in the morning.  As soon as I finally got my butt out of bed & ready (another thing I need to be diligent about - I looooove laying in bed in the mornings!) I started right in on baking some banana bread and prepping for the waffles.  Now we have waffles for the rest of the month for busy school mornings!

One of the things I do is undercook them slightly.  They are thick!  When I take them out of the freezer on a school morning, I pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds then into the toaster.  If they are fully cooked, they get too done in the toaster.  I've heard of people using the waffle maker to heat theirs up but that's too much hassle for me in the morning!

I ended up with 27 waffles.  There are now 22 wrapped waffles (we ate 5 for breakfast as I made them) in Ziploc bags in my freezer, ready to be taken out as needed and warmed up.  They are sooo good too. Not only are they cheaper and homemade but they taste SO much better than the frozen grocery store waffles. Mine are definitely bigger than Eggo's too so if you have a smaller waffle maker, you may end up with more from this recipe.  I figured it out and these cost me a grand total of about $3.80.  I say about because I didn't figure exactly how much the dry ingredients other than the flour cost.  I added $.25 because how much can 1/2 tsp of salt or 4 tsp. of baking powder really cost?   So under $4 for 27 waffles!

Buttermilk Waffles

8 T butter (1 stick), melted & cooled

4 Cups Buttermilk

4 eggs, separated

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. sugar (I've substituted with agave syrup)

Melt butter & let cool.  Pour 4 cups buttermilk into large mixing bowl.  Separate eggs, putting whites into smaller mixing bowl and add yolks to buttermilk.  Add melted butter to buttermilk & egg yolks - mix.  Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended.  Beat egg whites until fluffy or stiff and add to batter, folding in just until blended.  (This step is worth it for a really light, fluffy tender waffle).  Do not overbeat batter.  Cook until almost done and let cool on wire rack.  Once cooled, wrap each waffle in plastic wrap and put in large ziploc bag.  Freeze.

Now I'm hoping to get a menu plan done for at least the rest of the week.  Look at me go!

2012

My kids told me how the world is going to end this year.  I told them we had better just enjoy ourselves then, shouldn't we?  Too funny.  They just crack me up.

This is what they wrote at our front door yesterday.  Gosh I love them.

We had a very nice end to the new year.  We had friends over to dinner on Friday.  FG and I got paid for a big production we recently did.  Saturday we just hung out at home.  We played the new Wii game, we ate a late dinner of fondue & lobster tails.  The kids tried to stay up until midnight but they made it to about 11:40.  I told them they could stay awake but they had to be in their beds.  DD shared her cold with me so I was not feeling 100%. 

As the new year began, I felt content.  I told FG that if 2012 is as much better as 2011 was over 2010 and 2010 over 2009 then I'm looking forward to it!  I was happy that he & I were snuggled in our warm bed, together with the fur-child between us (our kids have never slept with us but the cat thinks she belongs right between us every night).  My happy children were snuggled in their warm beds.  We had full bellies and, well, FG and I had bit of a satisfied glow going on too ;).  I thought to myself that THIS was the best way for me to ring in the new year - happy, content and with my wonderful family. 

I hope 2012 brings you contentment and happiness!!