What does life have in store for me?

I'm itchy and anxious.  I have that "I want to do SOMETHING" feeling.  Maybe it's Party-Let-Down?  I have all these grand ideas swirling in my head and can't seem to pull one coherent thing toghether.  I feel like I'm waiting on something.  Part of it is the season.  Give a girl a dose of nice weather after some very long dreary days and it will mess with her head.  We've had such nice weather it gives me spring fever. It's not the spring fever that makes me want to throw open the windows and deep clean though.  I think I got enough of that lately.  I am not a gardener at all. I like to look at things but I literally suck at growing things.  I have several houseplants that I've had since we got married over 15 years ago but they are the hearty variety that are damn near impossible to kill as long as you water them. 

No, I am all jazzed up about helping us build our business.  I want to figure something out. FG isn't on the same page.  Sure he wants to build up the business but yeah, he's had a really rough week on top of not feeling well (the man does not do sick at all).  Having me harp on him about doing more is probably the last thing on earth he's enjoying this week.  Since the ideas are just swirling and I don't even have any true idea what I want to do or how I want to do it I think I'll just have to let them stew for awhile.

I'm also high on the social aspect of life yet down on the fact that we have so many aquaintences.  I miss the high school days of BFF's.  We have lots of friends but we don't have those super-duper close friends that call us and we call them automatically.  Does anyone else feel this way or am I being adolescent?  Do I need to grow up and figure out that my family is what I've got and that's where it ends?  Or do you have those super-duper close friends and I'm the envious outcast in this picture?

While I read blogs in between researching what I can do to get to a better place with both of these issues, I'll continue to plod along with working at the toystore and feeling like my brain is shrinking daily.  What happened to me?  Was I fooling myself thinking I was intelligent when all along I was just mediocre?    I feel like maybe if I took a class of some sort, got more education I would feel like I am doing something.  Actually, I think I just need to do something.

"One step must start each journey."

Party recap & bullet-y life

• The party was a success!  You can see me with all my hard work displayed.  The only thing I noticed is we got all of our friends together and they all stayed in their own comfort groups.  That was kind of a bummer.
• FG decided to be a bartender.  It started out with wanting to make chocolate martinis and progressed to having a full on bar w/ a menu.  We had a bunch of open bottles of odd stuff already.  It turned out great and the drinks were yuummmmmmy!
• I sort of felt snubbed by the wives of the guys in FG's office.  I had never met them. They both work full time jobs and they are both very into fitness.  I guess we just don't have a lot in common. But they barely talked to me to even find out if there was anything else we could have in common.  FG told me not to worry about it but I can't shake the feeling.  Maybe we'll try again on a smaller scale.  Maybe not.
• We are finally having beautiful weather.  It happens here every February.  I love it!
• I hung clothes on the clothesline yesterday.  I love how fast laundry gets done when I am able to do that. I got all of the week's laundry finished (that includes folding and putting away when I say finished).
• My kids played outside most of the day - without coats, hats, mittens, snow boots etc.
• We made bubble gum yesterday too.  DS got a kit last year for his b-day. We made it once before and I decided that I haven't done much fun stuff with them because of prepping for the party.  So we made two kinds - blueberry and watermelon.  It's fun & yummy tasting!
• I'm headed to work today and my MIL should be here any minute to hang out with DD until she goes to school. 
• I had better get off this computer and get my lunch and DD's lunch ready.  MIL has kitchen issues.
• She watched the kids for 2 hours last week when FG and I had an overlap of not being home.  Ugh.  That can be a separate "bitch session" post!

Busy busy busy

• I moved my Sweet's Party to the 13th of February.
• It made the Christmas season a bit less stressful, it's made January and February insane.
• I'm sick sick sick of being broke. I'm sick of not being able to go to Target and just "pick up a few things".  I'm sick of so much of it.  This getting out of debt thing is awful!  What completely kills me is that it isn't 100% our fault.  Yes, we should have cancelled a few things (like the CC membership) awhile before we did but to have lost tens of thousands of dollars in revenue and have judgements against former clients for that money but not being able to collect is how this all happened.  When our client owes us $$ and declares bankruptcy we just don't get our $$.  FG is working so hard at getting things "right" again without the money we are owed but it's a daily sacrifice for all of us getting there.
• Our house payment is paid, our bills are mostly paid, we have (some) food and we are clothed and clean. Blessings!
• I hate the Science Fair.
• I still want to go to Disney in the Fall and while I'm slightly less obsessed, I still think about it daily.  Thankfully, FG wants to go too so he's got that as a goal.
• Hormone shifts as I get older suck more & more.  My cycle is as regular as can be with a few days of wiggle room here & there, which means I can practically pinpoint the day I will lose my shit and realize I need to start my 10 days of Serafem (prozac).  I can also pinpoint the day my headaches will start (end of my cycle) and I will be grouchy and in pain for 4 days.  Then I can pinpoint the day I will feel like a 16 year old boy and think about sex ALL. THE. TIME. and have my poor husband accuse me of trying to kill him.
• PTA is scary.
• Why do I feel like my kids are the only ones who cannot behave normally at times?
• I am still so up in the air about church and SICK of the guilt trip my parents put on me.  I feel like a hypocrite when I sit in that room and it's not the feeling I think I should get from going to church.
• I have too many single girl-friends and not enough single boy-friends.  SMA is NOT a person I would set anyone up with. 
• I'm hearing about too many marriages breaking up lately and it makes me sad.  Yes, I am 100% annoyed by my husband at times but sometimes I think it's easier to put up with him than to consider the alternative.  I get why many don't last. I really do!  But I also try to put myself in their situation and realize that maybe him not taking out the garbage when I ask him to or some other equally annoying thing isn't all that bad when I compare it.
• FIL's bitchy wife won't come to our house.  Yet, she still wants to take the kids.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  FG tells me we need to be the "bigger person" which is true but I just don't like the whole thing.  They took the kids to dinner last week and of course, she pulled her usual shit of telling the kids that she was going to take them somewhere that Daddy already planned to do with them while I was working.  I told FG I really think she does that stuff just to undermine us.  He said she just doesn't think and spews stuff.  I told him that if she can't "think" when she has our kids, I don't want her having our kids! 
• I need to bake but have no eggs. What a conundrum!

Random stuff on my mind

• 
  
  It snowed last night and I thought for sure we would have a delay for school. Nope.  I was awake at 6 waiting for the phone to ring for nothing.  Then I fell back to sleep just before the alarm went off at 6:40.  Perfect timing.  Thus, I can't stop yawning today.
  
  
  
• 
  
  I have had zero motivation to clean lately.  I'm doing the basics but I just looked up and saw a spider web from one of the light fixtures, dust bunnies in a corner, dusty blinds, icky fan blades on the kids' ceiling fans.  I just haven't had any motivation to dig in and clean deep.  Don't even ask or look at my baseboards!  We are supposed to have our Sweets Party next month and I just hope that candlelight hides the grit. I can't see getting motivated or getting the time to clean it.
  
  
  
• 
  
  From what I gather, there will be so many people here for the party that no one will be able to look closely at my dusty blinds.  Moving it away from the busy holiday season sure did free up a lot of everyone's time.  YIKES!
  
  
  

• 
  
  FG wants to clone our cat.  She is seriously the most amazing cat with the kids.  Any cat that lets a few day old baby take a nap on her is definitely something special.  She adores the kids and they can dress her up and do just about anything to her. She will nip at them when she's had enough but I've walked in to see her with Mr. Potato Head glasses on, doll clothes, hats, booties on her feet, necklaces - you name it - and that cat just lays there looking at the kids.
  
  
  

• 
  
  We want to take the kids back to San Francisco this summer.  I wish we could go now so I could get some decent ideas for the Science Fair from The Exploratorium.  DS needs to do his project.  Ugh. I don't like the science fair!
  
  
  

• 
  
  It's cold.  I am ready for summer again!  It's only freaking January. 
  
  
  

• 
  
  Why is this picture in our file?  What the heck?  It looks like one of the kids took it because I obviously didn't - those are my feet and my arms may be long but not long enough to get a picture from that angle.  I hope you are not blinded by the lack of tan.  I do not tan well.
  
  
  

• 
  
  How did he get to be NINE and why does he look scared of his cake?  DD looks excited but the boys, eh.  BTW, the goofball on the left is DS's BFF.  Nerds Unite!
  
  
  
• 
  
  Tomorrow I will 39 years old.  I asked DD and she guessed I was 32.  I'll take it.  We're sclepping the kids off to MIL for the night and meeting up with friends for a nice dinner out.  I already got my presents from FG and my parents.  Age has caused me to completely forget one of my presents from my parents. I am not kidding.  I am going to have to ask the kids or FG what it was.  I know one of them was the big cupcake cake pan from Wilton because DD was ecstatic.  But I know I opened two bags and can only remember one.  My memory sucks!  My present from FG was a heated mattress pad.  Ohhhhhhhhh mama I love it!  FG likes it too.  He's actually been resisting it for a few years and to finally convince him I told him I would be more willing to get naked more often if I could get into a snuggly warm bed.  Three days later, it was on my doorstep and on my bed that night.  I LUV it!  But really, how sad is it that for my 39th birthday I get a bed warmer?
  
  
  

Menu Plan Monday 1/18/10

Sorry it's been a whole week. Oh well. I doubt you have missed me much!

Last week's menu was fairly on.  The kids did end up having a sleepover on Friday at their friend's house.  They had a blast and did well.  I ended up working for a few hours that night but it worked out well because FG and I dropped them off, he dropped me off at work and then picked me up a few hours later.  We met friends out and had a great evening.  I worked the next day and the kids were dropped off at home with FG while I was still at work.  We DID get take out pizza on Sat. too.  We ended up spending about 1/2 of what we budgeted for Friday's evening out so when I went to make the Alfredo Chicken, FG and I both agreed it didn't sound that great. So we tried Domino's "new" pizza. It was ok, better than before that's for sure.  The price was right though!

This week is dreary and cold and we're expecting back to back storms with rain & snow.  ugh.

• Sunday - Potato Leek Soup*, roasted BBQ chicken leg quarters**, scalloped corn, roasted asparagus, butterscotch-oatmeal cookies
• Monday - Alfredo Chicken & broccoli over noodles
• Tuesday - BBQ Pork Ribs***, cabbage slaw salad, french fries
• Wednesday - I work, FG & the kids get leftovers
• Thursday - Pork chops, potato pancakes, veggies
• Friday - My 39th Birthday!  Out with friends!
• Saturday - Not sure.  I want to have people over this coming weekend but don't know who yet, which day or what I'm going to make. 

*Potato Leek Soup

4 medium to large russet potatoes

4 cups chicken broth

6 slices of bacon, cut into 1" pieces

3 leeks

1 - 1/2 cups half & half or milk

salt & pepper to taste

shredded cheddar cheese

Peel & cube  potatoes.

In large stock pot, pour chicken broth and add cubed potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender

In saute pan, fry bacon pieces.

Remove bacon from pan, drain grease reserving a few tablespoons.

While other ingredients are cooking, slice white parts of the leeks and wash in bowl of water (I swirled them around in the bowl of cold water and then let them sit so the grit would fall to the bottom.  Then I scooped them out carefully and drained them on a paper towel.)

Puree the potatoes & broth with a hand blender or in batches in food processor (I have comandeered my mother's hand blender and use it often now!)

Add the fried bacon pieces to potato/broth puree.

In the reserved bacon grease, saute the leeks for about 10 minutes until tender.

Add half & half to potato/broth puree.

When leeks are cooked, add to the soup.

I also added a bit of salt & pepper.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese when serving.  It would be good with a dollop of sour cream too.

My bargains this week:  **Chicken leg quarters for $.59/lb in a 10 lb bag.  I am not a dark meat fan but FG, SMA and DS are.  DD and I prefer white meat.  But it was too good of a deal to pass up!  ***Also, yes, we are having BBQ pork ribs again this week.  When I went to the store to buy the chicken, they had the pork ribs for $.99/lb.  I got a giant package for $6 which is easily 2 meals for the 4 of us once I cut them up.  They aren't as good cooked in the oven as on the grill but everyone still likes them and eats them up.  The asparagus I bought along with the chicken & ribs was $1.69/lb. For this time of year, that's pretty cheap.  So my bill at the grocery store buying those loss-leader items only was just over $13.  whoohoo! The meat alone is 4 meals of chicken and 2 meals of ribs.  No, it's not organic but we just can't afford that yet. Someday, someday.  Until then I'll keep avoiding over-processed foods, HFCS and as many food dye's as I can.

Menu Plan Monday - 1/11/10

I just like typing that date.  I'll have an update on my DS's 9th Birthday soon.  I'll just say that 8 hit me hard. It was crazy to think I had an EIGHT year old.  Now 9 isn't so bad.  I'm sure that 10 will REALLY freak me out though!

• Sunday - PW's Penne a la Betsy (though here I call it shrimp in tomato cream sauce), tossed green salad, leftover ice cream cake
• Monday - BBQ ribs, baked beans, corn (it's a foggy, grey day and I'm missing summer!)
• Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!, rice, refried beans, fruit
• Wednesday - back to the regular work schedule so FG is on his own. Leftover spaghetti most likely.
• Thursday - Tri tip steak, twice baked mashed potatoes*, steamed broccoli
• Friday - The kids may be having their very first sleepover at a friend's house. If not, then: alfredo chicken & broccoli over pasta, fruit.
• Saturday - I work during the day so I'm not sure what I'll pull off for dinner.  Take out pizza would be nice.

*I've been making my mashed potatoes this way and really liking it.  1) it cuts down on the crunch time at dinner because all I do is pop them in the oven, no peeling, cutting, washing the extra dishes, mashing 2) they are so smooth and yummy!

*Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes

cook peeled & cubed russett potatoes until tender

drain and let steam rise for a few minutes

place into mixer bowl with paddle attachment

add butter & cream cheese (the amount depends on how many I'm making for enough for just my family, I add about 1-2 T of butter and 1/4 - 1/3 of the package of cream cheese. I've been using the lower fat neufchatel version and no one has noticed)

add a generous amount of salt and pepper to taste

beat until smooth

add milk or half & half until creamy

Place into a greased casserole dish and add small pats of butter to the top if desired (I sometimes do, sometimes don't)

cover until ready to bake

Bake in whatever temp oven I'm cooking other things at for 20 - 30 minutes, removing foil the last 5-10 minutes to get that slightly dried top to them.

Beware, they are usually VERY hot!  I bake mine in my stoneware and they are just soooo yummy!

Obsessed

I'm trying NOT to be, really, I am but I cannot get it out of my head! 

We are hoping for a trip back to WDW this fall.  This time, my parents want to come and my MIL and possibly  her SO (because it feels weird calling him a "boyfriend" when they are in their 60's).  The BEST family trip we have ever taken was our first trip in 2006. 

It was for DS's 5th birthday and DD was 18 mo. old.  I was turning 35 too.  To use the cliche, it was magical!  The last trip we took was last year around this time.  Maybe that's why I'm obsessing over it now - last year I was getting ready to go and busy planning and mapping things out.  We had crappy weather that put a damper on our trip.  I tried to make the best of it because I kept telling myself there's no way to be unhappy in The Happiest Place On Earth.  We did have a good time, it just didn't measure up to the first experience. 

If we go again and the grandparents go with us it will be a very different trip.  First, none of them have ever gone.  Second, my dad is disabled and will have his scooter to get around. There is NO way he could walk even a small portion of the park. Third, we will just have more people to worry about with different needs/wants and schedules.  Fourth, I have to get my dad to understand that it's ok if we don't all stay in the same place.  We'll stay on property because that's how it the least stressful for me.  If I'm going to go and experience it again when my kids are so young, then I'm going to enjoy every last bit of it!

The hotel part is a problem just getting them all to understand how it works.  My dad, being disabled, can stay at the military resort on property.  It's one of his benefits from the government and putting in his time in Vietnam.  That is the reason he's disabled now so he may as well take advantage of all he's given up to get those benefits - like breathing and walking.  However, he cannot seem to understand that FG and I are NOT comfortable staying at a military resort when we didn't earn those benefits.  He says he earned them for us but he doesn't get FG's utter uncomfortableness taking a room in a hotel like that when he gets to come home to his family every night.  He isn't being shot at, fear being blown up or only gets to see his children via email pictures.  He's young enough that we are the same age as many of the soldiers and families staying at those resorts.  We do not deserve it, THEY do.  My dad surely does as well but we'll suffer having to pay a bit more money because we didn't earn that benefit ourselves.  Sooo, over the next 10 months or so, I need to get my dad to finally understand how Disney works and that it's really OK if we aren't all bunking next door to each other. That's the beauty of DW that is hard to explain if you haven't experienced it.

We have other hurdles to get past to even think about this trip as well.  We still aren't fluid in money.  While we are working hard to change that, it isn't quite there yet.  So it's tough to dream and wish when there's bills to pay and DW ain't cheap. 
There's another small problem that I believe we can get past the easiest.  The fact that we produce a weekly, timely product and it's just FG and I doing it now is a problem.  We have to figure out how to do two programs in one week.  So it will end up being a ton of work before going on any vacation and a ton of work after we get home.  This will hold true no matter what time we ever take off.  DW isn't a real relaxing vacation either.  We literally drag ourselves out of bed every morning and fall into bed late at night.  Eh, I can sleep when I'm dead.  Now I'm going to soak up every moment of magic with my family as I can.  My poor kids were pushed to limits on both trips. So much so that the first trip when DD was 18 mo, she was throwing up on the way home I think from pure exhaustion.  She's fine now and we had a great time so it didn't do any damage :) 

This is my favorite picture from our trip last year.  It just screams pure joy to me and I cannot get it out of my head to recapture it. (It doesn't help that both kids ask all the time when we get to go back. Like any parent I want to make them happy and it's like a stab in the heart knowing that it's something we all want so very badly!)

10 Things for 2010

I am not a resolution person.  FG makes one every year.  It has been the same several years. Not all in a row, but heck, I've known him long enough now that this one has just come up a few times.  He gives up soda completely. Sometimes only until his birthday in April, other times all year.  He's reached his goal every time.  If he has other resolutions, I don't know what they are because he's kept them to himself.  I just don't make them because I'm weak not that dedicated.   So here's a silly little list of 10 things.

10 THINGS I ENJOY

1. baking/cooking
2. spending summer evenings outside with the family either playing or just relaxing with an ice cream cone/glass of wine watching the kids draw with chalk, ride the bikes, play in the yard
3. watching tv
4. reading
5. snuggling with my kids
6. snuggling with FG
7. playing board games with the kids (as long as they don't freak if someone else wins, which means usually one of them is freaking because they can't BOTH win.)
8. travelling
9. grocery shopping (I know, I'm nuts)
10. entertaining

10 THINGS I DO NOT ENJOY

1. yardwork
2. gardening
3. vacuuming
4. getting up to an alarm clock
5. driving
6. exercising
7. cleaning up after my animals
8. feeling like I yell at my kids too much
9. family meals (this stems from DS's sensory issues and his pickiness about food/eating. I feel like I spend my entire meal telling one kid or the other to stop doing something or to eat or I'm getting up to get moremilkketchuppapertowelstocleanupspills etc.)
10. being in debt/broke

10 SONGS THAT COME UP ON MY IPOD ON SHUFFLE

1. The Memory Remains - Metallica
2. Get Down - Everlast
3. Don't You - Candlebox
4. hit the floor - linkin park
5. Walk This Way - Aerosmith
6. Behind Those Eyes - 3 Doors Down
7. Money Bought - Nickelback
8. Burnin' for you - Blue Oyster Cult
9. Rocket Queen - Guns n Roses
10. Pain - Three Days Grace

(This is too fun - gonna keep going for another 10)

1. All Mixed Up - 311
2. Save Me - Shinedown
3. We Die Young - Alice in Chains
4. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
5. Empire - Queensryche
6. breakout - foo fighters
7. Bust a Move - Young MC (ohhhh, college, *sigh*)
8. It's Been Awhile - Staind
9. Hot Hot Hot!!! - The Cure
10. Prison Sex - Tool
11. Hump de Bump - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Audioslave came up next. I have several of those as well as several Chili Peppers on there.  I'm totally surprised that Van Halen, Elton John, Motley Crue and Jimi Hendrix didn't come up.  Or my favorite - Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield didn't come up!  Hmmm, can you say eclectic?

10 FAVORITE FOODS

1. chocolate
2. wine (yes, I count it)
3. tea (again, I count it. I consume enough of it, it gets it's own category. Hot, cold - whatever I'll drink it)
4. my spaghetti sauce
5. steak
6. potatoes
7. cheese
8. pork (I like almost all kinds from sausage to chops)
9. perfect ripe peaches
10. bread

10 FAVORITE TV CHANNELS

1. whichever our show is on ;) gotta keep us in business!
2. Food Network
3. Discovery Channel
4. History Channel
5. A&E
6. ABC (Good Morning America)
7. National Geographic
8. Bravo
9. CBS (been watching Survivor long enough and we love The Amazing Race)
10. HGTV

10 THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO DO IN 2010

1. Go to Disney World in the fall with not only my kids and FG but my parents and MIL as well.  I'm slightly obsessing about it at the moment.
2. Take a trip with just FG - we have one picked out and we are both really really hoping it will be able to happen. If not this year, then maybe in a year for my, gulp, 40th birthday. We'll still take some sort of trip alone this year!
3. Read some better books (right now I read fluff because that's all my brain can handle at night before bed)
4. Learn to like exercise or at least tolerate it more. I'd love to be a runner but I barely enjoy taking my walks!
5. Help FG build our business and get some of it's bills paid down
6. Clean out my file cabinets
7. Hang curtains on the remaining curtain-less windows in our house. It's been over 9 years already, come on, make a decision!
8. Keep trying new recipes and foods.
9. Quit the toystore.
10. Continue to work on being a more tolerant, understanding, better parent.  That's been on my "list" for 9 years. I'm blessed to have these kids, I need to remember that when it gets frustrating.

So those are just some silly little things for 2010.  I'm not going to tag anyone but I'd love to see your lists!  If you do it, leave me a comment here so I can read yours too! 

~~HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!!~~

First Menu Plan of 2010!

Yay for getting back to a routine!  It's been a great vacation from the norm but this day always seems to bring a little relief and a little dread.  I am generally very down by March.  The cold, the long season of winter, cooped up in the house, a lot of boring "going going going" and droning on of school....  it just all builds up and gets to me. I know, on this day, that it is approaching.  But there's still that relief of the chaos of the holidays, the busy-ness, the unorganization.  So I will try to embrace that portion of today and start with my menu plan.  I actually started it last week and did 1 1/2 weeks worth.  I'll just go ahead and post the whole thing.

• 
  
  Monday (12/28) - Pork chops (breaded w/ crushed corn flakes that DD smooshed for me, they ate them up because they LOVE cereal!), noodles, carrots.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Tuesday - Sauteed shrimp w/ shallots, garlic and broccoli over pesto tortellini. (surprisingly, the kids couldn't get enough of the tortellini)
  
  
  
• 
  
  Wednesday - FG and I went out late after we worked, the kids were at MIL's eating tacos.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Thursday (12/31!) Cheese fondue w/ ham, cauliflower, bread, green apples, cold cooked shrimp (the kids didn't care for the gruyere and ementhaler fondue but they thought the whole idea was a blast!)
  
  
  
• 
  
  Friday - Homemade pizza & garlic knots
  
  
  
• 
  
  Saturday - grilled tri tip steak, potato pancakes, steamed cauliflower
  
  
  
• 
  
  Sunday - whole roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, baked dressing, gravy, roasted acorn squash, green beans
  
  
  
• 
  
  Monday - soup & grilled cheese (I have leeks, if I have time, I will find a good recipe otherwise it's canned soup)
  
  
  
• 
  
  Tuesday - Chicken or beef fajitas, rice
  
  
  
• 
  
  Wednesday - I'm actually not scheduled to work at the toystore!  So now I need to figure out dinner.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Thursday - Spaghetti, bread, salad
  
  
  
• 
  
  Friday - BBQ Pork Ribs, baked beans, corn
  
  
  
• 
  
  Saturday - DS's 9th birthday!  Pizza or burgers after taking him and his BFF to play/bowl.  Then cake at our house.
  
  
  

My score this week was a 10 lb. bag of potatoes for $.97 and the super meaty pork ribs for $1.49/lb.  The whole family has decided they like potato pancakes so that is a different way to use up the potatoes.  All I do is shred them in the food processor, dump them in cold water so they don't change color, squeeze them dry, mix 1-2 eggs depending on how many potatoes I have, add flour, salt, pepper and sometimes grated onion.  I fry them in a pan with a little vegetable oil.  The kids and I like them with applesauce on top. 

I hope the new year finds you healthy and happy!

Probably the last post of the decade

It very well may be the last post because my kids are home from school and driving me crazy.  The house is driving me crazy too. And the f'ing snow.  Why did FG buy a Mini again?  Oh yeah because it gets great gas mileage.  But it is a freaking go-cart and when we have a few inches of snow, he doesn't want to drive it!

Overall, our Christmas was GREAT!  FG spoiled me as he usually does.  I felt inadequate because I can never do for him what I want to do or even come close to equalling how he spoils me.  So instead, I give him what he tells me every guy really wants. (wink wink).  And I wash his clothes, make good food, keep his kids happy & healthy (for the most part) and the house clean (again, for the most part).  But I went and bought some new clothes and now I'm sitting here in stretch pants and a long sweater that covers my ass.  I have my tall black boots on too.  Hmmm, I seem to remember doing this once before. Oh yeah, the 80's! Now I remember!  Gawd I can't believe I bought stretch pants and long sweaters.  Where's my Aqua Net?  My bangs are a bit flat and I don't have those wing things sticking out over my ears. I'm also 25 years older than I was too and have two kids in my living room.

Speaking of those two kids.  DS got about 2000 Lego pieces. I'm NOT kidding.  DD got about 200 little Barbie pieces.  I'm NOT kidding.  Now my challenge is storage.  We got DD a pink plastic tub. She was happy with that because it's pink but I feel bad that we have to toss all the furniture etc. into it and she has to drag it out and set it up to play with it.  But the Barbie Dream House is not in the budget. I'll keep watching Craigslist and take one off someone's hands. 

Yesterday I had one kid playing one video game system in one room and the other kid playing another video game system in another room.  Can you say "Slacker Mom"?  It did allow me to get the house de-Christmas'd of everything besides the tree.  FG needs to help with that.  I also got all the laundry done (thus sitting here in my new clothes!) AND I made dinner, which is something I haven't done lately.   Now I have two kids in their PJ's at nearly 11 am shaking the house playing the Wii.  That's fine. It's cold as a witches tit outside (I had a boss who used that saying regularly.  Weird) and snowy and gloomy and grey. At least they are moving even if their jumping is making my computer monitor wiggle.  I'll eventually make them get dressed because we're going with my dad to see Alvin & The Chipmunks this afternoon. 

My parents got FG and I a new wine fridge. Our old one died. Now I have two sitting in my dining room.  One works and is full. Yay! FG also enrolled me us back in our old wine club.  Yay!  We will get our first shipment next Wednesday.  I'm gonna need it after this week of playdates, crazy cabin-fever children and in-law's. 

I don't make true resolutions for the new year so I don't have any to share on here.  Instead when I decide I don't like something, I try my best to change it and do so whenever that strkes me.  Sure I want to exercise more even though I despise it and I want to take better care of myself and be a better parent to the kids.  After spending all day yesterday doing everything but playing with the kids, when DS asked me to play a new board game they got I decided that the vacuuming can wait and I sat down to play with them.  Now, the vacuuming is still on my to-do list so I must get off this computer and go get it done. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Learn to say No

Actually, I should say "Learn to keep my mouth shut."  WHY do I get myself into these things?  Oh yeah, because I want to be Super Mom for my kids!

I just finished drafting a letter to go to the parents of my daughter's Kindergarten class.  I have taken it upon myself to collect money for a gift card for their teacher.  How easy is that for other parents to hand over cash to me and let me do the gift-giving?  Apparently very easy.  All I did was mention it to a few parents yesterday and WHOOSH! out came the walletts and the cash was in my hand.  The ones I didn't get to talk to will get a little letter in their child's backpack today requesting that they help out with a donation.  I told them I will get a g/c to our nearest fancy mall in whatever amount I collect by next Wednesday as well as a card and sign it "From the class".  ey yi yi.
The teacher will love it though.  Really, how many trinkets and plates of cookies does one teacher need?  She is super skinny and very stylish.  A big "Worlds Best Teacher" pin isn't really her style. A g/c to go shopping certainly is!

I am also gathering items for the High Tea in my son's class next week.  Uh huh. I'm actually sending in my crystal sugar and creamer set for a group of 3rd graders to practice social skills with.  My mom let him borrow two of her teapots and DS signed me up to bake oatmeal cookies and bring in other various items such as a tablecloth and cloth napkins. I also brought home the elf vest they are wearing in their music program and cut and glued decorations onto them.  I brought in egg cartons for their ornament project as drying racks. 

Immediately prior to this post I sent two emails to family members and a text to FG about presents for the kids.  My Grandma sent me a check to purchase and wrap toys for the kids from her.  I gave time options to my IL's for meeting them at the toystore I work at to pick some things out for my kids so I can purchase them, wrap them and let the grandparents give them to the kids.  My mom called tellling me she hasn't been able to pick up an item at Costco that she wants for DD yet.  I told her FG was going there for me today so I'd just have him pick it up while he's there. Mom is worried it will get sold out before she can get there.  FG's aunt asked me to purchase 3 of the Snap Circut sets from the toystore, wrap them and mail them to 3 different addresses prior to Christmas as well.  So I stopped at the post office yesterday to pick up flat rate mailing boxes.  I also researched prices on a Wii game and forwarded it to my BIL and SIL who asked for ideas for the kids too.  I know they don't have a lot of money so I found the game as inexpensively as I could and told them it could be a combo gift for both kids and that was it.  If that wasn't what they wanted to do, I gave them two other suggestions. 

All I can hope is that Karma will be good to me and my kids will be nice to me when I'm old.  They have no clue how much work it is to fulfill their Christmas wishes and to keep their teachers happy and feeling appreciated.  All I want for Christmas is a nap!

Snow Day!

My backyard:

Loving the slide!

And I seem to have found my Christmas Spirit!

Of course, this little cutie is seriously pissed off at me right now.  I don't have any snow boots or snow pants for her!  And my little Snow Bunny really really really wants to go outside and play in the snow.  I told the kids they can take turns but who wants to do that?! They want to play together.  DS's snowpants and boots still fit,  her's do not.  :(  Even the hand-me-down boots from her brother that I thought would fit, not happening.  She couldn't get her foot in.  Even if she could, she has no snow pants anyway!  FG took my car to work (we didn't think the Mini would really be able to plow through the deep snow, even if FG says it's easier to drive a stick in the snow than an automatic) so he said he would  stop at Target and see if he could find her some snow gear.  I am kicking myself for not picking up the boots when I saw them there last.  I have looked a few other places and not seen any anywhere!  Well, except for the $45 pair at the sporting goods store. But with the way that girl grows, that's not in the budget!  Anyway, he had to go to work today. I'm thankful that we took the few extra minutes last night to stop and get milk on our way home from dinner for MIL's birthday.  I knew school would be either delayed or cancelled.  The call came just after 6 am - school's closed!

Where is my Christmas Spirit?

I know it's early but by some standards it's late!  I just don't feel all "Christmas-y" yet.  We get a fresh tree every year and we don't like to get it too early.  Fire hazard and all.  Even though we keep it watered well, they still dry out and FG gets really worried. 
I told asked him this morning if he would get under the house this weekend and drag out our boxes.  I told him we don't have to get the tree yet but we could still get the other decorations out.  He didn't really answer. I got that deer-in-headlights look again.  Apparently, we have a few decorations.  It also involves lots of work on his part with high ladders, rearranging just about everything in the house and some cleaning, with my patient direction, or course.
Hopefully that will help me get into the spirit.  I need to craft an email to my friends breaking the news about the party.  I wonder if that has anything to do with my lack of spirit?  I don't feel utterly stressed out like I normally do. I'm not baking at every waking moment and cursing this party for all the dishes it makes me do.  Maybe working in retail this year has something to do with it.  hmmmm  Maybe feeling like we are lacking a "big gift" for the kids.  But I really don't even know what that big gift would be!  They haven't mentioned anything like they did last year which was the Wii.  (which we still fully enjoy as a family btw. GREAT gift).  $$$ is still tight though FG and I are working on that little by little.  We are hoping a corner is about to be turned in that arena.
Maybe today I'll do some baking.  I have a small list of cookies and treats that I will be making.  Nowhere near my usual.  I have to admit, it is going to feel really odd to make single or double batches instead of triple and quadruple! 
Now your turn.  What gets you in the Christmas spirit?  Do you immediately feel it right after Thanksgiving?  Is there a designated time for you to decorate?  Real tree or fake tree? 

ugh

I don't know if I'll have any menu this week.  I have been sick, working like crazy, cooked Thanksgiving dinner and today am trying to catch up on all the to-do stuff I missed while working and being sick.  Yesterday I didn't do anything.  Ok, one load of laundry and I re-heated Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner.  That's it.  I decided the only way to get better and be more productive was to rest rest and more rest.  So I did. :)  I'm feeling much better today except my to-do list is getting longer!

We managed to get a lot of Christmas shopping done.  We won't decorate for a few weeks though.  Because we get a live tree, we hate to put it up too early and have any more of a fire hazard that necessary.  And FG is actually considering NOT putting out lights this year because of the energy waste!  I told him we don't put enough out to really matter and we don't run them very long.  Bah humbug on him!  Now the ridiculousness that goes on down our street is a different story.  ENORMOUS waste of energy!  They adjoining street makes the news and the paper every year.  It's cool to look at but really, the entire street of Griswold's trying to outdo each other is a bit ridiculous.  Not to mention the horrible traffic.  We have such a quiet neighborhood and I love that I can send my kids out to ride their bikes without hovering.  So inviting so many people to traipse through the neighborhood makes me uneasy.  At least it's not on our street.

A HUGE deal for me this year, which is probably not helping my Christmas Spirit, we are postponing our Sweets Party.  WAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!  We simply could not pull it off this year either financially or find a day to do it!  Dec. 26 seemed odd but it was the only free Saturday.  Soooo, I decided to postpone it to Valentine's Day, well, around V-day.  So I'll still get to make sweets but I'll have to approach it very differently as far as decorating.  I'm currently taking requests from family members on what cookies/sweets they still want me to make for Christmas.  I'll still do Christmas brunch like I always do too.  My baking will just not be as manic and stressful as years past.  I just can't believe we are not having it.  Even the year I was very pregnant with DS we had a small one!  It's been 14 or 15 years (long time, can't remember exactly without looking up the old invitations).  The only year we missed completely was the year we moved into our first house on Dec. 20, 1996.  Couldn't pull it off that year either. 

Now, the laundry and house and children beckon.  If only my sinuses would tone themselves down.  The swelling is killing my head!

Allow me to remind you that you are not the only person in the world

Warning: This could get a tad bit snippy!  But If I don't get it out here, I will get it out where it isn't appropriate.

This holiday season is an interesting one for me.  I have never worked in retail before.  Now I am in the throws of it - working in retail at a toystore before Christmas.  YIKES!  This past week was a killer. I haven't been around anywhere online - not on here, not on Facebook, nowhere! 
Our little toystore had a big sale this past weekend and I worked both Saturday and Sunday.  Our prices are slightly higher than the Wal Mart we share a shopping center with but as my boss says, "Wal Mart won't wrap for you."  And they don't help you the way we do either.  So this past weekend I felt like I wrapped 1,000 presents.  The amount of sales we did, I damn near could have wrapped that many!  It has to be the biggest weekend of the store's year in sales.  I'm just a very part-time employee but my bosses don't make it a secret of what the sales are. 

So here is my little PSA and reminders to all of you out shopping this holiday season!  For the most part we had very nice customers. 

• BUT, your being unprepared and running late does not constitute and emergency on my part or the part of any other customers. 
• You being ill informed of a sale, does not mean I will stay late so your wife can rush down 5 minutes after closing on the last day of the sale. (I had a guy texting his wife to let her know about our sale AT CLOSING time because he stopped in with his daughter to pick something up.  This was on our last day of the sale.) 
• I'm sorry, but you will have to wait in line like everyone else. No, I won't just sneak you in and "ring you up real quick" or "wrap this up now because the party started 10 minutes ago". 
• Yes, it IS in my job description that I must verify large bills so please don't give me a dirty look as I hold your $100 bill up to the light that you are using to pay for a $3.20 purchase.  I'll do it to the next person as well because I've been told to.
• Sure, we wrap presents for you and we do an awesome job but your presents will have to wait in line like you did because all those people in line wanted wrapping done as well and it takes longer to wrap a GIANT box or 15 presents with different requests than it does to scan a few barcodes and run a credit card.
• You should be HAPPY I'm asking for your I.D.!  Please don't get annoyed that I am making sure they match.  You'd be even more pissed if someone stole it and was using it to spend $600 on toys for THEIR kid.
• Yes, I CAN hear you making those snide comments to the person in line next to you.  I really am going as fast as I can.  If you don't like it, go to Wal Mart where the lines are long, no one will help you select a great toy and they certainly won't wrap it for you.
• Every customer is equal.  Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not kissing your ass because you spent more.
• Would it kill you to smile? 
• Just because we haven't been able to get over to the sign and click off the "OPEN" sign does not mean it's cool to walk in 20 minutes AFTER we close and browse for awhile. 
• Really? You seriously want to make a Birthday Box when there are 10,000 people in this tiny store?  It's absolute imperative that you fill not one but TWO boxes TODAY when the birthday party isn't for a few weeks? (I know the woman who did this. She does not work so that's not what would restrict her.  Oh, missing 5 minutes of a nap time would kill her though. She's ultra scheduled and ultra "all-about-me-and-my-kids". You know the type that thinks that the seas should part because SHE HAS A CHILD!)
• When a postcard is sent out clearly stating that the sale excludes certain items, please don't argue with me. I will probably get fired over your $5 discount if I give it to you.
• When a coupon states that it cannot be used with any other sale, then don't present it to me on the day that the entire store is on sale.  And don't get snippy with me when I politely tell you I can't accept it with the sale.
• Other people can hear you and the way you speak to your kids.  WHY do you bring them to a toystore and then get mad at them when they ask you for things?!
• Please don't let your kids run wild in the store and destroy displays. 

So I'm asking you all this shopping season, PLEASE be kind to those around you - other customers, the staff working ANYWHERE (Hey, I wouldn't want to be at Wal Mart either!).  When I've done Black Friday shopping, I've always gone into it with the attitude that NO item is so important that I can't be nice to people.  I walk through the stores with a smile on my face.  I've encountered some nasty, crabby people on those shopping trips and I wonder what they think when I respond to their scowl with a smile?  Remember that yes, at least our store does really appreciate your business but we are still people working there and helping you. We have our own families as well. If we are not completely happy and upbeat, maybe remember that we have been hunched over a counter wrapping presents until our fingers ached.  Maybe the customer before you was particularly nasty to us and we have feelings too.  Maybe we haven't had time to pee or even get a drink of water in the past 5 hours.  Even though we use a cash register, it is still mentally draining to continually type, check, confirm, speak, repeat, repeat repeat for hours at a time all while hearing the comments, seeing the looks....  As I told FG when I got home on Sunday night well well past closing time, it is just mentally and physically draining to be that "ON".  We're climbing ladders, getting down heavy boxes, carrying akward items, wrapping, wrapping, wrapping.

Ok enough complaining. I'm back at it again today then I'm cooking Thanksgiving tomorrow.  The store is having another sale on Friday and I'm working that as well as Saturday day to cover for someone who wanted the day off.  I am just hoping I survive this holiday season!

Children's Responsibilities

I've posted about it before but The Retro Housewife's post made me want to talk about it again.

Supernanny is coming to my town and looking for families.  We are FAR from perfect but there have been a few times that FG and I will have watched the show and chuckle.  We look around at our staightened up house, knowing that the kids are tucked into their beds.  Whether they are sleeping or not, they are in their beds and we are able to relax and wind down from work/parenting for the day.  No, the house isn't spotless and YES the kids do get up for a drinkofwater/hug/scaredofthefunnynoise/changemymusiccd/anotherdrinkof water but it's certainly not the crazed evenings we see on that show.  Heck we've seen our own friends have to go through it!  They have to lay down with their child to get them to go to sleep. Their child simply refuses to go to sleep.  Their house is a mess of strewn and discarded toys. They are stressed whenever they have guests over. 

Maybe it's just the neat freak in both FG and I.  My mother laughs because when I was a teen, you couldn't see my bedroom floor.  Her rule - no dirty dishes in my room.   If I wanted my clothes washed, they had to be in the laundry or they didn't get washed. My parents just shut the door because I was the one who had to live in the mess.  Now, I make my bed every single day.  I cannot leave dishes in the sink (unless they are air drying - that I can handle). I must wipe down the counters.  Dirty clothes go into the hamper immediately. Shoes get put in their proper place. Towels get hung up to dry immediately after use.  I am sure when my kids are older, their rooms will become like mine and I'll impose the same rules my mother did. Until then, they follow MY rules.

Before we added on the playroom to our home, the toys were in the front room of the house.  As soon as my son was old enough to help, he was responsible for putting away his toys.  I would say about 18 mo. he was really helping.  Prior to that, the concept just didn't register.  But I helped him and at the end of every day, before heading up for our bedtime routine, we put away his toys.  Same with his sister.  Every night, I would have him help put his dirty clothes into the clothes hamper.  Once he got a big bed, I made it for quite awhile.  As soon as he was able to handle it, he was responsible for it. 

Now this is how our day goes:
Morning:  DS gets up, brushes his teeth, makes his bed and eats breakfast.  Then he goes back to his room to get dressed for the day. His PJ's get put neatly on his bed (at this point, they wear them a couple of times in a row. I don't require them to fold their pjs, just not throw them on the floor).
DD doesn't have to get up as early, nor is she on a time restriction yet because she is in afternoon K.  But as I type, she's upstairs making her bed and getting dressed.
After school they empty their backpacks. 
Jackets get hung up.  Mittens get put back into the basket near the coat rack.
Shoes are taken off and put either on the stairs on by the front door.
After homework, they put it in their backpacks so it's ready for the next morning.  I can totally see DS misplacing his and we have so little extra time in the morning.  It's better to just take care of it as soon as he's done.  If it's library book day the next day, they are gathered and put into the backpack too.
Dinner is a family affair.  FG helps me clean up. The kids bring their dishes to the counter by the sink as soon as they are finished and before desseert.  DS takes out any recycling that I leave on the counter for him and one of the kids feeds the dog dinner.

We give them a warning time of when they need to start picking up their toys. We have one of these which I will sometimes use if they aren't motivated to pick up.

I have used that for many other things as well - counting down video game time, dinner time (I have VERY slow eaters!).  It's nice for procrastinators like I have to get a warning to kick their little butts in gear!

After they pick up toys, they go upstairs and get ready for bed.  They both put their dirty clothes in their hampers, hang up any towels that they use when cleaning up etc. 

Don't let me fool you, this isn't all wine & roses.  It doesn't always go smoothly and there are certainly protests.  Part of these things are considered their chores and they get allowance for it.  But some things have been taken off the allowance table.  Bringing their dishes to the sink and putting their dirty clothes in their hampers have been replaced with bigger things like wiping down the bathroom counters once a week or vacuuming the carpets and/or kitchen floor.

Another big part of the routines of our day is to benefit DS.  Because of his SPD, he does better with routine. He can function well knowing what is coming next.  It takes big effort on our part as parents.  Sure, it would be faster for me to put everything away and keep it all organized.  But the time I spent in years past showing them that if you put the Hot Wheels cars away into their boxes instead of leaving them in a pile, you have a better time playing with them later.  If you put all the puzzle/game pieces back into the box where they belong, it's ready when you want to play it again and there's no crying that you can't find what you are looking for.  DS has a big problem with losing things.  He doesn't like to lose anything so he freaks out over losing the smallest of insignificant items.  If he's lost something it's devastating to him.  So by teaching him how to care for things and put items away in a proper place, he knows where to find them the next time.  Because his motor skills are also affected, it gives him a sense of accompishment as well.  He can handle doing tasks that he sees adults do easily or other children do as well.

I also belive I'm benefitting them for later in life.  Now that somethings have become routine to them, they won't struggle with it when they are out on their own.  I'll eventually teach them how to do the laundry from sorting to washer settings to drying and ironing.  I have already started with teaching them how to cook.  My parents taught me these things at an early age as well.  When I met FG, he was still living at home and his mother didn't let him learn to cook or do laundry.  I joke that he simply moved from his mother's house to mine.  She isn't maternal or the type that wants to dote on her children.  She is the type who just wants it done her way and only her way and it's easier to not spend the time teaching these things. Thus FG is not allowed to touch the laundry and when he has to cook, it's not natural for him.

So while it is nice for me to now not have to pick up toys or trip over toys, it would have been faster and easier for me to just handle it when they were smaller.  Now I don't have to spend as much time showing them certain things which leaves more time to teach them other lifeskills.  It all falls back on my personal belief that it's my job to raise adults, not overgrown, needy children.

Menu Plan Monday - Mild Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas!

First I'll give you this weeks' menu, the recipe and then I'll post about my fabulous weekend.  That way, if you want to skip it, you can do so easily :)

• Sunday - Roasted whole chicken, twice-baked mashed potatoes, roasted acorn squash w/ brown sugar & butter, tossed salad, crumb topped apple pie.
• Monday - Mild cheesy chicken enchiladas *, rice, tossed salad
• Tuesday - BBQ Pork Ribs, roasted broccoli,  noodles
• Wednesday - I work.  Soup & grilled cheese
• Thursday - (yay! FG is now home on Thursdays! First time in the 15+ years we have been married!)  Beef Roast, mashed potatoes & gravy, veggies
• Friday - Kids are spending the night at my parents, FG and I will figure out something to do.
• Saturday - Not sure yet. I work all day and we're having a big pre-Christmas sale.  We're already busy at the toystore.  Multiply that by 10 with a sale for Christmas.  I'm going to be exhausted.

*Mild Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups cooked chicken meat

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 - 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 - 1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 can mild enchilada sauce

flour tortillas

Lightly grease a 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the chicken, onion, 1 cup cheddar cheese and 1 cup sour cream. Set aside.

In small saucepan, heat 3/4 of the enchilada sauce with remaining cheddar cheese and sour cream (each to your liking).

Spread remainder of can of sauce onto bottom of baking dish.

Distribute chicken filling evenly among tortillas, roll up into enchiladas and place, seam side down, in baking dish on top of enchilada sauce.

Once cheese is melted into the enchilada sauce, pour over the top of the torillas in the baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 - 30 minutes until hot & bubbly.

 

 

Now onto my great weekend!  We had no plans.  Oh heaven!!!  We spent a great weekend together as a family with some friends mixed in.  It was wonderful!  We played games and I taught the kids how to play Clue.  It was one of my favorite games as a kid.  I grew up playing LOTS of games.  My mom's family (6 siblings) all played games. They still do.  When I met FG, he said that was one thing he really really liked about my family.  I grew up on family vacations playing card games, usually for money, with a lot of extended family.  We vacationed in a place with no tv and would spend 2 weeks there.  No video games, no tv.  Just a lot of family in little cabins all in a row. We fished during the day and played games or had campfires at night.  So while I try very very hard to not wish my kid's childhood away, I get giddy when they are finally old enough for real games.  (Candyland doesn't count.  BORING!).  DS really liked it. Which is about right because he's almost 9.  Even 5 year old DD got into it.  She needed help because she can't read yet but she did her best and tried to match up the words on the cards with the words on her clue sheet. 

Back to the weekend.... the kids also look forward to "leaf day" every year.  FG uses the blower and blows them into a pile and the kids play in them then they help Daddy bag them up.  So Sat. & Sun they played like crazy in the leaves and then Sun afternoon helped him bag them. 

Sunday I spent about 4+ hours in the kitchen and we had a yummy dinner.  SMA came over as he usually does. 

Both FG and SMA said I made the best pie I've ever made.  That is funny because lately I've been struggling with my crust.  So yesterday I winged it.  All of it. The entire pie.  I didn't measure a dang thing. I made the crust by instinct.  I made the filling by dumping and just looking at it.  I made the crumb topping by feeling it.  I never measured anything.  The apples were still a tad crisp, not mushy, the crumb topping was perfectly crunchy and the crust was flaky.  Who's the FG NOW? ha ha ! 

I saved the chicken carcass and the innards.  Right now I'm making stock.  I used up the last of what I had frozen so I'm taking advantage of having the leftovers and some time.  I threw in some veggies, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and a bay leaf.  It smells wonderful!  FG and SMA both gave me funny looks last night as I was cleaning up and putting the rest of it into a pan.  The meat for the enchiladas I pulled off last night and shredded it right there.  Now the stock is simmering and it will be so wonderful to strain and cool and freeze into 2 cup containers! 

DS is doing really well lately too.  He worked hard and got an A on his very first research report!  I helped with structure and spelling, he did all of the real work himself.  He even typed up the cover of the report and put a picture from the internet on it.  He listed his resources and just overall did a great job!  I'm glad the teacher recognized that he's in 3rd grade and he turned in 3rd grade work.  He told me some kids had theirs bound with fancy covers.  While we could have done that because we have a binding machine at our office, is that really a 3rd grader doing it?  A staple was fine with a printed cover sheet and blank back page to complete it.  He also spread out his work (with my enforcement!) and I'm hoping to have him not be the procrastinator that his mommy is.  So while I could have knocked out his report in 1/2 hour and included way more facts and references, it was clear that he did the work and learned the basics of doing a research report in the first place.  I'm proud of him.  I also think our basic routine of life is helping him lately.  He's been eating more, trying more foods, sleeping well, doing GREAT in class and seems genuinely happy.  Of course, I always wait for the other shoe to drop and him to go off on some horrible tangent. But so far he's doing really well and I'll take it as long as we can!  I think I'll reward him soon with another playdate with is "BFF".  Maybe we'll do something like take the boys out for pizza or something like that.  As tough as it is to have a kid with SPD have a best friend with ADHD, I want to keep his self-esteem up and foster the good friendship they have.  Even his teacher commented on how much the boys care about each other.  I think they just understand each other.  They are both victims of being social "outcasts" and a bit different.  While in the past, everyone has seemed to like DS, he's never had a true good buddy.  It's made a big difference in his life this year!  So I'll suck it up, hold onto my sanity as best I can and take things in small doses.  I can survive a couple of hours dealing with both of them for his sake. 

Now it's Monday. Back to school/work/bedtimes/homework/packing lunches/meeting the school bus/volunteering in class.....Hey, maybe we'll get mail today so we can finally pay ourselves!  It's on the verge of comical at this point!

 

Menu plan, eh, Tuesday

What a busy weekend last weekend! Yesterday was, just very interesting. We were having a great "normal" day until the evening. Then some crazy stuff happened. Since it didn't happen directly to me, I can't really share. But man, what a trip of a night!

As I was cleaning the house yesterday I was trying to figure out if we've fallen into a better routine or if I've just gotten more used to the craziness. I think a little of both. I've been fairly consistent with doing the big house cleaning on Monday. Work Wednesday night. etc. etc. Nothing is set in stone but it's a teeny bit more routine than the chaos things have been. We did move our work office and let me tell you, THAT is throwing a huge wrench in things! Things like mail. We haven't gotten business mail in so long and it's about the time some of our usual clients pay us. Soooo, no money has come in in weeks. Literally NO MONEY. My biggest problem has been lunches for DS. I hate packing his lunch anyway. Add to the mix that he's had issues with misplaced lunchboxes and their contents (like his thermos that I use almost daily, the Ziploc containers that I use almost daily...) there's not a lot of options right now to even send in. Oh well. I hope as soon as we get the mail it will be like a nice windfall! (yeah right, keep dreamin sister!)

So here's this weeks' menu:

• Sunday - SMA brought over pizza. (DD and I went to the Disney Princesses on Ice in the afternoon. No time to cook a nice dinner. And SMA can bring food to us once in awhile!)
• Monday - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans (DS ate 3 helpings of green beans. Weird! They were the French style which I grew up eating. I usually get them the regular kind. He said he loved the French style and kept asking for more. Who was he?)
• Tuesday - Maui Chicken over rice*
• Wednesday - I work, FG can fend for himself and the kids
• Thursday - Pork chops w/ apples, buttered wagon wheel noodles, veggies
• Friday - Spaghetti (I still have homemade sauce frozen)
• Saturday - Homemade pizza & garlic knots. Maybe BBQ Chicken pizza if we have leftover chicken from today.

* Maui Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breast

2 tablespoons oil

14 1/2 ounces chicken broth

20 ounces pineapple chunks in juice

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 clove garlic -- minced

1 medium green bell pepper -- chopped

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Brown chicken in oil. Transfer to slow cooker.
Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over chicken.
Cover, cook on high 4-6 hours
Serve over rice.

Source: "Fix It & Forget it Cookbook"
NOTES : I add a bit of powdered ginger to the sauce before cooking.

H1N1 vaccine or "Swine Flu"

I got my kids vaccinated yesterday. I didn't wait the 6+ hours in line at the Heatlh Dept. I did a little research and called the clinic run by the nursing school at the University. They had them. I could make an appointment. It would cost me $20 each for an administration fee. Fine by me to save an entire day! Money is tight but time is money too. $40 is not going to make or break us. Two sick kids and most likely a sick Mommy would. Again, the time is money thing.

So I got my kids the nasal spray. I have had excellent luck with them staying healthy getting the live virus vaccine for the seasonal flu in the past. Even my ped told me last year that the percentage of kids coming in with flu-like illnesses was drastically different if they got the nasal vaccine vs. the shot. Basically, the live virus offered them much better protection. And I don't have to have them freaking out and hating me because they got a "poke" as DD calls them.

I know this is a controversial issue. My thought was that there is a chance, however slight, that a healthy child could die from getting the flu - seasonal or H1N1. I haven't heard of anyone dying from the vaccine. I would hate myself if I risked it. If the horrific happened to my kids because I felt they "have good immune systems" I would literally die myself. So it wasn't much of a question in my mind. As DS said yesterday, "Ha ha! I now have a force field against the H1N1 virus!"

They'll get the seasonal nasal mist in a month. There needs to be a period of time in between both nasal mists. My mom, an RN and very involved in the vaccination clinics in our town, told me that the H1N1 is hitting now anyway and the seasonal flu is due to peak later - like January. So she was relieved that I got them vaccinated in the order I did (will).

That's another thing I told her. Dad's poor health is not something I want to risk either. He's around the kids quite a bit. If he got anything from them and it would be much much harder on him than anyone else. Again, not a risk I am willing to take.

Side note, I am giddy at the fact that I don't have to leave my house today! Pathetic. But I am in my comfy clothes and happy that I have an entire day. It's "Take Dad To School Day" which also means "Dad takes DD to Kindergarten in the middle of the day!" I still got up, showered and put on make up and did my hair. I made DS's lunch, packed up his backpack, got DD ready etc. But I don't have to run out and do anything. If FG doesn't stay in DD's class the whole time, they can take the bus home. I plan to get some work done, get some more laundry done, do a few chores, make some cookies (? Maybe), and most likely make Breakfast for Dinner because we are out of waffles. (I make my own frozen waffles. I make a giant batch, wrap each one in plastic wrap and put them in a big Ziploc. I haven't bought frozen waffles in years and no one has asked for them either.) Since I didn't sleep well last night, I'm hoping for a little nap too!

Productivity!

I had one of those great "productive days" yesterday. I managed to get what seemed like a gazillion things done before 11 am. I relaxed in the afternoon because I had cleaned the house and didn't feel like I had to jump up and get anything done. FG came home and asked why I was making dinner at 4:30. I wasn't planning to eat before 6, I was just getting a good start on dinner! I loooove mashed potatoes that are "twice baked". I have started making them with a bit of cream cheese and yesterday I used half and half (because I had it and it needed to be used up). I whipped the heck out of them and they were sooo yummy! I usually do them like that when I make them well before dinner, that way I can bake them in a buttered pan instead of mashing them right before we eat them. I guess that's why I was making dinner at 4:30. But it also allowed me to get a good jump start on the dishes. I had most of my prep dishes washed, dried and put away before I even put the pork chops in the oven! My whole day was like that and it felt good. I don't know why I can't do that every day. I have decided that I need to work on being more disciplined. My biggest problem - this damn box! I stayed away from it all day yesterday. I didn't sit down in the morning with my cup of tea and prattle around the internet. Nope! I really must limit my time on the computer in order to have that good feeling of accomplishment I had yesterday.
Today I am on here because I'm doing laundry and I need to do some work for the business. I cleaned out my inbox, responded to several messages that needed attention and checked in with my online friends. After I post this I'll go switch the laundry and then read some blogs. It feels good knowing that I'm not procrastinating and whittling my time away.
We have teacher conferences this afternoon. We'll see if I get dinner done as early as I did yesterday! All I know is I really need to try. It makes my evening much smoother with the kids. Discipline baby. I need to use some tough love on myself!