Category Archives: Life in General

Nov28

Christmas Wish Lists

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For the love of all that is holy, I had no idea how long the “30 Days of Thanks” thing would feel 28 days into it.  Can we all agree that I’m very thankful for my husband/kids/family/warm house/working body/chocolate and move on? Because I am and I want to.

Now, let’s talk about material things. Specifically, Christmas Lists.

Does your family do Christmas lists? My family lives and dies by them and since some of my family actually plans ahead, I’ve been told I need to come up with lists for me and the kids pronto. The problem for me is that I’m 34 and typically just buy what we need throughout the year. My mother, bless her, hates giving gift cards or money, so I still need to come up with something.  Somehow, I doubt new bath towels are going to be something she’s thrilled about buying.  So tell me- what are you asking for?

As for the kiddos- what’s hot for 6 year old boys that isn’t lego related? And what about gifts for a 4 year old girl who isn’t into princesses, Barbies or baby dolls? The girl is like McGyver- give her 3 Dixie cups, 1 marker, 5 pieces of paper and a pair of scissors and she’s happy for hours.

I’m all ears- hit me with your best ideas!

 

Nov19

30 Days of Thanks: Little Things

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I feel like last year my 30 Days of Thanks posts were a lot more serious- the kids, my niece, friends, parents, in-laws. I covered all my bases. And clearly this year I’m still thankful for all those things- but it’s the little things that are capturing me the most this year. Tonight was full of those little things that all equal up to a perfect night:

> Scorch is learning basic addition and subtraction, so tonight’s car ride was full of me calling out equations for him. That’s all good and well, but the best part was when the Bean would randomly yell out numbers that, more often or not, were correct. I know she was just calling out random numbers, but every time she got a question right, we all laughed like loons.

> The kiddos and I had dinner out tonight after a crazy evening of running around. They were perfectly well behaved, ate well and kept 95% of their conversation appropriate for public places (meaning: they kept their poop jokes to a minimum).  That’s a win in my book.

> I still have 76 Christmas cards to write out- that fact is really, really depressing. But the fact that I have 100+ people to send cards to makes my heart happy. I tried to cut down on the list this year, but I just couldn’t.  We are a very lucky family.

> Christmas carols. Yes, I know it’s early. Yes, I know I’m supposed to be disdainful of all this holiday cheer in November. But damn it, I’m hooked. It’s all we listen to now and I’m so in the holiday mood now.

> I have one more work day and then I’m off until next week. I love my job, but I love my vacation time even more.

 

Nov6

30 Days of Thanks: A List

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After 5 minutes of sitting here, thinking about what I want to be thankful for, I still can’t pick one. So I’m going to share them all.

-> Obviously democracy and our ability to vote- along with the sweet, elderly poll workers who made such a fuss over the kids tonight as we waited in line. Such a great fuss, in fact, that the Bean cried when she realized we could only vote once.

-> I’m thankful for kids who think breakfast for dinner is the best thing ever and don’t realize that eggs and pancakes = a mommy who didn’t plan ahead.

-> Scorch and I had a morning where he wasn’t happy and I wasn’t happy with him. While I think I handled things as well as I could have, I was still beating myself up while he was at school for not having all the answers for my kid and not being able to make all his worries disappear. Hearing Scorch say during prayers tonight that he was thankful that God gave him the best Mom in the world made me so very thankful for the resilience of youth.

-> I was so thankful to see the sun out today. It had been 11 days- ELEVEN DAYS, PEOPLE- since we saw the sun. Even though it was only 38 degrees out, I wanted to take a blanket outside and lay on it to soak up the rays.

-> I’m thankful that it’s 7:52 pm and both my kids are asleep, leaving the Hubs and I all night to obsess over the election results without having to answer a million questions from the kids.

Nov5

30 Days of Thanks: Community

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I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but when the Hub’s job transferred us back to NY and we were trying to figure out where to live, he suggested our current town. I believe my response was something akin to “Who the hell wants to live there?!”  “There,” of course, being where we’ve lived for the past 10 years- a small college town without a mall or even a Starbucks.  To say that I was a little underwhelmed when we moved here would be an understatement.

But a decade later and this is Home. This is the place where it’s impossible to run to the grocery store without seeing at least one person you know. Where the kids sporting events are also social events for the Hubs and me as we catch up with friends and get to know classmates parents betters. A place where I look forward to monthly PTA meetings (yes, really!) to try to figure out how to give back to the school.

It’s not easy making a life in a new place as an adult- a place where you don’t know anyone.  Where we live now isn’t a utopia, but it’s become Home. It’s a place I’m invested in as it’s the place my kids will grow up in. Sure, it may have snowed here for the past 3 days (*sob*)- but it’s still a place I’m so thankful to have found.

Oct30

Playing Catch Up

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The Good

> Hell week at work is over. My project was out on time and with minimal bumps. Doesn’t mean the work is over (it’s never, ever over) but I’m over the first hurdle.

> We had a fantastic weekend. My parents picked up the kids after school on Friday because the Hubs and I had a wedding to attend 6 hours away on Saturday. We spent Friday night at home (I was coming off a 16 hour work day)- we went out to dinner to celebrate and were in bed by 10. My idea of a perfect evening. We got up and out on Saturday and drove to my favorite city (DC) for a quick 24 hour visit. The wedding was beautiful, we had a great time and the car ride was blissful with no kids to worry about.  It always makes me very, very happy to be reminded of how much I like spending time with my husband.

> We were spared Sandy’s wrath. The forecast was not looking good yesterday during the day- we were told to prepare for 3-5 days without power, but a last minute turn in the storm means we got hit with exactly nothing. Some rain and some wind, but nothing crazy or life threatening. My heart goes out to all those hit hard by the storm.

> Halloween tomorrow! I’m ignoring the ugly weather we’re going to get (40’s and pouring rain) and just focusing on how excited the kids are!

Now, for the bad…I have 7 loads of laundry to fold. Blech.  Back tomorrow with a more coherent post…promise.

Sep18

Pod People

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A few weeks ago I got so disgusted at the state of our living room/dining room/kitchen (all essentially one big room) that I started a 5 minute clean up period before the kids went to sleep. I set the timer on the oven and we work our butts off to clean up what we can in 5 minutes. This means picking up all the toys, cleaning the table, and making sure backpacks are emptied every night before they go to sleep.  I expected a lot of resistance on this on when we started and really thought it would be like pulling teeth.

Nope. If anything, the kids love 5 Minute Clean Up too much.  We weren’t home last night and we weren’t home much of tonight either, so when it was time for bed there wasn’t a need to clean up- things were still tidy from Sunday.  Both kids cried. Flat out cried when I told them there was no need to pick up tonight.

I have no idea when my kids were taken over by Pod People, but I’m not complaining!

Aug21

Feed me, Seymour!

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Last week our gas grill ran out of propane and it took us 3 day to replace the tank.  Do you know what a calamity that was? My whole evening routine was completely off because for the first time in roughly 3 months, I had to cook.  Cook!! As soon as the weather is warm enough (and even sometimes before then), we grill. Chicken, burgers, steaks, veggies, heck we’ve even tried grilling fruit!  Our house is usually too hot in the summer to cook using the oven, so the grill is our mainstay and when it was gone I was thrown for a loop.

Once we got the tank replaced, life was back to normal and meals were good again. I had my footing and all was well- until the Hubs made an off hand remark about how we won’t be able to grill for much longer once the cold weather moves in.

*gasp*

People, I about had a panic attack.  You see, I don’t really like to cook. I do cook at least 5 days a week because we’re not wealthy enough to 1) hire a chef or 2) eat out all the time but clearly my brain needs a jump start when it comes to cooking inside again.  After going over a schedule of the the kid’s extra curricular actives, it became even more apparent I have to get my act together soon because 3 nights out of the 5 week nights, we won’t be getting home until 6ish.

So this is where you come in. I’m looking for recipes that are either 1) quick or 2) meant for the crock pot. While healthy recipes are the gold standard, I’m not necessarily only looking for healthy ones as I don’t mind cooking up one meal a week drenched in butter. I’m looking for something my kids will want to eat and that I can’t really screw up.  So if you have any that meet that criteria, please feel free to share!

In the interest of fairness here are some of my family favorites. The Riggies recipe isn’t really quick and certainly isn’t  healthy (heavy cream, anyone?!), but it is really good and it freezes well!

Beef with Beer (Crockpot)
> get a Beef Round Bottom Round Roast in the size you need
> 2 beef bullion cubes OR 1 packet of dry onion soup mix
> Beer (any kind will do- the alcohol will burn off)

You can cook this in the crock pot, stove top or oven.  Just put the beef in the pot you’re cooking it in and cover 3/4th of the way with beer and add in in the bullion cubes or soup mix.  Cook until you can easily shred the meat.  Serve on a roll as a sandwich.  It’s great when cooking for a lot of people!  I make it in the crock pot- but it does take all day to cook, so give yourself time.

Chicken Riggies.
(these are spicy. I’d recommend this for a Sunday dinner as they do take some time to make, but they are great to make and eat a few days later. Also, the sauce freezes very well)
1 lb of pasta
~1.5 lbs of chicken tenders
1 stick of butter
garlic, basil, oregano
1 12 oz jar of sliced pepperocinis
2 12 oz jars of marinated peppers (look for “pepper salad” by Cora in the pasta/sauce aisle)***
1 can of medium pitted olives (optional — you can also add mushrooms or onions)
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup grated parm
1 1/4 cup marinara/spaghetti sauce (any kind will do as long as it does not have meat in it)

  • boil the pasta, drain, set aside
  • boil the chicken until thoroughly cooked, drain, and shred or cube
  • in a large pot, melt the stick of butter.
  • add chicken. add a few dashes of garlic, basil, & oregano. saute & stir for just a few minutes.
  • drain ~1/2* of the liquid from the jar of pepperocinis. add remaining contents to pot.
  • add peppers to pot. do not drain.
  • drain liquid from olives. add to the pot.
  • saute & stir for a few minutes
  • add parm, heavy cream, & spaghetti sauce
  • stir well, until the sauce is a light pink color.
  • add pasta, stir, serve & enjoy

*** I didn’t read the recipe correctly and only used one 12 oz jar of this and the riggies were plenty spicy enough!

Parmesan Ranch Chicken
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or tenderloins**
1 package dry ranch dressing
1 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C crushed corn flakes or bread crumbs
1/2 C butter, melted***

Preheat oven to 400
In medium-sized bowl, mix together ranch dressing, Parmesan cheese and corn flakes/bread crumbs.
Dip chicken in melted butter, then in the mixture from above.
Place in greased pan, drizzle left over butter over top and add in left over coating mixture as desired
bake for 40-50 minutes (or until chicken is done.)

** I used chicken cutlets or tenders so this cooks in under 20 minutes.
*** To make this some what better for you, I’ve dipped my chicken in egg whites. While I’d much rather use the butter, it still tastes just fine that way!

 

Aug15

Let’s Talk…

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About what, I don’t know. There is so much going on in our little world- big and small- that I’m stuck as to where to start.  So here goes my brain dump:
> The end of summer sneaks up on us every year- kinda like Christmas. And every year we try to jam in a lot of things in a very short period of time. This past weekend it was a Renaissance Festival a few hours away and swimming at a nearby waterfall even though the water was 68 degrees.

> The kids and I loved the Ren Festival- they had a blast with the archery, horse back riding, dart throwing, jousting and rides. I just wish I had more time to shop. I thought the people dressed in costume (both the actors and visitors) were a ton of fun, but I could not get behind all the bare foot folks wandering around. I don’t care how authentic it is or isn’t, I couldn’t stop thinking about what they were stepping in and how likely they were to get hurt.

> We had Scorch tested for allergies yesterday. We knew he didn’t have any food allergies thanks to testing we did when he was 2, but it was clear he had environmental allergies (by clear, I mean the poor boy has been miserable all spring/summer).  Basically my poor kid is allergic to the great outdoors (all of it) and he still have hives on his back from the test yesterday. So we start experimenting with meds and see if we can make next year a bit more bearable for him.

> I’m re-reading one of my favorite books (Outlander by Diana Gabaldon). *sigh* It’s like visiting old friends- I love that book.

> I bought a few tickets to tonight’s Powerball drawing. I don’t need to win the grand prize- even getting 5 numbers is good enough for me. That’s roughly $1M. On our drive home from a fantastic family picnic tonight, I mentally figured out how we’d spend every dime of that money after taxes. Am I the only one that does that?

Here’s hoping next time I write, I’ll be writing as millionaire!

 

Jul23

Looking My Age

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I swear I had a coherent post in mind last night full of funny things my kids did and said. Like how Scorch learned the word “nuts” in relation to his private area and every.freaking.time he says it after I yell at him, I have to walk away so I can giggle like I’m 10.  Or how when the Bean plays pretend, she’s never a princess or fairy- she’s now a Power Ranger or Princess Leia- something that I think is just a little bit awesome. I don’t know how to deal with girlie girls- they scare me- so I’m happy to see her trying to kick butt instead of waiting for her prince to get her.

But…then last night happened. My girlfriends took me out to celebrate my birthday last night- which was awesome. But it also involved one drink too many (that would be a total of two drinks for those keeping track at home)- which made me a very happy camper who desperately needed her bed last night.  But, instead of my bed, I got to bond with my dog at 12 am, 2 am and 5 am during some thunderstorms (don’t worry- the Hubs pulled his shifts too).  The upside was getting to watch True Blood and Falling Skies, the down side is the zombie like appearance I am sporting today.

Thank goodness for the bounce house we rented for the Bean’s big birthday party celebration this past weekend.  That sucker was worth every penny we paid for the hours of entertainment it brought the kids while I cat napped in the sun.

May8

Brain Dump

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I really hate those nights when I sit here and just stare at my blank screen, wondering what to write about. I know I had a million ideas pop into my head during the day today but by 8 pm, they are gone. So tonight, I’m taking the easy way out and scatter shooting my thoughts. Here I go…

Scorch’s has his very first loose tooth! The boy swears and declares he’s the last one in his class to have one and he can’t wait for it to fall out. I think he thought that we’d find a loose tooth one day and it would fall out the next. He wiggles it all the damn day trying so hard to hurry the process along. I try not to gag when he does.

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We’re almost two full weeks into Little League and it’s awesome. I had a lot of worries about this. While this league doesn’t follow strict baseball rules, it’s closer then Scorch has ever played before with outs and actual plays and a 3 strikes rule.  So far he, and the rest of his team of 6- 8 year olds, have handled the transition from t-ball beautifully! The games are fun, the parents are all supportive and the kids are having a blast. We were all actually disappointed when his game was rained out tonight.

~~~~~~~

I started meeting a friend at 5 am to run. It only gets me up 15 minutes earlier then normal, but I’m exhausted. The good news is that knowing a coyote is in the area is damn good incentive to pick up my pace.

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I was just thinking the other day how nice it is that the Bean is watching such gentle shows like Blues Clues and Wonder Pets. Annoying, but sweet shows where there are no bad guys or fighting.  Then she discovered Power Rangers thanks to Daddy and now that’s all she wants to watch.  I don’t get it.

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We decided to do a Big Party for Scorch’s birthday.  I think there are something like 29 kids invited.  To keep it as stress free as possible, I’m doing everything at a play place for kids- so all I have to bring is the cake and decorations.  I also solved my gift / goodie bag worries by requesting in the invites that everyone bring a wrapped book suitable for kids ages 5 – 8 so we can do a book exchange. Every kid will go home with a new book, including the birthday boy, instead of a goodie bag.  Win/win (I hope).

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The Hub’s grandfather’s health is very quickly declining.  He’s a wonderful, sweet, smart, funny, vibrant man who’s slowly been stripped of his health for the past 4 years and it’s been the saddest thing to see.  His health and the health of those taking care of him, including his wife and daughters (including my mother-in-law) weigh on the Hubs and I a lot.   I’m open to any suggestion you all my have on discussing death with kids.

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We met with a financial adviser today for the first time! Over all it was a great experience until he told us we’d need to save almost $667,000 over the next 11 years to finance 4 years of a state college for both kids.  I sure hope they like Boot Camp when the time comes to ship them off!

And that’s what’s on my brain. Perhaps I’ll be more coherent tomorrow….